Can You Survive: Jack London's Call of the Wild - Ryan Jacobson - Blog Tour Review and a Spooky Story for you!

Stolen. Shipped. Enslaved.

Can You Survive?

You find yourself in Alaska, a dangerous world of greedy men and savage dogs. Every moment, your life is at risk. Do you have what it takes to survive as Buck, literature’s most famous sled dog? Or will the freezing temperatures and rugged wilderness lead to your doom? Step into this adventure, and choose your path. But choose wisely, or else…

Title: Can You Survive? Jack London's Call of the Wild

Author: Ryan Jacobson

Genre: Middle Grade Fiction, Choose Your Own Adventure, Adventure, Action

Publisher: Lake 7 Creative

Publication Date: October 15, 2011

Format: ARC

Source: Received from author. Many thanks goes to Ryan Jacobson for sending me a copy of this book for review. I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review.

Look for it: Amazon, Book Depository

My rating: 4/5

Mini-review:

Can You Survive: Jack London's Call of the Wild is an adaptation of the classic tale Call of the Wild. It has been adapted into a choose your own adventure book, where the reader becomes Buck. Choices abound for the reader as they follow along with Buck on his journey across the wilds of Alaska. 

The wilderness is a treacherous place, and death beckons to the unwary. Buck has to learn who to trust, and how to adapt to the harsh conditions he is forced into. He no longer lives in the lap of luxury and you will need to make the choices alongside him. If you make the wrong choice, that will be the end of the line for Buck. There are many different choices to make within the pages of this book, and many of them lead to Buck's demise. Will you, and he, be able to make the right decision in every situation? Only time will tell. 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading and re-living the classic tale of Call of the Wild in this format. I believe many middle grade readers and even teens will enjoy reading it as well, especially since they get to dictate what Buck does next. All in all, this is an adventurous adaptation that will have the reader living out Buck's story. 

Now for a Spooky Treat!

The Haunted Hutch

“Surprise!” exclaimed Lila Palmer.

Her daughter Jenny stifled a gasp. It was indeed a surprise—but not a good one. Jenny’s parents had unexpectedly arrived at her home, and while they were always welcome to visit, the gift they had brought was not a happy sight.

The china hutch was a gorgeous piece of furniture, but its worth was measured only in sentimental value. The antique had been passed down from mother to daughter for generations. Apparently, now it was Jenny’s turn to own it.

As a child, Jenny had never given much thought to the hutch. She would have ignored it all together if not for the times she had gotten into trouble on its behalf. The items displayed behind the hutch’s glass doors had a strange habit of rearranging themselves, and the hutch doors often popped open without explanation.

For years, Jenny shouldered the blame, even though she was innocent. Fortunately for her, when she was eight years old, her mother witnessed a door opening on its own; a statuette jumped off its shelf and onto the floor. After that, Jenny wasn’t blamed anymore.

Before the girl’s ninth birthday, the Palmers hit a stretch of bad luck. The family’s house was burglarized, and the thieves took several hunting rifles and a jewelry collection that included Lila’s heirloom wedding rings.

Mere months later, an electrical fire destroyed the Palmer’s home, consuming most of their belongings. The only item to survive the blaze was the old hutch. Lila took special care in cleaning the soot off her prized possession, and while she did so, she made a startling discovery: The two stolen wedding rings had suddenly appeared on one of the hutch’s shelves.

Even after the Palmers moved the hutch into their new home, its contents continued to change positions, and the doors sometimes opened themselves. At first, these happenings were little more than fun conversation topics. However, as the years passed, Jenny detected a ghastly pattern: Every time the hutch doors opened, a loved one died within three months!

Jenny hated herself for discovering the correlation. She spent most of her teen years in fear of finding the hutch open, and when this harbinger came, she waited in dreadful anticipation for death to find someone she cared about. It always did, without exception.

By contrast, in the years after she left the hutch behind, Jenny didn’t attend a single funeral. It would seem that in escaping the antique cabinet, she had saved her family and friends from the Grim Reaper.

Yet here it was. Death—the hutch—had found her again. Jenny silently debated her options. Although it would break her mother’s heart, she eventually chose to refuse the gift.

She didn’t have to.

As the hutch was lifted off the truck, the glass on its doors broke. Jenny tried not to smile; now she had an excuse for keeping it in the garage.

Three years came and went, and the hutch sat in storage. Time softened Jenny’s opinion of the family treasure. Eventually her sentiments got the better of her. (The hutch’s predictions of death couldn’t be real. They were simply matters of coincidence.) She fixed the hutch and moved it into her dining room.

For the better part of a month, Jenny enjoyed the old piece of furniture without incident. Then one day it happened. Jenny came home from grocery shopping to find the hutch’s doors standing open.

