Category: blogging

Lynn Painter lives in Omaha, Nebraska, with her husband and pack of wild children. She’s a biweekly contributor to the Omaha World-Herald’s parenting section, even though she is the polar opposite of a Pinterest mom. When she isn’t chasing kids, she can be found reading, writing, and shot-gunning Red Bulls.

The Books:

In this rom-com about rom-coms, in the spirit of Kasie West and Jenn Bennett, a hopeless romantic teen attempts to secure a happily-ever-after moment with her forever crush, but finds herself reluctantly drawn to the boy next door.

Perpetual daydreamer Liz Buxbaum gave her heart to Michael a long time ago. But her cool, aloof forever crush never really saw her before he moved away. Now that he’s back in town, Liz will do whatever it takes to get on his radar—and maybe snag him as a prom date—even befriend Wes Bennet.

The annoyingly attractive next-door neighbor might seem like a prime candidate for romantic comedy fantasies, but Wes has only been a pain in Liz’s butt since they were kids. Pranks involving frogs and decapitated lawn gnomes do not a potential boyfriend make. Yet, somehow, Wes and Michael are hitting it off, which means Wes is Liz’s in.

But as Liz and Wes scheme to get Liz noticed by Michael so she can have her magical prom moment, she’s shocked to discover that she likes being around Wes. And as they continue to grow closer, she must reexamine everything she thought she knew about love—and rethink her own ideas of what Happily Ever After should look like.

Upcoming Release:

• Mr. Wrong Number (March 2022)
• The Do-Over (summer 2022)
• The Love Wager (spring 2023)
• Mr. Zero Knew (work in progress)

 

The Books:

A trans boy determined to prove his gender to his traditional Latinx family summons a ghost who refuses to leave in Aiden Thomas”s New York Times-bestselling paranormal YA debut Cemetery Boys, described by Entertainment Weekly as “groundbreaking.”

Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.

When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his true gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.

However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie off some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.

When children start to go missing in the local woods, a teen girl must face her fears and a past she can’t remember to rescue them in this atmospheric YA novel, Lost in the Never Woods by the author of Cemetery Boys.

It’s been five years since Wendy and her two brothers went missing in the woods, but when the town’s children start to disappear, the questions surrounding her brothers” mysterious circumstances are brought back into the light. Attempting to flee her past, Wendy almost runs over an unconscious boy lying in the middle of the road…

Peter, a boy she thought lived only in her stories, asks for Wendy’s help to rescue the missing kids. But, in order to find them, Wendy must confront what’s waiting for her in the woods.

 

 

 

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the THE POWER OF PIGGY BEAR by Mara James Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

 

About the Book:

Title: THE POWER OF PIGGY BEAR

Author: Mara James, Matthew Mew
(Illustrations)

Pub. Date: March 2, 2021

Publisher: Brown Books Kids

Formats: Hardcover

Pages: 32

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, TBD, Bookshop.org

Extraordinary Lives Foundation Founder and CEO Mara James releases her debut children’s picture book to promote Mental Health Awareness and Wellness!

Do you ever feel sad, lonely, or worried? What about angry, or scared? These feelings can be hard to fell, can’t they? It would be much easier to just feel happy all the time! But everyone feels these ways sometimes, and it’s nothing to be scared or worried about. As long as you know helpful ways to handle your feelings, everything will be OK! And that is what Piggie Bear is for! Piggie Bear shows children everywhere just how amazing they are, each and everyone. And Piggie Bear also shows children different
techniques they can use to work through emotions that are hard to feel and understand. The Power of Piggie Bear is an important emotional tool, created for young children to learn how to identify, process, and manage their own feelings in a healthy way.

Mara Reads THE POWER OF PIGGY BEAR

Hello Readers! Welcome to the Cover Reveal for

Under the Milky Way by Vanessa Barneveld

presented by Entangled Teen!

What do you think of the cover?

Cassidy Roekiem is just an average teen girl from Colorado. Her parents are divorced, she has a cliché crush on the hot new boy, and her social life exists solely through the efforts of a well-meaning best friend. Until suddenly her life turns upside down.

First, that “hot new boy,” Hayden, asks her out. And one night when they’re driving through the isolated, winding roads of Saddleback Ridge after dark, something happens that neither one of them can explain…

Bright lights in the middle of the forest. Whole blocks of time they can’t remember. They’re nauseous and disoriented. We’re talking full-on episode of The X-Files. But when her fuzzy mind clears, she’s back home, and so is Hayden. Um, what?

