Recent Publishing Deals

Here's news of some publishing deals from Publishers Lunch Weekly:

Children's: Middle grade
NYT bestselling author of THE MISSING and SHADOW CHILDREN series Margaret Peterson Haddix's untitled new series, the next series about a group of children raised in exile from their violent society returning "home" for the first time, to Simon & Schuster Children's, in a three-book deal, for publication in Summer 2015, 2016, 2017.

TEN THINGS WE DID (AND PROBABLY SHOULDN'T HAVE) and "Magic in Manhattan" author, Sarah Mlynowski's WHATEVER AFTER, about a girl and her little brother who fall into fairy tales, mess them up, and help the characters find new happy endings, to Scholastic, in a four-book deal, for hardcover publication starting in summer of 2012.

Children's: Young Adult
Debut author Lanie Bross's FATES, the story of an Executor sent to earth to bring about human destinies, who finds herself unaccountably experiencing human emotions, leading to an epic romance set across multiple worlds, to Delacorte, in a pre-empt, in a two-book deal.

Melissa Marr and Tim Pratt's RAGS & BONES, an anthology of short stories retelling classic tales by contributors including Neil Gaiman, Lev Grossman, Kelley Armstrong, and Carrie Ryan, to Little, Brown Children's, for publication in Fall 2013.

Review: Theodore Boone: The Abduction by John Grisham

Theodore Boone: The Abduction by John Grisham (June 2011, Hodder & Stoughton , ISBN: 9781444736939)

Review: The Abduction is the sequel to the variably received Theodore Boone, from veteran crime writer John Grisham, which introduced the eponymous thirteen-year-old lawyer in training.

The first book left rather a lot of unanswered questions and unfortunately they aren't resolved in this book but look to be picked up in the third; rather The Abduction deals with the disappearance of Theo's friend April who vanished overnight from her home with no sign of broken entry.

When the police hear that a distant cousin of hers, whom she has been writing to, has escaped prison and returned to April's town of Strattenburg, they immediately begin a manhunt. At the same time Theo and his friends carry out their own search.

There will be some tense and sad times ahead before Theo cracks the case ahead of the police.

There's not much to the plot so I can't say any more than that. I didn't enjoy The Abduction as much as Theodore Boone unfortunately. Not a lot happens and there isn't much development of the scenario of the family, the estranged brother/uncle, and April's not in it much at all. For me it was a pleasant diversion but not a book I couldn't put down. There was one scene, which I can't reveal, that I felt rang false and if the bods from CSI or Dr Brennan from Bones had been around then the story could have moved a little quicker.

As an experience crime fiction reader (and tv viewer) this didn't really grab me but I'd love to hear from younger readers about what they thought of it. I will read the next book as I'm expecting that to be more courtroom based than this was.

NB. As before, there are both adult and YA editions.

Recent Publishing Deals - Woolston, Rigg, Whitman, Quinn

A few publishing deals from yesterday's Publishers Lunch Weekly:

Author of Morris Award winner THE FREAK OBSERVER, Blythe Woolston's BLACK HELICOPTERS, about a girl raised to be a weapon who straps on a vest of explosives and sets out to kill and be killed until her plan goes wrong, to Candlewick, in a pre-empt, in a two book deal, for publication in Spring 2013

Author of the NYT bestseller MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN Ransom Riggs's untitled sequel, continuing the story of the children on the remote Welsh island, incorporating a new set of vintage photographs to guide the story, to Quirk Books.

Sylvia Whitman's MILK OF BIRDS, following two teenage girls - one living in Washington, D.C., and the other in Sudan - who are dramatically changed by swapping letters with one another over the course of a year; based on a volunteer experience the author had with Women for Women International, to Atheneum.

Kate Karyus Quinn's debut ANOTHER LITTLE PIECE, about a girl who wakes up wandering the roads of Oklahoma knowing that she is occupying another girl's body -- and that she has killed the girl whose body she is in -- who then returns to the girl's parents in upstate New York to uncover who she really is, and who else she has killed, to Harper Teen.

Review: The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han (June 2010, Puffin, ISBN: 0141330532)

Review: I bought this ages ago and I've been wanting to read it for so long but I was slightly scared to in case it didn't live up to my high expectations but finally I have and it mostly did.

Isabel, with the unfortunate nickname of Belly, goes every summer with her mum and brother to stay at the beach house with her mum's best friend Susannah and her two sons, Conrad and Jeremiah.

