There's Lead in Your Lipstick by Gillian Deacon - Blog Tour

Today is day 2 (yesterday's stop on the tour was at Rayment’s Readings, Rants and Ramblings) of the blog tour for There's Lead in Your Lipstick and I'm excited to be a part of this event! There is increased awareness about products we are using/consuming, but there is still so much for us all to learn to be able to lead an overall healthier style of living. And that's where Gillian Deacon comes in. Read a little bit about Gillian's thoughts on how we can start a better future right now:

A special Earth Day message from Gillian Deacon:

Earth day shouldn't just be an annual tip of the hat to greener living. This year, make it the day you recalibrate your everyday patterns to be more earth-friendly all year long.

You don't have to be a treehugger to care about avoiding toxins in your everyday bodycare. Synthetic chemicals in personal care products contaminating groundwater and wildlife is alarming enough—but they’re also contaminating us. Those hard-to-read ingredients you squint at on the back of a product label? They’re building up inside your body and in your children’s bodies—on Earth Day and everyday.

Make today the day you start paying attention to that fine print. Turn a product over and read the ingredients label before you are seduced by the “green” imaging on the package. The good news is, there are lots of safer products on the market.

Good luck and I hope you’ll check out There’s Lead in Your Lipstick for more ideas on how to clean up your act!

And here's a sample of what you'll find in the pages of There's Lead in Your Lipstick:

Researchers in Finland tested eighty-eight coloursfrom twenty-five brands and found forty-nine eyeshadows contained lead, cobalt, nickel, chromium,
and arsenic. Eyeshadows also often contain petrochemicals, such as mineral oil, dimethicone to make the powder stick to the eyelid, and a binding agent like methacrylate, which in addition to being a strong skin irritant is also a contributor to 1,4-dioxane, a known carcinogen. Glitter eyeshadows use pure aluminum to create the shimmery effect; the aluminum
can migrate into the eye and cause injury to the cornea.

(From There’s Lead in Your Lipstick by Gillian Deacon (Penguin Canada). Copyright © Backbone Inc. FSO Gillian Deacon, 2011)

Has this peaked your interest? Then, I have some good news! Leave me a comment below and you'll be entered to win a prize pack valued at $48.95 containing a copy of Gillian's book and an Eco Kiss kit from Saffron Rouge.
The contest will run from today until April 19th, when I will pick the winner using random.org. (Contest is open to Canadian mailing addresses only.)

Good luck and be sure to check out tomorrow's stop on the tour at Jacob's Beloved

Blog Tour: Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Welcome to today's stop on the blog tour for Linger by Maggie Stiefvater! To celebrate the release of the second book in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series, I'm re-posting my review and throwing in a few extra tidbits for my readers and.....what do you think about another giveaway? Really, who doesn't love a giveaway? So, read on, check out the book trailer and enjoy :-)

I reviewed Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater earlier this year (click here to read my review) so I was very excited to read the next installment in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series. And, fortunately, I was able to do this in advance (I feel very lucky :-)

Linger basically starts off a few months after Shiver. Sam and Grace are getting into the day to day of their lives. It seems Grace is not feeling quite right, but Sam and Grace would rather enjoy the time they have together (because it was almost lost to them) than discuss what may be happening to her.

We get to meet one of the new wolves brought in by Beck towards the end of Shiver. I have to say, I loved the dynamics of the Cole/Isabel dialogues. Linger takes a darker turn with Cole's character and I was impressed with Stiefvater's handling of his "problems". He's definitely an interesting addition to the mix and I can see what impact he could potentially have in the next book.

The story this times is told through the 4 perspectives of Isabel, Cole, Sam, and Grace, which means we get to understand more about Sam (cause through a bunch of Shiver he was a wolf) but we see less of Grace. Sam is a boy after my own heart: he works in a book store, listens to Damien Rice (among others) and quotes sad poetry, as well as writing some pretty emotional song lyrics himself.

Overall, I felt a sense of melancholy reading this story (but not in a bad way, if that's possible, lol.) Maggie Stiefvater gives us a little hope, then seems to dash it away but leaves just enough of a glimmer for the hopeless romantic (like myself) to continue to believe in never-ending love.

I absolutely devoured Linger! For me, Linger was even better than Shiver! I am very anxious now to get my hands on Forever, the final book of the trilogy, but will have to wait (im)patiently until July 2011.



You can also find information about Maggie and her books through these links:


Blog: http://m-stiefvater.livejournal.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mstiefvater
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Maggie-Stiefvater-Really-its-me/412830324465?v=wall
Also, Shiver has been nominated as a Best Read in the 1st annual Indigo Teen Read Awards so, if you are eligible, pop over to www.teenreadawards.ca to cast your vote!

And now, some good news for my followers....


I have one copy to offer to a lucky Canadian! Please enter your info into the form for your chance to win! Contest open to Canadian mailing addresses only and you must be a follower to enter (I have to be able to verify easily:-) The closing date is August 5th at midnight and the winner wil be drawn August 6th using random.org. Good luck to all!

The Double Blog Dare Tour

Welcome to day 8 of the Double Blog Dare Tour! Thanks for joining me from Books and Literature for Teens (the previous tour stop).

We're all helping Alison Dare go on tour by snapping a photo of her in our area. Here are mine:

My daughter and I took Alison out for the day and lo and behold an adventure ensued! Alison found herself overlooking a valley of giants!

At the edge of the valley there stood a mysterious cabin:

Alison found herself bouncing from one enormous leaf to the next in her attempt to access the cabin and see what secrets it held:

She had to work hard to wrestle herself from the firm grip of the giant's hand before making her way inside:

Having successfully maneuvered the scary giant's attack, gained access to the boarded up house, and retrieved the sacred treasure from inside (she wouldn't tell us what it was!!), Alison takes a moment to reflect on a job well done:

Alison takes a much needed breather before we all headed back home:

You can help Alison's adventure around the world! Just save this image, print and cut them out, then snap pics like crazy! Send your photo(s) to tundra@mcclelland.com and you'll be entered to win an Alison Dare prize pack! It could quite possibly include a signed copy of Alison Dare, Little Miss Adventure and Alison Dare, The Heart of the Maiden, and more!

A Review:
I was fortunate enough to be able to review Alison Dare, Little Miss Adventure and Alison Dare, The Heart of the Maiden, written and illustrated by J. Torres and Jason Bone, with my 8 year old daughter, Jordan. Jordan is big on graphic novels at the moment, so I thought that this series would be great for her.

What we found in the Alison Dare books seemed like a cool cross between Kim Possible and Indiana Jones. Alison is a strong character with enough quirk to keep her interesting while remaining realistic in terms of her age. That's a bonus for young readers looking for something they can relate to.

I think the storylines were just a little out of reach for Jordan but she will grow into these books soon enough. I would recommend them to 9-11 years olds. Jordan's big complaint was that the pictures are black and white; she's still a big fan of pictures books while steadily increasing her reading abilities.

I liked that these stories are geared to girls, in specific. With most graphic novels, I think the target market is boys, probably stemming from the larger culture of comic books. This shift to a female audience was a big hit with me!

Click on the book covers to check them out at Amazon or visit the publisher at Tundra Books

And, remember to check out the next stop on the tour at Got Cheeks?. Thanks for sharing our Alison Dare adventure today!