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MTL YA Fest Author/Book Spotlight: Courtney Summers

Posted on May 12, 2021August 7, 2021 by Cindy

About The Author:

Courtney Summers is the bestselling and critically acclaimed author of several novels for young adults, including Cracked Up to Be, All the Rage, and Sadie. Her work has been released to multiple starred reviews, received numerous awards and honors – including the Edgar Award, John Spray Mystery Award, Cybils Award, and Odyssey Award – and has been recognized by many libraries, ‘Best Of’ and Readers’ Choice lists. She lives and writes in a small town in southeastern Ontario.

The Books:

Some Girls Are: A Novel Fall for Anything Cracked Up To Be: A Novel

(I am embarrassed to admit that I have those books sitting in my TBR. I definitely need to bring them out to read.)

Sadie
All The Rage
This is Not a Test

Newest Release:

The Project: A Novel

From Courtney Summers, the New York Times bestselling author of the 2019 Edgar Award Winner and breakout hit Sadie, comes her electrifying follow-up-a suspenseful, a pulls-no-punches story about an aspiring young journalist determined to save her sister no matter the cost.

Lo Denham is used to being on her own. After her parents died in a tragic car accident, her sister Bea joined the elusive community called The Unity Project, leaving Lo to fend for herself. Desperate not to lose the only family she has left, Lo has spent the last six years trying to reconnect with Bea, only to be met with radio silence.

When Lo’s given the perfect opportunity to gain access to Bea”s reclusive life, she thinks they’re finally going to be reunited. But it’s difficult to find someone who doesn’t want to be found, and as Lo delves deeper into The Project and its charismatic leader, she begins to realize that there’s more at risk than just her relationship with Bea: her very life might be in danger.

As she uncovers more questions than answers at each turn, everything Lo thought she knew about herself, her sister, and the world is upended. One thing doesn’t change, though, and that’s what keeps her going: Bea needs her, and Lo will do anything to save her.

Review: Brat An 80’s Story

Posted on May 11, 2021May 15, 2021 by Cindy

Brat: An '80s Story Published by Grand Central Publishing on May 11, 2021
Pages: 240
Goodreads

Fans of Patti Smith's Just Kids and Rob Lowe's StoriesI Only Tell My Friends will love this beautifully written, entertaining, and emotionally honest memoir by an actor, director, and author who found his start as an 80s Brat pack member. Most people know Andrew McCarthy from his movie roles in Pretty in Pink, St. Elmo's Fire, Weekend at Bernie's, and Less than Zero, and as a charter member of Hollywood's Brat Pack. That iconic group of ingenues and heartthrobs included Rob Lowe, Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, and Demi Moore, and has come to represent both a genre of film and an era of pop culture. In his memoir Brat: An '80s Story, McCarthy focuses his gaze on that singular moment in time. The result is a revealing look at coming of age in a maelstrom, reckoning with conflicted ambition, innocence, addiction, and masculinity. New York City of the 1980s is brought to vivid life in these pages, from scoring loose joints in Washington Square Park to skipping school in favor of the dark revival houses of the Village where he fell in love with the movies that would change his life. Filled with personal revelations of innocence lost to heady days in Hollywood with John Hughes and an iconic cast of characters, Brat is a surprising and intimate story of an outsider caught up in a most unwitting success.

When I say the name Andrew McCarthy, what comes to mind? I am sure you instantly think 80s movie actor (Pretty in Pink, Mannequin, St. Elmo’s Fire and Weekend at Bernie’s) or a member of the Brat pack (which we discover wasn’t a close-knit band of friendships like we all thought it to be) but did you know that he is a director and author as well?

I am a teen from the ’80s and I am not going to lie, but I had a huge crush on Andrew. I mean with his boyish charm and good looks how could you not have a crush on him?

