Title: The Secret Sisters ClubSeries: Ginnie West Adventure #1
Author: Monique Bucheger
Publisher: True West Publishing
Release Date: March 18, 2020
Genre: Middle-Grade Contemporary Fiction
Twelve-year-old BFF's Ginnie and Tillie, want to be sisters. Tillie's divorced mom plus Ginnie's widowed dad could equal a lifetime of round-the-clock girl talk and slumber parties. Too bad Dad vowed to never marry again. Ginnie and Tillie form a secret club. They come up with the perfect mission to change his mind: 'Operation Secret Sisters'.
Before long, Tillie seems happier about gaining a dad than a sister. Ginnie suspects that Tillie has turned 'Operation Secret Sisters' into a scam called 'Operation Steal My Dad.' Things get more complicated when Ginnie stumbles across her real mom's hidden journals. Ginnie can finally get to know the mother she doesn't remember and Dad doesn't talk about.
When Dad discovers she has the journals, he takes them away. Ginnie needs to figure out what the big mystery is before her relationship with her father and her best friend are ruined forever.
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Hi Monique! Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions
and giving my readers the chance to get to know you and your new book- The
Secret Sisters Club a little bit better! I always like to start these
interviews the same way with something fun! Tell us 5 random facts about you we
WON’T find in your bio.
- I
was born on Walt Disney’s birthday--the last birthday he was alive.
- My
oldest son was born on Mickey Mouse’s. My youngest son was born on Walt
and my birthday.
- I
was a foster mom to over 100 kids.
- Ginnie
was inspired by Beverly Cleary’s Ramona--I loved her spirit and spunk.
:)
- I
am becoming a motivational speaker--I love to empower kids and help them
be superheroes in their own lives.
Let’s talk writing! Did you always know that you wanted to write?
I have known since I was a tween that I loved
to write down the stories in my head. I had a few friends like me--living a double
life--living in the “real world” with our bodies--but in a made up world in our
minds. I’m not sure when I realized that scenario was not reality for most
everybody else in the world. ;)
How did that love of writing come about for you?
I have always lived partially in my own
imagination. However, in high school, I had an amazing creative writing
teacher, Mrs. Johnson, who encouraged me so much that I made her a character in
my second book: Trouble Blows West. If you choose to check out that book
and want an interview--I’ll tell you a couple very amazing, cool stories about
Mrs.Johnson in an interview. ;)
What drew you to middle grade fiction?
Ginnie--the main character in my Ginnie West series was my
imaginary friend when I was 11. I grew up--but she didn’t. I love the passion,
wisdom, and imaginations of middle schoolers. So I like to write to and for
them--plus Ginnie is still in my head with some amazing stories to tell.
:)
Can you tell us a little bit about The Secret Sisters Club?
The Secret
Sisters Club was actually the second book I wrote in the Ginnie West series. It
is, on the surface, a fun read about two BFF’s who want to be sisters, but
their underlying motivations are completely different.
Tillie, being abandoned by her birth dad 6 years
before the story starts, just wants to belong to a “complete” family. She loves
the West family and wants to be an official West.
Ginnie likes the idea of being “for real”
sisters with Tillie, her best friend, and is happy to go along with the scheme
to get their reluctant parents together--but doesn’t really realize that her
new sister will come with a new mother--something she needs to figure out
especially once she finds her real mom’s journal and realizes that she has
missed out on a great mom who understood and cherished her.
Ginnie doesn’t doubt her dad’s love for her,
but reconciling her feelings for a mom she doesn’t remember--but wishes she
still had-- with an amazing woman (Tillie’s mom) who would love the chance to
make a new family takes Ginnie and Tillie on an interesting journey.
What age group do you feel would get this most enjoyment out of this middle
grade book and series?
I have met fans from
age 7 to age 82 who love the book. Anybody who likes books of ordinary people
doing extraordinary things and finding humor in their daily life--will enjoy
The Secret Sisters Club. At least that is the feedback I get.
In the book, Ginnie and Tillie form a secret club. Did you ever form a secret
club with your own friends as a child?
In high school, 5 of my best friends and I formed a group called
Skavenger’s Ink. We decided to use peer pressure in a positive way. We decided
that as long as the 6 of us liked each other--we didn’t care what anyone else
thought about us.
It made high school a lot of fun as we didn’t worry about
whether we were part of the “popular girls club” or not. We liked who we
were--and what we were. Each of us had a creative bent--some were
writers, some artists, some Thespians (actresses) or a combo.
We recycled papers and earned money (the Skavenger’s part) to go
on an amazing trip white water rafting and horseback riding the summer of our
junior year. The “Ink” part was because some of us were authors and/or
artistic. The members of Skavenger’s Ink made a lot of great memories together.
What do you hope readers will take away from the book?
That family is important. But sometimes we are
not born to people who are not good for us--and sometimes we lose family members
through death and divorce and it is okay to form new relationships that are
good for us. And it’s never wrong to do the right thing. :)
Thank you again for taking the time to answer these questions. Before you go,
are there any other projects you are currently working on that you can share?
I am working on Book 5 in the Ginnie West
series. At the moment, it does not have a title. I am hoping to have it
finished and published in late Fall 2020.
