Waiting on Wednesday: Slide

There are plenty of exciting YA debuts happening in 2012, but one in particular caught my eye and that is Slide by Jill Hathaway. The premise of Slide just sounds so intense and original, plus standalones are always refreshing in a sea of series. Slide will be published March 27th 2012 by Balzer + Bray for HarperCollins.

Vee Bell is certain of one irrefutable truth—her sister’s friend Sophie didn’t kill herself. She was murdered.

Vee knows this because she was there. Everyone believes Vee is narcoleptic, but she doesn’t actually fall asleep during these episodes: When she passes out, she slides into somebody else’s mind and experiences the world through that person’s eyes. She’s slid into her sister as she cheated on a math test, into a teacher sneaking a drink before class. She learned the worst about a supposed “friend” when she slid into her during a school dance. But nothing could have prepared Vee for what happens one October night when she slides into the mind of someone holding a bloody knife, standing over Sophie’s slashed body.

Vee desperately wishes she could share her secret, but who would believe her? It sounds so crazy that she can’t bring herself to tell her best friend, Rollins, let alone the police. Even if she could confide in Rollins, he has been acting off lately, more distant, especially now that she’s been spending more time with Zane.

Enmeshed in a terrifying web of secrets, lies, and danger and with no one to turn to, Vee must find a way to unmask the killer before he or she strikes again.

What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday: Pandemonium

I loved Delirium when I read it earlier this year (see my review here) so of course I am very excited for the sequel, Pandemonium. Although 2012 is definitely going to be a year of many sequels, this is one I particularly looking forward to! Unfortunately I'll have to wait til March 6th 2012. The ending of Delirium was just so intense! Also Alex better be okay or Lauren Oliver is going to have some explaining to do!

Blame my excitement for all the exclamation points, I just can't wait for this book.

Lauren Oliver captivated readers with Delirium, the first book in a thrilling dystopian trilogy in which Lena Haloway dared to fall in love with Alex and escape the cure, the government-mandated procedure that renders a person immune to the disease of love. Lena and Alex staked their lives on leaving their oppressive society, but only Lena broke free.

Pandemonium continues Lena’s gripping story. After escaping from Portland, Maine, Lena makes it to the Wilds and becomes part of an Invalid community, where she transforms herself into a warrior for the resistance. A future without Alex is unimaginable, but Lena pushes forward and fights, both for him and for a world in which love is no longer considered a disease. Swept up in a volatile mix of revolutionaries and counterinsurgents, Lena struggles to survive—and wonders if she may be falling in love again.

Full of danger, forbidden romance, and exquisite writing, Lauren Oliver’s sequel to Delirium races forward at a breathtaking pace and is sure to appeal to fans who crave the high-stakes action of The Hunger Games and the bittersweet love story of Romeo & Juliet. 

What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday: The Apothecary

While I am completely not justified in adding another Maile Meloy book to my TBR list, considering I own three of her four books, and the only one I've read is the fourth (which I borrowed from the library and loved and then promptly bought all the others), this one sounds so different from her previous books it is almost like adding a separate author to my stack of books to read. Right? Anyway, here's my review of her most recent book, the short story collection, Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It. That said, I was very intrigued and excited when I learned she had a middle grade novel coming out and hopefully I'll have finished a couple more of her adult books in time to read her children's debut, The Apothecary.

It's 1952 and the Scott family has just moved from Los Angeles to London. Here, fourteen-year-old Janie meets a mysterious apothecary and his son, Benjamin Burrows--a fascinating boy who's not afraid to stand up to authority and dreams of becoming a spy. When Benjamin's father is kidnapped, Janie and Benjamin must uncover the secrets of the apothecary's sacred book, the Pharmacopoeia, in order to find him, all while keeping it out of the hands of their enemies--Russian spies in possession of nuclear weapons. Discovering and testing potions they never believed could exist, Janie and Benjamin embark on a dangerous race to save the apothecary and prevent impending disaster.

Together with Ian Schoenherr's breathtaking illustrations, this is a truly stunning package from cover to cover.

What are you Waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday: Prized

I lovedlovedloved O'Brien's debut, Birthmarked (click here for review), so of course I'm counting down the days til the release of her sequel to the novel and second book in the Birthmarked Trilogy, Prized. The novel sounds quite different but still awesome.

In the thrilling follow up to Birthmarked, sixteen-year-old midwife Gaia Stone has fled from the Enclave and now must fight for her baby sister’s survival in the matriarchal society of Sylum.

