2015: Books Read & Loved

Hello! Hope you're all doing well as the year comes to a close.

Okay, here (in no particular order) are some of the books that I've read and enjoyed throughout 2015. Most of these were first-time reads, others were nostalgic re-reads (e.g., Karen Cushman, Rita Williams-Garcia, Sharon Creech). Feel free to chime in with your favorite books of the year!

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MIDDLE GRADE:

A Nearer Moon, Melanie Crowder

The Stars of Summer, Tara Dairman (2nd in a series~ Gladys Gatsby is SUCH a lovable protagonist)

Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer, Kelly Jones

Wish Girl, Nikki Loftin

Switch, Ingrid Law (LOVED this whole series- Savvy and Scumble are the first 2)
Bridget Wilder, Spy in Training, Jonathan Bernstein

The Astounding Broccoli Boy, Frank Cottrell Boyce (one of my fav authors!)

Fuzzy Mud, Louis Sachar

Stella by Starlight, Sharon Draper

The Hollow Boy: Lockwood & Co., Jonathan Stroud (LOVE this series)

The Blackthorn Key, Kevin Sands (great start to a new series)

Goodbye Stranger, Rebecca Stead

The Truth about Twinkie Pie, Kat Yeh

Secrets of Selkie Bay, Shelley Moore Thomas

Gracefully Grayson, Ami Polonsky

MORE MIDDLE GRADE:



Circus Mirandus, Cassie Beasley

The War that Saved My Life, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
The Wolf Wilder, Katherine Rundell

Curiosity House, the Shrunken Head, Lauren Oliver and H.C. Chester

Walk Two Moons, Sharon Creech

Love that Dog, Sharon Creech

The Unmapped Sea, Maryrose Wood

The Thing About Jellyfish, Ali Benjamin

The Friendship Riddle, Megan Frazer Blakemore

Crenshaw, Katherine Applegate

Roller Girl, Victoria Jamieson

Rules for Stealing Stars, Corey Ann Haydu

Lost in the Sun, Lisa Graff

The Detective’s Assistant, Kate Hannigan

The Thickety: The Whispering Trees, J.A. White

MORE MIDDLE GRADE:

Gone Crazy in Alabama, Rita Williams-Garcia (another series I've LOVED)

PS Be Eleven, Rita Williams-Garcia
One Crazy Summer, Rita Williams-Garcia

Arcady’s Goal, Eugene Yelchin

Finding Ruby Starling, Karen Rivers

George, Alex Gino

Sunny Side Up, Jenni Holm

Milo Speck, Accidental Agent, Linda Urban

Moonpenny Island, Tricia Springstubb

Echo, Pam Munoz Ryan

Dragon’s Guide to the Care and Feeding of Humans, Laurence Yep and Joanne Ryder

A Plague of Boggles, Catherine Jinks
Jinx's Fire, Sage Blackwood (EXCELLENT series!)

MORE MIDDLE GRADE:



Stella By Starlight, Sharon Draper

Blue Birds, Caroline Starr Rose
The Key that Swallowed Joey Pigza, Jack Gantos

Flights and Chimes and Mysterious Times, Emma Trevayne
Catherine, Called Birdy, Karen Cushman

Alchemy and Meggy Swann, Karen Cushman

In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, Bette Bao Lord *Childhood Favorite

Imogene and the Case of the Missing Pearls, Elizabeth Varadan *Wonderful voice!

YOUNG ADULT:

The Storyspinner, Becky Wallace (LOVED this, sequel is out in March)
Bone Gap, Laura Ruby
See No Color, Shannon Gibney
Shadowshaper, Daniel José Older

More Happy Than Not, Adam Silvera

Mark of the Thief, Jennifer Nielsen

Boxers/Saints, Gene Luen Yang (got these books signed at an event!)

Instructions for the End of the World, Jamie Kain

American Born Chinese, Gene Luen Yang

The Hired Girl, Laura Amy Schlitz (MG/YA cusp)

Audacity, Melanie Crowder

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, Leslye Walton

I’ll Give you the Sun, Jandy Nelson

Lies We Tell Ourselves, Robin Talley

Jumped, Rita Williams-Garcia

Mortal Heart, Robin LaFevers

NONFICTION:

Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh

Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People, Mahzarin A. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald

Bad Feminist, Roxane Gay

Bossypants, Tina Fey

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (and other concerns), Mindy Khaling
Two Roads to Augusta, Ben Crenshaw, Carl Jackson, Melanie Hauser


ADULT FICTION:

The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins
Pretty Baby, Mary Kubica
Dodger, Terry Pratchett (YA, but I think it's great with any audience)
Chocolat, Joanne Harris
Shopaholic to the Stars, Sophie Kinsella
Queen of Babble series, Meg Cabot
The Martian, Andy Weir
The Fair Fight, Anna Freeman (still reading, but LOVING)

