You won’t want to miss out on the chance to read this great book yourself! Author Rosanne Parry has graciously given me two autographed paperback copies of Second Fiddle (Random House Children’s Books, 2011) to award to two lucky people.
First, let me tell you about this book:
Jody and her two musician friends, Vivian and Giselle, will be separated soon. The Berlin Wall has come down and the kids’ army families will all be sent to different places in the US. But first they have an Ensemble Contest in Paris. But now their music teacher has to cancel, so how will they get there? The answer involves attempted murder, rescue, lies, danger, and betrayal.
I love, love the first sentence: “If we had known it would eventually involve the KGB, the French National Police, and the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, we would have left the body in the river and called the Polizei like any normal German citizen; but we were Americans and addicted to solving other people’s problems, so naturally, we got involved.” Don’t you want to read more? Of course, you do!
To enter for a chance to win the giveaway, comment below with one of your favorite book lines. Tell me the title and author. I’ll throw your name in the hat with others and draw the winners. You must enter by April 16th at midnight Pacific Standard Time. (Please make sure you give me a way to contact you, so I can get your mailing address privately…)
After you enter, read more about Rosanne here. Her next book is called Written in Stone and will be out in June 2013! Rosanne says, “This is a story I’ve been working on for many years and is particularly dear to me as it is set on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State among the Quinault and Makah where I spent my very first years as a teacher.” And, yes, if you read YA, you’ve heard about the Quinaults before…
Category: YA Novels
young adult novels (for 13+ yo)
Blessing’s Bead
Isn’t this a beautiful cover?
Blessing’s Bead (Melanie Kroupa Books/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009) by Debby Dahl Edwardson is an interesting mix of historical and contemporary. I’ll be honest I felt the historical section was a bit slow at first–maybe because there were so many characters–but once I got going it was good. The contemporary section pulled me in right away. I loved how the cultural information was done. It was great how the two stories meet up.
Here’s a brief look at each section:
It’s 1917 and Nutaaq watches her sister Aaluk and the young Siberian wearing the string of cobalt beads. Nutaaq does well in a race and gets one bead. Her sister goes off to marry the Siberian, then illness strikes the village and very few are left.
70 years later, Blessing and her little brother are sent away from their mother to live with their grandmother. Blessing feels like an outsider with the Inupiaq, but then begins to learn about her family’s history. She finds a blue bead, which she treasures without quite knowing why.
Debby writes with authenticity about her adopted culture in Barrow, Alaska. Read more here and the kudos for Blessing’s Bead. Debby’s site has many extras, so you may want to spend some time there. I did and now I’m putting her other novel and her picture book on my TBR pile!
Island’s End
Island’s End (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2011) by Padma Venkatraman is modern day fiction that almost feels historical. But that’s because it is inspired by people who live as their ancestors did on the Andaman Islands near India. It’s a great story that you won’t want to miss.
Here’s a brief intro:
Living on an isolated island, Uido is woken by a dream that tells her to go to the beach where she and her little brother witness strangers arriving by boat. The siblings chase them off, but the strangers keep coming back and tempt the tribe with things not available on their island. Meanwhile Uido is chosen to be trained as the next oko-jumu (spiritual leader). When her brother is struck with a disease brought by the strangers and is dying, Uido must decide what to do for her brother and her tribe.
This is the second book by Padma. Read more about her here.
Now after reading about her award winning first book, I need to get a hold of it, too! Check out the website for Climbing the Stairs.
After
After (Viking Juvenile, 2009) by Amy Efaw is an unforgettable powerful story. At times it feels unbelievable, yet you know it’s all possible. The author obviously did research for this novel. (There’s extra info about Safe Haven in the book and on her site.)
Here’s a brief introduction to After: 15-year-old Devon Davenport is arrested for killing her newborn baby, but she doesn’t remember anything about it. And, it can’t be true, since she was never pregnant.
I’d recommend this eye-opening story to anyone who has trouble understanding, or sympathizing, with someone who has done something wrong. It is now available in paperback as well as hardcover.
On her website Author Amy Efaw has background info for this novel. That includes newspaper articles she created for the story. You’ll also see that she has other works, which I need to check out!
Tell Me a Secret
Tell Me a Secret (Harper Teen, 2010) by Holly Cupala is a memorable story about choices. Rand (Miranda) doesn’t know exactly how her bad-girl sister died 5 years ago. Mom disappeared into “drama and the prayer chain” and “Dad into his construction business.” But, of course, when she gets in trouble, her mother thinks she should have learned something “after all we went through with Xanda.” Like Rand knows what happened then.
This was author Holly Cupala’s first book, which has now been turned into an audio book, too.
Her second book, Don’t Breathe a Word, came out this month and is getting great reviews. You’ll want to check out the secrets behind the stories on Holly’s site.
Holly has also been a Readergirlz Diva. (This is a great site for teen girl readers.)