Recently Read...

This past month has been hectic to say the least. My two new exchange students arrived in the middle of August, and we haven't stopped since! Between a family wedding out of state and getting the girls registered and then starting high school, this past month has flown by.

Even though I have been insanely busy, I wanted to mention some of the books I have read in the last couple of weeks that really stood out.

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick
June 14th 2012 by Dial Books For Young Readers

I adore this book. I would reread this book every month if I didn't have such a huge TBR pile staring at me. Everything about this book drew me in and made me read faster and stay up later because I didn't want to stop reading. The characters, both the main and supporting ones, were amazing. I wish I was younger and had Jase as my next door neighbor. Actually, I wish I had his whole family living next door! The main story line and even the minor story lines were extremely engaging. Even the cover is wonderful. If you haven't picked this one up yet, do so soon!

The Waiting Sky by Lara Zielin
August 2nd 2012 by Putnam Juvenile

I loved this story with stormchaser as characters! Something about the intensity of the race to find the next tornado and gather the necessary scientific data, crushing on a member of an opposing chaser team, plus the mama drama thrown in, made for some interesting, faced-paced, pages-flying, reading for me. Yet again, I loved this cover and what it represents: not only the stormchasers hunting down tornadoes, but the internal storms Jane is bottling up.  Be sure to check this one out!

The Forsaken by Lisa M. Strasse
July 10th 2012 by Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers

I can't really ever get enough dystopian books.  This one was tells the tale of Alenna, already forced to grow up an orphan when her parents were taken away when she was 10, who gets sent to The Wheel, an island in the middle of nowhere when the inhabitants are forced to pretty much fight each other for the right to survive. Yes, it does sound like the Hunger Games, but who cares! Bring it on!  I just keep reading, hoping Aleena was smart enough, savvy enough, or could at least fake it to make it through this book. I was getting worried in some parts!

Other outstanding books that deserve a shout out:

Anna Dressed in Blood Review & Interview

Anna Dressed in Blood
Kendare Blake (@kendareblake)
August 30th 2011 by Tor Teen
Goodreads

Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story...

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

You guys...I just finished Anna Dressed in Blood Thursday morning. Why did I wait so long to read this book?  I have no idea. I bought a copy months ago because the cover drew me in, and I really liked what the story was about, but then summer vacation was over and the job picks back up. Books sit on my shelf, calling to me. I still have some doing it right now. I promise I'll get to you, Pandemonium! I was finally able to pick Anna up and read it because I have a committee meeting next month, and this is a book in the running for a YA list. It needed to be read, and it was calling my name.

I don't regret one single moment of this book. From the start I was drawn into this world Kendare Blake has written where Cas Lowood, a high school student, travels around, with his mother, and takes care of evil spirits. The opening scene was like something off of Supernatural with Cas picking up a hitchhiker who has nefarious plans for any good Samaritan along a certain stretch of road.  I was sucked in, and I just kept reading and reading. I looked at the clock only to see it 1:30 am. That is an excellent book!

In Anna, Blake gives readers Anna, a young Finnish girl who was murdered young. She haunts a house, killing anyone who enters in horrible ways. She is dressed in the gown she was murdered in, a pretty white gown, dripping with blood. I think she is such an brillant character. When Cas is meets Anna for the first time, I am scared as I read along.  For Cas, Anna is like nothing he has ever faced before, and he is determined to figure out why she haunts this house.

I can't wait to read book two in this series, Girl of Nightmares. It's due to come out August 7th.  If you haven't read Anna Dressed in Blood yet, I recommend you pick it up soon. This is a great paranormal, mystery, ghost story. I would recommend this for the guys and the girls.

Lagniappe:

5 Questions with Kendare Blake

Anna Dressed in Blood, Girl of Nightmares, and your upcoming Antigoddess series all seem to be deep into love, darkness, death, blood...do you see a recuring theme in your writing, or is just me, and why do think this is?

You know, I think it's Stephen King who says most writers have central themes that they find themselves coming back to. I tend to think a lot about existence and the human condition, but most of the heavy meditation is in my contemporary non-supernatural stuff. With the dark fantasy and horror, I'm still fascinated by the same ideas. Love, generally the hopeless kind, darkness, the finality or possibility of death, etc. There is a definite recurring theme, but I'm not thinking of that when I write. The similarity I feel between these books is the action. I was just thinking the other day that ANNA was the book of my guts, and ANTIGODDESS is the book of my fist.
    (can't wait to read this Antigoddess series!)

