October 2015 – Page 3

Spotlight On: The Protector Project!

Posted on October 9, 2015October 6, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Protector Project by Jenna Lincoln

Release Date: 6/15/15 Boroughs Publishing Group

Summary from Goodreads:

Teen soldier Mara de la Luz is about to find out what makes her so special that some would kidnap and kill her—and others, willingly die for her. ENDLESS CARNAGE. ENDLESS QUESTIONS. Mara is a 16-year-old soldier who’s spent years fighting a war that’s lasted generations. Wide-eyed children, some just turned thirteen, rarely survive their first fights despite her best efforts to train and lead them.

What she thinks she wants is to uncover the root causes of the war between the Protectors and the masked Gaishan, maybe find a way to end it. But what she really wants is a future—for herself and the others—beyond the battlefield. Then she’s injured in combat, and when an enemy fighter not only heals her wounds but reveals his face, she sees the promise of all she desires. This cunning teen Gaishan has answers to her questions, but first she must commit treason and travel beyond the boundaries of her world. She must brave a place where everything rests on the point of a blade: her loyalties, her friends, her heart.

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About the Author

Jenna Lincoln loves to read, write, and talk about reading and writing. She spent many happy years as a language arts teacher doing just those things. After dabbling in Firefly and Supernatural fan fiction,Jenna got serious about building her own imaginary world, big enough to get lost in for a long, long time.

When she comes back to reality, Jenna enjoys her home in beautiful Colorado with her husband and two daughters.

Author Links:

Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook

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Book Tour Organized by:

YA Bound Book Tours

Fantasy, Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

A Tale of Light & Shadow – Good, old-fashioned adventure and romance!

Posted on October 8, 2015October 7, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

A Tale of Light & Shadow, by Jacob Gowans (2014, Shadow Mountain), $9.99 (paperback), ISBN: 978-1609079819

Recommended for ages 12+

The world of Atolas is a world where emperors and kings rule the land. Wealth determines one’s place in society, and social stations carry more weight with some of the populace than with others. Isabelle and Henry have grown up side by side and have fallen in love. Henry, a prosperous carpenter, wants to marry Isabelle, whose wealth is in name alone, but her father won’t allow it. When her father turns to a terrible way to get Isabelle out of the way and get to her mother’s gold, Henry comes to her rescue – and their group, including their siblings, Henry’s childhood friend, Ruther, and Henry’s apprentice, Brandol – find themselves on the run from the Emperor’s guard. There are rough times ahead for Isabelle, Henry, and their group. There will be betrayals, secrets, and a hard journey to freedom for them all.

I really enjoyed this book, the first in a new series by author Jacob Gowans. It reminds me of an old-school adventure, with the young lovers in peril, the hidden betrayer, an epic journey both in body and in spirit – each of the characters in the group goes through emotional upheaval through the course of the book – and a thread of magic that promises to grow stronger as we progress through the series. I love this book because it’s the kind of book I can give to my more conservative teens, my teens who love a good romance, and my teens who love an epic fantasy. It’s a relatively clean book – there’s some battle violence and references to concubines – but it’s within acceptable levels for teen reading. Fans of older movies will be drawn into the sprawling lands and hero’s journey that lays ahead. The ending of the book promises a sequel that will pick up where this first book leaves off.

Speaking of that second book, guess what’s next on my night table? So get ready, check out A Tale of Light and Shadow, and get yourselves up to speed for the next book in the series, Secrets of Neverak.

Fantasy, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Check out Cinderella’s Shoes by Shonna Slayton!

Posted on October 8, 2015October 7, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Cinderella’s Shoes by Shonna Slayton

Release Date: 10/06/15, Entangled Teen

Summary from Goodreads:

The war may be over, but Kate Allen’s life is still in upheaval. Not only has she discovered that Cinderella was real, but now she’s been made Keeper of the Wardrobe, her sole responsibility to protect Cinderella’s magical dresses from the greed of the evil stepsisters’ modern descendants.

But Cinderella’s dresses are just the beginning. It turns out that the priceless glass slippers might actually exist, too, and they could hold the power to reunite lost loved ones like her father—missing in action since World War II ended. As Kate and her boyfriend, Johnny, embark on an adventure from New York to Italy and Poland in search of the mysterious slippers, they will be tested in ways they never imagined.

