Mundie Moms

Tuesday, May 31, 2016

OUTRUN THE MOON by Stacey Lee / Blog Tour: Author Interview


Hello and welcome to today's OUTRUN THE MOON blog tour stop, hosted by Penguin Teen! I'm so thrilled to have author Stacey Lee, on Mundie Moms today. Before I share my interview with her, here's a little bit about her new release.

ABOUT THE BOOK


By: Stacey Lee
Published by: Putnam
Released on: May 24th, 2016
Purchase from: Penguin | Amazon | B&N
Add it to Goodreads

San Francisco, 1906: Fifteen-year-old Mercy Wong is determined to break from the poverty in Chinatown, and an education at St. Clare’s School for Girls is her best hope. Although St. Clare’s is off-limits to all but the wealthiest white girls, Mercy gains admittance through a mix of cunning and a little bribery, only to discover that getting in was the easiest part. Not to be undone by a bunch of spoiled heiresses, Mercy stands strong—until disaster strikes.

On April 18, a historic earthquake rocks San Francisco, destroying Mercy’s home and school. With martial law in effect, she is forced to wait with her classmates for their families in a temporary park encampment. Though fires might rage, and the city may be in shambles, Mercy can’t sit by while they wait for the army to bring help—she still has the “bossy” cheeks that mark her as someone who gets things done. But what can one teenage girl do to heal so many suffering in her broken city?

AUTHOR INTERVIEW


Hi Stacey! Thank you for stopping by Mundie Moms today. Congratulations on the release of OUTRUN The MOON. How would you describe your book in 3 words or less?  

Thank you!  Fall down, rise.

I really admire Mercy's strength. What's one thing you came to really admire about your character? 

What drew me to writing this character was Mercy’s strength for sure, but it was really her frailty that gave meaning to that resiliency. Her fear of loss, her self-consciousness over her humble origins, her pride, all these qualities helped me highlight her strength even more.

I love the historical references in Mercy's story. How often did you picture yourself in her shoes, and would you have made the same choices she did? 

All the time! I think we have to do that as authors, ‘experience’ what our characters experience for the sake of authenticity. I definitely would not have been as bold or brave, which is the beauty of writing. You get to be something you’re not and you can do it in your pajamas.

I love the way your book incorporates history and diversity. Was there anything that you found while researching for this book, that surprised or shocked you? 

I didn’t know that Chinese weren’t counted in the death toll of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. That pretty much sums up the attitude towards Chinese people in America at the time: they just didn’t matter.

Diversity is really important in YA books, and I love that it's become more prevalent that it's previously been. Have you read any diverse books lately that you'd recommend to our readers or what's a diverse book you're looking forward to reading? 

I loved MILLICENT MIN, GIRL GENIUS by Lisa Yee, THE MISADVENTURES OF THE FAMILY FLETCHER, by Dana Alison Levy, and THE STAR-TOUCHED QUEEN, by Roshani Chokshi. I’m looking forward to Mike Jung’s UNIDENTIFIED SUBURBAN OBJECT, and Audrey Coulthurst’s OF FIRE AND STARS.

Can we talk about your cover for moment? It's STUNNING! What was your first thought when you saw it?

Stunning! I was in line for a burrito, and I almost dropped my phone. It was a glamorous moment for me.

If you could choose any favorite fictional character to write into Mercy's story, who would you pick and why? 

Bloody Jack of L.A. Meyer’s eponymous title. Mercy wants to sail the seven seas, Jackie sails the seven seas. They’re the same age, and both fearless. I bet they would’ve been the best of friends.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stacey Lee is a fourth generation Chinese-American whose people came to California during the heydays of the cowboys. She believes she still has a bit of cowboy dust in her soul. A native of southern California, she graduated from UCLA then got her law degree at UC Davis King Hall. After practicing law in the Silicon Valley for several years, she finally took up the pen because she wanted the perks of being able to nap during the day, and it was easier than moving to Spain. She plays classical piano, raises children, and writes YA fiction.

Visit Stacey online via: Website | Twitter | FacebookGoodreads

FOLLOW THE TOUR

THE FOREST OF WORDS & PAGES–Guest Post–05/17/16
WINTERHAVEN BOOKS–Character playlist–05/18/16
ADDICTED READERS–25 Random Things About Me–05/19/16
ONCE UPON A TWILIGHT–Review & Giveaway–05/20/16
Rainy Days Coffee and Books–Video Review–05/23/16
Clear Eyes, Full Shelves–Guest post 3–05/24/16
Twinning for Books–Book Soundtrack–05/25/16
IT STARTS AT MIDNIGHT–Guest post 2–05/26/16
BOOKIEMOJI–Review & Giveaway–05/27/16
The Social Potato–Would You Rather?–05/30/16
MUNDIE MOMS–Interview–05/31/16
THE EXTRAORDINARY WORLDS–Interview–06/01/16
Read Write Love 28–Interview–06/02/16

Out Today! - New YA Releases for Tuesday May 31st

Happy Book Birthday to today's new YA releases! 

