Quick Update Regarding MY Novel SEBASTIAN'S POET...

I don't often mention my own works here. When I do it's usually to announce a new release, etc.

This update is to let it be known that my 2nd novel, SEBASTIAN'S POET, was just re-released on Kobobooks. It's available both there and over at Chapters-Indigo.

Sebastian's Poet was originally published in 2012 through Musa Publishing in USA. It won the 2007 Muskoka Novel Marathon's BEST ADULT NOVEL AWARD.

Please see below for the synopsis:

 Sebastian Nelson is a boy in search of a family. Abandoned by his mother, Sebastian is left with a broken father who doesn’t even seem present when he does show up. Forced to be the main caregiver of his younger brother, Renee, and lost in a sea of indifference, Sebastian only wants to experience the love a real, stable family could afford him.
 

One morning he discovers the famous folksinger, Teal Landen, asleep on the sofa. Teal’s nurturing nature brings an immediate sense of security into Sebastian’s tumultuous life. But a dark secret looms between Teal and Sebastian’s father of a hidden past. Sebastian is driven to discover their secret, but also he’s aware of how tenuous their hold on Teal really is. He doesn’t want to lose the feeling of home Teal’s presence has brought him.

If Sebastian pushes too hard, he could lose Teal forever. He could be destined to raise his younger brother alone, while witnessing the total decline of his emotionally devastated father. If Sebastian is abandoned by the only healthy influence in his otherwise shaky existence, he will also be forever in the dark about the secret that will reveal so much about his fractured family.

You can read reviews for Sebastian's Poet at GOODREADS.

BUY SEBASTIAN'S POET NOW AT

KOBOBOOKS FOR $3.75 

CHAPTERS-INDIGO FOR $3.75

NORMALISH by MARGARET LESH - A Review of an AMAZING YA Novel!

TITLE: Normalish

AUTHOR: Margaret Lesh

RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2015

FORMAT/PAGE COUNT: Kindle/175 pages

PUBLISHER: Story Rhyme Publishing

PURCHASED: Amazon

SYNOPSIS:

Fifteen-year-old Stacy questions the strange world of high school, love, her role in a harsh universe, and life, in Normalish.

People tell you high school's so great and wonderful, but they're lying. It's mostly horrible and full of disappointment. It sucks. Your best friend abandons you. The jerk you're in love with pretends to be into you, and then the big dump. The boy you've really clicked with as a friend decides to go all crushy over you, so you break his heart just like yours was -- smashed into little pieces. Your sister goes mental, and you get involved with a guy who’s even crazier than she is (who you know is a very bad idea, but you do it anyway). Math only adds another stink of failure to the whole thing.

High school blows. Just ask freshman Stacy. She’d want you to know. (From GOODREADS)


EXPECTATIONS: I know the author through Absolute Write. I expected a great read! I've been intrigued by Normalish ever since I first read the synopsis.

MARKET/GENRE: Young Adult/Contemporary. This also had romantic elements and skated occasionally on the fence of MG...but thematic elements prevent it from landing comfortably there. 

REVIEW:

"When I was twelve years old, I learned not to talk about death." ~ Stacy, Normalish

So begins a story of a young girl who eventually talks about everything. Stacy is a character I immediately liked. She's vulnerable and on the page, just like every great young adult character should be. She isn't afraid of telling the reader how she feels...it's her vulnerability that drags the reader in. We immediately trust her. This trust allows us to settle into the story and discover where it leads us.

Where the story leads us is onto a roller coaster of events that any young girl of fourteen/fifteen would be lucky to make it out of in one piece. As Stacy is so raw and forthcoming with her emotions, so straightforward with where she stands on everything, we the reader are confident she'll make it through to the other end. But it's still a roller coaster, there's still edge of the seat moments where you hold your breath and hope for the best.

When Normalish opens, the reader is given a few quick insights. Stacy does not have a best friend, she does not have a boyfriend and her father has passed away. These are big obstacles for a fourteen-year-old. She's dealing with the loss of her father, while attempting to ride the wave of no-best-friend-ness, while pining for the day she can say she has a boyfriend. Put into this complicated mess the fact that her sister--the one she shares her bedroom with--is going insane, and you have quite a life to navigate through.

Stacy takes us with her through every step of the story. We are there when the boy she has been losing sleep over finally makes his move and we are there when the wrong boy makes his move. When her sister is temporarily institutionalized, we are there to see Stacy discover yet another boy. As she falls head over heels, we are happy for her. But, of course, we are also reticent. She does, after all, meet this third boy in the institution where her sister is recovering.

I mentioned that Normalish skates on the fence of MG. I say this because Lesh does such a fantastic job of keeping Stacy's voice at her age level. I can't imagine how difficult that would have been. Stacy is fourteen when the story begins and fifteen when it ends. She goes through some pretty tumultuous circumstances in the story, yet she keeps the voice of a young girl at her age level. If not for the serious elements involved, I would suggest this would fit into middle grade as comfortably as it fits into young adult. It's only the issues that Stacy deals with that bumps it into YA only. And Lesh does an amazing job dealing with these issues. Stacy said at the stories onset that she learned not to talk about death, but then she walks us through her story. It is such a poignant look into the harsh reality that some young teens live.

I would happily recommend this book to anyone. I can't really go too far into the story without giving away certain elements. Just know that if you choose to read it, you can trust that Stacy will do a magnificent job telling you what happens to her. She will share the intimate details of her life and her pain...and eventually, her joy. Trust me, you'll want to be there when Stacy tries to discover what it is to be normal...or normalish. Lesh is a fine storyteller...one I will be looking for more from in the future!

