Category: New Releases

Debut Love: MOONGLASS (And a Giveaway!)

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Since I aspire to BE a debut author someday in the not-so-distant future, I’ve decide to start a semi-regular feature highlighting current debuts I’ve read and found to be exceptional.

First up: Moonglass by Jessi Kirby… 

From Amazon: When Anna was little, she and her mother used to search for sea glass, but since they looked at night, they called it moonglass. Now, ten years after her mother’s mysterious death, her father is working as head lifeguard on the same beach where her mother grew up and her parents first met and fell in love. Reluctant to get close to anyone (including her father) and not pleased about having to start at a new school, Anna begins to spend more time alone, running the length of the beach and wondering about who her mother really was. After meeting a lifeguard named Tyler, she slowly lets her guard down and together they start exploring the abandoned houses that dot the beach. But when learning more about her mother’s past leads to a painful discovery, Anna must reconcile her desire for solitude with ultimately accepting the love of her family and friends.

I bought Moonglass having not heard much about it. I was attracted to the gorgeous cover at Borders, then read the fabulous cover blurb by Sarah Dessen (“I couldn’t put this book down. Kirby’s voice is fresh and wise, all at once. An incredible first novel.”) and had to have it.

I devoured Moonglass in a day and completely agree with Sarah’s assessment: It’s an incredible book. The characters are fun, normal teenagers who do things that fun, normal teenagers do. They talk like regular kids, and they make sometimes irresponsible decisions. I love that. There’s no pretention, no pretty-fying, no airs about these characters. They are layered and imperfect, yet I still found myself wanting to hang out with them. And can I just say: I adored Tyler.

Moonglass is one of those rare books that brings everything full circle by the final page. The characters, the setting (a gorgeous beach in Southern California), the plot, the romance, the backstory (some dating back decades)–it’s all vital to Anna’s discovery of herself and her past. I felt complete upon reading the last page, like everything was tied up just the way it was supposed to be.

I recommend Moonglass to anyone who enjoys a top-notch contemporary story about grief and recovery, the crippling power of guilt, and the importance of friendship and family dynamics–with a little bit of sunshine, kissing, scuba diving, beach jogging and sea glass mixed in. 🙂

Do YOU want to read Moonglass? I’m giving away a brand new hardcover (I love the story too much to part with own copy!) right here on my blog.

Here are the rules:

1. Leave a comment telling me about a recent debut you’ve read and loved OR name a debut coming out soon that you’re dying to read.

2. For a second entry, tweet about this contest, including a link to this post. Leave an additional comment letting me know about your tweet.

3. For a third entry, become a friend of this blog by signing up for an email subscription (in the column to the left). Leave an additional comment letting me know. I will verify this through the blog. If you’re already a friend of the blog, tell me (also in an additional comment please!) and you’ll score an additional entry too.

4. This contest is open internationally, now through Friday, June 17 at 12:00pm (noon), PST. I will tally the entries and draw one winner randomly, then post the winner’s name Friday afternoon. 

GOOD LUCK!

April’s Book of the Month…

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April proved to be a month of surprises in my To-Read pile. Books I thought I’d love (Wither, The Mermaid’s Mirror) turned out to be a bit under-whelming, and books I’d felt luke-warm about when I started them (Divergent, Tangled) turned out to be far more entertaining than I would have guessed.  Without further ado, here’s April’s Reading Wrap-Up…

Wither by Lauren DeStephano – Gorgeous writing. Just as Rhine and her sister wives were subtly brainwashed into accepting their bizarre, oppressive situation, I was disturbed by how “okay” I became with it. I liked the relationship between the sister wives, but I was a little skeptical of some of the world-building. There wasn’t much explanation given for why things were the way they were.

Tell Me A Secret by Holly Cupala – I feel so lucky to have heard Holly speak at an author panel a few months ago. She was lovely, just like this book. Tell Me A Secret is a story of teen pregnancy, changing relationships and growing up. It reminded me a lot of Jandy Nelson’s The Sky is Everywhere, both in the quality of writing and tone, which is to say: I loved it.

The Mermaid’s Mirror by LK Madigan – I enjoyed the beachy, atomospheric setting and all of the supporting characters, but I wanted to like Lena, the protagonist, more. I thought she behaved selfishly at times, and I wanted her relationship with Nix to be more developed. The writing itself was excellent though, and I look forward to reading Madigan’s Flash Burnout.

Now, my official book of the month is Veronica Roth’s debut novel, Divergent, out May 3rd, because, well, it was nothing short of amazing.

But, I’ve raved about it quite a bit on both Twitter and here on the blog, (most notably HERE) so I wanted to take a moment to feature another book that brightened my April… Tangled by Carolyn Mackler.

