Fire and Ice is today’s stop on the official blog tour for Growing Pains: Kendra’s Diaries hosted by Stormi at Lightning Book Promotions
Growing Pains
by K.P. Smith
E-book; 268 pages
Publication Date: May 25, 2011
by Doin It Publishing
ISBN: 0615390307
Book Source: Author
4 stars
Summary From the Author: Kendra’s Dairies is the first book in the series chronicling the journey of Kendra Foster from adolescence to adulthood. I aspire to encourage, entertain and inspire young adults. Life has its ups and downs, its bumps and its bruises. But with perseverance, determination and faith you can be all you were born to be. Never Give Up!
Danielle’s Review: Kendra is a middle school aged young girl, preparing herself for the rigors and expectations of high school. Her brush with failure her first time trying out for cheerleading is easy to relate to; her later attempts to tackle the sport once more are admirable and set the course of this story’s theme about never giving up. Kendra never despairs long, and she faces her obstacles with courage and determination.
Like any young teen, Kendra must deal with family problems beyond her understanding while trying to handle the overwhelming experience of her first crush. It was refreshing to read about a boy with real feelings for a girl, emotions that he treated as respectfully as he did the young lady. Kendra’s friends are authentic and open the door to conversations about stepping out of stereotypes. Her family is real, grounded, and dysfunctional — a conflict of description, yet they are universal in their problems and secrets and how they deal with them.
Author K.P. Smith writes straight from the heart. She has a gift for opening the window into the human experience of adolescence. There is a subdued honesty to her words; courage in her storytelling. I enjoyed following Kendra through her dilemmas that dealt with family, finances and friendship. I appreciated the cultural exposure to early 1980’s urban life in New Orleans through the eyes of a young, black girl.
Kendra’s Diaries is appropriate for all ages, and I happily recommend it.
Danielle Thorne
About the author: K.P. Smith has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Xavier University in New Orleans, LA. She also has a Masters in Business Administration with a Concentration in Marketing from Loyola University in Chicago, IL. K.P. Smith has a successful career in the Insurance Industry.
She has been an avid reader since her youth. Writing has always been a passion of hers. She is the author of the Growing Pains Series. The first book in the series is Growing Pains: Kendra’s Dairies She is currently working on the second book in the series; New Beginnings.
She has recently started her own publishing Company Doin It Publishing. In addition, she developed a community outreach program Open Hands Open Hearts. She currently resides in New Orleans, LA with her two sons.
Tour Schedule:
April 4th Precious @ Fragments of Life
April 5th Danielle @ Fire and Ice
April 6th Michelle @ Much Loved Books
April 7th Victoria @ Always a Booklover
April 8th Michael @ Author Michael Allen
April 9th Jo Ann @ Book Faerie
April 10th Ruth @ My Devotional Thoughts
April 11th Sheila @ Sheila Deeth
April 12th Jennifer @ My Life With Books
April 13th Stormi @ Books, Movies, Reviews. Oh my!