Middle Grade Monday: Seed Savers #2: Lily

 

Title: Lily (Seed Savers #2)
Author: S. Smith
Publication Info: Published 2012, 184 pages.
Source: Either a purchase or a giveaway

Publisher's Blurb:
It’s definitely not what she had in mind for summer vacation.

When her friends disappear under mysterious circumstances, thirteen-year-old Lily sets out to discover more about the secret organization with which they had become involved. Her investigation unearths a disturbing secret from her own past, unsettling her world even more. In the meantime, Lily makes a new friend and falls for a mysterious young man, even as she remains unsure about whom she should trust. As her world crashes down around her, Lily struggles to decide what to do next.

Lily is volume two of the Seed Savers series but can easily be read out of order. It is is a suspenseful and reflective book with themes of self-empowerment, trust, acceptance of diversity, gardening, and politics.  


My Review: 
First: I shared space in the BookElves Anthology, Vol. 1 with S. Smith, so you could say we are connected. But that tenuous connection in no way influenced by review(s) (see my review of the first book, Treasure). Now, the review.

I'm going to start by disagreeing with the final statement of the blurb--these books should be read in order. Yes, this is a complete story on its own, but it will make more sense after the first, and offers some spoilers for the first book (inevitably).

I like the way the author has done this series (so far--I haven't read beyond this, though Book 3 is queued up on my Kindle) by focusing on different kids, friends and connected, but each with her own story. So this follows on Treasure, but doesn't actually continue Clare and Dante's story (I took a peek at the next book and I think that we may get back to them there). That does make each book stand alone, though as noted I think it's better to read in order.

What I'm less sure about is the strength of the story itself. There is an underlying tension because what Lily is doing with plants is illegal, but I admit I spent most of the book waiting for something to happen. The peril in this book is very gentle, suitable for young readers but probably a bit too gentle for the older elementary or middle-school kids who would better understand the message about food and government control. There is an interest in the revelations about Lily's family, but that isn't built up much--it just happens, and I wanted something more.

In fact, the most terrifying aspect of this dystopia is that 6 years have passed since it was published, and we are only moving closer to the author's vision of an authoritarian government, though the anti-corporate-food movement is still strong, at least in California. But the general lack of understanding of where food actually comes from rings all too true for far too many people.

Now, having looked at my review of the first in the series, I'm taking a minute here to think about why my reaction to this one was more lukewarm. Yes, I took issue with some aspect of Treasure, but I thought the story was strong and exciting. In this case, it just doesn't measure up. It's good, but I think I have to stick by my "medium" rating (I don't use stars on this blog, but you get the picture).

My Recommendation:
I think this series is important, because it's a dystopia that's all too easy to imagine actually happening. But I suspect the book will have trouble competing with Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, though in fact it's aimed at younger readers than those (but we all know that the little ones are reading those books, and there's been a lot of escalation of story expectations in children's lit). It will make any reader want to learn more about gardening and cooking, though!

FTC Disclosure: I can no longer remember if I bought the Seed Savers Trilogy, or got it as a free book on a give-away, but either way I received nothing from the writer or publisher for my honest review. The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."  

Flashback Friday!

 Flashback Friday is a monthly meme that takes place on the last Friday of the month.
The idea is to give a little more love to a post you’ve published on your blog before.  Maybe you just love it, maybe it’s appropriate for now, or maybe it just didn’t get the attention it deserved when you first published it.

Thanks to Michael d’Agostino, who started it all, there is a solution – join Flashback Friday! And thanks to Jemima Pett, who has kept it going--visit her blog to add your name to the list!

Just join in whenever you like, repost one of your own blog posts, including any copyright notices on text or media, on the last Friday of the month.

Yes, I know that was supposed to be last week. But I was confused, and shared photos instead. So here's a good flashback story. I wrote this about 3 years ago after a pack trip, and it's not really fiction. We had some good t-storms again this time, so I thought I'd pull it out. It's super short.

Fear and Trembling in a Tent

It is midnight in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and suddenly we are not sleeping. The weather was pleasant when we went to bed, and two days of hard hiking made it easy to drop off. I wouldn’t have been surprised had I slept soundly all night.

Thor and Odin and the crew have a different idea. The first boom of thunder—if it was the first; it was the first I woke to hear—is loud and close. The flashes of lightning sear the retina even with the eyes closed. We count off the seconds between flash and boom. Do the math. Two miles. One. Half a mile. A quarter. Then: holy shit it’s in the tent!

It isn’t. The mind knows that, because the mind is still there to think about it. But when the gap between lightning and thunder drops to near zero, and the ground shakes with the booming air, the mind is given very little say in my reactions. The gut takes over.

I am not scared of thunder. We are camped below tree line, well back from the lake and not atop anything, in the trees but not near a particularly tall tree. Even with the storm right atop us we are reasonably safe. As a general rule, I like thunderstorms.

And yet. My gut is haunted by the memory of a friend who died under a fallen tree, asleep—we can only hope—in his hammock. This isn’t at all the same thing; the wind is oddly light, though the same can’t be said of the rain. Some of it might be hail, but I’m not looking out to see. And if a tree has my name on it… there is nothing to be done now.

The storm is moving away. Because we are among big peaks and big canyons, the thunder continues to echo ominously even as it moves on. Eventually I drift off again, when the flashes no longer burn my vision.

Every time I wake up to roll over or adjust my sleeping bag, I can hear thunder, however distant. The storms go on all night, but I sleep anyway.

###

This year's t-storms weren't quite so much on top of us, and were in the afternoons rather than at night. But we got one good storm while camped in a high basin, surrounded by high peaks that made a great curving wall for the thunder to echo off of, so that every crack seem to roll on forever. And we had hail. Plenty of hail, which is amazingly loud on the top of a tent!

Storm clouds moving away after dumping rain and hail on us.

©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2018

As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated!

IWSG: Writing Pitfalls

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting! Be sure to link to the IWSG page and display the badge in your post. And please be sure your avatar links back to your blog! If it links to Google+, be sure your blog is listed there. Otherwise, when you leave a comment, people can't find you to comment back.

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.

Remember, the question is optional!

August 1 question - What pitfalls would you warn other writers to avoid on their publication journey?

The awesome co-hosts for the August 1 posting of the IWSG are Erika Beebe, Sandra Hoover, Susan Gourley, and Lee Lowery!

 

I like this month's question. Maybe that's because I can so easily answer: "If you want to finish your novel and be published, avoid major life changes like selling your home of 20 years." Okay, that's a legit stumbling block, but maybe not really all that helpful. 

I have learned a few real things in the course of writing and publishing 8 books, though. Probably the biggest pitfall for me in the early years was thinking that I couldn't write unless I had large blocks of uninterrupted time so I could really immerse myself. Not surprisingly, that kept me from writing at all until after the kids were in school and old enough to be sort of independent. The standard inability of a mom to complete an uninterrupted thought, let alone a novel, kept me from even trying.

Big chunks of time are nice, but what if you're in the 'grab a minute here and there' stage of your life? My best take-away from the two novels I wrote under those conditions (one of which rests quietly in peace and privacy; the other eventually became Death By Ice Cream) is that outlining is your friend. I wasted so much of the little time I had trying to figure out where I'd been and where I was going. Characters changed randomly, as well, so really, notes and character sketches and all that would have been helpful. With luck, these things will help focus the mental energy whenever a bit of it can be found.

Another pitfall, especially for the self-published author, is the deadline. This one cuts both ways. If you set no deadlines, you are very apt to never actually declare a book finished and publish. But if you hurry too fast to the target, you may release something that isn't ready. I've done both (fortunately I haven't had to pull a book entirely for a major re-write, but I have had to make a lot of fixes after publication on some of my books. This is partly because editing and proofing are done by barter, but more because I got in a hurry and didn't check everything).

That leads me to something that I really need to do for myself: make a pre-publication checklist, with all the steps I need to take, as well as a summary of the formatting that needs to happen (I have failed to justify more than one of my books; one I did on purpose as an experiment, but others have just been oversights, which I quickly corrected). As an author-publisher, I don't do this often enough for it to truly be second nature, so I need visuals and reminders.

I guess my advice all comes from my essential distractedness and lack of organization, because it's really all about making aids to keep scatteredness from derailing my progress.

***

I've been using this space to report on stories submitted, etc., but I have to admit (see initial comment about selling the house) that I haven't written or submitted anything since April, or maybe March? I did make a start on a short story during our recent backpacking trip, and I would like to work it up to something submittable. It's out of my usual genres (more "serious" fiction, or as serious as I can be), so it will take some work. I'm still trying to figure out how to get it to go where I want it it. 

I am also still turning over the ideas and plans for the next Pismawallops PTA mystery. Death By Library is starting to take some shape, if only in my mind. We can probably look for me to draft it in November (during NaNo), with publication in 2020 unless I get very efficient (or very bored) after we return from our extended travels in the first 5 months of 2019.

And there's still that poor mess of an MS from NaNo 2017, or was it 2016? Lots to work on, whenever I find time and mental energy (see above about learning to use whatever bits of time you have efficiently).