When you write, do you have set goals, say this certain scene/chapter/pages or do you just write until you stop, and how do you deal with writer's block if it should ever strike (music, dancing around the room, or banging your head against the table)?

Sometimes there are goals. Never pages, or word counts, but scenes. I need to get through this scene. I have to take it that far. I can't stop in the middle. Sometimes I start with a particular scene in mind, other times I write until I start to get tired, and just finish up the scene I'm in.

You've got some awesome book covers for Anna and Girl. How involved are you in the development process for your book covers, and how are things looking for Antigoddess?

The ANNA books did get incredible covers, didn't they? Beautiful. So beautiful that all of the international editions I've seen are using variations of the same art, which I don't think happens that often. The artist is from Europe. Nekro. Amazing, and only works in black white and red. I wasn't really involved in the development process. The idea was my editor's, and then they just executed. I asked that we not see Anna's face, because I like to imagine.

As for ANTIGODDESS, we just had the first conversation about the cover, and I'm really excited about how things are shaping up. As long as the sales team thinks it's a good concept, I'm thinking it's going to get a beautiful cover. It was weird, because my editor and I had almost the exact same idea for it.

Any YA books on your bedside table you are either reading, dying to read, or just finished?

 Right now I'm reading BLACK CITY by Elizabeth Richards. I just finished THE NIGHTMARE AFFAIR by Mindee Arnett which I adored! Love the cover for it too; can't wait to yak about it with other readers. Then I'm on to RENEGADE by J.A. Souders. I'm really looking forward to DUALED, by Elsie Chapman, and loads of others!

    (added them to my TBR pile, thanks!)

 

What can we look forward to in Girl of Nightmares when it comes out in September?

Well, more of the blood, ghosts and gore. It also features some real haunted places, like the Tower of London, so you know there's travel. It's the end of the series, so expect things to wrap up. If you had questions about the knife, more is explained. If you had questions about Morfran...he still refuses to spill them.

~ Thanks so much!

Thank you for having me by Lagniappe! Very fun interview!
Cheers,  Kendare

Never Eighteen Review & Giveaway

Never Eighteen
Megan Bostic @meganbostic
January 17th 2012 by HMH Children's Books
Goodreads

I had the dream again. The one where I’m running. I don’t know what from or where to, but I’m scared, terrified really.

Austin Parker is never going to see his eighteenth birthday. At the rate he’s going, he probably won’t even see the end of the year. But in the short time he has left there’s one thing he can do: He can try to help the people he loves live—even though he never will.

It’s probably hopeless.

But he has to try.

I'm usually the girl with the dystopian or the paranormal books, but ever since John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, I've become a drawn to the emotional books. Don't ask me why. Nothing in my life at the moment is drawing me to them. It is just that these books are just so good. I'm not usually into books when I know someone is sick, because, really, I know I'm going to end up crying at some point, and I would try to avoid crying in my life if possible. So, I will tell you the truth: I adore this book.

You discover, when you read these emotional books, they have a way of have a way of grabbing you, hooking you, and then, you have read 50 pages without really meaning to do so. I was just glancing at the book as it came across my desk at the library one day and suddenly I was immersed in the story of Austin and his journey on his last "good" weekend with his best friend (and love of his life, even if he hasn't told her), Kaylee, who he gets to drive him around as he takes care of things weighing on his mind. Things like talking to his dead best friend's mother who is still grieving, his grandmother who is still bitter at his mother, the girl from high school who is going off on the wrong course after a extremely tragic occurrence, his father still living apart from his mother, and other people...these things are ripping me apart, and yet, I still read on. With each of these stops he listens to what they have to say and asks them: Why? Why are you living your life this way? Can you change? As a reader, you know Austin doesn't have long to live, and the other characters know it as well. Austin's questions are tiny seeds planted. He asks questions, offers suggestions, and then leaves, hoping change will occur for the better. These seeds are not only planted in the characters but also in the reader...very sneaky Megan Bostic...

