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Sitting On Top Of The World - Book Tour and Giveaway

1/7/2022

47 Comments

 
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Sitting on Top of the World
by Cheryl King
Genre: Teen Historical Fiction 

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Fourteen-year-old June Baker never in a million years thought she’d be dressing like a boy, sneaking into a hobo camp, and jumping onto a moving freight train to travel across the state of Tennessee. But that’s what she has to do to find work so her family’s farm can survive.

It’s 1933, and the Great Depression is spreading misery throughout America. Where once June was sitting on top of the world, now she’s carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. Once she was picking fruit from the pawpaw trees, and now she’s picking up the pieces of a family torn apart. Once she was climbing and falling from trees, and now she’s jumping from moving trains.

June knows the risks. What she doesn’t know is that the railroad bull she’s falling for has a devastating secret that will change the course of her life.

Journey with June in Sitting on Top of the World, a historical fiction tale about family, friendship, love, loss, and hope.
Sitting on Top of the World bridges the gap between middle grade and young adult and is a book that middle school and high school teachers can be proud to include in their classroom library or in reading instruction.

Content warning: Some instances of physical violence, death, mention of suicide, mention of miscarriage, and characters encounter racial bigotry.



Goodreads * Amazon

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​This excerpt from Chapter 2, “The Crash Heard All the Way in Maynardville,” gives the reader a look at the setting and a little taste of June’s personality.


This part of the Tennessee Valley blesses us with woodlands and mountains on both sides, creeks and farmland in between. I can smell the sweet breath of fish and crawdads from Norris Lake and hear the musical ruckus of mallards flittin’ from stream to pond to lake to creek. Here, you walk anywhere long enough and quiet enough, you’re bound to come across somethin’ of interest. I cain’t remember a time I didn’t come upon a turtle, a rabbit, or a family of foxes on my walk to Margaret Ann’s. And that twenty-five minute walk turns into thirty-five easy, ’cause I cain’t help but sit and watch ’em for a spell.

So, like I said, I notice four strange things on this Friday in June. The first thing is the blue summer skies of Tennessee done clouded over like nobody’s business, and there’s a chill to the air that just ain’t natural on a June day, even if it is mornin’ time.
June’s my favorite month, by the way, and not just ’cause of the warmth of summer, but ’cause it’s my name, too. Mama says she named me June ’cause when I was born I was a right breath of sunshine. I’m glad of that, ’cause she said I coulda been named September since that’s the month I was born, and I don’t know why she was dead set on namin’ me after a month to begin with. If Josy’d been named after the month he was born, he’da been named December. Mama too, and Daddy’s name would be February, which is hard enough to say, but to spell, forget it. Margaret Ann would have the most beautiful name of April. These are the silly things I think about on my long walk to Margaret Ann’s house, ’cept when I’m distracted by a toad or a bluejay or a spiny lizard.
I spot Mr. Tomlinson’s big ol’ car bumpin’ down the road, kickin’ up dust. He toots his horn at me and slows down and waves out the window. “Where ya goin’, li’l Miss June?”
“Hiya, Mr. Tomlinson. I’m headed to town to go to Macafee’s and the Piggly Wiggly, but first I’m stoppin’ by to see Margaret Ann Murphy,” I tell him.
Mr. Tomlinson’s got to be the nicest old man I ever did know, other than my own daddy and granddaddy and anyone else related to me. He’s on the town council and lives up toward the lake. He drives down this way from time to time “to wave hello to the townspeople,” he says. He also has a beard that hangs clear to his belly, which makes me laugh.
“Well, you do be careful, dear; it looks like a storm’s comin’,” he says, lookin’ up to the sky as if he can see things written in the clouds.
“I will, Mr. Tomlinson.” I wave and he waves and off he goes and off I go.
The second strange thing I notice is when I get to Margaret Ann’s, ain’t nobody home. I cain’t remember a time that I come here and at least one person ain’t been around. She got a big family, Margaret Ann does. Five brothers and sisters, and o’course her mama and daddy.
Now, Margaret Ann’s mama, she’s a piece of work, no offense. She likes to think that since they live close to town, they’re smarter than us farm folk. But I’ll tell you somethin’ that don’t make a lick of sense: That woman got six children, and every one of them got two first names. There’s Margaret Ann, then Jenny May, then Sally Lynn (which ties up a tongue so bad that her own kin cain’t say it right, so everyone calls her Say-Lynn), then there’s Michael Ray, Johnny Joe, and Richie Lee, who’s still in diapers. And that ain’t even the worst of it. They all got two middle names, too. They all got Reynolds as one middle name ’cause that’s their mama’s before-she-was-married name, plus another one. So Margaret Ann’s whole name is Margaret Ann Flora Reynolds Murphy. And Jenny May is altogether Jenny May Caroline Reynolds Murphy. And I cain’t remember all the rest, but don’t you know that when any one of them gets in trouble, Mrs. Murphy says their whole darned name. I’ve heard it happen a time or two, and my own jaws get tired just hearin’ her say those long names.
And here’s the funny thing: You know what Margaret Ann Flora Reynolds Murphy’s mama’s name is? Bee. That’s it. Bee. May as well be just one letter.


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Cheryl King is a born-and-raised Texan, Harry Potter fanatic, chocolate lover, and word nerd. By day she is a dyslexia therapist, but at night – look out: She enjoys writing flash- and micro-fiction for writing contests like NYCMidnight and has two of her short writing pieces accepted for publication. This is her first published novel.


Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads


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​The origins of
Sitting on Top of the World

Sitting on Top of the World began as a 1,000-word flash fiction story (that, incidentally, was never actually written). See, what happened was … I’ve been writing for NYCMidnight writing challenges for a couple of years now – I highly recommend it to all writers. The way the challenges work is that on the Friday night before the challenge begins, they send writers the prompts, which include a genre.
On the eve of the reveal of the prompts one time, I went to bed thinking about which genre would be the most difficult for me (I wanted to get a head-start coming up with a story), and I landed on historical fiction. So, of course, instead of sleeping, I lay there thinking about what kind of story I’d write if I got historical fiction as my challenge genre, and I remembered something I’d read years before about hobos of the Great Depression and the thrill – and danger – of train hopping. And I thought, what if I had a sweet but gritty teen girl risking her life going train hopping to help her family? I basically wrote that 1,000-word story in my head that night. I needed a reason she was taking this risk – family tragedy; I needed stakes – losing the family farm; I needed an ending that packed a punch – the flash fiction piece was going to end with the main character making the leap up into the train car, but wait ’til you see how the book ends!
The next night, when the prompts arrived in my in-box, I sadly did not get historical fiction (I think that time around it was sci-fi or thriller), but I couldn’t shake the idea and the character I had begun building. Eventually, I started typing and outlining and researching, and that story idea grew into 25 chapters!
​


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Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

Jan 7
kickoff at Silver Dagger Book Tours
Anna del C. Dye official page
A Pinch of Bookdust
Craving Lovely Books
Insane Books

Jan 8
A Wonderful World of Words - GUEST POST
Reading Authors Network
Books all things paranormal and romance
Stormy Nights Reviewing & Bloggin'
Bedazzled By Books

Jan 9
BookZone Reviews
Books a Plenty Book Reviews
Girl with Pen
Sylv.net

Jan 10
Literary Gold
Jazzy Book Reviews
Character Madness and Musings
Writing Dreams
Midnight Book Reader

Jan 11
IS HISTORY THE AGREED UPON LIE? Historical Fact & Historical Fiction
eBook Addicts
The Sexy Nerd 'Revue'
Scrupulous Dreams
Twisted Book Ramblings

Jan 12
Westveil Publishing - GUEST POST
4covert2overt ☼ A Place In The Spotlight ☼
Inside the Insanity - GUEST POST
Liliyana Shadowlyn
The Faerie Review

Jan 13
#BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog
❧Defining Ways❧
Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read
Cover Love Book Blog
The Bookshelf Fairy

Jan 14
Plain Talk Book Marketing
Valerie Ullmer | Romance Author
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Teatime and Books
The Book Dragon


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47 Comments
Kari B
1/7/2022 07:25:29 am

Sounds like a wonderful coming-of-age tale, set in such a difficult period in history.

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Cheryl King link
1/7/2022 12:33:53 pm

Thank you!

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Beyond Comps
1/7/2022 08:56:30 am

Great cover!

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Cheryl King link
1/7/2022 12:00:50 pm

Thank you! It was drawn by my author/illustrator friend Jamie Hitt.

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Wendy Jensen
1/7/2022 10:20:27 am

The book details sound very interesting.

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sarah s
1/7/2022 10:33:22 am

How did you come up with this idea to write a book about?

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Cheryl King link
1/7/2022 11:59:38 am

Thanks for asking! If you scroll up, you’ll see my guest post on the origin of the book, and it tells the whole story about how I came up with this idea. It all started with a writing contest.

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Sherry
1/7/2022 11:18:18 am

I really like the cover and the excerpt.

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Rita Wray
1/7/2022 12:39:47 pm

Sounds good, thank you for sharing.

