Book Recommendation and ARC Giveaway on Twitter: YOUR LIFE HAS BEEN DELAYED by Michelle I. Mason

Michelle and I have been writing friends for a long, long time, so when her manuscript landed an agent, then a book deal, within a matter of weeks, I couldn't have been more thrilled. The fact that her manuscript sold to my editor at Bloomsbury was just the icing on the cake and a fun coincidence--until it occurred to me that I could probably beg an ARC of YOUR LIFE HAS BEEN DELAYED off our mutual editor.

Which, of course, was what I did:)

YOUR LIFE HAS BEEN DELAYED has a hugely commercial premise: seventeen-year-old Jenny gets on a plane in New York City in 1995 and gets off again in St. Louis--in 2020. Her parents are now senior citizens, her formerly younger brother is now old enough to be her dad, and her best friend and boyfriend are now married. To each other. What's more, something's going on with the flight's investigation, and as a budding reporter, Jenny can't help but dive in.

I couldn't put this book down. Knowing what was coming, I could NOT leave Jenny hanging until she'd also figured out what the heck was going on, and then I wanted to keep reading because her life was so messed up and I felt supremely bad. Also, because her new best friend, the seventeen-year-old son of the aforementioned best friend and boyfriend, was supremely sweet, and though I could see it coming from 30,000 feet away, their awkward relationship was still fun to watch unfold.

I've already preordered my copy of YOUR LIFE HAS BEEN DELAYED, so with Michelle's permission and a signed bookmark to boot, I'm super excited to pass my ARC along. The giveaway will be on Twitter, so head over there to enter. I wish you all kinds of luck!

Book Recommendations: WOLF BY WOLF and BLOOD FOR BLOOD by Ryan Graudin

My library has a small what's-new-in-YA shelf tucked into one of its back corners, and it's a testament to how much I love YA that I'm willing to drag my six-month-old back there, chubby cheeks, car seat, and all. That was how, a month or two ago, I stumbled across Ms. Graudin's WOLF BY WOLF, and I loved it so much that I immediately reserved BLOOD FOR BLOOD.

Though my library must have just acquired it, WOLF BY WOLF actually came out back in 2015. It's an alternate-reality sci-fi in which the Axis powers actually won World War II. Now, more than a decade later, they sponsor an annual motorcycle race for young German and Japanese riders that spans Europe, Africa, and Asia. Yael, a Jewish girl who escaped a concentration camp after Nazi experiments turned her into a shapeshifter, has been training for this race for what feels like her whole life. As a member of the floundering resistance that tried--and failed--to topple Hitler during World War II, she has to win the race to come face to face with the Fuhrer, who only appears in public once a year, at the victor's ball. A live-streamed assassination, one the regime can't cover up, is the catalyst they need to turn their floundering resistance into a full-blown revolution. She has the skills to pull it off--if the secret ex-boyfriend and the overprotective twin brother of the girl whose skin she's borrowing don't throw her off her game.

I'm a huge fan of historical sci-fis, so I probably would have liked this book even if Ms. Graudin hadn't executed it as well as she did. Despite the pages of backstory the plot had to fill us in on, the story never got bogged down, and the characters were both interesting and well-developed, with crisscrossing objectives and personalities that clashed as often as they got along. I was particularly drawn to Yael. I like my YA characters on the maturer side, and she turned out to be as mature and focused as they come.

Have you read WOLF BY WOLF and BLOOD FOR BLOOD? If so, what did you think? And if you've read any of Ms. Graudin's other books, which one should I try next?

Book Recommendations: SECRETS OF A CHARMED LIFE and A FALL OF MARIGOLDS by Susan Meissner

Several months ago, I asked the Twitterverse for women's fiction recommendations, and Ms. Meissner's SECRETS OF A CHARMED LIFE was one of the first replies I got. The summary sounded interesting--she had me at London Blitz--and the book was even better. That got me started on a Susan Meissner binge*, and I also fell in love with A FALL OF MARIGOLDS.

In present-day England, an American history major, Kendra Van Zant, goes to a cottage in the Cotswolds for a prearranged interview with a survivor of the London Blitz. The interviewee, Isabel McFarland, is a reclusive painter whose family is celebrating her ninety-third birthday later that day. After exchanging the usual pleasantries, Kendra pulls out her list of questions, but she can't bring herself to ask any of the questions on her list. So Kendra asks the question that pops into her head instead: "What would you like to tell me about the London Blitz?" Isabel smiles enigmatically, as if, after all these years, someone's finally asked the question she's been waiting to answer. "My name is not Isabel," she says, "and I am not ninety-three years old."

