The Wizard of Dark Street by Shawn Thomas Odyssey

Release Date: July 26, 2011
Publisher: Egmont USA
Age Group: Middle Grade
Source: Publisher
Pages: 348
Buy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble /
IndieBound / Book Depository
Description: Goodreads
Oona Crate was born to be the Wizard’s apprentice, but she has another destiny in mind. Despite possessing the rare gift of natural magic, Oona wants to be a detective.

Eager for a case to prove herself, she wants to show her uncle—the Wizard of Dark Street—that logic is as powerful as magic. But when someone attacks the Wizard, Oona must delve even deeper into the world of magic to discover who wanted her uncle dead.

Printed in the classified section of the New York Times on November 4th, 1876 was the following ad:

WANTED: ONE WIZARD’S APPRENTICE

Must be punctual, literate, courageous, clever, imaginative, adventurous, mysterious, open-minded, open-hearted, intuitive, and above all else must be trusted with some of the most secret and powerful knowledge in this world or any other.

Quarantine: The Loners Blog Tour & Interview

The duo behind the the gritty debut novel Quarantine: The Loners is here to kick off their blog tour and provide you with a list of things that just might help you survive if you were dropped into McKinley High AKA high school gone mad. They're the authorities on this, so pay attention if you want to live through the quarantine. You'll also have the chance to win a signed, personalized copy of the book. 

Lex Thomas is the pen name for the writing team of Lex Hrabe and Thomas Voorhies. Their first novel, Quarantine:The Loners, earned a starred review from Booklist, and Huffington Post Books called it “one of the best books that I have ever read.”

Lex received a BA in Drama and English from the University of Virginia and has worked as an actor, director and writer. Thomas graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design, and now writes, and exhibits his realist oil paintings in Los Angeles.

Lex and Thomas met in a writers’ group in Los Angeles. Their friendship developed as they tried to blow each other’s minds with clips from bizarre movies. In 2005, they became a screenwriting team, and found that writing with a friend is much more fun than doing it alone.

Where to find them... 

Website / Facebook

Twitter / Goodreads

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Quarantine Survival Supply List

Duct tape: Everything breaks in Mckinley, and there’s nowhere to buy a replacement Whether it’s your sneakers or your book bag strap, duct tape might be your only way to fix it. It can be very useful when you are trying to build something out of found materials.

Smartphone: Hopefully, you’ve got some ebooks saved on there, and lots of music, but whatever you’ve got, it’s going to have to last you until you graduate. It’s important that you be able to read old emails and look at old pics and videos to not lose sight of who you were on the outside. You’ll need something good and decent to focus on to carry you through.

Phone Charger: Most kids had a phone on them when McKinley was quarantined, but far less also bring their charger with school with them that day. If you own a power cord, other kids will trade you food and supplies for a chance to charge their phone. A charger can keep you from starving.

Swiss Army Knife: Those Swiss really knew what they were doing. Having a blade in McKinley never hurt anyone, except the guy you stick it in. You’ll definitely need the one with the can opener. And you finally might get some decent use out of the toothpick and the tweezers.

Toothbrush: Just because you’re trapped in school for years doesn’t give you a free pass to be gross. Brush those things.

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Follow the tour... 

Monday, September 10th - Wastepaper Prose

Tuesday, September 11th - Bewitched Bookworms

Wednesday, September 12th - Novel Novice

Thursday, September 13th - The Bookish Brunette

Friday, September 14th - The PageTurners

Monday, September 17th - MundieMoms

Tuesday, September 18th - Forever 17 Books

Wednesday, September 19th - Evie Bookish

Thursday, September 20th - Once upon a Prologue

Friday, September 21st - The Bookswarm

Monday, September 24th - Reading Angel

Tuesday, September 25th - Fire and Ice

Wednesday, September 26th - Emily's Reading Room

Thursday, September 27th - Fiktshun

Friday, September 28th - Hypable

Timepiece by Myra McEntire

Release Date: June 12, 2012
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: E-galley
Source: Publisher via NetgalleyPages: 336
Buy: Amazon / Book Depository / IndieBound
Description: Goodreads
A threat from the past could destroy the future. And the clock is ticking...

Kaleb Ballard's relentless flirting is interrupted when Jack Landers, the man who tried to murder his father, timeslips in and attacks before disappearing just as quickly. But Kaleb has never before been able to see time travelers, unlike many of his friends associated with the mysterious Hourglass organization. Are Kaleb's powers expanding, or is something very wrong?

Then the Hourglass is issued an ultimatum. Either they find Jack and the research he's stolen on the time gene, or time will be altered with devastating results. 

Now Kaleb, Emerson, Michael, and the other Hourglass recruits have no choice but to use their unusual powers to find Jack. But where do they even start? And when? And even if they succeed, it may not be enough...

Last year, I read a book I really enjoyed called Hourglass by Myra McEntire.  It had time travel and snarky best friends and one very electrifying romance.  Ever since I heard of its existence, I have been pretty excited to get my hands on the sequel, Timepiece.  There was just one minor problem.  My biggest issue with Hourglass was regarding one character: Kaleb.

Hold on, put those weapons down!  Let me finish!!

