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| Artwork © 2014 by Brian Thompson |
I am thrilled to be a stop on The Dyerville Tales blog tour. I am still reading the book so I didn't get a chance to review it in time for the blog tour, but I will entice you with one of the most musical, lilting first paragraphs of a book I've ever read. It is a mentor text in every sense of the word.
Some tales are worth telling. Of all the children living in the Obern House Orphanage, none knew this more than young Vincent Elgin, he of the fair skin and the sad eyes, the disheveled hair and the honest smile. The poor boy arrived at his new home knowing full well what could be found in a tale. He was sure of it, as sure as the sun's rise each morning, as definite as the delicate fall leaves onto the crisp grass every autumn. In the lonely days of his life spent within these aged walls, of which the mice had uncontested rule, it was what kept him looking out the filthy attic window for hours at a time, day or night, out at the vast sprawl of colorful land stretching and sloping for miles on end, out at the distant houses and buildings and people populating almost every inch in sight, at the cars zooming by, tearing up asphalt and ripping through deep puddling reflecting the cloud-cluttered sky, at life in full swing under the steady and sweltering sun or cool gaze of a pale moon. It was what kept him peering out past the rusting orphanage gates while the other children played in the yard behind him, the house up on its steep hill looming menacingly over them all. It was what kept dreams from becoming nightmares. It was what kept despair out.
And in case that didn't entice you enough, here is a summary of the novel:
Vince Elgin is an orphan, having lost his mother and father in a fire when he was young. With only a senile grandfather he barely knows to call family, Vince was interned in a group home, dreaming that his father, whose body was never found, might one day return for him. When a letter arrives telling Vince his grandfather has passed away, he is convinced that if his father is still alive, he’ll find him at the funeral. He strikes out for the small town of Dyerville carrying only one thing with him: his grandfather’s journal. The journal tells a fantastical story of witches and giants and magic, one that can’t be true. But as Vince reads on, he finds that his very real adventure may have more in common with his grandfather’s than he ever could have known.
Its unique voice and ability to combine creepiness with great story and character development make The Dyerville Tales a real standout middle-grade novel.
About the author:
M. P. Kozlowsky is also the author of
Juniper Berry. A former schoolteacher, he lives in New York
City with his wife and daughter. Visit him online at mpkozlowsky.com
*~*~*~*GIVEAWAY*~*~*~*
One winner will receive a signed finished copy of The Dyerville Tales by M.P. Kozlowsky! Thanks to Walden Pond Press for sponsoring this giveaway.
Terms and conditions:
You must be 13 or older to enter
U.S./Canadian mailing addresses only
Use the Rafflecopter widget to enter
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Be sure to visit the other blogs on The Dyerville Tales blog tour:
4/28 - Word Spelunking Book Blog
4/29 - Book Smugglers
4/29 - KidLit Frenzy
4/30 - Mundie Kids
5/1 - Bunbury In the Stacks
5/3 - The Book Rat
5/5 - Mundie Kids
5/6 - Bluestocking Thinking
5/7 - Small Review
5/7 - Paige in Training
5/8 - Novel Novice
5/9 - Buried in Books
5/10 - The Book Monsters
5/13 - The Flashlight Reader
5/14 - The Hiding Spot
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