ARC Review: What Goes Up

Title: What Goes Up

Author: Katie Kennedy

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Publication Date: July 18, 2017

Source: Bloomsbury for Review Consideration

Action-packed and wildly funny, this near-future sci-fi features three teens on an inter-dimensional mission to save the world.

Rosa and Eddie are among hundreds of teens applying to NASA’s mysterious Multi-World Agency. After rounds of crazy-competitive testing they are appointed to Team 3, along with an alternate, just in case Eddie screws up (as everyone expects he will). What they don’t expect is that aliens will arrive from another dimension, and look just like us. And no one could even imagine that Team 3 would be the only hope of saving our world from their Earth-destroying plans. The teens steal the spacecraft (it would be great if they knew how to fly it) and head to Earth2, where the aliens’ world and people are just like ours. With a few notable exceptions.

There, the teens will find more than their alternate selves: they'll face existential questions and high-stakes adventure, with comedy that's out of this world.

Book Review: The Names They Gaves Us

Title: The Names They Gave Us

Author: Emery Lord

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Publication Date: May 16, 2017
Source: ARC from Bloomsbury

Lucy Hansson was ready for a perfect summer with her boyfriend, working at her childhood Bible camp on the lake. But when her mom’s cancer reappears, Lucy falters—in faith, in love, and in her ability to cope. When her boyfriend “pauses” their relationship and her summer job switches to a different camp—one for troubled kids—Lucy isn’t sure how much more she can handle. Attempting to accept a new normal, Lucy slowly regains footing among her vibrant, diverse coworkers, Sundays with her mom, and a crush on a fellow counselor. But when long-hidden family secrets emerge, can Lucy set aside her problems and discover what grace really means?

Waiting on Wednesday (61)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly, bookish meme created and hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. You can find out more information on the meme on her blog, Breaking the Spine.

The meme helps book bloggers and readers shine a spotlight om some of the many upcoming releases that we are all patiently (but most likely impatiently) waiting on. Get it?

So you're interested in sharing some of the books you're waiting on with your readers!? That's great! To participate in Jill's meme, all you need to do is:

• Create your own Waiting on Wednesday post that features an upcoming title (or titles)
• Be sure to credit Jill in your post
• Link up to the Linky on Jill's blog

ARC Review: Everything But the Truth

Title: Everything But the Truth (If Only . . . #6)

Series: If Only . . . 

Author: Mandy Hubbard

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

 Publication Date: November 17, 2015

Source: ARC from Bloomsbury

Add it to Goodreads 

If Only . . . she wasn't pretending to be someone else! The If Only romance line continues in this fun rags-to-riches romance.Holly Mathews' mom is the new manager of a ritzy retirement home, and they just moved in. But having super-rich retirees as her only neighbors isn't a total bust, because the gorgeous, notorious Malik Buchannan is the grandson of a resident. Just one problem: when they meet, Malik assumes Holly is there to visit her own rich relative. She doesn't correct him, and it probably doesn't matter, because their flirtation could never turn into more than a superficial fling . . . right? But the longer she lives in his privileged world, the deeper Holly falls for Malik, and the harder it is to tell the truth . . . because coming clean might mean losing him.

For anyone who has dreamed of their own Cinderella story, this romance shows that when it comes to true love, the best person to be is yourself!

Waiting on Wednesday (31)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly bookish meme created and hosted by Jill at her blog, Breaking the Spine. The meme helps bloggers and readers spotlight some of the many upcoming releases that we are all patiently (but most likely impatiently) waiting on.

It's pretty simple to participate in Waiting on Wednesday:

• Create your own Waiting on Wednesday post that features an upcoming title (or titles)
• Be sure to credit Jill in your post
• Link up to the Linky on Jill's blog

Blog Tour: The Last Good Day of the Year + GIVEAWAY

Hey, everyone, and welcome to my stop on the blog tour for The Last Good Day of the Year by Jessica Warman. I'm thrilled to have Jessica on my blog today because I read and absolutely loved her latest book. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this guest post from Jessica on life in small towns.

Title: The Last Good Day of the Year

Author: Jessica Warman

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Publication Date: May 19, 2015 
My Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

A new powerful thriller from the globally-embraced author of Between.

Ten years ago, in the early hours of New Year’s Day, seven-year-old Samantha and her next door neighbor, Remy, watched as a man broke into Sam’s home and took her younger sister, Turtle, from her sleeping bag. Remy and Sam, too afraid to intervene at the time, later identified the man as Sam’s sister Gretchen’s much older ex-boyfriend, Steven, who was sent to prison for Turtle’s murder.

Now, Sam’s shattered family is returning to her childhood home in an effort to heal. As long-buried memories begin to surface, Sam wonders if she and Remy accurately registered everything they saw. The more they re-examine the events of that fateful night, the more questions they discover about what really happened to Turtle.