Kaleb himself is a fine character (in more ways than one).  He’s pretty and flirty and dangerous and broken- essentially, a perfect distraction and second option for Emerson instead of Michael.  However, I thought he came across as a bit one-note which never entices me.  I became a staunch Michael supporter, and with every review I read, it started to feel like I was out there on my own (besides Emerson, of course).  So you can imagine my surprise when I discovered (from Myra herself!) that Timepiece was Kaleb’s story, and it would be told in his voice.  This intrigued me immensely, as I hoped that gaining some insight in Kaleb’s mind would help me see what was so special about this guy.

One chapter in, I realized that asking me if I’m Team Michael or Team Kaleb is a question wrongly asked.  Spending time inside of Kaleb’s world firmly puts me on his side without taking me away from Michael’s.  I’m not jumping ship—I simply understand what all the fuss is about.

Tris & Izzie by Mette Ivie Harrison

Release Date: October 11, 2011

Publisher: EgmontUSA

Age Group: Young Adult

Format: ARC

Source: Publisher

Pages: 272

Buy: Fountain Bookstore / Amazon

Description: Goodreads

A modern retelling of the German fairytale "Tristan and Isolde", Tris and Izzie is about a young witch named Izzie who is dating Mark King, the captain of the basketball team and thinks her life is going swimmingly well. Until -- she makes a love potion for her best friend Brangane and then ends up taking it herself accidentally, and falling in love with Tristan, the new guy at school.

I'll cut to the chase. Tris & Izzie was a huge disappointment for me. That being said, it's no fault of Mette Ivie Harrison, who is a beautiful writer. The book well-written and an easy read despite the issues I had. It also has some very nice moments in it, including a realistic mother-daughter relationship (magic aside), true friendship complete with fights, and a commentary on love triangles that made me chuckle.

The problem lies in the marketing of the book. It set expectations, and the book itself was something completely different. It goes against everything I thought I "knew" about the book.

Every mention I heard of this book simply said it was a modern retelling of Tristan & Isolde, which is something I was all for. Then at ALA this year, I learned that there was a love potion involved and I thought, "Excellent! Tristan & Isolde with 15% magic. Sign me up!" After all, in the original story Isolde practices herbalism and, well, potions aren't a far cry from that, so I could buy a little magic.

I had seven chapters of bliss -- sweet love story complicated by an accidental love potion -- before things got weird. That was when I was ambushed by a high fantasy plot, which was clearly a major part of the story and something Harrison intended to be a thrust of the book. I don't think it would have bothered me had I had any inkling that this book would be something more than Tristan & Isolde with a little magical twist, but I felt like I was led astray by the publicity.

Swords and kings I could have handled. I was in no way prepared for elemental sorcery, virgin human sacrifice, two-headed talking dogs that eat magic, and invisible swords that can make you fly. I was dumbfounded by it all and even more astonished that anyone could forget to mention it when talking up a book.

If I had read it expecting more of a high fantasy novel or with no expectations at all then my opinion might be entirely different. Part of me wishes that I could have reviewed this book on it's own merits and leave the marketing out of it, but I was excited about the prospect and the potential this book had based on the pitches I heard. The sad fact is that expectations have a role in our final opinion, and Tris & Izzie just isn't what it was initially made out to be.

The Savage Grace Puzzle

You might need these...

nem 

...because Bree Despain has created a puzzle of The Savage Grace's cover on her website.  But she's spread the pieces across the interwebs, so before you can get to the puzzle and put it all together, you need to go find the pieces and unscramble a password.  (Don't worry.  You don't need to copy and paste the puzzle piece images or do anything too technical.)  This password will grant you access to the full cover image, and give you a chance to enter to win one of three ARC copies of The Savage Grace!

A troubled soul. An impossible choice. A final battle.

Wrestling with the werewolf curse pulsing deep inside of her, Grace Divine was finally able to find her brother, but it nearly cost her everything.

With her boyfriend, Daniel, stuck in wolf form and Sirhan's death approaching, time is running out for Grace to stop Caleb Kalbi and his gang of demons. If she fails, her family and hometown will perish. Everything rests on Grace's shoulders.

The final installment in The Dark Divine trilogy brings Daniel and Grace's love story to a breathtaking conclusion. 

 

Description from Egmont.

Here's what you do...

1. Each group of puzzle pieces has been assigned key letters. Gather the groups of pieces by collecting these letters from the following blogs:

Wastepaper Prose

(But you're already here so that's one down!)

Page Turners Blog

Mundie Moms

Read Bree

2. Once you have all the letters, unscramble them to find the password. (Keep the theme to the Dark Divine trilogy in mind.)

3. Now that you have all the pieces and have deciphered the password, you can gain access to the full puzzle HERE.

4. Enter the password when prompted in all lower-case letters.

5. After you finish the puzzle, click "View Image" to see the cover completed.

6. Don't forget to fill out the form on the left hand side of the puzzle page! That's how you enter to win an ARC of The Savage Grace.

7. The contest is open until 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, October 13th. Winners will be announced on Bree's blog on Friday, October 14th. Contest is open internationally.

Remember, when you're done stop by and leave Bree some cover love at her site. Hope you enjoy the game!