Book Spotlight - Combustible by Al Riske + Giveaway

About The Book:

Title: COMBUSTIBLE

Author: Al Riske

Pub. Date: May 16, 2021

Publisher: Al Riske

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Pages: 183

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, TBD, Bookshop.org

Read for FREE with a Kindle Unlimited Membership!

It’s that summer between the end of high school and the start of something else. Dean Stockton and Curt Hutton are best friends, and more often than not you can find them rowing on the Rogue River at dawn.

Together they experience something they will never be able to describe adequately. But then they won’t really need to. Not to each other. It’s that moment of swing when rowers find the rhythm and everything falls into place. The shell seems to lift right out of the water.

Enter Isabelle Smiley. She’s beautiful yet insecure, knowing yet innocent, and crazy about Curt in a way that no girl has ever been crazy about Dean. She wants Curt to choose a college closer to home than the one he and Dean have selected—and she can be persuasive.

“I’d never be able to hold out against a girl like Smiley,” Dean admits.

“Don’t say that,” Curt replies. “I told her she’d have to convince you, too.”

Everyone is conflicted in this story of friendship, lust, and life-changing choices. Only one thing seems certain to all of them: If Smiley strikes a match, Dean will catch fire.

Reviews:

"Sharply drawn and deceptively quiet, Combustible is an excellent novel that lingers in the mind long after completion. I loved it." - Mark Richardson, author of The Sun Casts No Shadow. 

"Combustible is a wonderful story ... The author did a great job of bringing each character to life ... I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a light read with a satisfying plot and interesting characters."- Kristi Elizabeth, San Francisco Book Review

 

About Al Riske:

AL RISKE is the author of Precarious, Sabrina's Window, The Possibility of Snow, Then We'd Be Happy, and Combustible. He has worked as a newspaper reporter, magazine editor, and ghostwriter. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, he now lives in California with his wife, Joanne, and their dog, Bodie.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon

 

Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a $10 Amazon Gift Card, International.

10 Winners will win a finished copy of COMBUSTIBLE, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

1/17/2022	Rockstar Book Tours	Kickoff Post
1/17/2022	Mythical Books	Excerpt
1/18/2022	Writer of Wrongs	Excerpt
1/18/2022	YABooksCentral	Excerpt
1/19/2022	Two Chicks on Books	Excerpt
1/19/2022	@jaimerockstarbooktour	IG Post
1/20/2022	BookHounds	Guest Post
1/20/2022	Jaime's Book World	Excerpt
1/21/2022	Rajiv's Reviews	Review/IG Post
1/21/2022	Wottaread	Excerpt

Week Two:

1/24/2022	More Books Please blog	Review
1/24/2022	@sunnydeelights	Review
1/25/2022	#BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog	Review
1/25/2022	The Momma Spot	Review
1/26/2022	Coffee and Wander Book Reviews	Review/IG Post
1/26/2022	Fire and Ice	Review
1/27/2022	OneMoreExclamation	Review/IG Post
1/27/2022	Two Points of Interest	Review
1/28/2022	Karen Dee's Book Reviews	Review
1/28/2022	@jypsylynn	Review

Book Spotlight - When the World Turned Upside Down by K. Ibura + Giveaway

 

About the Book:

Title: WHEN THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN

Author: K. Ibura

Pub. Date: February 1, 2022

Publisher:  Scholastic Press

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook

Pages: 288

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org

What do you do when the world shuts down? A heartwarming story of friendship and overcoming adversity in a time of COVID, When the World Turns Upside Down is about community, giving back, and understanding the world around us through the power of generosity from debut middle grade author K. Ibura.

Nobody expected a tiny little virus to change the whole world in such a big way, especially not Shayla, Liam, Ai, and Ben. But when school closes to keep everyone safe, their lives turn upside down. It is one thing to learn that the outside world isn’t safe, but why does it seem that the virus is causing trouble inside their homes too?

As they each struggle to adjust to life in quarantine, they discover they are not alone: their apartment building is full of people who need their help. Working together, they begin to see that there is power in numbers. When they cooperate, they can ease each other’s challenges and help their neighbors through tough times. It’s a lesson they’ll need when protests explode in the streets. Soon, each friend has to decide what it means to be part of a community—and how much they’re willing to do to make this world safer for everyone.