Belly is almost sixteen and is blossoming in a physical way now, and Conrad and Jeremiah seem to notice, though they have always treated her as a sister before. Belly has had a crush on Conrad since she was ten but seems no nearer getting him to like her back.

This is probably the last summer before everything changes - college, football school etc - as the boys are all a little bit older than Belly. She wants it to be a perfect summer. Over the course of the summer, Belly meets a boy and relations come to a head cordially with Jeremiah and dramatically with Conrad. However what Belly doesn't realise is that there are other things going on, until she finally gets it, that it's not all about her.

The Summer I Turned Pretty is a quick read and not just because it's told in shortish chapters, but because you just want to find out what happens next. The story didn't go the way I was expecting ie with it all being set in the present summer, but rather was interspersed with flashback to earlier summers, such as one when Belly's best friend stayed for a week and how that unexpectedly upset their friendship. We get to see Belly at growing up over the summers and how what she thinks is true, such as how she believes her mum to be, is not the case at all. I did find Belly slightly annoying at times, due to her immaturity, and I could have done with a bit more Conrad as he's very much a moody character in the background unlike his easy-going brother who has a larger role. At the end of the 'perfect' summer, the book turns slightly more sombre, but I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens next in the sequel, It's Not Summer Without You.

Library Loot (2.11), review copies & bought

Here's what I've picked up this week:


Library

Girl Parts by John Cusick
"Hello, David. My name is Rose. It's a pleasure to meet you. We are now entering minute two of our friendship. According to my Intimacy Clock, a handshake is now appropriate." DAVID is a rich kid, with a million friends, online and off. CHARLIE is a loner, disconnected from the high school world around him. Neither of them feels close to anybody. Until they meet... ROSE: part girl, part robot, and ALL a boy could want. But can a robotic girl really change the lives of two teenage boys? Before they know it, Rose is teaching David and Charlie how to feel human again.

Kidnap in the Caribbean by Lauren St John
Laura cannot contain her excitement when she wins a trip to the Caribbean for herself and her uncle, Calvin Redfern, especially when her best friend, Tariq, and her three-legged husky, Skye, accidentally find themselves on board too. But when they dock at Antigua, they discover that Calvin Redfern has vanished, and Laura and Tariq are about to be kidnapped by the fearsome Straight A gang. Dramatic escapes, an erupting volcano and a race against time to stop the deadly undercover 'Marine Concern' make Laura's second adventure every bit as exciting as the first.

Bought

When it Happens by Susane Colasanti
Reminiscent of the movie Say Anything, a debut novel for all those searching for The One!

Sara and Tobey couldn'’t be more different. She is focused on getting into her first-choice college; he wants to win Battle of the Bands. Sara'’s other goal is to find true love, so when Dave, a popular jock, asks her out, she'’s thrilled. But then there'’s Tobey. His amazing blue eyes and quirky wit always creep into her thoughts. It just so happens that one of Tobey'’s goals is also to make Sara fall in love with him. Told in alternating points of view, Sara and Tobey'’s real connection will have everyone rooting for them from the minute they meet!

Review

The Haunting of Charity Delafield by Ian Beck (3 Nov, Bodley Head)
A magical, enchanting tale, with stunning illustrations that will transport you into another world.

Flame-haired Charity Delafield has grown up in a vast, isolated house - most of which she is forbidden to explore - with her fiercely strict father. With only her kindly nurse, Rose, and her cat Mr Tompkins for company, she knows very little of the outside world - or of her own family's shadowy past. What she does know is that she is NEVER to go outside unsupervised. And she is NEVER to over-excite herself, because of the mysterious 'condition' that she has been told she suffers from.

But Charity has a secret. All her life, she has had the same strange dream - a dream of a dark corridor, hidden somewhere in the house. Then, one day, Charity stumbles across the corridor. It leads to a door . . . and suddenly she realises things are not quite what they seem.

The Adventures of the New Cut Gang by Philip Pullman (1 Sep, David Fickling Book)

For the first time in one volume, two action-packed thrillers from one of our best-known authors, about a motley group of urchins forming THE NEW CUT GANG, solving crimes in late Victorian London.

Thunderbolt, Benny, Bridie and Sharky Bob are a mixed bunch of vagabonds and urchins who come together to form the New Cut Gang in two comic tales of stolen silver, skulduggery and desperadoes.

Fake coins are turning up all over Lambeth and the finger of suspicion is pointing at Thunderbolt's dad - could he really be the forger? The crime-busting New Cut Gang come to the rescue!

