WAITING ON WEDNESDAY ~ LETTERS TO THE DEAD

Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's WoW selection is....

 

 

 

Genre: Contemporary YA

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Publication Date: 4/1/14

It begins as an assignment for English class: Write a letter to a dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain because she thought he’d understand since he died young just like her sister, May, did. Soon Laurel is writing letters to lots of dead people—Janis Joplin, Amy Winhouse, Ameilia Earhart, Heath Ledger, and more—although she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about what it’s like going to a new school, meeting new friends, falling in love for the first time, how her family splinters apart after May dies. She even writes about the abuse she suffered—while May was supposed to be looking out for her. Only then, once Laurel has written down the truth about what happened to herself, can she truly begin to accept what happened to May, and to see her as the person she was: lovely and amazing and deeply flawed.

Trained as a poet at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Ava Dellaira brings a lyrical, haunting beauty to her prose.

 

Why I'm Waiting .... Honestly, I am super excited about this one because Kurt Cobain is in the blurb. Anything that mentions Cobain is going to get my attention. This story sounds completely beautiful and like something I will fall in love with.


So what do you think of my pick? Leave a comment and I'll be sure to come check out your WoW.

 

 

MINI-REVIEW: MERCH GIRL by REBECCA LEWIS

Category/Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Publisher: Self-Published 

Publication Date: 5/14/13
Format: ebook
Pages: 136
Source: Received from author for review
Rating: 3 stars

Seventeen-year-old Lacey Kind doesn’t have the guts to talk to cute boys, isn’t a size two, and would rather stay home and listen to music than go to a party. But in the summer before her first year of college, she ends up thousands of miles away from home, in the back of a tour bus, underneath the half-naked body of the hottest teen rock star in the country.

When Lacey and her best friend Trina sneak into a Boston nightclub to see their favorite band, they not only get to watch their rock gods perform for the first time, but score a chance to meet the band too. Lacey’s heart races as she comes face-to-face with her idol, nineteen-year-old lead singer, Logan Shire.

The girls charm their way into being hired to sell merchandise on Lansdowne’s first summer tour. As “merch girls” Lacey and Trina quickly find themselves transported from their ordinary, suburban life to an exhilarating few months on the road. But they soon realize that life on the road isn’t always a smooth ride...

 

Merch Girl was a quick, sweet(-ish) story. What comes to mind, for me, is Teenage Dream. By that I mean, this was a story that was pure teenage wish-fulfillment. The same story I would be written featuring myself and Jordan Knight back in the early 1990s. It's the story many of us would have written in our teen years. Fans of an up-and-coming band meet the guys, hit it off, guys invite girls to go on tour, love ensues.

I liked Merch Girl, I did. I don't feel that it dug particularly deep into the realities of falling in love with a young rock star, and all that entails, the good and the bad.. There were moments in which the pitfalls did impact the characters, but it really seemed to only skim the surface and was easily resolved.

The writing in Merch Girl was good and the story wrapped up nicely. I feel like I wasn't a perfect fit for this, because it did feel a bit on the "young" side for my reading preferences right now. I'm sure as a teen I would have loved it.

Purchase Merch Girl

Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Smashwords

About the author
Rebecca Lewis is the author of the Young Adult novel, Merch Girl, and a lover of all things music! She's been writing stories since middle school and penned her first fanfic about a semi-popular boyband in 1997 (if you search hard enough you can still find it stuck in the Interwebs!)

Her passion for music and writing brought her to Boston University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the College of Communication. During her college career, she interned for various record labels in Boston and New York City, sold merch for some local bands, worked at record stores, and did a whole lot of grassroots marketing.

She currently resides in Florida with her husband and puppy.

Facebook  |  Twitter  |  GoodReads

BLOG TOUR: TRULY, MADLY, DEADLY by HANNAH JAYNE

Welcome to the Truly, Madly, Deadly Blog Tour, presented by Sourcebooks.
Thanks for stopping by!
 

 

 

Genre: Contemporary Young Adult

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Publication Date: 7/16/13
Format: eARC
Pages: 272
Source: Received from publisher for review
 

Sawyer Dodd has it all. She's a star track athlete, choir soloist, and A-student. And her boyfriend is the handsome all-star Kevin Anderson. But behind the medals, prom pictures, and perfect smiles, Sawyer finds herself trapped in a controlling, abusive relationship with Kevin. When he dies in a drunk-driving accident, Sawyer is secretly relieved. She's free. Until she opens her locker and finds a mysterious letter signed by "an admirer" and printed with two simple words: "You're welcome."