Master storyteller Jessica Warman keeps readers guessing in this arresting page-turner.

Guest Post Featuring Jessica Warman

Erin: Jessica, I see that the book is about a murder in a small town. I also live in a small town. It's one square mile, and I literally have no clue how many people live there, but it's more than you think would fit in such a small area. Regardless, everyone knows everyone, and everyone knows everything. How do you feel about life in small towns?

 
Jessica Warman:

I grew up in a small town; the internet tells me it currently has 845 residents.  You know how people talk about spending all day, every day outside in the summer as kids?  It was like that.  There was a penny candy store down the street from my house.  The owner was an elderly woman named Amy; the store was called Amy’s Candy, and none of the kids ever made fun of Amy or stole from her as far as I knew, because our mothers would have heard about it before we got home.   My friends and I made daily bicycle trips to Amy’s for dip-its, jawbreakers, and  those fake candy cigarettes.  It was as wholesome and innocent as it sounds, and then as I got older, the shine began to peel away little by little.  People in small communities will try so hard to seem good, perfect, pious, etc.  It’s hard to blame them when there’s so much scrutiny – because when the nearest city is an hour away, and even the nearest Wal-Mart is a 30 minute drive, there’s nothing else to do besides talk about your friends and neighbors.

Now that I’m older, I realize things weren’t as wholesome as they seemed.  But boy, they sure did seem that way.  And that impression, the illusion of innocence, is what makes it great fun to poke at the façade of small-town life and let the nastiness ooze from the cracks.  Ugliness sometimes bubbles up from the places you’d least expect.  That’s what makes the reveal so delicious – like opening a fresh pack of candy cigarettes from Amy’s Candy and finding a severed finger.  So wrong, yet so great.   

Erin: Oh, wow! It seems like we had a similar upbringing - there was a candy store down the hill from me, and it was a big deal when all the neighborhood parents let all of us kids go down there together. We'd bring back enough candy and jumbo Freeze Pops to last us until our next trip, but it never lasted more than two or three days.

But... I live in the suburbs - a small borough  north of Pittsburgh. Even though the Interstate was two minutes away, it felt like we lived in our own little world, in our own little town. Now I'm older, and I see more and more of the flaws, but I still love my hometown. It was a wonderful place to grow up, and I had a great childhood, unlike Sam.

Jessica Warman is the author of Breathless, which received three starred reviews and was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and Where the Truth Lies. The idea for Between came from an incident in her childhood, when a local boy went missing after a party on a yacht (he was eventually found, alive).

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Waiting on Wednesday (27)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly bookish meme created and hosted by Jill at her blog, Breaking the Spine. The meme helps bloggers and readers spotlight the upcoming releases that we are dying to read.

It's pretty simple to participate in Waiting on Wednesday:

• Create your own Waiting on Wednesday post that features an upcoming title (or titles)
• Be sure to credit Jill in your post
• Link up to the Linky on Jill's blog

What I'm Waiting On...

Title: Everything But the Truth

Series: If Only . . . 

Author: Mandy Hubbard

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Publication Date: November 17, 2015

If Only . . . she wasn't pretending to be someone else! The If Only romance line continues in this fun rags-to-riches romance.

Holly Mathews' mom is the new manager of a ritzy retirement home, and they just moved in. But having super-rich retirees as her only neighbors isn't a total bust, because the gorgeous, notorious Malik Buchannan is the grandson of a resident. Just one problem: when they meet, Malik assumes Holly is there to visit her own rich relative. She doesn't correct him, and it probably doesn't matter, because their flirtation could never turn into more than a superficial fling . . . right? But the longer she lives in his privileged world, the deeper Holly falls for Malik, and the harder it is to tell the truth . . . because coming clean might mean losing him.

For anyone who has dreamed of their own Cinderella story, this romance shows that when it comes to true love, the best person to be is yourself!

Why I'm Waiting...

Rags to riches stories make up some of my favorite stories, books, and movies. Honestly... what little girl wasn't obsessed with Cinderella when she was younger, right? This book just seems like it's going to be quirky enough with the big lie to make for an entertaining read. And besides... just look at that cover! It looks like Bloomsbury is throwing some diversity in the If Only . . . line!

What Are You Waiting On?

It's time for you to let me know what book or books you're waiting on! As always, feel free to link me to your Waiting on Wednesday posts. And if you aren't a blogger, feel free just to leave a comment and let me know! I'd love to see what books everyone wants to read!

Waiting on Wednesday (26)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly bookish meme created and hosted by Jill at her blog, Breaking the Spine.Waiting on Wednesday posts feature upcoming books that bloggers are dying to read.

Joining in on the WOW fun is super easy. All you need to do is create your own Waiting on Wednesday posts that features an upcoming book, credit Jill in your post, and then add your name to the link up tool. Also, it's way more fun if you explore some of the other posts. Trust me on it... I've added a ton of new books to my TBR because of this meme.

