Sleuth or Dare series by Kim Harrington

Partners in Crime, Sleepover Stakeout, & Framed and Dangerous by Kim Harrington
"Whodunit?

When best friends Darcy and Norah have to create a fake business for a school assignment, they come up with a great idea: a detective agency! Darcy loves mysteries, and Norah likes helping people, so it's a perfect fit.

But then their pretend agency gets a real case. Someone is missing, and it's up to Darcy and Norah to take on the search. Unfortunately, there's someone else out there who doesn't want the two detectives stirring up any trouble. . . .

With the help of hidden clues, spy gadgets, and trusted friends, can Darcy and Norah crack the case in time?"- Book 1 summary from Amazon

You guys, this is such a cute little middle-grade series and I'm so glad I checked these books out of the library. I really enjoyed Harrington's debut and have been trying to fit her other books into my reading schedule but it's so hard to find time! These are some really quick reads (all at less than 200 pages) and Norah is such a fun main character. Harrington writes these in such a great way and it's hard to put the books down! I always wanted to see how the mystery was going to turn out and just what exactly was going on!

Darcy and Norah's friendship is at the center of the series and it's really nice to see that. They work really well together and I loved following along with them on their crime-solving. There is also a cute little romance that flows through all three books and Harrington handles it really well and it's simply adorable.

Overall, a wonderfully creative trilogy (with crime cases that stand alone in each book) for anyone loving a little mystery!

FTC: Borrowed all 3 books from the library. Links above are Amazon Associate links; any profit goes toward funding contests.

Blog Tour- Broken by CJ Lyons

Broken by CJ Lyons
"Fifteen-year-old Scarlet Killian has one chance for a normal life. Only problem? It just might kill her. Diagnosed with a rare and untreatable heart condition, Scarlet has never taken the school bus. Or giggled with friends during lunch. Or spied on a crush out of the corner of her eye. Scarlet has come to terms with the fact that despite the best efforts of her doctors and parents, she's going to die. Literally of a broken heart. So when her parents offer her a week to prove she can survive high school, Scarlet knows her time is now... or never.

Scarlet can feel her heart beating out of control with every slammed locker and every sideways glance in the hallway. But for the first time in her life she makes real friends. She also makes new discoveries about the truth behind her illness... a truth that might just kill her before her heart does."- summary from publisher

I liked this book and it was interesting to read a story with this particular angle, and Lyons does a good job educating the reader about this rare disease without it seeming too much of an info-dump. Scarlet is a great main character, and I do think readers will identify with her and enjoy her sense of humor as well as the wonder of being in a high school and learning one's way around. There is kind of a love triangle (and a little insta-love but there is some good chemistry between them shown throughout the book) but it never really becomes fully-formed due to one of the guys really being more of a protector than a real love interest, which I liked.

The thriller aspect seemed a bit tagged on. There's some hints here and there throughout the book but it really doesn't get going until like the last 75 pages or so which makes it feel a bit rushed. I also didn't feel enough closure at the end of the book; I was really hoping for a bit more.

Overall, Lyons has written a wonderful, engaging YA debut and I cannot wait to see what she writes next!

and here's an interview with CJ:

1) How did you get the idea for Broken?

Scarlet’s character is loosely based on my own experiences as a pediatrician. I diagnosed my niece, Abby, with the same congenital heart condition, Long QT, when Abby was only twenty minutes old and BROKEN is dedicated to her.

Watching my niece refuse to allow her disease to define her was such a contrast to some other patients’ parents who would insist on making their child’s disease (most not life-threatening) the center of the child’s world that I couldn’t help but wonder what would it be like to grow up being treated as a “patient” all your life, or worse as the “dying girl,” rather than ever having the chance to figure out who you really were, dying or not.

What better disease to give a character like that than something rare and hard to diagnose and treat like Long QT? Of course, Scarlet is nothing at all like my niece (the best adjective to describe my niece would be “fierce” whereas Scarlet is very naïve and used to being controlled by the adults in her life) but by having Scarlet start the story as someone unsure of who she really is as a person, it makes her struggle and transformation as she faces the truth behind her illness all the more powerful.

After all, it’s easy for someone who is already strong to stand up to bullies or uncertainty or injustice…but how does a kid who has lived all her life in a hospital, basically just waiting to die, learn how to be a hero and find her destiny?


