Pages

Monday, June 8, 2015

Roadmap Girl Buzzes About Young Adult Fiction

Title: Silence (Sequel 1 to “Hush,” Lakeview Novel Series)
Author: Stacey R. Campbell
Publisher: Green Darner Press (May 28, 2015)
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ASIN: B00YGCAR1K
Where to buy: Amazon Kindle ($.99)
 
 
Reviewed by Marlan Warren originally for Roadmap Girl’s Book Buzz
 
This quick, lively and poignant read explores that special longing felt by many adopted children: to know their biological parents. In this novelette sequel to Hush, Blakely Henry is now a graduate of Lakeview Academy who juggles her new life as queen of a fictional Mediterranean country with college and her hunky fiancĂ©. Her adoptive American parents are on hand to help out, and it's touching how supportive they are of Blakely's deep need to meet her biological father. Stacey R. Campbell has meticulously crafted characters who come to life on the page so well that you feel you know them. She keeps the tone light, and is unafraid of tackling painful memories or events that come up as Blakely's search intensifies. Details such as the excellent pasta dishes the castle cook can whip up for her pleasure enhance the pleasures of this story which has one foot in "fairy tale" and the other in "reality."
 
What makes this journey so much fun is how much everyone involved cares. Blakely's whole family plus her fiancĂ© accompany her on this tough journey which leads them through some beautiful parts of France. Silence is glamorous fun (how much easier our lives would be if we all had our own "royal stylist"), and at the same time, it is down to earth about skeletons in family closets and how families choose to deal with them. It can be read as a stand-alone, although it might be fun to go back and read Hush to find out how Blakely found out that she is the only surviving blood relative of an assassinated monarchy of a country that now needs her help. 
 
About the Author:
 
Stacey R. Campbell lives in the Seattle area with her husband and three daughters. She is a graduate of the University of Washington and a dyslexic writer who believes there is no such thing as a bad reader. She's also the author of the Young Adult Lakeview Novel Series (Hush, Whisper and the upcoming Scream), as well as the MG swashbuckler Arrgh! .
 

-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Authors and reviewers would love to hear from you. Please feel free to include the URL (permalink) of your post in your own blog or website.