Because when you harness Cinderella’s magic, danger and evil are sure to follow…

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Don’t forget to add the first book in the series, Cinderella’s Dress, to your reading list!

Goodreads│Amazon│Barnes & Noble│iBooks

About the Author

SHONNA SLAYTON is the author of the YA novels Cinderella’s Dress, (Summer 2014) and Cinderella’s Shoes (Fall 2015) published by Entangled Teen. She finds inspiration in reading vintage diaries written by teens, who despite using different slang, sound a lot like teenagers today. When not writing, Shonna enjoys amaretto lattes and spending time with her husband and children in Arizona.

Author Links:

Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook

From the Author… My Cinderella Shoes

In high school, one of my prized possessions was a pair of mint green Chuck Taylor All Stars. To fully understand the uniqueness of these shoes you have to know that I lived in a small town (aka very few stores, and none of them selling Chucks.)

I don’t know when my obsession with these shoes started. Probably from an ad in a magazine! But I so wanted a pair.

I couldn’t buy them off the internet because back in the day…no internet! *gasp*

Finally, on an unexpected trip to Calgary, Alberta during spring break I found a store at the mall selling Chucks. It took all the money I had with me, but I bought those shoes (and a T-shirt saying “Get your Yucks in Chucks.”) Then a few weeks later, one of my friends took a trip to Vancouver, BC and came back with a peach pair.

Being the same shoe size, we swapped one shoe each and wore two different colored shoes—mint and peach—until the end of the school year.

My feet grew a half-size since then, but I kept the Chucks. They are in one last box of my belongings left at my parent’s house. I thought maybe my daughter might want to wear a pair of retro shoes one day.

The History Behind the Story of Cinderella’s Shoes

Cinderella’s Shoes is set during the summer of 1947, and takes place mostly in Europe. Have you ever thought about what life was like in Europe after World War II?

Well, immediately after the war ended in 1945, life was about the same as it was during the war. Roads and railroads were still bombed out. Bridges were still out of commission. Food was still rationed. And the black market was still the place to get the products you really wanted.

People were angry. Some wanted revenge. And who exactly was in charge of keeping the peace?

This is the background my European characters are coming out of when my American characters arrive on the scene.

In my research, I read about many of the atrocities committed during the war, and those that were allowed to happen immediately afterward to “help” people deal with their emotions and settle back into regular, non-wartime life. (For example, Google: WWII head shaving.)

Various countries handled this change in power differently, and this transitional time led to the rise of communism in Poland, the heart of my Cinderella stories.

But Cinderella’s Shoes is mostly a fairy-tale story, so I don’t go into gruesome details, just hint at events that might have occurred in my character’s lives. However, I couldn’t avoid the setting, nor could I forget what I had learned. Neither could my characters.

Book Tour Organized by:

YA Bound Book Tours

Fantasy, Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

YA Fantasy with Greg Johnson’s Beyond the Red Mountains

Posted on October 7, 2015October 7, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Beyond the Red Mountains, by Greg Johnson (June 2015, Morgan James Fiction), $26.95, ISBN: 978-1630474348

Recommended for ages 14+

Teenagers Kelvin and Elizabeth are from two different worlds – or so they think. Kelvin, an apprentice fisherman, comes from a land called Triopolis, ruled by a corrupt bishop. Elizabeth, orphaned as a child, has been raised to marry the future king – a marriage that exists on paper only. When Kelvin and his mentor, Henry, end up in Elizabeth’s land of Westville, it’s the first each of them have heard of people outside of their own lands, other than the barbarians. As they learn more about one another, they discover that there are many secrets surrounding their lives; secrets kept by men in power all around them. A tragic accident causes Elizabeth and Kelvin to flee Westville; Kelvin decides to bring Elizabeth back to the safety of Triopolis. The journey they embark upon will introduce them to more men, with more secrets – secrets about Elizabeth’s own burgeoning special abilities, and secrets that can save or destroy Triopolis.

