Book Review: Unearthly + GIVEAWAY!

Author: Cynthia Hand
Published: HarperTeen (Januray 4, 2011)
Audience: Young Adult
Source: For Review (Dark Days Supernatural Tour), Also purchased a copy
Young Adult * Paranormal Romance

Description from GoodReads:

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . .


Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy. 

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side. 

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?


I instantly knew I wanted to read Unearthly the minute I first saw the cover online. It's beautiful, ethereal, and romantic -- just like Cynthia Hand's writing. With so many exciting titles in the YA Paranormal Romance genre, particularly stories dealing with angels, I wondered if Unearthly would be able to stand out... and it certainly does. Cynthia Hand writes a beautiful story of teenager, Clara, coming into her own as a young woman while dealing with the recent discovery that she is part angel. Clara is such a wonderful female lead because she's not a shrinking violet, but she's also not a total warrior. She strikes a really nice balance of being strong, without being too aggressive. Also, it was a nice change to read about a girl who was paranormal trying to deal with normal human boys. I'm so used to reading about ordinary girls who meet extraordinary boys that it was nice to read about a girl who's special.

And speaking of boys, I loved the two main guys in Unearthly. Christian and Tucker are both interesting and multi-dimensional (and I am led to believe that they are both incredibly good looking). There isn't the traditional good boy versus bad boy dichotomy that is seen in many love triangles. Instead, Christian is the boy that is somehow connected to Clara and her angelic purpose -- she sees him in her dreams -- while Tucker is the unconventional human boy that becomes tangled up in Clara's life unexpectedly, making her purpose as an angel all the more confusing. I liked both guys for different reasons, although by the end of the novel I had developed a sweet spot for Tucker.

In fact, all of the characters were well-written. There is so much depth and complexity in everyone. Clara's mother, also an angel, plays an important role in helping Clara discover and understand her purpose as an angel, although her own purpose and past is kept secret. Also, Clara's younger brother, Jeff, is also figuring out his own purpose as an angel and has his own shady secrets kept from the family. I am so eager to see where Cynthia Hand takes Clara's family in the sequel; there is no much to each family member's story that's shrouded in mystery. And I can't forget Clara's school friends, particularly Angela, who add so much humor and personality to the story.

The book is very absorbing, but the last 50 pages are especially exciting and un-put-down-able. The ending where the fire from Clara's dream finally ignites is spectacular, and Clara has to make some very hard choices that she hadn't anticipated. The last few chapters were very thrilling, but a little abrupt, leaving just enough questions unanswered to leave me on the edge of my seat for the sequel. I highly recommend this, especially to fans of Fallen by Lauren Kate and Firelight by Sophie Jordan.

Cynthia Hand grew up in Southeast Idaho (very near the Wyoming border). Currently she lives in southern California with her husband and son. She teaches courses in creative writing at Pepperdine University. Unearthly is her debut YA novel, published by HarperTeen. Hallowed, the sequel to Unearthly, will be published by HarperTeen in 2012.You can follow her on twitter: @CynthiaHand or on her blog: http://www.cynthiahand.blogspot.com/

Her official website is: http://cynthiahandbooks.com/


You can find Unearthly on Amazon. Click here.


Complete the form below for a chance to win a hardcover copy of Unearthly. Please read contest rules carefully.

CONTEST RULES:

1. Please do not enter any personal information in the comments section (it will be deleted if you do), you must complete the Entry Form to officially enter the contest.
2. The contest runs from June 26 to 11:59 PM Pacific Time on June 30, 2011.
3. You must be 13 or older to participate in this contest.
4. If you are selected as a winner, I will notify you by e-mail. If you do not respond within 48 hours, I will select a new winner.
5. This contest is open INTERNATIONALLY, so U.S., Canada, Timbuktu, everyone can enter!

Midsummer's Eve Giveaway Hop

I love the Giveaway Hops hosted by Kathy of I Am A Reader, Not A Writer.  This one celebrates Midsummer's Eve but I am using it to celebrate two of the authors that will be featured at the YA in Bloom Event sponsored by Bridge to Books.

The Winner of the Midsummer's Eve Giveaway Hop has a chance to win a set of signed books by either Katie Alender or Cindy Pon.