The book then flashes back to 1940, on the eve of the London Blitz. Most of the book takes place in the past, but it's this juxtaposition between past and present that Ms. Meissner is most known for. A FALL OF MARIGOLDS opens in a similar way, with a textile hunter, Taryn Michaels, on the tenth anniversary of September 11th. As Taryn is reintroduced to the hundred-year-old scarf that saved her life that day, we flash back to 1911 and one of the scarf's former owners, a nurse on Ellis Island who's also a survivor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. Both women lost someone on the days that changed their lives, so both must come to terms with their survivor's guilt and grief.

Both SECRETS and MARIGOLDS are a lovely blend of history, romance, and personal growth, and I eagerly await Ms. Meissner's next book.

*As part of my binge, I also read Ms. Meissner's STARS OF SUNSET BOULEVARD. Though I didn't love it like I loved SECRETS and MARIGOLDS, it was an engaging read, especially if you're a fan of the film Gone with the Wind.

YA Recommendations for In-between Readers

Ally Carter recently tweeted about the dearth of YA books for in-between readers, or readers who have mentally and emotionally phased out of MG but aren't ready for or interested in the grittier, edgier stuff that takes up most of the space on YA shelves these days. As a reader who continues to be less interested in the grittier, edgier stuff, I thought I'd pull together a few of my favorite titles that fall into that in-between world.

Anything by Ally Carter

This topic was probably on Ally Carter's brain because she happens to write for those in-between readers, and she's long been one of the authors I'll pick up on the spot, no questions asked. She tends to write action-packed stories with a heap of quirky characters and snappy one-liners. My personal favorites are the books in her Heist Society series. I even recommended HEIST SOCIETY and UNCOMMON CRIMINALS a while back.

Anything by Lindsey Leavitt

Lindsey Leavitt is another of my go-to authors for fun--and funny--YA. Whereas Ms. Carter writes thrillers, Ms. Leavitt gravitates toward straight-up contemporary fiction. I honestly couldn't decide which of her books is my favorite, so I'll just say that SEAN GRISWOLD'S HEAD is the sweetest, GOING VINTAGE has the cleverest concept, and THE CHAPEL WARS is the most poignant. Take your pick!

Bloomsbury's "If Only" Series

In a YA market that skews older, this series specifically targets those in-between readers. As publishing director Cindy Loh puts it, "Every novel in the series provides a different ‘what-if ’ situation and fills in the blank. A hallmark of the line will be humor, which isn’t to say that every book will be a comedy, but there will be light moments in each novel. And every novel will be aspirational and ‘clean teen’--suitable for readers as young as twelve.” I've read several of these books, and my favorite is the one I just finished, Kristin Rae's WHAT YOU ALWAYS WANTED. Her main character loves old movies even more than I do, so it felt like this book was written especially for me.

STEERING TOWARD NORMAL by Rebecca Petruck

I'm cheating a little with this pick, since Rebecca Petruck's STEERING TOWARD NORMAL is technically MG, but it's upper MG, so I'm going to include it:) I posted an official recommendation after I first read it several years ago, so I'll let you check that out. Suffice it to say that I love this book now every bit as much as I did then!

FOR DARKNESS SHOWS THE STARS by Diana Peterfreund

I wanted to include a fantasy or sci-fi on this list, and Diana Peterfreund's FOR DARKNESS SHOWS THE STARS has been on my mind again lately. Though the themes are deep enough to appeal to older readers, I'm sure my thirteen-year-old self would have loved this book. Since I posted an official recommendation for this one, too, I'll let those words speak for themselves.





I could go on and on, but I'll leave it there for now. What are some of your favorite YA books for in-between readers?

Book Recommendation: WHEELZ by Steven C. Fotheringham

When I tell people I write books, a lot of them tell me that they have a book idea or that they'd like to do that someday. No one ever tells me that they're writing one--except for Steve Fotheringham. And when Steve told me that his book was about his crazy-on-a-wheelchair son, I knew I had to read it.

As the father of WCMX (or wheelchair motocross, for the uninitiated), Aaron Fotheringham has done some amazing things. He's successfully landed multiple backflips in competition, served as a wheelchair stuntman in movies and TV shows, and toured the world with Nitro Circus and a host of charitable organizations. But it's his attitude that's truly remarkable. When a well-meaning preacher once assured him that he'd be able to walk after he was resurrected, Aaron's immediate response was, "What makes you think I'll want to?" Other kids had to leave their bikes outside as soon as they got to school, but he got to ride his bike everywhere he went.

Few people have lived a life as interesting as Aaron's, but what makes WHEELZ even more special is that his amazing story is told by his dad. Steve's also uniquely qualified to give us the inside scoop on all of the colorful characters who contributed to Aaron's success. I especially loved learning about Joe Wichert, the visionary recreation leader who brought skate parks to Las Vegas, and John and Mike Box, the wheelchair designers who made Aaron's first custom wheelchair and continue to outfit him with new ones.

