waiting on wednesday (36)

I’m participating today in "Waiting On" Wednesday. It is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, and its purpose is to spotlight eagerly anticipated upcoming releases.

I’ve never read Brenna Yovanoff’s books, but I’ve heard great things about them.  Great and creepy things (that’s a pretty decent combination, if you ask me…).  I’ve always meant to pick up her books, but haven’t followed through.  Enter a special breakfast during BEA put on by the folks at Lerner/Carolrhoda Lab in honor of The Curiosities, and a couple of minutes spent talking with Yovanoff about her latest projects… and I immediately knew that Paper Valentine would live on my wishlist until it made its debut.  I’m even more excited now to see its beautiful cover and read the synopsis.  Paper Valentine will be published by Razorbill (Penguin), and releases on January 8, 2013.

The city of Ludlow is gripped by the hottest July on record.  The asphalt is melting, the birds are dying, petty crime is on the rise, and someone in Hannah Wagnor’s peaceful suburban community is killing girls. 

For Hannah, the summer is a complicated one.  Her best friend Lillian died six months ago, and Hannah just wants her life to go back to normal. But how can things be normal when Lillian’s ghost is haunting her bedroom, pushing her to investigate the mysterious string of murders?  Hannah’s just trying to understand why her friend self-destructed, and where she fits now that Lillian isn’t there to save her a place among the social elite. And she must stop thinking about Finny Boone, the big, enigmatic delinquent whose main hobbies seem to include petty larceny and surprising acts of kindness. 

With the entire city in a panic, Hannah soon finds herself drawn into a world of ghost girls and horrifying secrets.  She realizes that only by confronting the Valentine Killer will she be able move on with her life—and it’s up to her to put together the pieces before he strikes again.

Paper Valentine is a hauntingly poetic tale of love and death by the New York Times bestselling author of The Replacement and The Space Between.

What books are you waiting on?