Sunday, September 20, 2020

~ TROUBLE BLOWS WEST BLOG TOUR STOP ~

 ~ MIDDLE-GRADE CONTEMPORARY
FICTION BLOG TOUR STOP ~
--  'TROUBLE BLOWS WEST'  --
AUTHOR MONIQUE BUCHEGER
~Post Includes:  Book Spotlight, Excerpt,
Author Bio, Unique Author Guest Post & Giveaway~ 

Trouble Blows West JustRead Blog Tour 

 

Welcome to the Blog Tour & Giveaway for Trouble Blows West by Monique Bucheger, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!
 

ABOUT THE BOOK

 

The Secret Sisters Club
Title: Trouble Blows West 
Series: Ginnie West Adventure #2 
Author: Monique Bucheger 
Publisher: True West Publishing 
Release Date: March 18, 2020 
Genre: Middle-Grade Contemporary Fiction 

Putting her body in motion before her brain is in gear creates a mountain of problems for 12 year-old Ginnie West. She is certain that defending her twin brother, Toran, from the biggest bully in sixth grade was the right thing to do. But Ginnie couldn’t be more wrong. 

She quickly figures out that Toran doesn’t appreciate being rescued by a girl any better than Pierce likes being knocked down by one. When Pierce seeks revenge on Ginnie, Toran sets aside his anger and helps her plot a playback prank at Pierce’s house. 

Sadly, Ginnie learns that Pierce has a reason for being a bully when she sees his dad drop him to the floor like a ragdoll with one awful blow to the chest. Realizing he's a boy in big trouble, Ginnie switches gears and decides to be his ally, even if he won’t let her be his friend. 
 
EXCERPT:
 
DAD FINDS OUT GINNIE GOT SUSPENDED:

Ginnie relaxed, pleased to hear the merriment in her dad’s voice. She waited for him to enter the kitchen and notice her.

 No sense bringing on a lecture earlier than need be.

“Hi, Uncle Ben!” Uncle Jake stopped and took a second look at Ginnie, obviously puzzled at her presence in the kitchen. “Hey, Trouble. Are we late from work or are you early from school?”

Ginnie shrugged, and turned toward the scale, the candler, and the cartons that littered the blue countertop. She put the dropped egg on the scale. It was still whole.

Dad felt her forehead. “Hi, honey. Are you okay? Did you come home sick?”

“Now that you mention it, I have felt better.”

Uncle Ben cleared his throat.

Dad’s gaze moved from her face to Uncle Ben’s, waiting for an explanation. When Uncle Ben didn’t say anything, Dad crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked her straight in the eye. “Am I going to like what I’m about to hear?” 

Note to self, comic relief isn’t a good strategy. 

She turned away and studied the pot of violets on the windowsill.

Well, here comes the lecture. 

“That depends on how you feel about me getting suspended for defending my brother.”

“Been there. Done that!” Uncle Jake teased.

Thank goodness for Uncle Jake! 

 

PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon Book Depository


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Monique Bucheger

When Monique Bucheger isn’t writing, you can find her playing taxi driver to one or more of her 12 children, plotting her next novel, scrapbooking, or being the “Mamarazzi” at any number of child-oriented events. 

Even though she realizes there will never be enough hours in any given day, Monique tries very hard to enjoy the journey that is her life. She shares it with a terrific husband, her dozen children, an adorable granddaughter, a son-in-law, three cats, and many real and imaginary friends. 

She is the author of several books and plans to write many more. You can find more about Monique and her works on her website
 

The Ginnie West series is a labor of love for me. I started out sharing a fun story of a character I made into an imaginary friend as a kid. Then, as I grew up (and Ginnie didn’t), I realized that I still loved Ginnie’s spirit, her feistiness, her courage. I like that she stood up for what she believed in, that Ginnie was a good and loyal friend to Tillie and myself, and that she was a lot of fun. 

Ginnie isn’t afraid to try new things or think new thoughts. As I grew up and turned my attention to my growing family and over 100 abused and neglected kids that I fostered over a 12 year period--I realized that Ginnie could help me give a voice to kids who may not have the courage or ability to voice their concerns and desires--good or bad.

The second book in my Ginnie West series: Trouble Blows West was born.

Tweens are people who feel things passionately. If they don’t feel their voices will be heard--they often hide inside themselves--and still feel things passionately. 

The middle grade years are amazing, puzzling, adventurous, meaningful, and unpredictable. Kids redefine themselves and their world--over and over until it makes sense to them. They figure out what they as individuals stand for--or don’t stand for, rather than just going along with what their families, friends, teachers, and others in authority stand for. 

Middle graders embrace new thoughts, discover new situations, learn and grow. They make deliberate decisions, comparisons, reframing the world as they know it into a world they want to be a part of--or they don’t want to be a part of.

While Ginnie West is a bit impulsive, she chooses not to fear new situations. Often she finds joy in simple things, or clinging to truths she believes in, like she needs to protect her best friend, Tillie. Over time, she helps Tillie realize that she isn’t helpless, that her opinions have value, and that she is worthy to be loved.

