Mundie Moms

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Book Review- Chasing Happiness

By Chase Block
Published by Infinity Publishing
Released January 2010
4 stars- I recommend picking it up

What could a 14-year-old possibly understand about his parents’ addictions and divorce, and his mother’s suicide? Quite a lot, according to mental health professionals who have read Chase Block’s book. In Chasing Happiness: One Boy’s Guide to Helping Other Kids Cope with Divorce, Parental Addictions and Death, the Jacksonville, Florida teen not only shares his powerful life story; he offers hope and advice to other young people facing similar challenges. How can kids handle thoughts of suicide, guilt about divorce, addiction and emotional turmoil? Chase covers it all, and also lets them know when and where to reach out for help.

I have never received so many email responses for our Thoughtful Thursday post, like I did from our Suicide Prevention post, here http://tinyurl.com/2732gu6. Responses came from people who appreciated our spotlighting it, to those who have dwelt with suicide, addiction or depression, to other resources in aiding those dealing with these serious matters, to Infinity publishing who had recently published a book about a teenagers struggle with his parent's divorce, his mom's mental illness, her suicide and his own suicidal thoughts.

I read a wide range of books and genres, and not just YA paranormal books (shocking I know), but I don't post reviews here on Mundie Moms unless it's YA related, for the most part. Having the chance to read Chasing Happiness, I felt I needed to make the acceptation to share my review here.

Chasing Happiness is a book packed full of one 14 year old's real experience in dealing with his parents divorce, his parent's divorces after their re-marriages, his mother's mental illness and her long battle with addictions. The heartbreaking turn in the story comes when his mother commits suicide. Chase's book spans the course of a few years, but his insight from a young age through now is one of strength, honesty and will be a huge support to those going through something similar to what he went through.

Chasing Happiness isn't a long book, but is short powerful book that makes the mother in me want to give this teen a huge hug and tell him how much I admire his courage in sharing such a courageous, heartbreaking story. What Chase shares is something that millions of people fight every day. Addictions, suicide, and broken homes have become such a norm in our society. The thing is, now more than ever, more and more people are talking about it. Talking about it is the first step for many people in getting the help and the support they need.

Chase's voice will bring inspiration to those who read it. Chasing Happiness is a great resource to teen and tweens struggling with similar problems. He offers honesty and hope in the face of darkness. I like that Chase's dad offers some honest advice at the end of Chase's story as well. I definitely recommend this book for tweens, teens and parents. It's not an in your face book at all, but one of, "I know what you're going through. Here's what I went through and what I learned."

Some of Chase's best advice is:
* Take Responsibility for your own happiness
* Seek help and know when and who to ask
* No matter how bad it gets, it will and can get better
* Be yourself. Do not give into peer pressure-kids who want you to do something stupid aren't your friends.

The close of Chasing Happiness provides readers with important numbers and website addresses for kids and parents who are facing a crisis. You can find out more information about Chase and Chasing Happiness here http://www.chaseblockbook.com/about.html

CWA Celebrations-Day 15, Novel Novice


With Clockwork Angel being such a highly anticipated release, we're not the only ones hosting month long celebrations. Today we're featuring our friends and affiliates, Novel Novice, who are also hosting a month long Clockwork Angel celebration.

Here's a little bit about Novel Novice and their Clockwork Angel feature:


Novel Novice is known for its regular Book of the Month features -- and this August, we are going all out as we feature Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare and her Mortal Instruments series. We worked closely with both Cassie and the folks at Simon & Schuster to put together some really exciting content. It's quite possibly the biggest Book of the Month we've featured at Novel Novice to date! Here's just a taste of what you can expect:

