The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright

Okay, Okay I know I’m behind the times (I swear my to-read list is multiplying behind my back), but I finally got a chance to read The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright. The Wednesday Letters is a national title based on the premise that an older couple, Jack and Laurel, die within a short time of each other. They are found in each other’s arms and the family begins the grieving process while at the same time discovering a secret their parents have kept from them. Every Wednesday, Jack wrote Laurel a letter and Laurel kept them all. As their children begin reading the letter they learn even more secrets about their parents: some fun, some heartbreaking.

Although there were moments when I felt the emotions were a little over-board in their descriptions, I’d have to say that my time with The Wednesday Letters was very enjoyable and satisfying.

This is a sweet book that captures the essence of humanity, both good and bad. It made me think a little bit harder about my own choices and my judgments of other people’s choices where I have no right to judge at all. The Wednesday Letters reminds me that there is always more than one side of a story and every one of them is valid. We’re all just doing our best from day to day, trying to figure out how to stay afloat. It reminds me to make goals for myself and always honor my commitments. It reminds me to try my best everyday, to be a little more dependent on the Spirit and a little less dependent on the world.

This book earns a place on my list of recommendations for a quiet Sunday afternoon. It’s not long, or complicated, and the messages are clearly portrayed in ways we can all understand. It’s a nice reminder about the power of the atonement, repentance and forgiveness even when none of those things seem possible to our frail mortal minds. It provides an inspiring start to some very good subjects for us to ponder as we enter the Easter season. The Wednesday Letters offers a measure of love and hope for a number of common difficulties we can face in this life. I can almost guarantee that you will find yourself somewhere in the cast of characters and probably learn something about your potential as well.

I also realized that after Tuesdays with Morrie, and The Last Lecture, this is the third book I’ve read in less than 12 months that had to do with dying. I’ve gotta find a new theme. My husband is beginning to eye me suspiciously and wonder about my sudden urge to make sure the wills are up to date. Too much introspection can be down right depressing.

I’m still looking for that totally awesome comedy that does nothing but make me laugh out loud. Send me your recommendations—let’s give my husband a different reason to think I’m off my rocker for a while. ;)

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Brass Dragon Codex by R.D. Henham

I discovered the Dragonlance books when I was in high school and fell totally in love with them. They were a perfect fit for the type of fantasy I liked. I did stop reading them eventually; they seemed to just keep covering the same stuff over and over and again, but without my favorite characters, less clothing, and more violence. That’s why I was pleased when the new Dragon Codex series was announced as companion guides to A Practical Guide to Dragons. I loved the thought of returning to the world of Solamnia with a little bit more innocent perspective.

The Dragon Codex books definitely fit that niche. These are middle grade readers and they are fun. You can peak at some more information on Red Dragon Codex by R.D. Henham, here. It gives a good feel for what this series is like and what to expect.

When Rebecca Shelley, the assistant scribe for the Brass Dragon Codex by R.D. Henham sent me a review copy I was totally excited. I’d already read and loved the Red Dragon Codex so this was a big treat for me. The excitement got doubled when my oldest boy, currently in a dragon phase, caught sight of the book. I not only got to read a great book, but I got to read Brass Dragon aloud with my son and that’s one of my favorite things to do.

Bonus points were also awarded to Brass Dragon Codex on the merit of actually holding my special needs son’s attention past chapter 1. If he’s not interested, there’s nothing anyone can do to get him to listen any further.

I found the young brass dragon Kyani, or Tumbleweed (since it’s just dumb to give someone you just met your real name), to be my favorite character. He is newly orphaned, very innocent, very talkative, and very lonely. He was totally cute and lovable to me. The gnomes, Hector and Amber, were interesting, but I didn’t get as attached to them as I did Kyani. I suppose that’s the way is should be since the book is meant to be a dragon adventure.

I think was less attached to the gnomes because I had a chip on my shoulder: I miss some of the original quirkiness and antics of the gnome characters as they are portrayed in the Brass Dragon Codex. I seem to remember that in my favorite Dragonlance books they made it very clear that gnomes are thinking, and consequently talking, much faster than most normal people can comprehend. They talk about this in the Brass Dragon Codex, the quirk is still there but it’s not portrayed in the same way. Iwaskindofattachedtoseeingtheirramblingsentencesallstrungtogetherwithoutspacesandpunctuation. I totally understand not doing that in a middle grade reader, it would frustrate a reluctant reader to no end to see something like that, but I still missed it. I’m just weird that way.