Never Eighteen is bittersweet. You, as a the reader, think you know the ending, and to some degree you do. I don't really think that is the purpose of Never Eighteen. To me, the purpose of Never Eighteen is to make you think about how you are living you life. What if? What if you knew you only had so many days left? Would you live them differently? Would you talk to people differently? Tell someone something you had been meaning to tell them for a long time, but never had the courage? Never Eighteen offers the reality death does not discriminate by age. The young die just as the old do. How we chose to use our days is what matters. Can you make a difference? Big or small? Can your life impact one person or many? Never Eighteen, for me, reminds me that you are never too young or old to spread some love and change lives. :)

Lagniappe
So...I really like this book. I think you could tell. I'm going to spread this love around! That's right! This giveaway is international as long as The Book Depository ships to your country. Check here to make sure!




RULES

  ~13 years old or with parents' permission

  ~International

  ~fill out the Rafflecopter below

  ~giveaway runs from June 30 to end of July 6

  ~winner will be notified by email and have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Seraphina Review

Seraphina
Rachel Hartman / blog
July 10th 2012 by Random House Children's Books
Goodreads

Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty's anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high.

Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered—in suspiciously draconian fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation, partnering with the captain of the Queen's Guard, the dangerously perceptive Prince Lucian Kiggs. While they begin to uncover hints of a sinister plot to destroy the peace, Seraphina struggles to protect her own secret, the secret behind her musical gift, one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life.

In her exquisitely written fantasy debut, Rachel Hartman creates a rich, complex, and utterly original world. Seraphina's tortuous journey to self-acceptance is one readers will remember long after they've turned the final page.

The kingdom of Goredd is inhabited by both humans and dragons which make for some interesting (and unique) characters. As with any society trying to integrate two different cultures, you can always count on some who just don't seem to get along and want to cause dissension among the masses. At the castle Seraphina is drawn into the human-dragon drama and discovers the plot of would-be rebels which could destroy the decades of peace between humans and dragons and end up killing someone she loves.

I pretty much loved everything about this book: the cover, the characters, the world building, and Seraphina’s music. Seraphina has everything a great book needs: drama, intrigue, exceptionaly unique characters, fascinating plot, and flowing prose.  So, if you are looking for something different in between your dystopians and contemporaries, Seraphina is the book for you!
 
Lagnaippe

Be sure to check out the awesome book traier for Seraphia:

Seraphina is a great young adult fantasy novel by Rachel Hartman I am pleased recommend if you are thinking you have read one too many dystopian novels lately. Seraphina works as a musician in the royal court and also tutors the princess, but there is more to her than just the magnificent music she can produce. Seraphina has a secret which could get her killed.  Her father has protected Seraphina his whole life, perhaps even over-protected her, because you know that is possible for a father to do.

The Fault in Our Stars Review

The Fault in Our Stars

John Green (@realjohngreen)

January 10th 2012 by Dutton Books
Goodreads

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, 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.

I adore this book. Hazel and Augustus. John Green's writing style. Everything about this book brings a smile to my face. I know it's a cancer book, but it's so much more than this, people.  Green didn't try to hide the cancer from you. It right there in the synopsis.  Just accept that there is cancer in this book, kinda like the characters have 2 arms, and I think you will be fine. Really, I do.

Hazel and Augustus meet in a cancer support group for kids. They are both just quirky enough to get each other. Cancer changes who you are to the core, and only someone else going through the same thing is able to see it. For Hazel and Augustus, meeting at this support group will allow them to form a friendship that will take them far, and I'm not just talking metaphorically, I'm talking across the Atlantic. The two chase their dreams, deciding now is the time to stand up for what they believe and if they questions, demand answers. The Fault in Our Stars is a journey for Hazel and Augustus and the reader. I'm not going to lie. I cried reading this book. Not many books can get me to cry, but this one did. It's not for the reason you're thinking. It's because The Fault in Our Stars changes Hazel, Augustus, and you as the reader. As you read this novel you will think about the two characters and how they interact and react, and it will cause you to evaluate your life. I really enjoy books that leave an impression on me like this.

Lagniappe

You may or maynot be aware of the Nerd Fighters (John and brother, Hank) or Vlog Brothers, but just to give you a taste of the hilarity you will find on their webiste or YouTube channel, I give you :

Delirium Review

Delirium
Lauren Oliver (@OliverBooks)
Book #1 - Delirium series
August 2nd 2011 by HarperCollins Publishers
Goodreads

Ninety-five days, and then I’ll be safe.

