Mommy Plannerista

Planning. Passions. Parenthood.

Book Review: Momma Don’t You Worry by Louie Lawent

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Momma Don't You Worry Book Cover Momma Don't You Worry
Louie Lawent
Children's eBooks
Ladybee Publishing
January 27, 2015
eBook
12 pages

This illustrated books tells a poetic story from a six year old's viewpoint. His mother worries too much in his opinion, until they go on a shopping trip and he gets a real appreciation for just how right his mom is.

About the Author:

Louie Lawent lives in Berlin, Wisconsin. He is also a lyricist with his co-written works featured on rock, country and children's releases. His co-written song "One More Father's Son" is on Grammy award-winning D.L. Byron's latest CD "Satori". This book, Momma Don't You Worry, was illustrated by his childhood friend, Rick Radliff, who lives in Seattle. Rick also illustrated Louie's picture book, Gerty the Pig, which is in schools across the U.S. and is in the National Accelerated Readers Program.

For more information about Louie Lawent, visit his Facebook page. Click the links below to purchase this book.

 

I haven’t done a book review for some time so I’m happy to be back with a new one now, especially since it’s a children’s book that moms like me can read to our kids.

This is definitely one book that moms can relate to. Who among us haven’t experienced at least one of our kids refuse to hold our hand when out in public? Who among us haven’t experienced our kids attempt to go off on their own to explore? Who among us don’t worry ourselves sick about our kids getting lost when they do so?

I, for one, have experienced those things. While I think I’ve done a pretty good job reminding my kids how to be safe when we go out, I think that, like the kid in this book, they sometimes don’t get why it’s important.

The nearly six-year-old boy in the book feels that he’s too old to be holding mama’s hand and that he’s old enough to go exploring the mall on his own. That is, until he gets lost. It was only then that he realizes what can happen. Luckily, his mom also taught him well about how to find help if he gets lost and so he eventually found his way back to her.

Although this book is only 12 pages long, it’s short enough to hold a young child’s interest but long enough to impart very valuable life lessons. If you’re child is at that stage wherein he or she is already showing signs of wanting to be more independent, this book could be helpful to you in teaching your child about safety.

I love that the book uses rhyming words. I believe it makes the story more fun for the kids to hear. I also love that the illustrations are cute and minimal, not overpowering the text at all.

I’m all for entertaining children’s books that are educational too. This one is exactly that and so I definitely recommend it.

Book Signing of Paano Ba ‘To? How to Survive Growing Up by Bianca Gonzalez

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If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’d know that I love featuring books here by way of reviews or even just news and updates about book launches or  signings. I haven’t been able to feature one though for the past few months. It gives me great pleasure, then, to tell you that my comeback book-related post is all about Bianca Gonzalez’ book called Paano Ba ‘To? How to Survive Growing Up.

 

PAANO BA TO, How to Survive Growing Up by Bianca Gonzales

 

I was so happy to have been invited to the launch and book signing event of Paano Ba ‘To? last Saturday, Nov. 29, 2014 at National Book Store in Glorietta. First of all, I really believe that, among the local celebrities we have nowadays, Bianca Gonzalez is one of those whom I think is a good role model. Secondly, the theme of her book is exactly what I’ve been looking for to give my two girls who are now 13 and almost 12 years old.

PaanoBaTo1

 

A LOT of people turned up during the event and I was really not surprised. I know a lot of people love and look up to Bianca. It was really exciting to see her and see the reaction of the crowd as well when they were finally able to get their hands on a copy of the book. People couldn’t wait to tear off the plastic cover and start reading.

PaanoBaTo2

 

During the event, Bianca explained that the book idea came from all the questions that young people have been sending her about growing up. She wanted a venue to answer all those questions and thought that putting up a book would be a good way to do that. Bianca was quick to say though that she doesn’t have all the answers and that she rallied other people – friends of hers as well as experts – to give insights on how to handle life’s dilemmas. Bianca dedicates the book to her mom, Ofel, and her family, whom she says are responsible for the way she has grown up.

 

 

Paano Ba ‘To? is published by One Mega Group Inc. To give you an idea of what to expect from the book, here’s the description written at the back.