WHEELZ affords its readers a behind-the-scenes look at Aaron's life and the rise of this bone-crushing sport. It's a one-of-a-kind book about a one-of-a-kind kid who never thought much of the fact that his legs didn't really work, and I highly recommend it.

Book Recommendation: THE SCANDALOUS SISTERHOOD OF PRICKWILLOW PLACE by Julie Berry

Longtime critique partner Jeni and I have been trading book recommendations lately, and THE SCANDALOUS SISTERHOOD OF PRICKWILLOW PLACE was her latest suggestion. The cover perfectly captures the tone of the book, so feel free to stare at it for a while before you read on.

When the odious headmistress of St. Etheldreda's School for Young Ladies and her oily brother keel over dead after Sunday dinner, the young ladies of the aforementioned school know that, if they sound the alarm, they'll be investigated for murder (or, worse, sent home). So they do the only thing a group of somewhat well-bred young ladies might do: they bury the victims in the vegetable garden and try to convince the townsfolk that their headmistress and her brother are still very much alive. If they're to succeed, they'll have to fool the doctor, their domestic, and their headmistress's elderly beau--and pray that her heir, the fabled Julius Godding, doesn't show up.

Is it irreverent? Uh-huh. Is it implausible? Yes. Did it make me smile and laugh out loud more than once? You bet it did. Ms. Berry was clearly less interested in developing the characters in her ensemble cast than in plunging them into the most absurd situations imaginable and watching them fib, grease, and connive their way out. And I enjoyed every second.

THE SCANDALOUS SISTERHOOD OF PRICKWILLOW PLACE totally reminded me of Arsenic and Old Lace, so if you like your comedy dark and your farces Victorian, definitely check this one out.

Happy Release Day, RED BUTTERFLY!

The title of this post pretty much says it all. RED BUTTERFLY's birthday is here, so it's time for a celebration! I fell in love with an early draft of Amy's book from the very first poem, and now I can't wait to hold the real, live book in my hands (and to see Amy June Bates's accompanying illustrations!).

A brief summary from Goodreads:

Kara never met her birth mother. Abandoned as an infant, she was taken in by an American woman living in China. Now eleven, Kara spends most of her time in their apartment, wondering why she and Mama cannot leave the city of Tianjin and go live with Daddy in Montana. Mama tells Kara to be content with what she has…but what if Kara secretly wants more?

Told in lyrical, moving verse, Kara’s story is one of a girl learning to trust her own voice, discovering that love and family are limitless, and finding the wings she needs to reach new heights.

I've already pre-ordered my copy, but I want to buy your copy, too! (To be more precise, I want to buy one of you a copy. I wish I could buy all of you a copy, but I'm afraid I'm not J.K. Rowling.) To enter, just leave a comment below. I haven't bought it yet, so this contest is open internationally (provided that your country is on The Book Depository's list). It closes in one week, on Monday, February 9, at 11:59 p.m. EST. I'll announce the winner the next day!

Book Recommendations: THE BURNING SKY and THE PERILOUS SEA by Sherry Thomas

I'd seen these books around, but it wasn't until I stumbled on Michelle's excellent reviews that I finally sat up and took note. When she mentioned that the second was even better than the first, I decided to give them a try--and thank goodness I did!

Thanks to his mother's visions, Prince Titus, whose kingdom has been all but taken over by Atlantis, knows that someday he'll discover an elemental mage who will have the power to overthrow the Bane, Atlantis's mysterious dictator. When he witnesses a lightning bolt called down from a cloudless sky, he figures he's found his brother in arms. But what he didn't count on was that brother being a sister. Now Iolanthe will have to pose as Archer Fairfax at one of England's premiere prep schools if she doesn't want to blow the cover that Titus has spent years building for her. But with Atlantean agents closing in--and doubts about her so-called destiny--she might not last at Eton College long enough.

And that's just the first book.

These books have it all--fantasy, adventure, romance--but what endeared them to me was the dialogue. Both Titus and Iolanthe are too clever for their own good, so their arguments are as colorful as a Shakespearean insult contest. I also appreciated how Ms. Thomas was willing to turn the story--not to mention the structure--on its head in THE PERILOUS SEA. Told in alternating timelines, THE BURNING SKY's sequel features not one but two climaxes--and within the first few chapters, Titus realizes he got his mother's visions wrong.

If you like wyverns, witty banter, or magical books you can get sucked into (literally), definitely check out this series. The last installment, THE IMMORTAL HEIGHTS, is set to come out in October, but trust me, you don't want to wait. If you get your hands on these two now, you'll be able to read them several times between now and October.

