For Review:
Leaving Gee's Bend by Irene Latham(ARC/Released January 2010/Putnam)
Ludelphia Bennett may be blind in one eye, but she can still put in a good stitch. Ludelphia sews all the time, especially when things go wrong.
But when Mama goes into labor early and gets deathly ill, it seems like even quilting won’t help. That’s when Ludelphia decides to do something drastic—leave Gee’s Bend for the very first time. Mama needs medicine that can only be found miles away in Camden. But that doesn’t stop Ludelphia. She just puts one foot in front of the other.
What ensues is a wonderful, riveting and sometimes dangerous adventure. Ludelphia weathers each challenge in a way that would make her mother proud, and ends up saving the day for her entire town.
Set in 1932 and inspired by the rich quilting history of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, Leaving Gee’s Bend is a delightful, satisfying story of a young girl facing a brave new world.
I love historical fiction, so I'm very excited for this one! I received it from Other Shelf tours.
Queen of Secrets by Jenny Meyerhoff
(ARC/Releases June 2010/Farrar, Straus Giroux)
This year, Essie Green's life is going to be different. She's made the cheerlieading squad and caught the eye of the captain of the football team. However, she didn't expect her estranged cousin to join the football team. Micah is instantly branded a freak for wearing his kippah and praying during games, and Essie doesn't want anything to do with him. As the football team's teasing of Micah shifts to hazing, Essie struggles to do what is right - even though it might mean losing her new friends and boyfriend.
Sounds intriguing! Much more than a typical average-girl-gets-popular situation. I received this from Around The World tours.
Titus and Atreus by Meridi Myers(PB/December 2009/Hero Publishing)
Grief-stricken by the loss of his parents, Titus Attwater is convinced his life will never improve. His older sister ignores his calls, his grades in school have plummeted, and his house, once a place of warmth and security, is now lonely, cold, and alien. But when a young man appears one night in Titus's house, claiming he came in upstairs through the full-length mirror, Titus's life gets turned upside-down. For, as Titus soon discovers, this intruder is not from Earth. Against his will, Titus is kidnapped and taken to another world, a place like Earth but markedly different. It is here where he will befriend angels, face assassins, and help a young prince unravel a prophecy that proves much darker and more twisted than any of them had imagined.
Thanks so much to Meridi for offering me a copy to review! She was kind enough to sign my copy, as well as send a signed bookmark.
Zan-Gah by Allan Richard Shickman
(PB/July 2007/Earthshaker Books)
The hero, Zan-Gah seeks his lost twin in a savage prehistoric world, encountering suffering, captivity, conflict, love, and triumph. In three years, Zan-Gah passes from an uncertain boyhood to a tried and proven manhood and a position of leadership among his people. Themes: survival, cultures, gender roles, psychological trauma, nature's wonders and terrors.
Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country by Allan Rcihard Shickman(PB/September 2009/Earthshaker Books)
The prehistoric saga continues in Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country, the sequel to the award winning Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure. In this story, Zan s troubled twin brother, Dael, having suffered greatly during his earlier captivity, receives a ruinous new shock when his wife suddenly dies. Disturbed and traumatized, all of his manic energies explode into acts of hostility and bloodshed. His obsession is the destruction of the wasp men, his first captors, who dwell in the Beautiful Country. When he, Zan-Gah, and a band of adventurers trek to their bountiful home, they find that all of the wasp people have died in war or of disease. The Beautiful Country is empty for the taking, and Zan s people, the Ba-Coro, decide to migrate and resettle there. But the Noi, Dael's cruelest enemies and former tormentors, make the same migration from their desert home, and the possibility develops of contention and war over this rich and lovely new land.
Thanks to the publicist for sending me signed copies of both books! They sound like quick, enjoyable reads.
Read, Remember, Recommend for Teens by Rachelle Rogers Knight
(Spiral Bound/April 2010/Sourcebooks)
Perfect for teens who love to read and those who need a companion for school assignments or summer reading programs, Read, Remember, Recommend for Teens offers more than 2400 award-winning and notable reading suggestions in many genres, cross-referenced to help parents and teens chose the right books for them. This unique journal sold out its first print run, attracting readers with recommended lists for fiction, manga, historical fiction, romance, westerns, crime novels, and poetry, as well as nonfiction sections focusing on biography/ autobiography. College-bound readers will find a section to help guide their reading selections. The journal also provides room to record books read, jot down thoughts and ideas, and keep track of recommendations, books to read next, and works by favorite authors.
What a good idea! Thanks to the publicist and author for offering this to me for review.
I had a great week! What about you?