Spotlight: Addison Cooke & The Treasure of the Incas

Hello, all! Today I am shining a little spotlight on a fantastic looking middle grade novel that came out this week from Philomel/Penguin!! Check it out!

This one looks like such fun and me and my 11 year old Dex are both really looking forward to reading it!

Smooth-talking, refined twelve-year-old Addison Cooke loves a grand adventure, especially one that involves using his vast knowledge of history and archaeology, learned from his aunt and uncle, both world-famous researchers. If that adventure includes an expertly-knotted Windsor tie and an Arnold Palmer on the rocks, all the better.

Luckily for Addison, adventure has a way of finding the Cookes. After Addison's uncle unearths the first ancient Incan clue needed to find a vast trove of lost treasure, he is kidnapped by members of a shadowy organization intent on stealing the riches. An expert in Incan history, Addison's uncle is the bandits' key to deciphering the ancient clues and looting the treasure. . . unless Addison and his friends can outsmart the kidnappers and decipher the clues first. So it's off to Peru (business class, no less), across the Amazon, and all the way to Machu Picchu in a race for riches and history.

•ABOUT THE AUTHOR•

Jonathan Stokes is a screenwriter living in Los Angeles. He has written on assignment for Fox, Paramount, Universal, Warner Brothers, New Line, and Sony. He is the author of several upcoming kids' books being published by Penguin Random House. Jonathan is a street taco aficionado, an urban explorer, and koala enthusiast.

 WEBSITE   •  TWITTER  •  FACEBOOK 

Purchase the book:  Indiebound  •  BookDepository  •  Amazon

Waiting on...

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.

The Lonely Ones

by Kelsey Sutton

hitting shelves April 26th, 2016

from Philomel

Fain hasn’t always been lonely. Her family used to be close; she used to have good friends. But as circumstances—and people—changed, Fain was left behind. That's when the monsters appeared.

While her parents argue and her peers and siblings either pick on or simply ignore her, Fain spends time in a world of her own making. During the day, she crafts stories of fantastical adventures, but in the darkness of night, these adventures come to life alongside a legion of imaginary creatures, with Fain as their queen.

In time, Fain begins to see possibilities and friendships emerge in her day-to-day, but when she is let down by the one relationship she thought she could trust, Fain must decide: remain queen of the imaginary creatures, or risk opening herself up to the fragile connections that can only be formed in the real world?

Told in lyrical free verse, The Lonely Ones reminds us of the need for imaginative play and the power of true friendship.

My thoughts: This sounds lovely--heartfelt, a little tearjerking, and very imaginative!  I really enjoyed Kelsey Sutton's lyrical writing in Some Quiet Place so I'm sure a book that is actually in verse will suit her style very well!

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.

The Inventor's Secret
by Andrea Cremer

hitting shelves April 22, 2014 from Philomel

description:
Sixteen-year-old Charlotte and her fellow refugees have scraped out an existence on the edge of Britain’s industrial empire. Though they live by the skin of their teeth they have their health (at least when they can find enough food and avoid the Imperial Labor Gatherers) and each other. When a new exile with no memory of his escape from the coastal cities or even his own name seeks shelter in their camp he brings new dangers with him and secrets about the terrible future that awaits all those who have struggled has to live free of the bonds of the empire’s Machineworks.

The Inventor’s Secret is the first book of a YA steampunk series set in an alternate nineteenth-century North America where the Revolutionary War never took place and the British Empire has expanded into a global juggernaut propelled by marvelous and horrible machinery.

My thoughts: I just...need more steampunk in my life. That's all. :)

Becky's View: The Theory of Everything by Kari Luna

The Theory of Everything by Kari Luna
♦publisher: Philomel
♦release date: July 11th, 2013
♦hardcover, 320 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦stand-alone
♦source: from publisher for honest review

Sophie Sophia is obsessed with music from the late eighties. She also has an eccentric physicist father who sometimes vanishes for days and sees things other people don’t see. But when he disappears for good and Sophie’s mom moves them from Brooklyn, New York, to Havencrest, Illinois, for a fresh start, things take a turn for the weird. Sophie starts seeing things, like marching band pandas, just like her dad.

Guided by Walt, her shaman panda, and her new (human) friend named Finny, Sophie is determined to find her father and figure out her visions, once and for all. So she travels back to where it began—New York City and NYU’s physics department. As she discovers more about her dad’s research on M-theory and her father himself, Sophie opens her eyes to the world’s infinite possibilities—and her heart to love.

Review: The Theory of Everything is one of those special stories.  Main character, Sophie Sophia, and her surprising mind instantly caught my heart and sent my brain reeling!

One of the most unique things about this reading experience is that you literally don’t know in any concrete manner if Sophie is really having “episodes” or if she really is falling into some parallel universe.  This story could be Sophie's determined psychological quest or it could be a light and quirky sci-fi.  But more than anything, it’s a touching story about Sophie’s journey to find answers about her father and the very bizarre things that are happening to them both. Her life is so disrupted by these crazy hallucinations, hallucinations that her father experienced, too.  Her mom loves Sophie and it shows, but she also does her best to ignore the fact that her daughter may be following in her father's footsteps and that scares her.

