September 2016 – Unleashing Readers

Blog Tour with Reviews and Giveaway!: Pug Meets Pig by Sue Lowell Gallion

October 7, 2016September 30, 2016 by Kellee

Pug Meets Pig
Author: Sue Lowell Gallion
Illustrator: Joyce Wan
Published September 27th, 2016 by Beach Lane Books

Summary: An unlikely pair—a pug and a pig!—realize that it’s better to be together.

Pug is a very happy pup. He has his own yard, his own bowl, and even his own cozy bed! That is, until Pig moves in and starts eating from Pug’s bowl, interrupting Pug’s routine, and, worst of all, sleeping in Pug’s bed. Will Pug and Pig ever learn to live together as friends?

This sweet and silly story about a darling duo celebrates the timeless themes of embracing change, being kind to others, and finding friends in unlikely places.

About the Author: Sue Lowell Gallion is a printer’s daughter, so she has a life-long love of type, paper, and the aroma of ink. Her work has been published in magazines including Highlights and High Five, and she loves sharing books with kids as a volunteer tutor. Pug Meets Pig is her debut picture book. A second Pug and Pig adventure, Pug & Pig Trick or Treat, is coming in fall 2017. Sue lives with her family in Leawood, Kansas. Visit her at suegallion.com and follow her on Twitter at @SueLGallion.

Kellee’s Review: Pug’s story is a perfect read aloud for preschool and early ed students who are learning how to deal with change. Pug may be a dog, but he has traits that so many kids will identify with: comfortable, stubborn, etc. And pig can symbolize any crazy change that happens in someone’s life. But it is how Pug ends up dealing with the “problem” that shows him who he truly is–what a great discussion to have with kids!

Ricki’s Review: What a charming book! Pug is happy in his life and everything is going well until Pig arrives. It’s a bit ironic that Kellee and I chose to review this book on the day my second son is going to arrive because it is perfect for teaching kids how to share and be understanding of others. It was very easy for my son to make connections between this book and the arrival of his new baby brother. We talked about how it is important to understand how others might be different from us. Further, we had a wonderful discussion about how sharing with others might actually make us happier, too. I love this book and think it would be a fantastic addition to any home or library. Readers will fall in love with the illustrations and characterization of Pug and Pig! It made us giggle!

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: Download the teaching guide and activity on the author’s webpage: http://suegallion.com/teacher-resources/

Discussion Questions: Why did Pug have trouble with Pig moving into his house?; What finally made him realize that he may have been overreacting?; What character traits would you use to describe Pug at the beginning of the book? End of the book? Pig?

Flagged Passages:

Read This If You Loved: My Dog is the Best by Laurie Ann Thompson, Won Ton and Chopstick by Lee Wardlaw, I’m My Own Dog by David Ezra Stein, Dog vs. Cat by Chris Gall

Recommended For:

Giveaway!

One lucky winner will receive a copy of Pug Meets Pig plus some treats for your favorite pooch (or pig!)–a goodie bag of dog biscuits and a tennis ball! (U.S. addresses; one entry per person.)

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**Thank you to Barbara at Blue Slip Media for having us be part of the blog tour!**

Kids of Appetite by David Arnold

September 29, 2016 by Ricki

Kids of Appetite
Author: David Arnold
Published: September 20, 2016 by Viking

GoodReads Summary: The bestselling author of Mosquitoland brings us another batch of unforgettable characters in this tragicomedy about first love and devastating loss.

Victor Benucci and Madeline Falco have a story to tell.
It begins with the death of Vic’s father.
It ends with the murder of Mad’s uncle.
The Hackensack Police Department would very much like to hear it.
But in order to tell their story, Vic and Mad must focus on all the chapters in between.

