Editorial Reviews for Nominees
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 Paperback Score: 94/100 (9.4 out of 10)
Audiobook Score: 93/100 (9.3 out of 10) Gertie Saves the Day is a fun, friendly, and uplifting children's book by Karen Patricia Nespoli! It is colorfully illustrated by Daniela Massironi. The exciting new audiobook version is narrated by May Webster! The book also serves a surprising educational functional. On a surface level reading, it teaches kids about courage, determination, and helping others. However, you could make the argument that, by teaching them the rich history behind Groundhog Day, the book actually sheds some light on cultural diversity and the many people who brought different traditions to the United States like the German migrants. Oh, yeah, you'll also learn a thing or two about the groundhogs themselves! Like, did you know that they're actually the largest members of the squirrel family? We didn't know that! On that note, did you know that the Germans actually didn't use groundhogs for this ceremony in Europe? They used other rodents like hedgehogs instead. That's interesting! Gertie Saves the Day follows the titular groundhog, Gertie, as she is excited about the approaching Groundhog Day tradition of February 2nd! Mainly, she daydreams about becoming the star groundhog attraction of the ceremony. However, her teacher informs her (and the other groundhog students) that the honor isn't going to be given to just anyone. No, they have to compete for it! Gertie, who doesn't see herself as the most talented or skilled of the bunch (in additon to being rather small), is still very determined to do her best and make her dreams a reality—a great message for kids! She is opposed by her athletic and arrogant classmate, Jeff, who belittles her by calling her "Shortie." Serving as the closest thing to an antagonist in the book, Jeff goes into the competition with all the confidence in the world that he will emerge victorious. However, both Jeff and Gertie are surprised by sudden changing circumstances. Jeff, who seemingly had unlimited confidence, was caught off guard and frozen stiff by the attention of so many people and cameras. Gertie, wanted to do the right thing and preserve the sanctity of the event, helps Jeff. Together, they work together to make the event extra special! It's a great message for children to treat others the way they'd want to be treated because you never know when you'll be in a negative situation like that. It's also a reminder not to be selfish and to look at the bigger picture. If Gertie were a vindictive person, she could've let Jeff fail, effectively sabotaging the entire event for everyone or at least allowing it to flounder. Instead, Gertie did the unselfish thing. Because of that, she made a new friend and a new teammate while becoming a co-star in the ceremony she dreamed about! The illustrations by Daniela Massironi, while relatively simple, are cute, appealing, and colorful. Massironi is effectively able to capture the emotions on the faces of characters; for example, we see the fear and exasperation on the faces of the groundhogs on page 25. The narration by May Webster, who studies music at Trinity College of Music, is a solid debut effort by the young emerging star! While Webster's performance a bit more straight and subtle than Immy Dymott's in The Fisherman and the French Flounder, there are upsides to the subtlety. You don't always have to be over-the-top and hyped up when narrating. It helps with most children's books (since children love when you are energetic and animated), but that sometimes distracts from the story, characters, and message of a story. That's not the case with this story. Because Webster reads the story so straight and subtley, it's very easy to understand and follow her. Webster, being from London, also brings a beautiful British accent to the audiobook. All in all, both the audiobook and paperback are a lot of fun! Check them out on Amazon!
