Just Sing and Never Stop


Manic Monday Post!

Just Sing by Rene Gilley

Release Date: June 5 2014 (in eBook and Paperback)

Summary from Goodreads:

Sixteen-year-old Lily has always dreamt of singing professionally and being the first person in her family to attend college. Two years into her four-year plan, she’s on track for acceptance into her dream prestigious music program at Berkeley.

 

That is until the school board holds an emergency budget meeting and cuts her high school’s award-winning vocal program. So, Lily now has the summer before her junior year to formulate a new strategy, or she can kiss her hopes of getting into Berkeley goodbye.

 

Then there is Aiden--he’s broken and beautiful, and they become reluctant friends in the summer  when her family is on the verge of losing a generations-old family estate and ranch.

 

Suddenly her plan of attending Berkeley and her dream of being a star singer all seem irrelevant and selfish. All that matters is saving her family’s home. Lily must now realize that stepping out of her comfort zone and taking a risk may just be the key to save the home she loves. 

 

About the Author:

A true California girl, René Gilley is a young adult and new adult author whose home state is often the backdrop for her books.  A mom, a wife, and a breast cancer survivor--these three roles shape her writing identity and reveal what is most important in her life.   René always uses a portion of her book profits to support breast cancer awareness, research, and patient care. 

 

Her visual inspiration for Just Sing can be found on Pinterest.

Website: Listen to Your Gut. Trust Your Heart.

Twitter: @ReneGilley

Facebook: Rene Gilley

Goodreads: Author Page

The Writer's Coffee Shop

 

 

Dear Readers,

 

With the popularity of shows like American Idol and The Voice, Gilley's Just Sing promises to bring high engagement to any YA reader who dreams of the stage, lives the stage, or enjoys the stage as a spectator. 

 

But really, Just Sing will engage any reader who has high aspirations and goals set for after high school graduation.  Lily, it seems, is ahead of the game, having fulfilled two years of her four year plan. She is doing everything she needs to do in school and in her academic life to get what she wants--enrollment at one of the most prestigious music programs in the nation, Berkeley.

 

As life would have it, though, unforeseen circumstances come to interrupt.  From the loss of the vocal music program at her high school to the impending loss of a family estate, it seems to Lily that all may not turn out as she dreams. 

 

And with her world seemingly turned upside down, there is no more room for any other mishap, much less a boy who at times gives mixed signals. 

 

By the end, Lily and readers will understand that the best life is often the unexpected life.  A life wherein you still meet your dreams but in a way you had not expected.  The passion for singing, for writing, for dancing, for studying organic compounds, for whatever, never really leaves.  The dream may change, the dream may have more than one avenue, the dream may seem to leave for a season, but in the end, whatever real dream is achieved may be better than the initial dream.  For Lily, this means Just Sing.

 

P.S. This one is for my daughter!  And her love of music and singing.  I still remember her first talent show at F.D. Roosevelt when she begged to audition and was determined to prove to the world that a pint-sized kinder girl could memorize and sing a lengthy instrumental track for a favorite Christian song.  Now 14, she is still singing the heck out of songs and waiting for that day when she too will Just Sing to thousands on the stage.  She has done it here in our hometown and all over Youtube, but one day...

 

 

Fictionally Yours Siempre,

 

 

Minerva

 

Princess of the Light Finds Her Purpose

 

Thursday Trailer

 

Princess of the Light by N.N. Light

 

Release Date: August 26, 2014

 

And the best part of all this?  Enter to win a book poster signed by the author!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Summary from Publisher:

Miriam Miller likes the simple things in life: a good book, close friends, and a healthy relationship with God. But, destiny comes calling, and her neat, little life turns upside down.

Ethanial, an angel of God, has been sent to reveal Miriam's true calling -– she is the Princess of the Light, the woman chosen by God Himself to vanquish the demons intent on infusing the world with evil. And her first assignment: restore the soul of a homeless man known only as The Walking Man.

Enter Joe Deacons, a man intent on stealing her heart. But as Miriam embarks on her journey to save the Walking Man and fulfill her calling, it becomes clear that Joe isn’t what he appears to be. Miriam must decide: Is she willing to risk her soul to save those she loves

Author Bio:

N.N. Light was born in Minnesota and later lived in Southern California only to eventually move to chilly Ontario, Canada where she married her beloved husband, Mr. N.

She is blissfully happy and loves all things chocolate and bookish.  She is also an avid enthusiast of music, movies, art, sports, and baking.
 

Webpage: Princess of the Light

Blog: Princess of the Light @ Wordpress

Twitter: @NNP_W_Light

Pinterest: NNLight

Goodreads: Princess of the Light @ Goodreads

 

http://anaiahpress.com/

 

 

Dear Readers,

Truly amazing how media kits from publishers can make the entire world of YA blogging as simple as copy/paste. But I am not content with just doing this--I must write something or then this is not a personal blog, right?

