It's the summer of 1958 and here we find ourselves immersed in the life of 12 year old Sammie Tucker whose ambition in life is to have a local newspaper. Here she will tell about the people that live in the town of Graham Camp.
Her BFF, Tuwana, wants nothing more than to spend the summer practicing to be a cheerleader as they prepare to enter Junior High next year. Her hopes are to make the squad and be one of the football players girlfriends. Isn't that what all cheerleaders do?
Sammie's life isn't the easiest for any 12 year old, who lost her sister Sylvia in a blizzard when she was an infant. Since then her mother hasn't been the same and Sammie finds herself wondering if her mother really loves her at all anymore. Her mother spends the days in her old bathrobe, popping pill after pill, hoping to rejoin the family once more. Sammie finds it her responsibility to care for her mom, while her dad rotates from day shifts to graveyards shifts at his job at the oil refinery.
What Sammie really wants is to have her old mom back again. The mom who used to bake cookies and brownies with her. Stay up late talking about everything. Yet the story is about to take a tragic turn and Sammie suddenly will question everyone who has been a part of her life and wonder if her life is really worth it after all.
I received this heartwarming book, compliments of Hachette Book Groups, Faith Words division, and found it tearful and mesmerizing at times. It's easy to put yourself in Sammie's shoes and see life from her perspective. You see her struggle with trying to be a 12 year old enjoying her summer and the adult trying to take care of her mom. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a wonderful and fantastic summer read.
For more information about the book, the author and where to purchase a copy, please click on the links below. You can even get a sneak peek at the first chapter which will hook you from page one. This book is available in paperback and eBook formats.
http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/books_9780446556552.htm
To make this a great summer giveaway, Hachette Book Groups is allowing me to giveaway 3 copies of this wonderful book. This giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada only. No P.O. Boxes, please. Here are the rules for entering this giveaway, be a follower of mine, and tell me about one great summer memory of yours. The giveaway will end on June 30th.
Thank you Heart2Heart for featuring Chasing Lilacs on your wonderful blog. I shared about your giveaway on FB and Twitter. Blessings!
ReplyDeleteI've seen so much about this book and would LOVE to win a copy!
ReplyDeleteI live in Florida now but remember most my summers living in Pa. We used to take my daughter tent camping. Our first time, we got rained out but stuck it out, wet ground and all. The next time we went, we bought cots. No more wet ground.:)
would love to read this wonderful novel...thanks for the chance...a favouite summer memory of mine is catching fireflies as a child :)
ReplyDeletekarenk
kmkuka at yahoo dot com
This sounds like a great read! My favorite summer memory is heading out to Oklahoma for the annual family reunion and getting together with cousins. We'd play outside and catch fireflies too.
ReplyDeleteI spent 10 summers at a church camp in Vermont, where my mom was camp nurse. They called her Nursie. My favorite memory is exploring the nature trails with my dog Happy, finding tiny footprints of field mice and chipmunks, and sinking into a carpet of cool moss. We usually ended up at this little outdoor chapel with rough log benches built into the hillside, and looked out over the beautiful Green Mountains.
ReplyDeleteWe had the only cellar growing up at our gas plant's camp. If tornadoes were coming, down we would go. We would hear a knock, undo the rope on the door and here would come neighbors, and more and more! Pajama's....who cared! We would all visit, and after it passed, we would all climb the stairs to our backyard to check. While Daddy's checked the sky, the kids would pick cherries off those great cherry trees we had. Great memories and God kept us safe each time! Paula
ReplyDeleteMy best summer memories are of working in the kitchen at a summer camp in lake luzerne, New York. Besides learning a lot about cooking, i learned about prayer, real friendship, growth in Christ and most of all a godly picture of love and family.
ReplyDeleteSweet review.
ReplyDeleteI love the cover of this book. Sometimes I choose which book I will read by how pretty the cover is. Count me in on the give away. kittycrochettwo@msn.com
ReplyDeleteI've read this wonderful book and relived a few of my own memories of growing up in the 1950s--the first time I saw an Edsel, sucking on Lifesavers, black-and-white TV. And what beats being a kid in Texas?
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