Mundie Moms

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Tor Teen's YA Chat TODAY on Twitter

I am really excited about this afternoon's Tor Chat, as I have the privilege of moderating this chat today on Twitter with Lisa Desrochers, Kendare Blake and Marta Acosta. All three of YA authors from Tor, and today we'll be talking about their books, writing and all things YA related!


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August spells the end of glorious summer days and the return of classrooms and assigned reading. What better way to celebrate the end of summer than with a YoungAdult #TorChat, followed by a one-of-a-kind tour!

New York, NY – Thursday, June 21st – Tor Books (@torbooks) is thrilled to announce Girls’ Nightmare Out, a week-long event featuring three amazing YA authors: Lisa DesrochersKendare Blake, and Marta Acosta!


Girls’ Nightmare Out will launch with the August#TorChat, part of a monthly series of genre-themed, hour-long chats created by Tor Books and hosted on Twitter.The chat will take place on Wednesday, August 15th, from 4 to 5 PM Eastern. As students all across the country try to squeeze in just one more fun book before picking up their textbooks again, we’ll be joined by Lisa Desrochers(@LisaDez), the author of the Personal Demons trilogy, whose final volume, Last Ritewas published in May;Kendare Blake (@KendareBlake), whose debut took readers and critics alike by storm and whose new novel,Girl of Nightmaresa genre-bending love story drenched in blood and terror, publishes in August; and Marta Acosta(@MartaAcosta), author of the popular Casa Dracula series, as well as her YA debut, the gothic Dark Companion, publishing on July 3, 2012.

The chat will be loosely moderated by Katie, the blogger behind Mundie Moms, a popular YA review site. Katie founded Mundie Moms in January 2009 as a place for fans to discuss their favourite YA novels. From there, it grew into a community of fans and reviewers discussing every aspect of YA fiction and chatting with YA authors. Follow the chat and join in by using the Twitter hashtag #TorChat!

In the week following the chat, Girls’ Nightmare Out will take to the road, with Lisa, Kendare, and Marta going on a week-long tour, hitting cities all across the country! Check back soon for more details on the tour.

About the Authors


LISA DESROCHERS burst onto the YA scene in September 2010 with her debut novel Personal Demons, which was an ALA/YALSA Popular Paperback for Young Adults nominee and a Library Journal Fall Firstselection. Desrochers second installment Original Sin was highly anticipated and received rave reviews. And now TOR is proud to announce the release of the conclusion to the thrilling, edgy Personal Demons series, Last Rite, published on May 5, 2012.

With the help of the powerful angel Gabe and demon-turned-mortal Luc, Frannie has been able to stay one step ahead of the forces of Hell. But when the demons killedFrannies best friend and destroyed her brother, they raised the stakes. If Frannie wants to keep her family and friends safe, she knows she has no choice but to go on the run. Their best defense is the power Frannie has been struggling to master, but her attempts to hone her skill go horribly awry. If Frannie doesnt learn fast, the consequences could be devastating—even apocalyptic. What happens when you cant outrun Hell...or trust the ones you love?

Lisa lives in central California with her husband and two very busy daughters. She has a doctorate in physical therapy and maintains a full time practice. Last Rite is the final installment in the Personal Demons series.

KENDARE BLAKE exploded onto the Young Adult scene with her debut novel, Anna Dressed in Blood. Enthralling New York Times bestselling authors, reviewers, fans, and bloggers alike, Blake adeptly weaves the familiar and the unexpected into a genre-bending, refreshing new take on paranormal romance. Now, she’s back with her eagerly anticipated sequel, Girl of Nightmares, publishingon August 7, 2012.

Its been months since the ghost of Anna Korlov opened a door to Hell in her basement and disappeared into it, but ghost-hunter Cas Lowood cant move on. His friends remind him that Anna sacrificed herself so that Cas could live—not walk around half dead. He knows theyre right, but in Cass eyes, no living girl he meets can compare to the dead girl he fell in love with. Now hes seeing Anna everywhere: sometimes when hes asleep and sometimes in waking nightmares. But something is very wrong...These arent just daydreams. Anna seems tortured, torn apart in new and ever more gruesome ways every time she appears.Cas doesnt know what happened to Anna when she disappeared into Hell, but he knows she doesnt deserve whatever is happening to her now. Anna saved Cas more than once, and its time for him to return the favor.

Kendare holds an MA in Creative Writing from Middlesex University in northern London. She lives and writes in Lynnwood, Washington. Anna Dressed in Blood was among NPR’s Top 5 YA Novels of 2011, ALA/YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults 2011 as well as Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers 2011, and KirkusReviews Best Teen Books of 2011. It was also recognized by the Cybils: Childrens and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards.

MARTA ACOSTA is the award-winning author of the Casa Dracula series, all of which have hit #1 on Amazon’s Latino Author’s list. Now, Tor Teen is excited to announce the publication of her very first YA novel, the gothic Dark Companion, publishing on July 3, 2012.

Written as an homage to Jane EyreDark Companion is a lush, romantic tale about an orphaned teenager who is chosen to attend an exclusive private school where things are not exactly as they seem. It was originally published on Scrib.com where it garnered over 25,000 reads and became the top YA novel on the site, which was reported byGalleyCat, the New Yorker’s blog, io9.com, and Publishers Weekly. Recently, it was chosen as a selection for the LasComadres National Latino Book Club for August 2012.

Marta’s novels have been selected as Book Sense,BookPage Notable and Fresh Fiction picks and a CatalinaMagazine Humor Book of the Year. In addition to writing fiction, she is a frequent contributor to the San Francisco ChroniclePublishers Weekly and Contra Costa Times.Marta lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her family.

About #Torchat
#TorChat is a genre-themed, hour-long chat series created by Tor Books and hosted on Twitter. Guest authors join fans in lively, informative and entertaining discussions of all that’s hot in genre fiction, 140 characters at a time, from 4 - 5 PM EST on the third Wednesday of every month. Each #TorChat revolves around a different genre topic of interest, often of a timely nature, and strives to provide a new media opportunity for readers to connect with their favorite authors.

About Tor Books
Tor Books, an imprint of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, is a New York-based publisher of hardcover and softcover books. Founded in 1980, Tor annually publishes what is arguably the largest and most diverse line of science fiction and fantasy ever produced by a single English-language publisher.  In 2002, Tor launched Starscape, an imprint dedicated to publishing quality science fiction and fantasy for young readers, including books by critically acclaimed and award winning authors such as Cory Doctorow, Orson Scott Card, and David Lubar. Between an extensive hardcover and trade-softcover line, an Orb backlist program, and a stronghold in mass-market paperbacks, books from Tor have won every major award in the SF and fantasy fields, and has been named Best Publisher 24 years in a row in the Locus Poll, the largest consumer poll in SF.

The Raft by S.A. Bodeen

Published by: Feiwel & Friends
To Be Released on: August 21st, 2012
Source: ARC from publisher to review
3.5 stars: It's A Good Read
Pre-Order From: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Robie is an experienced traveler. She’s taken the flight from Honolulu to the Midway Atoll, a group of Pacific islands where her parents live, many times. When she has to get to Midway in a hurry after a visit with her aunt in Hawaii, she gets on the next cargo flight at the last minute. She knows the pilot, but on this flight, there’s a new co-pilot named Max. All systems are go until a storm hits during the flight. The only passenger, Robie doesn’t panic until the engine suddenly cuts out and Max shouts at her to put on a life jacket. They are over miles of Pacific Ocean. She sees Max struggle with a raft. 

And then . . . she’s in the water. Fighting for her life. Max pulls her onto the raft, and that’s when the real terror begins. They have no water. Their only food is a bag of Skittles. There are sharks. There is an island. But there’s no sign of help on the way -quoted from Goodreads

No joke, I have a fear of flying over the ocean. I swear if I ever had to do that I'd 1), need to sedated,  because I wouldn't be able to sit that long, and 2), I would be beyond paranoid that the plane I would on would crash into the ocean. Don't ask me why I have this fear, because I've never flown over the ocean and you'd think flying over the ocean would be safer than flying over the mountains. Regardless, my fear becomes Robie's nightmare in The RAFT. 

The Raft is a book I've been looking forward to reading. I had been hearing some rave reviews about it, and I was really looking forward to reading about Robie and her ocean adventure (if you can call it that). When I sat down to read it, I felt the beginning was a little slow for me, and I was just reading a book vs connecting to it, but I totally got was S.A. Bodeen was doing, and when I got to a crucial moment in the book, I realized she had set up Robie's story perfectly. What she did was introduce me to the remote island life Robie has grown accustom to, what made her hop a plane and go visit her Aunt on the main island, and why she was able to hop on the cargo plane heading back to the island where her parents were at. If she hadn't done all that, it wouldn't be as realistic as to why a teenager was allowed to get a plane bound to a remote island without having to check in and without the permission of her Aunt or parents. Plus, that last element added a real sense of fear in Robie when she realizes she's drifting alone in the middle of the ocean and no one has any idea where in the world she's at (literally).

Robie is an amazing kid! She's smart, resourceful and mentally tough, which play a key role in her survival in this story. She deals with some pretty scary stuff, and some mentally challenging things that no one should have to deal with. There's more than just being stuck in the middle of the ocean in a little raft that happens in this book. It's the other things that really add to the suspense of the over all storyline. I won't tell you what those things are, as that would ruin part of the dramatic storyline. Honestly, if I was in Robie's position I'd want to just lay in the fetal position and cry.... though I'd hope I'd have the strength and courage she does and to do what she did. 

S.A. Bodeen did a remarkable job at taking me along with Robie on an adventure of survival, and what was real and what wasn't. I have to give her huge props for doing what she did with Robie's story. She created a story that was full of danger, suspense, real fear and whole lot of other emotions. What Robie dwelt with is exactly one of the things I fear, being stuck in the middle of the ocean in a little raft all by yourself when sharks come. Go ahead and start bitting your nails now, because during this scene my adrenaline started pumping for Robie. Not only did I feel the fear Robie did, but being a Mom, I started doing the mental freak out of what in the world would I do if she were my daughter. Though this book is short, it is one action packed, sit on the edge of your seat and bite your nails kind of read. It's fast paced and once that plane went down, it was a book I couldn't stop reading. 

Waiting on Wednesday: Starling by Lindsey


Published by: Harper Teen
To Be Released on: 8/28/12


"Love is just the beginning... of the end."

Mason Starling is a champion fencer for Gosforth Academy, but she’s never had to fight for her life. Until now. When a ferocious storm rips through Manhattan and unleashes terrifying creatures onto Gosforth’s campus, Mason barely escapes alive. Without help from the mysterious stranger who appeared in the midst of the storm, she might not have made it at all. But now, in the aftermath, Mason’s life begins to spin dramatically, mystically out of control, and the only one who seems able to help her is the stranger who can remember nothing but his name: Fennrys Wolf.

As Mason and Fenn uncover more about Fenn’s past and the strange events that surround them, they realize that Mason’s family — and its dark allegiance to the ancient Norse gods — is at the center of everything. A predetermined fate seems to be closing in on Mason, but is it possible to change one’s destiny?

Readers who fell in love with Lesley Livingston’s Wondrous Strange trilogy and those who love Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series will be captivated by the sweeping romance and pulse-pounding action of Starling. -quoted Goodreads

Okay TMI fans, this book's synopsis says that fans of Cassie's series will love this book, and you know I'm hooked and totally intrigued based on that comment alone. Not to mention that I really love a well written mythology and this book has Norse gods. I also really enjoyed Lesley Wondrous Strange trilogy and I'm looking forward to seeing what she did with this story. I can't wait to pick up her newest book when it's out in two weeks!

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