Reviews of Day Camp in Hawaii
Permission has been granted to reprint this review.
Independent review by Jim MacLachlan, moderator of the DYI review group on Good
Reads
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/636929855
5 stars
My kids are long out of Indian Guides, Scouts, &/or Pony Club, but I did my time as a leader & volunteer in all those
organizations& more. I've never run a day camp, but I've faced the problems of how to keep the little monsters busy for weekly meetings, weekend camp outs or days when our best laid plans just made the gods laugh & we had to find
something else for them to do. I wish I'd had this book!!!
Although this book has the Hawaii theme, the suggested activities could easily be changed for any place & Paula is a woman after my own heart - a scavenger. Seriously, the funding for activities is always minimal & the prep time is huge & often complicated. She lists a lot of quick, cheap ways to do or make a lot of neat things without a lot of time, special tools, skills or anything else. Under her tutelage, you don't even need a lot of imagination to come up with something special.
The author provided me with a free copy for a review to spread the word. It wasn't a chore, but a joy to go through this. I even got a couple of ideas for awards that my wife, a school bus driver, can use. I can't recommend this highly enough for anyone with kids. There are a lot of things I would have or did use to keep my own kids busy. Much better than planting them
in front of the TV.
Reviews of Stars Shine After Dark
This review of Stars Shine After Dark was written by Tanya Vought who hosts the Book Obsessed Momma blog at www.thebookobsessedmomma.blogspot.com. It has been reprinted with permission from the
author. She gave it four stars.
Do you like a nice clean no swearing, Contemporary/Christian book... then Stars Shine After Dark is definitely for you!
Mona is a young childhood star and is starting to feel drained/tired of acting. She would like a break and wants to go off to college. When she goes to college she see this hunky football star Tim. When they meet
things change and they want one another, but can it last or be another celebrity divorce?
Tim is a football star and doesn't drink/party like typical football players. He sees Mona in the stands is in awe of her. She ends up going to a party after the game and they hit it off. It leads to many dates and
falling in love with her. He wants to marry her, but is what he thought of their future enough to stand the test of time or just another failure?
Mona and Tim are two remarkable people for their age. I enjoyed their banter, frustrations, friendships, got sad a few times during a few things... but that is what a relationship is about. This book showcases real
life and things people hide from others and when you hide. Things often don't go the way you hope.
However, the question is can Mona and Tim be a great couple, can they find the spark or will lies, rumors and photos be the end? Or possibly can they find the "ah ha" moment and realize what is in front of them and remember all that matters? ... LOVE matters and when they can find/remind themselves of that all can be better!
I think this was a wonderful book and didn't want it to end. I wanted to know more about them! :)
If you love a book that is sweet, contemporary, Christian, family/relationship values etc.. this is the book for you! Go check it out!!
Independent review by Jim MacLachlan, moderator of the DYI review group on Good
Reads
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/636929855
5 stars
My kids are long out of Indian Guides, Scouts, &/or Pony Club, but I did my time as a leader & volunteer in all those
organizations& more. I've never run a day camp, but I've faced the problems of how to keep the little monsters busy for weekly meetings, weekend camp outs or days when our best laid plans just made the gods laugh & we had to find
something else for them to do. I wish I'd had this book!!!
Although this book has the Hawaii theme, the suggested activities could easily be changed for any place & Paula is a woman after my own heart - a scavenger. Seriously, the funding for activities is always minimal & the prep time is huge & often complicated. She lists a lot of quick, cheap ways to do or make a lot of neat things without a lot of time, special tools, skills or anything else. Under her tutelage, you don't even need a lot of imagination to come up with something special.
The author provided me with a free copy for a review to spread the word. It wasn't a chore, but a joy to go through this. I even got a couple of ideas for awards that my wife, a school bus driver, can use. I can't recommend this highly enough for anyone with kids. There are a lot of things I would have or did use to keep my own kids busy. Much better than planting them
in front of the TV.
Reviews of Stars Shine After Dark
This review of Stars Shine After Dark was written by Tanya Vought who hosts the Book Obsessed Momma blog at www.thebookobsessedmomma.blogspot.com. It has been reprinted with permission from the
author. She gave it four stars.
Do you like a nice clean no swearing, Contemporary/Christian book... then Stars Shine After Dark is definitely for you!
Mona is a young childhood star and is starting to feel drained/tired of acting. She would like a break and wants to go off to college. When she goes to college she see this hunky football star Tim. When they meet
things change and they want one another, but can it last or be another celebrity divorce?
Tim is a football star and doesn't drink/party like typical football players. He sees Mona in the stands is in awe of her. She ends up going to a party after the game and they hit it off. It leads to many dates and
falling in love with her. He wants to marry her, but is what he thought of their future enough to stand the test of time or just another failure?
