Harlequin TEEN and Seventeen Magazine have partnered up to launch a new imprint called Seventeen Fiction. The editors plan to work on a variety of projects such as novels, lifestyle manuals, advice books, and nonfiction digital books.
According to the press release, the executives behind this imprint “will focus on multi-dimensional and empowered fictional female characters and explore topics and situations that authentically reflect the challenges and joys of being a teenager today, just as Seventeen does across all platforms.” Natashya Wilson, an executive editor at Harlequin TEEN, has already acquired the first manuscript: Something in Between by Melissa de la Cruz.
The story “follows the daughter of immigrant parents who is living the American dream—until her world shatters when she learns she is ineligible to receive the National Scholarship Award because her family is in the country illegally and may be deported.” The release date has been scheduled for Fall 2016.
This month, El Deaf, a 2015 Newbery Honor book is the best selling middle grade book from our affiliate store. Our selection of books picked from the nationwide best selling middle grade list, as they appear on The New York Times, includes Star Wars: The Force Awakens Visual Dictionary.
This month's best selling kids series from The Children's Book Review's affiliate store, First 100, is a great series for babies and toddlers ready to absorb information about the world around them.
This month, our selection of books picked from the nationwide best selling middle grade list, as they appear on The New York Times, remain the same. We love the powerful story I Am Malala.
This month's best selling kids series from The Children's Book Review's affiliate store, Superhero Classics: I Can Read Level 2, is a great series to hook young readers that show an interest in classic superheros.
This month, our selection of books picked from the nationwide best selling middle grade list, as they appear on The New York Times, includes the powerful story I Am Malala.
This month's best selling kids series from The Children's Book Review's affiliate store, Pete the Cat, is great for highlighting a glass-half-full outlook.
This month, Connect the Thoughts (Chronicle Books), a guided journal for young thinkers, is back again as The Children's Book Review's best selling middle grade book.
This month's best selling kids series from The Children's Book Review's affiliate store is great for highlighting a glass-half-full outlook.
This month, Girl to Girl: Honest Talk About Growing Up and Your Changing Body (Chronicle Books), a must-have for every girl navigating her way through the preteen years, is The Children's Book Review's best selling middle grade book.
It's true TCBR readers are fans of Star Wars! That's why, this month, Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary - The Ultimate Guide to Characters and Creatures from the Entire Star Wars Saga is The Children's Book Review's best selling middle grade book.
I’m not sure if there is an “art” to writing about villains, but I do find that to write convincing and three-dimensional villains, one must be sympathetic to their plight.
Enter to win a MEET THE DESCENDANTS prize pack!
Giveaway begins April 21, 2015, at 12:01 A.M. PST and ends May 20, 2015, at 11:59 P.M. PST.
The heart of Young Adult Fiction descended into picturesque Charleston, SC on November 7, 2014 as 60 Young Adult authors, including 37 New York Times bestsellers, joined together for the 4th Annual Charleston Young Adult Book Festival (“YALLFest”).
Melissa de la Cruz plans to write a spinoff project inspired by her Witches of East End adult novels. Penguin Young Readers Group will release Triple Moon: Summer on East End, the first installment of de la Cruz’s young adult series, on July 14, 2015.
The Triple Moon story stars twin witches named Mardi and Molly Overbrook. Two characters from the original book series and the TV show, Freya and Killian Gardiner, will appear in the new books.
With Lifetime’s Witches of East End TV series facing cancellation, de la Cruz wants to take a hands-on approach to help her fans. In a statement emailed to Entertainment Weekly, de la Cruz explains: “I have asked producers if there is no hope for the show, if I can weave in some of the cliffhangers from season two so I can resolve them and bring closure. I have an idea on how to do it, but we’ll see. It’s a legal issue so it might not be able to fly.”
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Over the weekend, the organizers behind YALLFEST announced the launch of a new West Coast-based sister event called YALLWEST. The 2015 dates for both festivals were also revealed.
YALLWEST will take place in Santa Monica, CA from April 11th-12th, 2015. YALLFEST will follow later on in the year in Charleston, SC from November 13th-14th, 2015.
Librarian Robert Graves announced on Twitter that he will be working on the programming for YALLWEST. Several writers will also be taking part on the YALLWEST team: Holly Goldberg Sloan, Pseudonymous Bosch, Brendan Reichs, Tahereh Mafi, Margaret Stohl, Marie Lu, Ransom Riggs, Leigh Bardugo, and Melissa de la Cruz.
