Sandra C. Lopez's Blog, page 139
April 1, 2023
Review: JUST ROLL WITH IT by Veronica Agarwal
See how a kid uses the roll of thedice to get through 6th grade
The images were cute and colorful.But there wasn’t much of a story I could get into. All you see her do is rollthe dice.
Eh, an okay read.
Rating:3 stars
March 31, 2023
Book Blast: I DREAM OF DEMIGODS by Alexa Sullivan
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Alexa Sullivan will be awarding a $50 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Ro Baird can't cast a spell without setting her own pants on fire—until she kisses her hot new boss, Alex. Suddenly, she's able to access her magic…sort of…and she now has a familiar, who may be more trouble than she is helpful.
Alex Kouris happens to be a soul-stealing demigod of the Underworld. He claims he's trying to leave the life, but can she really trust a man whose magical talents are manipulation and charm? When Alex enlists a shady ex to help him, Ro must risk her heart and her life to save him and humanity from Hades’s evil scheme.
Can she harness her true power to set Alex and herself free?
Read an Excerpt
I turned from side to side in front of the mirror, examining my half French braid. My dark-brown hair wound across the top of my head, like a crown. I tucked the end under the rest of my hair and twisted it into a side ponytail, tying it off with a clear elastic.
“Pretty.” Tabitha stood in my bathroom doorway. With her flat tone of voice, she might as well have been describing broccoli or glue.
I plucked a beaded fringe earring off the counter and slipped it through the hole in my right earlobe.
Lenti, who sat on the counter, trilled and swiped the earring with her paw.
“Nope.” I jerked my head away. “I got these at a craft fair, and you’re not destroying them.”
“What’s that?”
“Never mind.” Should’ve known this was going to happen. Gritting my teeth, I removed the earring and tucked it into a drawer. I tugged the neckline of my clingy black dress a little lower, then turned to Tabitha. “Is it too much? Should I wear my strappy sandals or my ankle boots?”
She crossed her arms. “Explain to me how this happened. You were supposed to talk to him, not go out with him.”
About the Author:
Alexa Sullivan writes humorous, contemporary paranormal romance. She imagines a world where the mundane meets magic -- and where vampires, werewolves and witches have normal jobs. Oh, and there are cats, too. She sets all her books in the beautiful state of Oregon. When not writing, she can be found walking her cat on a leash, hanging out with her husband, and watching far too much Bravo reality TV.
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March 30, 2023
Book Blast: THE BEAUTIFUL MISFITS by Susan Reinhardt
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Eighty-four seconds can change your life. Or destroy it. Josie Nickels is an Emmy-winning news anchor, poised to rise through the ranks of television journalism. On a bitter March evening on live TV, the pressures and secrets burbling behind the closed doors of her ridiculous Victorian mansion explode and the overwhelmed journalist spills family secrets like a Baptist at altar call. The aftermath costs her much more than a career. It robs her of a beloved son—a preppy, educated millennial trapped in the deadly world of addiction. Desperate for a new start and a way to save her son, Josie packs up her pride, her young daughter, and accepts a new job slinging cosmetics at a department store make-up counter with other disgraced celebs. In the gorgeous mountains of Asheville N.C., known for hippies, healings, and Subarus, Josie is faced with a choice for her son: Take a chance on a bold, out-of-the-ordinary treatment plan for her son or lose him forever. This heart-wrenching and, at times, hilarious novel, will delight fans of book-club women’s fiction and inspire and give hope to those with addicted sons and daughters.
Read an Excerpt
Josie finally managed to reach the woman stroking the La Belleza products as if she were examining the finest porcelain from the Qing dynasty. The jars and hour-glass-shaped bottles, in that rich lapis blue, were where the money grew.
“Hola. May I help you, ma’am?” Josie always gave her customers space, not making them feel the intense pressure they might endure at another counter or from a sales associate who hadn’t hit her goal in a month.
