Guest Post: Class of 2k12 Features Megan Bostic and Never Eighteen

In April of this year, I was contacted by Caroline Rose about participating in the Class of 2k12. At that particular time my blog was less than three month's old, however, I was thrilled with the opportunity nonetheless. So, I set to work compiling a list of questions that would be circulated between 20 different new upcoming debut author's for 2012 and 15 of them picked between two and three of the questions and wrote their own little guest post to be posted here on my book blog, on the day their books release. The goal is to create as much buzz for these upcoming debut author's and their amazing books as bloggers can, by passing along the information and blogging about them.

Megan's Website | Megan's Blog
Megan's Facebook | Megan's Twitter
Megan's Goodreads | Megan's Youtube

Today, I am lucky enough to have the wonderful and amazingly talented Megan Bostic here at my blog featuring her new debut young adult novel, Never Eighteen, with us which is releasing today and if I were you I would definitely pick up a copy and check it out. Okay, so I have to tell you guys, that I am extremely excited for this book to be released, because I've been dying to read it. I know that it's going to be one of those highly emotionally charged and intense novel's that's going to stay with you, much in the way that Jay Asher's Thirteen Reason's Why did. This is why you should be picking up a copy of this wonderfully compelling novel. Please, help me welcome the lovely and incredibly gifted Megan Bostic to my blog.

❝The Watchword Featuring❞

Megan Bostic

What type of writing environment or space do you typically do most of your writing in?

I actually have an office I’ve set up for my writing, but never find myself there. I like a lot of sunlight when I work, which is sometimes hard to find in the state of Washington (I am solar powered). I find though that writing at my kitchen table in front of my sliding glass door gives me enough light to inspire and motivate me into productivity.

Can you tell us a little bit about your upcoming book, without giving too much away?

Never Eighteen is a book about love, loss, and life. Seventeen-year-old Austin Parker is dying. His illness has helped him realize that you only get one shot at existence, so you’d better make the most of it. He takes a weekend journey with his best friend and secret crush, Kaylee, to face his fears, to do things he’s never done, and go places he’s never been. The most important part of his mission, however, is to visit the people in his life that he feels aren’t really living, and try to make them see and understand the value of their lives.

Never Eighteen
By Megan Bostic
Publisher: Graphia
Publish Date: January 17, 2012
Format: Hardback, pp 204
Age Demographic: Young Adult
b&n // amazon

Austin Parker is on a journey to bring truth, beauty, and meaning to his life.

Austin Parker is never going to see his eighteenth birthday. At the rate he’s going, he probably won’t even see the end of the year. The doctors say his chances of surviving are slim to none even with treatment, so he’s decided it’s time to let go.

But before he goes, Austin wants to mend the broken fences in his life. So with the help of his best friend, Kaylee, Austin visits every person in his life who touched him in a special way. He journeys to places he’s loved and those he’s never seen. And what starts as a way to say goodbye turns into a personal journey that brings love, acceptance, and meaning to Austin’s life.

*Summary taken from Goodreads.

❝Watch The Trailer❞



❝To Purchase a Copy❞

Amazon | Barnes&Noble
BooksAMillion | Book Depository

Thank you, so much Megan Bostic for stopping by the blog and for sharing this wonderful guest post with the rest of us. I wish you a ton of success with Never Eighteen as it looks like it's definitely going to be a beautifully written emotional rollercoaster, and I absolutely cannot wait to read it. To the rest of my fellow bloggers, I urge all of you to definitely pick up a copy of this book and read it and encourage other's to read it as well.

Guest Post: YA Author's Appreciation featuring Anna of Books To Brighten Your Mood and Simone Elkeles

❝YA AUTHOR'S APPRECIATION FEATURING❞

SIMONE ELKESE

©ANNA @ BOOKS TO BRIGHTEN YOUR MOOD

Hello and Happy Holidays first of all! Before saying anything else I just have to thank Suz for her amazing idea and for creating this feauture! I'm really flattered that you considered me to participate!

