YA March Madness: 2014!

Posted on by
Reply

YAMM Banner

 

It’s March! YAY! Not only does that mean spring is coming, it also means March Madness for basketball… and for books!

This will be the third consecutive year for YA March Madness. It was created as an alternative to the basketball tournament that happens every year in March.

As we have done in years past, we have split the four sides of the bracket into four different YA genres: Contemporary (HERE!!), Sci-Fi/Dystopia, Fantasy, and Paranormal.

To enter books into the bracket, we hold a nomination period. To nominate books for YAMM, simply visit each of the hosting blogs. You may nominate TWO books per genre. You must nominate books at the appropriate blog (so you may only nominate two CONTEMPORARY books here). Any nominations for books not appropriate to the genre for the place they are nominated will be deleted.

Books for the tournament must have been published in 2013, be YA, and fit the genre of the bracket you are nominating for.
Nominations are open until Saturday, March 8 at 11:59 PM EST.
After nominations are complete, the bracket will be created, and voting will begin!
Feel free to campaign on Twitter or your blog with the hashtag #YAMM or the graphic above!
 
To nominate in the other genres, please visit:
Two Chicks On Books (Sci-Fi/Dystopian)
The Book Cellar (Fantasy)
Katies Book Blog (Paranormal) 

TWO nominations total per person per genre.

Related Posts:

  • No Related Posts

Fun Five: Sherry Ficklin and Tyler Jolley

Posted on by
1

Fun FiveFun Five
Tyler Jolley
Sherry Ficklin

(P.S. I met these two at Book Expo America this year and they are absolutely hilarious.)

1. What is your favorite crayon color?
Sherry – Burnt Umber. It was the color of my first crush’s eyes.

Tyler – Kelly Green – like what comes out of my dog, Yeti, when he eats green paintballs

2. Tell us about a vacation you’d like to take.
Sherry – I am desperate to go to Greece and see the Temples there. I LOVE Greek mythology.

Tyler – Brazil, specifically Rio, I’ve been there once before and speak the language.  I also love the food.

3. Where is the first place you head in the grocery store?
Sherry – The bakery. A trip to Europe a few years back left me with an addiction to fresh baked pastries, especially croissants.

Tyler – Probably to the deli to get a 44 oz diet coke, that’s why I love Sam’s Club so much.

4. How many umbrellas do you own?
Sherry – Three, but they are HUGE. Though, to be honest, I never use them. I love the rain!

Tyler – I’m not sure how many, but I do know they’re all broken because they’ve all been turned into lightsabers

5. What is the last movie you saw in theaters?
Sherry – The Man of Steel. I have a very serious long-term thing for Superman.

Tyler – Unlike Sherry, I don’t have a long-term thing for Iron Man, but IM3 was the last move I saw.

About Extracted (The Lost Imperials #1):
Welcome to the war.16068631

The Tesla Institute is a premier academy that trains young time travelers called Rifters. Created by Nicola Tesla, the Institute seeks special individuals who can help preserve the time stream against those who try to alter it.

The Hollows is a rogue band of Rifters who tear through time with little care for the consequences. Armed with their own group of lost teens–their only desire to find Tesla and put an end to his corruption of the time stream.

Torn between them are Lex and Ember, two Rifters with no memories of their life before joining the time war.

When Lex’s girlfriend dies during a mission, the only way he can save her is to retrieve the Dox, a piece of tech which allows Rifters to re-enter their own timeline without collapsing the time stream. But the Dox is hidden deep within the Telsa Institute, which means Lex must go into the enemy camp. It’s there he meets Ember, and the past that was stolen from them both comes flooding back.

Now armed with the truth of who they are, Lex and Ember must work together to save the future before the battle for time destroys them both…again.

Goodreads

Related Posts:

  • No Related Posts

Fun Five: Kelly Fiore

Posted on by
Reply

Fun FiveFun Five
Kelly Fiore

Author of Taste Test

 

1. What is your favorite snack food?
Hmm, that’s a tough one…I think that cashews are probably the snack food I eat the most. That and Jelly Belly jelly beans – especially the chocolate-covered coconut ones!

2. How many movies do you normally watch in a month?
Well, it’s funny that you ask that – since my next book, JUST LIKE THE MOVIES, is about girls using movie strategies to snag the boys of their dreams, I’ve been watching A LOT more movies than usual as research. But, on average, I’d say I watch anywhere from 5-10 a month. That’s in my house, though. I can’t remember the last time I was in a movie theater!

3. Describe the contents of your desk drawer.
Well, my desk is a side table in my dining room – no drawers there. However, I do have tons of little boxes, bins, and baskets that have everything from my passport to old journals to bills. (Sometimes I hide the bill basket!) 

4. Tell us about a vacation you’d love to go on.
Oh, wow! There are so many!

I’d really love to go back to Greece and Turkey – I went in 2005 and just loved it. The food and the culture – everything was sensational. I’d also love to go back to Northern CA where my husband and I went on our honeymoon. Italy is certainly a dream location, too!

5. Where is the last place you tried a new food?
Just a few weeks ago, I tried a “beef-on-weck” sandwich in Buffalo, NY. It’s a local specialty in upstate NY – it’s a roast beef sandwich on a roll with caraway seeds. It was super-yummy!

