Year: 2022

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the WHEN THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN by K. Ibura Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

About the Book:

Title: WHEN THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN

Author: K. Ibura

Pub. Date: February 1, 2022

Publisher:  Scholastic Press

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook

Pages: 288

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle,
Audible, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org

What do you do when the world shuts down? A heartwarming story of friendship and overcoming
adversity in a time of COVID, When the World Turns Upside Down is about community, giving back, and understanding the world around us through the power of generosity from debut middle grade author K. Ibura.

Nobody expected a tiny little virus to change the whole world in such a big way, especially not Shayla, Liam, Ai, and Ben. But when school closes to keep everyone safe, their lives turn upside down. It is one thing to learn that the
outside world isn’t safe, but why does it seem that the virus is causing trouble inside their homes too?

As they each struggle to adjust to life in quarantine, they discover they are not alone: their apartment building is full of people who need their help. Working together, they begin to see that there is power in numbers. When they cooperate, they can ease each other’s challenges and help their neighbors through tough times. It’s a lesson they’ll need when protests explode in the streets. Soon, each friend has to decide what it means to be part of a community—and how much they’re willing to do to make this world safer for everyone.

Set against the onset of COVID, When the World Turned Upside Down navigates issues of race and social justice in a heartwarming story of generosity, friendship, and the power of youth.

Reviews:

“When The World Turned Upside Down is as clear-eyed as it is
engaging, as timely as it is timeless. I fell in love with every single student
in this book. And days after reading it, each of them remains with me.” ―
Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award-winning author of Brown Girl
Dreaming“

A beautifully written story that will inspire young readers to work for
positive change even in times of turmoil and stress. This book reminds readers
that all of us can make an impact and find ways to shine bright.” ―Angela
Cervantes, author of Pura Belpré Honor Book Lety Out Loud“

A hope-filled book dealing with the struggles children face in
extraordinary times, K. Ibura has crafted a story perfect for young readers
looking to make sense of current events. Timely and important.” – Adrianna
Cuevas, author of Pura Belpré Honor Book The Total Eclipse of Nestor
López and Cuba In My Pocket

“A heartwarming call to action.” — Kirkus Reviews

Before I begin my review I quickly have to thank Rockstar Book Tours for letting me be a part of this tour and the publicist at Scholastic Press for sending me an eArc of When The World Turned Upside Down by K. Ibura to read for my review today.

After reading this, I knew I had to have a physical copy of the book to add to my collection so I did a preorder and more than likely will be doing a reread of this as soon as I get it.

I believe that this might be the second book I have read that deals with the current situation in the world and I think the author did a fantastic job doing so. I was instantly hooked from the start and read it pretty much in one sitting. If you get emotional when reading a book I highly recommend having tissue close by.

I am not going to lie 2020 is the year that is going to go down in history. We started the year off by dealing with Covid. The world basically shut down, schools were closed, parents were working from home (and some still are), we were in lockdown (not as severe as most places), staying home unless you needed to go out and disinfecting everything that was brought into the home. Just to keep ourselves safe and out of Covid’s way. We definitely weren’t prepared for what Covid would do to us.

When the World Turned Upside Down has four main characters Shayla, Ai, Ben, and Liam. They are all in middle school (not quite sure how old they really are as it’s not mentioned) and they all live in the same apartment building. This group of four used to be friends but something along the way has changed that. Will they be able to move past what broke up the friendships?

One of the things I loved about the book was that the author made each character real and relatable. The author not only showed what was going on on the outside but also what was going on behind closed doors.

Shayla lives with her dad and he has a booming business until covid. He designs prom dresses and to recoup the losses he decides to make masks. Shayla is African American and her father makes her write book reports on their history because he knows that the schools don’t discuss it as it should be.

Ai lives with her parents and sister. She is struggling to help her family and be responsible. She feels like she is alone because her father works, her sister is studying for her exams and her mother hasn’t left her bed due to her depression.

Ben has his parents home 24/7 and all they seem to do is fight and it’s gradually escalating. He has been keeping a chart and tracking to see how often it is happening.

Finally, we have Liam and he is dealing with anxiety and panic attacks. Thankfully his friends know about it and how to help him deal with it. Liam lives with his mother and two younger sisters. I loved how Liam never complained about taking care of his two younger sisters even though they were probably a handful. He would do anything for his family.

