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Garbage Bag Suitcase Memoir #Giveaway

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The Garbage Bag Suitcase is a truly powerful memoir of a young girl who was chronically neglected by her substance abusing parents. Shenandoah is treated abusively by her stepfather, and neglected by her beautiful but drug addled mother and moves homes in the middle of the night many times over with a mother that is not fit to parent. After years of this abuse and neglect, the young girl bravely makes the choice to commit herself to foster care at age of 13. It’s a sad, brave and very real story that is not at all uncommon, but is rarely told.

Truly heartbreaking and poignant, The Garbage Bag Suitcase is a story of a young woman’s success despite aging out of a child welfare system that is badly broken. The Garbage Bag Suitcase in the title is a reference to the number of times kids in care often move houses. There’s often nothing else available to stuff clothes and belongings in when children are moved from home to home while in foster care. So they grab a garbage bag and stuff clothing into it to move. It’s one of the saddest symbols of foster care.

I read this with deep interest because we adopted our children from the domestic foster care system (but as infants) and I often volunteer as a support person with adoptive families so I have a bit of familiarity with the topic matter. Foster care is not always like this and foster carers are not always unkind. In fact many that I have met in Canada are amazing people who take to heart the idea of simply helping as a village to raise children in need. But this is not Shenandoah’s experience. Her experience is real and it is a tragedy, and it is in bad need of repair.

As Shenandoah was small her mother moved her so often that she never stayed long enough in any school district for any adult to really tweak to what was happening to her. Such a brutal but honest statement on how children fall through the cracks. What is interesting here is how this person, the author, manages to survive this horrendous neglect and maltreatment to become a successful business person, author and parent. I am overwhelmed by her resiliency and why she survived, with scars, when we know hundred of children age out and fall into drug use, teen pregnancy, or prison.

When Shen comes into care she first stays at a relative’s home for a time. Her relative is in fact a foster caregiver, but this arrangement doesn’t work out when they decide she’s not alright living in a foster home primarily for boys.  More children in foster care should share these stories so that people understand clearly what is lacking and where the problems exist.

I know this a memoir but I almost wish this was also more deeply studied in a subsequent book. Policy makers should read this memoir and they should take it to heart and strive to do better for children who have nobody to speak up for them. It’s a small miracle this person made it through this system in tact, battered for sure and bearing scars for life but frankly an astonishing accomplishment.

  • Paperback: 196 pages
  • Publisher: Mission Point Press (February 4, 2016)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1943995036
  • ISBN-13: 978-1943995035
  • Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches

 

The Tiniest Tumbleweed Review and #Giveaway

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Every so often you come across a cute little children’s book that demands a spot on the already overflowing bookshelves in your children’s collection of well loved reads. The Tiniest Tumbleweed is a sliver of a paperback picture book that will barely take up any physical space in your child’s bedroom, but will command a huge space in their hearts.

The Tiniest Tumbleweed is a super sweet fictional children’s picture book about a tumbleweed that is the smallest member of its family. Tumbleweed’s counterpart, who doesn’t meet Tumbleweed until the end of the book, is a wee little Sonoran Desert neighbour Baby Sparrow. We meet both independently as they are born at the start of the book. Each one grows unbeknownst to each other in their respective environments and they worry about being too small. Will they ever grow as big as their siblings?

This adorable picture book will demand to be read nightly and definitely should remain firmly established as a part of any child’s bookshelf. I read this one aloud to my tween and teen and they both agreed it is incredibly sweet. I will save The Tiniest Tumbleweed for either of the girls to take along when they babysit other people’s children, and to read to my niece and nephews, ages 2 to 7 (the sweet spot for this book is 3 to 8, or maybe 9, in my opinion).

The illustrations in The Tiniest Tumbleweed, by Alex Lopez are world class and memorable. Illustrations are important and even before this book arrived here I was pondering how on earth anyone could make a tumbleweed cute or cuddly or animated. Lopez manages that and more. He is a father of identical triplets residing in Silicon Valley, California. He helped to inform my important first impression of the book. These are honestly some of the cutest characters I have seen in a long time here. Lopez is super talented and he manages to convey emotion with his drawings of each character. The tumbleweed and house sparrow are each vulnerable due to their size. Their challenge is to find confidence and acceptance of their size and personality.

