Reading, Writing, and Me

When The Truth Unravels  by Ruthanne Snow (297 pages) Overview: Elin missed two weeks mid semester, not because she had Mono. She was in the hospital, then at home, recovering from her suicide attempt. But no one knows, besides her best friends. Now that it's prom times, her friends want to give her the most perfect night to share a happy memory for senior year. The lengths her friends will go to is extreme, and perfection might not be attainable. Overall: 3.5 Characters: 3 I really wanted to like these girls... Rosie was probably my favorite. She's introverted, which often comes off as cold or mean, but she'll do anything for her friends. Her parents use her as a pawn in the divorce, but her step-dad, Will, would move the world for her. He's a great character as well. Fischer, the supposed "Ice Princess" also turns out to be a good addition as well. The other girls, though, had some missteps. Jenna was too stereotypically the "perfect girl."

Nice Try Jane Sinner recently turned a year old which means that Lianne Oelke has been a published author for a little while now. Today, she's here to share some of the things she's learned going from a querying writer to debut. She had some awesome things to say, so dive in and check out our conversation below, and thank you to Lianne for chatting with me! 1. I absolutely love that your book is set on a college campus. Even though Jane is still in high school, It's awesome that this is adding to college YA books (which we desperately need more of!) What led you to put Jane's story at the community college instead of at a different high school.  Jane's story actually first took place in university. I was in university myself when I started writing NTJS. I wanted to find books that showed people like me trying to figure out how to navigate that awkward period after high school when you don't suddenly stop feeling like a teenager, but you're expected

Down and Across  by Arvin Ahmadi (320 pages) Overview: Scott, or, technically Saaket, is sick of studying rat poop. And the job has barely started. His Iranian parents are thrilled, though, because the internship will look great on his resume as he works to become a doctor, or some other respectable thing. Instead, when his parents leave for a month to care for his grandfather who lives in Iran, Scott jumps a Greyhound bus to DC in search of one thing- Grit. To find it, though, he'll have to track down the Georgetown professor that made him want the character trait and whose quiz proved he doesn't have it. What he doesn't realize, though, is the girl sitting next to him while he irons out his scheme is a bigger ticket to the summer he is looking for. Overall: 5+++++ Characters: 5 I'm so in love with all of them because they all felt so REAL. Even impulsive, whimsical, borderline manic pixie dream girl Fiora is grounded in the same place we all are. Ahmadi makes us