The overall plot of Beyond the Red Mountains is intriguing. I love a good epic fantasy, and had high hopes for this one. I have to admit, it was a bit of a struggle when it came down to it. The book could have used more of a guiding touch from an editor; many concepts and ideas were over-explained and over-emphasized. Short, choppy sentences added to start-stop reading; ideas could have been joined together and made for a smoother read. The book ends with the promise of a sequel, which I look forward to – it’s a good premise that true fantasy fans will stick with, but a more reluctant reader or a casual reader may not stick with this one.

Fantasy, Teen, Uncategorized, Young Adult/New Adult

Promo Spotlight: A Curse of Ash & Iron

Posted on October 7, 2015October 6, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

A Curse of Ash and Iron by Christine Norris

Release Date: May 21st 2015, Curiosity Quills Press

Summary from Goodreads: Benjamin Grimm knows the theater is much like real life. In 1876 Philadelphia, people play their parts, hiding behind the illusion of their lives, and never revealing their secrets. When he reunites with his childhood friend Eleanor Banneker, he is delighted. His delight turns to dismay when he discovers she has been under a spell for the past 7 years, being forced to live as a servant in her own home, and he realizes how sinister some secrets can be. She asks for his help, and he can’t refuse. Even if he doesn’t believe in ‘real’ magic, he can’t abandon her.

Ellie has spent the long years since her mother’s death under the watchful eye and unforgiving eye of her stepmother. Bewitched and hidden in plain sight, it seems no one can help Ellie escape. Not even her own father, who is under a spell of his own. When she sees Ben one evening, it seems he is immune to the magic that binds her, and her hope is rekindled along with her friendship. But time is running short. If they do not find a way to break the spell before midnight on New Year’s Eve, then both Ellie and her father will be bound forever.

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Excerpt from A Curse of Ash & Iron

Ellie entered. She stopped for a moment, her eyes wary, and her hand against her stomach as if she were holding in her breath.

“Ellie?” Ben called her. “Ellie Banneker?

Her shoulders relaxed, and her breath came out in a whoosh. She paused for another breath before making her way down the center aisle toward Ben. The door closed behind her with a muffled thump, shutting out the murmurs of those who remained in the lobby. The theater dropped into an eerie quiet. Now that they were face-to-face, Benjamin’s excitement was replaced by overwhelming self-consciousness. He ran his sweaty palms through his hair, smoothing the runaway brown locks his mother would say needed trimming. He was suddenly aware of the way he was dressed―he looked like a ragamuffin compared to the upper class men Ellie must be used to. Her chestnut hair shone in the light, her green eyes wary but bright.Ben stopped near the first row, a lump in his throat, hoping she wouldn’t notice the scuffed tops of his shoes and his frayed shirt cuffs, and let her approach him.

“Benjamin Grimm? It is you.” Her smile widened, and it was as if the curtain had gone up in her eyes. The sadness Ben had seen before lifted, and she became a girl of seventeen. She reached out to him with her bare hand.

His nervousness evaporated like morning fog. He wiped his hand on his pants and then grasped hers tightly, catching the slight scent of soap and rose water.

Ben had expected the soft hand of the daughter of a prominent banker; hands used to doing embroidery and playing the piano. But there were calluses on her palm, the nails short and ragged. Her skin was pink and chapped. His expression must have given away some of his surprise, because when he released her hand, Ellie tucked it into the folds of her skirt. “I can’t believe that you… It’s been so long, Ben. You’ve grown.”

The look in her eyes made Ben decide to keep quiet about her hands. He was glad she had come in to see him. Having spent years under her stepmother’s care, he had worried she might have turned into a snob. “As have you, my lady.” His grin was large as he bent over in an exaggerated bow.

“Oh, please don’t. Ben, stop it this minute.” Ellie put her hands to her blushing cheeks, as if trying to hold back her smile. Ben stood, laughing, and thrust his hands in his pockets. “I was hiding in the loft above the lobby and saw you come in tonight. I… didn’t recognize you at first. You’ve, uh, changed.” It was his turn to blush again as he remembered what he had been thinking about her curves.

“You’ve changed, too.” She squinted and looked closely at his face. “I can’t see any dirt. So your mother finally wrestled you into submission about keeping clean.”

Ben didn’t answer, only smirked and scratched the back of his head. “I tried to think how many years it’s been since I saw you last.”

