FIND SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE!
Mark your journey and own what you've achieved. Whether you've written a great paragraph, read a fantastic book, aced a test, or just mastered one concept, take the time to honor the fact that you are not in the same place that you were before.
Thought for the Week

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Young Adult Novel Giveaways This Week
Beautiful Redemption
(Beautiful Creatures)
by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Giveaway
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Released 10/23/2012
Chasing Shadows
by Swati Avasthi
Giveaway
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Released 8/6/2013
WINNER: Manju
Chasing Shadows is a searing look at the impact of one random act of violence.
Before: Corey, Holly, and Savitri are one unit—fast, strong, inseparable. Together they turn Chicago concrete and asphalt into a freerunner’s jungle gym, ricocheting off walls, scaling buildings, leaping from rooftop to rooftop.
But acting like a superhero doesn’t make you bulletproof...
After: Holly and Savitri are coming unglued. Holly says she's chasing Corey's killer, chasing revenge. Savitri fears Holly's just running wild—and leaving her behind. Friends should stand by each other in times of crissi. But can you hold on too tight? Too long?
In this intense novel, told in two voices, and incorporating comic-style art sections, Swati Avasthi creates a gripping portrait of two girls teetering on the edge of grief and insanity. Two girls who will find out just how many ways there are to lose a friend . . . and how many ways to be lost.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Chasing Shadows?
One of the things I love about writing YA is how innovative you get to be -- younger readers seem more amenable to changes in form. Which allows the YA author to play. Thanks to authors like Brian Selznick, combining graphics and prose has opened up a world of possibilities. My favorite thing about CHASING SHADOWS is how the graphic pieces in the book work in relation to the prose.
Purchase Chasing Shadows at Amazon
Purchase Chasing Shadows at IndieBound
View Chasing Shadows on Goodreads
Check out these awesome (or should I say smashing?) book sculptures made out of--you guessed it--books!
These 30 cool (and sometimes hilarious) book dedications might even be better than the books themselves.
The New York Public Library revealed their top 100 children's books from the last 100 years! Is your favorite children's book on the list?
* Want to be the reader of the week next week? Leave a comment on our Thursday, Friday or Saturday posts!
(Beautiful Creatures)
by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Giveaway
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Released 10/23/2012
Is death the end . . . or only the beginning?
Is death the end . . . or only the beginning?
Ethan Wate has spent most of his life longing to escape the stiflingly small Southern town of Gatlin. He never thought he would meet the girl of his dreams, Lena Duchannes, who unveiled a secretive, powerful, and cursed side of Gatlin, hidden in plain sight. And he never could have expected that he would be forced to leave behind everyone and everything he cares about. So when Ethan awakes after the chilling events of the Eighteenth Moon, he has only one goal: to find a way to return to Lena and the ones he loves.
Back in Gatlin, Lena is making her own bargains for Ethan's return, vowing to do whatever it takes -- even if that means trusting old enemies or risking the lives of the family and friends Ethan left to protect.
Worlds apart, Ethan and Lena must once again work together to rewrite their fate, in this stunning finale to the Beautiful Creatures series.
Purchase Beautiful Redemption (Beautiful Creatures) at Amazon
Purchase Beautiful Redemption (Beautiful Creatures) at IndieBound
View Beautiful Redemption (Beautiful Creatures) on Goodreads
Is death the end . . . or only the beginning?
Ethan Wate has spent most of his life longing to escape the stiflingly small Southern town of Gatlin. He never thought he would meet the girl of his dreams, Lena Duchannes, who unveiled a secretive, powerful, and cursed side of Gatlin, hidden in plain sight. And he never could have expected that he would be forced to leave behind everyone and everything he cares about. So when Ethan awakes after the chilling events of the Eighteenth Moon, he has only one goal: to find a way to return to Lena and the ones he loves.
Back in Gatlin, Lena is making her own bargains for Ethan's return, vowing to do whatever it takes -- even if that means trusting old enemies or risking the lives of the family and friends Ethan left to protect.
Worlds apart, Ethan and Lena must once again work together to rewrite their fate, in this stunning finale to the Beautiful Creatures series.
Purchase Beautiful Redemption (Beautiful Creatures) at Amazon
Purchase Beautiful Redemption (Beautiful Creatures) at IndieBound
View Beautiful Redemption (Beautiful Creatures) on Goodreads
Young Adult Novel Giveaways Last Week: Winners

