18 YA Fiction Pick and Mix 8/17/13 Edition with Giveaway of GATED by A.C. Parker & WHAT'S LEFT OF ME by K. Zhang

So what's new this week? Cooler weather for one thing. It's been gorgeous in Virginia. Not that I've seen much of it because I've had my head buried in preparation for the amazing workshop I am taking next month with Donald Maass. (I am SO excited for this.) The good news? Out of all this preparation, Shiny New Idea Syndrome has returned. You know the SNIS feeling, right? You're at the stage in the manuscript or the planning where you keep discovering new things, new connections, new pieces of the puzzle and it's AMAZING.
     

Thought for the Week

   

Something to Watch

  

Plus a Contest from Victoria Schwab

    

Young Adult Novel of the Week

The Dream Thieves

 by Maggie Stiefvater

The gorgeousness of this book and my love for these characters knows NO limits.

Add to Goodreads Shelf | Preorder on Amazon

The second installment in the all-new series from the masterful, #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater!

Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. 

Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after...

AND A SECOND PICK THIS WEEK:

ONCE WE WERE

by Kat Zhang

This ARC blew me away! Beautiful writing, surprises, depth, questions that will haunt you.

Add to Goodreads Shelf | Preorder on Amazon

"I'm lucky just to be alive"

Eva was never supposed to have survived this long. As the recessive soul, she should have faded away years ago. Instead, she lingers in the body she shares with her sister soul, Addie. When the government discovered the truth, they tried to “cure” the girls, but Eva and Addie escaped before the doctors could strip Eva’s soul away.

Now fugitives, Eva and Addie find shelter with a group of hybrids who run an underground resistance. Surrounded by others like them, the girls learn how to temporarily disappear to give each soul some much-needed privacy. Eva is thrilled at the chance to be alone with Ryan, the boy she’s falling for, but troubled by the growing chasm between her and Addie. Despite clashes over their shared body, both girls are eager to join the rebellion.

Yet as they are drawn deeper into the escalating violence, they start to wonder: How far are they willing to go to fight for hybrid freedom? Faced with uncertainty and incredible danger, their answers may tear them apart forever.
    

This Week's Young Adult Giveaway (Part 1)

I'll be giving away the ARC of ONCE WE WERE next Saturday, but in the meantime, if you haven't read WHAT'S LEFT OF ME, the first volume in the series, you're in for an enormous treat. In honor of the brand new paperback released, I've got a gift card for a free e-book download of the book to give away. 

Here's the blurb. (And editorial note here, the book is FABULOUS!)
 

WHAT'S LEFT OF ME 

by Kat Zhang

    

AMAZON | INDIEBOUND | GOODREADS

I should not exist. But I do.

Eva and Addie started out the same way as everyone else—two souls woven together in one body, taking turns controlling their movements as they learned how to walk, how to sing, how to dance. But as they grew, so did the worried whispers. Why aren’t they settling? Why isn’t one of them fading? The doctors ran tests, the neighbors shied away, and their parents begged for more time. Finally Addie was pronounced healthy and Eva was declared gone. Except, she wasn’t . . .

For the past three years, Eva has clung to the remnants of her life. Only Addie knows she’s still there, trapped inside their body. Then one day, they discover there may be a way for Eva to move again. The risks are unimaginable-hybrids are considered a threat to society, so if they are caught, Addie and Eva will be locked away with the others. And yet . . . for a chance to smile, to twirl, to speak, Eva will do anything

 

     

This Week's Young Adult Giveaway (Part 2)

      

Purchase from Amazon | Order on IndieBound | View on Goodreads

GATED 

by AMY CHRISTINE PARKER 

   
Do the gates keep the unchosen out or the chosen in?

In Mandrodage Meadows, life seems perfect. The members of this isolated suburban community have thrived under Pioneer, the charismatic leader who saved them from their sad, damaged lives. Lyla Hamilton and her parents are original members of the flock. They moved here following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, looking to escape the evil in the world. Now seventeen, Lyla knows certain facts are not to be questioned:

Pioneer is her leader.

Will is her Intended.

The end of the world is near.

Like Noah before him, Pioneer has been told of the imminent destruction of humanity. He says his chosen must arm themselves to fight off the unchosen people, who will surely seek refuge in the compound's underground fortress--the Silo.

Lyla loves her family and friends, but given the choice, she prefers painting to target practice. And lately she'd rather think about a certain boy outside the compound than plan for married life in the Silo with Will. But with the end of days drawing near, she will have to pick up a gun, take a side, and let everyone know where she stands.
       