I also loved the subtle moral lessons quietly laced throughout the text:

If you want a friend, you have to be a friend.

If you want someone to listen to you, try listening first.

It’s important to have goals.

It’s important to work on those goals.

It’s sometimes more important to help someone you love with their goals instead.

Sometimes friends are more important than things.

And many others. We all need those reminders sometimes.

They’re not preachy, but the morals are still there and that’s a difficult thing to balance and a rare thing to find done well. I think Brass Dragon Codex fit the bill there, as well as being action-packed and interesting.

All in All, you’ll find Brass Dragon Codex a good, safe read for the middle-grade reader and a quick, entertaining one for yourself as well. Great job, Rebecca! Um, I mean R.D. Henham.

yourLDSneighborhood has added exciting new things to its website. Please drop by and take a look, browse around, check out our vendors, our radio station, our authors, our musicians and more. Check out the Neighborhood.

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Pay it Forward and Other Great Books on Kindness

This past week I had the opportunity to spend a little time in an airport. It was not a good day for flying and there were many delays. Now, as inconvenient as delays are it seems that we tend to forget that said delays are not one person’s fault or generally anyone’s fault. Yet, everyone was looking for someone to blame and someone to complain to.

Here's the sad scenario that played out. When my daughter's plane delay was announced I was a little frustrated, yes. She was traveling alone for the first time and the delay served to give her something more to worry about. We worked it out and everything was fine. However, the minute a lot of people heard about the delay there was a mad rush to the ticket counter to demand that the problem be "fixed"-- even when there was absolutely nothing those poor ticket agents could do to make a plane grounded for a band of severe tornadoes leave the ground.

Everyone was worried and upset. About themselves.

As the line snaked around the corner I listened to the ticket agent make the announcement four different times that: they were fully aware that people had connections and deadlines, that they were prioritizing their efforts according to the tightest connects etc. and trying to make sure everyone would be able to make it to their final destinations with the least hassle possible. He pled with everyone to sit back down and let them call up passengers by destination so the most urgent cases could be served first. He reminded them that if they had to keep dealing with each person on a one on one basis it would take three times as long and people would inevitably miss the best window of opportunity because the ticket agents had not been able to do their jobs efficiently. It made sense to me. But oddly enough, I watched as no one, that's right, no one left the line. In fact they got more agitated.

Everyone there was so concerned about themselves they refused to step back and help the problem be solved for everyone, rather than standing in line to make sure they were dealt with first.

Why is that? Why has our society become so calloused that we can't see beyond our own lives to what might be good or helpful for someone else?

I watched those agents work steadily for the next three hours: getting yelled at yes, getting thanked for fixing things to the best of their ability, no. In fact, by the time the whole thing done the ticket agents no longer had energy left over for kindness either. They were sad and they were tired. I felt so bad for them. But apparently I was the only one. Even as I approached the counter to confirm my daughter’s landing time someone else came up to yell at them. Again.

And yes. A few people did miss the best flights because the ticket agents hadn't been able to do their jobs well. They got blamed for that as well.

So. Here are my book recommendations for the week. If you haven't read these titles, please do. There is something to be said for getting a good solid reminder of what service, Christ-like kindness and love are all about. We hear a lot about providing service in the LDS church, but I think we sometimes forget why it matters so much. I think we sometimes forget that service isn't always about ultimate self-sacrifice and it shouldn’t make us miserable. It's about being joyful and aware of each other. It's about looking for the best ways to be happy through helping and lifting someone else toward happiness as well. I can't help but think that whole airport scenario could have gone so differently if even half the people would have been a little more concerned about each other and a little less concerned about themselves.

Pay it Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde This is a fictional book about finding a way to change the world through kindness.

Call to Arms by Chris Bratseth, Erik Hanson, Brad Stokes and Val Litwin, and

Cool to be Kind by Val Litwin, Chris Bratseth, Brad Stokes and Erik Hanson

These two books are written by four young men who have dubbed themselves the Kindness Crew and set out on a roaming tour of Extreme Kindness. They show you how to find ways to have your own kindness experiences.

52 Weeks of Fun Family Service by Merrilee Boyack This is a book of decent ideas on how to incorporate service into our families more.

The Kindness Handbook by Jeri-Lynn Johnson This is an older title but I love the specifics it gives. This book gives ideas about what you can say and do for just about any situation that you might find yourself needing to reach out to somebody in.

yourLDSneighborhood has added exciting new things to its website. Please drop by and take a look, browse around, check out our vendors, our radio station, our authors, our musicians and more. Check out the Neighborhood.

