Thanks I am a Reader, Not a Writer and All-Consuming Books for hosting this giveaway hop.
Christmas is just around the corner. I am offering two book packages and one swag to US entrants only this go around. Sorry, I just took on a part-time job because funds are a little low in my home.
To Enter:
1. Have a US mailing address.
2. You must be 13 or older.
3. Fill in the rafflecopter.
4. You do not need to follow to enter. Though it is always appreciated. This is a follower hop.
Package #1
AUDIO BOOK of The Nine Lives of Christmas by Sheila Roberts (Check out my review. It's post date is November 17, 2011 - the post right after this one!)
Promotional CD for Dark Eden by Patrick Carman
Bookmarks from "Earth" and "Air" by Shauna Granger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Source: Received from the author to review.
Genre: Contemporary YA romance
Content Warning: Sexual situations and profanity
Description from Goodreads: Being the good girl isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Ashton Gray has grown weary of playing the part to please her parents, and to be worthy of the town’s prince charming, Sawyer Vincent. Maybe That’s why she’s found herself spending time with Sawyer’s cousin, Beau, while he’s away for the summer camping with his family. Beau is nothing like her perfect boyfriend. He’s the sexiest guy she’s ever seen, dangerous in ways she’s only day dreamed about, and the one guy she should stay away from. Beau never envied Sawyer his loving parents, his big nice home, or his position as quarterback. He loves him like a brother. Which is why he's tried everything in his power to keep his distance from Sawyer’s girlfriend. Even if he has loved her since the age of five, Ashton is Sawyer’s girl, so therefore she’s off limits. But when Sawyer leaves for the summer, Ashton, the one girl Beau would move Heaven and Earth for, decides she wants to get into trouble. Stabbing the one person who’s always accepted him and stood by him in the back, is the cost of finally holding Ashton Gray in his arms. Is she worth losing his cousin over?.... Hell Yeah
My thoughts: Ashton is faced with a dilemma. She has the perfect gentleman boyfriend, but at the same time she has always loved his bad boy cousin.
Things come to a head when her boyfriend, Sawyer, leaves for a camping trip with his family for the summer. She spends time with Beau and the flicker becomes a flame between them. She doesn't want to come between them and ruin their relationship, but she is not the person that she has been trying to portray and wants nothing more than to be with Beau.
This story is about whether to let the heart or the head rule your emotions. It is about relationships where everything isn't as perfect as they seem. There are hidden secrets that threaten to rip the fabric of their fragile relationships. I was also impressed that Abbi addressed the stigma of whether or not there can be a "bad seed". Beau is known for being the son of the wayward Vincent brother, while Sawyer is the son of the perfect Vincent brother. Sometimes stigmas are placed that have no basis in fact and trying to overcome them can be nearly impossible. Does money really equate being better than someone else?
Most of all it is about being true to yourself and not trying to be something that you are not.
I enjoyed this story. I would caution that there is material that is inappropriate for a younger audience. (sexual situations and profanity)
Giveaway: Each stop in this tour is offering a kindle copy of the book. Please enter using the rafflecopter. i am requiring that you leave a blog comment, this will gain you entry into the grand prize. The thing is that you will need to visit all of the blogs to enter for the grand prize. You will see a linky with all of the blog hosts. Make sure to stop at each one. The grand prize is a $20.00 B&N gift certificate, kindle copy of the book, and a signed tote bag.
Today Catherine Austen is stopping by to share about her experience for writing for young people. Finding good books for children to read is one of the challenges that I am trying to take on here at Bookworm Lisa. So without further commentary from me, let's here from Catherine!
On Writing For Young People
By Catherine Austen
“I can’t survive without knowing what happens next!” That’s what my youngest son cried one night when I closed the book we were reading. (The chapter was a cliff-hanger, one of many in the Deltora Quest series by Emily Rodda.)
There is something special about the way young people react to books. “Read it again!” preschoolers shout on rainy afternoons with a pile of picture books. “You have to read this—it changed my life,” teens whisper in the fiction section of libraries.
Books really do open doors for young people. Some open tent flaps by bringing a silly character to life for a toddler. Some open stuck lockers by making history fun for a middle-grader. Some open windowless towers by shining hope into a lonely teen’s life. (And some books open doors that parents would rather keep closed for a few more years.)
Like most writers, I wrote for many years before publishing my first book. As a university student, I wrote about a dozen short stories for small literary journals. I expected that I would always write for adults as a sort of sideline career.
But mainline careers and families have a way of exhausting a person, and for years I didn’t write much at all. (Fiction, that is. I wrote a lot of papers and proposals. I am always amazed by people with full-time jobs and toddlers who find the time and the psychological space to write books. I couldn’t.)
