Happy Monday! This week we have giveaways for EXO and OUR OWN PRIVATE UNIVERSE and we’re featuring loads of new releases. Don’t forget to check out all the new releases and enter below to win.
Happy Reading,
Shelly, Sam, Jocelyn, Martina, Erin, Susan, Michelle, Laura, Anisaa, and Kristin
YA BOOK GIVEAWAYS THIS WEEK
Exo
by Fonda Lee
Hardcover Giveaway
U.S. Only
Scholastic Press
Released 1/31/2017
It’s been a century of peace since Earth became a colony of an alien race with far reaches into the galaxy. Some die-hard extremists still oppose alien rule on Earth, but Donovan Reyes isn’t one of them. His dad holds the prestigious position of Prime Liaison in the collaborationist government, and Donovan’s high social standing along with his exocel (a remarkable alien technology fused to his body) guarantee him a bright future in the security forces. That is, until a routine patrol goes awry and Donovan’s abducted by the human revolutionary group Sapience, determined to end alien control.
When Sapience realizes whose son Donovan is, they think they’ve found the ultimate bargaining chip . But the Prime Liaison doesn’t negotiate with terrorists, not even for his own son. Left in the hands of terrorists who have more uses for him dead than alive, the fate of Earth rests on Donovan’s survival. Because if Sapience kills him, it could spark another intergalactic war. And Earth didn’t win the last one . . .
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Exo?
My goal with EXO was to write an alien invasion story that was completely different from anything else I’d read or seen in YA fiction. There are plenty of aliens-conquer-earth stories out there, but I wanted to get past the arrival, invasion, and war part of the narrative and explore the idea of a world post- colonization, one in which humans have both benefited and suffered from the new world order. And I wanted to tell the story from the other side—we’ve seen plenty of plucky, brave, YA rebels who want to overthrow the system, but how about the story of someone who is in the system, who benefits from it and defends it despite all its flaws, yet is still heroic and tries to do the right thing? Could I make the reader root for someone who enforces alien rule over Earth? Could I make people ponder difficult, moral ambiguous issues while entertaining them with plenty of science fiction action? I think and hope that I succeeded, and if so, that’s my favorite thing about EXO.
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Our Own Private Universe
by Robin Talley
Advance Reader Copy Giveaway
U.S. Only
Harlequin Teen
Released 1/31/2017
Fifteen-year-old Aki Hunter knows she’s bisexual, but up until now she’s only dated guys—and her best friend, Lori, is the only person she’s out to. When she and Lori set off on a four-week youth-group mission trip in a small Mexican town, it never crosses Aki’s mind that there might be anyone in the group she’d be interested in dating. But that all goes out the window when Aki meets Christa.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Our Own Private Universe?
My favorite thing might be that OUR OWN PRIVATE UNIVERSE is a coming-of-age story featuring a romance between two girls, and that for the most part, it’s a happy story. I definitely think there’s a place for tragedy in literature, of course, and in LGBT young adult literature too ― but sometimes, especially when things are looking dark outside, it’s important to see happiness, too. And for us LGBT readers, it’s often still rare to find happy stories about our lives.
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MORE YOUNG ADULT FICTION IN STORES NEXT WEEK WITH AUTHOR INTERVIEWS
The Careful Undressing of Love
by Corey Ann Haydu
Hardcover
Dutton Books for Young Readers
Released 1/31/2017
Everyone who really knows Brooklyn knows Devonairre Street girls are different. They’re the ones you shouldn’t fall in love with. The ones with the curse. The ones who can get you killed.
Lorna Ryder is a Devonairre Street girl, and for years, paying lip service to the curse has been the small price of living in a neighborhood full of memories of her father, one of the thousands killed five years earlier in the 2001 Times Square Bombing. Then her best friend’s boyfriend is killed, and suddenly a city paralyzed by dread of another terrorist attack is obsessed with Devonairre Street and the price of falling in love.
Set in an America where recent history has followed a different path.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about The Careful Undressing of Love?
My favorite thing about my newest novel is, honestly, how much time I spent in the world of the book and how far I pushed myself and had others push me. I think ideas can start to feel stale when you are a few books into your career, and I knew I needed something different to challenge myself. THE CAREFUL UNDRESSING OF LOVE was that challenge. I love the contained feeling of my other books, and the way they speak to a world I’ve spent time in and bits and pieces of the life I’ve lived. THE CAREFUL UNDRESSING OF LOVE isn’t that kind of book. It’s about things I care about, but the world is a brand new one that I had to work hard to invent and make real.
When I write about New England or our current day New York City, I am drawing on experience. When I wrote about this reimagined New York City, I had mostly simply my imagination to draw on. When you’re writing a location as it exists in the real world, you don’t have to ask what something looks like or how history is taught or who the mayor is or what is being sold on street corners or what is considered safe or dangerous. Those questions are already answered for you. In writing THE CAREFUL UNDRESSING OF LOVE, I had to answer questions I’d never considered asking before. I had to make decisions about things that are totally set in the real world. And as I made those decisions, the book shifted and curled around them.
I love how much I learned writing this book. I learned that world building and plot are bound together, they bounce off each other. The world you create starts to dictates plot and plot makes you ask more questions and get more specific about your imagined world. It was a revelation for me. I’m a writer who is happiest when she’s being challenged, and this idea challenged me every step of the way. I’m so grateful.
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MORE YOUNG ADULT NOVELS NEW IN STORES NEXT WEEK
Blood of Wonderland
by Colleen Oakes
Hardcover
HarperTeen
Released 1/31/2017
Dinah has been exiled from Wonderland. The vicious father she always feared has framed her for the brutal murder of her brother and turned the kingdom against her.
Now hiding in the lush and mysterious Twisted Wood with only her war steed at her side, Dinah is faced with a choice: leave Wonderland forever or stay and fight her father for the throne.
When a chance encounter with one of her father’s long-lost enemies brings Dinah more allies than she ever could have imagined, war starts to feel inevitable. But before Dinah can lead her people into combat, she must confront certain truths about her heart and her destiny—no matter how dark those truths may be.
Revolution is rising in Wonderland. Dinah’s battle has begun.
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By Your Side
by Kasie West
Paperback
HarperTeen
Released 1/31/2017
In this irresistible story, Kasie West explores the timeless question of what to do when you fall for the person you least expect. Witty and romantic, this paperback original from a fan favorite is perfect for fans of Stephanie Perkins and Morgan Matson.
When Autumn Collins finds herself accidentally locked in the library for an entire weekend, she doesn’t think things could get any worse. But that’s before she realizes that Dax Miller is locked in with her. Autumn doesn’t know much about Dax except that he’s trouble. Between the rumors about the fight he was in (and that brief stint in juvie that followed it) and his reputation as a loner, he’s not exactly the ideal person to be stuck with. Still, she just keeps reminding herself that it is only a matter of time before Jeff, her almost-boyfriend, realizes he left her in the library and comes to rescue her.
Only he doesn’t come. No one does.
Instead it becomes clear that Autumn is going to have to spend the next couple of days living off vending-machine food and making conversation with a boy who clearly wants nothing to do with her. Except there is more to Dax than meets the eye. As he and Autumn first grudgingly, and then not so grudgingly, open up to each other, Autumn is struck by their surprising connection. But can their feelings for each other survive once the weekend is over and Autumn’s old life, and old love interest, threaten to pull her from Dax’s side?
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Caraval
by Stephanie Garber
Hardcover
Flatiron Books
Released 1/31/2017
Welcome, welcome to Caraval―Stephanie Garber’s sweeping tale of two sisters who escape their ruthless father when they enter the dangerous intrigue of a legendary game.
Scarlett has never left the tiny island where she and her beloved sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval, the far-away, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show, are over.
But this year, Scarlett’s long-dreamt of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner.
Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. But she nevertheless becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic with the other players in the game. And whether Caraval is real or not, she must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over, a dangerous domino effect of consequences is set off, and her sister disappears forever.
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Fire Color One
by Jenny Valentine
Hardcover
Philomel Books
Released 1/31/2017
A father and daughter reconnect after a life spent apart to find their mutual love of art isn’t the only thing they share in this beautifully written, heartrending story reminiscent of Big Fish.
Sixteen-year-old Iris itches constantly for the strike of a match. But when she’s caught setting one too many fires, she’s whisked away to London before she can get arrested—at least that’s the story her mother tells. Mounting debt actually drove them out of LA, and it’s greed that brings them to a home Iris doesn’t recognize, where her millionaire father—a man she’s never met—lives. Though not for much longer.
Iris’s father is dying, and her mother is determined to claim his life’s fortune, including his priceless art collection. Forced to live with him as part of an exploitive scheme, Iris soon realizes her father is far different than the man she’s been schooled to hate, and everything she thought she knew—about her father and herself—is suddenly unclear. There may be hidden beauty in Iris’s uncertain past, and future, if only she can see beyond the flames.
Beautifully written and powerfully felt, Fire Color One is a stunning tribute to fathers and daughters, and the power of connection through art.
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How to Break a Boy
by Laurie Devore
Hardcover
Imprint
Released 1/31/2017
Keep your enemies close, but your friends closer.
Olivia Clayton has mastered the art of tearing others down to stay on top. She and her best friend, Adrienne, rule their small southern town like all good mean girls do–through intimidation and manipulation.
After Olivia suffers a family tragedy and catches Adrienne sleeping with her boyfriend, Olivia is over it. She decides to make a change–but it’s impossible to resist taking Adrienne down one last time. Up to her old tricks, Olivia convinces golden boy Whit DuRant to be her SAT tutor and her fake boyfriend. But when it starts to feel real, Whit gets caught up in Olivia and Adrienne’s war.
Olivia may ruin everything she touches, but this time she won’t go down without a fight–not if it means losing Whit.
And definitely not if it means losing what’s left of herself.
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Lifers
by M.A. Griffin
Hardcover
Chicken House
Released 1/31/2017
Fear haunts the streets of Preston’s city: a girl has disappeared. Preston is drawn to investigate, exploring the city in the hunt for his missing friend. And deep in the bowels of a secret scientific institute, he discovers a sinister machine used to banish teenage criminals for their offenses.
Captured and condemned to a cavernous dimension, Preston is determined to escape. But this is no ordinary jail. Friendships will be forged and lives will be lost in a reckless battle for freedom, revenge–and revolution.
Set in a world all too similar to our own, Lifers is thrilling, pulse-pounding storytelling of the highest degree.
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Long Way Home
by Katie McGarry
Hardcover
Harlequin Teen
Released 1/31/2017
Seventeen-year-old Violet has always been expected to sit back and let the boys do all the saving.
It’s the code her father, a member of the Reign of Terror motorcycle club, raised her to live by. Yet when her dad is killed carrying out Terror business, Violet knows it’s up to her to do the saving. To protect herself, and her vulnerable younger brother, she needs to cut all ties with the club—including Chevy, the boy she’s known and loved her whole life.
But when a rival club comes after Violet, exposing old secrets and making new threats, she’s forced to question what she thought she knew about her father, the Reign of Terror, and what she thinks she wants. Which means re-evaluating everything: love, family, friends . . . and forgiveness.
Caught in the crosshairs between loyalty and freedom, Violet must decide whether old friends can be trusted—and if she’s strong enough to be the one person to save them all.
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Silver Stars
by Michael Grant
Hardcover
Katherine Tegen Books
Released 1/31/2017
The summer of 1943, World War II. With heavy memories of combat, Frangie, Rainy, Rio, and the rest of the American army are moving on to their next target: the Italian island of Sicily.
The women won’t conquer Italy alone. They are not heroes for fighting alongside their brothers—they are soldiers. But Frangie, Rainy, Rio, and the millions of brave females fighting for their country have become a symbol in the fight for equality. They will brave terrible conditions in an endless siege; they will fight to find themselves on the front lines of WWII; and they will come face-to-face with the brutality of war until they win or die.
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The Dark Days Pact
by Alison Goodman
Hardcover
Viking Books for Young Readers
Released 1/31/2017
June 1812. Just weeks after her catastrophic coming-out ball, Lady Helen Wrexhall—now disowned by her uncle—is a full member of the demon-hunting Dark Days Club. Her mentor, Lord Carlston, has arranged for Helen and her maid, Darby, to spend the summer season in Bristol, where Helen can sharpen her Reclaimer powers. Then the long-term effects of Carlston’s Reclaimer work take hold, and his sanity begins to slip. At the same time, Carlston’s Dark Days Club colleague and nemesis will stop at nothing to bring Helen over to his side—and the Duke of Selburn is determined to marry her. The stakes are ever higher for Helen, and her decision will truly change the world…
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The Edge of Everything
by Jeff Giles
Hardcover
Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Released 1/31/2017
It’s been a shattering year for seventeen-year-old Zoe, who’s still reeling from her father’s shockingly sudden death in a caving accident and her neighbors’ mysterious disappearance from their own home. Then on a terrifying sub-zero, blizzardy night in Montana, she and her brother are brutally attacked in a cabin in the woods–only to be rescued by a mysterious bounty hunter they call X.
X is no ordinary bounty hunter. He is from a hell called the Lowlands, sent to claim the soul of Zoe’s evil attacker and others like him. Forbidden to reveal himself to anyone other than his victims, X casts aside the Lowlands’ rules for Zoe. As X and Zoe learn more about their different worlds, they begin to question the past, their fate, and their future. But escaping the Lowlands and the ties that bind X might mean the ultimate sacrifice for both of them.
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Wait for Me
by Caroline Leech
Hardcover
HarperTeen
Released 1/31/2017
The perfect blend of sweet romance and historical flavor, Wait for Me, from debut author Caroline Leech, brings a fresh new voice to a much-loved genre.
It’s 1945, and Lorna Anderson’s life on her father’s farm in Scotland consists of endless chores and rationing, knitting Red Cross scarves, and praying for an Allied victory. So when Paul Vogel, a German prisoner of war, is assigned as the new farmhand, Lorna is appalled. How can she possibly work alongside the enemy when her own brothers are risking their lives for their country?
But as Lorna reluctantly spends time with Paul, she feels herself changing. The more she learns about him—from his time in the war to his life back home in Germany—the more she sees the boy behind the soldier. Soon Lorna is battling her own warring heart. Loving Paul could mean losing her family and the life she’s always known. With tensions rising all around them, Lorna must decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice before the end of the war determines their fate.
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