2010 Debut Author Challenge Update

Several months ago, I signed up for the 2010 Debut Author Challenge being hosted by the wonderful Story Siren (Krisit).  I have been terrible at posting my reviews on her site.  So in some ways you would think I had done nothing towards this challenge.  But I have and I am going to write one large update right here.  For more information about the Debut Author Challenge click here.

January

Scones and Sensibility by Lindsay Eland  - Twelve year old Polly is a hopeless romantic who loves Pride & Prejudice and Anne of Green Gables.  As she travels about town delivering, scones and other baked goods from her parents' bakery, she schemes about ways to play matchmaker for friends and family.  Hilarity ensues and some lessons are learned.  Read my review here.

February

The Reinvention of Edison Thomas by Jacqueline Houtman - Edison "Eddy" Thomas is a middle school student, who loves to tinker with inventions but struggles to understand innuendos of those around him. After coming in 3rd in a school science fair, Eddy begins to tinker with another invention which leads him to some interesting lessons, new friends, and a lesson in understanding bullying.  Read my review here.

March

Under My Skin by Judith Graves - I love stories that are filled with paranormal beasties, great characters (especially kick-butt heroines), resident hotties, and humor! This one has it all.  It has probably been one of my most fun debut reads.  Fans of Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance will love this.  Read my review here.

April

The Witchy Worries of Abbie Adams by Rhonda Hayter - This middle grade debut is filled with magic, humor, history lessons, and some great fun.  Middle grade girls will especially love Abbie and her magical ways.  Read my review here.

13 to Life by Shannon Delany - Between Judith Graves and Shannon Delany, I am becoming more and more a werewolf fan.  I really enjoyed this book.  I read it in one sitting.  Love the characters, the mythology, and the overall story.  Read my review here.

May

Sea by Heidi R Kling - Fifteen year old Sienna (Sea) lost her mother in an airplane accident over the ocean.  Three years later her father decides to take her to assist with orphan victims of the tsunami.  Her journey provides her with experiences that lead her to grow emotionally and personally. Read my review here.

Cinderella Society by Kay Cassidy - How many teen girls wish that they were cool, popular, and dating a hunk?  Fifteen year old, Jess learns that it isn't all about appearances but that it really is an issue of girl empowerment and good battling evil.  Read my review here.

June

Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus  - So often in Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romances, a human girl falls in love with a supernatural boy or vice a versa.  Hopcus has main characters that are equally matched with secrets of their own.  Great characters, well developed story, and I am already pining for book two. Read my review here.

July

The Shadows (The Books of Elsewhere #1) by Jacqueline West - A haunted house, a curious 11 year old girl, talking cats, enchanted glasses, and a mystery.  This was a great read.  What a wonderful Middle Grade debut novel.  One of my favorite reads this year.  Read my review here.

The guidelines of the challenge encourage participants to read at least 12 debut novels.  I am 3/4 of the way to the minimum goal.   However, I am determined to read closer to 25 books by debut authors.  Guess I should get reading if I am going to meet that goal...

-Aly

A Literary Day Trip

Yesterday, I had a chance to spend the day in Amherst, Massachusetts.  It was the first time in many years that I got to visit the place I spent four years of my life.  Even after an extended absence, as I was driving into Amherst I had the same feeling as my first time - I love this place.  Sometimes, I even wonder why I left.  Well, I won't dwell a lot on those decisions, but let me tell you about my visit.

My sister and I first stopped in Amherst at my favorite bakery/deli/cafe.  If you ever get to Amherst, you must stop by for a chocolate croissant or a sandwich and a Chai latte.  My personal favorites.  Though my sister claims the cheese danish is to die for. I am pretty sure that you can't go wrong with anything that you order.



When my sister first proposed a trip up to Amherst, she wasn't thinking about the literary richness of the area.  She wanted to go to a Butterfly Conservation Garden and thought it would be a "nice day trip".  How long can you look at butterflies anyway?! Right?!  In my mind, there would be plenty of time to see some pretty butterflies and then drag her around to museums. :-)



After looking at many beautiful butterflies, I suggested to my sister that we stop at the Emily Dickinson House.  We made it just in time for a tour which turned out to be just my sister and me led by a really cute South African graduate student doing a summer internship at the museum.  I can't believe that I lived about 2 miles from the museum for four years but that this was the first time I actually visited the house.  I wish we could take pictures of the inside of the buildings.  The information was wonderful and I grew in my appreciation of Emily Dickinson and her poetry.