 

How do I deal with pressure from my parents?

Sobra na mag-selfie ang kaibigan ko, paano ko siya pagsasabihan?

Wala pa rin akong boyfriend. Should I worry?

Magkano ba talaga dapat savings ko?

How do I get clear skin?

How will I figure out my purpose in life?

Paano ba maging mas confident?

Ikaw ba ay nalilito, hindi alam ang gagawin, o di kaya’y nag-aalangan sa next

steps mo? In this book, TV host, editor and columnist Bianca Gonzalez

shares her personal life lessons, as well as insights from friends and experts,

on how to deal with life’s dilemmas – a must-have guide to life for every

young Pinay growing up in this crazy, wonderful world.

 

Among the celebrities and personalities who contributed stories in the book are Toni Gonzaga, Anne Curtis, Luis Manzano, Ramon Bautista, Tim Yap, Marian Rivera, Rissa Mananquil-Trillo, Atom Araullo, Iza Calzado and more.

I’m so happy to now have a copy of the book. I can’t wait to share it with my girls and to you guys too because I’m writing a review of it very soon! Stay tuned!

 

Book Review: The Good Sister by Jamie Kain

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The Good Sister Book Cover The Good Sister
Jamie Kain
Young Adult, Contemporary Fiction
St. Martin's Griffin
October 7, 2014
Hardcover
304
Netgalley

The Kinsey sisters live in an unconventional world. Their parents are former flower-children who still don’t believe in rules. Their small, Northern California town is filled with free spirits and damaged souls seeking refuge from the real world. Without the anchor of authority, the three girls are adrift and have only each other to rely on.

Rachel is wild. Asha is lost. Sarah, the good sister, is the glue that holds them together. But the forces of a mysterious fate have taken Sarah’s life in a sudden and puzzling accident, sending her already fractured family into a tailspin of grief and confusion. Asha has questions. Rachel has secrets. And Sarah, waking up in the afterlife, must piece together how she got there.

Jamie Kain brings us The Good Sister, a stunning debut young adult novel about love in all its joyful, painful, exhilarating manifestations, and about the ties that bind us together, in life and beyond.

 
I’ve always been interested in stories between sisters. Maybe it’s because I only have one sister and we’re not even super close. But I’m really intrigued by other people’s relationships with their sisters and what makes them click or not click. That’s exactly why I wanted to review The Good Sister by Jamie Kain. The fact that their family is unconventional and that one of the sisters is already dead made it all the more intriguing to me.

I guess you could say that Sarah, Rachel and Asha are your typical siblings. Sarah’s the good, responsible one, who has been battling cancer on and off. She’s the one that everybody likes. Asha’s the spoiled baby of the family, Sarah’s favorite sister, who was so devastated about her sister’s death that she didn’t know how to deal. Then there’s Rachel, the middle child, the wild one and the resident family rebel.

Each sister has their individual stories to tell that all connects to the day that Sarah died and the truth behind her death. It’s interesting to imagine how different they all are from each other, which leads to all sorts of misunderstandings and fights typical of any sibling relationship. But at the same time, I love how, by digging deep into their relationship, you still find that bond and love for each other despite their differences.

How Jamie Kain was able to portray the dynamics of this sisterhood, even though it was already established early on in the story that Sarah’s already dead, is just great. This was nicely done with flashbacks and also by letting each sister tell her side of the story. I love how the story unfolds by letting each sister alternately tell the readers of their experience in their own perspectives. I think that how their stories come together in the end is exactly the kind of journey each sister was taking in coming to terms with Sarah’s death. This approach is brilliant!

I also love how Kain was able to portray with such authenticity the realities of life in a family of divorce. Being from a broken family myself, I could definitely relate to this part of the story. Actually, I often found myself reflecting on whether there are similarities between the sisters’ reaction to the divorce and my daughters’ reaction to the demise of my marriage to their dad. It’s nice to read about the children’s perspective in this and be reminded of the fact that divorce doesn’t just happen to the couple only but to the children too.

