The Best of Books Bloghop, Peeps

The Top Five (I chose six) Best Books of 2013 For Teens and Young Adults, Peeps. I'm going to name mine and then you can follow the hop to see the books that others chose. It's all happening over at Diane Estrella's house, y'all! So without further adieu, here are my picks. (My reviews are limited to one sentence. I have had an awful earache.) But I LOVED all of these.


 CassaStorm by Alex J. Cavanaugh

Sci-fi at its best. I rate this entire series A+. Alex teaches writers about world building. (I actually forgot to add this one and it is my favorite book.) Maybe my brains fell out my ear and that's why it's hurting. 

 



Being Henry David by Cal Armistead

Can anyone holler full of suspense? You HAVE to read this. Especially teen boys. Talk about well written. This is Cal's debut. WOWOWOW!!!!!!!!

A Moment Comes by Jennifer Bradbury

Historical fiction, y'all! I loved it.

Earth Girl by Janet Edwards

A disabled teen in future earth. Recommended for sci-fi peeps.

Fireborn From the "Dragonborn" series, volume 1 by Toby Forward This is the prequel to Dragonborn.  

Haunting. I do mean that too! Excellent fantasy about magic. (This one just came out in Dec.) I could NOT put it down. 

 

Moonless by Crystal Collier

 Talk about power packed and intriguing. For my review, click here. Must read. Crystal is a writing pal of mine. But that in no way influenced my decision for the top five pick. You have to read it!

 

 

 

  

Every Charm Has a Story Y'all!

Let's talk charms, okay? This past summer a bunch of writers got together, for the love of writing, thanks to Sally Odgers. She's the sweet angel who brought us all together to do this project. Can you imagine what happens when writers write for the sheer absolute fun of it (and they are not worried about time constraints, will the editor/agent love my baby)? The stories are so well done. Sally is an amazing person/editor/all around sweetheart.I love being associated with my pals, Theresa Milstein, Mia Milstein (Theresa's daughter and quite a writer in her own right) Sharon Mayhew, Lenny Lee (Yay Lenny!), Susanna Hill, Cheryl Secomb,  illustration by Ellen Injerd (Cheryl's daughter),and Clarike Bowman-Jahn.

PREMISE:
Imogen, Ashton, Joshua and Hannah,  aged five, eight, eleven and thirteen, find a china crock in the attic of a house being renovated as a boutique hotel. Since the crock has no identifiable owners, they open it. Inside is a hoard of metal charms.

I chose the cowboy boots charm. Each of these charms has an associated story or poem, which will be written by contributing authors. The charms come in a wide variety of anything from anchors to dinosaurs, elephants, hats, shoes, roses, clocks and so on. Each contributor received a charm by post or email, and the charm inspired a story or poem.

The stories stand alone, each having its own characters, theme, setting and period. The four children above do NOT appear in the stories. Neither does the attic setting. The linking text joins them so each story will address something of interest to one of the bracket-story children.

These anthologies are filled with the stories, poems, and illustrations of authors you know. The anthologies together make a fantasy novel but each can stand on their own. They are beautiful. You have to order through the contributors. I'll be glad to order for you at cost + shipping. You'll be glad you did.

Just shoot me an email. They make great Christmas presents. :-)

Sharon Mayhew is having a giveaway for volume 2.