BOOK BLAST & $100 GIVEAWAY: AQUA by Katherine Armstrong Walters

AQUA
Katherine Armstrong Walters
Ages 14+

Eighteen year-old Marin has few clues about where she came from outside of a recurring nightmare of a horrific boating accident. Determined to prove to the world and to herself that she can overcome her extreme phobia of water and lead a normal life, she enrolls in a summer internship at a marine research facility in California. When a cataclysmic work accident suddenly brings her drowning nightmares into reality, she learns a secret about herself that makes her realize a mystery lurks in her hidden memories.

What she discovers could be the key to unlocking her past, but opening that door forces her to choose between two worlds and two hearts, and starts a chain of events that could destroy everything and everyone she cares for in an adventurous tale of love, loss, and discovery.

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INTERVIEW WITH GARY PAULSEN, AUTHOR OF HATCHET (& BOOK GIVEAWAY)

Middle Grade Monday is a weekly collection of blog posts assembled by author Shannon Messenger. For a complete list of posts, visit Shannon's blog HERE.

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SIX KIDS AND A STUFFED CAT
Gary Paulsen
Simon & Schuster
Ages 8 - 12

SCROLL DOWN TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY

From three-time Newbery Honor author Gary Paulsen comes a laugh-out-loud novel about six wacky misfits who get stuck together in a school restroom and discover friendship.

It seemed like a normal school day, until a horrible storm forced the very cautious school administration to make everyone hole up in a safe place. Six students find themselves stuck in a tiny, questionably smelly space—a school bathroom—with a stuffed cat for entertainment. Hijinks ensue and the unexpected happens. They enter as strangers…and leave as friends.

Get to know the story even better with a special script that accompanies the novel, so any six kids can get together with their friends and perform the story anywhere they’d like.

INTERVIEW:

Laurisa: Six kids in a bathroom during a storm. Where did that idea come from?

Gary: I was filling up at a gas station, and as I entered to pay, someone yelled, “Don’t step in the blood,” and I thought, “What a great first line for a book; I wonder what happens next.”

Laurisa: Six Kids and a Stuffed Cat includes a script for a play. Have you seen it performed?

Gary: Not yet, but I hope to. For years school classrooms have been sending me videotapes and CDs and flash drives with play adaptations of my books. I’ve seen a few of my books performed live, but not this one yet.

Laurisa: Are the "kids" boys or girls?

Gary: I never used him or her or he or she and I tried to pick names that were gender neutral so that any combinations of students could be any of the roles when they assigned parts to stage the play. It’s funny because most of the reviews so far have said the characters were boys, but I never meant the characters to be specifically male.

Laurisa: Which of the six kids is most like you?

Gary: Probably the quiet one playing air guitar. I’m not an airband kind of guy, but I’ve always been out of the loop a little bit, doing my own thing.

Laurisa: You recently published This Side of Wild. Tell us about it.

Gary: This Side of Wild was a book I’ve wanted to write for a long time. I think I had to write as many books about dogs and the outdoors and adventure as I did before I felt anyone would believe, really believe, that what I was saying about those animals was the truth and not stories I made up.

Laurisa: Give an example of how a true life event inspired one of your books.

Gary: I think it might be easier if I picked something that didn’t come from my life. Everything I write has some basis in an experience I have had.  Even Six Kids and a Stuffed Cat came from a moment in a gas station. Hatchet happened because I had been in forced landings in bush planes, Dogsong was because I had run dogs, Woodsong and This Side of Wild ARE my life. It’s all there; every book I write has pieces of my life in it somewhere.

Laurisa: What is one of the scariest things that has happened to you?

Gary: Falling through ice on a lake in the middle of winter will do until something scarier comes along. I just went, flump, down like a brick to the bottom of the lake. I looked up at the air bubbles floating to the surface and thought, “There it is, my life, there goes my life.” And then Cookie, my lead dog, pulled the team up and away from the hole I’d just plunged through. I happened to grab a piece of rope that was tied to the sled as it rose to the surface and she pulled me out of the water. She saved me, Cookie saved my life. I owe everything that happened to me after that moment to my lead dog Cookie.

