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Oscar From Elsewhere

January 28, 2023 By Annette1 2 Comments

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product for Oscar From Elsewhere through Raincoast Books. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated.

When two worlds collide in order to save the lives of an entire race, you’ll find the story of Oscar from Elsewhere come to life. Oscar is your typical American boy who loves skateboarding. When through a slip in the grass finds himself in a world of magic. Why is he there? He soon discovers he’s there to help save a world…. It’s a world of figuring out who to trust and solving a mystery. Come on, let’s take a look!

The Basic Details of Oscar from Elsewhere

Title: Oscar From Elsewhere
Author: Jaclyn Moriarity
Pages: 400
Publisher: Levine Querido c/o Chronicle Books
Intended Audience: 10-14 years
Formats available: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback
Reviewed for: Raincoast books
Received: ARC Paperback
Series: I think it’s part of the Kingdoms and Empires Series

About the Author

Jaclyn Moriarty, you may remember her from The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst, writes intriguing fantasy for middle school. An Australian by birth, she currently lives in Sydney with her son. A lover of chocolate and blueberries, you’ll find a list of recommended authors on her website.

About Oscar from Elsewhere

During a sleepover, a letter comes to five children begging for the urgent assistance of Esther, a newly-realized Rain Weaver; she must arrive before 10am on Monday to save an entire town of elves. When they arrive, the children find two incredibly odd things: first, the town of elves, buried under layers of silver; and second, a regular-size boy who, soon after seeing the children, dies.

Oscar is that boy who skipped school in our world on Monday to skate, and found himself in the city of the elves at just the wrong moment: He fled as fast as he could, but not fast enough because the silver wave struck him and he fell down dead.

Looking Deeper

The story of Oscar alternates between Oscar and Imogen, one of the six children who came to Oscar’s rescue. I loved how Ms. Moriarty gave these two characters very different voices.

These children face a number of obstacles and have a quest to finish… with three known clues and six hidden clues. They are also faced with people they don’t know if they can trust. So the quest is hard but… should they complete it, a whole people group will be saved!

Each section is one more day in their quest. They only have six days to complete this quest. So each day’s chapters walk us through specific adventures. As they seek out the answers we get to learn more about each of these unique youth. Each has their own unique abilities and perspectives.

I didn’t get a final version, but I found myself intrigued by the story line and wondering if they finish this quest completely by the time the book is done. (no, I haven’t quite finished it yet!). But I can easily see a sequel happening simply due to the diverse nature of the participants. AH AH… I skipped ahead so I could see if the story continues on. This is a complete story line. Be prepared for surprises! ENJOY the surprises it’s part of the fun of this read. 🙂

Get it?

Keeping in that I have not read the entire book, but what I have read I have thoroughly enjoyed, I will recommend it. I love the variety in the characters, the surprises along the way, and how overall these are just nice kids. Learning to not believe lies from their past, working to help others not related to them, and how these youth have to work together to problem-solve.

Oscar from Elsewhere is a fun fantasy read that will be fantastic for middle school youth to read. An intermingling of worlds where skill-sets from each help save the elves.

Fake is a term

January 27, 2023 By Annette1 16 Comments

Fake is a term, is the title that immediately jumped into my head when I saw the Five Minute Friday word prompt. Then I had to figure a poem to go with it! Something easier said than done, but here we are a bit more than five minutes later. You’ll forgive the thinking time though I figure! 🙂

Fake is a term

Fake is a term
well-known these days.
From pretend news stories,
cat-fishing, spam, and ads
pretending to be breaking news!

How many times have
you got suckered in
by one such as those?

The other day a phone call
was made by one such
as me… well to be true
it was me! 🙂

A well-played email
had me concerned
until they asked me
on my computer to be.
Suspicions arose, I
soon allowed a dial tone,
hoping that no long
distance to be charged.
FAKERS!

Subtly they work, these
Fakers and pretenders,
you find them everywhere,
even with the church.
Pretending to be faithful, when
a true relationship with God
they have not.

It is so sad to say
that even within, what
should be a loving, connected
family, loved by the God
of the universe, that we
can be surrounded by hearers
of the word only, not doers.

So watch, and see,
be aware of the prowling one,
let not down your guard,
and teach your children full well.
To see who is a hearer only,
and whose actions and words show
truly of the church of God
in all their doings.

