Lois Duncan Winners!

Hey everyone!  Today I just wanted to announce the winners of the Lois Duncan books!

Each winner will receive a set of THREE Lois Duncan YA thrillers, courtesy of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

1. Maggie Desmond-O'Brien
2. Darsa Morrow
3. The Book Groupie

Looking forward to hearing what you all think!  I'll be contacting y'all shortly to get mailing addresses.  Congratulations, and thanks again to Little, Brown!

WINNER of THE TIME TRAVELING FASHIONISTA announced! Plus, check out these other giveaways!

Chosen by random number generators, the winner of THE TIME TRAVELING FASHIONISTA is....

Schuyler, aka @ReadersInk!

Schuyler, I just know you're going to love this one!  And to those of you who didn't win, don't dispair! There are a LOT of giveaways going on both here and at my other blog, The Tart.  (And more still coming!  Go ahead and enter -- I'm linking some of them below.  All of these are open through May 1!

For THREE Lois Duncan novels, newly reissued and updated by the author, see this post!  Three winners will win a set of these books including DOWN A DARK HALL, STRANGER WITH MY FACE, and SUMMER OF FEAR.

For a copy of the adorable new middle grade novel in verse, LIKE PICKLE JUICE ON A COOKIE by Julie Sternberg, comment on this post!

To enter to win a copy of POEM IN YOUR POCKET FOR YOUNG POETS, edited by Bruno Navasky, see on this post.

Especially for National Poetry Month, win one of THREE copies of renowned author Julia Alvarez' poetry collection, THE WOMAN I KEPT TO MYSELF, comment on this post.

And if you're interested in a set of TWO poetry anthologies for young readers from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, check out this post, here! Two winners will be selected.

Thanks to Abrams/Amulet, Algonquin, and Little, Brown for providing all of the above books!

Celebrate Lois Duncan with Us! And win a set of LD books!

So many generations have enjoyed Lois Duncan's eerie mysteries -- her tales of suspense and horror that kept us up at night reading, hoping that the good guys would maybe catch a break on the next page.

This week another generation gets the chance to read Lois Duncan. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers has redesigned the covers and the author herself has updated the text to add things like CDs and digital photography and cell phones to her novels, most of which were published in the 70s and 80s.

I recently read, oddly for the first time (I think -- I read so much LD as a tween it's hard to say) SUMMER OF FEAR, in which a Rachel's home is invaded by her cousin Julia -- a cousin who has recently lost her parents and to whom Rae is meant to act as a sister. Everyone seems to love Julia. She is charming and sweet and when Rae's dog attacks her cousin, her parents don't hesitate to exile him to the backyard. Rachel sees what the others don't see though -- there is an evil about Julia, and Rae is determined to figure out what she's really up to. And when Julia steals her boyfriend -- a boy who Rachel has known since childhood -- it's the last straw. Rae begins to suspect that Julia is practicing witchcraft, and when she starts to find evidence that she might be right, Rachel begins to fear for her life.

If you want to take a look at these gorgeous reissues of Lois Duncan's classic thrillers, make sure you leave a comment! Litte, Brown is sending a set of the three novels that come out this week to THREE of our readers. I'm super psyched to see some of the classics I grew up with making it into the hands of another generation. So if you'd like to read DOWN A DARK HALL, SUMMER OF FEAR, and STRANGER WITH MY FACE, just leave a comment below and make sure to include a way for us to contact you! One caveat: US addresses only, please!

WINNERS announced for two signed copies of THE HANDBOOK FOR LIGHTNING STRIKE SURVIVORES by the indomitable MICHELE YOUNG-STONE!

So excited to announce these winners today! Kari graciously lent me her Thursday post to do so, so thanks, Kari!

A reminder, this is what our lovely winners will be getting:

Signed, sealed, and delivered by Ms. Michele!
(emphasis on the SIGNED!)

I'm really excited to share this book, one of my favorite reads of 2010, with two of the YA-5's readers. I hope y'all enjoy it and will blog about it when you've finished! And again, thanks to Michele Young-Stone and her publisher, Crown, for providing the loot!

Without further ado, here are the shiny, sparkly, lucky winners!


KATE and CHOLISOSE! Y'all, I'll be sending you an email. If the email associated with your blogger account (or the one you left me is inaccurate), please be sure to get in touch with me at e.kristin.anderson AT gmail DOT com. THANKS! And ENJOY!

WIN a copy of THE HANDBOOK FOR LIGHTNING STRIKE SURVIVORS by Michele Young-Stone

One thing that I love about books is their indefinability.  You know, we love to label things -- books being no exceptions.  This book is YA, this book is sci fi, this book is for adults -- you know the drill.  But every once in a while you come across a book that seems shareable amongst all readers.  Or, you know, at least crosses that boundary between the YA audience and the adult world.