Book Recommendation: STEERING TOWARD NORMAL by Rebecca Petruck

I know what you're thinking: since Ms. Petruck and I have the same agent, this post must be part of a setup. But I can assure you that it's not. I've read a bunch of Kate's clients' books, and while I've enjoyed almost all of them--her existing client list was one of the main reasons I signed with her--I've never officially recommended one.

Until now, that is.

Diggy Lawson is resilient. When his mom dumped him on his dad's porch, then rode out of town on a tractor, baby Diggy didn't flinch. After thirteen years together, he and Pop have fallen into a rhythm, one that isn't easily upset by the pranks they're always pulling on each other or even the recently weaned steers that Diggy buys and raises for the state fair. So when one of Diggy's classmates, a kid from town named Wayne, shows up on their doorstep with a shiner and an old suitcase, Diggy doesn't panic--until he discovers that Pop is Wayne's dad, too. 

I loved so many things about this book, but the thing I loved best was Diggy. His character felt so authentic, and the things he grappled with were the same things I grappled with when I was a young kid coming to terms with my adoption. I also loved raising Diggy's steer with him--that's something this suburbanite couldn't have even imagined before picking up this book--and the scenes at the state fair were about as perfect as they could be.

Diggy's story is chock full of humor, honesty, and wisdom (not to mention loads of cow poop). Kate is giving away an ARC of STEERING TOWARD NORMAL on her blog, so skedaddle over there and get your name into that drawing. (And while you're over there, you can also enter to win an ARC of THE SOUND OF LIFE AND EVERYTHING!) You have a few more days to enter, so don't dilly-dally!

Happy Release Day, ALL FOUR STARS!

Today is the day! Tara's ALL FOUR STARS is officially out. To celebrate, I'm reposting a classic from my now-defunct "Massacring the Art of French Cooking" series. It was great while it lasted, and this post was the first. I hope you enjoy! (I'm also giving away a signed hardcover of ALL FOUR STARS, so don't miss the details at the bottom of the post!)

Today is my birthday, the big two-six. Now I tell you that not to solicit your happy birthdays (although you're welcome to leave your best birthday songs in the comments, if you like), but as an explanation for why we baked a cake.

Some friends invited us over for dinner Monday night, so we decided to turn it into an early birthday celebration and offered to make dessert. So we needed to bake a cake and, since it was going to be my birthday, not just any cake--the great Reine de Saba, or Queen of Sheba, a chocolate and almond masterpiece rumored to be Julia Child's favorite cake.

We first encountered the mighty Queen when we rented JULIE AND JULIA several weeks ago. My husband and I are closet foodies, so JULIE AND JULIA sounded interesting to us both. (Yeah, my husband's pretty cool like that.) By the end of the movie, all we had to do was take one look at each other, and we knew: We needed a copy of MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING.

Now French cuisine is to the culinary world what Shakespeare is to the literary one: that aged sage who seems more myth than truth, whose works are thick and incomparable and define the entire discipline. So the Queen of Sheba is more than just a cake; it's an aspiration, a distant mountain peak, a legend.

We made sure we had all the right ingredients and equipment. We made a special trip to procure the things we lacked. And then we started baking. My husband separated his first eggs (six of them, no less--the Queen doesn't trifle with silly things like baking powder). I beat my first egg whites (until soft peaks started to form, then added a tablespoon of sugar and kept beating, until there was nothing soft about them). We folded everything together. And then we eased our cake rounds into the oven and set the timer for twenty-two minutes (three less than Julia called for, just in case our oven wasn't properly French).

Twenty-two minutes later, when I inserted my fork exactly three inches from the edge (should have been a needle, but I figured a tine was good enough), it came out a little dirty. Three more minutes on the timer, then another fork into the cake. This one came out clean. Which meant it was time for the final test: the jiggle.

According to Julia, the center of the cake should "move slightly" when jiggled. The whole point of the Queen is to leave her slightly underdone so as to preserve her creamy texture.

So we jiggled. And got nothing.

There was nothing we could do about it by then, of course, so that was exactly what we did. We iced her as if nothing unusual had happened (in nearly half a pound of butter mixed with four squares of baker's chocolate), we pressed a few leftover slivered almonds into her sides, we took her to our friends' place. And when it was time for dessert and I sampled the first bite, I knew: We'd ruined her. The Queen of Sheba was as dry as a slab of day-old bread. Chocolate and almond day-old bread, but day-old bread, nonetheless.

What makes this an even greater tragedy is the fact that we're on a no-dessert diet for the next month and a half. Our health insurance company does these wellness challenges, and for each one you complete, you get a partial refund on your premiums. So the first wellness challenge is to not eat or drink any desserts, treats, or soda for two months. Two whole months. You do get a few free days, so you've got to make the most of them. And we wasted one of ours on the over-baked Queen.

