New Titles from Faber - Jan-June 2013

Here are the YA titles Faber's publishing between January and June 2013, based on their catalogue. I've only included blurbs from the books that aren't sequels as to avoid spoilers for the earlier titles.

February

Abyss by Tricia Rayburn (aka Dark Water, #3 in Siren trilogy)

March

Butter by Eric Lange

You think I eat a lot now? That’s nothing. Tune in December 31st, when I will stream a live webcast of my last meal. Death row inmates get one. Why shouldn’t I? I can’t take another year in this fat suit, but I can end this year with a bang. If you can stomach it, you’re invited to watch . . . as I eat myself to death.

So starts Butter, the story of a lonely 423-pound boy everyone calls ‘Butter’. Worse than being ridiculed for his size at high school, he is simply ignored. Desperate, he pledges to eat himself to death live on the Internet – and everyone will watch. When he makes this announcement online, he expects pity, insults, or possibly sheer indifference. Instead, his classmates become morbid cheerleaders for his deadly plan. Yet as their dark encouragement grows, it begins to feel a lot like popularity. And that feels good. But what happens when Butter reaches his suicide deadline?

Readers will be surprised to find themselves identifying with both the bullied . . . and the bullies in this darkly humorous, powerful story about fitting in, self-confidence, and surviving school.

April

The Cusp by Ross Montgomery

What is the Cusp? No one really knows, because no one can cross it. Twelve years ago, the last Official Expedition across the Cusp and into the Forbidden Land ended in disaster when the great explorer Alex Jennings returned completely mad, thinking he was a dog.

Now Alex Jennings has escaped from hospital, repeating the word ‘squiggles’ over and over again. And Davidus Kyte, the new and extremely evil Head of Expeditions, is after his son – also called Alex Jennings. Kyte is convinced the boy knows the meaning of ‘squiggles’, what it was that his father found beyond the Cusp, and the real reason why dogs can cross it but people can’t.

But Alex is only a small and slightly useless boy in a very ugly knitted jumper. So with the help of Martha, a girl with unfeasibly sharp teeth, and Arnauld, a talking dog, he dodges out of Kyte’s clutches and embarks on an extraordinary adventure across the Forbidden Land. Along the way, together they learn the meaning of love, life, and the dreadful secret behind the word ‘squiggles’ . . .

Funny, heartwarming, surreal and tender, The Cusp is an exceptional debut from Ross Montgomery.

The Storm by Alexander Gordon Smith (sequel to The Fury)

May

The Bone Dragon by Alexia Casale

Evie’s shattered ribs have been a secret for the last four years. Now she has found the strength to tell her adoptive parents, and the physical traces of her past are fixed. The only remaining signs are a scar on her side and a fragment of bone taken home from the hospital, which her uncle Ben helps her to carve into a dragon as a sign of her strength.

Soon this ivory talisman begins to come to life at night, offering wisdom and encouragement in roaming dreams of smoke and moonlight that come to feel ever more real. As Evie grows stronger there remains one problem her new parents can’t fix for her: a revenge that must be taken. And it seems that the Dragon is the one to take it.

This subtly unsettling novel is told from the viewpoint of a fourteen-yearold girl damaged by a past she can’t talk about, in a hypnotic narrative that, while giving increasing insight, also becomes increasingly unreliable. A blend of psychological thriller and fairytale, The Bone Dragon explores the fragile boundaries between real life and fantasy, and the darkest corners of the human mind.

June

The Fall by Claire Merle (sequel to The Glimpse)

Publishing Deal - Kami Garcia

One exciting publishing deal after another this week, with yesterday's announcement of a solo deal for Kami Garcia. From the press release sent out by Simon & Schuster:

Simon & Schuster signs first solo series from Beautiful Creatures co-author

28th November 2012, London—Simon and Schuster Children’s Books today announced the acquisition of Beautiful Creatures co-author Kami Garcia’s first solo YA novels.

Kami Garcia has shot to fame for her bestselling Beautiful Creatures series, co-written with Margaret Stohl. The movie adaptation will be released in February 2013, starring Emma Thompson, Jeremy Irons, Emmy Rossum and Alice Englert, and the publishing programme for the series is ongoing.