One of my favorite such books is THE HANDBOOK FOR LIGHTNING STRIKE SURVIVORS by the inimitable Michele Young-Stone.  Today, we are giving away copies of Michele's book.  Because a) it is an awesome book that, while labelled as "adult fiction" is absolutely a book worth sharing with YA readers and b) because I love this book and Michele is awesome enough to send my readers copies and c) we are celebrating next week's paperback release of this, her debut novel.

I could talk about this book for days and months and years, so let me just tell you what a few of the fancy reviewers had to say:

"Yes, it's a book about lightning, but it's so much more.  It's about the interconnectedness of our stories, our seemingly lonely and individual sufferings.  It's about the strength of the human spirit.  It's about finding redemption where you least expect it.  This book, like lightning itself, will take your breath away."  Our State Magazine

Young-Stone has written an exceptionally rich and sure-handed debut, full of complex characters, brilliantly described. . . . Her style certainly has an electric immediacy."   The Boston Globe

Author Michele Young-Stone
with her hardcover debut!

So if you want to win your own brand-new, shiny, autographed(!) paperback of THE HANDBOOK FOR LIGHTNING STRIKE SURVIVORS -- which you will have in your hands before it even hits store shelves -- all you have to do is leave a comment.  I promise, this won't be a book you'll soon forget.   I mean, Publisher's Weekly named it one of the best debuts of 2010.  (And yours truly does not disagree!  In fact, it was one of my favorite books PERIOD of 2010!)

To review: All you have to do to win is leave a comment (though retweeting and all that is appreciated).  Two winners will be selected by the random number generating faeries, and results will be posted on Thursday.  Good luck!

BRAINS FOR LUNCH Winner!

WOOOOOOHOOOO! Big congrats to Manar, aka Twitter user @thelastgoodkiss! Here is her winning #brainsforlunch haiku:

Rotting flesh, so sweet.
My zombie haiku, a tweet.
I want to eat you.

I think this really has both the spirit of BRAINS FOR LUNCH and our blog, The YA-5. There were a lot of great entries, but this one takes the cake! So, Manar, send me a DM on Twitter with your address, and I'll get your BRAINS FOR LUNCH ARC to you ASAP! Hope you enjoy!

Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaains....

Congrats to our very own K.A. Holt!

Hey YA-5 Readers! Today is normally K.A. "Kari" Holt's day to post, but seeing as she's out of town and super busy being a supermom and saving the world and stuff, I thought I'd post a little somethin' somethin' on her behalf. You see, Kari has a fabbity fab book coming out NEXT WEEK called BRAINS FOR LUNCH from Roaring Brook/Neal Porter Books, featuring illustrations by New Yorker cartoonist Gahan Wilson. And it is (imagine Zoolander voice here) ridiculously good.

Yeah, I know. You all are screaming NEPOTISM in your heads, right? Because, duh, of course YA-5ers love K.A. Holt books. Or maybe you're not as cynical as I imagine. And you all are like GIVE ME MORE, GIVE ME MORE! Well, in either case, I'm not the only one who loves BRAINS FOR LUNCH. In fact, I am so proud of and excited for Kari, who just got a STARRED REVIEW in Publisher's Weekly! In case you're unfamilliar with PW, basically it's a magazine that industry professionals, booksellers, librarians, etc. read to find out what's going on in the book world. And a starred review is KIND OF A BIG DEAL. It says, HEY, LIBRARIANS! BOOKSELLERS! EVERYONE! YOU NEED THIS BOOK! And, no lie. Everyone does need BRAINS FOR LUNCH.

In case you STILL don't believe me, I'm giving away my very own ARC (advanced reader's copy) of BRAINS FOR LUNCH. What you have to do is Tweet a kick-butt zombie haiku, and then follow AND @reply me (@emilytastic) AND the YA-5 (@YA5updates) to let us know you have completed your mission. By this time next week, the very best zombie haiku gets BRAINS FOR LUNCH.

In case you missed it when Holteriffic posted the trailer last week, here it is, in all it's ridiculously awesome glory:

PS, here is a unicorn, because K.A. Holt loves unicorns. Woooo!

UPDATE:
Here are some rules, as per some questions! One submission per person, and the haiku are 5-7-5 haiku like in BRAINS FOR LUNCH. Also, feel free to use the #braisnforlunch hashtag if you have room! Any other quessies, leave a comment or @emilytastic on Twitter!