Expectation: Met and exceeded. Stacy's story will stay with me for a long time. Her vulnerability makes her a powerful young adult character...a great female lead who is not afraid of being an honest and strong individual. She shows the reader that no matter your circumstances, it does get better. I loved this story.

This title is also available at:

Barnes & Noble

AND

Kobo

SIZE: 5. A Solid 5!

SOULSPARK Cover Reveal! Eliza Tilton's Newest Novel - Young Adult Contemporary Romance With a Promise to Rip Open Your Heart!

Today, I get to share another gorgeous cover with you! ELIZA TILTON is the author of the YA Fantasy series The Daath Chronicles, published by Curiosity Quills Press.

SOULSPARK is a young adult Contemporary Romance sure to rip open your heart and stitch it back together.

Here's the blurb:

Dealing with the loss of her mother, seventeen-year-old Jessica Stone tries to find an escape from the pain by secretly medicating herself with Xanax, but the anxiety increases, crushing her and her grades.

Then she meets Caleb Jonas, the pastor’s son at her mother’s church. Between his cute dimples and love of fast cars, Jessica is completely smitten, and the feeling is mutual. But dating a Christian boy isn’t easy. He doesn’t party, and he never goes past first base. Jessica struggles with his faith, since it makes her question her own, but for the first time since her mother’s death, she can breathe. Life is finally shifting into a state of happiness.

But that happiness shatters when Jessica catches Caleb kissing her ex-best friend—and step-brother’s girlfriend—Rachel, the girl who used to be like her sister, and the same girl who betrayed her once before.

While her stepbrother hints at a deeper connection between the two, Caleb insists it was a one-time mistake and begs forgiveness. With contradicting stories coming at her, Jessica isn’t sure who to believe, but sometimes the truth is better left undiscovered and she’s about to find out why.

Without further ado, the beautiful cover for SOULSPARK!

ADD SOULSPARK TO YOUR GOODREADS SHELF!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Eliza Tilton graduated from Dowling College with a BS in Visual Communications. When she’s not arguing with excel at her day job, or playing Dragon Age 2, again, she’s writing. Her stories hold a bit of the fantastical and there’s always a romance. She resides on Long Island with her husband, two kids and one very snuggly pit bull. Her YA Fantasy series, The Daath Chronicles, is published by Curiosity Quills Press.

Connect with the Author Across Social Media:

Twitter / Tumblr / Website / Pinterest / Facebook / Goodreads / Instagram

SOULSPARK! LOOK FOR IT SPRING 2015!

ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES - By JENNIFER NIVEN - Best Book of 2015? Already? Maybe!

TITLE: ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES

AUTHOR: JENNIFER NIVEN

RELEASE DATE: January 6th, 2015

FORMAT/PAGE COUNT: ebook/400 pages

PUBLISHER: Knopf Books for Young Readers

PURCHASED: AMAZON KINDLE

SYNOPSIS: 

 
Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.

Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death.

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink. (From GOODREADS)





EXPECTATION: The moment this book entered into my awareness, I knew I HAD to read it. I expected great and amazing things from it. I don't even know why I had that immediate reaction, I just did. I had not yet heard of Jennifer Niven. The book just entered my radar on Instagram and I pre-ordered it the moment I saw it.


REVIEW: 

"The great thing about this life of ours is that you can be someone different to everybody." ~ Theodore Finch

"Worthless. Stupid. These are words I grew up hearing. They're the words I try to outrun, because if I let them in, they might stay there and grow and fill me up and in, until the only thing left of me is worthless stupid worthless stupid worthless stupid freak. And then there's nothing to do but run harder and fill myself with other words: This time will be different. This time I will stay awake." ~ Theodore Finch

It is no mistake I waited a couple weeks to write this review. This was one of those books I had to continue to digest long after reading the last word. It was for me. Mine. I couldn't formulate the feelings I had for it while I was still having them.

It's also no mistake that TODAY is the day I'm posting this review. Today is BELL LET'S TALK DAY 2015. It's marketed as a day of NATIONAL CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH. To be honest, when this day first appeared it made me angry. I thought, 'why can't we talk about mental illness ALL 365 DAYS!?' For those dealing with mental health issues, they don't get to put those issues in their pocket for all the other days of the year. Their marginalization happens every day. But I think I get it now. Raising awareness on this day is a way to begin the conversation that will, hopefully, last all the days of the year.

Why do I bring this PSA up in the middle of a review for my favourite book of the year? Because Theodore Finch.

Jennifer Niven has written one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. I put this on my top books list alongside Franny & Zooey, Wonder Boys, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, The Fault in Our Stars, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and the rest of my faves. It's simply brilliant. It's one of those books that took my breath away, and prevented me from catching it again until long after I finished the last page.

One of the reasons I can't really say much about the book is that I feel to talk about it would be to give away some of its secrets. I hate spoilers. If you're going to read this book, you should go into it blindly and allow yourself to excavate its gifts all on your own. What I can talk about is the way it made me feel, the beautiful prose, the expertly executed duo points of view. It was so pleasurable to read this story from both Theodore Finch's and Violet Markey's POV. Two wonderful characters fully realized on the page.

