Scattered Links Book Tour and Giveaway

Thirteen-year-old Oksana lives on the streets of Russia with her pregnant mama and abusive aunt—both prostitutes. When Mama swells into labor, Oksana makes a decision to save herself from abandonment, a decision that torments her forever. But her plan fails when her aunt dumps her in an orphanage before she has the chance to say goodbye to her mama or tell her the secret that haunts her.

Scattered Links is a story of family and the consequences that come from never learning how to love. It’s a story of a girl’s inability to bond with her adopted family and the frustrations that follow.

How can a child understand the mechanics of forming a healthy relationship when she never had a mother who answered her cries, held her when she was frightened, fed her when she was hungry, or loved her unconditionally?

Only when the child meets a rescued abused horse, and recognizes the pain in his eyes, does she begin to trust again.

"CAPTIVATING! SCATTERED LINKS takes you down the street of nearly any Eastern European town, arm-in-arm with the orphaned. Michelle has captured the beauty and horror millions of children live everyday. The attention to detail is impressive. Having lived in a post-Soviet country for a time, visiting orphaned children, this fictional account rings with truth, from the heart-wrenching pain of abandonment to the realization of self-worth, and the love family and faith brings. Thank you for such an uplifting book, appropriate for the young reader, as well as adult. May your heart be encouraged, as mine was." - Kim de Blecourt, speaker and award-winning author of "Until We All Come Home: A Harrowing Journey, a Mother's Courage, a Race to Freedom"
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 “Scattered Links is a novel that pulls its characters from the gutters and, in the end, celebrates the tenacity of the human spirit.” A reviewer comment.

My thoughts:

This book is definitely not in my standard genre, but if they're all like Scattered Links I'll be changing my reading habits! The beginning of the book could almost be set anytime in the past several hundred years... a family living in poverty in a broken down area of Russia. A drunk mother who's pregnant with another child that the family can't afford to feed, and an abusive aunt who dumps the kids in an orphanage when things get to hard.

Oksana was raised in the kind of poverty most of us can't even imagine, squatting in abandoned buildings and stealing from vendors to feed her family. After she delivers her baby sister (alone) her aunt dumps her and her sister in orphanages, where Oksana's sister is adopted by a family from the US, who accept Oksana into their home.

Transition to living in the US, attending school and being expected to be part of a traditional family are very difficult for Oksana, and her and her adoptive parents struggle to find a balance in their life.

Scattered Links brought the cultural and financial differences between countries and families to the forefront of my mind. It shows how many problems children can have when their lives are drastically changed, especially if they were raised in an orphanage without love or basic compassion. It reminded me that everyone deserves to be loved and deserves a chance at a decent life. And it showed me how disorienting it can be to be given the life that children deserve if they've never had it before.

It's a wonderful story that reminds me that no matter who we are or where we're from...we're all human.

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About the Author

Michelle grew up in the suburbs of Detroit with five brothers.  She enjoys writing her novels and encouraging writers and readers alike. She is living her dream writing stories of real people searching for their dreams and confronting their fears, showing the passion of the characters' plights, often giving her the ability to show the reader the 'other' side of the story. When she is not writing she enjoys life on the tennis court and is known as “Queen of the Rim Shots.”

Her debut novel, CACHE a PREDATOR, a geocaching mystery. was launched in July, 2013 and has been an Amazon best-seller in the crime/thriller category.  Her other works include: Willow, Scattered Links, Kelly’s Story, Eclair Series, and The Vision in a Kiss.  She has won contests in both The Writer’s Journal and The Writer’s Digest. Love is Just a Word (Scattered Links) was a bronze medalist is the 2010 Frasier Contest, a 2011 semi-finalist in the ACFW Genesis Contest, and won the Aspiring Writer’s Contest withe THE READING ROOM, 2013.

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I received this book to review through Beck Valley Books Book Tours, all the opinions above are 100% my own.

NOW FOR THE AUTHOR'S GIVEAWAY

 

ONE LUCKY WINNER will win a $50 Amazon Giftcard

Open Worldwide

Ending on Sunday 4th May at 11.59pm EST

Enter Below and Good Luck !!

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