Blog Tour: Character Playlist from Stacey Lee!

 Today I am joining in the blog tour for Stacey Lee!  Her latest novel Outrun the Moon releases on May 24th and believe me you want this book!  It is amazing!!  For my stop Stacey has made an awesome character playlist!

Mercy with her ‘bossy cheeks’ knows how to get things done. I imagine if she lived in the present era, she would’ve probably enjoyed upbeat, empowering girl songs. Plus, their jumpy beats would power her through the rolling hills of San Francisco.

(In alphabetical order)

1. Fight Song, by Rachel Platten.
This one is simply about believing in yourself. This line is the most apropos to Mercy, whose small deed post-earthquake makes a large impact: “with a single match, you can make an explosion.”

2. Fighter, by Christina Aguilera.
Christina thanks the guy who did her wrong, for making her a ‘fighter.’ She’s faster and smarter and her skin is thicker. Mercy feels the same way about the obstacles in her path.

3. Mean, by Taylor Swift.
This one was written for the people who push you around and bring you down. Mercy gets her unfair share of those, and I imagine this song could’ve helped her deal with them.

4. No, by Meghan Trainor.
This is all girl-power. We girls are socialized to believe we have to be agreeable and get along, but Meghan shows us the power of two little letters: NO.

5. Roar, by Katy Perry.
This song is about how not to let people’s opinions of you make you feel small. All you need to do is stand up and roar.

6. Run the World, by Beyoncé.
Girls run the world, according to Beyoncé. She could easily have been singing about Mercy and the young women of St. Clare’s who don’t let an earthquake stop them from doing the unthinkable, starting a kitchen with no food or supplies.

7. Something in the Way You Move, by Ellie Goulding
I chose this song to represent how Mercy feels about Tom. She’s not always sure whether they will end up together, but she can’t help being drawn to the sure way he moves.

8. Stronger, Britney Spears.
A song about how overcoming loneliness can actually empower one.
You might think that I won’t make it on my own.
 
But now I’m stronger, than yesterday.
 
Now it’s nothing but my way.
 
My loneliness ain’t killing me no more.
  
I, I’m stronger.

9. Stronger, by Kelly Clarkson.
This anthem will get your heart pumping again after it’s broken.
What doesn't kill you makes a fighter 
Footsteps even lighter 
Doesn't mean I'm over cause you're gone

10. Shake it Off, Taylor Swift
A bouncy song about how to handle gossips and haters, as well as grouchy crones and haughty heiresses.

11. Superwoman by Alicia Keys.
Even when she’s troubled, and sorrowful, Alicia (and Mercy) is a superwoman.
Even when I'm a mess
I still put on a vest
With an S on my chest
Oh yes
I'm a Superwoman

12. Survivor, Destiny’s Child.
As the song says, Mercy’s not gonna give up, she’s not gonna stop, she’s gonna work harder, she’s a survivor.

13. Umbrella, by Rihanna.
This one’s about the power of friendship. When it rains, friends let friends stand under their umbrellas. When the city crumbles, friends let friends use the pages of their comportment book for toilet paper. Works the same.

14. Unbreakable Smile, by Tori Kelly.
Love this upbeat song about living a meaningful life.
I wanna make a difference
Change other people’s lives, give hope, even for a moment
I also love that she says being kind is not a weakness. Mercy is kind to others, but she doesn’t let people walk on her.

15. Wings by Little Mix.
A jumpy track about rising above the riffraff. Mercy’s mama would’ve given her the same advice.
Mama told me not to waste my life
She said spread your wings my little butterfly
Don't let what they say keep you up at night
And if they give you shhhh
Then they can walk on by

To listen to each song click HERE

 Stacey thank you SOO much for this amazing playlist!  I love when I can put a song with a book and I will definitely have these songs during my reread!!

Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's and Sons Books for Young Readers
Release Date: May 24th, 2016
Purchase: Amazon

San Francisco, 1906: Fifteen-year-old Mercy Wong is determined to break from the poverty in Chinatown, and an education at St. Clare’s School for Girls is her best hope. Although St. Clare’s is off-limits to all but the wealthiest white girls, Mercy gains admittance through a mix of cunning and a little bribery, only to discover that getting in was the easiest part. Not to be undone by a bunch of spoiled heiresses, Mercy stands strong—until disaster strikes.

On April 18, an historic earthquake rocks San Francisco, destroying Mercy’s home and school. With martial law in effect, she is forced to wait with her classmates for their families in a temporary park encampment. Mercy can't sit by while they wait for the Army to bring help. Fires might rage, and the city may be in shambles, yet Mercy still has the 'bossy' cheeks that mark her as someone who gets things done. But what can one teenaged girl do to heal so many suffering in her broken city?

