Love Your Cover

somuchflotsam: CAM POST in Entertainment Weekly (week of...

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 10:00:05 -0800

CAM POST in Entertainment Weekly (week of 2/17/10 issue). “…for LGBT youth and outsiders everywhere, Cameron’s story will take on epic resonance.”

I’m just going to come out and say this - I have some...

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 10:04:05 -0800

I’m just going to come out and say this - I have some crazy wild cover envy for Sara Wilson Etienne’s HARBINGER, which came out on February 7th. Actually that’s not entirely accurate, since I’m totally in love with my own cover, which is a perfect fit for my book, so I guess what I really mean is that I wish I had a book coming out that would work with this kind of cover - this EXACT kind of cover, because it totally strikes a chord with me. It has a very hyper-realist feel combined with some incredibly evocative imagery that manages to be both unique and current while appearing timeless and somehow reminiscent of some of the really great fantasy art that came out in the 1980s. Beautiful. Phew, that was a blurt out if there ever was one.

Be sure to check out Sara’s website, because she has been rolling out a very cool HARBINGER inspired art project involving 25 artists and illustrators.

SYNOPSIS - In a near future in which the diminishing oil supply has led to mass rioting, 16-year-old Faye is sent to an educational facility for “delinquents and crazies,” where she is tormented by strange visions of a being sent to destroy the Earth in order to save it.

THE OTHER LIFE (Usborne, Feb 1/2012) by Susanne...

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 10:04:06 -0800

THE OTHER LIFE (Usborne, Feb 1/2012) by Susanne Winnacker (@susannewrites) is a very exciting sounding YA dystopian-kind-of-zombie sorta story from another one of the fab Apocalypsies. The cover features a stylized butterfly floating above barbed wire - pretty symbolic and eye-catching. There’s also a great book trailer which is worth a google :)

SYNOPSIS - 3 years, 1 month, 1 week and 6 days since I’d seen daylight. One-fifth of my life. 98,409,602 seconds since the heavy, steel door had fallen shut and sealed us off from the world

Sherry has lived with her family in a sealed bunker since things went wrong up above. But when they run out of food, Sherry and her dad must venture outside. There they find a world of devastation, desolation…and the Weepers: savage, mutant killers.

When Sherry’s dad is snatched, she joins forces with gorgeous but troubled Joshua - an Avenger, determined to destroy the Weepers.

But can Sherry keep her family and Joshua safe, when his desire for vengeance threatens them all?

Halflings (Zondervan - Feb 1/2012) is book one in the Halflings...

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 10:05:05 -0800

Halflings (Zondervan - Feb 1/2012) is book one in the Halflings trilogy by Heather Burch (@heatherburch) - Halflings has only been out for a couple of weeks, but it’s already getting some great buzz online. Heather’s done some very cool prequel release stuff as well - always smart when you’ve got an audience who is dying to know more about your world and characters!

SYNOPSIS - After being inexplicably targeted by an evil intent on harming her at any cost, seventeen-year-old Nikki finds herself under the watchful guardianship of three mysterious young men who call themselves halflings. Sworn to defend her, misfits Mace, Raven, and Vine battle to keep Nikki safe while hiding their deepest secret—and the wings that come with.

A growing attraction between Nikki and two of her protectors presents a whole other danger. While she risks a broken heart, Mace and Raven could lose everything, including their souls. As the mysteries behind the boys’ powers, as well as her role in a scientist’s dark plan, unfold, Nikki is faced with choices that will affect the future of an entire race of heavenly beings, as well as the precarious equilibrium of the earthly world.

Article 5 (Tor Teen - January 31) is a new YA dystopian...

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:02:05 -0800

Article 5 (Tor Teen - January 31) is a new YA dystopian by Kristen Simmons (@kris10writes) - I love this cover for two reasons - I think black/red color combos are slick and futuristic and awesome, and I absolutely love the imagery of kids/teens staring out at some vision of the world/adventure that’s stretching out in front of them. Very cool.

SYNOPSIS - New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned.

The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.

There are no more police—instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior—instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested usually don’t come back.

Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren’t always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it’s hard for her to forget that people weren’t always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. It’s hard to forget that life in the United States used to be different.

Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow.

That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings…the only boy Ember has ever loved.

Fellow Apocalypsie Jodi Meadows (@jodimeadows) released...

