Stuart Gibbs

Hello folks!  I know, it’s been a while since my last post (I warned you) and, sadly, I’m still not in a position to tell you what the next project is (although hopefully, I can soon, as I’m already hard at work on it).  But I thought I’d share some more good news on the Belly Up world domination front:

First of all, Belly Up has begun to enter the blogosphere through other blogs than this one.  And all the reviews continue to be positive.  For example, there’s this one from Debbie Winkler.  I’ve never heard of Debbie Winkler before, but she must be quite popular, because if you Google ‘Stuart Gibbs Belly Up’ (which makes for a very nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon) hers is the first site that appears.  And I really like her because, well, she really likes the book.

Then, there’s this one on epinions.  This one, by ‘Carstairs38′ is also a rave… and it’s doing double duty, as it’s also posted on his personal blog page (just in case you want to read it twice.)

And then, Belly Up is also doing well on Goodreads, though the best review is the first posted by ‘kiddiewinx.’

And, for those of you keeping score at home, Belly Up is up to 18 reviews on Amazon, 14 5-star and 4 4-star.  Amazon also lists it’s ten best reviewed books for children/young adults and, as far as I can tell, Belly Up has just as good reviews as any book on that list.  Maybe you need twenty to make the cut.  (I’m trying to find out.)  So if anyone out there has enjoyed Belly Up and not posted an Amazon review, I’d really appreciate it if you did.

Finally, and most importantly, there’s THE REVIEWS THAT MATTER.  Those from kids who have read the book and really loved it.  I’ve been getting reports of young children unable to put the book down on family vacations, children staying up past bedtime to read it under the covers with a flashlight, children finishing it and reading it again right away.  I’d like to share one with you that I received a while ago from a young reader named Jackson who took the time to email me.  (I must apologize here, as I’d told Jackson I would post this quite some time ago, but I was off doing that Hawaiian book signing and let it slip.)  I admit, I have edited this because there was a spoiler in it.  But here’s the rest of the text:

Dear Stuart,

Your book was great.  I loved the whole thing.  My favorite character was Teddy.  (Spoiler removed.)  It was all so good, I read the whole thing in three days!

Your friend,

Jackson

I’ve said it before:  An email like this, from a reader in my target age range, is simply awesome.  Thank you, Jackson.  Sorry it took me so long to post it.

Your friend,

Stuart