Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: trayner-bane

GERTRUDE WARNER Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers – 2019 CIBA Winners
Congratulations to the First Place Category Winners and the Grand Prize Winner of the GERTRUDE WARNER Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers, a division of the CIBAs.

The CIBAs Search for the Best Middle-Grade Books

Chanticleer International Book Awards is celebrating the best books featuring stories of all shapes and sizes written to an audience between the ages of about eight to twelve. Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery, Paranormal, Historical, Adventure. We love them all.

The 2019 GERTRUDE WARNER Book Awards First Place Category Winners and the GERTRUDE WARNER Grand Prize winner were announced at the Virtual Chanticleer Authors Conference that was broadcast via ZOOM webinar the week of Sept 8 -13, 2020 from the Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash.

Peter Greene, author of The Jonathan Moore Adventures (and previous GOETHE CIBA Grand Prize Winner), announced the Gertrude Warner Book Award Winners.

This is the OFFICIAL 2019 LIST of the GERTRUDE WARNER BOOK AWARDS First Place Category Winners and the GERTRUDE WARNER Grand Prize Winner.

Congratulations to ALL!
- Amber L. Wyss – A Flash of Fire
- M.J. Evans – PINTO!
- Beth Stickley – Tarnation’s Gate
- Rey Clark – Legends of the Vale
- Laura M. Kemp – Burnt Feathers
- C.R. Stewart – Britfield and the Lost Crown
- Trayner Bane – Windhollow and the Axe Breaker (Windhollows, Book 3)
- Carolyn Watkins – The Knock…a collection of childhood memories
The GERTRUDE WARNER Book Awards

2019 Grand Prize Winner is

The Valley of Death – Arken Freeth Series by Alex Paul

This is the badge for the 2018 Grand Prize Winner of the 2018 Gertrude Warner – Portals of Peril by Jules Luther

We are accepting submissions into the 2021 Gertrude Warner Book Awards until June 30, 2021.

The 2020 Gertrude Warner Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC 21 on April 17, 2021.

Don’t delay! Enter today!

A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting in October. We will contact you with an email to verify your mailing address and other items. We thank you for your patience and understanding.

If you have any questions, please email info@ChantiReviews.com == we will try our best to reply in 3 or 4 business days.
September 21, 2020
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.

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 Supernatural Pet Sitter by Diane Moat
- Bryce Bumps His Head by Robert D. Calkins
- Brainwashed: The Crime Travelers Series by Paul Aertker
- The Queen and Knights of Nor by Rebekah Stelzer/R.L.Stelzer
- Lucky Rocks by Murray Richter
- Flowerantha by Bek Castro
- The Strange Case of Mr. Beets by A Pharmacist on a Yak (Anand Vora)
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:
- Life On Base: Quantico Cave by Tom & Nancy Wise
- The Train from Outer Space by Alan Sproles and Lizanne Southgate
- The Mystery of Hollow Inn by Tara Ellis
- Ethyr by M.P. Follin
- I, Mary by Mike Hartner
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!

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!
May 7, 2020
WINDHOLLOW and the AXE BREAKER, Windhollows Book 3 by Trayner Bane – Children’s Books, Action/Adventure, Fantasy

Part Three of the Windhollows series takes off with a bang, as we find an evil female on our hero’s trail and a sneaky scientist up to his old nefarious tricks.

The book opens with a stirring encounter between the glimmering being who was once Billy Molskin’s girlfriend, Skylar, in a contest of wills with Nila Windhammer. Nila previously transformed the schoolgirl into a monster called the Spent of Jealousy, using Dr. Rip Stinker’s toxic Essence of Ripinum.

Into the fray comes Blast, a once-powerful creature who had been given the task of guarding Skylar. His failure makes him more determined than ever to intervene, but Nila forces him out into the Formidable Fields where he is doomed to lose his memory or his freedom. To accomplish his banishment, Nila wields the Malus wand, a gift from her father and her weapon of eternal vengeance against those who killed her parents.

Meanwhile, Stinker and his faithful pet Pootrick are entering the Silent Pass where Stinker plans to enslave its inhabitants, the nomadic Silencians. But after disabling some of them with Ripinum, he is confronted by Nila, who informs him that they have a far more important mission. They must locate Billy, who is on a quest to find a mystical staff that contains powers she wants for herself.

Billy, with help from his friends Teddy and Wendy, is indeed looking for the staff, finding clues from ancient books and soon realizes he also needs to get possession of four magic stones. Could these be connected to a bracelet of three orange cubes found by Stinker when he attacked the Spent of Hatred? Could they be the work of the immortal Stonehammer?

Billy’s determination is temporarily sapped by the lingering illness of his father, who may have a clue to the missing stone collection. When his father passes away, Billy will finally access the inner strength he needs to put the legendary weapon, Axe Breaker, to its proper use and win a momentous victory.

Fans of the Windhollows series will note this story is taking on topics of significant proportions. Themes of the death of a parent, the coming-of-age of the young hero and the hard-fought triumph over evil give this volume greater gravitas, perhaps moving it towards a perception of Billy as a kind of Beanian Hobbit: ready to take up the call to duty, even if it means putting himself in harm’s way.

All in all, this is a perfect read for those seeking adventure!

