Book Review - Hello There, We've Been Waiting for You!

About the Book
Circumstances challenge Madison McGee, an eleven-year old girl suddenly uprooted from her happy life. After being orphaned, Madison is quite sure nothing will ever be right again when she ends up living with her bizarre grandmother in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Author Laurie B. Arnold’s Hello There, We've Been Waiting for You! explores what it means to be a young girl suddenly pulled into unfamiliar territory.

Her grandmother, Florida Brown, has little time for Madison since she is addicted to TV shopping shows, purchasing so many products that her hallways are lined with boxes. Her refrigerator contains barely a speck of food because it’s crammed with beauty products that Florida hopes will allow her to hang on to her youth. On first meeting, Madison is instructed: “I don’t want to hear you call me Grandmother, Grandma, Nana, Grandmumsy, Granny or anything else that might make me feel the slightest bit old. I work very hard not to look old. Do you understand?” A jeans and T-shirt kind of girl, Madison refuses to be seen in the “cupcake dresses” her grandmother tries to get her to wear. She also goes against her grandmother’s instructions and befriends the “crazy neighbor,” who doesn't seem so crazy to her, and a “vicious” junkyard mutt that turns out not to be so vicious.

Readers will relate to Madison’s feelings of abandonment while she attempts to find her place in her new surroundings. Imaginations will soar when those surroundings soon change dramatically after a magical MegaPix 6000 TV mysteriously shows up on her grandmother’s doorstep. With a push of a button, Madison is unexpectedly teleported into the dizzying world of lights, cameras, action, and peril.

Hello There, We’ve Been Waiting for You! is filled with delightful characters and wild adventure, and bound to be a classic. And what is certain, middle grade readers have a strong protagonist they can admire in one Madison McGee, who, after all, can teach adults a thing or two about telling the truth and
finding love and compassion in the most surprising of ways.

About the Author
Laurie B. Arnold has two grown-up sons and lives on Bainbridge Island with her amazing husband, a perfect fuzzy dog, and a psychotic cat. She’s written and designed countless children’s interactive games, a trio of picture books, and scripts for animated kids’ TV shows, including Dragon Tales. The author is available for interview. You may find out more about Laurie B. Arnold at
www.lauriearnoldbooks.com.



My Take on the Book
This was a fun book that pulled together a great cast of characters. The author has done a fine job of providing rich character dialogue as well as characters that you simply fall in love with and want to see achieved more. The book is definitely written with a young reader in mind in the plot and action of the story moves quickly. I found that I could easily read through the book in a short period of time because I wanted to learn more and read more about what was going to happen with the characters specifically. This in book however can not only be for the younger reader, but it also can share some valuable lessons with more mature readers as well, especially in regards to finding love and compassion towards others. This is a great book that I would have encourage others to read as well.


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