This is definitely that kind of book that will leave you reflecting about your life, about death and yes, about your own relationship with your family. I definitely recommend this one!

 

Launch of Cast 12 and The Cast Webcomics

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Everybody who knows me also knows that I love to read. What they don’t know is that my love for reading started way back when I was a kid. Back then, way before I discovered the Nancy Drew, Bobsey Twins and Sweet Valley Twins series, I read Archie comics. I loved it and collected a few. I also enthusiastically perused the comics section of whatever newspaper my dad read at home.

Admittedly, though, I haven’t been reading a lot of comics lately. Thinking about it now, I think it’s more of because most of the comics I see nowadays are all about superheroes and I’m not really interested with reading about those (I see them a lot in movies already). So, when I got this invitation from Nautilus Comics in my email, I really got curious.

Cast_borrowed3

 

I discovered, much to my surprise, that there’s actually a comic series, locally written and produced, that does not tell stories about superheroes at all. The comic is called Cast and it has been around for years. In fact, the event was all about the launch of the the 12th issue called, Cast 12: Catharsis. But let me give you some background information first about Cast.

 

Cast1

 

Voted by fans as Best Series in the 2009 Komikon, Cast is unlike most comics. Instead of being about fantasy and superheroes, Cast is about real life. It’s about a barkada of students from different exclusive all-girls and all-boys schools, who are performing together in a musical. The series follows their adventures: getting over stage fright and learning the ropes of production, meeting all kinds of people, falling in love with the right—or wrong—person, and all the crazy things that they get into, all for the love of the musical and their friends.

 

Cast was first released in 2004. Bautista wrote and/or edited, while then unknown artists Stephen Segovia and Harvey Tolibao did the art. Later, Rex Espino, Jhomar Soriano and multi-awarded Arnold Arre joined them as artists. All in all they produced 11 issues and a prequel.

 

Cast has created quite a cult following. However, problems with the collaborators’ schedules forced them to put the 12th issue on hold for seven years. But even then, fans kept on sending emails to the collaborators, clamoring for the next issue to come out. Cast 12: Catharsis was finally launched last July 19, 2014 at Fully Booked at Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

 

Cast3

 

Here are some info regarding this new issue:

Cast 12 gives closure to the fan-favorite Lel and Joe subplot. In past issues, we see Lel, one of the best actresses in the group, not-so-secretly pine over Joe, who seems oblivious to her feelings. Lel finds out that Joe has a secret crush on someone in the musical and agonizes over who she is and how it happened. Finally, Cast 12 gives Lel and fans the answers to their burning questions.

 

Cast 12 was written by Jamie Bautista, and Jhomar Soriano did the art. There are also pages by past collaborators (who are now superstars in their own right)—Tolibao, Segovia, Espino and Arre.

 

With these great artists in his arsenal to make this story come to life, Bautista admits that what makes Cast 12 resonate with fans is that “it’s a special mix of raw truth and well-crafted fiction.” Because it deals with themes about “old loves, jealously, and the nature of genuine love,” it strikes a chord with romantics everywhere, and awakens the young, naïve, and hopeful person in all of us.

 

Cast2

 

During the event, I was given a copy of both the Cast 11 and Cast 12 issues (plus a Cast notepad!). I was so excited to share these with my daughter, Ziya, because she loves reading comics too. I knew she’d appreciate reading these comics as much as I did.

 

Cast4

 

Here I am before the start of the event already reading the two issues.

 

Photo courtesy of The Cast Comics
Photo courtesy of The Cast Comics

 

It was very interesting to hear the creator, Jamie Bautista and two of the Cast artists, Elbert Or and Harvey Tolibao, talk about their experiences in creating Cast and with working together. The passion they have for this series is very apparent.

 

Cast_borrowed2
Photo courtesy of Cast Comics

 

What’s really cool is that Cast 12 will be available in three (3) different covers. They will be available starting August 2014 in Fully Booked as well as other bookstores and comic shops for only Php 100.00. Below are Harvey Tolibao, Jamie Bautista and Elbert Or, holding the three different covers. ‘

 

Cast_borrowed5
Photo courtesy of Cast Comics

 

For those of you wondering what’s next for Cast after this 12th issue, you’d be happy to know that they’re also launching a webcomic version, called The Cast.