Venetia Gosling, Editorial Director at Simon & Schuster UK, has bought UK & Commonwealth rights, including ebook and audio, from Angharad Kowal at Writer’s House in two books in Garcia’s Legion series, her first solo novels. A film adaptation of the series is already in development with Mark Morgan, the producer of The Twilight saga and Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.

In the first book, Unbreakable, seventeen-year-old Kennedy Waters’ whole life changes the night she comes home to find her mother dead, and two mysterious twins breaking into her house, saying they are trying to save her from a murderous vengeful spirit. Kennedy learns that she is the fifth member of a secret society, The Legion of the Black Dove, formed 200 years ago to protect the world from a powerful demon determined to find a way out of his dimension and into ours. Kennedy and the twins, Lukas and Jared, are joined by Priest, a teenage engineer who designs ghost-hunting weapons, and Alara, a girl trained in voodoo arts, and the five teens race to find the pieces of the shift, a device they believe will help them destroy the demon. But each piece of the shift is located in a place more terrifying than the last, and the teens must battle their own personal demons to find them, even as Kennedy fights her feelings for two very different boys, who look exactly alike. Suspense, romance and dark paranormal forces meet in this frightening and thrilling urban fantasy.

The Legion series has already sold in Italy, Germany, France and Brazil, with Little, Brown as the US publisher. Unbreakable will publish as a paperback original in Autumn 2013, with the second title in the series following in Autumn 2014.

Gosling says: “I loved Unbreakable – it’s page-turning and frightening and absolutely gripping and I’m desperate to know what happens in the second book! It’s also incredibly visual, and I can absolutely see why it has been optioned for film. With this new series launch, as well as the film of Beautiful Creatures hitting cinemas in February, Kami is guaranteed a big year in 2013, and we’re delighted to be part of it as we launch the Legion series on the S&S list.”

Publishing Deal - Maureen Johnson

Big news was announced yesterday that Maureen Johnson is moving to Hot Key Books from Harper Collins. Hot Key will publish books 3 and 4 in the Shades of London series and several earlier works. Here're the highlights from the press release:

QUEEN OF TEEN MAUREEN JOHNSON MOVES UK RESIDENCE TO HOT KEY BOOKS

Hot Key Books Editorial Director Sara O’Connor has completed a multi-book deal with The New York Times bestselling YA author Maureen Johnson: three books in the SUITE SCARLETT series, and the final two books in THE SHADES OF LONDON series, currently published in the UK by HarperCollins. At the same time, Hot Key has acquired Johnson’s debut novel THE KEY TO THE GOLDEN FIREBIRD,
never before published in the UK.

Hot Key Books announced the acquisition with a fan-targeted series of video blogs and ‘We Stare Because We Care’ social media campaign – a tongue-in-cheek play on Maureen’s own Twitter description: ‘There's a fine line between good eye contact and the piercing stare of a psychopath. Maureen is on the wrong side of it.’ Fans will be challenged to submit their best stare to win a place
in a Google Hangout with Maureen.

Maureen Johnson says: "I am thrilled to be joining Hot Key Books. I love what they are doing, and I think they are going to be an extremely exciting voice for YA books in the UK. I spend a lot of time in the UK, and being there means a lot to me. I've been practicing the language to fit in: Petrol! Nandos! Twitching! ASBO! Top Gear! I feel READY for this!"

Sara O’Connor says: “Maureen is hilarious, generous and a great spokesperson for teen reading. We can’t wait to celebrate her reign as Queen of Teen in ever more entertaining ways with her fans.”

Hot Key Books acquired the SCARLETT and SHADES UK and Commonwealth rights from KT Literary via RightsMix, and will publish the five titles over the next two years, with the new titles launching
simultaneously with the US editions. THE KEY TO THE GOLDEN FIREBIRD was acquired from Jean McGInley at HarperCollins.

Here's more on the competition.
Maureen Johnson's website is here.

Review: Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson

Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson (August 2011, Simon & Schuster Childrens Books, ISBN: 0857071955)

Review: Hunting Lila is the first in a two book series featuring Lila Loveday. Seventeen-year-old Lila has the ability to move things with her mind and a run in with two muggers leaves her shaken when she almost blinds one of them. Fleeing the home she shares with her Dad in London, she crosses the Atlantic to be with her older brother Jack and his best friend (and secret love of her life) Alex in California. The boys, who are four years older, are in the Marines working on a top-secret project.