A few years ago I was fortunate enough to get the chance to meet Andrew at Book Expo (2013) when he was promoting his audiobook for The Longest Way Home: One Man’s Quest for the Courage to Settle Down (which I plan on posting a review very soon for this). It was a panel that I loved listening to and hearing Andrew speak about his book and not his fame was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Afterward, he was graciously signing copies of the audiobook and I gathered all the courage in the world to ask for a photo.

To this day I cherish that moment in time because after reading Brat: An 80’s Story you can tell Andrew never felt comfortable with the overall fame he received. Yes, he rolled with it but deep down he would rather be somewhere else when it comes to premieres, parties, hanging out with other actors etc. So, looking back on that moment yes I do cherish it but at the same time, I feel bad knowing he was probably not comfortable but doing it because he didn’t want to disappoint.

After reading this you realize that what you see on your screens is just one version of the person and that there is actually much more to the person and in Andrew’s case you see one thing but in reality, he is struggling from insecurities of being a late bloomer, he nervous and anxious. He admits in the book that many times he sabotaged things but his drinking. He is struggling to fit in and find his place. He was trying to be a people pleaser and do what was expected of him. I mean how could you blame him because people were constantly telling him negative things.

If you’re looking for a kiss and tell-all book about Hollywood, making movies, behind-the-scenes juicy details with fellow castmates this is not it. This is Andrew telling his story of growing up, being an actor from going to school in NYC to auditioning and finally becoming a director. He never throws anyone under the bus. He shows that there is more to Andrew than we know.

Release Day: Brats An 80’s Story @AndrewTMcCarthy

Posted on May 11, 2021August 7, 2021 by Cindy

ABOUT

Fans of Patti Smith’s Just Kids and Rob Lowe’s StoriesI Only Tell My Friends will love this beautifully written, entertaining, and emotionally honest memoir by an actor, director, and author who found his start as an 80s Brat pack member.

Most people know Andrew McCarthy from his movie roles in Pretty in Pink, St. Elmo’s Fire, Weekend at Bernie’s, and Less than Zero, and as a charter member of Hollywood’s Brat Pack. That iconic group of ingenues and heartthrobs included Rob Lowe, Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, and Demi Moore, and has come to represent both a genre of film and an era of pop culture.

In his memoir Brat: An ’80s Story, McCarthy focuses his gaze on that singular moment in time. The result is a revealing look at coming of age in a maelstrom, reckoning with conflicted ambition, innocence, addiction, and masculinity. New York City of the 1980s is brought to vivid life in these pages, from scoring loose joints in Washington Square Park to skipping school in favor of the dark revival houses of the Village where he fell in love with the movies that would change his life.

Filled with personal revelations of innocence lost to heady days in Hollywood with John Hughes and an iconic cast of characters, Brat is a surprising and intimate story of an outsider caught up in a most unwitting success.

I am super excited that Brat: An 80’s Story by Andrew McCarthy is releasing today. I am currently waiting for Chapters to email me to tell me to come and pick up my order because I am hoping to spend the afternoon reading it.

If you know me in real life you know that I absolutely love Andrew McCarthy and getting this book is a no-brainer for me.

A few years ago I was fortunate enough to get the chance to meet Andrew at Book Expo (2013) when he was promoting his audiobook for The Longest Way Home: One Man’s Quest for the Courage to Settle Down. It was a panel that I loved listening to and hearing Andrew speak about the book was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Afterwards, he was graciously signing copies of the audiobook and I gathered all the courage in the world to ask for a photo. I have to thank my totally awesome friend Kate from http://www.midnightbookgirl.com/ for snapping this photo for me.

Check back tomorrow because I will be sharing my review of the book.

MTL YA Fest Author/Book Spotlight: Angeline Boulley

Posted on May 11, 2021August 7, 2021 by Cindy

Angeline Boulley, an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians is a storyteller who writes about her Ojibwe community in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. She is a former Director of the Office of Indian Education at the U.S. Department of Education. Angeline lives in southwest Michigan, but her home will always be on Sugar Island. Firekeeper’s Daughter is her debut novel.

