Mundie Moms

Monday, January 23, 2012

Yara's Birthday Book Drive

2/29/12- UPDATE

THANK YOU to everyone who sent books to Yara's book drive! We received so many awesome books for both her and her boys. It's amazing for me to see how a little idea to get a friend of mine some books turned into this huge book drive. Here's two pictures from Yara's birthday part this past weekend where she was presented the books she's received so far in a brand new bookcase.



While the drive has officially finished, you can still send books to Yara. She's given me permission to post her address so that anyone who is still interested in sending books can now send them directly to her.

Her address is:

Yara Santos
222 Chariot Lane
New Caney, TX 77357

Thank you again to all who have donated books and to those who worked with me behind the scenes on the drive, Lisa, Stacey and Susan.


As many of you have heard, my dear friend Yara who runs Once Upon a Twilight lost her home this weekend to a fire. Not just one fire, but a second flared up and destroyed all that was left of her home. She is such a strong women and in being around her this weekend I couldn't get over how strong she was. I really admire and love her! She's amazing and I know that there is so much love and support pouring for her and her family. Being fellow book fans myself, Stacey with Page Turners Blog, Susan with Wastepaper Prose, as well as Lisa (Yara's main contact), are hosting Yara's Birthday Book Drive.

Our goal is to help replace as many books as possible, but not just for her, but for her two boys who have nothing (they're ages 5 & 10) and her husband. The focus of this drive to get YA, MG and Children's books for Yara and her family. These can be new and gently used. Because it's Yara's birthday next month, we want to present to her as many BOOKS as we can on 2/25! You can even send in book store gift cards as well.

The Birthday Book Drive will run from 1/23-2/23. That leaves us a day to get everything together to present to Yara on the Feb. 25th, her birthday.

ALL Donations can be sent to Lisa (who's helping Yara and her point of contact). PLEASE note on the box, Yara's Birthday so she knows what they are. Please send books to:

Yara Santos c/o Lisa Ciaccio
2914 Julie Ann Drive
Pearland, TX 77584


If you send anything, please check out the *new* blog for Yara's book drive. The list I originally had here will no longer be valid, as we've moved everything to the blog. Please be sure to check the following lists:

* check out the list of books we're trying to collect ** this is only a small portion of books Yara had, and you can donate more than what's shown on this list**
* You can see all the books she's had listed on her Goodreads page (a lot of you have asked for the link to see what books she had listed under her TO-READ list, since our list we're collecting is from her READ list)
* Check out the list of books for her boys, and see what books we've recently collected

** All books received are crossed off on the list

If you have any questions about any of the lists, please feel free to contact myself at adminmundiemoms AT gmail.com or Stacey stacey AT pageturnersblog.com . We're both working together, along with Susan from Wastepaper Prose to ensure the lists are accurate and up to date every day.


Please be sure to check out the new facebook page, which is listing everything you need to know about all the donations going on for Yara and her family.



I know a lot of friends are concerned about her Twilight books, and I can confirm that The Twilight Saga book ARE TAKEN CARE OF.


If you can't donate, please just keep Yara and her family in your thoughts and prayers! If you have any questions about donations outside of books, please let Lisa know or visit TwilightMOMS for more information.


There's also a link set up on Twilight Moms to donate $ and other goods they're in need of. Please go HERE to read more about it or to donate. They have some great links to other drives, and donation relief efforts for Yara and her family.


THANK YOU so much to everyone who's donated, worked behind the scenes to help Yara in any way and have done so much already for her and her family. You can read more about this on Once Upon a Twilight.

Cover Reveal: Renegade by J. A. Souders

By: Jessica Souders
Published by: Tor Teen
To Be Released on: Fall 2012
Pre-Order from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Since the age of three, sixteen-year-old Evelyn Winters has been trained to be Daughter of the People in the underwater utopia known as Elysium. Selected from hundreds of children for her ideal genes all her life she’s thought that everything was perfect; her world. Her people. The Law.

But when Gavin Hunter, a Surface Dweller, accidentally stumbles into their secluded little world, she’s forced to come to a startling realization: everything she knows is a lie.

Her memories have been altered.

Her mind and body aren’t under her own control. And the person she knows as Mother is a monster.

Together with Gavin she plans her escape, only to learn that her own mind is a ticking time bomb... and Mother has one last secret that will destroy them all -quoted from Goodreads


Follow Jessica: Website | Blog | Twitter | Goodreads | Facebook

Debut author Jessica Souders is giving away an ARC of her upcoming released, RENEGADE (when available), but in the meantime she's also giving away 1 copy of ANY YA book via The Book Depository! This is open internationally, as long as they ship to your country.

To ENTER:

You'll have to visit the six blogs who posted puzzle pieces (see below), because each blog posted a word. Collect each word, 6 total, to enter the contest. If you unscramble them in the right order you'll get an extra entry.

The form on this site is the same form on all the other blogs who are part of the reveal today (see below). You can ONLY ENTER ONCE, no matter which blog you visit.

Jessica will answer any comments you leave, but no entries will be accepted through the comments, those have to be done on the form.

The contest will start now and end on Monday Jan. 30th. The correct tagline along with the winner will be announced that morning on Jessica's blog.

You also get extra entries (5 total) for spreading the word: tweeting using the #renegade hash tage, blogging, facebooking etc



Middle Grade Must Haves

It's back!!! I started spotlighting MG reads in 2010, but I've severely slacked off on my Middle Grade posts lately. With a new year comes new goals, and one of those is to faithfully post a MG each week. Each Monday along with my Mundane Monday post I'm going to not only feature Middle Grade books I've reviewed on my children's book review blog, Mundie Kids, I'm also going to take part of author Shannon Messenger's Marvelous Middle Grade Monday meme on Mundie Kids. She's the author of last week's WOW, Keeper of the Lost Cities.

