Kim Baccellia's Blog, page 18

Friday Five

This week I've been working on my sequel to CROSSED OUT and I'm taking a month break from my sekrit project. So far I'm up to 41K. Yay! Hope to have it done by the end of this year.

Here's some other Friday shares:

1.


I really enjoyed this Victorian YA paranormal. Review coming soon!

2.


Wow. Double wow. Let's just say I can relate with the main character of this story. My own mother was in a very abusive relationship with my father. The images bring back some painful memories but the way the author shows the emotion is right on the mark. A total must read!

3.


This is a MG zombie story that looked really good!

4.


Here's the book trailer:


You all know how much I LOVE books with characters that deal with sensory issues. Well I just got the .pdf file of ULTRAVIOLET and can't wait to read it after I get my guilty pleasure...

5. Got a Twitter from Egmont publishers in regards to my son, who's reviewing on a kid's site. Got to share as this totally made his day:

@ixtumea @kidswritereview We love your son. He can review our books any time!

**Wasn't that sweet?

**Guilty pleasure:

I'm hoping to buy one of these on Saturday:

The Poison House by Michael Ford

Fifteen-year-old Abi is a scullery maid in Greave Hall in 1851. Life is tough. Her mother has been dead for a year and housekeeper, Mrs. Cotton, loves to punish Abi for no cause. Abi wants to escape but the only chance she has is foiled. Back at the Hall she faces further cruel punishment from Mrs. Cotton. The widowed owner is slowly descending into madness.

There's some secrets going on at Greave Hall, secrets that refuse to leave Abi alone.

I really enjoyed this Victorian paranormal. I'm a huge fan of this time period. Add a spooky element, and I'm hooked. This story was no exception!

Abi is a servant who longs to leave the dreary Greave Hall but Mrs. Cotton refuses to let her. The details of old time England are rich as are the descriptions of the life of that time. The paranormal elements are subtle at first but then increase. The finally revelation shocked me.

You can request this e-book galley on Netgalley.

Rock the Drop

http://youtu.be/LxBM4vcYr_Y

I'll be dropping off a copy of CROSSED OUT today at the Foothill Ranch library in support of Teen Literature Day!

Will anyone else be sharing some YA books today? Do share!

kbaccellia @ 2011-04-11T12:22:00

Yes, it's true:

http://www.virtualtales.com/

Autism Awareness Month contest

Just found this:

http://ainesrealm.blogspot.com/2011/04/autism-awareness-giveaway-hop.html

One of the books on the list I totally, totally LOVED:

MOCKINGBIRD:




Here's my take on this must read book:


My YA Books Central review:

I totally Get It


Ten-year-old Caitlin's world is forever changed after the tragic shooting death of her beloved brother Devon. Her brother helped her make sense of the world around her and how to not stand out so much at school. Now that Devon's gone, she has a harder time with school. Her Asberger's has her see the world in black and white terms. Caitlin tries to find closure with the shooting. And how she does this will have your cheering for Caitlin.

I totally loved this book and Caitlin! My own son has sensory issues and I know how challenging the world can be to him. Erskine's descriptions of what's its like to be Caitlin are so very true. What I really love about Caitlin is she's a character who's not a victim. Sure, she looks at the world a tad bit different than others but she's able to arc and bring closure to a very terrible incident in both her life and the community.

This is a must read book! Caitlin is alot like Scout, from TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. Both are courageous and not afraid to confront harsh realities around them. I applaud Erskine for writing this story. We need more books that break down the stereotypes and cliches of autism. Not all are the Rainman. Highly recommended for classroom libraries.

**Check out the above link and enter for a chance to win this book!

Interview now up

Here's another short interview:

http://www.facebook.com/?tid=10150157618103988&sk=messages#!/topic.php?uid=45035902458&topic=18651

**Also working on something else. Hope to have some news to share on that soon!

Let's just say I'm trying to make lemonade out of some lemons that were thrown my way. I'm looking at this as another opportunity.

YA Books Central

Mandy at YA Books Central sent me this t-shirt and I got to share:






Yes, I love YA Books Central! Can ya tell?

Friday Five

Well, my goal of writing everyday during Spring Break kind of vanished as husband was home sick during the whole time. I did get some writing in so it wasn't a total loss and my sequel is now at 40K.

I did catch up on some of my reading. Here's some shares:

1. DIE FOR ME



Received this ebook galley from Netgalley.

Here's my YA Books Central review:
http://yabookscentral.blogspot.com/2011/04/die-for-me.html

2. Another find from Netgalley that everyone was twittering about so of course I had to request it.

THE GODDESS TEST




I really enjoyed this tale!

My YA Books Central review:

http://yabookscentral.blogspot.com/2011/04/goddess-test.html

3. COMPULSION




This is a totally amazing read!

My YA Books Central review:

http://yabookscentral.blogspot.com/2011/04/compulsion.html

4. A book I'm really looking forward to read:




5. Starting this latest from Carolroda lab which is Andrew Karre's latest project:




**Guilty pleasure:

I'm on week one of Weight Watchers. I've been writing down everything as I need to lose at least 5 pounds before I have my next doctor's visit. But I plan on treating self to this:




Lately I've been craving ice herbal teas. I add a little rasberry shot, Splendor, and yum.

April is National Autism Awareness Month

April is National Autism Awareness Month

http://www.autism-society.org/about-us/national-autism-awareness-month/


This has personal meaning to me and my own family. My son has an auditory sensory issue and ADHD. His OT told us that he has issues when he hears. It's like receiving a bad cell phone message. You know the type where you're talking and it breaks up?

I'm also an advocate with being more informed about sensory impairment issues especially after the hell we went through with a public school that was ADHD unfriendly. They told me they didn't recognize sensory issues. Our social worker told us that the schools will have to start considering these issues especially since more and more children are having some kind of sensory issue. And now it's 1 out of every 110 children will have autism.

I believe being informed equals less fear of the unknown and also power to become your own advocate for your child. Believe me, as a former public school teacher if you don't bat for your child, no one else will.

And another thing is not all autistic children are like the character in Rainman. Yes, some children are like this and it's hard for the families. But there's different levels and many high functioning children/teens that are living and dealing with this sensory impairment. I'd just love to have more publishers show this.

I'm always on the lookout for YA and MG books that address this and show characters that are strong and also solve the problem of the story without a parent or adult stepping in. I will try to share some of my favorites this month.

Friday Five

Excited that I'm going to be a betafish for Colleen Lindsay's Sekrit project! Got my password and have been playing around with the site.

Here's what I've received in either my mailbox or on my Kindle through Netgalley:

1. THE CELLAR




This is being pitched as Romeo and Juliet meet zombies.

2. COMPULSION






This is a very intriguing tale of a teen who uses prime numbers to cope. If the numbers aren't, he almost totally loses control. Love how the author shows this in very haunting detail.


3. THE GODDESS TEST




This one has been all over Twitter and it looked so good that when Net Galley put the Kindle button back up, well, I had to request it!

4. 90 DAYS TO YOUR NOVEL

Mandy at YA Books Central recommended this book, so I downloaded it. Really enjoying the exercises(one of which I shared with everyone at in Internet land).




5. Ok, I couldn't resist even though son was like, "Mommy, she's a hootie momma!"




She's a mummy from Egypt which I thought was perfect considering my upcoming book has Hathor, the Egyptian goddess of romance and a number of Egyptian mythology creatures that take over a high school.

**Guilty pleasure:

Friend just emailed me asking if she could take son to a homeschool play date at a nearby park. This means I can write for an hour! Yay!