Showing posts with label Tara Altebrando. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tara Altebrando. Show all posts

BOLDLY BOOKISH Blog Tour: The Leaving by Tara Altebrando | Guest Post | Giveaway



Welcome tour our stop on THE LEAVING for author Tara Altebrando. This tour is hosted by The Irish Banana Tour!

The Way I Used to Be
The Leaving
Author: Tara Altebrando
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Mystery
Release Date: June 7th 2016
Review Source: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Six were taken. Eleven years later, five come back--with no idea of where they've been.

Eleven years ago, six kindergarteners went missing without a trace. After all that time, the people left behind moved on, or tried to.

Until today. Today five of those kids return. They're sixteen, and they are . . . fine. Scarlett comes home and finds a mom she barely recognizes, and doesn't really recognize the person she's supposed to be, either. But she thinks she remembers Lucas. Lucas remembers Scarlett, too, except they're entirely unable to recall where they've been or what happened to them. Neither of them remember the sixth victim, Max. He doesn't come back. Everyone wants answers. Most of all Max's sister Avery, who needs to find her brother--dead or alive--and isn't buying this whole memory-loss story.
10 Totally Random Things About Me

I collect spoons.
I’m actually a third generation spoon collector and have spoons from the many places I’ve travelled (Paris! Switzerland! Italy! Ireland! More!) and also spoons that friends have brought me back from places I’ve get to visit (China, Brazil…). I have more than 150 spoons at this point, with the most recent addition being Niagara Falls.

I’ve never had a full-time job. 
Even when I worked full time for a music magazine in Dublin, we had a week off between issues. So I’ve never worked full time, 9-5. I’ve always cobbled together part time and freelance gigs and then switched to writing full time about eight years ago.

I can’t sing.
It’s surprising to me every night that my younger daughter still wants me to sing to her, because I’m really bad at it. My older daughter has a lovely singing voice and I’m sort of in awe of it.

I don’t really like babies. 
I mean, they’re cute and all, but they’re exhausting. Now that my kids are “kids,” I enjoy their company more. Does that make me sound awful?

I’ll talk to anybody.
My husband once described me as “conversationally gifted,” which I thought was a sly dig—like a funny way of saying that I talk too much. But what he meant was that I’m able to have a conversation with pretty much anyone I encounter. Sometimes to the mortification of my children. My friends that went to high school with me (an all girls catholic school) are very much the same way so it must have something to do with the nuns.

I’m afraid of bees/wasps.
Like I will run screaming from a room, flailing in such a way that I am likely to injure myself and thus inflict more pain on myself than any bee or wasp could if they stung me.

My daughter gave me the idea for The Leaving
She fully expects a royalty check, all because she said a bunch of creepy things when she was five.

I was captain of my high school math team.
I was not thought to be an especially good writer back then.

I haven’t gotten my hair cut in almost a year.
Many months ago, the woman who had been cutting my hair quit the salon, so I let a long time pass without getting a haircut and then decided that it would be fun, even funny, to have long hair since I’d had short hair for like ten years. Turns out my hair grows painfully slowly, though. No one will mistake me for Rapunzel, that is for sure.

I cry during things.
Like Matilda the Musical and Sing Street.

Tara Altebrando is the author of numerous books for young adult and middle-grade readers. Her upcoming book, THE LEAVING (Bloomsbury), is a YA thriller that received a starred PW review and is a Junior Library Guild selection. Her other YA novels include ROOMIES, coauthored with Sara Zarr; Dreamland Social Club (A Kirkus Reviews Best Books for Teens), The Best Night of (Your) Pathetic Life, What Happens Here, and The Pursuit of Happiness.

Tara is a Harvard graduate who lives in Queens, NY, with her husband and children.


FOLLOW THE TOUR!

1 set of the BOLDLY BOOKISH 2 Tour books (US Only)
Books include: Hold Me Like a Breath & Break Me Like A Promise by Tiffany Schmidt, The Fixer & The Long Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes & The Leaving by Tara Altebrando


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Book Review: The Leaving by Tara Altebrando


The Leaving
Author: Tara Altebrando
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Mystery, Contemporary
Released: June 7, 2016
Review Source: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Six were taken. Eleven years later, five come back--with no idea of where they've been.