Still, we will not be defeated. We refuse to be bested by the French. So we're planning to crack that cookbook again in about a week and give another recipe a try. If our next attempt is a success, I'm sure you'll hear about it. And if our next attempt is as, uh, massacre-ful as this last one, I'm sure you'll hear about that, too:)

And now for the giveaway! To enter, just tell me in the comments that you'd like to win (and for an extra entry, feel free to share your most epic kitchen disaster). Contest is open to US and Canadian residents and closes in two weeks, on Wednesday, July 23, at 11:59 p.m. EDT (or 8:59 p.m. PDT). I'll select a random winner the next day.

Book Recommendation and ARC Giveaway: ALL FOUR STARS by Tara Dairman

If you've been hanging around the blog for any length of time, you've almost certainly heard me gush about Tara's MG debut at one point or another. I first fell in love with Tara's blowtorch-wielding heroine when Tara entered one of the very first rounds of "An Agent's Inbox"--you can still find her entry in the archives--and I've been stalking following Tara's journey ever since. In the two and a half years since that contest, I've had the pleasure of reading the rest of ALL FOUR STARS, and it was every bit as delectable as I'd hoped it would be:)

Gladys Gatsby, the aforementioned blowtorch-wielding heroine, may know how to make a mean crème brûlée, but she can't figure out how to be the soccer-playing, fast-food-eating, one-hundred-percent normal kid her parents want her to be. When she sets her kitchen on fire with the aforementioned blowtorch, her dreams of becoming a food critic go up in smoke, literally. Gladys may be down, but she definitely isn't out, as she's about to land that dream job with The New York Standard--and they don't seem to realize she's only eleven.

As an on-again, off-again foodie (which is to say that I like eating great food a heck of a lot more than I like cooking it), I immediately gravitated toward Gladys's story, but it was Gladys herself who captured my heart. If I were still eleven (and if she were, you know, real), I'm sure we would have been great friends.

If you like cooking, comedy, or pint-sized characters with gallon-sized hearts, you'll love ALL FOUR STARS. It comes out on July 10, so get those pre-orders in, but if you can't wait until then (and if you can't, I don't blame you), I'm giving away my ARC. To enter, you must have a mailing address in the United States and tell me in the comments what you wanted to be when you were eleven (or, if you can't remember that far back, what your favorite dessert is). Contest closes next Wednesday, January 22, at 11:59 p.m. EST (or 8:59 p.m. PST). I'll announce the winner the next day!

Book Recommendation: FOR DARKNESS SHOWS THE STARS by Diana Peterfreund

Join us tomorrow for an INTERACTIVE installment of "Interview with an Agent" with Christa Heschke of McIntosh & Otis, Inc!

Confession: I've only read two Jane Austen novels in their entirety, and PERSUASION isn't one of them. Still, the idea of a retelling of one of Ms. Austen's lesser-known novels intrigued me, and it turned out to be just as awesome as I'd hoped.

FOR DARKNESS SHOWS THE STARS tells the story of Elliot North, the second daughter of a self-centered Luddite lord. Their ancestors rejected the technology developed by overreaching scientists, and it's a good thing, too. When these scientists' modifications led to deformities and even death, the Luddites were the only ones who stood between humankind and total annihilation. Now they care for the Reduced, the mentally stunted descendants of those who indulged in the technology, and follow the protocols that kept their species safe. Except Elliot is less interested in following the protocols than keeping her estate--and all the people who depend on it--afloat. To do that, she's willing to tinker with the genetics of her wheat, a crime against her ancestors and possibly herself, and turn her back on the only boy she's ever loved.

If Jane Austen had ever thought to tackle sci-fi, this is exactly how it would have turned out. In a market where so many YA characters have sex without a second thought, the Regency-like restraint exhibited by Kai and Elliot made every glance and touch that much more romantic. Their chemistry was palpable, even though they spent most of the novel pretending not to love each other (as Ms. Austen's characters are wont to do), and the journey of self-discovery that Elliot went on was an important one.

FOR DARKNESS SHOWS THE STARS is an epic love story set against the backdrop of a compelling sci-fi world. I've seen some sites describe it as dystopian, but don't let that description fool you. This is no Hunger Games ripoff. All in all, I think Ms. Austen would be more than proud.

Book Recommendation: THE COMEBACK SEASON by Jennifer E. Smith

I don't like cancer books. There, I said it. I think it's just because I read too many of them as an eleven-year-old (all right, I admit it--I was a Lurlene McDaniel junkie), but for whatever reason, I have a hard time getting into them. But then the library didn't have THIS IS WHAT HAPPY LOOKS LIKE, so to get my Jennifer E. Smith fix, I decided to try THE COMEBACK SEASON. Plus, it sounded like it might be a good comp title for Bonnie, so at the very least, I could chalk it up to research.

