It’s past the middle of October now, and we’re well into the fall spirit. Halloween is just around the corner, and the weather is absolutely perfect for snuggling up under a blanket with a book or two. Take a look at this week’s offerings, and enjoy!
Happy reading,
Lindsey, Martina, Sam, Jocelyn, Erin, Lisa, Shelly, Susan, Elizabeth, Kristin, Sandra and Anisaa
YA BOOK GIVEAWAYS THIS WEEK
Tell the Story to Its End
by Simon P. Clark
Hardcover Giveaway
St. Martin’s Griffin
Released 10/20/2015
In this beautiful, haunting debut, a boy is whisked away to the country in the wake of a scandal, and finds a captivating creature in the attic whose attention comes at a sinister price.
“Tell the story to its end,” says Eren with a grin.
His yellow eyes are glowing like embers in the night.
“When I reach the end,” I say, “what happens? You’ll have the whole story.”
“Hmm,” he says, looking at me and licking his lips with a dry, grey tongue. “What happens then? Why don’t we find out?”
People are keeping secrets from Oli. His mum has brought him to stay with his aunt and uncle in the countryside, but nobody will tell him where his father is. Why isn’t he with them? Has something happened? Oli has a hundred questions, and only an old, empty house in the middle of an ancient forest for answers. But then he finds a secret of his own: there is a creature that lives in the attic…
Eren is not human.
Eren is hungry for stories.
Eren has been waiting for him.
Sharing his stories with Eren, Oli starts to make sense of what’s happening downstairs with his family. But what if it’s a trap? Soon, Oli must make a choice: learn the truth—or abandon himself to Eren’s world, forever.
Reminiscent of SKELLIG by David Almond and A MONSTER CALLS by Patrick Ness, EREN is richly atmospheric, moving, unsettleing, and told in gorgeous prose. A modern classic in the making.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Tell the Story to Its End?
Difficult question! It’s my first novel, so everything seems extra special. If I had to choose one thing, I’d pick the illustrations. I’m so lucky that my editor suggested them, and working with the artist, Ellie Denwood, was great fun. We chose a few scenes that would work well as simple black and white sketches, and seeing my words become pictures was bizarre. Up until then, these things had only ever existed in my head. There’s one illustration, just at the end of chapter seven, when Oli is first looking up into the attic, wondering what he’s really going to find … it’s really well done.
As for the writing – Tell The Story To Its End has a few ‘stories within the story’, and my favourite of those is probably the tale of a star that falls into an orchard, and has to find its way back home.
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Velvet Undercover
by Teri Brown
Hardcover Giveaway
U.S. Only
Balzer + Bray
Released 10/20/2015
Perfect for fans of Jennifer Donnelly and Libba Bray comes this page-turning historical spy thriller from Teri Brown, author of the Born of Illusion series.
Samantha Donaldson’s family has always done its duty for the British Crown. In the midst of World War I, seventeen-year-old Sam follows in their footsteps, serving her country from the homefront as a messenger for the intelligence organization MI5. After her father disappears on a diplomatic mission, she continues their studies of languages, mathematics, and complex puzzles, hoping to make him proud.
When Sam is asked to join the famed women’s spy group La Dame Blanche, she’s torn—while this could be an unbelievable adventure, how can she abandon her mother, who has already lost a husband? But when her handlers reveal shocking news, Sam realizes she can’t refuse the exciting and dangerous opportunity.
Her acceptance leads her straight into the heart of enemy territory on a mission to extract the most valuable British spy embedded in Germany, known only as Velvet. Deep undercover in the court of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Sam must navigate the labyrinthine palace and its many glamorous—and secretive—residents to complete her assignment. To make matters worse she must fight a forbidden attraction to the enemy—a dangerously handsome German guard. In a place where personal politics are treacherously entangled in wartime policy, can Sam find Velvet before it’s too late . . . for them both?
A thrilling story of one girl’s journey into a deadly world of spy craft and betrayal—with unforgettable consequences.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Velvet Undercover?
I love Velvet Undercover with a passion, but I think what I love most about it is that the romance in it is very subtle and takes a backseat to the plot. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good romance and there are a few moments in Velvet that made me practically swoon when I wrote them, but honestly it was more because of human connection than a traditional romance. Sam isn’t looking for romance–she wants her father back. There’s a war going on and that and survival are uppermost in her mind. The friendships she forges during her time in Germany are fraught with peril…. and so is any romance she might run into and that is my favorite thing about Velvet Undercover!
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Willful Machines
by Tim Floreen
Hardcover Giveaway
U.S. Only
Simon Pulse
Released 10/20/2015
In this action-packed, high-octane debut, the closeted son of an ultra-conservative president must keep a budding romance secret from his father while protecting himself from a sentient computer program that’s terrorizing the United States–and has zeroed in on him as its next target.
In the near future, scientists create what may be a new form of life: an artificial human named Charlotte. All goes well until Charlotte escapes, transfers her consciousness to the Internet, and begins terrorizing the American public.
Charlotte’s attacks have everyone on high alert–everyone except Lee Fisher, the closeted son of the US president. Lee has other things to worry about, like keeping his Secret Service detail from finding out about his crush on Nico, the eccentric, Shakespeare-obsessed new boy at school. And keeping Nico from finding out about his recent suicide attempt. And keeping himself from freaking out about all his secrets.
But when attacks start happening at his school, Lee realizes he’s Charlotte’s next target. Even worse, Nico may be part of Charlotte’s plan too.
As Lee races to save himself, uncover Charlotte’s plan, and figure out if he can trust Nico, he comes to a whole new understanding of what it means to be alive… and what makes life worth living.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Willful Machines?
The dynamic between the two main characters. Lee’s a thoughtful introvert who tends to see the world through gloom-colored glasses, and I love how his life gets upended by the weird but charismatic Nico. Their dialogue was a blast to write. Also, I’m a big fan of cool science fiction stories with lots of sleek gadgetry, but I enjoy just as much creepy gothic tales that involve big, shadowy houses with creaking floorboards. I had so much fun combining these two very different genres in WILLFUL MACHINES.
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Wolf by Wolf
by Ryan Graudin
Hardcover Giveaway
U.S. Only
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Released 10/20/2015
Code Name Verity meets Inglourious Basterds in this fast-paced novel from the author of The Walled City.
The year is 1956, and the Axis powers of the Third Reich and Imperial Japan rule the world. To commemorate their Great Victory over Britain and Russia, Hitler and Emperor Hirohito host the Axis Tour: an annual motorcycle race across their conjoined continents. The victor is awarded an audience with the highly reclusive Adolf Hitler at the Victor’s ball.
Yael, who escaped from a death camp, has one goal: Win the race and kill Hitler. A survivor of painful human experimentation, Yael has the power to skinshift and must complete her mission by impersonating last year’s only female victor, Adele Wolfe. This deception becomes more difficult when Felix, Adele twin’s brother, and Luka, her former love interest, enter the race and watch Yael’s every move. But as Yael begins to get closer to the other competitors, can she bring herself to be as ruthless as she needs to be to avoid discovery and complete her mission?
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Wolf by Wolf?
WOLF BY WOLF is a strange book. It’s a risky book. I knew this the moment the concept of a cross continental motorcycle race in an alt-history post WWII landscape popped into my head. Aspiring writers are constantly bombarded with advice–write what you know, write every day, write what you want to read. This last rule was the basis for writing WOLF BY WOLF.
My father has always been fascinated with the WWII era, an interest he passed on to me. I read stacks on stacks of books: biographies, textbooks, non-fiction, novels, collections of letters. There are plenty of wonderful YA books tackling the era: THE BOOK THIEF and CODE NAME VERITY among the most recently published. But one of the sub-genres that is fairly common in the adult section–alternate history–was nowhere to be found among the young adult tomes. When I started writing WOLF BY WOLF, it was because I wanted to read a YA exploring a world like Robert Harris’s FATHERLAND and Philip K. Dick’s THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE.
WOLF BY WOLF also allowed me to be flexible genre wise (which I love doing in my stories). Aside from alt-WWII history, the book incorporates two of my other passions: fantasy and traveling. Blending all of these elements together was really exciting for me as a writer and it’s my hope that my readers will catch that same excitement when they read!
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YA BOOK GIVEAWAYS LAST WEEK: WINNERS
Blue Voyage by Diana Renn – Tiffany J.
Dark Tide by Jennifer Donnelly Kathryn F.
Darkthaw by Kate A. Boorman – Yun-A K.
The Beast of Cretacea by Todd Strasser – Sarah T.
The Emperor of Any Place by Tim Wynne-Jones – Claire W.
Trust Me, I’m Trouble by Mary Elizabeth Summer – Veronika E.
MORE YOUNG ADULT FICTION IN STORES NEXT WEEK WITH AUTHOR INTERVIEWS
Red Girl, Blue Boy
by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
Hardcover
Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Released 10/20/2015
Enjoy Red Girl, Blue Boy and the other standalone titles in Bloomsbury’s contemporary If Only romance line centered around an impossible problem: you always want what you can’t have!
Sixteen-year-old Katie and Drew really shouldn’t get along. After all, her father is the Republican nominee for President of the United States while his mother is at the top of the Democratic ticket. But when Katie and Drew are thrown together in a joint interview on a morning talk show, they can’t ignore the chemistry between them. With an entire nation tuned into and taking sides in your parents’ fight, and the knowledge that—ultimately—someone has to lose, how can you fall in love with the one person you’re supposed to hate?
This title in the If Only line is a frank and funny romance that shows how sparks fly when opposites attract.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Red Girl, Blue Boy?
What a wonderful question! My favorite thing, easily, was getting the opportunity to write something lighthearted about characters who are basically good, decent people. I’d previously written several comedies for the adult market. But while some of my YA novels have had light moments interspersed with the dark, a good example of which would be The Education of Bet, there still is the dark; and with a book like The Twin’s Daughter, that has a murder at the centerpiece, it can get really dark. So would I say Drew and Katie are perfect human beings? Not at all. They’re flawed, as are we all. And perfect human beings would be boring in fiction. They can be self-absorbed, particularly Katie; they can jump to unreasonable conclusions; they can lash out when they’re hurt. But at core, they are good, so it was a pleasure for me to spend time with them, while at the same time getting to create comedic situations for them that I hope will make readers laugh.
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The Many Lives of John Stone
by Linda Buckley-Archer
Hardcover
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Released 10/20/2015
An English teen questions all she knows about aging when she encounters a set of journals that date from the present back to the reign of King Louis XIV in this blend of contemporary and historical fiction from the author of the acclaimed Gideon trilogy.
Stella Park (Spark for short) has found summer work cataloging historical archives in John Stone’s remote and beautiful house in Suffolk, England. She wasn’t quite sure what to expect, and her uncertainty about living at Stowney House only increases upon arriving: what kind of people live in the twenty-first century without using electricity, telephones, or even a washing machine? Additionally, the notebooks she’s organizing span centuries—they begin in the court of Louis XIV in Versailles—but are written in the same hand. Something strange is going on for sure, and Spark’s questions are piling up. Who exactly is John Stone? What connection does he have to these notebooks? And more importantly, why did he hire her in the first place?
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about The Many Lives of John Stone?
TIME – the flow of it, time as memory, time as history (in terms of how it changes us as individuals, families and cultures – fascinates me. In THE GIDEON TRILOGY, I used the device of time travel to look at history through contemporary eyes, which was fun to do. With THE MANY LIVES OF JOHN STONE (which is aimed at an older audience) I took a different approach. By having a three hundred-and-fifty-year old man talk about a pivotal moment in his 17th-century youth to a contemporary teenage girl, I was able to present history in a very personal way. It was wonderful to bring the court of the Sun King to life and I have included photographs of Versailles in the book to help create vivid images in the reader’s mind (Laurent Linn, the book designer, did a great job with these). No one knows how long they’ve got on this earth, but whatever age you get to, your youth – which will inevitably become your past – forms you. The people you grow to love, over time, form you. Your choices form you. John Stone often reminds himself that there is nothing more important than this day. However, he has another saying, which is equally true (and not just for him): In me the past lives. Who we are is the sum total of all the moments we have lived in time, and for the mysterious John Stone, who is a character I have grown to love, it feels like he’s led not one life but many.
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MORE YOUNG ADULT NOVELS NEW IN STORES NEXT WEEK
Dead Investigation
by Charlie Price
Hardcover
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Released 10/20/2015
A companion to Dead Connection, from the Edgar Award–winning author.
In this standalone sequel to Charlie Price’s acclaimed debut novel, Murray is a boy who lives in a cemetery and can talk with those buried beneath the tombstones. He’d rather no one knew, but word got out once he helped solve a fellow student’s murder. Now people think he’s nuts, or want to use his ability for their own ends, or don’t care that he might not want to get tangled in another police investigation all over again. But there’s been a brutal killing—maybe more than one—and Murray may be able to help unravel the crime, although not without risking his own life.
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Illuminae
by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Hardcover
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Released 10/20/2015
This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.
This afternoon, her planet was invaded.
The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.
But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it’s clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.
Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.
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