Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the chance to review the ARC. I received the copy for free and was not paid to review the book. (This review was written by Marianne Su, a writer and reader who loves a good dystopian story.)

When you find a middle grade book that can entertain, it’s great. When that book also has a message to share, it’s even better. The Unwanteds by bestselling author Lisa McMann does both.

Alex is an Unwanted in a cruel dystopian world that demands a total lack of emotion, imagination and the practice of the arts. Anyone who doesn’t fit in is sent to their death as part of an annual purging. Everything changes for thirteen year old Alex when he discovers on the day of the purge from Quill that it is not the death sentence he feared. Instead, it is just the beginning. Alex and the other Unwanteds are surprised when they are taken to Artimé, a hidden place that was created to secretly save the Unwanteds. In Artimé they are free to study drawing, painting, drama, music…and magic.

The ingredients impressed me – it is real food. I had to chuckle when the thought crossed my mind… someone {human} could really eat this! Grilled chicken primavera, steak tips and garden greens… it smelled and looked like real food in gravy!

Brady (Beagle/Pug Cross)

Our Beagle / Pug cross is fifteen months old and the Cesar Bistro meals were a nice treat for him from his usual diet of dry dog food. He REALLY enjoyed them, licked the bowl clean in a few seconds. When I read the feeding recommendations, 3.5 packages per ten pounds per day, I suddenly realized that though my puppy is smallish… he’s bulky… at thirty plus pounds… we’d be going through the Cesar Bistro meals like water.

A friend of mine happened to be over and since she has one of those “armpit” dogs I call them. You know… the ones that fit under your arm and are as light as a feather. She gladly took the “one gulp to Brady” treats home to feed her dog, Bam-Bam.

Bam-Bam

Bam-Bam loved the Cesar Bistro meals and for him, it’s a full meal. He doesn’t stop licking the bowl and his face for quite a while afterwards. Sufficiently suffonsified as my Grandmother would have said.

Thanks to Diana for asking me to help her with this review and to Cesar Bistro for sending it my way.

~ Shannon from Shasher's Life


Blog: www.shasherslife.com
Twitter: @shasherslife
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Shasherslife

About Cesar Bistro
CESAR® is a leading brand that is dedicated exclusively to small dogs, offering a perfect range of food for small dogs from dry to wet to treats. CESAR® Dry food, CESAR® Entrées and CESAR® Slices (wet food), and DOUBLE DELIGHTS® treats are developed specifically for small dogs of all ages, and are 100 per cent complete and balanced nutritionally. CESAR® products are available at grocery, pet specialty and mass merchandise outlets. For more information on the CESAR® brand, visit www.cesar.ca.

One reader will win a Cesar Bistro prize pack valued at $100 that includes:

• Steak Tips and Garden Greens Flavour
• Grilled Chicken Primavera
• Tuscan Style Stew with Beef
• Steak Florentine Flavour
• Leash and dog bag dispenser

For your main entry, which is mandatory, visit Cesar.ca to browse through their new line of gourmet recipes and tell me which flavour you think would be most popular.

For additional entries, you may choose to do any or all of the following. Please leave separate comments for each entry indicating what you have done.

• Become a follower of Toronto Teacher Mom using Google Friend Connect.
• Add my button to your site.
• Subscribe to Toronto Teacher Mom.
• Become a follower of Toronto Teacher Mom on Facebook via Networked Blogs.
• Like the Toronto Teacher Mom's Facebook fan page.
• Follow Cesar Canada on Facebook.
• Like the Shasher's Life on Facebook.
• Become a follower of Toronto Teacher Mom on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway. Feel free to use the following tweet:

Contest ends May 31 at 10pm EST. Open to Canadian residents only.

Winner will be selected using Random.org and must reply to the notification email within 48 hours or a new winner will be drawn.

And the winner is...

82. Undomesticgirl

Disclosure: I was offered a chance to have a friend sample Cesar Bistro product to help facilitate this guest blogger review.