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Down But Not Out in High School

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Myrria is welcoming Amy Berkowitz to talk about her book Down But Not Out in High School.

Title: Down, But Not Out In High School  amy (1)

Author: Amy Berkowitz

Genre: YA

Tour Host: Angee’s After Thoughts

Kellie Jones, a 15-year-old swimmer with Olympic aspirations; that is until she has a car accident and loses part of her leg.

As a result her family decides to give her a fresh start by moving to a new city. Now, she has to deal with the kids calling her “Wheelchair Girl” and “Tripod”. She finds herself competing for friends with her perfect twin sister Maggie.

Remarkably, Kellie holds onto her sense of humor and when she meets Eric, “The Sultan Of Soccer” she ends up coaching him through his crazy romance with the lead cheerleader and resident bully Jade.

Kellie also meets a new coach, Eileen Foley and starts training for the Paralympics.

 

Here is an excerpt:

“Hey, watch where you’re going!”

“This isn’t the Indy 500, wheelchair girl.”

“Don’t they make a motor for that thing? Move it girl or I’ll be late to class.”

That’s about as much acknowledgement as Kellie Jones gets in school. The kids didn’t really see her. She is just “Wheelchair Girl” – an obstacle in their way.

Ask anyone of them about her twin sister, Maggie and they’ll talk up a storm about the how pretty, sweet and creative she is with her wardrobe. She always had a song playing in her head and her walk had a bounce to it as if she was moving to a Pop music beat.

Many of the kids don’t even know Maggie beyond a “hey” greeting in the hallway, but they want to be her best buddy.

Kellie knows the other kids don’t even want to get to know her and honestly she doesn’t make much of an effort either. It wasn’t always like that. Sure, Maggie was always more outgoing so she had a larger amount of friends. Kellie was quieter, but her small group was a tight bunch. At this new school, Kellie has been told repeatedly that one thing about her is cool. She doesn’t have to take gym class. That’s her claim to high school fame and honestly, at 16-years-old, Kellie is fine with that.

 

Maggie and Kellie came to Port Jervis High School this past February. They lived their whole lives in Oneida, N.Y., where they were known as the “Twincesses”.

After the accident, the twins’ parents thought the move was necessary for Kellie.

As for Maggie, she really didn’t want to spend her junior or senior year in a new place. Of course, Maggie never told Kellie that. She loves Kellie. Still, Kellie sensed Maggie’s sadness and took on the guilt for the move anyway.

 

Actually, if the other kids made the effort they would realize Kellie would make a good friend. She’s caring, funny, a great observer and a good listener. What more could anyone want in a friend?

Kellie loves English class and is a gifted writer. She scribbles tales about heroines trapped in haunted castles. Lots of kids write stories like that, but Kellie’s stories feel real and the haunted castle? Well, that’s her life right now. She feels trapped in her wheelchair and the decision that got her there still haunts her. One day, Kellie will be a heroine herself. Of course, she doesn’t know that yet. But her time will come soon.

 

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Meet the Author: Amy Berkowitz maggzamy (1)

(Amy is the dark haired one)

(the blond’s name in the picture is Maggie Walsh-Allnock…(Kellie and Maggie’s muse))

Amy Berkowitz is a journalist with the Times Herald-Record a daily newspaper in upstate New York. She has been writing news for 16 years. This is her first book, which was originally published in April 2009.

 

 

Review of Be-U-Tee-Full by Journi Roe

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Cali-Book-Cover22

Journie Roe’s Be-U-Tee-Full is definately a book for parents to share with their children. Her character, Cali, beautifully illustrated by Pedro Perez, is a bubbly vivacious and colorful character that will win your heart. Ms. Roe’s characters see life through the innocent, non-judgemental eyes of young children. It is a refreshing and uplifting story that your children will love.

 

About the Author:1377428_450275455091659_133463328BW

I’m a mom of 5 awesome kids, 2 girls and 3 boys. I even have a grandson now who will be 1 next month. I guess looking back, others would say 4 of my kids had disabilities or disorders of some sort and my 2nd daughter was overweight no matter what we tried. My life as a mommy was a very real one, a very active, and at times, overwhelming one. Since my own life had been full of demons and haunts growing up, my kids were my world. I never saw them as anything but perfect even through all the glasses appointments and surgeries and ER visits. It was our normal and if anything, as a family, we reached out to parents and kids at children’s hospitals, Ronald McDonald houses, and track Special Olympics to try to make them feel like we did.

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One of my deepest wounds was acceptance. Throughout my life, I could see I was not the only one. I was, and have always been, genuine and sincere, to all I meet. My kids followed suit. To some, I’m a bit eccentric in my kindness. My friends have accepted I’m really not a weirdo like everyone thinks but a weirdo like them who can be a bit snarky.
Five years ago, my demons of my abusive past, caught up with me. I found myself moving from Ohio to Washington state with my youngest son. My older kids wished to finish high school there and would visit for summers. It was the first time I had EVER been away from my kids. It was not a smooth transition at all. My youngest, 10 at the time, missed his siblings, father, and school dreadfully. Needless to say, a week before school started, he went back to Ohio and began school there. The stress of being in a new place, no other family or friends, had made his epilepsy kick into high gear the doctor said. I put him on an early morning flight, hugged and kissed his forehead, my heart ached severely. I smiled and he smiled back bravely. I spent the next week in a bed sobbing! The next month felt like a coma. The next year…zombieland. The new opportunities and adventure in a new state sunk as well. I found myself alone and jobless which followed by penniless. I fell into an abyss so deep, I look back now and am amazed I crawled out. I had depression and thought about suicide. I wallowed in misery and began to find it as comforting ironically, my new normal. For two years, lying in that void of nightmares, I detached from the world and myself. I walked into a library one day, I don’t even remember why I left the house, and the first book I saw was, “Why Your Like Sucks!” by Alan H. Cohen. I cracked a grin and shook my head. My word. How did such a book get to be in a library and who in their right mind would read it?! I did. I’m so thrilled I did. It started to change my outlook, my life. I created an inspirational page, Inspirational Me, to help me share what motivated me daily. Before I knew it, within a month I had 10,000 fans. There were so many people who needed to know they were okay, that they were going to be okay! Today, it is just shy of 33,000 amazing people I call my family.

I have always been one who uplifted other people, a people person. All my life I was a yes person and a no to me person. Through the dark days, I lost everything but I found myself. I now live right outside Mesquite, Nevada, where the sun shines nearly every day. Three of my children have graduated high school, one will this year, and my baby boy just started high school and is already over 6′ tall. My goodness!! I shoot photography part time when I’m not engrossed in writing or creating somehow. My biggest goal is to reach as many people I can who need something they didn’t know they needed. Not sure if that makes sense. I long for a day when I can walk into shelters and pass out clothes and books and crayons and laugh with everyone as though we were friends forever. I long for a day when there’s no boundaries to the giving I can do, and if the only thanks received is the one I give for that moment, I am perfect with that. Sounds corny, huh? But, not to me. Ask any of my friends. I am like this all the time, my head in the clouds, my heart has wings, and my unicorn is parked in the back 😉 I guess you could refer to the quote about not knowing what you have until it’s gone. I will never forget and because of that, I am thankful for every little thing around me.

So where does Cali and the BF Crew come in? She’s more than a children’s series. She’s a movement of the heart. It may not be clearly seen in the first book, but it will become more prevalent in books to come. Cali is how I feel and react to friends. She’s sincere and caring, she’s funny and a bit of a comedian, but most of all, she accepts who she is and knows that makes her pretty super, and her super power you might say, is to show each she interacts with the glow she sees within them too. My wish is that for all who read her stories, children to 99, they each can relate whether in their present day or remembering back to when they were 4-5-6. Cali is so needed and I can’t wait for everyone to know her. She truly does look at everyone as a potential Bestie and I wouldn’t have it any other way =)