Mundie Moms

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

SUMMERLOST by Ally Condie / Release Day Blitz: Excerpt / Giveaway



SUMMERLOST, a new middle grade book by Ally Condie, is out today! Fans are already praising this new book, and it's one I feel may be Condie's best work yet! I'm thrilled to be apart of today's release day blitz, which includes an exclusive letter from Ally, as well as a giveaway, and don't forget to get a sneak peak inside Summerlost, by reading an excerpt below!


A Letter from Ally Condie

Dear Readers,

I think most of us have had our hearts broken. Sometimes we can see it coming, and sometimes it comes down with the unexpected force of a sudden gale of wind or a rising of waters that we thought were still and safe. Loss is universal to human experience, but the way we each feel and recover is one of the most personal things we do.


In Summerlost, Cedar is dealing with the loss of her father and younger brother. And my intent was to show how hard their deaths are for her. But this is also a book about the healing power of friendship. Most of us have been broken-hearted; I hope that most of us have also discovered the miracle of friendships that were just what we needed. Cedar and Leo’s friendship is based on someone I met when I was twelve. Like Leo, my friend was fun and liked to enlist me in crazy adventures (although we never gave a secret guided tour of our town the way they do in Summerlost). And, like Leo, he thought I was wonderful and of worth at a time when I needed it most. 


SUMMERLOST is my attempt to pay tribute both to the pain we feel and the friendships that save us. Thank you so much for supporting this book, and for your willingness to give Cedar’s story a try. I hope it makes you think of a wonderful friend of your own, whether that is someone you met in the pages of a favorite book or outside, in the world where it is often hard and beautiful to live.


Best wishes and happy reading always,
Ally Condie

ABOUT THE BOOK
By: Ally Condie
Published by: Penguin Random House
Released on: March 29th, 2016
Purchase from: Penguin Random House | Amazon | B&N | IndieBound
Add it to Goodreads

It's the first real summer since the devastating accident that killed Cedar's father and younger brother, Ben. But now Cedar and what’s left of her family are returning to the town of Iron Creek for the summer. They’re just settling into their new house when a boy named Leo, dressed in costume, rides by on his bike. Intrigued, Cedar follows him to the renowned Summerlost theatre festival. Soon, she not only has a new friend in Leo and a job working concessions at the festival, she finds herself surrounded by mystery. The mystery of the tragic, too-short life of the Hollywood actress who haunts the halls of Summerlost. And the mystery of the strange gifts that keep appearing for Cedar. 

Infused with emotion and rich with understanding, Summerlost is the touching middle grade debut from Ally Condie, the international bestselling author of the Matched series, that highlights the strength of family and personal resilience in the face of tragedy.


READ AN EXCERPT
Link: http://issuu.com/penguinteen/docs/summerlost_p1-19?e=0/34476640




PRIASE FOR THE BOOK:

A Spring 2016 Kids' Indie Next List Top 10 Pick!

Named one of Publishers Weekly’s Most Anticipated Children’s and YA Books of Spring 2016


“Condie (Matched) strikes a deep emotional chord with this coming-of-age story.” – Publishers Weekly, starred review


“Multiple, seemingly random details, including a family of turkey vultures that now roost outside Cedar’s window, an absurd soap opera narrative of a woman buried alive, and Leo’s quest for a trip with his father, coalesce into metaphors that help Cedar make sense of her grief and the life she now has to look forward to. Thoughtful, poetic chapter endings guide readers new to psychological depth toward meaningful connections between plot events and thematic reflections.” – BCCB 


“A moving tale of friendship and loss. I loved these characters—I wish we could have been friends when I was a kid.” –Brandon Mull, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Fablehaven and Five Kingdoms series


“Ally Condie’s first middle grade book might also be my favorite out of ALL her books to date. Summerlost is a story packed with nostalgia, heart, and gorgeous prose.” – The Novel Novice


“A nuanced portrait of grief deeply grounded in the middle-school mind-set.” – Booklist 


“Honest, lovely, and sad.” – Kirkus Reviews


“A sweet, heartfelt story.” – School Library Journal 


“Achingly good.” – Summer Laurie, Books Inc.

WALK THE EDGE by Katie McGarry / Release Day Blitz: Excerpt & Giveaway


Hello and welcome to today's release day blitz for Katie McGarry's WALK THE EDGE, the second book in her Thunder Road series. Today's blitz includes an excerpt and giveaway! First, here's a little bit about Razor's story. 

 ABOUT THE BOOK


By: Katie McGarry
Published by: Harlequin Teen
Released on: March 29th, 2016
Purchase from: Amazon | B&N | IndieBound | iBooks
Add it to Goodreads

One moment of recklessness will change their worlds 

Smart. Responsible. That's seventeen-year-old Breanna's role in her large family, and heaven forbid she put a toe out of line. Until one night of shockingly un-Breanna-like behavior puts her into a vicious cyberbully's line of fire—and brings fellow senior Thomas "Razor" Turner into her life. 

