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Celebrate Summer With Our Fabulous Four Books Giveaway
WIN FOUR SIGNED MG & YA BOOKS
Enter our fantastic summer giveaway
Courtesy of Candlewick Press
What better way to welcome the summer solstice than with a giveaway? But this is no ordinary giveaway! In April I enjoyed a wonderful pre-LA Times Festival of Books dinner with four fab Candlewick authors and was given autographed copies of their books. Good Reads With Ronna is giving away those signed novels to one lucky winner and it could be you. Read about the books in the giveaway. A handy Candlewick tote bag is also included:
Burn Baby Burn
Written by Meg Medina
(Candlewick Press; $17.99, Ages 14 and up)
Pura Belpré Author Award winner Meg Medina has another hit on her hands with this riveting read which took me back decades to that scary summer following my first year at university in New York. That’s when the letters of the S.O.S. distress signal stood for something much more sinister – the killer, Son of Sam. Here’s a description of the novel from Candlewick:
Nora Lopez is seventeen during the infamous New York summer of 1977, when the city is besieged by arson, a massive blackout, and a serial killer named Son of Sam who shoots young women on the streets. Nora’s family life isn’t going so well either: her bullying brother, Hector, is growing more threatening by the day, her mother is helpless and falling behind on the rent, and her father calls only on holidays. All Nora wants is to turn eighteen and be on her own. And while there is a cute new guy who started working with her at the deli, is dating even worth the risk when the killer likes picking off couples who stay out too late? Award-winning author Meg Medina transports us to a time when New York seemed balanced on a knife-edge, with tempers and temperatures running high, to share the story of a young woman who discovers that the greatest dangers are often closer than we like to admit — and the hardest to accept.
While violence runs rampant throughout New York, a teenage girl faces danger within her own home in Meg Medina’s riveting coming-of-age novel.
Read a sample chapter here.
Honor Girl
Written and illustrated by Maggie Thrash
(Candlewick Press; $19.99, Ages 14 and up)
I read this graphic novel memoir in three sittings because I just had to find out what happened to Maggie at Camp Bellflower for Girls, the summer she fell in love. I cared about her immensely and so will YA fans into candor, introspection, and the intensity of first love. Here’s a description of this impressive debut novel from Candlewick:
Maggie Thrash has spent basically every summer of her fifteen-year-old life at the one-hundred-year-old Camp Bellflower for Girls, set deep in the heart of Appalachia. She’s from Atlanta, she’s never kissed a guy, she’s into Backstreet Boys in a really deep way, and her long summer days are full of a pleasant, peaceful nothing . . . until one confounding moment. A split-second of innocent physical contact pulls Maggie into a gut-twisting love for an older, wiser, and most surprising of all (at least to Maggie), female counselor named Erin. But Camp Bellflower is an impossible place for a girl to fall in love with another girl, and Maggie’s savant-like proficiency at the camp’s rifle range is the only thing keeping her heart from exploding. When it seems as if Erin maybe feels the same way about Maggie, it’s too much for both Maggie and Camp Bellflower to handle, let alone to understand.
All-girl camp. First love. First heartbreak. At once romantic and devastating, brutally honest and full of humor, this graphic-novel memoir is a debut of the rarest sort.
The Hired Girl
Written by Laura Amy Schlitz
(Candlewick Press; $17.99, Ages 10-14)
While everyone was out at the pool during my Florida vacation this winter, I remained indoors because I could not put down this multiple award-winning novel from Newbery Medalist Schlitz. I relished being brought back in time to 1911 Baltimore following the ups and downs of protagonist Joan Skraggs as she becomes the hired girl in a wealthy Jewish household and tries to find her place in the world. Fans of historical fiction should add this to their must-read list.
Fourteen-year-old Joan Skraggs, just like the heroines in her beloved novels, yearns for real life and true love. But what hope is there for adventure, beauty, or art on a hardscrabble farm in Pennsylvania where the work never ends? Over the summer of 1911, Joan pours her heart out into her diary as she seeks a new, better life for herself—because maybe, just maybe, a hired girl cleaning and cooking for six dollars a week can become what a farm girl could only dream of—a woman with a future. Newbery Medalist Laura Amy Schlitz relates Joan’s journey from the muck of the chicken coop to the comforts of a society household in Baltimore (Electricity! Carpet sweepers! Sending out the laundry!), taking readers on an exploration of feminism and housework; religion and literature; love and loyalty; cats, hats, and bunions.
Dan vs. Nature
Written by Don Calame
(Candlewick Press; $17.99, Ages 14 and up)
Novelist and screenwriter Don Calame, has penned a fast-paced, fun YA novel for the most reluctant of teen readers. If you’re not sure what’s in store, better check out Calame’s clever book trailer here because it really gives you a good taste of the author’s unique sense of humor. High schoolers will appreciate the predicament that the main character, Dan Weekes is thrown into, survive being with his future step-dad or survive the wild.