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Finished (Sort Of)

Today, I'm happy to announce that I have finally finished my WIP. Well, the first draft of it anyway. This particular baby caused me a much longer labor than I usually like so I'm relieved to have him finally here. But, he also weighed in at a hefty 84,149 words which is pretty long for a YA and tells me that even though the story is all there now, I have a lot work and editing to do.

It's always a relief to get to this point, but the trip is far from over. Now, an entirely different type of work and creative process begins. I have to figure out if anything I've said is worthwhile. There are parts where I know I've done my job well, but plenty of parts where I wonder what I was thinking by putting such gibberish on the page.

Here's the really weird thing though: the bloody thing still doesn't have a really cool name I'm totally in love with.

I've been calling it Blood, in fact. Well, the official name I gave the file was Blood of the Gods but that's kind of a mouthful, isn't it?

Actual conversation held in my kitchen of late:

Me: "I got to work on Blood today."

Husband: "Good. How far did you get?"

Me: "I hacked out about another 2,000."

At which point my children have lost their appetite. Which is actually fine, since I didn’t want to cook dinner anyway. :)

Hopefully I’ll hit on just the right name while I’m doing revisions. Of course, it really doesn’t matter. If I ever get someone to publish it they’ll change the name to whatever marketing tells them will sell best but still. . . it’s nice to call your baby something other than “hey kid” don’t you think?

Ghost at Work: Bailey Ruth Raeburn Series, Book 1 by Carolyn Hart

Have you ever read a book and had something click for you that just made you want to hunt down the author and ask the golden question, "By any chance are you LDS?" Well, that's the experience I had when I read Ghost at Work.

Ghost at Work was the first book I’d read by Carolyn Hart and I was thoroughly pleased with my experience. This is a national title, but I found Ghost at Work to be a wholesome, fun read without all the unnecessary stuff found in so many books these days. It made for a great afternoon escape and I highly recommend it.

Ghost at Work is the first book in the Bailey Ruth Raeburn series by Carolyn Hart. Bailey Ruth is dead, happily living in heaven with her husband, when she gets the urge to return to earth. The solution? Signing up with the Department of Good Intentions. In her new role she will be allowed to visit earth to help out people experiencing “dire situations” requiring heavenly intervention. The problem? Bailey Ruth has difficulty following rules, and there are a lot of rules for those sent to earth on heavenly missions. If Bailey Ruth can ever learn to follow the precepts of the Department of Good Intentions she might actually get to keep the job; but, helping out Kathleen- a preacher’s wife who finds a dead body on her porch- seems to require a lot of rule breaking and it’s totally fun to read about!

You can hear a podcast about the book here. Or, read an excerpt from the book here.

Now. What was it about Ghost at Work that made me suspect Carolyn Hart might have some knowledge about the LDS Church? Bailey Ruth Raeburn’s biggest problem with helping Kathleen seems to be an inability to remember to be “in the world, but not of the world.” Sound familiar? Uh-huh. It did to me, too and it’s been driving me crazy ever since. See, I was sure that it was simply a scripture, but it also felt like something I kind of thought was specific to the LDS culture. Hmmm. Hence, I drove myself and several people in the halls at church insane trying to figure out the origin of that statement.

I tried looking it up in the scriptures. At first, I thought it was a Doctrine and Covenants thing. No luck. Then, I thought, “Ok, it kind of sounds like a Paul thing.” No luck. Then I got really determined. I looked through the entire Topical Guide reference sections for both world and worldly. I found some close matches: John 17:11-17 being the closest, but no scripture that specifically said, “Be in the world, not of the world.”

I looked online. I found one quote that said it was a statement coined by Hugh Nibley (upon referring to the above scripture), but could not find an original reference under his name. I found a couple of generic Christian websites talking about it, but not quite quoting it the same way my silly memory has it etched in my brain.

I took a casual poll among my friends in other religions and converts to the LDS church. Those outside of the church said, “Sure its makes sense as a Christian thing but it’s not something I hear all the time.” Those who were converts to the church said, “No, I never heard that before joining the church.” Those who were life-long members said, “Of course it’s in the scriptures.” At that point a long silence would follow as they went through the same searches and logic I did, eventually they’d sigh and say either, “Well, it’s in there somewhere” or “it’s a modern revelation did you check [insert prophet’s name here] works?”