Mona and Tim are two remarkable people for their age. I enjoyed their banter, frustrations, friendships, got sad a few times during a few things... but that is what a relationship is about. This book showcases real
life and things people hide from others and when you hide. Things often don't go the way you hope.
However, the question is can Mona and Tim be a great couple, can they find the spark or will lies, rumors and photos be the end? Or possibly can they find the "ah ha" moment and realize what is in front of them and remember all that matters? ... LOVE matters and when they can find/remind themselves of that all can be better!
I think this was a wonderful book and didn't want it to end. I wanted to know more about them! :)
If you love a book that is sweet, contemporary, Christian, family/relationship values etc.. this is the book for you! Go check it out!!
Reviews of "On Higher Ground"
4 stars
Reviewed by Gordon Osmond, author of “Slipping on Stardust”.
Permission has been granted to republish this review if done in its entirety.
Conflicts, upon which any good novel depends, are in ample supply in Paula Hrbacek’s novel, On
Higher Ground. Its hero, Melanie Worlds is struggling against the post-British Petroleum recession of Pensacola, Florida as well as the advances of a handsome but somewhat unsavory boy friend. When matters improve to the
point where she becomes a kind of potential Vicki Lester/Daisy Clover, she is faced with the much more refined choices among wardrobe and song selections.
The first half of the novel is sobering, if not depressing. It is an eloquent refutation of the notion that those on welfare are all lazy louts who welcome governmental handouts. It also describes in probing detail the plight of the newly impoverished. Melanie is a complex and fascinating resident of a modern-day Tobacco Road and she’s anything but comfortable about it. The greed and sense of entitlement that frequently follow artificially satisfied need are also vividly depicted.
The second half of the novel is a Cinderella story about how Melanie shakes the slums and approaches the threshold of mega-stardom as a guitar-toting singer. Here again, the author’s account of that very different world is both informed and
entertaining.
In an Epilogue, Melanie’s past and present are resolved quickly in a Deus/Diablo ex machine fashion.
The writing is clear and the balance between dialogue and descriptive passages admirable, neither overly extending its welcome. The plugs for recycling and digs at fast food are, I suppose, irresistible to contemporary writers of a certain political
persuasion. No problem.
Following the models of Here Comes Mr. Jordan, It’s a Wonderful Life, and The Bishop’s Wife, the author
decides to ornament the story with a heavenly and heavy overlay consisting of two angels who provide celestial codas to most chapters. The team, consisting of instructor and apprentice, neither particularly bright, are not at a loss when
it comes to spiritual shibboleths. Harmless perhaps, but their presence detracts from the novel’s potential for suspense. After all, if God’s lieutenants are on overdrive duty, how can things turn out otherwise than perfectly?
A 5-star review is posted here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/733594544
Reviewed by Gordon Osmond, author of “Slipping on Stardust”.
Permission has been granted to republish this review if done in its entirety.
Conflicts, upon which any good novel depends, are in ample supply in Paula Hrbacek’s novel, On
Higher Ground. Its hero, Melanie Worlds is struggling against the post-British Petroleum recession of Pensacola, Florida as well as the advances of a handsome but somewhat unsavory boy friend. When matters improve to the
point where she becomes a kind of potential Vicki Lester/Daisy Clover, she is faced with the much more refined choices among wardrobe and song selections.
The first half of the novel is sobering, if not depressing. It is an eloquent refutation of the notion that those on welfare are all lazy louts who welcome governmental handouts. It also describes in probing detail the plight of the newly impoverished. Melanie is a complex and fascinating resident of a modern-day Tobacco Road and she’s anything but comfortable about it. The greed and sense of entitlement that frequently follow artificially satisfied need are also vividly depicted.
The second half of the novel is a Cinderella story about how Melanie shakes the slums and approaches the threshold of mega-stardom as a guitar-toting singer. Here again, the author’s account of that very different world is both informed and
entertaining.
In an Epilogue, Melanie’s past and present are resolved quickly in a Deus/Diablo ex machine fashion.
The writing is clear and the balance between dialogue and descriptive passages admirable, neither overly extending its welcome. The plugs for recycling and digs at fast food are, I suppose, irresistible to contemporary writers of a certain political
persuasion. No problem.
Following the models of Here Comes Mr. Jordan, It’s a Wonderful Life, and The Bishop’s Wife, the author
decides to ornament the story with a heavenly and heavy overlay consisting of two angels who provide celestial codas to most chapters. The team, consisting of instructor and apprentice, neither particularly bright, are not at a loss when
it comes to spiritual shibboleths. Harmless perhaps, but their presence detracts from the novel’s potential for suspense. After all, if God’s lieutenants are on overdrive duty, how can things turn out otherwise than perfectly?
A 5-star review is posted here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/733594544