Weekend Photo :: 9

I hope everyone is having a great weekend so far! What a lovely hammock to lounge on to do some  reading, huh? Looks absolutely blissful.

My prayers go out to the East Coast as they brave Hurricane Irene. May God keep you and your loved ones safe!

image courtesy of: Colleen Duffley via Coastal Living

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Huber Hill and the Dead Man's Treasure by B.K. Bostick

Book trailer for Huber Hill and the Dead Man's Treasure

To those of you dropping by on the blog tour for Huber Hill and the Dead Man's Treasure sponsored by Cedar Fort, Inc., welcome to The Bookish Mama!

Author Interview with B.K. Bostick

1) Thanks for joining us today! Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

I grew up in a small town. My idea of a fun Friday night was driving 30 minutes to the city and hanging out at Walmart. When I graduated high school, I moved the Salt Lake City, Utah to go to college. I met my wife there. We've been married for almost eight years (she's the best). We're adopting our first child next month.

2) What was your inspiration for Huber Hill?

My grandpa. He would always tell me stories about Spanish treasure hidden up in the mountains. I always imagined going on these wild adventures to find treasure. As I grew older, I realized that the real treasures were the stories my grandpa told me. Huber Hill and the Dead Man’s Treasure is my way of passing his treasure on.

3) Would you say that you are a lot like Huber or not much at all?

Somewhat. I was pretty shy and unsure of myself when I was a kid. I was also very determined when I set my mind to things.

4) What advice do you have for budding writers? (I'm a teacher and my students would love to hear what you have to say.)

Keep a journal. Write down all of your impressions, thoughts, and experiences. Not only is it a great way for your family to have a record about you, but you'll use it to draw ideas for writing stories and creating characters.

Thanks B.K. for dropping by and answering some questions! 

Author: B.K. Bostick

Genre: Juvenile fiction - Action & Adventure

Publisher: Cedar Fort, Inc.

Publication Date: October 28th 2011 by Bonneville Books

Source: Received electronically from publisher via NetGalley.com

Did I like the cover?: It fits the story perfectly. It is definitely appealing to young readers in search of an adventure book.

First lines: “Where is it? Tell me now!” demanded the
man in the black. A tattoo of a black serpent ran the length
of his forearm, appearing as if it had wrapped itself around
the flesh.

This book reminds me of: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest because of the name and they're looking for a chest of gold coins. I also kept picturing Indiana Jones in my head as well.

The main character reminds me of: Greg from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series because both Greg and Huber aren't exactly the most popular kids in school and are picked on because of their perceived weaknesses.

Book synopsis from Goodreads:

When his grandfather dies, Huber Hill is devastated---until he opens Grandpa Nick's mysterious box. An old gold coin and directions to a hidden Spanish treasure send him and his friends off on an mind-blowing adventure, but he's not the only one on the hunt. Filled with dangerous animals and cryptic puzzles, this book will have you on the edge of your seat until the last page.

Review: Huber Hill is a teenager who is not exactly what you would call one of the "cool" kids in school. In fact, he is bullied and picked on by his nemesis, Scott McCormick, who gave Huber the nickname, "Puber" during a 5th grade maturation assembly. Life is pretty miserable for Huber at school and at home where his parents can't seem to stop fighting everyday.

The only good thing in Huber's life is spending time with his ailing Grandpa Nick. When Grandpa Nick dies, Huber and his twin sister, Hannah are completely devastated.However, amongst the things that Grandpa Nick leaves them is treasure map left behind by the Spanish conquistadors, now called the Tesoro de los Muertos of Dead Man's Treasure. According to legend, it is cursed and no one has found the treasure and/or live to share about it. 

That's when the adventure really begins. Huber embarks on a journey to find the treasure and prove that the tales his grandpa has shared with him are really true. Once the action starts, it is a very past-paced adventure that will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. Without giving away too much, this book has all the ingredients you are looking for in an action/adventure book - a vicious villain, a journey to find lost treasure, old myths and legends, wild animals and unexpected twists and turns to keep you guessing what will happen next.

Overall:
I really enjoyed this book. It took a little bit to get going, but once it did, I couldn't put it down. It is going to be a great addition to my classroom library and my 5th graders (especially the boys) are going to love it.

