A book kids read when they don't want to read anything

I didn't write "Cheechako" to be a book for reluctant middle-grade readers.

I wrote it to be the kind of book I would have searched for, jumped on and disappeared into when I was ten, eleven or twelve.

It's not a long book, only about 140 pages–which turns out to be good. And it's filled with action, adventure, and maybe most of all ... independence: the chance for kids to get off on their own. It's the stuff of many kid's dreams.

By chance, several of my early readers are adult middle-school reading specialists and so I started hearing about reluctant readers. These are kids who can read, but choose not to. They'd rather be doing something else ... almost anything else.

The book is already in use in classrooms, and teachers report back that students choose to miss other activities like movies and special school events to sit in the classroom and read "Cheechako."

Some even did the unthinkable. They sneaked and read ahead. For an author, does it get any better?!

I'd like to ask a favor. If you know a middle-school teacher, librarian or reading specialist, would you forward this "Cheechako" link for their consideration.

http://www.amazon.com/Cheechako-Book-Jonathan-Thomas-Stratman

And thank you!

The Back Cover ... Writing the Book was Easier

The third book in my Cheechako series is titled "Musher!" The book is in edit ... actually in the queue for editing ... and I need to write the back cover blurb and send it to the cover artist.

I've been putting this off.

Some of you have already seen this Jesse Joshua Watson cover painting for "Musher!" I'm very happy with it so am including it again. But of course a great cover only ups the ante for the back cover copy.

With an actual physical book, the prospective reader likes the cover enough to pick up the book, turn it over, read the back and then ... hopefully ... (breath held) ... turn to the front and read a page or two before plunking down dollars and going home filled with anticipation.

Oh the pressure.

So here is my first draft back-cover copy. Yes, weigh in. I'm wide open to likes and dislikes, comments and questions.

Back cover copy:

It’s a dogsled enduro: three hundred grueling miles of ice, snow and danger. But for Will Rollins, his best friend Elias Charlie, and Will’s savvy lead dog, Blackie, this might just be the race of a lifetime. Sure there are new friends, like racers Becky and Peter. But who is sabotaging sleds and gear and how far will it go before someone gets hurt? When friends compete, when marauding wolves come to call, when Blackie takes on a monster grizzly ... if Will does go the distance can he come back alive? 

Thanks for reading. As always, please feel free to like, comment, and share this with interested friends. 

Welcome to Nenana, Alaska

It's a bit hard to tell from this view, but what you're seeing is a log tripod out on river ice, connected to land by a cable. Here's a link for a better view: http://www.nenanaakiceclassic.com/

Scroll to the page bottom to see this view.

The river is the Tanana ... Tan-uh-nah, though not well known, one of America's significant rivers. It flows on west to join the Yukon River.

This is a view from the town of Nenana ... Nee-nan-uh ... on a map just about dead-center in the state, midway on the railroad between Fairbanks and Mt. McKinley National Park.

I have two novel series, the Cheechako series for middle-grade readers and the Fr. Hardy mysteries, which is an adult series. Both do (or soon will) include episodes built around breakup on the Tanana.

Breakup is a big deal in Nenana, and in central Alaska generally. Nenana hosts an ice pool, and people from all over buy a ticket and attempt to guess exactly when the ice will warm up enough to break up and be swept away downriver.

What happens is, the ice moves this tripod, which tightens the cable, stopping the clock. There are several hundred thousand dollars to be won. Do you feel lucky?

I saw my first breakup at age eight. It remains vivid in my mind, though more than a half century gone. And, when I write about breakup, I'm writing about those I remember from back then. It was exciting, dramatic, potentially deadly for anyone foolish enough to be out there when the ice started moving.

So, yes, a great place for me to put my characters. To read about a dog trapped on moving ice, and the daring rescue, check out my series' first book, also titled Cheechako.

To read about a human, trying to make it to the other side, watch for In Gold We Trust, a Fr. Hardy mystery, due out this summer.

You can read the first 30 pages of any of my books, free at this link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=node%3D154606011&field-keywords=jonathan+thomas+stratman

Please forward this blog to Alaska-loving friends and on Facebook, please "Like" and share.