Exactly three months later, her 36-year-old cousin died from a heart attack. Jenny wasted no time in getting rid of the hutch, once and for all.

© Ryan Jacobson

Ryan Jacobson can be found on his website, on facebook, and on twitter.

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Ryan Jacobson has always loved choose your path books, so he is thrilled to get a chance to write them. He used his memories of those fun-filled stories and his past experiences to write LOST IN THE WILD. The book became so popular that he followed it with STORM AT THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT EVEREST and CAN YOU SURVIVE: JACK LONDON’S CALL OF THE WILD.

Ryan is the author of nearly 20 books, including picture books, comic books, graphic novels, chapter books and ghost stories. He lives in Mora, Minnesota, with his wife Lora, sons Jonah and Lucas, and dog Boo. For more details, visit www.RyanJacobsonOnline.com.

Blog Tour: Ashes - Estevan Vega - Character Feature: Arson

Estevan Vega is here today with his main character, Arson, courtesy of the Teen Book Scene blog tour for his newest release, Ashes. Thank you for being here today, Estevan and Arson! You can follow along with the tour here, or by clicking through the banner. Enjoy!

Wake Me Up

by steph arson gable

Hello? I guess this is where I talk and we pretend like you hear what I’m saying. I’m supposed to tell you about myself, the who-I-am bit like you see on the back of those corny young adult books. But who’s to say you can even hear me. Come to think of it, who’s to say you wouldn’t shut off right from the get-go? Sorry. I guess I’m not so good at this honesty thing. The whole, share your emotions stuff freaks me out a bit, to be honest. Grandma’s better at this than me. Although she hasn’t really opened up to anyone since…

Forget it. I don’t want to talk about that. And don’t ask me to. Let’s just say things haven’t ever really been great in my life. Don’t worry, this isn’t a soapbox, and I’m not Emery’s dad, so you’ll get no preaching from me. Crap, that sounded a little harsher than I meant for it to. Anyway, Grandma’s got this love-hate dynamic with me. Not sure what else to call it. It’s sick in a way, but I guess I love her more than I hate her. I only got one, right? And when she’s acting…you know…normal, she’s actually kinda nice. ’Course there are some days when she’s tossing plates at me because I let out a burp “rudely” in her presence or telling me what she really thinks of me, in the dark of her, but when you choose to love somebody you make excuses for why they treat you like garbage.

If you really want to know, she’s particularly fond of a few choice words. She hasn’t ever been much for cussing, so she resorts to harsh names like demon or killer when she’s upset with me. She likes those names. I don’t.

But I s’pose she’s not far-off. Anyone who knows anything about me (which isn’t a whole lot of people) knows that my past sort of earned those ugly nicknames. No, I’m not gonna go into here. I’m not pathetic like that. This is not a diary or a neat little bio; it’s the truth. So…without any wild intro, I guess I’ll rewind a bit and try to start over: I can create fire with my mind. With my thoughts, really. Don’t freak out. After all, if you think about something long enough, chances are it can become reality. My powers work a little but like that, just more literal. The fire can come out at any time if I’m not careful. And it’s happened. I’ve been trying to keep it contained. Trying to create some kind of order from all the chaos.

But for now, things aren’t looking so great. I haven’t seen Grandma in God knows how long. I haven’t seen the cabin or the lake. I haven’t walked the halls of my high school. Well, I have, but it’s different now. Way different. It’s like a dream, but you can’t open your eyes. Not really. Is anything making sense yet?

Right. I almost forgot. You probably can’t even hear me.

Worst part of all this is that I haven’t seen Emery. Not sure she’s even alive or where they’ve taken her. She’s so real, you know? So freaking compassionate…the greatest girl. We met this past summer. She wears a mask, but she’s not some weirdo. Cross my heart. Well, she wore a mask, actually. Tell you the truth, I’m kind of okay with the mask being gone, even though I can still picture the scars on her face. Still, that mask made any possibility of making-out nearly impossible. Not that her parents would be thrilled of us doing that. Well, her mother might not possess too much of an opinion, but her father would never let it go if he caught us. I’ve already had two awkward conversations with that man, not sure I can handle a third.

No. That last part was a lie. I would. If it meant I could see her again. If it meant I could get that summer back. Get my life back. My sad, pathetic, dysfunctional, freak life. I knew how that world worked. Well, more like I was figuring it out. I hadn’t mastered the control thing like I wanted to, but I was trying like crazy.

It’s so weird; no matter how often I blink, I’m still alone. I’m talking to you with no response. I pray, but God’s delivery boy must be out sick. I’ve even called out my grandmother’s name a few times in the darkness. But the emptiness grows. It hurts even. My head’s pounding. There’s this pain, like a knife’s splitting open my chest and my forehead. It won’t quit. I keep swallowing, but I’m just sucking down dead spit. I’m ready for the nightmare to stop. I’m ready to go back. To wake up.

