Donna Galanti - Where heart and hope meet adventure!

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Review of The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow + Hard Cover Giveaway!

By Donna Galanti

DMSCheck out my review today of The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow by Jessica Haight and Stephanie Robinson, and don’t forget to enter the giveaway at the bottom. I pre-ordered this middle grade mystery months ago and it finally arrived on my doorstep just in time for Christmas – as you can see! 🙂

**Congrats to Janice who won the book!**

About The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow
Written by Jessica Haight
& Stephanie Robinson
Illustrated by Roman Muradov

The Begonia House keeps its secrets. Everyone knows that. Everyone, that is, except for clever eleven-year-old Fairday Morrow, whose family has just moved in. Being the Senior Investigator in the Detective Mystery Squad, more commonly known as the DMS, she’s ready to uncover the mysteries hidden within the strange manor. As the investigation gears up and the pieces of the puzzle fall into place, the three young sleuths enter into a world where anything is possible, and the danger is most definitely real. Can they piece together the puzzle before it’s too late? Or will whatever’s causing trouble find Fairday and her friends first?

MY REVIEW:

What a fun mystery adventure with a dash of supernatural for kids and grown-ups alike to enjoy! Spunky Fairday Morrow is a good friend full of pluck and curiosity, who stands up for what she believes in and has no time for bullies. Each chapter’s cliffhanger ending raises questions that draws you deeper into the mystery connecting Fairday to Begonia House, the rambling, spooky home her parents plan to turn xenical into a bed and breakfast.

Fairday soon enlists friends in the kids-only Detective Mystery Squad (DMS) to find out who is haunting Fairday’s new home with evil intent. Enchanted mirrors, ghostly music, gypsy curses, an unsolved disappearance, and a nod to The Wizard of Oz all eerily come into play behind strange happenings that ramp up the suspense.

Fairday and her friends each have their own admirable qualities that should appeal to readers and I’d like to get to know them better as they grow as characters. The parents are nicely served up on the outskirts of the story and the authors do a good job of the young characters taking charge of their own situation and solving it, even when they find themselves having to figure a way out of some dark situations. I especially enjoyed the elderly curmudgeon character, Larry Lovell, who sheds light on the trickery occurring in Fairday’s home and provides important information the DMS uses to solve the puzzle trapped inside the magical walls of Begonia House.

This book is a page turner that you’ll want to keep reading to unravel the mystery! The ending is wrapped up neatly but aptly leaves the door open for more tales about the DMS. I eagerly await more adventures of Fairday, her friends, and their investigative adventures!

Check out the book trailer:

Follow Stephanie and Jessica!

Fairday’s Blog

Fairdayfiles.com

@DMSfiles

Would you like to win a hardcopy of The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow? Comment on this post and be entered to win! U.S. residents only please.

 

Happy Snowy Spring – and Happy Book News!

By Donna Galanti

So, happy first day of Spring, folks. If you’re in Pennsylvania like me then you’re getting snow!

Despite the snow lots of fun things are popping up that I wanted to share with you as release day for Joshua and the Lightning Road quickly approaches on May 19th!

My print galleys are in! My wonderful publisher Georgia McBride, with Month9Books, sent me this fun video of the galley of my book. (A galley is the pre-publication version of an upcoming published book that is a printed, perfect bound book).

It’s still a dream to me that the book I started writing four years ago for my son is becoming published. And I can now share this wonderful endorsement I received by New York Times bestselling author Jenny Nimmo. And here’s what she had to say about Joshua and the Lightning Road:

Vividly imagined characters in a gripping action fantasy that never lets you go until the very last page. –Jenny Nimmo, New York Times bestselling author of the Charlie Bone series

But there’s also a story here – Jenny is my son’s absolute favorite author and to have her endorse this book I wrote for him makes me cry with happiness. She read the book in her converted water wheel home in Wales and I loved knowing that she was reading Joshua and the Lightning Road there by the river.

She lives not too far from Bristol, England where I lived with my parents long ago. My husband and son are planning an England visit in a couple of years and Jenny welcomes us to visit her. I imagine standing beside her and my family with book in hand by a Welsh river, and it makes me all sparkly inside.

And these gorgeous goodies that came in the mail make me all sparkly too! Who doesn’t like buy valium bookmarks? I love them so much I am giving them away to the first five folks that comment here (U.S. only please).

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Plus I’m a featured author today on YA FEST Junior! I had fun talking about authors I admire and how my fantasy characters were inspired by real people – and share my advice to young writers. Don’t miss this event April 25th at 2pm at Bethlehem Public Library in Bethlehem, PA, where I’ll be signing galleys with almost 20 other authors and illustrators.

YA-FEST-JR-LARGE-POSTERI’m also presenting a session at my very first writer’s conference tomorrow at Liberty States Create Something Magical Conference in Iselin, NJ. I’m teaching a session called 5 Things to Do Right Now Before You Get a Book Deal and leading a panel with my good friend, Kathryn Craft, on The Line Between Good and Evil.

And tomorrow is the last day to comment and be entered to win this great book bundle giveaway. I cleaned out my bookshelves recently and made some awesome finds in fabulous condition. A great mix of fantasy, historical, and contemporary. And since I’ve got spring fever soooooo bad I’m giving them away!

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And don’t forget to check out my new Kid Heroes series and nominate your very own kid hero to be featured. For each kid that I feature I will donate $10 to the Kids Wish Network, a special program that grants wishes to kids who face remarkable challenges and are in desperate need of hope.

A reminder to visit Project Mayhem, a cooperative blog of middle grade authors, that I’m excited to be part of as a new member. We’re sharing our journey to publication and all things about kid’s books.

Thanks for sharing in my journey to becoming a children’s author! Happy Spring…maybe!

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DON’T FORGET TO COMMENT TO GET THESE GORGEOUS BOOKMARKS!

Middle Grade Book Bundle Giveaway!

By Donna Galanti

I’m over at Project Mayhem this week talking about how to catch a leprechaun! Stop on in. And don’t forget to check out my new Kid Heroes series and nominate your very own kid hero to be featured.

I’m also cleaning out my bookshelves this week and made some awesome finds in fabulous condition. A great mix of fantasy, historical, and contemporary. And since I’ve got spring fever soooooo bad I’m giving them away!

2015-03-03 07.25.04

Check out this great middle grade book bundle of award winning books and authors:

Pillage by Obert Skye
Crispin The Cross of Lead by Avi
Squashed by Joan Bauer

Plus levitra generic These Special Advanced Reader Copies of:
Fortunately the Milk by Neil Gaiman
Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger

And the golden jewel! An 11-Disc Audio Book Set of The Flame in the Mist by Crystal Kite Award-Winning Author Kit Grindstaff ($50 value!) You will want to listen to this fabulous tale and guaranteed to be mesmerized (and a wee bit scared!).

Love to win this amazing bunch of goodies? Enter below. And don’t forget to leave these great authors a review after reading. 🙂

U.S. only. Simply leave a comment on this post to enter to win! Ends 3/21.

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