This is a story about:

1. A coded mission to scatter ashes across New Jersey.
2. The momentous nature of the Palisades in winter.
3. One dormant submarine.
4. Two songs about flowers.
5. Being cool in the traditional sense.
6. Sunsets & ice cream & orchards & graveyards.
7. Simultaneous extreme opposites.
8. A narrow escape from a war-torn country.
9. A story collector.
10. How to listen to someone who does not talk.
11. Falling in love with a painting.
12. Falling in love with a song.
13. Falling in love.

Review: I fell into this book. From the moment I started reading, I had difficulty putting it down. David Arnold has true talent at engaging readers in a thought-provoking story in which the characters have great depth. The allusions to The Outsiders will not be lost on readers. This group of kids captured my heart just like the kids within the classic. Comparing the two stories is interesting, but this book explores very different issues, and I appreciated that the author didn’t seem to intentionally align the texts too much.

The point-of-view alternates between two characters, Vic and Mad. Vic has Moebius Syndrome, which causes partial facial paralysis. He is grieving the loss of his father and struggling to come to terms with his mother’s new relationship (and the mean-spirited step-brothers that come along with this). Mad is a tortured soul—dedicated to her grandmother but struggling with the losses of her parents and a very difficult situation (no spoilers here). The other members of the crew, who don’t have their own narrative sections but whose voices are very powerful, have individual struggles that weigh on them. This group of kids finds solace in each other, and the dynamic between them is unforgettable.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: I’d love to include this book in a group of literature circle books that all reflect disability. I think it would be particularly interesting to explore the intersections between friendship and disability. Students might examine and conceptualize their definitions of normal. The ALAN Review‘s Fall 2016 issue is about (Re)Defining Normal, and many of the articles would be very useful for this very topic.

Discussion Questions: What struggles do each of the characters face? How does each cope with these struggles in different ways?; How does Vic’s disability impact his interactions with others? How do others (strangers and other characters) respond to him?; What power does friendship have? How do each of these characters from different backgrounds come together, and why?; What is the role of Baz’s book? Why is it important to the story?

We Flagged: “‘We are all part of the same story, each of us different chapters. We may not have the power to choose setting or plot, but we can choose what kind of character we want to be'” (p. 104).

*This excerpt was taken from an advanced reader copy. The quote may change after the book is published.*

Read This If You Loved: The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton, The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Martyn Pig by Kevin Brooks, All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven, Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom

Recommended For:

Blog Tour, Giveaway, Author Guest Post, and Reviews!: Antsy Ansel: Ansel Adams, A Life in Nature by Cindy Jenson-Elliott

September 29, 2016September 28, 2016 by Kellee

Nonfiction Wednesday

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday is hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy and was started to help promote the reading of nonfiction texts. Most Wednesdays, we will be participating and will review a nonfiction text (though it may not always be a picture book).
Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy and see what other nonfiction books are shared this week!

Antsy Adams: Ansel Adams, A Life in Nature
Author: Cindy Jenson-Elliott
Illustrator: Christy Hale
Published September 6th, 2016 by Henry Holt and Co.

Goodreads Summary: You may be familiar with Adams’s iconic black-and-white nature photographs. But do you know about the artist who created these images?

As a child, Ansel Adams just couldn’t sit still. He felt trapped indoors and never walked anywhere–he ran. Even when he sat, his feet danced. But in nature, Ansel felt right at home. He fell in love with the gusting gales of the Golden Gate, the quiet whisper of Lobos Creek, the icy white of Yosemite Valley, and countless other remarkable natural sights.

From his early days in San Francisco to the height of his glory nationwide, this book chronicles a restless boy’s path to becoming an iconic nature photographer.

About the Author: Cindy Jenson-Elliott is the author of 17 books, a teacher and environmental educator. She teaches writing workshops through her small business Words to Go (www.wordstogosd.com) You can see her work on her website at www.cindyjensonelliott.com.

Kellee’s Review: As a child of a museum director and a photographer, Ansel Adams has been a name that I’ve known since I was quite young. He was one of the first artists whose work I could identify on my own. I was fascinated by his photographs–almost spooky in their lights and shadows but beautiful to where you cannot take your eyes off of them.

