DEBUT FEATURE: Joanne Levy on Books and Memories

A big welcome to

Joanne Levy

whose debut novel

Small Medium at Large

released July 3rd

from Bloomsbury

After she’s hit by lightning at a wedding, twelve-year-old Lilah Bloom develops a new talent: she can hear dead people. Among them, there’s her overopinionated Bubby Dora; a prissy fashion designer; and an approval-seeking clown who livens up a séance. With Bubby Dora leading the way, these and other sweetly imperfect ghosts haunt Lilah through seventh grade, and help her face her one big fear: talking to—and possibly going to the seventh-grade dance with—her crush, Andrew Finkel. (from Goodreads)

Today she's visiting Red House Books sharing some books and memories.

What book makes you think of...your childhood?
Any of the Chronicles of Narnia books. Wow, I loved those books and read them over and over as a kid. I particularly loved Aslan and often wished I could have a lion that I could walk with, burying my hand in the fur of his mane. Dorky, I know, but those books just really spoke to me and especially the animal-lover in me.

What book makes you think of...your happiest memory?
My happiest recent memory would be getting the call from my agent to say that SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE was going to be published, so I hope it’s not cheating to say MY book! :-D

What book makes you think of...your scariest memory?
I don’t have a lot of real life scary memories (Thankfully), but Misery by Stephen King was, by far, the scariest book I’ve ever read. When I finished it, it was about 3a.m. (it was quite a page-turner and I couldn’t put it down) and I had to sleep with the light on, something I’ve never done before or since reading it. Yikes, that was one terrifying book!


What book makes you think of...your road to publication?
The Little Engine that Could. Most definitely – I’ve had a long road to publication, complete with LOTS of steep hills, but I kept on trying and finally made it. I think I can...I think I can...And now I know I can!

What book makes you think of...your writing style? 
When I started working on writing middle grade, I read some of Phyllis Reynolds Naylor’s Alice books and loved the very witty and smart voice of Alice. I think we have similar writing styles and I can only hope that I pull off the voice of a middle-grader half as well as Ms. Reynolds Naylor does in her books.

What book makes you think of...high school?
Flowers in the Attic and the rest of the books in the V.C. Andrews series about the Dollanganger kids  – my friends and I were BIG fans back in high school (normally this would date me, but I understand the books were re-released a little while ago). But what teen wouldn’t love these dark, gothic and deliciously naughty books about children locked away in an attic together, waiting for a mean old patriarch to die? We read them over and over and my copies were very dog-eared and falling apart by the time I finished high school.

Thank you so much Joanne!

Linky Love :)

Goodreads / IndieBound

Blog / Twitter / Facebook 

DEBUT FEATURE: Hilary Weisman Graham Release Party + GIVEAWAY

A big welcome to
Hilary Weisman Graham
whose debut novel
Reunited
released this month
from Simon and Schuster

1 Concert
2000 Miles
3 Ex-Best Friends
Alice, Summer, and Tiernan are ex-best friends.
Back in middle school, the three girls were inseparable. They were also the number one fans of the rock band Level3
.But when the band broke up, so did their friendship. Summer ran with the popular crowd, Tiernan was a rebellious wild-child, and Alice spent high school with her nose buried in books.
Now, just as the girls are about to graduate, Level3 announces a one-time-only reunion show.
Even though the concert’s 2000 miles away, Alice buys three tickets on impulse. And as it turns out, Summer and Tiernan have their own reasons for wanting to get out of town. Good thing Alice’s graduation gift (a pea-green 1976 VW camper van known as the Pea Pod) is just the vehicle to get them there.
But on the long drive cross-country, the girls hit more than a few bumps in the road. Will their friendship get an encore or is the show really over? (from Goodreads)

This past Saturday, Hilary held a release party about half an hour from my house. How thrilled was I?!

She read a chapter from Reunited, answered our questions and then signed, just about every copy in the store.

Afterwards, we all headed outside to a park behind the bookstore for sunshine, snacks, drinks and one of the best tasting cakes I've had in a long time. Seriously, the icing on this thing was amazing! Maybe it was almond flavored? I don't know but man was it good.

