Review Day!

Two great reviews came in for a couple of my upcoming April books!

Kirkus said this about FUTURE IMPERFECT by K. Ryer Breese:

A slick, fast-paced thriller with a comic-book aesthetic. D-student Ade Patience begins to see the future when he gets a head injury. Chasing “the Buzz”—his name for the high the visions give him—Ade insults tough guys, stages car accidents and jumps off buildings, leaving his companions (usually female) to clean him up, tend to his wounds and take him safely home. The story opens on a day Ade has foreseen and anticipated: The day She, the future love of his life, appears in the school cafeteria and sings to him. She is Vauxhall: bold, perfect and, as per the visions, destined for Ade. But fast-talking liar Jimi Ministry wants Vauxhall for himself. To his great distress, Ade keeps seeing visions of himself killing Jimi, and his visions always come true. The pace is cinematic, with short chapters, short sentences, snappy banter and Ade's cool, careening narration.

And Publishers Weekly said this about THE SUMMER OF MAY by Cecilia Galante:

Galante's (Willowood) bittersweet story of a troubled 13-year-old stars spunky Maeve (May) O'Toole, who holds a lot of grudges. May's most recent target is her English teacher, "Movado the Avocado," who she blames for having to repeat English in summer school. Spending her mornings prepping and painting the classroom wall she defaced during the school year and doing writing assignments for her teacher, May has a lot of time to think. She broods about all the things that make her mad and about all the people who have abandoned her: her old group of friends; her father, who now works double shifts and is hardly ever home; and her grandmother, who spends her days in bed. But mostly May thinks about the mother she will never see again. The summer takes some unexpected turns as May discovers previously unseen sides of Miss Movado and learns that they have something profound in common. Brimming with emotion and insight into adolescent rage, Galante's prose investigates the impact of loss and the importance of making amends.

Things Left Unsaid

A Watershed Year by Susan Schoenberger pubs today!!

This publication is especially exciting for me because Susan and I worked closely together to revise the manuscript and get it sold to the right publisher (Guideposts). Susan's writing is incredibly solid and moving, so the base was always there, but we worked on the POV (third-person or first-person?), the structure of the plot, and the title (the book was originally titled Intercession). Susan is a newspaper report and I think her work in newspapers has really honed her editorial skills. She's an ace reviser. Each draft of the book just got stronger and stronger-- and I loved this book the first chapter, so that's no easy feat! I'm so proud of her and thrilled that her hard work has payed off.

The thing that stands out for me with this book is the idea of how the things we don't say can change our lives.

In The Watershed Year, Lucy has been in love with Harlan for years, but she's never told him how she feels. The timing just hasn't been right. So she's devastated when Harlan is diagnosed with cancer. And throughout the year leading up to his death that perfect moment never presents itself. Months after his death she returns to her desk to find an email from Harlan, one of many that he's programmed for her to receive monthly, revealing all of the things he couldn't say to her. In one of his emails, Haraln says something that strikes a chord with Lucy: he's certain that she should be a mother and it puts Lucy on a path to stop living inside her head and to start living out her dreams.

I've read this book multiple times and every time it makes me cry. Sounds odd to say, but I hope it makes you cry, too!

Okay, I've left nothing unsaid in this blog post. Except: go out, buy the book, and tell your friends! :)