About Taste Test:Taste Test by Kelly Fiore
If you can grill it, smoke it, or fry it, Nora Henderson knows all about it. She’s been basting baby back ribs and pulling pork at her father’s barbeque joint since she was tall enough to reach the counter. When she’s accepted to Taste Test, a reality-television teen cooking competition, Nora can’t wait to leave her humble hometown behind, even if it means saying good-bye to her dad and her best friend, Billy. Once she’s on set, run-ins with her high-society roommate and the maddeningly handsome—not to mention talented—son of a famous chef, Christian Van Lorten, mean Nora must work even harder to prove herself. But as mysterious accidents plague the kitchen arena, protecting her heart from one annoyingly charming fellow contestant in particular becomes the least of her concerns. Someone is conducting real-life eliminations, and if Nora doesn’t figure out who, she could be next to get chopped for good.

Goodreads

Related Posts:

  • No Related Posts

Blog Tour: ETERNITY by Elizabeth Miles

Posted on by
Reply

Chick Loves Lit is thrilled to welcome Elizabeth Miles to the blog today!

FORGIVENESS OR FURY CAMPAIGN

Thank you for hosting me as part of the FORGIVENESS or FURY Blog Tour! I’m thrilled about the release of my third novel, ETERNITY, the final chapter of the FURY SERIES. At each tour stop, I’ll be offering advice to teens on how to handle difficult situations (some of which come from the Fury trilogy itself), and I’ll recommend either forgiveness…or fury. I’ll also suggest a few of my favorite YA titles that tackle these difficult scenarios.

Today’s question is: I caught my boyfriend texting other girls – should I choose Forgiveness or Fury?

My advice: As a jealousy-prone person myself, I understand the insecure impulse to jump to the worst conclusions. He’s texting that girl from math class = He definitely thinks she’s smarter and cooler than me. He lol-ed at a girl’s mass text…That’s flirting — right? Well, no. Or at least, not necessarily. Before you get fury-ous (and start texting your ex as “revenge”), ask yourself if you’re reading the signals correctly. Repeat after me: Every text is not a sext. Focus on building up your own confidence, and unless your boyfriend has given you real reason to be suspicious, try trusting that he respects you too much to fool around.

My favorite YA novels dealing with this situation: Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler is devastatingly beautiful (and not just because of the illustrations!). Min writes a letter to her ex-boyfriend, Ed, detailing why they broke up. She tells the story through the collection of inanimate objects they accumulated over the course of their relationship: reflecting on the memories, even though they have already lost their meaning. This book will make you laugh, cry, and want to reread it as soon as you finish it.

Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan
Oh man, this book! Paul, an openly gay sophomore in a gay-friendly town, is falling in love with Noah. But when his sort-of ex boyfriend (who is still in the closet) Kyle, comes back into the picture, Paul winds up betraying his conscience and has to fight to win back the love of the boy he really wants. If you haven’t read this yet, do yourself a favor and run to your nearest library or bookstore!

ABOUT ETERNITYEternity Blog Tour
Secrets and revenge make for desperate measures and fateful choices in this gripping conclusion to the Fury trilogy.

The weather is mild in Ascension…but beneath the surface, everything is burning up.

The nightmare Emily Winters has been living through for months shows no sign of ending, as the Furies stay on the peripheral, slowly driving her crazy. Em feels…different. She’s angry, and never cold, and too strong. It’s only a matter of time before she turns into the thing she hates the most. Em needs to take her fate into her own hands, but without Drea’s help, or anyone to turn to, Em is quickly running out of options.

Crow’s involvement with Em has grown more complicated. His visions are taking shape—and it doesn’t look good for Em. But Crow has a plan, and he will do anything to save her. Anything.

JD misses the Em he used to know…and love. She doesn’t seem like herself; it’s like she’s hiding something. When JD begins to learn the truth, he is as scared as he is determined to help her. And Em’s survival may be dependent on his actions.

The Furies love to play games, but this time they’re deadly serious…and they hate to lose.

ABOUT ELIZABETH MILES
Elizabeth Miles grew up in Chappaqua, New York, not far from New York City. She graduated cum laude from Boston University in 2004, worked for several years at the Boston Phoenix, and now writes for the Portland Phoenix, an alternative weekly newspaper. She has won several awards from the New England Press Association and was nominated for an Association of Alternative Newsweeklies Award. Elizabeth serves on the board of trustees of Portland Players, a community theater and second home. She loves pizza; she can often be found running around on stage while scantily clad; and a cold winter night in Maine is one of the creepiest and most beautiful things she can think of. Eternity is her third novel.

Related Posts:

Just Like Fate Discussion

Posted on by
4

Just Like Fate Bkmk[3]Have you ever looked back on a decision you made and wondered how your life would have changed if you had done something differently?

This question is a lot harder to answer for me after reading JUST LIKE FATE. The book is all about how one decision can change things so much. Prior to reading this book, I probably would have instantly said I don’t look at my past that way, and for the most part I still don’t – but this question definitely did get me thinking more about some of the big moments of my life and what would have happened if I had done the opposite.

What about you? Answer in the comments below and enter to win a copy of JUST LIKE FATE!

About the book:
Caroline is at a crossroads. Her grandmother is sick, maybe dying. Like the rest of her family, Caroline’s been at Gram’s bedside since her stroke. With the pressure building, all Caroline wants to do is escape–both her family and the reality of Gram’s failing health. So when Caroline’s best friend offers to take her to a party one fateful Friday night, she must choose: stay by Gram’s side, or go to the party and live her life.

The consequence of this one decision will split Caroline’s fate into two separate paths–and she’s about to live them both.

Friendships are tested and family drama hits an all-new high as Caroline attempts to rebuild old relationships, and even make a few new ones. If she stays, her longtime crush, Joel, might finally notice her, but if she goes, Chris, the charming college boy, might prove to be everything she’s ever wanted.

Though there are two distinct ways for her fate to unfold, there is only one happy ending…

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Related Posts: