MG at Heart Book Club Book Review: THE HOTEL BETWEEN, by Sean Easley

November 30, 2018November 30, 2018 ~ bookvillageadmin ~ Leave a comment

Middle Grade at Heart’s November book club pick was the magical adventure THE HOTEL BETWEEN by Sean Easley.

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THE HOTEL BETWEEN is one of those books that grabs you from the first page, where we meet our hero, Cam, from the hiding-place-come-prison of his middle school locker. But after the initial humor of Cam’s situation, we immediately get that there’s something much bigger afoot than the typical middle school hijinks.

“I throw my head back against the interior of the locker, tracing the page displaying my pencil sketch of a tree with a cramped, crooked finger. I can almost hear the leaves rustling, as they have been lately in my dreams. It’s the same tree that’s on the wooden coin hanging from my neck. Dad’s coin.”

Because Cam and his twin sister, Cass, have been raised by their Oma–both of their parents are presumed dead. But Cam’s convinced his father is still alive. So when he meets Nico, a mysterious boy who holds a coin identical to the one Cam’s father gave him before he disappeared, he can’t let it go. He has to learn more.

The adventure that ensues introduces him to The Hotel Between, a hotel with magical doors that can transport hotel guests all over the world. One member of the hotel’s staff describes it as follows:

“Those who stay within our walls may dive the deepest lagoons and climb the highest mountains in a single day. Here, one can enjoy arepas for breakfast in Venezuela, the most authentic Philly cheesesteak for lunch, and dine luxuriously on the Rhine for dinner.”

Cam and his new friends travel places like Russia, Hungary, and the Congo on a series of missions for the hotel. But when the hotel’s magic starts to malfunction, Cam realizes that something’s not right. And what he discovers might be even more important than finding his long-lost father.

Part fantasy adventure, part travelogue, part touching story of hope and family connection, THE HOTEL BETWEEN is sure to please readers aged 10+.

To learn more about Sean, or for printable drawing pages, activities, recipes, and discussion questions, check out our Middle Grade at Heart newsletter devoted to THE HOTEL BETWEEN here (https://mailchi.mp/1233feee0568/november-newsletter-the-hotel-between?e=96af0d8aff).

. . .

Next month, Middle Grade @ Heart will feature a round-up of our favorite graphic novels. And don’t miss our #mgbookclub Twitter chat about THE HOTEL BETWEEN on December 4 at 8pm EST!

MG at Heart Writer’s Toolbox: Crafting Striking Visual Descriptions

November 15, 2018November 12, 2018 ~ bookvillageadmin ~ 1 Comment

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Okay, so we all know we’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover. But have you seen the absolutely glorious cover of the Middle Grade at Heart November book club pick, The Hotel Between? Isn’t it stunning and intriguing?

The cover artist, Petur Antonsson, did an incredible job with the illustration, and the author, Sean Easley, gave Antonsson a whole lot to work with because this book features some truly masterful visual descriptions. Let’s take a look at a few passages to see how Sean Easley manages to evoke rich, specific images while also leaving just enough to the reader’s imagination and conveying a sense of his narrator’s personality.

First, here’s how the book’s narrator, Cam, describes the fantastic and mysterious Hotel the first time he sees it:

I turn back to the door and catch a glimpse of…something unbelievable. Thick, velvety maroon carpet stretches deep into an open foyer and up a twisty staircase. Warm light shines from old, Thomas Edison-style bulbs in intricate brass fixtures. A sparkly chandelier with long, dangly chains of crystals casts rainbows everywhere, flooding the enormous space with warm, smoky light. I can’t even see the ceiling, it’s so high. And I think I smell blueberries.

There are so many vivid sensory details in this opening description. We get a sense of the vastness of this place, how old it seems, and how it’s too big and too complex for Cam to fully take in. There’s a sense of oddness, too, and a bit of unexpected humor with the ending sentence about blueberries. There are interesting verbs (stretches, casts, flooding), and we can see from the word choice and specificity that Cam is intelligent and perceptive, despite how self-deprecating he can often be.

The description also doesn’t go on too long; pretty soon, the door to the hotel closes and the action starts back up. Easley doesn’t take up so much space with his lush descriptions that the action drags. He leaves us wanting more and imagining what else Cam doesn’t see in his first glimpse of this intriguing place.

Soon, Cam visits lots of international locations through the Hotel’s magic, and the descriptions of these places are just as striking as the description of the Hotel itself. Here’s how Cam describes the scene he takes in when he walks out the “Budapest Door” into the city of Budapest:

All around us, tall glass-and-stone buildings drip with light. Carved granite arches glow as the sun sets beyond them. Warm, yellow strings of incandescent bulbs drape from the pop-up tents scattered throughout the square. Tree branches twist and curl, carrying the lights into the sky like the fiery breath of a dragon.

Again, check out all those striking verbs (drape, twist, curl, carrying) and the way we get plenty of vivid details but not too many; we have space to imagine what else is going on in this scene and to feel its glowing warmth. The use of figurative language is also terrific. That simile about the “fiery breath of a dragon” is not only original and interesting, but it also reveals something about Cam, who is a very cautious character and sees this world he’s stepping into as something amazing…but also frightening.

And it’s not only places that Sean Easley describes effectively; he also has a knack for describing characters’ appearances. Here’s a passage from when Cam first meets a mysterious man named Agapios:

And at the desk in the center of the room sits a man who looks like Death on his way to the prom—flat, angular forehead with a receding hairline and slick black hair. His face is long—way longer than it should be—and his cheekbones look like someone surgically inserted dice into his face.

Isn’t that an outstanding paragraph? The simile about “Death on his way to the prom” reveals Cam’s sense of humor as well as his lingering fear. Plus, it leaves the reader space to imagine what this man is wearing and what might make his features look “deathly.” The humorous (but disturbing) line about dice being inserted into Agapios’s face also paints quite a visceral picture! Based on the way Agapios is described, the reader immediately wants to know more about who he is and what he’s up to.

Let us know on Twitter if there are other descriptions in the book that strike you as especially effective, and we hope you’ll enjoy our newsletter about The Hotel Between, which will go out on November 26^th. And don’t mis our Twitter book club chat about the book, which will take place at 8pm EST on Tuesday, December 4^th with the tag #mgbookclub!

MG at Heart Book Club’s November Pick: THE HOTEL BETWEEN, by Sean Easley

November 1, 2018October 31, 2018 ~ bookvillageadmin ~ Leave a comment

The Middle Grade at Heart selection for November is….

The Hotel Between by Sean Easley!

A magical hotel, a mysterious tree, and a cryptic story about their missing father leads twins Cam and Cass on a worldly adventure in this enchanting debut novel that’s perfect for fans of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library and Wildwood.

Twins Cam and Cass have never known their parents. They’ve been told their mother died, and Cass is certain their father abandoned them. Cam isn’t so sure. He wants to prove her wrong; he must.

Cam’s wish is soon granted in the form of a glistening, golden sign with elaborate flourishes that reads: The Hotel Between. With doors that open to countries all over the world, magical trollies, charmed corridors that can be altered on a whim, stone elephants that turn to life, sweets made from rocks; everything is possible in The Hotel. Cam has a hunch his father is somehow connected to this magical place, and may even be lost within its hidden halls.

Every journey has its risks, and The Hotel Between is full of dangerous secrets. If Cam’s not careful, his stay may be over before his vacation has even started.

“Easley’s first novel is a fantasy adventure brimming with action and anchored by familial love. Cam constantly worries about Cass, whose spina bifida confines her to a wheelchair, but he also must learn that she’s more capable than he gives her credit for. The story begs a sequel and will draw fans of A Wrinkle in Time.” – Booklist

“Magic and mystery draw you into The Hotel Between, and I couldn’t leave until I knew all its secrets. Can I make a reservation yet?” – James Riley, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of the Half Upon a Time and Story Thieves series

“Danger, fun, and heartbreak abound in this rollicking magical adventure around the world.” – Lisa McMann, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of The Unwanteds Quests series and many other books

The newsletter will go out November 26th, and the #MGBookClub Twitter chat will be held December 4th.

We can’t wait to share this book with all of you!

Cover Reveal: THE HOTEL BETWEEN by Sean Easley

February 25, 2018February 22, 2018 ~ bookvillageadmin ~ Leave a comment

COVER_REVEAL

Hi everyone!

#MGBookVillage is excited to bring you the cover reveal for Sean Easley’s The Hotel Between! This debut novel is also the November pick for the Middle Grade at Heart Book Club, so you are definitely going to want to read along with us!