Their story? It opens with both of them standing on a sixth-story ledge. The circumstances that brought both characters together on that ledge could not be more opposing. Violet is a guilt-wracked survivor of a car accident that took the life of her older sister. Theodore? His story is slowly revealed throughout ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES. But while the reader is up on the ledge of the bell tower in the courtyard of the high school the two attend, we get it. We fully get why Theodore is there. He's the tragedian of this masterpiece. He's the always-been-broken-can't-quite-figure-out-why fall guy that every single high school in North America (if not the world) has. Theodore Finch is suicidal because he's Theodore Finch.

The story begins not because Theodore is going to succeed in ending his life THIS TIME. It begins because he suddenly sees a reason not to end it. The popular Violet Markey is standing there, ready to jump to her death. Saving her, he doesn't even consider that it might somehow save himself. He is just capable of seeing the value of a life...when it is not his life he's seeing.

This is a tragedy. In YA, tragedies are extremely hard to pull off. But Niven does it. My god, does Niven do it. I'm still raw from reading this book, weeks after doing so. I want to tell all my friends and enemies about it. I want to buy them all copies, in case they don't take me serious when I tell them they need to read it. I want to sit them down and make them read it.

I won't say more about the story itself. I'll just say that it is beautiful. And I will say that THIS is a perfect book to begin dialogue on MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES. Especially in the world of the young adult...where the scope of experience is too narrow for teenagers to realize the one most important possibility when dealing with the demons of mental health issues--- IT GETS BETTER.

I leave you with a couple more lines from the book which I highlighted because they felt like words that were ripped directly from my own teen soul. In other words, I related 100% to the character THEODORE FINCH, and the emotional tidal wave of conflict he experienced in his life.

"I can't love anyone because it's not fair to anyone who loves me." ~ Theodore Finch

"If I breathe too loudly, there's no telling what the darkness will do to me or to Violet or to anyone I love." ~ Theodore Finch

EXPECTATION: I intuited that this book would leave a lasting emotional impact on me. I just didn't know how profound it would be. It met my expectations in the first chapter. It exceeded them in the second. By the third, I was no longer reading...I was there.  I am Theodore Finch. Just as much as I'm not.

SIZE: I never gave a book a size 6 before. It seems silly, when the sizes are meant to represent stars and the highest is 5. I just can't be satisfied giving ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES a 5. And it's worthy of more than a 51/2. In This is Spinal Tap, they turn the amplifier up to 11. On this humble book review blog, for today anyway, I'm following their lead. I'm turning this one up to 6. Deal with it!



Afterword: Please discuss mental health issues and bring them into the light of all the bright places you see. Bring those suffering into the light with you. We need to embrace them, tell them they will be okay, tell them they are not alone. Mental illness is a real illness, like cancer and multiple sclerosis and diabetes. There is no shame in having a mental illness. It's time to stop marginalizing and segregating those who suffer. Join the conversation. TODAY---Wednesday, January 28th, 2015---the conversation is ongoing across all social media platforms. Find it at #BELLLETSTALK 

Anna and the French Kiss - A Review of a Gorgeous Book by Stephanie Perkins

TITLE: ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS

AUTHOR: STEPHANIE PERKINS

RELEASE DATE: December 2, 2010

FORMAT/PAGE COUNT: ebook/400 pages

PUBLISHER: Speak - Penguin USA

PURCHASED: Amazon.ca Kindle

SYNOPSIS: 

Can Anna find love in the City of Light?

Anna is happy in Atlanta. She has a loyal best friend and a crush on her coworker at the movie theater, who is just starting to return her affection. So she's less than thrilled when her father decides to send her to a boarding school in Paris for her senior year.

But despite not speaking a word of French, Anna meets some cool new people, including the handsome Étienne St. Clair, who quickly becomes her best friend. Unfortunately, he's taken —and Anna might be, too. Will a year of romantic near misses end with the French kiss she's waiting for? (From GOODREADS)



REVIEW: 

Could I be any later to the party?!

From the moment I first heard about this book, way back in 2010, I had fully planned on reading it. And I knew, intrinsically, that I would love it. What's not to love? My favourite city. My favourite market (YA). My favourite genre (Contemporary with a romantic element). My favourite YA setting--boarding school...how many boarding school stories do I love?! Uncountable. A Separate Peace, Winger, Looking for Alaska, etc., etc., etc...) It was meant to be.

The set up for Anna and the French Kiss is almost, but not quite, cliche. Poor little rich girl gets sent to yucky old Paris for boarding school. But as a reader, I understood her angst right away. Being yanked out of a safe life of best friends, after school job, a city you know and a life you're fully connected with...that can't be easy, no matter the beauty of place you're arriving in. And the fact that Anna had a total skeezball for a father didn't help.

In the world of young adult, there seems to be a total pandemonium (fandemonium) surrounding the lead male character. Étienne St. Clair is no exception. From the first encounter with him, we know Anna is hooked. Even if she doesn't even know it herself. Even if it seems hopeless because he is already in a relationship with another girl.

What is truly great about this novel is the way Perkins incorporated hard-hitting punches alongside her sickly sweet young adult romance. A great example of this is St. Clair's mother, and how her cancer diagnosis throws the near perfect St. Clair into a tailspin. Perkins has an excellent way of building on character flaws, and making their imperfections carry the reader through the book with a great sense of hope. Hope that the obstacles are overcome. Hope that the careening self-sabotaging character prevails. Hope that the characters can rise above.

This is a love story. It is also a story about place. Paris is the third character. I don't remember a time when setting was more exceptionally executed. Having just returned from Paris prior to reading Anna, I have to say that this book was perfect in its execution of place. Absolutely perfect.