I wonder whether the procedure will hurt.

I want to get it over with.

It’s hard to be patient.

It’s hard not to be afraid while I’m still uncured, though so far the deliria hasn’t touched me yet.

Still, I worry.

They say that in the old days, love drove people to madness.

The deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don’t.

In Lena's world love is a disease that will kill you. Everyone wants to avoid falling in love. There is even a "cure" for love.  Love as a disease is called Amor Deliria Nervosa which makes it a mental disorder. Love is not emotions or something you feel with your heart and soul. It is a diagnosable disease with symptoms and stages.  Lena is counting down the days until she can receive the cure because after watching her mother fall victim to love and try to be cured three times, she wants to make sure she doesn't ever fall in love.  She doesn't want to be one to rebel against the government, instead she has accepted what has been told to her. Love will kill her, so she will kill love.  Then, Lena meets Alex.  Everything in Lena's world changes.  Alex encourages Lena to look beyond what she has been taught to believe about love. 

Luckily Delirium will grab hold of you and infect you like no other book has.  It will leave to wanting more...luckily you have Pandemonium. I know I will get to book two soon because I have to know what has happened to these characters!  Lena and Alex are great characters andLauren Oliver’s book is a gripping and intense read, and I highly recommend it.

Lagniappe

An interactive book trailer for Delirium:

172 Hours on the Moon Review

172 Hours on the Moon
Johan Harstad
April 17th 2012 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Goodreads

It's been decades since anyone set foot on the moon. Now three ordinary teenagers, the winners of NASA's unprecedented, worldwide lottery, are about to become the first young people in space--and change their lives forever.

Mia, from Norway, hopes this will be her punk band's ticket to fame and fortune.

Midori believes it's her way out of her restrained life in Japan.

Antoine, from France, just wants to get as far away from his ex-girlfriend as possible.

It's the opportunity of a lifetime, but little do the teenagers know that something sinister is waiting for them on the desolate surface of the moon. And in the black vacuum of space... no one is coming to save them.

172 Hours on the Moon. Thanks, Mr. Harstad. You freaked me out pretty well.  I used to think if I could just somehow get off this planet and into outer space, imagine the greatness of space and the infinite possibilities of what could happen.  When I was younger, I thought I might want to be an astronaut, but then I grew up and saw the big suits, how they had to go to the bathroom (so not going to happen), and the incredible pressure astronauts were under as the rockets blasted into space. I have since rethought my dream and decided to go with reading about kids who were able to travel to space. A much better dream, especially after finishing 172 Hours on the Moon.

172 Hours on the Moon is the story of Antoine, Mia, and Midori, three teenagers who are chosen to be part of a mission to the moon. They are chosen as part of a contest put on by NASA and spend a week on a moon base named DARLAH2.  Each of the three teenagers has his or her own reasons for signing up: parents’ demands, dreams of a new future, or to forget the past. Once on the moon they will encounter something NASA did not prepare them for because something is on the moon.  NASA did not want anyone to know about, so they lied to the astronauts, the public, and the teenagers. They lied to the public about why they were sending a mission back to the moon. So now the questions are: What exactly is out on the moon? and Can the crew make it back to Earth alive, or are they doomed?

This novel is intense, shiver inducing, and makes me peek around the corner, and it should be your next YA read. 172 Hours on the Moon was a novel I had to read constantly.  I read in the morning for five minutes before leaving for work, at lunch, when I got home, and before I went to bed. I think the best thing about 172 Hours on the Moon is the way you, as the reader, know something is going to happen on the moon, and you know the teens and the crew don't know it's coming, so you are even more hyperaware of what is going to happen.  I love books like this!

Lagniappe

Don't you want to go to the moon?

Shatter Me Review

Shatter Me
Tahereh Mafi (@taherehmafi)
November 15th 2011 by HarperCollins
Goodreads
Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war-- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting as The Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men. Full of pulse-pounding romance, intoxicating villainy, and high-stakes choices, Shatter Me is a fresh and original dystopian novel—with a paranormal twist—that will leave readers anxiously awaiting its sequel.



