P.J. Hoover's Blog, page 59

My Early Valentine :)

We're looking at a cold week and weekend here in Austin, but I got this OSUM Valentine to warm my heart.


For those who can't read phonetic spelling, it says:

BEE MINE (in the large, monster letters)
Read this poem.
Mom is great.
Mom is great.

You have to love that!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

HAUNTED by Joy Preble Signed ARC Giveaway!

There are so many reasons I'm so happy to see this book come out. For starters, Joy Preble is about the nicest person east of Austin. Also, I have loved the story of the missing Russian princess Anastasia forever, and Russian history...don't get me started. Let's just leave it at fascinating. So having YA novels centered around the missing daughter of the last Czar of Russia is like having champagne and a cozy blanket.

Wait, let me make sure you get what I'm saying:

If you haven't read Joy Preble's books yet, do it!

To celebrate the release of the second book in the series, Sourcebooks is giving away the Kindle edition of the first book DREAMING ANASTASIA (2009) for FREE.
CLICK HERE TO GET IT NOW!

And here's your chance to win a signed ARC of the brand new sequel to DREAMING ANASTASIA

HAUNTED by Joy Preble (Sourcebooks,February 1, 2011)



Awesome Book Trailer!



From Amazon:

Anne Michaelson is trying to forget everything that happened last year. But it's hard to do when her heart aches for Ethan and there's a wild-haired woman stalking her...

Ethan Kosinsky is embracing his newfound mortality. But something is drawing him back to the girl he left behind-back to Anne and back to the magic...

A mysterious stranger is hunting Anne wherever she goes. No one sees her but Anne. When she searches for the woman's identity, Anne exposes secrets about her own life- things that will change her life forever. And when the gorgeous Ethan returns, her life gets a lot more complicated.

Anne thought her journey with the Romanov family had ended, but it was just the beginning...

Source of ARC: From publisher at NCTE


For your chance to win this ARC, all you need to do is:

1) Follow this blog
2) Comment on this blog post


For extra entries:

1) Blog about this contest and leave a comment telling me
2) Tweet about this contest and leave a comment telling me

3) Also, if you've never won one of my contests, please tell me in the comments, and you'll get an extra entry!


And make sure you leave me a way to get in contact with you when you win!

The contest will run through midnight on Friday, February 11, 2011!

*****

And don't forget I'm also giving away

A query critique!
CLICK HERE TO ENTER

An ARC of THE IRON WITCH by Karen Mahoney (Flux, February 8, 2011)
CLICK HERE TO ENTER



An ARC of THE VESTPERTINE by Saundra Mitchell (Harcourt Children's Books, March 7, 2011)
CLICK HERE TO ENTER!

Query Critique Contest

You know what's really cool? Being able to see a project before it becomes published. It's like a secret sneak peak into the future. Sometimes when you read these sneak peaks, you just know they're going to be famous (I'll refrain from name dropping here...)

As part of The Texas Sweethearts & Scoundrels and for our Austin SCBWI chapter, one of the things I do is critiques, and I was thrilled when the last query critique I did landed the person an agent. Yay for success! May we spread it around.

In this spirit, I'm offering up a query critique! And if I'm not enough, I asked fellow TS&S Jessica Lee Anderson, and she's offering up a query critique, too.

Me and Jessica. I was being normal. Jessica? Not so much.

Interested? It's easy!

For your chance to win a query critique with either me or Jessica Lee Anderson, all you need to do is:

1) Follow this blog
2) Comment on this blog post


For extra entries:

1) Blog about this contest and leave a comment telling me
2) Tweet about this contest and leave a comment telling me


And make sure you leave me a way to get in contact with you when you win!

The contest will run through midnight on Friday, February 11, 2011!

Good luck!

School Visit Tips

If you get a chance, head over to THE TEXAS SWEETHEARTS & SCOUNDRELS blog where a few of us give some tips on making any school visit better!

And Happy Wednesday!

THE IRON WITCH ARC Giveaway

For those who don't know (and really, how would you?), on the side, I'm the lead children's book reviewer for New Age Retailer (NAR), the #1 trade magazine for retailers and wholesalers of mind/body/spirit products. What I love is when I find a book I totally lose myself in reading that also makes a nice fit for NAR.

Enter this fantastic book that comes out next week from Flux. It's a great blend of paranormal romance (having a wicked faerie world to deal with) and alchemy, and is sure to appeal to fans of Melissa Marr, Holly Black, and Cassandra Clare. The romance sizzles, and the author creates the perfect level of character sympathy that leaves you staying up late at night to read to make sure they'll be okay. Or will they...

Anyway, up for giveaway this week is

THE IRON WITCH by Karen Mahoney (Flux, February 8, 2011)


From Amazon:

When she was seven, a horrific fey attack killed Donna Underwood's father and drove her mother mad. Her own nearly fatal injuries were fixed by alchemy—the iron tattoos branding her hands and arms. Now seventeen, Donna feels like a freak, doomed by the magical heritage that destroyed her parents and any chance she had for a normal life. Only her relationship with her best friend, Navin, is keeping her sane.

But when vicious wood elves abduct Navin, Donna is forced to accept her role in the centuries-old war between human alchemists and these darkest outcasts of Faerie. Assisted by Xan, a gorgeous guy with faery blood running through his veins and secrets of his own, Donna races to save Navin—even if it means betraying everything her parents fought to the death to protect.

Source of ARC: From publisher by request

For your chance to win this ARC, all you need to do is:

1) Follow this blog
2) Comment on this blog post


For extra entries:

1) Blog about this contest and leave a comment telling me
2) Tweet about this contest and leave a comment telling me

3) Also, if you've never won one of my contests, please tell me in the comments, and you'll get an extra entry!


