Happy Monday! This week is full of great new releases and giveaways! Not only do we have 6 awesome books to feature, we also have multiple copies of both RIPPLE and THE LYING PLANET (one copy going to an international winner!)! Don’t forget to check out all new releases and enter to win below.
Happy Reading,
Shelly, Sam, Jocelyn, Martina, Erin, Susan, Michelle, Laura, Anisaa, and Kristin
YA BOOK GIVEAWAYS THIS WEEK
The Female of the Species
by Mindy McGinnis
Signed Hardcover Giveaway
U.S. Only
Katherine Tegen Books
Released 9/20/2016
Alex Craft knows how to kill someone. And she doesn’t feel bad about it. When her older sister, Anna, was murdered three years ago and the killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best. The language of violence.
While her crime goes unpunished, Alex knows she can’t be trusted among other people, even in her small hometown. She relegates herself to the shadows, a girl who goes unseen in plain sight, unremarkable in the high school hallways.
But Jack Fisher sees her. He’s the guy all other guys want to be: the star athlete gunning for valedictorian with the prom queen on his arm. Guilt over the role he played the night Anna’s body was discovered hasn’t let him forget Alex over the years, and now her green eyes amid a constellation of freckles have his attention. He doesn’t want to only see Alex Craft; he wants to know her.
So does Peekay, the preacher’s kid, a girl whose identity is entangled with her dad’s job, though that does not stop her from knowing the taste of beer or missing the touch of her ex-boyfriend. When Peekay and Alex start working together at the animal shelter, a friendship forms and Alex’s protective nature extends to more than just the dogs and cats they care for.
Circumstances bring Alex, Jack, and Peekay together as their senior year unfolds. While partying one night, Alex’s darker nature breaks out, setting the teens on a collision course that will change their lives forever.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about The Female of the Species?
I think it addresses female rage – but not in the “girl fight” way that goes viral. This is female rage against the machine, not against another female. In a lot of ways I think girls are taught to look at other females as competition as opposed to fellow women existing side by side in a darker collective. While her approach is most certainly morally questionable, my main character views other females as compatriots.
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Ripple
by Heather Smith Meloche
Hardcover Giveaway (3 Copies)
U.S. Only
G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Released 9/20/2016
When their too-adult lives lead them down self-destructive paths, these broken teens find a way to heal in this YA novel perfect for fans of Ellen Hopkins
With her impossible-to-please grandmother on her back about college and her disapproving step-dad watching her every move, Tessa would do anything to escape the pressure-cooker she calls home. So she finds a shot of much-needed power and confidence by hooking up with boys, even though it means cheating on her boyfriend. But when she’s finally caught red-handed, she’ll do anything she can to cover up what she’s done.
Jack is a prankster who bucks the system every chance he gets—each transgression getting riskier and riskier. He loves the thrill, and each adventure allows a little release because his smug smile and suave demeanor in the face of authority doesn’t make life at home with his mom any less tough. He tries to take care of her, but the truth is he’s powerless in the face of her fragile mental health. So he copes in his own way, by defacing public property and pulling elaborate pranks, though he knows in the end this’ll only screw up his life even more.
As they both try not to let their self-destructive patterns get the best of them, Tessa and Jack gravitate toward one another, discovering the best parts of themselves in the process. An honest portrayal of the urges that drive us and finding the strength to overcome them, Ripple is a stunning debut from a powerful new voice.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Ripple?
RIPPLE is a novel told in two voices – Tessa’s and Jack’s. And my favorite thing about the book is Jack, Jack, and more Jack. Don’t get me wrong, Tessa, my female lead, is a thinker and very creative, but she’s also more of a worrier and has a darker, quieter demeanor. On the flip side, Jack tends to steal every scene he’s in by being funny, smart, blunt, and just plain awesome. When I was writing him, I always wondered what was going to come out of his mouth and what whacked-out moves he was going to make. So many times, he had me laughing to the point of snorting. Humor tends to thwart the bleakness surrounding tough issues and, therefore, instill a sense of hope. Since both characters have a seriously difficult home life filled with dysfunction, mental illness, and addiction, Jack’s always there to add some levity with his antics and humor. People can’t help but like him. As my agent has said, “Jack’s a character for the ages.” I agree.
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The Lying Planet
by Carol Riggs
paperback for US winner & ebook for International Giveaway (2 Copies)
Entangled: digiTeen
Released 9/19/2016
Promise City. That’s the colony I’ve been aiming for all my life on the planet Liberty. The only thing standing in my way? The Machine. On my eighteenth birthday, this mysterious, octopus-like device will scan my brain and Test my deeds. Good thing I’ve been focusing on being Jay Lawton, hard worker and rule follower, my whole life. Freedom is just beyond my fingertips.
Or so I thought. Two weeks before my Testing with the Machine, I’ve stumbled upon a new reality. The truth. In a single sleepless night, everything I thought I knew about the adults in our colony changes. And the only one who’s totally on my side is the clever, beautiful rebel, Peyton. Together we have to convince the others to sabotage their Testings before it’s too late.
Before the ceremonies are over and the hunting begins.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about The Lying Planet?
My favorite thing about THE LYING PLANET is the theme tied into how teens relate to their parents. That necessary pulling away as kids approach age 18, striving toward independence and self-reliance after a lifetime of being nurtured and protected. The conflict—and sense of betrayal—that can often come from this process. Even more interestingly…on the planet Liberty for Jay Lawton, this process comes with a twisted kind of revelation. (And as Peyton says in the book: “I can’t tell you any more, or I’d have to de-materialize you…”)
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The Swan Riders
by Erin Bow
Hardcover Giveaway
U.S. Only
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Released 9/20/2016
Greta Stuart has become AI. New transmitters have silvered her fingerprints. New receptors have transformed her vision. And the whole of her memory has become one book in a vast library of instant knowledge. Greta is ready to rule the world.
But the new technology is also killing her.
Greta is only sixteen years old, but her new enhancements are burning through her mortal body at an alarming rate. Of course the leader of the AIs, an ancient and compelling artificial intelligence named Talis, has a plan. Greta can simply do what he’s done when the time comes, and take over the body of one of the Swan Riders, the utterly loyal humans who serve the AIs as part army, part cult.
First though, Greta will have to find a way to stay sane inside her new self. Talis’s plan for that involves a road trip. Escorted by Swan Riders, Greta and Talis set out on a horseback journey across the strange and not-quite-deserted landscape of Saskatchewan. But there are other people interested in Greta, people who want to change the world…and the Swan Riders might not be as loyal as they appear…
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about The Swan Riders?
My favorite part of The Swan Riders is actually the minor character, Evie. I want to write an entire spin off about the nine-year-old immortal room-shaped artificial intelligence and her weird friends and obsession with locks. It would be the world’s most disturbing middle grade and it would be GREAT.
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Vassa in the Night
by Sarah Porter
Hardcover Giveaway
U.S. Only
Tor Teen
Released 9/20/2016
In the enchanted kingdom of Brooklyn, the fashionable people put on cute shoes, go to parties in warehouses, drink on rooftops at sunset, and tell themselves they’ve arrived. A whole lot of Brooklyn is like that now—but not Vassa’s working-class neighborhood.
In Vassa’s neighborhood, where she lives with her stepmother and bickering stepsisters, one might stumble onto magic, but stumbling out again could become an issue. Babs Yagg, the owner of the local convenience store, has a policy of beheading shoplifters—and sometimes innocent shoppers as well. So when Vassa’s stepsister sends her out for light bulbs in the middle of night, she knows it could easily become a suicide mission.
But Vassa has a bit of luck hidden in her pocket, a gift from her dead mother. Erg is a tough-talking wooden doll with sticky fingers, a bottomless stomach, and a ferocious cunning. With Erg’s help, Vassa just might be able to break the witch’s curse and free her Brooklyn neighborhood. But Babs won’t be playing fair. . . .
Inspired by the Russian folktale Vassilissa the Beautiful and Sarah Porter’s years of experience teaching creative writing to New York City students, Vassa in the Night weaves a dark yet hopeful tale about a young girl’s search for home, love, and belonging.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Vassa in the Night?
Probably Vassa herself. I love her voice, the mixture of snappishness with lyricism, and wounded prickliness with sensitivity, and brass with vulnerability. I love how unaware she is of her own sweetness, how the depth of her heart keeps coming through against her will. I wish I could take care of her and soothe all her pain, but instead I’ll just have to trust her to take care of herself.
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The Odds of Lightning
by Jocelyn Davies
Hardcover Giveaway
U.S. Only
Simon Pulse
Released 9/20/2016
A bolt of lightning inspires an incredible journey in this charming, magical realism adventure that takes four teens on an all-night journey through the streets of New York City.
Extraordinary things happen when we least expect them.
Tiny, Lu, Will and Nathaniel used to be best friends. Then life-defining events the summer before high school tore them apart. Now, three years later, they hardly talk anymore. Nathaniel has become obsessed with winning the prestigious science scholarship that his genius older brother once won. Will has risen from anonymity to popular soccer star. Lu grew into a brash, impetuous actress. And shy, poetic Tiny has slowly been fading away.
But fate weaves their lives together again the night before the SATs, during a wild thunderstorm that threatens to shut down New York City. And lightning strikes.
Before they know what’s hit them, the four teens embark on an epic all-night adventure to follow their dreams, fall in and out of love, reconcile the past, and overcome the fears that have been driving them since that one lost summer. And by the time the sun rises, odds are they’ll discover that there’s a fine line between science and magic, and that the mysteries of love and friendship can’t be explained.
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YA BOOK GIVEAWAYS LAST WEEK: WINNERS
Fall of Hades by Richard Paul Evans: Tatiana J.
Overdrive by Dawn Ius: Emma H.
The Reader by Traci Chee: Theresa S.
MORE YOUNG ADULT FICTION IN STORES NEXT WEEK WITH AUTHOR INTERVIEWS
Frost Like Night
by Sara Raasch
Hardcover
Balzer + Bray
Released 9/20/2016
Angra is alive, his Decay is spreading—and no one is safe.
Meira will do anything to save her world. With Angra trying to break through her mental defenses, she desperately needs to learn to control her own magic—so when the leader of a mysterious Order from Paisly offers to teach her, she jumps at the chance. But the true solution to stopping the Decay lies in a labyrinth deep beneath the Season Kingdoms. To defeat Angra, Meira will have to enter the labyrinth, destroy the very magic she’s learning to control—and make the biggest sacrifice of all.
Mather will do anything to save his queen. He needs to rally the Children of the Thaw, find Meira—and finally tell her how he really feels. But with a plan of attack that leaves no kingdom unscathed and a major betrayal within their ranks, winning the war—and protecting Meira—slips farther and farther out of reach.
Ceridwen will do anything to save her people. Angra had her brother killed, stole her kingdom, and made her a prisoner. But when she’s freed by an unexpected ally who reveals a shocking truth behind Summer’s slave trade, Ceridwen must take action to save her true love and her kingdom, even if it costs her what little she has left.
As Angra unleashes the Decay on the world, Meira, Mather, and Ceridwen must bring the kingdoms of Primoria together…or lose everything.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Frost Like Night?
The culmination of all the various storylines! The best part of series/trilogies is by far the pay off — getting to see these characters go through so many situations, and coming to know them in such a deep way that when they finally reach these ultimate goals, you feel like YOU are reaching these goals too. I hope readers are as satisfied as I was writing it!
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Metaltown
by Kristen Simmons
Hardcover
Tor Teen
Released 9/20/2016
Metaltown, where factories rule, food is scarce, and hope is in short supply.
The rules of Metaltown are simple: Work hard, keep your head down, and watch your back. You look out for number one, and no one knows that better than Ty. She’s been surviving on the factory line as long as she can remember. But now Ty has Colin. She’s no longer alone; it’s the two of them against the world. That’s something even a town this brutal can’t take away from her. Until it does.
Lena’s future depends on her family’s factory, a beast that demands a ruthless master, and Lena is prepared to be as ruthless as it takes if it means finally proving herself to her father. But when a chance encounter with Colin, a dreamer despite his circumstances, exposes Lena to the consequences of her actions, she’ll risk everything to do what’s right.
In Lena, Ty sees an heiress with a chip on her shoulder. Colin sees something more. In a world of disease and war, tragedy and betrayal, allies and enemies, all three of them must learn that challenging what they thought was true can change all the rules.
An enthralling story of friendship and rebellion, Metaltown will have you believing in the power of hope.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Metaltown?
Definitely the relationships between the characters. METALTOWN includes my favorite character I’ve ever written and every moment on page with her was pure joy. I loved writing her interactions with other people – she’s tough and gritty and doesn’t take crap from anyone (can you guess who she is yet?). Hope you love the book!
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Stalking Jack the Ripper
by Kerri Maniscalco
Hardcover
Jimmy Patterson
Released 9/20/2016
Presented by James Patterson’s new children’s imprint, this deliciously creepy horror novel has a storyline inspired by the Ripper murders and an unexpected, blood-chilling conclusion…
Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord’s daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.
Against her stern father’s wishes and society’s expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle’s laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world.
The story’s shocking twists and turns, augmented with real, sinister period photos, will make this dazzling debut from author Kerri Maniscalco impossible to forget.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Stalking Jack the Ripper?
My absolute FAVORITE thing about SJTR? I’m obviously biased, but the fact that it features a girl who loves science and isn’t afraid of her affinity for carving up cadavers really gets me. Growing up I was OBSESSED with forensics and always felt that science is like real-life magic. Being able to have a character get her hands dirty in one scene, then sport some badass lacy gloves in the next while quietly rebelling against society…yeah. I love that part and hope readers do too.
I also love imagining who the people were behind the scenes during the real life investigation — it was really interesting as a writer to explore the different possibilities and scenarios going on outside of the media frenzy. To imagine a young woman being at the forefront of this case, and being tough as the scalpel between her fingers while she went out and actively sought Jack the Ripper—I just adore it. Audrey is also really into living her life as authentically as possible. Something that I think resonates with us today. Being yourself in a world that isn’t ready to accept you, but having the strength to do it anyway…I have the greatest admiration for the trailblazers of yesterday and today.
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MORE YOUNG ADULT NOVELS NEW IN STORES NEXT WEEK
A Shadow Bright and Burning
by Jessica Cluess
Hardcover
Random House Books for Young Readers
Released 9/20/2016
Henrietta Howel can burst into flames.
Forced to reveal her power to save a friend, she’s shocked when instead of being executed, she’s invited to train as one of Her Majesty’s royal sorcerers.
Thrust into the glamour of Victorian London, Henrietta is declared the chosen one, the girl who will defeat the Ancients, bloodthirsty demons terrorizing humanity. She also meets her fellow sorcerer trainees, handsome young men eager to test her power and her heart. One will challenge her. One will fight for her. One will betray her.
But Henrietta Howel is not the chosen one.
As she plays a dangerous game of deception, she discovers that the sorcerers have their own secrets to protect. With battle looming, what does it mean to not be the one? And how much will she risk to save the city—and the one she loves?
Exhilarating and gripping, Jessica Cluess’s spellbinding fantasy introduces a powerful, unforgettably heroine, and a world filled with magic, romance, and betrayal. Hand to fans of Libba Bray, Sarah J. Maas, and Cassandra Clare.
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Afterward
by Jennifer Mathieu
Hardcover
Roaring Brook Press
Released 9/20/2016
When Caroline’s little brother is kidnapped, his subsequent rescue leads to the discovery of Ethan, a teenager who has been living with the kidnapper since he was a young child himself. In the aftermath, Caroline can’t help but wonder what Ethan knows about everything that happened to her brother, who is not readjusting well to life at home. And although Ethan is desperate for a friend, he can’t see Caroline without experiencing a resurgence of traumatic memories. But after the media circus surrounding the kidnappings departs from their small Texas town, both Caroline and Ethan find that they need a friend–and their best option just might be each other.
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Kids of Appetite
by David Arnold
Hardcover
Viking Books for Young Readers
Released 9/20/2016
The bestselling author of Mosquitoland brings us another batch of unforgettable characters in this tragicomedy about first love and devastating loss.
Victor Benucci and Madeline Falco have a story to tell.
It begins with the death of Vic’s father.
It ends with the murder of Mad’s uncle.
The Hackensack Police Department would very much like to hear it.
But in order to tell their story, Vic and Mad must focus on all the chapters in between.
This is a story about:
1. A coded mission to scatter ashes across New Jersey.
2. The momentous nature of the Palisades in winter.
3. One dormant submarine.
4. Two songs about flowers.
5. Being cool in the traditional sense.
6. Sunsets & ice cream & orchards & graveyards.
7. Simultaneous extreme opposites.
8. A narrow escape from a war-torn country.
9. A story collector.
10. How to listen to someone who does not talk.
11. Falling in love with a painting.
12. Falling in love with a song.
13. Falling in love.
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Stealing Snow
by Danielle Paige
Hardcover
Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Released 9/20/2016
Seventeen-year-old Snow has spent the majority of her life within the walls of the Whittaker Institute, a high security mental hospital in upstate New York. Deep down, she knows she’s not crazy and doesn’t belong there. When she meets a mysterious, handsome new orderly and dreams about a strange twisted tree she realizes she must escape and figure out who she really is.
Using her trusting friend Bale as a distraction, Snow breaks free and races into the nearby woods. Suddenly, everything isn’t what it seems, the line between reality and fantasy begins to blur, and she finds herself in icy Algid–her true home–with witches, thieves, and a strangely alluring boy named Kai, none of whom she’s sure she can trust. As secret after secret is revealed, Snow discovers that she is on the run from a royal lineage she’s destined to inherit, a father more powerful and ruthless than she could have imagined, and choices of the heart that could change the fate of everything…including Snow’s return to the world she once knew.
This breathtaking first volume begins the story of how Snow becomes a villain, a queen, and ultimately a hero.
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The Dark Army
by Joseph Delaney
Hardcover
Greenwillow Books
Released 9/20/2016
Newly risen from the dead, Thomas Ward has been tasked with leading an army into battle against the dark, alongside his apprentice, Jenny, and the witch assassin Grimalkin. But their battle goes terribly wrong, and Tom’s situation seems hopeless until Alice—a powerful witch turned to the dark—appears. The second book in the new trilogy about Tom Ward continues the struggle against encroaching enemies and sweeps longtime fans back into familiar settings, such as the Spook’s bleak winter home, and brings back old friends—and old enemies.
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Three Dark Crowns
by Kendare Blake
Hardcover
HarperTeen
Released 9/20/2016
Fans of acclaimed author Kendare Blake’s Anna Dressed in Blood will devour her latest novel, a dark and inventive fantasy about three sisters who must fight to the death to become queen.
In every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born: three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.
But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins.
The last queen standing gets the crown.
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Witch’s Pyre
by Josephine Angelini
Hardcover
Feiwel & Friends
Released 9/20/2016
Lily Proctor has come a long way from the weak, sickly girl she used to be. She has gained power as a witch and a leader, found her way home, chosen to face battle again, and (after losing her first love and being betrayed by her new love) she has learned more about loss and grief than she ever wanted to know.
Thrust once again into a society different from anything they have ever seen, Lily and her coven are determined to find answers―to find a new path to victory, a way to defeat the monstrous Woven without resorting to nuclear weapons or becoming a tyrannical mass murderer like her alternate self, Lillian. But sometimes winning requires sacrifices . . . and when the only clear path to victory lies at Lillian’s side, what price will Lily be willing to pay?
Internationally bestselling author Josephine Angelini takes us on another emotionally wrenching thrill ride in the stunning conclusion to her Worldwalker Trilogy.
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