What I'm Waiting On...

Title: Red Girl, Blue Boy
Series: If Only . . . 
Author: Lauren Baratz-Logsted
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Publication Date: October 20, 2015

Enjoy Red Girl, Blue Boy and the other standalone titles in Bloomsbury’s contemporary If Only romance line centered around an impossible problem: you always want what you can’t have!

Sixteen-year-old Katie and Drew really shouldn’t get along. After all, her father is the Republican nominee for President of the United States while his mother is at the top of the Democratic ticket. But when Katie and Drew are thrown together in a joint interview on a morning talk show, they can’t ignore the chemistry between them. With an entire nation tuned into and taking sides in your parents’ fight, and the knowledge that—ultimately—someone has to lose, how can you fall in love with the one person you’re supposed to hate?

This title in the If Only line is a frank and funny romance that shows how sparks fly when opposites attract.

Why I'm Waiting...

So here's another fun fact about Erin... I've been obsessed with politics since I was a little girl! Now I don't really care for all of the drama that politics cause, but there's just something that's so much fun about becoming really invested in your beliefs for your nation. I even used to say that I wanted to run for the mayor of my town and then eventually become the president. 

I'm sure you can probably guess why I want to read this one now. It's partly because of my obsession with politics and partly because I love forbidden love stories. (Maybe I shouldn't have read Romeo and Juliet so early in life. I can't wait to see how the differences between Katie and Drew's political affiliations will affect their relationship.

What Are You Waiting On?

Now I want to hear from my wonderful readers! Are you also excited for this If Only . . . title? Is there another book that you featured on your blog this week for Waiting on Wednesday? As always, feel free to let me know in the comments, and if you created a Waiting on Wednesday post of your own, link me to it! I'd love to check them out and leave you all some comments!

ARC Review: The Last Good Day of the Year

Title: The Last Good Day of the Year

Author: Jessica Warman

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Publication Date: May 19, 2015

Source: Printed ARC from Bloomsbury

Goodreads | Amazon

A new powerful thriller from the globally-embraced author of Between.

Ten years ago, in the early hours of New Year’s Day, seven-year-old Samantha and her next door neighbor, Remy, watched as a man broke into Sam’s home and took her younger sister, Turtle, from her sleeping bag. Remy and Sam, too afraid to intervene at the time, later identified the man as Sam’s sister Gretchen’s much older ex-boyfriend, Steven, who was sent to prison for Turtle’s murder.

Now, Sam’s shattered family is returning to her childhood home in an effort to heal. As long-buried memories begin to surface, Sam wonders if she and Remy accurately registered everything they saw. The more they re-examine the events of that fateful night, the more questions they discover about what really happened to Turtle.

Master storyteller Jessica Warman keeps readers guessing in this arresting page-turner.

My Review

When I first requested The Last Good Day of the Year by Jessica Warman, I really thought I had no chance for approval. I don't really read thrillers, so why would Bloomsbury take a chance on me with no solid evidence of me reading the genre? Spoiler alert... I don't... well I didn't until now. I was shocked when it showed up in my mailbox, and afraid to give it a chance. You'll soon find out why this book may have been the game changer for me because I absolutely loved it!

While The Last Good Day of the Year gets off to a slow and confusing start, it's hella intense and scary enjoyable. I'm only saying that it's confusing because there are so many characters. There are the obviously important ones, and then there are some ones that are thrown in that just seem misplaced. By the time I was at the end of the book, I understood the inclusion of these characters, and why Warman was keeping me on my toes. OMG. It's just so crazy!

The reader probably shouldn't be enjoying a story about a four-year-old being abducted and most likely murdered, but it's hard not to enjoy. I don't want to compare it to a train wreck, but readers definitely won't be turning their eyes from this one once they start reading. Warman writes with an intensity that draws readers in and makes them crave more. It becomes a need to finish this book and figure out what happened to Turtle that New Year's Eve in 1986.

The book is told with a before and after perspective, and it jumps around a lot. Sometimes Sam is reflecting on what happened in 1986, and other times, it's 1996 when she and her family have moved back to the home where Turtle was taken. There are even a few times when Sam reflects on what happened a few months prior to her move back to Shelocta. You definitely have to piece together the puzzle, but it's worth it when you get to the shocking ending.

Now here's the part where I normally recommend the book to readers of certain books, but I have nothing to go on! So... if you are a fan of thrillers and mysteries, this might be the book you'll want to kick off your recreational summer reading. Trust me... you don't want to miss this that will keep you up at night!

About Jessica Warman

Jessica Warman is the author of Breathless, which received three starred reviews and was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and Where the Truth Lies. The idea for Between came from an incident in her childhood, when a local boy went missing after a party on a yacht (he was eventually found, alive).