Can You Survive: Jack London's Call of the Wild - Ryan Jacobson - Blog Tour Review and a Spooky Story for you!

Stolen. Shipped. Enslaved.

Can You Survive?

You find yourself in Alaska, a dangerous world of greedy men and savage dogs. Every moment, your life is at risk. Do you have what it takes to survive as Buck, literature’s most famous sled dog? Or will the freezing temperatures and rugged wilderness lead to your doom? Step into this adventure, and choose your path. But choose wisely, or else…

Title: Can You Survive? Jack London's Call of the Wild

Author: Ryan Jacobson

Genre: Middle Grade Fiction, Choose Your Own Adventure, Adventure, Action

Publisher: Lake 7 Creative

Publication Date: October 15, 2011

Format: ARC

Source: Received from author. Many thanks goes to Ryan Jacobson for sending me a copy of this book for review. I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review.

Look for it: Amazon, Book Depository

My rating: 4/5

Mini-review:

Can You Survive: Jack London's Call of the Wild is an adaptation of the classic tale Call of the Wild. It has been adapted into a choose your own adventure book, where the reader becomes Buck. Choices abound for the reader as they follow along with Buck on his journey across the wilds of Alaska. 

The wilderness is a treacherous place, and death beckons to the unwary. Buck has to learn who to trust, and how to adapt to the harsh conditions he is forced into. He no longer lives in the lap of luxury and you will need to make the choices alongside him. If you make the wrong choice, that will be the end of the line for Buck. There are many different choices to make within the pages of this book, and many of them lead to Buck's demise. Will you, and he, be able to make the right decision in every situation? Only time will tell. 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading and re-living the classic tale of Call of the Wild in this format. I believe many middle grade readers and even teens will enjoy reading it as well, especially since they get to dictate what Buck does next. All in all, this is an adventurous adaptation that will have the reader living out Buck's story. 

Now for a Spooky Treat!

The Haunted Hutch

“Surprise!” exclaimed Lila Palmer.

Her daughter Jenny stifled a gasp. It was indeed a surprise—but not a good one. Jenny’s parents had unexpectedly arrived at her home, and while they were always welcome to visit, the gift they had brought was not a happy sight.

The china hutch was a gorgeous piece of furniture, but its worth was measured only in sentimental value. The antique had been passed down from mother to daughter for generations. Apparently, now it was Jenny’s turn to own it.

As a child, Jenny had never given much thought to the hutch. She would have ignored it all together if not for the times she had gotten into trouble on its behalf. The items displayed behind the hutch’s glass doors had a strange habit of rearranging themselves, and the hutch doors often popped open without explanation.

For years, Jenny shouldered the blame, even though she was innocent. Fortunately for her, when she was eight years old, her mother witnessed a door opening on its own; a statuette jumped off its shelf and onto the floor. After that, Jenny wasn’t blamed anymore.

Before the girl’s ninth birthday, the Palmers hit a stretch of bad luck. The family’s house was burglarized, and the thieves took several hunting rifles and a jewelry collection that included Lila’s heirloom wedding rings.

Mere months later, an electrical fire destroyed the Palmer’s home, consuming most of their belongings. The only item to survive the blaze was the old hutch. Lila took special care in cleaning the soot off her prized possession, and while she did so, she made a startling discovery: The two stolen wedding rings had suddenly appeared on one of the hutch’s shelves.

Even after the Palmers moved the hutch into their new home, its contents continued to change positions, and the doors sometimes opened themselves. At first, these happenings were little more than fun conversation topics. However, as the years passed, Jenny detected a ghastly pattern: Every time the hutch doors opened, a loved one died within three months!

Jenny hated herself for discovering the correlation. She spent most of her teen years in fear of finding the hutch open, and when this harbinger came, she waited in dreadful anticipation for death to find someone she cared about. It always did, without exception.

By contrast, in the years after she left the hutch behind, Jenny didn’t attend a single funeral. It would seem that in escaping the antique cabinet, she had saved her family and friends from the Grim Reaper.

Yet here it was. Death—the hutch—had found her again. Jenny silently debated her options. Although it would break her mother’s heart, she eventually chose to refuse the gift.

She didn’t have to.

As the hutch was lifted off the truck, the glass on its doors broke. Jenny tried not to smile; now she had an excuse for keeping it in the garage.

Three years came and went, and the hutch sat in storage. Time softened Jenny’s opinion of the family treasure. Eventually her sentiments got the better of her. (The hutch’s predictions of death couldn’t be real. They were simply matters of coincidence.) She fixed the hutch and moved it into her dining room.

