Book Review: Adultolescence

Title: Adultolescence

Author: Gabbie Hanna

Publisher: Atria/Keywords Press

Publication Date: September 10, 2017

Source: Purchased from Target

From Teen Choice Award-nominated comedian and vlogger Gabbie Hanna, known on YouTube as The Gabbie Show, an astounding debut poetry collection that captures the essence of what it means to come of age in today’s world.

Full of confessional, whimsical, and darkly humorous observations about life, love, and the early years of adulthood, this collection of over 150 poems, each illustrated by Gabbie herself, will introduce you to the unique point of view of one of the internet’s most remarkable voices.

Book Review: I Have the Right To

Title: I Have the Right To: A High School Survivors Story of Sexual Assault, Justice, and Hope

Authors: Chessy Prout with Jenn Abelson

Publisher: Margaret McElderry Books

Publication Date: March 6, 2018
Source: Finished Copy from Publisher 

A young survivor tells her searing, visceral story of sexual assault, justice, and healing in this gutwrenching memoir.

The numbers are staggering: nearly one in five girls ages fourteen to seventeen have been the victim of a sexual assault or attempted sexual assault. This is the true story of one of those girls.

In 2014, Chessy Prout was a freshman at St. Paul’s school, a prestigious boarding school in New Hampshire when a senior boy sexually assaulted her as part of a ritualized game of conquest. Chessy bravely reported her assault to the police and testified against her attacker in court. Then, in the face of unfathomable backlash from her once trusted school community, she shed her anonymity to help other survivors find their voice.

This memoir is more than an account of a horrific event; it takes a magnifying glass to the institutions that turn a blind eye to such behavior and a society that blames victims rather than attackers, while offering real, powerful solutions to upending rape culture as we know it today.

Prepare to be inspired by this remarkable young woman and her story of survival, advocacy, and hope in the face of unspeakable trauma.

Book Review: A Wrinkle in Time

Title: A Wrinkle in Time

Series: The Time Quintet

Author: Madeleine L'Engle

Publisher: Square Fish

Publication Date: November 7, 2017

Originally Published: 1962

Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and Calvin O'Keefe (one of the most popular boys in school) journey through time and space in search of Meg's father, a scientist who disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government on the tesseract problem. What's a tesseract? It's a wrinkle in time--but to say any more about the subject would rob the reader of the enjoyment of Madeleine L'Engle's unusual and enchanting book.

A Wrinkle in Time is the winner of the 1963 Newbery Medal. It is the first book in The Time Quintet, which consists of A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time.

A Wrinkle in Time is a 2018 major motion picture from Disney, directed by Ava DuVernay, starring Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling.

Blog Tour: A Land of Permanent Goodbyes

Title: A Land of Permanent Goodbyes
Author: Atia Abawi

Publisher: Philomel Books

Publication Date: January 23, 2018

Narrated by Destiny, this heartbreaking -- and timely -- story of refugees escaping from war-torn Syria is masterfully told by a foreign news correspondent who experienced the crisis firsthand.

In a country ripped apart by war, Tareq lives with his big and loving family . . . until the bombs strike. His city is in ruins. His life is destroyed. And those who have survived are left to figure out their uncertain future.

In the wake of destruction, he's threatened by Daesh fighters and witnesses a public beheading. Tareq's
family knows that to continue to stay alive, they must leave. As they travel as refugees from Syria to Turkey to Greece, facing danger at every turn, Tareq must find the resilience and courage to complete his harrowing journey.

But while this is one family's story, it is also the timeless tale of all wars, of all tragedy, and of all strife. When you are a refugee, success is outliving your loss.

Destiny narrates this heartbreaking story of the consequences of war, showing the Syrian conflict as part of a long chain of struggles spanning through time.

An award-winning author and journalist--and a refugee herself--Atia Abawi captures the hope that spurs people forward against all odds and the love that makes that hope grow.

Release Day Blitz | Dear Dwayne, With Love

I am so excited that DEAR DWAYNE, WITH LOVE by Eliza Gordon is available now and that I get to share the news!

If you haven’t yet heard about this wonderful book by Author Eliza Gordon, be sure to check out all the details below.

This blitz also includes a giveaway for an awesome DEAR DWAYNE, WITH LOVE Prize Pack courtesy of Eliza and Rockstar Book Tours. So if you’d like a chance to win, enter in the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.

Title: Dear Dwanye, With Love

Author: Eliza Gordon

Pub. Date: January 23, 2018

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Pages: 380

Formats: Paperback, eBook, audiobook

Find it: Amazon, Audible, B&N, TBD, Goodreads

Wannabe actress Dani Steele’s résumé resembles a cautionary tale on how not to be famous. She’s pushing thirty and stuck in a dead-end insurance job, and her relationship status is holding at uncommitted. With unbearably perfect sisters and a mother who won’t let her forget it, Dani has two go-tos for consolation: maple scones and a blog in which she pours her heart out to her celebrity idol. He’s the man her father never was, no boyfriend will ever be—and not so impossible a dream as one might think. When Dani learns that he’s planning a fund-raising event where the winning amateur athlete gets a walk-on in his new film, she decides to trade pastries and self-doubt for running shoes and a sexy British trainer with adorable knees.

But when Dani’s plot takes an unexpected twist, she realizes that her happy ending might have to be improvised—and that proving herself to her idol isn’t half as important as proving something to herself.

* * *

This is a work of fiction. While Dwayne Johnson p/k/a The Rock is a real person, events relating to him in the book are a product of the author’s imagination. Mr. Johnson is not affiliated with this book, and has not endorsed it or participated in any manner in connection with this book.

Book Review: The Outsiders

Title: The OutsidersAuthor: S.E. Hinton

Publisher: Puffin Books

Publication Date: April 24, 1967

Source: Borrowed from School

According to Ponyboy, there are two kinds of people in the world: greasers and socs. A soc (short for "social") has money, can get away with just about anything, and has an attitude longer than a limousine. A greaser, on the other hand, always lives on the outside and needs to watch his back. Ponyboy is a greaser, and he's always been proud of it, even willing to rumble against a gang of socs for the sake of his fellow greasers--until one terrible night when his friend Johnny kills a soc. The murder gets under Ponyboy's skin, causing his bifurcated world to crumble and teaching him that pain feels the same whether a soc or a greaser.

Happy New Year

Happy Belated New Year, everyone!

Yeah... it's a typical Erin move for me to wish you all a happy new year almost ten days into the new year. What can I say? I'm a procrastinator. I'm working on that!

Anyway, let's get to talking about how I'm going to handle reading and blogging this year. Shall we?