Giveaway Choice #1:
A signed paperback copy of Bad Girls Don't Die and a signed hard copy of her recent release From Bad to Cursed.

Giveaway Choice #2:
A signed paperback copy of Silver Phoenix and a signed hard cover of Fury of the Phoenix.

Rules for the Contest:

1. Please do not enter any personal information in the comments section,you must complete the Entry Form to officially enter the contest.  Any comments with personal information will be deleted.
2.  The Contest runs from 12:00 a.m. PDT on Tuesday, June 21, 2011 to 11:59 p.m. PDT on Friday, June 24, 2011.
3.  You must be 13 or older to participate in this contest.
4. You must be a follower of the blog.
5.  If you are selected as a winner, I will notify you by e-mail.  If you do not respond within 48 hours, I will select a new winner.
6.  International participants are welcome to enter the contest.

Hot Off The Press! New Picture Books (13)

June has been an incredibly busy month with Open House, Spring Musical, Fifth Grade Promotion and winding down the school year.  I apologize that my Hot Off the Press! posts have been MIA.  But it is back and this week's books were featured on the New Picture Book wall at Mrs. Nelson's Toy and Book Shop.  I recently took a little road trip out to LaVerne to pick up some signed copies of The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma and I stayed to check out the new picture books.

Here were my top five:

The Big Wish
Author/Illustrator: Carolyn Conahan
Publisher: Chronicle Books (May 4, 2011)
Audience: Ages 4 to 7

There are some stories that just seem to touch you as you read them.  The Big Wish is certainly one of those books.  Conahan pares a story of a young girl's belief in the power of a wish - a really big wish - with beautiful illustrations.  The spirit of this book really reached in to grab me.  Molly's desire for the biggest wish unites a community and teaches them what a wish is truly about.  This would be a lovely gift book for a teacher.

Every Cowgirl Needs Dancing Boots
Author: Rebecca Janni
Illustrator: Lynne Avril
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile (June 9, 2011)
Audience: Ages 4 to 7

It really isn't easy to pull off an effective companion book/sequel with picture books.  Often times, the first one is fun and original and subsequent books lose some of the wonderfulness of the first book.  However, Janni actually succeeds with this companion book to Every Cowgirl Needs a Horse.  Just enough pink for that preschool/kinder girl in your life who also has a no nonsense streak in her.  I know just the little girl who needs of copy of this for her birthday.
 
Check out Rebecca Janni's Fun Stuff page: http://www.rebeccajanni.com/fun-stuff.html

Doggy Whys?
Author/Illustrator: Lila Prap
Publisher: North South Books (May 1, 2011)
Audience: Ages 4 to 8 (and the adults who will read it to them)

The cover illustration drew me to this book.  I'm not much of a dog person, more of a cat person really.  But Prap had me right from the beginning.  Each two-page spread begins with a dog questions and a list of somewhat humorous responses.  However, the real facts are included in an informative yet clever manner.  There is also a small fact box for each type of dog shown.  This would be a great addition to a non-fiction section of a school or classroom library. 

The Woods
Author/Illustrator: Paul Hoppe
Publisher: Chronicle Books (April 6, 2011)
Audience: Ages 4 to 7

I like books with quirky illustrations and just the right twist.  A young boy discovers some surprises about being afraid.  When his bunny goes missing at bedtime, he must goes in search and what he discovers along the way is both humorous and touching.  A perfect story for talking with young children about their bedtime fears.

Monkey: A Trickster Tale from India
Author/Illustrator: Gerald McDermott
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books (May 23, 2011)
Audience: Ages 4 to 7

Monkey is hungry for mangoes, and Crocodile is hungry for Monkey.  This tale of fast thinking and cunning deception is deftly handled by master storyteller, Gerard McDermott.  I have used so many of McDermott's books in my classes over the years and this one belongs right up there with the others.  Very reminiscent of Anansi The Spider (also one of McDermott's re-tellings) but one that children will love for it's own unique qualities.  The mixed media illustrations perfectly enhance the text.

