D.K. Smith

I won this YA novel in a contest on Shelf Awareness (I just love that newsletter). I’ve picked it up several times to start reading and put it down several times. I could never get past page 40. Yet, there was something compelling about the story line that kept pulling me back. After reviewing some of the remarks on Goodreads and Amazon, I was determined to give read this book.

I didn’t buy the opening car chase scene that involved two teenagers as part of a larger counterfeiting ring where the police not only pursue them in a high-speed chase, but actually send a helicopter. Maybe it’s because I’m not a tween or teen, but to me it didn’t seem plausible.

There are several things I like about this novel:
• Strong female protagonist and antagonists.
• The main plot is bullying and the willingness to combat it.
• The diversity of the characters.
• It has GREAT bones.

The things I didn’t like are:
• Too many plot lines. The one about Ellis in London should be deleted; it’s irrelevant and confuses the reader. I had to keep going back to figure out what that was going on with those characters. The plot line about the anti-aging drug/terrorism that comes up in the last third is confusing. The counterfeit ring and the bullying are enough.
• Too many characters that are not truly defined. Yes, Margo and Kat are distinguishable, but the rest all blur together. I can’t remember reading any physical descriptions about the characters that would set them apart.
• The cover is unappealing
• I saw MOB and thought Mafia.

As I stated earlier, this book has GREAT bones. I think another re-write is in order if there is a second printing. The ending gives the allusion that this is the first book in a series. I believe that Smith’s writing will get better as he or she continues to write.

I give Mind Over Bullies: A MOB Forms 2 out of 5 stars.… (més)

I was not in love with this book but I did like it. The message that the author made about anti-bulling was good. I like how he turned it into a positive by incorporating the fun superhero aspect into this book. However I could not find myself attaching to any one character. I tried and even thought that Margo would be that leading lady for me but no such luck. Which I read that the author wanted to feature many different races of characters and genders so that people could relate. Again I did not relate but to see so many different unique characters featured in one book had both good and bad effects for me. Good because of the different diversity but bad because there were so many characters to try to remember and connect with. Sometimes less is more.

The superhero counterfit ring operation part of this book was cool. Quite an operation that has a few surprises. The ending did leave a nice lead into the next book.… (més)

"Sock 'n Boots Share" is a delightful book for toddlers with only a couple of drawbacks. First, D.K. Smith tried to find a rhythm for her rhyming scheme, but was only partially successful. Second, the question at the beginning: "Do you know why you should share?" and the final question: "Now do you see why you should share?" seems overly complex and preachy.

So why do I find it delightful? I asked my 10 year-old granddaughter to review it with me and we both liked the same things. First, the drawings are well done; the color values, objects sizes and emotional impacts are all positve attributes for toddlers. The drawings support the story-line well. Also, the story hits the right level of detail to present the problem and to solve it.

With more polish on the text, this could be a book that never goes out of style.

(I received a free copy for review.)… (més)