Laurisa: Are there any adventures you still hope to have?

Gary: I would still love to sail the Horn and run dogs and write all the books I have in my head.

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Thank you, Mr. Paulsen for being my special guest today! And for all of you readers, how would you like to win both of Gary's new books? Just complete the rafflecopter form below to enter. The winner will be chosen at random and announced May 23rd! You must be 18 years or older to enter. [Contest open internationally, though if the winner is not a U.S. resident, a $20 (US dollars) digital Amazon gift card will be awarded.]  

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MMGM: Win a copy of ONCE WAS A TIME by Leila Sales!

* Interview with Nicky Peacock, author of the BATTLE OF THE UNDEAD SERIES
* A fan letter from 7-year-old SARAH
* TWIST MY CHARM: LOVE POTION #1 Toni Gallagher

Middle Grade Monday is a weekly collection of blog posts assembled by author Shannon Messenger. For a complete list of posts, visit Shannon's blog HERE.

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ONCE WAS A TIME
Leila Sales
Chronicle Books
10 and up

Scroll down for an interview with the author and a chance to win a copy of the book!

In the war-ravaged England of 1940, Charlotte Bromley is sure of only one thing: Kitty McLaughlin is her best friend in the whole world. But when Charlotte's scientist father makes an astonishing discovery that the Germans will covet for themselves, Charlotte is faced with an impossible choice between danger and safety. Should she remain with her friend or journey to another time and place? Her split-second decision has huge consequences, and when she finds herself alone in the world, unsure of Kitty's fate, she knows that somehow, some way, she must find her way back to her friend. Written in the spirit of classic time-travel tales, this book is an imaginative and heartfelt tribute to the unbreakable ties of friendship.

“Rewarding and uplifting.” — Kirkus Reviews

 

“Will delight those who revel in the vast mysteries of time and coincidence.” —The Horn Book Magazine

 

“Shines in its portrayal of friendship.” —School Library Journal

 

“The bond between Lottie and Kitty-proves to be both tender and unstoppable.” —Booklist

 

"An imaginative and heartfelt tribute to the unbreakable ties of friendship."— Middle Shelf Magazine

INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR LEILA SALES:

I always wanted to be an author. I wrote my first middle-grade novel and started submitting it to publishers when I was 11. It got rejected everywhere, which was disappointing at the time, but I now realize is DEFINITELY for the best. It was well-written for someone who had never written a book before, but I had a ways to go before I would be writing at a professional level.

When I was 12 I joined the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), as well as an online listserv of other writers of kids’ books, most of whom were adults, all of whom were at various stages in their publication journey. It was great having these other people to turn to who were pursuing the same dream as me—people who didn’t know I was a kid and therefore took me seriously. I attended my first SCBWI conference a month before my middle-school graduation, which I remember because I got one fancy grow-up looking outfit to wear to both events!

Throughout middle school, high school, and college, I went on to write another five unpublished middle-grade and YA novels. I submitted all of them for publication, but never had any success. I was getting better, but still not quite there.

After graduating from high school, I got a job at a children’s book publisher. I didn’t know if I would ever manage to make a living as an author—after all, I’d already spent half my life trying to sell a novel, so who knew how long it could take. But I did know that I loved children’s books and wanted a career that allowed me to work with them in some capacity.

Even though I had a job now—a job that I found enormously fulfilling—I made time for writing. Around the time I was 25, I met a literary agent at a party through mutual publishing industry friends. I told him about the YA novel I was working on at the time, a comedy told in vignettes about two best friends at an exclusive all-girls prep school. (If you read ONCE WAS A TIME, you’ll realize that girls’ friendship is one of the most important themes in my books.) This agent asked if he could take a look, so after I’d revised the manuscript a ton, I sent it to him, and he offered to represent me. A couple months later, I had a two-book deal with Simon & Schuster, and that comedy became my first published novel, entitled MOSTLY GOOD GIRLS.