And when just two clues - a blob of wax and a Swedish match - are discovered at the scene of a break-in, the children find themselves on the trail of an extremely cunning criminal.

Set in late Victorian London, these two action-packed thrillers have now been put together in a single volume - with new illustrations throughout from Horrible Histories illustrator, Martin Brown.

The Poison Diaries: Nightshade by Maryrose Wood (1 Sep, HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks)
A dark, gothic tale of romance… and murder.

The latest book in the grippingly dark series, The Poison Diaries.

Our heroine, Jessamine, has lost her faith in the men she loved, and her innocence as well. She turns to the dark side and plots to kill her father, using his own poisons, before becoming an assassin, a poisoner for hire. Can she recover from her heartache and reunite with her true love, Weed? Find out in this thrilling story where poisons, darkness and horror are a part of everyday life, and love is the only cure.

Not shown - a download of the audio book of All These Things That I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin; Macmillan Young Listeners; Unabridged edition (September 6, 2011)
In 2083, chocolate and coffee are illegal, paper is hard to find, water is carefully rationed, and New York City is rife with crime and poverty. And yet, for Anya Balanchine, the sixteen-year-old daughter of the city's most notorious (and dead) crime boss, life is fairly routine. It consists of going to school, taking care of her siblings and her dying grandmother, trying to avoid falling in love with the new assistant D.A.'s son, and avoiding her loser ex-boyfriend. That is until her ex is accidently poisoned by the chocolate her family manufactures and the police think she's to blame. Suddenly, Anya finds herself thrust unwillingly into the spotlight--at school, in the news, and most importantly, within her mafia family.

Review: Wuthering Hearts by Kay Woodward

Wuthering Hearts by Kay Woodward (July 2011, Andersen, ISBN: 1849392994)

Review: Fourteen-year-old Emily Sparrow lives in a small Yorkshire town near the Brontes home of Haworth. She wants to be an actress and is desperate to star in this year's school production. But she is horrified to hear that it is to be Wuthering Heights.

Robert McBride has just joined the school and is tall, dark, handsome and very moody and Emily is smitten. But what is his problem? When circumstances lead to him moving into her home temporarily she gets to know "charming Robert" but still meets the grumpy version at school.

When both of them are cast in the play it seems that there's an opportunity for the two to rehearse together and so get to know each other and Emily, hopes, time for him to fall for her.

Things don't go as planned, however, and there are both tears and laughter before the two understand each other better.

Wuthering Hearts is a charming romance tale which touches on a couple of serious issues along the way. Emily is a lively, believable and funny narrator who I wanted to be not so quick to blame herself all the time for the misunderstandings with Robert. She has an adorable Auntie O acting as a mum substitute, dispensing wise advice. I loved the trips out in the wild moors and the visit to Haworth, which are both brought vividly to life.

Wuthering Hearts is a short and snappy read which should leave you wanting to read both Emily Bronte's original classic and Kay Woodward's previous book, Jane Airhead, and is suitable for younger teenagers (and older!) and any slightly younger children who like reading about a romance.

Popular Names in YA

A colleague of mine has been looking at baby names for her nephew, not that she hopes to have much say in the matter, but I jokingly said that the popular names at the moment are Daniel and Luke if YA fiction is anything to go by. So here is a very unscientific poll of popular names based on the books I've read and reviewed on this blog:

Cam

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
Fallen series by Lauren Kate

Daniel

Dark Divine series by Bree Despain
Fallen series by Lauren Kate

Grace

Dark Divine series by Bree Despain
Wolves of Mercy Falls series by Maggie Stiefvater

Luke

Here Lies Bridget by Paige Harbison
Dark Touch series by Amy Meredith
Forgotten by Cat Patrick

Sam

Gone series by Michael Grant
Wolves of Mercy Falls series by Maggie Stiefvater

Are there any other names which seem to be popular at the moment?

Library Loot (2.10), review copies, prize & bought

I couldn't resist including Foxy in the picture, he looks somewhat bemused!


Library

The Midnight Palace by Carlow Ruiz Zafon (audio book)
The book begins with a chase through the streets of Calcutta in May 1916. Lieutenant Peake pauses for breath outside the ruins of the Jheeter's Gate station knowing that he only has a few hours to live. Inside his overcoat he is sheltering two newborn babies - twins, a boy and a girl. Pursued by his would-be assassins, Peake runs at full tilt to the house of Aryami Bose, to whom he entrusts the children. In 1932 we meet the boy, Ben, and his group of friends the night before they are due to leave St Patricks orphanage. They have formed a secret club, The Chowbar Society, that meets each week at midnight in the old ruin they have christened The Midnight Palace. Their final meeting is due that evening but then Aryami Bose turns up at the orphanage with Sheere, Ben's sister, and tells them the story of the parents they never knew. Their father was an engineer and writer who died in tragic circumstances at the inauguration of Jheeter's Gate station. But as the novel unfolds, there is more to this story than meets the eye and they are lured by a shadowy figure from the past into a final showdown in the ruins.