Excuse for me just a moment as I get overly EXCITED about this year's upcoming MG and Children's Book releases. I love YA, but man alive I feel like it's Christmas time over the excitement with this year's MG books & children's picture books. Some of the pictures are absolutely STUNNING! As in I would totally purchase the art work and hang it in my house stunning.

Since I just got back from ALA, I wanted to share with you guys some of the upcoming releases to be on the look out for. Here's some of my goodies I came home with and I can't wait to read and talk about here and on Mundie Kids:


If you haven't already I highly recommend adding these books to your lists! I know it's hard to see some of them, but I'll be spotlighting them through out this year. There are a lot of exciting titles coming up. They will rock your socks off!

Here's a few recent MG books I've read and HIGHLY RECOMMEND picking up!




Released on: January 17th, 2012 TODAY
Source: ARC from publisher to review
Ages: 10 & up
5 stars: I LOVED It!

Magic, Djinn, Ogres, and Sorcerers. Thirteen-year-old Zardi loves to hear stories about fantastical beings, long banned from the kingdom of Arribitha. But anyone caught whispering of their powers will feel the rage of the sultan—a terrifying usurper who, even with his eyes closed, can see all.

When her own beloved sister is captured by the evil ruler, Zardi knows that she must go to any lengths to rescue her. Along with her best friend, Ridhan—a silver-haired, violet-eyed boy of mysterious origins—and an unlikely crew of sailors led by the infamous Captain Sinbad, Zardi ventures forth into strange and wondrous territory with a seemingly impossible mission: to bring magic back to Arribitha and defeat the sultan once and for all -quoted from Goodreads

A fantastic debut that's full of adventure, fantasy, friendship and a whole lot of charm. I felt like a kid all over again while reading this compelling story. There's something about a well written middle grade book that reminds me of the excitement I had when I first started reading them (what feels like eons ago), and this book has that excitement. The journey with Zardi and her best friend Rhidan isn't just thrilling, it was completely engaging. The world of Arribitha screams of adventure, because it is dangerous, full of myths, magical creatures and a place where magic is strictly forbidden. It's also ruled by an evil and cunning Sultan who isn't afraid to do whatever it takes to keep his people in line. He definitely gives evil villains a who new meaning. Mixed into the story's danger are two well characters I've really come to admire.

You can read the rest of my 5 star review here



Published by: Little Brown kids
Released on: September 5th, 2011
Source: book from the publisher to review
Ages: 8 & up
4 stars: I Enjoyed It
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

On a scale of one to ten, sixth-grader Danvers Blickensderfer's life is a solid minus two. But he really hits rock bottom when he auditions for the local talent show: his death-defying hula-hooping-ninja tribute to Gonzo the Great is beat out by the world's most obnoxious middle school boy band, Emo Shun.

With his daredevil dreams dashed, Danvers goes to bed... and wakes up feeling a little fuzzy-literally! He's turned into a Muppet! Fortunately, there's an internship open at the Muppet Theater and Danvers has a chance to meet his long-nosed, stunt-lovin' hero! All aboard The Electric Mayhem bus as this misfit makes good and joins the zaniest crew ever: The Muppets! -quoted from Goodreads

Growing up a Muppets fans, I adored this book and it's one my son enjoyed just as much as I did. Scroggs does a great job at staying true to the humor and misadventures that the Muppets are known for. I thought it was really creative in the way the story is told, which is through a kid name Danvers who wakes up one morning to find himself now a Muppet. Not only do readers get a behind the scenes glance of all that goes in the Muppet's world, but it was really cool to see how a huge fan of the Muppet's himself tries to adjust being one now.

You can read the rest of my review here



Published by: Scholastic
Released on:
Source: Book from publisher to review
Ages: 7-10
4 stars: A Really Fun Read
Purchase from: Scholastic | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Can the world's friendliest spiders spin a web strong enough to catch . . . a criminal?

They're sweet and friendly . . . but they just happen to be super toxic. The Deadlies are the world's most misunderstood family of spiders. Kicked out of home after home, all the Deadlies want is to settle down in a cozy web with no exterminators around.

Now they've found the perfect place - the Rare Books room at the Boston Library. The librarian isn't afraid of the Deadlies, and they have lots of lovely books to explore. But their peace is threatened when a thief starts targetting the library. Can the Deadlies spin a web big enough to catch a crook - or is it back on the road once more? -quoted from Goodreads

What a fun adventure with a unique family of crime fighting spiders. Who would have thought that spiders could be so cool? Certainly not me, but if this family of spiders lived in my house I'd definitely keep them around. Not only do they protect the Boston Public Library's collection of books from those pesky silverfish who eat through pages and the collectable paintings, but together they stop thieves who keep stealing pictures out of books.

You can read more of my review here

Mundane Monday #120

Happy Mundane Monday!! I LOVE this picture of Tessa and Will. I found this image on Cassie's tumblr. You can also visit the artist's page on Deviantart.

This is just an excerpt taken from one of my favorite scenes in Clockwork Prince....

She stood as if mesmerized as he gathered her hair in his hands, draping it over one of her shoulders, winding her curls between his fingers, "My Tessa," he said, and this time she did not tell him that she was not his.

- Clockwork Prince, page 289

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