So to prove she doesn't belong in a mental ward, Sophie and her fabulous friend, Finn set off an a New York adventure---both so physics-obsessed Finn can get a taste of city life and so Sophie can, with the strong support of her friend and few wise words from her Shaman Panda (yes!), find out the mystery behind her Dad's reasons for disappearing and hopefully get to the bottom of the hallucinations so she can gain some normalcy.  And on her travels,  she definitely finds both more and less than she bargained for.  I often felt Sophie acted beyond her age, but with everything she'd had to deal with in her life, it made sense.   She was funny, clever, and original.  I loved the importance placed on music throughout the story; it was an unbreakable connection between Sophie and her dad.  Each chapter starts with lyrics from an 80's song---that alone gained it a special place in my heart!

What I love about the ending is that it doesn’t tie up in a happily-ever-after, tidy little package.  At 14, Sophie has a ways to go---she grows a ton in this book, learns a great many things about herself and her dad, but she acknowledges that she’s not done yet.  I loved that.

The Theory of Everything is a story chock full of musical nostalgia (for me, at least LOL), wildly enchanting characters, science that is not an exact science,  a healthy dose of imagination, and a lesson in the importance of love of all kinds. 

Find Kari Luna online:  Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase The Theory of Everything:  Amazon  •  BookDepository  •  Indiebound

Becky View: Ashes on the Waves by Mary Lindsey

Ashes on the Waves by Mary Lindsey
♦publisher: Philomel/Penguin
♦release date: June 27th, 2013
♦hardcover, 373 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦stand-alone
♦source: from publisher for honest review

Liam MacGregor is cursed. Haunted by the wails of fantastical Bean Sidhes and labeled a demon by the villagers of Dòchas, Liam has accepted that things will never get better for him—until a wealthy heiress named Annabel Leighton arrives on the island and Liam’s fate is changed forever.

With Anna, Liam finally finds the happiness he has always been denied; but, the violent, mythical Otherworlders, who inhabit the island and the sea around it, have other plans. They make awager on the couple’s love, testing its strength through a series of cruel obstacles. But the tragedies draw Liam and Anna even closer. Frustrated, the creatures put the couple through one last trial—and this time it’s not only their love that’s in danger of being destroyed.

Based on Edgar Allan Poe’s chilling poem, "Annabel Lee," Mary Lindsey creates a frighteningly beautiful gothic novel that glorifies the power of true love.

Review: Mary Lindsey's sophomore YA novel, Ashes on the Waves, is a gorgeous gothic retelling of Poe's Annabel Lee.  If you know the poem, you know it doesn't end well, but the love story is one of such purity that even the gods are jealous.   Lindsey captures all the drama and innocents of the original poem, while putting such an imaginative spin on it that by the last scene, I'd forgotten what was coming and the ending effectively crushed me.  Lindsey also finds a fun way to pay even more homage to Poe; each chapter begins with a Poe quote that foreshadows what is about to take place.

Liam lives among a small island community that has clung to it's old ways and legends.  He was born with a birth defect, a paralyzed arm, and their backwards thinking brands him as a demon. He is so harshly outcast by the towns people that your heart just can't help but hurt for him on nearly every page.  Especially when he is such a good, kind person.  He has one single ally in Francine---I adored her. A shopowner who stands by Liam and is happily willing to tell off anyone who tries to show their prejudice around her.  

Enter Anna, Liam's one childhood friend, a girl he's held a flame for since the day her family moved away.  She returns to the island, temporarily banished from her life of fame in New York.  They reform their friendship and it quickly turns into something much more.  Their story spills out with such a sweet romantic tone and lovely prose, mixed with Anna's New York brand of sassiness and Liam's old-world charm (acquired from reading and rereading the only thing left of his mother's: old volumes of Keats and Tennyson and other classic literature). I'll admit that around page 250 or so, the intensity of their love grew just a bit tiresome, but the story soon picked up with a heavy dose of excitement and danger. 

Mythological creatures take on a big part in this story.  The Na fir Gorhm, cruel sea creatures that like to lure humans to their watery death, take their revenge on Liam when he inadvertently gets in their way.  Selkies are there to witness it all, and one love-sick selkie gets pulled into the Na Fir Gorhm's ugly games.  Then there are the Bean Sidhe (better known as banshees) who only Anna and Liam can hear.  I did love all the mythological world building here, but I did think the way the Bean Sidhe were written was a bit on the cheesy side.  There is a mystery that Anna and Liam are trying to unravel and the Bean Sidhe's screams would tell them if there were on the right path---kind of like a mythical game of "hot and cold".  I did like that they were basically good, a role that banshees are very rarely given!