For the better part of a month, Jenny enjoyed the old piece of furniture without incident. Then one day it happened. Jenny came home from grocery shopping to find the hutch’s doors standing open.

Exactly three months later, her 36-year-old cousin died from a heart attack. Jenny wasted no time in getting rid of the hutch, once and for all.

© Ryan Jacobson

Ryan Jacobson can be found on his website, on facebook, and on twitter.

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Ryan Jacobson has always loved choose your path books, so he is thrilled to get a chance to write them. He used his memories of those fun-filled stories and his past experiences to write LOST IN THE WILD. The book became so popular that he followed it with STORM AT THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT EVEREST and CAN YOU SURVIVE: JACK LONDON’S CALL OF THE WILD.

Ryan is the author of nearly 20 books, including picture books, comic books, graphic novels, chapter books and ghost stories. He lives in Mora, Minnesota, with his wife Lora, sons Jonah and Lucas, and dog Boo. For more details, visit www.RyanJacobsonOnline.com.

Effie at the Wedding - Tracy Marchini - Blog Tour Review

Effie has a million reasons why she's not thrilled to be at her sister's wedding -- and the monstrously pink bridesmaid's dress isn't even on the list. When Effie finds herself locked in the bathroom, she thinks she might just stay there. After all, it's better than hearing from her mom about how often she's been to the buffet or how beautiful Ophelia looks in her wedding dress.

In this hysterical young adult short story, Effie will have to find a reason to celebrate... or get used to her porcelain throne.

Synopsis taken from goodreads. 

Title: Effie at the Wedding

Author: Tracy Marchini

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Short Story

Publisher: Squirrel Books

Publication Date: March 30, 2011

Format: E-book

Source: Received from author courtesy of Teen Book Scene. Many thanks goes to Tracy Marchini for sending me a copy of her book for review. I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review. 

Blog Tour: Teen Book Scene. You can follow along with the tour here.

Look for it: Amazon

My rating: 4.5/5

Effie is definitely feeling depressed. Her sister is getting married, and she's trying to stay away from her overly zealous relatives. She doesn't want to lose her sister but is scared that things will inevitably change. 

Marchini's characters are infused with humour. Effie wants her sister back as her sister is the negotiator in their family. With Ophelia getting married, Effie is worried that she won't have anyone to step in when her family gets too overbearing, as they tend to do. Coupled with her sensitivity in regards to her weight, and her relatives wise-cracks, she feels lost and miserable without her sister being around to step in. She has a wicked sense of humour though, and her comments throughout the short story had me cracking a grin or outright laughing. When trouble befalls our enterprising protagonist, we are left with bated breath wondering how she'll react to the situation. 

Marchini captures that feeling of bittersweet loss, when family dynamics change due to close siblings getting married and moving on to the next stage in their lives. The siblings left behind are left to wonder if they will still have as close a relationship as they had before the wedding. With Effie's mother, aunt and grandmother making comments, it's easy to see why Effie is left feeling so bereft. 

All in all a cute, and humour filled read as Effie travels the minefield that is Ophelia's wedding. Will she travel through it unscathed? Her dress might not, but she is making memories that she'll look back at fondly later on in life. Readers will enjoy and commiserate with Effie as they will find themselves relating to her various predicaments. 

Blog Tour: Effie at the Wedding - Tracy Marchini - Effie Character Interview & Giveaway

Tracy Marchini is here today with a character interview courtesy of the Teen Book Scene blog tour for her short story, Effie at the Wedding. Welcome, Effie and Tracy! Thank you for being here today! You can follow along with the tour here. Enjoy!

Do you think your relationship with Ophelia is going to change now that she is married?

Honestly, I think it started changing when she got engaged. Like, there were times when I’d ask her about something, and instead of giving me her opinion, she would tell me what George thought. (It’s like when people fall in love, their significant other’s answers to everything are suddenly either brilliant or hysterical. But to the rest of us mere mortals, they aren’t that bright or funny.) I do like George, it’s just that sometimes I want to be able to talk to my sister without him being a third party. Maybe this will wear off though, right? Like a honeymoon phase, but for annoying-older-sister-gushy comments?

What was going through your mind when you realized the stall door was jammed?

This would never happen to Ophelia.

If you could say anything to Ophelia, what would you say?