 

 

Several years ago (okay, more like ten to fifteen), I was a huge fan of teen suspense/thrillers. I read books like I Know What You Did Last Summer, watched a lot of suspenseful and scary movies and I loved it. Somewhere along the way, I became a huge baby about getting scared, and I'll blame that on Scream 2. It was not pretty. My point is, Truly, Madly, Deadly represents what I've always loved about those teen thrillers, and was a much welcomed change for me.

 

Truly, Madly, Deadly begins a few days after the death of Sawyer's boyfriend Kevin. On the outside their relationship seemed perfect, but Sawyer was hiding the fact that Kevin was abusive. The very same night Sawyer has the courage to walk away is the same night Kevin died while driving drunk. Sawyer has no reason to believe otherwise, until she receives a card with the message "You're welcome." After that, Sawyer's world slowly begins to unravel. Whomever was "protecting" Sawyer from Kevin isn't finished yet, and no one who hurts her isn't safe. Little clues throughout the story slowly clue Sawyer in that she's being watched. The more she wants to seek help, the more dangerous the situation becomes, and eventually Sawyer's "protector" becomes her biggest threat.

 

Truly, Madly, Deadly's heroine, Sawyer, was well-written. I found her conflicting feelings about Kevin, sadness over his death, yet relief he could never hurt her again, to be realistic. Did she always make the best decisions? Eh, probably not, but what's a good story when everyone does what they should do? In the midst of her life turning into a crime scene, Sawyer becomes closer to Cooper, a new guy at her school. Now, I love a cute guy as much as anyone, but when people around you are dying, the focus is on staying alive and not a new relationship, right? The author totally made a good call on this aspect. I was thrilled that Sawyer kept her head, deciding that yeah, she does like Cooper, but first she needs to find out who's protecting her. I loved that she remained focused, despite the lure of a new guy.

 

Truly, Madly, Deadly wasn't terrifying, thank goodness, but it was without a doubt suspenseful. I love a good mystery, and am generally good at calling who the bad guy is. The author did a really great job of not being too obvious with the clues. Over the course of the story I had three people who were up for suspicion, before settling on a culprit at the halfway mark. I am not sad to say that I was wrong, because the killer was not my main suspect. While I didn't find the reveal to be a complete shock, I was definitely surprised by the motivations, and how sad it made me for everyone involved. The story's pace was just right, with each turn of the page leading a tiny bit closer to the revelation, never lagging or rushing through.

 

Truly, Madly, Deadly was a thrilling mystery with a great suspense, and an admirable heroine. It will definitely leave you guessing until the very end.

 

 

Favorite Quote:

 

  Memories crashed over Sawyer like so many waves, breaking like shards of glass at her feet. She felt ashamed, alive, and free as Cooper's arms slipped around her waist, pulling her close to him. His touch was soft but strong, and Sawyer loved the way he held her, making her feel safe and wanted at the same time.  ~eARC, 24%

 

 

 

Purchase Truly, Madly, Deadly at:

       

 

 

 

 

 

About the author:

Hannah is the author of the UNDERWORLD DETECTION AGENCY CHRONICLES from Kensington books and the upcoming young adult thrillers TRULY, MADLY, DEADLY and SEE JANE RUN available from Sourcebooks, Inc. When she's not battling the demons of the Underworld or tackling a murderer at Hawthorne High, Jayne kicks her feet up in her San Francisco bay area home and attempts to share couch space with two enormous cats.

 

Connect with Hannah Jayne at:

Website  |  Twitter

 

 

 

 

 

 

{MINI-REVIEW} DENTED CANS by HEATHER WALSH

Genre: Contemporary Young Adult
Publisher: Self-published
Publication Date: 11/2/13
Format: Kindle
Pages: 150
Source: Received from author for review

A family secret is revealed during an ill-fated—yet hilarious—trip to Disney World.

Sixteen-year-old Hannah Sampson knows her family is not what you would call normal. Her father compulsively buys dented cans and has a particular fondness for cans without labels, which are extremely discounted because their contents are a mystery. Her mother takes countless pictures of her family and then glues them down into the pages of her scrapbooks, but does not allow anyone to look at them. Ryan, Hannah’s mischievous fourteen-year-old brother, is headed straight for the remedial track at the local community college, if he’s lucky. Ben, her eight-year-old brother, is a walking sound effects machine, who prefers to communicate with noises rather than words. While Hannah is focused on escaping her working-class Connecticut suburb, she also finds herself being tugged back home as she worries about her brother Ben.

Hannah’s parents inflict one last family vacation on the Sampson children, a trip that goes comically wrong almost from the get-go. Hannah is forced to confront her family’s past in Disney World, of all places, when an emotional argument prompts her parents to disclose a secret they have been keeping from the children for sixteen years. Ultimately, she must decide whether to leave her hometown and not look back, or to focus on helping her family.