Find the Author:
Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Blog Tour: Interview Jake Halpern & Peter Kujawinski

Today on WinterHaven Books I am thrilled to participate in the blog tour for Nightfall by Jake Halpern & Peter Kujawinski.  This book was all kinds of creepy and right up my alley!  For my tour stop I got to ask the guys a few questions and I even have some exclusive content to share with you!  

1. I absolutely love that y'all took out daylight throughout Nightfall! It gave the book a whole new level of scary for me. How did you come up with this idea? 
PK: I always think back to camping. The forest is so beautiful and great during the day, and then at night it’s downright terrifying – just like Nightfall.
JH: When I was a freshman at Yale, my girlfriend and I explored this old abandoned floor at the top of a gothic tower. There were no windows on the floor. It was insanely dark. I couldn’t see anything. We got totally lost. At first it was fun in a kind of campy way. Then it started to get really scary when we could not find a way out. That experience has always stayed with me.

2. Which character was your favorite to write? 
PK: There are scenes involving all characters that I love, but I guess I really liked thinking about Kana, because of what he’s going through. I guess I should stop there so I don’t spoil the book!
JH: No question for me, the answer is Marin. She is just such a badass. She is tough and brave and stubborn. She isn’t perfect. She has a hard time admitting when she has made a mistake. But her determination and ferocity is what saves them. She was inspired in part by my wife, Kasia, who is a doctor, a triathlete, and a scrappy immigrant from Poland. I didn’t know my wife when she was 14, but I kind of imagine her this way. I loved writing Marin.

3. I felt like the ending was very open ended, are there plans for a sequel?? *Crosses fingers!!*
PK: We wrestled with the ending a bit, and settled on the current one because it felt the most satisfying for this story. We’ve absolutely discussed a second and even third book (we even have several thousand words for each book), but whether they get written depends on our readers!
JH: We deliberately left the end kind of ambiguous and open ended because we wanted to create room for a sequel if we ever decide to write one. Right now we are working on a book that is set in the same world – it involves Furriers and Desert Landers – but it is not about Marin and Kana per se. But yes, at some point, it would be fun to write the conclusion of their story.

4. Actually speaking of sequels I would love a novella detailing the backstory of the, as I call them, Night Dwellers. Can you share anything about their background? 
PK: Good questions!  We’ve written a little bit about the Night Dwellers backstory and the arrival of a furrier, 14 years before the current book opens. We’re thinking of expanding that, but again, it depends on what our readers want.
JH: Okay we will give you a little more of a glimpse. This is an exclusive that we have shared with no one else, but our editor: During the fourteen years of Day, Soraya and her people hibernate below ground in vast, natural caverns that are an offshoot of the main canyon. This cave system extends throughout the entire island, and many areas are unmapped. None of Soraya’s people has ever made it through the entire cave system. There are rumors of the caves extending under the seabed so far that they reach other islands. Most of the Night creatures hibernate for the full fourteen years, in comfortable wooden containers lined with leaves and covered with branches torn from trees. Soraya started her hibernation several months later than she should have. This, of course, was because of Kana and her efforts to leave him with the Day Dwellers. Postponing hibernation, as Soraya did, is forbidden. It is also both dangerous and painful. Even small amounts of ambient light can be toxic for the Night creatures.

5. I know sometimes in co-authored books each author will write certain characters, was this the case for you two? 
 PK: No – Jake and I don’t divide up scenes or characters – doing it this way ensures that the book feels seamless, as if written by just one person.
JH: What Peter – whom I call, Kujo – says is true. But there are characters, or elements of characters, that seem to come more from one of us than the other. For example: I feel that Kujo had a really powerful sense of who Kana was and what the transformation was like for Kana. I feel like I had a strong sense of what Marin’s relationship was like with her mother and Line. Kujo, has twins himself (age 4), so he had a strong sense of how the twins (Marin and Kana) related to each other.

6. If you are each currently working on something new, can you share any details? 
PK: Sure!  We’re currently working on another book set in the Nightfall world, although it will feature different main characters and a different part of the world (closer to the Desert Lands). Though the plot will be different, I think you’ll see that it’s the same type of taut, atmospheric read, populated with some of the people you’ll remember from Nightfall – like the furriers. It’s tentatively called Edgelands.
JH: I will just add that Edgelands is all about an island at the edge of the world that operates as a gigantic funeral parlor. That’s all!

