young adult sci-fi giveaway

Young adult science fiction is hot right now, and I’ve heard rumblings that the rise in interest (and number of books published) will continue for the next while.  Add in the fact that I keep saying that it’s a favorite genre of mine, and there’s the recipe for a giveaway and reading focus for the next few months.  Wait… did I say giveaway? Indeed!

Katya’s World by Jonathan L. Howard

The distant and unloved colony world of Russalka has no land, only the raging sea. No clear skies, only the endless storm clouds. Beneath the waves, the people live in pressurised environments and take what they need from the boundless ocean. It is a hard life, but it is theirs and they fought a war against Earth to protect it. But wars leave wounds that never quite heal, and secrets that never quite lie silent. 

Katya Kuriakova doesn’t care much about ancient history like that, though. She is making her first submarine voyage as crew; the first nice, simple journey of what she expects to be a nice, simple career. 

There is nothing nice and simple about the deep black waters of Russalka, however; soon she will encounter pirates and war criminals, see death and tragedy at first hand, and realise that her world’s future lies on the narrowest of knife edges. For in the crushing depths lies a sleeping monster, an abomination of unknown origin, and when it wakes, it will seek out and kill every single person on the planet.

After: Nineteen Tales of Apocalypse and Dystopia edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

If the melt-down, flood, plague, the third World War, new Ice Age, Rapture, alien invasion, clamp-down, meteor, or something else entirely hit today, what would tomorrow look like? Some of the biggest names in YA and adult literature answer that very question in this short story anthology, each story exploring the lives of teen protagonists raised in catastrophe’s wake—whether set in the days after the change, or decades far in the future. 

New York Times bestselling authors Gregory Maguire, Garth Nix, Susan Beth Pfeffer, Carrie Ryan, Beth Revis, and Jane Yolen are among the many popular and award-winning storytellers lending their talents to this original and spellbinding anthology.

Rootless by Chris Howard

17-year-old Banyan is a tree builder. Using scrap metal and salvaged junk, he creates forests for rich patrons who seek a reprieve from the desolate landscape. Although Banyan's never seen a real tree—they were destroyed more than a century ago—his father used to tell him stories about the Old World. But that was before his father was taken . . .

Everything changes when Banyan meets a woman with a strange tattoo—a clue to the whereabouts of the last living trees on earth, and he sets off across a wasteland from which few return. Those who make it past the pirates and poachers can't escape the locusts—the locusts that now feed on human flesh.

But Banyan isn't the only one looking for the trees, and he's running out of time. Unsure of whom to trust, he's forced to make an uneasy alliance with Alpha, an alluring, dangerous pirate with an agenda of her own. As they race towards a promised land that might only be a myth, Banyan makes shocking discoveries about his family, his past, and how far people will go to bring back the trees.

In this dazzling debut, Howard presents a disturbing world with uncanny similarities to our own. Like the forests Banyan seeks to rebuild, this visionary novel is both beautiful and haunting—full of images that will take permanent root in your mind...and forever change the way you think about nature.

Renegade by J.A. Souders

Since the age of three, sixteen-year-old Evelyn Winters has been trained to be Daughter of the People in the underwater utopia known as Elysium. Selected from hundreds of children for her ideal genes, all her life she’s thought that everything was perfect; her world. Her people. The Law.

But when Gavin Hunter, a Surface Dweller, accidentally stumbles into their secluded little world, she’s forced to come to a startling realization: everything she knows is a lie.

Her memories have been altered.

Her mind and body aren’t under her own control.

And the person she knows as Mother is a monster.

Together with Gavin she plans her escape, only to learn that her own mind is a ticking time bomb... and Mother has one last secret that will destroy them all.

All of the selections are newly-released YA sci-fi, and they each have their own attractions (underwater worlds! no trees! end of life as we know it!).  Two winners will each receive two of the books from the choices above.  To enter, simply fill out the FORM.  Giveaway open internationally, will end November 17, 2012 at 11:59pm EST.  Winners will be selected randomly and notified via email.  Good luck!

top ten books for a gifted seven-year-old boy

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, where we all get to exercise our OCD tendencies and come up with bookish lists.  If you’d like to play along, check out this post.

My boss’ boss asked me to come into her office the other day.  My heart started beating fast.  I wondered if I was being fired, how I’d make rent, reviewing my week for anything that could have gone wrong… when she asked ‘Do you know of any books I could give Cole?’  Cole is her seven-year-old, a second grader, and he’s testing gifted in reading and math.  I’ve given her book ideas before, but now his reading volume is going beyond the usual bounds… and he’s already been through the Wimpy Kid books and started the Boxcar Children series in earnest.  So she asked me for recommendations (and scared me to death in the process). 

Top Ten Books for a Gifted Seven-Year-Old Boy

1. Big Red by Jim Kjelgaard – Jim Kjelgaard’s dog books were staples in my mother’s read-aloud repertoire.  Each morning we begged for just one more chapter of these stories.  As someone else said, Jack London-lite.

2. Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard & Florence Atwater – Hilarious, all-ages hijinks with penguins, ill-advised decisions, and many, many blocks of ice.

3. The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket  – Another funny, sarcastic book featuring three children with astonishingly bad luck.

4. Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones – The first in Jones’ Chrestomanci series, this book features a pair of siblings with power to throw worlds out of whack.

5. Redwall by Brian Jacques – I’ve never read this one, but judging by how quickly my brother Joey devoured the entire series, it was a complete hit.

6. Hatching Magic by Ann Downer-Hazell – I have a weakness for books about dragons. This one reads younger than most of my favorites, and features time travel, chocolate, and (of course) magic.

7. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin – Another I’ve never read, but my sister sings the praises of this for all readers, all ages.  And yes, I will read it soon.

8. Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo – The only book on the list that I’m a little hesitant about, because I haven’t read it and have only the internet (and the Newbery!) to tell me how awesome it is. Oh okay, I’ll stop.

9. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien – Talk about a film that scared the living daylights out of my siblings and me!  The book is not quite as terrifying, but just as gripping.

10. Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins – Did you know that the author of The Hunger Games wrote a middle grade series? I remember liking this book quite a lot and passing it along to my brother, who also gave it a vote of confidence.

Tell me: what books would you recommend for an avid boy reader, aged 7?

croak

Two things today.  First: When someone refers to a fantasy book’s heroine as grumpy and hilarious, I automatically put it on my ‘must buy’ list.  Second: When books are priced under three dollars in Kindle format, I can’t keep my grabby little hands off them.  This is the tale of how I ended up in possession of an ebook copy of Croak by Gina Damico.  It was listed for $1.99 in August, and leila of bookshelves of doom convinced me to read it.  I’m not sorry, because it was fun.

Fed up with her wild behavior, sixteen-year-old Lex's parents ship her off to upstate New York to live with her Uncle Mort for the summer, hoping that a few months of dirty farm work will whip her back into shape. 

But Uncle Mort's true occupation is much dirtier than shoveling manure. He's a Grim Reaper. And he's going to teach Lex the family business. 

She quickly assimilates into the peculiar world of Croak, a town populated by reapers who deliver souls from this life to the next. But Lex can't stop her desire for justice – or is it vengeance? – whenever she encounters a murder victim, craving to stop the attackers before they can strike again. 

Will she ditch Croak and go rogue with her reaper skills?

Lex is a sarcastic girl with anger issues and a violent streak in her recent past.  She can’t seem to stop hurting people, even the people she loves – and she doesn’t know why.  Just when it seems like she might self-destruct, her parents make the decision to send her off to visit her Uncle Mort in a remote town upstate.  Little does Lex know that a summer in Croak will change her life…if she can get anyone to explain exactly what is going on (and not sound criminally insane as they do).  The story of her summer in Croak is one of hard work, fun, hilarious shenanigans, a little awkward romance, and MURDER.  Wait, what? Lex and her fellow Reapers are in danger, and it’s up to Lex to figure it out.  With help.  And zany friends.  And maybe Edgar Allen Poe.

As a character, Lex is intelligent, thoughtful, snarky and inexplicably angry and violent.  It’s the violence that starts getting to her and wearing her down – and makes her question her own sanity.  When she ends up in Croak, though, she starts questioning everyone else’s sanity, because this place is full of the crazy… and only sometimes in a good way.  Uncle Mort’s life mission seems to be to explain as little as possible to his niece, and at first it seems like the rest of the town is following suit. 

This was actually my biggest complaint about the book – the reveal is so slow and the main character is kept ignorant for so long that this reader was tempted to give up and/or throw the book across the room (which would have meant dead phone, so i refrained. barely.).  About midway through the story speeds up, things start getting interesting, and the snappy dialogue matches the pacing, and from there on it’s clear sailing.  In the end, it’s a funny, bizarre mystery (with a sweet/awkward romance) that is worth the read if you can deal with a sluggish start.

Recommended for: fans of Geoff Herbach’s Stupid Fast, those who like their YA protagonists quirky, funny and endearing (bonus points if you find grumpy people hilarious), and anyone in the mood for an unusual paranormal fantasy featuring Grim Reapers and a bizarre town packed full with ‘character.’

cranberry duff

When I held a Canadian Thanksgiving party in October, I stocked up on all the fall food essentials at Costco, where you can’t help but buy in bulk.  That’s how I ended up with a five-pound bag of cranberries.   I made cranberry sauce and Cape Cod October Pie, but still had many cranberries left over.  I stuck them in the freezer, and now I have the impetus to try all those cranberry recipes I’ve stockpiled.  This Cranberry Duff seemed like a good place to start (and for your information, the dictionary defines duff as a ‘stiff pudding’ – but this is more like an upside down cake).

Cranberry Duff (modified from this Martha Stewart recipe)

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup unsalted butter, (1 stick), softened

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

1/3 cup walnuts, chopped

1/3 cup plus 1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking dish using 2 tablespoons butter (reserve rest for recipe). Spread cranberries evenly over bottom of dish, then sprinkle walnuts on top.  Cover with 1/3 cup sugar; set aside.

Melt remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a microwave-safe bowl or in saucepan over the stove; set aside. Place egg and the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in medium-size bowl. Beat with electric mixer on medium-high speed until pale and thick, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to medium-low and gradually beat in flour, then salt. Pour in melted butter in a steady stream, beating until smooth.

Pour (or in my case, ladle) batter into pan to cover cranberries. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour. Let cool 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge to loosen, and invert to unmold onto a serving platter. Serve warm or at room temperature.  Yields 6 servings.

The first thing I should tell you is that this smells divine while baking, and you’ll be tempted to take it out of the oven and eat it early.  Resist!  Golden brown and thoroughly baked is the way to go. The second thing is that if the finished dessert is resisting your attempts to get it out of the baking dish, give up and serve like brownies.  Or, you know... end up with a mess (I may have learned this the hard way).  No matter what it will be delicious, though, so don't worry: happiness guaranteed.

Recommended for: when you’re inspired to bake on a fall day, an unusual take on the upside down cake, and a sweet and tart treat that goes beautifully with an afternoon cup of coffee or tea.

Interested in other food-related posts?  Check out Beth Fish Reads’ Weekend Cooking.