Being a teen is hard enough. Being a teen in a dysfunctional family is even harder. Hannah Sampson is that teen. In this interesting look at a family in quiet chaos. Hannah, the narrator, is by all (her) account, normal. The rest of her family, with the exception of her hyper, yet apathetic brother Ryan, are not.

Hannah's dad collects cans of food. Dented Cans. Every can is a bargain to Hannah's dad; a treasure. Her stores them, loves them. He is obsessed with bargains, and watches every penny he and his family spend. Hannah's mom is less than chatty about her obsession, but is just as anxious. Her obsession is family photos, and putting them in album. But instead of making them a treasured part of the family, she hides the albums, refusing to let the family look through them. And then there's Ben, the youngest sibling who barely speaks but uses sound effects to communicate, doesn't interact much. In denial over Ben's issues, the parents refuse to let Ben be tested for any sort of disability. Hannah's parents are not bad people, and though they're strange, they're not bad parents, either.

So this, in a nutshell, is the Sampson family. Fed up with the dysfunction, Hannah is simply biding her time until she can escape to university, far away.

The family is pushed to their limits when they head on a trip to Disney World. I actually expected the trip to be a larger portion of the story, but most of it was the setup of the characters and their day-to-day lives.  Family trips are tricky at best, so when the Sampson family embarks on theirs, it's only a matter of time until they crack. I was surprised by the big family secret, and it actually made sense in regards to some of the issues Hannah's mom and dad have.

Dented Cans is one of those books in which it feels like not a lot happens. There is the big secret, but it's dealt with so calmly that it felt a bit anti-climatic. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, it rang true for the characters. At the end, I feel like the family almost ended exactly where they began. All of their problems are not solved, but there is understanding. Dented Cans should be taken for what it is: a look at a troubled family


Favorite Quote:

  "But I didn't care anymore if my family was slightly nuts. Let them be. Soon enough I'd be out on my own anyway (don't look back). Besides, our town was full of families that looked normal when you saw them in church or at the bank, but I suspected that if you peered into their windows, what you'd see would be far from normal. Everyone was screwed up, it was just how good you were at faking it.  ~ebook, 32%

Purchase Dented Cans at:

About the author:

Heather Walsh grew up in North Haven, CT, fantastically close to Pepe's pizza.

She received a B.A. in English at Mary Washington College, which has been renamed to, drum roll please... the University of Mary Washington. This was after a failed attempt to name it Washington & Monroe University, because there aren't enough schools honoring dead Virginian men already. Heather graduated Phi Betta Kappa and summa cum laude, which sounds kind of fancy but really means she took easy classes.
She taught high school English in Brooklyn for one year, where she loved the students but not the system. She then joined corporate America and worked there for too many years as an IT trainer, project manager, business analyst, and SQL dabbler (select * from Dented_Cans).

Her favorite writer is Alice Munro, her favorite movie is The Godfather Parts I & II (tied for first), and her favorite TV show is The Wire. She has lived in some pretty neat places, including Brooklyn (kind of before it was hipster-cool to do so), Manhattan, and San Francisco. The unfortunate result of living in these locations is that she has become an obnoxious foodie.
She currently lives in Brookline, MA with her husband, Mike DeLucia, and their two children.

Connect with Heather at:

Twitter  |  GoodReads  |  Website

 

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY

Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's WoW selection is...

Genre: Contemporary Young Adult

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Publication Date: 7/16/13
 

 

Sawyer Dodd has it all. She's a star track athlete, choir soloist, and A-student. And her boyfriend is the handsome all-star Kevin Anderson. But behind the medals, prom pictures, and perfect smiles, Sawyer finds herself trapped in a controlling, abusive relationship with Kevin. When he dies in a drunk-driving accident, Sawyer is secretly relieved. She's free. Until she opens her locker and finds a mysterious letter signed by "an admirer" and printed with two simple words: "You're welcome."

 

 

Sounds awesome, right? I can't wait to get my hands on this one!

 

 

What are you waiting on this week?

 

{REVIEW} DEAR CASSIE (PRETTY AMY #2) by LISA BURSTEIN

Series: Pretty Amy #2
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Publication Date: 3/5/13
Format: eARC
Pages: 352
Source: Received from publisher for review

What if the last place you should fall in love is the first place that you do?

You’d think getting sent to Turning Pines Wilderness Camp for a month-long rehabilitation “retreat” and being forced to re-live it in this journal would be the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.

You’d be wrong.

There’s the reason I was sent to Turning Pines in the first place: I got arrested. On prom night. With my two best friends, who I haven’t talked to since and probably never will again. And then there’s the real reason I was sent here. The thing I can’t talk about with the guy I can’t even think about.

