Sunday, November 27, 2011

A winner! And an MMGM message

Yes, we have a winner! 





The recipient of a pre-order of CRACKED by Pennsylvania author K.M Walton is:


COREY SCHWARTZ


Congrats, Corey!  Expect an email from me.  

Thanks to the rest of you for entering, and you can all be winners by buying a copy of CRACKED from your local bookstore on January 3, 2012.  It's coming from Simon Pulse, and my review plus an interview with Kate Walton can be found at this post. I'm thrilled for Kate and excited that in only five weeks you'll all be able to read this amazing book.
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Please Note: If you came to this blog looking for Marvelous Middle Grade Monday, I'm taking a blogging break to enjoy some time with my family (and uh, maybe get some writing done).  I'll be back next week.  In the meantime, please visit the following talented people. Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is the brainchild of Shannon Whitney Messenger. Other regulars include (but are not limited to):

Shannon O'Donnell at Book Dreaming
Myrna Foster at The Night Writer
Sherrie Petersen at Write About Now 
Natalie Aguirre at Literary Rambles
Brooke Favero at Somewhere in the Middle
Deb Marshall at Just Deb
Barbara Watson at her blog
Anita Laydon Miller at her middle grade blog
Michael G-G at Middle Grade Mafioso
Pam Torres at So I'm Fifty
Ms. Yingling at Ms. Yingling Reads
Danika Dinsmore at The Accidental Novelist
Jennifer Rumberger at her blog
Akoss at Nye Louwon--My Spirit 
Gabrielle Prendergast at angelhorn

Friday, November 25, 2011

YA Friday giveaway reminder!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

It's your last chance to enter to win a pre-order of a SIGNED hardcover of CRACKED by K.M. Walton! Giveaway ends at 11:59 pm TONIGHT.



Go to this post for more info and to enter.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday -- I have CABIN FEVER!



Diary of a Wimpy Kid #6: Cabin Fever, by Jeff Kinney (Amulet Books, November 15, 2011, Hardcover, 9781419702235, $13.95, ages 8 to 14).

Source: book purchased from store where I work (I own all of these books, believe it or not!)

Synopsis (from Indiebound):

Greg Heffley is in big trouble. School property has been damaged, and Greg is the prime suspect. But the crazy thing is, he’s innocent. Or at least sort of.

The authorities are closing in, but when a surprise blizzard hits, the Heffley family is trapped indoors. Greg knows that when the snow melts he’s going to have to face the music, but could any punishment be worse than being stuck inside with your family for the holidays?

Why I liked it:  Okay, okay, I'll admit it!  These books are even funnier than the Origami Yoda books that I raved about last week.  There, I said it.   But tell Yoda, you must not.

Please.

Nothing makes me giggle out loud the way Wimpy Kid books do.  Here's my review from 2009 of the first four books in the series.  In this latest installment, which is more like a series of vignettes than a novel, Greg inexplicably seems as if he's about 9 years old (and I believe he's supposed to be in 8th grade!), because he's still worried about Santa!  But the Santa Scout made me snicker because it's such a great parody of Elf on the Shelf.   My apologies to anyone who loves Elf on the Shelf, but I find it creepy! Creepy, I tell you!  And I'm sure the Santa stuff in Cabin Fever has a great deal to do with the target audience for these books, which apparently is getting younger and younger.  I do have customers buying these for 7 or 8 year olds now.  But it didn't start out that way.

What's making you giggle these days?