*Special note: Author Trayner Bane has a delicious recipe for BackFire Cookies on his website! He’s requesting his readers try the recipe and post a photo on the Windhollows Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TheWindhollows

This book can be ordered here.

Please follow the links to read the Chanticleer Reviews for Air of Vengeance and Darkness Falls

November 21, 2018
DARKNESS FALLS, Book Two of WINDHOLLOWS by Trayner Bane – Children’s Books, Fantasy & Magic, Sword & Sorcery

What would life be like if the air we breathe was slowly, consciously, being robbed of oxygen itself?

What if the dark side in all of us could be manipulated by a soulless fiend, converting us into unwilling weapons against our own people?

While Air of Vengeance, the first book in the Windhollows series dealt more with issues of overcoming differences, friendships and family, Darkness Falls is more of an adventure/quest: characters from the first book bent on vanquishing evil and saving friends and family…

Windhollows is an idyllic land populated with fantastical creatures, where its peoples live symbiotically, producing complementary air-like Essenses necessary for life. Its way of life is threatened by a brilliant, twisted genius who vows revenge on the people who rejected him because he was different, whose arsenal of weapons both rob the air people breathe and turns others into creatures whose purpose in life is to destroy the ones they once loved.

As the second book opens, Doctor Molskin, father of Billy, the hero of Volume 1, discovers that the breathable air in parts of Windhollows, is being robbed of some of its essential chemical makeup called Essense. He understands almost immediately that the problem has been created by his former assistant who now calls himself Rip Stinker, a brilliant but twisted soul whose dismissal from the doctor’s Essense labs has caused him to seek revenge against the doctor, his children and all “normal” Windhollows denizens.

Stinker was born a “bare pants,” children lacking Essense and therefore societal outcasts. His revenge has been to rob a group of healthy children from birth of their Essense, including Billy, turning them “bare pants.” More menacing, he has now created another weapon that can transform these same children into misshapen monsters seeking their own revenge for their flawed destiny.

Two stories alternate throughout most of the book. First is the quest to find and destroy Rip Stinker and his evil technology undertaken initially by Dr. Molskin, and eventually by his son Billy along with two friends. The other story is built around Skylar, the sweet, innocent young barepants girl who was the object of Billy’s infatuation in the first book. She and other “bare pants” have been wooed by Rip Stinker’s seductive message of regaining their full Essense but she has her doubts about what this Faustian bargain will yield.

Along the way to Rip Stinker’s castle, Skylar discovers she has a mysterious ability to talk to the wild animals that no one else has. Just as she is reveling in her new powers, she runs afoul of Rip Stinker’s technology that turns her into a monster similar to Stinker himself who now is ruled by a darkness within her that she never knew existed, and she now finds her waging a war within, of light versus the darkness, even as she joins Stinker and his nefarious plans.

How these two quests intersect becomes the race-to-the-finish theme of this admirable middle-grade fantasy novel.

Follow the links to read the Axe Breaker and Air of Vengeance Chanticleer Reviews!

February 6, 2018
AIR of VENGEANCE: WINDHOLLOWS, Book 1 by Trayner Bane – Children’s Book, Action/Adventure, Fantasy & Magic

Fantasy takes you to worlds that never were or never could be. Good fantasy lets you live in that alternate reality while linking you seamlessly to the realities, the frailties of the human condition.

Air of Vengeance is the first of a series of novels for middle-graders and young adults and succeeds on both levels.

In a faraway land called Windhollows, two races live side by side, symbiotically producing different gasses, or Essences necessary for sustaining their lives together. The ability to produce Essence also determines everyone’s place in society. As the book begins, with no ability to produce Essence, nine infants become pariahs or Bare Pants literally from the moment of their birth.

Their inability to produce Essence is no accident. Rip Stinker, a brilliant but twisted scientist, invents a weapon that destroys the babies’ ability to produce Essence as revenge against the father of one of them for acts he felt destroyed his life.

What is fantasy soon becomes tragedy. Billy, one of the children, grows up in a household where his mother all but despises him for being who he is. She divorces his father, who loves his child despite his issues and sustains him through his miserable childhood.

The other eight are all abandoned by their parents at birth and shuffled off to an orphanage. The fateful eight band together at the orphanage and form a friendship that protects them from the worst societal prejudice yet still suffer the effects of their parents’ abandonment because they were different. They call themselves The Spent.

When Billy finally meets The Spent, he discovers the love and friendship circumstances denied him, even as they are jealous of him because he actually had parents. What they cannot foresee is the reappearance of Rip Stinker into their lives, whose plan is to take control of these emotionally and physically fragile young beings and turn them into monsters who will wreak havoc on society at large while staying under his control. Billy, who is initially overjoyed to join with them, sees Stinker as a Pied Piper and refuses to go along with Stinker’s nefarious plans.

Following the geography and the terminology of The Land of Windhollows is made easier by a map of the land, which resembles a bear claw, and a full glossary explaining the customs and languages of the various peoples who live there.

Bane treats his readers to various monsters, sci-fi weaponry, and a unique story that delivers an impact as its characters find themselves, variously, as outcast, then friends, and finally, divided by their version of what constitutes a better life: a path of goodness or a descent into darkness.

The novel ends on a cliff-hanger, with everyone’s destiny hanging in the balance.

Follow the links to read our reviews of Darkness Falls, and the third in the series, Axe Breaker.

November 29, 2017