YA Friday Book Review: The Wrath and the Dawn

The Wrath and the Dawn
by Renée Ahdieh
Putnam Juvenile Books (May 12, 2015)
Audience: 13 to 18 years old 
IndieBound | WorldCat

Description from GoodReads:
"A sumptuous and epically told love story inspired by A Thousand and One Nights.

Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi's wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.

She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all."

A wedding Invitation sent by the publisher made the book even more intriguing.

Carolyn's thoughts on the book:
I am a huge fan of fairy-tale retellings, but unlike the vast amount of YA books that seek to put a new spin on the tale of Cinderella or Snow White, I had never encountered a YA retelling of A Thousand and One Nights. I certainly had some concerns going in to the book (hello, Stockholm Syndrome), but my feminist fears were allayed: although Shahrzad, the protagonist, does ultimately fall in love with Khalid, she originally intends to assassinate him (so not the passive maiden typically depicted in fairy tales), and as the book moves along, both she and the reader discover more and more about the terrible reason Khalid has been wedding and murdering a young woman every night (and it's decidedly not some twisted, misogynistic hatred of women as a whole). Overall, the book definitely didn't echo the damsel-in-distress trope or any other typical, patriarchal clichés that seem to (sadly) abound in some retellings of fairy tales.

The book is masterfully crafted, artfully revealing the perfect amount of secrets and backstory as the story goes along. Shahrzad is a relatable and likable character, and her fierce loyalty and determination to protect her loved ones, whoever they may be, is one of her many endearing qualities. Likewise, Shazi's cleverness and intrepidness allow her to hold her own against Khalid. Their relationship is engrossing and captivating, the more they learn to trust and love one another -  despite the circumstances that bring them together and then tear them apart (in more ways than one). The mysterious magic and delicate political situation, in addition to being fascinating, add depth to the story and the setting. 

I am already anxiously anticipating the release of the sequel (The Rose and the Dagger) next year. The Wrath and the Dawn is a brilliantly enthralling tale, and especially suited for readers who enjoy retellings of fairy tales with strong female protagonists.

Carolyn is a teen blogger who shares her favorite YA reads and favorite book related finds with readers on Fridays.

The Tapper Twins Blog Tour & Giveaway

The Tapper Twins Go to War (With Each Other) Tapper Wins #1
by Geoff Rodkey
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (April 7, 2015)
Format: Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook 

About the book: 
This brand-new series by a popular screenwriter is a pitch-perfect, contemporary comedy featuring twelve-year-old fraternal twins, Claudia and Reese, who couldn't be more different...except in their determination to come out on top in a vicious prank war! But when the competition escalates into an all-out battle that's fought from the cafeteria of their New York City private school all the way to the fictional universe of an online video game, the twins have to decide if their efforts to destroy each other are worth the price.

Told as a colorful "oral history" by the twins and their friends, and including photos, screenshots, chat logs, online gaming digital art, and text messages between their clueless parents, The Tapper Twins is a hilariously authentic showcase of what it's like to be in middle school in our digitally-saturated world.

Where to purchase the book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | IndieBound 

Check out the official Book Trailer:

Check out each stop on the blog tour:

4/6/2015- Word Spelunker

4/7/2015- The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia 

4/8/2015- Forever Bookish

4/9/2015- Kid Lit Frenzy

4/10/2015- Page Turners 

About the author: 
Geoff Rodkey is the author of the Tapper Twins middle grade comedy series and the Chronicles of Egg adventure series. He's also the Emmy-nominated screenwriter of such hit films as Daddy Day Care, RV, and the Disney Channel's Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas.

Geoff grew up in Freeport, Illinois and began his writing career on his high school newspaper. While in college, Geoff was an editor of both the Harvard Lampoon and the Let's Go travel guide series. His early writing credits include the educational video game Where In the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, the non-educational MTV series Beavis and Butt-head, and Comedy Central's Politically Incorrect.

Geoff currently lives in New York City with his wife and three sons. They do not have any pets, mostly because the whole experience with the goldfish was just too upsetting.

