Review + Giveaway: Eclair Goes To Stella’s

Title: Eclair Goes To Stella’s
Author: Michelle Weidenbenner
Publisher: Random Publishing, LLC
Release Date: August 2014
Length: 76 pages
Genre: Children’s
Recommended Age: 5 – 9 

Find the book: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

*****Synopsis*****

Hi, I’m Éclair and I’m seven. My sister Meggie is two. When mom got sick we had to go live with Stella, my dad’s mom, the one with maroon colored hair. I begged Dad not to make us stay with her because she beat her horse and was going to eat her rooster, but he didn’t believe me. Even after I pretended I was going to barf, he left us with Stella.

So there we were, Meggie and me, on a strange pink farm with a skinny horse, a mean rooster, and Stinky Stella who had a living room filled with dead deer heads.

What would she do to us?

Would we end up on her wall too?

“Do you want to name her?” Stella said.
I squeezed my eyes to think again. “Star. She looks like a movie star.”
“I love it.” Stella reached up to give me a high-five. “Star, it is.”

*****Review*****

This book is short and sweet – and funny!

Claire (called Eclair) and her baby sister, Meggie, have to roadtrip from Florida to Indiana to live with their grandma. The first meeting is absolutely hilarious! Claire takes everything literally and is quite an insightful kid. The chapters about the first day being at Stella’s cracked me up!

Claire’s voice is clear and distinct, and spot-on for a child her age.

I really wanted to go to Abby’s house that Saturday. She had invited a new girl, Beth, who’d just moved to our block. I needed to meet her because I didn’t want her getting any ideas about taking my place as Abby’s BFF.

The story is very representative of our current culture, and speaking from a teacher’s perspective, very true about our kids. A lot of kids now are raised by another family member – a grandparent or aunt/uncle, and that’s what happens in this book. It also brings up the white elephant of mental illness in our society, and Claire shares a few comments about living with a parent who suffers from depression, which explains their visit to stay with (grandma) Stella.

*****About the Author*****

Michelle grew up in the suburbs of Detroit with five brothers.  She enjoys writing her novels and encouraging writers and readers alike. She is living her dream writing stories of real people searching for their dreams and confronting their fears, showing the passion of the characters’ plights, often giving her the ability to show the reader the ‘other’ side of the story. When she is not writing she enjoys life on the tennis court and is known as “Queen of the Rim Shots.”

Her debut novel, CACHE a PREDATOR, a geocaching mystery. was launched in July, 2013 and has been an Amazon best-seller in the crime/thriller category.  Her other works include: Willow, Scattered Links, Kelly’s Story, Eclair Series, and The Vision in a Kiss.  She has won contests in both The Writer’s Journal and The Writer’s Digest. Love is Just a Word (Scattered Links) was a bronze medalist is the 2010 Frasier Contest, a 2011 semi-finalist in the ACFW Genesis Contest, and won the Aspiring Writer’s Contest withe THE READING ROOM, 2013.

Find the author: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

*****Giveaway*****

There is a $25 Amazon gift card (or PayPal cash) with a Sterling Silver and Brass Horse Charm  Necklace and signed Eclair book up for first place grabs, as well as 4 more signed books.

Amazon GC/Paypal Cash open Worldwide.  Necklace/Signed books open to US/CA/UK.

Contest ends 9/25/14 at 11.59pm EST.

 

Horse Charm Necklace from Chapman Jewelers, Warsaw, Indiana. Sterling Silver and Brass Brown Satin Cord – Extends 16″ – 18″ (not red cord as shown in image).

Click here to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway!

I received this book to review through Beck Valley Books Book Tours, all the opinions above are my own.