Also in the park was a cut out of the famous Pea Pod - the van from Reunited. I could share the pictures my family and I took but...we really are a bunch of goof balls! Everyone had a blast getting behind the wheel.

I had a ton of fun and I'm pretty sure everyone else did too. The day was beautiful and even though we were there to celebrate Hilary, I could really tell she put a lot of work into making sure all her guests had a good time. How sweet of her!

Before we get on to the giveaway, take a minute to check out the trailer and don't forget the stalking! 

Goodreads / Website / Blog / Twitter / Facebook / Free Song Downloads!

I met Hilary for the first time at BEA 2011 and it was easy get excited for her debut. Now that I have a copy in my hot little hands I can't wait to read it.

And you can too!

I have 1 (one) signed copy to give away. Open to US residents 18 and older.
I'm using Rafflecopter for the first time so please let me know if something seems off.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Humming Room blog tour with Ellen Potter + A Giveaway :)

A big welcome to

Ellen Potter

whose latest book,

The Humming Room

released in February

from  Macmillian / Feiwel and Friends

Hiding is Roo Fanshaw's special skill. Living in a frighteningly unstable family, she often needs to disappear at a moment's notice. When her parents are murdered, it's her special hiding place under the trailer that saves her life.
As it turns out, Roo, much to her surprise, has a wealthy if eccentric uncle, who has agreed to take her into his home on Cough Rock Island. Once a tuberculosis sanitarium for children of the rich, the strange house is teeming with ghost stories and secrets. Roo doesn't believe in ghosts or fairy stories, but what are those eerie noises she keeps hearing? And who is that strange wild boy who lives on the river? People are lying to her, and Roo becomes determined to find the truth.
Despite the best efforts of her uncle's assistants, Roo discovers the house's hidden room--a garden with a tragic secret.
Inspired by The Secret Garden, this tale full of unusual characters and mysterious secrets is a story that only Ellen Potter could write. (from Goodreads)

Ellen Potter is the author of books including The Kneebone Boy, Slob, Pish Posh, and Olivia Kidney. With Anne Mazer she is also the author of Spilling Ink: A Young Writer’s Handbook. Potter grew up in a high-rise apartment building in New York City’s Upper West Side, where she exercised her early creativity by making up stories about the neighbors she saw on the elevator. When she was 11 years old, she realized all the best books were written for people her age, and so she decided to become a children’s book author. She studied creative writing at Binghamton University, and then worked many different jobs while continuing to write. She was a dog groomer, construction worker, art teacher, and waitress. She lives in upstate New York with her husband, son and a motley assortment of badly behaved animals. (from publisher website)

IndieBound / Goodreads

Website

Facebook / Twitter

Today Ellen is here to share her thoughts on Books and Memories...

What book makes you think of...your childhood?
From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, because I was a New York City kid who also used to wonder what it would be like to live in the Met for a week.

What book makes you think of......your happiest memory?
Reading The BFG, by Roald Dahl, while sitting in a rocking chair and eating Bar-b-que flavored Doritos.

What book makes you think of...your scariest memory?
Reading my first published book and seeing all the things I wished I had done differently.

What book makes you think of...your road to publication?
Any book that is too long, with plenty of dead ends but a decent conclusion.

What book makes you think of...high school?
Hamlet, because I had a big crush him when I was sixteen. How geeky is that?

Thank you so much for sharing Ellen!

~

As part of The Humming Room blog tour, I have a copy to giveaway!
If you liked The Secret Garden as a kid (or adult ;) I think you will really enjoy The Humming Room.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS
*Open to US and Canadian residents 18 and older
*Ends March 22, 2012 at 11:59pm EST
*Book will be shipped by the publisher (thank you!)
*Fill out the form below to enter

Be sure to check out other stops on the tour for more chances to win

2/27 - Bunbury In The Stacks

2/28 - Milk and Cookies

2/29 - Mission To Read

3/2 - Kid Lit Frenzy

3/5 - Great Imaginations

3/6 - Word for Teens

3/7 - vvb32 Reads

3/8 - The Book Rat

Books and Memories with Jaclyn Dolamore + A Giveaway :)

A big welcome to

Jaclyn Dolamore

whose 3rd novel, Magic Under Stone releases TODAY!

I asked Jaclyn to share with us some memories...

What book makes you think of...your childhood?
Elfquest, Book 1 by Wendy and Richard Pini. My sister and I were OBSESSED with the Elfquest comics when we were kids. We also kept getting the Elfquest role playing game through interlibrary loan again and again, although we never actually managed to successfully play the game.

What book makes you think of...your happiest memory?
The Ledge Between the Streams by Ved Mehta. One of the best times in my life was the first time I flew alone to visit a friend, and the first time I experienced a big city. I went to Toronto and fell in love with the place. I bought this book at a book sale at the University of Toronto library, and read it while I waited for my friend to get out of class. It's a great memoir.

What book makes you think of...your scariest memory?
Ramona Quimby, age 8 by Beverly Cleary. I was homeschooled, mostly, but my mom sent me to second grade because she was going to massage school. I was a nervous child and developed a terrible fear of throwing up in class. There is a chapter in the book where Ramona does just that, and I was so horrified by that chapter I wouldn't read it all the way through, even though I reread this book many times.

What book makes you think of...your road to publication?
Emily Climbs by L. M. Montgomery. I adored all the Emily books, although the last one wasn't as good as the first two. Emily got a little more serious about her writing in this one, although really the whole trio reminds me of my journey, which I still think of as "the Alpine Path" thanks to L. M. Montgomery.

What book makes you think of...your writing style?
A True and Faithful Narrative by Katherine Sturtevant. I love this book a lot, and I read it aloud to my boyfriend at one point, and sometimes I felt like I was reading my own prose.

What book makes you think of...your family?
The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder. My parents used to read to us before bed, and I have vivid memories of my dad reading about Laura twisting the hay and grinding the wheat just to survive. This was definitely the most memorable of all the books they read to us (although second place goes to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe).

Thank you so much for sharing Jaclyn!

~

To celebrate the release of Magic Under Stone, I'm giving away one of Jaclyn's books to a lucky reader - your choice!

Magic Under Glass
Nimira is a music-hall performer forced to dance for pennies to an audience of leering drunks. When wealthy sorcerer Hollin Parry hires her to do a special act - singing accompaniment to an exquisite piano-playing automaton, Nimira believes it is the start of a new life. In Parry's world, however, buried secrets stir.
Unsettling below-stairs rumours abound about ghosts, a mad woman roaming the halls, and of Parry's involvement in a gang of ruthless sorcerers who torture fairies for sport. When Nimira discovers the spirit of a dashing young fairy gentleman is trapped inside the automaton's stiff limbs, waiting for someone to break the curse and set him free, the two fall in love. But it is a love set against a dreadful race against time to save the entire fairy realm, which is in mortal peril. (from Goodreads)

Magic Under Stone

For star-crossed lovers Nimira and Erris, there can be no happily ever after until Erris is freed from the clockwork form in which his soul is trapped. And so they go in search of the sorcerer Ordorio Valdana, hoping he will know how to grant Erris real life again. When they learn that Valdana has mysteriously vanished, it's not long before Nimira decides to take matters into her own hands—and begins to study the sorcerer's spell books in secret. Yet even as she begins to understand the power and limitations of sorcery, it becomes clear that freeing Erris will bring danger—if not out-and-out war—as factions within the faerie world are prepared to stop at nothing to prevent him from regaining the throne. (from Goodreads)

Between The Sea and Sky

For as long as Esmerine can remember, she has longed to join her older sister, Dosinia, as a siren--the highest calling a mermaid can have. When Dosinia runs away to the mainland, Esmerine is sent to retrieve her. Using magic to transform her tail into legs, she makes her way unsteadily to the capital city. There she comes upon a friend she hasn't seen since childhood--a dashing young man named Alander, who belongs to a winged race of people. As Esmerine and Alander band together to search for Dosinia, they rekindle a friendship . . . and ignite the emotions for a love so great, it cannot be bound by sea, land, or air. (from Goodreads)

GIVEAWAY DETAILS
*Open to anyone The Book Depository ships to, 18 years and older
*Ends March 20, 2012 at 11:59pm EST
*Fill out the form below to enter
*Bonus entry -- leave a comment with one of your strongest book related memories