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is the brainchild of Shannon Whitney Messenger. Other regulars include (but are not limited to):

Shannon O'Donnell at Book Dreaming
Myrna Foster at The Night Writer
Sherrie Petersen at Write About Now 
Natalie Aguirre at Literary Rambles
Brooke Favero at Somewhere in the Middle
Deb Marshall at Just Deb
Barbara Watson at her blog
Anita Laydon Miller at her middle grade blog
Michael G-G at Middle Grade Mafioso
Pam Torres at So I'm Fifty
Ms. Yingling at Ms. Yingling Reads
Danika Dinsmore at The Accidental Novelist
Jennifer Rumberger at her blog
Akoss at Nye Louwon--My Spirit  
Gabrielle Prendergast at angelhorn



Don't forget my latest YA giveaway!  Go to this post for more information and to enter.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Giveaway reminder for a pre-order of CRACKED by K.M. Walton

REMINDER:  My giveaway for a pre-order of a SIGNED hardcover copy of  CRACKED by K.M. Walton is still going on!  Giveaway closes at 11:59 pm EST on Friday, November 25.  Enter HERE for a chance to win!  Kate will be having her launch party at the bookstore where I work in early January, so I will be buying a signed copy to give away.

And even more exciting news:  Kate herself is holding a contest for a live action book trailer for CRACKED.   Go to this post on her blog for more info.  If you know any film students or budding filmmakers, tell them about the contest!  They could win $500 in cash! 




*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Now I'll leave you with a comic that made me laugh out loud, especially since I first saw it the same day I noticed my hometown had already put up their Christmas wreaths on every lamppost.  

That was Monday November 15!! 

Image source

Monday, November 14, 2011

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday -- Darth Paper Strikes Back


Darth Paper Strikes Back, by Tom Angleberger, Amulet Books, August 2011, 9781419700279, $12.95, ages 8 and up.

Source:  book purchased from bookstore

Synopsis (from Indiebound):

The hilarious, clever, and much-anticipated follow-up to the breakout hit, The Strange Case of Origami Yoda!

It is a dark time at Ralph McQuarrie Middle School. After suffering several Origami Yoda–related humiliations, Harvey manages to get Dwight suspended from school for being a “troublemaker.” Origami Yoda pleads with Tommy and Kellen to save Dwight by making a new case file—one that will show how Dwight’s presence benefits McQuarrie. With the help of their friends, Tommy and Kellen record cases such as “Origami Yoda and the Pre-eaten Wiener,” “Origami Yoda and the Exploding Pizza Bagels,” and “Origami Yoda and Wonderland: The Musical.” But Harvey and his Darth Paper puppet have a secret plan that could make Dwight’s suspension permanent . . .


Why I liked it:  Kidding, are you?  HILARIOUS, these books are.  Hmm.  Yes.  HILARIOUS!


If you've never read The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, you should run right out and read that first.  Darth Paper works best as a sequel to that first book.  But both stand out as very funny books more for boys, though girls can certainly enjoy them too. They're all about life in middle school.  Classes, teachers, cafeteria food,  humiliating school dances, the whole bit.  Specifically, the conflict here is whether or not Origami Yoda is real, or it was just Dwight saying all those wise things that helped so many people.  The books even include helpful instructions on how to fold your own origami Yoda or Darth.

As a bookseller, I can tell you I've hand sold zillions of these books, especially to fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid who are looking for something else in the same vein.  The pages of Darth Paper look like crumpled notebook pages (you find out why eventually), complete with handwritten notes and little drawings.  These books are perfect for Star Wars fans, especially anyone who's ever pretended to talk like Yoda or Darth Vader.  C'mon, admit it.  You've done this.  At least once. 

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is the brainchild of Shannon Whitney Messenger. Other regulars include (but are not limited to):

Shannon O'Donnell at Book Dreaming
Myrna Foster at The Night Writer
Sherrie Petersen at Write About Now 
Natalie Aguirre at Literary Rambles
Brooke Favero at Somewhere in the Middle
Deb Marshall at Just Deb
Barbara Watson at her blog
Anita Laydon Miller at her middle grade blog
Michael G-G at Middle Grade Mafioso
Pam Torres at So I'm Fifty
Ms. Yingling at Ms. Yingling Reads
Danika Dinsmore at The Accidental Novelist
Jennifer Rumberger at her blog
Akoss at Nye Louwon--My Spirit  
Gabrielle Prendergast at angelhorn


Remember my YA giveaway for a pre-order of CRACKED by K.M. Walton!  Go to this post to enter.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Winners! And YA Friday, Pennsylvania authors Part Four -- CRACKED by K.M. Walton

 First, I must announce the winners:

The winner of the signed hardcover copy of Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King is


 DONNA GAMBALE


The winner of the signed hardcover copy of Secrets at Sea by Richard Peck is:

NATALIE AGUIRRE
  
Congratulations! Expect an email from me asking for your mailing address.

