Lolo Weaver Swims Upstream Blog Tour: Excerpt + Giveaway

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the LOLO WEAVER SWIMS UPSTREAM by Polly Farquhar Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

 

LOLO WEAVER SWIMS UPSTREAM
Author: Polly Farquhar
Release Date: April 25, 2023
Publisher: Holiday House
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
Pages: 240

Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/LOLO-WEAVER-SWIMS-UPSTREAM

"Not since Ramona Quimby has a character marched right out of a book with so much bravado, humor, and heart."--Barbara O'Connor, New York Times bestselling author of Wish

A headstrong girl’s quest to steal back her family’s dog goes awry in this humorous and compassionate novel.

Lolo is stuck in summer school with a teacher who is out to get her while her family is still reeling from her grandfather’s death. Even his dog is mourning, howling outside all night and every night. Finally, lovable old Hank is sent to a farm across the lake that takes foster dogs.

And it’s all Lolo’s fault. 

Lolo knows she has to get Hank back. In a tippy canoe, Lolo crosses the almost-dried-out lake to steal her dog back. But she runs into Noah, a student in her summer school class and Hank's new owner—and he loves Hank as much as she does.

As Lolo’s plan unravels and her uneasy alliance with Noah grows into a friendship, the question of what’s best for Hank becomes muddier. Can Lolo manage to do the right thing—for once? 

Itch author Polly Farquhar returns to Ohio with a tale of a big-hearted girl searching for answers to tough questions in all the wrong places. Fans of Gary Schmidt will love Farquhar’s blend of honesty, humor, and heart.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

My name is Lolo Weaver. It’s a nickname. Lolo. The summer school teacher would only call me Willow, which is my official name and the one that gets printed up on the class lists, but when she was going around the room and my friend Eddie, whose given name is Eduardo, said, “Call me Eddie,” she made a note in her grade book and always called him Eddie, even when she scolded him. When she got to me, the very last kid on the list, she called out, “Willow Weaver,” and I said, “It’s Lolo,” and she said, “What kind of name is that?”

Every kid looked at me. Most of the kids were ones I’d known my whole life, and a few were from another school in the district, across the lake. The kids I’d known my whole life didn’t know Lolo was a strange name. I didn’t, either.

The teacher said, “That’s like calling you Low-Low with a W.” She lowered her voice when she said it. Low-Low. “It’s a name with low expectations.”

The teacher’s name was Mrs. Cryer, and I thought maybe her name was exactly right since she’d make all her students cry because she was so mean. Not tough, but mean, because there’s a difference. But I wasn’t brave or stupid enough to say that, though I always wished I had. I might as well have, because I was going to get into other kinds of trouble that summer, anyway.

Because it was summer, the building was mostly empty and mostly quiet, but it still smelled like a school—like glue and pizza, and canned peas and dirty feet. The only difference was the hot summer sunshine that shone in, even when the blinds were closed, and how a person can’t just sit inside a classroom without knowing that everyone else was on summer vacation. We were all there because we were the only ones who hadn’t passed the state test.

At least the lake was closed, and at least that wasn’t my fault. 

Excerpt from Lolo Weaver Swims Upstream / Text copyright © 2023 by Polly Farquhar. Reproduced with permission from Holiday House Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. 

Polly Farquhar is the author of Itch. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing from Ohio State University, and her short stories for grown-ups have been published in literary magazines. She is also the recipient of multiple Individual Artist Grants from the Ohio Arts Council. She resides with her husband and daughters in the Columbus, Ohio area. Originally from upstate New York, her favorite place to canoe is the Adirondacks.

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(1) winner will receive a finished copy of  LOLO WEAVER SWIMS UPSTREAM - US Only.

Ends June 13^th, midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

5/29/2023	Two Chicks on Books	Excerpt/IG Post
5/29/2023	Log Cabin Library	Excerpt
5/30/2023	YA Books Central	Excerpt/IG Post
5/30/2023	The Momma Spot	Excerpt
5/31/2023	The Chirpy Bookaholic	Excerpt/IG Post
5/31/2023	A Blue Box Full of Books	IG Review/LFL Drop Pic/TikTok Post
6/1/2023	A Dream Within A Dream	Excerpt
6/1/2023	Country Mamas With Kids	Review/IG Post
6/2/2023	@froggyreadteach	IG Review
6/2/2023	Review Thick And Thin	Review/IG Post

Week Two:

6/5/2023	OneMoreExclamation	Review/IG Post
6/5/2023	Kim's Book Reviews and Writing Aha's	Review/IG Post
6/6/2023	Nerdophiles	Review
6/6/2023	@evergirl200	IG Review
6/7/2023	Jenguerdy	Review/IG Post
6/7/2023	@get.outside.and.read	IG Review
6/8/2023	Author Z. Knight’s Guild	Review/IG Post
6/8/2023	Two Points of Interest	Review
6/9/2023	Not In Jersey	Review/IG Post
6/9/2023	pluvioreads	Review/IG Post