Survival Strategies of the Almost Brave Blog Tour

Survival Strategies of the Almost Brave
by Jen White
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (June 9, 2015)
Fiction * Sisters  * Single-Parent Families
Reading Guide | Teacher's Guide | Read Chapter 1
IndieBound | WorldCat

Description from GoodReads: 
After their mother's recent death, twelve-year-old Liberty and her eight-year-old sister, Billie, are sent to live with their father, who they haven't seen since they were very young. Things are great at first; the girls are so excited to get to know their father – a traveling photographer who rides around in an RV. But soon, the pressure becomes too much for him, and he abandons them at the Jiffy Company Gas Station.

Instead of moping around and being scared, Liberty takes matters into her own hands. On their journey to get home, they encounter a shady, bald-headed gas station attendant, a full-body tattooed trucker, free Continental breakfast, a kid obsessed with Star Wars, a woman who lives with rats, and a host of other situations. 

When all seems lost, they get some help from an unlikely source, and end up learning that sometimes you have to get a little bit lost to be found.

My favorite 5 Survival Strategies from SURVIVAL STRATEGIES OF THE ALMOST BRAVE:
Throughout Survival Strategies of the Almost Brave, Liberty carries a notebook. Each chapter heading corresponds with one of the survival strategies that Liberty writes in her notebook or uses to care for her and her sister. Here are 5 of my favorites.... 

Survival Strategy # 3: BLUE SKIES DO NOT MEAN HAPPINESS - The book begins shortly after Liberty and Billie have lost their mother. Even at a young age, Liberty learns that the sky can be a perfect blue and the weather the best beach day ever despite life feeling so stormy.  

Survival Strategy # 11: SOMETIMES YOU SHOULD FEEL SORRY FOR THE COBRA- Liberty and Billie's father left when the girls were very young. Since he is a photographer for National Geographic, Liberty watches animal programs to have something to speak with him if she were to see him again. After her mom's death, they are reunited with their dad. An interesting animal fact, snake charmers sew together a cobra's mouth because venom is poisonous. The knowledge of learning how to behave around cobras becomes an analogy for learning about how to act around her dad. In life, we all have people we have to learn how to behave around, but like cobras, maybe we should feel sorry for them?

Survival Strategy # 16: IF IT'S GOOD ENOUGH FOR A SEA TURTLE, IT MIGHT BE GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU - I like sea turtles and enjoyed the various references that Liberty would make about sea turtles. At one point, after her father abandoned her and Billie, she talked about instinct and how baby sea turtles knew what to do. Will Liberty know by instinct how to care for herself and Billie?

Survival Strategy # 20: PANIC IS NOT YOUR FRIEND - As someone prone to anxiety and worry, I usually say "anxiety is not your friend". Panic, similar to anxiety, is never helpful in a stressful situation. Liberty has to figure out how to care for herself and her sister, Billie. In a tough situation, she must remain calm rather than panic, even when Billie has a meltdown.

Survival Strategy # 41: DR PEPPER CAN RUIN EVERYTHING - I partially picked this one because Dr Pepper is my least favorite soda, so in my mind it does ruin everything. However, Liberty shares about an incident involving Dr Pepper and an accidental spill all over her father's maps and magazines.  This event was emotional and pivotal. In all of our lives, we can identify something that may be mundane but becomes the symbol for something much more significant. For Liberty and Billie, Dr Pepper was that pivotal moment. 

Look for SURVIVAL STRATEGIES OF THE ALMOST BRAVE by Jen White at your local indie bookstore or public library to read more about Liberty, Billie and their survival strategies.

Check out the interview with Jen White at Read Now Sleep Later, click here.

About the author: 
Jen White grew up in California, the oldest of five siblings.  In kindergarten, during a parent/teacher conference, her teacher told her mother, “She’s a little bossy.” Unfortunately, Jen thinks that same assessment might still be made today.  She blames it on birth order. When she was young she wanted to become an author and a teacher.  One of her earliest memories was learning how to read.  She remembers how excited she was when she realized she could read the signs she saw through the window when she was in the car with her mother. She also remembers how her stomach hurt when she read out loud because she read with such gusto.  

Jen has a degree in English teaching and also earned her MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in writing for children and young adults. SURVIVAL STRATEGIES OF THE ALMOST BRAVE is her debut novel and was born from the real experience of Jen being accidentally forgotten at a gas station with her younger sister and cousin.  Jen currently tries not to boss around her five children and husband in San Clemente, California.  You can find Jen White on Twitter: @jenwhite_ | Tumblr | Website

Giveaway: One lucky reader, with a US mailing address, can win a copy of Survival Strategies of the Almost Brave by Jen White. Please enter the rafflecopter to have a chance to win. 