What if the moment you’ve closed yourself off is the moment you start to break open?

But there’s this guy here. Ben. And the more I swear he won’t—he can’t—the deeper under my skin he’s getting. After the thing that happened, I promised I’d never fall for another boy’s lies.

And yet I can’t help but wonder…what if?

Pretty Amy gave us Amy's version of the Prom night from Hell. The night she, Lila, and Cassie lit up, and went down in flames. The consequences of their actions, and how it changed her. Dear Cassie is Cassie's story, but we quickly learn that getting arrested and going to jail was the least of Cassie's problems. That twenty-eight days at a Wilderness Camp may push Cassie beyond her limits, but it may also save her.

At this point, a pattern has been established: Lisa Burstein is brilliant. I was blown away by her talent with Pretty Amy. Her ability to tap into the innermost thoughts of a troubled teenage girl, and bring that to the surface with her beautiful writing, is shocking. That brilliance continued in The Next Forever, in which she bravely writes an authentic young relationship, and only promises forever a day at a time. In Dear Cassie, Burstein has solidified my opinion that any conversation about must-read books for teens must include her books. They are that important.

I say that not only because they are thoughtful, honest, and bold, but also because she offers an alternative to the "perfect" heroine who finds herself in a troublesome situation. Burstein offers the troubled heroine, a girl that we don't often see in Young Adult fiction. I try, so hard, to take myself out of reviews, and I don't always accomplish that. But I could never remove myself from a review of Burstein's books. She writes about the other girl. The girl who swears too much, smokes, kisses too many boys. Not the vulnerable, meek girl who everyone wants to protect, but the vulnerable, off-putting girl with a tough exterior. I was that girl. My friends were that girl. We were Amy, Cassie, and Lila. There are a lot of girls out there and they need books like Burstein's.

As much as I was prepared, Dear Cassie caught me off guard. Cassie came off as very harsh in Pretty Amy. She is harsh. I identified with Amy and did not think I would have that experience with Cassie. I did. Cassie, though very tough, was so very fragile, and it was beautiful and exhausting to get to know her. She is a girl who uses sarcasm as a shield, who uses the word "fuck" like a weapon.

"I would much rather have someone holding me at arm's length than trying against all odds to hold me."

Prom night sucked for Cassie, but is not the worst thing that has happened to her by a long shot. During her stay at camp, through physical and mental challenges, Cassie's tough exterior slowly dissolves until she reveals just how lost and ashamed she truly feels. Through breaking and exposing her vulnerabilities, Cassie unknowingly is being built back up. Stronger.

And there's a boy. Isn't there always? Ben. Ben is attending camp as well, and he immediately annoys and intrigues Cassie. Ben is persistent, and I loved that. But the antagonistic relationship-turned friendship-turned more (?) is not about Ben saving Cassie or vice versa. It is about acceptance, and simply being there beside one another.

As you may guess, Dear Cassie was an intense experience for me. As much as I loved the writing and could have devoured it in one sitting, I had to pace myself. Cassie's intensity was at times too close for comfort, emotionally exhausting. An author that can make you feel that intensely is a treasure. Dear Cassie is a treasure.


Favorite Quote:

  "Come pray with me," Rawe said.
  "I can't," I said, instead of just saying no.
  "You don't have to be religious to pray," she said.
  "But you have to be good." I paused, looking at the orange pinecones that covered the ground. "Deserving," I continued, "and I'm not." I was surprised I'd admitted it out loud. It was one thing to punch myself unitl I couldn't breathe and keep everyone away like I had porcupine needles coming from my skin. It was another thing to say it, especially when I couldn't even write what that really meant yet.  ~eARC, 25%

 
  "Why?" I asked. "Why do you keep coming back for more?"
  "I think I can make you happy," he said, his eyes on the sky. "I also think you're funny as hell."
  "Thanks," I said, "but I'm pretty sure I've never been happy."
  "Exactly," he said, putting one arm behind his head.  ~ eARC, 56% 



Preorder Dear Cassie at:

 

 

The Pretty Amy Series

 

(click on cover to go to GoodReads page)

 

My Reviews of:

Pretty Amy  |  The Next Forever

 

 

About the author:

Lisa Burstein is a tea seller by day and a writer by night. She received her MFA in Fiction from the Inland Northwest Center for Writers at Eastern Washington University and is glad to finally have it be worth more than the paper it was printed on. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her very patient husband, a neurotic dog and two cats.

Connect with Lisa at:

Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads | Blog | Website

 

 

{REVIEW} THE REECE MALCOLM LIST by AMY SPALDING

Series: Stand alone

Genre: Contemporary Young Adult

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Publication Date: 2/5/13

Format: eARC

Pages: 352

Source: Received from publisher for review.

