REVIEW Kate by Kevin Burgemeestre Author Illustrator

Thirteen year old KATE is struggling with more than her share of teenage angst… Her best friend moved overseas, a school bully attacked her and her mother died…
Now things are getting worse. Much worse.
Someone is AFTER her …

My fascination in debut young adult novel ‘Kate’ stems from my mental health advocacy.

I appreciated author Kevin’s handling BIG issues: grief, suicide, guilt, bullying, depression and abuse, bringing them out into the open. For Kate, latent grief about her mother’s death impairs her judgement. Grief is an often undiagnosed factor in human behaviour.

I enjoyed the fast paced action, reading like a mystery thriller. The characters are well drawn out showing depth and realism especially the relationship between characters, Kate and Mal a troubled young man with a dark past.  When things go terribly wrong, they rely on each other. Kate rescues a battered, heroic hound from the streets, beginning a powerful teenage-canine friendship. Minor characters Jess and Kate’s Dad are believable and 3-dimensional.

Kevin Burgemeestre illustrator of over 60 children’s books cleverly incorporates art and artistic themes throughout KATE especially with his full page graphic illustrations.  Kate’s hypothetical mentor, artist ‘Frida Kahlo’ helps KATE with her problems and making positive decisions.

 Blog Tour + BOOK GIVEAWAY

Tuesday 3rd Dec – 10  writing tips     http://deescribewriting.wordpress.com
Wednesday 4th Dec – Interview   http://www.buzzwordsmagazine.com
Thursday 5th Dec – Interview    http://www.alisonreynolds.com.au
Friday 6th – article    http://sherylgwyther.wordpress.com
Saturday 7th Interview  http://bookmusterdownunder.blogspot.com.au
Sunday 8th Dec  www.jackiehoskingpio.wordpress.com
Monday 9th Interview    http://www.kidsbookreview.com
Monday 9th Interview    http://UncommonYA.com
Tuesday 10th Review     http://www.melissawray.blogspot.com.au
Wednesday 11th Review   www.karentyrrell.com THATS ME
Thursday 12th Interview http://aussiereviews.com/reviews/blog/
Friday 13th Interview   http://lorrainemarwoodwordsintowriting.blogspot.com
Saturday 14th Article   http://clancytucker.blogspot.com.au
Sunday 15th Dec Interview       http://www.morrispublishingaustralia.com/news-update-blog.html
Monday 16th Dec Interview       http://diannedibates.blogspot.com.au
Tuesday 17th Dec Interview      http://elaineoustonauthor.com.au

BOOK GIVEWAY: Win a Free copy of KATE

Morris Publishing Australia will give away a copy of KATE.
To be in the draw, simply comment on the post BELOW and send an email of your comment to submissions@morrispublishingaustralia.com with the subject “Kate competition”.

What do you think of KATE?

Is KATE on your TOP-book-to-Read List?

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11 comments to REVIEW Kate by Kevin Burgemeestre Author Illustrator

  • Mandy Craven

    Looks interesting and might help me gain insight into the workings of my daughters mind

  • Thanks Mandy for supporting KATE. Good luck in the competition … Karen 🙂
    PS Please submit your awesome comment direct to the publisher via email submissions@morrispublishingaustralia.com

  • Ani Peters

    I would love to read this book and get to know the characters Kate and Mal and how they came to terms with the mental health issues facing them. Also, one of my favorite artists as well as being an inspirational figure in my life is Frida Kahlo and can’t wait to see how that is incorporated into the novel.

  • Hi Ani,
    Thanks for reading KATE’s review carefully. Please submit your awesome comment direct to the publisher via email submissions@morrispublishingaustralia.com … Good luck Karen 🙂

  • Ooohh, something I could get my niece! She loves art and reading mixed together. And she’s getting an arts scholarship next year at the arts academy in the city – and aged 14 that’s brilliant as they headhunted her! – and so I think this would be a wicked Christmas pressie for her this year! 😀

  • Hey Ani, I hope you enjoy the read. I put Frida into the mix because she found a language to express her inner life. I also wanted Kate interested in her because she is such a strong and determined soul. Don’t forget to send your comment to
    submissions@morrispublishingaustralia.com!
    Hope you win the book!
    Kevin

  • Hey Mandy, thanks for your comment. As parents it’s sometimes hard to watch our children growing up. Things happen so fast we sometimes don’t have time to develop the language to communicate. Wish you all the best and encourage you to send your comment to submissions@morrispublishingaustralia.com.

    Gotta be in it to win it. Good luck. Kevin Burgemeestre

  • Hi Lynda, Thanks for leaving the comment.Don’t forget to send your comment to submissions@morrispublishingaustralia.com!
    Hope you win the book!… Karen 🙂

  • Hey Lynda, We aim to please! Congrats to your niece, if her experience is anything like mine-art school was a blast. Not just the curriculum but the other students, exhibitions, discussion, exploration. Shame I ended up becoming a writer. Thanks for your comment, follow Karen’s prompt above and send your comment to Morris Publishing Australia, and maybe, just maybe some of your Santa work can be done for you? Cheers and thanks to Karen for such a switched on blog. K

  • Hey Karen, Just got my comment in, hoping to win the book! It’s been terrific working with you and all the best with your important work. Cheers, thanks for the blog space and access to your readers, cheers Kevin Burgemeestre. PS I think I just started writing the sequel!

  • Hi Kevin, LOVE your sense of humour! I enjoyed reading KATE and supporting your Blog Tour.
    PS I’ve announced my next book on this site tonight. … and Good Luck with the “sequel”.

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