Review

Naked by Kevin Brooks (6 Oct, Puffin)
London, 1976: a summer of chaos, punk, love . . . and the boy they called Billy the Kid.

It was the summer of so many things. Heat and violence, love and hate, heaven and hell. It was the time I met William Bonney - the boy from Belfast known as Billy the Kid.

I've kept William's secrets for a long time, but now things have changed and I have to tell the truth. But I can't begin until I've told you about Curtis Ray. Hip, cool, rebellious Curtis Ray. Without Curtis, there wouldn't be a story to tell.

It's the story of our band, of life and death . . . and everything in between.

This characteristically gripping novel from award-winning author Kevin Brooks will rock you to the core.

Velvet by Mary Hooper (5 Sep, Bloomsbury)
Velvet is a laundress in a Victorian steam laundry. With both her mother and father dead, she is an orphan and has to rely upon her own wits to make a living. The laundry is scalding, back-breaking work and Velvet is desperate to create a better life for herself. Then Velvet is noticed by Madame Savoya, a famed medium, who asks Velvet to come to work for her. Velvet is dazzled at first by the young yet beautifully dressed and bejewelled Madame. But soon Velvet realises that Madame Savoya is not all that she says she is, and Velvet's very life is in danger ...A romantic and thrillingly exciting new novel from an acclaimed and much loved historical writer for teens

Betrayal by Lee Nichols (5 Sep, Bloomsbury) (sequel to Deception)
Emma Vaile is the most powerful ghostkeeper in centuries. Which is great when she's battling the wraith-master Neos, but terrible when she's flirting with fellow ghostkeeper (and love interest) Bennett. When ghostkeepers fall in love, the weaker one loses all power, and that's something Bennett is not willing to accept. Heartbroken and alone, Emma tries to lose herself in school. A new team of ghostkeepers has arrived - one a snarky teen boy, the other a visiting scholar - and Emma finds solace in training for the battle against Neos. But as the team grows stronger, they are threatened by an unknown force. As chilling and page-turning as Deception, this sequel will grab readers and hold them to the last page. No one is safe from suspicion as Emma closes in on the traitor.


After Obsession by Carrie Jones & Steven E Wedel (5 Sep, Bloomsbury) (I've enjoyed the first two "Need" books by Carrie Jones)
Aimee and Alan have unusual pasts and secrets they prefer to keep hidden. Aimee's deceased mother struggled with mental illness and hallucinations, and Aimee thinks it could be hereditary. After all, she sees a shadowy river man where there isn't one. And then there was that time she and her best friend Courtney tried to conjure a spirit with a Ouija board ...Alan is Courtney's cousin. His family moved to Maine when Courtney's father went missing. It's not just Alan's dark good looks that make him attractive. He is also totally in touch with a kind of spiritual mysticism from his Native American heritage. And it's not long before Aimee has broken up with her boyfriend ...But it's not Aimee or Alan who is truly haunted - it's Courtney. In a desperate plea to find her father, Courtney invites a demonic presence into her life. Together, Aimee and Alan must exorcise the ghost, before it devours Courtney - and everything around her.

Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts (2 Sep, Macmillan)

Moments after several huge earthquakes shake every continent on Earth, something strange starts happening to some people. Michael can only watch in horror as an incidence of road rage so extreme it ends in two deaths unfolds before his eyes; Clementine finds herself being hunted through the small town she has lived in all her life, by people she has known all her life; and Mason is attacked with a baseball bat by a random stranger. An inner rage has been released and some people cannot fight it. For those who can, life becomes an ongoing battle to survive - at any cost!

Since mankind began, civilizations have always fallen - now it's our turn!

Won

The Donut Diaries of Dermot Milligan by Anthony McGowan, illustrated by David Tazzyman
A British Diary of a Wimpy Kid, featuring Dermot, an overweight eleven-year-old. Hilariously funny and insightful.