In Shatter Me, Juliette doesn't have to imagine knowing her touch could kill.  One day, just a day like any other day, she didn't know her touch could kill, and she touched someone at the grocery store. It was just an accident. She had no idea. She didn't mean to kill the little boy. Now this accident, no, murder, has Juliette lock up in prison. She has touched another person, or been touched herself by any person in 264 days. To test her, "they" put someone, a boy, in her cell with her. Who is Adam, and what does he represent to Juliette? Why would they do this to her? Don't they know how dangerous this is to him and to her?

After all this time alone the Reestablishment has decided Juliette's power could be harnessed as a weapon . She can be used to fight. The only problem is Juliette doesn't want to fight for the Reestablisment. Will she be able to break free?  Does Juliette have a curse, or a gift? Is she lethal, or is she powerful? Can she fight back? Will she be strong enough? Is she alone in her fight or are there others with powers?

This book left me with so many questions! I enjoyed this book, and I think Shatter Me was an enjoyable read, but at the end, when I set it down to think about it, I needed more!!! Which I guess is an indicator of a good cliffhanger.  I understand it is the first book in a trilogy, and I can't wait for the next book in this series.

I love the world Mafi built in Shatter Me.  This is one intense ride.  In Shatter Me you have the sweet good guys, the creepy bad guys, and a very believable threat to Juliette. This trilogy can only get better!

Lagniappe

Check out the awesome book trailer for Shatter Me:

 

The Hunt Review

The Hunt

Andrew Fukuda (@andrewfukuda)

May 8th 2012 by St. Martin's Griffin

Goodreads

Don’t Sweat.  Don’t Laugh.  Don’t draw attention to yourself.  And most of all, whatever you do, do not fall in love with one of them. Gene is different from everyone else around him.  He can’t run with lightning speed, sunlight doesn’t hurt him and he doesn’t have an unquenchable lust for blood.  Gene is a human, and he knows the rules.  Keep the truth a secret.  It’s the only way to stay alive in a world of night—a world where humans are considered a delicacy and hunted for their blood.

When he’s chosen for a once in a lifetime opportunity to hunt the last remaining humans, Gene’s carefully constructed life begins to crumble around him.  He’s thrust into the path of a girl who makes him feel things he never thought possible—and into a ruthless pack of hunters whose suspicions about his true nature are growing. Now that Gene has finally found something worth fighting for, his need to survive is stronger than ever—but is it worth the cost of his humanity?

In Andrew Fukuda's The Hunt, life is hard for Gene.  Gene knows no other humans. He is constantly on guard hoping his every move will allow him to survive, unlike his parents and sister. Unlike most other humans. For years he has to hide the truth about who he really is from everyone around him for one reason.  The truth will get him killed.  The truth is Gene is not a vampire. His father has trained him everyday to keep his humanity a secret: to always bathe, to never smile or cry, to always remain stoic because emotions will give him away, and to stay out of the sun. Because if he is a vampire, how will Gene ever be able to explain a sunburn or suntan? Gene lives everyday, especially at school, by these rules just trying to survive one more day.

Then life gets difficult. The vampire ruler announces to everyone a heper hunt will take place for the last surviving humans. Everyone gathers to see if his or her lottery number is chosen.  All want to patricipate in the hunt.  Just waiting to see who will be picked, the vampires can almost smell the hepers' blood, imagine chasing them down, tearing into them as they wait to see who will be the lucky winners. As the numbers are called out one by one, and vampire by vampire is out of the running, Gene finds himself one of the "lucky" one...one of the winners. Now, he is in the spotlight, after years of following the rules and laying low. He is now surrounded by vampires being trained in ways to hunt humans. Can Gene survive in this extremely hostile environment? Will he somehow find a way to overcome the stronger, faster, and deadlier vampires?

The Hunt is an insane adventure as you run along with Gene trying to outsmart the vampires.  This novel was an interesting take on the vampire as the bad guy after so many books where the vampire is the good guy.  I loved Fukuda's vampires beliefs about humans, and how vampires are surprised humans had higher brain function, knew how to use tools, or didn't understand why the humans would sing.  I read The Hunt with a sense of dread from the moment Gene knew he was going to the hunt.  I was so invovled in this plot I had to know how Gene was going to survive!  If you are looking for something different in the vampire world, maybe a story of a human survival, then The Hunt is the book for you.

Lagniappe

So, if you want to get a visual to go along with the book, just so you can freak yourself out even more while you read the book, check out the book trailer:

  

Wanderlove Review

Wanderlove

Kirsten Hubbard

@kirstenhubbard

March 13th 2012 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Goodreads

It all begins with a stupid question:

Are you a Global Vagabond?