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The dystopia created by Cruz and Johnston is pretty much what the title implies – a bleak world of cold and ice, insufferable to all but the heat-eliteof the RSA (Remaining States of America). You could even say the second social tier is comprised of hooved quadrupeds – the few remaining cattle who are nurtured in expensive temperature-controlled stables. The cows probably [live] better lives than most people, in fact.
Since clearly very few people are eating beef, the only meat available to the common folk consists of whale, walrus, or reindeer. Those who can’t stomach that are left with processed junk like pizza squeezers and Thanksgiving in a can. Like I said, bleak. And perhaps blechas well. ;) Either or both ways, the availability of food provides a great platform for revealing the inner-workings of the characters.
You see, we first meet Ryan Wesson as he is turning down a steak dinner. Or, more precisely, turning down a job offer he can’t stomach. He actually lets the food be sent back to the kitchen, knowing he’s in turn sending himself and his crew back to the food lines. But even in desperate times, he has an ethical fiber that he can’t shed, despite knowing he’d be warmer (and fuller) without it. Yes, he’s in the mercenary business, but his ex-military moral compass forces him to use his skills for protection and rescue. No, a contract to murder for hire is too much.
Now, in drastic contrast to Wes is the proposer of the next job he DOES accept – a girl who needs help getting out of the country ASAP... and who Wes instantly pegs as a liar and a thief.
Still, he agrees to take her to the “Blue” – a perhaps mythical realm where the sun still shines and the water still flows clear and blue, as does the sky – partially because he needs the money and the work doesn’t harm anyone, but equally because he finds Nat so intriguing.
And when Nat finds out mid-venture that Wes first needs her help to get his ship back – as in, he has a ship, he just doesn’t have it right now – she in turn finds herself falling for this Jack Sparrowish-rogue.
Will they make it to the Blue – if it even exists? And what will they eat when the get there? Good thing it looks like there’ll be another installment to this saga, as my hunger for answers was only partly satisfied. ;)
SPOILER ALERT: If you have not read any of the books in the Blue Bloods series, there may be spoilers ahead.
Publisher: Hyperion (September 27, 2011)
Hardcover: 342 Pages
Series: Blue Bloods #6
My Reviews of the Series:
Blue Bloods,
Masquerade,
Revelations,
The Van Alen Legacy,
Misguided Angel,
Bloody Valentine (Blue Bloods Novella)
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Melissa de la Cruz's Website |
Twitter
From Goodreads. After their beautiful yet brief bonding ceremony in Italy, Schuyler Van Alen and Jack Force are forced to separate. To fulfill the Van Alen Legacy, Schuyler travels to Alexandria to search for Catherine of Siena and the Gate of Promise. But Schuyler quickly discovers that everything she believed about the Gate to be wrong. Meanwhile, Jack makes the difficult decision to return to New York to face his twin and former bondmate, Mimi. But instead of a bitter reunion, he is faced with a choice for which there is no good option.
Mimi, with a most unexpected travel companion in Oliver Hazard-Perry, jets off to Egypt, too, to search for Kingsley Martin, her long lost love. With all roads leading to Hell, Mimi learns that not all love stories have happy endings. But she'll have to put her own feelings aside if she's going to save her crumbling Coven.
Review by Kate
LOST IN TIME, by Melissa de la Cruz, is the next installment of the
Blue Bloods series. Packed full of action and suspense this book leads our beloved characters to the point of no return and set's up the next and final book in the series.
This book enveloped me from the start, I could not put it down! This book shifted POV's between Schuyler, Mimi, and Allegra. Schuyler had her problems looking for the Gate of Promise along with coming down with an illness she wrongfully diagnosed. Mimi and Oliver traveled to Hell (literally) to find Kingsley but when they arrived getting him out proved to be more of a problem then Mimi thought. Melissa took us on a trip to the past with Allegra and her love affair with Stephen Chase (Schuyler's biological father). All of these story lines culminated into an awesome battle and the beginning of the end for this series.