“I was wondering if I might have a sample of this new oil?” she asked. Her lips hardly moved. She had one of those manmade faces, tight and swollen baboon-fanny traits, courtesy of plastic surgery that left her of an undeterminable age and species. Every feature hardened like papier-mâché as if mummified. Oh, and her hair! Josie couldn’t peel her eyes from the woman’s updo, rising hive-like and so stiff with lacquer a gum wrapper was embedded near the top. Two white petals from the Bradford pear trees had blown in and settled near a neck so tight you could all but see her thyroid.
“Why, we certainly can arrange for a sample,” Josie said. “At La Belleza, if you have a seat for a few minutes and give me the honor of demonstrating our award-winning skin care, we are happy to treat you to a gift with your visit.” Into the chair and out with the Brigman’s charge card. Twenty minutes later the woman left with Josie’s personalized skincare guide, three small samples in a lapis-and-white polka-dotted La Belleza cosmetics bag, and nearly five hundred dollars on her card.
About the Author:
Susan Reinhardt grew up in LaGrange, GA. and Spartanburg, S.C.where most girls twirled batons, entered beauty pageants, and became debutantes. Bucking the norm, Susan spent her free time water skiing almost every day, fishing, and pining for a ragamuffin boy who was always up to no good.
Earlier in her college years, she pursued nursing, but most of her patients were terminal and her mastery and frequency of giving enemas had her questioning this line of work, though she adores nurses and often wishes she’d have stuck with the field.
She recently took a part-time job caring for adults with disabilities and loves the work, figuring it would at least make up for past misdeeds and get her a better shot at the Pearly Gates.
Writing has always been her first love. And she became good enough at it to earn many dozens of awards, including three Best of Gannetts for her feature stories and columns. Along with a bunch of other junk that really doesn't matter in the end.
What matters to Reinhardt is making people laugh. And think. And love others.
She is married to her second and final husband, country and genius lawyer Donny Laws who is bald but has a ponytail and loves to ride a bike. She has two adult kids, three steps, and a granddaughter.
She’s been on national TV, has modeled for one glossy magazine, and was the subject of a British documentary on aging and body image. She hopes that the documentary is lost and never resurfaces.
She once had a radio show called Susan Uncensored; a sold-out one-woman show called “From Hilarity to Insanity and Back.”
She no longer water skis but performs fairly decent front and backflips from a diving board and half-ass rides a unicycle and twirls a baton simultaneously.
Her hobbies include a vintage camper obsession and she’s owned three. Recently she’s settled on her 1968 Scotsman, which she hopes to paint pink and teal with polka-dots and haul on book tours.
She has two rescue cats who vehemently hate each other.
In her next life, she’d like to be a figure skater.
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March 29, 2023
Blog Tour: LUKE BLACKMON'S ROSE by Mary Patterson Thornburg
Luke Blackmon's Rose
by Mary Patterson Thornburg
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GENRE: Adult Romance (w/science-fantasy)
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BLURB:
To guard herself from the perils of her own sensuality, Rose married a man she didn’t love. Now, two years after his death, she’s not sure she can really love anyone. She’s not even sure she cares…
To achieve what he’d always known was his birthright, Luke had to struggle against tremendous odds. But when science discovered a way to access the past, a powerful bureaucracy found a way to use Luke. Now, torn from his own time, everything and everyone he knew, he can see no reason to go on living…
An instant of attraction, uninvited but inescapable, brings Luke and Rose together. Together, they discover the strength to love, the will to trust and hope. But will these things be enough to carry them over walls of suspicion, guilt, bigotry, and hate?
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Excerpt One:
And then the air in the room changed. There was a tingling, a sort of buzzing not quite within the range of human hearing. She thought, briefly, of what she'd read somewhere about the feeling people get in a thunderstorm when they're about to be struck by lightning. She wasn't sure anyone felt it but herself. Mira, who'd gotten up to look in the refrigerator for something, was apparently undisturbed. But then she saw Kingsley's expression change as he glanced past her toward the living room portion of the greatroom, and she heard—or perhaps felt—soft footsteps behind her. She spun around.