Set against the onset of COVID, When the World Turned Upside Down navigates issues of race and social justice in a heartwarming story of generosity, friendship, and the power of youth.

Reviews:

“When The World Turned Upside Down is as clear-eyed as it is engaging, as timely as it is timeless. I fell in love with every single student in this book. And days after reading it, each of them remains with me.” ― Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award-winning author of Brown Girl Dreaming“

A beautifully written story that will inspire young readers to work for positive change even in times of turmoil and stress. This book reminds readers that all of us can make an impact and find ways to shine bright.” ―Angela Cervantes, author of Pura Belpré Honor Book Lety Out Loud"

A hope-filled book dealing with the struggles children face in extraordinary times, K. Ibura has crafted a story perfect for young readers looking to make sense of current events. Timely and important." – Adrianna Cuevas, author of Pura Belpré Honor Book The Total Eclipse of Nestor López and Cuba In My Pocket

"A heartwarming call to action." -- Kirkus Reviews

  About K. Ibura:

K. IBURA is an essayist, science fiction and fantasy short story writer, and painter from New Orleans, Louisiana. The middle child of five in a family of human rights activists, she grew up in a hardscrabble neighborhood with oak and fig trees, locusts and mosquitoes, cousins and neighbors. Her short story collection Ancient, Ancient won the James Tiptree, Jr. Award for 2012. Ibura’s debut YA novel will be coming out with Alloy and Harper Teen in spring 2022.

 

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon

 

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will receive a finished copy of WHEN THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

1/17/2022	YA Books Central	Excerpt
1/17/2022	Kait Plus Books	Excerpt
1/18/2022	For the Love of KidLit	Excerpt
1/18/2022	The Reading Wordsmith	Review
1/19/2022	Bibliosini	Review
1/19/2022	Rajiv's Reviews	Review
1/20/2022	Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers	Review
1/20/2022	Nerdophiles	Review
1/21/2022	Books Are Magic Too	Review
1/21/2022	Pick a good book	Review

Week Two:

1/24/2022	Two Points of Interest	Review
1/24/2022	Not In Jersey	Review
1/25/2022	Hauntedbybooks	Review
1/25/2022	The Book Review Crew	Review
1/26/2022	The Momma Spot	Review
1/26/2022	Bookhounds YA	Review
1/27/2022	Lifestyle of Me	Review
1/27/2022	Perusewithcoffee	Review
1/28/2022	PopTheButterfly Reads	Review
1/28/2022	Cindy's Love of Books	Review

Book Spotlight - Wider than the Sky by Katherine Rothschild + Giveaway

 

About The Book:

Title: WIDER THAN THE SKY

Author: Katherine Rothschild

Paperback Pub. Date:  December 7, 2021

Publisher: Soho Teen

Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, Audiobook

Pages: 288

Find it:  Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org

In the wake of sudden tragedy, twin sisters uncover a secret that rips open their world. Katherine Rothschild explores the pain and power of forgiveness in a stunning debut novel that will shatter your heart and piece it back together, one truth at a time.

Sixteen-year-old Sabine Braxton doesn’t have much in common with her identical twin, Blythe. When their father dies from an unexpected illness, each copes with the loss in her own way—Sabine by “poeting” (an uncontrollable quirk of bursting into poetry at inappropriate moments) and Blythe by obsessing over getting into MIT, their father’s alma mater. Neither can offer each other much support . . . at least not until their emotionally detached mother moves them into a ramshackle Bay Area mansion owned by a stranger named Charlie.

Soon, the sisters unite in a mission to figure out who Charlie is and why he seems to know everything about them. They make a life-changing discovery:their parents were hiding secrets about their sexual identities. The revelation unravels Sabine’s world, while practical Blythe seems to take everything in stride. Once again at odds with her sister, Sabine chooses to learn all she can about the father she never knew. Ultimately, she must decide if she can embrace his last wish for a family legacy--even if it means accepting a new idea of what it means to be a family.