The Book:

With four starred reviews, Angeline Boulley”s debut novel, Firekeeper”s Daughter, is a groundbreaking YA thriller about a Native teen who must root out the corruption in her community, perfect for readers of Angie Thomas and Tommy Orange.

Eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. She dreams of a fresh start at college, but when family tragedy strikes, Daunis puts her future on hold to look after her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi”s hockey team.

Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into an FBI investigation of a lethal new drug.

Reluctantly, Daunis agrees to go undercover, drawing on her knowledge of chemistry and Ojibwe traditional medicine to track down the source. But the search for truth is more complicated than Daunis imagined, exposing secrets and old scars. At the same time, she grows concerned with an investigation that seems more focused on punishing the offenders than protecting the victims.

Now, as the deceptions and deaths keep growing, Daunis must learn what it means to be a strong Anishinaabe kwe (Ojibwe woman) and how far she”ll go for her community, even if it tears apart the only world she’s ever known.

Book Spotlight: Gutter Girl

Posted on May 10, 2021May 10, 2021 by Cindy

Gutter Girl by Lynn Rush and Kelly Anne Blount

Publication Date: May 10, 2021

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Star football player Jace Rovers has a secret. And not just any secret—a shocking secret… He writes romance. The kind with swords. And dresses. And kissing.

Nobody knows. Not the other kids at Twin River High. Not his overbearing parents. And certainly not the millions of fans who’ve read his book on the writing platform Scribbles. And that’s the way he plans to keep it.

Except suddenly one of the other football players grabs his notebook in jest and starts reading a kissing scene out loud…and Jace knows he’s busted.

But then McKenna Storm, resident goth girl who avoids the spotlight like a virus, snatches up the notebook and tells everyone she’s the author. And lucky for Jace, she later agrees to continue the ruse…for a price.

Heck, he’d give her anything not to reveal his secret. But when they start to fall for each other, he knows he’ll have to keep the biggest secret of all—his darkest character is based on her…

Link to Goodreads:

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57751604-gutter-girl

Purchase Links:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B092T9J2KK?tag=entangpublis-20&name=Gutter%20Girl

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B092T9J2KK?tag=entangpublis-20&name=Gutter%20Girl

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B092T9J2KK?tag=entangpublis-20&name=Gutter%20Girl

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B092T9J2KK?tag=entangpublis-20&name=Gutter%20Girl

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/9781649371720?name=Gutter%20Girl

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn9781649371720?name=Gutter%20Girl

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?Query=9781649371720&name=Gutter%20Girl

About The Authos:

New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author, Lynn Rush, is a full-time writer, wife, and trail runner living in the Sonoran Desert, despite her fear of rattle snakes. Known as #TheRunningWriter, Lynn can’t resist posting epic sunrise pictures while running in the desert with her trail sisters, even if she has to occasionally hop a scorpion.

When she’s not running or writing, she’s watching movies that fuel her everlasting love of superheroes, vampires, and all things Supernatural. The books she reads usually carry the same theme, but this former college athlete loves reading sweet sports romances as well. She’s madly in love with her Ironman husband of 20+ years who is the inspiration for what true love is. You can find her on social media as @LynnRushWrites

KELLY ANNE BLOUNT is a USA Today bestselling author of young adult novels. When she’s not writing, she’s probably lost in a book, watching Twilight, snuggling her five furry rescues, or having an adventure with her handsome husband and their darling daughter. After living in a palace in Scotland, across from the Caribbean Sea, and in the snowy land of Wisconsin, Kelly and her family reside in beautiful Asheville, North Carolina. Kelly loves connecting with readers on social media! Stop by and say, “Hi!” or ask a question. You can find her everywhere @KellyAnneBlount.

