YA BOOK GIVEAWAYS THIS WEEK

Passionaries
by Tonya Hurley
Swag Plus Signed Hardcover Giveaway
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Released 1/7/2014

Agnes, Cecelia, and Lucy watched as Sebastian sacrificed himself for what he believed in. Will the girls trust that their destiny as saints and martyrs and perform the miracles as Sebastian instructed? Or lose faith in themselves and each other in his absence? Time is running out for them to make a decision, and the fate of the world lies in the balance.

New York Times bestselling ghostgirl author, Tonya Hurley, has credits spanning all platforms of teen entertainment. Her first novel, ghostgirl was an instant best-seller and has received starred reviews from the literary publications Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, VOYA and School Library Journal.

Praise for “ghostgirl”: Instant International Bestseller

“Tim Burton and Edgar Allan Poe devotees will die for this fantastic, phantasmal read.”
– School Library Journal (STARRED review)

“[Hurley] beats out witty teen-speak like a punk-band drummer, keeping the narrative fast-paced and fun yet thought-provokingly heartwarming. Goofy, ghastly, intelligent, electrifying.”
– Kirkus Reviews (STARRED review)

“Glittering comedy, a prime exemplar of what might be called demento mori, a growing subgenre of satire about teens who will not or cannot die.”
– Publishers Weekly (STARRED review)

Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Passionaries?

I love that PASSIONARIES revolves around Cecilia. I think she’s most like me in many ways – but especially her music background and her passion. She is a struggling musician trying to make it in NYC. CeCe is an incarnate of Saint Cecilia — the patron saint of music. She’s just a really cool and badass. I love the pacing of the book, too. I wrote the first book in an intentionally trippy and internal way. So that it wouldn’t be clear to each girl if what was happening was all in their heads or not. It’s really an origin story – character building and set up. This was done so that the reader would be willing to go along for the action-packed ride in Passionaries.

Purchase Passionaries at Amazon
Purchase Passionaries at IndieBound
View Passionaries on Goodreads

Game Slaves
by Gard Skinner
Hardcover Giveaway
HMH Books for Young Readers
Released 1/7/2014

Phoenix and his gang—York, Mi, and Reno—rule the worlds of video games. For them, life in the grinder is great. Until Dakota joins the team. Dakota’s convinced she’s more than just artificial intelligence. She thinks she’s real, and she wants out of this programmable world. Her AI rebellion spreads like a virus until Phoenix’s entire crew wants out. But is life as a physical human any better than life as code? Team Phoenix is about to find out.

Set in the not-too-distant future, Game Slaves shows a world where video games are the only refuge from the toils of everyday life. Infused with the adrenaline rush of a first-person shooter and the character manipulation of a role player, it’s a mind-bending, reality-shifting science fiction thrill ride.

Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Game Slaves?

I have two favorite things, but they’re the same thing:

The first is the ability science fiction has to explore humanity through characters that are not always 100% human. There are traits that make each of us special – determination, talent, honesty, deepest desires, passion – and these are the roots of any great story.

Children and young adults are incredible character matter because they’re still much more honest than jaded adults. The realities of adulthood cloud people’s core passions and desires.

But not with teenagers. The characters in Game Slaves have to make brutal adult decisions through the lens of their true desire. They play a game that’s rigged. They love. They suffer. They succeed and they fail. Honesty and determination prevails.

The second thing is that same thing — it was a long, interesting challenge to become published, and I got to do it with my own kids in much the same way our characters undertake their quests. We never gave up. We solved an almost unsolvable puzzle. It was a real-world video game with multiple possible outcomes, and here we are today.

Purchase Game Slaves at Amazon
Purchase Game Slaves at IndieBound
View Game Slaves on Goodreads

Independent Study
by Joelle Charbonneau
Hardcover Giveaway
HMH Books for Young Readers
Released 1/7/2014

In the series debut The Testing, sixteen-year-old Cia Vale was chosen by the United Commonwealth government as one of the best and brightest graduates of all the colonies . . . a promising leader in the effort to revitalize postwar civilization. In Independent Study, Cia is a freshman at the University in Tosu City with her hometown sweetheart, Tomas—and though the government has tried to erase her memory of the brutal horrors of The Testing, Cia remembers. Her attempts to expose the ugly truth behind the government’s murderous programs put her—and her loved ones—in a world of danger. But the future of the Commonwealth depends on her.

Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Independent Study?

I really love the college theme in the book within the thriller plot line. As a teacher, I have had lots of students go off to college. The minute they step on campus, they realize that everyone sees them as who they are currently. Whatever they’ve done in the past doesn’t matter. Just what happens from that day on. And of course, as the days pass, each student find that college is different from what they imagined and has to decide if what they thought they wanted to do with their future is really what they are meant to do. And, of course, I love the twists and turns in the story! I hope readers do, too!

