Contest Winner Maggie Wheatley is Maggie's New Best Friend!
Maggie Wheatley, 15, of Weston, Fla., was having such an awesome experience reading Maggie Vaults Over the Moon, that she just had to Tweet about it, and Tweet! about it, and Tweet!-Tweet!-Tweet! about it:
"New book and it’s so good!” “I just spent the last 5 hours reading and I only have 10 chapters left.” “There’s a code among vaulters, they help each other.” “I just bawled at the end!” “I love it when you read that 1 out of a 1,000 books that you will carry with you forever.” “I just finished this book and absolutely loved it. Maggie makes the shelf!”
As heroine Maggie Steele was capturing Maggie Wheatley's heart, her enthusiastic Tweets captured the heart of the book's author, Grant Overstake. "It was exciting to see her enthusiasm growing and growing, all the way to the end of the story. It was a win-win experience," he said.
Wheatley, our Book Review Contest Winner for July, wins a Maggie Vaults Over the Moon tee-shirt, and Maggie wins a new best friend!In addition to her Tweets, Maggie submitted this review:Three words came to mind as I was traveling black-inked roads of this story -- Bravery, Love, and Family -- and that is all you need to know. I can't say anything more to make you want to read it, because anything I say cannot measure up to the overwhelming emotion I felt reading this book. It makes you feel as if the experiences Maggie Steele has are happening to you, in the flesh. When I say I couldn’t put the book down, I proved it by staying up until 5 a.m., reading through the night, or, should I say, pole-vaulting through the night. When your eyes read the words, your heart feels the movement. I would recommend this book to any vaulter, teenager, sibling, parent, and anyone who thrives for greatness. I conclude with, Once you read it, you will never be the same. And one day, you might vault over the moon. – Maggie Wheatley, Weston, FloridaIn response, the author added, "It’s thrilling to know she had such a great reading experience. Like many young pole-vaulters, Maggie loves the sport so much, she’s willing to keep at it until her hands get swollen and red. And, like Maggie Steele, Maggie Wheatley has faith to believe that, All things are possible to those who believe. Her positive spirit shows in her review, and in everything she does."
Meet Maggie Wheatley
We asked Maggie to tell us about herself and here's what she had to say:
"My name is Maggie and I'm a real-life Maggie the pole-vaulter. I'm 15 and about to go into 10th grade. I have wanted to pole vault since I was in the 4th grade when my older sister starting doing it, and this year I fell in love with it. I did my first year of pole vaulting this past year and ended the season with a best jump of 8 feet. I am not yet the best vaulter on my team, but I'm working on it. Some other events I do in track are the 4x100 relay and 100 meter dash.
"I'm the worship leader for my youth group at church, and I have participated in drama for eight years. I have always been playing some kind of sport from age 5 to now. I would like to vault 13 feet my senior year and get a scholarship to Virginia Tech. I would also like to graduate from High School with 1,000 hours of volunteer service in the community. I would like to continue vaulting throughout college and we'll see how it goes from there.
"My motto in life is, "Remember to love and remain a warrior."
Some of the other novels on Maggie's permanent bookshelf are The Harry Potter series, The Wheel on the School, Wonder, and Travels with Charlie. That's pretty good company for the gutsy farm girl from Grain Valley, Kansas.
In response to Wheatley's review, Tweets and friendship, storybook Maggie says, “If I had a younger sister, I'd want her to be like you! We'd spent a lot of time pole-vaulting together, over the moon!”
“A Triumph Over Gravity!”
Maggie Vaults Over the Moon retells the story of Maggie Steele, a gutsy farm girl from tiny Grain Valley, Kansas, who pours her broken heart into the daring and sometimes dangerous sport of pole-vaulting. Driven by a secret that she dare not share with anyone, Maggie struggles over many obstacles as she attempts to soar waaay higher than her critics think a girl should ever go. Gripping in its portrayal of a teenager’s grief and thrilling in its vivid descriptions of the exciting sport of pole-vaulting, Maggie Vaults Over the Moon is an inspiring read (for mid-grades to adults).
Maggie Vaults Over the Moon is available in paperback or eBook and can be purchased through Amazon.com in the United States, Canada, China, Japan, United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, France, and Italy. Maggie also is available at Australia’s premier online bookseller, Angus & Robertson, and at hundreds of local independent US booksellers near you.