Free To Good Home

The Waffler was selected for this year’s Maine Student Book Award list, and I’m celebrating with a book giveaway. So contact me via email, Facebook message or pony express! The first ten people are winners.

Thanking All Readers

A young reader liked the Thanksgiving dinner chapter in The Waffler. Here is her thank you note, reprinted verbatim.

“Dear Mrs. Donovan, My favorit part was when they all went around the table saying what they were all thankful for. I liked when big A showted that she was thankful for turky! I am thankful you read the book to us. Sincerly, Emily G.”

I am thankful for readers.

The Waffler, Compliments Of The Author

Sorry, it’s not free waffles. But for any teacher who reads The Waffler to their class, I offer a free author visit via Skype. Let’s talk!

What’s Essential? The Waffler

The Horn Book counts The Waffler one of “four fresh, age-appropriate, and accessible school stories that will please early-elementary readers.”

The Waffler On Goodreads

Feeling lucky? Sign up for a chance to win a free copy of The Waffler on my Goodreads Giveaway. Last chance October 17. Good luck!

Solid Is The Waffler Word Of The Day

“A solidly realistic school and family story for fans of Louis Sachar and Claudia Mills.”—The Horn Book

“A solid middle-grade choice—no waffling necessary.”—Kirkus Reviews

No Waffling Necessary

Coming Summer 2013 from Dial

Kirkus Reviews on The Waffler:

Making up his mind has always been hard for Monty to do, but when the principal tags him with the label “waffler,” it becomes a nickname the fourth grader desperately wants to lose.

Monty’s unwillingness to call attention to himself will resonate with readers. He knows that objecting to the hated nickname will make it stick, and he fears that if his mother calls the teacher about the Band-Aid “decision-aids” he has to wear, the teacher will be angry. The adults in Monty’s school seem competent but insensitive. When the fourth graders are assigned kindergarten Reading Buddies, three kindergartners are left out, and suddenly, Monty is reading to four of them at recess. Monty’s family life is as complicated as his school life: two parents, two stepparents, two half sisters and two houses. He and his decisive twin sister move back and forth week by week. Because he takes so long to make them, many of Monty’s choices seem desperate, but at least one works out: A pet rat’s long name, a combination of all the names he had been considering, gives him an idea for solving his Reading Buddy problem. Donovan’s third-person narration convincingly captures the interior monologue of a boy who likes to consider the alternatives, and her school and home settings ring true.

A solid middle-grade choice—no waffling necessary. (Fiction. 7-10)