Sunday, January 21, 2018

STOLEN SECRETS by L.B. Schulman Official Blog Tour





Synopsis 

After an abrupt move across the country to San Francisco, sixteen-year-old Livvy discovers a grandmother who she believed was dead. Suffering from Alzheimer’s, Adelle shouts out startling details, mistakes her own name, and seems to relive moments that may have taken place in a concentration camp. When Livvy and her new friend Franklin D. find journal entries from the Holocaust in Adelle’s home, Livvy begins to suspect that her grandmother may have a shocking link to a notable figure Anne Frank.


Praise for STOLEN SECRETS

“The author captures the desperate uncertainty of life with an alcoholic and having to parent a parent. Whip-smart Franklin has a uniquely drawn personality and his dialogue with Livvy sparkles…VERDICT An engaging coming-of-age novel recommended for libraries looking to highlight issues of alcoholism, Alzheimer’s, and family estrangement.' ―School Library Journal

“Stolen Secrets is a solid mystery with family drama and teen angst. Livvy is a likable character who is smart and perceptive at times, yet, like most teens, naive and clueless at others. The novel is easy to read and would be a good companion read for students reading Anne Frank’s diary. Stolen Secrets will need some hand-selling to teens, but once they pick it up they will not be disappointed.” ―VOYA

“This is a well-written book that sympathetically examines the roles of Holocaust survivors on both sides of the war as well as guilt and forgiveness. The main and supporting characters are funny and engaging…a good addition to those who want to read more books with a Holocaust theme. Recommended.” ―School Library Connection

“A…contemporary story with a Holocaust secret at its core….a jam-packed narrative with a full complement of tropes and topical elements: new girl; friend issues; alcoholism; family secrets, neo-Nazis; predatory elder care; armed robbery—and a romance. The grandmother’s mysterious past intrigues…” ―Kirkus Reviews

My Review

I Read this book in one sitting. Once I got started, I just couldn't put it down. I connected with it in such a way, it's hard to explain. Having a grandfather that fought in WW2, He kept his secrets until the last few years of his life. His regrets and shame of what he had to do during war time weighed heavy on his heart. Now on the other side, my husband is German and children are German, with my mother in law marrying an American soldier and moved to the states with no English at the time.  She will not talk about her biological father, So it makes me wonder what involvement he might have had during the Holocaust time. So, the connection with this book was real to me for personal reasons.

Livvy moves across country with her mother, whom she has a rocky relationship with.  Trying to build a new life, she is thrown into a new area, no friends, and discovers that her grandmother who she was told was dead is still alive, and the reason for the move.

Livvy reads about Alzheimer's, to learn about what her grandmother is going through, and believes that her rants might lead to secrets her grandmother has hidden years and maybe understand why her mother despises her so much.

With a creative storyline, this novel has a twist and an ending that will give you all the warm fuzzy feels.  Livvy's quest to find out her grandmother's past takes you on a journey discovering her own heritage that is so unexpected.  Her friend Franklin D. is right by her side, and his personality pulls Livvy out of her own shell she has been shielded in.  

I was so surprised how much I would enjoy this book.  It is a fun and fast read with little dramas spiraled into the main story.  I really think you will enjoy it so give it a try!!



ABOUT THE AUTHOR


STOLEN SECRETS is L.B. Schulman’s second young adult novel. Her debut, LEAGUE OF STRAYS, was published in 2012. She grew up in Maryland and now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, two daughters, and a pair of loveable mutts. When she isn’t writing, she’s visiting genealogy sites, trying to find famous people she’s related to. You can visit her online at LBSchulman.com.

Photo Content from L.B. Schulman



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Thursday, January 18, 2018

New Cover: Rarity from the Hollow by Robert Eggleton @roberteggleton1


New Cover and Final Addition of

Rarity from the Hollow


Blurb:
Lacy Dawn's father relives the Gulf War, her mother's teeth are rotting out, and her best friend is murdered by the meanest daddy on Earth. Life in the hollow is hard. She has one advantage -- an android was inserted into her life and is working with her to cure her parents. But, he wants something in exchange. It's up to her to save the Universe. Lacy Dawn doesn't mind saving the universe, but her family and friends come first.

Rarity from the Hollow is adult literary science fiction filled with tragedy, comedy and satire.