Things I know about Reece Malcolm:

1. She graduated from New York University.
2. She lives in or near Los Angeles.
3. Since her first novel was released, she’s been on the New York Times bestseller list every week.
4. She likes strong coffee and bourbon.
5. She’s my mother.

Devan knows very little about Reece Malcolm, until the day her father dies and she’s shipped off to live with the mother she’s never met. All she has is a list of notebook entries that doesn’t add up to much.

L.A. offers a whole new world to Devan—a performing arts school allows her to pursue her passion for show choir and musicals, a new circle of friends helps to draw her out of her shell, and an intriguing boy opens up possibilities for her first love.

But then the Reece Malcolm list gets a surprising new entry. Now that Devan is so close to having it all, can she handle the possibility of losing everything?

What a great book. From the day I first discovered The Reece Malcolm list, I knew I had to read it. Come on, just look at the cover! Gorgeous. Then you have the intriguing synopsis. And, it's published by Entangled Teen, who happens to be one  the most consistently awesome publishers.

Would I sound too fancy or old ladyish if I say The Reece Malcolm List was delightful? Just so so yummy and a true joy to read. Amy Spalding created such a charming story with such a bittersweet twist involving one of the most complicated mother/daughter relationships I've come across. And I'm not going to delve into the relationship, since, ya know, that's what the story is about, but I want to say I absolutely love how Reece Malcolm was written. She is a mother who has never had contact with her daughter, and she could have easily come across as a monster, but she wasn't, at all.  In fact, as much as I adored the incredibly winsome Devan, something about Reece completely won me.

Besides this story that I adored, the writing was so good. Spalding has the teen voice nailed down. Devan, with her fears and love and hesitation, was authentic. The teens were all portrayed in such a realistic manner. Great things happen. Sad things happen. Choices are made. But I loved that no one character was portrayed as all good or all bad. Well, except for Brad. He was perfect and I loved him.

The Reece Malcolm List is such a great Young Adult story. I recommend it to all fans  the genre, but I will say that if you know a teen, give them this book.

 

Favorite Quote:

But I didn't know how to explain the tangled mess of emotions heavy in my heart, and even worse I couldn't find the words to define what was the hardest part for me, the idea of peeling back my outsides and letting people just know what I feel. ~ eARC, 13%

 
Purchase The Reece Malcolm List at:
Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble


About the author:
Amy Spalding grew up in St. Louis, but now lives in the better weather of Los Angeles. She received a B.A. in Advertising & Marketing Communications from Webster University, and currently works as the Digital Media Planner for an independent film advertising agency. Amy studied longform improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, and can be seen performing around L.A. Her debut novel, THE REECE MALCOLM LIST, will be published by Entangled in 2013, and combines many of her favorite things in life, including Stephen Sondheim and boys with great hair.
Connect with Amy at:
Twitter  |  Website  |  GoodReads

 

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY

Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's WoW selection is...

 

Series: Stand alone

Genre: Contemporary Young Adult

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Publication Date: 5/7/13

 

 

For Cricket Thompson, a summer like this one will change everything. A summer spent on Nantucket with her best friend, Jules Clayton, and the indomitable Clayton family. A summer when she’ll make the almost unattainable Jay Logan hers. A summer to surpass all dreams.

Some of this turns out to be true. Some of it doesn’t.

When Jules and her family suffer a devastating tragedy that forces the girls apart, Jules becomes a stranger whom Cricket wonders whether she ever really knew. And instead of lying on the beach working on her caramel-colored tan, Cricket is making beds and cleaning bathrooms to support herself in paradise for the summer.

But it’s the things Cricket hadn’t counted on--most of all, falling hard for someone who should be completely off-limits--that turn her dreams into an exhilarating, bittersweet reality.

A beautiful future is within her grasp, and Cricket must find the grace to embrace it. If she does, her life could be the perfect shade of Nantucket blue.

 

 

Why I'm Waiting ~  Everything about this book screams "READ ME!". What do you guys think about Nantucket Blue?

 

 

 

 

 

 

LENNON'S JINX BLOG TOUR ~ REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

 

 

Welcome to The Bookish Babe's stop on the Lennon's Jinx Blog Tour! The tour is hosted by AToMR Tours; you can find the entire schedule here. My stop includes a review and giveaway.

 

Series: Stand alone

Genre: Contemporary Young Adult

Publisher: Self-published

Publication Date: 1/15/13

Format: eARC

Source: Received from author for review 

Sometimes, we don’t get to choose who we fall for.

Lennon spends most of his time raising his little sister Currie while trying to skate through his senior year of high school. He prefers groupies with no-strings attached but finds himself strangely attracted to Jinx, the straight-A student in his choir. Lennon’s curiosity overrules his good sense as he tries to peel away the layers to discover the reason for Jinx’s skittishness.

