October 24, 2012

Blog Tour: Speechless +Giveaway

Today I'm very excited to be a part of the blog tour for Speechless hosted by Kismet Book Touring!

I don't know how many of you know that October is National Anti-Bullying Month.  Being a teacher I'm acutely aware of the problem of bullying in our schools - and having been bullied in 7th grade I'm even more aware of how it affects students.  In honor of National Anti-Bullying month, I'm talking about SPEECHLESS by Hannah Harrington, a young adult novel about bulling.

About  Speechless - Goodreads,  amazon, Barnes & Nobles, Indie Bound
Everyone knows that Chelsea Knot can't keep a secret.

Until now. Because the last secret she shared turned her into a social outcast—and nearly got someone killed.

Now Chelsea has taken a vow of silence—to learn to keep her mouth shut, and to stop hurting anyone else. And if she thinks keeping secrets is hard, not speaking up when she's ignored, ridiculed and even attacked is worse.

But there's strength in silence, and in the new friends who are, shockingly, coming her way—people she never noticed before; a boy she might even fall for. If only her new friends can forgive what she's done. If only she can forgive herself.


As I said above I was the target of bullies when I was a 7th grader. I don't like talking about it even now 30 years later. Why? I feel silly that I "let" it happen. I'm embarrassed by it. All those stupid feelings. I don't really even want to go into how exactly I was bullied, but in short: my ENTIRE class turned against me (I only had about 30 kids in my class). They called me names, refused to be near me. Generally made my days horrible. I think in the long run I could deal with that, but what bothered me the most was how it ended. It didn't end because I got mad or a teacher stepped in. It. Just. Ended. One day it was the worst thing possible to talk to me or be seen with me and the VERY NEXT DAY it was 100% ok. I never got - even to this day - why. What changed???? I hadn't! It has bothered me forever that someone held enough power to just turn that switch for no reason. The unfairness of it was crazy. Even today as I type this it makes me mad. But there it was. After 6 months of being the target of everyone I was once again "OK". And it took me a long time to trust it or anyone that said they were my friend. Bullying - horrible. Enough said.

In an effort to show support and raise awareness, Speechless has connected with Love is Louder Movement:

The Love is Louder movement was started when the Jed Foundation, MTV and actress Brittany Snow decided to do something to help those feeling mistreated, misunderstood or alone. Now hundreds of thousands of people around the world have joined the Love is Louder movement and are using their actions to make their communities and schools better places for everyone.  Come join the Love is Louder movement with us. Get started now at LoveisLouder.com/SPEECHLESS

A bit about the author

About Hannah Harrington  - website |  blog | Twitter | tumblr  |Goodreads | Harlequin Author site

Hannah Harrington resides in Michigan with one dog and too many cats. When she isn’t busy writing like a crazy person, she enjoys arguing about politics, watching documentaries, playing guitar (very badly) and speaking about herself in the third person. She released her debut novel Saving June in December 2011 and wowed readers with its intense subject of teen suicide. Her latest novel, Speechless (September 2012), explores the topic of bullying. You can find her online at www.hannahharrington.com


Tour Schedule:

Monday, October 15th - Page Turners
Tuesday, October 16th -  Love Is Louder
Wednesday, October 17th - Harlequin Blog
Thursday, October 18th - My 5 Monkeys
Friday, October 19th - The Daily Bookmark
Monday, October 22nd - Wastepaper Prose
Tuesday, October, 23rd - YA Bibliophile
Wednesday, October 24th - The O.W.L.
Thursday, October 25th - In Between
Friday, October 26th - I'm a Book Shark

For more info about guest posts check out the the Speechless Tour Page


Now the giveaway!

Each Blog on the tour is giving away a copy of Speechless and “Read for the Fun Mood” pens to support the Teen Reading Week.

One winner from all entries during the tour gets an epic Prize Pack:


KindlePaperwhite with Speechless Skin, 
1 iPhone Skin
5 Copies of Speechless to share with friends & family
1 copy of Saving June!

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6 comments:

  1. I am definitely intrigued by Speechless and looking forward to the read. This is a new title to me and I thank you for sharing about it :)

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  2. I am so glad there are good books about bullying coming out. It is still a huge problem and I have watched my grandchildren dealing with it. This looks like a great book. Thanks for being involved.

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  3. This book sounds really good and I'm really excited to read it. I know all too well about being bullied and it is not fun at all!

    Thanks for the giveaway.

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  4. Thanks for sharing. I completely get not wanting to talk about how or why you were bullied. There's that part of you that's always embarrassed about it.I'm really interested to see how Speechless gets into that aspect.

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  5. Why are people so mean?....sigh....

    -JennyC

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