Striking out into the wasteland with nothing but her baby sister, a handful of supplies, and a rumor to guide her, 16-year-old midwife Gaia Stone survives only to be captured by the people of Sylum, a dystopian society where women rule the men who drastically outnumber them, and a kiss is a crime. In order to see her sister again, Gaia must submit to their strict social code, but how can she deny her sense of justice, her curiosity, and everything in her heart that makes her whole?

Prized by Caragh M. O'Brien will be released on November 8th 2011 by Roaring Brook Press.

What are you Waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday: The Survival Kit

This Gorgeous Game by Donna Freitas (click for review) was a wonderful book I read earlier this year so when I heard about her upcoming release, The Survival Kit, I knew I'd have to pick that one up as well. The premise reminds me of a few other books but hopefully the execution is what makes The Survival Kit stand out.

A romantic and heartfelt celebration of both memories and new beginnings.

When Rose’s mom dies, she leaves behind a brown paper bag labeled Rose’s Survival Kit. Inside the bag, Rose finds an iPod, with a to-be-determined playlist; a picture of peonies, for growing; a crystal heart, for loving; a paper star, for making a wish; and a paper kite, for letting go.

As Rose ponders the meaning of each item, she finds herself returning again and again to an unexpected source of comfort. Will is her family’s gardener, the school hockey star, and the only person who really understands what she’s going through. Can loss lead to love?

The Survival Kit by Donna Freitas will be released October 11th 2011 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR).

What are you Waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday: Clean

Amy Reed's debut, Beautiful, has also caught my eye although I haven't read it yet so when I learned of her upcoming release, Clean, on the important topic of teenage addiction I knew I had a second book by her to add to my "to read" pile. Hopefully I'll get a chance to pick both of them up soon.

Olivia, Kelly, Christopher, Jason, and Eva have one thing in common: They’re addicts. Addicts who have hit rock bottom and been stuck together in rehab to face their problems, face sobriety, and face themselves. None of them wants to be there. None of them wants to confront the truths about their pasts. But they’ll all have to deal with themselves and one another if they want to learn how to live. Because when you get that high, there’s nowhere to go but down, down, down.

Clean by Amy Read will be published August 9th 2011 by Simon Pulse.

What are you Waiting on this Wednesday? 

Waiting on Wednesday: Every You, Every Me

I've read a couple books by David Levithan and loved all of them, but Every You, Every Me definitely seems like a departure for the normally cheerful writer. I am very curious to read it but unfortunately I still have a few more months to wait.

In this high school-set psychological tale, a tormented teen named Evan starts to discover a series of unnerving photographs—some of which feature him. Someone is stalking him . . . messing with him . . . threatening him. Worse, ever since his best friend Ariel has been gone, he's been unable to sleep, spending night after night torturing himself for his role in her absenc...moreIn this high school-set psychological tale, a tormented teen named Evan starts to discover a series of unnerving photographs—some of which feature him. Someone is stalking him . . . messing with him . . . threatening him. Worse, ever since his best friend Ariel has been gone, he's been unable to sleep, spending night after night torturing himself for his role in her absence. And as crazy as it sounds, Evan's starting to believe it's Ariel that's behind all of this, punishing him. But the more Evan starts to unravel the mystery, the more his paranoia and insomnia amplify, and the more he starts to unravel himself. Creatively told with black-and-white photos interspersed between the text so the reader can see the photos that are so unnerving to Evan, Every You, Every Me is a one-of-a-kind departure from a one-of-a-kind author.

Every You, Every Me by David Levithan will be released September 13th 2011 by Knopf Books for Young Readers.

What are you Waiting on this Wednesday? 

Waiting on Wednesday: Smuggled

Smuggled sounds like an extremely powerful and interesting book, I guess I will find out when it is released. This is also a book where the cover definitely caught my eye, the image is very intriguing.

Sweeping from post–WWII rural Romania to the cosmopolitan Budapest of 1990, Christina Shea’s Smuggled is the story of Eva Farkas, who loses her identity, quite literally, as a young child when she is smuggled in a flour sack across the Hungarian border to escape the Nazis.

Five-year-old Eva is trafficked from Hungary to Romania at the end of the war, arriving in the fictional border town of Crisu, given the name Anca Balaj by her aunt and uncle and instructed never to speak another word of Hungarian again. “Eva is dead,” she is told. As the years pass, Anca proves an unquenchable spirit, with a lust for life even when political forces threaten to derail her at every turn. Time is layered in this quest for self, culminating in the end of the Iron Curtain and Anca’s reclaiming of the name her mother gave her. When Eva returns to Hungary in 1990, a country changing as fast as the price of bread, she meets Martin, an American teacher, and Eva’s lifelong search for family and identity comes full circle as her cross-cultural relationship with Martin deepens through their endeavor to rescue the boy downstairs from abuse.