So. Here I am, sorely tempted to contact Carolyn Hart just to find out what religion she is. At any rate, I do highly recommend curling up with Ghost at Work for a no stress, feel good mystery. I’ll be checking out a few more of her titles to see if they all tend to provide such good, clean entertainment. Ghost at Work certainly fit the bill.

Now, somebody set me straight on that whole worldly business. I can’t afford to be any crazier than I already am. Besides, if I can’t get it figured out while I’m alive how will I ever stand a chance of landing a job with the Department of Good Intentions myself?

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Counting the Cost by Liz Adair

I have read several titles by Liz Adair, and thoroughly enjoyed many of them, so I clapped my hands and did the “goodie-goodie” dance I save for cool books when her latest title Counting the Cost showed up in my mailbox. What followed was sort of a roller coaster ride of ups and downs for me as I read.


I read the first chapter at lighting speed. I had a good time with the descriptions and fun story presented, but then came a big lull in excitement. It took me a much longer time to get through the first third of the book then it normally does. I blame this on me, personally, and a few issues I had with the story in general. Here’s how it played out. Though Counting the Cost is not a “western” per say, it is set in that atmosphere and I’m not a western type of gal. So, while I could appreciate some of the action and descriptions, I did get lost in them.


The type is small and the book is thick. Not normally a big deal for me, but when combined with other factors such as life disasters that were leaving me already exhausted, when I looked for a reading escape it looked too daunting to read in any large chunk of time. Because I saved it for snippets instead of “serious” stretches of reading I kept getting lost in the many characters coming in and out of Heck and Ruth’s lives. The writing was still good. Liz is an excellent storyteller, but I felt overwhelmed, like she was telling me much more of the story than my tiny brain could handle at the moment.


The last two-thirds of the book went much better for me. I buckled down, gave it some serious attention and found myself caught up in the story more easily. By the end of the book I had truly come to care about the characters and where their choices would take them.


In a nut shell, Counting the Cost is a story about a cowhand, Heck, and a beautiful debutant, Ruth, that fall in love. The problem is Ruth is already married to someone else. Heck is a noble character who does his best to avoid a bad situation until he finds Ruth bruised and battered from abuse at her husband’s hand. He steps in and takes Ruth to live with him in a remote cabin. They were very literally “shacked up” if you’ll excuse my very poor pun in a time when that was simply not done for any reason. This choice leads to consequences both good and bad and a very candid look at what it really means to commit to a relationship with someone. It was an eye opening experience.


I also appreciated that Liz included both some of the simple joys, as well as the difficulties associated with their lives together. It reminded me that there are always at least two sides to a story. In our own lives that can mean the difference between happiness and malcontent. Sometimes it’s just a matter of finding the side that matters most rather than the one that bugs us the most.


Counting the Cost also carries a blush factor warning. Though the intimacy scenes in the book were very tasteful and discreet they are there. Counting the Cost is very much about the connections between a man and a woman and the physical connections can’t be ignored in this kind of book. This isn’t a steamy romance; it’s a portrait of two people making choices: some good, some not-so-good. Just be aware that the content is there.


There are two reasons I’d recommend Counting the Cost. First, it really is a story that has much to share about learning to deal with the consequences of our choices and how to show compassion for the choices of others- we’re all really doing the best we can with the situations we find ourselves in. Second, because a portion of the book’s sales will go to benefit Serving Women Across Nations (SWAN). Seeing a need, and then finding a way to do something about it is always a wonderful thing.


Kudos to Liz Adair for Counting the Cost and her compassionate and motivated spirit.

yourLDSneighborhood has added exciting new things to its website. Please drop by and take a look, browse around, check out our vendors, our radio station, our authors, our musicians and more. Check out the Neighborhood.

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The Best from LDS Authors for 2008

What’s the latest buzz in the LDS book world? The announcement of the 2008 Whitney Award Finalists. This is the second year for the Whitney Awards, and I must say that a program I was excited about from its very conception has proved that it can only get better and better. I read a lot of books, I’d love to read even more and I have this weird thing about looking for authors I have a connection with. Sometimes it’s a writing style, sometimes it’s a subject, sometimes it’s because I know them. There are a lot of different reasons, and being LDS is definitely one of them.