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:23:08 -0800

Fellow Apocalypsie Jodi Meadows (@jodimeadows) released Incarnate on January 31. I think the cover will totally jump off the shelves at people - it’s got a really colorful, attractive, luminous butterfly thing going on. Good luck with your release, Jodi!

SYNOPSIS : New soul

Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

No soul

Even Ana’s own mother thinks she’s a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she’ll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?

Heart

Sam believes Ana’s new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana’s enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else’s life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?

Jodi Meadows expertly weaves soul-deep romance, fantasy, and danger into an extraordinary tale of new life.

Brodi Ashton released EVERNEATH on January 24th. I’m not...

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:02:05 -0800

Brodi Ashton released EVERNEATH on January 24th. I’m not sure if it was Ashton’s intent or not, but the synopsis draws seems to make some allusions to the Orpheus in the Underworld myth - sounds very cool!

SYNOPSIS : Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she’s returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld… this time forever.

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can’t find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there’s a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he’ll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

As Nikki’s time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she’s forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole’s…

Jasmine Richards’s BOOK OF WONDERS is a really exciting...

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 10:04:06 -0800

Jasmine Richards’s BOOK OF WONDERS is a really exciting and fun sounding MG novel with a cover to match. I am particularly fond of the way the light plays in this image, as the silhouettes of the two main characters, Zardi and Ridhan, look out towards the adventure awaiting them!

SYNOPSIS : Magic, Djinn, Ogres, and Sorcerers. Thirteen-year-old Zardi loves to hear stories about fantastical beings, long banned from the kingdom of Arribitha. But anyone caught whispering of their powers will feel the rage of the sultan—a terrifying usurper who, even with his eyes closed, can see all.

When her own beloved sister is captured by the evil ruler, Zardi knows that she must go to any lengths to rescue her. Along with her best friend, Ridhan—a silver-haired, violet-eyed boy of mysterious origins—and an unlikely crew of sailors led by the infamous Captain Sinbad, Zardi ventures forth into strange and wondrous territory with a seemingly impossible mission: to bring magic back to Arribitha and defeat the sultan once and for all.

FRACTURE is the debut novel YA/Supernatural by Megan Miranda. It...

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 10:04:05 -0800

FRACTURE is the debut novel YA/Supernatural by Megan Miranda. It was released on January 17th and is another Apocalypsie debut. The cover is lovely and haunting and although I haven’t read the book (yet!) it seems to fit the story well.

SYNOPSIS : Eleven minutes passed before Delaney Maxwell was pulled from the icy waters of a Maine lake by her best friend Decker Phillips. By then her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped working. She was dead. And yet she somehow defied medical precedent to come back seemingly fine

-despite the scans that showed significant brain damage. Everyone wants Delaney to be all right, but she knows she’s far from normal. Pulled by strange sensations she can’t control or explain, Delaney finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her altered brain now predicting death, or causing it?

Then Delaney meets Troy Varga, who recently emerged from a coma with similar abilities. At first she’s reassured to find someone who understands the strangeness of her new existence, but Delaney soon discovers that Troy’s motives aren’t quite what she thought. Is their gift a miracle, a freak of nature-or something much more frightening?

For fans of best-sellers like Before I Fall and If I Stay, this is a fascinating and heart-rending story about love and friendship and the fine line between life and death.

NEVER EIGHTEEN is the new book by Megan Bostic that came out on...

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:02:05 -0800

NEVER EIGHTEEN is the new book by Megan Bostic that came out on January 17th. Megan is another Apocalypsie, and belongs to my world, in that this is also a contemporary novel! I love the cover - it’s very different, with a retro graphic quality that I love. I totally dig the multi-colored letters and the kind of watercolor image of the muscle car. Totally cool.

Synopsis : I had the dream again. The one where I’m running. I don’t know what from or where to, but I’m scared, terrified really.

Austin Parker is never going to see his eighteenth birthday. At the rate he’s going, he probably won’t even see the end of the year. But in the short time he has left there’s one thing he can do: He can try to help the people he loves live—even though he never will.

It’s probably hopeless.

But he has to try.

May B. by Caroline Starr Rose is a new MG (January 10th,...

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:48:46 -0800

May B. by Caroline Starr Rose is a new MG (January 10th, Schwartz & Wade) set in pioneer times. I think this cover is a total home run. It’s got a really cool graphic vintage aesthetic that I totally dig, and the font is killer.