Website | Tapper Twins Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Don't forget to enter the giveaway: 
10 winners will receive a hardcover of THE TAPPER TWINS GO TO WAR (With Each Other) US Only.

Complete the rafflecopter form to enter:

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The 39-Story Treehouse Blog Tour: Interview with author Andy Griffiths

It is always a pleasure to work with Macmillan Children's Publishers and when I was offered a chance to participate in The 39-Story Treehouse Blog Tour, I jumped at the chance. It is my pleasure to welcome author, Andy Griffiths to Kid Lit Frenzy. 

The 13-Story Treehouse and the sequel The 26-Story House are filled with incredible imagination -what kind of kid were you that led to creating this series for children?

I had a very happy childhood full of great books (like Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Dr. Seuss and the works of Enid Blyton), great TV shows (like Batman, Get Smart and I Dream of Jeannie), great comedy (like MAD magazine and ridiculously over the top Horror comics), a lot of free time and a lot of freedom to roam and explore our neighborhood and have adventures in the nearby Pine Forest and creek. I’ve always loved the sense of unlimited freedom that I gained from all these activities and have sought to replicate that exhilarating sense of possibility in the books that I write with Terry. 

What is your collaborative process like with Terry?

It usually starts with me suggesting an idea, him drawing it, me getting excited and writing some words to go with it, him drawing some more pictures etc. etc. All this is done in a spirit of great mischief and playfulness and is accompanied by much laughter. We can’t possibly tell where it’s all going … we just follow an idea to see where it takes us. Usually we end up with a huge mess of ideas which Jill—my wife and editor—then spends many weeks editing and structuring into something that starts resembling a narrative. Then Terry storyboards that and the whole process starts over again.

I haven't figured out an answer to this personally, but do you think there can be "too much humor" in a book and if so, how do you find the right balance for your stories?

I don’t think you can have “too much humor” in a book (both kids and adults LOVE to laugh and the harder the better) but I think you can possibly have too much of the same sort of humor in a book. Over many years Terry and I have had the opportunity to explore many different types of humor (character-based, slapstick, gross-out and completely absurd) and varied ways of presenting it in various combinations of prose, rhyme and graphic form. I think the Treehouse series is a perfect mix of all these styles, with no one particular form dominating, which means it’s accessible to a very wide audience.

If you can go on a real life adventure - no financial limitations but all things have to be actually possible and no magic is involved - what would that adventure look like (it can be based on a real adventure that you have been on)?

It would definitely involve a rocket trip into space and, on our return, the rocket would re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere and plunge right down to the bottom of the sea to see all those kind-of-creepy but fascinating deep sea fish that glow in the dark.

I noticed on your website that you have 2 daughters. Have your daughters inherited your sense of fun and imagination and if so, have they ever topped you with something that they have come up with or done?

Oh, constantly! My oldest daughter makes these very funny photo frames decorated with little plastic figures like babies and kittens and flowers and army men and hippopotami. And my youngest daughter is a very keen observer and is always happy to share her observations of Jill and my epic-fails with us!

What is your writing space like? 

I have a studio that is filled with hundreds of bizarre plastic toys ranging from dinosaurs to zombie horse heads to rubber ducks with flaming wings as well as a vast collection of favorite books and comics. I also have lots of music. All of these things are still as exciting to me now as when I was young and they always put me in the mood for writing.

What has been your favorite question/letter from a fan?

Many children have written to me over the years wondering whether Terry and I are friends in real life, in spite of the (often violent) things we do to each other in our books. I began to realize that we could construct a whole book about our fictional lives together … which is how The Treehouse series began! (And, yes, we are friends in real life and would NEVER hit each other with giant bananas … well, not very often, anyway.)

About the author: 
Andy Griffiths is one of Australia's most popular children's authors. Andy is best known for The Treehouse series, the JUST! books and The Day My Bum Went Psycho. Over the last 20 years Andy's books have been New York Times bestsellers, adapted for the stage and television and won more than 50 Australian children's choice awards. Andy, a passionate advocate for literacy, is an ambassador for The Indigenous Literacy Foundation and The Pyjama Foundation.

