Room 22 Epic Readers: YA Authors

Showing posts with label YA Authors. Show all posts

Saturday, October 1, 2016

ARC Review of Pushing Perfect

Pushing Perfect

by Michelle Falkoff

For the most part, we are all scared of monsters. They aren’t always the big green ones with eight eyes and sharp teeth, like we see in the movies. Sometimes, the creature we are scared of is an object or an action, a person or even a word that is just so deadly, it sits in your mouth like poison and slowly takes over. Pushing Perfect by Michelle Falkoff is a perfect example. Kara has always been seen as the perfect student, teenager and friend. Between her flawless skin, her grades and her ability to make friends easily, nothing ever seemed wrong. But Kara knows the truth. She knows that her whole life changed, and so has her face, and no one can know. As the school year progresses, she learns that the secrets are building up on her, and if even one slips, it will all come down.

This book, published by Harper Teen, is set to be released on October 25, 2016 and some of Falkoff followers cannot wait. This being the first book I have read by Falkoff, I feel that I got a good idea of her writing style. I am dying to read her other novel Playlist For The Dead, and I hope the characters resemble some like Alex from Pushing Perfect. Alex is by far my favorite character and I’m sure some others can agree. Alex is a somewhat normal high school student… Or is she? At school, she may seem boring and barely pushing through, but at home, she is fun and loving and someone you would never imagine. She seems to me like a good representation of a lot of teenagers because many of us act different at school, and Falkoff seemed to understand that. I think that the author’s reason for writing this book was to entertain teens with a story about things that really happen among our age group. It seems comforting that an adult understands the temptations and struggles of being a teen.

I would give this book a five star rating, and I would definitely recommend this book to those who enjoy a mystery with a big amount of drama and a bit of romance. This is also a book for people who have a good sense of humor and those who like suspense. Some chapters had me gasping and having my breath caught in my lungs, and the same will probably come to you!

To read more about Falkoff, check out her webpage at: http://members.authorsguild.net/mfalkoff/ . Happy reading!

Age Range: 13 Years
Publication Date: October 25, 2016
Publisher: HarperTeen
Hardcover Pages: 352

Review by SierraS.

*Our class received an ARC of this book to read and review from the publisher, in exchange for my honest review.

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Susan Dennard Skype Chat

After reading the Something Strange and Deadly series, chatting with Susan Dennard was an exciting experience! Our Academic 2 ELA class talked to Susan on November 12, 2015, during the month of NaNoWriMo, and she gave us some helpful tips for our writing. After asking what inspired her books, Susan said that music inspired her writing and some of her characters. Other words of advice included ways to conquer writer's block, and how to kill off a character. Her advice helped me write, and helped others as well. I decided to use the music advice because I am a music lover myself. Definitely listening to different genres and artists help you find ideas because of lyrics and sound.

Talking to an author also inspired me to write more. It showed me that someone could be successful with the career and made me want to maybe head down that path in the future.

Susan Dennard is the author of a best-selling book, so chatting with her is everyone's dream! Talking to the bestselling author was the experience of a lifetime because not a lot of people get to experience something like that. I would like to thank Susan Dennard and Mrs. Kelly for giving our class such an amazing experience!

By: Natalie S.

Monday, January 11, 2016

Erin Bowman Skype

“Revise,Revise.Polish,Polish,” is just one of the many writing tips author Erin Bowman shared with Woodstown Middle School students. On Friday, January 8th, Woodstown Middle students held a skype session with author Erin Bowman. Erin Bowman is the author of the Taken series and Vengeance Road. Both books are fairly different with one leading you back into the “Wild West” and the other giving you a dystopian vibe. Just as a young girl, Erin always loved to read or write. Having her mother as a librarian, she always got a head start on new books and had a wide variety for a choice selection. Her biggest influence as a writer is the Harry Potter Series. Just like Hogwarts, Erin wanted to be able to create a world where readers wanted to live in through her writing. Not only that, “Inspiration comes from many things,” she said. A tiny voice in her head about an 18 year old boy, sparked the idea of the Taken series. It just goes to show, that amazing stories can be created through the simplest ways. Along with that some of Erin’s favorite books include the Book Thief by Markus Zusak and The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly.