Though it can’t always be proven true, if I know that an author is LDS I will turn to their work with a hope of finding a good story that won’t upset my delicate eyes with things that shouldn’t be on the page. That’s not an easy thing to do in this day and age. So, here it is. The whole premise of the Whitney Awards was to find a way to recognize and reward LDS authors, both from the LDS market and the national market, who manage to do just that: write a great story. The Whitney committee gathers nominations for any book written by an LDS author throughout the calendar year, these are narrowed down, first by the number of nominating votes, then by votes from genre experts and readers. The titles announced are all highly recommended and a great sampling of what great literature can be.

I’ve provided an alphabetical list of the finalists for you here. Over the next two months basically anyone who has a part to play in the publishing business- LDS authors, publishers, distributors, bookstores and more will all be reading and casting their private votes to identify the best of the best from these titles. This includes yours truly. Some of these titles I’ve already talked about here on my blog. You can find other people talking about them on yourLDSneighborhood and other book rating sites. In fact I’d encourage you to pop in and start a discussion on the titles you’ve read or what you think about the Whitney Awards in general. To me, it’s much better than discussing the Oscars or who just got kicked off of Idol.
Enter your guesses. I will not be posting my own reviews on any more of these titles until after the awards are announced on April 25. Not that I think I could sway the vote, but just ‘cause that’s the kosher thing to do. When the dust settles, I’ll let you know how many of the winners I picked. Who knows, you may find out I have lousy taste in literature- if you haven’t decided that already.

If you have a hard time trying to decide where to spend your precious book buying dollars I’d suggest you aren’t likely to go wrong with these titles. Don’t wait for just the winners. I think it’s fair to say that they are all a good bet for a great read. I know money and time are tight, but I also know how much an author will tend to sweat and bleed to give us as readers a beautiful story. So, buy a Whitney finalist or two, support an awesome LDS author. You won’t regret it.

Whitney Award Finalists

The 13th Reality by James Dashner (Best Youth Fiction)

Abinadi by H. B. Moore (Best Historical)

Above and Beyond by Betsy Brannon Green (Best Mystery/Suspense)

Alcatraz vs. The Scrivner's Bones by Brandon Sanderson (Best Youth Fiction)

Bound on Earth by Angela Hallstrom (Best Novel of the Year, Best Novel by a New Author)

Do No Harm by Gregg Luke (Best Mystery/Suspense)

Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card (Best Speculative Fiction)

Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague (Book 3) by Brandon Mull (Best Youth Fiction)

Farworld: Water Keep by J. Scott Savage (Best Youth Fiction)

Fields of Home by Rachel Ann Nunes (Best General Fiction)

Fool Me Twice by Stephanie Black (Best Novel of the Year, Best Mystery/Suspense)

Freefall by Traci Hunter Abramson (Best Mystery/Suspense)

From the End of Heaven (The Great and Terrible, Vol. 5) by Chris Stewart (Best Speculative Fiction)

The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, Book 3) by Brandon Sanderson (Best Novel of the Year, Best Speculative Fiction)

The Host by Stephenie Meyer (Best Speculative Fiction)

Isabelle Webb, Legend of the Jewel by N. C. Allen (Best Historical)

Keeping Keller by Tracy Winegar (Best General Fiction)

Master by Toni Sorenson (Best Historical)

The Reckoning by Tanya Parker Mills (Best Novel by a New Author, Best General Fiction)

Royal Target by Traci Hunter Abramson (Best Mystery/Suspense)

The Ruby by Jennie Hansen (Best Historical)

Seeking Persephone by Sarah Eden (Best Romance)

Servant to a King by Sariah Wilson (Best Romance)

The Sound of Rain by Anita Stansfield (Best Romance)

Spare Change by Aubrey Mace (Best Novel by a New Author, Best Romance)

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George (Best Novel of the Year, Best Youth Fiction)

Taking Chances by Shannon Guymon (Best Romance)

Traitor by Sandra Grey (Best Novel of the Year, Best Novel by a New Author, Best Historical)

Waiting For the Light to Change by Annette Hawes (Best Novel by a New Author, Best General Fiction)

The Wyrmling Horde: The Seventh Book of the Runelords by David Farland (Best Speculative Fiction)

Lifetime Achievement Awards
Kerry Blair
Orson Scott Card


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The Forgotten Warrior by Kathi Oram Peterson

When I saw Kathi Oram Peterson’s new title: The Forgotten Warrior, I was pretty excited to see what it was like. The tale of the stripling warriors is on of my favorites and a classic standard for the youth. It's one you really want them to remember and understand because the world today can be just as brutal as those war years in the Book of Mormon. We want our children to understand the power that faith can have to protect them.