As much as I have loved the Schuyler/Jack story in the previous books, I found myself anxiously awaiting Mimi and Allegra's stories more. Throughout the books, I've gained a liking to Mimi as she has grown from spoiled brat to spoiled brat in love (which brought her down to Earth... a teeny bit). The chemistry between Mimi and Kingsley is stunning to read and I yearned for them to be together again!! And I really enjoyed getting more background on Allegra before she went into a coma.
I don't want to ruin too much of the book because it is that good! Fans of the series
Here is some information regarding the launch of the new Blue Bloods novel, Lost in Time. If you're like me, you are totally looking forward to this one! After the two novellas, Bloody Valentine and Keys to the Repository, getting a continuation is extremely welcomed. The cover Gods are very good to Melissa as well. I love this cover. Sky and Jack, perhaps?
I am also giving away a copy of this book and a bookmark!!!! All you have to do is tell me in the comments who is your favorite character in the Blue Bloods series. I will randomly pick a winner and send the information to my contact who will send the book and bookmark out. Please remember to include your e-mail address in the comments. Any comments without e-mail will not be entered.
This contest is open to US/CA only.
-A list of movie theaters scheduled to show the LOST IN TIME trailer (9/30-10/13 and 11/18-12/1): http://bit.ly/rpNG7a (All dates subject to change without notice)
To stay up to date on the latest news, readers can visit Mel’s website at http://melissa-delacruz.com, follow her on
By: Maryann Yin,
on 7/19/2011
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Author James Patterson recently released a novel book trailer: promoting his YA novel and his adult thriller in the same television commercial.
In the book trailer embedded above, Patterson shares the spotlight with an animated version of Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life‘s protagonist . As the video explains, Middle School was written for a YA audience while Now You See Her is an adult thriller.
Many authors write for both young readers and adults. Melissa de la Cruz‘s first adult novel, The Witches of East End, included appearances from characters her Blue Bloods YA series. Meg Cabot recently released Overbite, a sequel to her adult vampire story Insatiable. Last April, she also published the first book in her YA trilogy, Abandon. Who else can follow Patterson’s example?
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Things are changing in the tiny town of North Hampton -- a town that always, always stays the same. After decades apart, the Beauchamp women have finally reunited. For years, the witches were forced to abandon their magic (after things went horribly, horribly wrong in a village called Salem nearly four centuries ago). Now, however, something dark is preying upon their beloved town, and the women don't see the harm in a little white magic to protect the people they love. But when their spells start to go awry, and the accusations fly, the well-meaning witches discover that not everything is what it appears in North Hampton -- and they may be dealing with forces the mortal realm was never meant to know.
In
Witches of East End,
Melissa de la Cruz builds a world that will envelop readers in its small town charm. Though everyone knows everyone in the tiny, insular community of North Hampton, the population is surprisingly diverse -- from the unfathomably rich but awkward Bran Gardiner, to the mayoral power couple Todd and Corky Hutchinson, to the eccentric, magical Beauchamps: Freya, Ingrid and Joanna. The characterization of the Beauchamp women is spot on, with their dysfunctional family dynamic and individual quirks, charms and flaws. Each of the women couldn't be more different, but they're all appealing in their own way: Freya with her utter lack of inhibition. Ingrid with her bookish wisdom, and Joanna with her Mary Poppins' charm.
Unfortuately, readers are given the sense that they've dropped in on the middle of a story, with only cryptic allusions to a vague past to guide their way. It's unclear exactly what the Beauchamp women are, or why they've been forbidden to use magic, or even by whom. Their family was torn apart centuries ago, with repercussions to this day, and no explanation is given as to the how or why. The first two-thirds of the novel moves slowly, as readers try to get their bearings. When things finally do pick up in the last 50 pages, the revelations are made so quickly and randomly that readers' heads will spin. The resolution seems much too forced and easy to be believable, and even though the Beauchamps' mysterious past is finally explained, anyone unfamiliar with certain mythologies will be more confused than ever. There is definitely a fascinating mythology at work here, and it's a shame that it isn't built coherently enough to support the world de la Cruz creates.
Rating: 
Disclosure: I received an advance copy of this novel at BEA. This did not affect my review in any way.This novel is available now. Click here to purchase Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz.
