Mundie Moms

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Guest Author Post by Saundra Mitchell

THE NO-SHAME YA MANIFESTO

My name is Saundra Mitchell. I'm an adult, I have a sixteen year-old son and an eight year-old daughter- and I love YA fiction. I love it unashamedly, in spite of the people who peer at my book covers and ask why I don't read "real" books.

I guess by real, they mean books for adults. About mortgages and divorces and infertility or travelling the world to get your mojo back after you've lost it, or fantasy novels that are 2000 pages long instead of 300, or horror novels that actually bleed when you open them. I know there's amazing fiction written for the adult market, but with very few exceptions, I don't enjoy it.

In YA, all the motions are bigger, everything is the first time, and life and death- worlds drawn in stark, startling colors, with thousands of shades of nuance in between. YA tells stories that can't be told in adult fiction- I call it the Romeo and Juliet Rule:

If Romeo and Juliet weren't 14, they wouldn't be tragic, they'd be pathetic.

There's a certain expectation that by the time you're in your thirties, that you've been in love a couple of times, had your heart broken a couple of times, been through a couple of jobs, lost a couple of family members- in other words, you've settled into the reality of life. You know breaking up with someone isn't the end of the world. You know there will be another job. You know that you're expected to cope and get by until things get better.

Which is exactly what adult fiction is about- adults, dealing with the world around them. And I do that every day. I have my own bills and my own worries and my own life to steer between crises.

So when I read, I want to read about the end of the world. Literally, figuratively- that's what excites me. I want to read about people who are poised on that edge, and could fall either way, and honestly, entirely believe in love, and magic, and hauntings, and demons, and everything in between. I want to read books that still ask the questions, instead of assuming the answers are known.

And that's why I'm here. My name is Saundra Mitchell, and I love YA fiction. And I'm so glad to be welcomed here by the Mundie Moms. All amazing women who steer their families in the real world, and still sink into the fantasy of extraordinary YA worlds without shame.

Solidarity!

SHADOWED SUMMER
by Saundra Mitchell
In paperback June 8, 2010
www.shadowedsummer.com

Thank you Saundra for visiting with us today!!! To purchase Shadowed Summer, please see the links below:

Indiebound URL:
http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780440422570

Book Depository URL:
http://www.bookdepository.com/book/9780440422570/Shadowed-Summer

Powell's URL:
http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=62-9780440422570-0

Amazon URL:
http://www.amazon.com/Shadowed-Summer-Saundra-Mitchell/dp/0385735715/

Sea by Heidi R. Kling / Book Review


By Heidi R. Kling
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons (Penguin)
To Be Released: June 10th, 2010 (TOMORROW)
Source: Heidi Kling and Penguin

5 Stars-This is a must have and one I'll be reading again and again

A moody tale of romance set in the turbulent aftermath of the tsunami.

Still haunted by nightmares of her mother's death, fifteen year old Sienna Jones reluctantly travels to post-tsunami Indonesia with her father's relief team to help tsunami orphans with their post-transumatic stress disorder. But the last thing she expects is to fall for Deni, a brooding and handsome Indonesian boy who lives at the orphanage. A compelling summer romance, Sea marks the arrival of an exciting new voice in YA.


It's hard to believe that Sea is Heidi Kling's debut book. Sea is a richly written story that will capture the readers attention and pull them right into the wonderful world Heidi has created. It's both real and captivating. Woven with a beautiful, sweet summer love story, Sea is one read I highly recommend.

Fifteen year old Sienna Jones is still grieving over the death of her mother, when her father, a psychiatric Doctor surprises her for her birthday with a trip to go with his Team Hope back to Indonesia. Sienna's parents started Team Hope, to help bring relief to the orphans who are still grieving and coping from the traumatic tsunami that devastated Indonesia. In reluctantly going to Indonesia for two weeks, what Sienna doesn't expect to do is fall in love with the little girls she's there to help, discover the truth in her mother's death, and find love in an intense 17 year old Indonesian boy, named Deni.

Set in both Angel Miguel, CA and in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Sea's rich setting is both breathtaking and hauntingly beautiful. Heidi's vivid description of Indonesia made me feel like I was there with Sienna seeing Indonesia for the first time. From the way Sienna describes what she sees when they land, to the orphanage they are there to help out, to seeing the sites with Deni, everything about Indonesia's descriptions were beautiful, and delicately written. What I enjoyed most, is the relationships that Sienna made while there.

The characters and their relationships are real and their emotions so strong and engaging that my heart ached for them. Sienna and her father's relationship is a real father and daughter relationship. Their trip brings them closer together and brings some closure from the death of his wife and Sienna's mother. Like Sienna, I fell in love with the little girls at the orphanage as she formed a lasting bond with them. There to help them cope with their post traumatic stress disorder, Sienna finds they helped her, more than she has helped them. As Sienna was moved by their stories from when the waves hit, I found myself feeling the same ways she was.

The romance is beautiful and pulled at my heart strings as Sienna has to choose between the boy she's grown up with and the one she's grown to love and wants to help in Indonesia. The relationship Sienna has with her best friend back home is Ca, Spider, and the immediate connection she has with Deni, left me breathless. How do you choose when both are equally wonderful? Spider knows everything about Sea (Sienna's nic-name), and Deni has lost everything, but finds hope with Sienna. When Sienna decides to help Deni look for his father, who has been missing since the waves, she learns that love is also about letting go.

Sea truly had it all. Strong emotions, vivid descriptions, characters who I completely fell in love, and relationships that I want to see more of. The story is moving, and brilliant. I am looking forward to reading more about Sienna, Deni and Spider. Brilliantly written, moving and a captivating love story mixed in, this is a must read!

Be sure to join us on Friday when we host a *spoiler free* live author chat with Heidi Kling, and talk about Sea.
Be sure to visit Heidi's site here to find out more about Sea-http://heidirkling.com/

Waiting On Wednesday-The Poison Diaries

This weekly event is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

The Poison Diaries by Maryrose Wood
Published by HarperTeen
To Be Released On July 20, 2010

In the right dose, everything is a poison. Even love . . .
Jessamine Luxton has lived all her sixteen years in an isolated cottage near Alnwick Castle, with little company apart from the plants in her garden. Her father, Thomas, a feared and respected apothecary, has taught her much about the incredible powers of plants: that even the most innocent-looking weed can cure -- or kill.
When Jessamine begins to fall in love with a mysterious boy who claims to communicate with plants, she is drawn into the dangerous world of the poison garden in a way she never could have imagined . . . (taken from HarperTeen's site)

I'm eagerly awaiting The Poison Diaries release. The story sounds fascinating and the cover is intriguing. We've recently received this book to review, and are looking forward to reading it and sharing our review on it.

You can find more out about The Poison Diaries by visiting HarperTeen's site here http://tinyurl.com/28soe3l

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