“Seven.” Ellie’s reply was so soft he almost didn’t hear it. “Seven years. The last time I saw you, we were both ten, after…” she hesitated. “After my mother died.”

Ben’s smile faltered. “Yes, that’s right.” He felt stupid for forgetting, even more stupid for making her bring up something so obviously painful. His own mother had cried for days after her employer’s passing. Ellie’s mother had been a lovely woman, who had provided him with a seemingly endless supply of sweets.

Ellie shook her head as if shaking herself free of the edge of melancholy that had dropped over the conversation. “How is your dear mother? And your little brother? I’m sure he’s no longer the chubby-cheeked baby I remember.”

Ben shrugged. “Mother’s fine. She keeps busy running the bookshop. Harry is… he’s a little brother.” Ellie wrinkled her nose and narrowed her eyes.

“Being as I have no little brothers, I’ll have to assume you mean you love him dearly and can’t imagine life without him.” “Not exactly, but I don’t want to ruin your image of me as a wholesome young man, so I won’t tell you what I really think about him. It wouldn’t be proper for me to say in front of a lady, anyway.”

“You think I’m a lady, do you? You might be surprised at some of the words I’ve used when no one is listening.” Ellie’s gaze wandered over the theater’s ceiling. There was a teasing note in her voice. “I never thought I’d see you working here. If I remember correctly, you said if you were going to be in the theater, it would be in front of the footlights. A magician, I believe it was?”

“I’m still working on that.” Ben’s reply was touched with defensiveness. “But now it’s illusion instead of straight magic, don’t you know that? It’s all the rage in Europe. Until I can find a backer, I need to work. My father, he’s the stage manager now. He got me the job, said it would do me good to learn a real skill.” He rolled his eyes.

Ellie raised an eyebrow. “He doesn’t approve of your career aspirations?” Ben shook his head. “He lets me keep my workshop, but thinks I’m wasting my time.” He shrugged. “It’s better than the brickyard.”

Ellie laughed out loud, a pretty sound that rolled around the inside of the theater. She covered her mouth and glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one else had heard. When she stopped giggling, she looked at Ben and sighed. “I can’t stay, Ben. I don’t want to keep my stepmother waiting.” She glanced over her shoulder and back to Ben. “It was so good to see you again.”

Ben felt the words were weighted somehow, like a current pulling beneath the calm surface of a river. “It was good to see you again, too, Ellie.” There was so much more Ben wanted to say, seven years’ worth. He didn’t dare ask to see her again, though, and resigned himself to only having this stolen moment.

About the Author

Christine Norris is the author of several works for children and adults, including the Library of Athena series and the Zandria duology. When she’s not out saving the world one story at a time, she is disguised as a mild mannered substitute teacher, mother, and wife. She cares for her family of one husband-creature, a son-animal, and two felines who function as Guardian of the Bathtub and Official Lap Warmer, respectively. She has also done several English adaptations of novels translated from other languages. She reached a new level of insanity by attending Southern Connecticut State University Graduate School’s Information and Library Science program, so that someday she, too, can be a real Librarian. She currently resides somewhere in southern New Jersey.

Author Links:

Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook

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Book Blitz Organized by:

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Realistic Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Spotlight On: The Upstate Boys

Posted on October 2, 2015September 27, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Upstate Boys
by Ofer Aronskind

Release Date: 8/31/15

Summary from Goodreads:
John Shepherd (Shep) is a kid of the streets. An orphan bounced around from one foster family to another until he winds up in a juvenile detention center in upstate New Y ork. While incarcerated, Shep and his fellow inmates are subjected to regular beatings and forced hard labor
by the corrupt warden who runs the facility, along with his squadron of armed guards. But Shep is no ordinary minor and has no intention of spending the rest of his youth behind bars. Shep and a handful of other inmates hatch a bold plan, culminating in a spectacular turn of events and changing the lives of the young prisoners and their captors forever.

The Upstate Boys is a tale of adventure, redemption and the unbreakable will of the human spirit. A must read for young and old alike, for anyone who ever dreamed of freedom, especially for those who made it happen.