2) What are you working on currently? Can you tell us anything about it?

I just turned in my second YA Thriller and this one was so hard to write! It deals with two kids, Jesse and Miranda, being blackmailed by a cyber-predator using capping (screen capture images) and how they find the courage to stand up to him (with the help of their parents). They go through hell and some of the things that happen to them were so painful to write that I was weeping as I typed—but then I was crying again when I wrote the ending as they rose above it all and triumphed.

I thought it would be a stand alone, but after I finished it (the working title is DAMAGED, but I’m not sure if we’ll be keeping it) I realized there aren’t many books out there that tell you the rest of the story, the price to be paid for defeating the bad guys, so I’d love to tackle another book with Jesse and Miranda and show how their courage, strength, and relationship continue to evolve.


3) What is your favorite Jelly Belly jelly bean flavor(s)? Or, if you don't like those, a favorite snack to have while writing or as a reward for writing?

Watermelon, I especially love how it’s green on the outside and pink on the inside, yet tastes nothing like a real watermelon...it’s like gobbling down an abstract expressionist painting!


4) You created this program called Buy a Book, Make a Difference. How did that get started, and tell us how people can help.

I lost a dear friend during my pediatric internship. Thanks to the work of dedicated police officers and forensic experts, his killer was caught. But there are some areas of the country where crimes go unsolved and killers go free because of a lack of forensic training.

After I hit #2 on the New York Times bestseller list, I wanted to give something back—both to honor Jeff’s memory as well as my readers’ generosity. I began the Buy a Book, Make a Difference (http://cjlyons.net/buy-a-book-make-a-difference/) program to raise funds for worthy charities (for BROKEN, we donated to American Heart Association, we’ve also given to Reading is Fundamental, Doctors without Borders, and St Judes Children’s Hospital) and also to create scholarships in Jeff’s name.

So far we’ve created fifty-four CSI scholarships for police officers from underfunded communities all over the US and Puerto Rico.

The best way people can help is to share this link: http://www.sirchie.com/training/training-programs/farkasscholarship.html (it goes directly to the Sirchie forensic institute’s page with info on the scholarships, not to my site) with their local law enforcement departments and let them know that if they need the training, there’s someone willing to help.


5) Broken is your YA debut. Had you read much YA before attempting your own? What do you like most about writing YA?

I’ve always loved reading YA and everyone kept telling me that as a pediatrician, I should write it. But honestly, I never found a story that I thought was worthy of my kids—my patients—until BROKEN. Writing for kids is tons tougher than writing for adults. Most grownups read for entertainment, but kids read for so much more. They want to vicariously experience the world and the choices they’ll be expected to make as adults as well as learn who they are and how they can fit into that larger universe once they’re the ones in charge.

Funny thing is, once I began BROKEN and found my YA voice (very different than my adult thrillers’ narrative voice), I realized I could be much more emotionally honest than with my adult work—which also meant I could tell edgier stories. After finishing BROKEN, I now have ideas for more YA thrillers and can’t wait to write them!


6) What book(s) are you currently reading, or are about to start?

I just finished Jess Shirvington’s Endless, am working my way through the awesome Wonderbook (a must read for all writers!) by Jeff Vandermeer, am re-reading Pat Conroy’s Prince of Tides, juggling a few nonfiction research books on psychopaths, stalking, and surviving disasters, and am getting ready to start an advance copy of Lisa Gardner’s Fear Nothing…can you tell my greatest fear is being stranded without a book, lol!


About CJ:
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of twenty-one novels, former pediatric ER doctor CJ Lyons has lived the life she writes about in her cutting edge Thrillers with Heart.

Winner of the International Thriller Writers’ coveted Thriller Award, CJ has been called a "master within the genre" (Pittsburgh Magazine) and her work has been praised as "breathtakingly fast-paced" and "riveting" (Publishers Weekly) with "characters with beating hearts and three dimensions" (Newsday).

Learn more about CJ's Thrillers with Heart at www.CJLyons.net

Zits: Chillax by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

Zits: Chillax by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman
"In Zits: Chillax, Jeremy Duncan, high school sophomore and future rock god, offers up a comedic outlook on teenage life, including school, parents, chores, bands, and friends.