When I quit office life to raise kids and write freelance, I expected that I would return to stories for adults. But as a parent I was immersed in children’s books: reading to my own children, volunteering in a school library, getting acquainted with great children’s stories, seeing the joy books bring into young lives. So I tried writing stories for kids.
I wrote my first children’s story in 2003. It was not good enough to publish but it was not completely horrible, so I wrote more. And more. For years I persevered, surviving off brief editorial encouragements scrawled on rejection letters. I came close to giving up. (It’s really hard to see the point in writing for children if your work never reaches children.) But I didn’t give up.
In 2008, I signed my first contract with Kids Can Press for a picture book, My Cat Isis (published early this year with gorgeous illustrations by Virginie Egger). My first children’s novel, Walking Backward, was published in 2009 by Orca Book Publishers and was nominated for several Canadian literary awards. This fall, I published two more books: 26 Tips for Surviving Grade 6, a middle-grade novel with Lorimer, and All Good Children, a teen novel with Orca.
I’m awfully glad I didn’t give up.
I hope to publish stories for adults again someday, but I won’t stop writing for children and teens. I am thrilled to think that my books have opened doors for young people. And I just can’t get enough of their reactions.
“This author seems to know what it’s like to be a kid,” a teen reviewer wrote about All Good Children.
“This is so funny I laughed out loud,” a tween girl emailed about 26 Tips for Surviving Grade 6.
“I’m going to be a writer, too,” a third-grade boy said after I read My Cat Isis at his school. His full reaction was, “She’s a writer and she’s just someone’s mom? Wow. I’m going to be a writer, too.”
That’s a door I’d like to see all young readers pass through.
Catherine was kind enough to send me copies of her books to review. I will be reading and reviewing them in January. I am really looking forward to sharing them with you. They sound wonderful. If you would like more information on the blog tour, you can go here.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Source: Netgalley
Age Recommendation: Middle Grade
Description from Goodreads:Skilley, an alley cat with an embarrassing secret, longs to escape his hard life dodging fishwives brooms and carriage wheels and trade his damp alley for the warmth of the Cheshire Cheese Inn. When he learns that the innkeeper is looking for a new mouser, Skilley comes up with an audacious scheme to install himself in the famous tavern. Once established in the inn, Skilley strikes a bargain with Pip, the intelligent mouse-resident, and his fellow mice. Skilley protects the mice and the mice in turn give to Skilley the delectable Cheshire cheese of the inn. Thus begins a most unlikely alliance and friendship. The cat and mouse design a plan to restore Maldwyn wounded raven and faithful guard in the service of Queen Victoria to his rightful place in The Tower, but first they must contend with a tyrannical cook, a mouse-despising barmaid, and an evil tomcat named Pinch. Will the famous author suffering from serious writer s block who visits the Cheshire Cheese pub each day be able to help?
My thoughts: Set in Victorian England this is a fun book portraying the unlikely friendship between a cat and a mouse.
Skilley is a street cat who find out about the mice infestation in a shop that sells cheese and figures out a way to be the cat to take care of the problem. He meets a mouse named Pip and they find a way to cooperate and both of them are able to meet their unique needs. Their biggest dilemma is how to help the raven, Maldwyn find his way back to the tower of London. In the mean time they have to stay out of the way of the very evil cat named Pinch.
This book is story of friendship, loyalty, and forgiveness. I loved the mouse society. Many unique mice live in the Inn, of course, where else would they be when there is the worlds best cheese? We can't forget Charles Dickens role in the story as he struggles to overcome writers block while studying these remarkable animals.
I really enjoyed this book and know that middle grade readers will enjoy it as well.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars Source: Netgalley and then direct from the publisher Genre: YA Contemporary
Description from Goodreads: Jen's life of partying and sneaking out has grown stale. So on a whim, Jen makes a bet to turn Trevor, a goody-two-shoes geek, into a "bad boy." As she hangs out with Trevor, however, she finds it's actually kinda fun being a geek. But when Trevor finds out about the bet, Jen must fight for the things she's discovered matter most: friendship, family, and, above all, love.
My thoughts: I vacillated between four and five stars and thought that the way the book made me feel at the end was definitely worth the five stars.
A misguided bet with unforeseen consequences turns out to be the best mistake ever made for Jen. On a whim she bets her two punkish friends that she could turn a good boy bad. Her mistake is underestimating the power that is in staying true to yourself and having fun being yourself rather than portraying a persona that is not who you really are.
My heart ached for Jen as her story unfolds. Cindy shows us a young woman who aches from years of physical and emotional abuse. She becomes a person who shows the world that she doesn't care. She parties and dresses in ways that show rebellion and not the insecure person that she is.
She learns from Trevor and his geeky friends what true fun and friendship is. I love that Trevor accepts her unconditionally. He is a remarkable young man. He is polite and kind to everyone he meets. His love helps her become the person that she wants to be.
There is drama and heartache. It isn't resolved overnight for the characters. They have to face the emotional impact of their decisions. This seems real to me. This is contemporary YA fiction that gives a great message. Great job Cindy! You have made a novel that is worth reading and sharing. A positive message that is told in a great way.
Many thanks to Cedar Fort for their patience with me. I originally downloaded this on my kindle from Netgalley. Then my kindle died and my copy was gone with it. When I emailed Cedar Fort, they were gracious enough to send me a PDF copy to review for this blog tour.
About Cindy: (from Goodreads)Cindy C Bennett was born and raised in beautiful Salt Lake City, growing up in the shadows of the majestic Rocky Mountains. She lives with her husband, two daughters, and two dogs. She also has two sons. She volunteers her time working with teen girls between the ages of 12-18, all of whom she finds to be beautiful, fascinating creatures. When she’s not writing, reading or answering emails she can often times be found riding her Harley through the beautiful canyons near her home (yes, I ride a Harley and no, you'd never know it to look at me!).
Here are some links if you would like to find out more about the publisher or Cindy Bennett.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Source: Received to Review
Genre: YA Paranormal
Description from Goodreads: Brainiac Tessa McClean’s newly discovered magical powers give her an escape from her self-absorbed parents. But the thrill of being a witch fades when she learns of a rival coven and begins to suspect her own coven’s motives. Evidence tells Tessa to trust one side, but instinct drives her toward the other. When the school’s scrumptious delinquent, Hayden Anders, offers Tessa self-defense lessons in exchange for tutoring, his timing couldn’t be better. Although hanging out with him is a necessary evil in Tessa’s fight to stay alive, resisting a bad-boy she secretly yearns for might be more than she can manage. Together, Tessa and Hayden work to unravel the mysteries behind the two covens to discover why they’ll stop at nothing to lure Tessa to their side. She must form an alliance with one of the covens before it’s too late. But the wrong decision could cost Tessa the lives of all who she holds dear — including Hayden.
My thoughts: Tess is in a quandary. She comes to school on a normal day, gets called into the Principals office, she's told that she is in danger and then is assigned the schools bad/playboy to be her bodyguard.
She soon finds out that she is part of a small group of witches/sorcerers. She is being taught how to use her magic from her principal and a lady who poses as an FBI agent. As time progresses, she learns that there is a wizarding war happening. Two factions are trying to recruit and gain control. Each claims that the other is bad and they are really the good guys. It is very confusing and hard to figure out who to trust.
Then there is the bodyguard. Hayden is a bad boy through and through. He comes from a wealthy family, but we soon see that all is not peachy in his world. He is a fabulous fighter and agrees to teach Tess self-defense. She in exchanges agrees to tutor him. It doesn't take long for them to figure out that opposites attract.
The story alternates between Tess and Hayden narrating. We get to know both and their thoughts.
This is an amusing story. It is fast paced and pulls you in from the beginning. My only warning is that there is underage drinking and sexual situations without a ton of details.
About Veronica Blade
Veronica Blade is married with children and living in Southern California. By day she runs the family business, but each night she slips away to spin her tales. She writes stories about young adults to relive her own childhood and to live vicariously through her characters. Except her heroes and heroines lead far more interesting lives — and they are always way hotter.
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!
Just do the following:
~Grab your current read.
~Open to a random page.
~Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page. (Sometimes I cheat a bit on this one and do a few more sentences.)
~Be careful not to include spoilers! (make sure that what you share doesn't give to much away. You don't want to ruin the book for others.)
~Share the title and author, so the other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teaser. :0)
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Source: Simon & Schuster Galley Grab
Genre: Dystopian
Age Recommendation: Middle grade to YA
Publication date: November 15, 2011
Description from Goodreads:In a war-torn future United States, fifteen-year-old Tessa, her childhood friend Gideon, now a traumatized military hero, and Dek, a streetwise orphan, enter enemy territory and discover the shocking truth about a war that began more than seventy-five years earlier.
My thoughts: I received this book from Simon & Schuster's Galley Grab. I love reading the books that Margaret Peterson Haddix writes. I know I can count on her to tell a great story that my kids will enjoy.
This book takes place in the future. For as long as everyone can remember they have been at war. The war has lasted over 75 years. Society is basically surviving without hope.
Tess is a teen who is going to a ceremony to see one of her old neighbors be awarded as a hero. The problem is that he doesn't see himself as a hero. He knows that he killed many people to get the award and runs out of his award ceremony.
Tess is stunned. She finds a way to see him and sees a young man who is going through post traumatic stress syndrome. He does some pretty risky acts to try to make things right.
This leads to an adventure into enemy territory. Tess follows Gideon as he buys a black market plane. Truth's that are shocking are revealed.
I was surprised by the twist at the end. It is a great story, quick to read and I think that kids will enjoy it.