“The most enjoyable science fiction novel I have read in years.”
Temple Emmet Williams, Author, former editor for Reader’s Digest


“Quirky, profane, disturbing… In the space between a few lines we go from hardscrabble realism to pure sci-fi/fantasy. It’s quite a trip.”
    Evelyn Somers, The Missouri Review

. "…a hillbilly version of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy…what I would have thought impossible; taken serious subjects like poverty, ignorance, abuse…tongue-in-cheek humor without trivializing them…profound…a funny book that most sci-fi fans will thoroughly enjoy." -- Awesome Indies (Gold Medal)

“…sneaks up you and, before you know it, you are either laughing like crazy or crying in despair, but the one thing you won’t be is unmoved…a brilliant writer.” --Readers’ Favorite (Gold Medal)

“Rarity from the Hollow is an original and interesting story of a backwoods girl who saves the Universe in her fashion. Not for the prudish.” —Piers Anthony, New York Times bestselling author

“…Good satire is hard to find and science fiction satire is even harder to find.” -- The Baryon Review

About the Author:

 I recently retired after 52 years of contributions into the U.S. Social Security fund so that I could write and promote my fiction. I’m a former mental health psychotherapist in West Virginia. But, after coming home drained from working with child abuse victims, I didn't have the energy left to begin its self-promotion. Author proceeds have been donated to a child abuse prevention program in my home state. http://www.childhswv.org/ A listing of services that are supported can be found here: http://mountainrhinestones.blogspot.com/2015/06/review-giveaway-rarity-from-hollow-by.html.  

The Press: Dog Horn Publishing is a traditional small press located in Leeds. Adam Lowe is the owner. http://www.doghornpublishing.com/wordpress/books/rarity-from-the-hollow  The press also showcases other semi avant garde titles and publishes a popular magazine for the GLBTQ community (Vada).  


Purchase links:

Public Author Contacts:

*Note: all information provided by the author

Monday, January 15, 2018

ELLIE, ENGINEER by Jackson Pearce Official Nerd Blast.






Synopsis 

The hilarious and smart start of a series about a girl who loves to build—STEM-powered, creative fun for girls.

Ellie is an engineer. With a tool belt strapped over her favorite skirt (who says you can’t wear a dress and have two kinds of screwdrivers handy, just in case?), she invents and builds amazing creations in her backyard workshop. Together with her best friend Kit, Ellie can make anything. As Kit’s birthday nears, Ellie doesn’t know what gift to make until the girls overhear Kit’s mom talking about her present—the dog Kit always wanted! Ellie plans to make an amazing doghouse, but her plans grow so elaborate that she has to enlist help from the neighbor boys and crafty girls, even though the two groups don’t get along. Will Ellie be able to pull off her biggest project yet?

Illustrated with Ellie’s sketches and plans, and including backmatter with how-tos, this is full of engineering fun!


Praise for ELLIE, ENGINEER

"A charming book featuring an engineer who makes mistakes when navigating the roads of friendship. In addition to spotlighting engineering, the narrative contains strong themes of friendship and working together toward a common goal. VERDICT A solid addition to chapter book collections." ―School Library Journal

"Charming. . . . In addition to spotlighting engineering, the narrative contains strong themes of friendship and working together toward a common goal." ―School Library Journal

"Pearce emphasizes Ellie’s persistence and individuality. . . . Mourning’s notebook-style images help give a sense of how Ellie’s brain works." ―Publishers Weekly

"Explicitly rejects the idea that activities and objects are gendered (e.g., boys and girls can both like engineering and tea parties). The twist ending is not what most readers will expect. A spirited, duplicable depiction of STEM fun." ―Kirkus Reviews


ABOUT THE AUTHOR



Jackson Pearce currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia. After attending Brookwood High School in Snellville, GA, Jackson attended Georgia College & State University and later transferred to the University of Georgia, where she graduated with a major in English and a minor in Philosophy.

Jackson was an avid reader as a child—she loved the Boxcar Children and Indian in the Cupboard series, but really, she read anything she could get her hands on. This proved problematic when she got her hands on her mother’s paperback romance books from time to time.