Where the living room carpet ended, maybe three yards from where she sat, stood a very tall, very dark, broad-shouldered man. He was barefoot, dressed in black sweats. She saw him clearly for a fraction of a second before the lightning bolt she'd felt coming struck. In that fraction of a second, she realized why Mira had looked familiar to her. And realized, too, what had been going on with Kingsley since the turn their discussion had taken that evening—if not before. In that fraction of a second, she knew who she was looking at.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
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Mary Patterson Thornburg has lived in California, Washington State, Montana, Indiana, and again, finally, in Montana. She was educated at Holy Names College, Montana State University, and Ball State University, where she then taught for many years. She's been reading science fiction and fantasy since she was five, and when she began to write fiction it seemed only natural to write in those genres. Her literary heroes are Mary Shelley, who gave us all a metaphor for technology alienated from its creators, and Ursula K. Le Guin and Octavia E. Butler, inventors of worlds that shine their powerful searchlights on this one. She writes what some people call “science fantasy” (aka “fake science fiction) within as wide a range as possible, but almost always with a bit (or a lot) of romance.
https://www.marypattersonthornburg.com/
http://www.amazon.com/Mary-Patterson-Thornburg/e/B001IOFDN6/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mary-Patterson-Thornburg-Author/751054628247208
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/mary-patterson-thornburg/47/967/480
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GIVEAWAY :
Mary Patterson Thornburg will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour
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Blog Tour: BELLS AND BOMBSHELLS by Trixie Silvertale
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Trixie Silvertale will be awarding a $75 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other hosts on the tour.
A pattern of murder. A threadbare case. Can our psychic sleuth pick out the guilty before time spools out?
Mitzy Moon is finally tying the knot. And she’s loving the whole town’s excitement for their upcoming big day. But when their tailor is found buttons up behind a jazz lounge, the almost-newlyweds will have to hem in a murderer before their dreams rip apart at the seams.
Knowing they’ll get no help from the new sheriff in town, the couple embarks on a tightly woven undercover assignment. But Mitzy fails to heed ominous warnings from her mentor, Ghost-ma, and her entitled feline. When another body drops, she could be the next target erased by the mounting powers in the darkness…
Can Mitzy and Erick unravel the twisted clues, or will their wedding be eclipsed by a funeral?
Bells and Bombshells is the first book in a hilarious new paranormal cozy mystery series, Harper and Moon Investigations. If you like snarky heroines, supernatural intrigue, and a dash of romance, then you’ll love Trixie Silvertale’s wedded whodunit.
Buy Bells and Bombshells to stitch up a killer today!
Read an Excerpt
“Once you wake up, head over to the station for a going away party. I wouldn’t want you to miss it.” A wonderful text from my fiancé, Sheriff Harper.
A thrill of excitement rockets up my spine. A going away party? Dear Lord baby Jesus, it can’t be true. Is my arch-nemesis and resident bully, Deputy Paulsen, finally leaving the force? I never thought I’d see this day. Now I have two amazing things to celebrate this week!
I place my dishes in the bus bin behind the counter, wave to my grandfather, and practically run out of the diner.
When I burst into the station, I’m not surprised to find the front desk abandoned. The deputy I’ve nicknamed Furious Monkeys is usually in residence, deep into said video game by this time of the morning. However, it seems the entire force has shown up to celebrate the end of Deputy Paulsen’s reign.
I glance around the overflowing bullpen, and several familiar faces toss smiles my way. All the local deputies, of course, but there are also a number of deputies from the nearby town of Broken Rock. Including the sharpshooter, Boomer. He’s helped out on a few previous cases. Not surprising he’d be here. However, the presence of two of the FBI agents that assisted Erick and me in nabbing an interstate train robbery gang seems highly out of place.