by Swati Avasthi
Giveaway
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Released 8/6/2013
WINNER: Manju
Chasing Shadows is a searing look at the impact of one random act of violence.
Before: Corey, Holly, and Savitri are one unit—fast, strong, inseparable. Together they turn Chicago concrete and asphalt into a freerunner’s jungle gym, ricocheting off walls, scaling buildings, leaping from rooftop to rooftop.
But acting like a superhero doesn’t make you bulletproof...
After: Holly and Savitri are coming unglued. Holly says she's chasing Corey's killer, chasing revenge. Savitri fears Holly's just running wild—and leaving her behind. Friends should stand by each other in times of crissi. But can you hold on too tight? Too long?
In this intense novel, told in two voices, and incorporating comic-style art sections, Swati Avasthi creates a gripping portrait of two girls teetering on the edge of grief and insanity. Two girls who will find out just how many ways there are to lose a friend . . . and how many ways to be lost.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Chasing Shadows?
One of the things I love about writing YA is how innovative you get to be -- younger readers seem more amenable to changes in form. Which allows the YA author to play. Thanks to authors like Brian Selznick, combining graphics and prose has opened up a world of possibilities. My favorite thing about CHASING SHADOWS is how the graphic pieces in the book work in relation to the prose.
Purchase Chasing Shadows at Amazon
Purchase Chasing Shadows at IndieBound
View Chasing Shadows on Goodreads
Bookish News This Week
Check out these awesome (or should I say smashing?) book sculptures made out of--you guessed it--books!
These 30 cool (and sometimes hilarious) book dedications might even be better than the books themselves.
The New York Public Library revealed their top 100 children's books from the last 100 years! Is your favorite children's book on the list?
Check out the gorgeous cover for Anne Blankman's upcoming book!
Prisoner of Night and Fog
by Anne Blankman
Obey. Smile when Hitler comes closer. And never, never question him.
These are the three rules in seventeen-year-old Nazi Gretchen Müller's life. They've kept her safe since Papa died, protecting old family friend Adolf Hitler during a street fight years ago. Until the night in 1931 when Gretchen meets a young, fearless Jewish reporter she's supposed to despise. But she can't stop herself from listening to his story -- that her father, the adored martyr, was actually murdered. Together, Gretchen and the reporter vow to do whatever it takes to uncover the truth. Even if it means breaking all of Hitler's rules. Especially the most important one of all: don't fall in love with the enemy...
by Anne Blankman
Obey. Smile when Hitler comes closer. And never, never question him.
These are the three rules in seventeen-year-old Nazi Gretchen Müller's life. They've kept her safe since Papa died, protecting old family friend Adolf Hitler during a street fight years ago. Until the night in 1931 when Gretchen meets a young, fearless Jewish reporter she's supposed to despise. But she can't stop herself from listening to his story -- that her father, the adored martyr, was actually murdered. Together, Gretchen and the reporter vow to do whatever it takes to uncover the truth. Even if it means breaking all of Hitler's rules. Especially the most important one of all: don't fall in love with the enemy...
Preorder on Amazon | Add to Goodreads
Young Adult Quote of the Week
Taking no chances means wasting your dreams.
— Ellen Hopkins, Crank
Young Adult Reader of the Week:
Jemi Fraser


Is an aspiring author of contemporary romance. Life is short - go for the HEA. :)
Blogger of the Week:
Writing Tip of the Week
I happened to be at Ernest Hemingway's house this week. This is where he wrote every day:
With six-toed cats like this one likely slumbering around him:
And this is just one of his brilliant pieces of writing advice:
All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.
— Ernest Hemingway
Another Writing Tip
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Writing (And Every Day) Brain Fuel
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Looking forward to reading Beautiful Redemption. And love the writing tips too!
ReplyDeleteIt's as excellent as the other books in the series. :) I'm happy to share it!
DeleteYou giving away Beautiful Redemption reminded me that I need to get moving on reading Beautiful Chaos. ;P Great writing tips! :)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely read that. It's wonderful! :)
DeleteLOVE the beach picture and the writing in the sand! You girls are so smart to celebrate a book deal that way. I wish I'd done something like that. :-) I *think* you're the one in the middle, right?? Love the writing tips, too.
ReplyDeleteWe will celebrate together next month! Can't wait. And yes, that's me in the middle. Although we seem to always manage to wear similar things. Cici and I inevitably manage to pack identical wardrobes. Great minds and so on . . .
Deletethanks for the reminder to celebrate all writing milestones. For me this week I feel like I am now writing more intentionally. My word of the week! And great picture, BTW!
ReplyDeleteWriting intentionally is a GREAT word --- and a great thing to celebrate! I hope it is going wonderfully, Carol! :) Is this the final revision?
DeleteInteresting ways to be creative
ReplyDeleteThis week I'm going to look for a reason to celebrate, whether it's finishing reading a book...or doing two pages of edits. I'll set some goals and have a reward. It's so easy to focus on the negative. When I do that, Art becomes Work. Blech.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I really liked the 29 Ways to Stay Creative.
Thanks for the post :)
Isn't that a great infographic? I loved it too. Good for you for taking the time to LOOK for the good. Like you said, it's so easy to focus on the negative. That's a helpful way to look at it. I think it's probably an occupational hazard with all writers. We have so far to go that the small, everyday successes don't measure up. But all of them eventually add together to create the big successes. Art is work, unfortunately, but that doesn't mean we can't take time out to remember WHY we LOVE it! Have a great week. I hope you'll share how it goes and some of your reasons to celebrate! :)
DeleteThanks for the giveaway. If we all looked for ways to celebrate something in our lives the world would be a much better place!!
ReplyDeleteAmen to that one! Have a great week!
DeleteGreat post - love the quotes and look into Hemingway's studio!
ReplyDeleteThe Hemingway House in Key West is beautiful. Cats, trees, literature, and roosters. :)
ReplyDeleteI even saw some baby chickens while we were there. Except for the giant iguanas, it's pretty much the perfect place. I am not a reptile person.
DeleteWhat a great way to celebrate. Congrats. I just love the cover on Prisoner of Night and Fog.
ReplyDeleteIsn't that a gorgeous cover, Rosi? I am so excited for Anne! It really makes you sit up and take notice. I can't wait to read her book.
DeleteI can't wait to read Beautiful Redemption and Prisoner of Night and Fog. Both sound good. Thanks for the awesome giveaway.
ReplyDeleteYou are so welcome. Unfortunately, Prisoner of Night and Fog doesn't come out until March, but I am hoping to get my hands on some ARCs to giveaway soon. I'm dying to read it myself! And of course, I love all the Beautiful Creatures books!
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