An intimate look at the effects of history on an individual life, Smuggled is a raw and fearless account of transformation, and a viscerally reflective tale about the basic need for love without claims.

Smuggled by Christina Shea on July 5th 2011 by Grove Press, Black Cat.

What are you Waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday: Forgotten

Forgotten has already been getting a lot of hype and I admit it's definitely got me interested. I think there is a movie in the work already. The premise is really interesting and hopefully the book lives up to it. I guess I'll find out when it's released this summer.

Each night when 16 year-old London Lane goes to sleep, her whole world disappears. In the morning, all that's left is a note telling her about a day she can't remember. The whole scenario doesn't exactly make high school or dating that hot guy whose name she can't seem to recall any easier. But when London starts experiencing disturbing visions she can't make sense of, she realizes it's time to learn a little more about the past she keeps forgetting-before it destroys her future.

Part psychological drama, part romance, and part mystery, this thought-provoking novel will inspire readers to consider the what-if's in their own lives and recognize the power they have to control their destinies.

Forgotten by Cat Patrick will be released June 7th 2011 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

What are you Waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday: Blood Wounds

I hadn't heard of Susan Beth Pfeffer before Blood Wounds but she's definitely caught my interest with this title. It sounds like a creepy mysterious book, and the cover just adds to the thrill. Looking forward to reading it when it is released. 

Willa is lucky: She has a loving blended family that gets along. Not all families are so fortunate. But when a bloody crime takes place hundreds of miles away, it has an explosive effect on Willa’s peaceful life. The estranged father she hardly remembers has murdered his new wife and children, and is headed east toward Willa and her mother.

Under police protection, Willa discovers that her mother has harbored secrets that are threatening to boil over. Has everything Willa believed about herself been a lie? As Willa sets out to untangle the mysteries of her past, she keeps her own secret—one that has the potential to tear her family apart.

Blood Wounds by Susan Beth Pfeffer will be published September 12th 2011 by Harcourt Children's Books.

What are you Waiting on this Wednesday? 

Waiting on Wednesday: Bitter End

I haven't read Hate List by Jennifer Brown yet but I've heard it's incredible so I was excited to learn about her upcoming release. Bitter End looks like a gritty real book dealing with an incredibly important issue.

When Alex falls for the charming new boy at school, Cole, a handsome, funny, sports star who adores her, she can't believe she's finally found her soul mate-someone who truly understands her and loves her for who she really is.

At first, Alex is blissfully happy. Sure, Cole seems a little jealous of her relationship with her best friends, Zack and Bethany, but what guy would want his girlfriend spending all of her time with another boy? But as the months pass, Alex can no longer ignore Cole's small put-downs, pinches, or increasingly violent threats. As Alex struggles to come to terms with the sweet boyfriend she fell in love with and the boyfriend whose "love" she no longer recognizes, she is forced to choose - between her "true love" and herself.

Bitter End by Jennifer Brown will be published May 10th 2011 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

What are you Waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday: Tighter

When 17-year-old Jamie arrives on the idyllic New England island of Little Bly to work as a summer au pair, she is stunned to learn of the horror that precedes her. Seeking the truth surrounding a young couple's tragic deaths, Jamie discovers that she herself looks shockingly like the dead girl—and that she has a disturbing ability to sense the two ghosts. Why is Jamie's connection to the couple so intense? What really happened last summer at Little Bly? As the secrets of the house wrap tighter and tighter around her, Jamie must navigate the increasingly blurred divide between the worlds of the living and the dead.

Brilliantly plotted, with startling twists, here is a thrilling page-turner from the award-winning Adele Griffin.

Tighter by Adele Griffin will be published May 10th 2011 by Knopf Books for Young Readers.

What are you Waiting on this Wednesday? Let me know if you are a new follower so I can make sure to check out your site.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Violets of March

A heartbroken woman stumbled upon a diary and steps into the life of its anonymous author.

In her twenties, Emily Wilson was on top of the world: she had a bestselling novel, a husband plucked from the pages of GQ, and a one-way ticket to happily ever after.

Ten years later, the tide has turned on Emily's good fortune. So when her great-aunt Bee invites her to spend the month of March on Bainbridge Island in Washington State, Emily accepts, longing to be healed by the sea. Researching her next book, Emily discovers a red velvet diary, dated 1943, whose contents reveal startling connections to her own life.

A mesmerizing debut with an idyllic setting and intriguing dual story line, The Violets of March announces Sarah Jio as a writer to watch.

The Violets of March by Sarah Jio will be published April 26th 2011 by Plume.