- August 2010 Desktop Wallpaper Calendar featuring
Clockwork Angel
- An Introduction to Steampunk, the genre that categorizes
Clockwork Angel
- A Steampunk Writing Contest (five winners will receive a
Clockwork Angel prize pack)
- A
Mortal Instruments Character Tweet contest - choose one TMI character, imagine they're on Twitter and write a 140-character "tweet" from that character (three winners will receive a set of Mortal Instruments books)
- Guest Post from Cassie: 19th century literature & Tessa's Reading list from
Clockwork Angel
- a spotlight on the best fan-made trailers & videos for TMI
- a Q&A with the artist behind HebelDesign, TMI & TID-inspired jewerly on Etsy that's officially approved by Cassie
- wallpapers for
Clockwork Angel -- some provided by S&S, others created by the Novel Novice staff
- A spotlight on Mundie Moms and other TMI fansites
- a feature on poetry used in
Clockwork Angel
- Guest Post from Cassie: The Connection Between
Clockwork Angel and A Tale of Two Cities
- Q&A with Cassie about
Clockwork Angel and her upcoming projects (like all those new TMI books!)
- A lesson on the Legend of Bodicea (which is featured in
Clockwork Angel)
- reviews of
Clockwork Angel by at least two of the Novel Novice staff members
- TMI-related teaching resources provided by S&S
- Q&A with Vania of VLC productions about making the official
Clockwork Angel trailer
- essay & project topics for
Clockwork Angel & TMI series (so you have the perfect excuse to read these books for school!)

Here's the link to their CWA Book of the Month "homepage" --
http://novelnovice.com/books/book-of-the-month/august-2010-clockwork-angel-by-cassandra-clare/

Thank you to Novel Novice for being on our blog today and for sharing your Clockwork Angel celebrations with us. We'll be featuring more friends & affiliates who are hosting Clockwork Angel celebrations/giveaways through out the month.

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by The Story Siren and was inspired by Alea of Pop CultureJunkie! We share the books we've received this past week for review, borrowed from friends or the library, received as a gift and/or bought for both Mundie Moms and Mundie Kids (our Children's Book Review Site).

For Review:
* Losing Faith by Denise Jordan, Published by Simon and Schuster, to be Released on September 7th, 2010
* The Haunted by Jessica Verday, Published by Simon and Schuster, to be Released on August 31st, 2010
* Crusade by Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguie, Published by Simon and Schuster, to be Released on September 7, 2010
* Stork by Wendy Delsol, Published by Candlewick Press, to be Released on October 12th, 2010
* The Duff by Kody Keplinger, Published by Little Brown, to be Released on September 7th, 2010
* Spy Glass by Maria V Snyder, Published by MIRA Books, to be Released on September 1st, 2010, Signed from the author
* Razorland by Ann Aguirre, Published by Feiwel and Friends, to be Released on January 4th, 2011
* The Secret Society of the Pink Crystal Ball by Risa Green, Published by Source Books, to be Released on September 14th, 2010
* Beautiful Dead, Arizona by Eden Maguire, Published by Source Books, to be Released on October, 2010
* Arson by Estevan Vega, Published by Tate Publishing, Released May 4th, 2010, Signed from the author

Mundie Kids
For Review:
* The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter, Published by Feiwel and Friends, to be Released on September 14th, 2010
* 13 Treasures by Michelle Harrison, Published by Little Brown Kids, Released on April 12th, 2010
* The Very Fairy Princess by Julie Andrews & Emma Walton Hamilton, Illustrated by Christine Davenier, Published by Little Brown, Released May 18th, 2010
* Alphabet Woof! by Sherrie A. Madia, Illustrated by Patrick Carlson, Published by Mommy Daughter Productions

Won:
* Fancy Nancy: Ooh La La! It's Beauty Day, won from Harper Collins Childrens

Thank you to Simon and Schuster, Little Brown, Feiwel and Friends, Maria V Snyder, Wendy Delsol, Candlewick Press, Sourcebooks, Harper Collins, and Estevan Vega for our wonderful reads.

What goodies did you receive this past week?

CWA Poster Winner

Thank you to everyone who entered to win our Clockwork Angel poster from our Day 12 Celebrations. The winner is....

Rachel L- CONGRATULATIONS!

We'll be sending you an email shortly. As always, the winner has 48 hours to contact us.

We'll be giving away more CWA prizes this week and we have 1 more published copy of CWA to giveaway!!

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