So, my name is Anna and I'm the blogger behind Books to Brighten your Mood and this is my first ever guest post, so forgive any awkwardness I'm sure will be visible by the end of it! I'm 26 years old and I live in Athens, Greece. Reading is essentially a second nature to me, so blogging just came along my being introduced to different genres and finding amazing recommendations through other blogs, so I thought of creating my own place and maybe introduce in turn to other people some of the books I love!

For the YA Author's Appreciation Event I could speak for noone else but one of my favorite ever YA authors: Simone Elkeles!!!

I mean this author is trully so amazing that anything she has written goes automatically in my TBR list! I just love everything about the way she delivers her stories, the characters she creates just stick to my mind and in overall, picking a book of hers means that I won't be able to put it down as soon as I pick it.

I'll never forget the day I received my copy of Perfect Chemistry! A good friend of mine had just read it and insisted that I should immediatelly go grab my own. And for that, I am forever grateful to her!

What made Perfect Chemistry so special to me wasn't the fact that it was my first YA contemporary book that I enjoyed. Granted, it was among the first but what made it so special was the sensitivity with which Simone Elkeles handled delicate issues in this book that along with a riveting story had me glued to the pages of the book.

Elkeles just has the undeniable ability to create well developed and memorable characters and I'm not talking about the main ones only...I remember that I just wanted to learn more about Alex's brothers and I didn't even knew back then that this book would be part of a trilogy. I just picked it solely on my friend's recommendation without knowing anything about the author or having read any reviews. And that way I was completely lost in the magic of this book. And not only that, but by the end of it, it was like Alex and Brittany were my own friends.

Apart from that, what makes Simone Elkeles so special an author to me is the fact that she knows how to stir the feelings she intends on her readers. Not many authors can claim they can achieve that. She just takes her readers along her characters' journey and while reading her books you can actually feel and understand her characters and their motives. Either you like her story or not,noone can say that her characters act in a non consistent way.

For all that, Simone Elkeles is among my favorite YA authors and one whose work I trully admire. She was the reason I started frantically searching for any similar stories out there as soon as I finished Perfect Chemistry and the reason I was stupidly grinning for almost an hour after I finished reading her story. So, even if she didn't introduce me to the YA contemporary genre she managed to make me obsessed over the genre!

Thanks Suz for having me over at your place! I had a really great time!

Guest Post: Class of 2k12 Features Sarah Tregay and Love & Leftovers

In April of this year, I was contacted by Caroline Rose about participating in the Class of 2k12. At that particular time my blog was less than three month's old, however, I was thrilled with the opportunity nonetheless. So, I set to work compiling a list of questions that would be circulated between 20 different new upcoming debut author's for 2012 and 15 of them picked between two and three of the questions and wrote their own little guest post to be posted here on my book blog, on the day their books release. The goal is to create as much buzz for these upcoming debut author's and their amazing books as bloggers can, by passing along the information and blogging about them.

Sarah's Website | Sarah's Facebook
Sarah's Goodreads

Today, I am lucky enough to have Sarah Tregay here at my blog. Her debut novel, Love & Leftover's, is releasing today and you should definitely pick up a copy and check it out. It's a compelling young adult contemporary that's a beautifully written story depicting one girl's journey dealing with love, loyalty, family, and friends. I've personally been really excited to read this one, myself. I've been wanting to get into the habit of reading more contemporary novels and this looks like it will fit the bill wonderfully. So help me make her feel welcome here on the blog.

❝The Watchword Featuring❞

Sarah Tregay

Is there any specific way you go about researching materials you use when writing your book, such as some of the things that inspired you to write this novel?

I find it easier to write about things that I have experienced first hand— especially setting. My family has a summerhouse in New Hampshire (also known as a ‘camp’) that inspired me to write Love and Leftovers. My visits there are often limited to a week or two, so I liked the idea of getting stuck on summer vacation. I made two trips to New Hampshire while I was writing the manuscript, often sitting on the dock or in front of the wood-burning stove and scribbling away.