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About the Author
Ofer Aronskind was born in Tel Aviv, Israel and came to the United States at the age of six. He grew up in Little Neck, Queens, on the outskirts of New York City. He attended SUNY Albany, then took a year off after college where he spent the year in Los Angeles writing screenplays. The following year, he came back to NY to attend St. John’s University School of Law and graduated in 1989. He went to work at the law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges as a real estate attorney and worked there until 1997. He now lives in Short Hills, New Jersey with his three sons and is a real estate investor.

Ofer, a father of 3 boys, has had a lifelong passion for reading and writing. He began writing his first book, Summer Sleep Away, the summer he sent his own sons off to camp for their first time. Ofer spent endless nights sitting at the edge of their beds, telling his children stories from his own years in camp. As the boys embarked on their journey, they encouraged Ofer to turn his stories into a book… so became Mattie Kleinfeld and the beginning of Ofer’s prolific career.

New Jersey resident Ofer Aronskind remembers what it was like to be 12 years old: the challenges of middle school, making new friends, attending summer camp for the first time, having your first crush. By drawing on events from his life, as well as those of his three teenage
sons, he has been able to vividly recreate some of life’s most memorable experiences in his young-adult novels.

To find more about Ofer and his books for young adults, please visit www.oferaronskind.com.

Quotes from The Upstate Boys

“We were gettin out or we were gonna die tryin.”

“We dug and clawed for the freedom that awaited us on the other side of that barbed wire fence.”

“Shep was running for his life, for the life of every one of those boys.”

“There was no turning back now…nowhere to go but forward.”

“They were the poor, the orphaned, the dispossessed. They were the boys that had been sent

upstate and came back as heroes.”

Author’s Writing Inspiration

My inspiration for The Upstate Boys came when I read an article in the New York Times about the Arthur G. Dozier school for boys. The stories of the abuse, neglect and murder struck a chord and I wanted to change the story.

Author Links:
Website: http://oferaronskind.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/736391.Ofer_Aronskind

Twitter: @oferaronskind

Make sure to enter this Rafflecopter giveaway for a chance to win your own copy of The Upstate Boys!
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Book Tour Organized by:
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Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Teen, Uncategorized, Young Adult/New Adult

This is Where it Ends brings us into the heart of a school shooting.

Posted on October 1, 2015September 17, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

This is Where it Ends, by Marieke Nijkamp (Jan. 2016, Sourcebooks Fire), $17.99, ISBN: 9781492622468

Recommended for ages 13+

It’s the first day of the school year at Alabama’s Opportunity High. At 10 a.m. the principal finishes her welcome speech. At 10:03, the students, trying to get to class, notice the auditorium doors won’t open. At 10:05, someone starts shooting. Not everyone is in that auditorium, though – some kids are running track, some kids are cutting – and it’s up to them to help their classmates and, in some cases, family members, inside.

This is Where it Ends takes readers inside a school on lockdown. The shooter has things to say, and this captive audience is going to listen. Four narratives from teens inside and outside of the auditorium bring readers there, inside that school, waiting for the next bullet to fire. Every one of these teens has a history with the shooter – some good, some not.

This book is tense. It’s rough. Ms. Nijkamp excels at putting the reader into the middle of the chaos – the sights, the sounds, the smells, the churning inside – readers are thrown onto the same roller coaster that her characters are on. She creates strong backgrounds and uses each character’s narrative to move between past and present-day to provide a full picture not only of the traumatized teens, but a profile of the shooter himself.

There’s also a brilliant use of diversity here. We’ve got a queer female person of color as a main character. There are teens of all backgrounds in this school. This school can be Anywhere, USA, and these kids could be our neighbors, our families, our friends. Author Marieke Nijkamp is an executive member of We Need Diverse Books and the founder of DiversifYA; she practices what she preaches with eloquence and skill. Her author website offers a discussion guide for This is Where it Ends. Educators can also find resources at the National School Safety Center to deepen a discussion on school shootings and school safety.

This is a great book to have in libraries and classrooms, particularly those with a current events focus. Discussion groups will find a lot to delve into here. I’d love to see parent book groups read this, too – it’s not a pleasant topic to think about, but when it concerns our kids, it’s something we should start talking about.

