Dawn Chandler Book Tour {Mini Book Review + Author Interview}

Hello everyone!

Today I’m going to be doing something a little different. I think I’ve made maybe five bookish posts on my blog out of my 500+ posts, and today it’s time for the sixth one! 🙂

Eliza Noel is publishing a book in a few days called “Dawn Chandler”, and I get to be part of the book tour! So here’s some more information about the book and the author to get started.

The Author:

Eliza Noel is a home school graduate with passion for Jesus, people, and literature. Growing up, her favorite books were always Nancy Drew, Anne of Green Gables, and Pride and Prejudice. Around age twelve she wanted to read something with positive values in a modern setting, but couldn’t find what she was looking for. So she wrote it.

When not doing something book-related (reading, writing, blogging, bookstagramming), Eliza works at her day jobs, spends time with her many younger siblings, longboards, has coffee with friends, eats chocolate, and listens to music. California is home, but she would like to travel more and feels she could learn to be content anywhere.

You can follow her writing journey and see snippets of her everyday life on elizanoelauthor.blogspot.com or by following @elizanoelauthor on social media.

The Book:

Dawn Chandler likes the way her life is— or was. She liked going to the mall with her best friend, excelling at middle school, and attending church with her family. Typical life for a twelve-year-old in the city of Fresno.

When Dawn’s parents announced they were going to homeschool her, on her birthday no less, she felt like her world was falling apart. Normal kids are supposed to go to school, not read books at home. To make matters worse, they may be leaving the only home she’s ever known.

What are her parents thinking?

Before making the final moving decision, the Chandler family visits Lone Pine, a small town between Mt. Whitney and Death Valley. While there, Dawn and her siblings become acquainted with their eccentric great uncle, explore the new area, and meet a large homeschooling family. All of this makes the ‘vacation’ more bearable. Still, Dawn isn’t sure if she can make the move and leave everything she’s familiar with behind.

Can Dawn learn the values of faith, family, and contentment?

Alrighty! There’s a nice little introduction for you! And now you get to find out a bit more about both the author and the book through an interview and a review. Shall we begin?

The Interview:

M: How many more books do you plant to write about Dawn/the Jennings and Chandlers?

E: If I can come up with enough ideas, stay motivated, and if it’s God’s plan I’d like to do twelve books, one for each month (Dawn Chandler primarily takes place in January). I already have the first draft of the sequel done. It begins the day after the first one ends. I would like to do the books kinda in sets of two. For example, the March and April books would take place a few years later. Maybe when Dawn is 14. The final ones (November and December) may even take place when Dawn has a few kids of her own. We’ll see! That’s just the most recent idea 🙂

M: That’s so neat! What a great idea. Which month of the year is your favorite?

E: Thank you! If you’re talking about which month story I only have plots for the first two right now, haha. If you’re asking which month in general is my favorite, I really don’t know. So basically I don’t know to either question, hahaha.

M: Which character do you enjoy writing about the most?

E: Hmmm…well Kenneth is probably the easiest and most fun to write. Rochelle is more challenging, but there’s a lot of development that goes on with her that’s exciting, but that mostly takes place in the second book.

M: Which character is the most like you?

E: I actually created a quiz and took it! Here’s the link in case you want to take it: https://www.playbuzz.com/elizan12/which-dawn-chandler-character-are-you I ended up getting Caroline Jennings and I think that’s true. But she’s more perfect than me and kinda who I aspired to be as a twelve-year-old. She’s the oldest daughter in a large family, loves cooking, is a writer, and really just wants to one day be a stay-at-home mom of many kids. We’re alike in all of those ways.

M: That’s fun! I got Caroline and Dawn, depending on which answers I chose for the ties. 🙂

M: Have you been homeschooled your whole life?

E: I have been! I don’t actually know what transferring from public school to home school is like. I’ve heard from a reader who has been through that, that Dawn’s reaction to it all was realistic, so that was nice!

M: Who is one author that inspires you?

E: Joan Bauer! Her books are secular and sometimes there’s light content I don’t really care for (teens kissing, tough life situations…nothing too serious), but her food description, interesting characters, and charming small towns warm my heart in every one of her books I’ve read. 

M: I know you like Anne of Green Gables, and it appears in Dawn Chandler a few times too. What’s your favorite book in that series?

E: I really really like Rilla of Ingleside. Rilla is just such an adorable and awkward young woman and I love the romance in that one.

M: What’s your favorite thing about Dawn Chandler (the book, not the character)?

E: I’d have to say it’s setting. A close second would probably be the teasing that goes on between the characters.

M: What’s your favorite thing about Lone Pine?

E: Just the whole small town community aspect of it. How friendly most people are and how you can know almost everyone!

M: How long did it take you to write this book?

E: From idea to publishing date it was about seven years. I took a lot of breaks throughout that time though.

I had fun interviewing Eliza and I hope you enjoyed the interview. 🙂 And the quiz, if you took it. Random quizzes are always fun! (And so is the word quizzes. Quizzes quizzes quizzes quizzes quizzes WHY IS THAT A WORD.)

Okay. On to my review of the book! I’m by no means a proffesional book reviewer, but here are some of my thoughts on the book!

The Book Review:

Note: I received a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Dawn Chandler was a very fun read and I loved the characters. They seemed realistic for the most part (although they seemed to laugh at every other word… but hey, laughing is fun. XD) and the story sort of seemed like something that might be based off a diary. It had a very lifestyle, day-by-day sort of feel. It didn’t necessarily have a gripping storyline and intricate plot twists, but I don’t think that’s what it was meant to be.

I think Eliza did a good job of writing an interesting story in a modern setting with positive values, like she set out to do. If you’re around the age of twelve and want an easy, laid-back read, I definitely suggest this one! I’m looking forward to the next books to see what happens to the characters. 🙂

Also as a side note, I think a story about a girl who has to move is a great way to show contentment, ’cause that’s one of the main things I learned through our move. She did seem to get over having to move pretty quickly though, which didn’t seem realistic compared to my experience, but I’m sure it’s different with different people and it doesn’t matter that much. Plus I’m not advocating moping for a few months, and the book would have dragged on if Dawn followed my example. 😛

Okay, end of side note! And of review, actually. I hope you all enjoyed this post and are now excited to read this book!

Here is the link to pre-order the Kindle version on Amazon, so go do that if you want to read this. 😀 And if you want a signed paperback copy and some other fun goodies based on the book, enter the giveaway below the link below below! (Confused yet?)

LINK TO PRE-ORDER THE KINDLE: Pre-order here.

RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY (U.S. only):

a Rafflecopter giveaway https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js

There you have it! If you’re confused about anything just ask me in the comments. And now that you’re done with this post, go read the book! Or preorder it, and then read it on the 18th! Oh, and have a wonderful day!

what book are you reading right now?

did you take the quiz or preorder the book? 🙂