What’s on my iPod: “Thinkin Bout You” by Frank Ocean

What I’m reading: So Far Away by Meg Mitchell Moore

The last person I followed on Twitter: @JessicaKeener4

1.  ‘Girl Unmoored Helps Moor Us All’

The Portland Press Herald in Maine ran a noteworthy review of Girl Unmoored.  Jennifer’s book takes place in Falmouth, Maine where she grew up and now she spends summers there with her family.  “These (Apron, Mike and Chad) are good people… doing good things to better the world around them. And, whatever our age, we feel better reading about them. We also feel ready to shake our heads and clear out musty ideas of how little teenagers have to worry about. In that way, Girl Unmoored helps moor us all.” – Nancy Grape, The Portland Press Herald

MORE ABOUT JENNIFER:

Jennifer Gooch Hummer has worked as a script analyst for various agencies and major film studios. Her short stories have been published in Miranda Magazine, Our Stories, Glimmertrain and Fish. She has continued graduate studies in the Writer’s Program at UCLA, where her work was nominated for the 2006 Kirkwood Prize in fiction. Jennifer’s debut novel, Girl Unmoored, has won eight awards including Winner, Cross Genre, National Indie Excellence Book Awards; Winner, YA Fiction, Next Generation Indie Book Awards; and Best New Fiction, International Book Awards.  Jennifer lives in Southern California and Maine with her husband and three young daughters.

2.  Hell or High Water Featured on Barnes and Noble

Joy Castro’s Hell or High Water was just featured on Barnes and Noble’s Mystery Blog.  The blog goes into details about Hell or High Water as well as what is to come.  “Despite the ugly elements of the story, Hell or High Water is infused with so much affection for the Crescent City the tourism board should be promoting it. Hell or High Water is the first in what may become a series of books featuring Nola, and Castro has layered her with enough fertile past to intrigue us, and from which could easily sprout several more books’ worth of story. I’m on board for more.”

MORE ABOUT HELL OR HIGH WATER:

Nola Céspedes, an ambitious young reporter at the Times-Picayune, catches a break:  an assignment to write her first full-length crime feature.  While researching her story, she becomes fixated on the search for a missing tourist in New Orleans.  As Nola’s work leads her back into dangerous corners of the city, she finds herself faced with an even more compelling question:  Who is Nola Céspedes?  Vividly rendered in razor-sharp prose, this psychological thriller is a riveting journey of trust betrayed—and the courageous struggle toward recovery.

“Hell or High Water is more than just a mystery; it’s a heartfelt examination of a second America—poor but undaunted—that was swept under the rug but refuses to stay there.”  –Dennis Lehane, New York Times bestselling author of Mystic River

“In the tradition of P.D. James, Ruth Rendell, and Lucha Corpi, Joy Castro shows how mystery can be much more than the unraveling of crimes concealed.  An irresistible and compelling novel.”  –Lorraine M. López, author of Homicide Survivors Picnic and Other Stories

3.  These Girls on CBS 

Jennifer Weiner recently shared her best summer reads list with CBS and she named Sarah Pekkanen’s These Girls.  Weiner’s list also includes I Couldn’t Love You More by Jillian Medoff and Freeman by Leonard Pitts.  Congratulations on making the list, Sarah!

MORE ABOUT THESE GIRLS:

“Sarah Pekkanen’s latest celebrates the healing power of female friendship for three very different young women sharing a New York City apartment. By turns bittersweet, laugh-out-loud funny, and painfully real, you’ll want to move in with these girls” ~ NYT bestseller Jodi Picoult.

 

4.  ‘Kidlit for Grownups’

SheKnows just did a post about “6 young adult books you’ll want to borrow from your teen” and they listed Jennifer Gooch Hummer’s Girl Unmoored as one of them.  The book has been compared to Judy Blume’s classic 1970 novel, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret due to the engaging way it tackles tough issues such as death, grief and infidelity.  “This book is smart, funny and quirky. It’s also a poignant coming-of-age story that continues to enjoy strong cross-over appeal. Loved by young adults, those who came of age in the 1980s and anyone looking for a good read, this book should definitely be on your must-read list.”  Congratulations, Jennifer!

MORE ABOUT GIRL UNMOORED:

Apron Bramhall has come unmoored. It’s 1985 and her mom has passed away, her evil stepmother is pregnant, and her best friend has traded her in for a newer model. Fortunately, she’s about to be saved by Jesus. Not that Jesus—the actor who plays him in Jesus Christ, Superstar. Apron is desperate to avoid the look-alike Mike (no one should look that much like Jesus unless they can perform a miracle or two), but suddenly he’s everywhere. Until one day, she’s stuck in church with him—of all places. And then something happens; Apron’s broken teenage heart blinks on for the first time since she’s been adrift.

Mike and his grumpy boyfriend, Chad, offer her a summer job in their flower store, Apron’s world seems to calm. But when she uncovers Chad’s secret, coming of age becomes almost too much bear. She’s forced to see things the adults around her fail to—like what love really means and who is paying too much for it.

Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You, comments, “Love, loss, and the coming of age of one remarkable girl blaze through this haunting debut like a shooting star you’d wish upon. It’s tough and tender, funny and smart, and it frankly took my breath away. I loved it.”

5.  Spectacular Review for Finding Emma

PS Mom Reviews just reviewed Steena Holme’s Finding Emma, and gave amazing insight about the book.  “I really enjoyed this book, mostly because I can relate to the mother a little. Of course I’ve never been in a terrible circumstance like this, but I can only imagine. Her emotions make sense to me. She never gives up hope in finding her daughter again. Don’t let this lead you to believe this book is just sad. It’s not. There is some hope, and as the story unravels you’ll be drawn right in.”

MORE ABOUT FINDING EMMA:

A child torn from the arms of loving parents, a relationship torn apart from loss…

Megan sees her daughter Emma everywhere. She’s the little girl standing in the supermarket, the child waiting for the swings at the playground, the girl with ice cream dripping down her face. But it’s never Emma.

Because Emma’s been missing for two years.

Unable to handle the constant heartache of all the false sightings, Megan’s husband threatens to walk away unless Megan can agree to accept Emma is gone. Megan’s life and marriage is crumbling all around her and she realizes she may have to do the thing she dreads most: move on.

When Megan takes a photo of a little girl with an elderly couple at the town fair, she believes it to be her missing daughter. Unable to let go, she sets in motion a sequence of events that could destroy both families lives.