The second half of the book is set in Boise, Idaho where I live. Even though I am familiar with the setting, I went out of my way to experience what my characters might have experienced, like climbing on the playground on a cold day in January and hiding out among the cookbooks at the library.

As you might have guessed, Love and Leftovers has a bit of a food theme going on. My main character, Marcie, loves pizza. So, lucky for me, I got to order a slice or two in both locations.

Who are some of your favorite author's and have they had any impact on your writing?

I enjoy reading—and listening to—verse novels and Sonya Sones is one of my favorite authors. I was reading her book, One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies, when I began writing Love and Leftovers. It definitely influenced my writing, from the theme of moving to a new town to the light-hearted nature of the poems.

One of the things that I love about Sones’ writing is the sound of her poetry when it is read out loud. Often, I read my own poems out loud while I’m writing and revising in order to capture my main character’s audible voice. Who knows, maybe someday Love and Leftovers will be an audiobook.

Love & Leftovers
By Sarah Tregay
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Publish Date: December 27, 2011
Format: Hardback, pp 448
Age Demographic: Young Adult
b&n // amazon

My wish
is to fall
cranium over Converse
in dizzy, daydream-worthy
love.

When her parents split, Marcie is dragged from Idaho to a family summerhouse in New Hampshire. She leaves behind her friends, a group of freaks and geeks called the Leftovers, including her emo-rocker boyfriend, and her father.

By the time Labor Day rolls around, Marcie suspects this "vacation" has become permanent. She starts at a new school where a cute boy brings her breakfast and a new romance heats up. But understanding love, especially when you've watched your parents' affections end, is elusive. What does it feel like, really? can you even know it until you've lost it?

Love and Leftovers is a beautifully written story of one girl’s journey navigating family, friends, and love, and a compelling and sexy read that teens will gobble up whole.

*Summary taken from Goodreads.

❝To Purchase a Copy❞

Amazon | Barnes&Noble
BooksAMillion | Book Depository

Thank you, so much Sarah Tregay for stopping by the blog and sharing this amazing guest post with the rest of us. I wish you a ton of success with Love & Leftovers and I absolutely cannot wait to read it.

Guest Post: YA Author's Appreciation featuring Felicia of Living Life Through Books and Stephanie Perkins

❝YA AUTHOR'S APPRECIATION FEATURING❞

STEPHANIE PERKINS

By FELICIA @ LIVING LIFE THROUGH BOOKS

So I’ve been asked to write a post for YA Author’s Appreciation, about an author who’s changed my point of views in reading YA novels and those that have made their mark on us, and to choose what we are willing to read an what we aren’t willing to read. The author that I decided to gush about is Stephanie Perkins. Many of you know her as the critically acclaimed YA author of Anna And The French Kiss. She has also written the novel, Lola And The Boy Next Door.

Now normally, I love reading romance novels, especially YA. But ever since I got my hands on a copy of Anna And The French Kiss, I felt that Perkins defined the epitome of what a YA romance novel should be.

I have read a lot of books in my day, and let me tell you, there are a LOT of YA authors who seem to be more daring and racy about relationships and romance in this century. Lord knows I’m not an expert on either, but when you read a romance novel, it shouldn’t be just about the sex scenes and the love scenes. It should also be about real life situations, consequences, and the changes that a character goes through

I believe that Perkins does exactly that, especially when I read Anna And The French Kiss. I was completely blown away by the characters and the feelings that they were going through. Perkins made me fall in love with YA romance all over again. It also made me more reluctant to read YA romance novels that are more racy. When a romance novel is well written such as Anna And The French Kiss, there is no need for authors to go overboard.

Perkins writes in a way that leaves you blushing, breathless, and wanting more. She doesn’t write with all that extra added junk, and makes the relationships seem more real. If it’s a Stephanie Perkins novel, it’s guaranteed that I’m going to devour it. At least to me, Stephanie Perkins has made her mark, and is here to stay.