Fiction, Fiction, Intermediate, Middle Grade, Middle School, Realistic Fiction, Tween Reads

Spotlight Tour: Cupcake Club – SWEET VICTORY!

Posted on October 1, 2015September 17, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Cupcake Club books are hugely popular at my library. They’re a fun middle grade series of books that are positive for kids, because one of the authors happens to be 9 years old. Check ’em out!

Sweet Victory (The Cupcake Club), by New York Times Bestselling Author Sheryl Berk and Carrie Berk

October 6, 2015; TP ISBN 9781492620822

Book Info:

Title: Sweet Victory (The Cupcake Club)

Authors: Sheryl Berk and Carrie Berk

Volume Number: 8

Release Date; October 6, 2015

Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

Praise for the Cupcake Club Series

“9-year-old author has recipe for success.” – The Washington Post, KidsPost

“Kids and cupcakes are the perfect recipe!”—Sophie and Katerine, stars of TLC’s DC Cupcakes

“Sheryl Berk and her nine-year-old daughter, Carrie, have cooked up a delightful new series sure to be a treat.” –New York Family

Summary:

The eighth book in a delicious series by New York Times bestselling author Sheryl Berk and her cupcake-obsessed daughter, Carrie.

MVP Sadie knows what it takes to win- both on the court and in the kitchen.

But when Coach Walsh gets sick and has to temporarily leave school, Sadie’s suddenly at a loss. What will she do without Coach’s spot-on advice and uplifting encouragement? Luckily, Sadie’s got Peace, Love, and Cupcakes on her side. Her friends know what the power of friendship-and cupcakes- might be just what Sadie needs! Together, they rally to whip up the largest batch of sweet treats they’ve ever made, all to help support Coach Walsh. When the going gets tough, a little PLC goes a long way. But this record-breaking order might just be too much for the club…

Can the girls put it all together in time to score a win for Sadie- and Coach Walsh

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26167052-sweet-victory?from_search=true&search_version=service

Buy Links:

Amazon- http://ow.ly/SimdJ

Barnes&Noble- http://ow.ly/Simpk

BooksAMillion- http://ow.ly/SimzW

!ndigo- http://ow.ly/SimPn

Indiebound- http://ow.ly/Sin0b

About the Authors:

Sheryl Berk, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Soul Surfer, and her daughter Carrie, a cupcake connoisseur who has reviewed confection from around the world in her Carrie’s Cupcake Critiques newsletter, have cooked up a delightful series sure to be a treat.

Excerpt from Sweet Victory (The Cupcake Club)

For a few minutes, the room was silent as the girls thought hard.

“Feet!” Lexi suddenly tossed out. “Or maybe socks? Isn’t that what you wear to jump on a trampoline?”

“Flies,” Sadie added. “They’re always in the air. And little boys love bugs, right?”

“Falling,” Jenna grumped. “As in splat on your face or butt. Which is what I would do on a trampoline.”

“Um, I’m not seeing any of those things on a cupcake,” Kylie tried her hardest to envision their suggestions, but all she could see was Jenna flopping on a trampoline face-first. As cupcake club president, Kylie had the power to veto an idea-and smelly feet and flies didn’t sound particularly appetizing.

“What about balloons-balloons go up, up, and away if you accidentally let them go,” Delaney suggested. “And they’re pretty and colorful-and every birthday party has them.”

“That’s just it,” Sadie jumped in. “Cupcakes with balloons on them are so ordinary. We’re PLC. We can do better than that.”

Lexi took out her sketchbook. Designing cupcake decorations was her job. “Sadie’s right. What if we did something like this…” She drew a cupcake with blue piping around the edges and a black fondant top to represent the trampoline. In the middle of the cupcake was a small figure of a boy bending his knees with his arms in the air. “Ooh, that is amazing,” Kylie said, watching as Lexi used her colored pencils to bring the cupcake to life on the page. “We could use fondant to mold the little jumping guys.”

“And no boring vanilla or chocolate flavors either,” Jenna insisted. As the official taste tester, it was her job to make each cupcake delectable. “I’m thinking chocolate-chocolate chip cake filled with marshmallow and churro cupcakes with a hint of cinnamon to give the vanilla a kick.”

“Nice.” Sadie high-fived her. “Do you suppose we’ll get to try out those trampolines when we make the delivery?”

“Tu major que yo- better you than me!” Jenna said. “I get motion sickness if my little brothers bounce on the couch.”

“Then I’d say we have a plan,” Kylie said, taking notes in her binder. “Let’s get jumpin’ on those cupcake recipes.”

Also by Sheryl and Carrie Berk:

Fashion Academy

July 7, 2015; TP ISBN97814926016233

Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

Summary:

Fashion-forward MacKenzie “Mickey” Williams is thrilled to be accepted to FAB Middle School (Fashion Academy of Brooklyn), a school that serves as a training ground for the fashion designers of tomorrow. (Their motto: “We are SEW FAB”). But when her daring fashion looks get laughed at by some of the FAB A-listers, Mickey wonders whether standing out is such a great idea. So when friendly classmate JC comes up with a plan to help Mickey fit in, she decides to take the ultimate fashion risk-ditch her personal style for good.

One mega makeover later, pink-haired Mickey Williams mysteriously disappears, and the trendy, blond “Kenzie Williams” shows up on the FAB scene, blending with the other students in a way Mickey never could. But when Mickey starts to lose herself “Kenzie,” she’s not sure that fitting in is worth cutting herself down to size…

Goodreads Link:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21996360-the-fashion-academy

Buy Link:

Amazon- http://ow.ly/SiqKI

Barnes&Noble- http://ow.ly/Sir33

BooksAMillion- http://ow.ly/Sire4

!ndigo- http://ow.ly/SirnF

IndieBound- http://ow.ly/SiryQ

Runway Ready (Fashion Academy)

January 5, 2016; TP 9781492604365

Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

Summary:

Project Runway meets Fame in a trendy new series from the authors of The Cupcake Club!

1. Balloons

2. Spaghetti

3. Rainbows

If you were to ask Mickey Williams, these would not be her top points of inspiration for designing a party dress. But in fashion, the client is always right…and Mickey’s client happens to be fashion legend Victoria Vanderweil’s five-year-old granddaughter. Even though it’s the toughest assignment Mickey’s gotten during her time at the Fashion Academy of Brooklyn, she can’t pass up the opportunity to impress a top designer like Victoria.

But when Cordy turns out to be a tiny terror with non-stop demands, the assignment goes from hard to impossible. Not only that, but Victoria wants Mickey to babysit Cordy during NYC Fashion Week! Can Mickey pull off her project and pass, or will it fall apart at the seams?

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26457233-runway-ready

Pre-Order Links:

Amazon- http://ow.ly/SiwCt

Barnes&Noble- http://ow.ly/SiwwT

BooksAMillion- http://ow.ly/Siwmi

!ndigo- http://ow.ly/Siwas

IndieBound- http://ow.ly/Siw3E

Excerpt from Fashion Academy Sheryl Berk & Carrie Berk:

After spending the weekend with her aunt, Mickey concluded that Olive wasn’t that bad—at least not as bad as her mom made her out to be. She was just a bit uptight. It was hard for Mickey to understand how she and her mom could be sisters, much less fraternal twins. They had the same curly strawberry blond hair, though her mom highlighted hers and wore it long and loose and Olive pinned hers back in a tight bun. She recognized her aunt’s eyes as well—they were emerald green, just like her mom’s. Too bad she hid them behind thick tortoise shell glasses. Then there was her style: Olive looked like she had stepped out of a time warp. She wore a ruffled pink blouse, long pearls, and an A-line brown skirt. Maybe she was going for a retro 50s vibe? It was the opposite of her mom’s ripped jeans and vintage rock tee shirts. Maybe there had been some mistake and they were switched at birth? Maybe her Granny Gertrude got confused and accidentally picked up the wrong baby in the park one day?

Olive was also a neat freak who insisted that everything be “spic and span” and in its place.

“Mackenzie, clean up after yourself!” she scolded when Mickey left her sketchbook and colored pencils on the kitchen table. No one called her Mackenzie; her mom only used it when she was mad at her. It was a name she barely recognized or answered to. But as many times as she corrected Aunt Olive, she insisted on calling her by her “proper name.”

“Mom calls me ‘Mickey’ and I call her Jordana sometimes,” she tried to explain.

“I don’t care what you call your mom or she calls you. And you call me Aunt Olive out of respect,” she warned her.

Mickey wrinkled her nose. “Really? Mom says she called you Olliegator when you were little. I think that’s cute.”

Olive pursed her lips. “I’m an adult,” she replied sternly. Aunt Olive was an executive assistant at a big law firm, and she took everything very seriously. “Your mother needs to grow up.”

But that was exactly what Mickey loved about her mom—how she was such a free spirit and never cared what anyone thought or said about her. Mickey tried her hardest to be that way, but sometimes it was hard.

For the first day of FAB, she set her alarm for 6 o’clock so she would have time to style her outfit properly. She was proud of how it had all come together. She’d taken a beaten-up denim jacket from a thrift shop and dyed it black before adding crocheted doilies for trim at the collars and cuffs. It said exactly what she wanted it to say about her: “I’m edgy but feminine.” And wasn’t that what fashion was all about? Not just a trend or a style, but a reflection of who you are and how you’re feeling? That was what Mickey loved about designing the most, and what she had written on her FAB application:

“I love how you can speak volumes with a single stitch. Fashion should be fearless! I want to be a designer who always colors outside the lines and thinks outside of the box…”

She was pretty sure Aunt Olive didn’t see it that way. Her idea of taking a fashion risk was wearing a skirt that was hemmed above the knee.

“Does it really go together?” she asked, noticing how Mickey had paired her jacket with a white tank top and bike shorts, both of which were splatter-painted with green and yellow drips.

“It isn’t supposed to go,” Mickey told her. “It’s supposed look creative, which is what FAB is all about. Pushing the envelope!”

She added a pair of green cat’s eye sunglasses.

“Well, it’s colorful,” her aunt sighed. “I’ll give you that. And so is your hair. Good heavens!”

Mickey had created green stripes in her long, wavy blond hair with hair chalk.

“Now for the finishing touch!” she said. “No outfit is complete without accessories!” She slipped her feet into a pair of black high top sneakers, tied the yellow laces, and grabbed her bag.

“What is that?” her aunt asked, scratching her head. She squinted to make out the words on Mickey’s tote.

“It used to say ‘Louis Vuitton’—it’s a bag you keep a really fancy expensive bag in. Which if you ask me, is pretty silly,” Mickey explained.

Olive seemed puzzled. “You mean a dust bag? You made that out of a dust bag?”

Mickey spun the tote around. “Two of them, actually!” The other side read, “PRADA.”

“What? How? Why?” Olive asked.

“Well, it’s perfectly good flannel,” Mickey replied. “And don’t you think it’s kinda funny? A statement about recycling? I used two leather belts for the straps and jazzed it up with some studding at the seams. It cost me about $4 total at the flea market!”

She threw the bag over her shoulder and glanced at the clock. It was 8, and the school bus would be along shortly to pick her up on the corner.

“Your breakfast is ready,” Olive said, handing her a glass of green sludge. This was worse then yesterday’s quinoa and fruit concoction! She missed her mom’s breakfasts of left over Chinese Take Out omelets or cold pizza. But Aunt Olive insisted she start the first day of school with “something healthy and nutritious.”

“Do you have any chocolate milk?” she asked, getting up to check the fridge for something edible.

“This is better for you. It’s fresh kale, celery, cucumber, ginger and a touch of agave. It’s delicious.” She took a big sip of her own glass and licked her lips.

Mickey wrinkled her nose. It didn’t look or smell delicious. “I think I’ll grab something in the cafeteria,” she said, pushing the glass away. “I’m too nervous to eat.”

It wasn’t entirely a lie. She was pretty terrified for her first day at FAB. Just then, Mickey’s phone rang.

“All ready to conquer the world?” her mom asked.

“I think so, Jordana,” she replied.

“Ah, I see. We’re trying to sound very mature this morning. Send me a picture of the first day outfit and call me tonight. I want to hear all the deets.”

Mickey smiled. Her mom was trying to sound cool. “I will. Love you.”

As the bus pulled up to the corner of Columbus Avenue, Mickey took a deep breath. This wasn’t just the first day of FAB. It was the first day of the rest of her life. The first day of everything.

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