Cheryl Rainfield's Blog, page 96

Are you a YA book reviewer who accepts e-copies? Do you like YA paranormal fantasy? Do you have a good following? If you said yes to all three questions, and you're interested in reviewing my upcoming YA paranormal fantasy HUNTED, then please contact me for a copy.

You can read the first 3 pages of HUNTED here.

In HUNTED, Caitlyn is a telepath in a world where it's illegal to have paranormal talents. She's on the run from government troopers, and she has to choose whether to stay in hiding, or save the world. I drew on some of my abuse experience to write HUNTED, just as I did with SCARS; like my main character,Caitlyn, I know what it's like to have my life threatened, to be tortured, to face oppression, and to have to decide between hiding my true self or being who I am, even if that means danger to myself.

You can see HUNTED at Amazon here.

As always, please check the prices before you click to buy; prices can change. And if you're not sure of a book, remember that you can request a free sample to check it out first.

Dust by Arthur Slade is free right now. I bought it and it was worth it; don't miss this one for free!

Jumping Off Swings by Jo Knowles (YA) is on sale for $3.99. This is a great novel!

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall is on sale for $3.99

The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies is on sale for $4.49

A Whole Nother Story by Dr. Cuthbert Soup is on sale for $2.99

Science Fair by Ridley Pearson is on sale for $1.24

Mysteries in Our National Parks: Wolf Stalker: A Mystery in Yellowstone National Park by Alane Fergasun and Gloria Skurzynski is on sale for $3.99

Stink: Solar System Superhero by Meghan McDonald, illustrated by Peter H Reynolds is on sale for $3.99, as are many of the other Stink books.

The Deepest Cut (a MacKinnon Curse novel, Book 1) by J.A. Templeton (YA fantasy with some mention of self-harm) is $0.99 (self-published)

Some of these look really good to me, especially the Mary Downing Hahn, Vivian Vande Velde, and Bruce Coville–all some of my favorite fantasy authors. But I also LOVE finding new (to me) books to read that are good. (I just found a new author and book I am LOVING through these sales–The Hound of Rowan: Book One of The Tapestry by Henry H Neff.)

Into the Shadows by Karly Kirkpatrick (YA paranormal) is free right now.

The Name of This Book Is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch is on sale for only $0.99 (middle grade)

The Luxe by Anna Godberson is on sale for $2.99 (YA)

Time for Andrew: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn is on sale for $4.58

The Doll in the Garden: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn is on sale for $4.46

Wait Till Helen Comes: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn is on sale for $4.46 (and so are many of her other books in this series)

Witch Dreams by Vivian Vande Velde (YA fantasy/mystery) is on sale for $3.67! (I love Vivian Vande Velde, and didn't have this one, so of course I had to buy it.)

Dragon's Bait by Vivian Vande Velde is on sale for $4.58

Smart Dog by Vivian Vande Velde is on sale for $4.58 (This is a good book!)

The Box by Bruce Coville is $0.99 (I LOVE Bruce Coville!)

Homeward Bound by Bruce Coville is $0.99

My Aunt, The Monster by Mary Stanton is $3.99. It's blurbed by Bruce Coville, so that caught my attention. She also has White Magic (book II) and Next Door Witch (book III) for $2.99 each.

Jungle Crossing by Sydney Salter is on sale for $1.87 (middle grade)

The Book Of Biff #1: Target Practice by Chris Hallbeck is on sale for only $0.99. The book is made up of single-panel comics.

There's a new service called MUSO that takes down illegal copies of your books (well, you look at each copy to make sure it's illegal, and can request the take downs and apparently they happen pretty fast).

the link to the article that discusses this is here.

and you can sign up for MUSO here.

There's a fee–$15/month for up to 60 files taken down, $25 after that. (I found this out by clicking on "account" *after* I'd signed up.)

I signed up, and searched for any copies of my books–and there were none. So for me right now it's not helpful. But perhaps in a year or a few years I'll want to use it. I don't know.

There's also a part of me that thinks like Seth Godin–that when our books are out there freely, it helps encourage more readers and more people buying our books (the way libraries do). But I know that's not a popular view with most other authors, and I'm still thinking on that.

A few (well-known) authors I know who used MUSO found between 6-38 illegal copies of their books, which they've had taken down. It also seemed that it was a fast, easy, efficient way of taking down a lot of files at once, instead of having to email their editors or publishers each time they found one…

If you sign up, you need to put your name in the "campaign" section–and then it will search for all your works by your name.

So, it's up to you, whether you think it's worth it or not, and if you're only trying it out, I guess it'll cost you the $15 for one month….

I just got the most amazing blurb from Adele Griffin for Hunted! (My upcoming YA fantasy.) It felt SO good to read, and made me smile. I'm still smiling!

"Spellbound by this one! HUNTED's got my vote for the sharpest, most thought-provoking fantasy I've read in a long time. It's hard not to fall in love with resilient, defiant Caitlyn, whose voice is as tough as it is pure.