In The Forgotten Warrior, Syd, a modern teenage girl with a lot of worries and responsibilities weighing heavily on her shoulders is transported back to the time of the Helaman's Warriors. There was much to like about this story. I liked the fact that even though Syd had the emotions and thoughts of any teenage girl, she was far from incapable of handling the situation she found herself in. The author made it very clear that Syd was transported through time for the Lord's purposes, not just for a fun "magical" trip. Syd had a purpose to serve there and a few things to learn. What was her purpose? Well, it just so happens that Syd is a black-belt in karate and helps teach at her mother's dojo. Tada! After some initial distrust Syd is called by the prophet Helaman to prepare his son's for battle with her fighting style. Helaman feels that learning some of Syd's techniques will help give the Stripling Warriors an advantage they sorely need in their fight.

What does Syd need to learn? What it really means to have the heart of a Nephite. What the power of the Lord in our lives really is. Oh, and how to fall in love, too.

There were things about The Forgotten Warrior that I didn't like as well. There are snippets at the beginning of each chapter that are told from the perspective of one of the warriors. This was fine, except in my old age I had a difficult time reading the font that was chosen to distinguish between the two thought processes. Sadly, I ended up skipping many of these passages instead of taking the extra time to squint at it. When I did scan a few lines there seemed to be an added element of Book of Mormon history presented so I partly wish I could have taken in a bit more of it.

It also annoyed me that it took so long for anyone in Ancient America to first: notice Syd, and second: to figure out that the spy was a "she" instead of a "he". I get all the factors that the author put into place to compensate for that and the reasons why not everyone could find out her gender but it was still a little annoying to me personally.

Plus, I always wonder at these types of books when someone goes back in time and seems to carry such wonderful stores of knowledge around in their heads. As I've said before, I'm not the world's best Book of Mormon scholar and though this particular story is pretty well known I tend to get details muddled. Syd, on the other hand, always knew the next step in the war and what its outcome would be. I would not have been able to believe this except that the author let me know it was a portion of the Book of Mormon the teenager had to read and reread frequently for her mentally-challenged little sister.

These little nit-picks aside, The Forgotten Warrior has a lot of potential. It can be a great story for our young people, and big people too, to learn from but I'd have to recommend waiting a year or so before handing it off for someone to read. Why? I was really bummed by the ending. The Forgotten Warrior is obviously meant to be part of a series because the ending just leaves you hanging. I'm all for a good cliff hanger at the end of a book-- it always leaves me sniffing in disgust, but I get its value and use. The problem was there was almost no resolution at the end of The Forgotten Warrior. Aside from a little boy being rescued, every other story problem that had been set up was still just hanging there at the end. That felt very much like a betrayal of reader trust.

That being said, there are definitely things to be learned and inspiration to be had; the messages are still needed by our youth and Kathi is doing her best to get those messages out. She states, “The working theme of The Forgotten Warrior was that faith builds courage and courage builds faith. That faith you can help you learn to forgive. A bonus for me would be if my readers could come away learning more about the stripling warriors, about their strong loyalty to family, faith, and country and apply some of those character traits in their lives.”

To that end, she is currently doing two important things. If you watch her blog you can read her insights about the stripling warriors and how we can be more like them today. She is also currently holding a contest to encourage the youth to find stripling warrior role models among their friends. There is a form on her website that can be downloaded and filled out. People can nominate a youth between 8 and 18 (boy or girl) to be a Latter-day Stripling Warrior by listing a kind deed or deeds they have done. They fill in the nominee's name and address and mail it to Kathi. Every entry will receive a certificate that says "______ is a Latter-day Stripling Warrior". It will be signed by Kathi Oram Peterson and three of the heroes in The Forgotten Warrior. The overall winner receives a $50 gift certificate from Amazon.com.

The Forgotten Warrior can also be ordered online at http://www.covenant-lds.com, http://www.barnesandnoble.com, and http://www.deseretbook.com.

yourLDSneighborhood has added exciting new things to its website. Please drop by and take a look, browse around, check out our vendors, our radio station, our authors, our musicians and more. Check out the Neighborhood.

And while you're there, subscribe to the yourLDSneighborhood Newsletter. In addition to being able to shop in the new virtual neighborhood, the newsletter brings you articles, products, services, resources and interviews from around the world-all with an LDS focus. Look for issues delivered to your email inbox every week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.