Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: m-p-follin

  • CELEBRATING CHILDREN’S BOOKS with GERTRUDE WARNER Awards for Middle-Grade Readers – Action/Adventure, Coming of Age, Fantasy, Magic, School, Sci-fi

    CELEBRATING CHILDREN’S BOOKS with GERTRUDE WARNER Awards for Middle-Grade Readers – Action/Adventure, Coming of Age, Fantasy, Magic, School, Sci-fi

    Here at Chanticleer, we love Children’s literature! There is just something about a truly well-told story that sparks the imagination of the young – and the young at heart.

    So, as we celebrate Children’s Book Week – May 4 – 10, 2020, allow us to bring along a few friends and share with you some really good books.

    Gertrude Warner Children's Chapter Books

     

    Did you know that 2020 marks the 96th anniversary of the first edition of the first book The Boxcar Children by Gertrude C. Warner?

    It’s true! We titled the Chanticleer International Book Awards (CIBAs) division for middle-grade readers The Gertrude Warner Awards in honor of the author of the well-loved children’s The Boxcar Children Series.

    I guess you could say, we’re fans. BIG fans!

     

     

    We love Gertrude and so many others! Here’s a little list of some of Middle-Grade Children’s authors you probably already know: 

    Ron Dahl – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

    J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter series

    Rick Riordan – Percy Jackson and the Olympians

    R.J. Palacio – Wonder

    Lemony Snicket – The Series of Unfortunate Events

    Madeleine L’Engle – A Wrinkle in Time

    Louis Sachar  – Holes

    Kelly Barnhill for The Girl Who Drank the Moon

    Neil Gaiman – for so, so many books!

    Lois Lowry – The Giver

    Now – a very special treat! Please take the time to find out about some of our very own personal favorite Middle-Grade Children’s Authors: 

    The Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers – FINALISTS for 2019 – are 

    • Amber L. Wyss – Phoenix Rising     
    • M.J. Evans – PINTO!   
    • M.J. Evans – The Stone of Wisdom – Book 4 of the Centaur Chronicles
    • Beth Stickley – Tarnation’s Gate    
    • Rey Clark – Legends of the Vale   
    • Laura M. Kemp – Burnt Feathers   
    • Alex Paul – The Valley of Death, Book 5, Arken Freeth and the Adventure of the Neanderthals
    • Trayner Bane – Windhollow and the Axe Breaker (Windhollows, Book 3)
    • Carolyn Watkins – The Knock…a collection of childhood memories
    • Liana Gardner – 7th Grade Revolution
    • Nancy McDonald – Boy from Berlin
    • Wendy Leighton-Porter – The Shadow of the Tudor Rose 
    • Kit Bakke – Dancing on the Edge
    • Mobi Warren – The Bee Maker
    • C.R. Stewart – Britfield and the Lost Crown
    • B.L. Smith – Bert Mintenko and the Serious Business

    These titles are in the running for the First Place positions of the 2019 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers

    – and one will be named GRAND Prize Winner!

     

     

     

    The 2018 Gertrude Warner Book Awards Grand Prize went to Jules Luther – for the unpublished book, The Portals of Peril

     

    2018 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers First in Category Winners

    • Keelic and the Pathfinders of Midgarth by Alexander Edlund
    • Guinevere: At the Dawn of Legend by Cheryl Carpinello
    • The Portals of Peril by Jules Luther
    • From the Shadows by KB Shaw
    • Tallulah’s Flying Adventure by Gloria Two-Feathers
    • Vampire Boy by Aric Cushing
    • The Adventures of Rug Bug by Kay M. Bates

    Paul Aertker took home the CIBA GRAND PRIZE 2017 Gertrude Warner Book Awards Grand Prize for

    BRAINWASHED: CRIME TRAVELERS SPY SCHOOL SERIES 

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    2017 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers First in Category Winners

     

     

    The 2016 Gertrude Warner Book Awards Grand Prize was won by Alan Sproles & Lizanne Southgate for their work, The Train From Outer Space.

     

    2016 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers First in Category Winners are:

    Are you interested in seeing how your Middle-Grade book stands up to the competition? Submit them to the Chanticleer International Book Awards and we will choose the best among the entries!

    Click here for more information about The CIBAs! 

    Gertrude Warner Children's Chapter Books

    The deadline to submit your book for the Gertrude Warner awards is May 31, 2019. Enter here!

    The deadline for 2019 submissions has been extended to June 15, 2019. Grand Prize and First Place Winners for 2019 will be announced on September 5, 2020, at the CIBA Awards Banquet.

    Any entries received on or after June 16, 2019, will be entered into the 2020 Gertrude Warner Book Awards.

    As our deadline draws near, don’t miss this opportunity to earn the distinction your Middle-Grade Reader deserves!  Enter today!

    The GERTRUDE WARNER Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards – the CIBAs.

    All Finalists and First Place category winners will be recognized, the first-place winners will be whisked up on stage to receive their custom ribbon and wait to see who among them will take home the Grand Prize. It’s an exciting evening of dinner, networking, and celebrations! 

    Don’t delay! Enter today!

  • ETHYR by M.P. Follin – Middle-Grade Fantasy, Gamers, Action/Adventure

    ETHYR by M.P. Follin – Middle-Grade Fantasy, Gamers, Action/Adventure

    Twelve-year-old Skyler Beam cops a squat onto his bean bag chair and logs into his favorite game Ethyr – his only real form of pleasure these days. He powers up his avatar, SkyWyz12, and goes in search of his friends across the lunar surface but strikes out. He is alone for the moment. Soon, a nameless player appears, who possesses impressive skills beyond the game’s design, and takes an interest in Skyler. Within minutes, the silent companion gets a bit too clingy for comfort, but SkyWyz12 can’t shake the irritating avatar and then discovers why. “Skyler Beam, I’ve been looking for you.” Skyler freaks, logs out, and slams his laptop cover closed.

    Ethyr is a multi-player game offering different scenarios such as the House of Dragon dojo where players spar (clobber) each other to earn colored belts, or Lunarscape, where, propelled by jetpacks, they can fly around the Moon.

    Skyler tells his friend and fellow Ethyr enthusiast, Ellie, of his encounter with the silent avatar and asks her to join him in the game later that day. She agrees, and they meet inside the dojo, along with two friends from his old school, Eddie and Brian. Soon, a mysterious, silent opponent appears, and the game morphs into something real. Skyler’s friends disappear, and he is locked in hand-to-hand combat with his opponent – with actual swords. Skyler gets his butt kicked and ends up with a sword point tickling his throat. His opponent, Neshama, suddenly allows him up and begins to answer a few questions. Once Skyler escapes the game, he grows more determined to learn more about Neshama’s and his secrets.

    Now Skyler’s world begins to tilt off its axis. Unexplainable incidents and events occur all around him. He craves answers, but there is only one way to find them: he must re-enter Ethyr. Unfortunately, to do so, may come at the incredible cost of his life or lives of those closest to him.

    Follin excels at creating the settings for Skyler’s everyday life both inside and outside of Ethyr. Her smooth prose, realistic dialogue, tension and conflict between the characters, descriptions, surprising twists and turns, and solid pacing make for a delightful read for all ages.

    Ethyr – the novel – is a real pleasure to read!

    M.P. Follin won 1st Place in the 2016 Gertrude Warner Awards for Ethyr.