Michelle Zink's Blog, page 7
February 23, 2015
Online Series for Young Writers
February 16, 2015
The Paleo Vegetarian
February 12, 2015
Preorder Goodies
February 9, 2015
New and Improved
January 13, 2015
Another AMAZING Review for LIES I TOLD!
This time from School Library Journal!
“Zink uses a fabulous vocabulary to build a tale of deception and mixed loyalties that effortlessly draws readers in…”
We’re two for two on snark-free reviews, guys! Plus we got that star from Kirkus!
LIES I TOLD releases April 7 and is available for preorder now.
Gr 9 Up–Fans of romance and a good heist will fall in love with Lies I Told. Grace is a foster child who has been adopted by a pair of con artists, and they are the closest thing she has to a real family. Her brother, another adopted foster child, is finding the life of constant deception increasingly unsatisfactory. He’s ready to get out, and he wants Grace to come with him. Parker’s entreaties would be more successful if Grace wasn’t falling irrevocably in love with their newest mark. Zink uses a fabulous vocabulary to build a tale of deception and mixed loyalties that effortlessly draws readers in and allows them to vicariously experience the tension of living a lie while trying to be completely transparent with a love interest. The victims of the graft are sympathetic characters, and Grace can be forgiven her deception since she must make an untenable choice between first love and familial abandonment or betrayal of a truly good person and an artificial family. Zink liberally includes the palpitating hearts and more mature, steamy love scenes that many young adult readers have come to expect in an action-packed tale, but leaves her readers dangling with an ending that will leave them demanding more.–Jodeana Kruse, R. A. Long High School, Longview,WA
January 5, 2015
Kirkus gives LIES I TOLD a STARRED Review!
I’ll let you in on a little secret; some reviews are scarier than others. Kirkus, for example, is known for being on very tough customer. Which is why authors all kind of hold our breath as we wait for their reviews to come in.
And why I’m SUPER EXCITED to announce that Kirkus is giving LIES I TOLD a STARRED review.
The highpoint; “Zink deftly weaves the story together, employing foreshadowing and symbolism to support the plot. Although readers know from the prologue that things will turn out badly, suspense ripples throughout the story. Grace’s character blooms as she balances between the good person she hopes to be and the bad one she’s forced to be. Highly readable, gripping and touching.”
Lies I Told releases April 7, but you can preorder now through Indiebound, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.
Huzzah!
Full review as follows;
LIES I TOLD [STARRED REVIEW!]
Author: Michelle Zink
Review Issue Date: January 1, 2015
Online Publish Date: December 10, 2014
Publisher:HarperTeen
Pages: 352
Price ( Hardcover ): $17.99
Price ( e-book ): $10.99
Publication Date: April 7, 2015
ISBN ( Hardcover ): 978-0-06-232712-3
ISBN ( e-book ): 978-0-06-232714-7
Category: Fiction
A girl struggles to hold onto her own identity within her family of thieves. Grace disobeys her parents by keeping mementos from her family’s previous criminal jobs. She hopes she hasn’t completely become the deceptive creature her parents trained her to be from the time they adopted her as a young teen. Now 17, Grace has moved with her family to an affluent area as part of a plot to steal millions in gold from Warren Fairchild, a wildly wealthy but mentally unstable man. Her parents assign Grace to get close to Logan, Fairchild’s son, a task she finds only too easy, as she and Logan truly fall for each other. Grace likes her new friends in Playa Hermosa, making one truly good friend for the first time in her life, her family having moved incessantly to keep up with jobs and ahead of the police. She lives with the realization that she must lie to these good people constantly, and she knows she must betray Logan, whom she loves. Zink deftly weaves the story together, employing foreshadowing and symbolism to support the plot. Although readers know from the prologue that things will turn out badly, suspense ripples throughout the story. Grace’s character blooms as she balances between the good person she hopes to be and the bad one she’s forced to be. Highly readable, gripping and touching. (Thriller. 12-18)
December 10, 2014
Advice for Girls
Believe it or not, boys are just as scared as you are.
It’s true. And as the mother of both two boys AND two girls, I have it on good authority. I can say with certainty that my boys (and all the boys and men I know) have had just as many awkward, embarrassing, terrifying, uncomfortable moments as the girls and women in my life.
The truth is, boys are sometimes nervous to talk to you. They wonder if they’re wearing the right thing or if they should get a haircut or if they smell after track practice. They replay the things they said to you in Trig. They talk to their moms about you (or their friends or their brother or their dad or their sister). They worry about getting you the right Christmas, birthday, or Valentine’s Day present. They wonder if they should hold your hand or kiss you or if it’s too soon. They worry about making a good impression on your family.
And then, oftentimes they work very hard not to seem scared.
Try to remember that the next time you feel dumb or awkward or embarrassed or terrified around a boy, the next time he seems untouchable and hopelessly cool.
You’re in this together.
December 5, 2014
Advice for Girls #2
Do something nice for yourself every day. Seriously. Every day. Taking care of yourself is the most important job you have.
Sound hard? Expensive? Complicated? Time consuming?
It’s NOT. Give yourself a ten minute nap, make a cup of your favorite tea and take ten minutes to actually sit and enjoy it, paint your nails, give yourself a facial, go to a movie (going to the movies alone is fun!), make something nice to eat, buy a new (or used) book or check one out from the library and take some time to read it, have the cupcake, buy a new lip gloss (or climbing rope or light saber), mediate (this is truly the best gift I give myself every day), STRETCH (doesn’t that feel GOOD?!), take a walk…
Just give yourself something you want or need every day. Because let me tell you a little secret; the times when someone else will do it for you are few and far between, and you aren’t doing anyone any favors by neglecting yourself. You will BE better at everything, and more importantly, you will FEEL better when you are taken care of. Don’t wait for someone else to do it.
December 3, 2014
Advice for Girls #1
I’m sure it comes as no surprise to learn that I’m a ponderer. It’s hard for me to turn my brain off even to sleep, which is probably why meditation has been such a lifesaver for me. We NEED white space in our brain, wide open space with no words or thoughts.
But I realized that a lot of the things I think about are things I wish I’d known when I was younger. Younger, like, twenty years ago, and younger, like, two years ago.
So I decided to start documenting those thoughts in a simple way, on my social media sites with the hashtag #AdviceforGirls. I like to think they will come at just the right time for someone, and maybe in a parallel universe, a younger me will hear it too.
So today’s #AdviceforGirls is this; You are allowed to want whatever you want without apology. Period.
December 1, 2014
A Quick and Easy Gift for the Reader on Your List!
Need a personal book for the reader on your list? I’ve got you covered!
Right now through 12/8 you can purchase ANY of my books (online or in person) from Oblong Books and Music and I’ll sign and personalize it for you in time for the holidays. That includes Prophecy of the Sisters, Guardian of the Gate, Circle of Fire, A Temptation of Angels, and This Wicked Game.
Nothing makes a better gift for a book lover than a signed book, plus you’ll be supporting an awesome Indie.
Just order here and tell me to whom you’d like the book signed. Easy peasy!
