About the Book

Book: The Rubber Band

Author: Christy Hoss

Genre: Middle Grade

Release date: July 31, 2020

THE RUBBER BAND What do Roadkill Rocky, Bossy Becca, and Pinhead Eddie have in common? Nothing. A rag-tag bunch of elementary school kids come together to form a rock and roll band and enter the Sun Valley talent contest. Will they be strong enough to overcome prejudice and see the dream of winning through, or will an unforeseen medical emergency break the bond of the band?

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About the Author

Christy caught the writing bug in second grade after winning a prize for a five-page story about her dog, Noodles. Mrs. Olson told her she was destined to be a writer and that dream never left her thoughts. After teaching elementary school for fifteen years, Christy fulfilled her childhood dream with her debut novel, The Rubber Band. She substitute teaches to support her writing career, deriving writing inspiration from the students and situations she encounters.

At age twenty-five, she was diagnosed with type-one diabetes but refuses to let it limit her. Her diabetic alert dog, Aiden, has saved her life uncountable times and will appear in future installments of The Rubber Band. Christy lives by this equation: Living + diabetes = LIVE-abetes.

Christy is a freelance editor and writes children’s Bible stories for Focus on the Family ClubHouse magazine and has written articles for Guideposts. She is a featured speaker for conferences, retreats and special events.

Christy lives in Northern California with Kevin, the love of her life. They have three grown children.

More from Christy

Noodles is the reason I am a writer. Noodles was my childhood dog’s name. I loved her oodles and oodles. She was a dachshund, not a poodle. I often drew her in my doodles. (Can you tell I’m an elementary school teacher?) A few short years ago, when I was in second grade, I entered a class writing contest. My story was five sentences long but won first place. The teacher told me I was destined to be a writer. That encouragement never left me. I grew up in the small town of Thief River Falls, Minnesota, and always loved writing in school, especially fiction. I wrote stories for my friends and for myself to create situations I could only dream of. As an adult, I moved to California, determined to live for God. He led me back to college where I fell in love with writing again. I won a state-wide award for my feature article in the JC’s newspaper, confirming my heart’s desire. Fast forward through marriage, kids, and a teaching job—my friends begged me to write about a recurring night dream I had, which was like watching the ending of a suspense thriller movie. Through writing conferences, critique groups and late nights, I wrote Palms of Death by starting at the end and working my way backwards. After rewriting it several times, I self-published it in 2018. At my first major writers’ conference, the Lord undeniably called me to write. So, the real reason I write is not because of Noodles, but because I want to always be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ and wholeheartedly follow His direction. That’s my story, just a bit of the whole kit and caboodle.

My Thoughts

The Rubber Band by Christy Hoss is a middle grade fiction book. I read this book with my 9 year old son and we both enjoyed it very much. This is the first book that I have read by this author. First, we loved the nicknames of the band members. My 9 year old son wanted to be called Pinhead after reading this book....The main focus of this book is teaching kids about working together and sharing a dream. It also teaches kids about teaching others about respecting each other. This lesson is important because of the cast of characters she has created. The author introduces a lot of "issues" or situations that kids may face. In this book we see a bully. A bully that has been lost to the foster care system. We see a bossy rich kid. We also see a character that has some health issues. I love that this book opened up some conversations with my son and I. He has been bullied. He knows of some classmates that have been removed from their home. I love that this hodge podge of kids form a band. This book is geared toward 2-5th grade. My son is in 4th grade and he reads at a 7th grade level. He had no issues following along. We laughed a lot during this book. We talked alot. He wanted to share this book with a few of his friends so it has moved on to another home.

I received a copy of this book through the Celebrate Lit blogging program. All thoughts are my own.