Book Review - Destiny Binds

Author: Tammy Blackwell
Published: CreateSpace (March 3, 2011)
Audience: Young Adult
Source: Personal Copy
Young Adult * Urban Fantasy

Description from GoodReads:
Scout Donovan is a girl who believes in rules, logic, and her lifelong love of Charlie Hagan. Alex Cole believes in destiny, magic, and Scout. When Alex introduces Scout to the world of Shifters, men who change into wolves or coyotes during the full moon and Seers, women who can see your most private thoughts and emotions with a mere touch, the knowledge changes everything and everyone Scout thought she knew.

How do you review a book that you have watched come into being?  To admit that I am biased and partial would be an understatement.  But I can tell you why I like it just like I would any other book.  

When Tammy shared the manuscript for this book with me two years ago, it really did hook me. And I can be brutally honest.  If it moves too slowly or doesn't hold my attention or I don't care about the characters, I will say so.  Yet, as I read this early version of the manuscript, I got excited.  Also, I have read this story through several revisions and again in it's final format.  Trust me, I won't re-read and re-read something unless I honestly like it.  Destiny Binds has several of the qualities that are important to me in a story and for that reason I can easily recommend this for fans of YA paranormal/urban fantasy/romance.   

First, I loved the characters that Tammy created.  Scout, the female protagonist, is bright and feisty and has a great sense of humor.  I like being in her head.  She is a fun narrator.  Then there is her brother - really her step-brother - Jase.  As you can tell from the character interview from yesterday's blog post, they play-off each other in a fun way.  Of course there is Alex, the hunky new guy, and Charlie, the long-time object of hotness.  

Second, books that use just the right level of humor will keep me reading.  Maybe because I am envious of people who can write humor well and not be annoying in the process.  Tammy has a little Joss Whedon mixed in with some Libba Bray in her style of humor.  She is probably the only person that can use all these cultural references that in some books would date the text but she manages to pull it off.  

Third, I have to admit that prior to Destiny Binds and Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, I really hadn't read any books that centered on shape-shifters or what might be commonly referred to "werewolves".  I admit I am more of a vampire girl. (Yeah, don't hold that against me.)  Thanks to Tammy, I might have found a small place in my literary heart for some really cute shape-shifters. 

Finally, any book that makes me care about the characters and what will happen to them is a winner in my mind.  If Tammy doesn't hurry up and write book two I might throw a fit.  Really, I need more of Scout, Alex, Jase, Charlie, Talley and the rest of the gang.  Heck, I just might need to invite her out to California for a writer's retreat so I can catch glimpses of book 2.  If you want a chance to find read Destiny Binds, scroll down and find out how you can win your own copy.              

Tammy Blackwell is the Young Adult Services Coordinator for a public library system in Kentucky. When she's not reading, writing, or cataloging books, she's sleeping.  She is the author of the YA Novel Destiny Binds.  You can follow her on twitter: @miss_tammy or on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MissTammyJean

You can find Destiny Binds on Amazon.  Click here.

Complete the form below for a chance to win a signed copy of Destiny Binds.  Please read contest rules carefully.

Rules for the Contest:

1. Please do not enter any personal information in the comments section (it will be deleted if you do), you must complete the Entry Form to officially enter the contest.
2.  The Contest runs from June 18th to 11:59 Pacific Time on June 26, 2011.
3.  You must be 13 or older to participate in this contest.
4.  If you are selected as a winner, I will notify you by e-mail.  If you do not respond within 48 hours, I will select a new winner.
5.  International participants are welcome to enter the contest.

Destiny Binds: Character Interview

Sometimes strange circumstances bring you into contact with people you would otherwise never have met.  One of those circumstances led me to Tammy Blackwell.  At that time, Tammy was working on a manuscript for a YA fantasy story.  I offered to read her story and provide some feedback.  When I received the computer file, I opened up the document and started reading.  Several hours later, I had finished the manuscript and was emailing her a message that basically went something like this - "there better be more or else".  Destiny Binds is the finished version of that early manuscript that I read.  I will be posting a review of tomorrow with a giveaway.

As a teaser to get readers interested in Destiny Binds, Tammy answered a bunch of questions that I posed to Scout (the main character) and her brother Jase.  Hope you enjoy meeting Scout and Jase and get a taste of Tammy's humor.     

What's the worst thing about sharing a bathroom?

