Jayme over at The Tater Twins is hosting a giveaway for a $25 gift certificate to Inktastic!
Entry is easy peasy. So, head on over to her Inktastic Giveaway now!
Be blessed,
Virginia
Lady V dZine
Ima Nobody Becomes Somebody Review and Giveaway
May 26, 2010 By
***Please Note*** Contest deadline extended to 06/20/10 at 11:59 p.m. CST
Were you ever bullied?
I certainly was.
I was different. Still am, and proud of it. But, as a child, being different isn’t necessarily always fun. I am affected by Hay Wells Syndrome, which is one of the about 150 syndromes of Ectodermal Dysplasias (learn more about the Ectodermal Dysplasias at the NFED website). Because of Hay Wells Syndrome, I have very little hair. I also only have two natural teeth, am unable to sweat properly, have misshapen fingernails and toenails, have no eyebrows, and only one eyelash. Yep, it’s on my left eye upper lid about a centimeter from the inner canthus. Believe it or not, I actually used to put mascara on it. LOL.
Anyway, back to the bullying. Needless to say, being different came with it’s challenges, and not just those that are related to the disorder. I was frequently made fun of as a child and continued to be taunted even into adolescence. One girl from grade school, whom I will call Berta*, used to follow me on the way to school and on the way home from school taunting me. She would call out things like:
“Your Mom would have had an abortion if she knew you would be like this…”
“Don’t think you will ever get married because guys don’t marry freaks cause freaks make freak babies…”
“You’ll always be a freak and no one will ever love you.”
She was absolutely HORRID.
I remember when I was in the second grade, I came home crying from school one day. Berta* had been especially relentless in her taunting that day, and I had just about had it. When I got home, my Mom asked me what was wrong, so I told her. Mom smiled at me and said, “Sweetheart, I know how upset you must be. Just remember this, though. People only make fun of what they don’t understand. If you make them understand, they won’t make fun.” My Mom empowered me that day. She took a miserable situation and used it to show me that I could change the situation simply by changing how I responded to it. From that point on, I started standing up for myself. I didn’t let ole Berta* bother me anymore.
Fast forward.
I am now the parent of a child that is different. Mister is two and is affected by Hay Wells Syndrome, just like I am. Because of the Hay Wells Syndrome, Mister develops scaly patches on his scalp, has skin erosions on his hands and feet, has misshapen fingernails and toenails, is unable to sweat, has no eyebrows, and very few eyelashes. I know that he will have to deal with teasing, etc. I’ve already had to deal with rude comments from ignorant people. I truly want to help him establish a strong foundation of esteem BEFORE he realizes what bullying is.
With this in mind, I recently asked to review a book about bullying, by Brenda Poage, called Ima Nobody Becomes Somebody.
About the author…
Brenda Poage grew up in a small town in Andice, Texas. She was inspired to write by her sixth grade teacher, Mr. Rob, who helped her to realize her potential and to follow her dream of writing. Brenda resides in Lubbock, Texas, with her husband, Kyle, and their three children, Hanna, Kyler, and Kailiegh. Brenda also has two older step sons, Khris and Jon. Brenda created the character Ima Nobody as a reflection of herself in her early school years. Brenda wanted to face the issue of bullying in a fun, creative way to get kids to question both sides of the issue.
About the book (per Amazon)…
Do you remember the Bully in first grade? Many children face this issue on a daily basis, as Ima Nobody does in the excerpt from the book, Ima Nobody Becomes Somebody!” “Ima, I never knew a Nobody that was somebody! All you Nobody’s will never amount to anything, just like your name.” This made Ima feel sad. It was then and there that Ima decided that she was going to prove to that Billy Do-good that she would in fact amount to something and be somebody.