It was her love of reading that spurred her to start writing—when Jackson was in her tweens, she was looking for a book that involved a smart girl, horses, baby animals, and magic. When such a book couldn’t be found, Jackson vowed to write it herself. She gave the story up after about ten pages, but the love of writing didn’t die as easily as the story. In her late teens, Jackson began writing for publication. Her first book, AS YOU WISH, sold to Harper Collins when she was twenty-two years old. There are currently four books in her series of retold fairytales—SISTERS RED, SWEETLY, FATHOMLESS, and COLD SPELL. She has also written a contemporary novel called PURITY, a historical fantasy under the pen name J. Nelle Patrick (TSARINA), and has two middle grade series forthcoming—THE DOUBLECROSS (AND OTHER SKILLS I LEARNED AS A SUPERSPY), coming July 2015, and PIP BARTLETT’S GUIDE TO MAGICAL CREATURES, co-written with Maggie Stiefvater, coming May 2015

Photo Content from Jackson Pearce




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Tuesday, January 9, 2018

THE LAST THING SHE EVER DID by Gregg Olsen Official Nerd Blast



Synopsis 

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author comes a psychological thriller exploring the things we dare to do when no one is looking . . .

The community along Oregon’s Deschutes River is one of successful careers and perfect families. For years, up-and-comers Liz and Owen have admired their good friends and neighbors, Carole and David. They appear to have it all—security, happiness, and a beautiful young son, Charlie.

Then Charlie vanishes without a trace, and all that seemed safe is shattered by a tragedy that is incomprehensible—except to Liz.

It took one fleeting moment for her to change the lives of everyone she loves—a heartrending accident that can’t be undone. Neither can the second-worst mistake of her life: concealing it. As two marriages crack and buckle in grief and fear, Liz retreats into her own dark place of guilt, escalating paranoia—and betrayals even she can’t imagine. Because there’s another good neighbor who has his own secrets, his own pain, and his own reasons for watching Liz’s every move.

And only he knows that the mystery of the missing boy on the Deschutes River is far from over.


Praise for THE LAST THING SHE EVER DID

“Gregg Olsen pens brilliant, creepy, page-turning, heart-pounding novels of suspense that always keep me up at night. In The Last Thing She Ever Did, he topped himself.” —Allison Brennan,New York Times bestselling author

“Beguiling, wicked, and taut with suspense and paranoia, The Last Thing She Ever Did delivers scenes as devastating as any I’ve ever read with a startling, pitch-perfect finale. A reminder that evil may reside in one’s actions, but tragedy often spawns from one’s inaction.” —Eric Rickstad, New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Girls

“Olsen's latest examines how a terrible, split-second decision has lingering effects, and the past echoes the present. Full of unexpected twists, The Last Thing She Ever Did will keep you guessing to the last line.” —J.T. Ellison, New York Times bestselling author of Lie To Me

“Master storyteller Gregg Olsen continues to take readers hostage with another spellbinding tale of relentless, pulse-pounding suspense.” —Rick Mofina, international bestselling author ofLast Seen

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Throughout his career, Gregg Olsen has demonstrated an ability to create a detailed narrative that offers readers fascinating insights into the lives of people caught in extraordinary circumstances.

New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author, Olsen has written nine nonfiction books, nine novels, a novella, and contributed a short story to a collection edited by Lee Child.

The award-winning author has been a guest on dozens of national and local television shows, including educational programs for the History Channel, Learning Channel, and Discovery Channel. He has also appeared on Dateline NBC, William Shatner's Aftermath, Deadly Women on Investigation Discovery, Good Morning America, The Early Show, The Today Show, FOX News, CNN, Anderson Cooper 360, MSNBC, Entertainment Tonight, CBS 48 Hours, Oxygen's Snapped, Court TV's Crier Live, Inside Edition, Extra, Access Hollywood, and A&E's Biography.

In addition to television and radio appearances, he has been featured in Redbook, USA Today, People,Salon magazine, Seattle Times, Los Angeles Times and the New York Post.

The Deep Dark was named Idaho Book of the Year by the ILA and Starvation Heights was honored by Washington's Secretary of State for the book's contribution to Washington state history and culture. His Young Adult novel, Envy, was the official selection of Washington for the National Book Festival.

Olsen, a Seattle native, lives in Olalla, Washington with his wife, twin daughters, three chickens, Milo (an obedience school dropout cocker spaniel) and Suri (a mini dachshund so spoiled she wears a sweater).

Photo Content from Gregg Olsen




--Giveaway is open to International. | Must be 13+ to Enter

Winner will receive a Copy of THE LAST THING SHE EVER DID by Gregg Olsen.
1 Winner will receive a $20.00 Amazon Gift Card.

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