The contest is over (sniff), and the prizes have been sent. I especially loved Smooshy Face pictures that everyone sent in. Here are a few more to make you smile!
ERICA — The most excellent blogger (www.thebookcellarx.com)
JULIANNA
KATHY
DEBORAH
AIK
Stay tuned for one last installment!
I’m giving away a couple of 2010 novels generously donated by 2009 Debutantes: INDIGO BLUES by Danielle Joseph and SWOON AT YOUR OWN RISK by Sydney Salter. I can’t wait to read these beauties! They’re both at the top of my TBR pile. Indigo Blues will take you into the glamorous world of a hit songwriter and the girl who unwittingly inspired the song. Swoon follows the love life of a girl living with her advice columnist grandma.
You can win a signed copy of these books by leaving a comment after my xillion prizes giveaway post.
8TH GRADE SUPERZERO by Olugbemi Rhuday-Perkovich (say that fast three times in a row!) stayed with me for a long time after I read it. It’s a funny, genuine, and uplifting story. I liked how the friendships portrayed are deep, complex, and multi-layered. The novel is about coping with peer pressure gracefully, and making life-changing choices.
It was on Amazon’s best books of the month list for January, 2010! Win a signed copy by leaving a comment after my xillion prizes giveaway post.
Swati Avasthi, author of YA novel SPLIT has put together a huge auction to raise money for the Family Violence Prevention Fund. I donated a signed copy of My Invented Life and a first chapter critique. Many, many, many others have donated cool stuff.
You can bid on a critique of your query and first chapter by top-flight agents and editors, Rosemary Stimola, Nathan Bransford, Mandy Hubbard, and Brian Farrey. You can bid on a year long subscription to YA Lit Chat. And there are many hard to find ARCs, and signed novels to choose from.
Check it out here. Bidding ends November 1st.
Even before FLASH BURNOUT by L.K. Madigan before it won the William C. Morris Award, I knew it was a winner. For one, the main character hooked my right away. Blake has the attitude of a teen boy, but not in a distracting or annoying way. He’s funny, imperfect, occasionally rough around the edges, and lovable from start to finish. And I appreciated that the story had depth–a look at how Blake’s best friend deals with her mom’s drug addiction and homeless–without getting overly dark. It made me laugh and cry, which is my favorite kind of read.
You can win a signed copy by leaving a comment after my xillion prizes giveaway post here.
Here is a gem that may have slipped under your radar–HAVEN by Beverly Patt. It’s the story of a boy who wants a thing badly, and the girl who bribes him to help her run away. Patt tells the tale masterfully. She makes you laugh and ache inside at the same time. By the end of her novel, I wanted to pack up these characters and take them home with me.
Leave a comment after my xillion prizes giveaway post for a chance to win a signed copy of HAVEN! You won’t be sorry.
My apologies to those of you who love this cover … but to me it seems a little dark and dour, a poor match to the charming and heart-warming novel beneath. Just my opinion!
LIPSTICK APOLOGY by Jennifer Jabaley has a fascinating premise. Just before dying in a plane crash, Emily’s mom writes her a mysterious message, “Emily please forgive me”. This drives the story, but this book is so much more than that. I absolutely fell in love with every character. Jennifer handles the tragedy and loss with senstivity, but the underlying sadness doesn’t drag the story down. It’s a heart-warming book that made me laugh a lot.
And you can win a signed copy by leaving a comment after my xillion prizes giveaway post here.
SECRETS OF TRUTH AND BEAUTY by Megan Frazer captured me from the first page. It’s a poignant, sometimes funny, and very real story of a girl who runs away from her controlling parents to find her sister, a sister her parents hid from her. As you know, I love stories about sisters. And the setting, a boarding house for misfits, was unusual, yet perfect for the story.
You can win a signed copy of SECRETS OF TRUTH AND BEAUTY by leaving a comment after my xillion prizes giveaway post.
The words that come to mind when reading Shadowed Summer by Saundra Mitchell are … atmospheric … haunting … beautiful … gothic … truer than true. I loved this book! It’s a contemporary YA set in the south with very real characters, poignant and relatable. A great plot. And one sexy ghost!
You can win a signed copy by entering my xillion prizes give away here.
I love stories from the boy’s point of view. STRUTS AND FRETS by Jon Skovron totally satisfies–it has a hip yet geeky main character, a three-dimensional love interest, an engaging plot, and depth. I especially appreciated insider look into an Indie rock band, and the rockin’ soundtrack.
You can win a signed copy in my xillion prizes giveaway by entering here!
And look for something entirely different from Jon Skovron next year–a demon novel called MISFIT!
Lauren Bjorkman 