May B. - Synopsis :

May is helping out on a neighbor’s Kansas prairie homestead—just until Christmas, says Pa. She wants to contribute, but it’s hard to be separated from her family by 15 long, unfamiliar miles. Then the unthinkable happens: May is abandoned. Trapped in a tiny snow-covered sod house, isolated from family and neighbors, May must prepare for the oncoming winter. While fighting to survive, May’s memories of her struggles with reading at school come back to haunt her. But she’s determined to find her way home again. Caroline Starr Rose’s fast-paced novel, written in beautiful and riveting verse, gives readers a strong new heroine to love.

Trisha Wolfe’s new novel - Destiny’s Fire - came out...

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:42:11 -0800

Trisha Wolfe’s new novel - Destiny’s Fire - came out on January 10th. This sounds like a cool twist on the Steampunk YA genre.

Destiny’s Fire - Synopsis :

It’s the year 2040, and sixteen-year-old Dez Harkly is one of the last of her kind—part of a nearly extinct race of shape-shifters descended from guardians to the Egyptian pharaohs. Her home and her secret are threatened when the Council lowers the barrier, allowing the enemy race to enter the Shythe haven.

As the Narcolym airships approach, Dez and her friends rebel against their Council and secretly train for battle. Not only is Dez wary of war and her growing affection for her best friend Jace, but she fears the change her birthday will bring. When Dez’s newfound power rockets out of control, it’s a Narcolym who could change her fate… if she can trust him.

Dez’s guarded world crumbles when she discovers why the Narcos have really come to Haven Falls, and she’s forced to choose between the race who raised her and the enemy she’s feared her whole life.

The Flame Alphabet

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:19:50 -0800

Really cool paper art cover for Ben Marcus’s new novel, The Flame Alphabet

DITCHED by Robin Mellom came out this week from Disney-Hyperion....

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:56:54 -0800

DITCHED by Robin Mellom came out this week from Disney-Hyperion. It’s a really fun sounding book - Prom night goes bad, who hasn’t had one of those?!

Synopsis :

High school senior Justina Griffith was never the girl who dreamed of going to prom. Designer dresses and strappy heels? Not her thing. So she never expected her best friend, Ian Clark, to ask her.

Ian, who always passed her the baseball bat handle first.

Ian, who knew exactly when she needed red licorice.

Ian, who promised her the most amazing night at prom.

And then ditched her.

Now, as the sun rises over her small town, and with only the help of some opinionated ladies at the 7-Eleven, Justina must piece together — stain by stain on her thrift-store dress — exactly how she ended up dateless. A three-legged Chihuahua was involved. Along with a demolition derby-ready Cadillac. And there was that incident at the tattoo parlor. Plus the flying leap from Brian Sontag’s moving car…

But to get the whole story, Justina will have to face the boy who ditched her. And discover if losing out at prom can ultimately lead to true love.

Filled with humor, charm, and romance, Ditched: A Love Story by debut novelist Robin Mellom will have readers dreaming of love on their own prom nights.

LITTLE DOG LOST by Monica Carnesi is getting rave reviews and...

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:52:04 -0800

LITTLE DOG LOST by Monica Carnesi is getting rave reviews and since it’s about a brave little dog, I am already in love with it although I haven’t read it yet! It came out on January 5th and is getting a lot of buzz.

Synopsis :

On a cold winter day, a curious dog wandered onto a frozen river, and before he knew it he was traveling fast on a sheet of ice. Many people tried to help, but the dog could not be reached. Finally, after two nights and seventy-five miles, the little dog was saved by a ship out in the Baltic Sea.

The gallant rescue of the little dog nicknamed Baltic made international news. Mônica Carnesi’s simple text and charming watercolor illustrations convey all the drama of Baltic’s journey. His story, with its happy ending, will warm readers’ hearts. An author’s note and map are included.

Congratulations to Apocalypsie Robin Bridges for the release of...

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:21:18 -0800

Congratulations to Apocalypsie Robin Bridges for the release of THE GATHERING STORM - book #1 in her Katerina Alexanrovna series - great wintery cover with a serious Dr. Zhivago thang goin’ on.

GATHERING STORM - Synopsis

St. Petersburg, Russia, 1888. As she attends a whirl of glittering balls, royal debutante Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, tries to hide a dark secret: she can raise the dead. No one knows. Not her family. Not the girls at her finishing school. Not the tsar or anyone in her aristocratic circle. Katerina considers her talent a curse, not a gift. But when she uses her special skill to protect a member of the Imperial Family, she finds herself caught in a web of intrigue.