From Carolyn Mackler’s site: Paradise wasn’t supposed to suck. Not the state of being, but a resort in the Caribbean. Jena, Dakota, Skye, and Owen are all there for different reasons, but at Paradise their lives become tangled together in ways none of them can predict. Paradise will change them all. It will change Jena, whose first brush with romance takes her that much closer to having a life, and not just reading about those infinitely cooler and more exciting. It will change Dakota, who needs the devastating truth about his past to make him realize that he doesn’t have to be a jerk just because people think he’s one. It will change Skye, a heartbreakingly beautiful actress, who must come to terms with the fact that for once she has to stop playing a role or face the consequences. And it will change Owen, who has never risked anything before and who will take the leap from his online life to a real one all because of a girl he met at Paradise…. From confused to confident and back again, one thing’s certain: Four months after it all begins, none of them will ever be the same.

First, isn’t the cover delightful? Still, I can’t tell you how many times I picked this book up at Borders over the last year, then put it back down in favor of something flashier, more profound, or hookier. Last week, though, I lucked out and found it marked down at a store closing sale and snatched it up.

So glad I did! While Adult Katy thought this book was adorable and highly entertaining, Teen Katy would have absolutely treasured it. Tangled is so authentically YA, from the subject matter to the voice(s). The issues aren’t super heavy, but I found them to be right in line with what real teenagers are dealing with today.

Tangled is a quick read, broken up into four separate parts, told by four very different narrators over the course of four months. My favorite section was Dakota’s because I love male protagonists and he’s fantastic. Not exactly likeable at first, but he certainly redeems himself by the story’s conclusion.

Carolyn Mackler writes with startling honestly. I found her style both refreshing and engaging. If you’re looking for a book with genuine characters and a story that’s equal parts heartbreaking, steamy, laugh-out-loud funny, and touching, please do check out Tangled.

What’s the best book you read in April?

DIVERGENT ARC Winner! (And a Friday Five)

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And the winner of a Divergent ARC is…

PAM HARRIS

Pam, please email me your mailing address at katy(dot)upperman(at)live(dot)com. I will mail your book out as soon as I hear from you. 🙂 

Thanks so much to all who entered, subscribed to the blog, and tweeted about this contest. If you didn’t win, please do stop by Alicia Gregoire’s blog, Slice of the Blog Pie. She’s hosting a Divergent ARC giveaway too! You can also purchase your very own copy of Divergent on May 3, 2011.

For the record, if I was a part of the Divergent world and had to chose a faction, I’d totally pick Amity. I like red and yellow, I have a not so secret wish to live on a farm, I hate conflict, I enjoy being outdoors, and I’m a hippie at heart. 

And, in celebration of Friday’s arrival (finally!), here are five blog posts  I loved this week:

1. Roni Loren’s How to Amp Up Sexual Tension in Your Story

2. Natalie Fischer’s Why I’m Scared (To Self-Publish)

3. Amie Kaufman’s Can Jack Write Jill? Writing Across Gender Lines

4. Anne R. Allen’s What If Someone Steals Your Plot?

5. Kate Hart’s YA Deals by the Numbers: Single vs. Multi Book Deals by Genre

Have a wonderful weekend! 🙂

DIVERGENT Giveaway!

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Sunday night I stayed up until 1am finishing an ARC of Veronica Roth’s debut novel, Divergent, out May 3rd.

From Goodreads: In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

TIME FOR SOME TRUE CONFESSIONS:

1. Initially, Divergent‘s cover didn’t do much for me.
2. I’m very close to being over-saturated by all of the dystopian literature coming out these days.
3. I don’t usually seek out novels that are described as “action-packed!” or “edge-of-your-seat thrilling!” I prefer quieter books, ones that are character and emotionally driven.
4. I didn’t know a lot about Divergent going in, other than the fact that it was majorly hyped–not always a testament to a novel’s quality.
5. It took me three days to get through Divergent‘s first two chapters.

NOW, THROW AWAY THE FIVE TRUE CONFESSIONS ABOVE!

Divergent was, simply put, AMAZING. It lived up to and then far surpassed the hype surrounding it. Easily my favorite debut of 2011 so far. After those first two chapters, holy crap, I flew through this book! I hesitate to give anything away so I’ll be very general …

Divergent truly is action-packed, but not at the expense of deep character development, realistic relationships and stellar world building. If you want an example of a strong female protagonist, look no further. If you’re interested in reading about a dystopian future that is extremely well thought out (not to mention, a startlingly real possibility!), dive into this novel. If you like a slow-burn romance with a fantastic payoff, you’ll love Tris and her *ahem* love interest (nope, no spoilers here!). I usually hate comparisons like the following, but if you’re a fan of The Hunger Games Trilogy, I suspect you’ll love Divergent. I’m already itching for the next installment!

AND GOOD NEWS… You can win an ARC of Divergent here!!! (If you don’t win, please go buy your own copy on May 3… I am!)

Contest Rules:

1. Leave a comment telling me which faction you’d choose if you were a part of Beatrice’s futuristic Chicago: Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent).

2. For a second entry, tweet about this contest, including a link to this post. Leave an additional comment letting me know about your tweet.

3. For a third entry, become a friend of this blog by signing up for an email subscription (in the column to the left). Leave an additional comment letting me know. I will verify this through the blog.