Jinx conceals the black truth about herself from her friends. She won’t admit to them that she screwed up big time, losing her first love and what she once held most precious.

When Lennon’s band holds auditions to replace their keyboard player, Jinx comes to tryout and almost leaves after seeing Lennon. Despite the fact she despises him, she joins the band to nurture her love of music that will hopefully ease the guilt gnawing away at her.

Like the rest of his band mates, Jinx soon witnesses Lennon battling his infamous father for the custody of Currie. While confronting his pent-up anger at his dad, Lennon exposes vulnerabilities he had no intention of letting any girl ever see, especially Jinx. Their reckless pasts may bring them together or further complicate their already messy lives.

Wow. I really don't know what to say about Lennon's Jinx. This story was what I hoped for, based on the synopsis, but also so much more. I'm notorious for my love of stories about musicians, which is what drew me to Lennon's Jinx. But there's really more at play than a guy, a girl, and the music. This is a story of two kids, one with one of the most dysfunctional childhoods I'd ever read about, the other with a dark secret, and the strength and friendship they find in each other.

Based on the cover, you might think Lennon's Jinx is a book about a girl who joins a band, led by a hot, promiscuous bad boy who has "Trouble" written all over him. And it is, but its just as much Lennon Tyler's book, if not more. I loved Lennon so much, and I wish he was on the cover, too. What made Lennon so remarkable, in my eyes, was that he's layered. Most know him as a notorious womanizer, son of a rock star and an actress, he is also a big brother who has given up so much to take care of his little sister. He's gotten busy with models, actresses, socialites, and classmates, but he goes home to his little sister, alone, every night. The same boy who gets caught with his pants down, literally, would also give up everything for his sister. Due to his parents volatile relationship, excessive drug use, and horrible lack of parenting, he raised himself, and hasn't come away unscathed. He may be a "slut puppy" but he's also a terrific friend. Lennon is complex as honest as they come, and I appreciate author Chris Myers for not trying to tone him down, she made me love him, flaws and all.

Jinx (what an awesome name!) was a character that I became quickly and firmly attached to as well. Jinx didn't start out with the level of family dysfunction as Lennon, but her life has been awful since her dad died. We quickly learn that Jinx underwent a traumatic experience a few years prior, but not just how much danger she's truly in. Jinx was a layered character as well. She comes across as a no-nonsense girl, especially when it comes to Lennon. She gets great grades, has a group of close friends. But Jinx isn't the perfect girl. She likes to party, gets herself into less than healthy situations, and is hung up on her ex-boyfriend even though they've been broken up for two years.

At the beginning of Lennon's Jinx, Lennon and Jinx aren't friends by any stretch of the imagination. She can't stand him, even though he's the hottest guy in school. Jinx hates that Lennon gets around so much. Lennon just can't figure Jinx out. Why does she dislike him so much? But once the two become involved as bandmates, Jinx quickly gets pulled into all aspects of Lennon's life, particularly when it comes to his sister, Currie. Currie was an awesome kid, precocious and bossy. Lennon's world revolved around Currie and her best friend Zoe. And ohmygosh! The story about the two little girls broke my poor heart. Lennon and Currie's dad reenters their life, and wanting the best for his sister, Lennon must make some really hard choices, for himself and the band.

So can you tell that I adored Lennon's Jinx? The story was just soooo much more than I expected. Myers was brave in her portrayal of this sophisticated group of teens. These aren't small town kids with average lives. They go to clubs, they drink and party hard. They talk realistically about sex and relationships. There's no promise of a sweet, happy life. I really liked the ending, though it did feel a bit abrupt. BUT, it looks like there will be two more books. I can't wait to read them, but please, Chris Myers, don't make it too hard on Lennon and Jinx!


Favorite Quote:

  Being a girl sometimes sucks. Like now.
  The whole left side of my face aches. I just started my period and had to borrow firecrackers from Rena because the tampon dispenser jammed on my last quarter.  ~ eARC, 13%


  I glance at Lennon standing next to the red brick of the school. Though he is big, he fades into the walls at school, a flower wilting from lack of sunshine, water, love? It's hard to say. But who cares? He's probably slowly rotting to death from some new strain of STD.  ~ eARC, 15%


  By the time Tiny Dancer ends, most of the crowd is in tears and so is my dad. Jinx sits in the purple dress I bought her. She looks amazing. After all she's been through, she seems to be at peace now, and I may have played a small role in that. ~eARC,96%


Purchase Lennon's Jinx at:
Amazon  | 


About the author:

Chris Myers suffers from an overactive imagination. In second grade, Sister Bernice produced Chris's first play about pumpkins mauling and eating children. Apparently, the nuns didn’t catch the underlying meaning. This instantly raised Chris to stardom amongst her peers for the several days off from schoolwork while in production. She spent her high school years writing torch songs for fantasy guys then moved onto writing thrillers and young adult. Chris lives in Colorado with her daughter, her better half, and BeBe, a rambunctious Bichon.