Guest Post: YA Author's Appreciation Featuring Aiecha of Word Spelunking and Lauren Myracle

❝YA AUTHOR'S APPRECIATION FEATURING❞

LAUREN MYRACLE

©AIECHA @ WORD SPELUNKING

I live in my own little world. But its ok, they know me here. – Lauren Myracle

It all started about five years ago when my now almost 16 year old sister was just turning 11. I was in the YA section of my local bookstore looking for a book my not-so-little-anymore sister could read and enjoy. As a pre-teen and teen, I lived very much in a world of books where fictional characters were often some of my dearest friends, and I wanted to pass that love and joy of reading onto my sister.

While browsing I came across Lauren Myracle’s Eleven, a book that explores the humor and heartache of Winnie Perry’s eleventh year. I was stoked when I found this book; I mean, what better book gift for an 11 year old than a book entitled Eleven?! So, I bought it...then decided to read it myself. At the time, I was in my early twenties, in college as an English major, and spent most of my time reading your fancypants classics, but I thought “What the heck? I could use a nice, simple meaningless read.” But, what I got was the start of a long, deep, fangirly appreciation of and love affair with Lauren Myracle’s YA books.

I devoured Eleven in one sitting, literally LOLing the whole way through. I was hooked! Within the next two weeks after that, I had had all of Myracle’s books that were published at the time, purchased and read. I had originally set out to simply find something for my sister to enjoy and ended up finding something I never knew I was missing. When I was younger, I may have lived in that world of books, but very few of them were considered YA. As a child, I read many of the popular children’s books-Chronicles of Narnia, Anne of Green Gables, Little House on the Prairie, The Baby-Sitter’s Club, anything and everything by Judy Blume-but by the time I reached 13, I had moved past these books and set out on a decade’s long tryst with books geared more to adults.

I suppose I started where many young girls start by reading the novels of Jane Austen, then I discovered Ayn Rand, next came Faulkner, Vonnegut, Kerouac, and W. Somerset Maugham’s Of Human Bondage. I delighted in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Holdstock’s Mythago Wood. But very rarely, as a young adult did I venture into the YA section, and by the time I reached my early twenties I had convinced myself that YA had nothing to offer me anymore. How wrong was I?!

Lauren Myracle’s YA novels opened my eyes to the awesomeness, beauty, humor, and enlightenment that YA has to offer. Myracle writes with a poignant honesty that never fails to move me, a laugh out loud humor that entertains me and an effortless realism that holds me spellbound. Myracles Luv Ya Bunches series are the type of books I craved as a ten year old, her Winnie Perry books are the type of books I desperately needed as a middle schooler, and books such as her Internet Girls series, Kissing Kate, Shine, and Peace, Love, & Baby Ducks are they types of books I wish existed when I was a teenager. And what I’ve come to realize, is that books like these probably did exist when I was a teen, I was just too much of a book snob to notice. If I had never decided to read Eleven I may have never continued to browse the YA section and began to voraciously read more and more YA books.

Myracle’s work was really the catalyst that changed the way I viewed YA. Before I read YA on a regular basis, I believed that YA books either fell into two different categories: strictly serious/intense and lighthearted/humorous/fluff. But Myracle’s books prove that YA can be both serious and funny in the span of a single book, a single chapter, heck, a single page…and, in Myracle’s case, it can be seriously funny! Furthermore, her books prove that YA can be, and most often is, smart, sophisticated, sharp, witty, eloquent, powerful, and meaningful. And one of the most important things Myracle has shown me through her work is that just because it’s called Young Adult doesn’t mean it’s just for young adults.

