The Contemps: YA Authors Keepin It Real

Some of my favorite YA contemporary authors have teamed up to start a brand new (and completely awesome) website. The Contemps are 21 authors who will be blogging about their books and their real lives and I can not wait! Here is a little more information:

AUTHORS TEAM UP TO SPOTLIGHT CONTEMPORARY REALISTIC FICTION FOR TEENS

“The Contemps” are Keeping it Real with Outreach, Resources and New Releases

Twenty-one authors have banded together to put real life in the spotlight and to keep readers up-to-date on the latest in contemporary young adult fiction.

“There are so many wonderful authors writing contemporary realistic fiction,” said Contemps co-founder Lisa Schroeder. “As much as we love other genres, the marketplace can feel dominated by paranormal, fantasy and dystopian novels. We want to celebrate the unique way that contemporary stories help teens feel they’re not alone in this real world.”

“The Contemps” officially launched on August 17 with a mission to help teens, booksellers, librarians and publishers connect with books that feature real-life settings, characters and situations. Group members range from debuts to veterans with several titles on the shelves, and all have new releases coming out between September 2010 and August 2011. They hope to not just build buzz for members’ books, but to create excitement and appreciation for the contemporary realistic genre in general.

The members are: Brent Crawford, Hannah Harrington, April Henry, Kirsten Hubbard, Denise Jaden, Kody Keplinger, Jo Knowles, Lindsey Leavitt, Sarah Darer Littman, Michael Northrop, Sarah Ockler, Micol Ostow, Lisa Schroeder, Elizabeth Scott, Mindi Scott, Emily Wing Smith, Courtney Summers, Kristen Tracy, Melissa Walker, Sara Bennett Wealer, and Daisy Whitney.

A number of activities are planned in the coming year, including giveaways, sharing experiences from their own teenage years, spotlighting other contemporary realistic authors, and multi-author events. The group’s home base is www.thecontemps.com, where members will be blogging several times a week on a variety of topics. Online outreach will also extend to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

“We’re reaching out to a variety of audiences,” said co-founder Lindsey Leavitt. “We want readers, teachers and librarians to know about the wealth of awesome books out there. And we want the industry to know about the authors who create these books. There’s still a market for contemporary realistic fiction, and we plan to demonstrate that.”

They will also be hosting a great reading challenge that I think I will be taking part in. I haven't decided what books I will read yet so I will post about that later. For now, check out The Contemps website and twitter.

For the comments: What is your favorite YA contemporary book!

Somewhere in Middle America...

Hey everyone as you read this I am literally somewhere in middle america to quote The Counting Crows. I have explained on here before that I work in college athletics, well one of the baseball coaches I work with is getting married this weekend in Omaha, Nebraska and I am roadtripping to the wedding. Yes, thats right, I am getting up early Thursday, piling in to a car with three friends and hitting the road for a 20-hour trip. I will then spend two wonderful days in Omaha and come back on Sunday. This should be a hilarious adventure.

The best part is they are getting married in Rosenblatt Stadium which is one of the most historic ball parks in all of college baseball which makes me really happy. The College World Series has been played there for the past bazillion years and they are building a new stadium so this is one of the last events that will ever be held there!



So, I will be offline for a few days obviously and I wanted to leave you with this lovely song which I will be singing many, many times on the long drive.

The Sweetness of Salt by Cecilia Galante

The Sweetness of Salt by Cecilia Galante

Synopsis:
Julia just graduated as her high school valedictorian, has a full ride to college in the fall and a coveted summer internship clerking for a federal judge. But when her older sister, Sophie, shows up at the graduation determined to reveal some long buried secrets, Julia's carefully constructed plans come to a halt. Instead of the summer she had painstakingly laid out, Julia follows Sophie back to Vermont, where Sophie is opening a bakery - and struggling with some secrets of her own. What follows is a summer of revelations - some heartwarming, some heartbreaking, and all slowly pointing Julia toward a new understanding of both herself and of the sister she never really knew.

