~ MMGM SUMMER READING FOR KIDS PART 3 ~

~ MARVELOUS MIDDLE-GRADE
MONDAY SUMMER READING
FOR KIDS FEATURE, PART THREE ~

This is the wrap-up post in my 'Summer Reading for Kids' series. 

If you missed either or both of the first two posts, here are the links:

PART ONE OF 'SUMMER READING FOR KIDS' 

PART TWO OF 'SUMMER READING FOR KIDS'

**In this third post, I share a link pack of free online treasures for kids, educators, parents/grandparents, and other fans of children's literature. I hope you find something worthwhile here for yourself and your loved ones. Have fun! **

📗 -- When I original saw the link to 'Open Culture' in an author's group on Facebook, I thought it was an archive of free, digitized historical children's books. When I went to the site, I was pleasantly surprised -- astounded really -- at the breadth of free materials available here! As you scroll down the first page of this link, you will see a plethora of resources available for free. These include:

• Free Language Lessons;
• Free E-books;
• Great Lectures;
• Great Recordings;
• Free Textbooks;
• Free K-12 Resources;
• Free Art & Images;
• Free Music; and
• Writing Tips . . .

The list goes on and on. If I ever have any spare time after all of my writing, sewing designing, sewing, reading, blogging, family time, and home responsibilities, I keep promising myself I will spend more time on this site. Check it out at:

OPEN CULTURE WEBSITE

📗  --  The Library of Congress has a treasure trove of materials posted on their site, too! I'm providing a link to the 'Classic Books' page for children, but there is much exploring to do on this website, too. Free classic books have been digitized and are available for reading. I perused the titles on this page and found several that I loved as a girl or used in my classroom as a teacher:  'Anne of Green Gables', 'Peter Rabbit', 'The Ugly Duckling', 'The Secret Garden', and 'A Christmas Carol' to name but a few. There are other links here to more resources. Find it all at:

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS -- CLASSIC BOOKS 

📗 --  One of our other MMGM bloggers, Ms. Yingling, shared this next link with me on a blog post comment recently. The Project Gutenberg Library is a library filled with over 60,000 free e-books! It is posted on the main page that these books are not protected by copyright in the United States, usually because their copyrights have expired. There are instructions on how to search for e-books. Can't wait to spend some time on this site in the future! Thank you for the tip, Ms. Yingling!  Here's the link to the main page:

THE PROJECT GUTENBERG LIBRARY 

📗 --  The Internet Archive Open Library is an archive of books for every age group that a patron can 'borrow' for free. The link below is for a search I did for the K-12 Student Library. There you can browse through books by reading level or grade level and access student guides designed for student use. This site struck me as a great resource for educators and parents/grandparents/caregivers who are working with their students at home while the schools are closed or even during summer break. Find these valuable resources at:

INTERNET ARCHIVE OPEN LIBRARY  

📗 --  The Oxford Owl Project sponsored by Oxford University has a free e-book collection targeting children ages 3 years to 11 years.  There are resources available to parents, also, to assist them in supporting their child's reading. There is a lot to enjoy about this colorful website, which I feel children will find engaging and appealing. The Oxford Owl Project page may be found at:

THE OXFORD OWL PROJECT FROM OXFORD UNIVERSITY

 📕 📗 📘 📙 📚   ~ I have enjoyed researching, composing, and posting this series on my blog. I truly appreciate the many positive comments you all have posted and the email messages you have sent to me with positive feedback. Please share these links with your friends, family, colleagues, readers, and followers so that we can assure the youth of our nation do not miss out on great literature and reading experiences because of this pandemic. Take care, stay healthy, and be safe. And read, read, read to your heart's content this summer and always. 💝 ~

Calling all middle-grade authors, bloggers, and those interested in helping me spread the word about my upcoming middle-grade non-fiction sewing book! Please sign up to participate in the social media blitz for the first book in my 'Kids Love to Stitch' series, 'Picnic Projects'. Dates, details, and ways in which you can participate can be found at:  

SOCIAL MEDIA BLITZ FOR 'PICNIC PROJECTS' BOOK

  

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Find the links to read more great Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts from middle-grade authors and bloggers at Greg Pattridge's 'Always in the Middle' Blog.

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  Find the links to more great 'It's Monday! What Are You Reading?' (#IMWAYR) posts for children's and Young Adult books over at the Unleashing Readers website.  

 

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~ FRIDAY FICTION FEATURE REVELL STANDOFF ~

~ FRIDAY FICTION FEATURE ~

REVELL READS BLOG TOUR STOP

--  'STANDOFF'  --

AUTHOR PATRICIA BRADLEY

  

ABOUT THE BOOK:

 
The Natchez Trace National Parkway stretches 444 miles from Nashville to Natchez, the oldest town on the Mississippi River. It's the perfect road for a relaxed pleasure drive. Unfortunately for Luke Fereday, it's also perfect for moving drugs.

Sent to Natchez to infiltrate the organization at the center of the drug ring, Luke arrives too late to a stakeout and discovers the body of his friend, park ranger John Danvers. John's daughter Brooke is determined to investigate her father's murder but soon finds herself the target of a killer who will do anything to silence her.