Dermot Milligan’s got problems. He’s overweight and hooked on donuts. He has a pushy, over-achieving mother, and a father who spends all his time hiding in the loo. His sisters, Ruby and Ella (known as Rubella) attack him relentlessly from the opposite directions of Chav and Goth. And now, he's being sent to a nutritionist, Doctor Morlock, who looks like a Dementor from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

This diary is Doc Morlock's idea. Not only does Dermot have to write down how many donuts he eats, but also - and this is the really rubbish part - he has to talk about HIS FEELINGS! But things are about to get even worse - he's being separated from his friends and sent to St Michael’s, a posh school where he just knows he's going to stick out like a sore thumb. A sore thumb with a weight problem . . .

Bought (not shown)

Dark Angel by Eden Maguire (Again I've read and enjoyed the first two in her other series, The Beautiful Dead)
Tania's heart belongs to Orlando. Nothing can rip them apart.

Until the seduction begins in a flurry of glamour and magic, music and parties all orchestrated by the mysterious and mesmerising Zoran, an iconic rock star who has retired to a remote ranch in the nearby mountains.

And there Tania meets the dark side.

Can she resist temptation?

Tudor Times

There's been a substantial increase in the amount of crime fiction set in the Tudor era (see here) and when I set a Tudor themed session for my reading group (1o-12 year-olds) there was quite a lot of junior titles but little in the teenage section other than Eve Edwards's The Other Countess series. Just released/upcoming however are three new appropriate titles:


The Traitor's Kiss by Pauline Francis (July, Usborne)
This is the captivating true story of the young Elizabeth I, as she struggles to survive the treacherous world of Tudor England. After the death of her father, Henry VIII, a young Elizabeth journeys to London to live with her father's widow, Katherine Parr, and her new husband, Thomas Seymour, brother-in-law to King Edward. Surrounded by malicious whisperings of her late mother's witchcraft, Elizabeth is desperate to escape suspicion and discover the truth about her mother. A young stranger asserting Anne's Boleyn's innocence sends her on search a that takes her on a dangerous midnight journey to Bedlam, the hospital for the insane, to meet her mother's former lady-in-waiting. This encounter changes the way she views her mother - and herself. Meanwhile, at home, Elizabeth's reputation is increasingly under threat, as her stepfather, Thomas Seymour makes unwanted advances toward her. Her stepmother witnesses a kiss and Elizabeth is sent back to Hertfordshire in disgrace. Here she falls seriously ill and rumours abound that she is hiding a pregnancy. When Thomas Seymour is arrested for treason in a plot to overthrow King Edward, Elizabeth is implicated by association. Now it is up to her to defend her integrity - and her life...

Emerald by Karen Wallace (August, Simon & Schuster Children's)
Emerald St. John is in trouble. She has been condemned to marry a man she hates, her enemies are conspiring to have her pet bear Molly torn apart in the baiting pits, and the man she loves is far away on the high seas. And she has stumbled into a web of spies with a plot to poison Queen Elizabeth I. To save herself and the kingdom, Emerald must beat the spies at their own game - which means transforming herself from a country girl into a lady of the court. Can she do it in time?








VIII by H M Castor (October, Templar Publishing)
VIII is the story of Hal: a young, handsome, gifted warrior, who believes he has been chosen to lead his people. But he is plagued by the ghosts of his family's violent past and, once he rises to power, he turns to murder and rapacious cruelty. He is Henry VIII. The Tudors have always captured the popular imagination, but in VIII, Henry is presented fresh for a new generation. H M Castor does for Henry what Hilary Mantel did for Thomas Cromwell - VIII is Wolf Hall for the teen and crossover market. The contemporary, original writing style will have broad appeal and VIII brings the tension of a psychological thriller and the eeriness of a ghost story to historical fiction.

Free Audio Books of Storm Runners & The Cay

Like last year, Sync are offering two free audio books per week over the summer. You only get a week to download them but then they can be played at any time afterwards. Here's the final two:

(Available to download August 11 - August 17)

STORM RUNNERS
By Roland Smith
Read by Ramón de Ocampo, Bronson Pinchot,
Hillary Huber, John Morgan, Samantha Quan
Published by Scholastic Audiobooks

THE CAY
By Theodore Taylor
Read by Michael Boatman
Published by Listening Library

There don't appear to be any geographical restrictions on Storm Runners, I haven't yet tried The Cay. You have to download a small piece of software (Overdrive) before being allowed to download the mp3 files.

Download the books from here.

Review: The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

The Dark Divine by Bree Despain (July 2010, Egmont Books Ltd, ISBN: 1405254588)

Review: Why oh why did I wait so long to read this? On the plus side it means the sequel is out already and the final part of the trilogy is not too far away.

Grace Divine is the pastor's daughter in a small community in Minnesota. Three years ago, Daniel the boy next door whom the Divine family had been fostering for a while suddenly left the area. It was a time no-one will now speak about and Grace's brother Jude now hates his former best-friend.

The apple-cart is now being upset as Daniel has returned, his reason being that he needs the art class at this school if he is to get into Trenton Art Institute. Grace is forbidden to interact with him but finds it impossible to obey that order and wants most of all to fix Daniel and fix the rift with Jude.

Grace has to juggle her family's wishes and her growing desire to be with Daniel, plus as the pastor's daughter, her behaviour is expected to be above reproach at all times. As well as the emotional turmoil, danger surrounds the town as domestic pets are being killed and then humans start disappearing. Could the Markham Street Monster be back?

I went into The Dark Divine knowing nothing at all about the story - I probably just saw the cover and grabbed it and I enjoyed it very much. The writing flowed and had me reading late into the night even when my eyes were protesting. It's 370 pages long, and never dragged and I felt that it gave the space for the physical setting to be well fleshed out as well; I can picture Grace's house and the tree out front which plays such a significant role in the story. There are quite a few mysteries which gradually become clearer as Grace flashes-back to earlier events. There is romance and there is excitement and danger. Grace is a likeable, strong character and Daniel is a young man who's been through some terrible times and has the reader's sympathy. The ending is not really a cliff-hanger but it certainly leads the way to an interesting sequel, The Lost Saint.

Free Audio Books of Immortal & Wuthering Heights

Like last year, Sync are offering two free audio books per week over the summer. You only get a week to download them but then they can be played at any time afterwards:

(Available to download August 4 - August 10)

IMMORTAL
By Gillian Shields
Read by Emily Durante
Published by HarperAudio

WUTHERING HEIGHTS
By Emily Brontë
Read by Carolyn Seymour
Published by Blackstone Audiobooks

There don't appear to be any geographical restrictions on either title. You have to download a small piece of software (Overdrive) before being allowed to download the mp3 files.

Download the books from here.

Library Loot (2.9), review copies, prizes & bought

Library

Ultraviolet by R J Anderson

Theodore Boone: The Abduction by John Grisham

Jessie Hearts New York City by Keris Stainton

Review

The History Keepers: The Storm Begins by Damian Dibben (1 Sep, Doubleday Childrens)
Imagine if you lost your parents – not just in place, but in time.

Jake Djones’ mum and dad have gone missing and they could be anywhere in the world – at any time in history. Because the Djones family have an astonishing secret, which for years they’ve managed to keep - even from each other. They belong to the HISTORY KEEPERS: a secret society which travels through the centuries to prevent evil enemies from meddling with History itself.

In the quest to find his parents, Jake is whisked from 21st Century London to 19th century France, the headquarters of the mysterious History Keepers, where he discovers the truth about his family's disappearance - and the diabolical Prince Zeldt's plan to destroy the world as we know it . . .

Deception by Lee Nichols (5 Sep, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC)
When Emma Vaile's parents leave on a mysterious business trip, it gives her the perfect excuse to be a rebellious teen. But then her best friend stops talking to her, the police crash her party and Emma finds herself in the hands of a new guardian, Bennett Stern, and on a plane to his museum-like mansion in New England. After enrolling at Thatcher Academy, Emma settles in by making friends with the popular crowd. She has memories of Thatcher she can't explain and strange visions are haunting her. Emma doesn't trust anyone any more - except maybe Bennett. But he's about to reveal a ghostly secret to her. One that will explain the visions ...and make Emma fear for her life.


Won

Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs (shiny replacement for my arc), reviewed here.

Alyson Noel Goody Bag including a copy of Evermore.


Bought

The Mystery of the Midnight Ghost by Helen Moss, sequel to The Mystery of the Whistling Caves. I already have 3 & 4 from Orion to review.

Free e-book of Haunting the Night

For A Limited Time get the Past Midnight series novella "Haunting the Night" by Mara Purnhagen for FREE! The story takes place few weeks after the events of "One Hundred Candles"

Join our Harlequin Teen Page by clicking the LIKE button above
to get exclusive FREE access to:

“Haunting the Night” by Mara Purnhagen!
An ebook exclusive Past Midnight series novella.

Click the Like button, and receive a DRM free book in PDF format.

Go to the Facebook Harlequin Teen page.

It will be on amazon.com shortly apparently.