When I was 12, two of my friends were being abused in their homes--I knew it--but didn’t know how to help them. Worse, I’m not sure I could help them. I reconnected with one of them on Facebook when I was writing the 3rd book of the Ginnie West series. 

She shared with me that she, in fact, considered me one of her very best friends. I was always friendly to her, but I didn’t consider us best friends. Why did she? Because, apparently I stood up for her when she was being bullied at school by a much bigger boy. The boy also bullied me on occasion--but even so--I stood up for her, insisting he treat her better or leave her alone. The saddest part for me was when she went on to tell me that she considered us “secret best friends”--because I didn’t see her outside of school--she considered us best friends--but she didn’t think I would want anyone else to know we were friends. 

To her, my standing up for her was the most important thing. I made her feel like she had value--even if she thought she had to keep our friendship secret back then. I still don’t know what to think of that confession--I just know I don’t want any other kids to not have the courage to be true to themselves and their friends. It saddens me that my friend didn’t feel openly valued.

Knowing I didn’t do more to help her or our other friend (mostly because I didn’t know what to do when I was 12) filled me with guilt and regret--and pushed my desire to become a foster mom--so that I could help kids like her. 

Now, as an author, I want to write books that help all kids--ones like Ginnie that have a good grasp on their feelings and opinions, ones like Tillie who need a little courage and ones like Pierce, who have spent a lot of years angry because they have been mistreated, find peace in their lives so that they can overcome, flourish, and grow. 

To quote a good friend of mine: author, motivational speaker, artist and illustrator of his book, Drawing Out The Dragon, James A. Owen: “If everything in the past has value, then there’s no reason for regret, ever. With no regret and no fear there's nothing left but possibility and joy. And the realization that it is a wonderful world that we live in, after all.” 

So now I realized that my series may give voice to kids who need it. As a former foster mom--I am always about empowering kids, helping them realize they have value, and encouraging them to change their own stars.

Recently I had an 18 year-old girl who had been physically abused by her birth dad (as well as held her birth mom as she died of a drug overdose when she was 13 years-old) approach me and share with me that she had read all of my books and that reading them brought her peace and healing. 

I am thankful that my story brought her peace and healing, and that she shared this with me. Her story is a hard reality that too many kids share--quite often unbeknownst to those around them. I  like to think of the Ginnie West Adventures as “real-life with humor” and I plan to continue to write the series in the hopes that Ginnie’s adventures will continue to help others find humor, courage, passion, inspiration, compassion, integrity and strength in their lives, to help themselves and to help those they care about. 

Laugh lots … love much … write on!

Monique Bucheger


CONNECT WITH MONIQUE: Website Facebook | Instagram | Twitter


TOUR GIVEAWAY

(1) winner will receive a $50 Amazon gift card OR winner's choice of Google Play, Apple, or Kobo!

Trouble Blows West JustRead Giveaway

Be sure to check out each stop on the tour for more chances to win. Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway will begin at midnight August 25, 2020 and last through 11:59 PM EST on September 1, 2020. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE


  Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!
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*NOTE: This post contains affiliate links.

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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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21 comments:

  1. Congrats to Monique. That's amazing how many kids she has fostered. I love the cover for this one. Sounds like a great story.

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  2. This sounds like a great book for teens to help them understand interpersonal relationships.

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  3. Trouble Blows West sounds like an excellent MG read! Ginny may be impulsive and react before she thinks things through, but she does have a big heart at the end of the story! When I see bullies I immediately wonder what life is like at home -- this is a great peek. Great interview with Monique. Love that she fosters children, which gives her a lot of ideas for stories. :)

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  4. Books with twin characters are always well received. There's always a curiosity from those who are not twins. Monique has helped a lot of kids in her life and this will be another opportunity. Thanks for the feature on MMGM.

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  5. this looks like a book I'll want to read - if for nothing else than there's a horse on the cover! (reason enough, right?) and Ginnie sounds like the sort of sister I would want having my back.

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  6. Thank you for sharing! - JustRead Tours

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  7. The girls on the cover are so cute. Thanks for the giveaway!

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  8. Wow. That is quite a story and quite a family. This book sounds great, and the cover will draw in lots of readers. Thanks for the post.

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  9. After reading the excerpt, it looks like a well-written book. I'm totally impressed that the author has time to write books with 12 kids!

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  10. What a beautiful guest post! I appreciate that this book deals with tough topics sensitively. Thanks for the great post!

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  11. This sounds really good! And the cover is adorable. It's not often you see pictures of such happy kids on covers. Congrats to Monique!

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  12. Excellent book, good to learn about this. Cheers.

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  13. The book sounds good, and I love the cover!

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  14. The Ginnie West series is new to me, so I need to go check it out! Thanks for sharing, June!

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  15. Wow--everybody--thank you for the warm reception of my book. I just popped on to say "Thank you" to June for hosting my book and reading everyone's comments truly makes my day. :) The Ginnie West series is a labor of love. I'm working on the 5th book and hope it continues to touch people's hearts. :)

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~ NEW SEWING PATTERN FABRIC FLOWER TOWELS ~

~ NEW SEWING PATTERN FABRIC FLOWER TOWELS ~