Interview and Scavenger Hunt with Claudia Gray

We're celebrating the relaunch of The YA-5 with Halloween in July week! Together with YALITCHAT we've gathered four spooktakular authors who write about things that go "bump" in the night! Yesterday was Heather Brewer's turn and if you missed the interview and scavenger hunt to win a signed copy of ELEVENTH GRADE BURNS or a Bathory Bats T-shirt, click here! We hope you enjoy the interviews and insights with these fabulous writers as well as the scavenger hunt (see details at end of each interview) throughout the week. Click here for the transcript of last last night's YALITCAHT Spooktakular with Heather Brewer, Claudia Gray and Nancy Holder.For now, boo! Up next, Claudia Gray!

1. You could write about anything in the world but you choose to write about things that go bump in the night, why?

ANSWER: I've always been interested in the ghoulish. In high school, I was always that weird kid sitting in the back of study hall reading DRACULA instead of doing her work. So this was a pretty natural subject for me.

2. What do you say to people who think YA books can't be scary and romantic?

ANSWER: I'd think anybody hooked into YA literature these days knows better. If that's not true, and somebody out there actually believes that, I wouldn't say anything -- just hand over a copy of one of the really great series out right now (maybe Kelley Armstrong's?) and let them figure it out for themselves.

3. Vampires or werewolves? Or is that a dumb question?

ANSWER: That's like asking, "chocolate or peanut butter"? I'm a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup kinda gal.

4. Is there anything about you that we’d be surprised to find out--aside from the fact that Claudia Gray is a pen name?

ANSWER: Would you be surprised to know that I turned to writing fiction in part because my plan to be a tax attorney didn't work out?

5. What are you afraid of?

ANSWER: Inadequacy. Serial killers. Spiders. Cancer. Heights. Disappointing the people I love. Roller coasters that go upside down. Bird feet.

6. What are you dressing up as this Halloween?

ANSWER: I don't know yet! I've always wanted to rent one of those big, elaborate Goth Queen outfits with a huge wig and purple, red and black lace Marie Antoinette gown, but I need the right occasion to wear it. Maybe I need to be the one throwing a grand party some Halloween.

7. Would you rather read a book that was suspenseful or scary?

ANSWER: For me, they're pretty much the same; I find suspense a lot more frightening than many more straightforwardly "scary" things.

8. Ok, admit it, you watched Blair Witch with one eye open, right?

ANSWER: I LOVED "The Blair Witch Project," up until the moment in the movie theater, just when the suspense was at its height and nobody could breathe, when somebody's cell phone rang. And kept ringing. Because it took them about five minutes to get to their phone and turn it off. The ring tone: "Take Me Out To The Ball Game." Kinda spoiled the mood.

9. Have you seen Paranormal Activity? Were you scared to death or did you not even bat an eyelash?

ANSWER: I haven't seen it, actually! Maybe I'll rent it with some friends at Halloween, if nobody has a big party.

10. Tell us about your next book.

ANSWER: The next book of mine to be released will be AFTERLIFE, the fourth book in the EVERNIGHT series, in which we finally learn Bianca and Lucas' ultimate destiny, and Mrs. Bethany's big plan. The next book I'm writing is FATEFUL, which in my head has two other titles: WEREWOLVES ON THE TITANIC, which tells you what it's about, and YES, ACTUALLY, THE SITUATION CAN GET WORSE. HarperTeen didn't go for that last title. No idea why.

---ENF OF INTERVIEW---



And now for the first few clues in the Claudia Gray portion of the scavenger hunt.

1. In HOURGLASS, who orchestrated Balthazar's escape?
2. Name the TWO anthologies Claudia is featured in?
3. What is Claudia's favorite candy (hint: answer is in this interview)?
4. When will AFTERLIFE be released?

Visit Claudia's website for the answers!

Prize: A signed copy of EVERNIGHT paperback or STARGAZER or HOURGLASS hardcovers (3 winners, one prize each).

Purchase Claudia's books!

Visit Michelle Zink's or Nancy Holder's or Heather Brewer's interview and scavenger hunt pages!

SCAVENGER HUNT RULES

The scavenger hunt lasts all week! You must answer all the questions CORRECTLY to win the prize from THAT author! You must be a member of The YA-5 blog to win! You may enter more than once to better your chances of winning at least ONE prize. But you may only win ONE prize for the week. Each day a new author interview will be posted along with new questions. You must visit the author's website to learn the answers to the questions posted here then post your answers in the comments section on The YA-5's site in order to win a prize. Contest ends July 23 at midnight Eastern time. Winners will be announced the week of August 2, 2010.