Though I have not read Princess of the Light, I can tell you I judge whether or not I will promote a work of fiction by the level of professionalism presented by either the author or publisher (but mainly the publisher)--meaning the effort they have placed in creating a top-notch product, in reaching out to the ordinary blogger like myself, and in utilizing social media.

Second is whether or not I like the cover art, the premise of the work, and the writing itself--all of which basically points back to the professional quality of the entire package.

As for Anaiah Press, I also like that I favorited a tweet by one of the agents and that this person actually DM-ed me about submitting my manuscript if ever I should have one ready that fits what they are looking for:)

This press is active, this press is in the now, and this press cares about their own authors and all of the potential authors, and the regular bloggers of the world.

As for the book, yes, it has a highly Christian theme, but it sometimes seems to me that YA needs the diversity of Christianity on its shelves.

I mean, pretty much every single teen in my classroom usually includes religious beliefs whenever I assign a journal topic such as "personal autobiography" or "what do humans need." Ok, it may be that because I live in a region with a high Catholic following that many of my students write about church or about needing to have faith in God--not that any of them do not question their faith or never find themselves doubting their faith--because in their journal writing a good number of them will bring some of these ideas out.

Either way, the best YA makes a connection with the YA readership, so if the readership in my classroom is largely Catholic, then wouldn't some of these students probably have interest in reading novels with a protagonist who views the world in terms of Christian spirituality on some levels?

On a side note, this week I read a YA with several of the characters seriously angry at God and with one finding a small sense of peace on the steps of a mosque. One may argue well that the diversity in this un-named YA is that the novel is exposing readers to other major world religions. This is true--this is adding diversity--but on the other had, where are the books where teens find peace at the steps of a Baptist church? 

P.S. What sounds better than a book where good battles against evil? This is one archetypical pattern that never gets old. This is what Princess of the Light promises to bring--so that there is enough for me to want to read it.



Fictionally Yours Siempre,

Minerva

 

 

Teens' Choice Award and TFIOS

Voting starts today for the 2014 Children’s Choice Book Awards and the 2014 Teens’ Choice Book Award.  Vote here:  http://www.ccbookawards.com/!

Nominees for Teen Book of the Year:

Allegiant by Veronica Roth (Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins)
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (St. Martin’s Press)
Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices) by Cassandra Clare (Margaret K. McElderry/S&S)
Smoke by Ellen Hopkins (Margaret K. McElderry/S&S)
The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey (Putnam)

Dear Readers,

 

Please show your support for these fine authors any day and any time between today, March 25, through May 12.   

 

Finalists are determined with the help of Teenreads.com with over 7000 teens voting.  The five titles with the highest number of votes are then up for the title of Teen Book of the Year.

The voting, sponsored by the Children’s Book Council, reported over 1 million children and teens participating in the online selection for their favorites last year.  Of course, the winner for the 2013 Teen Book of the Year is The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.  If you ask me, TFIOS could have been nominated again this year and could have won again!

In honor of last year’s winner here is my original, brief review of the TFIOS from a previous post (with a few changes):

I am in love with the authentic YA voice, and that coupled with some of the best writing YA has to offer (ala the greatness of all that is John Green) is what brilliant and contemporary YA is all about. It's YA with heartbreak, with happy and tragic, with awful and beautiful. Not to mention, the obvious allusions to so many things Shakespeare scattered perfectly throughout the novel, with best allusion being the title itself:  "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars/ But in ourselves" from The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.

We English teachers just can not get away from a yearly dose of Shakespeare. I mean, I got this allusion on the first glimpse of the title, The Fault in Our Stars, way back when it came out about a two years ago or more. But you know, the title and all its implications bring to mind another Shakespearean tragedy instead. You know, the one about star crossed lovers... I guess it's in the word stars.

I feel sad already :(

I know many, many of you have already read this novel, so I am too many months/ years late for a review, but here is a brief summary from Goodreads. com If by chance you have not yet read it, then you are missing out. It's like me asking "And you, Reader?" (Just like "Et tu, Brute?" from Julius Caesar, meaning that you are betraying the YA genre by not having read The Fault in Our Stars.)

"Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now.

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind."

And don’t forget the movie!

And if I were a teenager eligible of voting, my vote would go to the closest equivilant of TFIOS on this year's list--Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. 

P.S. I dedicate this entire post to one of the biggest John Green fans--Anissa Lopez, a beautiful, smart, courageous survivor of the big C and high school life in general.  You are absolutely awesome!  Go class of 2015! Go Bears!

Fictionally Yours Siempre,

Minerva

Perfect Chemistry When Opposites Attract

 

 

 

#TBT and Thursday Trailer: Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Original post from 2010 on my first blog:

So, here is a very fun book trailer for one of the many books I've been reading lately--Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles. I haven't gotten very far yet, but so far I enjoy the alternating points of view in the chapters and I like the Spanish phrases and lingo. It's about time Latino culture is part of a mainstream book.