4. This contest is open internationally, now through Friday, April 15 at 12:00pm (noon), PST. I will tally all of the entries and draw one winner randomly, then post the winner’s name Friday afternoon.

You, if you win. Good luck!

*Also, big thanks to Erin Bowman, who held a Divergent ARC giveaway on her blog a few weeks ago. I was lucky enough to win, and now I’m passing along this amazing book here. 🙂

And the winner is…

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Thanks so much to those who entered my Where She Went ARC giveaway. It was such fun to hear about your favorite contemporary YA picks. Without further ado, I’ve used Random.Org to determine that Katie Vincent is the winner! Congratulations, Katie! Please email me your mailing address at Katy.Upperman@live.com. I’ll have your Where She Went ARC in the mail as soon as I hear from you. I hope you love it as much as I do. 🙂

Thankful Thursday… And a Giveaway!

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Oasis for YA knows that the surest way to get good things in life is to be thankful for what you have.  So why not encourage a group thankful-fest once a week in which we all send out good energy and hope to get some back in return? Plus, participating in Thankful Thursday is a great way to connect with other writers.

Here are the rules:
1.  Do your own blog post on what you’re thankful for today.  It doesn’t have to be book or publishing related (but it can be!).
2.  Be sure to grab our badge and include it in your post.
3.  Post a link to your blog in the comments here so that others can find you.
4.  Go forth and share your gratitude!  (And when friending new blogs, be sure to let them know you found them because of their participation in the meme.)

Today I’m thankful for this amazing, amazing, AMAZING book:

I’m thankful that Gayle Forman (immensely talented!) wrote If I Stay and this follow-up, Where She Went, out April 5th. I’m thankful that Kiersten White decided to give an ARC away on her blog. I’m thankful that luck was on my side (for once!) because I WON the ARC! Most of all, I’m thankful that this sequel lived up to (far surpassed, really) all of my expectations. The writing is gorgeous, the plot is compelling, honest and painful, and the story had my heart pounding and my nerves on edge constantly.  At the risk of spoiling anything, I’ll just say this: I LOVED Where She Went, and I think Gayle Forman is a genius.

You know what else I’m thankful for? The opportunity to pass my ARC of Where She Went on to another reader.

So, want to win an ARC of Where She Went? The rules are simple:

1. Leave a comment telling me what your favorite contemporary YA title is and why you love it. (I’m always looking for book recs. :))
2. For an extra entry, tweet about this contest, including a link to this post. Leave me a second comment letting me know about your tweet.
3. This contest is open internationally, now through Sunday, March 27 at 11:59pm PST. I will tally all of the entries and draw one winner randomly. 
4. Check in on Monday to find out if you’ve won.

Good luck!

Friday Five – Can’t Wait For…

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There are some amazing books coming out this spring. While I’m on a self-imposed book buying hiatus (my To-Read pile is ridiculously out of control), I plan to make an exception for these titles. Their concepts are unique. Their covers are beautiful. And two are sequels I’ve been waiting months for. Can’t wait to read… 

Wither by Lauren DeStefano – March 22, 2011 – What if you knew exactly when you would die? Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out. When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden’s genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home. But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden’s eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limted time she has left.

*This one’s not supposed to be out until next week, but my Borders miraculously had them in stock yesterday. Totally picked a copy up, and let me tell you, the cover is even more gorgeous in person!

Where She Went by Gayle Forman – April 5, 2011 – It’s been three years since the devastating accident … three years since Mia walked out of Adam’s life forever. Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Julliard’s rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia’s home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future – and each other.

*So excited to have won this one from Kiersten White’s blog contest. Cannot wait to get it in the mail. I plan to give it away when I’m done reading (unless I sob all over it!) so look for a contest on this blog coming soon.

We’ll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han – April 26, 2011 – It’s been two years since Conrad told Belly to go with Jeremiah. She and Jeremiah have been inseparable ever since, even attending the same college– only, their relationship hasn’t exactly been the happily ever after Belly had hoped it would be. And when Jeremiah makes the worst mistake a boy can make, Belly is forced to question what she thought was true love. Does she really have a future with Jeremiah? Has she ever gotten over Conrad? It’s time for Belly to decide, once and for all, who has her heart forever.

Divergent by Veronica Roth – May 3, 2011 – In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky – May 23, 2011 – Maddie lives in a world where everything is done on the computer. Whether it’s to go to school or on a date, people don’t venture out of their home. There’s really no need. For the most part, Maddie’s okay with the solitary, digital life—until she meets Justin. Justin likes being with people. He enjoys the physical closeness of face-to-face interactions. People aren’t meant to be alone, he tells her. Suddenly, Maddie feels something awakening inside her—a feeling that maybe there is a different, better way to live. But with society and her parents telling her otherwise, Maddie is going to have to learn to stand up for herself if she wants to change the path her life is taking. In this not-so-brave new world, two young people struggle to carve out their own space.

What Spring 2011 titles have you itching to get to the bookstore?