Mundie Moms

Monday, November 16, 2015

HELLO? By Liza Wiemer / Blog Tour: Book Review / Giveaway


Hello and welcome to today's blog tour stop for HELLO? by Liza Wiemer! I'm excited to share my thoughts on Liza's debut, as well as host a giveaway. Liza Wiemer has become a dear friend of mine, and I'm so thrilled that her message of YOU MATTER is out in the world! 

ABOUT HELLO?

By Liza Wiemer
Publication Date: October 27, 2015
Published By Spencer Hill Contemporary
Purchase From: Amazon | B&N | IndieBound | The Book Depository
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Tricia: A girl struggling to find her way after her beloved grandma’s death.

Emerson: A guy who lives his life to fulfill promises, real and hypothetical.

Angie: A girl with secrets she can only express through poetry.

Brenda: An actress and screenplay writer afraid to confront her past.

Brian: A potter who sets aside his life for Tricia, to the detriment of both.

Linked and transformed by one phone call, Hello? weaves together these five Wisconsin teens’ stories into a compelling narrative of friendship and family, loss and love, heartbreak and healing, serendipity, and ultimately hope.

Sometimes there's just something about a book that resonates with you long after you read it. Liza's message of YOU MATTER did that very thing for me. Even though Hello? and I didn't share a continued connection through out the time I spent reading the book, the message really hit home for me. I realized that while maybe I didn't connect with any of the characters in the book, I wanted each of them to know that they did matter. They were cared about. Someone cared about them, and they matter to that person. Most importantly I wanted them to matter to themselves.

The teen years are not always easy. Okay, it's not easy at all. There's a lot of good, and a lot of the not so great. Sometimes there are days that just feel like being a teen is hell. Liza's characters deal with wide range of circumstances and that shape who they are. There's a why to the decisions they're making, and how they cope with what's going on. I liked that I got to see that. 


Sure, as a parent reading this, it was not always easy to read about what the characters were dealing with, and going through. It was hard at times reading about why they're making the decisions they are, and why they were choosing to do one thing, vs what they felt they should be doing. But at the same time, it was easy for me to jump back into my teen frame of mind, and wonder if I would had faired any better if I had been in their shoes. I would hope so, but I'm not in their shoes. 


While I may not have personally experienced what each of Liza's characters does when I was a teen, I've been there. Many of us has, and the rest of us will at some point, if you haven't already. The "there" I'm talking about is that point in life where you need someone to lift you up, and tell you, you matter. No matter how invisible you feel, no matter how ugly you feel inside, or how horrible you think you are, or how bad you have it, or how horrible your life is, or how many mistakes you've made, no matter what it is you're going through, YOU MATTER!!  You matter just the way you are. You're not alone. Someone, out there understands. They can relate. You matter!


Sometimes it's not the book I connect to, it's the message that the book contains. I loved that I was able to connect with the message of YOU MATTER. It's a message I wish every teen understood. In their own times, and in their own ways, each of Liza's characters comes to that understanding that they matter. While I may not have loved Hello?, I absolutely LOVED the message this book has. Because, YOU MATTER! 


There are a lot of topics that Liza tackles in this book. Some are sensitive and some not so sensitive. There's topic within this story that teens can relate to. These topics are not sugar coated, nor should they be. With that being said, this book may be a better fit for mature YA readers. 


*My review is based on my thoughts from reading the manuscript months ago, and some of the context of it has changed in the published book. 

Praise For HELLO?

During the 1960's, Carole King released an album entitled Tapestry--a masterful weaving of story and song. A half-century later, author Liza Wiemer has mirrored that blend by wonderfully stringing together several forms of narration, one specific to each of her characters. Hello? is a truly remarkable and memorable story communicated in a superbly envisioned way.
Paul Volponi, award-winning author of The Final Four, Game Seven, and Black and White.  

"Brave, beautiful, and wholly original, this story about tantalizing connections and heartbreaking relationships will haunt you, fill you with hope, and leave you smiling."
Martina Boone, author of Compulsion and the Heirs of Watson Island series

“Liza Wiemer’s Hello? is a poignant tale of friendship, love, loss, and resilience. Told from multiple points of view, the richly drawn characters offer a powerful example of how connected we all truly are. This book will compel readers to consider the existence of destiny. Hello? grabbed me from the first page and pulled me right through to the gorgeous ending.”
Kristina McBride, author of One Moment and The Tension of Opposites

"A triumph of writing and humanity...the characters stayed with me long after I read the book."
Huntley Fitzpatrick, author of The Boy Most Likely To, What I Thought Was True, and My Life Next Door


About Liza Wiemer

I am the author of two non-fiction adult books, short stories, and newspaper and magazine articles. A pre-school to high school educator now writing YA fiction full time, which I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! And I'm a diehard Green Bay Packers fan.

Unique "job" experiences: I spent a summer selling popcorn in a Koepsell's popcorn wagon while listening to awesome music on the Summerfest grounds in Milwaukee. I also know my way around a fender and a quarter panel and under the hood of a car. I spent a few years driving to accident scenes, scrapyards, hospitals, auto repair shops as a claims adjuster for an insurance company. 

Links: Website | Twitter | Blog


ENTER TO WIN
$25 Amazon Gift Card (Int) and 3 annotated copies of HELLO? Go HERE to enter to win! *Sorry the code isn't showing up on my blog, but the link will take you to the correct form*

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2 comments:

  1. Thanks so much, Katie, for being a part of the HELLO? blog tour! And you're absolutely right—we matter. Kindness and compassion truly is a chain reaction. :) xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're welcome Liza! I'm so thrilled to have the chance to feature your debut on MMs!! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your message of YOU MATTER!!

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