FFBC Tours: Welcome to the club, Sticker Girl by Janet Tashjian & Inga Wilmink

Sticker Girl
by Janet Tashjian & Inga Wilmink
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Release Date: October 11th 2016
Genre: Middle Grade, Children

Synopsis:

Martina Rivera has a remarkable imagination. But with two extroverted brothers at home, she’s always struggled to make a big impression on those around her. Life soon takes an exciting turn when Martina discovers the secret power of her sticker collection: They come to life! Among her magical sticker friends are Craig, a rambunctious talking cupcake; Nora, a karaoke-singing ladybug; and Lucinda, a very sleepy fairy. Will her new sticker friends help her overcome her shyness? Or will they get Martina in lots of trouble? Or both?! It’s time to meet Sticker Girl!

Bonus feature: sticker sheet featuring all the magic stickers from Book 1 packaged with the book!

Hello Janet! We are super excited to have you in our FFBC tours.

Favorite Book? 

Really? I could name a dozen but if I had to pick one, it would be THE THINGS THEY CARRIED by Tim O’Brien. A masterpiece.

Favorite TV show? 

Also impossible to choose. The original British Cracker, Breaking Bad, The Night Of..too many to name.

Favorite movie? 

Chinatown, hands down.

Your Favorite Song? 

I could name fifty, but Hejira by Joni Mitchell might have to top the list. 

Favorite Food? 

No decision – chocolate. 

Name 3 fictional places you would move to in a heartbeat. 

The only one that comes to mind is the island in THE MAGUS. Confusion, beaches, and mystery – sign me up.

Who is your perfect fictional boyfriend? 

Jordan Catalano!

Favorite Quote? 

I barely work out and don’t wear Nikes (too narrow for my feet) but ‘Just Do It’ are pretty good words to live by.

What do you find yourself “Fangirling” over? 

Vintage earrings, paint by number art, old Simplicity sewing patterns. 

If you could meet one author, dead or alive, who would it be? 

Virginia Woolf.

Something to say to our Book Addicts? 

The only people who think books are dead don’t read anyway. So it just means more books for us. 

Could you tell our Book Addicts a little bit about Sticker Girl?

Martina Rivera is a shy girl who’s obsessed with stickers. Her father brings home a new sheet as a gift, but this time when she peels them off, the stickers come to life. At first, she’s thrilled – but, of course, the stickers ending up getting her into trouble. 

How did you come up with the story? Did you find inspiration in any other story/movie/show and how has this affected your writing?

My longtime editor, Christy Ottaviano, has put stickers on every bit of correspondence she’s ever sent me. Considering we’ve been working together for almost twenty years, that’s a lot of stickers. I guess over time, they just seeped into my imagination, very much the way they seeped into Martina’s. 

Is there a specific scene that you had the most fun to write?

There were many fun scenes but certainly flying over the Observatory at Griffith Park on sunset on a Pegasus would be one of them.

If you had to pick one song to be the Theme Song for Sticker Girl – Which one would you pick? 

For me, it would be the late, great Gene Wilder singing “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. But my friend’s twelve-year-old daughter Sophie says it should be Katy Perry’s “Firework.”

Is there any recommendations you could give your readers to be in the “perfect mood” to read Sticker Girl (specific music, snacks…)? 

For me, laying in bed reading with your kids is the best thing on the planet. Of course, a dark chocolate snack is a must!

What’s next for you? 

A national book tour visiting lots of schools and bookstores then finishing Sticker Girl Two!

Thank you so much for everything, Janet! 

You’re welcome; the pleasure was mine!

Follow the Sticker Girl by Janet Tashjian Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Janet Tashjian is a middle-grade and young adult novelist who’s been writing books for children for fifteen years. Her first novel Tru Confessions was made into a critically acclaimed Disney TV movie starring Clara Bryant and Shia LaBeouf. The Gospel According to Larry is a cult favorite and Fault Line is taught in many middle and high schools. Her novels My Life As a Book, My Life As a Stuntboy, and My Life As a Cartoonist are all illustrated by her teenage son, Jake. Their collaboration continues with Einstein the Class Hamster coming in August.

Janet lives with her family in Los Angeles, enjoying her respite from the long Boston winters. When she isn’t writing, she’s rewriting. 

Janet has been doing school visits for fifteen years; you can email her at spatulaproductions@mac.com for details.

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Blog Tour + Giveaway: Forever for a Year by B.T. Gottfred

Forever for a Year
by B.T. Gottfred
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

Release Date: July 7th 2015

Synopsis:

When Carolina and Trevor meet on their first day of school, something draws them to each other. They gradually share first kisses, first touches, first sexual experiences. When they’re together, nothing else matters. But one of them will make a choice, and the other a mistake, that will break what they thought was unbreakable. Both will wish that they could fall in love again for the first time . . . but first love, by definition, can’t happen twice.