Help me wake up.

-arson

Thank you for introducing yourself, Arson! I hope that the nightmare ends for you soon! =( 

Thank you Estevan for being here today as well! 

Estevan Vega can be found on his website, and on twitter. 

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More than three months have passed since Arson and Emery were taken. Taken and then separated.

And experimented on.

Salvation Asylum is more like a prison than a psychiatric facility. Unknowingly, Arson has become a vital instrument in a campaign set to genetically alter mankind. Enraged, confused, trapped, and unable to fully manifest his abilities, he wonders if he will ever see Emery again. His new existence is one crawling with questions. Is Grandma alive? Where does the fire come from? Can he become more than a monster?

In Ashes, book two of the ARSON series, nightmare and reality collide as Arson must embrace what he is and the haunting realization that there may be others out there, others like him.

Synopsis taken from goodreads.

Spartacus and the Circus of Shadows - Molly E. Johnson - Blog Tour Review

When Spartacus Ryan “Poop Lip” Zander finds his house destroyed and his wacko, Human Cannonball mother missing, it’s obvious that she’s been kidnapped by Bartholomew’s World-Renowned Circus of the Incredible. But when his dad and brother refuse to believe it—because they’re morons, obviously—it’s up to Spartacus to be the hero.

With the Internet-wizardry of his best friend and clues from his mom’s postcards, Spartacus sets out on a zany, west coast rescue mission. But as the stories about the circus get stranger (and Spart’s enemies get weirder), he realizes the only way to bring his family back together is to bring the big top down, once and for all.

Synopsis taken from goodreads.

Title: Spartacus and the Circus of Shadows

Author: Molly E. Johnson

Genre: Middle Grade Fiction

Publisher: RainTown Press

Publication Date: October 26, 2011

Format: ARC

Source: Received from publicist courtesy of Teen Book Scene. Many thanks goes to RainTown Press and Teen Book Scene for sending me a copy of this book for review. I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review. 

Tour: Teen Book Scene blog tour. You can follow along with the tour here, or by clicking through the banner located below the review. 
My rating: 4/5


Spartacus Ryan Zander has always disliked his name. It's not normal enough for him, and to add insult to injury, his older brother has dubbed him "Poop Lip" due to the freckle or mole on his upper lip. When his mother joins the circus, Spartacus is left bereft. He believes she has been kidnapped, and no one will do anything about it. His father doesn't seem to be worried, which makes Spartacus even more concerned. He devises a plan to find his mother, but he'll have to rely on his best friend to find him the rides he needs to get to the circus. Once there he uncovers more disturbing news, and he will have to bring down the whole circus if he is going to save those he cares for, as well as himself. 
Spartacus is a sweet kid. He is completely infatuated with saving his mother, and will do anything to bring her back home. With the help of his best friend, he embarks on a journey across several states to get to the circus. He hitches rides with some questionable characters, and finds himself in some hairy situations, but he doesn't lose his determination to find his mother. He is a plucky character, and will have readers engaged in his wild ride to the circus. 
Johnson displays a tongue in cheek quality to her writing, one that will have readers laughing alongside Spartacus as they find him in some increasingly compromising predicaments. The friends he makes as well as the enemies, will have readers hoping that he makes it to the circus in one piece. Then of course, the hard part will be extricating his mother from the grasp of the evil Bartholomew. 
Many characters pop up throughout the novel, and they bring about some of the best comic relief I have read in a long time. The elderly women in the car are hilarious, and will have readers laughing as well as hoping that Spartacus can get himself out of yet another dangerous situation.
All in all, a hilarious and enterprising read. Spartacus will draw readers to him as he travels across state lines to find his mother. An engaging hero, a diabolical villain, and many humorous yet complicated situations will have readers deeply invested in Spartacus' story. 

Blog Tour: Spartacus and the Circus of Shadows - Author Interview

Molly E. Johnson is here today with an author interview courtesy of the Teen Book Scene blog tour for her soon to be released, Spartacus and the Circus of Shadows. Thank you for being here today, Molly! You can follow along with the tour here, or by clicking through the banner. Enjoy!

If you could live in any time period in history, which would you prefer and why?

So, my current media fixes have all been depression-era: the book Water for Elephants, the show Boardwalk Empire, and the movie The Razor’s Edge (Bill Murray = the cat’s pajamas) so I’m in the middle of a 1920’s kick. But while I love the clothes (especially the hats) and the slang…yeah, that whole skyrocketing unemployment, crippling poverty, dust bowl part? I’d like to leave that out.

What one song defines the world as you see it?

Ghost of Corporate Future by Regina Spektor. This song teaches many life lessons that are true the world over, specifically:

• Take off both of your shoes
• Cut your own hair
• Kiss someone nice
• Lick a rock
• People are just people (like you)

If you were dropped within the pages of Spartacus and the Circus of Shadows, what would you do first?

OMG, I would run straight for the sideshow and learn how to breath fire with Zeda. I researched all about how to do it, watched a lot of videos, and even stalked and made an appointment with a hair dresser who breathes fire on weekends. All that plus writing about it and I’ve still never had the chance to do it myself! Funny enough, at first I had Zeda explain exactly how to do it—and then I remembered I was writing for readers who are probably just as eager to try it as I am. Not good.

….Oooooh, hi kids. So, don’t Google “how to breathe fire.” It’s….it’s not available anywhere on the Internet.

There are two doors before you. One opens to Narnia, the other to Hogwarts. Which do you go through?

Hogwarts! I want to see if butterbeer really tastes like liquidy butterscotch pudding, to teach Hermoine the wonders of a good hair product—and I secretly want to ride around on Hagrid’s shoulder.

If Murphy's Law applied to you, what law would you most likely encounter?

Somebody would read my book and be inspired to learn all those crazy sideshow acts, like getting tied up like Houdini, or the fire-breathing I mentioned. Or sword swallowing…

Excuse me, after considering all this, I think I need to go call my publisher. And perhaps my lawyer.

Molly E. Johnson is the author of Spartacus and the Circus of Shadows, a middle grade novel from RainTown Press.

Thank you for being here today, Molly! I absolutely loved your answers!! 

Molly E. Johnson can be found on her website, and on twitter. 

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When Spartacus Ryan “Poop Lip” Zander finds his house destroyed and his wacko, Human Cannonball mother missing, it’s obvious that she’s been kidnapped by Bartholomew’s World-Renowned Circus of the Incredible. But when his dad and brother refuse to believe it—because they’re morons, obviously—it’s up to Spartacus to be the hero.

With the Internet-wizardry of his best friend and clues from his mom’s postcards, Spartacus sets out on a zany, west coast rescue mission. But as the stories about the circus get stranger (and Spart’s enemies get weirder), he realizes the only way to bring his family back together is to bring the big top down, once and for all.

Synopsis taken from goodreads.

Moments that Matter by Matt Myklusch

Matt Myklusch is here again today with an inspiring guest post. This post was originally published on WriteOnCon. You can find the link to the original posting here. Thank you to Matt and the team behind WriteOnCon for allowing me to re-post this article. You can follow along with the Teen Book Scene blog tour for The Secret War here. Enjoy!

Moments that Matter

by author Matt Myklusch

I remember watching the Olympics many years ago and an American swimmer was being interviewed. I don’t remember his name. I guess it’s not important. What is important is that he was heavily favored for his event. So much so, that in the interview, he spoke as if it were a given that he’d be taking home the gold. If I recall, he said something along the lines of the following:

“I don’t need the medal. I’m going to give the medal to some people who I care a great deal about. They can have the medal, that’s for them. I have the moment. The moment is everything.”

A bit arrogant? Probably more than a bit, considering the company he was in. But, this guy was coming up on the defining moment of his swimming career. He’d spent entire life building up to it, and he was determined to own it. I have to respect that. I’ll never forget that guy whose name I can’t remember. “The moment is everything.” I couldn’t agree more.

I think about this when I’m writing because it’s the presence or absence of moments like these – moments that really matter – that make or break any story. There’s only going to be a couple of them. I’m talking about big moments, unforgettable moments… “You Can’t Handle the Truth” moments.

When I write, I always start out knowing what the big moments are in my stories. That is usually the first spark of any idea I have. The trick for me is writing my way up to them. Back when I first started writing, I just wanted to get there. My focus was on getting done. I looked at plot as paramount, and my characters as little more than tools to advance the plot. As a result, the big turning points in my work always lacked punch. There was no real connection with the characters. I didn’t realize that even if I had written a scene as well as Aaron Sorkin wrote that speech from A Few Good Men, it wouldn’t have mattered. Not if I phoned in the set up.

Powerful dialogue is important, but it’s not enough to make us care all by itself. What makes the moment matter is everything that comes before it. The only reason we care what happens in a story is because we care about the characters. That’s where we get invested. It’s like in baseball… If you follow a team and only watch them play in Game 7 of the World Series, you might be happy if they win, but you’ll never care about the game as much as the person who watched every single game that season. The person who did that loves the team. They live and die with every pitch.

Writers need their readers to love their characters and live and die with their actions every step of the way. That’s when the promise of the big moment is made, in the build up. The emotional investment that the reader puts into a character is what gives those big turning point moments punch.

When writing The Jack Blank Adventures, I worked hard to make Jack, my main character, somebody that people could immediately sympathize with and root for. He’s an orphan growing up at St. Barnaby’s Home for the Hopeless, Abandoned, Forgotten, and Lost. He doesn’t know anything about who he is or where he comes from. His name is Jack Blank because he was found on the doorstep of St. Barnaby’s in a basket with the name “Jack” written on the handle. Growing up, every time he had to write his name on a test or homework assignment, he just wrote “Jack” and left the rest blank. Jack Blank. After a while, the name simply stuck.

St. Barnaby’s is built on a stretch of swampland alongside the New Jersey Turnpike. Every year the whole place sinks a little further into the muck. They say for a kid growing up at St. Barnaby’s, staying above swamp level is about as much as you can hope for in life, and it doesn’t look like things will be much different for Jack. He actually takes a career aptitude test there that tells him he will have a long and fruitful career as a toilet brush cleaner! Not exactly the fast track.

Luckily, a robot-zombie comes out of the swamp and tries to kill Jack before that happens. He survives using some super powers he didn’t even know he had, and earns himself a trip to the Imagine Nation, the place where all the fantastic and unbelievable things in our world originate— including him. It’s a world filled with super-heroes, super-villains, aliens, robots, ninjas, and more, but when Jack gets there he runs into more trouble. It turns out Jack is either going to be the savior of the Imagine Nation, or the worst threat its ever faced.

Most people are convinced Jack is going to be the latter, but here’s the thing. He doesn’t let that define him. He has his own ideas about the future. That’s the key with Jack, the quality that I think connects him with readers and makes him likable. Admirable even. He’s a courageous underdog. Someone who won’t give up. And, the central question that drives all of his actions in the story is understandable, realistic, and something the reader wants to know as well. Who is he? The questions about Jack’s past mysterious tie into the problems looming in his future. What is he going to grow up to be?

If I’ve done my job right, I’ve created a situation that everyone can relate to (the desire to break away from mundane, bleak circumstances and escape to a magical world that is full of possibility) and I’ve inserted into that situation a character that people will get behind. The world Jack goes to is larger than life, and the things that happen to him there are too, but they only matter if they are set up properly. All of that build up has to be viewed through the lens of character.

That’s how I approach my writing today. I am less concerned about getting done and more concerned with getting it right. Before I let myself move on from one chapter to the next, each individual chapter has to feel right to me. I can’t define what “right” is, but I know it when I see it. And, I absolutely know when something feels wrong.

Each chapter has to pass muster before I write the next one, and when I get a block of 5 or 6 chapters together, I stop and read them straight through too. I want to see how they play. Are character’s actions staying consistent with who they are? Do they all have their own personality, voice, and vocabulary? Are they engaging and likable (or hate-able, depending on who they are in the story)? Is the story moving? The action in the chapters has to move the story at a pace that feels right. The individual chapter endings and beginnings have to fit into each other like songs in a good playlist. You never know if they do or not until you read a bunch of them together. That’s when you find out if you’re taking the reader to the place you want them to go. If your characters, plot, and setting are all intertwining to maintain emotional investment. If you’re building up moments that matter.

Those moments are the difference between a good story and a great story. In order to deliver on the promise of a big moment, the writer has to know what it is ahead of time, build up to it properly, and own it. Kind of like the swimmer I told you about earlier. One other thing I remember about him? He took home the gold, just like he said he would.

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Matt Myklusch has been drawing ever since he could first hold a pencil, and super heroes have always filled up the majority of the pages in his sketchbooks. That lifelong love of comic books spurred him to create the Jack Blank Adventure series from Simon & Schuster, Aladdin. Books I and II, THE ACCIDENTAL HERO (2010) and THE SECRET WAR (2011) are in stores now. Matt has recently left his job at MTV to write full time. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and family, where he is hard at work on the next book in the JACK BLANK series.

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THE SECRET WAR by Matt Myklusch: Picking up a year after the events of Jack Blank and the Imagine Nation, Jack and his fellow students are now well into their School of Thought training and are “sidekicking” for official, card-carrying super heroes. But, even though Jack feels more at home in the Imagine Nation, he’s still hiding secrets from his friends Skerren and Allegra, both about his shocking connection to their enemy Revile and about his “Top Secret” school assignment, which involves investigating the RÜstov computer virus that affects the Mechas. Jack is busy trying to find out how far the RÜstov sleeper virus has spread, working to find a cure, and striving to avoid the dire future that Revile warned him about. Meanwhile, Jonas Smart is working just as hard to discover what Jack is hiding from everyone. When a rogue Secreteer–the protectors of secrets of inhabitants of the Imagine Nation–starts selling secrets to the highest bidder, Smart is ready and waiting. Jack knows that if Smart finds out the truth about him and Revile, he’s as good as dead. When Jack discovers that the Secreteer causing all this trouble also has information about his father, the distractions really start piling up. If Jack is going to help prevent a second RÜstov invasion, keep Smart from discovering his secrets, and find out what a shadowy, half-mad Secreteer knows about his long-lost father, he’ll need to learn to trust his friends, and to find the true path toward becoming a hero himself.