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My Dog is Best Blog Tour: Interview with Laurie Thompson

My Dog is the Best
by Laurie Ann Thompson; Illustrated by Paul Schmid
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (June 9, 2015)
Fiction * Pets * Dogs
Audience: Ages 3 to 6
IndieBound | WorldCat | GoodReads
Sneak Peak at the Book, click here.

Thank you Laurie Thompson for stopping by and chatting with us about your new book, MY DOG IS THE BEST. Of course, I think that my cats are the best, but if you are going to have a book about dogs, this is certainly adorable. I look forward to sharing it with friends and kids. 

My Dog is the Best is your latest book. It's really different from your two previous releases (Be a Changemaker and Emmanuel's Dream). What led you to write MY DOG IS THE BEST? 

In 2009, I took a course on writing easy readers from Anastasia Suen. I wrote MY DOG IS THE BEST as the final homework assignment. I wanted to write something that had mostly simple vocabulary and repetition, but that also had humor, heart, and was something most kids would be able to relate to on some level. At around the same time, I’d noticed that I usually told my dog, “Good dog!” just as she was curling up to go to sleep. (She had been a hyper puppy, so it was still a relief to see her relax.) She always gave me this bewildered look. I thought it was funny that my idea of “Good dog!” was the exact opposite of hers and vice versa (and the same often applies to young children and their parents), so that’s where I started for the assignment.

Recently, I was talking with another author about the importance of teaching children to read both text and illustrations. In MY DOG, though simple text, the illustrations tell a slightly different story. Was this intentional on your part or did you and Paul Schmid collaborate on this or did Paul just have fun with the text? 

It was totally intentional on my part: that’s where the humor comes in! Surprisingly, though, Paul did not know that when he read the text, because all the illustrator notes had been removed. He read my mind and drew exactly what I’d been picturing (only much, much cuter!). I couldn’t believe it. He even got the surprise twist at the end. We did get to collaborate a bit during revisions, since we just happen to live near each other and were already friends. That was an amazing experience, and I love what it brought to the book!

Are there any other projects that you are working on that you can tell us about? Any new nonfiction projects?

My next project is a middle-grade series I’m co-authoring with my agent, Ammi-Joan Paquette, for Walden Pond Press. It’s called Two Truths and a Lie. I guess you could call it a hybrid, because every chapter has three stories—two are true and one is a hoax. We challenge the reader to try to spot the fake… and it is not easy! The first volume is scheduled to come out in 2017.

I’m also working on proposals for another MG nonfiction and a co-authored YA memoir, and I’m revising several picture books (mostly nonfiction) that are oh-so-close to being ready.

What is your writing routine like and do you have anywhere special that you like to write? (picture of work area is always welcome)

I’m not a morning person, so I do the reverse of what most productivity gurus (and successful authors) recommend. I can’t write first thing in the morning. I do less intense tasks like email and social media in the morning while I drink my coffee. Then I start writing later in the day once I’ve had a chance to wake up. My productivity is highest in the afternoon, so I try to set those hours aside for writing or revising.

I am supposed to be working at my treadmill desk: it’s great exercise, helps my neck and back stay happy, has a super workstation setup, and actually boosts my creativity and productivity by keeping me moving. My assistant hates when I do that, however, so all too often she persuades me to sit on the big comfy couch in the sunroom with her instead.

What has been your favorite letter/email or question from a child or teen? 

For Be a Changemaker, I received this note from a teacher: “I saw a student and his family today at student-led conferences. His mother thanked me profusely for showing him the book and said it was exactly what he's been looking for and that it changed his life.”

And, I’ve gotten two reviews for Emmanuel’s Dream that will always stand out for me, both from girls with limb differences:

Jordan wrote, “I think Emmanuel is a great example for me. The story literally is saying you can do anything as long as you try. The story makes me feel strong… that just makes me feel happy.”

And Keegan wrote, “I like seeing people that are similar to me in books because it’s like I know what they’re going through because I’ve gone through it myself. I’ve had people stare at me, laugh at me and whisper about me, loud or quiet. And Emmanuel stood up for us all, the disabled people, and I feel proud that I’m alive and going on healthy. I think that all of the other disabled people should, too.”

All three of those literally brought tears to my eyes. There’s nothing better than finding out your book connected with a reader in a meaningful way.

Since summer is my favorite time to catch up on reading, I love finding out what books are on other people's reading lists. Any fun beach reads on your list or other titles? 

One of my new favorite-books-of-all-time is The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough. You must read it this summer! It’s not a lighthearted romp, but it’s beautiful and gripping and unforgettable. Two others that I loved recently are Footer Davis Probably Is Crazy by Susan Vaught and Grounded: The Adventures of Rapunzel by Megan Morrison. Both of those two are a nice mix of adventure, humor, and seriousness. And I’m just finishing Arin Andrews’ Some Assembly Required, which is quite timely right now and I highly recommend.

As far as what’s on my to-read list for the summer, I’m really looking forward to book 2 of the Talker 25 series, Invisible Monsters by Joshua McCune (also not a lighthearted romp, I’m sure--the first was so gritty and thought-provoking!). I also can’t wait to read Jennifer Bertman’s Book Scavenger, Kelly Jones’ Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer, and Cynthia Levinson’s Watch Out for Flying Kids! How Two Circuses, Two Countries, and Nine Kids Confront Conflict and Build Community. 

About the author: 
Laurie Ann Thompson's other books include Be a Changemaker and Emmanuel's Dream. From the day she was born, many of her best friends have had four legs and fur. She now lives with her husband, two children, a grouchy cat, and a disabled dog in the Pacific Northwest. Visit her website  or follow her on Twitter at @lauriethompson. 

To check all of the stops on the blog tour, see the schedule below:

6/6/15     Booking Mama     
6/8/15     Jean Reidy
6/9/15     Watch. Connect. Read.
6/10/15    5 Minutes for Books
6/11/15     Kid Lit Frenzy
6/12/15    Unleashing Readers
6/16/15    Anastasia Suen: Booktalking #kidlit  
6/19/15    Kirby's Lane
7/1/15      Library Lions

Complete the form below to enter the giveaway for a chance to win a signed copy of MY DOG IS BEST.  Must have a US Mailing address to enter. 

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Bride of Slug Man Blog Tour

Kate Walden Directs: Bride of the Slug Man
by Julie Mata
Disney Hyperion (May 26, 2015)
Audience: Grades 4-7
Fiction * Friendship * Dating
IndieBound * WorldCat
Download the Curriculum Guide

About the book: 
After her huge success with her first feature-length movie, seventh-grader Kate Walden is eager to start on her next film, a sci-fi romance called Bride of Slug Man. When a new kid comes to town from New York City, Kate thinks she might have a new found film buddy-someone to share her interest with. And it doesn't hurt that he's pretty cute. But it turns out that Tristan is making his own movie, and now the classmates Kate thought were eager to join her cast and crew are divided.

With rumors spreading in school and between sets, Kate finds herself juggling more than just call times and rewrites. And judging from the whispers Kate hears about Tristan Kingsley,she suspects that he isn't interested in having a fellow film-buff friend; he just wants to prove himself as the best filmmaker in school by winning the Big Picture Film Festival. Kate vows to enter too, and tries to focus on just making the best movie she can.

But between the cutthroat popularity contest, a bully situation that goes from bad to worse, and several on-set mishaps, Kate is going to need all the movie magic she can get to make sure Bride of Slug Man hits the big-screen.

Check out the book trailer:

Originally, I was going to do a review of Kate Walden Directs: Bride of Slug Man but as I was putting together the post I realized that I was the last stop on the tour.  Do you ever wonder if people go back and check out the other posts that the author and bloggers have worked hard on? So instead of just a review of the book...I thought I would do a little highlighting of the reviews, interviews, and guest posts for the tour.

Check out Julie Mata's guest post on GreenBean Queen Teen.  Mata's Plucky...Not Perfect gave me new insight into her character, Kate Walden. 

Over at Once Upon a Story, Julie's guest post talks about "Production Value" and adding "sizzle" and "Forced Perspective" to a movie and how Kate does this in Bride of Slug Man. This made me start wondering how I could use the post with students to talk about what would be the equivalent of production value, or adding sizzle, or forced perspective in something that we write. Check out Julie's curriculum guide for Bride of Slug Man for some great extension ideas.  

Next, hop on over to Read Now Sleep Later and check out Alethea's interview with Julie. Find out what 1959 black and white movie is her pick for favorite kid-appropriate Bride of Slug Man type movie.

Julie's guest post over at Curling Up With a Good Book focuses on her advice for How to Write What You Know.  Whether you have an exciting life or not, there are ideas for stories in those life experiences. Now I really want to know more about those 10 chickens that she owned at one time.

Don't stop yet, check out the review of Bride of Slug Man over at The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia. 

There is another interview with Julie over at Book Hounds of YA. I may have added a couple of new (to me) reads to my TBR pile and there is an absolutely adorable picture of Julie's dog. Yeah, I know you want to click on this link. 

And finally, well maybe not finally since you have my post, but yesterday's guest post at The Brain Lair finds Julie sharing Director's Tips with readers. It even comes with a link to a short film that Julie made called Bus Driver. 

Now for the finally, Bride of Slug Man is just in time for summer reading. Though I am not suggesting any forced recommendations for kids to read during the summer but this book has a cool cover, it's funny, there is romance (well the fun kid kind of romance) and making movies in this book. What kid wouldn't want to pick it up and read it if you just happen to leave it in a spot they just can't miss? And when said kid is finished reading the book, it just might be responsible for sparking further creative endeavors with visions of film-making. 

Seriously, stop by your local independent bookstore or public library and pick up a copy of Bride of Slug Man. Read it yourself and better yet, share it with your favorite middle grader. 

About the Author: 
Julie Mata grew up outside Chicago and currently lives in Wisconsin, where she owns a video production business with her husband. She loves movies and once wrote and directed her own short film. She also loves traveling, gardening, and reading a really good book. Her first book was Kate Walden Directs: Night of the Zombie Chickens. For more information, including a downloadable curriculum guide and a filmmaking tip of the month, visit her website or follow Julie on twitter. 

Follow the blog tour: 

Monday, May 18      GreenBeanTeenQueen

Wed. May 20          Once Upon a Story

Thurs, May 21          Read Now, Sleep Later

Fri, May 22             Curling Up with a Good Book

Tues, May 26         The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia

Wed, May 27         BookHounds YA

Thurs, May 28       The Brain Lair

Fri, May 29            Kid Lit Frenzy

Giveaway:  One lucky winner will receive both books featuring Kate Walden - KATE WALDEN DIRECTS: NIGHT OF THE ZOMBIE CHICKENS and KATE WALDEN DIRECTS: BRIDE OF SLUG MAN. (U.S. addresses; allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.) Winner must be 13 years or older. Please complete the rafflecopter below to enter the giveaway.

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Mary McCoy: Author Interview

We are happy to welcome Mary McCoy to the blog. For those of you who will be attending Pasadena Loves YA in a couple of weeks, you will have the opportunity to meet Mary McCoy in person.  For readers of the blog, you get a virtual meeting with our interview.  Thank you Mary for graciously answering some questions for us about your debut novel, Dead to Me (Disney-Hyperion, March 2015).

What was the researching and writing process like for writing DEAD TO ME? How did you originally come up with the premise? 

DEAD TO ME is a film noir-inspired YA mystery. In film noir, the stakes are really high, emotions are heightened, everybody has their guard up, and I think that noir ethos fits into a high school setting really well.

I'm a librarian at the Los Angeles Public Library, so I knew about all these great research collections. Shameless library plug time! I used the online photo collection and map collection. I even used the online menu collection to find out what was on the menu at Musso & Frank in 1948 and how much things cost. The library made is very easy to pepper all those historical details through the book.

The description from GoodReads says that the book is great for fans of LA Confidential. What are some of your favorite noir films and/or mystery novels? Are there any that inspired DEAD TO ME?

I love LA Confidential so much - one of those rare cases where both the book and the movie are equally good! I was also really inspired by the movie Brick, which stars Joseph-Gordon Levitt and is about a high school loner-turned-detective who's trying to find out who killed his ex-girlfriend. As far as old movies go, some of my favorites are D.O.A., Double Indemnity, and In A Lonely Place.

I really love noir and hardboiled detective stories, but all the stock femme fatales and sexist tough guys can get a little grating. So I love it when stories like that are written from a woman's point of view or have really interesting, complicated female characters. Some of my favorites are The Song Is You by Megan Abbott and The Last Embrace by Denise Hamilton.

What drew you to the vibrant setting of 1940s Hollywood - especially the ugly underbelly of the film industry?

There's this incredible book called City of Nets: A Portrait of Hollywood in the 1940s by Otto Friedrich, and it's filled with every piece of gossip and every juicy scandal, but it's also a really well-researched history of the movie industry. Everyone should read it! It will suck you in.