The Cast (to differentiate itself, the webcomic has “The” in the title) will now be available for free on the website thecastcomic.com. The story jumps forward, with old, beloved characters still in the picture, and new “cast members” making the stories more interesting.

 

The Cast will still be about life, love and performing—the same compelling stories that have kept fans loyal all these years. But with the new format, new stories will come out weekly.

 

In addition to the regular webcomic, The Cast also has articles for its young adult readers. They’ll enjoy the love/relationship advice, performing arts features, show and event schedules and more on the site.

I honestly want to read the series from start to finish though and would love to get a hold of all the Cast back issues.

Do check out Cast 12: Catharsis and The Cast webcomic!

********************

The Cast Comic

Website: thecastcomic.com

Facebook: facebook.com/TheCastComic

Book review: The Falconer by Elizabeth May

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The Falconer Book Cover The Falconer
The Falconer # 1
Elizabeth May
Paranormal, Fantasy, Young Adult
Chronicle Books
May 6, 2014
Hardcover
378
Pinoy Book Tours

Heiress. Debutant. Murderer. A new generation of heroines has arrived.

Edinburgh, Scotland, 1844

Lady Aileana Kameron, the only daughter of the Marquess of Douglas, was destined for a life carefully planned around Edinburgh’s social events – right up until a faery killed her mother.

Now it’s the 1844 winter season and Aileana slaughters faeries in secret, in between the endless round of parties, tea and balls. Armed with modified percussion pistols and explosives, she sheds her aristocratic facade every night to go hunting. She’s determined to track down the faery who murdered her mother, and to destroy any who prey on humans in the city’s many dark alleyways.

But the balance between high society and her private war is a delicate one, and as the fae infiltrate the ballroom and Aileana’s father returns home, she has decisions to make. How much is she willing to lose – and just how far will Aileana go for revenge?

 

In the spirit of reading something new to me, I decided to sign up to review The Falconer because I haven’t read any novel on faeries ever. Okay, maybe I have but those were children’s books and they’re not about the same kinds of faeries present in The Falconer. Faeries are mythical, powerful creatures who hurt and kill humans, not at all like the “fairies” one reads about in fairy tales.

 

So, anyway, the fact that I’m new to this genre made the book a bit confusing to me at first because of all the fae terms that I wasn’t familiar with. Luckily, the author included a glossary of fae terms at the back of the book, which I only discovered midway through the novel, but it still helped a lot.  I’m pretty sure those who are more used to reading books from this genre wouldn’t find it so confusing.

 

Story-wise, I can’t compare The Falconer as well to other fae novels but I can say that it’s very intriguing. The setting is in Edinburgh in a time when society really puts pressure on conforming and following societal rules. But, the protagonist, Lady Aileana Kameron, is so modern in the way she thinks and acts. I actually love her character. She’s so bad ass! I love how she’s so smart and how she’s able to create so many different high technology contraptions that help her kill faeries. She’s not at all like the other ladies in her time, which earns her a bad reputation. But I love the fact that she’s a rebel.

 

I also love her friendship with her faery friends Derrick and Kiaran Mackay. The fact that these two are mostly good faeries and actually help her capture and kill the bad ones are intriguing. It makes the reader curious as to their motivation for doing so. Little by little their motivations were revealed in the book. But for sure we’ll only understand them better in the succeeding books (oh yeah, this is a series).

 

I am curious about how Aileana’s relationship with Kiaran will progress because she’s human and Kiaran is fae. I wasn’t at all thrilled when they started becoming romantic towards each other. I like Gavin / Lord Galloway more for Aileana. Lord Galloway is Aileana’s friend from childhood who eventually became her fiance because of some societal pressures.

 

The book was a bit dragging at first but I find that most first novels of a series are like that anyway. There’s still a lot of explaining and setting up to do. But eventually, as the story of The Falconer progressed, it became more exciting because of the turn of events and the action scenes. I’m curious enough to want to read the next books on this series.

 

 

 

 

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