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The Glister Journals: Bronze

Allison Anderson knows she’s a little different, but it hadn’t bothered her too much-until now. Moving away from everything she’s ever known to a new house, new neighborhood, and new school is bad enough, but it’s her first year of high school too, making it even more intimidating. She’s more aware of her social and physical limitations than ever before. And then there are the new people she meets: the tough-looking girl in her home room; the cute but dangerous-looking boy she first saw before school even started; the quiet, older girl who keeps to herself; the sullen-looking, seemingly isolated junior that doesn’t seem to trust or like her at all. Can she trust them? While the peaceful situation of her new home only amplifies the sound of her own doubts, she begins to learn that things are not always what they seem, and her world is turned upside-down by these new friends, two-legged and otherwise. Life soon becomes more complicated, and much more interesting!

About The Glister Journals series:
The Glister Journals series is told from the perspective of a normal but not average teenage girl. It is not obvious, but Allison has a mild pervasive developmental disorder (autism spectrum). She thinks and experiences things a little differently from most of the other kids. In the past it has caused her to be alienated at best and bullied at worst. After the family moves, she becomes involved with a group of teens that open up new worlds to her. The four book series follows her through high school but is equally about her friends who have their own problems, fears, and aspects of their lives they’d rather keep quiet. There is action—mostly in the form of equestrian and extreme sports—and though there are only hints of it in Bronze, there is a love story which will play a more prominent part as the series progresses. The main story is about assumptions, acceptance, love, and friendship, though there are other themes running throughout the series.

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Praise for Bronze

Allison narrates a gentle coming-of-age story that has a strong equine subplot…undeveloped plot points hint at future complications and will likely keep readers looking for the next entry. — Cindy Welch Booklist Online

Written with intelligent humor, this tale follows an awkward girl as she enters a new school…This is a strong first book, both for Shepherd and for the series. The friendships the characters build are realistic and lifelike, strong, and durable, just like bronze. — Beth VanHouten ForeWord Reviews

The story is well-written and sweetly told. Allison’s anxieties and insecurities are true-to-life, and so affectionately and clearly portrayed as to make anyone who’s ever been through adolescence wince in sympathy. Dave, Robin and Chris are complicated, intelligent, three-dimensional characters whom the reader enjoys getting to know, and all of the minor characters are vividly drawn and believably real. The author is adept at setting a scene, both external and internal, bringing Allison’s mind and world to vivid life. — Catherine Langrehr IndieReader

“Bronze: The Glister Journals” is a well-written novel of teenagers and their world. It is also a story of horses and teenage horsemanship. The main character Allison is a totally delightful fourteen year old girl whose innocence and awkwardness is refreshing. — Alice DiNizo Readers’ Favorite

Excerpt 6: Snow Day

I stood gawking for quite some time until something hard, cold, and stinging hit the back of my head. Sure of my attacker, I turned around, ready to protest Dave’s behavior, but was brought up short.

Chris stood several yards away, coolly regarding me, expressionless as ever, and forming another snowball between gloved hands. My jaw dropped and my eyes popped wide as I realized he’d not only circled around and hidden in the trees waiting for me to come out into the open, but was now preparing, very deliberately, to pelt me with another projectile. I began backing away as quickly as the snow and cumbersome boots allowed.

“Get her, Henry,” he said, calmly.

What?! The next thing I knew, I’d been tackled by a very robust eight year old, almost knocked off my feet, and was now held quite firmly, my arms pinned against my sides. I expected Chris to lob the snowball from where he stood, but instead he began walking very slowly toward me, holding the large, obviously firmly packed orb in his right hand.

“No . . .” I said, unbelieving and looking for a way out of the situation. I looked to Dave who had moved out of the way as soon as I’d gotten hit, probably thinking he was next. He now watched, looking a little confused but apparently amused enough to allow his brothers to continue.

“Henry!” I said firmly, managing to extricate my arms. “Let . . . me . . . go!” I gasped, now ineffectively working to remove his arms from around my waist.

He just started laughing. Now I was laughing too—very nervously.

Chris continued his slow, deliberate progress toward me, torturing me with anticipation until he stood directly in front of me. He wasn’t looking me straight in the eyes but took brief glances there.

“What? You don’t really think I’d hit you square in the face with this do you?”

I laughed nervously again. “I . . . don’t . . . um . . .”

He scowled slightly as if hurt that I’d consider such a thing. “I’d never do that,” he said, and I felt a moment of relief. Perhaps he was content with having alarmed me badly.

Nope. In the next instant he had slipped behind me, grabbed the back of my collar and stuffed as much of the well-packed snowball down it as he could before Henry’s grip loosened and they both let me go. I squealed loudly, both from the cold of the attack and the absolute fright he’d given me in actually doing it. Henry was rolling on the ground laughing. I quickly unzipped my jacket and tried to remove as much of the offending ice from my back as I could.

Literary Fiction IndieReader Award Winner

Author B.B. Shepherd

A graduate of Cal Poly with graduate work at Chapman and U C Santa Cruz, B. B. Shepherd has lived most of her life in California and loves the diverse beauty of its many landscapes. Music, horses, literature, and art have been her passions as long as she can remember. She enjoys road trips, almost all horse sports and extreme sports (as a spectator), and is addicted to research.

As a writer, Shepherd enjoys exploring emotions and motivations: why do people do what they do? She also likes trying to find the funny side of things. She admits to being a hopeless romantic and often gets in trouble for her sense of humor. Bronze is her début novel, the first in a series of four called The Glister Journals. She currently works full-time as a music professional and educator, and lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her youngest daughter and a very silly cat.

