The Sitters

by Sylviane Stoltzman, Kathy Smith (Editor), Troy Barnes (Illustrator)

When their small, secluded town is invaded, Junior and his aunt flee into the mountains. The Lewotians are after Junior, but nobody can figure out why. When Junior and his aunt are captured, they find out that Junior has the potential to rival the Lewotians’ greatest Sitters. Junior vows to learn everything the Lewotians know about being a Sitter for one reason…
To take back his town.

226 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 8, 2015

About the author

Sylviane was born in Northern California. She's been writing stories since she was about six years old. When she was younger, she loved to put on plays for her parents, using paper puppets as her actors. She loves to read, write, and try all types of crafting. She currently lives in Minnesota with her husband and seven cats.

Reviews

[Lana Voynich · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Sitters is a mid-grade debut novel by author Sylviane Stoltzman. The main character, Junior, is an eleven-year-old who lives with his family on the planet Scrathen. The book opens with Junior and his aunt Felicia shopping at a farmers' market when airships arrive from the planet Lewotia. Frightened, the two hide, but soon learn that the Lewotians are looking for Junior and Felicia specifically. No one knows why the Lewotians want the two of them, but it's clear the Lewotians aren't friendly.

The story is a bit slow to start, because of the necessary background that has to be laid, but the characters are likeable and pleasurable to read about. They act like real people. At times, it was hard for me to remember Junior was only eleven, but that's probably because I haven't been eleven for many, many years.

The world created by Ms. Stoltzman quickly drew me in, and I was eager to learn why the Lewotians wanted Junior. The book was hard for me to put down until I finished it.

There were some punctuation errors, and I had a hard time keeping the entire cast of characters straight, but it was well-worth the struggle. :)

I'm looking forward to Ms. Stoltzman's next book

[Jared Temple · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned of this book through my hair stylist who is actually friend of the author (we live in the same town as the author). She recommended this book so I gave it a go!

This book was pretty good considering it is the author's first book. The action of the story starts literally on the 2nd page and continues onward mostly throughout the book. I did have a little trouble maintaining interest for the 1st 20 pages, but after that the story and premise had me wanting more. In fact, I finished this book on a 5 hour drive and couldn't put it down! Sure, I like more action in the books I read, this still satisfied my interests. I hope there is a 2nd book because I will definitely read it! Congrats on your 1st book!