I loved learning about Ansel as a child. His story rang true as a teacher especially because there are so many kids like Ansel who are not made for the traditional setting of school yet are brilliant and should be educated a bit differently than the norm. Cindy Jenson-Elliott and Christy Hale do a very good job at showing and telling how Ansel viewed the world. With detailed illustrations, onomatopoeias, and a rhythmic texts, Ansel’s story is told in such an authentic way that really takes the reader into his brilliant mind.

Ricki’s Review: I’ve heard the name Ansel Adams, but I never connected it to the beautiful photography. I am so glad to have read this book because it made me aware of an important man that I didn’t know much about! As a mom of a son that is always itching to go outdoors, this was a great book to read to him. He felt very connected to Ansel! It also taught him all of the lessons he learns while he is outside! It is great to learn about who this man was as a child and what his life was like when he was growing up.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: Ansel’s story fits into art, history, and language arts. Ansel Adams is a very significant artist of the 20th century and his story could be told within the context of art history or American history. The historical aspect in addition to the imagery, figurative language, and rhythm makes this text perfect for the classroom.

Discussion Questions: How did Ansel’s life change after his dad pulled him out of school? How did this choice affect the rest of his life?; How did Ansel’s personality differ from what the school expected of him?; Who do you think had the biggest influence on Ansel’s life?; Ansel was able to do what he loved for a living. What do you love to do? How could you make a living doing it?

Author Guest Post: I really enjoyed working on this book, partly because I loved the character, but also because I spend a lot of time in the places Ansel Adams haunted. I went to Yosemite for the first time at the same age as Ansel Adams went. And each year, my family treks up to the High Sierra to camp and explore.

I also loved deeply immersing myself in his life and discovering so many things I had not realized: that he explored nearby nature — not far away and exotic locales — as a child, and that forged his connection with the natural world; that he did commercial work to make a living for his family (so affirming for artists and writers who have to do the same thing!); that he was a concert pianist.

Sometimes when you deeply research a life in order to write a biography, you fall a little bit in love with your subject. Though this was my first biography, from what I understand from other biographers, that’s a common experience. I also understand that many biographers, after spending a few years with someone, fall out of love as they discover all the dimensions of a personality. That didn’t happen for me with Ansel Adams. Reading about the person, seeing where he lived and what he valued throughout his life, and particularly through reading autobiography, I felt such admiration and respect. In a well-written autobiography, you get into a state where you feel like you are experiencing a person’s essence. Reading Ansel Adams’s autobiography was like that for me — his poetic word choices, the way he described the world he lived in and his experience in that world, I had the feeling of standing beside him and seeing his world through his eyes. I wanted to carry that essence into my picture book about Ansel Adams. I wanted young readers to feel what Ansel Adams must have felt making a connection with nature in quiet Lobos Creek behind his house, or meeting his beloved Yosemite for the first time. I wanted the experience of reading Antsy Ansel: Ansel Adams, a Life in Nature, to be visceral. I hope that through my words and Christy Hale’s collage art, that people experience the world through a beautiful set of eyes.

Flagged Passages:

(Yosemite photographs to see the beauty and precision of Christy Hale’s artwork)

Read This If You Love: Art/photography, The Noisy Paintbox by Barb Rosenstock, The Museum by Susan Verde, Dorothea’s Eyes by Barb Rosenstock, Photos Framed by Ruth Thomson, The Sky Painter by Margarita Engle, On a Beam of Light by Jennifer Berne

Recommended For:

Giveaway!

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**Thank you to Cindy and Morgan at Macmillan for providing copies for review!**

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on Ricki’s Fall TBR List

September 27, 2016September 27, 2016 by Ricki

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. The feature was created because The Broke and Bookish are particularly fond of lists (as are we!). Each week a new Top Ten list topic is given and bloggers can participate.

