Giveaway: The Well's End

I'm excited to be taking part in a Putnam launch event for The Well's End by Seth Fishman.  This one sounds good you guys, I can't wait to get my hands on it. Below is a bit more about the book, an interview with the author and a chance to win yourself an Advanced Copy!

TITLE The Well's End
AUTHOR Seth Fishman
PUBLICATION February 25th 2014 by Putnam Juvenile

Mia Kish is afraid of the dark. And for good reason. When she was a toddler she fell deep into her backyard well only to be rescued to great fanfare and celebrity. In fact, she is small-town Fenton,Colorado’s walking claim to fame. Not like that helps her status at Westbrook Academy, the nearby uber-ritzy boarding school she attends. A townie is a townie. Being nationally ranked as a swimmer doesn’t matter a lick. But even the rarefied world of Westbrook is threated when emergency sirens start blaring and the school is put on lockdown, quarantined and surrounded by soldiers who seem to shoot first and ask questions later. Only when confronted by a frightening virus that ages its victims to death in a manner of hours does Mia realize she may only just be beginning to discover what makes Fenton special.

The answer is behind the walls of the Cave, aka Fenton Electronics. Mia’s dad, the director of Fenton Electronics, has always been secretive about his work. But unless Mia is willing to let her classmates succumb to the strange illness, she and her friends have got to break quarantine, escape the school grounds, and outsmart armed soldiers to uncover the truth about where the virus comes from and what happened down that well. The answers they find just might be more impossible than the virus they are fleeing.

Interview with Seth Fishman

I see that The Well's End was inspired by a pretty dramatic story that happened in your hometown. Can you tell us a bit about that and why you had it in your mind while crafting this novel?
Yeah, Baby Jessica was a big deal everywhere, but especially in my home-town. I remember when they freed her, we were listening to the radio in the car and we honked to celebrate. And everyone else honked too. Nothing like that has ever happened to me since. So, I used that scenario as a base for my character, Mia. Something to craft her with. Then, I figured out an entirely different story to put this crafted character into. The thing is, the well keeps coming back to me, and so does the fall, and now as I write book two, it's creeping up as a more than an 'influence'... that's all I can say, for now. But I'm really enjoying exploring it.

I always wonder if it's difficult for a male author to write about a female main character. Did you find this challenging at all? If so, what steps did you take to bridge any gender gaps you may have come across?
Ha, I found this very challenging. My editor, the wonderful Stacey Barney, was instrumental in helping me sort out some of the technicalities. The funniest thing, though, was writing about the romance budding between main characters. I wrote the boy as I KNEW boys acted, but from Mia's perspective, what they were doing seemed weird, uninterested, which is both very real-life, but also not as helpful for the book. An odd balance to strike.

Do you have a writing room? If so, what does it look like?
I don't really, sadly. That's the future. Right now I'm in the living room in the morning, or the bedroom at night, depending on when. But my wife DID get me an awesome glass desk to write on for my birthday last year. I envision a leather chair and a library and a cat purring nearby.

What books are currently on your to-read shelf?
Good question. My clients' books, of course - can't wait for new ones to come in. But, otherwise, my to-read (and not my currently reading) shelf has Patrick Ness, recommended by the great writer Alexander London. And also, finally, some Alice McDermott.

What were some of your early influences that may have helped shaped your writing style? (books, movies, music, etc.)
My first love was Tolkien, but I wouldn't say that influenced my style. I love books that bend the grammar rules, that feel like the words are actually from a person's mind, and not the author's, and I tried to do that with mine. A modern example would be John Green. When I was younger, everything from Falkner to Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card to ANYTHING by David Mitchell. Movie: Dead Poet Society (I am a crier, even at emotional commercials, ha). This book is sort of a Toy Soldiers meets Red Dawn (the old one), so we can toss those in too, but I love the odd and imaginative. And I try to do the same in my writing. Straightforward different.

Thanks for taking the time to let us get to know a bit more about you and The Well's End, Seth!

Seth's Website | Twitter | Goodreads

Seth Fishman (me) was born and raised in Midland, Texas (think Friday Night Lights) and received his MFA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England (think cold and rainy and millions of castles). His YA thriller, The Well's End, is the first in a series and the protagonist, Mia Kish, is roughly inspired by a hometown drama that (when I was young) really blew him away: Click Here To Read The Article

Giveaway

Putnam has graciously offered up an advanced copy of The Well's End along with an original piece of artwork from Canadian artist Kate Beaton (to see some of her work for The Well's End Click Here.)