Razor lives for the Reign of Terror motorcycle club, and good girls like Breanna just don't belong. But when he learns she's being blackmailed over a compromising picture of the two of them—a picture that turns one unexpected and beautiful moment into ugliness—he knows it's time to step outside the rules. 

And so they make a pact: he'll help her track down her blackmailer, and in return she'll help him seek answers to the mystery that's haunted him—one that not even his club brothers have been willing to discuss. But the more time they spend together, the more their feelings grow. And suddenly they're both walking the edge of discovering who they really are, what they want, and where they're going from here.


READ AN EXCERPT

“I’m here about your mother.” The ahole knows he has me when my eyes snap to his.
“She’s dead.” Like the other times I say the words, a part of me dies along with her.
This guy has green eyes and they soften like he’s apologetic. “I know. I’m sorry. I’ve received some new evidence that may help us discover what caused her death.”
Anger curls within my muscles and my jaw twitches. This overwhelming sense of insanity is what I fight daily. For years, I’ve heard the whispers from the gossips in town, felt the stares of the kids in class, and I’ve sensed the pity of the men in the Reign of Terror I claim as brothers. It’s all accumulated to a black, hissing doubt in my soul.
Suicide.
It’s what everyone in town says happened. It’s in every hushed conversation people have the moment I turn my back. It’s not just from the people I couldn’t give two shits about, but the people who I consider family.
I shove away those thoughts and focus on what my father and the club have told me—what I have chosen to believe. “My mother’s death was an accident.”
He’s shaking his head and I’m fresh out of patience. I’m not doing this. Not with him. Not with anyone. “I’m not interested.”
I push off the railing and I did out the keys to my motorcycle as I bound down the steps. The detective’s behind me. He has a slow steady stride and it irritates me that he follows across the yard and doesn’t stop coming as I swing my leg over my bike.
“What if I told you I don’t think it was an accident,” he says.
Odds are it wasn’t. Odds are every whispered taunt in my direction is true. That my father and the club drove Mom crazy, and I wasn’t enough of a reason for her to choose life.
To drown him out, I start the engine. This guy must be as suicidal as people say Mom was because he eases in front of my bike assuming I won’t run him down.
“Thomas,” he says.
I twist the handle to rev the engine in warning. He raises his chin like he’s finally pissed and his eyes narrow on me. “Razor.”
I let the bike idle. If he’s going to respect me by using my road name, I’ll respect him for a few seconds. “Leave me alone.”

Damn if the man doesn’t possess balls the size of Montana. He steps closer to me and drops a bomb. “I have reason to believe your mom was murdered.”


DON’T MISS THIS AWESOME INCENTIVE OFFER FOR AN EXCLUSIVE ECHO AND NOAH SHORT STORY!
Order WALK THE EDGE, Register your Order by April 1st and receive an exclusive Echo and Noah short story and a chance to be in the next Thunder Road novel!  Register at https://offerpop.com/campaign/796530.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Katie McGarry was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings, reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan. 

Katie is the author of full length YA novels, PUSHING THE LIMITS, DARE YOU TO, CRASH INTO YOU, TAKE ME ON,  BREAKING THE RULES, and NOWHERE BUT HERE and the e-novellas, CROSSING THE LINE and RED AT NIGHT. Her debut YA novel, PUSHING THE LIMITS was a 2012 Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction, a RT Magazine's 2012 Reviewer's Choice Awards Nominee for Young Adult Contemporary Novel, a double Rita Finalist, and a 2013 YALSA Top Ten Teen Pick. DARE YOU TO was also a Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction and won RT Magazine’s Reviewer’s Choice Best Book Award for Young Adult Contemporary fiction in 2013.

Katie's Links: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr | Goodreads | Instagram 

ENTER TO WIN

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*Some words were removed from the excerpt to keep with our family friendly tone, and not post strong language on our site.

Top Ten of My Latest 5 Star Reviews / Top Ten Tuesday #55



Hello & welcome to this week's Top Ten Tuesday! This week's topic is Ten of my Latest 5 Star Reviews. My previous Top Ten Tuesday post was, Ten Books I Really Love But Haven't Talked About In A While.



I could have sworn I had reviewed more 5 star books this year, but in looking through all my reviews, I had a few that were 4.5 stars, and didn't quite hit the I LOVE THIS BOOK AND NEED MORE OF IT NOW feeling, which my 5 star books had. Here are my most recent 5 star reviews. I listed in order of the most recent reviews, which are:

 
I think it may be a bit obvious that I love fantasy/urban fantasy. What are some of your most recent 5 star reviews? 

OUT TODAY - Tuesday, March 29th, 2016 YA Releases

Happy Book Birthday to today's newest YA releases! 

There are some fabulous new reads out today! Which new releases are you looking forward to picking up?

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