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Wed, April 3, 2013

Waiting on Jessica Darling’s It List

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine to shine a spotlight on upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Jessica Darling’s It List #1: The (Totally Not) Guaranteed Guide to Popularity, Prettiness & Perfection
By Megan McCafferty
Poppy, 240 pages
To be released Sept. 3, 2013

Jessica Darling wasn’t nervous about starting Pineville Junior High. That is, until her older sister, Bethany, told her that entering seventh grade means that everything will change. Hoping to continue the “Darling Domination of Popularity,” Bethany presents Jessica with The IT List: The Guaranteed Guide to Popularity, Prettiness & Perfection.

But even armed with her instructions, Jessica stumbles her way through the start of the school year and inadvertently becomes Pineville Junior High’s mascot, the mighty New Jersey seagull. Totally not the type of attention-getting her sister had in mind.

New York Times bestselling author Megan McCafferty’s hilarious series opener will have you laughing, cringing, and cheering for the inimitable Jessica Darling.

— Amazon.com description

I just–
I can’t–
THERE ARE NO WORDS.
Okay, there are words.
Two, to be precise: HECK. YES.
I just don’t know how I am going to contain myself until September.

Wed, March 27, 2013

Waiting on Across a Star-Swept Sea by Diana Peterfreund

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine to shine a spotlight on upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Across a Star-Swept Sea
By Diana Peterfreund
Balzer + Bray, 464 pages
To be released Oct. 15, 2013

Centuries after wars nearly destroyed civilization, the two islands of New Pacifica stand alone, a terraformed paradise where even the Reduction—the devastating brain disorder that sparked the wars—is a distant memory. Yet on the isle of Galatea, an uprising against the ruling aristocrats has turned deadly. The revolutionaries’ weapon is a drug that damages their enemies’ brains, and the only hope is rescue by a mysterious spy known as the Wild Poppy.

On the neighboring island of Albion, no one suspects that the Wild Poppy is actually famously frivolous aristocrat Persis Blake. The teenager uses her shallow, socialite trappings to hide her true purpose: her gossipy flutternotes are encrypted plans, her pampered sea mink is genetically engineered for spying, and her well-publicized new romance with handsome Galatean medic Justen Helo… is her most dangerous mission ever.

Though Persis is falling for Justen, she can’t risk showing him her true self, especially once she learns he’s hiding far more than simply his disenchantment with his country’s revolution and his undeniable attraction to the silly socialite he’s pretending to love. His darkest secret could plunge both islands into a new dark age, and Persis realizes that when it comes to Justen Helo, she’s not only risking her heart, she’s risking the world she’s sworn to protect.

In this thrilling adventure inspired by The Scarlet Pimpernel, Diana Peterfreund creates an exquisitely rendered world where nothing is as it seems and two teens with very different pasts fight for a future only they dare to imagine.

— Goodreads.com description

What! I didn’t know until recently that this book was a companion novel to For Darkness Shows the Stars, one of my most well-reviewed books last year — one that’s earned a spot on my favorites shelf.

Now, I don’t know the story of The Scarlet Pimpernel that this book is based on, but if the writing is anywhere near as gorgeous as Peterfreund’s in For Darkness Shows the Stars? Oof. It’s gonna be good, and I can’t wait.

Wed, March 20, 2013

Waiting on Me Since You by Laura Wiess

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine to shine a spotlight on upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Me Since You
By Laura Wiess
MTV Books, 336 pages
To be released Sept. 3, 2013

“Laura Wiess’s masterful prose kept me turning the pages. This is the first book in a very long time that made me say, ‘Wish I’d written this’” (Ellen Hopkins, author of Crank, on Such a Pretty Girl).

Sixteen-year-old Rowan is still reeling from her father’s suicide four months ago, after he failed to stop a man from leaping off an overpass to his death. The only witness is Eli, a teenaged boy wrapped deep in mourning for his own father, killed in action in Afghanistan. When Rowan and Eli meet, they recognize kindred spirits, and begin to navigate grief and its aftermath together.

Rowan can’t understand how her father could choose to leave her, and acts out, pushing away friends and taking risks with her safety. Rowan’s mother, wracked with her own guilt and sorrow over failing to save her husband, stops going to work and collects stray cats for comfort. Grief, fractured and unpredictable, rules their lives now. Rowan is lost—and sinking. But Eli represents a lifeline for Rowan, and as they struggle to make sense of what’s gone and what is left behind, they begin to fall in love. Me Since You is Laura Wiess at her finest—a beautiful, gripping and painfully honest examination of adolescence.

— Goodreads.com description

Okay, so I’ll admit it: The Ellen Hopkins blurbs scares me a little. Because Ellen Hopkins books scare me a little.*

Still, this does sound like it would be quite a gripping read. Definitely will have to be in the right mood, but I’m for sure going to check it out this fall.

*Okay, maybe a lot.

Wed, March 13, 2013

Waiting on Burning by Elana K. Arnold

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine to shine a spotlight on upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Burning
By Elana K. Arnold
Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 320 pages
To be released June 20, 2013

Ben: Having just graduated from high school, Ben is set to leave Gypsum, Nevada. It’s good timing since the gypsum mine that is the lifeblood of the area is closing, shutting the whole town down with it. Ben is lucky: he’s headed to San Diego, where he’s got a track scholarship at the University of California. But his best friends, Pete and Hog Boy, don’t have college to look forward to, so to make them happy, Ben goes with them to check out the hot chick parked on the side of Highway 447.

Lala: She and her Gypsy family earn money by telling fortunes. Some customers choose Tarot cards; others have their palms read. The thousands of people attending the nearby Burning Man festival spend lots of cash–especially as Lala gives uncanny readings. But lately Lala’s been questioning whether there might be more to life than her upcoming arranged marriage. And the day she reads Ben’s cards is the day that everything changes for her. . . and for him.

— Goodreads.com description

Gypsies? Fortunes? Summer? Romance? Um, TOTALLY INTO IT. I haven’t read her other book, Sacred. Did any of you? Thoughts?

Wed, March 6, 2013

Waiting on The Symptoms of My Insanity

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine to shine a spotlight on upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

The Symptoms of My Insanity
By Mindy Raf
Dial Books for Young Readers, 384 pages
To be released April 18, 2013

A laugh-out-loud, bittersweet debut full of wit, wisdom, heart, and a hilarious, unforgettable heroine.

When you’re a hypochondriac, there are a million different things that could be wrong with you, but for Izzy, focusing on what could be wrong might be keeping her from dealing with what’s really wrong.

I almost raised my hand, but what would I say? “Mr. Bayer, may I please be excused? I’m not totally positive, but I think I might have cancer.” No way. Then everyone at school would know, and they would treat me differently, and I would be known as “Izzy, that poor girl who diagnosed herself with breast cancer during biology.”

But Izzy’s sense of humor can only get her so far when suddenly her best friend appears to have undergone a personality transplant, her mother’s health takes a turn for the worse, and her beautiful maybe-boyfriend is going all hot and cold. Izzy thinks she’s preparing for the worst-case scenario, but when the worst-case scenario actually hits, it’s a different story altogether—and there’s no tidy list of symptoms to help her through the insanity.

— Goodreads.com description

Has anyone read this yet? This sounds as Annalicious as it gets…but I haven’t heard a lot of buzz. Can’t wait to check it out!