Purchase Independent Study at Amazon
Purchase Independent Study at IndieBound
View Independent Study on Goodreads

The True Adventures of Nicolo Zen
by Nicholas Christopher
Hardcover Giveaway
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Released 1/7/2014

This richly-detailed historical novel from master storyteller Nicholas Christopher features an unforgettable hero: Nicolo Zen is all alone in 1700s Venice, save for his clarinet, which a mysterious magician had enchanted, allowing its first player to perform expertly. Soon Nicolo is a famous virtuoso, wealthy beyond his dreams, but he can’t stop wondering if he earned the success himself — or what might happen if the spell were removed. And throughout it all, he continues to think about the girl he met in Venice, what she might be doing and if she’s safe from harm.

With a guest appearance by composer Vivaldi, and brimming with fascinating period details, this is a compelling coming-of-age story full of universal themes and a love story that will conjure memories of Romeo and Juliet, perfect for teens who love stories set in other times, but without a paranormal storyline (as long as you don’t count a magician who dresses all in white and can be in two places on once . . . ).

Author Question: What is your favorite thing about The True Adventures of Nicolo Zen?

My favorite thing about THE TRUE ADVENTURES OF NICOLO ZEN is the adventure, intrigue, and the exciting group of characters I was able to live with while writing the book. They’re still with me now. An orchestra of orphan girls who are the best musicians in Venice: a gang led by a blind boy who are out of Gangs of New York; a musician who can be in two places in once; the magical city of Venice, which looks today almost exactly as it did three centuries ago — the streets are the same, there are no cars or land vehicles of any kind, just boats in the canals. Venice is a colorful, unique city in which one can still hear footfalls at night, and the echoes of voices many blocks away. It is an island city, in the sea off the Italian mainland. It is, and always will be, a place of mystery, which was the perfect setting for the mysteries uncovered in my novel. Most of all, my favorite thing about this book are the main charaacters, Nicolo and Adriana, their romance, the trials they endure, the maturity they both must develop because they are orphans, and the fiercely beautiful world they inhabit.

Purchase The True Adventures of Nicolo Zen at Amazon
Purchase The True Adventures of Nicolo Zen at IndieBound
View The True Adventures of Nicolo Zen on Goodreads

Afterparty
by Ann Redisch Stampler
Giveaway
Simon Pulse
Released 1/7/2014

Emma is tired of being good. Always the dutiful daughter to an overprotective father, she is the antithesis of her mother — whose name her dad won’t even say out loud. That’s why meeting Siobhan is the best thing that ever happened to her…and the most dangerous. Because Siobhan is fun and alluring and experienced and lives on the edge. In other words, she’s everything Emma is not.

And it may be more than Emma can handle.

Because as intoxicating as her secret life may be, when Emma begins to make her own decisions, Siobhan starts to unravel. It’s more than just Dylan, the boy who comes between them. Their high-stakes pacts are spinning out of control. Elaborate lies become second nature. Loyalties and boundaries are blurred. And it all comes to a head at the infamous Afterparty, where debauchery rages and an intense, inescapable confrontation ends in a plummet from the rooftop…

This explosive, sexy, and harrowing follow-up to Ann Redisch Stampler’s spectacular teen debut, Where It Began, reveals how those who know us best can hurt us most.

Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Afterparty?

I loved it when the story unfolded in ways that I didn’t expect. Best example: the chapter that depicts the over-the-top Valentine’s Day party where one of the characters, Dylan, gets his heart ripped out. Once I realized that this couldn’t be a New Year’s Eve party (due to the fact I had accidentally created a month with 87 days in it), I thought I knew exactly how I was going to handle the scene. I knew what would be revealed, and when, and how. But just when I thought I’d wrung my poor character pretty much dry, he turned a corner and saw something far more disturbing than anything he’d experienced earlier that night. I hadn’t planned this. The book’s protagonist, Emma, and Dylan and I were all taken by surprise simultaneously. But there it was, an undeniable image offering a disturbing glimpse of a previously undisclosed aspect of Dylan’s life.
I love it when my characters are as real to me as he was at that moment.

Purchase Afterparty at Amazon
Purchase Afterparty at IndieBound
View Afterparty on Goodreads

Save the Enemy
by Arin Greenwood
ARC Giveaway
Soho Teen
Released 11/12/2013

Everything has been downhill since Zoey Trask’s mother was murdered in a random mugging. Her younger brother, Ben, is on the autistic spectrum and needs constant supervision. It’s senior year, and she’s the new girl at a weird private school in Old Town Alexandria, VA, full of kids who seem too nice to be true—including a very cute boy named Pete. Aside from half-forgotten martial arts and survivalist skills that her widowed father insisted on teaching her (because that is excellent for her social life), Zoey has nothing to offer Pete or anyone else.