____________________________________________________

(If you didn't win, never fear.  Today's YA Friday will also include a giveaway!)


CRACKED by K.M. Walton  (Simon Pulse, 9781442434424, January 3, 2012, $16.99, for ages 14 and up)


Source: advanced reading copy from publisher (Thanks to my awesome sales rep, Tim Hepp)

Synopsis (from the publisher):  Victor hates his life.  He's relentlessly bulled at school and his parents ridicule him for not being perfect. He's tired of being weak, so he takes a bottle of his mother's sleeping pills -- only to wake up in the hospital.

Bull is angry, and takes all of his rage out on Victor.  He's the opposite of weak.  And he's tired of his grandfather's drunken beatings, so he tries to defend himself with a loaded gun.

When Victor and Bull end up as roommates in the same psych ward, things go from bad to worse.  Until they discover they just might have something in common: a reason to live.

Why I liked it:   This book made me gasp and cry and laugh.  Bullying is a hot topic right now, and the author alternates between two points of view, the bully and the victim, and somehow manages to make them both sympathetic characters. Victor and Bull quickly became real teens to me, and I was pulled into their double story with a kind of horrified fascination.  I like how K.M. Walton shows that bullies are often bullied themselves, without justifying the bully's actions.  Bull's home life sucks.  But then so does Victor's, even though Victor has everything Bull doesn't have -- money, a nice house, plenty to eat.  What does all that matter when your own parents are distant and uncaring?  

The already fast pace picks up even more when both boys wind up in the same psych ward, with the two storylines converging in an impressive way that made me race to finish the book.  The author has clearly done her research; the details are amazing.  

  
I have two treats for you: an interview with the author and a giveaway of a signed pre-order of the book!  (Remember, it pubs January 3, 2012.)


Kate Walton lives in my hometown (Yes, I'm very lucky! Not only is she an amazing writer, she's also a lovely human being!) and she graciously agreed to an interview.


1) I understand you started out writing picture books. How did you get from there to writing CRACKED, a book for mature teens?

I think the short answer to this question is: life. I was twenty five when I wrote my first picture book and in my first year of teaching second grade. I had yet to experience teaching middle school. Not to say that a twenty-five-year old couldn’t write a novel like CRACKED but, I couldn’t have. I wrote CRACKED after ten years of teaching and working closely with adolescents. Watching them label each other and make assumptions based on appearances or rumors was something I battled against every single day I was in the classroom (even when I taught second grade).  

Also, back when I was twenty-five, there was no burgeoning young adult market of which to speak. I was deep into Danielle Steele and Sydney Sheldon books at that time. Not until many years later when I read Sherman Alexie’s THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE STORY OF A PART TIME INDIAN, Libba Bray’s GOING BOVINE and John Green’s LOOKING FOR ALASKA did I realize that I wanted to try writing a contemporary YA. I didn’t know I could be that real in a young adult book. The books I read growing up were all fine, well and good, but they were filtered through the lens of the adult writer. The main characters in Alexie, Bray, and Green’s books weren’t filtered by anything. They were real. They were authentic. I never once heard the adult author’s voice creeping into those characters.

I wanted to try and write a book like that.


2) Tell us a little about your journey to publication. How did you find your agent? Did you have to query dozens of agents or just a few? And how long did it take your agent to sell your book to Simon & Schuster?