Chris literally has very few photos of herself, even though photography put her through college. Here she is with her sisters and daughter. Chris is the one with the vino.

Chris started out as an art major, then moved to bio-chem, hoping to play Victor Frankenstein as a genetic engineer or messing with people's minds as a psychiatrist. Just as she was about to graduate, she decided being broke for another four to ten years wouldn't work out for her adventurous spirit and traveling. She ended up with an electrical engineering degree then a masters. As it turns out, she should've finished her first novel twenty-five years ago and stuck in the make-believe world where she is happiest.

Connect with Chris:

Website | Facebook | Twitter

 

Giveaways

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY

Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's WoW selection is...

 

 

Series: Stand alone

Genre: Contemporary Young Adult

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Pubication Date: 5/14/13

 

Seventeen-year-old Parker Frost may be a distant relative of Robert Frost, but she has never taken the road less traveled. Valedictorian and quintessential good girl, she’s about to graduate high school without ever having kissed her crush or broken the rules. So when fate drops a mystery in her lap—one that might be the key to uncovering the truth behind a town tragedy, she decides to take a chance.



 

Why I'm Waiting ~ Well...I've heard great things about Kirby's books. Let's just pretend that I don't have copies of Moonglass and In Honor still sitting on my bookshelf. Unread.


What are you waiting on the is week?


 

   

SALVATION TEASER TOUR

Welcome to The Bookish Babe's stop on the Salvation Teaser Tour. This tour is being hosted by CBB Book Promotions. The excerpts have been schedule with the intention to read them in order; you can find the entire schedule below. My stop includes my teaser, and a swag giveaway.


  Series: Stand alone
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication Date: 1/10/13

A smart, unexpected romance from an award-winning author.

Salvador Resendez--Salva to his friends--appears to have it all. His Mexican immigrant family has high expectations, and Salva intends to fulfill them. He's student body president, quarterback of the football team, and has a near-perfect GPA. Everyone loves him.

Especially Beth Courant, AKA the walking disaster area. Dreamy and shy, Beth is used to blending into the background. But she's also smart, and she has serious plans for her future.

Popular guy and bookish girl--the two have almost nothing in common. Until fate throws them together and the attraction is irresistible. Soon Beth is pushing Salva to set his sights higher than ever--because she knows he has more to offer, more than even he realizes.

Then tragedy strikes--and threatens to destroy everything that Salva has worked for. Will Beth's love be enough to save him?

Thoughtful and romantic, this is a beautifully written story about following your heart and fulfilling your potential.

 

2/1 Pure Imagination
2/2 Always YA at Heart
2/3 Books With Bite
2/4 Live to Read
2/5 The Bookish Babe
2/6 Confessions of a Vi3tBabe
2/7 The Reading Date
2/8 I Am a Reader, Not a Writer

  CHAPTER 1: COLLISION—SCENE 4

Somehow Salva made it through the rest of that torture session. He cruised through finance and survived the first-day lecture for AP calc. Mostly due to the promise of lunch.

He conquered the food line by piling his tray with as much protein as he could and snatching an extra milk, then touched down on the prime spot in the cafeteria, Table Numero Uno, bequeathed to him by last year’s seniors and now solely the possession of Salva and his friends.

“What the H, man? I thought you were takin’ PE. You know I had to run relay with Tosa here?” Pepe elbowed Ricardo Tosa, whom Salva liked almost as much as his best friend. Tosa was huge. Maybe six-three. Despite his extra height, he mostly just warmed the bench, but his goofy, lighthearted personality was the heart of the football team. Everybody loved him. Even Pepe, who was all about the win.

“D’you lose?” Salva asked, sitting down on the bench beside his best friend.

“No, of course not,” Pepe replied. “Class is mostly just sophomores. I had to talk Gregson into letting us in, you know. I thought you were comin’ with.”

“Markham,” Salva said.

Pepe just stared, French fries in his hand. Not as quick on the uptake as Luka.

“He stuck me in AP English,” Salva explained.

The fries dropped to the table.

Tosa picked them up, dipped them in Tabasco, and swallowed them before his friend had recovered.

“You aren’t serious,” Pepe said.

“As a playoff game,” replied Salva.

“F-it. Tell Markham to go for a dunk. I bet he never took an AP course in his life. You don’t wind up in a sinkhole like this with a high-powered degree.”