God’s word

1 Peter 5:8-9

⁸Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. ⁹Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

Isaiah 29:13-14

¹³And the Lord said:
“Because this people draw near with their mouth
    and honor me with their lips,
    while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
¹⁴therefore, behold, I will again
    do wonderful things with this people,
    with wonder upon wonder;
and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
    and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”

Arcane Ascension Series

January 25, 2023 By Annette1 2 Comments

I love listening to books on Audible… I have SO many books on there that I won’t have to buy any for a while. It’s a good thing that! Some books are well-worth listening to again!!! Anyways, last month I was intrigued by an Andrew Rowe book and thought I’d take a chance on a new series by him entitled the Arcane Ascension Series. His first in the series caused me to pick up the rest of the series.

This is a fantasy series that uses an interesting style of magic, and they have a religious belief system, which may or may not mean anything to different characters. Both play an integral role in how the story plays out. Good guys, bad guys, and some well… indifferent I’d suppose.

These books are the following:

Sufficiently Advanced Magic
On the Shoulders of Titans
The Torch the Ignites the Stars
The Silence of Unworthy Gods

Anyways, let’s move on so I can tell you a bit more eh?

The Basic Details

Title:

Sufficiently Advanced Magic
On the Shoulders of Titans
The Torch the Ignites the Stars
The Silence of Unworthy Gods

Author: Andrew Rowe
Formats: Kindle, Audio, Paperback
Pages: from 560-740 pages roughly
Publisher: all were independently published

About Author and Books

Andrew Rowe is a game designer who publishes his own work. He is most known for this series, Arcane Ascension. His books show his love for role playing games (LitRPG). I found it rather neat to learn that his love for fantasy was spurred by the same series I was! DragonLance by Weis and Hickman.

The Books: the life of Corin and his band of friends during their magic training at a boarding school. Since I’m listening and not reading… his friends are Sera, Patrick, Mara, Keras, and Derrick. Forgive me if I spell those names incorrectly. 🙂 The goal: Figure out their magic, fight the bad guys, figure out what the truth is, and survive!

Learning More

Four books, all listened to through the Audible app. I’m actually in the middle of book three as I write this review. I’m hoping to have finished all four books by the time this posts. 🙂 I’ll keep the review updated don’t worry! 🙂

The first two books cover their first year at school. Their teachers employ some interesting teaching decisions/methods and often feel like they don’t truly want to help their students. BUT since part of their magic and religious systems is figuring things out on their own, I guess it’s rather consistent with the overall worldview eh?

Listening to Corin’s conversations throughout these books I’m convinced that he’s a high functioning autistic kid. Other reviewers call him neurologically atypical. Doesn’t like touch, is particular about what he likes, and highly focused attention span. He’s very precise and highly focused on being honest whenever possible. It makes for an interesting character to be one of the main people in a story. I can easily understand why some folks might find him irritating. To me… all the repeated conversation (of not liking touch, of being particular etc.) fits the character to a “T”.

You’ll find the action overall to be fast-paced. There is always something happen, and if for some reason there isn’t something going on, Corin will be explaining something. 🙂 During those time periods, if I missed something in the conversation I didn’t worry about since usually… it will be repeated at some point down the road, or explained during an action scene. As I said, the narration is totally within the character for Corin.

My thoughts

I so enjoyed these books. I found the magic system an intriguing one where they actually had to earn how to use it, and then figure out how to build the strength to improve. The fact that there was some randomness in how their magic system worked added another layer of interest.

Heads up. The main character has same-gender attraction, but at where I am in the story dancing together is as far as it goes.

Andrew Rowe is at times a bit wordy, but it just helps to define the characters more or helps define how the magic or religious system works.

Overall… I liked all the books. There is a LOT of dialogue explaining what Corin was learning. It fits his personality. That is what you need to remember in the Arcane Ascension series… it is told from CORIN’s point of view and therefore needs to fit his neurodivergency.

I found it interesting as a person of faith, how Corin’s objections to the system of faith are quite similar to the objections people have to the Christian faith. The way people act about the “country’s faith” is just like people act in society along with how people divert from each other in their expression of faith.

All in all, should you read? Interesting characters, often playing out tests, learning to fight bigger tests and real life challenges. People to like and people to heartily dislike, a side to cheer for, and overall enough action to keep things moving forward. It’s a good read. (or in my case, a good listen). 🙂

Start with book one, see if you can tolerate Corin’s point of view, if so, you’ll like the rest of the series.

