rockstar book tours

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the OUR FRIEND HEDGEHOG by Lauren Castillo Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

About the Book:

Title: OUR FRIEND HEDGEHOG: The Story of Us

Author: Lauren Castillo

Pub. Date: May 5, 2020

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers

Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Pages: 122

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N, ibooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org

From a Caldecott Honor-winning artist comes a cozy classic-in-the-making about finding your friends and sticking together through thick and thin.

“Our Friend Hedgehog feels like a modern-day Winnie the Pooh . It’s so warm and full of joy and love. It’s got classic written all over it.” –Victoria Jamieson, Newbery Honor-winning author of Roller Girl

Sometimes you make a friend,

and it feels like you have known that friend your entire life. . . .

Hedgehog lives on a teeny-tiny island with only her stuffed dog, Mutty, for company. When a great storm carries Mutty away, she embarks on a quest to find her friend. Following the trail of clues Mutty left behind, brave Hedgehog meets a wiggly Mole, a wordy Owl, a curmudgeonly Beaver, a scatterbrained Hen and Chicks, and a girl who’s new to the neighborhood, Annika May. With bravery and teamwork, there’s nothing that can stop these seven from finding Mutty, but along the way they discover something even more important: each other.

The first book in a new series from Caldecott Honor winner Lauren Castillo, Our Friend Hedgehog: The Story of Us has the feel of a timeless classic, introducing an unforgettable cast of characters who will star in many more adventures to come.

Review: What an adorable book! Reminiscent of Beatrix Potter and A. A. Milne, the characters are lovable. Illustrations are beautiful and the setting is whimsical. This is a treasure for children. We loved it!

About Lauren:

Lauren studied illustration at the Maryland Institute College of Art and received her MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She is the author and illustrator of the 2015 Caldecott Honor winning book, Nana in the City, as well as The Troublemaker and Melvin and the Boy. Lauren has also illustrated several critically acclaimed picture books, including Kirkus Prize finalist Imagine by Juan Felipe Herrera, Twenty Yawns by Jane Smiley, and Yard Sale by Eve Bunting. She currently draws and dreams in Harrisburg, PA.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram |Goodreads

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will win a finished copy of OUR FRIEND HEDGEHOG, US Only.

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

5/1/2020

BookHounds YA

Excerpt

Week Two:

5/4/2020	La libreria di Beppe	Spotlight
5/5/2020	Reading Connects Us	Review
5/6/2020	100 Pages A Day	Review
5/7/2020	Little Red Reads	Review
5/8/2020	Daily Waffle	Excerpt

Week Three:

5/11/2020	Hurn Publications	Review
5/12/2020	Locks, Hooks and Books	Review
5/13/2020	Beagles & Books	Review
5/14/2020	Log Cabin Library	Excerpt
5/15/2020	YA Book Nerd	Review

Week Four:

5/18/2020	Adventures in Literature	Review
5/19/2020	❧Defining Ways❧	Review
5/20/2020	Two Chicks on Books	Interview
5/21/2020	Lifestyle of Me	Review
5/22/2020	Cindy’s Love of Books	Review

Week Five:

5/25/2020	A Dream Within A Dream	Excerpt
5/26/2020	Do You Dog-ear?	Review
5/27/2020	Such A Novel Idea	Review
5/28/2020	Sometimes Leelynn Reads	Review
5/29/2020	Twirling Book Princess	Excerpt

I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Title: THE MONSTER HYPOTHESIS

Author: Romily Bernard

Pub. Date: December 10, 2019

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Pages: 304

Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD

Welcome to Bohring-home to 453 people, 2,053 alligators, and one monster curse.
Correction: home to 454 people, now that Kick Winter is living in the swamp Hollows with her Grandma Missouri, the town (fake) psychic. Bohring is anything but boring for Kick who has already blown a hole through the kitchen floor, befriended a chicken-eating gator, and discovered that the town’s hundred-year curse is upon them.
It’s the Bohring curse and all the kids are about to become monsters-or so the legend goes. People are worried-except for Kick. She knows there’s a scientific explanation for everything, especially curses and monsters. But Kick is the new kid in school and she’s determined to make a name for herself . . . by pretending to be psychic.
According to her calculations: one teeny-tiny life + (fake) psychic skills = popularity. But when kids start disappearing and glowing creatures start showing up, Kick’s theory quickly evaporates in a puff of foul-smelling swamp gas. Can Kick use her (real) science smarts to prove the curse is a hoax? Or is it just-maybe-sort of-somehow possible the curse is here?
Author Romily Bernard weaves a fast-paced middle-grade mystery filled with humor and scientific intrigue, set in a perfectly eerie Southern town.

From page on the Monster Hypothesis had me transported to the deep South with alligators, magic and home cooked grits. I typically take a while to engage with middle grade characters and themes, but this time I was invested from the beginning. I love that the author chose such colorful family members and names, as well as interesting side characters like the three sister who introduce themselves to Kit on the first day of school. The reader can feel as if they are in the Hollows, and walking the mile to and from class. Kit is witty and independent, smart with science and willing to break silly rules to prove her hypotheses. There was so much I enjoyed about this book, that I truly can’t wait for more! Thank you Disney Hyperion and Rockstar Book Tours for the chance to read this gem.

About Romily:

Romily Bernard graduated from Georgia State University with a literature degree. Since then, she’s worked as a riding instructor, cell-phone salesperson, personal assistant, horse groomer and exercise rider, accounting assistant, and, during a very dark time, customer service representative. . . . She’s also, of course, now a YA novelist.

So don’t let anyone tell you a BA degree will keep you unemployed.

Romily currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, and Find Me is her debut novel. It placed first in the 2011 YA Unpublished Maggie Awards (given by Georgia Romance Writers) and won the Golden Heart Award for YA Romance from the Romance Writers of America in 2012.