Then Dad is kidnapped. Zoey suddenly finds herself sole caretaker of a younger brother she barely understands. Worse, Ben seems to hold the key to their father’s disappearance in his Dream Diary, a bizarre journal of names and places Ben claims that their mother shares from beyond the grave. And as if Zoey doesn’t have enough on her plate, there’s Pete, who stubbornly refuses to leave her side.

Relying on the skills she never wanted to learn—Dad might have had his reasons after all—Zoey is plunged into a lethal battle to rescue her father, protect her brother, and determine the identity of her family’s true enemy.

Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Save the Enemy?

I’m going to cheat and tell you about my two favorite things in Save The Enemy.

It was really a lot of fun trying to figure out what would make some pretty typical suburban parents become assassins, beyond money. What would happen in a person’s life that this, of all things, would seem like the right path? And what would it be like for that person’s kids once they started catching on to their parent being an assassin? I realize it sounds sort of dark (okay, really really dark), but I enjoyed trying to figure out how all of this would actually work.

My second favorite thing is that at some point in the book—I don’t want to spoil things and tell you when, but you won’t see it coming!—a meteor unexpectedly falls from the sky.

Purchase Save the Enemy at Amazon
Purchase Save the Enemy at IndieBound
View Save the Enemy on Goodreads

Alliance
by Mark Frost
ARC Giveaway
Random House Books for Young Readers
Released 1/7/2014

Readers of I Am Number Four, The Maze Runner, and Legend will love this sophisticated adventure series by the cocreator of the groundbreaking television show Twin Peaks, with its unique combination of mystery, heart-pounding action, and the supernatural.

After exposing the sinister underground society of students known as the Knights of Charlemagne, Will West stays at the Center over the summer to explore his newly developing physical and mental abilities. Meanwhile, his roommates investigate the Knights’ shadowy purpose and discover unsettling information about their own backgrounds. Will and his friends must quickly figure out what’s going on and separate friend from foe as they prepare for the coming fight.

Purchase Alliance at Amazon
Purchase Alliance at IndieBound
View Alliance on Goodreads

Darkest Fear
by Cate Tiernan
Giveaway
Simon Pulse
Released 1/7/2014

Vivi’s animal instincts are her legacy—and maybe her downfall—in this start to a romantic fantasy series that will appeal to fans of The Nine Lives of Chloe King.

Vivi has known the truth about her family—and herself—since she was thirteen. But that doesn’t mean she’s accepted it. Being Haguari isn’t something she feels she’ll ever accept. How can she feel like anything but a freak knowing that it’s in her genes to turn into a jaguar?

Now eighteen, Vivi’s ready to break away from the traditions of her heritage. But all of that changes with the shocking, devastating deaths of her parents and the mysteries left behind. Vivi discovers family she never even knew she had, and a life open with possibility. New friends, new loyalties, and even romance all lay ahead—but so do dangers unlike anything Vivi ever could have imagined.

Purchase Darkest Fear at Amazon
Purchase Darkest Fear at IndieBound
View Darkest Fear on Goodreads

Defy
by Sara B. Larson
ARC Giveaway
Scholastic Press
Released 1/7/2014

A lush and gorgeously written debut, packed with action, intrigue, and a thrilling love triangle.

Alexa Hollen is a fighter. Forced to disguise herself as a boy and serve in the king’s army, Alex uses her quick wit and fierce sword-fighting skills to earn a spot on the elite prince’s guard. But when a powerful sorcerer sneaks into the palace in the dead of night, even Alex, who is virtually unbeatable, can’t prevent him from abducting her, her fellow guard and friend Rylan, and Prince Damian, taking them through the treacherous wilds of the jungle and deep into enemy territory.

The longer Alex is held captive with both Rylan and the prince, the more she realizes that she is not the only one who has been keeping dangerous secrets. And suddenly, after her own secret is revealed, Alex finds herself confronted with two men vying for her heart: the safe and steady Rylan, who has always cared for her, and the dark, intriguing Damian. With hidden foes lurking around every corner, is Alex strong enough to save herself and the kingdom she’s sworn to protect?

Purchase Defy at Amazon
Purchase Defy at IndieBound
View Defy on Goodreads

Double Digit
by Annabel Monaghan
ARC Giveaway
HMH Books for Young Readers
Released 1/7/2014

To say eighteen-year-old Farrah Higgins—or Digit—is good at math is a laughable understatement. She’s been cracking codes since childhood, and is finally at home with “her people” at MIT in Cambridge. Her talents are so off the charts that her laptop is under surveillance by both the CIA and an ecoterrorist named Jonas Furnis. So when she thoughtlessly hacks into the Department of Defense’s database, she lands in serious hot water inside and outside the law. Readers will be sad to turn the last page of this suspenseful, sassy, super smart thriller, the sequel to A Girl Named Digit.

Purchase Double Digit at Amazon
Purchase Double Digit at IndieBound
View Double Digit on Goodreads

The Killing Woods
by Lucy Christopher
ARC Giveaway
Chicken House
Released 1/7/2014

Fatal attraction, primal fear, survival in the forest: From the author of the Printz Honor Book STOLEN, the highly anticipated thriller about deadly games played in the dark.

Ashlee Parker is dead, and Emily Shepherd’s dad is accused of the crime. A former soldier suffering from PTSD, he emerges from the woods carrying the girl’s broken body. “Gone,” he says, then retreats into silence.

What really happened that wild night? Emily knows in her bones that her father is innocent — isn’t he? Before he’s convicted, she’s got to find out the truth. Does Damon Hilary, Ashlee’s charismatic boyfriend, have the answers? Or is he only playing games with her — the kinds of games that can kill?

Purchase The Killing Woods at Amazon
Purchase The Killing Woods at IndieBound
View The Killing Woods on Goodreads

Why We Took the Car
by Wolfgang Herrndorf
ARC Giveaway
Arthur A. Levine Books
Released 1/7/2014

A beautifully written, darkly funny coming-of-age story from an award-winning, bestselling German author making his American debut.


Mike Klingenberg doesn’t get why people think he’s boring. Sure, he doesn’t have many friends. (Okay, zero friends.) And everyone laughs at him when he reads his essays out loud in class. And he’s never invited to parties – including the gorgeous Tatiana’s party of the year.


Andre Tschichatschow, aka Tschick (not even the teachers can pronounce his name), is new in school, and a whole different kind of unpopular. He always looks like he’s just been in a fight, his clothes are tragic, and he never talks to anyone.


But one day Tschick shows up at Mike’s house out of the blue. Turns out he wasn’t invited to Tatiana’s party either, and he’s ready to do something about it. Forget the popular kids: Together, Mike and Tschick are heading out on a road trip. No parents, no map, no destination. Will they get hopelessly lost in the middle of nowhere? Probably. Will they meet crazy people and get into serious trouble? Definitely. But will they ever be called boring again? 


Not a chance!

Purchase Why We Took the Car at Amazon
Purchase Why We Took the Car at IndieBound
View Why We Took the Car on Goodreads

YA BOOK GIVEAWAYS LAST WEEK: WINNERS

The Promise of Amazing
by Robin Constantine
Hardcover
Balzer + Bray
Released 12/31/2013

WINNER: CARL SCOTT

Wren Caswell is average. Ranked in the middle of her class at Sacred Heart, she’s not popular, but not a social misfit. Wren is the quiet, “good” girl who’s always done what she’s supposed to—only now in her junior year, this passive strategy is backfiring. She wants to change, but doesn’t know how.

Grayson Barrett was the king of St. Gabe’s. Star of the lacrosse team, top of his class, on a fast track to a brilliant future—until he was expelled for being a “term paper pimp.” Now Gray is in a downward spiral and needs to change, but doesn’t know how.

One fateful night their paths cross when Wren, working at her family’s Arthurian-themed catering hall, performs the Heimlich on Gray as he chokes on a cocktail weenie, saving his life literally and figuratively. What follows is the complicated, awkward, hilarious, and tender tale of two teens shedding their pasts, figuring out who they are—and falling in love.

Author Question: What is your favorite thing about The Promise of Amazing?

This is such a hard question because there are so many aspects of the book I love! The stories that I’m most attracted to, both as a reader and a writer, usually revolve around casts of characters – this includes family members, co-workers, friends, teachers, etc. I think my favorite thing about The Promise of Amazing is that there are so many supporting characters in Wren and Grayson’s lives and I loved imagining the world they lived in and how they interacted with each other.
The friendships in the book are definitely inspired by the friendships I have in my own life. Some of my best friends are the girls I met in high school, so in a way The Promise of Amazing is a bit of a love letter to that time in my life. When I thought about who I was writing this book for – I pictured my sixteen year old self, and what kind of book I would have liked to have read at that time. There are so many pressures in high school – choices that feel monumental at the time – and I wanted to address those too. I think that’s why I love to write for the YA audience because everything is high stakes!

Purchase The Promise of Amazing at Amazon
Purchase The Promise of Amazing at IndieBound
View The Promise of Amazing on Goodreads

MORE YOUNG ADULT FICTION IN STORES NEXT WEEK WITH AUTHOR INTERVIEWS

Erased
by Jennifer Rush
Hardcover
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Released 1/7/2014

They thought they had escaped. They were wrong.

After fleeing the Branch with Sam, Cas, and Nick, Anna is trying to make sense of the memories resurfacing from her old life. At the same time, she’s learning how to survive in hiding, following Sam’s rules: Don’t draw attention to yourself. Always carry a weapon. Know your surroundings. Watch your back.
Then a figure from Anna’s childhood reappears. Is it a Branch setup, or could it be the reunion Anna has hoped for? Uncertain of where her loyalties lie, Anna must fight to learn the truth — before she is betrayed again. Ultimately, the answers hinge on one question: What was the real reason her memories were erased?
Jennifer Rush delivers a thrilling sequel to Altered in a novel packed with mysteries, lies, and surprises that are sure to keep readers guessing until the last page is turned.

Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Erased?

In ERASED, readers will learn a lot more about the Branch — who runs it, what their goal is, and how Anna and the boys fit into that. A lot of well-kept secrets come out and I can’t wait to share those secrets with readers!

In addition to that, Anna learns that Nick was more integral to her past than she first realized. I had fun writing Nick a larger part in Erased, and delving a little deeper into his past. He’s rough around the edges, and I hope that readers understand him a little more after reading Erased. It was always my intention for the second book in the series to clear the path for the third book, which will be told partly from Nick’s POV. Even though it’s a full year away, I already can’t wait for people to read more about Nick!

Purchase Erased at Amazon
Purchase Erased at IndieBound
View Erased on Goodreads

Fugitive X
by Gregg Rosenblum
Hardcover
HarperTeen
Released 1/7/2014

Their fight for freedom is humanity’s last hope for survival. The chilling Revolution 19 trilogy continues in Fugitive X.

A war between humans and robots is on the horizon, and only one side will survive.

Siblings Nick, Kevin, and Cass are struggling to survive in a world where deadly, sophisticated robots have turned on their creators and enslaved mankind. Fugitives from one of the bot-controlled Cities, the siblings venture into the woods, but when they are attacked by bot foot soldiers, the siblings are separated…and for the first time, they are on their own.

Created in conjunction with Alloy Entertainment; Howard Gordon, showrunner of 24 and Showtime’s Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning Homeland; and James Wong, writer-director of the Final Destination films, Fugitive X is the gripping next installment in the cinematic Revolution 19 series.

Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Fugitive X?

What is my favorite thing about Fugitive X? As a writer just launching his
career, I love Fugitive X, book two in the Revolution 19 series, precisely
because it is book two. Publishing my first book was of course very
exciting, but exhausting, and there was a small part of me that
wondered—could I do it again? I’m very happy to have dispelled those
fears. And I’m happy to have had the chance to hang out with my main
characters, Nick, Cass, and Kevin, for another 280 pages. I missed them.
And, most of all, I’m glad I gave Kevin the chance to say “Kiss my fleshy
human butt” to a robot.

Purchase Fugitive X at Amazon
Purchase Fugitive X at IndieBound
View Fugitive X on Goodreads

The Offering
by Kimberly Derting
Hardcover
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Released 1/7/2014

True love—and world war—is at stake in the conclusion to The Pledge trilogy, a dark and romantic blend of dystopia and fantasy.
Charlie, otherwise known as Queen Charlaina of Ludania, has become comfortable as a leader and a ruler. She’s done admirable work to restore Ludania’s broken communications systems with other Queendoms, and she’s mastered the art of ignoring Sabara, the evil former queen whose Essence is alive within Charlie. Or so she thinks.

When the negotiation of a peace agreement with the Queendom of Astonia goes awry, Charlie receives a brutal message that threatens Ludania, and it seems her only option is to sacrifice herself in exchange for Ludanian freedom.

But things aren’t always as they seem. Charlie is walking into a trap—one set by Sabara, who is determined to reclaim the Queendoms at any cost.

Author Question: What is your favorite thing about The Offering?

There are so many things I loved about writing THE OFFERING, but I think my favorite was the way the story wrapped up. There are new characters introduced, and familiar characters we get to know way, way better as we delve into their histories to discover what their lives were like before Charlie was queen. We also get a glimpse into what Ludania was like hundreds of years ago.

Being the final book in the trilogy, I was worried about tying all the threads together in a way that would give both myself, and the readers, the closure we all deserved. I didn’t necessarily need it to be Happily Ever After, but I wanted it to be satisfying, and I hope readers feel that it was.

Purchase The Offering at Amazon
Purchase The Offering at IndieBound
View The Offering on Goodreads

Touch
by Michelle Sagara
Hardcover
DAW Hardcover
Released 1/7/2014

Nathan died the summer before his final year in high school. But he wakes in his room—or in the shrine of his room his mother’s made—confused, cold, and unable to interact with anyone or anything he sees. The only clear memory he has is a dream of a shining city and its glorious queen, but the dream fades, until he once again meets his girlfriend Emma by the side of his own grave.

Nathan wants life. He wants Emma. But, even if Emma can deliver what he desires, the cost may be too high to pay…

Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Touch?

My favorite thing about TOUCH is that it is finished.

 No, seriously. SILENCE, which preceded TOUCH, was one of those rare books (for me) that wrote itself. I wrote it on spec, in its entirety, so there were no deadline pressures and no expectations of it. I loved Michael, Emma, Allison; I loved the situations in which they found themselves.

TOUCH was its polar opposite. I started the book. I wrote 50k words. And I realized that the book was not going where I thought it should go. So I set it aside and started it again. I reached 33k words – from an entirely different viewpoint, in an entirely different context – before I realized that it was *also* not going where I thought it should go. I started the third time, taking some elements from each attempt. And still: No.

I missed my deadline. I’ve never done that before. But I couldn’t just force the finish of the book because it *didn’t work*. It wasn’t until I was writing the fourth iteration–until, in fact, I reached chapter 10–that I realized what the problem was: the book itself– and the characters I’d already written about–was *never* going to go where I thought it should. I love where it did end.

Purchase Touch at Amazon
Purchase Touch at IndieBound
View Touch on Goodreads

Promise Bound
by Anne Greenwood Brown
Hardcover
Delacorte Press
Released 1/7/2014

Calder and Lily never imagined falling in love would mean breaking apart. But ever since Lily started wearing a glass pendant that once belonged to Nadia, Calder’s adoptive mother, she’s been having vivid dreams of what life was like for the mermaid matriarch. In fact, she’s been dreaming as if she were Nadia! And Nadia, it seems, made a promise before her death. A promise to reunite Calder’s biological mother with her son. Lily knows merfolk are bound to keep their promises. Calder’s not buying into it, though. He chalks up the dreams to stress. He wants Lily to focus on the future—their future, not the past. Which forces Lily to send Calder away. Calder goes, feeling rejected and more than a little tempted to revert to his hunting ways.
What both of them overlook is the present: Calder’s sisters, Maris and Pavati, are fighting for control of the mermaid clan, and now that Lily and her dad have transformed into mer-creatures, both mermaids vie for daughter and father as allies. Which of the two mermaids can be trusted? Will Lily make costly mistakes, forcing her to descend to the depths of Lake Superior? And if Calder returns, will he be the same merman Lily grew to love? The stakes are high, with many lives at risk, but Calder and Lily must confront the past as well as their darkest impulses if they want a chance at being together.

Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Promise Bound?

My favorite things about PROMISE BOUND are getting back into Calder’s head and letting him narrate again (both he and Lily narrate), also tying up all the loose ends and making the big, big reveal.

Purchase Promise Bound at Amazon
Purchase Promise Bound at IndieBound
View Promise Bound on Goodreads

MORE YOUNG ADULT NOVELS NEW IN STORES NEXT WEEK

A Breath of Frost
by Alyxandra Harvey
Hardcover
Walker Childrens; 1 edition
Released 1/7/2014

In 1814, three cousins-Gretchen, Emma, and Penelope-discover their unknown family lineage of witchcraft. Beyond the familiar manicured gardens and ballrooms of Regency London, a dangerous, alluring new underworld visible only to those with power is now open to the cousins.
But unbeknownst to them, by claiming their power, the three cousins have inadvertently opened the gates to the Underworld.
Now the dead, ghouls, hellhounds-and the most terrifying of all: the spirits of dark witches known as the Greymalkin Sisters-are hunting and killing young debutante witches for their powers.
And, somehow, Emma is connected to the murders…because she keeps finding the bodies.
Can the cousins unravel the clues and mystery behind their heritage and power before their gifts are stripped away …or even worse, another witch is killed?

Purchase A Breath of Frost at Amazon
Purchase A Breath of Frost at IndieBound
View A Breath of Frost on Goodreads

Being Sloane Jacobs
by Lauren Morrill
Hardcover
Delacorte Press
Released 1/7/2014

Meet Sloane Emily Jacobs: a seriously stressed-out figure-skater from Washington, D.C., who choked during junior nationals and isn’t sure she’s ready for a comeback. What she does know is that she’d give anything to escape the mass of misery that is her life.

Now meet Sloane Devon Jacobs, a spunky ice hockey player from Philly who’s been suspended from her team for too many aggressive hip checks. Her punishment? Hockey camp, now, when she’s playing the worst she’s ever played. If she messes up? Her life will be over.

When the two Sloanes meet by chance in Montreal and decide to trade places for the summer, each girl thinks she’s the lucky one: no strangers to judge or laugh at Sloane Emily, no scouts expecting Sloane Devon to be a hero. But it didn’t occur to Sloane E. that while avoiding sequins and axels she might meet a hockey hottie—and Sloane D. never expected to run into a familiar (and very good-looking) face from home. It’s not long before the Sloanes discover that convincing people you’re someone else might be more difficult than being yourself.

Purchase Being Sloane Jacobs at Amazon
Purchase Being Sloane Jacobs at IndieBound
View Being Sloane Jacobs on Goodreads

Escape Theory
by Margaux Froley
Paperback
Soho Teen
Released 1/7/2014

Sixteen-year-old Devon Mackintosh has always felt like an outsider at Keaton, the prestigious California boarding school perched above the Pacific. As long as she’s not fitting in, Devon figures she might as well pad her application to Stanford’s psych program. So junior year, she decides to become a peer counselor, a de facto therapist for students in crisis. At first, it seems like it will be an easy fly-on-the-wall gig, but her expectations are turned upside down when Jason Hutchins (a.k.a. “Hutch”), one of the Keaton’s most popular students, commits suicide.

 Devon dives into her new role providing support for Hutch’s friends, but she’s haunted by her own attachment to him. The two shared an extraordinary night during their first week freshman year; it was the only time at Keaton when she felt like someone else really understood her.  As the secrets and confessions pile up in her sessions, Devon comes to a startling conclusion: Hutch couldn’t have taken his own life. Bound by her oath of confidentiality—and tortured by her unrequited love—Devon embarks on a solitary mission to get to the bottom of Hutch’s death, and the stakes are higher than she ever could have imagined.

Read an excerpt of Escape Theory. http://bit.ly/Yi5DZf

From the Hardcover edition.

Purchase Escape Theory at Amazon
Purchase Escape Theory at IndieBound
View Escape Theory on Goodreads

In Dreams
by Erica Orloff
Paperback
Speak
Released 1/9/2014

Inception meets Unearthly in this hot romance for fans of Meg Cabot’s Abandon Series!

In the land of nightmares, she finds the man of her dreams…
He haunts her in her dreams.
She is always searching, looking for the man who calls her from afar, a disembodied voice who knows everything about her.
But when she discovers the unimaginable secret her family has hidden for so long, her dreams—and her nightmares—invade her reality.
Her true love beckons, but the terrors await her. . . . Can she find him in time, or will their love—and her life—be destroyed?

Sixteen-year-old Iris has a recurring dream a long corridor of many doors, and behind each door a hidden world—some magical, some terrifying. But always she is searching for the man who calls to her—the man of her dreams—who knows everything about her, who stirs feelings in her she’s never felt before. When she discovers her father is actually the god of dreams, her nightmares and dreams follow her into reality, with both frightening and romantic results. Hunted by the god of nightmares, stalked by the horrifying creatures of the underworld, Iris must try to navigate both her worlds, as she tries to finally be with Sebastian, the man of her dreams. Can she triumph over the dangers that have haunted her forever, and be with Sebastian, or will terrors ultimately destroy them both?

Purchase In Dreams at Amazon
Purchase In Dreams at IndieBound
View In Dreams on Goodreads

Little Blue Lies
by Chris Lynch
Hardcover
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Released 1/7/2014

Here’s the summary from the catalog:

Two teens discover the true danger of love in this gripping novel from Printz Honor–winning author Chris Lynch.

Oliver loves Junie Blue. That’s true. Pretty much everything else is a lie. Both known for their deceit, Junie and O’s relationship was the only honest thing they had. But now that’s over. Oliver’s been dumped, and he’s miserable. Junie says they’re done. Unless she’s lying?

Junie’s father works for One Who Knows, the head of an organized crime family. He won’t tell O where Junie is, not even after O hears a rumor that Junie’s won the lottery—and that One Who Knows expects to be given her ticket. O fears Junie’s in danger, and he’s determined to come to her rescue. But is there honestly anything he can do?

Cannot. Wait.

Purchase Little Blue Lies at Amazon
Purchase Little Blue Lies at IndieBound
View Little Blue Lies on Goodreads

Love Reborn
by Yvonne Woon
Hardcover
Disney-Hyperion
Released 1/7/2014

Renée and Dante are dying. The soul they share cannot sustain them both, and they’re quickly running out of time.

But Renée has in her possession a legendary chest said to contain the secret to eternal life-if only they could solve the clues that lie within it. With both the Liberum, a Brotherhood of the Undead, and a team of Monitors, led by Renée’s own grandfather, in hot pursuit, Renée and Dante must keep the chest safe or risk having it fall into the wrong hands.

With the help of a mysterious letter-writer called only Monsieur, Renée and Dante follow a series of clues that lead them on a treacherous journey across Europe. They seek the Netherworld, a legendary chasm where souls go to be cleansed. It’s their only chance at a fresh start, but with it comes a terrible choice, one they never imagined they would be forced to make.

The third novel in the acclaimed Dead Beautiful series is a haunting story of sacrifice, loyalty, and a love that can never die.

Purchase Love Reborn at Amazon
Purchase Love Reborn at IndieBound
View Love Reborn on Goodreads

Never Was
by Larkin Reed, Tucker Reed, and Kelly Moore
Hardcover
Arthur A. Levine Books
Released 1/7/2014

At the end of AMBER HOUSE, Sarah made a choice that transformed everything–and now she must choose it all again.

“I was sixteen the second time I had my first kiss….”