 

I especially love the book cover, don't you?

Summary (from author's webpage):

A modern tale of star-crossed lovers with a fresh urban twist.

 

At Fairfield High School, on the outskirts of Chicago , everyone knows that south-siders mixing with north-siders can be explosive. So when Brittany Ellis and Alejandro “Alex” Fuentes are forced to be lab partners in chemistry class, this human experiment leads to unexpected revelations – that Brittany's flawless reputation is a cover for her troubled home life, that Alex’s bad-boy persona hides his desire to break free from gang ties, and that when they’re together, life somehow makes more sense. Breaking through the stereotypes and expectations that threaten to keep Brittany and Alex apart, Perfect Chemistry takes readers to both sides of the tracks in a passionate love story about looking beneath the surface.
 

Looking Back, 2014

 

Dear Readers,

 

Perfect Chemistry was first published on Decemeber 23, 2008 (which happens to the exact day and year that my husband turned 35) and is indeed an enjoyable read for the weekend, but it may not be one to literally keep you glued to the page. 

 

The summary is spot on regarding plot and the ideas of "stereotypes and expectations."  The one minor criticism I have is that it relies too much on the stereotypes and almost "Disny-fies" these stereotypes. 

 

I live in a region of Texas with notorious gang activity in certain areas, and Alex Fuentes is too good of a guy to be classified as a gangbanger.  BUT I like that Alex represents something positive (although if he really looked like a true gang member and acted like one, there is no way Brittany would be with him--many gang members are usually really hard core, and they don't leave their chola girfriends).  It is true, though, that you practically have to be killed to get out of a gang as shown by Elkeles.

 

I like his guts, his bad boy-good boy image, and the Perfect Chemistry between Alex and Brittany. 

Maybe too perfect in a story all neatly wrapped up with a semi-predictable ending and with a bad boy gone good and a good girl finding someone beyond her everyday, privileged experience.

 

Just as in 2010, I still truly appreciate the fact that Simone Elkeles has made it a priority to include Latino characters and Spanish lingo for that growing spectrum of young people of Latino origin who are buying YA books. 

 

About 97% of my high school students are Mexican American.  And of the ones that are reading--well, they are reading John Green or Veronica Roth.  They are not reading enough of those authors bringing more diversity to mainstream YA. 

 

So for this, I bump up the book from 2.5 stars to 3.5 stars.  Thank you, Simone Elkeles.

 

Fictionally Yours Siempre,

 

Minerva

 

 

 

Heir to the Lamp Creates Magic

 

Manic Monday Post!

 

By Michelle Lowery Combs, Author of Heir to the Lamp

Dear Readers,

It’s a potent fantasy, one that captures the minds of many young readers and sticks with them forever. As an adult, I’m always on the lookout for everyday magic around me: a perfect sunset, the smiles of a sleeping baby, the flow of a perfect piece of prose; but I also enjoy, thanks to some favorite fairytale and fantasy stories of my youth, contemplating the possibilities of cloaks of invisibility, talking animals, and parallel universes that can open themselves up to someone simply waiting at a train station.

When I began planning Heir to the Lamp, my first young adult fantasy novel about a teenage genie, I knew that the story would include more than a little magic. I set out to research genie folklore, which would set me on new paths of discovery that paralleled, crisscrossed, and intersected one another until they would have looked like a road map if plotted out in black and white. There was so much to explore. I’d never imagined the roots of so many mythical and fairytale creatures could be traced back to the genie, or djinni as it’s called in one of the oldest traditions. Angels, demons, ghouls, sprites, faeries and leprechauns—all thought by some to be genies by another name. And then there were the magical objects associated with the versatile djinn—everything from the Arabian Nights style brass lamp to mirrors and polished scrying glasses used to imprison genies at the will of their masters.

The possibilities for Heir to the Lamp seemed endless, and I had a great deal of fun turning the idea of the genie’s lamp, a traditionally unbearably cramped prison for unfortunate djinn, on its head. In my favorite fantasies from childhood, it was most often a character’s experience with an enchanted object that lay at the heart of his or her story: The Hobbit and his ring tricked from a golem, Snow White and her stepmother’s sinister talking mirror.

In Heir to the Lamp readers will discover how a seemingly ordinary oil lamp turns out to be anything but and connects a teenage girl to a 3,000 year-old genie. I have never ceased to wonder at the countless examples of real and ordinary magic all around us as we go about our day to day lives, nor will I ever grow too old to imagine the possibilities of mermaid combs, seven league boots, or a brass oil lamp that contains an entire ocean and private island waiting to be explored. I hope you enjoy Heir to the Lamp!

Fictionally Yours Siempre,

Michelle Lowery Combs

(As posted by a guest author for Fictionally Yours Siempre)

Hello, YA World!  I needed a new start!  So, please leave Athena's YA Books and migrate here!  I will post something relevant later...