Kathy Peach provides a lovely story about resiliency, acceptance, and self esteem, growth and family. There’s a smart, tidy, little message in here also that speaks to the ‘Grow where you are planted’ kind of theme. There’s a hint of educational content about biodiversity which is a topic that runs throughout curriculums of school children in grade 5 and 6 here in Canada. There’s also a strong educational aspect to the book which is much more than I expected from this fictional children’s book. What’s even more wonderful than all of that is the fact that Peach manages to hide some of these lessons well so children won’t even realize they are learning about things like habitat and biodiversity.

First time author Kathy Peach moved from Tennessee to the Arizona area and followed her dream of pursuing a college degree in her retirement years. She opted to study early childhood and early childhood special education and taught for the Head Start program in Phoenix for a time. She combines her knowledge of child development and her experience teaching, rolling both into a substantial book that can also be used as a springboard for many crafts, lessons inside a classroom, or conversation starters at home. There are talking points and facts provided at end of the book, The Tiniest Tumbleweed. There’s a section about the house sparrow that could lead a child to want to research more and potentially prepare a project on the topic matter. There are fun facts and a curriculum guide included that can spark even more curiosity in the reader.

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The Tiniest Tumbleweed is a really special story with remarkable illustrations and bonus extras that help give this book added value. The Tiniest Tumbleweed should be part of every library for every child between the ages of 4 to 9. I would say this book appeals to ages 4 to 8 but could be extended to a grade four child if they are still growing into their reading ability or if they have any learning challenges. While The Tiniest Tumbleweed has a great message for any child, it will also resonate strongly with kids who have visible or invisible differences. The Tiniest Tumbleweed is published by Little Five Star, a division of Five Star Publications and is out in 2016. It is 35 pages long. You can win a copy early here.

I received a copy of this book for purposes of review here. My opinion is all my own and 100 % truthful. I have one copy of The Tiniest Tumbleweed to gift to a lucky reader here. Follow the instructions below to win. Open to Canada and the US.

Living Without The One You Cannot Live Without #Giveaway

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Many of my regular readers over at thriftymommastips.com know this past year has been a hard one. Right before Mother’s Day one year ago my Mom passed away. The loss of a parent is much harder than I could have ever imagined. It is fraught with little emotional land mines you sometimes don’t see until you are crying or heartsick.

Recently a publishing contact sent me this book Living Without the One You Can’t Live With Out: Hope and Healing After Loss. I assumed the book would be self help, but it is a different creature entirely. Living Without the One You Can’t Live Without is a subtle, quiet, realistic book of poems by a lovely remarkable woman named Natasha Josefowitz. Josefowitz published this shortly after her husband of many years passed away. They were married 35 years. Josefowitz was born in Paris to Russian parents. She earned her Master’s degree at 40 and her PHD at 50. That alone is reason to support this author. What a brilliant career feat! She taught the first course in the US on women and management in 1976. She is remarkably accomplished, and much of that achievement came later in life. I liked her even before I picked the book up and began reading.

The poetry within Living Without the One You Can’t Live Without is sombre, and realistic and dripping with emotion. It takes you into the doctor’s offices and the recovery spaces at home, then it whisks you off to the funeral, the days and months after when survival is your operating mode. This is a lovely book, simple and true. The poems aren’t forced or rhyming. They are lyrical at times and not at others. They are mostly helpful for anyone who has experienced loss. The poems are sometimes hard to read in a psychological sense, but they speak clearly to the experience of grief. I really like this book and I am struggling to find the words to tell you why exactly, which is odd for me. But I want to say that there is comfort in common experience and this is the place where Living Without the One You Cannot Live Without excels and dwells. It will not take away grief or pain, and it will not preach how to grieve at you, instead Josefowitz’s words will help you feel less alone and there is much to be said for that.

I have a copy of this book to give to one of my readers. Follow the instructions below and PLEASE don’t forget to leave me an email address or something to help me track you down if you win. Good Luck! This is open to Canada and the US.

DK Canada #Valentine’sDay Book Love

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How much do you love reading? If you are like our family, you love reading almost more than breathing some days. Books are fuel for the brain and I only recently realized how very many books this family owns when we started packing to get ready for our move. But there’s always room for more.
Right now, if you head over to DK Canada web site you can vote on which books are your favourites and potentially win a $250 batch of DK Canada books. That should keep you busy through the long, cold winter and then some. 
Every February, DK Canada creates a boutique of their most popular books as selected by
readers. Throughout January ask invite DK lovers to submit their choices for
their favourite DK book of all-time, and we pick 20 of the top books and
offer them up at 30% off. 