The Lord is an Everlasting God

January 24, 2023 By Annette1 2 Comments

What do you think when you hear the phrase the Lord is an Everlasting God. In today’s passage we’ll see what Isaiah had to say about it.

Isaiah 40:27-31

27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

The Lord is an Everlasting God

I don’t know what you think of when you hear the phrase The Lord is an everlasting God, but my thoughts immediately go to God being the God of forever and a day. I don’t generally think of the minutiae of what that means, I just look at the big picture. God is simply there always. Could I paint you a broader picture of that if push came to shove? For sure. But Isaiah’s words…they help you know?

What does Isaiah say?

This Lord, the everlasting God

creator of the ends of the earth
does not faint
does not grow weary
his understanding is unsearchable
gives power to the faint
increases strength to those who have no might
those that wait for him find their strength renewed

Doesn’t that add some depth to your understanding of God as everlasting?

Can you fathom never running out of energy? Honestly, I can’t. BUT I do know how God can strengthen the weary. Do you? People calling upon the Lord when they are at their end and then finding the strength to carry on.

So we know God can give people strength, to the extent that

who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

Mount up with Wings like eagles

Can you see it? That soaring like eagles? Eagles soar effortlessly when up on the wind currents, all they have to do is shift their feathers and wings and just let the wind carry them. This is the everlasting God at work. Can you see how he puts systems in place to help his people?

This shows how we will never really understand God. He understands his people and their needs in ways we can’t even fathom. Can you think of the forethought demanded for God to provide current for eagles? And he values us so much more than the birds around us. Let that sink in… I have to let that sink in.

This everlasting God provides the energy and support we need that we can do so much more than we can anticipate. This is what Isaiah is telling us about that Lord is an Everlasting God!

Puts his mindfulness of me in much greater light don’t you think?

How about you? Can you see God a bit more clearly like I just did?

Doers not just Hearers

January 23, 2023 By Annette1 2 Comments

James is such a practical little book isn’t it? I think almost everyone I know is quite familiar with this section of James were we are reminded to be doers not just hearers.

James 1:19-25 (esv)

19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Doers not just Hearers

Before we get to the be doers not just hearers section James reminds of some important attributes we should keep in mind.

We need to be people who are

quick to hear
slow to speak
slow to anger
receivers in meekness of the implanted word

Every time I read those words I think…man… I have so far to go in that regard! I am quick to listen to people, but sometimes I’m also so quick to talk! The need to shut my mouth more often is needful!

As we do these things we also need to put off all filthiness and rampant wickedness. Do I make a point of doing this? Do I actually put aside things that I know don’t please God or do I just say, well, he’ll forgive me anyways? Gah… sometimes I say the latter though I know better. Forgiveness isn’t for the deliberately unrepentant is it? So let me work more to be the person God wants me to be… one who puts off the filth/sin that has no deliberate place in my life. How to do that? Meekly accept God’s word into my life. That’s what we need to do.

That leads into James’ next thought. Be doers not just hearers. Make what you hear from God matter! Otherwise it’s like making a point of forgetting what you have seen.

By putting into practice what God is teaching us we become better at putting the garbage in our lives aside don’t you think? And then, in our actions, blessing is shown!

Wisdom of Christ in Proverbs 6

January 22, 2023 By Annette1 2 Comments

Today’s Sermon in based on Proverbs 6. In the NIV they are written as follows. Today Pastor Andrew will be speaking of the Wisdom of Christ in Proverbs 6

Part One

My son, if you have put up security for your neighbo.r,
    if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,
²you have been trapped by what you said,
    ensnared by the words of your mouth.
³So do this, my son, to free yourself,
    since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:
Go—to the point of exhaustion—^[a]
    and give your neighbor no rest!
⁴Allow no sleep to your eyes,
    no slumber to your eyelids.
⁵Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
    like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

⁶Go to the ant, you sluggard;
    consider its ways and be wise!
⁷It has no commander,
    no overseer or ruler,
⁸yet it stores its provisions in summer
    and gathers its food at harvest.

⁹How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
    When will you get up from your sleep?
¹⁰A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest—
¹¹and poverty will come on you like a thief
    and scarcity like an armed man.

¹²A troublemaker and a villain,
    who goes about with a corrupt mouth,
¹³    who winks maliciously with his eye,
    signals with his feet
    and motions with his fingers,
¹⁴    who plots evil with deceit in his heart—
    he always stirs up conflict.
¹⁵Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;
    he will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.