 

Praise for Wider than the Sky

“Sabine’s struggle to reconcile her memory of her father with the man he really was—and to make room in her life for his hopes as well as her own—cuts to the heart of what it means to love someone unconditionally. Wider than the Sky skillfully weaves multiple character arcs together to examine the ideas of home, hope, and family in surprising new ways.”—Misa Sugiura, It's Not Like It's a Secret

"Lyrical and lovely, Wider than the Sky is one of those rare books that has everything—masterful storytelling, a great love story, important themes, razor-sharp wit, and memorable characters. It's a gorgeous debut that will capture your heart."—Corina Vacco, Delacorte Prize–winning author of My Chemical Mountain
 
“I haven’t stopped thinking about these sisters since I first read Wider than the Sky. Sabine and Blythe will leap off the page and live in your memories like old friends. There is so much heart and humor in Katherine’s writing; even as her characters grapple with serious concerns and issues, she captures how life can slice us open and yet give us the ability to laugh and love and hope through the deepest pain and loss.”—Jennifer Chambliss Bertman, New York Times bestselling author of Book Scavenger

“Rothschild’s story showcases how secrets impede a person’s ability to see the world clearly and that self-acceptance and honesty are the keys to a happy ending.”—School Library Journal

“Change comes suddenly to the lives of 16-year-old Sabine and her identical twin sister, Blythe, when their father dies unexpectedly, prompting their mother and a strange man named Charlie to move the girls to the small town of Thornewood . . . Rothschild’s first novel is accomplished and nicely plot-rich with some interesting quirks, chief among them being Sabine’s deep-rooted love for Emily Dickinson’s poetry and her compulsive need to recite it.”—Booklist

“Kath Rothschild’s Wider than the Sky is pitch perfect! Young adult readers will fall in love with her wonderfully quirky narrator Sabine and her swoony romance with Kai. Combine that with family secrets and a mysterious stranger and you have the ingredients for a compelling read. I cannot wait to put it in the hands of my young customers!”—Kathleen Caldwell, A Great Good Place for Books (Oakland, CA)

 

About Katherine Rothschild:

Katherine Rothschild is a Lecturer in the Program in Writing and Rhetoric at Stanford University, a former ballet and Arabic dance instructor, and an obsessive Twitter food truck-follower. Her first-person essays have been published on KQED/NPR, in The San Francisco Chronicle, and other Bay Area and California publications. She holds an MFA in Fiction Writing, a PhD in Composition and Applied Linguistics, has received artist’s grants from Vermont Studio Center and Kindlings West, and is a longtime member of the SCBWI. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family. Her debut novel is Wider Than the Sky from Soho Teen. Find her on Twitter @Kath_Rothschild.

Website  | Facebook  | Twitter  | Instagram | Pinterest | Goodreads

 

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will win a hardcover copy of WIDER THAN THE SKY, US Only.

3 winners will win a paperback copy of WIDER THAN THE SKY, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One: 

12/6/2021	BookHounds YA	Promo Post
12/7/2021	Kait Plus Books	Promo Post
12/8/2021	perusewithcoffee	Promo Post
12/9/2021	Mythical Books	Promo Post
12/10/2021	Phannie the ginger bookworm	Promo Post
12/11/2021	GivernyReads	Promo Post

Week Two:

12/12/2021	Lifestyle of Me	Promo Post
12/13/2021	Nonbinary Knight Reads	Promo Post
12/14/2021	Eye-Rolling Demigod's Book Blog	Promo Post
12/15/2021	100 Pages A Day	Promo Post
12/16/2021	Two Chicks on Books	Promo Post
12/17/2021	Never Hollowed By The Stare	Promo Post
12/18/2021	@readingwordsmith	Review

Week Three:

12/19/2021	The Momma Spot	Promo Post
12/20/2021	Eli to the nth	Review
12/21/2021	Emelie's Books	Review
12/22/2021	Two points of interest	Review
12/23/2021	Rajiv's Reviews	Review
12/24/2021	#BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog	Promo Post
12/25/2021	Karen Dee's Book Reviews	Review

Week Four:

12/26/2021	@jypsylynn	Review
12/27/2021	@thebookishfoxwitch	Review
12/28/2021	brittreadsalattebooks	Review
12/29/2021	My Fictional Oasis	Review
12/30/2021	@coffeesipsandreads	Promo Post
12/31/2021	Lexijava	Review