 Okay I have to say it, this interview is one of my all time favorites!  I love the exclusive that Jake shared! Just that tiny bit really wrapped up so many questions, but at the same time opened up even more!  I am really hoping with everything inside me that we get to see that second and third book and Edgelands!  I mean a gigantic funeral parlor??!!  That's got me written all over it!  

Peter & Jake thank you so much for stopping by and sharing so many amazing details. Nightfall was darkishly delicious and I can't wait for everyone to devour it!

BTW guys love the Kujo nickname!

Find the Authors:

Jake Halpern: Website / Goodreads /  Twitter

 Peter Kujawinski: Website / Goodreads / Twitter

Nightfall by Jake Halpern & Peter Kujawinski

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's and Sons Books for Young Readers

Release Date: September 22nd, 2015

Purchase: Amazon

The dark will bring your worst nightmares to light, in this gripping and eerie survival story, perfect for fans of James Dashner and Neil Gaiman.

On Marin’s island, sunrise doesn’t come every twenty-four hours—it comes every twenty-eight years. Now the sun is just a sliver of light on the horizon. The weather is turning cold and the shadows are growing long.

Because sunset triggers the tide to roll out hundreds of miles, the islanders are frantically preparing to sail south, where they will wait out the long Night.

Marin and her twin brother, Kana, help their anxious parents ready the house for departure. Locks must be taken off doors. Furniture must be arranged. Tables must be set. The rituals are puzzling—bizarre, even—but none of the adults in town will discuss why it has to be done this way.

Just as the ships are about to sail, a teenage boy goes missing—the twins’ friend Line. Marin and  Kana are the only ones who know the truth about where Line’s gone, and the only way to rescue him is by doing it themselves. But Night is falling. Their island is changing.

And it may already be too late.

Review: Nightfall by Jake Halpern, Peter Kujawinski

Nightfall by Jake Halpern, Peter Kujawinski 
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Release Date: September 22nd, 2015
Purchase: Amazon

On Marin’s island, sunrise doesn’t come every twenty-four hours—it comes every twenty-eight years. Now the sun is just a sliver of light on the horizon. The weather is turning cold and the shadows are growing long.

Because sunset triggers the tide to roll out hundreds of miles, the islanders are frantically preparing to sail south, where they will wait out the long Night.

Marin and her twin brother, Kana, help their anxious parents ready the house for departure. Locks must be taken off doors. Furniture must be arranged. Tables must be set. The rituals are puzzling—bizarre, even—but none of the adults in town will discuss why it has to be done this way.

Just as the ships are about to sail, a teenage boy goes missing—the twins’ friend Line. Marin and  Kana are the only ones who know the truth about where Line’s gone, and the only way to rescue him is by doing it themselves. But Night is falling. Their island is changing.

And it may already be too late.

My thoughts:
Nightfall was one of my must have books because well just look at that cover and also the summary was super creepy.  Which as you all know I am in the creepy mood nowadays so basically it was calling my name.  When it showed up on my door with the most amazing packaging ever (see picture) I knew I was in for an amazing adventure and wow!  Jake Halpern & Peter Kujawinski totally delivered on this one!!

I think the summary does a fantastic job at detailing what Nightfall is about.  What you don't get though from the summary is just how intense this book gets.  When the boats arrive to take the villagers away from Bliss there is an intensity in the air and when we are told their might not be enough boats my heart started pounding.  I knew what had to happen for Line, Kana, and Marin to miss this boats, but man I couldn't stop hoping they would make it back to the boat!!  When they finally do make it back to the boats luggage is everywhere and it looks like it was chaos boarding.  This made me wonder and not for the first time why everyone had a sense of urgency to leave before nightfall.  A few chapters in we find out.

Like I said I really enjoyed this story.  It was creepy, exciting, and downright thrilling throughout.  The only thing I wanted that I didn't get was a backstory.  We kind of hear a few things, but I wanted so much more.  A backstory would have helped me understand a little more about the island, but honestly even without it this story was still amazing and one of my favorites this year.  Plus there is a twist that I promise will blow your mind!!  I'm still trying to figure out how I missed the clues to it!!

I also enjoyed the characters.  It was a breathe of fresh air not to have a love triangle, drama, or romance as a major focal point.  Lately I have been looking for books that have different focal points and this one fits beautifully.  Line, Kana, and Marin were interesting characters and they each stole my heart in different ways.  Were they perfect, no, but are kids ever perfect?  They were real and honest and I really enjoyed reading their story.

This is definitely one of my favorite reads.  It's one that I think I will probably reread and I hardly ever do that, but I feel like I read it so fast that I probably missed a few key points and I want to know all the key points of this story.  Just truly fun and amazing!

4.5 snowflakes