Told in Carolina and Trevor's alternating voices, this is an up-close-and-personal story of two teenagers falling in love for the first time, and discovering it might not last forever.

There's never a manual to help us find the right person or letting us know the perfect moment/event/situation where to fall in love with someone. But I think we can describe the feeling of it if we have experienced it. And I think that the better way to start is with a quote:

“You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” ― Dr. Seuss

Falling in love is something not everyone achieves and I think that if you find it with someone you're one of the lucky ones. So let's talk about the famous states you feel when you start falling in love with someone.

Feeling Hormonal. Yes, people. We usually feel like the other person is the only one you see. You want to spent all the time with him/her and while you try to deny that you this is not love and there's no way you're falling in love with that person you forget about everybody else. And when someone says something about him/her you go all moody.

The Butterflies. The all so famous butterflies in your stomach. That or that you're so nervous that you're about to fart (try to avoid that if you can - not cool). It's the sensation of expectation, mixed with the euphoric feeling of meeting with that special someone and some nerves. 

Feeling Comfortable. I think the best indication that you've fallen in love is when you're comfortable with the person you are with. You can be yourself no matter what and you accept yourself, because that special person made you see that you're beautiful and what makes you special: your nerdiness, your flaws, your attitude, etc., is what makes your relationship interesting and alive.

Feeling Confused. Falling in love for the first time is confusing. You're not used to what you're feeling and like I said it's not like there's a handbook in how to feel when you're falling in love or top ten symptoms of falling in love. Every person is different and can fall in love in different ways. The only advice? Just embrace it.

Listening to sappy songs. All-the-time. Since you're falling in love and the love flows all around you and your partner you're allowed to listen to those sappy songs we all love.

When you accept it. You'll be super happy to the point you'll want to yell it to everyone, grab your boyfriend/girlfriend and start kissing them in front of everyone so they know how in love you two are and probably grab his/her hand all the time like you're super-glued to the other person.

Love will make everything perfect, but the euphoria will fade and all you'll have left is the person you have found that have the potential of being your best friend, partner and lover for the rest of your life. But leaving the euphoria behind doesn't mean you have stopped loving this person, it means that you're in another stage of your relationship and the period of falling in love has ended.

Win (1) finished copy of FOREVER FOR A YEAR by B.T Gottfred (US Only)

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Blog Tour: Finding Mr. Brightside by Jay Clark

Finding Mr. Brightside
by Jay Clark
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Release Date: March 24th 2015

Rate: Enjoyed it (4 stars)

Synopsis:

Abram and Juliette know each other. They’ve lived down the street from each other their whole lives. But they don’t really know each other—at least, not until Juliette’s mom and Abram’s dad have a torrid affair that culminates in a deadly car crash. Sharing the same subdivision is uncomfortable, to say the least. They don’t speak.

Fast-forward to the neighborhood pharmacy, a few months later. Abram decides to say hello. Then he decides to invite her to Taco Bell. To her surprise as well as his, she agrees. And the real love story begins.

Finding Mr. Brightside is a refreshing YA contemporary story. It will make you laugh and it will make you feel sad for the characters, but you'll definitely enjoy every single page of Juliette and Abram's story.

The story starts one year after the incident that put Abram and Juliette's lives upside down. When tragedy strikes it's a devastating moment in anyone's life, but when that tragedy unravels an ugly secret? Well, that's even harder to deal with. After a fatal accident which involved Abram's dad and Juliette's mother, these two neighbors who have never talked to each other had more in common than they thought. Despite this, their story truly began with a random invite to Taco Bell. 

These two main characters are strong, realistic and in need of a wake up call. In the story we get to meet them well, separately, and the author did a fantastic job creating their personalities and voices. However, my favorite moments where when these two ended up complimenting each other. They had such different personalities that you could see how good they were for each other. 

I think I enjoyed this book so much because it has the very best type of couple in all YA stories: the ones that compliment each other, that when they are together they are better than apart and that dare each other to the point were a great story is told.

Not only this book has a beautiful cover and a perfect title, but it also has a terrific story to share. I highly recommend this book to all readers searching for a different YA contemporary story. 

*I received this ARC in exchange of an honest review. Thank you so much to the publisher for the chance of reading it and participating in the tour.

Follow all the tour stops for Finding Mr. Brightside. Click on the banner below to see the tour schedule:

Jay Clark is the author of The Edumacation of Jay Baker, which was named a Bank Street College Best Book. He’s also a random blogger. Surprisingly popular entries like “How to stop hating people in 21 minutes” and “8 tips for posting your best selfie yet!” can be found on his website: jayclarkbooks.com. He lives in Columbus, Ohio.

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