Free e-book of The Magnificent 12

The Magnificent 12: The Call with Bonus Material by Michael Grant is currently free to preorder on UK Kindle.

It's released on 9 August. Order it here

Sometimes one hero isn't enough-sometimes you need a full dozen. First in a funny, action-packed fantasy series by the New York Times bestselling author of GONE

Mack McAvoy is not an unlikely hero. He is an impossible hero! He is only twelve years old, he has a list of phobias as long as your arm, and he's a bully magnet. That is, until Mack is visited by a golem. The golem looks exactly like Mack, and has been sent to fill in for him while the real Mack sets out to save the world from the evil Pale Queen. To do so, he must assemble an elite team of twelve powerful children from all around the world. The first foe they face is Risky. Risky is pure evil. She gets it from her mother – the Pale Queen – a force of evil to be reckoned with since before medieval times.

Packed with action and humour Magnificent Twelve – The Call ends with a delicious cliffhanger that will have readers craving more.

Publishing Deal - Helen Douglas

News of Helen Douglas's YA/teen Debut, Eden, from Booktrade:

Bloomsbury is thrilled to announce the acquisition of young teen debut EDEN, by Helen Douglas. Senior Commissioning Editor Ele Fountain acquired World English rights in two books.

Fountain says: 'EDEN combines a pitch-perfect voice and vivid characters for some sublime romantic angst, as girl meets boy in a starry twist of fate. Love triangles, suspense and stargazing unite for a heart-stopping twist. We're very excited to be publishing simultaneously with the US. Helen is an author with huge potential on both sides of the Atlantic.'

EDEN is a teen love story that spans the universe. When a plan to save the human race brings visitors from the future a young girl called Eden becomes the key to their success. With one action she can save the human race but along the way Eden will have to ask herself whether love and friendship is more important than saving the world.

EDEN by Helen Douglas will publish simultaneously in both the UK and US in early 2013.

Publishing Deals - Shepherd, Brown

A couple of new YA publishing deals in yesterday's Lunch Weekly:

Megan Shepherd's debut THE MADMAN'S DAUGHTER, a gothic thriller trilogy pitched as loosely inspired by H.G. Wells' classic THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU, in which Dr. Moreau's 16-year-old daughter travels to her estranged father's island and finds murder, madness, and a love triangle with an enigmatic castaway and her father's handsome young assistant, to Balzer & Bray, in a three-book deal, for publication in Winter 2013, by Adams Literary.

Hate List and Bitter End author Jennifer Brown's THOUSAND WORDS, about a teen girl who learns just how powerful one photo can be when she finds herself at the center of a public sexting scandal, to Little, Brown, for publication in Spring 2013.

Review: Forgotten by Cat Patrick

Forgotten by Cat Patrick (June 2011, Egmont Books Ltd, ISBN: 1405253614)

Review: London Lane has an unusual memory issue. Her memories are from the future. Once she's experienced the memory it disappears once she's been to sleep. The only way she can get by is by writing notes to herself which she reads each morning.

She is supported by her (single) mum and best and only friend Jamie. However, a further complication arises when a gorgeous new boy joins the school. Luke singles her out, and the feelings are returned but there's a problem: London cannot see Luke in any of her future memories.

Forgotten takes place over a school year and sees London cope with a boyfriend (whom she meets for the first time every day) and also trying to prevent heartache for her best friend who's about to do something foolish.

In addition a dark memory surfaces and it is this which will see London explore her past. Secrets will be revealed and new relationships formed. But can London change the future?

Forgotten is a book you don't want to put down. There's a really sweet romance with the almost perfect Luke but there's also the pull of a mystery to be unravelled as London does some investigating. Romance and mystery are enough on their own but combined with the premise of someone having no previous memories - it makes for a compulsive read. There were several unexpected reveals which surprised me and the tone is quite dark at times.

The ending wraps things up sufficiently but I would love to spend more time with London and Luke. So once I'd finished it, I immediately went onto Cat Patrick's website to see if there was to be a sequel. Sadly, no. But there will be a book out in 2012 with a new character.

Published in August (2011)

Here are some of the teenage/YA titles that are being published in the UK in August 2011. I will put a link to this post and previous and subsequent "monthly" lists in my sidebar. January's list can be found here, February's here, March's here, April's here, May's here, June's here and July's here. Title links go to amazon.co.uk. Please let me know of others to add to the list. In general I have not included re-issues and have stuck to UK publishers.

Monthly lists for 2010 can be found here.

I have tried to identify all the British authors which I hope will be useful to those doing the Bookette's excellent British Books Challenge.

