Two seventh graders discover it takes more than grit and a good pair of shoes to run 13.1 miles. You’ve got to have a partner who refuses to let you quit.
Drew was never much of a runner. Until his dad’s unexpected diagnosis. Mia has nothing better to do. Until she realizes entering Half Moon Bay’s half-marathon could solve her family’s housing problems.
And just like that they decide to spend their entire summer training to run 13.1 miles. Drew and Mia have very different reasons for running, but these two twelve year olds have one crucial thing in common (besides sharing a birthday): Hope. For the future. For their families. And for each other.
Title: Half Moon Summer
Author: Elaine Vickers
Publication Date: June 6, 2023
Publisher: Peachtree
Genres: Middle Grade, Contemporary
BIRTH DAY
DREW
Every day there are about 385,000 babies born in the world.
Think about it: hundreds of thousands of people with not just your same birthday, but your same Birth Day. When that day started, all 385,000 of you were floating around in the dark, eating and breathing through a cord in your belly, happily swallowing your own pee.
Until it all changed. Until you were pushed from that safe, small, warm world and out into bright lights, cold air, and way too much space, whether you liked it or not.
That’s how the big changes happen: Whether you like it or not.
I was born in Half Moon Bay, California, on September 23—the very last day of summer that year. I started out like you did, all slimy and grumpy. I screamed like a smoke alarm when Mom tried to feed me and screamed louder when Dad tried to rock me.
Finally, the nurse couldn’t take it anymore, so she wedged me into the same bassinet with the other baby who was born that day.
That was the only thing that got me to calm down. True story.
The next morning, both of us were healthy and ready
to go home. Except there was some problem with the paperwork, so it took longer to release us than it should have. Dad sat in the waiting room, pulling his knife across little pieces of wood while the shavings fell like snowflakes into the garbage can. By the time everything was sorted out, he had carved two little birds for the two newborn babies in that bassinet nest.
I’ve lived in Half Moon Bay ever since, but the other baby left with her family, never to return. Or that’s what I thought, anyway.
Pushed from one world to another.
It happened the day we were born, and again the summer before we turned thirteen.
Whether you like it or not.
Elaine Vickers lives with her husband and three kids in Southern Utah, where she writes books and teaches college chemistry. She always wanted to be a writer and a teacher, except when she wanted to be an architect, an artist, a pediatrician, a judge, or a famous actress. Visit her at elainevickers.com for book recommendations, science activities, and ideas for starting your own backyard book club.
1 winner will receive a finished copy of HALF MOON SUMMER, US Only.
Ends July 25th, midnight EST
a Rafflecopter giveawayWeek One:
| 7/10/2023 | #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog | Excerpt/IG Post |
| 7/10/2023 | YA Books Central | Excerpt/IG Post |
| 7/11/2023 | The Book View | Excerpt/IG Post |
| 7/11/2023 | A Dream Within A Dream | Excerpt/IG Post |
| 7/12/2023 | Character Madness and Musings | Excerpt/IG Post |
| 7/12/2023 | @allyluvsbooksalatte | IG Review/TikTok Post |
| 7/13/2023 | @hodophile_z | IG Review |
| 7/13/2023 | @gsreadingspree | IG Review |
| 7/14/2023 | Brandi Danielle Davis | IG Review/TikTok Post |
| 7/14/2023 | Lifestyle of Me | Review |
Week Two:
| 7/17/2023 | @evergirl200 | IG Review |
| 7/17/2023 | Country Mamas With Kids | Review/IG Post |
| 7/18/2023 | Kim’s Book Reviews and Writing Aha’s | Review/IG Post |
| 7/18/2023 | A Blue Box Full of Books | IG Review/LFL Drop Pic/TikTok Post |
| 7/19/2023 | @froggyreadteach | IG Review |
| 7/19/2023 | OneMoreExclamation | Review/IG Post |
| 7/20/2023 | Locks, Hooks and Books | Review |
| 7/20/2023 | Review Thick And Thin | Review/IG Post |
| 7/21/2023 | @pagesforpaige | IG Review |
| 7/21/2023 | @enthuse_reader | IG Review/TikTok Post |
As a runner, I’m curious about these two as they train for the half marathon.
I bet this would be a fun read for you then!