As it turned out, the book wasn't very comparable to Bonnie at all, but it was still an awesome read.

THE COMEBACK SEASON follows fifteen-year-old Ryan Walsh, whose life has been less than spectacular since her baseball-loving dad died five years earlier. When she ditches school to catch the first Cubs game of the season, an annual tradition she's overlooked for the last five years, she doesn't expect to bump into Nick, the new kid at her school who apparently loves baseball at least half as much as she does. And she certainly doesn't expect this chance encounter to possibly set her life on repeat, but that's precisely what it does.

I think what I loved most about THE COMEBACK SEASON was its realness. (Have you noticed how I often I mention this in book recommendations?) It didn't feel sappy or overdone, and it never got melodramatic (which, admittedly, it could have). It was just a book about real kids living real lives against the backdrop of a baseball season. Oh, and one of them has cancer.

If you like contemporary fiction or baseball or any combination of the two, you'll probably love THE COMEBACK SEASON. Of course, even if you don't, you should still give it a try. I don't love or even like baseball, but this book and MONEYBALL* almost converted me. Almost.

*Another awesome baseball book I think everyone should read, though this one is nonfiction. It's more about economics than it is about baseball (which is probably why I liked it so much), but it has a lot of real-world applications. You might have seen the movie a few years ago, but not surprisingly, the book is even better.

Happy Release Day, RUMP!

It's finally here! After two long years of waiting, RUMP's release day has arrived!

I wish I could tell you what this book means to me. Of course, I'd heard of agent signings and book deals, but Liesl's were the first that felt personal. They were the first that felt like they were happening to ME. When you're someone's critique partner, you really do throw yourself into the fight with them. The blows that hit them hit you, too, and the successes feel like yours.

So I'll be ordering my copy in three...two...one...

And now that I have mine, I want to buy yours, too! (One of yours, that is...) But the giveaway doesn't start today; it starts with tomorrow's round of "An Agent's Inbox"! For every substantive comment you leave on one of the entries between tomorrow and Sunday night, I'll give you an entry in my RUMP giveaway. Then when I announce Ms. Sarver's winners, I'll also choose one random commenter to win a copy of RUMP!

Keep in mind that your comments have to be substantive (in other words, you can't just say, "I love this!" or "This stinks"), but if you comment on, say, three entries, you'll be entered to win three times. If you comment on TEN entries, you'll be entered to win TEN times, and so on. Anyone may comment, so anyone may win. (But if you don't live in the US, it may take a little time for me to get your copy to you, since I will have to teach myself how to send things internationally. BUT I'm always up for learning new things, so comment away!)

Of course, if you don't want to wait a week or two to get your RUMP, no worries! Just hurry over to wherever you like to buy books and pick yours up today!

Book Recommendation: SERAPHINA by Rachel Hartman

Hello, 2013! Between Pitch Wars and revisions, I haven't had much time to blog, but I've been meaning to recommend this book since the beginning of December, so here goes...

Several weeks ago, agent Kristin Nelson asked her readers what they thought the breakout YA debuts of 2012 were. When I checked the comments, one book kept coming up: Rachel Hartman's SERAPHINA. I hadn't heard of it (which is unusual these days), but after looking it up on Goodreads, I decided to give it a go (especially since it sounded like something the lovely Myrna Foster might have written). It didn't disappoint.

Ms. Hartman's debut tells the story of the title character, a gifted musician who recently took a position as the court composer's main assistant. She has a secret, though, one that must stay hidden if she wants to keep her position and her life. Her people have hated dragons--old, cunning creatures capable of taking human form--for as long as anyone can remember, and the uneasy peace between them, brokered a mere fifty years before, has only put a lid on a boiling pot. When the crown prince turns up dead, apparently murdered by a dragon, Seraphina's secret points the way toward the only clues available. If she and the captain of the guard can't puzzle them out in time, they may have another war on their hands--and Seraphine will be right in the middle of it.

The world of SERAPHINA is as rich as it sounds, and I thought Seraphina was a strong, capable heroine. The story twisted and turned in all the right places, and I loved how it set up a series that promises to be even richer and twistier. I'm not a huge fan of high fantasy, but this one won me over. I'll definitely pick up the sequel.

If you love dragons, high fantasy, or just well-crafted, well-written books, definitely check this one out. It's well worth a read.

How Did I Never Know I Was So QUIET?

