Fun Book News!

Meg Cabot is celebrating the release of Size 12 and Ready to Rock, the latest book in her Heather Wells mystery series, by giving us an--OH MY GOD, is that an '80s-style pop music video?!?!?!



(It is.)

See Meg Cabot on tour in the US this summer!

July 10: Des Moines, Iowa – Des Moines Public Library (7 pm)
July 12: Cincinnati, Ohio – Joseph Beth Booksellers (7 pm)
July 13: Dayton, Ohio – Books & Co (7 pm)
July 14: Cleveland, Ohio – Cuyahoga Public Library at the Independence High School auditorium (2 pm)
July 15: Pittsburgh, PA – Barnes & Noble, Homestead (2 pm)
July 17: Lansing, MI – Schuler Books & Music (6 pm)
July 19: Indianapolis, IN – Barnes & Noble, Carmel (7 pm)

-

In other news, the first book in Cassandra Clare's bestselling Mortal Instruments series, City of Bones, is now on e-book sale for $0.99! I already own the series in p-book form, but have been wanting the chance to buy the e-book for my Kindle for a cheap price. It's not litt-ruh-chur, but it's guilty-pleasure fun nevertheless.

-

Finally, if you've been following Jeri Smith-Ready's WVMP Radio series, an vampire series of the highest caliber (and if you haven't read it yet, you should get on it), you should know that Jeri has recently released an e-book called Let It Bleed, which is essential reading between the third book, Bring on the Night, and the fourth and final book, Lust for Life, which will be released in both p- and e-formats this fall. Jeri has generously made the e-book free on her website, but you can be just as generous back and donate something for her time and effort in appeasing fans and the characters. Go check it out!

Enclave Book Trailer!

Enclave, acclaimed adult urban fantasy author Ann Aguirre's first foray into YA dystopian fiction, came out yesterday from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group. Check out this fascinating summary if you haven't yet:

New York City has been decimated by war and plague, and most of civilization has migrated to underground enclaves, where life expectancy is no more than the early 20's. When Deuce turns 15, she takes on her role as a Huntress, and is paired with Fade, a teenage Hunter who lived Topside as a young boy. When she and Fade discover that the neighboring enclave has been decimated by the tunnel monsters—or Freaks—who seem to be growing more organized, the elders refuse to listen to warnings. And when Deuce and Fade are exiled from the enclave, the girl born in darkness must survive in daylight, in the ruins of a city whose population has dwindled to a few dangerous gangs. As the two are guided by Fade’s long-ago memories, they face dangers, and feelings, unlike any they’ve ever known.

Doesn't that sound so so so so awesome? I've lost count of the number of months I've been pining after this book. I can't wait to dig into it.

Find out more about Enclave here, including the first two chapters, the book cover and an interview with the author!
http://www.annaguirre.com/books/ya-novels/enclave/
http://us.macmillan.com/enclave-1

Zeitghost Media has also brought to my attention the book trailer for Enclave, which is below:



Wowza! I look forward to reading it! What about you?

Awesomesauce Trailers

Wow. Thanks for the astounding response to my previous post! It's heartening to see that so many of us have noticed and want the same things in contemporary YA. And I know that authors are definitely taking note! Maybe those editors who purportedly recommend that their authors kill off parents or "beautify" their acned characters will think twice about their decision to perpetuate YA tropes that we readers note and are tired of.

On a far lighter note, I am going to share with you some cool trailers that some kind publicists have alerted me to. The first is one for Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready, a paranormal YA coming out from Simon Pulse on May 4--omigoodness that's a week from today!



I'm in the middle of reading this fabulously well-written book right now (would read more but it's dark now and this book is seriously creeping me out cuz I'm a wimp), and what can I say? Jeri is no adult urban fantasy author "dumbing down" her writing for the YA genre. The characters are three-dimensional and non-cliched, the world-building is full, the major plot conflict is steadily growing but the pace is not plodding, and I'm going to have to stop here because I don't want to expend all the phrases I want to use in my review. Needless to say, awesomesauce.

The next is for Claire de Lune by Christine Johnson, also coming out from Simon Pulse later in May:



I haven't started this book yet, but it came in the same shiny silver-foiled package as Shade, which by the transitive/proximity property must mean that it is awesome too, no? Also, the background music is so...well, would "rad" be an acceptable way of describing it?

The last is Part One of a series of teaser clips for the fifth book in Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series, Spirit Bound. I love this series incredibly much, but I haven't read the fourth book yet, so I'm shielding myself from this teaser trailer and instead providing you a link to its Youtube page. Check it out! (I accidentally peaked, and the quote that came up was just...whoa. Brought back the VA magic for me.)

Now, morning, can you come so I can return to reading Shade without my fear of ghosts?