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wendy hutton
1/7/2022 12:45:15 pm

thanks this sounds like a wonderful book

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bn100
1/7/2022 01:00:01 pm

nice cover

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Terri Quick
1/7/2022 04:19:57 pm

Loving the cover

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Abigail Gibson
1/7/2022 07:07:17 pm

Looks like a great book!

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David Basile
1/7/2022 07:23:08 pm

The book sounds very interesting

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Bea LaRocca
1/7/2022 07:53:56 pm

I like the cover, synopsis and excerpt, this sounds like a story that my teen-aged grandchildren and I will enjoy reading. Thank you for sharing your guest post and book details and for offering a giveaway

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Cheryl King link
1/7/2022 08:11:12 pm

Thanks so much! I definitely hope you all enjoy it! I'm working on a sequel, and I'm sharing some snippets of it in my monthly newsletter, if you or your grandchildren are interested! https://cherylkingwritesthings.com

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Susan Smith
1/7/2022 08:05:07 pm

I like the excerpt and cover.

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DIANE ERAL
1/8/2022 12:58:53 am

I am looking forward to the sequel.

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Nancy
1/8/2022 05:22:49 am

I think that the cover of Sitting On Top of the World is very colorful and eye catching!

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Bernie Wallace
1/8/2022 06:35:36 am

How long did it take you to write your book?

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Cheryl King link
1/8/2022 08:05:05 am

Well, I was writing it in my head for a few months 😅, but then I got serious about really writing it — that was in May of 2019. I was finished by July. Since I’m a teacher, summers are when I can do a lot of writing.

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Ann Fantom
1/8/2022 07:12:20 am

This sounds like an interesting book and I also like the cover.

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Marcy Meyer
1/8/2022 10:55:58 am

The excerpt sounds really good, and the cover looks good. I like the coloring.

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beth shepherd
1/8/2022 03:06:10 pm

This looks like a great read. I like the blurb.

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Amy F
1/8/2022 03:21:00 pm

Great cover!

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Cheryl King link
1/8/2022 03:42:35 pm

Since there are so many comments about the cover, let me introduce you to the artist! Jamie Hitt is the author and illustrator of a children’s picture book, The Things Friendship Brings, https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-things-friendship-brings-jamie-hitt/1138971247?ean=9781737756606

And she has more books in the works.

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Danielle Day
1/8/2022 07:23:07 pm

I like it!

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Stephanie Liske
1/8/2022 09:11:54 pm

I like the book details.

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Debbi Wellenstein
1/8/2022 09:46:17 pm

I enjoyed the excerpt. Thanks for the giveaway!

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Debbie P
1/8/2022 11:53:54 pm

This sounds really good. Nice cover!

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Barbara Montag
1/9/2022 10:12:39 am

I have tween grand daughters who would love this read!
Thank you for sharing it with us.

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Cheryl King link
1/9/2022 01:33:20 pm

Wonderful! I hope they read it and love it!

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angela heerde
1/9/2022 06:59:56 pm

i like book details.

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DIANE ERAL
1/10/2022 02:10:04 am

I enjoyed the excerpt. Thanks for the giveaway

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Karin
1/10/2022 07:12:54 am

Great excerpt

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jennifer barr
1/10/2022 04:05:16 pm

Sounds interesting and i like the cover.

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Calvin
1/10/2022 05:45:46 pm

Real neat to see your release

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Nadine
1/11/2022 12:02:03 am

Interesting that this started as a flash fiction piece.

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Paula
1/11/2022 04:28:23 pm

Congrats on your new release.

Looks like a good read.

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Christy R.
1/12/2022 08:11:38 pm

Sounds like an interesting read. Thank you for the contest.

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Daniel M
1/13/2022 12:52:07 pm

like the cover~

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Jennifer Alaggio
1/14/2022 03:34:55 am

Sounds like a book that I'd really enjoy. When did you decide that you would like to seriously start writing?

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Cheryl King link
1/14/2022 07:08:14 am

Thank you! I’ve always wanted to be an author, but my career path went in a different direction, and then life was always busy. So it wasn’t until the first “pandemic summer” that I felt I had the time to embark on this journey.

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Renata
1/14/2022 07:50:48 am

Sounds good!

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Tracie Cooper
1/14/2022 11:03:57 am

I love the title and cover, so eye catching! What inspires your ideas for book titles and book plots?

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Cheryl King link
1/15/2022 07:18:10 am

For plots, I draw inspiration from real life, and everywhere, really. Titles are a different beast. Sometimes the title will come to me as I’m writing the story, like a beacon shining right on it. Other times, I have to think on it for a while and try on different titles until one fits.

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Sand
1/14/2022 10:32:14 pm

Sounds like a great book!

Reply



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