Waiting on Wednesday: Alone in the Classroom

 "Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases.

I've been trying to read more Canadian literature over the last year and one upcoming Canadian novel I am very much looking forward to is Alone in the Classroom by Elizabeth Hay.

In 1930, a school principal in Saskatchewan is suspected of abusing a student. Seven years later, on the other side of the country, a girl picking wild cherries meets a violent end. These are only two of the mysteries in the life of the narrator's charismatic aunt, Connie Flood. As the narrator Anne pieces together her aunt's lifelong attachment to her former student Michael Graves, and her obsession with Parley Burns, the inscrutable principal implicated in the assault of Michael's younger sister. Her own story becomes connected with that of the past, and the triangle of principal, teacher, student opens out into other emotional triangles -- aunt, niece, lover; mother, daughter, granddaughter -- until a sudden, capsizing love changes Anne's life. Alone in the Classroom is Hay's most tense, intricate, and seductive novel yet.

Alone in the Classroom will be published on April 26th 2011 by McClelland & Stewart.

Do you try to read books written by authors from your native country? Any other Canadian author recommendations? What are you waiting on this Wednesday? 

Waiting on Wednesday: Compulsion

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases.

I'm particularly interested in books which deal with different forms of mental illness, or "issue" books. One of my favourite young adult novels is definitely Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson. Compulsion by Heidi Ayarbe seems to take on obsessive compulsive disorder, which I also found interesting to read about in Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann.

Saturday will be the third state soccer championship in a row for Jake Martin. Three. A good number. Prime. Carson High can’t lose because Jake has the magic: a self-created protection generated by his obsession with prime numbers. It’s the magic that has every top soccer university recruiting Jake, the magic that keeps his family safe, and the magic that suppresses his anxiety attacks. But the magic is Jake’s prison, because sustaining it means his compulsions take over nearly every aspect of his life.

Jake’s convinced the magic will be permanent after Saturday, the perfect day, when every prime has converged. Once the game is over, he won’t have to rely on his sister, Kasey, to concoct excuses for his odd rituals. His dad will stop treating him like he is some freak. Maybe he’ll even make a friend other than Luc.

But what if the magic doesn’t stay? What if the numbers never leave?

Compulsion will be published May 1st 2011 by Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins).

How do you feel about novels that deal with mental illness, or other "issue" books? What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday: 1Q84

 "Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases.

I'm still a novice when it comes to Haruki Murakami, having only read four of his books and none of his most famous ones. However I was still excited to learn that an English translation of 1Q84 will be released later this year, as Murakami has quickly become one of my favourite authors. I don't know much about this book but that's the way Murakami wanted it so I'm going to stick to a blurb which explains the title of the novel.

Prior to the 1Q84's publication, Murakami stated that he would not reveal anything about the book, following criticism that leaks had diminished his previous books' novelty. 1Q84 was noted for heavy advance orders despite this secrecy. The title is a play on the Japanese pronunciation of the year 1984. The letter Q and the Japanese number 9 (typically romanized as "kyū," but as "kew" on the book's Japanese cover) are homophones, which are often used in Japanese wordplay. This is a reference to George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.

This book originally was published in 2008 in Japanese, so the translation has been awhile in progress. Unlike in Japan where 1Q84 was released in three volumes, in North America the novel will be published by Knopf in a single volume, released on October 25th, 2011. The book will be approximately 1,000 pages, so it will definitely be enough Murakami to dig into for awhile!

Have you ever had to deal with a long wait for a book you're anticipating to come out in your language? What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday: Perfect

Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases.

So I haven't read Impulse by Ellen Hopkins yet, which Perfect is actually the follow up to, but I did pick up a secondhand copy over Christmas, I'm just trying to pace myself. After discovering Hopkins last year and devouring four of her books, I'm trying to save the remaining three (Impulse, Tricks, and Fallout) to make them last. When I learned that 2011 was going to result in a new release by Hopkins I was incredibly excited to add one more title by her to my "to read" list.

Everyone has something, someone, somewhere else that they'd rather be. For four high-school seniors, their goals of perfection are just as different as the paths they take to get there.

Cara's parents' unrealistic expectations have already sent her twin brother Conner spiraling toward suicide. For her, perfect means rejecting their ideals to take a chance on a new kind of love. Kendra covets the perfect face and body - no matter what surgeries and drugs she needs to get there. To score his perfect home run - on the field and off - Sean will sacrifice more than he can ever win back. And Andre realizes to follow his heart and achieve his perfect performance, he'll be living a life his ancestors would never understand.

Everyone wants to be perfect, but when perfection loses its meaning, how far will you go? What would you give up to be perfect?