Luke will have his hands full keeping her safe. But who's going to keep him safe when he realizes he's falling--hard--for the daughter of the man he failed to save?

 

LINK TO EXCERPT COURTESY OF THE PUBLISHER 

LINK TO BOOK TRAILER COURTESY OF THE PUBLISHER

Praise for the Book:

"An explosive start to a brand-new series."--Lisa Harris, bestselling author of the Nikki Boyd series

"Brimming with action, romance, and page-turning thrills. What a fantastic start to a brand-new series!"--Elizabeth Goddard, award-winning author of the Uncommon Justice series

"With a plot as twisting as the villain's schemes, Patricia Bradley's Standoff spins a tale that will keep the reader racing through the pages."--Lynn H. Blackburn, author of the Dive Team Investigations series

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Patricia Bradley is the author of Justice Delayed, Justice Buried, Justice Betrayed, and Justice Delivered, as well as the Logan Point series. Bradley won an Inspirational Reader's Choice Award in Romantic Suspense, a Daphne du Maurier Award, and a Touched by Love Award, and she was a Carol Award finalist. She is cofounder of Aiming for Healthy Families, Inc., and she is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Romance Writers of America. Bradley makes her home in Mississippi. Learn more at: www.ptbradley.com.

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS BOOK:

This is the first book written by Patricia Bradley that I have read. 

I found the beginning of this book to be complex due to the introduction of numerous characters. The author did a masterful job of keeping her readers in the dark about whom was 'thinking' about what by using the personal pronoun, he, throughout much of the story. I loved the author's methodical manner of not revealing any clues or information until she was ready to present it to the reader. This cat and mouse approach and the almost-constant physical action kept me engaged for the entire story.

The setting of this story, Natchez Trace in Mississippi, was unique to me in my background as a reader of suspense books. The scenery, climate, and terrain of this area is an integral part of this story. I enjoyed reading the descriptions of the area provided throughout the story.

The author has developed a strong group of characters in this kick-off to her 'Natchez Trace Park Rangers' series. There are some good guys and lots of bad guys. The author does a fine job of keeping the reader guessing which group each character fits into until the very end of the book. As a reader I experienced a lot of emotions while reading this book -- tension, fear, apprehension, anticipation, sadness, relief . . .

The female lead, Brooke Danvers, is a strong, independent, likeable woman. I admired her perserverance in the face of much adversity, tragedy, and personal trauma and loss. The male lead, whom I will leave unnamed so as to not spoil the story for those who have not read the story, goes through some major personal growth during the book. The faith thread is skillfully interwoven throughout many of the sub-plots making this a well-rounded novel in my view.

Highly-recommended to fans of Christian/clean romantic suspense fiction, Christian/clean romance fiction, and Christian/clean Southern fiction.

Disclosure from blogger: I received a paperback copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review to be posted on my blog and on retailer sites and Goodreads. I received no compensation for my review or posts here or on any other site.

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~ MMGM SUMMER READING FOR KIDS PART 2 ~

~ MARVELOUS MIDDLE-GRADE

MONDAY SUMMER READING

FOR KIDS FEATURE, PART TWO ~

Hello, All ~ I'm returning this week with a new set of links for resources for summer reading programs for children. Next week, I will present a wrap-up post, Post 3, which will include a link pack for some fun literacy activities and places to search for free books educators, parents/grandparents can download for their younger readers.

📘  -- The ALSC, Association for Library Service to Children, has a page on their website set up for 'Summer Reading and Learning for Children'. I was amazed to learn here that summer reading programs were developed in the 1890s to encourage children to read during their summer vacations and to develop the habit of visiting their local libraries. This page includes links to the following areas of interest:

--  Why Summer Reading is Important

--  Tips/Resources for Parents

--  Recommended Reading Lists for Kids & Parents

--  Bibliography/Resources for Librarians

📘  --  The Collaborative Summer Reading Program has a Summer Reading Program page with four areas of interest posted:

-- Library Summer Reading Programs: ALA Library Fact Sheet 17

-- New York State Library, The Importance of Summer Reading: Public Library Summer Reading Programs and Learning
 
-- Children’s Summer Library Use: 
Information compiled by Colorado’s Library Research Service which includes valuable data on summer library use by children from varying economic backgrounds.

-- Preventing Summer Reading Loss:
Article from Reading Rockets on preventing summer reading loss.

--  Link to the Collaborative Summer Reading Page

 📘  --  Goodreads has some book lists I think are worth mentioning here. 

--  Middle Grade Novels of 2020

--  Best Children's Books About Summer 

--  Great Children's Books With a Message 

--  Middle-Grade Fairy Tales 

--  Popular Diversity for Children 

--  Diverse Books for Children 

📕📘 Please return here next week for another set of links designed to help your young readers stay actively-engaged mentally, educationally, and emotionally this summer! 📕📘

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Find the links to read more great Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts from middle-grade authors and bloggers at Greg Pattridge's 'Always in the Middle' Blog.
 

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