Rating:

4 out of 5 stars 

As a participant in the blog tour, I have been lucky enough to be able to giveaway an e-book of Huber Hill and the Dead Man's Treasure to one of my readers! Also, B.K. Bostick has generously offered to mail anyone that likes his facebook page, a coin and bookmark. Good luck!

Treasure for Alyssa (from B.K.'s blog):

My neighbor, Alyssa, was diagnosed with a brain tumor last December. She's had four surgeries and radiation. She's endured more than most people will ever go through- all at the age of 12. She and her family are an inspiration to me.

To assist with mounting medical bills, I've decided to donate 100% of profits from all pre orders and sales of Huber Hill and the Dead Man's Treasure from Oct. 1-16 to Alyssa and her family. We are also doing a fun run on her behalf at Farmington Jr. High (Alyssa's School) on Sat., Oct. 15th, from 2:00-4:00. Fun run starts at 2:30. There will be games, food, fun, and prizes donated from local businesses! Barnes and Noble will also be there selling copies for the fundraiser. Hope you can make it!

To participate in the fundraiser, simply pre-order from Amazon/B&N now or purchase the book from a retailer during the dates posted above. Also be sure to RSVP on facebook or Goodreads.

Visit www.treasureforalyssa.com for more.



For more information:
Website: http://www.deadmanstreasure.com
Blog: http://www.bkbostick.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/bkbostick
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bkbostickauthorpage

Throwback Thursday :: 5 :: Book It

I LOVED the Book It program when I was a kid. I loved reading and getting certificates for pizza was just an added bonus. I still have my old button somewhere in my parents' home.

I can only speak for myself, but I loved reading to begin with and getting free pizza was just icing on top of the cake. Growing up with immigrant parents, eating pizza was always a treat because we hardly ate "American food." :)

I know it is a touchy issue when it comes to whether it is the "right" thing to do to give external incentives for reading. The argument is that joy of reading should be enough of a motivator for kids to read and "bribing" kids with external rewards defeats the purpose of reading.

As a teacher, I remember receiving the Book It packet of information, but it's been awhile since I've received anything from Pizza Hut. I did a Google search and found out that it is still around. You can find more information about it here: http://www.bookitprogram.com

Anyone else remember the Book It program? Was is a positive experience for you too?

Summer Giveaway :: $10 Amazon gift card

Thanks to I am a Reader Not a Writer and Mary from BookHounds & Forever Young for hosting this Summer Giveaway Hop!

Summer is over halfway over now and to keep the fun going, I'm giving away a $10 gift card to Amazon.com so that you can purchase a book of your own liking to read on the beach, by the pool, or anywhere that you'll be enjoying the summer sun. I am stop #63 on the giveaway hop.

Over 300 participating blogs are offering a book related giveaway and we are all linked up together so you can easily hop from one giveaway to another. The hop runs from Monday August 1st through Friday August 7th.

***MUST BE A FOLLOWER TO ENTER***
(To follow, scroll down on the right side bar and click "follow")

Giveaway Details:
To enter giveaway please follow this blog then fill out the RaffleCopter.
Comments are for feedback and questions only.

Pottermore :: I'm in! One of a million!!!

When the Pottermore announcement was made at the end of June, one of the things that I keyed in on was that there would be early access for 1 million people starting on July 31st. Of course, I would have LOVED to have been one of the first million to gain access to Pottermore because of my love for Harry Potter over the years, but I really wasn't expecting anything and was trying to tell myself that waiting until October when everybody else would also have access would be fine. Late last night, I remembered that and just checked around on the Internet to see what was going on with when the Magical Quill clue was going to be released.

7 books, 7 days, 7 chances.

Here are the instructions from the website:

Those of you who would like the chance to gain early access to Pottermore must find The Magical Quill and then submit their registration details. Each day, from 31 July to 6 August, a clue will be revealed here. Solve the clue and you will be taken to The Magical Quill. Be quick, The Magical Quill won’t be there for long and registration will only be open while spaces are still available each day.

Each day the clues will be related to each of the books in order. Your job is to solve the clue and find the magical quill.

From the Pottermore website:

The Magical Quill detects the birth of magical children and writes their name down in a large book. To find out if your name is in the book, you need to find The Magical Quill and then submit your registration details on Pottermore.

How did I manage to get a spot into Pottermore?

A little bit of my Internet and social media skills (from being on twitter, facebook, and tumblr) came in handy, but mostly it was sheer dumb luck.