During the skype session we asked many questions and one happened to be, “If you could be one of the characters you created, who would you want to be?” Out of all the character’s Erin created, she would want to be Kate from Vengeance Road. Kate is a very strong-willed girl, who doesn’t struggle with confrontation or let anyone hold her back. Erin really admires her traits and hopes to let them have an impact on herself. Speaking of characters, Erin currently is working on two different books. One is a companion novel to Vengeance Road, which takes place in the west but has a completely different story. Then she started working on a sci-fi novel about a mission that goes terribly wrong! One thing I found interesting was that Erin really is amazing at writing different types of genres. Not all her books are the same. Lastly as Erin advises, pick up a fresh notebook, brainstorm ideas, and then move to a computer to begin creating a story of your own.

By Julia L.

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Truthwitch ARC Review

Truthwitch ARC Review

by Riley M.

Susan Dennard has done it once again! If you guys thought that the Something Strange And Deadly series was amazing, then you're definitely going to want to go read her new book entitled, Truthwitch which comes out January 2016. Instead having zombies like in her last series, Truthwitch has witches in it. You will meet different types of witches: earth, water, fire, air, thread, and of course, a truthwitch. Thread witches can see the emotions that a person is feeling by the color of the thread that is inside them. For the other powers, the witches can control the element that they possess. Some of the powers that witches possess, are uncommon, and even not believed in since they're so rare. These powers belong to the legendary truthwitch, which is being able to tell if someone is telling the truth, and the void witch, which is being able to control and smell everyone else's blood.

Unlike most books, Truthwitch isn't in just one of the main character's perspective, but is in four of the main characters’ perspectives. These four characters are Safiya, Iseult, Merik, Aeduan. Safiya and Iseult are thread sisters who are traveling together to get back into the city, when they encounter an army blocking their way. Knowing that it was going to be hard to get through the soldiers, the girls disguised themselves as peasants and tried to get to safety without getting caught. However, before they could get to safety, a monk named Aeudan figures out a really big secret about one of the girls which could put them into a lot of danger.

Look forward to meeting a prince/captain named Merik, who is trying to help save his starving kingdom. All of these characters end up colliding and make a whole new story of their own. Susan definitely makes sure that there was lots of action throughout the book, from karate kicks and punches, to epic power brawls! It definitely will keep you up reading until the late hours of the night, and will keep you at the edge of your seat wanting to find out what happens next. You won't want to leave the magical world that she created. You should definitely go pick this book up when it comes into stores. It is really worth it if you want a amazing book to read!! Be one of the first to own it!! Click below to preorder Truthwitch now!!

Barnes and Noble Amazon

Sneak peak at the map!

Thank you, Susan for sharing Truthwitch with us!!!

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Best Day Ever with Sooz and Sarah

Sooz and Sarah Spend a Day with Woodstown Writers!

by Bella B and Riley M

The first time Mrs.Kelly, our 8th grade teacher at Woodstown Middle School, mentioned that two authors were coming to our small town, we might have flipped just a little bit. We have 7,500 people in our entire town/township, and not a lot goes on. Sure, there has been big news. Maybe our school has switched to block scheduling, or there’s a dance coming up (true and true), but nothing to the extent of this. When we found out that best selling authors Susan Dennard and Sarah J. Mass were coming Woodstown, everyone from the middle school, and even from the high school were so excited to meet and learn from two of their favorite authors. As soon as we found out that they were coming, everyone rushed to get their slip so they could learn from the authors, and when the time came, both of them were ready to answer them and have fun with us. Both of their series have definitely left their marks on many of us and will be two of the series that we will always remember and cherish!

Susan Dennard is Sarah J. Maas’ best friend and is the author of the Something Strange and Deadly series and the Witchlands series (The Witchlands series is not yet released). She is an amazing author, and has misfits all over the world (Inside joke. Read the books!). Seriously though, read the books! You will fall in love with them.

Sarah J. Maas is Susan Dennard’s best friend and is the author of the series Throne of Glass and Court of Thorns and Roses (Court of Thorns and Roses is not yet released). Her novels have many people’s jaws hanging open as they flip through the pages. She is a New York Times Bestselling author, with numerous comments of praise. Read, read, READ her novels!

Even from these brief descriptions, it is undeniable that this duo is a talented force to be reckoned with. A talented force that happened to be coming to our very own school!