Shy and scrawny Dan Weekes spends his time creating graphic novels inspired by his dream girl and looking out for his mom as she dates every man in the state of California. Then his mom drops a bomb: she and her latest beau, Hank, are engaged, and she’s sending her “two favorite men” on a survivalist camping trip to “bond.” Determined to trick Hank into showing his true — flawed — colors on the trip, Dan and his nerdy germaphobe best friend, Charlie, prepare a series of increasingly gross and embarrassing pranks. But the boys hadn’t counted on a hot girl joining their trip or on getting separated from their wilderness guide—not to mention the humiliating injuries Dan suffers in the course of terrorizing his stepdad-to-be. With a man-hungry bear on their trail, no supplies, and a lot of unpleasant itching going on, can Dan see his plan through now that his very survival depends on Hank?
From screenwriter Don Calame comes another outrageously funny and raunchy tale of teen boys whose plans go awry — this time, on a survivalist camping trip.
ENTER OUR GIVEAWAY NOW – Increase your chances of winning. You’ll receive an extra entry for following Good Reads With Ronna on Facebook, but please let us know you’ve followed by telling us when you comment below. Thanks and good luck!
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Ronna, I shared this post on Twitter and Facebook. Hope I win. Have been dying to read The Hired Girl.
Thanks for being the first entrant into the giveaway, Robin. You’ll love all the books. Good luck!
I like to read in my bedroom. I unfortunately am not an outdoors person and that doesn’t change in the summertime.
Sounds like you know just where you’ll read these books if you win. Good luck!
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i like to read all the time but especially during summer because i can get out in the sun and relax while reading a book by the pool.
Three of these stories take place during summer, one at camp, one in the woods and one in Queens, NY, 1977.
I like to read a wide variety of books in summer, but stick mostly with fiction.
You’ll love the four books in this giveaway then, Beth. Good luck!
I like to read in bedroom so I can be comfortable
I’m with you on that, Angelica! I’ve got a wonderful ceiling fan in the bedroom so that, along with an open window, and some propped up pillows on the bed, makes for an ideal reading spot.
I like to read outdoors, but under the big umbrella so the sun isn’t too bothersome!
Yep, it’s difficult to read under the sun’s glare and it’s much healthier to be under that umbrella.
Under a shady tree in a comfy chair in my backyard.
Everyone needs a shady tree to read under, especially in summer! Thanks for entering the giveaway, Scott.
I like to read by the pool and on the beach during the summer. I love the warm weather!
Thoughts of reading at the beach with ocean sounds and kids playing in the background are some of my favorites.
I read in bed just about every night. It relaxes me and is a good ending to the day.
Me, too, and I also listen to books in the car.
I love to read inside with the air conditioner and cold lemonade. Not much of a summer person.
Love that lemonade! Good luck, Shalida.
I like to read outside on the the comfy swing that has an overhead shade from the sun. Also have an outdoor glass table with high chairs made of metal and strong cloth with a retractable umbrella that provides shade on the back porch is very lovely too!
Sounds ideal, Michael. Thanks for stopping by GRWR!
I like to read at the beach during summer so I can get a tan while reading.
How convenient to live close to the beach, one of my favorite reading spots. Thanks for entering the giveaway.
I love to read outside in the sun.
Wearing sunscreen, of course, while sipping a nice cool glass of lemonade.
In the summer, I like to read while in my lounge chair on the patio.
Why? Because I can watch all the birds and butterflies in my flower garden and at the same time enjoy reading a fun book!
You must have a lively garden. Good luck, Nicole!
In the Summer I love to read in the car on road trips and on the beach when we arrive.
Hard to imagine summer without a great book tucked into a tote bag.
I like to find a shady spot near the pool so I can enjoy my books and still keep an eye on the kids
That’s when I find audio books come in handy!
I love reading outside on a comfy hammock during the Summer, as long as it’s not too hot. When it’s super hot out, cuddling up in a chair is where I love to read! 🙂
What a coincidence! Yesterday someone suggested I get a hammock! Sounds like a great idea. Thanks for stopping by blog, Lauryn.
I live by the Shenandoah National Park so reading by the mountains would be nice. Outdoor fun.
Lucky you!! We’re near gorgeous Huntington Gdns, another ideal reading spot.
I love to read on my back Lanai. I have My Flowers,birds, Geckos,(even the White Herons come up from the Harbor almost 3 miles away sometimes!) Cool Breeze & Quiet!
Sounds so inviting. I get the occasional hummingbird and always enjoy watching them.
I like to read outside on the hammock because it’s peaceful.
Must try that sometime. Good luck, Julie!
I read anywhere. In the kitchen when I’m cooking, in bed before I sleep, on the couch in the den outside on my swing!
When cooking? Wow, impressive!
I like to read by the pool so I can jump in when I start getting too hot.
My challenge is keeping the book dry. Thanks for stopping by the blog Susan.
Like to read at the beach because it’s fun.
Forgot my book when I took a bike ride along the beach this weekend. Darn.
I’m more of a bedtime reader. I like to lie down with a good book and a pillow to relax.
Bedtime reading and outdoor reading are neck in neck.
We had a pool put in our yard last year, and have such a nice spot now on the patio. We got a table & chairs set, and I love to sit out there & read!
And four books would look great on the table! Good luck, Annmarie.