Sheriff Harper was the one who worked with them and —
It’s at that precise moment I see the makeshift sign flapping in the breeze near the overhead heater vent. The handmade signage reads:
“You’ll be missed, Sheriff Harper!”
What the —?
About the Author:
USA TODAY Bestselling author Trixie Silvertale grew up reading an endless supply of Lilian Jackson Braun, Hardy Boys, and Nancy Drew novels. She loves the amateur sleuths in cozy mysteries and obsesses about all things paranormal. Those two passions unite in her Harper and Moon Investigations series, and she's thrilled to write them and share them with you.Website
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March 28, 2023
Blog Tour: SILHOUETTE by Paul G. Swingle
Silhouette
by Paul G. Swingle
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GENRE: Literary Fiction
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BLURB:
On the night of a blue moon, while walking his dog, middle-aged widower Jim sees Gladys on the roof of a neighboring apartment building and is inspired to speak with her. There’s just one problem: she can’t hear him.
Indeed, Jim isn’t even sure that Gladys truly exists—that she isn’t just a rooftop patio umbrella silhouetted against the moon. Hampered by debilitating social anxiety, he cannot work up the courage to even wave.
Yet Jim returns to the same spot night after night, and Gladys—who is indeed real—sees him and becomes equally interested. She even contributes to their “conversation,” though he cannot hear her either. And while Gladys struggles with her own demons—self-loathing and depression—she is lifted by Jim’s attention, even as she describes how difficult her life has been.
Two characters, driven by sadness and a longing to connect. Will they?
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Excerpt One:
Tonight, I saw a rooftop patio umbrella move. Or was it a woman? It’s May 31, the night of the blue moon. I was taking my dog Gus for his nightly walk. On the rooftop of a building across the street from my apartment, against the light of the huge moon, I saw the silhouette of a patio umbrella. I’d been seeing that umbrella on that roof for weeks—months, maybe. Every time I walked the dog or snuck a puff on my cigar, it was there. Immobile and static. Always in the same place, always visible against either the daytime sky or the city-lit night. I had thought nothing of it, other than wondering if anyone ever used that patio. But tonight, I saw the umbrella silhouette move. “Son of a bitch,” I said. “What the hell is that? Was it the wind?” Startled, I tried to shake off an eerie feeling. Had the umbrella really moved? I don’t care for rooftop patios myself. I’ve been to 4 a few. You have to drag yourself up the stairs, hoping no one else is there when you arrive, so you can have a bit of solace. I always forget something downstairs.
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Review: It all started with a silhouette—an umbrella silhouette on a rooftop patio. It moved that night…or so the man walking his dog thought.
Jim and Glady were two lonely souls just watching each other from afar. They were both self-deprecating individuals, always downgrading themselves and not feeling worthy of much. Each character POV section read like an ode to the other nameless, faceless character. He was “John” of course, and she was “the silhouette.” The diary prose was reflective and poetic with the whole thing pretty much reading almost like haiku. At times, the narrative seemed to be a constant drone of random thoughts. Quite honestly, the whole thing felt uneventful to me. It was like reading a bunch of love letters. It was nice and decent, but it wasn’t that captivating for me.
Rating: 3 stars
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
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Dr. Paul G. Swingle can be considered one of the founding fathers of Clinical Psychoneurophysiology, one of a select few, directly responsible for bringing Neurotherapy out of university labs and clinics to the general populace in the 1980’s.