Hayden has always been sweet and caring and fun. But now it’s like he’s hiding something. He knows something, and she can’t be sure who he really is anymore or how everything is connected to her. When it happens again…and again, Cassidy needs answers—and fast—because one of these times, she might not wake up at all.

Under the Milky Way by Vanessa Barneveld Publication Date: August 3, 2021 Publisher: Entangled Teen

Australian Vanessa Barneveld lives in a 19th-century house in inner-city Sydney with a 21st-century husband, two eccentric cats and one ghost—all of whom provide inspiration for her spirited novels. In addition to her writing career, she’s part of a crack team that produces closed captions for deaf TV viewers and audio descriptions for the blind. An avid traveler, she enjoys the journeys almost as much as the destinations. She freely admits to being food motivated and will stop at nothing to find the perfect hot chips wherever she roams around the world.

Website | Twitter | Facebook

Monique Polak is the author of over twenty novels for kids and young adults. She has also written two nonfiction books for kids as well as a board book for toddlers. Monique teaches English literature, creative writing and humanities at Marianopolis College in Montreal, Quebec. For more information, visit moniquepolak.com.

The Books:

I read both of these books and I really need to do a reread of them and post reviews of them.

• Princess Angelica, Junior Reporter/Part-Time Lion Trainer/Camp Catastrophe
• The Taste of Rain
• Room For One More
• I am a Feminist
• PassoverFamily
• Bullies Rule
• Leggings Revolt
• Forensics Squad Unleashed
• Passover: Festival of Freedom
• Learning the Ropes
• Hate Mail
• Straight Punch
• Pyro
• Miracleville
• The Middle of Everywhere
• Junkyard Dog
• What is Left?
• 121 Express
• Scarred
• Finding Elmo
• All In
• Home Invasion
• On The Game
• No More Pranks
• Flip Turn

This is another author that I am embarrassed to admit that I just haven’t read their backlist titles and I need to work on that.

I have had the chance to meet with Monique several times and she is an awesome person. Very generous with her time when you speak with her.

Hello Readers! Welcome to the Cover Reveal for Curse of Shadows by A.K. Wilder presented by Entangled Teen!

What do you think of the cover?

Get lost in the adventure and fantasy of the Amassa series, which SLJ called “a magical, enthralling world that keeps readers engaged from the first page,” perfect for fans of Shadow and Bone or The Bone Witch. Secrets will be revealed and choices will be made as Ash, Marcus, and Kaylin race to raise their phantoms and save the world.

Curse of Shadows (Amassia #2) by A.K. Wilder Publication Date: January 4, 2022 Publisher: Entangled Teen

A.K. Wilder is a bestselling speculative fiction author with nine published novels in Australia. Originally from California, she lives on the far eastern coast of Australia with a house full of kids and one extraordinary spotted cat. Her favorite pastimes, besides daydreaming, include meditation, yoga, organic gardening, and weight training. Her novel writing is done in the early hours of the morning.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Just a reminder that SYNC Summer Audiobooks is now available. You can pick up a free audiobook or audiobooks if you decided to read both for free. This week’s selection is available from May 6th to 12th.

Narrator Caitlin Davies reflects the terrible confusion of 18-year-old Zofia, who has recently been liberated from Gross-Rosen concentration camp in Germany. She is haunted by memories of her younger brother, Abek, who may be her only family member still alive. Davies’s narration doesn’t hold back on emotions as the story reveals Zofia’s past hell, broken present, and future hopes. Dramatic musical interludes add to the power of Zofia’s attempts to remember what happened to her brother. At Foehrenwald, a displaced persons camp, Davies reflects Zofia’s awakening feelings, which are both positive and disturbing amid the chaos of the world around her. Davies takes us on a powerful journey at a singular time. The author reads an afterword documenting her process and recommending books she discovered while researching and writing. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award.

Listeners will appreciate the warmth and gumption that narrator Bahni Turpin brings to this startling story of injustice, inspired by the author’s real-life reporting. Teenager Trell Taylor is determined to reinvestigate the case that led to her father’s wrongful conviction for murder. Trell enlists the help of a misanthropic investigative journalist to revisit witnesses and track down the real killer. Turpin captures the emotional pain that Trell and her mother face in the aftermath of her father’s incarceration. The story also allows room for hard facts and journalism lessons. Turpin takes care to soften her “r”s to evoke a classic Boston accent for the big-name cops and prosecutors who want the case to stay buried.