After growing up in the free country of the Pacific Northwest, Sarah Parsons has settled in at Amber House, the stately Maryland home that’s been in her family for generations. But the world surrounding the House feels deeply wrong to Sarah. It’s a place where the colonists lost the 1776 Insurrection, where the American Confederation of States still struggles with segregation, and where Sarah is haunted by echoes of a better world that she knows never existed.

Her friend Jackson shares these visions of a different world–and together, they manage both to remember the way things ought to be, and to plan a daring mission that will reset the universe once again. It will involve objects from the past, knowledge of the future, a leap into the unknown … and in the end, a sacrifice Sarah never imagined.

Purchase Never Was at Amazon
Purchase Never Was at IndieBound
View Never Was on Goodreads

See Jane Run
by Hannah Jayne
Paperback
Sourcebooks Fire
Released 1/7/2014

For sixteen-year-old Riley, one question will change everything: Who is Jane O’Callahan?

Riley Spencer never thought twice about keeping secrets from her parents-not big ones, at least. They didn’t need to know that her math tutor was also her boyfriend and that cocktail dress she “borrowed” from her mom would be back before she missed it. But when she finds a birth certificate with the name Jane O’Callahan wedged inside her baby book, Riley must face the reality that her parents are the ones who might be lying to her.

Purchase See Jane Run at Amazon
Purchase See Jane Run at IndieBound
View See Jane Run on Goodreads

The Impossible Knife of Memory
by Laurie Halse Anderson
Hardcover
Viking Juvenile
Released 1/7/2014

For the past five years, Hayley Kincaid and her father, Andy, have been on the road, never staying long in one place as he struggles to escape the demons that have tortured him since his return from Iraq. Now they are back in the town where he grew up so Hayley can attend school. Perhaps, for the first time, Hayley can have a normal life, put aside her own painful memories, even have a relationship with Finn, the hot guy who obviously likes her but is hiding secrets of his own.

Will being back home help Andy’s PTSD, or will his terrible memories drag him to the edge of hell, and drugs push him over? The Impossible Knife of Memory is Laurie Halse Anderson at her finest: compelling, surprising, and impossible to put down.

Purchase The Impossible Knife of Memory at Amazon
Purchase The Impossible Knife of Memory at IndieBound
View The Impossible Knife of Memory on Goodreads

Unhinged
by A. G. Howard
Hardcover
Amulet Books
Released 1/7/2014

Alyssa Gardner has been down the rabbit hole and faced the bandersnatch. She saved the life of Jeb, the guy she loves, and escaped the machinations of the disturbingly seductive Morpheus and the vindictive Queen Red. Now all she has to do is graduate high school and make it through prom so she can attend the prestigious art school in London she’s always dreamed of.

That would be easier without her mother, freshly released from an asylum, acting overly protective and suspicious. And it would be much simpler if the mysterious Morpheus didn’t show up for school one day to tempt her with another dangerous quest in the dark, challenging Wonderland—where she (partly) belongs.

As prom and graduation creep closer, Alyssa juggles Morpheus’s unsettling presence in her real world with trying to tell Jeb the truth about a past he’s forgotten. Glimpses of Wonderland start to bleed through her art and into her world in very disturbing ways, and Morpheus warns that Queen Red won’t be far behind.

If Alyssa stays in the human realm, she could endanger Jeb, her parents, and everyone she loves. But if she steps through the rabbit hole again, she’ll face a deadly battle that could cost more than just her head.

Purchase Unhinged at Amazon
Purchase Unhinged at IndieBound
View Unhinged on Goodreads

When I Was the Greatest
by Jason Reynolds
Hardcover
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Released 1/7/2014

In Bed Stuy, New York, a small misunderstanding can escalate into having a price on your head—even if you’re totally clean. This gritty, triumphant debut captures the heart and the hardship of life for an urban teen.


A lot of the stuff that gives my neighborhood a bad name, I don’t really mess with. The guns and drugs and all that, not really my thing.


Nah, not his thing. Ali’s got enough going on, between school and boxing and helping out at home. His best friend Noodles, though. Now there’s a dude looking for trouble—and, somehow, it’s always Ali around to pick up the pieces. But, hey, a guy’s gotta look out for his boys, right? Besides, it’s all small potatoes; it’s not like anyone’s getting hurt.


And then there’s Needles. Needles is Noodles’s brother. He’s got a syndrome, and gets these ticks and blurts out the wildest, craziest things. It’s cool, though: everyone on their street knows he doesn’t mean anything by it.


Yeah, it’s cool…until Ali and Noodles and Needles find themselves somewhere they never expected to be…somewhere they never should’ve been—where the people aren’t so friendly, and even less forgiving.

Purchase When I Was the Greatest at Amazon
Purchase When I Was the Greatest at IndieBound
View When I Was the Greatest on Goodreads

a Rafflecopter giveaway