Which new releases are you looking forward to reading? 

Don't see a new YA release listed that you know is out today? Please leave a comment letting me know the title and the author, and I'll add it to the list. Thank you! Happy Reading! 

Monday, May 30, 2016

SEA SPELL by Jennifer Donnelly / Giveaway #WaterfireSaga


Hello and welcome to today's giveaway! We're thrilled to celebrating the upcoming release of SEA SPELL, the 4th book in Jennifer Donnelly's Waterfire Saga! We've partnered with Disney Hyperion to giveaway everything seen above. Before I tell you how you can enter to win, here's a little bit about the book.

ABOUT THE BOOK


By: Jennifer Donnelly
Published by: Disney Hyperion
To Be Released on: June 14th, 2016
Series: Waterfire Saga #4

At the end of Dark Tide, Book 3 in the Waterfire Saga, Astrid leaves her mermaid friends to confront her ancestor, Orfeo, the evil force behind the rise of the monster Abbadon. Orfeo possesses one of the six talismans that the merls need in order to keep the monster locked up forever. But without the ability to songcast, how will Astrid be able to defeat the most powerful mage in history? 

Meanwhile, Serafina and her Black Fins train goblin troops for battle against her uncle Vallerio’s death riders. Will Sera ever see her beloved home—and her beloved Mahdi—again, or will the Volneros take over the mer realms while Orfeo takes on the gods themselves? Nothing less than the fate of the underwater world is at stake in this breathtaking finale. 


READ AN EXCERPT
Read the prologue of Sea Spell here.

OFFICIAL LINKS
Learn more at waterfiresaga.com
Follow Disney Books on Twitter and Instagram
#WaterfireSaga


ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Jennifer Donnelly is an award-winning author of both adult and young adult books, including Deep BlueRogue Wave, and Dark Tide, the first three books in the Waterfire Saga. For adults she has written a trilogy of best-selling books that includes The Tea RoseThe Winter Rose, and The Wild Rose. Her first young adult novel, A Northern Light, received many accolades, among them the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, a Carnegie Medal in the UK, and a Michael L. Printz Honor. Her second young adult novel, Revolution, was named a Best Book of 2010 by Kirkus Reviews and School Library Journal, and the audiobook received a 2011 American Library Association Odyssey Honor. She lives in New York’s Hudson Valley. For more information, visit www.jenniferdonnelly.com


ENTER TO WIN 


One (1) winner will receive everything pictured above: A copy of Sea Spell and branded nail polish.

Giveaway open to US addresses only.
Prizing and samples provided by Disney Publishing.


FTC DISCLOSURE
Per FTC guidelines, we are in partnership with Disney-Hyperion both for this specific blog post and all social shares pertaining to this post.

Memorial Day Observance


Remembering all who might be gone, but they'll never be forgotten. We're forever grateful for the sacrifices you've made, and for your service to our country.

*Pic source: One Fit Widow via Facebook



Friday, May 27, 2016

WHATEVER AFTER: Sugar and Spice by Sarah Mlynowski / Cover Reveal / Giveaway

Today on Mundie Kids we had the honor of revealing the cover for the next book in Sarah Mylnowski's WHATEVER AFTER series! Check out the cover for Sarah's WHATEVER AFTER #10: SUGAR & SPICE below!


This cover is simply perfect! We have loved all the covers for this series, but this one might be our favorite one yet.

A Blurb from Sarah

I’ve had the seeds of the idea for Whatever After since I was six years old. I loved to write stories about a girl named Sarah (yup, I made myself the star of all my stories) who had magic stuff happen to her. In my favorite story, she had a magic fork that could turn broccoli into cotton candy. I also loved telling fractured fairy tales, such as the The Princess and the M&M, instead of The Princess and the Pea, because I wasn’t a fan of peas. Looking back, it seems like a lot of my inspiration stemmed from my distaste for vegetables. Anyway! When I became a writer, I thought: what if I combined these two types of stories? A regular girl could magically fall into a fairy tale, and the very act of falling into the tale would fracture it. And that’s how I came up with the idea for Whatever After.