This is a book recommendation, technically, but it’s more of a oh-my-gosh-how-did-I-not-realize-what-kind-of-person-I-am post. So you’ll have to indulge me if I wander a little:)

I’d classify Susan Cain’s QUIET as popular nonfiction along the lines of Malcolm Gladwell’s OUTLIERS or Ben Sherwood’s THE SURVIVORS CLUB. It takes an interesting and often misunderstood subject matter--introversion--and looks at it forward, backward, and upside-down. And somewhere along the way, it completely changed the way I saw myself.

See, I’ve always thought of myself as an extrovert. In high school, I would have used words like outgoing, talkative, and confident to describe my personality. I liked speaking in public. I was one of those kids who commented often in class--well, in the classes I cared about--and never had a problem being the center of attention. (Case in point: I once entertained a hallway full of kids I didn’t know with an outrageous British accent they must have known was fake.)

On the other hand, I’ve always been a homebody. In high school, most Friday and Saturdays nights found me at home in the basement, writing. I liked going out occasionally, but these forays into the outside world always left me feeling drained (though I usually enjoyed myself). I knew how to work a room and often did in social settings, but I probably would have preferred to hang out on the sidelines and talk about cool stuff with Honey Bear or another close friend (though I didn’t have many). Now just the thought of working a room thoroughly exhausts me.

As it turns out, I was--and still am--a high self-monitoring introvert. Not all introverts are self-monitors, and some self-monitors are extroverts, but all self-monitors pay attention to social cues and adapt accordingly. (This paying-attention-to-social-cues leads me to believe a lot of writers are self-monitors, since we’re students of human nature.) So self-monitoring introverts know how to look like extroverts, and they do so when they think the situation calls for it. Like when I was stuck in that hallway with a bunch of other kids and needed to come up with a way to pass the time.

On almost every page, I found another character trait to latch on to, another quality I could identify with. But QUIET isn’t just for introverts. It’s also for the spouses, parents, teachers, and casual acquaintances of introverts, which means it’s pretty much for everyone:) (How’s THAT for one of those overarching marketing statements we’re never supposed to use?)

Check out Susan Cain’s QUIET. It’s well worth a read.

Book Recommendation and ARC Giveaway: RUMP by Liesl Shurtliff

RUMP and I have had a lot of firsts together. RUMP is the first MG manuscript I critiqued. (Shh, don't tell Liesl she was my guinea pig.) It's the first manuscript I critiqued that landed an agent. It's also the first manuscript I critiqued that sold. So RUMP and I have a lot of history. But that's not the reason I'm recommending it.

RUMP tells the less-than-fairy tale of a boy cursed with half a name. In The Kingdom, names are your destiny, and Rump's destiny stinks. Because his mother died before she had a chance to finish naming him, Rump is doomed to spend the rest of his days digging specks of gold out of The Mountain so he can trade them for cups of flour and, if he's lucky, a handful of shriveled carrots. Then Rump discovers he has magic, magic that will spin straw into gold. But magic always costs something, and as he and the miller's daughter are about to find out, that cost is rarely worth it.

Like THE TRUE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS, RUMP turns a classic story on its head by turning the bad guy into a good guy, and that's what I loved about it. Liesl took one of the Grimm brothers' most treacherous villains and rewrote him as a hero. In fact, Rump is one of the sweetest, most sympathetic characters I've read in a long time.

RUMP doesn't come out until next year (April 9, to be exact, so mark your calendars now!), but if you'd like a chance to win my ARC*, just tell me in the comments which fairy tale you think Liesl should rewrite next. Contest closes at 11:59 p.m. EDT (or 8:59 p.m. PDT) on Monday, September 10. I'll announce the winner the next day!

*I should have mentioned that this giveaway is only open to people with mailing addresses in the United States. I apologize for not specifying. If you left a comment before 2:30 p.m. EDT today (which is 11:30 a.m. PDT), you're still in, but I'm going to have to ask the rest of our international friends to sit this one out. Once again, I apologize!

Book Recommendation: THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN by Katherine Applegate

First off, a quick heads-up: Brianne Johnson of Writers House will be here this Thursday for an interactive interview, so if you have a question for an up-and-coming agent at a fantastic agency, come back and ask it this Thursday, August 23! And now on to the book recommendation...

I’ve never read a book funny enough to make me laugh and poignant enough to make me cry on the exact same page*. Now I have.

THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN chronicles the ho-hum life of the title character, a full-grown silverback who was captured in the Congo as an infant and raised to adulthood in a strip mall. He’s one of the main attractions at a small roadside circus and, like the other animals at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, resigned to live out his days with his crayons, his TV, and a stuffed gorilla named Not-Tag (after his twin sister, who didn’t survive the trip to America). Then a new inhabitant comes to Big Top, a baby elephant named Ruby, and neither Ivan nor the other animals are content to watch Ruby grow up behind bars.

