Northshire Bookstore Celebrates Kids.

On a recent trip to Manchester Vermont, I stopped into the local Indie bookstore.  Boy am I glad I did!  NORTHSHIRE BOOKSTORE is located in what once was an inn – with three stories of goodies.  In addition to what I expected to find – BOOKS – there is so much more in this wonderful store.  Plenty of gift items, toys, games, clothing, and a cafe that serves local and homemade sandwiches, soups and baked goods. (I highly recommend the cream of asparagus soup). 

The store is over 10,000 square feet with one entire floor devoted to children.  It is a world dedicated to and celebrating all things kids.  So many books thoughtfully displayed to show off as many authors as possible.  They’re in alphabetical order, overlapping, but with enough peeking out to find your favorite title.

It made me curious as to why more bookstores don’t display their picture books like this.  At least an unknown author has a chance of “showing off” a title to the world.

 

 

The store also had a separate room for kids looking to interact with books and games.  Rocking chairs, bean bag chairs, and stuffed animals graced the floor.  Books, games and activities were displayed on shelves and tables begging kids to TOUCH and PLAY.

Who wouldn’t want to hang out in a room like this?  It looks like a playroom in your best friend’s house.

I would have happily spent DAYS in NORTHSHIRE BOOKSTORE.  Does anyone know of other amazing bookstores like this?  I’d love to add them to my list of “must-see” places on my next vacation.

Anyone who loves books should plan on a stop to this great store.

https://www.northshire.com/manchester-store

Advertisements

Joshua David Bellin Presents…FREEFALL a New Sci/Fi YA Thriller.

Falling into FREEFALL: By Joshua David Bellin

FREEFALL started out as a love story, plain and simple. But it became something more.

Back in 2013, I participated in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) for the first time. I’d read some YA space operas beforehand, and I had an idea for one of my own. As is typical for me, I plunged into the writing without much of a plan; all I knew was that I wanted to write a deep-space romance involving a teenage boy named Cam and a teenage girl named Sofie. I didn’t think much about who they were, how they met, or anything else. I just wrote.

But within days, it became apparent that my romantic leads were taking me in a direction I hadn’t foreseen. For a variety of reasons—the need to ramp up the tension between them, the desire on my part to delve into lives beyond the one I myself had lived as a teen—the two were diverging radically from each other, Cam becoming a pampered child of the elite, Sofie a revolutionary leader of the oppressed. Once that happened, the rest of the book took shape: Earth in the twenty-second century stratified into two societies, the Upperworld and the Lowerworld, with the planned colonization of outer space a battleground between the two. The romance between Cam and Sofie was still central, but the book was no longer purely a love story; it was also a science fiction satire about a world where corporations rule, space exploration has become privatized, and the struggle for justice extends from Earth into the deepest reaches of the galaxy.

Once this new conception was in place, the personalities of Cam and Sofie developed naturally and dramatically.  Cam is a guy who has no reason to care about anyone else—he comes from one of the richest families on Earth, he’s been sheltered from the world’s problems all his life, and he’s about to leave the planet anyway. But he chooses to care. At considerable risk to his own status (and life), he involves himself in the lives of others who lack the freedom to make the choices he can make. With Cam, I wanted to be sure he had no super-powers like so many YA heroes have, that he couldn’t do anything beyond what a normal person could do. It’s his choices, not his abilities, that define him.

With Sofie, the development of her character was even more striking. I love characters who change as I write them, who seem to be pushing against whatever limits I might unconsciously be imposing on them, because those characters seem the most real to me. Sofie was that kind of character; no sooner did I start writing than she took control and insisted on becoming a passionate spokeswoman for the voiceless. There’s a lot of talk in YA fiction about “kick-butt heroines,” and I think Sofie fits that description—except she fights not with her fists but with her mind, her words, and her faith. For her and Cam to trust one another, walls had to come down; for their love to survive, it had to face not only external opposition but their own fears and doubts. At last, I had a world worth fighting for, and a duo worth rooting for.

I sometimes ask myself whether I should plan out my novels more thoroughly before I start writing them. How, I wonder, would FREEFALL have developed if I’d done that? But I trust the creative process. I believe that when it comes to fiction, my intuition knows more than my intellect. And with FREEFALL, I’m convinced that readers will enjoy discovering this story as much as I did.

The fate of the human race hangs on the actions of two teens from very different backgrounds in this thrilling sci-fi adventure.

In the Upperworld, the privileged 1% are getting ready to abandon a devastated planet Earth. And Cam can’t wait to leave. After sleeping through a 1,000-year journey, he and his friends will have a pristine new planet to colonize. And no more worries about the Lowerworld and its 99% of rejects.

Then Cam sees a banned video feed of protesters in the Lowerworld who also want a chance at a new life. And he sees a girl with golden eyes who seems to be gazing straight through the feed at him. A girl he has to find. Sofie.

When Cam finds Sofie, she opens his eyes to the unfairness of what’s happening in their world, and Cam joins her cause for Lowerworld rights. He also falls hard for Sofie. But Sofie has her own battles to fight, and when it’s time to board the spaceships, Cam is alone.

Waking up 1,000 years in the future, Cam discovers that he and his shipmates are far off-course, trapped on an unknown and hostile planet. Who has sabotaged their ship? And does it have anything to do with Sofie, and the choices—and the enemies—he made in the past?

Joshua David Bellin has been writing novels since he was eight years old (though the first few were admittedly very short). A college teacher by day, he is the author of three science fiction novels for teens and adults: the two-part Survival Colony series (Survival Colony 9 and Scavenger of Souls) and the deep-space adventure Freefall. Josh loves to read, watch movies, and spend time in Nature with his kids. Oh, yeah, and he likes monsters. Really scary monsters.    

