"Confessions" Book Giveaway

I'm foregoing my usual Grammar Friday post in lieu of a book Giveaway.

Laura Josephsen's new book Confessions from the Realm of the Underworld (Also Known as High School) is out now, and I read last weekend. 

I loved it! 

We're doing a book giveway to celebrate.So what's this contemporary YA book about?

"Write what you know."

Persephone "Sephie" Benson scoffs when her creative writing teacher throws that little gem out there. Maybe this advice would work for a professional skydiver or a baseball star or a ninja princess. It's not so great for a high school student who doesn't even know what to do with the rest of her life. Add in being the oldest of six girls, having Responsibilities with a capital R, and living in a town the size of a tick, and you've got a recipe for boring soup.

At least, that's what Sephie thinks until her senior year. Now, her grandfather is losing his house. One of her sisters plays a starring role in the local high school scandal. Even things with her best friend Joey aren't the same. As Sephie deals with the changes in her life, she finds that nothing is quite what she expects--and that sometimes, the most extraordinary life can be the one that seems the most ordinary. 

 Why did I love this book? We follow Sephie as she navigates around many real-life challenges. Some of them are very difficult ones for her and her family to get through. I have sisters, and I completely related to the experience of having so many females living under the same roof. I fell in love with Sephie's family and with her friend/romantic interest Joey, who goes through some major challenges himself (I just love that kid).

I laughed often, not just from the humorous situations the characters found themselves in, but also from the way Laura crafted the story around a list of clichés we writers are supposed to avoid. The chapter titles just made smile:

Chapter One
In Which Sephie Defines Chaos. Chaos: Living in a
House with Five Sisters. See? Chaos Defined.

And probably the thing I loved the most was the "heart" of Sephie's tale. Life is hard. Sephie's is no exception. But even when everything seems so dark in her life, she manages to find comfort from friends and family, to see the beauty of the sunrise, the joy of a new day. Being positive in the face of adversity can be dang hard, but it can be done. This book is upbeat in spite of the challenges the characters face. I came away from reading it on a high. I love when a book can do that for me.

So how can you win a paperback copy?

• Become a follower of my blog if you aren't already.
• Comment here that you'd like to be entered in the drawing
• Visit Laura's blog and become a follower there (I will check both blogs to verify)
• Comment on her post there.

I will announce the winner in my post on Wednesday, August 3, 2011.