Hi Monique! Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions
and giving my readers the chance to get to know you and your new book- The
Secret Sisters Club a little bit better! I always like to start these
interviews the same way with something fun! Tell us 5 random facts about you we
WON’T find in your bio.
- I
was born on Walt Disney’s birthday--the last birthday he was alive.
- My
oldest son was born on Mickey Mouse’s. My youngest son was born on Walt
and my birthday.
- I
was a foster mom to over 100 kids.
- Ginnie
was inspired by Beverly Cleary’s Ramona--I loved her spirit and spunk.
:)
- I
am becoming a motivational speaker--I love to empower kids and help them
be superheroes in their own lives.
Let’s talk writing! Did you always know that you wanted to write?
I have known since I was a tween that I loved
to write down the stories in my head. I had a few friends like me--living a double
life--living in the “real world” with our bodies--but in a made up world in our
minds. I’m not sure when I realized that scenario was not reality for most
everybody else in the world. ;)
How did that love of writing come about for you?
I have always lived partially in my own
imagination. However, in high school, I had an amazing creative writing
teacher, Mrs. Johnson, who encouraged me so much that I made her a character in
my second book: Trouble Blows West. If you choose to check out that book
and want an interview--I’ll tell you a couple very amazing, cool stories about
Mrs.Johnson in an interview. ;)
What drew you to middle grade fiction?
Ginnie--the main character in my Ginnie West series was my
imaginary friend when I was 11. I grew up--but she didn’t. I love the passion,
wisdom, and imaginations of middle schoolers. So I like to write to and for
them--plus Ginnie is still in my head with some amazing stories to tell.
:)
Can you tell us a little bit about The Secret Sisters Club?
The Secret
Sisters Club was actually the second book I wrote in the Ginnie West series. It
is, on the surface, a fun read about two BFF’s who want to be sisters, but
their underlying motivations are completely different.
Tillie, being abandoned by her birth dad 6 years
before the story starts, just wants to belong to a “complete” family. She loves
the West family and wants to be an official West.
Ginnie likes the idea of being “for real”
sisters with Tillie, her best friend, and is happy to go along with the scheme
to get their reluctant parents together--but doesn’t really realize that her
new sister will come with a new mother--something she needs to figure out
especially once she finds her real mom’s journal and realizes that she has
missed out on a great mom who understood and cherished her.
Ginnie doesn’t doubt her dad’s love for her,
but reconciling her feelings for a mom she doesn’t remember--but wishes she
still had-- with an amazing woman (Tillie’s mom) who would love the chance to
make a new family takes Ginnie and Tillie on an interesting journey.
What age group do you feel would get this most enjoyment out of this middle
grade book and series?
I have met fans from
age 7 to age 82 who love the book. Anybody who likes books of ordinary people
doing extraordinary things and finding humor in their daily life--will enjoy
The Secret Sisters Club. At least that is the feedback I get.
In the book, Ginnie and Tillie form a secret club. Did you ever form a secret
club with your own friends as a child?
In high school, 5 of my best friends and I formed a group called
Skavenger’s Ink. We decided to use peer pressure in a positive way. We decided
that as long as the 6 of us liked each other--we didn’t care what anyone else
thought about us.
It made high school a lot of fun as we didn’t worry about
whether we were part of the “popular girls club” or not. We liked who we
were--and what we were. Each of us had a creative bent--some were
writers, some artists, some Thespians (actresses) or a combo.
We recycled papers and earned money (the Skavenger’s part) to go
on an amazing trip white water rafting and horseback riding the summer of our
junior year. The “Ink” part was because some of us were authors and/or
artistic. The members of Skavenger’s Ink made a lot of great memories together.
What do you hope readers will take away from the book?
That family is important. But sometimes we are
not born to people who are not good for us--and sometimes we lose family members
through death and divorce and it is okay to form new relationships that are
good for us. And it’s never wrong to do the right thing. :)
Thank you again for taking the time to answer these questions. Before you go,
are there any other projects you are currently working on that you can share?
I am working on Book 5 in the Ginnie West
series. At the moment, it does not have a title. I am hoping to have it
finished and published in late Fall 2020.
This sounds like a book that I would enjoy even though I'm much older than middle grade!
ReplyDeleteI like the cover.
ReplyDelete"The Second Sisters Club" sounds like a great read. Looking forward to reading the book.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteMarion
Thank you for sharing! - JustRead Tours
ReplyDeleteWonderful new book, cheers on the tour.
ReplyDeletethis sounds like a great book, thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteSounds like a real cute story. Vivian Furbay jtandviv (at) q (dot) com
ReplyDeleteIt is funny about how birthdays coincide.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a great book.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing more insights about the book and the author. I loved Beverly Cleary’s books as a little girl, especially the Ramona ones! This sounds like a fun series with a lot of heart and important lessons for girls today.
ReplyDeleteGreat interview! I admire that she was a foster mom to so many children!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a good one for my niece.
ReplyDeleteWhat a cute cover!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like an awesome book! Looking forward to reading it. Looks like an enjoyable series
ReplyDelete