It took 2.4 years to land my wonderful and brilliant agent, Sarah LaPolla from Curtis Brown Ltd. Even though we’ve been a team now for a little over a year, I still can’t believe I have her as my agent. I guess it’s because I worked my fingers to the bone trying to land an agent and amassed 148 rejections—on three different novels. I gave up one day and even wrote a blog post about it, and then, less than a week later, I got two full requests—one of them from Sarah!

I signed with her in early August 2010 and she sold CRACKED in mid October 2010. I like to think that my years spent querying, learning, taking classes, researching, going to conferences, putting my work online for critique and participating in a crit group made me a better writer, and in turn, made CRACKED the best it could be. I paid my dues on the back end of my journey towards publication, and I’m glad I did because it made the “landing an agent” and “getting a book deal” parts all the sweeter.


3) Those of us who are unpublished hear a lot of scary things about line edits. How much editing did you have to do before your editor was satisfied?

Let me start by saying that I love revising. There’s something about going back into the story, making it better, that gives me a mad case of satisfaction. Also, my editor, the genius otherwise known as Annette Pollert, is one heck of a mind to have on your side. She, hands down, made me a stronger writer.

Her line edits were a mix of genuine compliments, questions and suggestions. Every page of my manuscript had notes and marks on it. I rolled my sleeves up and took it page by page. And sweet mother was I satisfied at the end of the process.

4) To quote "Lost": "The most important part of your life was the time you spent with these people." Do you feel that Victor and Bull are real people? (They seem real to me!) At what point in writing the book did they take over your life and start telling you what to do? How much time would you estimate that you've spent with them over the last few years? And has your family been understanding about it all?

Um, I’m kind of loving that you quoted LOST, which is my favorite show of all time!

Victor and Bull are real to me. They’re living, breathing human beings inside my head. I call them “my boys” or “my people” all the time. They took over their stories from the moment I started writing the novel. See, I’m a pantser, and I honestly don’t know the nitty gritty parts of my novels until I start writing. And when I start writing a book I typically do not stop until I’m finished. The story just sort of flies out of me. It’s weird. CRACKED was exactly like that. I started writing after school let out in the summer of 2009 and had a completed first draft by the end of August.

My husband and sons have been the foundation upon which I write. They believe in me, support me, cheer me on, hug me, wipe my tears, read my work. Love me. The whole process would have been awful without those three in my corner. I also have been loved and supported by many other very important people (I have a rather large corner) my mother, three younger sisters, cousins, in-laws and friends. I’ve been blessed to have layers upon layers of support. It’s quite a parfait.

5) Part of your novel takes place in a psych ward. How did you do the research for that? It must have been intense.

My younger sister is a clinical social worker in a hospital and my cousin is a drug and alcohol counselor. I consulted both of them to make sure my psych ward scenes were accurate and authentic. To be honest, the research wasn’t all that intense. However, the writing of those scenes was intense inside my head. As I said, Victor and Bull were real people, and I knew those moments were going to be raw and painful and exhilarating to write. I hope the reader will be able to feel those same emotions!

6) What's your next novel about? Have you gotten a contract for that yet?

It’s another contemporary YA, and I was recently allowed to share the news that it has in fact sold to Annette Pollert at Simon Pulse! Here’s the Publisher’s Marketplace announcement:


CRACKED author K.M. Walton's untitled next novel, in which an overweight teen's life starts spiraling out of control when she is bullied and abused, to Annette Pollert at Simon Pulse, by Sarah LaPolla at Curtis Brown.

7) If you could give only one piece of advice to aspiring writers, what would it be?

I used to give the advice of “never stop writing” but I’ve revised my advice to “write to become a better writer.” I believe there is a huge difference. If all you do is write and write the same way in which you’ve always written, well, then you’re not growing as a writer. How does one hone their craft (and I do mean craft – writing is an art form, one that must be studied)?  Take classes, research the craft, read in the genre in which you write, spend the money to attend writing conferences and get quality critique feedback.