Vividly realized and tightly wound, HUNTED builds tension on the edge of a knife. Its cut-glass style will hook you, and its brave and provocative themes are sure to stir up both emotions and conversation."

-Adele Griffin, Author of Where I Want to Be, National Book Award finalist, Kirkus Best Book, ALA Best Book

I'm grateful she agreed to read it (thank you, Adele!) and grateful she loved it!

When Piers Cawley discovered the library he grew up in was slated to be closed, he wrote The Child of the Library. You can hear him talk about it and then sing the song in the video below. I think it's moving–and something to share. (Found via Zoe Toft.)

The Ezra Jack Keats Mini-grant is back. Public schools and public libraries are invited to apply for this $500 grant. Deadline for submission is March 15 of each year, and decisions will be mailed to applicants May 15.

There are some great YA books on sale right now for the Kindle on Amazon (and some that sound good to me but that I haven't read yet):

Abarat with bonus material by Clive Barker is on sale for $1.99. It's a pre-order–you'll get it Sept 13–and it's much cheaper than the regularly priced Abarat ebook at $8.99

Feed by M. T. Anderson is on sale for $1.99

Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr is on sale for $2.99

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate Dicamillo is on sale for $1.99

Edge Chronicles: Beyond the Deepwoods by Chris Riddell is on sale for $3.99

The Five Ancestors: Book 1 by Jeff Stone is on sale for $3.99

The Hound of Rowan by Henry H. Neff is on sale for $3.99

Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner is $3.99

Today's wonderful guest post is by Stephanie Wilkes, a YA librarian with a passion for teens, good books, pizza, video games and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Stephanie Wilkes is the Young Adult Coordinator at Ouachita Parish Public Library in Louisiana. I love Stephanie's recounting of her book club, and her idea about reaching the parents of teen readers. You can find Stephanie on Twitter at @stephaniewilkes

Last night I met with my Adult Book Club. Now, as a young adult librarian, when it is my turn to select our monthly book, I ALWAYS pick a YA book…to get them out of their comfort zone. Over the years, we've read The Hunger Games, Shiver, and Bloody Jack. This month, I chose Hate List by Jennifer Brown. I never anticipated that the discussion would be as beautiful as it was, but when everyone left the room and I was alone in my office, I had tears in my eyes. For the first time, I had connected with adults about the truth in young adult fiction.

One of the first responses I received when asking if they liked the book was that they didn't understand why the books were so dark and they were concerned that it glamorized certain behaviors with teens. After this summer's debate with Meghan Cox Gurdon and the outpouring of YA writers to support these types of materials, we had a serious discussion about the history of young adult literature and where we are today. Obviously, sharing my passion about young adult books is something I do on a daily basis, but I even surprised myself about how knowledgeable I felt when discussing 'problem' novels.

As we discussed the book, one of the attendees mentioned that she read the book with her daughter, as the book was on her daughter's required reading for her high school over the summer. She mentioned that she and her daughter were able to sit down and discuss some of themes in the book together and how enjoyable it was to talk to her daughter, refreshing to hear her voice an opinion of her own, and how it brought the two closer together. Why did it bring them closer together? Not because of the discussion of school violence but because of the discussion of the relationship between Valerie, the main character, and her boyfriend Nick. She stated that she sat and talked about destructive behavior in relationships and about how it can be hard for girls AND guys to see that the decisions they are making have a domino effect on others. I was floored. Every discussion I have with teens about this book is about the shooting…we never discuss Valerie and Nick's relationship.

Which brings me to my musing and my new idea… After much thought, I have decided that while doing the daily duties of a young adult librarian brings teens closer to books, maybe I should change focus for a short time and target the PARENTS. This seems crazy but after talking to several parents, they've actually loved the idea of having a book club for them in which they read YA books, either with or without their kids. Some of them wanted to discuss how sexy Edward was in Twilight and how some of them, and I unfortunately quote, 'found Edward and Bella's honeymoon scene more erotic than a Harlequin novel', and they wanted to have this discussion with other adults so that they wouldn't feel so creepy. Some of them want to read more books like Hate List and discuss serious topics in an open forum way with their kids.

As young adult librarians, we focus so much on teens that I think we may have missed an opportunity promoting to parents that would do several key things: 1) facilitate discussion amongst teens and adults; 2) allow adults to indulge and learn more about young adult fiction; and 3) open the door for adults to embrace this new generation and to understand their dilemmas. One of my adults argued that she didn't think that things were as bad now as they were in the 1960s when she was a teenager and was immediately reprimanded by another adult who said that it was always bad, but they just chose to forget.

It's time to remind the adults what it is like and to teach them how to talk and relate to teenagers. I think that only then can we begin to unite together and (sappy I know…) make this world a beautiful place.

I read banned books; there are some fantastic books that have been banned. And Scars has also had challenges, as well as the recent opinion piece in the WSJ which called Scars and many other powerful books "too dark".

So when I saw that Banned Books Week is coming up (Sept 24-Oct1), I decided to create a video. I hope you'll watch it, and I hope it speaks to you. If you like it, please let others know about it.