What I didn't love about this book. I have to really wrack my brain to come up with something. The only thing I can think of is ELLIE. She is not a fully developed character. But you know...I don't think she needs to be. She has moved on from the boarding school, and her old friends who still attend. Her relationship with Étienne St. Clair, I suppose, is one of habit. Although I point this out as a possible story flaw, I also defend Perkins's reasons for not fully developing Ellie. 

What I loved about this book is everything. It has excellent dialogue that is TRUE. It has just the right amount of build up of expectation, where romance is concerned. It has a great and satisfying ending. It is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, my pick for favourite read of 2014. My only regret is that I didn't read it sooner.

Size: 5 1/2 (1/2 for the gift it gave me by returning me to Paris so soon after I left the city I love the most in all the world, outside my own. And 1/2 also for being my favourite read of 2014.)

The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B - A Review of the Novel by Teresa Toten

TITLE: The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B

AUTHOR: TERESA TOTEN

RELEASE DATE: August 27, 2013

FORMAT/PAGE COUNT: ebook/256 pages

PUBLISHER: Doubleday Canada

PURCHASED: NOT PURCHASED - Net Galley

SYNOPSIS: 
Two-time Governor General's Award nominee Teresa Toten is back with a compulsively readable new book for teens!

When Adam meets Robyn at a support group for kids coping with obsessive-compulsive disorder, he is drawn to her almost before he can take a breath. He's determined to protect and defend her--to play Batman to her Robyn--whatever the cost. But when you're fourteen and the everyday problems of dealing with divorced parents and step-siblings are supplemented by the challenges of OCD, it's hard to imagine yourself falling in love. How can you have a "normal" relationship when your life is so fraught with problems? And that's not even to mention the small matter of those threatening letters Adam's mother has started to receive . . .

Teresa Toten sets some tough and topical issues against the backdrop of a traditional whodunit in this engaging new novel that readers will find hard to put down. (From GOODREADS)

REVIEW: 

LOOOOOOOooooooOVED IT!

It's only the best books that suck the reader in so completely that they begin to experience the feelings of the main character. This book has reached that goal in SPADES! Be careful. This is a story of a teen with OCD...and the OCD group he attends. Toten does a spectacular job of injecting the reader into that group. What a ride! I was there, sitting in a circle looking at all the other OCD sufferers...listening to their facilitator, Chuck, as he attempted to lead the group to a healthier less obsessive compulsive lifestyle. I cannot say enough about the way Toten guided the reader through the real--and real painful--world of the OCD sufferer. Spectacularly crafted!

Though the backdrop of Unlikely Hero was OCD, there was so much more to the story. Toten takes the reader on a ride as the main character, Adam, falls in love while falling apart. I've a feeling this will be my pick for FAVOURITE READ of 2013. I love the way Adam's inner dialogue played out; his fears, his feelings for Robyn (the girl of his dreams), his thoughts on the interactions with his mom, his step-mom, his dad, his brother Sweetie, his therapist..and even Thor, the quiet hulk of a teen who attended the OCD group Adam was part of. Just a great insight into the main character's itchy scratchy obsessive compulsive world. This book is REAL.

Without giving away too much of the story, Unlikely Hero is, IMHO, a story of a boy struggling to keep it together AND the illness he takes on as a result of that struggle. His mother plays a keen role in this struggle. Adam tries desperately to combat the forces of his OCD by attending his therapist's teen OCD support group. But Adam's mother is a hoarder. As he tries to repair his ticks and obsessions, he lives in a home that is getting swallowed up by itself. Throw on the fact that his mother is being stalked, and Adam's stress level is a thousand. Amid the chaos, he is falling in love with fellow support group member Robyn. He complicates this relationship with his axiom, Everybody Lies.

I guarantee you will be on the edge of your seat as all the loose threads in this freight-train of a story begin to come together. Just when you think Adam cannot take another thing thrown into his path, something bigger and more stressful happens. And it all culminates in a satisfying ending that will have you gasping.

When this book releases, pick yourself up a copy. I will be purchasing a copy! It's one of those stories you can read again and again.

Size: 5 1/2 (1/2 for the feeling of OCD symptoms that plagued me for the duration of the story!)

Happy Birthday to My Own Novel AND Happy 10,000 Reads!

I'd like to take a moment to thank all the readers of this, my review blog. Sometime over the past few days I reached 10,000 reads. I hope I'm doing something right...suggesting the best of the best books, giving my readers some insights through interviews, etc. Thank you for stopping by AND I hope to see you again!


ONE MORE THING before we continue with scheduled reviews, interviews, etc. I don't do this often, but I wanted to give a shout out to my 2nd novel, SEBASTIAN'S POET! SB just hit its 1st anniversary! I'm giving away print copies on my author blog. You can read the post HERE. To enter for your chance to win a copy, all you are required to do is comment on the post. I'm keeping the contest open for the month of July. Winner(s) will be announced August 1st, at which time I will ask for a shipping address. Naturally, the prize includes shipping. (-:

 

Here's a book trailer for Sebastian's Poet:

AND, while I have you, here's a book trailer for my latest novel, The Reasons (PS: Check out the most awesome band in the background!) :

If you enter the contest, good luck!

Thanks so much. NOW...back to the regular business of this blog. (-:

Ryan Dean West IS WINGER! A Novel by ANDREW SMITH - Review

TITLE: WINGER

AUTHOR: ANDREW SMITH

RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2013

FORMAT/PAGE COUNT: ebook/448 pages

PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

PURCHASED: Amazon

SYNOPSIS: 

A teen at boarding school grapples with life, love, and rugby in a heartbreakingly funny novel.