Blog Tour: Mayhem - Artist Arthur - Author Book Picks

Artist Arthur is here today with a guest post on her favourite book picks courtesy of the Teen Book Scene blog tour for her book, Mayhem. Thank you for being here, Artist! Look for my reviews for Mystify and Mayhem to come later today and tomorrow. You can follow along with the tour here. Enjoy!

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Thanks Corrine for giving me the opportunity to guest post on your blog. I’m really excited about the topic as well as I love talking about books!

My “library” is overflowing with books to be read at the moment and my favorites that I’m inclined to read again sometime. I write Adult Romance and Paranormal as well as Young Adult Paranormal so I have tons of these books on my shelves. Favorites on the adult scene include J.R. Ward, Nora Roberts, Allison Brennan. I tend to like my romance filled with subplots like murder and mayhem, suspense, mystery, otherworldly.

As for Young Adult I really love the paranormal, the new worlds being created by an array of talented authors are invigorating. One of my favorite series at the moment is Beautiful Creatures and Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. It’s the clever mixture of being told from a male POV and the southern ambiance that makes this series so interesting to me. I also love the emotion that drives each character, the authors have done a splendid job of providing a colorful cast. Another favorite of mine is the Private series by Kate Brian, witty and engaging is how I’d describe these books. I enjoyed the Luxe series by Anne Godbersen because I enjoy reading historicals as well. Another really cool series is the Soul Screamers by Rachel Vincent, both my daughter and I enjoy these books.

You’d think I only read paranormals from the above list, but that’s not true. I like YA romance and general fiction as well. What I look for most and what makes a book great in my opinion is the emotional piece that pulls you from page one. I’m very impatient so waiting a long time to get the warm, fuzzy feeling from being connected to a book, doesn’t really work for me. I need instant gratification, like the buzz from eating my favorite mint chocolate chip ice cream. Now, I just started reading Delirium by Lauren Oliver—I loved this cover by the way, simple yet enticing—and the first chapter already has my heart beating a little faster. Something about being afraid to fall in love, so afraid you’d undergo a procedure to prevent it. That one chapter was compelling and that’s what I like in a book, so I’ll probably spend the rest of the weekend reading it. =) Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson had that effect on me. I actually read this one on the ride home from Myrtle Beach. It was poignant and emotional and so real I could have cried the entire time I read, but my kids would have thought that way too entertaining.

So what I’m saying is that there are bunches and bunches of books out there, my advice is always to know what you love to read, recognize the feeling you get when you’ve read a good book and always search for that feeling to be repeated. I’m not afraid to try new authors and love when I find someone else’s work I can follow. My husband would certainly argue that fact considering books are steadily taking over his Man Cave. LOL

Thank you for this awesome book list, and thank you for being here today, Artist! J.R. Ward, Allison Brennan and Nora Roberts feature prominently on my bookshelves too! ;) 

Artist Arthur can be found on her website. 

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A lot can change in a few months. Jake Palmer is living proof of that. In a short time, the once-shy loner has discovered his incredible supernatural abilities and forged a tight bond with his fellow Mystyx. What’s more—he’s fallen for his best friend, Krystal. And fallen hard.

Still, some things remain the same—like the jocks who keep bullying him. Even though they have no idea how powerful Jake has become. And while he tries to follow Krystal’s advice, he may not be able to keep his cool much longer. But there are bigger problems ahead, because the darkness that’s been hovering nearby is about to descend on the town of Lincoln, Connecticut. And when it does, the Mystyx will learn who to trust, who to fear and just how much is at stake…

Synopsis taken from goodreads.

Blog Tour: Kings & Queens - Courtney Vail - Derek Character Interview

Courtney Vail is here with one of her main characters, Derek, for a character interview courtesy of the Teen Book Scene blog tour for her book, Kings & Queens. Thank you for being here, Courtney and Derek! You can follow along with the tour here, or by clicking through the banner. Enjoy!

What's your friendship with Majesty like? When/how did you first meet?