You know these issues. Dealing with differences, and dealing with the reactions of those angered by it, are tough issues for young children to face. I encourage you and invite you to take the journey with Ima and her first grade classmates as they discover their own self worth, strengths, and weaknesses. You will find that this story does not tell children how to react to Ima’s predicament. It does however show a positive way in which Ima deals with the situation. This is Book One in the Ima Nobody Series – be sure to follow along with Ima and her friends as they discover themselves and learn important life lessons along the way.
What I thought…
I thought this book took a good look at bullying, from the perspective of the one being bullied. Ima Nobody is a little girl who determines to prove her tormentors wrong. I can relate to that. I determined at a very young age that, while I might not be able to make the world love me, I would make them respect me. This determination was the driving force behind me working two full time jobs while attending full time nursing school.
The book is humorous, but treats the topic of bullying that makes the reader understand that bullying is not funny at all. Ima Nobody is a fun character, and easy to relate to.
I like the fact that the book does not TELL the reader how to respond to a bully, but rather SHOWS the reader how to respond. I know several kids that range in age from 4-12, and none of them like to be told how to act, but each of them will behave appropriately when appropriate behavior is modeled. This book does a great job of modeling for the reader.
For now, the book is just a story for us. But in the future, it will be a great conversation starter.
What I would change…
Honest to goodness, I wouldn’t change a thing. I thought the book was great.
How I rate it:
Lady V dZine gives Ima Nobody Becomes Somebody a hearty five out of five hearts.
Where you can buy it…
Ima Nobody Becomes Somebody is available on Amazon and on Barnes&Noble.com
Win it…
One lucky Lady V dZine reader will win an autographed copy of Ima Nobody Becomes Somebody.
Mandatory Entry
Tell me why you would like to win this book and who it would be for.
***Please note- this must be done before any bonus entries will count***
Contest Specific Bonus Entries…
1 bonus entry- Visit the ImaNobody site and comment back with one thing you liked.
1 bonus entry- Follow Brenda Poage on Twitter and tweet her to let her know that @ladyvdzine sent you. Comment back with your tweet link.
Have you entered my other current giveaways yet? You can earn extra entries into this contest by doing so!
Be sure to visit my Contest Rules and Bonus Entry Options for additional entry options.
Be blessed,
Virginia
Lady V dZine
A special thanks to Brenda Poage, who provided me with a copy of Ima Nobody Becomes Somebody to facilitate this review and who has also provided an autographed copy for the winning entrant, which I will mail.
Contest open to the US. Contest ends at 11:59 p.m. CST on 06/20/2010. Winner will be selected via random.org. Winner will be notified by email and will have 72 hours to respond with mailing address. If no response is received from the winning entrant, a new winner will be selected.
FTC Compliant Disclosure: I received the aforementioned book to facilitate this review. No other compensation was received. All opinions expressed are 100% mine and are based on my experience. Your experience may differ.
Almost Wordless Wednesday: Dragging Her Feet
May 26, 2010 By
We went to visit family out of town this last weekend. We were only gone overnight, so I had only packed one pair of jammies for each of the kids. Of course, as Murphy would have it, Sister had a poonami and soiled hers. Lucky for us, Granny Bird and Grandpa Grouch had an extra pair of jammies on hand…
<—Sister with Grandpa Grouch…
<—Sister dragging her feet…
<—She wasn’t thrilled about it, either.
Are you participating in Wordless Wednesday? Leave me a link, I would love to visit.
Check out the Wordless Wednesday Headquarters here.
Be blessed,
Virginia
Lady V dZine
A few changes, contest rules, and bonus entry options
May 26, 2010 By
I have been working on a few changes to make my blog easier to navigate.
I have added a Past Reviews page here.
I have added a Current Giveaway page here.
I have added a Past (Closed) Giveaway page here.
I have added a Winners page here.
I have also added a Contest Rules and Bonus Entry Options page here.
Contest RULES (updated 05/26/10)
All giveaway contests are open to U.S. residents only unless otherwise stated in contest post.