Ryan Dean West is a fourteen-year-old junior at a boarding school for rich kids. He’s living in Opportunity Hall, the dorm for troublemakers, and rooming with the biggest bully on the rugby team. And he’s madly in love with his best friend Annie, who thinks of him as a little boy.

With the help of his sense of humor, rugby buddies, and his penchant for doodling comics, Ryan Dean manages to survive life’s complications and even find some happiness along the way. But when the unthinkable happens, he has to figure out how to hold on to what’s important, even when it feels like everything has fallen apart.

Filled with hand-drawn infographics and illustrations and told in a pitch-perfect voice, this realistic depiction of a teen’s experience strikes an exceptional balance of hilarious and heartbreaking. (From GOODREADS)

REVIEW: 


Ryan Dean West. We all knew a Ryan Dean West back in school. Oh yeah. The little guy who was 100% completely fearless. You wanted to be like him...to have the balls he possessed. Ryan Dean West, better known as Winger for the position he played on his private school's rugby team. He's the chihuahua who thinks he's a German Shepherd. Such a great character...whether you were Ryan Dean, dated Ryan Dean or you knew Ryan Dean, you'll love this book.


Ryan Dean comes off, initially, as a good boy. He's 14...practically a certified genius. You just know his parents are proud of him. But, at the story's onset, Ryan Dean finds himself in Opportunity Hall...the dorm for the baddies of his school. Pretty much every other baddy is bigger and meaner than Ryan Dean. He rooms with a bully he hates enough to spike his drink with **** (you'll have to read the book to know what he spikes the drink with!).

This story will have you laughing like crazy. But don't get comfortable. Ryan Dean steps into some pretty treacherous water throughout this novel. First of all, he's in love with his best friend, Annie. She's 16...and he's only 14. He feels that it will never happen. Great angsty moments ensue. As he shows his bad-boy side, by having heightened moments of passion with his bully roommate's girlfriend, you find yourself hoping he crashes and burns. But the anxiety and guilt he feels will make you hope he turns himself around. Under everything questionable and seedy, shines the light of a good boy who just wants to have the things he wants. He's confused. What 14 year-old boy isn't? Take this trip with Ryan Dean and I promise you...you won't regret it.

There is an epic moment of tragedy that sneaks up on you in this story. It will break your heart. Just when you think you can't laugh any harder, or feel any greater for Ryan Dean and his group of friends, BAM! You're thrown into a crushing scene...and so subtly you won't even see it coming.

This is a fantastic read! You have to get it now. It's one of those stories that has everything. AND...it has some pretty whimsical drawings...as Ryan Dean is a bit of a cartoonist...and as he tells some of his funnier tales, he includes some very cool comic-book accompaniment.

ENJOY THIS GEM!

Size: 5 1/2

TWERP - MARK GOLDBLATT

TITLE: TWERP

AUTHOR: MARK GOLDBLATT

RELEASE DATE: May 28, 2013

FORMAT/PAGE COUNT: ebook (net galley)/288 pages

PUBLISHER: Random House Books for Young Readers

PURCHASED: Did not purchase (Net Galley)

SYNOPSIS: 

  It's not like I meant for Danley to get hurt. . . .

   Julian Twerski isn't a bully. He's just made a big mistake. So when he returns to school after a weeklong suspension, his English teacher offers him a deal: if he keeps a journal and writes about the incident that got him and his friends suspended, he can get out of writing a report on Shakespeare. Julian jumps at the chance. And so begins his account of life in sixth grade--blowing up homemade fireworks, writing a love letter for his best friend (with disastrous results), and worrying whether he's still the fastest kid in school. Lurking in the background, though, is the one story he can't bring himself to tell, the one story his teacher most wants to hear.

   Inspired by Mark Goldblatt's own childhood growing up in 1960s Queens, Twerp shines with powerful writing that will have readers laughing and crying right along with these flawed but unforgettable characters. (FROM GOODREADS)

REVIEW: 

I love this book so much! It’s one of those books you want to take with you onto the rooftops, hold high in the air and proclaim, “Ladies and gentlemen of Earth…read this book!” It’s also one of those books you want to hold close to your breast and say, “There, there…it will be okay!” Because you’re terrified it’s going to miss its audience. This is a splendid story, well told. By all accounts, it should fly off the shelves. I’m just worried that the time period may put some off. It is for young readers and I know young readers will love it. If they give it a chance. What I also know is that adults would LOVE Twerp too!

Julian, the narrator, makes a deal with his teacher. If he writes the stories of him and his friends he can get out of writing the book report for Julius Caesar. What the teacher has in mind—one would suspect—is that Julian face the scrutiny of his own introspection. And face it he does. It’s a lovely tale Julian tells. He shares his whole world with the reader…even the darker secrets he would probably normally keep to himself. He tells the teacher how he penned a love letter to woo a girl on behalf of his best friend, he tells his teacher how that event totally backfires in his face and causes his best friend to disown him, he tells the woe-begotten tale of how he fears he is no longer the fastest kid in his school, and he shares with his teacher the story of the suave new kid from Mexico who could be his Achilles heel in this regard. In short, there are several insightful stories that Julian allows us to glimpse along the way. The one he is reluctant to tell is the motivation behind the telling. All these stories relate to power struggles and manipulations between friends in some way. But the untold story, which eventually comes out within Julian’s narration to his teacher is the story of Danley Dimmel.

