Congratulations to LAURA with Strep Throat! You've won a copy of WHAT I DID!
Please email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com with your full name and address so I can send you a copy of the book! And get well soon!
I love when I discover a new male author to share with you
all and this book, What I Did, is an incredible book that I took with on a
weekend getaway and read every second I could sneak into our mini-vacation.
What I Did is so unique in that it’s narrated by 6-year-old
Billy who is precocious and oh-so-smart that you kind of want to hug him and
strangle him at the same time. And I don’t mean strangle him in a bad way, but
as you’re reading and the story unfolds, you want to yell at the pages, “NO
BILLY, DON’T TELL THEM THAT – THAT’S NOW WHAT YOU MEAN TO SAY! YOU’RE TELLING
THEM WRONG!”
The book starts out early one morning when Billy wakes up
full of energy and his dad takes him out for a walk and a trip to a café. Billy
isn’t much into listening to his dad that morning and as things progress, he
ends up running out into the street, disobeying his father. This small act of
defiance sets the whole novel into fabulous motion and I guarantee you it’ll
have you turning pages so quickly you will ignore your family and
responsibilities until you get to the end. So make sure to start the book when
you know you have a huge chunk of time to sit and read without interruption.
What I loved also about What I Did is that Billy has such a
grand imagination – he compares everything to animals. He lives in London and his
favorite TV show is something along the lines of The Animal Planet station and
his imagination soars – he’s all about animals and everything he thinks about
is animal-based. The people who he comes in contact are all compared to
animals, and wonderfully so. And when he is confronted in the most dangerous
way by certain adults, he explains about predators and prey, him being the
prey.
Billy’s dad is flawed – he’s not a perfect dad – he’s the
primary caregiver as his mom works nights and sleeps during the day. He’s got a
stressed-out job and works from home, and yeah, Billy is a challenging kid.
Maybe his dad doesn’t always make the best choices when it comes to parenting,
but who does make the best decisions all of the time? Don’t we all just do our
best and hope we’re making the right choices, and don’t we make our choices
based on the immense love we have for our children?
This is ALL I can tell you – because it’s enough to get you
reading and I promise, promise, promise you will ALL love this book so much. It’s
not my usual women’s fiction but it’s definitely one of those golden nuggets
that I was thrilled to discover and I’m so excited to share with you on the
blog.
Here’s something though, you can learn more about 6-year-old
Billy by reading his blog and seeing some of his colorings by going here. It’s
his blog and it’s awesome. You’ll have a chance to see what Billy’s like, and
truly, he’s real. I’m telling you, the kid is real. His blog is amazing. This
is seriously one of the most real books I’ve ever read. It feels like a real
person, a real 6-year-old telling his story. Here’s Billy’s blog
Here is the actual book blurb if you want to know more:
"This is a story about a terrible thing which happens to me. I have to
warn you that nobody is bad or good here, or rather everyone is a bit bad and a
bit good and the bad and the good moluscules get mixed up against each other
and produce terrible chemical reactions. Did you know cheetahs cannot retract
their claws?"
Six-year-old Billy loves animals, David Attenborough documentaries, and
sneakers that flash when he runs. He does not love sitting still, the
blood-soaked sky in Watership Down, or his father's cell phone.
When Billy runs into a busy street, ignoring his father's commands, he sets
in motion a series of unexpected, family-altering events. What I Did is
a heart-wrenching reminder of how best intentions can lead to disastrous
consequences, and how one rash decision can take on a life of its own.
So, if you’d like to win a copy of What I Did, tell me, what
did YOU do in the last 24 hours? Here’s WHAT I DID … stayed up way too late last night, slept til 11:30 a.m., got
an oil change, ran to Target, the post office (books are on their way for anyone
who is waiting for them from me, also so is the $15 Starbucks card Janet!), fed
my kids a couple of times, DID NOT SHOWER, did some copy editing work, and now
I’m in my pajamas catching up on the blog and other work stuff. Exciting huh?
So tell me about your last 24 hours and WHAT YOU DID!