When I first began reading Myracle’s books and many other YA books, I often found myself thinking, "Wow! 17 year old me could totally relate to that or I felt the same way as a teen!" But the more YA I read, specifically the more of Myracle’s work I read, the more I began to realize that even at twenty-something I could relate to what these YA characters are going through. Even now in my late twenties, so much of what her and other YA authors’characters go through, moves me and touches me, not just because 17 year old me could have related or understood, but because 27 year old me still feels it, gets it, experiences it. Just like Lissa in Kissing Kate or Carly in Peace, Love, & Baby Ducks, I still struggle with figuring out just who I am and who I want to me. Just like Winnie Perry, sometimes I still feel the sting of not fitting in or not being a part of the “cool” crowd. And just like Angela, Maddie, and Zoe in the Internet Girls series, I still worry about the future, about my future.

There’s a passage in Myracle’s Thirteen (Winnie Years #3) that I want to share:

Growing up is always tinged with sadness; that’s what I was coming to learn. You got boobs, but also got zits. You got to wear cooler clothes, but you felt self-conscious when people noticed you in them. You realized your parents weren’t perfect and amazing and all-powerful, which was liberating in a way, but, well, you also realized your parents weren’t perfect and amazing and all-powerful. Which sucked. As a little kid, I thought my parents had all the answers. As I got older, I realized no one did.

To me, this passage encompasses so much of what YA is all about, what the essence of YA is made up of. Whether a YA novel has vampires, werewolves, magical abilities; whether it takes places 100 years ago, 100 years from now, or today, it’s all about capturing the moments, experiences, and feelings that change its characters, cause them to evolve and mature. In a way, every YA story is a coming of age story; a story about growing-growing up; growing wiser; growing older. And do we ever really stop growing? Do we ever stop needing stories like these, like so many found in YA, to remind us we are not alone? I’ve found that Myracle’s YA books vibrate and pulse with this essence. She has become the epitome of all that makes YA, well, YA.

I wouldn’t be the reader that I am today nor would I have the pleasure and honor of enjoying so many YA titles if it weren’t for Lauren Myracle and her books. I will forever be grateful for the YA world that she opened up for me. Now as an adult, I still live very much in my own world, a world of books, but like Lauren says in the quote at the top of this post, that’s okay because they know me here. And Lauren Myracle certainly knows her YA audience, those that are truly young adults and those that are simply young at heart.

As Taken From Goodreads

Lauren Myracle is the author of numerous young adult novels. She was born in 1969 in North Carolina. Lauren Myracle holds an MA in English from Colorado State University and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College. she has written many novels, including the famous IM books, ttyl, ttfn., and l8r, g8r.

Her first novel, Kissing Kate, was selected as one of ALA's "Best Books for Young Adults" for the year 2004. It was named by Booklist as one of the "Top Ten Youth Romances" of the year, as well as one of the "Top Ten Books by New Writers." Her middle-grade novel, Eleven, came out 2004, followed by its YA sequels (Twelve, Thirteen, Thirteen Plus One).

Visit Lauren Myracle at her website: http://www.laurenmyracle.com

Guest Post: YA Author's Appreciation Featuring Amanda of Hippies, Beauty, and Books and Sarah Dessen

❝YA AUTHOR'S APPRECIATION FEATURING❞

SARAH DESSEN

©AMANDA @ HIPPIES, BEAUTY, AND BOOKS. OH MY!

I’ve always been a reader my whole life. When I was little I would read just about everything I could get my hands on, and this habit continued to grow as I got older. However, there was a period in my teenager years where I stopped reading all together.

My parents were getting a divorce, my best friend had passed away from Cancer, and my family didn’t have much money. I grew on a reservation (I’m Native American) and we didn’t have a library. Times were tough, but there was Sarah Dessen. I discovered her book, Someone Like You, when I was 15 years old at a friend’s house in the summer before I turned 16. I stayed up the whole night reading it and fell in love. It made me laugh, it made me cry, but most of all, it made me feel better.

I had lost my way with reading, but Sarah’s books brought me back and literally changed my life. I saved up enough money to buy all of her books by doing odd jobs for our neighbors and our community. Those books were well worn and I still have all of them. Occasionally, I will pick them up and re-read. They are the only books in my now vast collection that I can still remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I first read them.