Review:
I had been overdosing on the paranormal recently so I jumped at the chance to read The Sweetness of Salt which was wonderfully contemporary. It wasn’t a book I had heard much buzz about but I jumped in and found myself in a wonderful real world with well-rounded characters and a ton of crazy family secrets.

Galante does a great job in this novel of really creating layered, deep characters and showing how complicated family relationships can be. I loved Julia, who has lived an incredibly sheltered life and is naïve and quiet, and really liked being on the journey where she comes out of her shell. And this isn’t a typical girl meets boy and blossoms in to a woman story. Julie goes on a great journey, trying to create a relationship with her older sister while figuring out who she truly is. Of course, there is a boy too, but he really plays a minor role which I liked.

Sophie is an equally complicated character and her emotional, independent personality plays off Julia creating drama and love. Sophie has her own secrets and problems to deal with and what both girls learn is that they need eachother to conquer their fears.

If you are one of the many, many readers who loved Holly Cupala’s Tell Me A Secret then I think you will also enjoy The Sweetness of Salt.

The Sweetness of Salt will be released November 9, 2010.
I reviewed this book as part of Good Golly Miss Holly's (ARC) Tour

White Heat by Brenda Novak *GIVEAWAY*

Hey everyone I am happy to say I am hosting a giveaway for White Heat by Brenda Novak. I have raved about her Last Stand series on my site previously and her new series is just as amazing. My review will go up in a few days but for now you can enter to win your own copy as well as a fun prize pack.

You can win a A White Heat prize pack including:

o Tote bag

o 3D viewer bookmark

o White Heat lip gloss – made especially for the book!

o A copy of White Heat

About the Book:
In Stores NOW

White Heat is the first book in Brenda Novak’s new Department 6 Hired Guns trilogy.

Nate Ferrentino and Rachel Jessop are operatives for Department 6, a private security company, and they’re going undercover to expose a new and dangerous cult.

This group has taken up residence in the Arizona desert, in a ghost town called Paradise. Members worship at the feet—and in the bed--of its charismatic leader, Ethan Wycliff. On his orders, they tried to stone a woman to death. And they’re implicated in the disappearance of a teenage girl.

To expose the Church of the Covenant, with its arcane rituals and debauched practices, Nate and Rachel must pretend to be married. That’s the only way they can get in—but being Nate’s “wife” is the last thing Rachel wants. She and Nate have a one-night history that’s just an embarrassment to her now. But they don’t have a choice. Wycliff has to be stopped.



About Brenda Novak:

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Brenda Novak has three novels coming out this summer - WHITE HEAT, BODY HEAT & KILLER HEAT. She also runs an annual on-line auction for diabetes research every May at www.brendanovak.com. To date, she’s raised over $1,072,000. Brenda considers herself lucky to be a mother of five and married to the love of her life.

WHITE HEAT Book Trailer



Giveaway Info:

Contest will end on Sunday August 22nd at midnight!

The giveaway is open to U.S. and Canadian addresses.

I will keep the how to enter pretty simple. Just leave a comment with where you are from and let me know if you have read any of Novak’s books! I love to see where in the world my readers are commenting from. Just one entry per person, no extras for tweeting or blogging about it but I would love if you did it anyway!

The giveaway is sponsored by MIRA Books so a big thank you to them!

Kiss Me Deadly: 13 Tales of Paranormal Love

Kiss Me Deadly: 13 Tales of Paranormal Love
Full of dark seduction and modern romance, this short story collection presents a variety of talented voices sure to satisfy every werewolf, ghost, fallen angel, zombie, and shape-shifter’s dark desires.

Review:
I can’t say I have read a lot of short stories for fun. I read a ton as an English major in college (and I loved so many of them) but I never really thought to read them as part of my pleasure reading. Well I am glad I picked up this anthology as there are some great stories in there from some authors I really like. I have a minor confession, I had never read anything by any of the authors in this book. There are so many great titles out by this collection of writers, many in my TBR pile but every single word in this book was from an author new to me. I will say that I will quickly be playing catch up on many of these authors after loving the short stories. I also think Trisha Telep did a great job collecting phenomenal stories and put them together in a cohesive, enjoyable way.