Important weblinks: Treehouse Series Website | Educator's Guide  

Check out The 13-Story Treehouse and 26-Story Treehouse, and don't forget to pick up a copy of The 39-Story Treehouse tomorrow at your local indie bookstore.  

YA Friday Book Review: Under a Painted Sky

Under a Painted Sky
by Stacey Lee
G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers (March 17, 2015)
IndieBound | WorldCat

Description from GoodReads:
"A powerful story of friendship and sacrifice, for fans of Code Name Verity 

Missouri, 1849: Samantha dreams of moving back to New York to be a professional musician—not an easy thing if you’re a girl, and harder still if you’re Chinese. But a tragic accident dashes any hopes of fulfilling her dream, and instead, leaves her fearing for her life. With the help of a runaway slave named Annamae, Samantha flees town for the unknown frontier. But life on the Oregon Trail is unsafe for two girls, so they disguise themselves as Sammy and Andy, two boys headed for the California gold rush. Sammy and Andy forge a powerful bond as they each search for a link to their past, and struggle to avoid any unwanted attention. But when they cross paths with a band of cowboys, the light-hearted troupe turn out to be unexpected allies. With the law closing in on them and new setbacks coming each day, the girls quickly learn that there are not many places to hide on the open trail.
 
This beautifully written debut is an exciting adventure and heart-wrenching survival tale. But above all else, it’s a story about perseverance and trust that will restore your faith in the power of friendship."

Carolyn's thoughts on the book:
I had the privilege of attending the Southern California Independent Bookseller's Association Children's Literacy Day in February, and as part of that event, I attended a We Need Diverse Books panel that featured Stacey Lee as the moderator. Hearing her speak about her novel, I knew that I had to read her debut book, Under a Painted Sky. The book definitely did not disappoint - at times hilarious, it was also poignant and touching. I tend to be selective about what kinds of historical fiction I read, but this book had everything that I like the most about the genre: it showcases an often overlooked perspective and tackles social issues (specifically racial and gender issues of the time). Sammy and Andy are fantastic protagonists, each with their own compelling and sympathetic story. Equally entertaining are the three cowboys they befriend, and though their journey together is fraught with difficulties and hardships (and the concealment of Sammy and Andy's identities only further complicates things), the friendships – and romantic relationships – that develop are genuine and believable. The book is a captivating and brilliant read, and would make a perfect addition for anyone who enjoys historical fiction or books that tackle historical social issues.

Carolyn is a teen blogger who shares her favorite YA reads and favorite book related finds with readers on Fridays.

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: April New Releases

As part of the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge, I do my best to round-up as many new quality nonfiction books for children and share them with readers of this blog.  Some months, I miss the release of books and add them to the next month's post. Though I have not read all of these titles yet, I will be on the lookout for them.  Hope this is a helpful resource for you, since I know that this is an extremely useful resource for me. ~ Happy Reading!

Links to previous 2015 new release posts: January | February | March 

Here are some new releases coming out this month. So many interesting ones this month:

April 1, 2015

The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch by Chris Barton, Illustrated by Don Tate (Erdmans)

April 14, 2015

High Tide for Horseshoe Crabs by Lisa Kahn Schnell; Illustrated by Alan Marks (Charlesbridge)

A Nest is Noisy by Dianna Hutts Aston; Illustrated by Sylvia Long (Chronicle Books)

Sea Bones by Bob Barner (Chronicle Books)

Trapped! A Whale's Rescue by Robert Burleigh; Illustrated by Wendell Minor (Charlesbridge)

Trombone Shorty by Troy Andrews, Illustrated by Bryan Collier (Abrams Books for Young Readers)

April 21, 2015

Elvis: The Story of the Rock and Roll King by Bonnie Christensen, illustrated by (Henry Holt & Co.)

April 28, 2015

The Sky Painter: Louis Fuertes, Bird Artist by Margarita Engle, Illustrated by Aliona Bereghici (Two Lions)

Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews:

An InLinkz Link-up