There is a reason why Sarah Dessen’s books are hugely popular with teens as well as adults. Her books are magical and they speak to you when you read them. Her characters and the scenarios they go through anyone can relate to and are largely realistic. But, the best characteristic of all is that there is always hope in every single novel. When I was going through those dark times, I found the hope in the pages of that first book and held on to it. I’ll never forget the feeling it gave me. Her books have changed the way I will read forever. I may be 26 now, but I’ll read her books for as long as she continues to write them.

If by chance Sarah ever stumbles across this post, thank you for being such an incredible person and an amazing writer!

Book Review: The Lipstick Laws by Amy Holder

The Lipstick Laws by Amy Holder
Book Review

At Penford High School, Britney Taylor is the queen bee. She dates whomever she likes, rules over her inner circle of friends like Genghis Khan, and can ruin anyone's life with a snap of perfectly manicured fingers. Just ask the unfortunate few who have crossed her.

For April Bowers, Britney is also the answer to her prayers. April is so unpopular, kids don't even know she exists. But one lunch spent at Britney's table, and April is basking in the glow of popularity. But Britney's friendship comes with a high price tag. How much is April willing to pay?

Pub. Date: April 2011
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Format: Paperback, 240pp
Age Range: Young Adult

First of all, the cover of this book was part of the reason I wanted to read it, because it’s pretty and I’m a girl and girls usually like pretty things. Plus, the whole premise of the book just sort screamed one word out at me: FUN!

And I was so very not disappointed, either.

The Lipstick Laws is sort of like Mean Girls plus Clique equals a world of fun, flirty, sabotage. Also, who doesn’t want to be one of the most popular girl’s in high school, sitting with the best and the prettiest girls at lunch, and hanging with them at the mall on a Saturday afternoon?

The main character of the book is extremely relatable and pretty much down to earth, witty, an all around good girl just trying to get through high school unscathed without experiencing more humiliation than possible, while trying to end up dating the hottest boy in school. Oh, and she’s got to have friends.

The lipstick law’s themselves, oh my lord; I don’t even think I could have lived by them. I mean, seriously, I think they’d probably have to invent a few more just to accommodate me. Those laws were hilarious and heinous at the same time and way too crazy. Everyone has flaws and these girls are no exception to the rule, in fact that’s why a few of these laws were designed around those flaws. The “mean girls” aren’t just mean for the sake of being mean, there are reasons why they act out.

In a lot of ways, the book sort of reminded me of that old saying, “Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.” It’s a good message to be sending to the younger generation or anyone in general. Plus, by telling the story this way and having each of the girls invent a law wrapped around their issue, past, or whatever the case may be, it gives the story a new twist on an already older story that’s been told.

For me, personally, one of the things I enjoyed most about this book, is how realistic the author wrote each one of her character’s, from the mean girl Britney to the geek who actually turned out to be a hottie after all, Delvin McGerk. It was just really fun to sit back and watch the feud between the Lipstick Lawless and the Lipstick Lawbreakers unfold, with all of their crazy schemes and antics all to the tune of a Taylor Swift song, “she took him faster than you could say sabotage.”

In the end, after all of the feuding, the schemes, and the crazy shenanigan’s April showed that she was the better person, by taking the high road and refusing to let Britney and the leftover Lipstick Lawless lackeys ruin the rest of her senior year, when presented with a chance to stoop to her level – she simply didn’t.

It was a nice wrap-up to a story that I was half afraid would end up being a bit cliché, I was very pleasantly surprised and happy with the how quickly I became engrossed with the story and just didn’t want to put the book down until I’d read the last page to make sure that April did end up with the hottie of her dreams and a group of really fantastic friends to round everything out.

Oh, and the boobical cubical was pretty damn funny. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that might be looking for a fun, fast-paced, light summer read or just in general. It gets four stars from me easily and is a book that I will re-visit every summer or at random times during the year for a re-read, when I need something to make laugh out loud hysterically and root for those crazy rebel Lipstick Lawbreaker’s.