My sincerest thanks to readers, parents, grandparents, bloggers, librarians and booksellers who have allowed this series to grow and find such a dedicated audience. It feels unbelievable to me that the ideas I had when I was just a kid would grow up to reach the milestone of a ten book series. And now, I am absolutely thrilled to share the cover of Sugar and Spice with you. Not only does the cover feature Jonah for the first time, but look at all that candy! Six-year-old me would be absolutely delighted.  

ABOUT THE BOOK

By: Sarah Mlynowski
Published by: Scholastic
To Be Released on: November 29th, 2016
Series: Whatever After #10
Pre-Order from: Amazon

That's the way the cookie crumbles!

Yum! Our magic mirror has dropped me and my brother, Jonah, into the story of Hansel and Gretel. If we're lucky, we may even get to taste the cake-house...

But we didn't count on accidentally getting trapped. The real Hansel and Gretel are on the run, and Jonah and I have taken their place. And the witch is making a kid casserole for dinner...

Now we have to:
- Avoid being eaten
- Pretend our dog is a cat
- Learn to make kale smoothies
- Befriend a talking duck

Or we may never make it back to our home sweet home!


When you pre-order it, be sure to purchase a copy of Upside Down Magic #2: Sticks and Stones, which Sarah co-wrote with Emily Jenkins and Lauren Myracle. It will be out next week on May 31st! You can find out more about the book on Sarah's website, here.

ENTER TO WIN

Thank you to Scholastic, 5 winners will each win 2 of Sarah's latest books (Whatever After #9 and Upside Down Magic #2). This is open to residents in the US only.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir / Book Review



By: Sabaa Tahir
Released on: April 28, 2015
Published by: Razorbill
Purchase it fromAmazonBarnes & NobleiBooksGoodreads
Add it to Goodreads
Rating: 4.5 Stars - I Really Enjoyed It!
Source: purchased book / arc from publisher to exchange for my honest review

Set in a terrifyingly brutal Rome-like world, An Ember in the Ashes is an epic fantasy debut about an orphan fighting for her family and a soldier fighting for his freedom. It’s a story that’s literally burning to be told.

LAIA is a Scholar living under the iron-fisted rule of the Martial Empire. When her brother is arrested for treason, Laia goes undercover as a slave at the empire’s greatest military academy in exchange for assistance from rebel Scholars who claim that they will help to save her brother from execution.

ELIAS is the academy’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias is considering deserting the military, but before he can, he’s ordered to participate in a ruthless contest to choose the next Martial emperor.

When Laia and Elias’s paths cross at the academy, they find that their destinies are more intertwined than either could have imagined and that their choices will change the future of the empire itself.

A mesmerizing debut! Sabaa Tahir has created a story that is vividly detailed, introduces readers to some remarkable characters, and beautifully combines it's elements of fantasy and dystopia, making this a story that stands out among of sea of out standing debuts. 

With it's terrifying, and extremely brutal world, Laia and Elias's destinies collide in the most dangerous way. In a world ruled by violence and vengeance, these two characters each carefully guard the hope they have for their future, while they each try to figure a way out of the endless brutality they both face. Laia, on a mission to save her imprisoned brother, risks it all when she's forced to work for the rebels as a spy. Forced undercover she finds herself as a slave to the ruler of the Martial Empire. Elias, an elite solider of the Martial Empire, and heir to it's brutal leader, struggles to accept his fate, and the violent way of life he's forced to live as a Mask. After their paths cross more than a few times, these two unlikely heroes will risk it all to save each other, and the hope they have for a better future for their empire. 


Told from alternating points of view between Laia and Elias, it was incredibly easy for me to be swept up into all that was going on in this captivating story. Elias is a character I liked from the get go. I love that while he's powerful in his own right, he's a broken character who secretly wants nothing to do with the Empire he's forced to serve for. I loved his strength, and passion for what he felt was right. He hides his true convictions about the Empire, and his haunted by what he's forced to do. He's a broken character in his own right, but I felt like that brokenness fueled his strength to be better than what he's forced to be. 


Laia herself grows into a such a strong, pillar of hope and strength. Not just for herself, but for the select few who are close to her. She has lost is all, and with not much else to lose, she is someone who risks it all for the one person she has left. No matter how much this world threatens to break her, and how much she brutally endures, she doesn't give up. I greatly admired that about her. She has an inner strength that I loved, which helps her endure all she does. This world is down right brutal, and deadly, and breaks anything that is good. I enjoyed seeing Laia defy it, which made her stronger. I really enjoyed her character growth through out the story.

This story is one that is fueled by danger and violence, and driven by hope. It was incredibly easy for me to root for the characters who were smart in how they went about their secret resistance. Many of them endured the violence that rules their empire, but despite it all, there's still hope found in the unlikely of places. I loved the way both Laia and Elias's destines collide, and the way their stories are told. This is a classic heroic tale with an epic battle of good vs evil at his core. It's story about survival, hope, and given the slightest touch of romance. That romance is so perfectly fitting for this story. Page 371 may be my favorite page.... With it's many twists, turns, betrayals, and deceptions, this is a book that was almost impossible to put down.


The #DashnerDash Kicks Off TODAY!


Get ready for the release of The Fever Code by James Dashner, by binge reading the entire Maze Runner series! Join Random House as they kick off the #DashnerDash TODAY with The Maze Runner! See the schedule above. 

Per Random House Kids:

The reread will kick off on May 27 with The Maze Runner—fans can submit questions via the James Dashner Facebook page. Selected questions will then be discussed by the author and his editor, Krista Marino, in a series of live Google Hangouts during the last week of each month. The first Google Hangout with Dashner and Marino will happen the week of June 27. Specific details will be posted on the Facebook page and shared via social media.

Rereads of The Scorch Trials begin on June 27, followed by The Death Cure on July 27, and The Kill Order on August 27. Questions can again be submitted via Facebook, and a book-club-style discussion will occur at the end of each month. The Google Hangout for The Kill Order at the end of August will lead right into the publication of The Fever Code on September 27.

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Cassandra Clare Will Be Writing an Adult Series Based on Magnus Bane



Cassandra Clare has been hinting at an exciting secret about Magnus Bane over the last couple of days, and now the news is out! She's writing an adult series based on Magnus Bane! Magnus Bane is one of the most popular Shadowhunters characters, as well as one of the most favorite among fans. The series will include 3 books, and will be published by Saga Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. The first book in the series, which is yet to be named, will release in November of 2017, and will be co-written by Wesley Chu. 

I am incredibly excited about this news! I look forward to reading this series! I've attached the official press release from Simon & Schuster below. You can also read more news about it at EW, here


PER SIMON & SCHUSTER 



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR CASSANDRA CLARE TO PUBLISH ADULT SERIES CENTERED ON THE LIFE OF BELOVED CHARACTER MAGNUS BANE


New York, NY, May xx, 2016—#1 New York Times bestselling author Cassandra Clare has signed a deal with Saga Press, an imprint of Simon & Shuster,  to publish a series of novels for adults that will feature one of her most beloved Shadowhunters characters, Magnus Bane. The series will explore the life and times of Magnus Bane and will be co-written by bestselling author Wesley Chu. The first book is slated to be published in November 2017.
Justin Chanda, Vice President and Publisher, Saga Press, acquired North American rights from Russell Galen of the Scovil, Galen, Ghosh Literary Agency, Inc.  Joe Monti, Editorial Director of Saga Press, will edit the series.
“Over the years writing the Shadowhunter books, Magnus Bane has emerged as one of the most fun and fascinating characters for me to bring to life,” said Cassandra Clare.  “He's always had a lot of secrets — there are so many things we don't know about Magnus, from the story of his first love, to the secrets of his parentage, to the beginning of his relationship with Alec. All those are things I was able to touch on in The Bane Chronicles, but I'm excited to dig in even more deeply in these three volumes devoted to Magnus, his past, his future, and his present.”
Wesley Chu added, “I am so excited to contribute to the world that Cassandra Clare has created. These books and characters are iconic, and Magnus is a fan favorite. I can’t wait to give them all the things they deserve. And probably a few they don’t.  Sorry, Magnus.”
“Magnus Bane has quickly become one of the most complex and iconographic characters in fantasy,” said Chanda, “I am sure fans will be thrilled find out more about his life and times. I certainly am!”
Cassandra Clare is the author of the #1 New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestselling Mortal Instruments series and the Infernal Devices trilogy, and the coauthor of the Bane Chronicles with Sarah Rees Brennan and Maureen Johnson. She also wrote The Shadowhunter’s Codex with her husband, Joshua Lewis. Her books have more than thirty-six million copies in print worldwide and have been translated into more than thirty-five languages. Her latest novel, Lady Midnight, was published on March 8th and debuted at #1 on bestseller lists nationwide, including The New York Times and USA Today. Cassandra lives in western Massachusetts.
Wesley Chu is an award-winning science fiction author. Born in Taiwan, he immigrated to the United States when he was young and was raised in the fields of Nebraska before settling in Chicago, Illinois. He attended the University of Illinois and received a degree in Information Systems and worked in consulting, insurance and banking industries for many years before he transitioned to writing full time. Chu is also an accomplished martial artist and has acted in film, television, and has worked as a model and stuntman.
Chu has published seven books. He won the 2015 John W. Campbell Best New Writer Award. His debut novel, The Lives of Tao, earned him the Alex Award by the Young Adult Library Services Association and was selected by Goodreads as a Science Fiction Choice Award Finalist. Chu's Time Salvager has been optioned to be a movie by Paramount with Michael Bay attached as director.


ABOUT SIMON & SCHUSTER:
Simon & Schuster, a part of CBS Corporation, is a global leader in the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed, electronic, and audio formats. Its divisions include Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, Simon & Schuster Audio, Simon & Schuster Digital, and international companies in Australia, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit our website at www.simonandschuster.com.

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

The Star Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi / Book Review



By: Rouhani Chokshi
Published by: St. Martin's Griffin
Released on: April 26th, 2016
Purchase from: The Publisher Amazon | B&N
Add it to Goodreads
Rating: 4 Stars 
*I received an arc of this book from the publisher, in exchange for my honest review

Fate and fortune. Power and passion. What does it take to be the queen of a kingdom when you're only seventeen?

Maya is cursed. With a horoscope that promises a marriage of Death and Destruction, she has earned only the scorn and fear of her father's kingdom. Content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her whole world is torn apart when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience to quell outside rebellions. Soon Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar. Neither roles are what she expected: As Akaran's queen, she finds her voice and power. As Amar's wife, she finds something else entirely: Compassion. Protection. Desire...

But Akaran has its own secrets -- thousands of locked doors, gardens of glass, and a tree that bears memories instead of fruit. Soon, Maya suspects her life is in danger. Yet who, besides her husband, can she trust? With the fate of the human and Otherworldly realms hanging in the balance, Maya must unravel an ancient mystery that spans reincarnated lives to save those she loves the most. . .including herself.

A lush and vivid story that is steeped in Indian folklore and mythology. The Star-Touched Queen is a novel that no reader will soon forget.

An enchanting debut! With passion, romance, fate, a rich mythology, and a vividly detailed world, Chokshi takes her readers on an unforgettable journey. With a beautiful mix of folklore, fairytale and fantasy, this is a book I enjoyed reading. 

Chokshi wastes no time thrusting her characters right into Maya's world. It's one full of action, desire, romance, and self discovery. Roshani's writing is simply mesmerizing. From her character and world development, down to the way she tells his story, everything she wrote was richly detailed, written with prose, and had a purpose for being in the story. I really enjoyed that this story was told in two parts. The first part is the romance between Maya and Amar, and the second is Maya's self discovery of who she is, and all she's truly capable of doing. 

Maya is a character I liked from the get go. She's grown up in a brutal world where she was thought little of. In fact, thanks to her horoscope, she's really more of an outcast among her family. Maybe it's because she was shunned, and is a loner, or maybe it's because I saw the fire within her, I couldn't help but root for her from the moment I met her. She poses an inner strength I really admired. She become so much more than what others viewed her as, and said about her. I loved watching her grow into this fierce, strong women. 

It wasn't surprising that she'd connect with Amar, the demon boy, and outcast in his own right. I really enjoyed the way Chokshi wrote his character, and introduced him into the story. Like Maya, there's so much more to his character than I thought, and I loved how I slowly got to know him. I liked the way he and Maya connected, and how he helped her see that there's so much more to the world around them both with the seen and the unseen. I loved their passion, and romance. I wasn't the biggest fan of their insta-love, though somehow everything made sense in the way their relationship developed. 

While there were some similarities to the romance in this story to a previous book I read, the world building, and the crafting of this story were fascinating, and unlike anything I've recently read. I loved the story's Indian folklore and mythology. It was so fascinating and enchanting. It tied into the this story's brutal, yet beautiful world perfectly. Usually a story needs it's characters to tell the story, and capture a readers attention, but that's not the case with this book. Chokshi's blend of folklore, and mythology are what captured my attention, and told this story beautifully. 

Overall this is a fascinating debut. I really enjoyed being swept away with Chokshi's beautiful storytelling. I may not have been the biggest fan of the romance, which is a huge part of this story, but there are a lot of other elements that told this story, that I did enjoy. I am really looking forward to reading more of Roshani Chokshi's books. 

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