Part two

¹⁶There are six things the Lord hates,
    seven that are detestable to him:
¹⁷        haughty eyes,
        a lying tongue,
        hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸        a heart that devises wicked schemes,
        feet that are quick to rush into evil,
¹⁹        a false witness who pours out lies
        and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

Wisdom of Christ in proverbs 6, text with image of two men working

Avoid Laziness and Learn to work hard (vv 1-11)

Learn your finances skills. Do whatever you can to free yourself from the obligation of co-signing a loan.

a. Go—to the point of exhaustion— and give your neighbor no rest!
b. Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids.
c. be like a gazelle and bird fleeing entrapment!
Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
2. Learn the value of a good work ethic.
see the work of the ant, that works hard without being ordered to do so.
⁶Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!
⁷It has no commander, no overseer or ruler,
⁸yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.

3. Do not be lazy! Don’t just let the world pass you by. Learn the value of a dollar.

Avoid Division! Learn to love Unity Vv.12-19

Do not sow discord.
Don’t be a wicked person. Everything about them plans evil.
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
a false witness who pours out lies
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.
Those six things all point the the culminating factor…. one who sows discords in the community.
Why does God hate discord so much?

Both of these things point us to the wisdom of Christ.

John 17:3-5 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. ⁴I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. ⁵And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

Jesus finished his work, his hard work among the people, bringing unity to them. This is how we see the Wisdom of Christ in Proverbs 6. Through hard work, Jesus showed how despite our differences, we can be one body by showcasing what brings us together. When we do the work of Christ we showcase that unity of spirit. That bond of peace granted to us as believers. This shows us putting the gospel first.

But I’m Not Sick!

January 21, 2023 By Annette1 2 Comments

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product for But I’m Not Sick through Jenkins Group, Inc. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated.

Do you have children nervous about going to the doctor whether they are sick or not? But I’m not sick walks children through what a well-kid check at the doctor is all about. No needles, just a health check and people helping maintain a child’s good health.

Details you’ll need

Title: But I’m Not Sick
Author: Andrena J. Ziegler
Illustrator: Mark Brayer
Pages: 42
Publisher: Palmetto Publishing
Formats Available: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback
Intended Audience: Children
Received: Paperback
Reviewed for: Jenkins Group, Inc.

The Author and The Book

Andrena J. Zeigler, has worked as an advanced Practical Nurse specializing in pediatrics for 20 years. She loves teaching the next generation of pediatric nurses and nurse practitioners. Married, with children and living in South Carolina. In her free time Ms. Zeigler enjoys being creative in cooking, decorating, designing, and writing.

But I’m Not Sick is about a young girl going to the doctor for a healthy child check who didn’t understand why she had to go to the doctor because she wasn’t sick. Her mom reassured it that she was just going for a check up but still, the child looked uncertain. The story walks us through her check up.

Looking more closely at But I’m Not Sick

Clear images and bright colours fill the pages. Text is highlighted on a page with blue, with full colour pages opposite. The kindness of the medical staff is evident throughout.

The text is large enough to read easily with a group of children, yet comfortable enough for snuggling in a chair for reading.

The doc does her best to reassure her young charge that everything is fine, even down to her rumbling tummy. Could it be a monster below just wanting to make himself known? For some children this fun could be fun, and others it might be alarming, so know your children first eh?

Through images and text you can see the care the medical staff have for their patient. Helping their charge feel comfortable despite her insistence that she’s not sick, ergo she doesn’t need to be there!

Read it?

There were a couple of things I didn’t much care for. For instance, in my experience, tonsils don’t sway and slide. And calling a child’s stomach a growling monster….would work for most children but not all. So know your children.

OTHER THAN THAT… I thought But I’m not sick, a well-done book, you could see the author’s experience shine through. From mom accompanying her daughter through the various steps of her check, to the daughter saying But I’m not sick!

I love how the doctor explains her actions throughout. Looking in the ears, listening to her stomach, and checking her reflexes. Sometimes doctors and nurses don’t do enough explaining with children from my experiences with my lad.

I don’t review many books concerning medical issues, but The Button Pusher deals with ADHD (for middle school) and Fighting Parkinson’s and Winning (for adults).

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Oscar From Elsewhere

The Basic Details of Oscar from Elsewhere