As with so many of the other MG novels I’ve recommended, the thing I loved best about THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN was the voice. Ivan’s narration--yes, the entire book is told from his perspective--was pitch-perfect and spot-on. You know how young kids can describe things in the purest, simplest way possible and let you draw your own conclusions? So can Ivan. And the things he describes will both melt and anger you.

Inspired by a true story, Ms. Applegate’s latest is at once heartbreaking and heartwarming. It is the sort of book you’ll want to reread every so often so you don’t forget. It is the sort of book you want to read out loud with your kids so they don’t miss one word.

*That page, if you’re wondering, was from the chapter called “Picasso.” It was my favorite chapter in the whole book.

Book Recommendation: THREE TIMES LUCKY by Sheila Turnage

Some books have such pitch-perfect voice that you would follow the characters over a cliff--or in this case, into a hurricane--and not even bat an eye. THREE TIMES LUCKY by Sheila Turnage is one of those.

I first heard about THREE TIMES LUCKY several months ago, when I read Myrna's "Marvelous Middle Grade Monday" review. The premise piqued my interest, but since Myrna had read it as an ARC and I couldn't check it out right then, I promptly forgot about it. Thank goodness I remembered when I saw it in The King's English several weeks ago.

THREE TIMES LUCKY tells the story of Moses "Mo" LoBeau, who blew into a small North Carolina town during a hurricane eleven years before. Mo's a natural-born detective, mostly because she's spent most of her life searching for her Upstream Mother and the other people she belongs to. So when one of her neighbors turns up dead and a real detective pulls into town looking for the killer, Mo isn't about to be upstaged. But she'd better hurry. Another hurricane's a-brewing, and the killer's closing in.

As I already mentioned, I loved, loved, loved the voice. I may be partial to precocious Southern girls, but I'm pretty sure Mo would win anybody over. And the rest of the cast is just as memorable, from her best friend Dale Earnhardt Johnson III, whose daddy believes in naming for the famous, to her adoptive mama Miss Lana, who has a fondness for wigs and French accents. THREE TIMES LUCKY doesn't want for larger-than-life personalities.

If you love middle grade, mysteries, or memorable characters who will stay with you long after you turn the final page, you're bound to love Ms. Turnage's MG debut. It is, in a word, delightful.

Book Recommendation: THE SCORPIO RACES by Maggie Stiefvater

I’d heard about Ms. Stiefvater’s latest novel around Twitter and such, but it wasn’t until I read Kelly’s recommendation that I finally buckled down and requested the book from the library. (I had to wait for a few months, since she read it as an ARC, but I did request it back in November.) Thank goodness I did.

THE SCORPIO RACES chronicles the parallel plotlines of Kate “Puck” Connolly and Sean Kendrick as they train for the race that will define their young lives. The Scorpio Races are run on the backs of legendary water horses, flesh-eating predators that, while capable of running on land, usually live and hunt in the sea. They’re as fast as a tidal wave, if you can catch one--and if you can keep it from maiming or drowning you. But death is the least of Puck’s and Sean’s concerns. Puck has to win to keep her family’s homestead out of the hands of the island’s ruthless land baron; Sean has to win to claim ownership of the one thing on the island he’s ever wanted to own: the water horse he’s kept and trained since it trampled his father to death when he was a kid.

I loved the gray, drizzly world of the novel and how deeply I came to care about these characters and what was at stake for them. But most of all, I loved the depth, the realness, of Puck and Sean’s relationship. These two never gushed about how gorgeous the other was (in fact, their physical relationship only culminated in one earth-shattering kiss), and yet the magic between them was palpable. One scene in particular, in which Puck and Sean discussed their race strategies in front of her kitchen sink, just about made me melt. I actually read it OUT LOUD to Honey Bear because it set my heart aflutter and was just so perfect. I haven’t read a romance that soulful, that fulfilling, in a long, long time.

If you like horses, soul-deep romance, or expertly crafted characters with deeply personal stakes, you’ll love THE SCORPIO RACES. I can count on two hands the number of books I buy in a year (I’m really picky about which ones I add to my collection), but Honey Bear is under strict orders to buy this for me for Mother’s Day* (or something). It’s that good.

*He actually bought it for me for our anniversary yesterday. I knew this guy was a keeper:) (He also bought me Penelope, a modern-day fairy tale that came out several years ago. If you haven't seen it, SEE IT (although that will probably prove to be difficult, since I'm pretty sure I now own the only copy in existence). You'll come back and thank me, I promise, and I'll say, "You're welcome," and then you'll spend the next several years of your life trying to hunt down a copy in one of those bargain bins at Walmart. (I'll give you a hint: It's not there.) Then you'll finally break down and order a copy online. But it'll be worth it. SO worth it. (Another hint: James McAvoy.))