Scout: Wet towels that never seem to make it to the rack. A toilet seat that is never down. Basketball uniforms that get wadded up and thrown in the corner until they’re able to walk downstairs to the washing machine all by themselves.

Jase: Squeezable Lip Smackers.

Scout: Seriously? That was like five years ago.

Jase: And I spent four months never knowing when or where I would discover glittery, cherry flavored blobs on my person.

What are 5 things you would expect to find in your sibling’s backpack?

Jase: The Big Boring Book of Math; The Big Boring Book of English; The Big Boring Book of History; The Backwards Book of Weird Japanese Comics; and a pack of gum

Scout: Sports Illustrated; homework he should have turned in three weeks ago; a collection of McDonald’s receipts; an entire bag’s worth of potato chip crumbs; and the iPod Angel can’t find anywhere

Jase: I do not have Angel’s iPod

Scout: *raises eyebrows*

Jase: You’re not going to tell her, are you?

What is on your iPod/MP3 players?

Scout: I’ve been listening to a lot of Sea Wolf and Josh Ritter lately

Jase: What she means is, “I’ve been listening to whiny, folky crap that makes you want to slit your wrists.”

Scout: So says the boy who thinks Jay-Z qualifies as music.

Jase: Jay-Z does qualify as music. Just ask the Grammy’s.

Scout: You know who else wins Grammy’s? Taylor Swift.

Jase: Point taken.

What is your idea of the perfect date?

Jase: Front row tickets to a Lakers game and some In-and-Out burgers.

Scout: How on earth do you manage to talk girls into dating you? Does the word “romance” mean anything to you?

Jase: My date involves a trip to LA. That’s classy. But I suppose it doesn’t live up to the romance of all those nights you sat at Dairy Queen listening to Dalton Riley ramble on about he was going to go to Harvard because he was the smartest man to ever live.

Scout: I hate you.

Who is your favorite fictional character and if you could spend an afternoon with them what would you do?

Scout: That’s hard. Atticus Finch would be cool, but I don’t know what we would really do together. I mean, I don’t really have any desire to be involved in a racially charged trial and my dad is pretty awesome, so I don’t really need any of that fatherly stuff. Would it be too horribly trite to say that I would want to hang out with Harry Potter at Hogwarts? Because, seriously, that would be awesome.

Jase: I want a one-on-one match with Michael Jordan.

Scout: Michael Jordan is a real person.

Jase: Yeah. So?

Scout: So he’s not a fictional character. Pick a fictional character.

Jase: Fine. I want to hang out with Harry Potter, too. But not at the school. I want to go to that store Fred and George opened. That looked really cool in the movie.

Who was your favorite TV cartoon character as a kid?

Jase: Scooby Doo. He was the coolest dog ever.

Scout: A tie between Buttercup and Mojo Jojo from The Powerpuff Girls.

Jase: Mojo Jojo? Why do you always like the bad guys?

Scout: They’re not bad. They’re just misunderstood.

If you can have any kind of supernatural power/ability what would it be?

Scout: I want to be Batman. I know that’s not really a supernatural power, but those always seem so silly. I mean, immortals who are allergic to garlic or sparkle in the sun? Seriously?

Jase: Vampires are stupid, but people who can turn into animals? That’s cool. I would be one of those.

Last question, if you found your sibling’s diary, would you read it?

Scout: Jase doesn’t keep a diary.

Jase: But if I did...?

Scout: Honestly? I would probably read a few pages before the guilt made me stop. Unless it’s an account of your dating escapades. Then I would only make it a couple of sentences before the nausea hit. Would you read my diary?

Jase: Been there, done that.

Scout: You have not.

Jase: “Today I almost tripped Ashley Johnson in the hallway. I didn’t, of course, but I seriously thought about it. I imagined it all in my head. Her toppling over and bursting those stupid, fake boobs...”

Scout: Give me one good reason not to kill you.

Jase: Because I’m your brother and you love me.

Thanks to Miss Tammy for the character interview.  Tammy Blackwell is the Young Adult Services Coordinator for a public library system in Kentucky. When she's not reading, writing, or cataloging books, she's sleeping.  She is the author of the YA Novel Destiny Binds