Open to US and Canadian addresses only

Giveaway runs until July 4, 2013

Fill out the Rafflecopter below to enter:

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Mini-Me Reads - Zero Tolerance

TITLE  Zero Tolerance
AUTHOR Claudia Mills
PUBLICATION June 18th 2013 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
READ June 07 to 08, 2013
SOURCE From Raincoast Books for review

Seventh-grader Sierra Shepard has always been the perfect student, so when she sees that she accidentally brought her mother's lunch bag to school, including a paring knife, she immediately turns in the knife at the school office. Much to her surprise, her beloved principal places her in in-school suspension and sets a hearing for her expulsion, citing the school's ironclad no weapons policy. While there, Sierra spends time with Luke, a boy who's known as a troublemaker, and discovers that he's not the person she assumed he would be--and that the lines between good and bad aren't as clear as she once thought. Claudia Mills brings another compelling school story to life with Zero Tolerance.

After reading a few mindless middle grade books that were purely for fun and to pass the time it was nice to pick up Zero Tolerance and delve into a story with strong characterizations and an important message for young readers. We are quickly thrown into Sierra Shepard’s life where being a leader at school and getting A’s are the most important things. We also get to meet a host of really great secondary characters and learn a little something along the way.

Right off the bat I was really happy with Sierra as our MC. She was a great role model for a younger audience in that good grades and being a leader at her school were very important to her. She strived to impress her teachers and parents and she also knew how to respect her elders. We do get to see her falter a bit in her path of righteousness which really brought her to life for me. She has a core group of friends in the beginning and we get to witness their ups and downs as well. As is with most MG titles there is also a pretty subtle romance in Zero Tolerance. Actually I would say that there is a bit more of a focus on the boys in Sierra’s life than in most other MG titles but it was still very much in the background. I liked the progression that her crush’s went on in the novel and how the shift really helped drive the moral of the story home with the reader.

While Sierra always ensures that she does the right thing she never guessed that it would get her into the trouble that it did. She opened her lunch kit one lunch break to find that she had brought her mothers matching kit by accident. What made this so bad is that her mom had packed an apple in her lunch, and along with that, a knife to cut it. Immediately Sierra turns it into the lunch lady who marches her straight to the office. Due to the schools “Zero Tolerance” policy when it comes to bringing weapons to school she faces immediate in school suspension and possibly expulsion. I liked how the plot really brought out that there are grey areas in what is right and wrong. Sierra did the right thing and got herself into so much trouble and I could really see both sides of the argument (though of course I think she should never have been penalized for such an innocent mistake.) We also get to meet the “bad kids” while she serves the full week of her suspension which also brought to light that people aren’t always who you think they are.

A very sweet, quick read with a great lesson to be learned, Zero Tolerance is a great read for any MG reader. Bringing to light a story of acceptance and not judging books by their covers this is not one to be missed.

Book Girls Don't Cry - My Fav Mind-F*cks

This week us Book Girls have decided to pick our favorite genre and list some of our favorite books in that genre. My initial thought was to pick contemporary and list my top 5 or 10 books, but then I browsed through all my old posts and realized that I always feature contemporary. So I am going to spice up my post a bit.  I'm posting about my favorite mind fuck books.  I chose this because next to contemporary I have to say that books that play with my mind are my next favorite and because I haven't read enough of them so I need some recommendations!

I love reading through a book and feeling like I am lost and trying to find my way out of a thick fog.  These 5 books all had me feeling lost and completely enthralled at the same time (in no particular order):

The very first mind fuck that I can remember is Fight Club. Admittedly, I did that one backwards, I read the book AFTER I saw the epic movie but the book still blew me away.  Also, to this day that is probably in my top 5 movies of all time. Tyler Freaking Durden!

Another Little Piece is the most recent one for me and I loved every second of that novel. The gruesome imagery and finding out exactly what was going on with this new Annaleise who wasn't really Annaleise was just way too fun.

Lucid was one that I was able to call early on (partly because ever since Fight Club I always think something reminiscent of that novel is going on and scrutinize the MC and the wording used meticulously.)  Despite that, I had a heck of a time reading this one as well.

Finally, I want to just have Nova Ren Suma on the list because she is the Queen of the Mind Fucks in my books.  Both Imaginary Girls and 17 & Gone had me questioning everything that was happening.  Those books are the definition of feeling lost and trying to find your way out of a heavy fog to find out what is going on.

