R.A.K. Rocks!!! Check it out!

Ever since I've started blogging I've been amazed by the wonderful bloggers I've met.  Well R.A.K. or Random Acts of Kindness started over at Book Soulmates is just another example of that.  I've decided to participate this month.

Here's the basic just of it:
People sign up.  You check out someone's wishlist, pick a book and mail it to them.  Someone does the same for you :)

Here's the big details taken from the Book Soulmates post on it:

Rules:

• Sign up each month you'd like to participate in.

• Show off your participation! Grab one of the buttons available :)

• Create a wishlist and post it in the Google Doc located in each R.A.K post for the month.

{Post on your blog, Amazon, where ever as long as there's a link to it.}

• If you choose to do a R.A.K for someone, check out their wishlist and contact that blogger for their address.

• At the end of the month, SHOW US YOUR R.A.K!

Make a post saying 'Thank You' to whoever granted one of your wishes and share it with us :)

OPEN TO EVERYONE!

Lets's keep our International bloggers in mind and in our hearts.

Remember, there's always the Book Depository and they offer FREE shipping!

Easy peasy!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Vanessa at

Twerd413 [at] gmail DOT com

or through twitter: @booksoulmates

Author Interview: Kimberly Derting

I'm so excited that I was able to interview Kimber Derting who is part of the Dark Days of Supernatural Tour with HarperTeen. This tour highlights five fantastic authors with five awesome books.  I'm super excited because the tour is making a stop here at The O.W.L. and in my hometown, so I'll get to meet several of the authors in person!


Kimberly Derting's latest book, Desires of the Dead, was just released.  It is a sequel to The Body Finder (I'm currently reading The Body Finder and LOVING it!).  Here's a bit about it, if you haven't heard of it yet:

The missing dead call to Violet. They want to be found.

Violet can sense the echoes of those who've been murdered—and the matching imprint that clings to their killers. Only those closest to her know what she is capable of, but when she discovers the body of a young boy she also draws the attention of the FBI, threatening her entire way of life.

As Violet works to keep her morbid ability a secret, she unwittingly becomes the object of a dangerous obsession. Normally she'd turn to her best friend, Jay, except now that they are officially a couple, the rules of their relationship seem to have changed. And with Jay spending more and more time with his new friend Mike, Violet is left with too much time on her hands as she wonders where things went wrong. But when she fills the void by digging into Mike's tragic family history, she stumbles upon a dark truth that could put everyone in danger.

Now on with the interview! Welcome, Kimberly Derting to The O.W.L.!

I like to ask authors questions that my students always want to know the answer to, so they are from them.

1.  Where did the idea for this series come from?

Oh boy, here we go….my husband loves this question!  He will jokingly (I think!) say that he is “the wind beneath my wings” or even my “co-author” all because he was the one who first said:  “What if there was a kid who could find dead bodies?”  Of course, what he conveniently forgets is that his idea was for a middle-grade boy adventure.  Oh, and that I’m the one who actually wrote the book!

2.  Have you always written? When you were younger did you write a lot?

When I was really young, I used to write stories about winged horses that lived in these elaborate cities in the clouds.  But it wasn’t until I took 7th grade journalism that I realized I wanted to be a writer.

And here we are, just a couple decades later. 

3.  How did you do in school? Was English your best subject?

Honestly, no.  I was good at English, but I wasn’t really a great student in high school.  I did best in classes that had real-world deadlines, like journalism and yearbook.  Other than that, I was really good at writing notes to my friends…or what kids today call “texting.”

4. How long did it take you to write this book (or any book)?  How much revision do you have to do?

Generally it takes me about 4 months to write a good solid first draft and get the stamp of approval from my agent.  And then there are several months of revising with my editor (which involves a lot of back-and-forth) until it’s in good enough shape for readers.  And thank goodness for agents and editors, that’s all I can say!

5.  What are some of your favorite authors now and when you were younger?

When I was younger I read Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird), John Saul (who writes these really good ghost stories), Thomas Harris (the Hannibal Lector books), and anything by Stephen King.

Now, I love SO MANY authors:  Melissa Marr, Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl, Cassandra Clare, Kelley Armstrong, Alyson Noel, Becca Fitzpatrick, Carrie Ryan…and probably a zillion others!!!

6.  And this one is because it's The OWL - Whooooo is your inspiration when it comes to writing and why?

Stephen King was a huge inspiration for becoming a writer.  When I was younger, I LOVED the way he would scare the heck out of me!

Thank you Kimberly for sharing your answers! Now for a few more goodies.

If you'd like to read a chapter in Desires of the Dead click HERE!

And here's the trailer if you haven't seen it yet.