Last Week's Young Adult Giveaway Winner

  

Congratulations: Beth de Renzis

Purchase on Amazon | Buy on IndieBound | Add to Goodreads Shelf

In the beginning was the darkness, and in the darkness was a girl, and in the girl was a secret...

In the domed city of Yuan, the blind Princess Isra, a Smooth Skin, is raised to be a human sacrifice whose death will ensure her city’s vitality. In the desert outside Yuan, Gem, a mutant beast, fights to save his people, the Monstrous, from starvation. Neither dreams that together, they could return balance to both their worlds.

Isra wants to help the city’s Banished people, second-class citizens despised for possessing Monstrous traits. But after she enlists the aid of her prisoner, Gem, who has been captured while trying to steal Yuan’s enchanted roses, she begins to care for him, and to question everything she has been brought up to believe.

As secrets are revealed and Isra’s sight, which vanished during her childhood, returned, Isra will have to choose between duty to her people and the beast she has come to love.

     

More Young Adult Giveaways:

• Five New Release Giveaways: Win ARC of SMOKE (Ellen Hopkins), ARC of VII (H.M.Castor), MORE THAN THIS (Patrick Ness), SEA CHANGE (S.M. Wheeler), and MIST (Susan Krinard) 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!
• Win NIGHTSPELL and Signed Printout of Leah's Cypess' Nightspell Novella BURIED ABOVE GROUND

           

Young Adult Reader of the Week:   

Rhapsody in Books

These readers are two professionals who like to write and teach. Husband: B.A. from Notre Dame, M.B.A. from U. of Chicago, and law degree from U. of Chicago. Wife: B.A. in English and political science, M.A. in library science, M.A. in political science from U. of Wisconsin. Their blog features book reviews, vignettes on historical events and personalities, and occasional commentary.

They love to read! Have a book to review? Hop on over to the blog and let them know.
        
* 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: 

  
Hope Cook 

Hope likes stories that make her think, characters that make her laugh, and plot twists that make her cry. That being said, clearly Joss Whedon is her hero. (She has good taste!)

When she isn't writing about the characters that have (almost completely) taken over her brain you can find her reading books that make her stay up all night, re-watching marathons of her favourite tv shows, or just generally getting lost on Tumblr.

Check out Hope's blog! 


And here are a few of her great posts to sample:

• Life Lessons from Supernatural
• The Internet is Big and Here's the Good Stuff
• I Want to Hold Your Hand

* Want to be the blogger of the week next week? To be honest, this is pretty much the only way I have time to discover new blogs, so it's a great way to get into my twitter feed and into these round-up posts if you have great content to share. 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

10 Writing Insights

More Writing Tips

• Dialogue that Delivers by Eve Silver
• A Ramble on Likability in Novels by Cheryl Klein
• Use Deeper World-building to Create Novellas and Spinoff Stories
• 42 Fiction Tips for Novelists by Melissa Donovan
• How to Write Realistic Dialogue by Writability
• Do You Know Your Stories Subtext? by Jami Gold
• Draft Happy, Three Tricks for Silencing Your Internal Editor by Laurel Garver 
• Three Things All Writers Can Learn from Realistic Contemporary Fiction by Kelly Jensen
• Starting Your Novel with a Bang by Bill Konigsberg
• Edginess in YA Novels by Pete Hautman

Writing Brain Fuel     

 

More Inspiration

• Chains.CC Helps You Develop, Keep, and Track Good Habits via Lifehacker
• A Day in the Life of a Writer by Gretchen McNeil
• A Writer's Manifesto (Navigating a Debut Year) by Carolyn Starr Rose
• The Art of Looking: What 11 Experts Teach Us by Maria Popova
• The Myth of Multitasking via Jeff Goins

Getting Published

• New Query Letter Contest and Interview with Agent Andrea Somberg via Stacey O'Neale
• How to Pitch an Agent by Agent Lara Perkins
• 60 Queries in 60 Seconds by Agent Carly Webber

Publishing News and Trends                         

• I Hate Strong Female Characters via New Statesman
• Losing Bookstores in a Much Bigger Problem for Publishers than Readers via Mike Shatzkin 
• Study Finds Craigslist took $5 Billion from Newspapers via Forbes
• Being a Lifelong Bookworm May Keep You Sharp in Old Age via Salon
• Heavy Coffee Use Increases Chances of Death via US News

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?