I guess I would tell her that I miss how we used to be, and that it’s not that I don’t like George…. I just don’t want to lose my sister in exchange for a brother-in-law. (Also, that she still owes me forty dollars for Death Cab tickets. She can’t use “It’s a wedding present” forever!)

What three things do you love about Ophelia?

3.) Ophelia makes awesome brownies, and her chocolate fudge is absolutely, hands down, the best thing that has ever happened to corn. (It’s made with corn syrup, chocolate, sugar, butter and probably some other super-excellent ingredient that I’m forgetting.)

2.) Ophelia is nicer than I am, which sounds like it’d be completely annoying, and sometimes it is. But frankly, two of me in the house could be a problem.

1.) She always knows how to help when my mom says something rude, or when my grandmother is poking at my stomach, or when my aunt has said way too much about how beautiful my older sister is. She’s like, our family referee, and I’m really going to miss that.

Do you think your family's dynamics will change now that Ophelia is married?

Given all the lovely things I just said about Ophelia above, I will just say this one thing: You know how Bridget Jones mentions the “smug marrieds?” I’m not saying that Ophelia is that bad, but every once in a while, it comes out in a big way. Like, she never once said to me, “You’ll understand when you’re older” when we were growing up, but now it’ll slip out occasionally.

Give me five things you should never do at a wedding.

1.) Never be the only single girl at the wedding. This might be difficult to accomplish, and if you can’t then:

1a.) Be sure to be in the bathroom during the bouquet toss. Who wants to sit on a chair in the middle of the wedding and have some strange, probably five beers in, guy try to out-do the groom in putting a garter up their skirt? Gross. (You know it’s never the hot guy that catches the garter.)

2.) Never be the girl crying in the bathroom. (I was pretty close to this, but I did not cry, and that makes all the difference.)

3.) Never snort. (Laughing, crying, it doesn’t matter. Your snort during the ceremony will be captured by their cinematographer, and years from now the wedded couple will play the video just to hear the snort and try to pinpoint if it was you, or the cousin you were forced to bring as a date.)

4.) “Shout” is not a good song to dance to if you have poor bladder control. I’m not saying wear a diaper, but if you’ve ever even thought that you might need one, just sit out the “shout” song and watch everybody else jump at the right moments. You’ll thank me later.

5.) Never, ever, start drinking heavily before you do the toast. At best, you will just be a mumbling mess. At worst, you will tell the entire ceremony about the bachelor party that the bride didn’t know about, or that time in college where you and the groom took turns throwing yourselves down the stairs to see who could roll fastest. (Seriously, my will-do-anything-for-a-dollar-probably-still-bruised-from-rolling-downstairs cousin is married, and I can’t even get a date. Seriously!)

Give me five reasons why Ophelia and George are perfect for each other?

5.) They look like cake toppers. It’s disusting(ly cute… but mostly disgusting.)

4.) Ophelia likes to decorate, and George’s apartment looks like he took a Pottery Barn catalog, took it apart, tacked it on the wall and then randomly bought whatever the darts landed on. It’s all very nice, but nothing matches. Ophelia’s much better at that stuff than I am, and definitely better than George is. (Even if she doesn’t always get fashion right.)

3.) They never argue. And if they do, it always ends quickly and without anybody pouting. (So, the exact opposite of when my mother and I argue… I won’t tell you who is the pouter.)

2.) George knows when Ophelia doesn’t like something but won’t say it because she’s trying to make him happy. So if George says, “Let’s go see this ridiculous movie that’s mostly dark except for when you’re hearing/seeing an alien go SPLAT, but otherwise there’s no plot whatsoever,” and then Ophelia says, “Uh.. okaaaay.” but that she makes the Ophelia face, which is a half smile on top of a grimace, then he’ll say, “Or we could stay home at watch Love Actually with a bottle of wine.” And then Ophelia will say and actually mean okay.

1.) They truly love each other, even though Ophelia has morning breath and George has a weird patch of fur on his shoulders. (True story, you’d think he’d give it a quick wax or something.) They’re super gross when they’re together, but, I’m hoping that one day, I will be just as disgusting as the two of them.

Thank you for answering my questions, Effie, and thank you so much for being here! 

Tracy Marchini can be found on her website.

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Giveaway

Tracy Marchini has graciously provided Lost For Words with two e-copies of Effie at the Wedding to giveaway. 

Thank you, Tracy!

Both e-copies will be gifted from Amazon. 

Giveaway is international, and will end July 22, 2011.

Please fill out this FORM to enter. Comments, while appreciated, will not be counted as entries. 

Thank you!