Links:

Website: http://www.joshuadavidbellin.com

Blog: http://theyaguy.blogspot.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheYAGuy

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/joshuadavidbellin

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7393959.Joshua_David_Bellin

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshuadavidbellin/

Freefall (Amazon): https://www.amazon.com/Freefall-Joshua-David-Bellin/dp/1481491652

Freefall (Barnes & Noble): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/freefall-joshua-david-bellin/1125685808

Freefall (Simon & Schuster): http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Freefall/Joshua-David-Bellin/9781481491655

Freefall (IndieBound): https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781481491655

Survival Colony 9 (Simon & Schuster): http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Survival-Colony-9/Joshua-David-Bellin/9781481403559

Scavenger of Souls (Simon & Schuster): http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Scavenger-of-Souls/Joshua-David-Bellin/9781481462440

 

 

 

 

 

HATE HAS NO HOME HERE:TEN WAYS TO FIGHT HATE

Despite what we see on TV and social media, there are more people opposed to hate than those who try to spread it.  All over the country people are fighting HATE and standing up against the forces of division, hatred, and oppression. When hate flares up, GOOD PEOPLE rise up against it, often in larger numbers and with stronger voices.  You can join this movement to fight hate.

Among the ways to fight hate: Act, Join Forces, Pressure Leaders, Support Victims, Educate Yourself, Create an Alternative.

To find out more about this important movement:

The Southern Poverty Law Center has a brochure that you can download: TEN WAYS TO FIGHT HATE. For your free copy visit

https://www.splcenter.org/20170814/ten-ways-fight-hate-community-response-guide

Be a force for good and join the fight against hate! 

Teaching Aid: Great Causes For Back to School.

As your children head back to another school year, we parents might wonder how we can support teachers and which programs are worthy of attention and support.  Here are 5 to think about:

1. GIRLS WHO CODE: Men outnumber women in the fields of science, technology, math and engineering. This organization hopes to change that by partnering with Google and other tech companies to launch coding clubs for female teens across the country.  Contribute at: http://www.girlswhocode.com

2. School Supplies: For every YOOBI brand pencil set, notebook or other school item purchased at TARGET, or at http://www.yoobi.com   another will be donated to a classroom in need.

3. Sign a petition to encourage teaching handwriting in schools by going to: http://www.bicfightforyourwrite.com    and BIC will donate a pen or pencil to Adopt A Classroom.

4. Dine Out:  For the entire month of September, eat at one of thousands of restaurants nationwide to get meal discounts and help raise money to wend childhood hunger.  Visit: http://www.nokidhungry.org  for participating restaurants.

5. Used Books: If you donate or buy used books and textbooks at http://www.betterworldbooks.com  a portion of the funds raised will go to literacy programs around the globe.

Make the school year count for those less fortunate and have a great year!

 

Don’t Throw Away Orphan Toys. Do This Instead.

With summer winding down, we often want to welcome fall with a bit of cleaning and getting rid of some of the “stuff” that accumulated all summer long.  If your children are tired of their old toys and books or you just need to make some room, try donating the items to some of the following:

http://www.stuffedanimalsforemergencies.org  delivers gently used toys to children in need. Go on the website to check for your local community chapter.       

http://www.Babybuggy.org  takes kids and baby gear along with maternity and children’s clothing that is in good condition.  They distribute it to needy families.

For books contact:  www.donationtown.org    to schedule a pick up along with others in your area.  Just enter your zip code and choose from local charities you’d like to sponsor.

Another way to re-purpose books is at: www.booksforafrica.org     You pay for shipping to the Atlanta warehouse, but it is tax-deductible.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

You can also donate unwanted items to your local GOODWILL, SALVATION ARMY, VIETNAM VETERANS OF AMERICA   www.pickupplease.org    And, Habitat For Humanity will accept household items and furniture at their ReStore outlets to use in their building projects. Check out their needs at: www.habitat.org

Get Your Jam On!

Saturday, August 26, 2017 is Play Music on the Porch Day.  Musicians from 17+ countries will be meeting with friends on porches for a jam session.  You and your family can join the fun.  In the spirit of peace, harmony and fun for all ages, with nothing offensive or demeaning, make some music.  Share your celebration of music – the international language –  by posting your celebration on social media with the hashtag #playmusicontheporchday

VISIT:  http://www.playmusicontheporchday.com

DIY Fidget Spinners

Everywhere I look these days, people are talking about FIDGET SPINNERS.  These gadgets were designed for use with children with autism as a way to help them with sensory issues.  They come in all shapes, sizes and designs and some are even battery powered.

You can make some simple spinners with materials you probably already have at home.  Here is a link from the Red Ted craft site that give you a step by step video.

http://www.redtedart.com/printable-diy-fidget-spinner-instructions/
https://darlenebeckjacobson.wordpress.com/category/web-sites/
darlenebeckjacobson.wordpress.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2017-39
116591
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:D5LTZOAPP24YYQHPM2B3OMUR5CBEIX5Z
<urn:uuid:71696d57-a378-49c7-9e6e-cc923baf1ca1>
2017-09-25T11:31:05Z
192.0.78.13
text/html
sha1:V7UIFLN5ZG4FFYMIJAXZLFR7KRGLUV7Z
<urn:uuid:7428ba25-de7c-4a6c-9b5e-4f936340cb44>
https://darlenebeckjacobson.wordpress.com/category/web-sites/
length
response
<urn:uuid:74134512-4b49-4e39-909c-25986c8bea12>
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-234-233-162.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2017-39
operator: Common Crawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for September 2017
publisher: Common Crawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf