Kay Brookes - Through the Eyes of a Geek

Through the Eyes of a Geek



By Kat Brookes


Kindle Edition Available



Product Description (from Amazon) 


Publication Date: August 15, 2011
Sixteen-year-old Ryan Matthews had always been the ‘cool’ kid in school, but being ‘cool’ doesn’t get him a free pass into Heaven. Marty, Heaven’s gatekeeper, refuses to let him in until Ryan returns to Earth to make a difference in someone’s life. Sounds easy enough. That is, until he learns that ‘someone’ is Zachary Adams, his old classmate and the world’s biggest geek. Convincing Zachary that he’s his angel isn’t an easy task. Especially since Ryan hadn’t exactly been nice to him in school. But Ryan is determined to see this assignment through, especially when he begins to see life through the eyes of a geek. To make up for the way he’d treated Zachary, Ryan is not only going to teach him how to fit in. He’s going to help him win the heart of Kristen Williams, a girl Ryan used to be close friends with, the same girl Zachary has a thing for. Will Ryan finally get those white wings he’s been working toward? Or will he end up on the wrong side of those Pearly Gates a hopelessly fallen angel?


About the Author (from Amazon)


Kat Brookes has penned numerous award winning adult and young adult fiction stories. Some of her contest successes include winning Harlequin’s Great American Romance Novel Contest and finaling in the American Title III competition put on by Dorchester Books and Romantic Times. She is also a 4 time finalist in RWA’s prestigious Golden Heart contest and has finaled in/and or won more than 75 RWA chapter writing contests with more than a dozen manuscripts.


O.Scarlett! REVIEW by Rachel

“Through the Eyes of a Geek” teaches a moral lesson for the middle and high school grades.  Other than the frequent language outbursts, which would be considered mild by most people, I actually quite enjoyed the book.

As the book begins, Ryan finds himself at the gates of heaven, having just died.  But to get to the “babes” in heaven, he must first help someone on earth.   The someone is the school’s “biggest Geek”, Zachary.  Ryan is sure he’s going to fail.  But Ryan isn’t really a quitter, so he lands “plop” in the front seat of Zach’s car and Zach promptly runs off of the road.

The two main characters of this book are Zach and Ryan.   These two characters are fairly well developed, but the rest remain on the flat side.  Ryan is the super cool guy in school, not quite a bully, but he has handed out quite a bit of teasing to those who were not cool and runs around with the bully crowd.  But his cool attitude hides dark secrets of his home life, and the reason he keeps his friends at a distance.  Meanwhile, Zach is the biggest geek in the school, dealing with his own home heartaches.  Each begins to see the world through the others eyes and a deeper understanding grows between them as they begin to work together.  For the first time, they each can say that they have a real friend.

The plot was very predictable.  It used the formula ... bad but cool boy/girl must help good but geeky outcast to reach a personal goal.  Along the way, the two become friends.  Cool kid helps the geeky kid come out of their shell and achieve a secret wish of their own (usually a date with the girl/boy that they secretly like).  Geeky kid turns out to be pretty cool.  Both learn from the experience, and it changes who they are.

For the most part, the book was entertaining and fun, although I was dismayed at the huge amount of money it took for Zach to become a cool kid.  Money he did happen to have, but a path that might be well out of reach for geeky kids looking for inspiration to become less of a target at school.  Also, Zach knows ta-kwan-do, and is able to defend himself and Kristen against the biggest school bully.  Still, it did offer some good ideas, and encouragement to look beyond a person’s appearance and get to know them anyway.

It turns out that Zach’s father was a minor league baseball player, so baseball works into the story often.  Shopping eats up a good portion of the book as well.  And there is the dog, which is a big part of the solution in the story as well.

Overall, this was a good book.  You really got to know and even mostly like the two boys.  I found myself cheering for them on many occasions, and the book doesn’t slip in very many disappointing twists or turns.  It even has a fairly good amount of humor that had me chuckling as I pictured Zach chatting with Ryan and others not able to see him.

On the other hand, the plot was so predictable, that it was almost dull.  I’m sure the teens and preteens will mostly enjoy the book and its message.   Unfortunately, I was also put off by the language which slipped in far too often for my taste.   Sex was definitely an undercurrent topic, never quite out in the open, usually only as a discussion “would love to make out with that girl” or “never wanted to push our friendship by making out” and the bully she went out with once having “octopus arms”.

Note:   Most middle school kids should enjoy this book, but the situations it covers may not be suitable for elementary children.   Easy and fast read with a moral lesson.

Genre/Theme:   Angels, Fantasy, Afterlife, Teen/ High School life, baseball, Bullies and Cool Kids


Reading Level: TEEN - upper elementary to middle school, easy reading, teen situations in high school
Profanity: LOW - few mildly offensive words  -  most of the book
MODERATE - mild words & a few stronger expletives  --  before Marty tells Ryan that he can’t swear as an angel, and occasionally elsewhere
Sexuality: SUBTLE - hinted, but not explicit  --  Ryan helps Zach get the girl he wants, teen romance with innuendo from some of the characters
Other: Ryan is killed in a car accident, Zach beats up the bully

Janet Smith - Colandra's World

Colandra's World
Caress the Sun - Embrace the Thunder
by Janet Smith

Kindle Edition & Paperback Available through Amazon

Book Two – Colandra’s World: Her Journey Continued is also available


Product Description (from Amazon)
THIS IS A STORY about the the Ayore Village in Paraguay, where Colandra, a ten-year-old mute resides. Pastor Youngblood, the American missionary, has returned to the field, along with his staff. They minister to the Ayore people and teach them the Word of God. This book reveals God's work in Colandra’s life. Salvation and faith are the focus of this story.

About the Author (from Amazon)
Janet Smith is a native of New London, Connecticut. She now resides in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
          She was very active in the community during the Johnson administration. Ms. Smith was the first woman appointed to the New London Redevelopment Commission. She was hired as a program manager with the Model City program. Ms. Smith wrote programs for the education, recreation and public safety departments. Under her leadership, the first hot lunch program was implemented in all the cities' elementary schools. Later, she was employed by the Department of Defense as the Federal Women’s Program Manager. She assisted in writing the documentary "Extraordinary Women of Rhode Island in the 20th Century," which won the PBS best documentary award and the Department of the Navy Best Women’s Program.
          Her first novel, Squeeze My Hand, written in both English and Spanish, has received an award from USA Book News. She is a member of the Treasure Coast Writers and The National League of American Pen Women, Inc.

O.Scarlett! REVIEW by Rachel

I enjoyed this book - at least the parts about Colandra and the missionary work in the village. I have many missionary friends and relatives, and have always enjoyed their stories. So it was with great anticipation that I curled up with this book.
          Unfortunately, the book was not as wonderful as the story that it is telling.
First, I never figured out what the sun and thunder had to do with the story. Maybe I missed something. But I usually expect the title to be inspired by or be the inspiration for a story that I read. At the very beginning of the book, Colandra runs out to greet the rising sun, a poetically beautiful bit of prose that will sweep you up and make you want to run with the small girl, and it isn’t long before you realize that the girl is smart, but deaf.
          Second, the dialogue was frustrating. The voice in my head sounded like I was reading from a 4th grade reader. The conversations were choppy and flitted around without structure much of the time. I found this frustrating and nearly put the book down. I found myself skimming many of the conversations. Many of them felt rushed, out of place, or filler to run up the word total. This was a jarring change from the beautiful prose of the first chapter.
          Third, since I don't like sports and baseball, the long chapters about the baseball games were skimmed over, and I likely missed a few important parts of the story doing this. If you love baseball, or understand the game well, it is very likely that you will enjoy the lengthy descriptions of the missionaries starting up a village team and Colandra’s trip to a major league game. Several chapters are spent describing a game that Colandra umpires shortly after she returns from the USA.
          Fourth, very few of the characters had any depth. Names and quips of conversations - but you never got to know any of them. Colandra was fairly well developed, it was easy to cheer for her. You also got to know a few of the leaders, but only at an acquaintance level.
          Personally, I feel this book would have been much better executed as a series of short stories, with each theme it's own story, or at least it's own chapter. .... Dividing the story into smaller bites would have been a great way to tell the stories - Meet Colandra and her People, Returning Home, Colandra's Ears and a Trip to the USA, Fun with Baseball, Starting a School. ... Many of the sub stories, I would have loved to have heard more about - like the school. I do understand that the author was trying to tell a story chronologically.
It was a beautiful story ... with a lot of baggage to read.
          One thing I found frustrating was how easy it made it sound to live as a missionary. There was no struggle, everything just happened in such a positive way. This left the story feeling flat. For instance, every time the missionaries needed something, somebody knew just the right person, like a doctor for Colandra’s operation and a baseball player who was willing to set up teams with quality equipment. Computers ran with few problems, boxes of curriculum were purchased, shipped, and arrived on time. The only "challenge" in the story was leading the rest of the tribe to Christ, which happened quickly and easily once the missionaries arrived back in their country.
         I feel like this is a wonderful story .... trapped in poor writing, even though there are many moments of brilliance. I wondered if the story was true, it might be, but I was unable to confirm that it is an actual true account.

Notes:
This would make a good read aloud to children who enjoy baseball. It would also make a good learning platform for a homeschool family. The book lends itself well to learning more about Colandra’s country, the village, and so much more.

Genre/Theme:  Missionary, Christian, Baseball, Special Needs
Reading Level:  CHILD
Profanity: NONE
Sexuality: NONE