Spotlight - Underground Rose by Sara Burr

 After her surprise discovery of a mystical gift, fourteen-year-old Rose Wilson thinks her life is ruined. It turns out she comes from a long line of gifted women, and despite her protests, Rose’s mom ships her off to her grandmother’s house to spend the summer learning about her family’s well-hidden secrets. To make matters worse, Rose is expected to carry out this tradition alongside her mousy, bookworm cousin, Megan. What a waste of a summer.

With some effort, Rose and Megan manage to find common ground and by the time they get home, they’re working together to adjust to their new life. But everything is turned upside down again when their families are exposed by witch hunters who call themselves The Witches’ Hammer. With killers on the loose, their tiny town isn't safe anymore. Rose’s entire family is fragmented and forced to flee through a network of hiding places, dubbed The Witches’ Underground Railroad.

As she journeys to the sea, Rose learns more and more about who she really is. The closer she gets to her destination, the more danger she encounters, until she is forced to make the ultimate decision: follow her family’s edict of non-violence and become an orphan, or save her mom’s life.

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE

About the Author:
Sara has been entranced by the written word for as long as she can remember. The daughter of a school teacher, she fell in love with books as soon as she could read them. She wrote her very first story, about a girl who ran away and hid in her cousin’s lilac bush, when she was just eleven. Although her stories have grown more complicated and less petulant since then, Sara still loves to entertain kids with her words.

When she isn't writing, Sara has a big family to keep her busy: a husband who is her other half, and four children who are wonderfully individual. They live next to a beautiful lake in a tiny town with no street lights. Sara spends lots of time taking care of little superheroes. She likes to camp with her family, enjoys traveling, and hopes to see the Northern Lights someday.

Webpage | Facebook | Twitter | TSU

The Attic of Sand and Secrets by Medeia Sharif

If you can believe it, author Medeia Sharif has another book out. 

Doesn't it sound fabulous? And she's doing a giveaway!

THE ATTIC OF SAND AND SECRETS 
by Medeia Sharif

Amazon | Featherweight | OmniLit

Vendor links will be updated on Medeia’s site.

Middle Grade Historical and Fantasy, Featherweight Press, November 2014

Lily, a learning disabled girl, attempts to unravel the mystery of her abducted mother using supernatural clues from an ancient stranger, even when it means posing a danger to herself.

Learning-disabled Lily desires to prove herself, although her mind freezes when presented with big problems - such as her mother's abduction. With a French father and Egyptian mother, Lily worries that her mother hid her ethnicity from her French in-laws. However, there's something deeper going on. Lily finds a way into an attic that's normally locked and encounters a mysterious, moonlit Egyptian night world. There she finds Khadijah, an ancient stranger who guides her to finding clues about her mother's whereabouts. Lily becomes a sleuth in both the real world and magical desert, endangering herself as she gets closer to the kidnapper.

The book takes place in 1976. Every host for this book blast is going to post one fun fact for that year. For some of you, this will bring back memories. For younger blog readers, you'll learn something new.

Fun fact: Rocky was the highest grossing film.

Find Medeia – Multi-published YA and MG Author

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Rise of Keitus by Andrea Pearson

I know things have been really busy on my blog this month.

There are just a lot of books coming out, it seems. 

Don't forget that today is the last day to let me know if you want your name to be put in the drawing for Gaze into Heaven (see the blog post here).

Well, today I'm going to talk about the release of Rise of Keitus, the fourth book in Andrea Pearson's Kilenya series. I've gotten behind in my reading, but I read and reviewed the first two books: The Key of Kilenya and The Ember Gods. I thoroughly enjoyed both of these middle grade fantasies. The third book is August Fortress, and I have it and this new book on my to-read list.

Here's what Rise of Keitus is about:

Jacob Clark's fantasy adventure has reached its most dangerous phase yet. A swarm of blood-ridden insects overwhelms Taga Village--threatening the existence of the Makalos--and the secret regarding Akeno's strengths is about to be revealed. Not only that, but Jacob's newly honed abilities allow him to discover the origin of the evil Lorkon. But finding out may be his deadliest mission yet.

Join Jacob and his friends in this fourth installment in the Kilenya Series as they strive to prevent the Lorkon disease from destroying Eklaron and Earth.

To celebrate the release of Rise of Keitus, Andrea's got The Key of Kilenya on sale--today it's free. So, if you've been curious about this series or are just ready for a fun middle grade romp, now's your chance to give it a try.

Here's where you can get The Key of Kilenya:
Kindle
Nook
Smashwords (for other eReading formats)

Enjoy!

Book Review - Two Souls Are Better Than One

Two Souls Are Better Than One (The Misadventures of a Teenage Wizard) is a hoot!

From the back of the book:

Barely thirteen, Jeremy James Johansen has had more than his share of trouble. His father disappeared without a trace and the police believe he murdered his lab assistant, though his son knows it isn’t true. His dad can’t even handle a knife, let alone a bow and arrow.

A year later Jeremy stumbles across a portal to another world and gets pulled through—but not as himself. Somehow he swaps bodies with the man on the other side before the portal disappears.

Captured by a dragon and a man in black who insists on calling him father, he tries to escape, only to plummet to his death. He awakens in his own bed, believing it was all a bad dream. The problem is there are holes in his memory he can’t fill.

In time, he discovers that the portal holds the answers not only to his forgotten memories, but most importantly, points him down the path to finding his father. 

Poor JJ. He's already having a tough time. His father went missing after his lab assistant was murdered (shot by an arrow, no less). How's that for your social standing in school? JJ's mother is grieving while trying to cope. His twin sister is as irritating as ever while dealing with her own issues. And then the school bullies beat JJ up and when he fights back he gets suspended. Yet this is nothing compared to begin sucked through a portal and into the body of really old guy with a really long beard who has problems of his own. Like people trying to kill him.

And that's just the start.

Karen Hoover does a wonderful job with JJ's youthful sense of humor and wonder when faced with the unbelievable. I felt his grief over his father and his sympathy for his mother. He moans and groans just like a boy his age would but he also finds himself having to stretch, to do more than just look out for himself. JJ learns rather quickly that his problems could have a devastating impact on our world and things seem to spiral out of control.


The book must be the beginning of a series because things are not quite right in the world at the end.

Have you read any good middle grade or early YA books lately? What would be your favorite this year?