Review: Cryer's Cross

Title: Cryer's Cross
Author: Lisa McMann

Publisher: Simon Pulse
Copy Obtained: Through Netgalley

From Goodreads
The community of Cryer’s Cross, Montana (population 212) is distraught when high school freshman Tiffany disappears without a trace. Already off-balance due to her OCD, 16-year-old Kendall is freaked out seeing Tiffany’s empty desk in the one-room school house, but somehow life goes on... until Kendall's boyfriend Nico also disappears, and also without a trace. Now the town is in a panic. Alone in her depression and with her OCD at an all-time high, Kendall notices something that connects Nico and Tiffany: they both sat at the same desk. She knows it's crazy, but Kendall finds herself drawn to the desk, dreaming of Nico and wondering if maybe she, too, will disappear...and whether that would be so bad. Then she begins receiving graffiti messages on the desk from someone who can only be Nico. Can he possibly be alive somewhere? Where is he? And how can Kendall help him? The only person who believes her is Jacian, the new guy she finds irritating...and attractive. As Kendall and Jacian grow closer, Kendall digs deeper into Nico's mysterious disappearance only to stumble upon some ugly—and deadly—local history. Kendall is about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried

My Review
I've put off writing this review for a little while.  Here's why: I'm not sure what I thought of this book.  I definitely didn't hate it! But I also didn't love it.  I went into it ready to be creeped out because I had heard about how scary it was - making some people afraid to read it at night! That didn't happen for me.  Granted it takes a lot for a book to scare me - a lot, so I shouldn't be surprised that this one didn't.

Ok let me look at what I liked.  I loved the pace of it the story.  The way Lisa McMann writes is very brisk (the best word I can come up with).  She uses a lot of short sentences that pull the story along.  You don't get caught up long descriptions that can drag a story down - and this story is not the type that should be dragged down.  You need to feel the drive Kendall feels.  You need to step into the flow of where the events are taking her.  Doing that made the story much stronger. To go with the pace, the story does build to a pace that in going so fast that you want to grab Kendall and stop her, but there is no time or way to.  I will admit that the final act Kendall is compelled to do did get to me some, but because of the way McMann writes I couldn't stop reading.

I also liked that Kendall has OCD.  It was an interesting twist that I hadn't seen used before.  I liked how the people around her just accepted it - Jacian in particular.  He wasn't thrown by it at all.  I think that added to me liking him and buy into their relationship better. The best part about the OCD was that it made Kendall both strong and vulnerable at the same time.  You knew that after dealing with OCD her whole life that she had an inner strength, but at the same time it put her at risk.  It was interesting to see how it played out in the events of the story.  I honestly don't think the story would've been as good if Kendall didn't have OCD.

The last thing I want to comment on is the "secret" of the small down.  I thought there was a lot of build up to it, but after that it was almost forgotten.  It was bad, but it was moved away from so quickly that I almost felt let down.

Final Thought:  Good but it didn't scare me
Best stick-with-you image: Dirt - that's all I can say
Best for readers: who want to be scared and are by books
Best for ages: 13+

Tween Tuesday-Team OWL Review The Emerald Atlas

Today for Tween Tuesday (started by the awesome GreenBeanTeenQueen) I have a Team Owl review of a book that is making a big splash in the tween scene:

The Emerald Atlas

by John Stephens

From Goodreads

Kate, Michael, and Emma have been in one orphanage after another for the last ten years, passed along like lost baggage.
Yet these unwanted children are more remarkable than they could possibly imagine. Ripped from their parents as babies, they are being protected from a horrible evil of devastating power, an evil they know nothing about.
Until now.
Before long, Kate, Michael, and Emma are on a journey to dangerous and secret corners of the world...a journey of allies and enemies, of magic and mayhem.  And—if an ancient prophesy is correct—what they do can change history, and it is up to them to set things right.

The Emerald Atlas brims with humor and action as it charts Kate, Michael, and Emma's extraordinary adventures through an unforgettable, enchanted world.

Team Owl Review

The Emerald Atlas was one of the best books ever and I’m so glad I got to review it, it was so funny and had so many parts that made me burst out laughing.  I just loved everything about the book, the plot was funny and it got me hooked on the first page till the end, it had everything I love in a book magic, make believe creatures, funny.  The characters were great, especially the three main characters Kate, Emma, and Michael, Kate is just seems like a great big sister to have and Emma seems mean and rude on the outside, but on the inside, well she’s still kinda mean, but she’s a sweat little girl who loves her family, and Michael who has an obsession with dwarfs and knows almost everything that you can know about dwarfs.  I just loved this book and I hope that there are more like it for me to read.

My Note

My daughter also read this book and LOVED it as well.  I think we'll be hearing more and more about this series.  I do have a concern about the cover though - I'm not sure it will appeal to my students.  I'll have to see.  I do like this one below better, but I believe it's the Germain cover.
 

If you haven't seen the trailer - take a look!