Author Meg Dendler Released a New Middle-Grade Novel
December is an exciting month for Meg Dendler. Her book, Bianca: The Brave Frail and Delicate Princess, released on December 1 and there’s a blog tour you don’t want to miss!
Meg Dendler has considered herself a writer since she won a picture book contest in 5th grade and entertained her classmates with ongoing sequels for the rest of the year.
Beginning serious work as a freelancer in the ’90s while teaching elementary and middle school, Meg has over one hundred articles in print, including interviews with Kirk Douglas, Sylvester Stallone, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. She has won contests with her short stories and poetry, along with multiple international awards for her best-selling “Cats in the Mirror” alien rescue cat children’s book series.
Meg Dendler is an editor with Pen-L Publishing and does editing work for independent and self-publishing authors. Meg and her family (including four cats and her dog, Max) live in Arkansas. Visit her at www.megdendler.com for more information about upcoming books and events and all Meg’s social media links. You can also follow Kimba on Facebook and Twitter.
Bianca: The Brave Frail and Delicate Princess
A Story of Courage, Hope, Kindness & New Beginnings
Sometimes a kid doesn’t feel like they fit into the standard mold, especially when that kid is an over-protected Princess. When Queen Arianna dies during Bianca’s birth, King Dominic swears to do everything in his power to protect her. That ‘over-protection’ has colored every aspect of Bianca’s life. When her father marches into mortal danger against a golden dragon, Bianca feels she has no choice. It’s time to step up as a ruler or die trying to make a difference.
This is a story about courage, hope, kindness, and new beginnings. It’s the perfect MG book for kids who have been bullied or who simply don’t feel they measure up.
Blog Tour for “Bianca” Dates & Links
Dec. 1 Meg Dendler’s Blog & Book Launch/Blog Promotion – megdendler.blogspot.com
Dec. 2 Book ‘Em Book Club (Interview) – https://www.facebook.com/bookembookclub/
Marion Marchetto (Review) – http://marionmarchetto.com/wp/
Dec. 3 Fundimental (Review) – www.fundinmental.com
Dec. 4 Ellie Mack (Review) – https://quotidiandose.wordpress.com
Dec. 5 Michelle Dunton at “Writing Fun” – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGea5qQGIQiaxXguujY2KhA
Dec. 6 H. L. Burke (Promo Post) – http://www.hlburkeblog.com/
Typewriter Society (Interview) – Typewritersociety.com
Dec. 7 Amanda’s Books & More (Guest Post) – http://abooksandmore.blogspot.com/
Dec. 8 Kay LaLone (Review) – http://kaylalone.blogspot.com/
Missy Sheldrake (Promo) – missyflits.wordpress.com
Dec. 9 Kris Riley at “My Blissful Books” (Review) – myblissfulbooks.com/blog/
Peggy McAloon @ Peggy’s Hope 4U – https://peggyshope4u.com/blog/
Dec. 10 Coffee Addicts Book Review (Review) – http://selenityjadebooks.blogspot.com/
Dec. 11 Waggy Tails Dog Blog (Review) – https://waggytalesweb.wordpress.com/
KIRKUS REVIEW of
Bianca: The Brave Frail and Delicate Princess
Dendler (Dottie’s Daring Day, 2017, etc.) addresses overcoming preconceptions in this middle-grade fairy tale.
Thirteen-year-old Bianca is known throughout the Kingdom of Pacifico as the Frail and Delicate Princess. She was very weak at birth and has spent her entire life in the castle, kept safe by her loving, overprotective father.
Bianca does not feel frail and delicate. She may be cosseted (“Never…was she allowed to meet other children….Who knew what kind of diseases they carried?”), but she has grown into a healthy young girl, brimming with imagination and yearning to explore the world. Yet how can she?
She is the Frail and Delicate Princess, and that is all there is to it…until a fire-breathing dragon threatens the kingdom and Bianca’s father and his bravest knights march off to do battle with it.
Bianca’s Quest
When they don’t return, Bianca sneaks out and embarks on her own quest. With only a charismatic donkey for company, she will track down the dragon. She will save the kingdom and be Frail and Delicate no longer!
Dendler writes on the safe side of scary, capturing the magical essence rather than the Grimm aspect of fairy tales.
Bianca’s adventure may be straightforward, but it remains spry and charming, its message of empowerment no less effective for being overt. Primary school readers surely will empathize with Bianca (nobody should be chained by assumptions of what they can and cannot do), yet hers is not the only life being affected by pigeonholing.
Throughout the story, hidden in plain sight amid the palace folk and fairy-tale tropes and exquisitely characterized animals, Dendler presents a subtler exploration of labeling. It’s to her great credit that the book’s denouement, though obvious in retrospect, comes as both uplifting and unforeseen. Bianca, all told, is a memorable middle-grade heroine.
Runs to surprising depths, and Sammy the donkey will live long in young memories.
Thanks, Meg Dendler!
I can’t wait to share this one with my granddaughter! Thanks, Meg Dendler, for joining us here today on Peggy’s Hope 4U! I look forward to having you back with the next release!
Links for Meg Welch Dendler
Web site:
Blog:
Newsletter Sign Up:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/MegDendlerAuthor
https://www.facebook.com/KimbaBabyCat (Kimba fan page)
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6951290.Meg_Welch_Dendler
Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/Meg-Dendler/e/B00BBNY5O2/
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/meg-dendler-31562564
Twitter:
Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/MegWelchDendler/
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/megdendler/
Books:
“Bianca: The Brave Frail and Delicate Princess”
“At the Corner of Magnetic and Main”
“Why Kimba Saved The World”
“Vacation Hiro”
“Miss Fatty Cat’s Revenge”
“Max’s Wild Night”
“Dottie’s Daring Day”
Autographed Book Copies:
Thank you so much for sharing “Bianca” with your readers!
You are most welcome, Meg Dendler! I love sharing Middle-Grade books with my readers. Thank you, for the entertainment and inspiration you share with the kids.