24 Young Adult Fiction Pick and Mix 7/27/13 Edition Plus PARADOX by A.J. Paquette Giveaway

 Thought for the Week

Young Adult Novel of the Week

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I love Gothics. Love em. Pair a creepy gothic with the sass, vivid characters, and all out humor Sarah Rees Brennan brings to all her books? Count me IN. And this one doesn't disappoint!

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I also LOVED:

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OMG. Holly Black! This beginning! As always her characters are layered, real, alive. Okay, maybe not strictly this time, but you know what I mean. If you had told me someone could come up with a totally new spin on vampires, one I WANTED to read, one I couldn't put down, I would have been skeptical had it been almost any other author. As it was? Read this. You won't be disappointed.

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Young Adult Giveaway  

Complete the form below to win a copy of PARADOX by A.J. Paquette

 Fans of James Dashner's Maze Runner series will love this postapocalyptic adventure about a girl who must survive an alien planet in order to save the Earth.

   Ana only knows her name because of the tag she finds pinned to her jumpsuit. Waking in the featureless compartment of a rocket ship, she opens the hatch to discover that she has landed on a barren alien world. Instructions in her pocket tell her to observe and to survive, no doubt with help from the wicked-looking knives she carries on her belt. But to what purpose?

   Meeting up with three other teens--one boy seems strangely familiar--Ana treks across the inhospitable landscape, occasionally encountering odd twists of light that carry glimpses of people back on Earth. They're working on some sort of problem, and the situation is critical. What is the connection between Ana's mission on this planet and the crisis back on Earth, and how is she supposed to figure out the answer when she can't remember anything?

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And Here Is the Winner

for last week's A MATTER OF DAYS by Amber Kizer:  Rana Dabagh

On Day 56 of the pandemic called BluStar, sixteen-year-old Nadia's mother dies, leaving her responsible for her younger brother Rabbit. They secretly received antivirus vaccines from their uncle, but most people weren't as lucky. Their deceased father taught them to adapt and survive whatever comes their way. That's their plan as they trek from Seattle to their grandfather's survivalist compound in West Virginia. Using practical survival techniques, they make their way through a world of death and destruction until they encounter an injured dog; Zack, a street kid from Los Angeles; and other survivors who are seldom what they seem. Illness, infections, fatigue, and meager supplies have become a way of life. Still, it will be worth it once they arrive at the designated place on the map they have memorized. But what if no one is there to meet them?

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More Young Adult Giveaways:

• Five New Release Giveaways: EARTHBOUND; BROTHER, BROTHER, MIDNIGHT FROST; PREP SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL; and THE BOY ON THE BRIDGE. Also covers, blurbs, and author interviews for the new YAs in stores next week!
• This Saturday Situation linky from Candace's Book Blog and Lori at Pure Imagination has giveaways and book reviews!

Need Help Finding Something to Read this Summer?

via Epic Reads

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Young Adult Reader of the Week:   

Marie Hemphill


Avid reader. Cookbook collector. Creative cook. Daring baker. Local/organic advocate. Farmer's Market goer. Cat owner (servant?). Loving (most of the time) wife :) 
 Follow Marie on Google+

        
* Want to be the reader of the week next week? Leave a comment on our Thursday or Friday posts! 

  

Young Adult Writer/Blogger of the Week: 


Avalon Jaedra of Writeability 

Avalon writes YA paranormal, Sci-Fi and Fantasy novels because she loves writing about self-discovery and the complicated worlds of young people. Then she likes to take their emotionally-ridden lives and make them even more difficult.

She also has an addiction to movies, but that's another matter entirely.

Most importantly! She's having a half-million page views celebration this week! HUGE congrats to her! Her blog is a great resource for writers.

Here are a few of her posts:

Writing a Novel in 15 Steps from Idea to Querying
How to Edit in Passes
5 Ways to Support Your Favorite Authors
Character Development: Write Gray Characters

Head over to Writeability
Follow @Ava_Jae on Twitter 

* Want to be the blogger of the week next week? Leave a comment. I'll pick from among the bloggers who leave comments here on the blog today through Wednesday.

Writing Tip of the Week
   
                   

    

• Why Stephen King Spends 'Months and Even Years' Writing Opening Sentences via The Atlantic
• 10 Steps to Finding Your Writing Voice via Jeff Goons
• Delilah Dawson Shares 13 Things She Learned at RWA via Janice Hardy
• Susan Dennard Explains Showing versus Telling REALLY Well 
• Marcy Kate Breaks Down Revising with Scrivener via Write Angle Blog
• Stacy Kade Explains Why You Need to Keep Writing to the End of Your Draft
• Em Garner Suggests You Write What You Want to Read
• The Definitive Post on Prologues: They Will Help You When... via Jami Gold
• Figuring Out Your Story's Turning Points via Jenny Henson    

            

Writing Inspiration     
         

                       

More Writing Inspiration

• Inspiration usually comes during work, not before it. ~ Madeleine L'Engle 
• Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work. ~ Stephen King
• If the world stopped reading,  I would still be writing via Stephen Malby 
• A better story than J.K. Rowling's via CNN Opinion
• The Science Behind How We Learn New Skills via Lifehacker
• In a Creative Rut? Change Your Environment via 99U

Publishing News and Trends                         

• Eleven Lit Agents Share What They're Looking For via our own Jan Lewis!
• Goodreads Counts 20 Million Members via Galleycat
• Thrillerfest, the Publishing Apocalypse and Why There Is Cause to Celebrate via Kristin Lamb
• They Can't All Be Hunger Games via GoodEReaders 
• The Role of a Literary Agent in a Writer's Career via Sara Megibow
• How Does an Acquisitions Editor Acquire Books via MacGregor Lit

Just for Smiles

• Things we love, The Mary Sue via Write Line Blog
• DON'T MISS: What Teachers Make via Buzz Feed

              
What About You?                     

What are you reading? Writing? Have any quotes or thoughts you'd like to share? Did you find or write any book reviews or blog posts you want to let people know about?