The experience of selling my first book is one of the most intense things that has ever happened to me. In a way it didn’t change much: I kept working at the publisher (and indeed, I still do). I didn’t suddenly become rich and famous; I didn’t move into a fancy house or start drinking champagne with Beyonce. My day-to-day existence did not change very much at all. But this life-defining dream had come true. The main thing I wanted to achieve with my life, I had now achieved.

Of course, it’s not like I achieved this goal and then was just done forever. A year after MOSTLY GOOD GIRLS came out, Simon & Schuster published my second YA, PAST PERFECT. After that, I moved over to Macmillan to publish THIS SONG WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE. Then I sold another two YA novels to Macmillan, as well as my first-ever middle grade novel, ONCE WAS A TIME, which is just out now with Chronicle.

I should be clear that it’s not like you sell one book, and then you know how to write successful books every time thereafter. For each novel I’ve published, I’ve written the first few chapters of many, many other books that didn’t quite work and eventually fizzled out. And for each publisher who’s wanted to acquire a book that I’d written, there were always, every single time, other publishers who said “this one doesn’t work for us.” Writing is sort of like playing basketball. It’s not as if once you make one basket, then every other shot you take after that is guaranteed to go in. You’re still going to miss a lot of the time. But the more you practice, the more likely you are to score.

ONCE WAS A TIME is really exciting for me, because it’s the book I’ve published that’s most like those stories I was writing in middle school: a bit younger than my YA novels, with some magical elements (specifically time travel!). It’s geared at a different audience than any of my previous books—nine to twelve year olds rather than teens. It’s less intense than the very first time I published a book, but every time is amazing and eye-opening, and every time feels like a gift.

 

** Leila Sales is the author of many critically acclaimed young adult novels, including Tonight the Streets Are Ours and This Song Will Save Your Life. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. Visit her at leilasales.com

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Win a copy of THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES' 10TH ANNIVERSARY Edition!!!

SPIDERWICKE CHRONICLES #1: THE FIELD GUIDE
Tony TiTerlizzi & Holly Black
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
107 pp.
Ages 7 - 10
Originally Published: 2003

The Grace children discover the faerie world is closer than you think in this repackage of the first book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Spiderwick Chronicles.

After finding a mysterious, handmade field guide in the attic of the ramshackle old mansion they’ve just moved into, Jared; his twin brother, Simon; and their older sister, Mallory, discover that there’s a magical and maybe dangerous world existing parallel to our own—the world of faerie.

The Grace children want to share their story, but the faeries will do everything possible to stop them...

In honor of the tenth anniversary of the #1 New York Times bestselling Spiderwick Chronicles series, which has more than 12 million copies in print worldwide, this edition of The Field Guide features a larger trim size and an original jacketed cover with all-new art from Tony DiTerlizzi.

When the Grace children go to stay at their Great Aunt Lucinda's worn Victorian house, they discover a field guide to fairies and other creatures and begin to have some unusual experiences. 

Remember those awesome little volumes with the rough cut pages and the really cool covers? Each one was like a little treasure. And the stories were amazing, too. (The movie wasn't too bad either.) This new print edition of The Spiderwick Chronicles' first book, The Field Guide, comes out in honor of the series' 10th year anniversary and just in time to introduce a whole new generation of kids to Jared, Simon and Mallory Grace and all the creatures in the world of faerie.

I happen to have a brand spanking new paperback copy of the new edition ready to give away to one lucky reader.  To be eligible to win, just follow this blog and fill out the rafflecopter below. But in honor of the upcoming release of my own book, The Last Enchanter, you can earn 5 extra entries by visiting my book's listing at Barnes & Noble and answering one simple question. Over the next few months keep your eyes out for more fun promo giveaways!

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

Win a copy of 

THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES: THE FIELD GUIDE.

Giveaway will end on June 10th.  

US only please.

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