Cheryl Rainfield's Blog, page 97
August 30, 2011
Scars in Canadian Children's Book News
I just found out today that SCARS is in Canadian Children's Book News magazine in a special section on books dealing with mental health issues! Yayyy! I'm so glad that SCARS is getting some Canadian press. (beaming)
And (ahem) when I went to Amazon to get the link for SCARS just now, I saw that it was #8 in books on sexual abuse for teens…which felt good to see. (smiling)
August 29, 2011
Enjoying Dragon Slippers series by Jessica Day George
I just read and enjoyed Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George so much that I ordered the sequel (Dragon Flight
) on my Kindle, devoured it, and then bought the next (Dragon Spear (Dragon Slippers)
) which I'm already a third of the way through.
I love strong girl characters in fantasy (in any fiction, actually), and I love it when girls don't need to be rescued from dragons, but actually make friends with the dragons and become their allies. There's a lovely mix of light-heartedness, a love of fantasy and dragons while turning traditional stories on their head (by having a strong girl and friendship to dragons), some depth, a bit of rags-to-riches, and a dash of romance in Jessica Day George's books. They remind me of Patricia C Wrede's Dealing with Dragons series
, though of course Day George has her own voice. If you like light-hearted fantasies that move quickly and keep you turning the pages, and you like strong girl characters, then you'll want to check this series out.
And…how did I get into this series? By buying the first book when it was on sale on Amazon. I then bought the next two books at full price. I think that's something for authors and publishers to note; it's a good marketing technique, putting the first book in a series on sale, and/or a book by an author to get us interested in other books by the same author.
Have you read Jessica Day George's books? Do you like them? Do you have another book along the same lines that you'd like to recommend?
August 26, 2011
August 25, 2011
Tonight at 9pm EST – Banned Books & Controversy on #YAlitchat
Tonight at 9pm is the discussion on banned books and controversy with Ellen Hopkins, Laurie Halse Anderson, and me. I hope you'll join us!
August 24, 2011
Today only Kate DiCamillo's The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane is $1.39 and new Kindle Daily Deal
Amazon is doing something new–they're offering a Kindle Daily Deal. I love that! I hope when my books become ebooks that they'll get in that deal. I think it encourages a lot more readers.
For their first deal–today *only* Kate DiCamillo's The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane is $1.39 (for the ebook version). That's 75% off the regular price. I've already bought my copy. (smiling)
3rd winner will be re-picked tonight
Two out of the three winners have contacted me with their information for a signed copy of Scars
, but the third hasn't, so I'll use Random.org to choose another winner tonight. The first two winners, Tom and Sarka–your books are in the mail.
August 23, 2011
Free service that lets you know about new books
Did you know that AnyNewBooks lets you know, for free, about any new books in the genres you select? I just discovered them. I've selected "children's" and "teen" book categories, and also Kindle ebooks. It sounds like a great way to regularly find out about new books being published.
Have you ever used this service before? Do you know of another one?
Controversy & Banned Books chat on Twitter
This Wednesday at 9pm EST, I will be talking on #YAlitchat (on Twitter) with the wonderful authors Ellen Hopkins @EllenHopkinsYA (author of Crank, Glass, etc) and Laurie Halse Anderson @asklaurie (author of Speak, Wintergirls, etc) about controversy and banned YA books. I hope you'll join us in the conversation!
To join in a Twitter chat, one of the easiest ways is to go to TweetChat.com, log in with Twitter, and then type the hashtag "YAlitchat" into the search box at the top (and then click on "go"). From there, you'll be able to see the entire conversation and join in any time. Your tweets will automatically have the hashtag added at the end of them, so others following the chat see what you say.
Hope to see you there.
August 22, 2011
Love your librarian? Nominate them.
Don't forget–if you like a librarian, if a librarian has helped you or made a difference in your life, nominate them to help them win $5,000 through the I Love My Librarian Award. Up to 10 winners will receive $5,000 each.
You can nominate librarians from school libraries, public libraries, and college or university libraries. Nomination are open until September 12th.
Love a librarian? Had a librarian make a positive difference in your life? Go nominate them!
YA fantasy ebook The Witch of Agnesi free right now
YA mystery The Witch of Agnesi by Robert Spiller is free right now in ebook format on Amazon & on B & N.