Push yourself every single time you sit down to create something new. 

That's great advice, Kate!  Thanks.  And thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions!

Thank you very much for having me on your blog, Joanne. Your questions were wonderful and thought provoking!


And now for the giveaway!  Kate will be appearing at the bookstore where I work in January, so I will be buying two signed copies, one for me and one to give away!  This one's easy. To win this pre-order, all you need to do is be a follower and leave a comment on this post!  This giveaway is open internationally and will close at 11:59 pm EST on Friday November 25.  You must be at least 14 to enter. Winner will receive the book in January. 

Monday, November 7, 2011

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday -- MAY B. by Caroline Starr Rose

I had something else planned for today, and then Random House surprised me last Wednesday by posting my guest blog post a little earlier than they'd originally scheduled it.  About a month or so ago, they kindly asked me (as a bookseller) to blog about ANY upcoming book in the Random House family I wanted to blog about. And no, I didn't get paid for it!

So for this MMGM, please go to Random Acts of Reading to read my review of MAY B. by Caroline Starr Rose (coming January 10, 2012 from Schwartz & Wade, 9781582463933, $15.99, for ages 8 to 12). 



And in a few weeks, I'll be interviewing Caroline, along with other Apocalypsies!  Stay tuned for that.

Caroline Starr Rose
You can visit Caroline on her website, Caroline by line.  She even has a wonderful new book trailer for MAY B.  Go to this post to see it!



Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is the brainchild of Shannon Whitney Messenger. Other regulars include (but are not limited to):

Shannon O'Donnell at Book Dreaming
Myrna Foster at The Night Writer
Sherrie Petersen at Write About Now 
Natalie Aguirre at Literary Rambles
Brooke Favero at Somewhere in the Middle
Deb Marshall at Just Deb
Barbara Watson at her blog
Anita Laydon Miller at her middle grade blog
Michael G-G at Middle Grade Mafioso
Pam Torres at So I'm Fifty
Ms. Yingling at Ms. Yingling Reads
Danika Dinsmore at The Accidental Novelist
Jennifer Rumberger at her blog 
Akoss at Nye Louwon--My Spirit  


Don't forget my giveaways!  You have until Wednesday November 9 at 11:59 pm EST.

Enter here to win a signed hardcover copy of 
Secrets at Sea by Richard Peck

Enter here to win a signed hardcover copy of 
Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King

Friday, November 4, 2011

Giveaway reminder and What I've Read So Far: An "I Dig Reading Challenge" update

I'll be back next Friday with a new YA Friday post of an upcoming book by a local author!  But for today, I'm doing something different.

First, a reminder about my TWO ongoing giveaways:

Enter here to win a signed hardcover copy of
EVERYBODY SEES THE ANTS by A.S. King

Enter here to win a signed hardcover copy of
SECRETS AT SEA by Richard Peck



Now I want to shine a blog spotlight on:


Katharine Owens over at The Insect Collector (isn't that a great title for a blog?) started the I Dig Reading Challenge and I'm here to catch up on the last six (!) months.  (See this post for January through April, books #1 through 43.)  Most of these are ARCs, unless otherwise noted:

Here's what I read in May:
44. Dogsled Dreams -- Terry Lynn Johson (I won the book from Natalie Aguirre)
45. Brimstone Key - Derek Benz and J.S. Lewis
46. Liar Society -- Lisa and Laura Roecker
47. Possession -- Elana Johnson
48. Sharks and Boys -- Kristen Tracy
49. The Friendship Doll -- Kirby Larson
50. The Name of the Star -- Maureen Johnson
51. Second Fiddle -- Rosanne Parry (again, won from Natalie!)