I need more of these books in my life! Do you have any recommendations that fit this bill?

Also, don't forget that we are always looking for topic suggestions for future posts.

Fill out the suggestion form here!

Stacking the Shelves (58)

Books Mentioned (click title for Goodreads):
To Be Perfectly Honest by Sonya Sones
Fall Ball by Peter McCarty
When It Snows Richard Collingridge
Freakboy Kristen Elizabeth Clark
The F It List by Julie Halpern
Altered (Crewel #2) by Gennifer Albin
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke
Parasite (Parisitology #1) by Mira Grant
Unbreakable (Legion #1) by Kami Garcia
All The Truth That's In Me by Julie Berry
The 100 (The Hundred #1) by Kass Morgan
The Coldest Girl In Coldtown by Holly Black

eBook Haul (click cover for Goodreads):

Bloggers mentioned:

Giselle of Xpresso Reads

Micheline of Lunar Rainbows

Enormous thank you's go out to Simon & Schuster Canada, Macmillan, Harper, Disney Hyperion, Sophia Bleu, Giselle & Micheline this week! 

Speak Review

TITLE Speak
AUTHOR Laurie Halse Anderson
PUBLICATION April 1st 2001 by Puffin
READ June 05 to 06, 2013
SOURCE Purchased

Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops. Now her old friends won't talk to her, and people she doesn't even know hate her from a distance. The safest place to be is alone, inside her own head. But even that's not safe. Because there's something she's trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens. And then she would have to speak the truth. This extraordinary first novel has captured the imaginations of teenagers and adults across the country.

Upon seeing that I have such a dead review month in June for ARC’s I was excited to get to read whatever I wanted to fill up a few of the days. I was quick to jump on reading Speak. This is a novel that I know I read in high school because I was quick to recommend it to my sister who loved it dearly, as I must have to recommend it in the first place. Looking back I remembered absolutely nothing about the novel. It’s weird, sure my memory sucks and I have trouble recalling small details but I usually remember the plot and where the story goes. Speak was a blank for me. I remembered nothing. So re-read I did, and I am left wondering what my high school self saw in this novel.

I’m wondering if I have become desensitized to issue books. I have read so many books that deal with rape and they deal with it much better than this one. Don’t get me wrong I think Anderson captured Melinda’s inner turmoil after the tragic event very well but I just couldn’t connect with her. Could it be the short, clipped sentence structure? Maybe. The fact that the event is simply alluded to for much of the novel? Maybe. The rather innocent approach to the subject matter? Probably. I think it all comes together and I was left wanting...more. Most of the novel is simply Melinda going about her days and completely cutting herself off from everyone. For much of the novel I don’t think I would have even realized what had happened to her if I didn’t know beforehand. There are in depth looks at social history in her classes and spiels about how plants seed and all of those rants just left me scratching my head.

There isn’t really anyone to like in this novel. I probably liked Mr. Freeman (Melinda’s art teacher) the most. He was anti-establishment and I really liked how he let the students go in any direction that they wanted. But Melinda’s parents were absolutely horrible. Upon seeing that her daughter had cut up her arm with a paperclip all her mother says is “I don’t have time for this, Melinda.” That heartless comment absolutely floored me. I mean at that point I knew her parents were pretty shitty because they ignore everything that is going on with their daughter but still. Her grades are going down the toilet fast, she rarely speaks and now she has taken to cutting and you don’t have time for her? I would love to meet that mother in a dark alley at night. The one friend that she makes at school is a witch and all her old friends have just moved on from her so we never really get to know them (aside from their snide comments that proves them witch’s too.)

I didn’t even come to really feel for Melinda. I mean I know what she went through and how incredibly terrible it was but I always felt like an outsider. I didn’t feel like I was sucked into her world and feeling her plight. Her emotions weren’t palpable to me, I longed for much more of a connection through the entire novel. I think this is possibly because of all the weird rants and side things that happened in the story.

Between not liking anyone in the novel and not feeling the emotions that should have been conveyed I was definitely left underwhelmed by this one. For its time it may have been a groundbreaking novel but there have been way better books put out in this field that I would definitely recommend over this one. It makes me sad because I know that at one time I really loved this book but I just didn’t feel it this time around. Hopefully my next re-read goes a lot better than this one.