Each person who votes is entered into a draw for a $250 DK shopping spree
where they can choose whatever books they like from the website.

http://cn.dk.com/static/cs/cn/11/nf/features/ilovedkcontest/index.html


Voting is open until January 30th. I can’t wait to see what books you pick. In fact leave a comment here to tell me which of their books is your fave. Just because.

Disney’s Never Girls Collection 1 #giveaway

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Take Disney and add some fairies, with a healthy dose of magic, imagination and some horse thrown in for good measure. Well, seriously. You don’t need much more than that to pull a grade school girl into a story. 
I had never heard of this series until Random House Canada sent Disney’s The Never Girls From the Mist this week. But my girls were huge Rainbow Magic Fairies fans and read volumes of those fairy books, so I figured they might be intrigued by From the Mist. From the Mist is written by Kiki Thorpe. The series itself is intended for ages 6 to 10. There are four fairies, each one with a distinct personality. Kate is adventuresome. Mia is a girly girl, who loves dresses, flowers and pretty things. Lainey dreams of talking to animals and Gabby is Mia’s little sister, incidentally also the one who most believes in fairies.
While at a sleepover the girls discover a mysterious mist in Gabby’s room and set out to explore where it is coming from The mist brings mist horses and horses bring adventure. My youngest enjoys reading about horses and we are working through this one at night together. She still likes me reading to her at bedtime. This book is a wholesome great little before bed read. (Read – not scary or violent)
The fourth book was released today. For a short time you can win one of five prizes of the collection. Each book costs $6.99 Canadian and is a great little chapter book for imaginative girls.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tales From the Treehouse – Zoe’s Room #giveaway

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Zoe’s Room is a sweet story about sharing and sisters. We loved it here and are happy to share our giveaway with you also. This one was so good it was a natural catalyst to getting our Tales From the Treehouse series kicked off for the season again. Zoe is a little girl, a wee bit of a princess, with a bit of a knack for turning her room upside down after lights out time at night. She adores creative play and her imagination is magnificent. Please click through the video review above to see what my kiddo thought. Ainsley enjoyed this one very much and took it to school to share with her entire class.

It gets $$$$$ out of $$$$$.

ZOE’S ROOM (NO SISTERS ALLOWED)
By Bethanie Deeney Murguia
In Stores Now
Picture book for about ages 3 to 5. (I overestimated the age for this in our vlog review, but I think it can go a lot older than the suggested age of 5. My 9 year old liked it here.) 
Three winners will get a copy of Zoe’s Room: US ONLY!
·         A copy of Zoe’s Room (No Sisters Allowed)
From the Press release:
About the book
Zoe rules as Queen of the Universe — or at least, her room! — in this sweet, funny companion to Zoe Gets Ready.
Zoe is the Queen of the whole Universe … but her favorite place in the Universe is her own room, where she hosts tea parties, builds empires out of blocks, and gazes out upon the stars.
Then her parents announce that her little sister Addie is moving in to Zoe’s room. Little sisters aren’t good at tea parties (too rude), block-building (too clumsy), and starwatching (just plain too young!). So the Queen’s new roommate is a royal pain . . . until Zoe discovers that even her smallest subjects can be useful in a storm!
For ages 3-5 years.
About the author
Bethanie Deeney Murguia earned an MFA in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts. Bethanie lives with her family and her fifty pound lap dog, Disco, in Sausalito, CA. She is the creator of Zoe Gets Ready and Buglette, the Messy Sleeper.

To Win a copy leave a simple comment here and tell me where you are from (US ONLY) and who this is for? I will draw with random.org on June 28th. Three winners. US only. 