Today’s Topic: Books on Ricki’s Fall TBR List

I should add that I’ve already read some incredible ARCs that will be released this fall. For the purposes of this list, I am including books that I haven’t read yet!

1. The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

I love Nicola Yoon, so I am thrilled that this book is coming out. I can’t wait to get my hands on it!

2. What Light by Jay Asher

I am intrigued by this book, which seems like a complicated love story. It looks like there may be a twist. I am excited to see Jay Asher has this solo novel coming out! I am sure that it will be very popular.

3. Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow

I just started listening to this book in the car. It is very dark, and I am interested to see where it goes.

4. Wirewalker by Mary Lou Hall

Ever since I received this book in the mail, I have been excited to read it. I had a few other projects to attend to first, but I think I will be reading it within the next few weeks, for sure!

5. Still Life in Tornado by A.S. King

To put it simply, A.S. King makes me very happy. Her books never disappoint in their cleverness. I am excited to read this one.

6. We Found a Hat by Jon Klassen

I just about leaped for joy when I saw this third book in the picture book series is coming out soon.

7. Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven

I absolutely loved Niven’s last book, so I will most certainly be reading this one.

8. My Sister Rosa by Justine Larbalestier

I will be reading this book in bright daylight. I am worried it will be scary, but I am so excited to read it.

9. It Looks Like This by Rafi Mittlefehldt

I have heard this book is quite good, so it is at the top of my list!

10. Every Hidden Thing by Kenneth Oppel

Kenneth Oppel, I will read anything you write. Because every book has been incredible.

What books are on your Fall TBR list?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 9/26/16

September 26, 2016 by Kellee

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme started by Sheila at Book Journeys and now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. It is a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It’s also a great chance to see what others are reading right now…you just might discover the next “must-read” book!

Kellee and Jen, of Teach Mentor Texts, decided to give It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit – join us! We love this meme and think you will, too.

We encourage everyone who participates to support the blogging community by visiting at least three of the other book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

Last Week’s Posts

**Click on any picture/link to view the post**

Tuesday: Ten Audiobooks We Love

Wednesday: Blog Tour with Review!: Blood Brother: Jonathan Daniels and his Sacrifice for Civil Rights by Rich Wallace and Sandra Neil Wallace

Thursday: Truth or Dare by Barbara Dee

Friday: Blog Tour with Review and Giveaway!: Olivia Decoded by Vivi Barnes

Sunday: Author Guest Post!: “The Complexity of the Teenage Experience” by Robert Wilder, Author of Nickel

Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee

First, I want to apologize for not being good about visiting your blogs or even commenting here at UR. School has been quite busy, and I have not had much free time outside of keeping up with what I need to do already, and now my family is coming to visit for a couple of different weekends,. I know this is not an excuse, but it is a reason. Please know that I appreciate every single one of you that take part in IMWAYR, and I will get back to commenting better soon!

First, I read these five picture books (four nonfiction), and I loved them all so much that I will definitely be reviewing them (and two of them are already scheduled for this week!).

Musnet is a graphic novel about a mouse that is searching for a home only to find one in Monet’s house. I love the premise (mix of history, fantasy, and art!).

I reviewed Blood Brother this week. If you missed it, please go read about this important book!

Oh man, guys! This book ends with as much of a cliffhanger, if not more of one, than the first book! And now I have to wait until 2017 to read the third! This will be a tough wait!

I finished Brendan Kiely’s newest YA book also. Love is a language that is spoken in so many different ways. Kiely’s book is a love poem to forever love, first love, family love, questioning love, love of music, love of words, and the struggle of love. Beautiful and touching and will fill your heart. I cannot wait to talk to Brendan about this one at ALAN.

Ricki

It took me a few weeks, but I just finished Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin. It is a short nonfiction text that you could read in one sitting, but I felt it was important to read it slowly to take in the magnitude of the text. I know many folks read this book in high school, and it was standard required reading in the 1970s-ish, so I wanted to be sure to read it. In case you aren’t familiar with the premise, John Howard Griffin was a man who decided to take medicine to turn his skin darker. He wanted to see what life was like as a Black man in the South. The book is his journal, recounting his experiences. I learned so much from the book, and I was disappointed that while much as changed, so much has not changed. Griffin’s comments still connect to incidents today. I loved the book and would recommend it highly.