His academic positions include, Professor of Psychology at the University of Ottawa from 1972 to 1997, Lecturer in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School from 1991 to 1998, Associate Attending Psychologist at McLean Hospital (Boston), Head of the Clinical Psychophysiology Service McLean Hospital (Boston). Professor Swingle was also Clinical Supervisor at the University of Ottawa from 1987 to 1997 and Chairman of the Faculty of Child Psychology from 1972 to 1977. Dr. Swingle is a Registered Psychologist in British Columbia and is Board Certified in Biofeedback and Neurotherapy. He is actively involved in research and practice. His numerous publications include nine books and numerous peer reviewed journal publications.
https://www.amazon.com/Silhouette-Paul-G-Swingle/dp/B09C3D527K
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/61878792
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GIVEAWAY
Paul G. Swingle will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
March 27, 2023
Blog Tour: THERE'S NO PLAN LIKE NO PLAN by Steve Searfoss
KidVenture Vol. 2
Middle Grade Fiction
Date Published: 02-23-2022
Chance & Addie are back for a new adventure. Riding high off of the success of their first business, they decide to launch a new venture, this time shoveling snowy driveways in the winter. They are full of confidence: they have a team of kids, a shed full of shovels, repeat customers, and, best of all, a great plan. But sometimes the perfect plan can get in the way of adapting to something as fickle as the weather. Will they learn to be flexible and figure how to make this new venture work? They're losing money fast as new challenges pile up faster than the falling snow. Perhaps a curious new partner can show them the way.
KidVenture stories are business adventures where kids figure out how to market their company, understand risk, and negotiate. Each chapter ends with a challenge, including business decisions, ethical dilemmas and interpersonal conflict for young readers to wrestle with. As the story progresses, the characters track revenue, costs, profit margin, and other key metrics which are explained in simple, fun ways that tie into the story.
Review: The end of summer put an end to the pool cleaning business, and the beginning of winter opened up a new kid venture: shoveling snow.
As always, smart Chance had the whole business venture planned out with costs and calculations. This kid certainly knows how to crunch the numbers. The kids get everything ready. They buy the shovels and hire the workers. They were ready for everything…except, where was the snow? The kid acted too prematurely if you ask me. Now the kid was out $80 already from having to pay a full crew of workers to sit around and do nothing. Ouch!
Chance learns the hard way that there’s no such thing as “easy money.” Unfortunately, this venture wasn’t starting out so well with having to pay out TWICE for no snow. With no snow, there were no customers. Sometimes we need to fail to learn from our mistakes. A good lesson in humility and acceptance. It’s true that plans don’t always work out. In fact, the best plan is No Plan. It’s important to be flexible. You don’t own your customers. They can choose to hire you or not.
As usual, I loved the illustrations. I liked that each chapter asked the reader the question of “what would you do?” The kids come up with creative ways of getting the word out about their business. But, of course, they ran into their problems. How do you deal with an irate customer that doesn’t want to pay? How do you handle OT?
Not only was this story a joy to read, but it gave good lessons on running your own business. Live and learn indeed.
A great read for anyone!
Rating: 5 stars
About the Author
I wrote my first KidVenture book after years of making up stories to teach my kids about business and economics. Whenever they'd ask how something works or why things were a certain way, I would say, "Let's pretend you have a business that sells..." and off we'd go. What would start as a simple hypothetical to explain a concept would become an adventure spanning several days as my kids would come back with new questions which would spawn more plot twists. Rather than give them quick answers, I tried to create cliffhangers to get them to really think through an idea and make the experience as interactive as possible.
I try to bring that same spirit of fun, curiosity and challenge to each KidVenture book. That’s why every chapter ends with a dilemma and a set of questions. KidVenture books are fun for kids to read alone, and even more fun to read together and discuss. There are plenty of books where kids learn about being doctors and astronauts and firefighters. There are hardly any where they learn what it’s like to run small business. KidVenture is different. The companies the kids start are modest and simple, but the themes are serious and important.
I’m an entrepreneur who has started a half dozen or so businesses and have had my share of failures. My dad was an entrepreneur and as a kid I used to love asking him about his business and learning the ins and outs of what to do and not do. Mistakes make the best stories — and the best lessons. I wanted to write a business book that was realistic, where you get to see the characters stumble and wander and reset, the way entrepreneurs do in real life. Unlike most books and movies where business is portrayed as easy, where all you need is one good idea and the desire to be successful, the characters in KidVenture find that every day brings new problems to solve.