Giveaway: Secrets To Parenting Your Adult Child Book

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While many of us are still knee-deep in diapers, or sorting through the ups and downs of the turbulent tweens, I don’t have to tell you how fast children grow. The blink of an eye, a weekend at the grandparents and it seems some mornings that you could almost swear your child looks an inch taller. From the time they are tweens, perhaps even from the time they start walking they begin the journey away from you. And while I know there are countless resources and parenting books for parents of toddlers and newborns, I’ve yet to see a tome dubbed the Teen Whisperer or the Young Adult Whisperer. In its place is this: Secrets to Parenting Your Adult Child, by Nancy Williams. Is this a book that is needed in the marketplace of parenting books? Oh yes, I would argue there is a great need and I wish frankly that it had existed a decade ago so my mother could have read it. Years ago we might have laughed at this notion: the adult child. We might have even shrugged it off as a thing that didn’t exist. But the economy took a dive and grown children began leaving home a lot later. Marriage began happening a lot later than in previous generations and married career couples began waiting often until their 40s before they had their own children. Emptynesters often waited longer to become emptynesters, parenting adult children still living at home. It was most unexpected. So what are the ground rules, or guidelines for this new phase of your relationship? How do you respectfully live under the same roof as two grownups? How do you guide this adult without overstepping your boundaries? How do you continue to nurture in a supportive way the emotional health of this person who is still struggling to become independent? Luckily Nancy Williams, a licenced counselor and life coach, has some advice. Williams, also a parent of two, offers some ideas such as: active listening means not interjecting into their conversations comments like “I know just how you feel.” In fact Williams points out, you probably don’t really know how they feel because this social phenomenon is quite new. “We must be careful to withhold comments that may appear judgemental and avoid comparisons with other children _ their siblings, their friends, our friend’s children.” This is so vital to maintaining a supportive relationship. We all know how awful it feels to be compared in a negative way to someone else’s accomplishments. It undermines our confidence and also makes us question how conditional the love of a parent is. Williams challenges parents to be listeners, to use their hearts while listening and to respect that each person is unique and know that your goal for that person, your adult child, might be entirely different than their goal. Respect their vision, she says. Good advice for any stage of parenting. Become a positive coach. Use phrases like: “Tell me more,” “How can I help you with that?” Also don’t forget simple communication tools like using I statements. Secrets To Parenting Your Adult Child is a great communication tool to have on hand in general for any person with a a child in their teens and beyond. Williams can help you get to that next level with your child. While she won’t be able to help your adult child find a job or move out on their own in an economy where jobs seem scarce, she provides some good solid practical advice.

Secrets to Parenting Your Adult Child is a $$$$ out of $$$$$. The price is right for this book which fills a niche that doesn’t really get much attention. Good communication skills are vital for all relationships and with your children you certainly want to be there throughout their lives, not just until they turn 21. It should be given to all parents when their children are 18 and up.

Secrets to Parenting Your Adult Child by Nancy Williams, Bethany House, US, $12.99 Christian Life and Parenting, 216 pages.

Giveaway: (Open to Canada and US. Ends June 15th)
Mandatory:
1.You must follow thriftymommasbrainfood on GFC (see side bar)
2. Leave me your email address so I can contact you if you win.
Extra ENTRY:
1.Tweet about the giveaway – once per day. One extra entry. The tweet can be like this: “I entered to win the Secrets to Parenting Your Adult Child on http://www.thriftymommasbrainfood.blogspot.com/”

Whole Foods To Thrive: A Runners Must Have Plus Free Recipes and a #Giveaway

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Brendan Brazier, a North Vancouver athlete and the best-selling author of the Thrive Diet, wasn’t actually on my radar until recently when Penguin sent me this book to review. Initially I was intrigued by the fact that he is a Canadian, and then I spotted the amazing endorsements on this book from world-renowned athletes and celebrities like Hugh Jackman. You don’t have to be a trend-watcher or buzz agent to know that the Whole Foods movement is hot right now. So the book had buzz, endorsements and a Canadian cool quotient that hooked me. But let’s face it these things are really more like icing on a cake or eye candy. So how about the book itself, or the cake if you want a food metaphor to follow? Is it every bit as yummy as the intial suggestions? The answer, in short, is yes. Whole Foods to Thrive is an amazing resource that I will keep in my kitchen for years to come. It is a self help book, crossed with a cookbook and lifestyle/diet guide. It is chock full of common sense science that supports the idea that people’s bodies get sick, physically and psychologically, because of the way we eat. Remove the processed foods, ditch the sugar and other stimulants and pay attention to how your body responds. Now I can’t actually say that I have hopped on this bandwagon yet. I aspire to get there eventually. Brazier’s recipes will help. The latter half of the book has the most remarkable whole food recipes like Zucchini Hummus, a recipe that is provided by Gorilla Food in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Pumpkin Gnocci from the Millennium Restaurant in San Francisco. There are over 200 recipes here and I can’t wait to get started making several. All of the recipes included are plant-based, allergen free and contain no wheat, yeast, gluten, soy, dairy or corn. Even if you had no interest in the rest of this book – which is highly unlikely if you pick it up and spend a couple of hours with it – the recipes alone are well worth the price. I love the natural approach and the science at the start of this book that explains how things like caffeine work on our bodies. This is a great educational tool for those remotely interested in nutrition and self change.
I learned from this book that despite my initial misgivings coconut oil is one of the healthiest and most easily digestible ways to fry food. It is the best and only way to fry according to Brazier, who notes that because it is so easily digestible it converts quickly to energy. This is smart eating and cooking and I can easily use much of this and pass the information down through my family.
The author Brendan Brazier
Some tips from the book:
“The consumption of chlorophyll-rich leafy green vegetables combined with moderate exercise is the best way to create a biologically younger body.”
“Squash – combined with the correct workout – will contribute to the process of muscle building.”
“Less energy spent on digestion equates to more available energy.”
      Two Free Recipes (Excerpts From the Book!!)
Ginger Pear Smoothie