I devoured Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed. Once I started it, I simply couldn’t put it down. This is a phenomenal book that explores arranged and forced marriages. The topic reminded me a bit of Sold by Patricia McCormick, but the two books are very different in their own ways. I highly recommend this book, as it gave me a glimpse into a world that I know little about.

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee

After finishing See How They Run, I decided to give Echo another chance. The last time I tried to listen to it, I just couldn’t get into it, but this time I think the prior knowledge of the first 45 minutes or so allowed me to understand it and get more into it. I am now getting quite into it, and I love the production.

I also am going to read Honestly Ben which is the sequel to Openly Straight. Openly Straight was an Walden Honor the year I was chair, so I loved Rafe’s story! It will be quite interesting to go back into his world but have it narrated by Ben.

Ricki

This is my last IMWAYR for a little while. I am going to be taking eight weeks for maternity leave. While I won’t be resting (I am going to focus my work on my dissertation), I will still continue to read. I plan to return with a lot of great books to share. I will be sure to share the best of the best! I will miss you all and wish you a wonderful eight weeks!

Upcoming Week’s Posts

top ten tuesday

Tuesday: Books on Ricki’s Fall TBR List

Wednesday: Antsy Ansel: Ansel Adams, A Life in Nature by Cindy Jenson-Elliott

Thursday: Kids of Appetite by David Arnold

Friday: Blog Tour with Giveaway and Review!: Pug Meets Pig by Sue Lowell Gallion

Sunday: Author Guest Post!

So, what are you reading?

Link up below and go check out what everyone else is reading. Please support other bloggers by viewing and commenting on at least 3 other blogs. If you tweet about your Monday post, tag the tweet with #IMWAYR!

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Author Guest Post!: “The Complexity of the Teenage Experience” by Robert Wilder, Author of Nickel

September 25, 2016 by Kellee

“The Complexity of the Teenage Experience”

About a dozen years ago, I brought the writer Tom Perrotta to the school where I teach. Tom’s novel Little Children had just been published to much acclaim so, in addition to assigning the work to my eleventh graders, I offered to lead a book group with parents. Since I work at an independent school, I’m fortunate enough to have the freedom of teaching contemporary literature in addition to inviting authors to visit my classes. Some fairly controversial works have entered my syllabus, but I was very surprised at some of the parents’ reaction to Little Children. They were agitated by the extramarital affairs in the novel and questioned whether the book should be read by their own (not so little) children. I realized that since this novel was set in a community not unlike ours, it hit a bit too close to home. I asked Tom to address the parents, and he offered them the story of his own reading life and how, by tackling challenging fiction, he was able to develop a relationship with his own mind. He didn’t defensively argue that most internet-fluid teenagers had access to far racier material. Instead, he highlighted the benefits of thoughtful art to young minds.

As a teacher and a writer, I think often of Tom’s talk. We are in such a fearful and reactionary time that I worry that complex and challenging reading can be easily reduced to trigger warnings or quotes pulled out of context. Many people don’t give the young mind the benefit of the doubt and allow apprentice readers to decide if a book is right for them. In my twenty-five years of teaching, I’ve never seen a book do any harm. In fact, I’ve noticed how literature has ignited teenagers or connected to a voice deep inside a boy or girl. Every year, I teach Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and I usually get one or two parent complaints. I offer to meet with the parent to discuss Diaz’s novel and the possibility of assigning a different text only after the parent has finished reading Oscar Wao in its entirety. In the nine or so years I’ve been teaching Oscar, I have yet to have one of those meetings.

I’ve been thinking about this topic a lot since I wrote NICKEL. I really wanted to capture the truth around the characters of Coy and Monroe and not worry about trigger warnings or censorship. I have spent thousands of hours around teenagers and read tens of thousands of pages of their work, and I didn’t want to simplify or diminish the complexity in the teenage experience. Not all of the thoughts, words, and actions of any individual are safe, harmless, or politically correct. We need to look at the whole of any book the same way we look at the whole child. Anything less would be detrimental to their identity and our own understanding of the world.

About the Book: A STORY ABOUT LOVE, LOSS, AND LOYALTY. Being a teenager is hard enough without your mother in rehab and your slightly inept stepfather doing his best not to screw things up. But at least, Coy has Monroe. Coy is a quirky teenage boy and his best friend Monroe is a girl who is just as odd and funny and obsessed with 80’s culture as he is. So when Monroe comes down with a mysterious illness, his inner turmoil only grows. As Monroe gets sicker and Coy gets a girlfriend from another social crowd, the balance tips and Coy has to figure out how not to give up on his friend, his family, or himself. Nickel is a hilarious, heartbreaking and honest portrayal of the complicated world of being a teenager today.

About the Author: Robert Wilder is the author of two critically acclaimed essay collections, Tales From The Teachers’ Lounge andDaddy Needs A Drink, both published by Delacorte Press. His young adult novel, Nickel, was published by Leaf Storm Press in 2016.

A teacher for twenty-five years, Wilder has earned numerous awards and fellowships, including the inaugural Innovations in Reading Prize by the National Book Foundation. He has published essays in Newsweek, Details, Salon, Parenting, Creative Nonfiction, plus numerous anthologies and has been a commentator for NPR’s Morning Edition. Wilder lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Website. www.robertwilder.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RobertTWilder/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobertTWilder
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robert.t.wilder/

Thank you Robert for this post on respecting the teenagers in our life!

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Blog Tour with Review!: Olivia Decoded (Olivia Twisted #2) by Vivi Barnes

September 23, 2016 by Kellee

Title: Olivia Twisted
Author: Vivi Barnes
Published November 5th, 2013 by Entangled: Teen

Summary: Tossed from foster home to foster home, Olivia’s seen a lot in her sixteen years. She’s hardened, sure, though mostly just wants to fly under the radar until graduation. But her natural ability with computers catches the eye of Z, a mysterious guy at her new school. Soon, Z has brought Liv into his team of hacker elite?break into a few bank accounts, and voila, he drives a motorcycle. Follow his lead, and Olivia might even be able to escape from her oppressive foster parents. As Olivia and Z grow closer, though, so does the watchful eye of Bill Sykes, Z’s boss. And he’s got bigger plans for Liv…

Thanks to Z, Olivia’s about to get twisted.

Title: Olivia Decoded
Author: Vivi Barnes
Published September 6th, 2016 by Entangled: Teen

Summary: This isn’t my Jack, who once looked at me like I was his world. The guy who’s occupied the better part of my mind for eight months.

This is Z, criminal hacker with a twisted agenda and an arsenal full of anger.

I’ve spent the past year trying to get my life on track. New school. New friends. New attitude. But old flames die hard, and one look at Jack—the hacker who enlisted me into his life and his hacking ring, stole my heart, and then left me—and every memory, every moment, every feeling comes rushing back. But Jack’s not the only one who’s resurfaced in my life. And if I can’t break through Z’s defenses and reach the old Jack, someone will get hurt…or worse.

About the Author: Vivi Barnes was raised on a farm in East Texas where her theater-loving mom and cowboy dad gave her a unique perspective on life. Now living in the magic and sunshine of Orlando, Florida, she divides her time writing, working, goofing off with her husband and three kids, and avoiding dirty dishes.

Find her on her blogs: http://vivibarnes.com/ and http://4chicks.wordpress.com/

Find her on twitter: https://twitter.com/ViviBarnes

Find her on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/vivibarnes.author

Check out http://www.oliviatwisted.com/ for the Olivia Twisted official trailer!

