I’m excited to announce that we’ve finally got all the underpinnings set for the Compulsion Street Team. If you’ve read the book and you’re interested in spreading the word, please check it out.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
YA GIVEAWAY OF THE WEEK
The Scar Boys
by Len Vlahos
Hardcover
EgmontUSA
If RJ Palacio’s Wonder was a young adult novel, it’d be something like The Scar Boys.
A severely burned teenager. A guitar. Punk rock. The chords of a rock ’n’ roll road trip in a coming-of-age novel that is a must-read story about finding your place in the world…even if you carry scars inside and out.
If RJ Palacio’s Wonder was a young adult novel, it’d be something like The Scar Boys.
In attempting to describe himself in his college application essay-help us to become acquainted with you beyond your courses, grades, and test scores-Harbinger (Harry) Jones goes way beyond the 250-word limit and gives a full account of his life.
The first defining moment: the day the neighborhood goons tied him to a tree during a lightning storm when he was 8 years old, and the tree was struck and caught fire. Harry was badly burned and has had to live with the physical and emotional scars, reactions from strangers, bullying, and loneliness that instantly became his everyday reality.
The second defining moment: the day in 8th grade when the handsome, charismatic Johnny rescued him from the bullies and then made the startling suggestion that they start a band together. Harry discovered that playing music transported him out of his nightmare of a world, and he finally had something that compelled people to look beyond his physical appearance. Harry’s description of his life in his essay is both humorous and heart-wrenching. He had a steeper road to climb than the average kid, but he ends up learning something about personal power, friendship, first love, and how to fit in the world. While he’s looking back at the moments that have shaped his life, most of this story takes place while Harry is in high school and the summer after he graduates.
What is your favorite thing about THE SCAR BOYS?
That’s a big question. It’s a complicated question. It’s an almost-impossible-to-answer question. I’m proud of a lot—Harry’s voice, Johnny’s complexity, the role music plays—but my favorite thing about The Scar Boys is that I finished it. I’ve written my whole life—short stories, essays, even screenplays—but a novel had eluded me. Finishing The Scar Boys, and not only finishing it but being proud of the result, is one of the greatest accomplishments of my life. That it’s being published is gravy. Corny? Maybe. True? Yes.
Purchase The Scar Boys at Amazon
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View The Scar Boys on Goodreads
The Summer I Saved the World . . . in 65 Days
by Michele Weber Hurwitz
Hardcover
Wendy Lamb Books
Released 4/8/2014
It’s summertime, and thirteen-year-old Nina Ross is feeling kind of lost. Her beloved grandma died last year; her parents work all the time; her brother’s busy; and her best friend is into clothes, makeup, and boys. While Nina doesn’t know what “her thing” is yet, it’s definitely not shopping and makeup. And it’s not boys, either. Though . . . has Eli, the boy next door, always been so cute?
This summer, Nina decides to change things. She hatches a plan. There are sixty-five days of summer. Every day, she’ll anonymously do one small but remarkable good thing for someone in her neighborhood, and find out: does doing good actually make a difference? Along the way, she discovers that her neighborhood, and her family, are full of surprises and secrets.
In this bighearted, sweetly romantic novel, things may not turn out exactly as Nina expects. They might be better.
Purchase The Summer I Saved the World . . . in 65 Days at Amazon
Purchase The Summer I Saved the World . . . in 65 Days at IndieBound
View The Summer I Saved the World . . . in 65 Days on Goodreads
RECENT YA GIVEAWAY WINNERS
Sweet Evil
by Wendy Higgins
Signed Paperback
Harper Teen
Released 4/15/2014
Trilogy Winner – Tammy George
Embrace the Forbidden
What if there were teens whose lives literally depended on being bad influences?
Purchase Sweet Evil at Amazon
Purchase Sweet Evil at IndieBound
* * * *
Sweet Peril
by Wendy Higgins
Signed Paperback
HarperTeen
Released 4/15/2014
Anna finds herself traveling the globe with Kopano, son of Wrath, in an attempt to gain support of fellow Nephilim and give them hope for the first time. It soon becomes clear that whatever freedoms Anna and the rest of the Neph are hoping to win will not be gained without a fight. Until then, Anna and Kaidan must put aside the issues between them, overcome the steamiest of temptations yet, and face the ultimate question: is loving someone worth risking their life?
Purchase Sweet Peril at Amazon
Purchase Sweet Peril at IndieBound
Sweet Reckoning
by Wendy Higgins
Signed Paperback
HarperTeen
Released 4/15/2014
It’s time.
In the most sensual and fast-paced installment yet, Sweet Reckoning brings all the beloved Neph together one last time to fight for their freedom.
Purchase Sweet Reckoning at Amazon
Purchase Sweet Reckoning at IndieBound
The Mirk and Midnight Hour
by Jane Nickerson
Hardcover
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Released 3/11/2014
Winner – Holly Letson
A Southern girl. A wounded soldier. A chilling force deep in the forest.
All collide at night’s darkest hour.
Seventeen-year-old Violet Dancey has been left at home in Mississippi with a laudanum-addicted stepmother and love-crazed stepsister while her father fights in the war—a war that has already claimed her twin brother.
Purchase The Mirk and Midnight Hour at Amazon
Purchase The Mirk and Midnight Hour at IndieBound
WHAT I’M EXCITED ABOUT
Killer Instinctby S. E. Green
Hardcover Giveaway
Simon Pulse
Released 5/6/2014
She’s not evil, but she has certain… urges.
Lane is a typical teenager. Loving family. Good grades. Afterschool job at the local animal hospital. Martial arts enthusiast. But her secret obsession is studying serial killers. She understands them, knows what makes them tick.
Why?
Because she might be one herself.
Lane channels her dark impulses by hunting criminals—delivering justice when the law fails. The vigilantism stops shy of murder. But with each visceral rush the line of self-control blurs.
And then a young preschool teacher goes missing. Only to return… in parts.
When Lane excitedly gets involved in the hunt for “the Decapitator,” the vicious serial murderer that has come to her hometown, she gets dangerously caught up in a web of lies about her birth dad and her own dark past. And once the Decapitator contacts Lane directly, Lane knows she is no longer invisible or safe. Now she needs to use her unique talents to find the true killer’s identity before she—or someone she loves—becomes the next victim…
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Killer Instinct?
When I wrote Killer Instinct, I wrote with a freedom I’ve never experienced. I wrote with a total lack of restriction. I went into the project knowing I wanted to create, I wanted to step out of my comfort zone, and I wanted to take a chance. It was a liberating process.
Before Killer Instinct I never imagined I would write a torture scene or a castration scene (albeit both justified, I never imagined!).
So what is my favorite thing about Killer Instinct? The writing progression itself. Definitely. It opened this valve in me and now I don’t want to close it. I’m ready to take more chances!
Purchase Killer Instinct at Amazon
Purchase Killer Instinct at IndieBound
View Killer Instinct on Goodreads
BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS
- Did you know that Kurt Vonnegut drew when he wasn’t writing? The Guardian introduces the new book where his daughter Nanette has collected some of his drawings and his thoughts and provides a link in a brand new book and provides a link to his inspirational ‘make your soul grow’ letter to students video.
- The Book Smugglers is much more than a great review site and award-winning fanzine. And now they are continuing their foray into publishing with a call for the best and brightest in SFF. Got a great story? Read this.
- Great news for YA authors, publishers, and readers! According to the Association of American Publishers (AAP), sales were up 10% over the previous year, and YA sales were up 43.7%. Get a quick chart and more info here.
- Have you heard the hoopla about BookCon’s all white male panel and the outcry about the need for diversity in books? The brilliant Ellen Oh wrote a post on the Diversity Gap and why being a POC author sucks sometimes. YAInterrobang has another recap, and so does NovelSounds.
- This may not seem like it’s about books, but it IS. From the shooting of Malala Yousafzai to the closing of schools to the kidnapping of 230 Nigerian school girls who Boko Haram plans to sell as slaves because they shouldn’t have been at school and should have been married instead, there’s a war on women in many places around the world. How do you fight it? Read. Read everything. Learn. Because learning is a privilege and a responsibility. Learn for those who wish they could. Learn more at the Malala Fund.