A riveting and startling companion to the bestselling Impulse, Ellen Hopkins's Perfect exposes the harsh truths about what it takes to grow up and grow into our own skins, our own selves.

Perfect will be published September 13th 2011 by Margaret K. McElderry (Simon and Schuster)

Do you find yourself adding new books by an author to your TBR list even before you've finished all their old ones? What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday: The Godless Boys

 "Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases.

I tend to avoid books with a religious focus unless they are extremely well done or provide a particularly interesting perspective. The upcoming release The Godless Boys is actually one that caught my eye based on the premise; a world where you have to pick whether or not you want to live with religion. Add in a little mystery and this sounds like an extremely neat literary thriller.

If you were forced to live with faith, or without, which would you choose?

England. 1986. The Church controls the country, and all members of the Secular Movement have been expelled to the Island.

On the Island, religion is outlawed. A gang of boys patrols the community, searching for signs of faith, and punishing any believers.

When an English girl arrives—intent on finding her mother who disappeared, mysteriously, ten years ago—she is swept up in the dangerous games of the gang. But while one boy falls in love with her, the other wants revenge for the wrongs of the past, and, as the violence escalates, the English girl becomes their pawn.

The Godless Boys is a book about faith, and life without faith; about love, and its absence. But above all, it’s about power, and how dangerous it can be to stand out from the crowd. Both violent and tender, it’s a remarkable debut, and clearly marks Naomi Wood as a name to note.

The Godless Boys will be released by Picador UK on May 2nd 2011.

How do you feel about books on religious topics? What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday: Tiger, Tiger

 "Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases.

I love reading memoirs and Tiger, Tiger by Margaux Fragoso is an upcoming one that looks extremely interesting and creepy.

One summer day, Margaux Fragoso swam up to Peter Curran at a public swimming pool and asked him to play. She was seven; he was fifty-one. When Curran invited her and her mom to see his house, the little girl found a child’s dream world, full of odd pets and books and music and magical toys. Margaux’s mother was devoted, but beset by mental illness and frightened of her abusive husband; she was only too ready to take advantage of an escape for the daughter she felt incapable of taking care of on her own. Soon Margaux was spending all her time with Peter.

In time, he insidiously took on the role of Margaux’s playmate, father, lover, and captor. Charming and repulsive, warm and violent, loving and manipulative, Peter burrowed into every aspect of Margaux’s life and transformed her from a girl fizzing with imagination and affection into a deadened, young-old woman on the brink of suicide. But when she was twenty-two, it was Peter—ill, and terrified at the thought of losing her—who killed himself, at the age of sixty-six.

With lyricism and mesmerizing clarity, Margaux Fragoso has unflinchingly explored the darkest episodes of her life, helping us see how pedophiles work hidden away in the open to steal childhood. In writing Tiger, Tiger, she has healed herself of a wound that was fourteen years in the making. This extraordinary memoir is an unprecedented glimpse into the heart and mind of a monster; but more than this, it illustrates the power of memory and truth-telling to mend.

Tiger, Tiger will be published March 5th 2011 by Douglas & McIntyre in Canada, and Farrar, Straus and Giroux in the United States.

How do you feel about memoirs, are there any you are looking forward to? What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday: The Uncoupling

 "Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases.

For this week's Waiting on Wednesday I have decided to feature The Uncoupling by Meg Wolitzer, a novel with a very interesting premise inspired by the play Lysistrata where the women stop having sex with the men. I haven't actually read the play, but maybe I will before I pick up the book although I don't think it will be necessary in order to enjoy it.

When the elliptical new drama teacher at Stellar Plains High School chooses for the school play Lysistrata-the comedy by Aristophanes in which women stop having sex with men in order to end a war-a strange spell seems to be cast over the school. Or, at least, over the women. One by one throughout the high school community, perfectly healthy, normal women and teenage girls turn away from their husbands and boyfriends in the bedroom, for reasons they don't really understand. As the women worry over their loss of passion, and the men become by turns unhappy, offended, and above all, confused, both sides are forced to look at their shared history, and at their sexual selves in a new light.

As she did to such acclaim with the New York Times bestseller The Ten-Year Nap, Wolitzer tackles an issue that has deep ramifications for women's lives, in a way that makes it funny, riveting, and totally fresh-allowing us to see our own lives through her insightful lens.

The Uncoupling will be published April 5th 2011 by Riverhead Hardcover.

There are some classics which seem to have a few too many modern versions, mostly Pride and Prejudice comes to mind, but in general it seems like a cool way to pay credit to the greats while showing how relevant the books can still be.

How do you feel about books inspired by classic literature? What are you waiting on Wednesday?