(And for those books, I gave money to Philabundance)


Here's what I read in June:
52. Bigger Than a Breadbox -- Laurel Snyder
53. 8th Grade Super Zero -- Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich (free copy from the author! Thanks, Bemi!)
54. The Summer I Learned to Fly -- Dana Reinhardt
55. The Chronicles of Harris Burdick -- Van Allsburg, etc
56. Relic Master -- Catherine Fisher
57. Juniper Berry -- Kozlowski
58. The Emerald Atlas -- John Stephens

(I gave money to the Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri, for the people in Joplin affected by the devastating tornado)

And in July I read these books:
59. Forever -- Maggie Stiefvater
60. The Centaur's Daughter -- Ellen Jensen Abbott
61. The Help --  Kathryn Stockett (paperback purchased for vacation reading)
62.  a manuscript of a YA novel by one of my CPs
63. City of Lies -- Lian Tanner
64. Cold Kiss -- Amy Garvey

(And I gave money at church to help the people affected by the drought in East Africa)


In August I read:
65. The Elegance of the Hedgehog -- Muriel Barberry (paperback purchased for vacation reading)
66. Supernaturally -- Kiersten White
67. Mostly True Story of Jack -- Kelly Barnhill
68. The Future of Us -- Jay Asher/Carolyn Mackler
69. A Need So Beautiful -- Suzanne Young
70. Everybody Sees the Ants -- A. S. King
71. The Fox Inheritance -- Mary Pearson
72. Bad Taste in Boys -- Carrie Harris
73. 13 Gifts -- Wendy Mass

(And I donated to First Book)

Here's what I read in September:
74. Imaginary Girls -- Nova Ren Suma
75. Secrets at Sea -- Richard Peck
76. The Beginning of After -- Jennifer Castle
77. Starstruck -- Cyn Balog
78. Year Without Autumn -- Liz Kessler
79. The Wave -- Todd Strasser (old paperback)
80. Pie -- Sarah Weeks
81. Island's End -- Padma Venkatraman
82. Impulse -- Ellen Hopkins (paperback I purchased)
83. Goliath -- Scott Westerfeld

(I made a donation to the Sunday Breakfast Mission)

And finally, October's reads:
84. Hound Dog True -- Linda Urban
85. Crossed -- Ally Condie
86. Invisible Inkling -- Emily Jenkins
87. Legend -- Marie Lu
88. The Lost Songs -- Caroline B. Cooney
89. May B -- Caroline Starr Rose
90. Cracked -- K.M. Walton
91. Winterling -- Sarah Prineas
92. Under the Never Sky -- Veronica Rossi
93. Darkfall -- Janice Hardy
94. Liesl & Po -- Lauren Oliver
95. Darth Paper Strikes Back -- Tom Angleberger
96. Variant -- Robison Wells

(And I gave to breast cancer research)


See, I'm still keeping a list (as I've done since 2002) of what books I read.  But now I'm doing some good with that list. If you haven't followed The Insect Collector yet, get on over there.  And join the I Dig Reading Challenge. There's no obligation. You can give as much or as little per book as you want.  Even a dollar per book can help someone.  And you don't have to let anyone know how much you're giving.

I think it's safe to say I'll definitely make my goal of 100 books read in 2011.  Do you have a reading goal? How many books have you read so far this year?

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

NaNoFiMo anyone??

No, that's not a typo.

And it doesn't stand for Fie-on-you, National Novel Writing Month!  It's for those of us who are already in the middle of a rough draft of a novel to try to FINISH it!  See Shelley Moore Thomas's very funny post about that here.

My son and a zillion other people are participating in the lunacy that is NaNoWriMo (Yay, Eric!  You can do it!!  Here's a link to Eric's NaNo page for anyone who wants to cheer him on or see what his book is about).  Good luck to you all.

Tara Lazar over at Writing For Kids (While Raising Them) and thousands of picture book writers are happily coming up with new ideas every day for PiBoIdMo.  I participated last year and dreamed up 34 shiny new ideas.

There's already a NaNoEdMo and a NaNoRevisMo.  And probably a bunch of others I've never heard of.

Why not a month for finishing a novel you've already started?  Who's with us?  No formal sign-up here.  Just do it.