Just imagine for a second that 30 helium balloons are popped in a small room. Do you have that picture in your mind? Without being popped of course, these crazy balloons were us. The very idea that we would be in the presence of these authors was astounding, let alone that we were going to be able to talk to them! We learned that they would sign our books and answer our questions and coach us on our writing and breathe the same air that we breathed.

Wow.

Our excitement was to be bottled up and accumulated throughout the many months we had to wait for their visit. It was always something in the future, a hazy, faraway figure in the distance. Someone would mention it and the entire class would eek! and drum their fingers on the desk. Letters were written and mailed, posters were made and hanged, and people were reading and rereading their books. The days dragged on and the calendar refused to have its days crossed out, but eventually the day was upon us.

Everyone was well rested and pumped to see their idols. The school day was not a bother for them. There was anticipation and antsiness in the air as it was announced that they had arrived.

A few wanderers just couldn't wait to meet them!

As soon as Susan and Sarah walked in we were ready to greet our literary idols!

First Stop: Q&A Session with LOTS of fans!

Some bolted out of their classrooms to go to the Q&A, an event that was one of the highlights of the day. It was there that a lot of students connected to the down-to-earth authors and got to know them as a person (not that they weren’t before…).

Relaxing with some coffee and answering all our questions

Students crowded into our media center to hear from them.

Susan and Sarah have been best friends for a long time. They share many interests, like writing, books, tv shows, ect... But one thing that they share that they are really passionate about, is that they want to help inspire new writers.

Next Stop: Writing Workshops (2 Sessions)

After the Q&A, students could attend a Writing Workshop, where the authors helped to shape the future writers of our generation. They joked about quitting their jobs because they were so impressed with us. That comment may or may not have made some a little emotional….including myself.

Writing Exercises: In the writers workshop, Susan and Sarah had many ways to help get the creativity for our writing flowing. They said that something that helped them get into their writing was to listen to music without words so that could describe how the character was feeling. They even played some music so we could get into our character's head.

Sharing with Partners: After writing some of our story, we shared about what we wrote. They showed us that not only music can help with your writing, but sharing it with a friend of a peer can help as well. Even though it might be scary to share, it helps a lot because if you're stuck on a part of your story, and don't know what to do next, that they can help figure out how to fix that part.

Feedback and more advice from Sarah and Susan: When we shared to the group what we wrote, Susan and Sarah were fully supportive and encouraged us to keep writing. They helped us when we had questions and gave us advice that came from their hearts.

Lunchtime Visit: Autograph Session Meet and Greet

The hour passed by too fast and we were getting our books signed with cute notes and AUTOGRAPHS! They signed LOTS of books. They even let us sign their own copies!

I swear, the entire time my heart was racing a mile a minute, as was the rest of my peers.

Interview by Communication/Concepts in Multimedia Students

(Stay Tuned for Video Interview!!)

Fan Art Contest:

Winner Sam Midili with Autographed Fan Art
Sammie won a Throne of Glass Tote filled with books, swag and a Barnes and Noble gift card!!
(Thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing, HarperCollins, and Tamar Rydzinski)

Congrats to all our Fan Art Participants!

Reflections:

The day felt like it was only a few minutes, it flew by so fast. But as they say, all good things must come to an end. At the end of the day, hugs and tears were exchanged as they packed up their stuff and left, waving goodbye to many of us. No matter what, none of us will ever forget the incredible time we had and the authors that we were inspired by. But unfortunately, at the end of the day when the bell rang, we had to say goodbye to these two amazing authors. Even though we had to say goodbye, they had definitely left an impact on us and our writing. They might have had to leave, but we will definitely take the amazing time we had, and everything that we learned, and remember it forever.

Look how cute and fun they are!!

Stop by ANY time to visit us!!! The red carpet will always be rolled out for you!

Barnes and Noble Coffeehouse Event:

Sarah and Sooz taught us that we need to keep sharing our writing. Mrs. Kelly arranged for us to share some of our writing from the visit at our Barnes and Noble. It was a BIT scary, but it felt great to share our writing while surrounded by LOTS of books AND our good friends! We were even able to raise some money to buy more books for our classroom library so we can keep reading! Our online fundraisers runs until tomorrow! Click here to shop Barnes and Noble. Enter our code 11565066