A beautifully woven tale of love, legend, loss, and perseverance in the face of prejudice. Mary Lindsey's creativity and storytelling continue to impress! 

 Find Mary Lindsey online: Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase Ashes on the Waves: Amazon  •  BookDepository  •  Indiebound

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.

(click cover to add at goodreads!)

Coming January 24, 2014

Philomel/Penguin

Book 2 in the Souls series

Paul has always known he was a Protector, fated to serve a Speaker who could hear the voices of spirits lingering after death and help those souls find peace.

Vivienne ignores the voices of the dead.

Paul has always followed the Protector’s rule book, preparing diligently for the day when he’d be matched with his Speaker and fulfill his destiny.

Vivienne never does what she’s told.

So when Paul is matched with Vivienne, they both find the pairing less than satisfactory. But a kidnapping, a malevolent spirit and power stronger than both of them may just prove that they are two halves of the same whole.

In a stunning story about the beauty of fate and the power of secrets, Mary Lindsey returns to the world of Shattered Souls with a breathtaking thrill-ride of a novel.

My thoughts:  YES!!! Shattered Souls was a great book and I'm so happy to see a revisit to the world of Soul Speakers & Protectors!  And with such a gorgeous cover!!  I think this may be my favorite 2014 cover so far.

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.

The Theory of Everything
by Kari Luna

hitting shelves July 11th, 2013 from Philomel 

description:
Sophie Sophia is obsessed with music from the late eighties. She also has an eccentric physicist father who sometimes vanishes for days and sees things other people don’t see. But when he disappears for good and Sophie’s mom moves them from Brooklyn, New York, to Havencrest, Illinois, for a fresh start, things take a turn for the weird. Sophie starts seeing things, like marching band pandas, just like her dad.

Guided by Walt, her shaman panda, and her new (human) friend named Finny, Sophie is determined to find her father and figure out her visions, once and for all. So she travels back to where it began—New York City and NYU’s physics department. As she discovers more about her dad’s research on M-theory and her father himself, Sophie opens her eyes to the world’s infinite possibilities—and her heart to love.
 
My thoughts: This sounds like all kinds of fun and weird, and it has to be one of the most interesting and adorable covers to come out of YA this year.  I'll definitely be reading this one. 

Review: Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey

Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey

publisher: Philomel / Penguin

release date: December 8, 2012

hardcover, 336 pages

intended audience: Young adult

rating:




source: from publisher for honest review

description:
Lenzi hears voices and has visions - gravestones, floods, a boy with steel gray eyes. Her boyfriend, Zak, can't help, and everything keeps getting louder and more intense. Then Lenzi meets Alden, the boy from her dreams, who reveals that she's a reincarnated Speaker - someone who can talk to and help lost souls - and that he has been her Protector for centuries.

Now Lenzi must choose between her life with Zak and the life she is destined to lead with Alden. But time is running out: a malevolent spirit is out to destroy Lenzi, and he will kill her if she doesn't make a decision soon.

Review: I really couldn't help but love this one. A great beginning that dips you right into the action, a slow-building love story with a deep history, a bit of creepiness, and wonderful complex characters---this was a fantastic debut.

I'm always up for a good ghost story, and there are plenty of them out there, but this story ended up being something completely other that what I expected and really set itself apart. Lenzi can see and hear losts souls and with Alden's help she soon finds out that she has been reincarnated from a very well-known "Speaker"---someone who the souls can come to for help with their unfinished business, and he is there as her Protector. What's more is that there is actually a vast network of these Speakers and Protectors, as well as a council that oversees their work. It gave the "saving souls" concept a completely different dynamic, sort of like the CIA of the afterlife. :) The speaker/protector team helps the souls, files reports on each case, and even racks up points according to the kind of problem the soul had. It gave the story an interesting twist!

Lenzi is a great character---it was easy to stay interested in her dilemma and how she changes and grows. Her struggle changes from fear of turning out like her father who also heard voices, to uncertainty in trying to understand the answers that Alden gives her, to confusion as she grapples with who she is in this life---a quick-witted, confused teenager who is just trying to maintain a little bit of normalcy---and who she was in her past lives as the serious-minded and accomplished Speaker, Rose.

The love story was fantastic. There is a bit of a triangle going on here, but for me, her loyalty to the boy she was with before all this started was confounding. Zak scored no points with me right from the beginning; one of his first actions in the book is to get raging drunk at Lenzi's dad's grave and pass out, leaving her stranded without a way home. So needless to say, I was rooting for Alden from his first appearance. Alden is passionate and loyal and although it's his duty as a protector, he proves to protect Lenzi/Rose out of pure love that's built over hundreds of years of reincarnations. The other protectors that Lenzi meets, Maddi and Race, really add history (since they've known her through her past reincarnations) and humor to the story.

Definitely a debut to add to your must-read list!

Visit Mary Lindsey's site here.

Purchase Shattered Souls at: Amazon • BN.com • BookDepository • Indiebound