Review: Pie in the Sky by Jane Smiley

Pie in the Sky

Jane Smiley
Genre: Middle Grade Fiction/Children's

Expected Publication: September 11, 2012

Publisher: Random House Children's Books

ISBN: 0375869689

Buy It!

Amazon
Barnes & Noble

Description:

Abby Lovitt doesn't realize how unprepared she is when she takes her beloved horse, True Blue, to a clinic led by the most famous equestrian anyone knows. The biggest surprise, though, is that Sophia, the girl who never makes a mistake, suddenly makes so many that she stops riding. Who will ride her horse? Abby's dad seems to think it will be Abby. Pie in the Sky is the most expensive horse Abby has ever ridden. But he is proud and irritable, and he takes Abby's attention away from the continuing mystery that is True Blue.

And then there's high school—Abby finds new friends, but also new challenges, and a larger world that sometimes seems strange and intimidating. She begins to wonder if there is another way to look at horses, people, and life itself.

Accompanied by the beautiful imagery of 1960s Northern California, Abby's charming mix of innocence and wisdom guide us through Pulitzer Prize winner Jane Smiley's latest middle-grade horse novel.

Review:

Rating:

I recently read Pie in the Sky by Jane Smiley. I thought it was a very good book. In Pie in the Sky Abby has a has a horse named Blue. He is not very good at jumping so she takes him to a clinic. The man who does the clinic does not like Blue very well. A girl in Abby's class quits riding for an unknown reason. She askes Abby to ride her horse named Pie in the Sky. Abby and Pie in the Sky help his owner get back her confidence to ride. God gave Abby a chance to help Pie's owner. Anyone who likes horses and learning about God would like this book. I really liked reading about the different horses in the story. Pie in the Sky was a great read and I hope Jane Smiley writes another book

I didn't read the whole thing. I am trying to get this schoolwork under control. It is killing me. I thought that what I read was well written. It seemed fast paced with lots of descriptions of horses. Abby liked that it was a Christian book and talked about God. She liked all of the different horses that the author talked about.

*The Book Blogging Beauties  received a copy of this book from Random House Children's Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are that of the reviewer. We were not compensated for this review.

Chomp by Carl Hiaasen

Chomp

Carl Hiaasen

Release Date: March 27, 2012

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

ISBN: 0375868429

Description:

Wahoo Cray lives in a zoo. His father is an animal wrangler, so he's grown up with all manner of gators, snakes, parrots, rats, monkeys, snappers, and more in his backyard. The critters he can handle.  His father is the unpredictable one.

 When his dad takes a job with a reality TV show called "Expedition Survival!", Wahoo figures he'll have to do a bit of wrangling himself—to keep his dad from killing Derek Badger, the show's boneheaded star, before the shoot is over. But the job keeps getting more complicated. Derek Badger seems to actually believe his PR and insists on using wild animals for his stunts. And Wahoo's acquired a shadow named Tuna—a girl who's sporting a shiner courtesy of her old man and needs a place to hide out.
 They've only been on location in the Everglades for a day before Derek gets bitten by a bat and goes missing in a storm. Search parties head out and promptly get lost themselves. And then Tuna's dad shows up with a gun . . .

It's anyone's guess who will actually survive "Expedition Survival". . . 

Review:

Rating:

Roger says: It was a decent book but some things were out of order. Wahoo's dad gets a job to train animals to act like wild animals for a TV show and them he gets a job to actually go catch wild animals for the show. They go to Wal-mart to buy supplies and they found a girl from Wahoo's school living in the parking lot. 

Mom says: Written like a typical Hiaasen book. The cover is colorful and grabs kids attention. The story has enough going on to keep the kids reading but not to much as to overwhelm the reader. The mom in this story is overseas for work during this time leaving Wahoo with his dad. In need of a job he accepts one with a reality show. The shows star Derek Badger is full of himself and thinks he can do more than he really can. 

This is one to get when it is released March 27, 2012

*The Book Blogging Beauties  received an advance copy of this book from Netgalley & Knopf Books for Young Readers. All opinions are that of the reviewer. We are dedicated to providing our HONEST opinion about books etc. We were not compensated for this review.