I don’t want to review each, individual story, and I don’t think you would like if I did that so I will give you my personal highlights.

Favorite overall story: The Assassin’s Apprentice by Michelle Zink. The very first one.

Story that gave me the creeps (in a good way): Behind the Red Door by Caitlin Kittredge. This story gave me goosebumps and yet I couldn’t put it down. Great stuff.

Story I didn’t love: Errant by Diana Peterfreun. I guess unicorns aren’t my thing. But I can say I didn’t hate it, I just didn’t like it as much as the others. The writing is still phenomenal.

Most Suprising Story: The Spy Who Never Grew Up by Sarah Rees Brennan. This story is about Peter Pan, and it is amazing. I really didn’t see that coming.

Funniest Story: Familiar by Michelle Rowen. This was sweet and funny and a perfect way to lighten the mood after some of the really creepy stories.

Story That Makes Me Want To Read Everything Else By The Author: Fearless by Rachel Vincent. It was really original and further reminded me that this is an author I have to investigate!

I reviewed this book as part of the Book It Forward ARC Tour.

If you have read/reviewed please leave your links in the comments as I would love to know what everyone else thought!

Losing Faith by Denise Jaden coming Sept. 7

A terrible secret. A terrible fate.
When Brie's sister, Faith, dies suddenly, Brie's world falls apart. As she goes through the bizarre and devastating process of mourning the sister she never understood and barely even liked, everything in her life seems to spiral farther and farther off course. Her parents are a mess, her friends don't know how to treat her, and her perfect boyfriend suddenly seems anything but.

As Brie settles into her new normal, she encounters more questions than closure: Certain facts about the way Faith died just don't line up. Brie soon uncovers a dark and twisted secret about Faith's final night...a secret that puts her own life in danger.

Losing Faith by Denise Jaden is coming out Sept. 7 and in case you were wondering her blog is a fantastic place to hang out! I am so excited for this book and what really grabbed my attention is the cover, how freakin gorgeous is that?
Jaden is also going to be part of a super awesome new group, The Contemps, which will be launching a new blog on Aug. 17 and everyone should be on the lookout for that!

Evermore by Alyson Noel (The Immortals #1)

Synopsis:
Since a horrible accident claimed the lives of her family, sixteen-year-old Ever can see auras, hear people’s thoughts, and know a person’s life story by touch. Going out of her way to shield herself from human contact to suppress her abilities has branded her as a freak at her new high school—but everything changes when she meets Damen Auguste… Ever sees Damen and feels an instant recognition. He is gorgeous, exotic and wealthy, and he holds many secrets. Damen is able to make things appear and disappear, he always seems to know what she’s thinking—and he’s the only one who can silence the noise and the random energy in her head. She doesn’t know who he really is—or what he is. Damen equal parts light and darkness, and he belongs to an enchanted new world where no one ever dies.


Review:
I had this book sitting on my shelf for over a year and had never read it. As a book I bought and not one for review it often got passed over. Well I decided it was a perfect day for it by the pool last week and I was correct (and mad at myself for waiting so long to start it).

I really enjoyed this book, I like Ever and I think the book is original and a really fast read. Ever is a great main character with quirky, fun friends and a scarred, haunting past. The fact that she regularly hangs out with her dead sister is really just the tip of the paranormal iceberg in this case.

Her relationship with Damen is somehow romantic, mysterious and frustrating all at the same time. The times they are together are amazing and so much fun to read about but his sketchy disappearing acts and lies kind of made me hate him at times. At the end it all made sense, although the drama in between is incredibly, but there were times early on when I wanted to jump in the story and demand answers. I figure a passionate reaction, even if it is partly frustration, is a good thing when reading. I want something that makes me care about the characters.

The plot is really original and I really didn’t see the ending coming, best of all I put down the book and couldn’t wait to get to the library and get The Immortals #2 Blue Moon. This is a promising start to a series that already has three more in the series available: Blue Moon, Shadowland and Dark Flame. I can already tell this angsty thrill ride is going to be an addiction for me.

This book goes toward my Summer Break Reading Challenge