Children 8 to 10 Will Love Linda Wilson's Debut Novel Secret in the Stars

Title: Secret in the Stars

Author: Linda Wilson - https://www.lindawilsonauthor.com

ISBN: 978-1-7351310-0-9

ASIN: B08C51J8NK

Genre: Children's mystery chapter book (8 to 10-year-old)

Reviewed by: Karen Cioffi - http://karencioffiwritingforchildren.com

Reviewed by Karen Cioffi, originally for Amazon

Linda Wilson's Secret in the Stars grabbed my attention immediately. If you like ghost stories and mysteries, you're going to love this spooky-great chapter book.

Abi Wunder is a budding artist who is looking forward to meeting her newborn baby brother and going to art camp. Not necessarily in that order.

On their way home from a week-long camping trip, her grandfather's car breaks down, leaving them stranded and having to spend the night at the haunted Hilltop Inn.

It's there that Abi meets Herbert the ghost and learns of the danger the owner of the inn is facing. With the demolition of the inn imminent and the owner facing possible murder charges, Abi works feverishly to figure out ghostly clues that will help her save the owner and the inn.

I highly recommend Secret in the Stars and am looking forward to more from Linda Wilson and the Abi Wunder Mystery series.

About the Author: Linda Wilson, a former elementary teacher and Institute of Children’s Literature graduate, has published over 150 articles for children and adults, several short stories for children, and now her first book, Secret in the Stars: An Abi Wunder Mystery is available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Stars-Abi-Wunder-Mystery/dp/1735131008/ref=sr_1_2

About the Reviewer: Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author, successful children’s ghostwriter, and author/writer online platform instructor with WOW! Women on Writing. You can learn more about Karen at: https://karencioffiwritingforchildren.com/ and tweet with her @KarenCV. 

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Dr. Wesley Britton Reviews Andrew Himmel's Debut Novel

The Reluctant Healer

Andrew Himmel

Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group Press 

 Release date: October 8, 2018

ISBN-10: 1626345309

ISBN-13: 978-1626345300

Purchase on Amazon

Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton originally for BookPleasures

Andrew Himmel's original debut novel is told with a fresh writing style,   an eccentric approach to his subjects and characters,  and a dry, wry wit, especially in the descriptions and observations expressed in the viewpoint of the novel's main character, New York attorney Will Alexander.

The main theme of The Reluctant Healer is the collision of Alexander's legalist, rationalist world view which is challenged when he meets the sexy New Ager Erica Wells. When they meet, Erica reveals she's an energy healer who can perceive Alexander has extraordinary abilities as a natural healer.        Alexander doesn't accept that judgement but finds himself drawn to the beautiful woman who is an intellectual match for him even if her metaphysical beliefs are the polar opposite of his own.

Very reluctantly,  Alexander finds himself being put in situations where his natural energies seem to, in fact, cure all manner of diseases and afflictions. For Erica, natural healers like Alexander are badly needed in a new era where viruses are becoming immune to antibiotics and it's natural energy, energies found in everything, that can be cures when the afflicted are merely in Alexander's presence.

Alexander's journey takes him into all manner of circumstances including long motorcycle rides, theft of an opponent's cell phone,   and situations that ultimately place him in legal jeopardy.   To say more would be to swerve into the world of spoilers.

Himmel's style and tone are extremely cerebral and the book is not light reading.   It's a book with serious intent. In supplementary material at the end of the book, Himmel reveals much of the book's content was inspired by his own journey, very much like Alexander's, as the author' wife Michelle became interested in energy healing and pulled him into her realm of Universal Energy healing.  Jumping off from his real-life experiences, Himmel claims his novel was ignited when he mused, "What if the conventional individual, rigid in his beliefs, developed

the capability of healing others, even as he distrusted much of the alternative world? His struggle would become poignant and pronounced, because he would

be grappling not just with tension in his relationship but also with internal conflict with phenomena that challenged both his sense of self and his worldview."

In a quiz prepared for readers with an academic bent, Himmel says, "The author believes that The Reluctant Healer is a bigger story about how we as human beings get along with and coexist with people who are different from—and

sometimes the complete opposite of— us."

It seems to me larger themes also include a modern twist on the conflicts between the rational and the mystical. In other words, The Reluctant Healer is a brain tickler designed to stimulate thought an reflection in Himmel's readers.  He offers no answers, no final conclusions, advocates no point-of-view, and leaves the story open for a sequel already in progress.

Not a book for all readers, but certainly one for readers who like to digest what they read and be challenged by above average language choices, imaginative imagery,    and be willing to absorb the story slowly. I had to read it in chunks, always eagerly returning quickly to continue the flow.

This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Nov. 27, 2019 at:

https://waa.ai/OQKw

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 Dr. Wesley Britton, author of The Beta Earth Chronicles and 

reviewer for BookPleasures.com.  Learn more at: 

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MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER, THIS BLOG, AND ITS BENEFITS FOR WRITERS

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everything from Amazon Vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog 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.

Note: Participating authors and their publishers may request the social sharing image by Carolyn Wilhelm at no charge.  Please contact the designer at:  cwilhelm (at) thewiseowlfactory (dot) com. Provide the name of the book being reviewed and--if an image or headshot of the author --isn't already part of the badge, include it as an attachment. Wilhelm will send you the badge to use in your own Internet marketing. Give Wilhelm the link to this post, too.