No, but 18-year-old Bria Sandoval wants to be. In a quest for independence, her neglected art, and no-strings-attached hookups, she signs up for a guided tour of Central America—the wrong one. Middle-aged tourists with fanny packs are hardly the key to self-rediscovery. When Bria meets Rowan, devoted backpacker and dive instructor, and his outspokenly humanitarian sister Starling, she seizes the chance to ditch her group and join them off the beaten path.

Bria's a good girl trying to go bad. Rowan's a bad boy trying to stay good. As they travel across a panorama of Mayan villages, remote Belizean islands, and hostels plagued with jungle beasties, they discover what they've got in common: both seek to leave behind the old versions of themselves. And the secret to escaping the past, Rowan’s found, is to keep moving forward.

But Bria comes to realize she can't run forever, no matter what Rowan says. If she ever wants the courage to fall for someone worthwhile, she has to start looking back.

Kirsten Hubbard lends her artistry to this ultimate backpacker novel, weaving her drawings into the text. Her career as a travel writer and her experiences as a real-life vagabond backpacking Central America are deeply seeded in this inspiring story.

Wow. I truly enjoyed Wanderlove.  I don't know if my review will do it justice, especially with the great synopsis above. I found everything good in YA contemporary fiction in this novel. I found real teens with real questions about life dealing with real situations. Yes, maybe you will not decide one day to just pack up a suitcase and head to Central America, but your journey can be small steps. Just take the first step, right? :)

Finding yourself is never easy, especially as a 17 or 18 year old, ready to head off to college. In Wanderlove, Bria, after a breakup with her boyfriend, a personal loss with something with something essential to her very core and future, decides to strike out on her own, not counting the tour group she signed up with, and have an adventure - to find herself, a couple of cute guys, and just live the good life. Too bad life has a funny way of turning what you expect on its head!

Wanderlove is about dealing with you you were, learning about who are becoming, and somehow accepting the two parts of yourself. If you happen to have an adventure riding in chicken trucks, seeing beautiful lakes, meeting fascinating people you will never forget, doesn't that just shape you into a better person (especially the chicken truck)?

Lagniappe

FAQ for Kirsten Hubbard from her website:

*Name five random things about yourself.

I have a fraternal twin sister. I love to draw, but I fail at crafts — except, inexplicably, steampunk jewelry. I am a food hippie. Some of my favorite books include Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, Watership Down by Richard Adams, Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta, Feed by M.T. Anderson, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, and The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I played water polo and worked in a pet store in high school. Yes, there were chinchillas.

*Why Wyoming? I was raised in Southern California, but the Wyoming badlands are in my blood. My mother grew up in a small Wyoming town, and we visited my grandparents there many times. I was fascinated with the small town way of life, and the starkly beautiful badlands.

*Where did you come up with the name Mandarin?
When I was 13-15, I was obsessed with unusual names. (Still am.) I also kept elaborate sketch journals documenting my life. In every volume, I created a different girl, who I drew comics about throughout the book. One of these girls was named Mandarin. Another was named Starling – a character in Wanderlove. I love paying homage to these imaginary girls from my past in the books I’m writing now.

*Did you have a Mandarin Ramey?
Not one in particular, but there were always girls throughout my teen years I longed to be like. There are still girls I long to be like! Such as Natalie Portman. She’s amazing.

*Where’s your favorite place you’ve traveled? That’s really hard. I’ll name a few: Utila, Honduras. Ko Phi Phi, Thailand. Ljubljana, Slovenia. Lake Tonle Sap, Cambodia. Budapest, Hungary. Boquete, Panama. Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, and the Belizean Cayes – both a huge part of Wanderlove. And of course, the Wyoming badlands.

*Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
First, embrace the power of setting – both on a large scale, and a scene-by-scene scale. Second, give your readers what they want, not what they expect. In other words, surprise them with a story that takes them unpredictably perfect places. Third, and most importantly, write that next book. Nothing helps beat the rejection blues like a new project you’re excited about. Don’t wait around! Keep writing, and writing, and writing.

*What’s your life philosophy?
Live simply so others can simply live. Also, Googling “baby sloth photos” helps cure every heartsickness.