                                             with Sunflower Seed Hemp Milk

                The riper the pear, the sweeter the smoothie. If you’d like it even sweeter, add one


                                or two fresh or soaked dried dates. Since ginger is a natural anti-inflammatory,
this is an ideal choice for a post-workout snack. (2 minutes, makes 3 cups)

                 1 banana


                                                                                                ½ pear, cored
                                                                                                    1 cup water
                                                                        1 cup Sunflower Hemp Seed Milk (see p. 126)
                                                                                         1 tbsp ground flaxseed
                                                                                        1 tbsp hemp protein powder
                                                                                        1 tbsp peeled, grated ginger
                                                       • In a blender, combine all ingredients and blend until smooth.

          Chocolate Almond Smoothie

                                                           with Sacha Inchi Milk

                                         Rich in protein and omega-3, this smoothie will keep you going for hours with


                                                sustainable, non-stimulating energy. (5 minutes) Makes 2 lg servings.

                                                                                       1 banana


                                                                     2 fresh or presoaked dried dates
                                                                                       1 cup water
                                                        1 cup Sacha Inchi Milk (or chocolate variation) (see p. 126)
                                                                 ¼ cup almonds (or 2 tbsp raw almond butter)
                                                                                 1 tbsp ground flaxseed
                                                                             1 tbsp hemp protein powder
                                                                             1 tbsp roasted carob powder

                                                   • In a blender, combine all ingredients and blend until smooth.

Whole Foods To Thrive: Nutrient-Dense, Plant-Based Recipes for Peak Health, is by Brendan Brazier, published by Penguin Canada, 288 pages, May 2011, Adult, Nutrition, $28.00

This one gets a $$$$$ out of $$$$$ because it is the whole package, no pun intended. The recipes and the healthy cooking and eating tips all combine for a great resource and healthy eating guide.
Luckily I have a prize to giveaway too thanks to Penguin, Vega and the author. Open to Canada only. This is ideal for runners.
The prize pack contains six Vega smoothie mixes (either Shake & Go Smoothie mixes or Complete Whole Food Health Optimizer mixes) in an assortment of flavours like Vanilla Chai, Bodacious Berry, and Choc-a-Lot.)
GIVEAWAY:
1.To win you must follow me on Google Friend Connect -( see side bar of my blog).
2. Leave me your email and tell me which package you would choose – Shake and Go or Whole Food Optimizer).
I will contact the winner and forward their email or address onto Bronwyn at Penguin. Winner will be chosen here by me on June 10th, with help of random.org.
Shake and Go Smoothie Mixes (Prize package)
Whole Food Optimizer Smoothie Mixes (Prize Pack) You can win one or the other

Money and Marriage by Matt Bell

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I have been reading excellent bloggers this week on how to smartly title a blog post so that it gets noticed. Now normally I would think that a literary title about money might be savvy, but it turns out that I am wrong. All the smart bloggers I admire say simple is best. Apparently Google doesn’t really get literary flowery post titles. So what does that have to do with Money and Marriage? Well clearly this title is succinct. But essentially it tells you everything you need to know to buy the book. Money and Marriage. There is arguably no greater issue in a marriage than money. It can make your relationship challenging to say the least. Luckily author Matt Bell is here to help.
“Couples who disagree about finances at least once a week are over 30 % more likely  to divorce than couples who disagree about finances a few times a month.”
Money and Marriage: A Complete Guide for Engaged and Newly Married Couples contains many excellent guides, charts and activities designed to help new couples discover more about each other’s financial goals, debts and worth. Remember that marriage course you had to take before you walked down the aisle? Well Money and Marriage is like that course, neatly contained in a book, for your finances. Matt Bell begins by outlining the many ways in which men and women are different in terms of spending, saving and investing. Men, for instance, follow business news more often than women. Men cite investing and entrepreneurship as high on their list. Women cite saving and spending as key issues with money. Women are more likely than men to give time and money to charity. If our approaches to money are so different, then is it any wonder than most couples argue about it a lot?
Financial literacy is nothing if not a hot topic these days in light if such severe economic woes in much of North America. Bell, also the author of Money, Purpose, Joy and Money Strategies for Tough Times, provides a helpful guide to start couples on the right track in their new lives together.
There are some helpful practical and common sense tips here, that I like. For instance, continue learning outside the workplace for as long as your are able, especially before children arrive. You increase your worth as a worker if you are always on top of trends and information. Also many workplaces have some sort of tuition reimbursement or cost savings program. Accelerate your payments whenever possible. Avoid debt and where you have debt prior to your marrige be honest with each other about it. Also contact the bank or credit card company to ask for a lower interest rate on your credit cards. Often this is a simple phone call and this is a practical strategy I use here as well.
For this review and book tour there is also an excellent contest going on. I hope every one of my readers takes time to enter. Thanks to Matt Bell for the great giveaway!

Matt About Money Nest Egg Giveaway 

Money and Marriage, by Mat Bell NavPress, 2011, $14.99 softcover, 219 pages

Thriftymommastips rating is $$$1/2 out of $$$$$. The price is right for this book about money. I learned a lot about how spending habits and investing strategies differ by gender.This is clearly an American book with US references throughout. That’s perfectly fine and Canadians can still use a lot of the common sense information here. I am unsure that prayer and money belong together in a book.

I received a free copy of this book to review. This, in no way impact my honest opinion.

Barrio Bushido: The Next Trainspotting? Review and a Giveaway

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Barrio Bushido is disturbing and violent and poetic and a profound social statement. Barrio Bushido is Ben Bac Sierra’s first novel and, as graphic and absolutely horrific as it was at times I couldn’t stop reading or envisioning this as a really great movie script in the same vein as Trainspotting or Fight Club. Barrio is the gritty realistic sad tale of three gang members, growing up in a Latin ghetto area of California. The main character is Lobo, the wolf, leader of the pack. He is a strange disenfranchised soul with the heart of a poet. He spends his days in a drugged haze knowing he is inevitably headed towards a fate that involves self destruction. The bull, Toro, is babysat by a television when his mother goes to work cleaning office buildings and homes. While his sister can come along on the jobs, he cannot because he is too rough and so on one of these occasions when he is left home, as a five-year-old, he falls out the window of his apartment building. He waits and wanders after the fall searching for help that doesn’t come. As a youth he will find a place in the marines where he tries to earn respect and the love of his mother. He endures the Gulf War and is little more than a young adult when he learns to wear the scars of his many battles with pride. Santiago is the third pillar of the odd triad of brothers. He pulls the drooping needles from his parent’s arms and feeds his brothers and sisters. Benjamin Bac Sierra is an intense writer. He manages to create empathy for characters that are completely vile outlaws. Bac Sierra knows his topic well. He is a former homeboy himself and a veteran of the Gulf War. The author himself, a former homeboy and a veteran of the Gulf War, clearly knows his topic well. He grew up in San Francisco’s Mission, joined the Marine Corps at 17 and saw front line combat in the Gulf War. In an incredible transformation he managed to complete a Bachelor of Arts at U.C. Berkeley after an honourable discharge from the marines and is now a professor at City College in San Francisco. Bac Sierra’s characters are nothing if not realistic. They jump off the page fighting. Bac Sierra is a masterful storyteller with a true strenth for characterization. Lobo is no cliche; instead he is a gangster with a weakness for his girlfriend Sheila and a strangely romantic soul. He is placed in an impossible situation when a rival gang member, he is supposed to kill ends up kidnapping Sheila to turn the tables on Lobo. Lobo is a strange contradiction, speaking in swear words and poetry at the same time. These characters are remarkable and magnetic. The story is gritty and compelling in the same way some traffic accidents are. But this story isn’t for everyone. It is a fiction story with a high degree of realism and extreme violence. This is a brave first novel rooted in some reality. It will be very interesting to see where the author goes next, also if someone options this as a script.

Barrio Bushido, by Benjamin Bac Sierra, El Leon Literary Arts, $20.00 US., 282 pages. Fiction.
Thriftymommas rating $$$ out of $$$$$. Excellent characterization and dramatic plot, but too much hostile language towards women and the violence, while understandable in this context is really over the top.)

I am giving a copy of Barrio Bushido away this month as part of my I Heart Books Event.
Mandatory:
1. Follow me on GFC (google friend connect.)
2. Leave your contact information so I can reach you if you win.
I will draw for this one on Feb. 27th. Open to Canada and US.

Reviewed by Paula Schuck