Jeremy and his best friend, Hector Garcia, are planning to achieve a lifelong dream…going to a rock concert! Without parental supervision. But the Gingivitis concert falls on the same night their friend Tim is donating bone marrow for his mom, a cancer patient. Not a problem: Jeremy and Hector are determined to go to the show…for Tim."- summary from Amazon

I absolutely love the comic strip Zits and had no idea it was getting the novel treatment like Big Nate before it until I received the ARC in the mail. I was very excited about reading this book and it contained a lot of the same humor it's known for in the strip, and it is nice to see these characters a little more fleshed out. But at the same time, I just didn't think it worked really well as a novel. It felt a little bit forced and Jeremy's voice just didn't seem realistic. It's a quick read, but there were times I wanted to put the book down and just move on to something else. It's not that it's a bad book by any means but it's not something I'd suggest you run out and get. It's a library read that'd be good for fans of the comic strip and reluctant boy readers. One of the other things that felt a bit weird too was the artwork in the book; obviously, it makes sense since it came from a comic strip but in a teen novel, just makes it feel very young. It works for Big Nate since that's for middle-graders, but teen readers might feel a little weird reading a book with drawings in it.

Overall, an average book based on an amazing comic strip.

FTC: Received ARC from publisher. Link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.

The Truth About You and Me by Amanda Grace

The Truth About You and Me by Amanda Grace
"On her first day at Green River Community College, Madelyn Hawkins meets Bennett Cartwright, her biology professor. He’s funny. He’s interested. And he has no idea that Madelyn is only sixteen.

When they’re together, Madelyn feels more alive than she’s ever felt before. And she knows Bennett feels the same way. She also knows that if she tells him her real age, their relationship will be over.

So Madelyn makes a simple decision.
She won’t tell him."- summary from Amazon

This is my first Amanda Grace book (though I've read her real life alter-ego Mandy Hubbard) and it certainly won't be my last. I absolutely enjoyed this book and it's such a departure from the usual plotline of these kinds of books. I liked that the underage girl wanted the relationship and pushed for it; there's a real relationship here, aside from that secret (which shouldn't matter at all, in my opinion). I'm sure quite a few people will be put off by the age difference and the whole teacher/student thing, but that didn't bother me at all. I don't necessarily know what Grace wants to say with this book, but for me, it showed that not all of these relationships are bad or that the teacher is a predator or whatever.

I liked how Grace told the book through Madelyn writing the letter to Bennett and there's some interesting reveals as the book goes on, utilizing that format. It's a good way of telling the story, looking back on it from present day and the events that had unfolded.

Overall, a really well-written, emotional and, yes, romantic book. I definitely recommend it and I'm excited to go back and read previous titles from Grace.

FTC: Received e-galley from Netgalley. Link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.

Guest Blog- Johanna Parkhurst

Wait, you want little ol’ me to write a guest blog?! Thank you SO MUCH, Book Chic! Especially because you knew I was going to get on a soapbox and you invited me anyway. Just give me a second here while I climb up on said soapbox…there we go. Let’s get started.

I’m a middle school teacher/curriculum writer who’s been a proponent of having more books with LGBT characters in schools for quite some time now. Then I wrote a young adult novel, Here’s to You, Zeb Pike, that stars two gay teenage boys. So I don’t think it’s too surprising to anyone that I’ve been writing and reading a lot lately about the importance of having LGBT literature in schools.

But let’s face it. While many great teachers are all about showcasing diverse literature in their classrooms, this subject gets teachers fired. Parents get angry. School boards get weird. Tennessee tries (over and over) to pass laws saying that you can’t even use the word gay in a classroom. As important as it is that teachers stand up for LGBT lit in their classrooms, it ain’t always easy.

I get it. I’ve been there. Lemme tell you a story about it.

My second year of teaching, I had this student. We’ll call him Drew. Drew was possibly one of the sweetest students I’ve ever taught. Kind, curious, open-minded. And apt to say things like this to me in passing:
“I don’t understand why all the other boys in 8th grade are always talking about girls’ butts and boobs. Don’t they understand it’s their minds that matter?”

“I have this amazing Karen Carpenter CD I’d love to bring in to share with Creative Writing class tomorrow. Do you know about Karen Carpenter? I think everyone should.”