Lila is struck by the security in Jack's house and is soon under constant watch herself by either Jack or Alex (not such a problem there...). Alex eventually reveals that they are working to capture the people who killed her mother five years ago when the family lived in Washington. Lila continues to dig for information and is then approached by a stranger asking for her help. Then all hell breaks loose and Alex and Lila go on the run to escape both the alleged bad guys and the good guys who may actually be bad guys as well.

Alex, Jack and Lila are reunited briefly but then they are trapped and trade-off is arranged and Lila gets to find out the truth about why her mother was killed and by whom. A further exchange of information puts everything she thought she knew in doubt.

Hunting Lila is a very enjoyable love-story/thriller (with shades of X-Men) with a gorgeous, strong bloke (with a gooey centre) and a tough yet vulnerable beautiful female lead who have known each other forever but are finding it hard to say how they feel about each other until it's almost too late. The story twists and turns so you're not sure who are the bad guys and who are the good and ends with such an unexpected reveal that you'll want to grab Losing Lila ASAP!

[Losing Lila also contains a short story from Alex's point of view, The Moment. Also available is the short story Catching Suki, set before Hunting Lila but which should preferably be read after Hunting Lila, which can be downloaded via Sarah Alderson's website.]

Publishing Deal - Allen Zadoff

News in today's Bookseller that Orchard Books have picked up a trilogy from Allen Zadoff:

Orchard Books has acquired a YA trilogy by US author Allen Zadoff it is billing as "Jason Bourne meets James Bond for teens".

The series follows a brainwashed teenage assassin, with the first title, Boy Nobody, to be published simultaneously with the US in June 2013. 

Boy Nobody is "a young soldier trained not to feel", working for The Program, a shadowy government organisation that uses brainwashed kids as counter-espionage operatives. But somewhere inside Boy Nobody is "the boy he once was".

Read the whole article here.

Publishing Deal - David Levithan

David Levithan has signed a deal with Electric Monkey for Every Day. See this press release in yesterday's Booktrade:

Electric Monkey will publish David Levithan's YA novel EVERY DAY in July 2013. Publisher Stella Paskins bought two David Levithan books.

EVERY DAY published in the US in September reaching the New York Times bestsellers list. It tells the story of A, who wakes up in the body of a different person every day. It's all fine until A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin's girlfriend Rhiannon, someone he finally wants to be with day after day.

David Levithan said: "Every Day has had such an amazing impact here in the US, and I'm so excited to have Electric Monkey bringing it to life for UK audiences."

Read the whole article here.

Review: Student by David Belbin

Student by David Belbin (September 2012, Five Leaves Publications, ISBN: 1907869530)

Notes: The following review is written by Sarah Ward who reviews crime fiction at Crimepieces.

Review: The three years at university can be life changing experience for many students. Friendships are forged and long-term relationships begin before students are let out into the wide world of work. But is can also be a disorientating time, when fragile confidence is easily shattered and there are bewildering new hurdles to cross every day. David Belbin’s book Student recounts the experience of Allison, who comes from a town near Liverpool and takes up a place at university in Nottingham. We see her troubles and adventures from the day of her A-level results to the end of her final exams.

On the day of her A-level results, Allison has to fend off a sex attack by a friend’s father. This sets the tone of the book – Allison is both bewildered and disgusted by the attack and the reader is left with the impression of Alison’s fragile sexual confidence. Nevertheless, once at Nottingham, Allison approaches student life with a bravery which is admirable and makes friends, finds lovers and discovers a place for herself in university life.

Belbin is excellent at portraying the often split nature of early student life – the constant shifting of focus between your home town and university accommodation. The loneliness of student life is also well portrayed and how disorientating new experiences can be, especially when they come one after another.

I thought Allison was very well developed as a character and the men in her life, seen through her eyes, were a realistic mixed bunch. The book was developed from a number of short stories written by the author, which was surprising as the novel form flowed very well. Although written for a young adult market, I’m pretty sure this book would appeal to anyone who was ever a student. Most will think themselves lucky that they will never have to go through those years again.

Sarah Ward

The Vincent Boys: New & Uncensored - 99p on Kindle

For a limited period only The Vincent Boys by Abbi Glines - a more adult version - is 99p on UK Kindle and iTunes.

Beau Vincent is rude, bad, and dangerous to know. So why can't good girl Ashton Gray keep away from him? She already has the perfect boyfriend - her town's local Prince Charming, Sawyer Vincent. But Sawyer is away for the summer, and in the meantime Ashton is bored, and the heat between her and Beau is undeniable - as well as irresistible. Ashton is about to unleash her bad girl - but what will she do when Sawyer comes home? And how will Sawyer react when he returns to find his girlfriend in the arms of his best friend - and cousin?

THE VINCENT BOYS is a sexy, exciting and enjoyable romp through one steamy Alabama summer.
 

Poster Time - Finale

Spotted this at my local train station:

Published in November 2012

Here are some of the teenage/YA titles that are being published in the UK in November 2012. I will put a link to this post and previous and subsequent "monthly" lists in my sidebar. January's list is here,  February's is here, March's is here,  April's is here, May's is here, June's is here, July's is here, August's is here, September's is here and October's is here.

I have tried to identify all the British authors which I hope will be useful to those doing Kirsty's British Books Challenge at The Overflowing Library (please let me know of any errors or omissions).

This is still a work-in-progress so I'll continue to update it during the month. 

R J Anderson - Quicksilver (1st, Orchard, pb) (moved to May 13)
Eishes Chayil - Hush (8th, Walker, pb)
Chris Colfer - Struck by Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal (20th, ATOM, pb)
Allie Condie - Reached (30th, Puffin, pb)
Michelle Hodkin - The Evolution of Mara Dyer (1st, Simon & Schuster Childrens Books, pb)
Nancy Holder & Debbie Vigue - Crusade: The Vanquished (8th, Simon & Schuster Childrens Books, pb)
Jonathan L Howard - Katya's World (6th, Strange Chemistry, pb) British Author
Julie Kagawa - The Lost Prince (2nd, Mira Ink, pb)
Katherine Marsh - Jepp, Who Defied the Stars (1st, Hot Key Books, pb)
Robert Muchamore - One Shot Kill 92nd, Hodder, pb) British Author
Alyson Noel - The Soul Seekers: Echo (22nd, Macmillan Children's Books, pb)
Gabriella Poole - Lost Spirits (1st, Hodder, pb) British Author
Sarah Prineas - Winterling (8th, Quercus, pb)
Sara Shepard - Pretty Little Secrets (1st, ATOM, pb) (7th, Puffin, pb)
Sara Shepard - Stunning (1st, ATOM, pb)
L J Smith - Destiny Rising (1st, Hodder, pb)
Laini Taylor - Days of Blood and Starlight (8th, Hodder, HB)

Cover Theme - The Girl in a Black Dress

Spot the difference?

Review: Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult & Samantha van Leer

Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer (July 2012, Hodder & Stoughton, ISBN: 1444740962)

Review: Between the Lines is a joint production by best-seller author Jodi Picoult and her daughter Samantha van Leer. It's a fairytale about a fairytale.

Fifteen-year-old Delilah has an unhappy school-life after accidentally hurting the most popular cheerleader. She has one best friend and lives with her mum after their dad left them to have a second wife and family. She is obsessed with the fairytale book Between the Lines which she found in the school library, and relates to the handsome prince, Oliver, as he also has no father. What she doesn't know, at first, is that the characters in the book lead their own lives when not being read and Oliver wants out of the story and into Delilah's world. Up until now no-one has been able to hear Oliver's pleas until Delilah notices that a drawing has changed in the book. And then Oliver is able to communicate with her. They then spend all available time trying to work out how Oliver can join Delilah.

The story alternates between the point of view of Oliver, Delilah and excerpts from the fairytale which Oliver is enacting over and over again.

The first thing to mention is how gorgeous the book is. It has a pretty cover of course but it also has thick paper and beautiful full-page colour illustrations at the beginning of the excerpts and smaller black illustrations throughout the text. The only thing missing is a built in silk-bookmark.

I enjoyed Between the Lines. It's probably aimed at the younger end of the teenage age-rage and is charming and I enjoyed the humour in it. I found the pace flagged temporarily about half-way as one attempt after another failed to extract Oliver and I began to muse on some of what I thought were inconsistencies in his knowledge, but that's probably just me. I loved the fairytale that Oliver was in which has some unusual elements and the fact that the characters had completely different personalities when they weren't “on-stage”. This was a good story idea and I look forward to more YA books from the authors either singularly or jointly.