Reader Girls Blog

The Junction of Sunshine and Lucky  by Holly Schindler  Middle Grade contemporary Hardcover/eBook, 240 pages Published February 6th 2014 by Dial “Beasts of the Southern Wild” meets  Because of Winn Dixie  in this inspiring story of hope. Auggie Jones lives with her grandpa Gus, a trash hauler, in a poor part of town. So when her wealthy classmate’s father starts the House Beautification Committee, it’s homes like Auggie’s that are deemed “in violation.” But Auggie is determined to prove that there’s more to her—and to her house—than meets the eye. What starts out as a home renovation project quickly becomes much more as Auggie and her grandpa discover a talent they never knew they had—and redefine a whole town’s perception of beauty, one recycled sculpture at a time. Holly Schindler’s feel-good story about the power one voice can have will inspire readers to speak from their hearts.

Synopsis Kate Jackson is listlessly floating through her life having no idea what or who she wants to be and burdened by the pains of her past. That is until she meets Derrick Kane.  A whirlwind romance leads Kate to believe that Derrick is the answer to all her questions and the patch to heal all her wounds.  Derrick and Kate’s love is quickly tested as a shocking crime forces Kate to have to figure out how to take care of herself and leads her into a mystery that only Kate has the key to solve.  Can she catch an extremely dangerous criminal and keep the love between Derrick and her alive? Find out the conclusion of this thrilling crime drama and contemporary romance in the following books of The Photographer Trilogy. 

Holly Schindler writes Middle Grade and Young Adult.  Here is the cover for her upcoming YA release: It’s too late for you. You’re dead. Those words float through Claire Cain’s head as she lies broken and barely alive after a brutal beating. And the words continue to haunt her months later, in the relentless, terrifying nightmares that plague her sleep. So when her father is offered a teaching sabbatical in another state, Claire is hopeful that getting out of Chicago, away from the things that remind her of what she went through, will offer a way to start anew.  But when she arrives in Peculiar, Missouri, Claire quickly realizes something is wrong—the town is brimming with hidden dangers and overrun by feral cats. And her fears are confirmed when a popular high school girl, Serena Sims, is suddenly found dead in the icy woods behind the school. While everyone is quick to say Serena died in an accident, Claire knows there’s more to it—for she was the one who found Serena