It just took an elderly lady to ask for dog food because she wasn’t well for the group to realize that they need to help out their fellow neighbor. Yes, all the parents were mad because they were exposed to Covid. As a parent, I would be upset as well but at the same time, I would be proud that they came to me to tell me about her and got her the help she needed.

From that one little act of kindness, the group decided to help the rest of the building from helping the super disinfect the building, to picking up groceries to collecting recycling to walking dogs all while practicing social distancing and wearing a mask.

Not only does the book talk about covid but also mentions the killing of George Floyd and the protest. The kids want to take part but they were told not to go to protests. They try to figure out how they can do it safely. The author did a fantastic job of breaking this discussion down so that kids could understand it and what they could actually do. Yes, they question the fact they are young and if they can make a difference and they can make a difference.

We all need to stand up for what is right, we all need to speak up when we see something that isn’t right, we all need to stop ignoring what is going on around us, we need to stop thinking that the world is about me me me and start taking care of our neighbor/our fellow human being. We need to start treating people with kindness and respect that each one of us deserves. We need to stop the hatred.

About K. Ibura:

K. IBURA is an essayist, science fiction and fantasy short story writer, and painter
from New Orleans, Louisiana. The middle child of five in a family of human
rights activists, she grew up in a hardscrabble neighborhood with oak and fig
trees, locusts and mosquitoes, cousins and neighbors. Her short story collection
Ancient, Ancient won the James Tiptree, Jr. Award for 2012. Ibura’s debut
YA novel will be coming out with Alloy and Harper Teen in spring 2022.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon

Giveaway Details:

3 winners
will receive a finished copy of WHEN THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Nothing Left To Lose
A.J. Wills
Publication date: January 10th 2022
Genres: Adult, Psychological Thriller

When you’ve lost everything – revenge is all that’s left…

After securing the convictions of two violent murderers for a horrific and brutal attack on a pensioner in his own home, Henry’s wife, Abi should be celebrating.

With the nation watching, it was her biggest test as a criminal lawyer.

But someone’s not happy.

First, there’s the hooded stranger who follows her home in the dead of night.

Then comes the attack on her car and a death threat in an anonymous hand-delivered letter.

Someone’s trying to scare them.

Someone wants revenge.

And they’ll stop at nothing until they’ve brought the couple to their knees – and exacted a deadly retribution…

Nothing Left To Lose is an electrifying psychological thriller from the No. 1 bestselling author of his Wife’s Sister.

Goodreads / Amazon

—

EXCERPT:

Where the hell is she?

It’s gone half nine and a niggle of worry rumbles in my gut. A vision of Abi on a hospital trolley flashes through my mind. I shove it away. I’m being silly. Worrying unnecessarily. I’m sure she’s fine.

I snatch up my phone and hit the redial button, willing her to answer, hoping for a slurred apology and the sound of music thumping in the background. At least I would know she was safe.

I listen to a long hiss-filled silence, the blood gushing through my ears.

A click.

Her voice.

And for a split second, I dare to believe I’m through.

‘Abi?’

‘You’ve reached Abigail Pilkington-Hutton. I can’t take your call right now but leave a message.’

I slump in my chair and pinch the bridge of my nose as I ring off, my heart beating a little faster and a little harder. A kaleidoscope of images of my wife’s body dumped by the side of the road, bleeding, lifeless, her eyes staring blankly, spiral through my head.

Stop it.

I refuse to be that husband. She’s perfectly capable of looking after herself. She’s not a child. And yet, I can’t help but worry.

Of course, the lasagne’s ruined. A fiery blast stings my face as I flip open the oven door. I step back to let the curls of steam rush towards the ceiling and peer inside despondently at the charred remains. Shavings of Parmesan cheese are blackened beyond salvation and crusty tracks of meat sauce have bubbled up and hardened over the sides of the ceramic dish. It’s as good as cremated, even though I turned the heat down hours ago.

I slam the door shut. Wasting good food irks me, especially when I’ve put effort into cooking. It’s not as if it’s one of those vile cardboard-tasting ready meals, straight out of a packet. It’s an authentic Italian recipe from a dusty old cookbook I picked up in a secondhand bookstore in town. I used a pinch of rosemary and cubes of pan-fried pancetta for the ragu and a sprinkling of nutmeg in the bechamel sauce. A surprise treat to celebrate the end of Abi’s trial.