After visiting the 19th century, my sister and I jumped into the 21st century with a visit to Hampshire College's Eric Carle Museum.  The museum has three exhibit areas that were currently displaying a permanent collection of art and information on Eric Carle.  The middle gallery had some lovely artwork on display from illustrator Leo Lionni (Swimmy, Little Blue & Little Yellow).  The third gallery was displaying Lisbeth Zwerger's artwork.  Zwerger was actually at the museum signing copies of her books.



The museum also contains a beautiful art room that welcomes visitors, young and old, to develop their own tissue paper creations.

So what have you been up to this summer?

Any fun literary trips?  

Love to hear what you have all been doing....

-Aly

Book-A-Day Challenge Week 3 Update

Wow!  I am into my third week with the Book-A-Day Challenge hosted by Donalyn Miller (The Book Whisperer).  I have been this kind of crazy obsessive person with the challenge.  I am determined to get at least 7 books (including picture books) read during the week.

Book-A-Day Week 3 Reads:

Picture Books:

Pete and Pickles by Berkeley Breathed This is an odd (in a good way) story about a friendship between a pig (Pete) and an elephant (Pickles). Pete is a bit uptight.  Pickles is a free-spirit.  The ultimate odd couple.   The illustrations seem to come alive and the story is touching.

I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll I loved this twist on "the monster under the bed" concept.  The little boy in the story is unable to sleep without his monster under the bed.  Gabe, his monster, has gone on a vacation.  Substitute monsters are sent but none are just right.  What's a boy to do without his monster to keep him in bed at night?!  Great illustrations.  Great text.  Read my review here.

LadyBug Girl by Jacky Davis  A little girl and her alter-ego Ladybug Girl go out for the day on her own adventures when her brother tells her she is too small to play ball with him and his friends.  I know a lot of little girls who would just adore this book.

LadbyBug Girl At the Beach by Jacky Davis This is a companion novel to Ladybug Girl.  In this installment, our ladybug girl is afraid to admit that she just might be afraid of the water at the beach.  After a day of trying every which way to avoid going into the water, ladybug girl must come to the rescue when her favorite purple pail starts to float away.  Read my review here.

City Dog, Country Frog by MoWillems, John Muth (re-read) I had originally read this prior to it's release so it was fun to actually hold a finished copy in my hand.  Mo Willems is a master at writing wonderful stories with simple language.  Muth's illustrations enhance the story wonderfully.  The concept of the story is a tale of friendship between a dog and a frog.  Willems tells of how the dog and frog play during spring, summer, and fall.  After winter, dog goes to find his friend who is missing (do I dare say...no, I won't).  What will dog do in frog's absence?  The story has an answer to that question.

Graphic Novels:

Amulet Book 1: The StoneKeeper by Kazu Kibuishi  I am not a huge graphic novels fan.  I think I get distracted by the pictures. :-)  However, this one will certainly appeal to 9 and 10 year olds.  A girl discovers a special amulet which is activated after her mother is captured by a creature from an alternate universe.  The girl and her younger brother go in search of their mother and discover the history behind the amulet and the legacy that is bestowed on them.  Read my review here.

Middle Grade:

The Shadows (The Books of Elsewhere) by Jacqueline West I will be posting a review of this book soon so I won't say much other than - this is a definite read.  I will edit the post when I have written the review.  Read my review here.

The Kneebone Boy (Advanced Readers Copy) by Ellen Potter  I will be reviewing this book in August closer to the actual release date for the book.  However, I will say that Ellen Potter has outdone herself.  Fans of Lemony Snickets and Pseudonymous Bosch are certain to love this book.

Shooting the Moon by Frances O’Roark Dowell In this novel of coming of age during the Vietnam War, Jamie learns through the rolls of film her brother sends to her to develop that war may not be all that she believed it to be and even her father who is a Colonel in the Army may be helpless to prevent somethings from happening.