Eleven years ago, six kindergarteners went missing without a trace. After all that time, the people left behind moved on, or tried to.

Until today. Today five of those kids return. They're sixteen, and they are . . . fine. Scarlett comes home and finds a mom she barely recognizes, and doesn't really recognize the person she's supposed to be, either. But she thinks she remembers Lucas. Lucas remembers Scarlett, too, except they're entirely unable to recall where they've been or what happened to them. Neither of them remember the sixth victim, Max. He doesn't come back. Everyone wants answers. Most of all Max's sister Avery, who needs to find her brother--dead or alive--and isn't buying this whole memory-loss story.


Six kindergartners go missing on the first day of school and are never seen or heard from for years. Then, one day, five return. Teenagers. All with their memories wiped. Neither of them with any trace to the sixth missing kid, Max, or with where they've been or what has happened to them for the past eleven years.

Ok, let's be real  here, who doesn't love a mystery? Any mystery. I think we all do. We all want to play detective and solve a question. That's why I think this book is for everyone! A part from it's selling point (being a mystery) The Leaving is a good read with a great set of characters and a solid plot.

The book doesn't follow all six of the kids it only follows Scarlett, Lucas, and Avery. Avery wasn't one of the missing, she is Max's sister. Max is the kid that doesn't return and no one knows why, no one has any answers for Avery. Throughout the story they try to solve the big mystery. Of course they want to know what's happened to them in the past eleven years.  Tara Altebrando does an amazing job at keeping you guessing until the very end. I could not figure it out myself and I loved it! Now, I will be honest that when the mystery was solved it was very anticlimactic for me. BUT that is only because I had my hopes set on something else entirely and once I knew what happened I was a tiny bit disappointed. So, I will say go into this book open minded and don't try to guess the ending.

Overall The Leaving keeps you glued to it's pages and you'll finish it in one sitting. And, shout out to that amazing cover! The title and the image had me sold before I'd even read the description. If you read The Leaving let me know your thoughts! I'm dying to talk to someone about this amazing book!

Book Review: Roomies by Sara Zarr & Tara Altebrando


Roomies
Author: Sara Zarr & Tara Altebrando
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary
Released: December 24th 2013
Review Source: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

It's time to meet your new roomie. When East Coast native Elizabeth receives her freshman-year roommate assignment, she shoots off an e-mail to coordinate the basics: television, microwave, mini-fridge. That first note to San Franciscan Lauren sparks a series of e-mails that alters the landscape of each girl's summer -- and raises questions about how two girls who are so different will ever share a dorm room. As the countdown to college begins, life at home becomes increasingly complex. With family relationships and childhood friendships strained by change, it suddenly seems that the only people Elizabeth and Lauren can rely on are the complicated new boys in their lives . . . and each other. Even though they've never met. National Book Award finalist Sara Zarr and acclaimed author Tara Altebrando join forces for a novel about growing up, leaving home, and getting that one fateful e-mail that assigns your college roommate.


Elizabeth receives her freshman-year dorm roommate assignment. As a logical decision, she sends an e-mail to her assigned roommate, Lauren, to figure out the basics: television, microwave, mini fridge etc. What she doesn't expect is the countless e-mails that follow. Lauren and Elizabeth find support in each other throughout the summer while dealing with family and boy troubles, even though they've never met.

Wow! I loved this story in it's entirety! Such a perfect representation of how friendships are built in the 21st century. Through the interweb, people can connect. And, that's exactly what Elizabeth and Lauren did. What a great way to get to know each other since, I mean, you will be rooming together for freshman year.

 I loved how each story was told, Zarr and Altebrando did a wonderful job in the layout of the book. Going from one girl to the next, each "voice" was distinguishable and each setting was different. I really enjoyed being taken on this journey through each girls life, family problem, boy trouble, and especially their friendship building.

 Definitely pick up your copy of Roomies when looking for a great, fun read!

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