DEAD TO ME features a cast of vastly differing characters, each with his or her own fascinating backstory. How did you create all of these back stories and entwine them into the plot so seamlessly?

I wrote long, involved backstories for lots of the characters in DEAD TO ME. Some of those stories made it in to the book (e.g. how Alice's mother got her big break in Hollywood), but a lot didn't (e.g.. how Jerry became a private detective). One character, Millie, was actually inspired by a real 1940s starlet named Lila Leeds whose acting career was ruined after she was caught smoking marijuana with Robert Mitchum (his career bounced back just fine).

My secret to writing a mystery is this: forge ahead to the end even if you don't know how it's going to turn out. Then once you're finished, you can go back and plant all the clues along the way. The thing that makes it all look seamless is working through round after round after round of revisions.

Any upcoming projects or books? Are you planning to write any more books about Alice Gates or 1940s mysteries?

The last line of DEAD TO ME is pretty much my favorite thing that I've ever written, so for now, I'm happy to leave that story and those characters right where they are.

I'm working on something new right now. It's also set in Los Angeles and it's about a history-obsessed main character, but otherwise, it's a whole nother thing.

Pasadena Loves YA
Date: May 23, 2015 | Time: 12 noon - 4 pm
Meet 20 YA authors 
Panels & Book Signings 
Giveaways and Refreshments  
Free tote bags for the first 150 guests!

This is a FREE event at Pasadena Public Library, Central Branch, 285 East Walnut Street, Pasadena, CA 91101

Keynote speaker Mary McCoy (author of Dead to Me) with Katie Alender, Victoria Aveyard, Alexis Bass, Julie Berry, Livia Blackburne, Virginia Boecker, Jessica Brody, Stephen Chbosky, Brandy Colbert, Ava Dellaira, Kody Keplinger, Liz Maccie, Morgan Matson, Lauren Miller, Alexandra Monir, Jennifer Niven, Romina Russell, Sarah Tomp, & Kiersten White

For more info, visit www.pasadenateenbookfestival.com
Check out the flyer here. 

Vroman's Bookstore be selling the books beginning at 11 am. The event is co-sponsored by Bridge to Books.

Though there is no registration required, we would greatly appreciate it if you would post, share, tweet, and tell everyone you know about the upcoming event! Please use the hashtag #PLYA2015.

Enter our Giveaway: Any 3 books from the 2015 Pasadena Loves YA authors, US only, ends 5/20/2015.

Thank you Alethea at Read Now Sleep Later for hosting and organizing the giveaway.

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The Isle of the Lost Giveaway

The Isle of the Lost
by Melissa de la Cruz
Disney-Hyperion (May 5, 2015)
#DisneyDescendants
Read An Excerpt | Official Site

If you live in a household with a pre-teen, Disney TV, Disney musicals, Disney movies are always a huge hit. When I was asked to share information about THE ISLE OF THE LOST and host a Disney Publishing giveaway, I couldn't resist. 

About the Book:
Evil tree. Bad Apple?

Twenty years ago, all the evil villains were banished from the kingdom of Auradon to the Isle of the Lost--a dark and dreary place protected by a force field that makes it impossible for them to leave. Stripped of their magical powers, the villains now live in total isolation, forgotten by the world.

Mal learns from her mother, Maleficent, that the key to true darkness, the Dragon's Eye, is located inside her scepter in the forbidden fortress on the far side of the island. The eye is cursed, and whoever retrieves it will be knocked into a deep sleep for a thousand years. But Mal has a plan to capture it. She'll just need a little help from her "friends." In their quest for the Dragon's Eye, these four kids begin to realize that just because you come from an evil family tree, being good ain't so bad.

Isle of the Lost is the spell-binding prequel to Disney Descendants, A Disney Channel Original Movie Event this summer!

About the author:
Melissa de la Cruz is the author of many best-selling novels, including all the books in the Blue Bloods series: Blue Bloods, Masquerade, Revelations, The Van Alen Legacy, Keys to the Repository, Misguided Angel, Bloody Valentine, Lost in Time, and Gates of Paradise. She lives in Los Angeles, California with her husband and daughter. Official Author Website.

MEET THE DESCENDANTS Giveaway Prize Pack:

One (1) winner receives:

·         copy of The Isle of the Lost;
·         branded tank top, water bottle and temporary tattoos;
·         and a GadgetGrip smartphone home button sticker.

Giveaway open to US addresses only.
Prizing and samples provided by Disney Publishing.

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