I’ve lost count of the number of evenings and weekends she’s given up working on the case. The missed bedtime stories with the girls. The hours going through witness statements “one more time”. After everything she’s sacrificed over the last couple of months, I thought tonight we could spend some time together.

But she’s not come home and her phone’s off.

Author Bio:

AJ Wills is the number one Kindle bestselling author of multiple psychological thrillers.

He was a journalist for 20 years and also ran the communications department at a national charity in the UK.

He has been writing full time since March 2021 and runs the small independent publishing company, Cherry Tree Publishing, with his wife, AJ McDine, a fellow thriller author.

“I’ve always loved thrillers, but psychological thrillers hold a special interest for me because they’re about the scary, insane, disturbing things that happen to ordinary people – and we can all relate to them on some level,” he said.

He lives in Kent in the UK with wife, Amanda, their two teenage sons and two cats.

You can find out more about him by visiting his website: ajwillsauthor.com

Or contact him directly at adrian@ajwillsauthor.com

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram

GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hosted by:

Check Yes, No, or Maybe
Stormie Skyes
Publication date: January 12th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Crappy job. Yes.

Take back an annoying ex. Definitely no.

Hit on the sexy new firm partner looking him over…maybe?

For Aaron Cambrian, life is lived by checklists. No matter how promising, everything – jobs, potential partners, cars, drinks, food, etc – needed to meet all his criteria or he walks away.

Everything changes one night at the cocktail bar when his best friend challenges Aaron to abandon his list and ask the first hot guy who catches his interest if he can buy him a drink.

Thanks to his old nemesis alcohol, Aaron takes the dare! The next thing he knows, he finds himself in the condo of an absolute stranger! It was supposed to be one drink. One accidental kiss… Good thing he’d never see the guy again.

Wrong! When the sexy new partner at Kimball & Marks law firm turns out to be the hot stranger, Aaron is faced with a life-changing decision: keep the checklist or lose the hottest, most frustrating man who ever stole his heart.

Goodreads / Amazon

Author Bio:

A multi-published author of mystery, both Urban and Paranormal, Stormie returned to her love of romantic comedy and contemporary romance. If you love spicy, humorous, and near-erotica stories featuring sexy male protagonists and the men who love them, then look no further. Stormie’s paranormal mystery won quarterfinalist in Screencraft’s novel to screen contest and is a competing finalist in Chanticleer’s International book awards. When Stormie isn’t busy dishing out a new, hot romance, she’s busy blogging her love of books and helping writers become authors.

Website / Newsletter / Facebook / Instagram

GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hosted by:

Two Truths and One Liar
Deirdre Riordan Hall
Publication date: December 27th 2021
Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Young Adult

Knives Out meets One of Us is Lying with a hint of the Inheritance Games. Like the original whodunnit, Clue, this suspenseful mystery also has three possible endings explaining what could have happened.

They all have secrets. They all have motives. They all tell lies.

Every year, at a prestigious boarding school, Professor Groff hosts the Midnight Masquerade. But this year, before the festivities, he’s discovered dead in his office. Yet six students still receive invitations. The same six students who’re questioned about his murder.

The show must go on. At the Masquerade, two additional students claim to know the truth. The lights go out and when they come back on, one of them is dead. Anyone could’ve been at fault.

Francisca blind in one eye and deadly on the rugby field. Toshi a number ninja and the campus punching bag. Taz who struggles with anxiety and lingers in the shadows. Fish the golden boy hiding wounds and not only in his heart. Caroline the heiress and the image of perfection. Gorgeous George the resident Greek God with nothing to lose.

The six receive anonymous notes, making them question themselves and the assumptions they’ve made about each other. Brought back together, they must prove their innocence before the all-school meeting the next morning, otherwise, they risk humiliation if their secrets are exposed exposed—and worse, if they’re found guilty.

It’s a long night of theft, danger, and threats by a secret society that shows Professor Groff was right during his final lecture.

Everything that can go wrong will.