An evil presence is growing within Europe’s royal bloodlines—and those aligned with the darkness threaten to topple the tsar. Suddenly Katerina’s strength as a necromancer attracts attention from unwelcome sources … including two young men—George Alexandrovich, the tsar’s standoffish middle son, who needs Katerina’s help to safeguard Russia, even if he’s repelled by her secret, and the dashing Prince Danilo, heir to the throne of Montenegro, to whom Katerina feels inexplicably drawn.

The time has come for Katerina to embrace her power, but which side will she choose—and to whom will she give her heart?

Full disclosure - Miranda Kenneally, author of CATCHING JORDAN,...

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 21:24:02 -0800

Full disclosure - Miranda Kenneally, author of CATCHING JORDAN, is not only one of the nicest people in the world, she’s also a very busy lady. In addition to co-running the DEAR TEEN ME blog (which I contributed to in October) she has books lined up for release in 2012 and 2013 (STEALING PARKER and BAD, BAD, THING - both companions to CATCHING JORDAN, which came out in December.) I’m totally looking forward to meeting Miranda in real life - hopefully sooner than later!

SYNOPSIS : CATCHING JORDAN

What girl doesn’t want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn’t just surrounded by hot guys, though - she leads them as the captain and quarterback on her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys, and that’s just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university. But now there’s a new guy in town who threatens her starring position on the team… and has her suddenly wishing to be seen as more than just a teammate.

DARKER STILL by Leanna Renee Hieber is a paranormal YA...

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 21:13:50 -0800

DARKER STILL by Leanna Renee Hieber is a paranormal YA that’s been getting lots of great buzz! It was released by Sourcefire in November 2011.

SYNOPSIS : DARKER STILL

I was obsessed.

It was as if he called to me, demanding I reach out and touch the brushstrokes of color swirled onto the canvas. It was the most exquisite portrait I’d ever seen—everything about Lord Denbury was unbelievable…utterly breathtaking and eerily lifelike.

There was a reason for that. Because despite what everyone said, Denbury never had committed suicide. He was alive. Trapped within his golden frame.

I’ve crossed over into his world within the painting, and I’ve seen what dreams haunt him. They haunt me too. He and I are inextricably linked—bound together to watch the darkness seeping through the gas-lit cobblestone streets of Manhattan. Unless I can free him soon, things will only get Darker Still.

DARWEN ARKWRIGHT AND THE PEREGRINE PACT by A.J. Hartley is a...

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 21:05:49 -0800

DARWEN ARKWRIGHT AND THE PEREGRINE PACT by A.J. Hartley is a super exciting sounding MG from another Apocalypsie. It came out in October from Razorbill.

Synopsis : Darwen Arkwright and the Peregrine Pact

Eleven-year-old Darwen Arkwright has spent his whole life in a tiny town in England. So when he is forced to move to Atlanta, Georgia, to live with his aunt, he knows things will be different - but what he finds there is beyond even his wildest imaginings!

Darwen discovers an enchanting world through the old mirror hanging in his closet - a world that holds as many dangers as it does wonders. Scrobblers on motorbikes with nets big enough to fit a human boy. Gnashers with no eyes, but monstrous mouths full of teeth. Flittercrakes with bat-like bodies and the faces of men. Along with his new friends Rich and Alexandra, Darwen becomes entangled in an adventure and a mystery that involves the safety of his entire school. They soon realize that the creatures are after something in our world - something that only human children possess.

POSSESS by Gretchen McNeil was the first of the Apocalypsies...

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:35:07 -0800

POSSESS by Gretchen McNeil was the first of the Apocalypsies books to be released - way back in August of 2011. Talk about jumping the gun! Gretchen is a pretty awesome person, who does a lot of work to help promote fabulous YA books from near and far. Check her out on the YA Rebels YouTube page as well - Gretchen is Monday.

POSSESS SYNOPSIS :

Fifteen-year-old Bridget Liu just wants to be left alone: by her mom, by the cute son of a local police sergeant, and by the eerie voices she can suddenly and inexplicably hear. Unfortunately for Bridget, it turns out the voices are demons – and Bridget has the rare ability to banish them back to whatever hell they came from.

Terrified to tell people about her new power, Bridget confides in a local priest who enlists her help in increasingly dangerous cases of demonic possession. But just as she is starting to come to terms with her new power, Bridget receives a startling message from one of the demons. Now Bridget must unlock the secret to the demons’ plan before someone close to her winds up dead – or worse, the human vessel of a demon king.