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My Top Ten (PG 13 or under) Re-watchable Movies by B B Shepherd

As with any other media, choosing a top ten movies is very hard for me, even within specific genres. These are family friendly movies I can watch over and over and still enjoy, so I guess I like them a lot! They are most often just on in the background. In no particular order:

Under the Greenwood Tree

BBC, 2006

Based on the book by Thomas Hardy. I haven’t read it yet but probably will sometime soon. Apparently he wrote it before he became famous for the more serious and tragic works like Far From the Madding Crowd and Tess of the d’Urbervilles (which I have read.) The movie, while containing a little kissing and quite a bit of alcohol consumption, is a gentle pastoral romance set in rural south England on the brink of the industrial revolution, though this is barely noticeable. Class distinction, however, does play a large part. It has a rather repetitious musical theme (which seems to denote the changing seasons) but it’s pleasant enough and adds rather than detracts from the atmosphere of the movie, which I truly love. It is a lovely, very simple story that I just don’t get tired of. One of my main reasons for loving it is the character of Dick Dewy played by James Murray who I first saw in a silly (but fun) British sci-fi series called Primeval. No rating available

Howl’s Moving Castle

Studio Ghibli/Disney, 2005

My all-time favorite animated movie. A young girl who doesn’t look on the outside how she is on the inside, and a young man with a secret. Hmmm….

I love everything about this movie. It is absolutely gorgeous to watch, the characters are endearing, and the English language voice actors are excellent. (Christian Bale voices Howl). The soundtrack is also exceptional (except the end song…blech). It’s a movie I like to have on in the background while I work on other things. I have read the Diana Wynn Jones’ book and the Miyazaki movie is different in many ways, but both are delightful. Rated PG for frightening images and brief mild language (though I’ve watched it many times and can’t remember ANY language issues.)

Star Trek

Paramount/2009

I confess I fell in love with Chris Pine in the second Princess Diaries movie, so I was so excited to see him in something as iconic as Star Trek. And yes, I am a die-hard Trekkie and have seen everything except Voyager which I just didn’t care for. I LOVED this version of Star Trek, not just because of Chris Pine (and say what you will about him or the movie, he nailed James T. Kirk!) I’m the wrong person to talk to about the plot—it was secondary to me from the start—but I loved every character so wonderfully, carefully, and yes, lovingly portrayed. I thought it was amazing and funny and perfect. I even loved the bad guy (played by Eric Bana). Bonus points for having Nimoy playing the older Spock.

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action and violence, and brief sexual content

Peter Pan

Columbia/2003

Another absolute favorite. I just never get tired of it. One of the things that blows me away about it is the acting of the lead children. Jeremy Sumpter as Pan is adorable and believable and Rachel Hurd-Wood is amazing. I love her portrayal of Wendy; a very strong, adventurous girl’s part. The soundtrack is lovely and it is beautifully filmed. The costumes, especially for the Edwardian England scenes, are superior as are the sets and the cinematography in general. On top of all that it has a fabulous script, very clever and wholly believable. All in all, a gorgeous movie. Rated PG for adventure action sequences and peril.

Star Wars

Lucasfilm/1977

Star wars IV is the only movie I ever waited in line to see on an opening night and I would do it again and again. It was perfect. I think I saw it theaters a total of five times. I love the whole first trilogy and I enjoyed the second, though there some things I didn’t like about Star Wars I, II, and III. Still, I can watch these over and over. And they (especially the original trilogy) are infinitely quotable. Always a plus! Rated PG for sci-fi violence and brief mild language

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Disney/Walden 2005

I think all three movies so far made of C. S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia have been excellent. They have stayed very close to the written storyline and appear faithful to Lewis’ ideals. It probably would have been tempting from a Hollywood/Disney perspective to contemporize the stories, dialog, and characters’ sensibilities and to commercialize the series, but they really didn’t. I love how the first movie starts with the bombing of London. My own parents were involved in this time so I’d grown up hearing the stories. So kudos to the movie-makers for keeping it true to the time period.

My favorite of the movies is The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, I suppose because it was the first book I read of the series (sent to me by an English relative for my twelfth birthday) and because of the childlike wonder it still makes me feel. I love all the books, but my favorites are The Horse and His Boy (go figure) and The Magician’s Nephew, so I hope these eventually become movies too. Rated PG for battle sequences and frightening moments

Spirited Away

Ghibli 2001

Another Miyazaki that I love. Beautiful animation, lovely score (except the ending song…what is it about ending songs? They’re usually so bad!) Rated PG for some scary moments.

Princess Diaries

Disney 2001/2004

Okay, don’t judge me too harshly. They’re like junk food. Comfort junk food. The first one is better and much funnier, but the second one has Chris Pine. I usually watch the second one. And one day I want my own Joe.

Pride and Prejudice

Focus/Universal 2005

This is not Pride and Prejudice. At least, it is, but I don’t really think of it as such. I think of it as a completely different movie as it just doesn’t feel like Jane Austin. It’s more Pride and Prejudice as one of the Bronte sisters might have created it. It has a killer soundtrack though, is beautifully filmed, and is probably more accurate in historical detail (especially all the dirt and muck.) It’s one of my favorite “just have it on in the background for the music” movies. I watch the good bits though, of course.

Pride and Prejudice

BBC 1996

We have a family tradition of watching the miniseries every year, usually once the weather starts to cool and especially once it starts to get rainy, though I’m not sure why this is a prerequisite. Maybe because the evenings are longer. It’s probably the favorite of our favorites—quotes from the miniseries are a part of our family banter and even my son found it entertaining and knows chunks of it by heart. Any self-respecting Janeite has this in their media library and I doubt there are many people reading this that haven’t seen it, so I won’t say much more. Except, Colin Firth. There…it had to be said.

Thank you so much for having me on My Devotional Thoughts!

Blog Tour Giveaway

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Ends 10/31/13

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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