An Announcement and A Tag

Due to a small amount of entries in the Beyond the Dead Forest Giveaway I am going to extend it till July 16th. This will now be the closing day for the giveaway. If you would like to enter please see here.

http://arrowheadreviews.blogspot.com/2011/06/beyond-dark-forest-by-steve-grolls-give.html


Also I was tagged on Noah's Blog, http://noahsreads.blogspot.com/ Thank you Noah for the tag.


Now I have to answer the following questions:
Are you hot/warm/cold right now? Where are you at?
The temp is perfect here in a friends house in AR, though it is hot outside I am happy inside. 

Upload a picture of the wallpaper you are using.

This is a picture my dad took on a trip. I have been training my family how to take pictures for a couple years now and this is one of the best he has ever taken. :)

When was the last time you ate chicken?
 Lunch, we ate at a pizza bar that served every type of topping you can think of.  Potatos, peppers, pinnapple chocolate everything. It was great! 

What song or songs have you listened to recently?

A little Fee and Amberlin during a drive with a friend. Then a lot of Amberlin, TFK, Group 1 Crew, Skillet, Hawk Nelson and others during car drives. Also I have been listening to Eragon on CDs.

Do you have any nicknames? If so what are they?

I have many. It depends on who I am with. GA, Goldie, Goldarrow, 2-D, frog, toad, stick, monkey, are just the ones that first come to mind. I have a ton more.  

Now to tag 5 bloggers.

Jake from http://teenagewritingrocks.blogspot.com/ is kinda new to reviewing but has natural reviewing skills.

Silver Angel from http://silverangelsmusings.blogspot.com/ is famous for just plan random fun. You want to smile or laugh? Ceck out his blog.

Anna from http://playitgrand.blogspot.com/

Whispers from http://chasingjabberwockies.blogspot.com/

Eagle Wings from http://eaglewingseryes.blogspot.com/

Thanks again to Noah for tagging me!

I Know Why the Angels Dance by Bryan Davis

Her first funeral, 12 year old Tabitha doesn't know how to handle  her great grandmother’s, Nana, death. She knows she should be happy because her great grandmother is in heaven, but shouldn't she also be sad?

To help her remember Nana Tabitha is given Deborah, a family heirloom doll.  Going home she starts to have strange dreams and when her closest friend, Rose, starts to appear in these nightmares she fears for Rose's eternal life.
relaxed and had fun through the entire book, it made the book  feel stiff and formal. The rest of the characters were fine. With the exception of her father and Phil, I kept getting mixed up with since they’re so alike.
When I picked up this book I wasn't expecting a thing. I have read fantasy by Bryan Davis and was interested to see how he would do a fiction novel.

I have my normal qualms with the characters in this book, many, but not all, were near perfect. One thing kept appearing odd to me, Tabitha is a perfect angel. For a 12 year old she acted like a 16+
year old. She used big words, had large passages of the Bible memorized, never self-centered, polite, Ect. Now I know many great 12 year olds and all of them goof off at times. Tabitha never really 
For plot I felt this was Davis' best work, it reminded me of "Tilly" by Frank Peretti. The main plot was easy to follow while the subplots were meaningful. I was pulled into the families lives, pondered about the Biblical views the book covered and was moved as I saw how it would end. Though it was overall predictable I like that it stayed on target and was well paced.

I have read many of Davis' works and feel this is his best writing. Though I wasn’t in tears it moved me and kept me interested till the bitter-sweet end.

B+

Beyond the Dead Forest by Steve Groll

Partners looking for adventure, that is what Kat and Carter’s relationship is like. When a mysterious forest shows up that only they can see, they know a real adventure just might have arrived. On one of their excursions to learn what lies within the woods they meet a man who will send them on a mission that might kill them.  But if they survive the challenges the Dead Forest has for them they will end up with some of the greatest treasures known to man.

I really enjoyed this book. The lessons that “Beyond the Dead Forest” contains I feel makes it a must have on every private or public school library shelf in America and beyond.

Kat and Carter are wonderfully created. They are two 12 year olds that have grown up together in their neighborhood. Both love adventure and both have family problems; together they help each other to deal with it. Kat’s father left the family and her mother is trying to be both a mother and a father to Kat. Carter’s parents fight a lot and seem to forget their son in the other room when they are mad.
The kids attitudes through the  book suited their age. They had real fears and made common mistakes like any 12 year old would. The difference with Kat and Carter is that they learned from their mistakes.   

The plot of the book didn’t dilly-dally with background information, which I love. There where flashbacks and conversations that helped fill-in any missing details about the partners pasts. The adventure couldn’t have started any quicker, I was promptly pulled into the troubles the two children had to deal with. Thinking, “What would I have done?” through the challenges really made this book something I could bring into my day to day life. “Beyond the Dead Forest” taught basic lessons like the people rule, running with the herd and loving your enemy. 
Now the middle of the book did drag and I had to make myself read it at times but the ending picked it up, making the book overall a decent pace.

I like this book it reminds me of a cross between “Phantom Tollbooth” and “Pilgrim’s Progress”. I highly recommend it for people of all ages. It is humorous, creepy, entertaining, insightful and so much more.

Also, I had the privilege to receive the book on CD and I just wanted to add that the reader did a wonderful job bringing the book to life. 

B

Ale Boy's Feast Give-away Winner!

At the beginning of May I announced that I was hosting my first book give-away on Arrowhead Reviews. I have to say I was amazed at how well it went. 9 people signed up and earned a total of 36 entries.
Now for the lucky winner....

Of Ale Boy's Feast by Jeffrey Overstreet.

is

Cson!

Congratulations Cson, I will be contacting you for your address shortly.

Thank you to everyone that signed up, if you would like to try to win another book Steve Groll has donated a copy of Beyond the Dead Forest.

To enter click

HERE

Thank you to everyone that participated.

Beyond the Dead Forest by Steve Grolls Give-away! (closed)

Steve Groll, author of Beyond the Dead Forest has kindly donated a copy of his book to give-away. He is willing to personalize Beyond the Dead Forest to the lucky winner. This give-away will be open through June 30th 11:59pm (central).
How can you win?
Leave a comment below telling me what you have done on the following list.
The review for Beyond the Dead Forest will be posted in a couple days. Thank you Mr. Groll

~You can follow this blog. A follower widget is located on the blog's sidebar. (earns 2 entries)
~You can post about this giveaway on your blog. Comments MUST have a link. Limited to once a week. (earns 2 entries)
If someone comes to this blog from your blog post and comments, you get one extra entry. (Make sure to tell them to say you sent them!)
~You can tweet with a link to this post. Comments MUST have a link. Limited to three times week (earns 1 entry each)
~You can read any of my reviews on this blog and comment on it, as long as you have not already done so on it for another giveaway. (earns 1 entry each)
~You may link this giveaway on facebook. Comments do require links, since I am not a member of Facebook I am allowing this through honor. Don't say you did one when you didn't. Limited to once a day. (earns 1 entry each)

Open to U.S. residents only.