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion (June 21, 2011)
ARC: 320 Pages
Series: The Beauchamp Family #1
Genre: Adult Fantasy (witches)
Book from Publisher*
Melissa de la Cruz's Website |
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From Goodreads. The three Beauchamp women--Joanna and her daughters Freya and Ingrid--live in North Hampton, out on the tip of Long Island. Their beautiful, mist-shrouded town seems almost stuck in time, and all three women lead seemingly quiet, uneventful existences. But they are harboring a mighty secret--they are powerful witches banned from using their magic. Joanna can resurrect people from the dead and heal the most serious of injuries. Ingrid, her bookish daughter, has the ability to predict the future and weave knots that can solve anything from infertility to infidelity. And finally, there's Freya, the wild child, who has a charm or a potion that can cure most any heartache.
For centuries, all three women have been forced to suppress their abilities. But then Freya, who is about to get married to the wealthy and mysterious Bran Gardiner, finds that her increasingly complicated romantic life makes it more difficult than ever to hide her secret. Soon Ingrid and Joanna confront similar dilemmas, and the Beauchamp women realize they can no longer conceal their true selves. They unearth their wands from the attic, dust off their broomsticks, and begin casting spells on the townspeople. It all seems like a bit of good-natured, innocent magic, but then mysterious, violent attacks begin to plague the town. When a young girl disappears over the Fourth of July weekend, they realize it's time to uncover who and what dark forces are working against them.
Review by Kate
WITCHES OF EAST END, by Melissa de la Cruz, is the first in an adult series about a family of witches. We briefly met Freya in de la Cruz's
Blue Bloods series so I was very excited to learn more about this mysterious girl and where she came from.
I liked the witch lore that de la Cruz created for this series. The three women were immortal but due to what powers they possessed, they always looked a certain age. Ever since their powers were restricted, these women had to deal with their pent up magic in different ways. Imagine not being able to use gifts you were born with? Tough break. But in the effort of helping those in need in their small town, these women slowly and carefully use their magic that lead to disasterous consequences for their secluded lives.
I really enjoyed the witch characters in this book. Freya is a free spirit who is engaged to a rich and very kind man, Bran, but to her dismay she finds herself dreaming about her fiance's brother, Killian. Freya's sister, Ingrid, is a shy librarian who keeps to herself normally, but fights for what she believes in. Joanna is the mother of these two girls, who carries many burdens for her girls and guilt about her husband and missing son. I liked getting to know these women's relationships with people in the town, those characters brought a lot of life to the book too. Also, a cameo from Oliver and Mimi from the
Blue Bloods series was very exciting to read, I'm hoping for more overlapping in the future.
There is a bit of Norse mythology in this book as well. I am not too familiar with a lot of the myths but it was definitely interesting to read about.
As much as I wanted to LOVE thi
By: Maryann Yin,
on 5/9/2011
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Blue Bloods writer Melissa de la Cruz and her husband Michael Johnston are joining forces for a young-adult trilogy called The Other Land Chronicles.
The couple has signed with Penguin Group’s G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers imprint. 3 Arts Entertainment literary agent Richard Abate negotiated the deal with Jennifer Besser. Frozen, the first book in the series, will be released in spring 2013.
Here’s more from the press release: “Set in 111 C.D., one hundred and eleven years after a Catastrophic Disaster has wiped out 99% of humanity and left the earth covered in ice, this new series introduces readers to a ragtag group of friends and the dawning of a new time. The world of reason, of mathematics and science, is ending, and a new civilization is being born from the ice: a world of magic and mayhem, sorcerers and spellcraft.” (Photo Credit: Denise Bovee)
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Books and Bling dropped at the Atlanta Airport!
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Easy my favorite is Sky. She's a great strong lead.
Breezyobreezy(at)aol(dot)com
My fav character is Bliss. She's a noncomformist and takes the mission that Allegra has given her head-on even though she knows she faces life or death because she's just human now.
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Holy cow bat man! I read the first few books but then forgot about the series! I had no idea there where so many more! I liked Oliver the best but who know's if he is even the rest of them (unless of course you read them). Off the library. I have some books to catch up on lol ([email protected])
Wow! Great contest!! My favorite character is jack!! I luv him :)
mariannguyen16(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Ooh, awesome thank you so much for the giveaway! You can definitely cound me in. :)
Suz @ A Soul Unsung
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My favorite character is Jack, he's such a sweetheart to Sky!
Thanks
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I love Mimi! She's so much fun :)
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It's hard to choose, but I'm going with Oliver.