A big thank you to Sean for letting us host the reveal and for taking the time to answer a few questions about The Hotel Between. You’ll hear more from Sean this fall since he’s scheduled to be a guest on the Books Between podcast.

Read my brief interview with Sean and check out the book’s magical cover below!

~ Corrina

…

Hi Sean! Before we reveal the cover, can you tell us a bit about The Hotel Between?

Of course! But first, thanks so much for hosting; I love what you’re doing, and I’m really excited to be sharing my book here!

Okay, so the short version: The Hotel Between is a middle grade adventure about a boy who uses the enchanted doors in a magical hotel to search the world for his father. It’s a globe-spanning journey of learning what makes a family–both the family you’re born with and the family you choose–and discovering that what you think you know isn’t always true. And, more than anything, it’s about the connections between us all, and how the whole of humanity is bound together in this amazing, magical world family.

But now I’m getting all abstract, so instead of me rambling on here’s the publisher description:

“Twins Cam and Cass have never known their parents. They’ve been told their mother died, and Cass is certain their father abandoned them. Cam isn’t so sure. He wants to prove her wrong; he must.

Cam’s wish is soon granted in the form of a glistening, golden sign with elaborate flourishes that reads: The Hotel Between. With doors that open to countries all over the world, magical trollies, charmed corridors that can be altered on a whim, stone elephants that turn to life, sweets made from rocks; everything is possible in The Hotel. Cam has a hunch his father is somehow connected to this magical place, and may even be lost within its hidden halls.

Every journey has its risks, and The Hotel Between is full of dangerous secrets. If Cam’s not careful, his stay may be over before his vacation has even started.”

So, this being a book about traveling the world, what are some of the places the characters end up going?

Oh, the places you’ll go! We hop magical doors constantly throughout the book, starting out in Dallas but eventually making our way to Moscow, Budapest, Northern China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, a cruise ship in the Antarctic, Honduras and Sydney and Bermuda and India and… well, those are just the start. And to top it off, the Hotel Between itself is a magical place full of its own hidden mysteries to be explored.

Who is the artist that designed your cover? And what did you think when you saw the final version?

I had to pick my jaw up off the floor when I saw the unbelievable illustration from Petur Antonsson (you can find his stuff here: http://www.shannonassociates.com/peturantonsson). Never in my wildest dreams could I have expected anything this breathtaking. The colors! The doors showing the world! The elephant! The kids being awesome! It’s just incredible, and I’m so thankful to Petur for his illustration and the cover designer Chloe Foglia for her direction in putting it all together.

Let’s take a look!

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I love that when you look at the cover from different angles, it shifts your perspective as a reader and you notice different details. Can you discuss how shifts in perspective might be included in the story?

Me too! The perspective-defying layout is one of the things I love most about Petur’s illustration. In the book, there’s a tangible reason for the layout of the hotel to not make complete sense spatially, but also this is a book about the world as a whole, and how people–and kids–fit into it. So that dynamic fits the book in so many ways.

One of the biggest examples of changing perspectives is how the main character reacts to his sister throughout. Cam goes into the story feeling like he has to protect Cass–who was born with a serious and complicated health condition–from her own sense of adventure. It’s that assumed responsibility that drives him on his own adventure out into the wide world looking for help. But as Cam encounters new people and discovers that he doesn’t know all the things he assumes he knows, his understanding of his sister can finally begin to change, and he can start believing in her they way she believes in herself. The same is true for who Cam chooses to trust, what relationships he builds, etc.

Sean – thanks so much for letting us take a peek at the cover of The Hotel Between! When can readers get it, and where is a good place to preorder?

The Hotel Between is coming September 4, 2018 from Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. It’s up for preorder at the following places: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Indiebound. Also, feel free to add it to your Goodreads TBR!

Thank you, Sean!

No, thank YOU for having me!

Sean Easley started writing in third grade because he was looking for adventure. He’s worked with kids and teens for well over a decade, listening to their stories, and somehow ended up with a Master’s degree in education along the way. Now he’s a full-time writer living with his wife and son in Texas, where he stubbornly refuses to wear cowboy boots. Visit him at SeanEasley.com and on Twitter and Instagram @AuthorEasley.