Alexandra Adornetto - Hades (30th, ATOM, pb)
Sarah Alderson - Hunting Lila (4th, Simon & Schuster Childrens Books. pb) British Author
Bernard Beckett - August (4th, Quercus, pb)
Kit Berry - Shadows at Stonewylde (4th, Gollancz, HB) British Author
Chris Bradford - Young Samurai: The Ring of Fire (4th, Puffin, pb) British Author
Catherine Bruton - We Can Be Heroes (1st, Egmont Books Ltd, pb) British Author
Linda Chapman - Loving Spirit: Hopes (4th, Puffin, pb) British Author
James Dashner - Scorch Trials (4th, Chicken House, pb)
Keren David - Lia's Guide to Winning the Lottery (4th, Frances Lincoln Children's Books, pb) British Author
Lauren DeStefano - Wither (4th, Harper Voyager, pb)
Katherine Easer - Vicious Little Darlings (5th, Bloomsbury Childrens Books, HB)
Kat Falls - Rip Tide (4th, Simon & Schuster Childrens Books, pb)
Fiona Foden - Life, Death and Gold Leather Trousers (4th, Scholastic, pb) British Author
Cornelia Funke - Inkdeath (4th, Chicken House, pb)
Julie Hearn - Merrybegot (4th, OUP Oxford, pb) British Author
Christine Johnson - Nocturne (4th, Simon & Schuster Childrens Books, pb)
Andrew Klavan - The Final Hour (4th, Headline, pb)
Suzanne La Fleur - Eight Keys (11th, Puffin, HB)
Y S Lee - The Traitor and the Tunnel (4th, Walker, pb)
Joan Lingard - The Stolen Sister (1st, Catnip, pb) British Author
Hayley Long - Lottie Biggs is (Not) Tragic (5th, Macmillan Children's Books, pb) British Author
Michelle Lovric - The Mourning Emporium (4th, Orion Childrens, pb) British Author
Pittacus Lore - The Power of Six (23rd, Puffin, HB)
Andy McNab - DropZone: Terminal Velocity (4th, Corgi Childrens, pb) British Author
Eden Maguire - Dark Angel (4th, Hodder Children's Books, pb) British Author
Gemma Malley - The Legacy (1st, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, pb) British Author
Richelle Mead - Bloodlines (25th, Puffin, pb)
Stephenie Meyer - The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner (18th, ATOM, pb)
Benjamin J Myers - Bad Tuesdays 5: A Crystal Horseman (4th, Orion Childrens, pb) British Author
Sarah Mlynowski - ten Things we Shouldn't Have Done (4th, Orchard, pb)
Robert Muchamore - Cherub: People's Republic (4th, Hodder Children's Books, pb)
Alyson Noel - Shimmer (5th, Macmillan Children's Books, pb)
Sean Olin - Brother/Sister (4th, Puffin, pb)
Jana Oliver - Forbidden (5th, Macmillan Children's Books, pb)
James Phelan - Survivor: Alone (4th, ATOM, pb)
Gillian Philip - Bloodstone (19th, Strident Publishing Limited, pb) British Author
Paula Rawsthorne - The Truth About Celia Frost (1st, Usborne Publishing, pb) British Author
Carmen Reid - Secrets at St Jude's: Party Girl (4th, Corgi Childrens, pb) British Author
Na'ima B Robert - Far From Home (1st, Frances Lincoln Children's Books, pb) British Author
Meg Rosoff - There is no Dog (4th, Puffin, pb) British Author
Louis Sachar - The Cardturner (9th, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, pb)
Sara Shepard - Wanted (4th, ATOM, pb)
Ali Sparkes - Unleashed (4th, OUP Oxford, pb) UK
Paul Stewart & Chris Riddel - Wyrmeweald: Returner's Wealth (4th, Corgi Childrens, pb) UK
Jonathan Stroud - The Ring of Solomon (4th, Corgi Childrens, pb) British Author
Alan Temperley - Murdo's War (15th, Luath Press Ltd, pb) British Author
Mark Walden - Aftershock (1st, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, pb) British Author
Karen Wallace - Emerald (4th, Simon & Schuster Children's, pb)
Steve Wallenfels & Will Steele - Pod (1st, Templar, trade pb)
Robin Wasserman - Wired (4th, Simon & Schuster Childrens Books, pb)
Scott Westerfeld - Goliath (31st, Simon & Schuster Childrens Books, pb)
Michelle Zink - The Circle of Fire (4th, ATOM, trade pb)