Drew and I were pretty tight, for a teacher and a 13-year-old boy who kept espousing the virtues of a 70s pop star. I tried hard to give him space to be himself—and just to be clear, I wouldn’t even venture a guess as to exactly what Drew’s identity was or has turned out to be. But both Drew and I knew that he was different from the other boys in his class.

At the time (this was circa 2005) it didn’t even occur to me to stack my classroom library with books about kids who didn’t like girls’ boobs and were obsessed with “Close to You.” For one thing, there weren’t many YA books like that readily available then. For another, I didn’t feel super empowered to introduce more diverse literature into my school. I was working in a pretty conservative area of the world back then: Colorado Springs. Surely you’ve heard of it? Home of Focus on the Family?

I bet Drew turned out okay despite this lack of diverse literature in his middle school language arts classes. I lost track of him a few years ago, but I have a strong feeling he’s fine. Drew was always going to find a group of drummers to march with, no matter what beat he was stamping out at the moment.

Whether or not he’s okay isn’t really the point, though. Drew deserved to see his own ideas and feelings represented in the books I taught and put in his classroom. He needed me to go to bat for such books.

I’ve thought back on that year in my teaching career a lot. I’ve been very lucky since then, and for the last few years I’ve worked in schools where diverse literature is appreciated. My current students have phenomenal access to books with LGBT characters. But sometimes I wonder: what would I do if I was still back at that school, and Drew and I were still hanging out and discussing As Time Goes By?

Well, here’s what I think I’d do now.

For one thing, I’d start small—no need to start teaching Will Grayson, Will Grayson on the first day of school when James Dobson’s living down the street. I’d get the conversation started by walking up to my principal with a book order for items like Breaking Boxes by A.M. Jenkins, On the Right Track by Sam Kadence, and Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher. And if my principal had any of the following responses to my request, here’s what I like to think the new, more learn-ed me would say.

RESPONSE #1: Something along of the lines of “Kids this age are so young. We might be influencing them to believe they’re something that they’re really not.”

MORE LEARN-ED ME: “Do you ever worry that you’re convincing a girl to be straight when you give her a Sarah Dessen book? My girl Sarah sure isn’t worried about that.” (And by “my girl,” I mean that I follow her obsessively on Twitter.)

RESPONSE #2: The classic “Parents will complain.”

MORE LEARN-ED ME: “With all due respect, if a parent complained that they didn’t want a book about an Asian character in their kid’s library, how would you respond to that? Shouldn’t we keep the responses to discriminatory censorship requests the same across the board?”

RESPONSE #3: (Awkwardly, because it’s an awkward topic for middle school administrators) “Books about sexual orientations and gender generally involve sexual topics.”

MORE LEARN-ED ME: “Due respect stays the same, but that’s just not true. Plenty of picture books feature LGBT characters. This isn’t about introducing students to ideas about sex, it’s about introducing students to all different types of people. Heather has two mommies no matter what age she is.”

That’s pretty much the heart of it, you know? Tim Federle, author of Better Nate than Never, wrote this great article for the Huffington Post that puts it faaaar better than I ever could: “All kinds of people deserve all kinds of stories. When we support books that feature diverse kids, we're telling those kids that we support them too, that they are, more than anything, OK. The opposite is true when we shut those kinds of books down.”

Well said, Tim.

So Drew, wherever you are, I’m sorry I wasn’t learn-ed enough back then to give you all kinds of stories with all kinds of characters. I hope someday you come across a copy of Here’s to You, Zeb Pike and know that you, and every other student I ever taught who was “different,” inspired those characters.

And thanks for giving me an appreciation of Karen Carpenter that I might otherwise have missed out on. Though I have to admit that I still don’t get the fascination.

Johanna Parkhurst grew up on a small dairy farm in northern Vermont before relocating to the rocky mountains of Colorado. She spends her days helping teenagers learn to read and write and her evenings writing things she hopes they’ll like to read. She strives to share stories of young adults who are as determined, passionate, and complex as the ones she shares classrooms with.

Johanna holds degrees from Albertus Magnus College and Teachers College, Columbia University. She loves traveling, hiking, skiing, watching football, and spending time with her incredibly supportive husband. You can contact her at johannawriteson@gmail.com or find her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/johannawriteson.

Johanna's book Here's to You, Zeb Pike is in stores now and can be ordered online from Amazon and other online stores. You can find out more about Johanna at her Facebook page and you can add her book on Goodreads.