Set in 1969, Twerp is an integral story of the struggles kids face to balance on that thin line of bully and bullied, cool and uncool, leader and follower. It’s a great story…you will fall in love with the way Julian gives us the raw truth of the happenings within the child community of his New York neighbourhood. It’s a universal story most readers will easily relate to. I hope kids give it a chance…there is much to be learned within Julian’s stories. And much to be enjoyed!

I will definitely be purchasing this book. It's one I will revisit several times! Suitable for adults as much as it is suited to children. ENJOY!

Size: 5

Matthew Quick - The Silver Linings Playbook - Review

TITLE: The Silver Linings Playbook

AUTHOR: Matthew Quick

RELEASE DATE: Originally released in September, 2008. 

FORMAT/PAGE COUNT: Kindle

PUBLISHER: Macmillan USA

PURCHASED: Amazon

SYNOPSIS:
 
Meet Pat Peoples. Pat has a theory: his life is a movie produced by God. And his God-given mission is to become physically fit and emotionally literate, whereupon God will ensure him a happy ending—the return of his estranged wife, Nikki. (It might not come as a surprise to learn that Pat has spent several years in a mental health facility.) The problem is, Pat’s now home, and everything feels off. No one will talk to him about Nikki; his beloved Philadelphia Eagles keep losing; he’s being pursued by the deeply odd Tiffany; his new therapist seems to recommend adultery as a form of therapy. Plus, he’s being haunted by Kenny G! ~ from GOODREADS

This was a re-read.
 

REVIEW:

 

I recently re-read The Silver Linings Playbook in an effort to re-familiarize myself with the story prior to seeing the movie. I loved this story. I’m always looking for quirky characters and Quick does an excellent job in creating them for this story of broken couples and broken people.

This is the story of Patrick’s decline. It is also a reluctant love story. Patrick’s friends and family want him to get better. After losing so many years to ‘the bad place’, all Patrick wants to do is get back with his wife Nikki. He wants the ‘apart time’ to be over so that the two of them can return to their normal life. What Patrick doesn’t realize is that he’s been locked away from the real world for a lot longer than he thinks. Life has moved on without him.

Enter Tiffany…another broken character. Tiffany and Patrick are set up on a date by family and friends. So begins the reluctant love story. This story is an exquisite look at how people can program themselves to think they’ll make it…that things don’t change if they don’t want them to. It’s a beautiful story of brokenness. The reader will love following Patrick along on his somewhat confusing journey from being lost to being on the mend. And Quick has given us some great characters to meet along the way. Not the least of whom, is Cliff Patel…Patrick’s new therapist, who eloquently crosses the line from therapist to friend simply by standing. The two share a love for a football team…and become regular tailgate party friends. Quick crossed this doctor/patient friend line effortlessly…I didn’t question the validity of this happening even once. And yet, it is something one couldn’t imagine happening in real life.

The relationship/non-relationship between Patrick and Tiffany is so brilliant. These are naïve people who have had some hard knocks. Their families don’t understand them. Their friends no longer get them. They are both navigating minefields…and neither have overly supportive people on their side. It seems the world can put up with broken for only so long before it gets frustrated by it. Quick is a master at painting the way relationships crumble under the stress of mental illness. But he is also a master at making the reader suspect that the crumbling will stop and the walls will be shored up. But nothing is certain in a Matthew Quick story.

I loved this story! I’m sure that if you pick it up, you’ll find yourself immediately immersed in its pages. I was rooting for Patrick all the way…and wildly frustrated with him for continuing to wait for ‘apart time’ to be over between him and his wife, Nikki. Quick is a master at bringing out a reader’s emotions…and having them want to read on to see the cracks filled and the dents pounded out. If you do snag this novel, and like it, don’t forget to check one of Quick’s YA offerings, Boy21. It’s another unique story, well told. These two books have made me a staunch Matthew Quick fan.

MY REVIEW OF BOY21 

Now if I can just get to the movie on a day that it's NOT sold out!

SIZE: 5 -- I suggest you try this book on for size!

 

NORMALISH by MARGARET LESH - A Review

TITLE: Normalish

AUTHOR: Margaret Lesh

RELEASE DATE: October 5, 2012

FORMAT/PAGE COUNT: ebook/175 pages

PUBLISHER: Musa Publishing

PURCHASED: Amazon

SYNOPSIS:

Fifteen-year-old Stacy questions the strange world of high school, love, her role in a harsh universe, and life, in Normalish.

People tell you high school's so great and wonderful, but they're lying. It's mostly horrible and full of disappointment. It sucks. Your best friend abandons you. The jerk you're in love with pretends to be into you, and then the big dump. The boy you've really clicked with as a friend decides to go all crushy over you, so you break his heart just like yours was -- smashed into little pieces. Your sister goes mental, and you get involved with a guy who’s even crazier than she is (who you know is a very bad idea, but you do it anyway). Math only adds another stink of failure to the whole thing.

High school blows. Just ask freshman Stacy. She’d want you to know. (From GOODREADS)


EXPECTATIONS: I know the author through Absolute Write and we also share a publisher. I expected a great read! I've been intrigued by Normalish ever since I first read the synopsis.

MARKET/GENRE: Young Adult/Contemporary. This also had romantic elements and skated occasionally on the fence of MG...but thematic elements prevent it from landing comfortably there. 

REVIEW:

"When I was twelve years old, I learned not to talk about death." ~ Stacy, Normalish

So begins a story of a young girl who eventually talks about everything. Stacy is a character I immediately liked. She's vulnerable and on the page, just like every great young adult character should be. She isn't afraid of telling the reader how she feels...it's her vulnerability that drags the reader in. We immediately trust her. This trust allows us to settle into the story and discover where it leads us.

Where the story leads us is onto a roller coaster of events that any young girl of fourteen/fifteen would be lucky to make it out of in one piece. As Stacy is so raw and forthcoming with her emotions, so straightforward with where she stands on everything, we the reader are confident she'll make it through to the other end. But it's still a roller coaster, there's still edge of the seat moments where you hold your breath and hope for the best.

When Normalish opens, the reader is given a few quick insights. Stacy does not have a best friend, she does not have a boyfriend and her father has passed away. These are big obstacles for a fourteen-year-old. She's dealing with the loss of her father, while attempting to ride the wave of no-best-friend-ness, while pining for the day she can say she has a boyfriend. Put into this complicated mess the fact that her sister--the one she shares her bedroom with--is going insane, and you have quite a life to navigate through.

Stacy takes us with her through every step of the story. We are there when the boy she has been losing sleep over finally makes his move and we are there when the wrong boy makes his move. When her sister is temporarily institutionalized, we are there to see Stacy discover yet another boy. As she falls head over heels, we are happy for her. But, of course, we are also reticent. She does, after all, meet this third boy in the institution where her sister is recovering.

I mentioned that Normalish skates on the fence of MG. I say this because Lesh does such a fantastic job of keeping Stacy's voice at her age level. I can't imagine how difficult that would have been. Stacy is fourteen when the story begins and fifteen when it ends. She goes through some pretty tumultuous circumstances in the story, yet she keeps the voice of a young girl at her age level. If not for the serious elements involved, I would suggest this would fit into middle grade as comfortably as it fits into young adult. It's only the issues that Stacy deals with that bumps it into YA only. And Lesh does an amazing job dealing with these issues. Stacy said at the stories onset that she learned not to talk about death, but then she walks us through her story. It is such a poignant look into the harsh reality that some young teens live.

I would happily recommend this book to anyone. I can't really go too far into the story without giving away certain elements. Just know that if you choose to read it, you can trust that Stacy will do a magnificent job telling you what happens to her. She will share the intimate details of her life and her pain...and eventually, her joy. Trust me, you'll want to be there when Stacy tries to discover what it is to be normal...or normalish. Lesh is a fine storyteller...one I will be looking for more from in the future!

Expectation: Met and exceeded. Stacy's story will stay with me for a long time. Her vulnerability makes her a powerful young adult character...a great female lead who is not afraid of being an honest and strong individual. She shows the reader that no matter your circumstances, it does get better. I loved this story.

Favourite YA of the Year? Maybe! UNDER THE MOON by Deborah Kerbel - REVIEW

TITLE: Under the Moon

AUTHOR: Deborah Kerbel

RELEASE DATE: January 2012

FORMAT/PAGE COUNT: Kindle/200

PUBLISHER: Cormorant Books


PURCHASED: Amazon

FROM KERBEL'S WEBSITE - A LIST OF HER BOOKS AND WHERE YOU CAN FIND THEM.

SYNOPSIS:

A girl who's lost her sleep...
A boy who's lost his dreams...
And twenty-six nights that change their lives.
Fifteen-year-old Lily MacArthur has trouble sleeping. In fact, she doesn't sleep at all--at least, not since the death of her aunt. As the days turn into weeks, Lily becomes convinced that death-by-exhaustion is around the corner and searches the moonlit nights for a way to save herself from the long, dark hours of solitude.

Can her new friend, Ben, help her find her sleep? Or do secrets from Ben's past mean that he also needs saving? (From GOODREADS)



EXPECTATIONS: High expectations. I was pleasantly surprised by Kerbel's Mackenzie Lost and Found. After reading it, I knew I had to read the rest of her stuff...both published and not-yet-published.

MARKET/GENRE: Young Adult/Contemporary (This is definitely a cross-over...would appeal to adults)


REVIEW:

15-year-old Lily MacArthur is not sleeping. Ever since her eccentric romance novel writing Aunt Su passed away, she's been wide-eyed and counting the days left of her existence. Lily knows humans can only live so long without sleep (she's Googled it). While the clock of doom counts down her dwindling seconds, Lily makes the most of her time left on Earth.

Lily is such an adorable character. She's saucy and introverted and looking for wonder. Her Aunt Su is a pivotal character in her life--the polar opposite of Lily's rigid domineering mother. Su wore muumuus, smoked (and grew her own) pot in her segregated cabin in the woods. She was worldly and she had a shelf full of best-selling romance novels under her belt to prove it. Clearly, Aunt Su is who Lily strives to be. She wants to be nothing like her control-freak mother, whom she not so endearingly refers to as General MacArthur.

Lily’s sleepless nights lead her to wandering the streets of her small town. And this leads her directly to the all-night fry place's drive-thu window and the new boy in town. She is immediately drawn to the morose Ben Matthews, who has a mystery she’s willing to get to the bottom of. Kerbel did a great job with the emotional landscape of this Ben character. He brushes the line of inappropriateness so often, it leaves the reader waiting to like him, but ultimately cautious. With whatever it is he’s going through clearly weighing deeply on his soul, Ben tends towards meanness when speaking to Lily. Kerbel set this up PERFECTLY because the reader is—by the time Ben shows up—completely invested in Lily. We are protective of her, as much as we are excited for her.