MISC. (not sure where these fit~ loved them!):



Shaun Tan books- The Arrival, Lost and Found, The Lost Thing
~~~

Happy New Year! My next post will be about some 2016 books that I'm looking forward to.

To You and Yours...

Happy Holidays!

I'm planning a post about the middle grade and YA books I've read in 2015 (and the ones I'm looking forward to in 2016~spoiler, HUGE anticipation for the newest Karen Cushman book, as she's one of my major literary crushes), but for now, I'll leave you with a few photos from my holiday season.

Stockings 'round the fake fireplace

Snowmen & elves strewn everywhere

Wassail simmering on stove

Walnuts for roasting! (much tastier than chestnuts, in my opinion)

Cookie stealing: A holiday tradition at our house

Lots of snow! I'm asking Santa for a garage this Christmas...

Getting together with family (I'm 3rd from the right)

All the beasties!

The wee beasties love playing in the snow

Hope your holidays are filled with love, happiness, and maybe a little magic!

Get thee over to author Tara Dairman's blog!

Hi All!

My dear friend and critique partner Tara Dairman's 3rd book is coming out next summer, and she's revealing her cover and doing a giveaway today (you can enter through November 5th)~ her middle grade series is perfect for any young readers (and adult ones, too!), especially those with an interest in all things foodie,

Here are the first two covers:

The first two books, All Four Stars and The Stars of Summer are must reads~ great characters, hilarious narratives/dialogue, and mouth-watering food descriptions~and all the cover art is by one of my favorite illustrators, Kelly Murphy. Tara said that we could spread the 3rd cover image far and wide, so I've posted Book #3's cover below, but you MUST go to her blog in order to enter the giveaway, so get over there!

BIG LINK TO TARA'S BOOK GIVEAWAY

Want To See The Cover Of My Next Book? Here's WAITING FOR AUGUSTA

Hi All!

The fine folks over at YA (and Kids!) Book Central are doing my cover reveal today! Actually, it's a full jacket reveal. Kenard Pak's  artwork was so lovely that we wanted to show as much of it as possible, and Lizzy Bromley of Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers has done a fabulous job with the cover/jacket/book design. Just click the link to see WAITING FOR AUGUSTA's jacket and enter to win an early copy!


http://www.yabookscentral.com/blog/it-s-live-cover-reveal-waiting-for-augusta-by-jessica-lawson-giveaway-international


And here's the cover~ remember, the entire jacket is over at the above link, so if you want to see that (and if you want to enter to win an ARC) head over there next! The book will be available May 2016.

 

About the Book

 

Eleven-year-old Benjamin Putter has a lump in his throat, and he’s certain it’s a golf ball.

 

It sounds crazy, he knows. But everything's been topsy-turvy since his father died last month.

 

Then one day something starts tugging at Ben, telling him to hurry to Augusta, Georgia—home of the most famous golf course in the world.

 

Ben might be going loony, but escaping Hilltop, Alabama sounds like a darn good idea. (And just maybe it will make that lump go away.) As he makes his way to Augusta, Ben partners up with a myserious runaway named Noni, and they embark on a journey with surprises—and possibly magic—at every turn.

Decatur Book Festival, Oh, How I Loved You: How I met Meg Cabot, Jane O'Connor, Judy Schachner, and more!

Boy, did I have a great Labor Day weekend! I was lucky enough to attend and participate in the Decatur Book Festival, where I spotted and interacted with readers and authors galore.

My panel with Meg Cabot (whose books I adore), entitled "Happily Ever After" was on Sunday afternoon and since I arrived in the early afternoon on Saturday, I got to spend some time soaking up sessions and atmosphere~ readers and writers and families and just a whole lot of fun, with the added bonus of funnel cake and barbecue smells wafting around the festival grounds. Here are some highlights:

I went to a panel with Ingrid Law (Savvy, Scumble, and the brand-new Switch), Jacqueline Kelly (the Calpurnia Tate books), and Jeanne Birdsall (The Penderwicks series). Here's a photo of Jacqueline Kelly (and that's Jeanne Birdsall beside her)!

Jacqueline Kelly! And Jeanne Birdsall!

I got to talk with Ingrid Law over ice cream!

Me and Ingrid Law!

Jane O'Connor, author of the Fancy Nancy books, was reading a paper in the hotel lobby and she was SO gracious when I interrupted her to say, "I LOVE YOU. I mean, your books! WE love your books! My entire house! I mean, me and my kids!" Folks, I teared up, I was so excited. My oldest daughter loves her books (of course I whipped out photos of my kiddos). We chatted for a bit, and then she let me take a selfie with her (with her fancy feather boa!)!

Jane O'Connor and me

 

I spotted Judy Schachner, author of the Skippyjon Jones books, in the gorgeous book store Little Shop of Stories (if you ever go to Decatur, you MUST visit it) and said hello, then bought her most recent picture book, Dewey Bob.

 

Judy Schachner! And me :)

And I also got to chat with Anica Mrose Rissi (author of the Anna Banana chapter books), the super sweet and kind Beasley sisters (Cassie is the author of the middle grade book CIRCUS MIRANDUS and Kate has a middle grade coming out next year called GERTIE'S LEAP TO GREATNESS that sounds fantastic), and I got to meet Laurel Snyder (whose picture books SWAN just came out). My parents drove down from Nashville, and we got to see a Pat Conroy session as well.