Goodreads / Amazon

—

EXCERPT:

Dean Hammond straightens a stack of papers then looks up. With a severe lift to her eyebrow, she scans those of us present, and then says, “Oliver Groff was found dead in his office at 3:22 pm, shortly after his last class of the day.”

A weight in my stomach sinks just as it did when Arpad made the announcement in the dining hall. Questions roll through my mind and collide when the realization hits me full force. He was alive, teaching earlier today, making dire pronouncements about how basically everything sucks.

Boy, was he right. Now, he’s gone.

The circumstances were different the first and second times someone in my life died but the familiar emptiness, the void, vacancy returns—or maybe it never left.

“Yeah, we heard—” George’s tone tells me he wants to say something more about loss and tragedy, something sentimental perhaps, but he’s hard-wired for nonchalance as the campus crush and most likely to smoke, hook up, and skip classes.

Caroline clasps her hands in front of her chest. Her knuckles pale. “I’m so sorry to hear that.” She pauses. “He was an…efficient teacher.”

I imagine she struggles to think of a nice thing to say about Groff. I sneak a glance at the others because I can’t be the only one wondering why we’re here.

Arpad already announced the news in the Refectory. There’s a good chance not everyone was there. Hammond inhales.

“Francisca Thompson-Sanchez, nice seeing you again.”

Francisca’s expression doesn’t suggest the feeling is mutual, although she is wearing a mud-streaked rugby uniform and likely feels as out of place in the plush office as I do.

“Can you please tell me where you were from the end of English class until now?” Hammond asks.

She focuses on something on the wall behind the dean but her hands tremble slightly. “I went to talk to Mr. Groff after class, but he looked, um, busy. Then I went to the bathroom.” She glances at Caroline. “Uh, then my dorm, followed by rugby practice, and then the Refectory.”

Arpad writes rapidly on a yellow pad.

Hammond’s penetrating gaze lands on a math whiz, gamer kid whose dorm room is by the day student room in my dorm. “I was at the Library then Refectory.” He speaks clearly, but he’s all-over sweaty.

“Tazmin King?” Hammond says, going down the line.

“Taz,” she corrects. Eyeliner stains the space around her big brown eyes like she’s been crying. “After class, I went to my dorm and then dinner. If Oliver died, it was because of a broken heart,” she blurts. Emotion streaks across her features, but she captures it and makes it disappear.

“And how would you know that, Tazmin?” Hammond’s tone is dark.

“It’s none of our business,” she answers. Then it’s as though she ghosts even though she’s still in the room with us. Hammond barely conceals a look of disgust.

“Moving on. John?”

“Maybe the professor was tired of his life and wanted to escape. Suicide? Or maybe he just wanted out. Faked it. On a plane to Tahiti.”

By Hammond’s pinched expression, I instantly realize this is the wrong answer. My sweat now rival’s Toshi’s. I cannot get kicked out. I cannot afford to go back to Burningham. Whatever this is about… I cannot lose my spot here.

“No, we found the body. Poetic though. However, the question was where were you this afternoon?” Accusation fills Hammond’s tone.

“I’m sorry, ma’am. I misunderstood. I was in the dayroom at my dorm, Varth Dader, then lacrosse practice in the lower fields.”

She glances at me dismissively and nods at Caroline. I know all too well not to allow relief to replace the nerves inside. Best to stay alert.

“I was with the Promenade committee, finalizing some items for tomorrow. Wait. You’re not canceling prom because of this are you?” Typical Caroline, always concerned about her agenda.

The goth girl, Taz, narrows her eyes. “It should be after the tree went up in a blaze and now Oliver, I mean Professor Groff, is dead.”

Hammond hardly looks at them. “Ladies, that’s none of your concern. Now, George. If you please.”

“I was in the student center. You can ask Mrs. Carson.” He smirks. Likely, he was hooking up with someone.

“Do any of you have a reason to want Oliver Groff dead?” Hammond’s question is like a stone thrown in a lake. The ripples of this implication could be devastating.

Author Bio:

Deirdre Riordan Hall is the author of the contemporary young adult bestsellers Sugar and Pearl as well as the High School Murder Mystery series. She’s in an ongoing pursuit of words, waves, and wonder. Her love language involves a basket of chips, salsa, and guacamole, preferably when shared with her family.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Newsletter

GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hosted by: