Today I'm so excited to be a part of Peggy Eddleman's exclusive cover reveal for her debut book, SKY JUMPERS. When I first heard about this dystopian middle grade book, I immediately contacted Peggy to set up an interview when it releases.
To help us celebrate Peggy's agent, Sara Crowe is going to share why she loved SKY JUMPERS.
But first, I'll share Peggy's awesome cover.
Don't you love it? It makes me so want to read about the world Peggy created.
Click below to add this to your Goodreads list.
And here's Sara.
WHY I FELL FOR SKY JUMPERS
by Sara Crowe, Peggy’s agent
I had the pleasure of meeting Peggy in person before she queried me, and I had liked her in-person pitch enough to ask her to send along the full ms when it was ready. I met her in May, and she was ready to submit the following September, so she smartly included her full query when she sent it. I use Peggy's pitch when I talk about pitches that worked on me because it has all of the elements of a fabulous pitch:
Twelve-year-old Hope Toriella lives in a town of inventors struggling to recover from the green bombs of WWIII that wiped out nearly all the earth’s population. Inventing has made life possible in White Rock, and it’s how the town views a person’s worth. But Hope would much rather sneak off to cliff dive into the Bomb’s Breath— the deadly band of compressed air that covers their valley— than fail at yet another invention. The town is filled with excellent inventors; they even invented Ameiphus, the medicine that cures the deadly Shadel’s Sickness that has run rampant since the bombs.
When bandits not only discover White Rock has the cure for the sickness, but find a way into their protected valley, they invade. With a two day deadline to finish making this year’s batch of Ameiphus and no ingredients to make more, the town is left to choose whether to hand over the medicine and die from Shadel’s over the next year, or die fighting the bandits now. Help lies in a neighboring town, but the bandits count everyone fourteen and older each hour. Hope realizes that she and a couple of friends might be the only ones who can leave to make the dangerous trek through the Bomb’s Breath and over the snow-covered mountain. Inventing won’t help her make it through alive, but the daring and recklessness that usually gets her into trouble just might.
Why this pitch is awesome: Peggy sets up a hook, conflict and character in her first paragraph: a girl who hates inventing in a town where invention is everything. Also, who would not be pulled in by the third sentence, and want/need to know what it means to dive into the Bomb's Breath? And then she follows a great first paragraph with an even more exciting second paragraph, telling us enough about what is going to happen to make us want to find out more, and setting us up for the big adventure.
Like many children's agents, I have read a lot of post apocalyptic fiction over the last five or so years. (Enough to be sure that I have none of the skills needed to survive one.)
I have been lucky to work with a few great ones, too, including Jonathan Maberry's ROT & RUIN series, Jeff Hirsch's THE ELEVENTH PLAGUE, and Dan Wells's PARTIALS. What excited me most when I read Peggy's SKY JUMPERS was that I knew that it was ultimately hopeful, even when things got very dark, like the YAs I mentioned above. I was also excited to read a post apocalyptic story for MG readers that has a lightness to it that YAs usually do not have when covering an apocalypse. There was something Goonies- like in this story of three kids fighting bandits to save their town, and who can resist the Goonies? I also appreciated that White Rock is a world I might fare better in, though I doubt I'd be brave enough to sky jump.
When I start a manuscript it is all about voice, and Hope's is a voice that holds on and doesn't let go. This is a story of nonstop adventure, and you know that from the first page. But it is also full of characters you cannot help but root for from the start, and like the best MG stories, it is about family and all that family can mean, especially in a unconventional world. It has the perfect amount of danger to keep the stakes high, and Peggy's vast imagination was clear to me when I read the first sky jumping scene and I was hooked.
I am so happy that so many others will soon get to read SKY JUMPERS!
Thanks for having me!
Sara
About Peggy:
Peggy Eddleman lives at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains in Utah with her three hilarious and fun kids (two sons and a daughter), and her incredibly supportive husband. Besides writing, Peggy enjoys playing laser tag with her family, making dinner, reading to her kids, toilet papering friends’ houses, doing cartwheels in long hallways, trying new restaurants, and occasionally painting murals on walls. SKY JUMPERS is her debut novel.
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a Rafflecopter giveaway
Peggy is giving away two more books! For more chances to win, go to her BLOG.
And be sure to enter all my other awesome contests, including LET THE SKY FALL, THE CULLING, and THE RUNAWAY KING, listed at the top of the blog.
Hope to see you Monday when I interview Mindee Arnett and give away a copy of THE NIGHTMARE AFFAIR.
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Upcoming Agent Spotlight Interviews & Guest Posts
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- Samantha Wekstein Agent Spotlight Interview and Query Critique Giveaway on 10/16/2024
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- Agent Spotlights & Interviews have been updated through the letter "K" as of 3/28/2024 and many have been reviewed by the agents. Look for more information as I find the time to update more agent spotlights.
EXCLUSIVE COVER REVEAL: SKY JUMPERS BY PEGGY EDDLEMAN AND GIVEAWAY
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27 comments:
That's a sweet looking cover and a great breakdown of what makes a good pitch. Thanks Natalie and Sara!
Love the cover and it sounds like a must have for my classroom! Thanks for the tip :)
Intriguing cover and love the idea of cliff diving into the Bombs Breath. Thanks for the insights into pitch writing.
That is such a great middle grade cover. I can see boys and girls wanting to pick it up. :)
What a stellar endorsement. I can't wait to pick up Peggy's book! :)
Peggy totally rocks, both online and in person. I hadn't realized her book was on Goodreads yet, so I'm so happy to have it added to my to-read list.
My kind of book! Love MG adventure. I read 'em, then reluctantly pass them on to the young readers in my family.
Love the cover. The pitch was super. Very happy for Peggy.
This Peggy girl sounds like a pretty brilliant person! If I were a Goonie or a citizen if White Rock, I would for sure want Peggy as my best friend! Xoxoxo
That's a really cool cover and an even cooler premise. Looks like it'll be a great read, and how wonderful that it's from a debut author too!
Thanks for including the pitch. Sounds like a terrific book!
I just love the cover, and the book sounds so good! I'm so excited for Peggy! :)
Ohh! This cover looks awesome :D Seems like a great book. <3 Thank you for sharing sweetie :)
Awesome cover and awesome info from Sara!
I'm so excited for this book.
Sky Jumpers sounds like such a great read. And to answer Sara's question... I don't think anyone can resist the goonies! ;)
Also thank you fot sharing Sara's great insight on queries.
I LOVE Peggy-I can't wait for Sky Jumpers to release-And the cover-I want the courage to jump into that.
I follow Peggy's blog and am so excited that she is giving away a book. Thanks for hosting this contest. I love The Goonies, and the premise of her book sounds very intriguing!
Isn't it fantastic? I'd seen the mock ups earlier so it's fun to see the final.
The book sounds awesome and I love the cover! Sara described it so well and of course the query letter was so well written that now I want to read it! Congratulations Peggy!
Hi Natalie! Thanks for the feature:)
It's so fascinating to read what an agent thinks and get their reasons for choosing a certain pitch over others. Wishing Peggy-of-cookie-fame the very best with her amazing cover and future release! :-)
So nice to see Peggy here and to hear what her agent liked about her story. I wish her the best with her book. What an amazing cover!
Congrats to Peggy! How fun to hear from her agent. The cover is so cool and the book sounds excellent. Thanks so much for sharing. :) I would love to win a copy.
~Jess
I love the cover. It's wonderful hearing the agents pov and what grabbed her. Congratulations to Peggy.
Wow! Look at that cover!
I don't qualify for the contest, but congratulations to Peggy. The book sounds wonderful - and she's working with Sara Crowe!!
I LOVE that cover! Just added it to my to-read list!
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