I live in the Pacific Standard Time Zone so I was on my computer from about 9pm to 1pm. I saw the Internet leaks from the email sent to Leaky Con (a Harry Potter Convention) attendees that the first clue would be released sometime after midnight PST (or 8am in the UK) and that it would be about Diagon Alley. People all over Tumblr and Twitter were furiously studying Chapter 5 of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone while obsessively refreshing the webpage in hopes that the clue would pop up soon. I appreciated the people that posted up notes of significant numbers on Tumblr. It really helped me with the answer!

There was an intense fervor online leading up to midnight PST, but alas midnight came and gone and there was no clue released. I stayed up just because I had a long afternoon nap and found the Harry Potter fandom online very amusing. I decided to stay up until 1am PST and right before I went to bed, by sheer dumb luck, I refreshed the Pottermore webpage and there was the CLUE! I actually had to look at it several times before realizing that it had changed!

In my frenzy, I managed somehow to capture screenshots of the whole process that I want to share with you. I think I wanted proof that it was really happening to me!

So the first clue was:
"How many breeds of owls are featured in the Eeylop's Owl Emporium sign? 
Multiply this number by 49."

I couldn't figure out my math fast enough and then I didn't read the directions that I had to type in my answer after the website "http://quill.pottermore.com/answer" and not "http:/www.pottermore.com/answer" because when you do it without the "quill" part, you end up with a page that looks like this:

It's pretty cute how they mention the Invisibility Cloak. I think page this prevents anyone from just purely guessing the answer.

Finally after I figured out my mistake, I typed in the CORRECT web URL and it led me to a page where I had to click on the Magical Quill. I didn't capture any screenshots of this because I was frantically trying to click on it. Plus, I too busy was thinking that the faster I filled out my information, the higher the chance I'd be one of the first million.

Well, once I clicked on the Magical Quill. It led me to this page:

I clicked on "Begin Your Journey" and then:

Now for the registration page! I loved all the graphics and the backgrounds were beautiful! First, you had to enter your age because there are special restrictions for children under 13.

Then you selected your country:

Your first/last names, gender and email:

Your password:

And lastly, whether you have read all the books or seen all the movies. Uh, HELLO?! OF COURSE!!!

Then, my favorite part of the whole registration... it listed your name in a book and says "Congratulations! You are magical!" *sniff* It lists your name amongst names of famous characters from the story. I know it might sound silly, but it was so cool to see my name amongst theirs.

Next, you had to pick your username from a list of 5 optional names. I chose "RosePhoenix45" because it sounded the most beautiful to me. Plus, I couldn't pull off "PotionThorn" or "GhostMarauder."

Then, you had to wait for your confirmation email. Instead of obsessively refreshing the Pottermore website, I was (like many others) now obsessively refreshing my email... wondering if I typed in everything correctly because it seemed like it took FOREVER to arrive. It was probably more like 20 minutes, but it felt SUPER long, especially when people on Twitter and Tumblr were posting photos of their confirmation emails and posting their usernames.

20 eons later, I finally got my confirmation email!

I clicked on my link and got to this page:

...entered my password and got this!

I GOT IN!!! *does happy dance*

I am still in shock that I just so happened to be on my computer at the right time because going to work this week, I couldn't afford to pull all-nighters to wait up for the elusive clues to be posted. I am curious to see what the clues are the rest of this week, but I am so very happy to be one of the first million people to explore and experience Pottermore. I plan on sharing my experiences with you here on the blog so make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed (by click on "Subscribe to Posts" on the right sidebar) and/or click on my Pottermore label.

Overall, I hope that fans of Harry Potter will enjoy searching for the clues this week. It feels a little bit like searching for the 7 horcruxes like in the 7th book. I kind of liked having my own quest in order to get in early. The registration process felt like receiving my very own letter from Hogwarts itself.

If the rest of Pottermore is anything like the the fun I had simply just registering, then I am SO excited and looking forward to what's coming next!

What a wonderful way to celebrate Harry Potter's (and J.K. Rowling's) birthday today!

Good luck to those of you who are going to try to get access as well. I hope sharing my process will help you in yours! If you do get in, please share your username with me and let's "friend" each other in Pottermore! 



Now I just have to wait for my email granting me access... Apparently, this can take weeks... Off to *refresh, refresh, refresh* away! :)