YA:

Beautiful Darkness (Advanced Readers Copy) by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl I will be doing a review closer to release date on this book, but I will say that fans of Garcia and Stohl's first book, Beautiful Creatures, will love this sequel.

Reality Check by Peter Abrahams This Edgar Winnner for Best YA is a fast, compelling read.  Abrahams leaves you wondering for most of the book who can you trust.  After a slightly slow start, I was unable to put this one down until I finished.

Scanned by did not truly read:

Nightlight (A Parody of Twilight) by Harvard Lampoon Okay, I will admit it.  I like Twilight.  I think those who love to poke fun at Twilight will love this, but it just annoyed me.  I scanned parts of it but just lost interest after awhile.

In progress:

A Framework for Understanding Poverty by Ruby Payne Several teachers on my staff and I are reading a couple of chapters of this each week and discussing it.  Very powerful and practical.

So how are you doing on your summer reading challenge?  Read any good books lately?  Post a comment about what you are reading.

-Aly

Summertime Reading Giveaway...

Do some books remind you of a particular time of the year? Some books make me think vacation.  Others remind me of where I was or a particular time in my life.  However, some books seem like great summer reading material.  For the next few weeks, I am going to be hosting a series of book contests.  Yes, you read that right...book contests - plural.

I am kicking the Summer Reading Giveaway with a book that says summer to me but one that I don't think has gotten as much recognition as I think it should.  I am featuring Saundra Mitchell’s Shadowed Summer.  Saundra has been wonderful and sent me a signed book plate for the book, and some additional swag including a Shadowed Summer bookmark, sticker, and a Vespertine book card.

Description from GoodReads:

Iris is ready for another hot, routine summer in her small Louisiana town, hanging around the Red Stripe grocery with her best friend, Collette, and traipsing through the cemetery telling each other spooky stories and pretending to cast spells. Except this summer, Iris doesn’t have to make up a story. This summer, one falls right in her lap.



Years ago, before Iris was born, a local boy named Elijah Landry disappeared. All that remained of him were whispers and hushed gossip in the church pews. Until this summer. A ghost begins to haunt Iris, and she’s certain it’s the ghost of Elijah. What really happened to him? And why, of all people, has he chosen Iris to come back to?

My Review:

I actually read Shadowed Summer by Saundra Mitchell back in December.   It had come to me highly recommended, and someone joked that it should be read in the middle of the winter.  So I did read it surrounded by 2 feet of snow outside.  It is one of those books that warms you up.  When I jumped into the first chapter of the book, I could feel the heat and humidity of the Louisiana summer rising off the page.

But to be fair, this is truly a summer book.  Mitchell's Shadowed Summer is a southern gothic ghost story. From the first pages, Mitchell drew me into her world and kept me reading.  I could almost sense myself walking around this small Louisanna town in the summer with the heat and humidity rising from the ground, and the laziness of the days. Her characters - Richly developed, and come alive on the pages. There is friendship, secrets, and more. Mitchell's background as a screenwriter lends itself to crisp writing without excessive words and pacing that never drags. If anything, I wanted to spend more time in her world and was sad to see the story end even though the length was appropriate. And even though part of me thought I knew how the book was going to end, I was still was a little surprised.

I would highly recommend this to anyone, and I do.  Mitchell has been added to my favorite author "watch list" and I can't wait for her next book Vespertine to be released in 2011.

To Enter the Contest:

1. You must fill out the form below.

2. You must be 14 years or older to enter the contest.

3. You must submit the form prior to 11:59 p.m. PDT on Sunday, July 11, 2010

For Extra Entries:

- Leave a comment in the comment section about your favorite summer book (1 extra entry)

- Tweet it, Blog about it, or post it on your blog or Facebook page (each item will earn you 2 extra entries)

- Follow the Blog (New followers will get 1 extra entry, Current Followers will get 2 extra entries)

Good luck,

-Aly

Click Here for Entry Form


Please email me at alybee930 (at) gmail (dot) com If you have any troubles with the entry form.