1 Comment
 Score: 95/100 (9.5 out of 10)
The publishing world is a chaotic jungle at times, and author are like adventurers in that crazy place. It is full of beautiful sights and sounds—a world of opportunity. It's also full of vicious predators ready to prey on the unsuspecting. Thankfully, there are fellow travelers and good people along the way who will support and provide inspiration. All of those sentiments are captured in this book! My Journey as an Author by M.C. Ryder is a heartfelt memoir that will resonate with aspiring writers and authors! It provides a compelling look at the highs and lows of the creative process and offers valuable lessons for navigating the unpredictable world of publishing. Ryder’s honest storytelling and practical advice make it both an inspiring read and a useful guide. Something that really shines about this book is how personal and intimate it is. You can really tell that Ryder poured her heart into writing every word. For example, there are literally moments when she admits things like, “I'm laughing as I type this.” It really makes you feel like the author is in the room with you, having a friendly conversation with you. And it just so happens that the author is a genuinely good and friendly person, not to mention a genuine person altogether. You really get the sense that she cares. Not only was the writing of this book a cathartic experience for her, but it was also an opportunity for her to reach and inspire other people—other writers. If there's one author who has grown and improved the most from her first book to this one, it's Ryder. In fact, her most recent two books--How to Stand Up to Bullying and My Journey as an Author—are leaps and bounds higher in quality than her first book. You can really tell that this hasn't just been a fling or a fad to her, it has become a passion and a lifestyle. Another thing that really stood out to us are the personal stories about how certain happenings and events in her life inspired and influenced her writing. She talks about caring for and coping with a family member's waning health, as well as caring for her many pet cats—some of whom started off disadvantaged. Now, to be perfectly honest, there are parts of this book (which is supposed to be about writing) that discuss the cats in a bit too much detail, but no one says you can't skip those parts. It's also clear that the cats, especially Tiggie, had a big influence on Ryder while writing The Dark series. Beside from them helping her to understand feline behavior, which is especially reflected in Infinity Tales, the cats also directly inspire aspects of Ryder's characters and books. Tiggie (one of Ryder's real-life cats) tragically suffered from health problems closer to the end of his life. In a particularly special incident, Tiggie actually bit Ryder on the thumb during his last night at home (before being taken to the vet), like due to stress. This directly inspired the concept of Leo, the vampire cat, who appears throughout The Dark series. Leo is a friend, helper, and companion to the other characters, including the ones who dip into the dark side—dealing with emotions like anger and guilt—from time to time. How touching is that? Perhaps our favorite quote in the book is: “Humans are complex characters to write. When I was young, most of my stories included animals, mostly wolves. I found it easier to write from a wolf’s perspective rather than a human’s perspective. Ironic, since I’m human.” This stood out to us because it's very relatable. Most writers—like most people—aren't these unstoppable, unflappable statues of courage and ability that the outside world thinks they are. Writers are flawed. And, very often, they lack confidence. That's partly why so many suffer from writer's block. Sometimes, it helps to have a character—even an anthropomorphic one—to write through. Sometimes, it helps not to be the one on stage, but to let your characters take the stage for you. Ryder is very relatable in how vulnerable she comes across. And, by extension, she comes across as genuine while also being brave and courageous. Bravery is doing things even when you're afraid to do them, after all. Something else that surprised us about this book was how much Ryder talks about her research. We may have underestimated how much research she put into certain books. Perhaps the example that stands out the most in this regard is The Neighbors. When we first read The Neighbors, we were confident that this was a book written by an actual maternity nurse. Ryder really got the details right. Well, guess what? In this book, we found out that Ryder was never a maternity nurse. She actually had to do the research to get that right! A similar example is The Darkened Enchantment, in which Ryder had to do sizable research on firefighters/firefighting to make Lily's character more authentic. She even did studies on plants to enhance the story's realism. She even did research on plants for the story! Another major aspect of this book is how it explores and exposes many of the predatory facets of the publishing industry. Perhaps the biggest case in point is Ryder's negative experience with Chicklit Cafe, which came across as a scam in this book. We've seen these types of predatory businesses around and do our best to avoid them. Our interests were also piqued by her experiences with book awards. One of the things that stood out to us about that was how the author business was becoming such a financial strain that she started entering book contests with large monetary prizes against her better judgment (in hopes of at least breaking even). Of course, the chances of winning those are extremely low. This is actually why we don't have monetary prizes at the Outstanding Creator Awards. Whenever money is involved as a prize, other unscrupulous things tend to get involved, corruption being one of them, cheating being another. People will do anything to win money, and it becomes a lot more shaky to run a contest like that. It's also creates a more constrictive judging environment. You can't give money to everyone. Everyone can't win. In fact, much fewer people can win when money is involved. This isn't a perfect book, but it's a big improvement on Ryder's early works. For example, there are still examples of wrong-word usage, a problem that has been evident in her books since the beginning. She uses the word “creditability” instead of “credibility.” She also writes “tell sign” instead of “telltale sign.” It's not a big deal, just something we noticed. Ryder does a good job at using analogies. One of our favorites is how she compares the publishing industry to the music industry. There are great songs that rarely get heard or played on the radio because their artists don't have big, lucrative deals with the broadcasting networks. Likewise, there are great books that rarely get seen or read because their authors don't have big, lucrative deals with the major publishers. Props to Ryder on her huge strides as an author! Check it out on Amazon! |
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