So, we have an interesting storyline that pulls us along at a great pace. Lily’s aunt dies—Lily stops sleeping and knows that eventually this could kill her—Lily meets the new town hottie before anybody else gets a chance to—Lily’s mother is a control-freak with a daughter who seems on the cusp of rampant disorder. These are all intriguing storylines. Throw in the fact Aunt Su willed everything she owned to Lily, the fact that new social movement—a movement Lily is none to impressed with—attempts to bring Lily into its fold and the dark tale of loss spiraling out behind Ben that is about to put him in very real and immediate peril and you have a fantastic novel in Under the Moon!

Kerbel establishes a wonderful character in Lily…one the reader is compelled to love. And then she takes her (and the reader) on a wonderfully quirky adventure. I won’t say this novel is perfect—there are no perfect novels—but I will tell you I loved it. I couldn’t put it down. There are a couple coincidences in the story that are a bit timely…but they are EASILY forgivable. Lily is a character you will remember for a long time after reading her story. Which is what I think you should do right now—you’ll have to find out for yourself if things work out for her. After breaking the world record for staying awake longer than the last person who died of sleeplessness, there’s not a lot of options for Lily. Kerbel does a phenomenal job of making Lily’s future look bright while simultaneously keeping her perilously awake and in danger of dying. Enjoy the read!

 

EXPECTATION: We don't pick our favourite books...we just look for a good story and hope--with every book we pick up--that we have found one. To date, Under the Moon is my pick for favourite YA of 2012. Satisfied! 100% Awaiting the next Kerbel!


SIZE: 5 (1/2)

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson - Review (Rippermania is about to gitcha!)

Title: The Name of the Star (Shades of London, Book #1)

Author: Maureen Johnson

Release Date: September 29th, 2011

Format/Page Count: Kindle/372

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile

Purchased: Amazon

Synopsis:

The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it's the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago.

Soon “Rippermania” takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn't notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target? In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities. (From GOODREADS)

Expectation: To be honest, I didn't have any expectations with this one. It's another Twitter thing. I follow Maureen Johnson on Twitter. She's pretty entertaining. I just thought that it was time for me to read one of her books. This one appealed to me the most.

Market/Genre: Young Adult/Paranormal, Contemporary, Mystery (As usual, I'm classifying this as I see it. This is a total cross genre AND cross market book). I heard somewhere that it was also considered a romance. My opinion? NO.

REVIEW:

I want to get the book-love out right away, because I feel like I might have been a bit snarky in the Expectation/Market/Genre sections. So, I ABSOLUTELY LOVED this book. As soon as I started reading it, I knew it was one of those rare books that both my wife & I would love. I wasn't even finished when I told her she had to check it out. She downloaded it and read it in a flash...and loved it as much as I did.

Favourite Quotes:

"Something about her suggested that her leisure activities included wrestling large woodland animals and banging bricks together."

"Sometimes you have to see the bathroom to know the hard reality of things."

"That prospect seemed unlikely after my display tonight, unless English people were really into people who could eject food from their throats at high velocity."

"The wind was kicking up a fury, spinning leaves and trash around us, and I remember thinking, This is it. I am walking into forever. It was almost funny. Life seemed downright accidental in its brevity, and death a punch line to a lousy joke."

"It's not that I am extremely brave--I think I just forgot myself for a minute. Maybe that's what bravery is. You forget you're in trouble when you see someone else in danger."

I adore this book and I am thrilled that it's book one in a series. My hat is off to Ms. Johnson for the unimaginable amount of research she must have had to do for this story. And none of the info was given to the reader as a dump...I never once felt like I was being force fed facts. The voice was perfect and the story never lagged. I was hooked from word one to the last and I would have no problem recommending this book to anyone, any age, any gender.

Rory, the narrator of this tale, is someone the reader can really love. And that's the trick of a great book...getting that emotional connection to the narrator created early on. Ms. Johnson accomplished this with a perfect narrator voice and an amazing sense of humour. Once that solid attachment is established, the author has the reader by the throat. A good writer is not afraid to take the reader to difficult and hair-raising places once that connection is made.

I just love this retelling of the Jack the Ripper story. The best historical retelling novel I've ever read. There's a great deal of the original 1888 Ripper story interwoven with the modern-day NEW Ripper story in which Rory finds herself firmly ensconced. What was really exciting--in a peculiar way--was the Rippermania created by the media and the people of London. It was done so perfectly that the reader could actually believe it 100%. In today's instant internet age, this mania would absolutely occur. The excitement almost overshadowed the blood. People were getting murdered and the public was showing up at 1888 Ripper murder scenes, ready to party and await the next throat-slashing. It was pretty epically real.

You may have noticed I didn't really tell you much about the book itself. I don't want to give anything away. I'll just sum it up really quickly for you. Rory goes to London to attend a boarding school--she almost chokes to death while being an awkward American (funny scene!)--Jack the Ripper appears to have come back from the grave and begins to recreate the deaths of his 1888 rampage in modern-day London--Rory gets caught up in the Ripper case, first as a result of having a little crush on one of the prefects of the school who is obsessed with the case and then as a result of the Ripper targeting her as a possible victim--as the only witness in the Ripper case, Rory gets noticed by an underground department of the London Police force. It is an exciting ride! If you pick it up, you won't want to put it down until you finish. Ms. Johnson will captivate you with this story...she will OWN you.

Enjoy! Here's where you can pick it up RIGHT NOW!

There's a reason Ms. Johnson is the Queen of Teen!

Expectation: Yeah. I loved it. I was shocked today to see a 1-star review of this book on Goodreads. Only a brainless yit would not find something to love in this book. Please...trust me. Get it. Read it. Love it. My expectation for book two in this series is just ridiculous! I cannot wait. And neither can my wife. (-:

Size: 5