And then, the panel. Ladies and gents, it was a blast. Our moderator, Elizabeth Lenhard, was so wonderful (she's the author of lots of books, including the knitting-and-friendship-themed Chicks with Sticks series and her latest, Flirt: Our Song), the audience members asked great questions and we talked about everything from our books (I was there promoting Nooks & Crannies and Meg was promoting the delightful From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess) to our writing processes.

L-R: Moderator Elizabeth Lenhard, Meg Cabot, and me

 

 

 

The signing table

 

Looking around at all the young, eager readers throughout the weekend, I felt like I was going back in time. I would have loved to attend a book festival like DBF when I was young, and I can't say enough about how well-organized it was.

Hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend!




The Need for Strong Female Characters: Guest Post by Sherel Ott

Today I'm pleased to be handing the blog over to Sherel Ott, author of Princess Janai and the Warrior Maidens of Quinu: The Cities of Tonga and Tongia.

Here's Sherel, with a post on strong female characters. Be sure to check out the links and giveaway at the bottom of the post!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have four nieces, who at the time that I decided to write Princess Janai and the Warrior Maidens of Quinu: The Cities of Tonga and Topngia were between the ages of four and nine.  As an avid collector of animation movies, I had noticed that there were not a lot of positive, strong women of color on the big screen or in a book for them to identify with in a positive way and dream to be just like that person.

I found it offensive that women of color were portrayed and valued for their physical assets, dancing skills or trying to scheme their way up the ladder as if they did not have a mind or the ability to make it to the top on their own.  I also had noticed that a lot of the female heroine characters were timid, needing direction, guidance and rescuing. I wanted to show the girls and women, in general, that they don’t need to be like that if they can believe in themselves. Society has devalued women and made them devalue themselves so much that they believe that in order to be whole or fulfilled, they have to be part of a couple and that they are weak otherwise.  I wanted women and girls to see themselves as being capable of handling any situation on their own.

I decided to write this book for the middle-school aged/tween genre because it is during this time that girls AND boys formulate who they are and learn to either value or devalue themselves based on the information or feedback that they get from the other people they interact with.

I think we should start when they are young to help teach girls to love themselves and see themselves for who they are and not depend on someone else to tell them or validate them on how beautiful or popular they are or if they’re smart or dumb. Because of things like this, society has put labels on people and try to make them fit into certain category. When we don’t fit into any particular category that they deem appropriate, they then try to make them fit by attacking their character, making them doubt themselves, having them compare themselves to others (whom they say are beautiful, smart and socially acceptable) instead of letting them be their own unique, individual self. This is how we cause a lot of identity issues and self-esteem problems with girls and boys.

Each book in the series will highlight different problems/issues that girls will go through growing up, helping them to navigate some of the pitfalls.  I don’t expect to reach all the girls, but I do hope to reach quite a few girls and instill in them the value of their own self-worth.  I want girls and women to know that yes we may be the fairer and “weaker” sex, but that does not mean that we are weak; that we can be strong of mind and character and that yes with training, we can be strong of body as well. Women can be cunning, industrious and inventive just like men.  We can stand on our own, support ourselves and our families if need be. Women are just as POWERFUL as men.

Even though my books are for girls, because of the issues and problems that the characters will be facing in the book, it will be good for guys as well.  The problems and issues will not solely be narrowed to just female situations, but can be broad enough to be issues that boys can identify with as well. They too will go through some of these same problems with possibly a different variation and this will help them to be able to identify with some of the situations and problems in their own live and help them to grow and solve them and provide them with different coping skills as opposed to aggression and anger.

About Princess Janai and the Warrior Maidens of Quinu: The Cities of Tonga and Tongia

All Janai wants is to be just like everyone else. Being the Princess and having to try out for the Warrior Maidens is just part of her problems. She has the present Warrior leader unhappy with the fact that she is trying out, because that means her time is almost up and she enjoys her “status” too much to give it up without a fight. Not to mention someone just froze two of her guards into living statues with the fabled Mist Flowers of Tonga. Now she and a small group of warriors must travel to a forbidden city and obtain the antidote before the two guards are lost forever…all in 24 hours. Is she capable? Will she make it in time?

