Helene Boudreau's Blog, page 6

…and I couldn't be happier!

From The New York Journal of Books: "Ms. Boudreau writes knowingly about the political minefield of adolescent girl relationships and surging guy-crushes, and she puts Jade in quite a crucible: Trying to solve the mystery of her mother's death, pass high school, keep her friends, win the guy—and not morph into a fish in public. The author is savvy enough to have left a few threads loose, and she has built enough conflict in the nascent mermaid world to warrant a very nice sequel. Oh, it's never easy to be a 14-year-old girl. Bravo to Hélène Boudreau for hitting the bull's-eye with a fresh, affectionate, watery twist on the classic coming-of-age-story."

From Kirkus Reviews: "…the author keeps suspense high and her prose moving while tapping straight into young teens' angst about friends, enemies and boys."

From The YA-5: "Absolutely fresh and sweet, a quirky coming of age story."  (and a full review where she likens my character, Jade, to Margaret. YES! Judy Blume's Margaret. *faints*)

Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings (book and audiobook in stores December 1st/ 2010)

It only comes out December 1st but I have a sneak sample. Listen! Listen!

Thanks to everyone who participated and helped spread the word about Darby's contest for her new book called FACING FIRE.

And now, for the winner….

The winner is…

Congratulations!

Lisa, I will pass your contact info along to Darby's author, kc dyer, so she can send along your book! Yay!

*I am SO excited because today, Darby from A WALK THROUGH A WINDOW is visiting da blog to tell us about her new book! Read to the end for a chance to win! -Hélène*

Hello Hélène's Hipsters!

My name is Darby Christopher, and Hélène has kindly stepped off her treadmill desk and invited me to walk along beside her out here on her blog for the day.

Normally I'm more up for riding my skate deck, but hey — I'll try anything once! You can usually find me doing ollies  down Yonge Street [there's a nice hill near where I live], but this month I'm cruising  the internets, celebrating the launch of my new book. It's called FACING FIRE.

FACING FIRE picks up the story of what happened to me after the magical summer that you may have read about in A WALK THROUGH A WINDOW.  Both books tell the story of how many different Canadians came to Canada. What's WAY cool is that I am a huge fan of Hélène's ACADIAN STAR, and in my new book, I get to experience a bit of a different take on the whole Grand Derangement story. So Hélène and me have got more than our raw athleticism in common!

If you'd like to learn more about either of my stories, you may want to have a peek at kc dyer's website:  www.kcdyer.com

Or better still, maybe you'd like to WIN a copy? If you leave a comment on this post, Hélène will put your name into a draw to win a signed copy of the new book – FACING FIRE. And if you actually link to this post somewhere else [like in another blog, or facebook post or even a tweet] we'll put your name in for the draw for BOTH of my books.

By the way, if you're into looking for prizes, [especially if you like making videos], check out my blog HERE at Darby Speaks. I have an AMAZING contest going with some totally fantastic prizes. And if you like twitter, you can follow all the latest on the contest and the blog tour and launches @DarbyWalking.

See you there.

And Hélène? Check out the name of my twitter feed. You think maybe I should graduate to a treadmill desk instead of just walking through windows all the time? >

Thanks for having me!

~Darby

**ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN! Canada and US only. Draw, Thursday, October 14th. GOOD LUCK!**

Woohoo! It's October 1st, which means KEEP OUT! has been officially released in the US.

To celebrate, I've been holding a contest for the past few weeks. Thanks to everyone who participated and helped spread the word.

 And now, for the winner of a signed copy of KEEP OUT!

*drumroll please*

And the winner is: HEATHER!

Congratulations!

Hey, Greater Toronto Area peeps! Would you like to win tickets for 4 for the World Premiere of MY BABYSITTER'S A VAMPIRE?

The great folks at TELETOON have graciously given me a package of four tickets to give away (suitable for ages 8 and up). This is a perfect event for getting into the Hallowe'en spirit!

To enter, just leave a comment! Simple, right? Well…maybe you could also let me know how you plan to dress up for Hallowe'en…

To enter, you must live in the Greater Toronto Area (or driveable...

The reviews are in and they couldn't be better!

Review in CM Magazine (click to read the full review…)

"Keep Out! is truly a compelling story, with hints given throughout the book about who or what is causing the piping plovers' eggs to be broken. Readers may be particularly interested in learning that the piping plover attempts to distract predators by pretending to have a broken wing. Keep Out! is especially recommended for emergent or reluctant readers, but it can be enjoyed by just about...

What do you do when it's the last day of summer vacation and it's raining outside?  Make a video with the chicklets, that's what! And since many of you asked about my treadmill desk, I thought we'd do a quick how-to video so YOU TOO can start walking and writing in style…

The chicklets were great videographers and stylists. You may not see the butterfly clips in my hair but they're there. Trust me.  Enjoy, and feel free to ask questions in the comments! 

Also, click on the 'Walk and Write'...

I know this is probably the equivalent of having my mom review my book but chicklet (who is 9) worked hard ALL day, reading the ARC of REAL MERMAIDS DON'T WEAR TOE RINGS and would like to share her thoughts.

Chicklet's review on

Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings

AUTHOR: Mumma (HELENE BOUDREAU)

Part's I liked: "Dad are you googling this?!?!?!"

Mumma wrote it and It is funny!!!

Parts I disliked: NONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mumma helped me with this part… (from the back of the book):

...

It's HERE!

And it's SO purr-ty!

And I held it for all of three minutes before one of my chicklets got a hold of it.

And now, my little girl, who is on the verge of becoming a big girl, is upstairs in her PJs cuddled up in bed reading my book.

And that is just about the happiest feeling, ever.