And make sure you leave me a way to get in contact with you when you win!

The contest will run through midnight on Friday, February 11, 2011!

*****

And don't forget I'm also giving away an ARC of

THE VESTPERTINE by Saundra Mitchell (Harcourt Children's Books, March 7, 2011)
CLICK HERE TO ENTER!

THE DARK AND HOLLOW PLACES by Carrie Ryan

I'll admit it. I'm secretly in love with Carrie Ryan's books. When I read THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, I actually wanted to live in a zombie-infested world.
Yeah, I know. Weird, right? Who is their right mind would want to live in a zombie-infested world (except for DAWN OF THE DEAD and the whole shopping mall thing, but that's for entirely different reasons).

In THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, the writing drew me in, the characters drew me in, and the emotions had me dying to read the next book, THE DEAD-TOSSED WAVES. And then the next book. Which I did.


THE DARK AND HOLLOW PLACES by Carrie Ryan (Delacorte, March 22, 2011)


Fans of THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, you will not be disappointed. Not only will you find out what happens to all the characters you love, but major stuff happens in this book. So major, the world shifts right in front of your eyes. Don't miss it! And if you haven't read THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, there's no time like the present.


Source of ARC: From publisher by request

I'm not seeing a trailer yet for THE DARK AND HOLLOW PLACES, but here are the trailers for the first two books.

Trailer for THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH:




Trailer for THE DEAD-TOSSED WAVES:





From Amazon:

There are many things that Annah would like to forget: the look on her sister's face when she and Elias left her behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, her first glimpse of the horde as they found their way to the Dark City, the sear of the barbed wire that would scar her for life. But most of all, Annah would like to forget the morning Elias left her for the Recruiters.

Annah's world stopped that day and she's been waiting for him to come home ever since. Without him, her life doesn't feel much different from that of the dead that roam the wasted city around her. Then she meets Catcher and everything feels alive again.

Except, Catcher has his own secrets -- dark, terrifying truths that link him to a past Annah's longed to forget, and to a future too deadly to consider. And now it's up to Annah -- can she continue to live in a world drenched in the blood of the living? Or is death the only escape from the Return's destruction?

Five Soundrels in Cowtown

Or maybe we were Sweethearts. Some days I can't tell.

This past week five of the Texas Sweethearts and Scoundrels had a blast when we headed up to Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas for the ESC Region 11 Children's and Young Adult Book Roundup (aka The Cowtown Book Festival).


Five Sweethearts and Scoundrels in a row!
K. A. Holt, Jeanette Larson, Don Tate, PJ Hoover (me), and Jessica Lee Anderson


A bunch of the crew and supporting librarians


On the MG/YA panel...
Jason Henderson, PJ Hoover (me), Jessica Lee Anderson, K. A. Holt, Jennifer Ziegler, and Clare Dunkle


On the picture book panel...
Jeanette Larson, Chris Barton, and Don Tate


Hanging in the hotel room the night before: Jessica Lee Anderson, Mark Mitchell, Jennifer Ziegler, Jeanette Larson, Don Tate, Clare Dunkle, PJ Hoover (me), Chris Barton, and K. A. Holt (with Brian Floca taking the picture)


Clare Dunkle and Jennifer Ziegler


Jason Henderson, author of Alex Van Helsing: Vampire Rising


James Crowley, author of STARFISH

Brian Floca, Chris Barton, and Avi

PJ Hoover (me), Jessica Lee Anderson, and Bonnie Barnes


There's something normalizing about knowing even Avi (who is so famous he can publish under only one name) doesn't have a rock star line at all times.

The Texas Sweethearts & Scoundrels would love to send a special thank you to Pat Anderson, owner of Texas Overlooked Books for sponsoring us!

Cowtown, we loved it! We'll see you again next year!

Our Night at the Museum!

I always mention in school visits that one of the coolest things about being the mom of a Cub Scout is we get to go on the best excursions. And as an author, there's nothing better than getting to sneak into these OSUM places which are normally behind closed doors.

So enter this past weekend when we drove to Dallas and slept overnight at the Museum of Science and Nature with the dinosaurs!


This is my favorite landmark ever when I'm driving.


Perhaps the biggest turtle in the world. We really hope our tortoises do not grow this big.


This reminds me of a scene in THE MUMMY.


We originally set up our sleeping gear right next to this beauty.


We've learned to be more prepared. Please note my Smurf pillow and my husband's Elmo pillow.

But then we discovered this "secret" exhibit space not being used, so we moved all our stuff and slept here.


The absolutely coolest part of the visit was the ELECTRIC THEATER. Why? Because Telsa Rocks! (That should really be a t-shirt.)

Hope you guys got out and did something fun this weekend! And I hope you brought your camera and notebook so you could record it, too!

What Upcoming Books are you Most Looking Forward To?

I've been going on and on about what I've been reading and passing on ARCs I've loved, and every time I look, there are great new mentions of books coming out. I can hardly keep track!

So now it's your turn. You tell me:

What 2011 MG/YA books are you most looking forward to?


(And because I feel like every post needs a pic, I give you this! First sighting for me was yesterday on the drive back from the Dallas Librarians Conference, and I had to partake!)

DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth ARC Winner!

So cool to see as many other people excited about this book as I was! You guys will all love it (but sadly, there can be only one winner).
Thank you to everyone who entered!

The winner of an ARC of DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth (Katherine Tegen Books, May 3, 2011)


is...
CiNdY!

*****

Check back for more reviews and giveaways!

And don't forget I'm also giving away an ARC of

THE VESTPERTINE by Saundra Mitchell (Harcourt Children's Books, March 7, 2011)
CLICK HERE TO ENTER!