Most people annoy the snot outta me like a tooth ache, but Majesty’s at least bearable. She makes me laugh sometimes, so that does count for something. I knew OF her long before we were actual friends, since we grew up in the same crap town, Cedar Creek. But we didn’t start hanging out until we had a baby together in Junior High. No, not a REAL baby, don’t go spreadin’ that around. We shared one of those lame eggs in Sex Ed. Without even asking my opinion, she named our brat Eckersley. You know who Eck is? Dennis Eckersley? He’s a former Sox player and current NESN announcer. He’s one of only 2 pitchers in MLB history to have a 20-win season and 50-save season. I didn’t know that. She told ME. Any chick who’s well beyond a pink-hat fan gets my attention. That’s when she first intrigued me. And she hasn’t really stopped.

What was going through your mind when you realized Majesty wasn't coming back with the flowers? Did you think anything had happened to her?

Um, maybe you don’t know, and please don’t tell her I said this, ’cause I’d prefer to do it myself and don’t want you stealing my thunder, but she’s a spaz. Not always, no, but if you put her pic in the dictionary beside the definition, she’s had enough ditzy moments, that more than one person would nod profusely about the association being dead-on right. So, I just chalked it up to Majesty being Majesty. A ditch or a flakeout. Of course, given what actually happened, that she suffered so much because of me and my raging hormones, I feel like the world’s biggest heel and will carry that regret forever.

Your friendship with both Alex and Majesty growing up was pretty tight. If you could confide in someone about your secret fears, would you have confided in them?

Fears? I probably have a lot of ’em but I don’t even acknowledge them for the most part. I’ve always believed fear makes you weak, so I’m in this habit of suppression. As soon as I even consider blabbing on myself, or start looking too closely in the mirror, all these alarm bells go off and I close up shop.

What would your ideal date be, and who would it be with?

Oh, come on … No sir. I’m not normal, so she’d have to be as whacked out as me. Not as damaged, but as gutsy and guarded for sure. The whole teddy bear, please-hold-my-purse, where-the-hell-are-you, wanna-watch-the-rose-ceremony-with-me thing? Yeah. I can’t do that. I’m not boyfriend material. I’ve had plenty of action, but not even one girl I’d dare say was mine. And honestly, I’m not hoping to find her either. Too much drama.

Each man is the architect of his own fate. Do you believe this is true? What are your thoughts?

I’ve always believed that to a degree, like, if you walk around pissy all the time, looking for demons and disaster under every rock, it’ll not only find you, it’ll rush you, again and again. You know how they say ‘he was just looking for trouble’ or ‘she made herself sick’? Based on how you handle things, you can control a lot of your fate. But really, if you happen to have the misfortune of being targeted by the Kings and Queens, your fate is pretty much up to them.

Now for some quick questions. What is your favorite:

Song? - Breath by Breaking Benjamin, Pain by Three Days Grace.

Band? - I’m not particular. Anything loud but meaningful and deep works.

Colour? - Green, like lawn green, NOT forest, not anymore, not since the girl vanished before my eyes. A simple tip in the balance makes all the difference between exhilaration and horror.

Food? - Yesterday’s bacon burgers. Man, they marinate the meat in this secret sauce or something. It’s so juicy and flavorful and worth fighting to the death for. I swear there’s some addictive ingredient because I truly can’t go more than a few days with inhaling one. 

Hold the onions, eh?

Subject? - English. I was blessed by the gods with this talent to BS in lyrical form. It thoroughly delights me to get so much undeserved praise. I make fools of gushing teachers every single day without them even knowing it.

Pastime? - Um, really? Need you ask?

Hey, what's wrong with paintball? =)

Book? - Lord of the Flies

Baseball team? - Red Sox. And ONLY the Red Sox. If they’re not in the post season, I skip it altogether, just don’t care.

Thank you for being here and answering these questions, Derek. Thank you Courtney for stopping by with him too! =)

Courtney Vail can be found on her website, her blog, and on twitter.

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Seventeen-year-old Majesty Alistair wants police to look further into her father’s fatal car wreck, hopes the baseball team she manages can reclaim the state crown, aches for Derek…or, no…maybe Alec…maybe. And she mostly wishes to retract the hateful words she said to her dad right before slamming the door in his face, only to never see him again.

All her desires get sidelined, though, when she overhears two fellow students planning a church massacre. She doubts cops will follow up on her tip since they’re sick of her coming around with notions of possible crimes-in-the-works. And it’s not like she cries wolf. Not really. They’d be freaked too, but they’re not the ones suffering from bloody dreams that hint at disaster like some crazy, street guy forecasting the Apocalypse.

So, she does what any habitual winner with zero cred would do…try to I.D. the nutjobs before they act. But, when their agenda turns out to be far bigger than she ever assumed, and even friends start looking suspect, the truth and her actions threaten to haunt her forever, especially since she’s left with blood on her hands, the blood of someone she loves.

Synopsis taken from goodreads.

