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DocuSign Envelope ID:076BOC8E-DE31-4F65-8936-FC9B33A56289 Sample 2: Recent Reviews by Susie Wilde Reviews and interviews are a vital part of Susie Wilde's writing life. She always hopes that the ideas and curiosity that stimulated her articles will launch adventures for her readers. In thirty years of reviewing children's books, Susie Wilde has written on more than 250 different subjects everything from Adoption to Zoos. Over the years, she's worked for newspapers and magazines across the country and has interviewed a host of well-known authors and illustrators. Since 2006, she added audiobooks to her reviewing repertoire, critiquing those for children, young adults, and adults. At present she contributes regularly to the Raleigh News & Observer; Charlotte Observer; Chapel Hill Herald; AudioFile and NoveList. "Reeling in Reluctant Readers,"Novelist Kids and Books Newsletter, May 2014. Adult readers may give authors the benefit of the doubt, waiting out slow starts and overlooking overwritten sections.Younger readers?Not so much. They demand unique characters,plots that move quickly, dialogue that's authentic, imagery that's spot on and stories that linger after the covers close. Reluctant readers are even harsher critics. A writer who pleases them is remarkable indeed. Below find facets and examples of choices that will keep more reticent readers rapt. "Hook You" Beginnings Slow starts are deadly for reluctant readers. In contrast, a book that begins with a dramatic scene is sure to grab them. The best books follow through on the initial promise. Take for example, Matt de la Pena's The Living (Delacorte, 2013, ages 13 and up). It opens as Shy Espinoza, an employee of a cruise line headed to Hawaii, has a strange conversation with a passenger. As Shy wonders about the passenger's "aggressive comb-over," the man climbs over the deck railing and, despite Shy's efforts to stop and save him,the man drowns. A slew of dramatic plots and subplots follow. On the next cruise, Shy is spied on by a mysterious man, and the family he's working to support catches a deadly virus. How could things get worse? How about a tsunami that sinks the ship? The book gains even more steam as it combines mystery, adventure, and suspense. The hero's feelings are so genuine, his actions so believable, that the book is not a conglomeration of wild events, but a thrilling journey. Suspense and Tension There's nothing that propels readers through a book faster than tension and one of the leading causes of that is suspense. Marcus Sedgwick's She is Not Invisible (Roaring Brook, 2014, ages 12 and up) is tense from the start as 16-old Laureth Peak kidnaps her seven-old-brother Benjamin. This act is based on necessity. Laureth is blind and needs her sighted brother to help her find her missing father. Her mother doesn't seem concerned about his absence, but Laureth's upset grows when she's sent emails by someone who has located her father's "black book" somewhere in New York and the scanned pages Benjamin reads aloud make her worry about his state of mind as well as his whereabouts. Ongoing mysteries, fast pacing and a plethora of problems make this a gripping read from beginning to end. It's not just a superficial chase; there are questions about prejudice, disability, and the nature of caring. Mystery Who's done it? Why? Mysteries are made of questions that motivate readers.