Pepe had a point, but it wouldn’t do any good to go on hating Markham. It was a little late to undo the decision to take freshman lit in the eighth grade. Salva explained the logistics.

“You see.” Tosa grinned. “It pays to be an underachiever.”

No way. Salva’s gut rebelled against the statement. The cost for that mind-set was far too steep. He glanced around the sunken cafeteria. Salva knew the life story of probably 90 percent of the kids filling the room. Despite the open campus, almost the entire student body was here for free and reduced lunch. The one thing that made you stick out at Liberty High like nothing else was money. No one had it.

If they had, they switched to somewhere out of the district, like Julie Tri-Ang. Not that Julie really had money. She just had the grades for a prep-school scholarship. And a set of parents who weren’t afraid to have their daughter board two hundred miles away.

Salva wasn’t interested in switching schools. He had friends here. And only one year left to spend with them. But he wasn’t hanging around afterward to run a gas pump. He’d seen plenty of guys who did that, and most of them ended up in prison for dealing.

“Luka was there,” Salva said, as if to validate his own part in the travesty that was AP lit.

“He would be,” Pepe groaned.

Tosa stole another handful of fries.

“Luka’s all right,” Salva said.

“Yeah, I guess.” Pepe shrugged.

“You’re just jealous ’cause he’s the only guy in this school who dominates a football field more than you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean, quarterback?”

Salva dismissed the comment. He had a good head on his shoulders—could choose a play and run it. Strong enough for Liberty, but he wasn’t of the same caliber as the guys who played his position in college. And in truth, he didn’t want to be. He didn’t want to be crushed three million times before he got out of his twenties.

“Nalani Villetti was there, too.”

“Mmm-hmm.” Pepe had clearly lost interest, his eyes on something else. “Don’t look now, but guess who’s headed our way.”

Salva didn’t have to guess. He could tell by the heat in Pepe’s voice that Char was coming. And she wasn’t wearing a turtleneck.

Copyright @ 2013 by Anne Osterlund. Used by permission of Speak, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. All rights reserved.

You can purchase Salvation at:
Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Book Depository



About the author:

 

Anne Osterlund is the author of four young adult books, including Aurelia and its sequel, Exile. Her second novel, Academy 7, won the OCTE Spirit of Oregon Award and was an ALA/YALSA Popular Paperback nominee. Anne works as a full-time author and presents for schools, conferences, and writing events. She grew up in the sunshine of eastern Oregon and earned a BA from Whitworth College, where she majored in elementary education with Spanish and English teaching fields. Anne lives in a cute little yellow house with her new feline friend, Simba, and her own library of young adult books. She and her characters can be found on her website at www.anneosterlund.com. Salvation is her fourth novel, and she has dreams of many more in the future.

Connect with Anne at:
Website   |  Blog  |  GoodReads  |  Facebook

 

GIVEAWAY

 

One random commenter will win a swag pack with items such as bookmarks, postcards, etc. The giveaway is open to US/Can entrants only. The only requirement is the comment, but you can gain an extra entry for tweeting or sharing on Facebook. Please leave a link and an email address.

 

One random commenter will win a swag pack that includes items

TEASER TUESDAY ~ SALVATION

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along, just do as following:

·Grab your current read
·Open to a random page
·Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
·Be careful not to include any spoilers so as not to ruin the book for others.

Make sure to share the title and the author so other TT participants can add the book to their TBR piles.

Series: Stand alone
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication Date: 1/10/13

A smart, unexpected romance from an award-winning author.

Salvador Resendez--Salva to his friends--appears to have it all. His Mexican immigrant family has high expectations, and Salva intends to fulfill them. He's student body president, quarterback of the football team, and has a near-perfect GPA. Everyone loves him.

Especially Beth Courant, AKA the walking disaster area. Dreamy and shy, Beth is used to blending into the background. But she's also smart, and she has serious plans for her future.

Popular guy and bookish girl--the two have almost nothing in common. Until fate throws them together and the attraction is irresistible. Soon Beth is pushing Salva to set his sights higher than ever--because she knows he has more to offer, more than even he realizes.

Then tragedy strikes--and threatens to destroy everything that Salva has worked for. Will Beth's love be enough to save him?

Thoughtful and romantic, this is a beautifully written story about following your heart and fulfilling your potential.

 

My Teaser ~

  "And his mouth was on hers. Not briefly. Not lightly. But long and deep, and my God, she was kissing him back. Maybe this was one of those dreams he'd been having ever since second rehearsal. But it didn't feel that way. It felt a hell of a lot better.  ~pg 126



Today is also my stop on the Salvation Teaser Tour. Be sure to come check it out!


You can purchase Salvation at:
Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Book Depository