Download from Smashwords (eBook) Barbara Elmore's books and more Amazon Barbara Elmore's books and more Category:  Young Adult/Teen Publisher: Mud Pie Press ISBN-10:  097149410X Pages: 202 Copyright: 2003 ISBN-13: 9780971494107 Price: $2.99 (eBook) Wendy and friends Libby and Riley have one goal: To save their town’s newspaper. Sounds simple—until the trio tries to find a missing dog and uncovers a dark secret.  The headlines are ominous. Moffatt Corner's Bugle is in trouble, and editor Luella Cathcart is going to close it unless she finds a buyer. This is news that Wendy Wright refuses to believe. She has been reading the town's twice-weekly newspaper since she learned to read. Her sister, Miranda, wrote a column for the Bugle for many years.  Faced with ridicule, rumors and danger, Wendy rounds up her two best friends, Libby and Riley, to help rescue the Bugle and keep it open. What can one 14-year-old do? Wendy's actions make headlines, and not all of them are good news.  Excerpt Her eyes saw the tasseled, polished brown shoes on the dead grass first, and she pondered on them a moment. They were the shoes of someone who cared about shoes, perhaps more than people. They were glossy and without scuff marks.... When their eyes met, he spoke. At the sound of his gravelly voice, she felt the prickly heat again. "It looks like you have discovered my secret. Roomer lives with me now. You can see how well he's doing." He smiled. Wendy thought of a barracuda.

Cute book!
By curvynovels@yahoo.com
Heroine: still has her "baby fat"
Wendy Wright is devastated when she hears that Moffat Corner's bi-weekly newspaper may have to shut down because one of its major advertisers is pulling their financial support and pressuring others to do the same.
Enlisting the aid of best friends Libby and Riley, Wendy pledges to keep the paper open by offering their services as ad sales people and journalists, and their tactic seem to be buying the dying periodical some time. But then the subject of their first major article goes missing and what began as simple volunteer work takes a turn for the mysterious--and the dangerous!
What worked for me:
Wendy was a pretty savvy young lady and had tremendous dedication and perseverance where her cause was concerned.
I thought the main plot of "Saviors of the Bugle" was interesting, but was especially impressed by how deftly the author intertwined intense subplots involving difficult subjects such as child and animal abuse, grieving family members, and government corruption without making the book too heavy.
Size-wise Wendy started out chubby, or at least thinking she was chubby but by the end of the book she realized she wasn't big at all. (Plus it didn't hurt when her mother stopped overfeeding her.)
What didn't work for me:
Having characters named Wendy and Wanda within a breath of each other had me confused at times. (That'll teach me not to speed read!)
Overall:
This really cute read for Middle Graders and Jr. High Schoolers provides an interesting way to get a look into the inner workings of journalism. It also presents an opening for discussions on civics, ethics, and other tough topics with teachers and parents.

A Gold Nugget
By Jim Stevenson
Saviors of the Bugle by Barbara Elmore is one of my personal top 10 all time favorite books. That is saying something when I have been teaching middle school reading and literature for 22 years. I feel like someone who has unexpectedly found a gold nugget. Saviors of the Bugle is a well-written and charming story. It has everything I look for in a great book. It has complex and intriguing characters, good plot development, and an interesting story line with a few unexpected twists and turns. Saviors of the Bugle is the type of book you don't want to put down because you can't wait to see what happens next. It is a book that at times made me laugh and at other times brought tears to my eyes. The book is about a three friends that set out to save their local newspaper, the Bugle. However, the book has many layers and sub plots as well. Wendy, Libby, and Riley are the type of kids you would want as your own friends. I enjoyed the book very much and recommend it highly. It is on my top ten list of moderen classics with The Outsiders, Maniac Magee, Hatchet, and a few others. Barbara Elmore is an outstanding author that I put in the same league as my other favorite authors; Jerry Spinelli, Gary Paulsen, S.E. Hinton and Barbra Park. Don't miss this book, it is an outstanding novel


A charming story about giving one's all for something
By Midwest Book Review
Saviors Of The Bugle by Barbara Elmore is an enthusiastically written novel for young readers and features Wendy Wright, a 14 year old girl and her two best friends who decide to work together to save their town's local newspaper from bankruptcy. Yet hidden obstacles make the fight to save the Bugle complicated, in this charming story about giving one's all for something as precious as the community newspaper.