Review: I was very lucky to be one of the early readers for Olivia Twisted (Vivi’s children actually go to the school I teach at! Check out the discussion questions at the back of the book, too–I wrote those!), and I fell in love with Liv and Z. I loved how Vivi retold Oliver Twist yet made the story completely hers at the same time. However, anyone that read the book had one big question looming over them: What happened between the end of the story and the epilogue?!?!? It is something that I am sure Vivi was asked over and over again, and Olivia Decoded is the answer, and it is a GOOD answer. I read this book in one sitting, and I couldn’t put it down. I had to know what happened because even though you knew what happened because of the epilogue in Olivia Twisted, how it got to that situation was a big mystery.

Excerpt: “Wow, who gave you that?”

“My grandfather. He left it on my car seat this morning.”

“Oh, boo. I thought maybe you had a secret admirer or something.” I try not to smile at her obvious disappointment. Emerson’s been on me to date for months now. She knows I had someone back in Richmond who was special, but only that we broke it off before I moved here. She doesn’t know anything else about Jack. No one does, because what would I say? The last guy I dated is a criminal, and the last time I saw him was right after we got kidnapped by his horrible boss and almost died trying to escape. That’d go over really well.

“I don’t know, what do you think?” Emerson breaks into my thoughts as we walk down the hallway to our lockers.

“About what?”

She sighs. “Where Kade’s taking me tonight. Girl, you are not with it today, are you? Are you doing anything tonight?”

“My grandfather’s taking me to dinner.”

“Sweet. Not so romantic, but sweet.”

I smile. “Yes, he’s sweet. But a little over the top on gifts sometimes.” Even after eight months of living the wealthy life, I’d be happier if he gave me a gift card to a bookstore instead of extravagant jewelry I rarely wear.

My phone starts buzzing, and I pull it from my pocket. Grandfather’s text reads: What gift?

I frown, typing, The bracelet you left in my car. I snap a quick picture of the bracelet on my wrist and send it to him. Maybe his text was a hint to send a picture, though I doubt it. He’s usually pretty direct about things.

“What’s up?” Emerson asks.

“Looks like Grandfather forgot he left me the bracelet.” But even as I say it, it doesn’t sound right. He’s one of the sharpest people I’ve ever known, and he runs a financial institution.

“Maybe he gave it to one of his staff to put in your car.” Her voice has the usual bitter tone whenever she’s thinking of her parents. They’re hardly ever around, and when they are, they don’t pay much attention to her.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” I don’t believe that, though. Even though it’s possible Mrs. Bedwin did put it there, I doubt it. Grandfather is the type to handle things himself when it comes to me. But Emerson’s parents travel so much for their business that they often let their staff handle things like birthdays and other events they think aren’t important. So as grateful as I am that Grandfather’s always there for me, I don’t like to rub that in Emerson’s face.

“Maybe you really do have a secret admirer,” she says hopefully.

I roll my eyes.“I doubt that.”

“Oh, really?” She stops in her tracks, her eyes fixed straight ahead. I follow her gaze, a sharp sense of dread creeping down my spine. A white rose is dangling from the vent in my locker.

A rose I know wasn’t placed there by my grandfather.

Discussion Questions: Why is Olivia so hesitant to date and make friends at her new school?; How does Olivia’s mom’s decisions affect how Olivia’s grandfather treats her?

Read This If You Loved: Olivia Twisted by Vivi Barnes, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, Loud Awake and Lost by Adele Griffin, Fingerprints of You by Kristen-Paige Madonia

Recommended For:

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Make sure to not miss out on any of the stops on the blog tour!

September 12^th

The Phantom Paragrapher – Review Book #2

The Book Beacon – Spotlight Post

September 13^th

RoloPoloBookBlog – Spotlight Post

Roxy’s Book Reviews – Spotlight Post

September 14^th

Tween 2 Teen Book Reviews – Author Interview