THE PECULIAR GIVEAWAY AND ASK THE EXPERT INTERVIEW

Happy Monday everyone! So glad to see you. Today I have a fantastic interview and book giveaway to share with you. Before I get to that, I want to announce the winners of a few of my contests.

The winner of DARK FROST is LYRIC!

The winner of DEMON KEEPER is C. LEE MCKENIZIE!

Congrats! E-mail me your address so I can have your books sent to you. Please e-mail me your address by Wednesday or I'll have to pick another winner.

And don't forget to enter my other awesome contests for ENDLESSLY, the last book in Kiersten White's series, SEND, a contemporary book about bullying from a teenage boy bully's POV, SKYLARK, a fantastic debut dystopian/fantasy, and ENTICE, the second book in Jessica Shirvington's EMBRACE series. The links are at the top of the blog.

Today I’m excited to interview Mady, a sixth grader, and Matt MacNish’s daughter. Matt is one of our followers and has a fabulous blog, The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment. If you haven’t checked it out, you should right after you read this post. In addition, Mady started a blog earlier this summer, Middle Grade Madi, where you can read her occasional book reviews.

Hi Mady! Thanks so much for joining us.

1.  Please tell us a little bit about yourself, your school, and what you like to read.

I’m a 6^th grader who loves to dance and sing. I’m in chorus, and Una Voce (a special, tryout only chorus) at my school. I love to read all kinds of fiction except Science Fiction and Horror.

2.  That's awesome you like so many genres. I don't like horror either. How do you find out about the books you read? What about new books coming out?

I find out about books from my dad, my family, or my friends. He tells me a lot of the books he suggests to me come from people’s Marvelous Middle Grade Monday posts. I don’t know what that is, but that’s what he said. I also get some ARCs sometimes. I really like those. Usually my dad wins them, or sometimes people send them to him.

3.  I tell my daughter about books too. And she reads some of my ARCs before I give them away. The Marvelous Middle Grade Monday posts are a great way to find out about books. I use it too. Does the fact that your dad is an aspiring author and blogger influence what books you read at all? How?

Yeah. He suggests books to me, and I read them. I imagine he finds out about a lot of them from his blogging friends, but he doesn’t always tell me where.

4.  What are you reading now? What books are you waiting to be released?

I’m reading Vladimir Todd, 12^th Grade Kills (the final book in the series), by Heather Brewer. I’m looking forward to the new Rick Riordan book, and The Slayer Chronicles.

5.  I have the first book in Heather's new series. You're inspiring me to read it. And I can't wait for the next Rick Riordan book too. Do you buy most of your book or get them at the library? How often do go to a bookstore?

I buy a TON of books, but lately I’ve been getting all the Vladimir Todd books at my school library. We go to our local bookstore, Humpus Bumpus, and the Barnes and Noble at the Avenues about once every couple months. I get a lot of gift cards for there.

6.  I always ask for gift cards for books too. Hmm, it's sounding like we're a lot alike. Though I definitely don't sing or dance. Do you read any teen book blogs, author blogs, or author or publisher websites? Become a fan of an author on Facebook? Why?

I’m a fan of Rick Riordan and Shannon Messenger on Facebook, I think. I follow a couple of blogs, but I never read them. I’d much rather read books.

7.  Sounds like you've got your priorities straight. Has your teacher recommended any blogs or websites to your class or to you?

No. I’m in Middle School now, and neither my ELA teacher, or my literacy teacher, or the librarian, has recommended any websites. Last year, my homeroom teacher, talked to my dad about blogging, and he gave her some books to loan out to kids, but she never recommended any sites.

8.  Are there things your favorite authors could do that would make you more likely to visit their website, their blog, or become a fan on Facebook?

Not that I can think of. Writing more awesome books, I guess.

9.  Ha! Writing good books is essential. Have any authors visited your school? Who? Is there anything you’d recommend that an author do to make their presentation more interesting to you and other kids at your school?

No authors have ever visited my school. If an author did come, they should give us free books and bookmarks and stuff. I love free books.

10.  I've heard the offering free books as a suggestion from other kids too. I think that's a great idea for authors to run a contest. I know you started a blog earlier this summer. Tell us a bit about it and why you started blogging.

I can’t remember why I started it, but I haven’t been doing it at all lately. 6^th grade is WAY harder than 5^th!

Yes, 6th grade is harder. Hate to tell you, but wait until 9th grade. It's a huge jump in homework. Thanks Mady for sharing all your great advice.

You’re welcome! 

I have another treat for you today.  I'm sharing about THE PECULIAR by Stefan Bachmann and have a fabulous giveaway for you.

Here's a blurb from Goodreads:

Don't get yourself noticed and you won't get yourself hanged.

In the faery slums of Bath, Bartholomew Kettle and his sister Hettie live by these words. Bartholomew and Hettie are changelings--Peculiars--and neither faeries nor humans want anything to do with them.

One day a mysterious lady in a plum-colored dress comes gliding down Old Crow Alley. Bartholomew watches her through his window. Who is she? What does she want? And when Bartholomew witnesses the lady whisking away, in a whirling ring of feathers, the boy who lives across the alley--Bartholomew forgets the rules and gets himself noticed.

First he's noticed by the lady in plum herself, then by something darkly magical and mysterious, by Jack Box and the Raggedy Man, by the powerful Mr. Lickerish . . . and by Arthur Jelliby, a young man trying to slip through the world unnoticed, too, and who, against all odds, offers Bartholomew friendship and a way to belong.

Part murder mystery, part gothic fantasy, part steampunk adventure, "The Peculiar" is Stefan Bachmann's riveting, inventive, and unforgettable debut novel.

I was really excited to get an ARC of THE PECULIAR for a couple of reasons. I heard so much buzz about it at the BEA. (Didn’t go to BEA, just read about it.) And I was intrigued because Stefan Bachman wrote it when he was sixteen. I am so impressed by teenage writers because of their talent and how they’re able to juggle writing with the heavy demands of high school. And finally, Stefan’s agent is Sara Megibow, one of my top agents I’d love to represent me.

THE PECULAR did not disappoint. The faeries and other magical beings became stuck in our world after a battle between the faeries and humans. While the faeries have somewhat assimilated to the world, changelings are despised and must stay hidden to avoid death or something even worse. One of the things I loved was the fantastic world building. All my favorite magical creatures—faeries, goblins, dwarves, hobgoblins, and more—live in the worlds of London and the poorer Bath, where most of them live. Stefan seamlessly created this world that I felt transported into as I read. And the steampunk aspects of the world where motorized horses are used for transportation and motorized birds are used to send messages made the world even more interesting.

I always sympathize with underdogs who are discriminated against, so I loved the addition of the changelings. You can’t help sympathizing with Bartholomew who just wants to have friends and to be able to leave the confines of his home. At least he can conceal himself enough to go in their courtyard to help him mother with her work. But his sweet younger sister Hattie has it even worse because she has tree branches growing out of her head so she dares not leave their apartment.

The mystery of why the changeling children were being kidnapped kept me reading, especially when Bartholomew realizes he might be number 10. 

While Bartholomew is finding about more about the missing changeling children, so is Arthur Jelliby. One of the unique things of this story is that Stefan chose to alternate the POV characters between Bartholomew and Arthur, an adult. It’s not something you see in children’s books, especially middle grade. Arthur is an interesting character. He’s a wealthy married young man whose family got him a job on the governing council. He’d rather do leisure activities than be involved in the decision making. But after he accidentally discovers something secret about the missing children, he finds himself compelled to solve the mystery.

Both Bartholomew and Arthur must risk more and more of their their ways of live and face threats to their lives as they try to figure out why these children are being kidnapped. It was interesting to watch their journeys—Bartholomew’s into the world where he’s never really been and Arthur’s into the poorer parts of his world he never goes to—and then watch as they meet and their relationship grows.

The only thing I wished for was a tiny bit more closeness to Bartholomew and Arthur’s characters when I was reading from their POV. There was a slight distance from the characters, which I think was part of the writing style of the book. But it wasn’t a big problem for me because of everything else I really enjoyed about the story.

The story ends with a satisfying resolution of the mystery, but left me dying to know what’s coming next.

I've been really excited to share THE PECULIAR with you and give away my ARC. Then I got a total surprise in the mail last week. Stefan's publisher sent me a copy of the book too! So I have an even more awesome giveaway. One winner will win my ARC and the other my book.

To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (just click the follow button if you’re not a follower) and leave a comment on Mady's interview by midnight on September 22nd. I’ll announce the winner on September 24th. If your e-mail is not on Blogger, please list it in your comment. International entries are welcome.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. 

Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays was started by ShannonWhitney Messenger to spotlight middle grade authors. Check out the other Middle Grade group:

Shannon O’Donnell

Joanne Fritz

Sherrie Petersen

Brooke Favero

MyrnaFoster

Barbara Watson

Just Deb

Michael Gettel-Gilmartin

Pam Torres

Jennifer Rumberger

Mundie Kids

Ms. Yingling Reads

The Accidental Novelist

Gabrielle Prendergast

Gina Carey

Nye Louwon

Brennan and Meyrick Murphy

Andrea Mack

Laurisa Reyes

Kim Aippersbach

Akossiwa Ketoglo

Julie from That's Swell

Jemi Fraser

Michelle Mason
Faith Hough 
Heidi Grange 
Susan Olson

Here's what's coming up:

Wednesday I'm sharing some awesome news about one of our followers and helping her celebrate with a big giveaway. That's all I can say for now, so come back on Wednesday to learn more.

Next Monday I'm helping Kat Zhang celebrate her debut with an interview and giveaway of WHAT'S LEFT OF ME, a fantastic dystopian story. I fell in love with this book from page 1. It was so awesome. I can't wait to share it with you.

Next Wednesday, I'm participating in S.R. Johannes' blog tour for her new book UNCONTROLLABLE, a murder mystery set in the Smokey Mountains. UNTRACEABLE, the first book in the series which I really enjoyed, made the Kindle YA Semi-Finalist for Best Indie Books of 2012. Shelli will be sharing marketing advice and giving away a copy of her book. She really has expertise in marketing, so be sure to stop by.

The following Monday I'll be sharing THE CROWN OF EMBERS, by Rae Carson and giving away my ARC. It's a fantastic fantasy series and I'm so excited to have an ARC to share with you. I can't believe I actually got one.

And don't forget our Tuesday Tips and Casey's Thursday agent spotlights.

Hope to see you Wednesday!