All contests will have a Mandatory Entry method, which is clearly stated in the contest post. This entry must be completed before any bonus entries will be counted.
ALL contest entries must have their e-mail contact visible in their profile or within EACH contest entry. If I cannot e-mail you, you cannot win. Please use the yourname[at]email[dot]com format when listing e-mail within a contest entry to avoid spam bots.
Contest entries received after the contest deadline will not be counted as valid entries.
Winner(s) will be selected via random.org or by random poll on Twitter.
Winner will be notified by email and will have 72 hours to respond with mailing address.
If no response is received from the winning entrant, a new winner will be selected.
Unless otherwise noted, I am not responsible for prize fulfillment.
Some contest sponsors may retain the right require a new winner be selected if the winning entrant has won the same/similar prize on another blog giveaway. If I am aware of a contest sponsor exercising this right, I will post it.
Bonus Entry Options
Bonus entries options that are specific to each contest will be listed in the contest post. The following bonus entry options are applicable to all contests unless otherwise stated within the contest post. You must leave a separate comment for each bonus entry that you complete. For bonus entry options that are worth multiple entries, you must leave a separate comment for each of the bonuses (i.e. 3 bonus entries- leave 3 comments).
1 bonus entry- Follow my blog publicly via Google Friend Connect (see right side bar) and comment with your profile name.
1 bonus entry- Like my Facebook Fan Page and comment with your screen name or profile name. If you are already a fan let me know.
1 bonus entry- Follow me on Twitter and comment with your Twitter profile name. If you are already following, let me know.
1 bonus entry- Tweet this contest, including @ladyvdzine and leave your tweet link (may be done once per day).
1 bonus entry- Follow my blog via Networked Blogs (see right sidebar) and let me know your username.
1 bonus entry- Subscribe to my blog via e-mail and leave a comment with the address you signed up for. To avoid spam bots, please use the yourname[at]emailserver[dot]com format for your address.
1 bonus entry- Subscribe to my blog via RSS and leave a comment with the address you signed up for. To avoid spam bots, please use the yourname[at]emailserver[dot]com format for your address.
1 bonus entry- For each of my other contests that you enter. Please leave a separate comment for each, telling me which one’s you’ve entered.
1 bonus entry- For each of my non-giveaway posts that you leave a RELEVANT comment on. Comment back with the post link to receive credit.
1 bonus entry- E-mail the contest post to at least three friend and CC me as virginia[at]ladyvdzine[dot]com then comment back saying that you did.
1 bonus entry- Share the contest post on your Facebook wall and comment back with a link to the share (may be done once).
1 bonus entry- Share the contest post on StumbleUpon and comment back with a link to the share (may be done once).
1 bonus entry- Share the contest post on D.I.G.G. and comment back with a link to the share (may be done once).
1 bonus entry- Share the contest post on Delicious and comment back with a link to the share (may be done once).
1 bonus entry- Share the contest post on Technorati and comment back with a link to the share (may be done once).
1 bonus entry- Share the contest on any of the other social networking sites not previously mentioned and comment back with a link to the share (may be done once).
1 bonus entry- Like the contest post using the Facebook button at top or bottom of the contest post and leave your FB name (may be done once).
3 bonus entries- Blog about this contest, including a link back to this post. Leave three separate comments including a direct link to your blog post (not your home page).
3 bonus entries- Grab my blog button (right side bar) and display it on your blog. Leave three separate comments including a link to your blog where I can find the button.
Please note, from now on, only the mandatory entry method and contest specific bonus entry options will be listed on individual contest posts. HOWEVER, additional bonus entries are available on EVERY giveaway and you will find them on the Contest Rules and Bonus Entry Options page.
I have added a Blogs I Visit page here.
To help you find more fantastic reviews and giveaways, I have added a PR Friendly Mom Bloggers blog hop linky here.
I truly hope that these changes will make your visit more enjoyable.
Be blessed,
Virginia
Lady V dZine
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