Blog Tour: Land of Corn Chips - Angela Carlie - Guest Post

Angela Carlie is here today with a guest post courtesy of the Teen Book Scene blog tour for her book, Land of Corn Chips. Thank you for being here, Angela! You can follow along with the tour here, or by clicking through the banner. Enjoy! 

A behind the scenes look at the making of Land of Corn Chips.

Hi Corrine! Thank you so much for having me on your blog today. You gave me several wonderful topics to choose from for this guest post and I had a hard time deciding.

Believe it or not, I’m a parent of a child who doesn’t like to read fiction. Gasp! I know, right? He does, however, enjoy reading non-fiction, especially books on historical events. So at least there’s that to be thankful for.

About two years ago I challenged myself to write a fiction book he would enjoy. He’s a football player, so there had to be football involved in this story. Nate, the protagonist in Land of Corn Chips, loves playing football.

When my son was a few years younger, I worked in a chip factory and he used to love visiting me at work. He’d want to ride on the forklifts and watch the workers load the chips into trailers. Chip factories are somewhat automated and he’d enjoy watching boxes of product travel along moving belts. Of course he was never allowed to ride on a forklift, but what if he could? He’d totally have a blast and Nate does exactly that in this novel.

What kid doesn’t go through a phase when he owns or wants to own every WWE figure available? My son and nephews absolutely loved WWE and knew every wrestler and would save their allowances and birthday money to buy all the figures they possibly could. I even took them to see a live WWE show once when it was in Portland. They thought the divas were hot and the action was awesome. Nate loves wrestling too and gets the opportunity to wrestle some pretty tough opponents.

Stir in a few gruesome scenes with blood and guts, some zombie kids, a couple crazy dictators who may or may not have magical powers, and a few flying dragons and you have a work of fiction kids will love. Including my son, the non-fiction reader.

Thanks again, Corrine. Have a nice day!

Thank you for this post, Angela! I hope your son enjoyed Land of Corn Chips! It sounds like such a fun read! Thank you for being here today! 

Angela can be found on her website, her blog, and on twitter.

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Eleven-year-old Nate Hansen never believed in dragons before an eccentric man with a purple-feather hat kidnaps him. Spirited to the Land of Corn Chips on the back of a mechanical yellow dragon, Nate must find a way to avoid being ground into compost. His only hope of escape is to earn the friendship of the local wrestling gang and zombie kids, and to believe in a parent he no longer trusts.

Synopsis taken from goodreads.

Blog Tour: The Mumbo Jumbo Circus - Jane George - Teenage Garage Sale & Giveaway

Today, Jane George is here with a teenage garage sale post as part of the Teen Book Scene blog tour for her book, The Mumbo Jumbo Circus. Thank you for being here, Jane! You can follow along with the tour here, or by clicking through the banner. Enjoy! 

A garage sale from my teenage years? Ruh-roh, as Scooby-Doo would say.

In this box over here: an extensive collection of Breyer model horses, many with broken legs and chipped ears. All of them have names. Would you like to hear them? There’s only fifty or so.

Eek! Is that my best friend’s Tiger Beat with the Bay City Rollers pin-up? Dig those tartan crop pants. My friend, totally bonkers for them, kept trying to get me to say which Roller I thought was the cutest. She even tried the, “If they were the last four guys on earth…” approach. I remained mute.

My vinyl albums. Sniff. These should never be in the garage sale, but alas, I let go of all my Damned singles, PiL metal box, IN the metal box, along with such gems as The Merton Parkas.

Oh hells no, those are NOT my leg warmers. Uh-uh, I’m denying it.

That IS my radio-controlled R2-D2, and my Obi Wan Kenobi action figure. Once a geek, always a geek. I wrote letters in Lord of the Rings elvish runes too. Oh yes.

Who wants those old manky track cleats? Pew. Throw them out.

Where did that Cat Stevens poster come from? Seriously here, that’s embarassing. *unrolls poster* Wait a minute, he was kinda cute. And I love the soundtrack to Harold & Maude…

What the heck IS this thing? A hand-held waffle iron? Oh, it’s a hair crimper. Too bad back then I cut my hair all off and dyed it purple.

Toilet paper left over from a midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Still useful.

A cigar box filled with band buttons. There’s Johnny Rotten, Elvis Costello & Siouxie Sioux. Hold on, I don’t think I want to sell that. If I ever have grandkids, this box is for them.

Awesome list, Jane! Love those band buttons! 

Jane can be found on her website, her blog and on twitter.

Giveaway

Jane is graciously providing  Lost For Words with a copy of The Mumbo Jumbo Circus for giveaway.

Thanks, Jane! 

Giveaway is US only.

Giveaway will end June 23, 2011.

Please fill out this FORM to enter. Comments, while appreciated, will not be counted as entries. 

Thank you!