Website | Twitter | Facebook

Link to Tour Schedule:

http://www.chapter-by-chapter.com/tour-schedule-gutter-girl-by-lynn-rush-and-kelly-anne-blount/

Review: Just Fly Away by @AndrewTMcCarthy

Posted on May 10, 2021August 7, 2021 by Cindy

Just Fly Away Published by Algonquin Young Readers on March 28, 2017
Pages: 260
Goodreads

“Ever wish that you could just fly away?”
When fifteen-year-old Lucy Willows discovers that her father has a child from a brief affair, a eight-year-old boy who lives in her own suburban New Jersey town, she begins to question everything she thinks she knows about her home and her life. How could Lucy’s father have betrayed the entire family? How could her mother forgive him? And why isn’t her sister rocked by the news the way Lucy is?
As her father’s secret becomes her own, Lucy grows more and more isolated from her friends, her family, and even her boyfriend, Simon, the one person she thought understood her. When Lucy escapes to Maine, the home of her mysteriously estranged grandfather, she finally begins to get to the bottom of her family’s secrets and lies.

I have to first begin this review by saying that I am a huge Andrew McCarthy fan (he is my all-time celebrity crush) and I was beyond thrilled when I got to meet him at BEA 2013 when he was talking about his audiobook The Longest Way Home. This was one of the panels I really wanted to attend. He was super sweet and friendly and was gracious enough to take a picture with me.

Okay, enough gushing and onto my review of Just Fly Away. I had to buy (June 13, 2017) and read right away when I got it and since the original review I might have reread this a few times since then.

This is his first young adult novel.

I really wanted to savor this book but I just couldn’t I literally read this in one sitting.

Lucy is a fifteen-year-old girl who overhears a conversation that her mother and father are having about an affair he had nine years ago and if that isn’t devastating she finds out she also has a half-brother who is eight years old and living in the same town as them. Her father no longer has contact with the mother of the child.

Lucy is torn up because it seems like everyone has gotten over the affair. Her mother is still with her father, her sister basically couldn’t care less and this is tearing Lucy up inside. She is furious with her father and I think she has every right to be mad. Lucy tries to talk to her friends and her boyfriend but everyone seems to be okay and what is done is done. But how can it be?

Lucy decides she needs to get away so she runs off to Maine to visit her grandfather. I think this was one of my favorite parts of the book watching the relationship grow between granddaughter and grandfather. I think this is where Lucy truly grew up in the book. This was the healing point for her relationship with her father.

I really enjoyed reading the book the first and many times since. I would definitely read Andrew’s next book if one was to come out. Who am I kidding, I will read anything Andrew writes.

MTL YA Fest Author/Book Spotlight: Regina Hansen

Posted on May 10, 2021August 7, 2021 by Cindy

Regina Hansen was born on Prince Edward Island and grew up there, Montreal, and Boston. She teaches at Boston University and is also a contributor to The Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Filmic Monsters. She has written regular articles for the nationally circulated children’s magazine DIG into History, and her essays have also appeared in The Wall Street Journal Review and The Conversation. The Coming Storm is her first novel. Visit her at ReginaMHansen.com.

Photo by Dominic Kemmett

Upcoming Release:

The Coming Storm

Music, myth, and horror blend in this romantic, atmospheric fantasy debut about a teen girl who must fight a powerful evil that’s invaded her Prince Edward Island home—perfect for fans of An Enchantment of Ravens.

There’s a certain wild magic in the salt air and the thrum of the sea. Beet MacNeill has known this all her life. It added spice to her childhood adventures with her older cousin, Gerry, the two of them thick as thieves as they explored their Prince Edward Island home. So when Gerry comes up the path one early spring morning, Beet thinks nothing of it at first. But he is soaking wet and silent, and he plays a haunting tune on his fiddle that chills Beet to the bone. Something is very, very wrong.

Things only get worse when Marina Shaw saunters into town and takes an unsettling interest in Gerry’s new baby. Local lore is filled with tales of a vicious shape-shifting sea creature and the cold, beautiful woman who controls him—a woman who bears a striking resemblance to Marina. Beet is determined to find out what happened to her beloved cousin, and to prevent the same fate from befalling the handsome new boy in town who is winning her heart, whether she wants him to or not. Yet the sea always exacts a price…