Pack Your 4th of July Getaway!

Pack your 4th of July getaway bag with these fantastic YA books that came out in June! 

1. The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes: the gut-wrenching but ultimately hope-inspiring story about a 17-year-old who lost 12 years of her life – as well as her hands, to a cult.

2. The Glass Sentence by S. E. Grove: the type of fantasy that changes your life at any age about Sophia’s adventures in the New World, in which all the continents have been flung into different time periods.

3. Skyscraping by Cordelia Jensen: a heartrending novel in verse about Mira, who redefines what family means after she discovers her father with his male lover.

4. Wings by Elizabeth Richards: The pulse-pounding conclusion to the Black City trilogy.

5. A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller: A romantic historical drama about how much Victoria Darling will sacrifice for her dream of becoming an artist when society has different ideas for her.

6. Like it Never Happened by Emily Adrian: Rebecca Rivers’ experience landing the lead in her school’s production of The Crucible challenges stereotypes, sexuality, and destructive rumors.

7. Children of the Earth by Anna Schumacher: The sequel to the adrenaline-packed and steamy End Times, set in Carbon City, Wyoming, where the townspeople believe the End Times have arrived.

8. The Merciless by Danielle Vega: Mean Girls meets The Exorcist in this horror story packed with attitude that proves the last people you want to be locked in a basement with are teen girls.

9. Deadly Design by Debra Dockter: A page-turning thriller about genetically engineered Kyle, who finds his life in danger when his twin brother drops dead at 18.

10. Conversion by Katherine Howe: A chilling read about the girls at St. Joan’s, who seem to be suffering the same epidemic that a group of girls had when their town was Salem Village long ago.

11. A Book of Spirits and Thieves by Morgan Rhodes: Fantasy and contemporary readers alike will love this blend of two worlds: one in modern-day Toronto and one in Morgan Rhode’s bestselling Gathering Darkness series!

12. Nearly Found by Elle Cosimano: The suspenseful sequel to Nearly Gone, an urban mystery interlaced with secrets, crime labs and serial killers.

13. The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson: Laurie Halse Anderson’s award-winning look at family, secrets, and PTSD through the lives of nomadic Hayley Kincaid and her veteran father Andy.

14. The Secret Sky by Atia Abawi: An eye-opening tale of love, honor and betrayal following Fatima and Samiullah, who fight their families, cultures, and the Taliban to stay together in Afghanistan.

15. Inland by Kat Rosenfield: An eerie, psychological dive into the mind of Callie Morgan, who hears something beckoning her into the dark waves of the sea, filling her with doubt, and revealing family secrets.

Book Review: End Times by Anna Schumacher

End Times
The Prophet Emerges
Author: Anna Schumacher
Reading Level: Ages 12 and up/Grade 7 and up
Genre: Young Adult
Released: May 20, 2014
Review Source: RazorBill

Carbon County, Wyoming is like a current running through Daphne’s heart. When life gets too tough to bear in Detroit, Daphne flees to her Uncle Floyd’s home, where she believes she’ll find solace in the silent hills of her childhood summers. But Daphne’s Greyhound bus pulls over in downtown Carbon County and it’s not silence that welcomes her. It’s the sound of trumpets. Daphne’s desire to start again in simple country comfort is instantly dashed as the townsfolk declare that the End Times are here. And incredible occurrences soon support their belief. Daphne does all she can to keep her head down and ignore the signs. She works a job at the local oil rig, helps around the house, hangs out with her pregnant cousin Janie and gets to know Owen, a mysterious motocross racer and fellow roustabout at the rig. But soon a startling discovery shatters her resolve and calls into question all her doubts and fears. Daphne landed in Carbon County for a reason. She only has to read the signs—and believe.

New story lines and themes always grab my attention.  I’m always looking for a read that isn’t difficult to follow and allows the imagination to have its way.  Basically, keeps me reading nonstop, no matter how tired I may be after a long day at work.  This debut novel hit some of those highlights on my wish list of reading.  Originality and strength in character details was a huge plus in End Times.  This was a novel that didn’t have a typical plot.  However, at times it was somewhat hard for me to follow and in many instances understand what was going on.  Additionally, there are several themes mentioned in the story that I believe are a bit too mature for a middle level reader.

Daphne is our main character.  Her arrival has truly created a domino effect of events in the small town of Carbon County.  Events, in one way shape or form, have an effect on the people that live there.  End Times has several minor characters with mini-storylines of their own.  However, the bigger picture here is the discovery of oil, how it was discovered, and how it changes the lives of many. The discovery of oil is just the symbol of change.  Change that is about to occur to Daphne and the others that she cares for.  Change for the people around her.  The title End Times speaks for itself.  Times are changing, the end of near.     

Check out the link below for OUaT's post and giveaway for End Times.

{Blog Tour: End Times | Anna Schumacher | Q & A | Giveaway}

Blog Tour: End Times | Anna Schumacher | Q & A | Giveaway

Welcome to our stop on the End Times blog tour. End Times was written by author Anna Schumacher. Today we share a question pertaining to End Times that Schumacher answered plus a giveaway of End Times. 

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Anna Schumacher Q & A.

OUaT: Tell us about the main character:

Daphne Peyton underwent a massive evolution while I was writing END TIMES. She started as a wisecracking street kid from Detroit who partied in abandoned warehouses – and while I still love that character, I realized midway through the book that she wasn’t the right protagonist for this story.

 
The Daphne Peyton who emerged is a survivor. She is tough and quiet, and finds solace in hard work. I didn’t have her working on the oil rig in my outline or in the first draft, but the more I got to know her the more I felt like she was begging me from the pages to let her do this tough, traditionally male job. She feels responsible for the oil, and wants to be a contributing member of the Peyton family – she feels very uncomfortable living under their roof without contributing.

Although she started as just a character, Daphne became a kind of symbol for me: of what I admire in women, and of the equality that I hope women will find someday.

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End Times

Author: Anna Schumacher

Released: May 20th 2014

Publisher: Razorbill

When life gets too tough to bear in Detroit, Daphne flees to her Uncle Floyd’s home, where she believes she’ll find solace in the silent hills of her childhood summers. But Daphne’s Greyhound bus pulls over in downtown Carbon County and it’s not silence that welcomes her. It’s the sound of trumpets.

Daphne’s desire to start again in simple country comfort is instantly dashed as the townsfolk declare that the End Times are here. And incredible occurrences soon support their belief. Daphne does all she can to keep her head down and ignore the signs. She works a job at the local oil rig, helps around the house, hangs out with her pregnant cousin Janie and gets to know Owen, a mysterious motocross racer and fellow roustabout at the rig. But soon a startling discovery shatters her resolve and calls into question all her doubts and fears.

Anna Schumacher is an award-winning copy writer who has worked for DailyCandy, Night Agency and is currently the Associate Copy Director at Hearst Digital Media, which manages all marketing for 25 websites including seventeen.com and luckymag.com. A strategic thinker with strong digital expertise and social media fluency, Anna is a fiction writer at heart. She received an MFA in fiction writing from The New School. She lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and their two cats, Gus and Alexis.

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One finished copy of End Times. Giveaway is for US residents only.

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