About Sherel Ott

An eclectic collector of animation movies, Sherel Ott is a writer of fantasy and romance stories. One day while watching an animated movie, she noticed that there weren’t a lot of movies or books with girls of color in leading roles…as heroines, adventurers or with strong moral characters and wondered… Where were the influential leaders, doctors, lawyers or royalty of color? Why weren’t there any strong black female characters where a girl of color could be proud of her skin color and the type of person representing and say … “I want to be like her!” Wanting something more for her own nieces to look up to and strive to emulate, other than what girls of color were currently being portrayed as or should settle for is how her book initially took form. She wanted to show that there are black princesses, warriors, adventurers of all walks of life. That she should be and can be recognized for what she does and who her true self is, not be prejudged by what color her skin was.

As a fan of all fantasy, magical, mystical, celestial and other worldly creatures, Sherel began reading sci-fi/fantasy stories at a young age.

"I have always been a sci-fi and fantasy type of person. I always felt as a child that I belonged in those types of worlds rather than here. Reading them had always been my way of escaping from my shyness as a child." Sherel Ott. She had started collecting fairies of all types and now has a mini collection of collectible faery ornament to decorate her Christmas tree every year.

Sherel creates her stories first by writing them out and then typing them on the computer. She feels she gets her inspiration greatest when she writes and from nature itself. She strives to present her stories in a way that anyone can relate and identify with no matter how old or young...with a little fun, a little action/adventure, yet with a hidden message. Writing since the age of 14, her first published book--Adventures of Princess Janai and the Warrior Maidens of Quinu: The Cities of Tonga and Tongia -- brings a story of strong African American females. It's an adventure series particularly geared towards girls, although boys will also find it an enjoyable read.

When Sherel is not writing, she is working as a full-time Family Nurse Practitioner and has been so for the past 17 years. She presently resides in Felton, DE.
 
Social Links:

Webpage: http://www.sherelott.com/                

Facebook:  Sherel Ott Author    
Twitter:  @SherelOttAuthor

Where to Purchase: Amazon

Radio Appearance (information via Sherel's marketing staff): Please join us tomorrow, August 13th, for a live online interview with Sherel and Literary Diva, http://www.blogtalkradio.com/diva29 at 1:00p.m. EDT. If you miss the interview, it will be available later in the day on Literary Diva’s site and Sherel’s.

Other Blog Stops on the Tour: Check where Sherel is each day on her ten day tour by clicking here: http://www.sherelott.com/virtual-book-blog-tour-schedule/.
 
Giveaway:
1^st Prize: $50 Amazon.com gift certificate and signed copy of Princess Janai and the Warrior Maidens of Quinu: The Cities of Tonga and Tongia

2^nd Prize: $25 Amazon.com gift certificate and signed copy of Princess Janai and the Warrior Maidens of Quinu: The Cities of Tonga and Tongia

3^rd Prize: $10 Amazon.com gift certificate and signed copy of Princess Janai and the Warrior Maidens of Quinu: The Cities of Tonga and Tongia
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Giveaway via Facebook (click link)

Decatur Book Festival, Here I Come!

Hi All!

What are you doing over Labor Day weekend this year? How about a trip to Decatur, Georgia for some literary delights? With categories ranging from fiction to journalism, food & cooking to feminism, the Decatur Book Festival will have authors and literature in attendance for every reader.

I'll be on the Children's Stage, which will also host lots of folks you've heard of~ Jeanne Birdsall (The Penderwicks series), Ingrid Law (Savvy, Scumble, and the upcoming Switch), Adam Gidwitz (Dark and Grimm series), Gennifer Choldenko (Al Capone series, Chasing Secrets), Rodman Philbrick (The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg and Freak the Mighty), and lots more! (full children's author list HERE)

MY APPEARANCE:

One month from today, on Sunday, September 6th, I'll be on the Children's Stage with MEG CABOT (!!!), author of The Princess Diaries and many other books. I just read her new MG Princess Diaries spinoff, From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess and loved it. Here's some information about our session:

Happily Ever After

Children's Stage at Decatur Recreation Center presented by Decatur Education Foundation

Sunday, 3:45-4:15

Sometimes, life takes unexpected twists and turns! Meg Cabot (From The Notebooks of a Middle School Princess) and Jessica Lawson (Nooks and Crannies) weave tales of ordinary girls finding extraordinary adventure!

Session Link: https://www.decaturbookfestival.com/sessions/view/5571c5c729b076a6559ad505

Full Children's Stage Schedule:https://www.decaturbookfestival.com/sessions/index/venue:555f31f4171201f16269c735

Festival Website: https://www.decaturbookfestival.com/

Hope to see you there!