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Blog Tour: TRAVELING TOOTSIE by Karen and Kathy Honaker
Book Details:
Book Title: Traveling Tootsie by Karen and Kathy Honaker
Category: Children's Fiction (Ages 3-7), 38 pages
Genre: Children's Picture Book
Publisher: Mascot Books
Release date: Nov, 2022
Content Rating: G. Suitable for everyone.
**** 2023 Family Choice Award ****Book Description:
Have you ever wished you could go away on your parent’s business trip or hide in their suitcase to explore a new city all on your own? Well, Katie and Steven sure have! They wonder why they always have to stay home when Mommy or Daddy travel for work. Once their favorite yellow teddy, Tootsie, comes up with the idea to stow himself away for Daddy’s trip to Washington, DC, Katie and Steven realize that they’ll be able to travel along, too—but just not in the way they first imagine!
Buy the Book
Amazon ~ B&N
Politics and Prose
BAM ~ indiebound ~ Bookshop.org
Mascot Books
Meet the Author:Kathy and Karen grew up in the Chicago suburbs and moved to Virginia as teenagers. They enjoyed many family vacations, which began their love of travel. They both reside in Virginia with their families and continue to instill a love of travel with their own children. This is their first children’s book written together, about a favorite childhood memory that they always wanted to share with others to enjoy. They hope to inspire a sense of adventure in you!
connect with the author: website ~ twitter ~ facebook ~ instagram ~ goodreads
Review: Daddy was going on a trip. Why can’t the kids ever go? So they decided to pretend to go on a trip using their vivid imaginations.
“If we can’t go with Daddy, then we’ll go on our very own journey.”
The kids had set up the chairs around the room and were even packing their own suitcases. But wait! An idea. Could they possibly stow away in Daddy’s suitcase to come along on the trip?
I couldn’t figure out where the talking bear came into play, nor did I see where the kids decided to pack the bear instead. But, evidently, this was a trip for Traveling Tootsie.
While Daddy is away, Tootsie hops out of case and goes exploring Washington, DC, where he sees The White House, the Capitol, the zoo, The Smithsonian Museum,
The colorful illustrations were sketchy and child-like, almost like they were rendered in crayon, which brought the vibrant innocence.
It certainly was a fun and exciting journey that’s sure to inspire travel and learning. Where else will Tootsie go?
A nice, adorable read!
Rating: 4 stars
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Traveling Tootsie by Karen and Kathy Honaker Book Tour Giveaway
March 25, 2023
Review: BABYSITTER’S LITTLE SISTER: KAREN’S ROLLER SKATES by Katy Farina
When Karen goes too fast on her roller skates, she feels like she’s flying. She was certainly an excited, little kid. You can tell by how repetitive she is and how trivial her story telling is.
One day, she jumps over paint cans and falls, hurting her wrist. Uh-oh. Time to go to the hospital. We go through all the procedures and technical phrases, which were not very exciting.
At home, the whole family helps care for Karen…until, one day, they stop and she has to do things herself. The doctor said no roller skating for 2 months, which doesn’t make Karen happy. Then she gets into competition with a boy, who claims to have a better cast than her. Just one thing after another with Karen.
It’s a cute, little tale. Loved the illustrations, of course.
Rating: 4 stars
Review: BABYSITTER’S LITTLE SISTER: KAREN’S WITCH by Katy Farina
The rule was not to spy on the neighbors, but how can you help it…when you knew the neighbor was a witch?
See how the mind of a 7-year-old runs wild with this witch story. Loved the facial expressions. Too funny! It was fun to see the girls run from the scary witch.
An entertaining graphic novel with fun and colorful illustrations!
Rating: 4 stars
