Week of September 19-25, 2009

The YA Connection is a collaborative column that was originally started by Kristi (The Story Siren) and Steph (Reviewer X). In it can be found links from around the YA blogosphere, including, but not limited to, contests links, author blog links, review links, and miscellaneous news pertaining to the age group.

Author Musings

Carrie Ryan (Forest of Hands and Teeth) announced that her books were receiving a make-over. Apparently there is some mixed feelings on the new covers.

Jennifer Hubbard (The Secret Year) shares her love of lists. I must admit I am also a huge fan of lists, and it is nice to know I am not alone in this obsession.

Diana Peterfreund (Rampant) did an awesome post on writing about "Cool Girls." Exploring the stereotypical portrayals of the dumb jock, or the even more commonly portrayed jerk jock. Also touching on the fact that not all cheerleaders are ditsy bimbos. You should definitely check this one out!

Melissa Walker (Lovestruck Summer) did a Cover Story for Crazy Beautiful by Lauren Baratz-Logsted. One of my all time favorite covers.

Support Breast Cancer awareness and get a signed book! For more information head over to Jackson Pearce's (As You Wish) Blog!

You can win an ARC of Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken.

Maggie Steifvater is having an awesome Ballad contest!

L.K. Madigan (Flash Burnout) is having a Photo Contest! ($50 gift certificate up for grabs!)

Another awesome contest over at Megan Crewe's (Give Up the Ghost) blog!

Blogger Blurbs

Poshdeluxe of Forever Young Adult reviewed The Treasure Map of Boys by E. Lockhart. "not only do i want to be bffs with ruby cos she’s awesome, i ALSO want to show her how *real* friends act cos DANG, her ex-friends are atrocious!!"

Chelsie of Read, Read, Read reviewed Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover by Ally Carter. "These books are hilarious and fun; not serious, but still dealing with enough issues that they aren't all fluff."

Donna of Bites wants her evil vampires back! Now please!

Sarah of Sarah's Random Musings reviewed Viola In Reel Life by Adriana Trigiani. "It was a great coming of age novel and I really enjoyed it."

Flip the Page! Book Reviews reviewed Sleepless by Thomas Fahy. "Although the plot was interesting and very well thought out the two main characters of the novel are just so typical!"

This isn't a review, but Chelsea of The Page Flipper announced something very cool on her blog this week! Congrats Chelsea!!! Speaking of good news. Steph Bowe of Hey, Teenager of the Year, also announced some fantastic news! Congrats Steph!

Lenore of Presenting Lenore reviewed Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. (Well it's more a sneek peek review!) "This is one of those novels that you hold close to your chest after you're done and are just thankful that you had the chance to read it."

Sharon of Sharon Loves Books and Cats reviewed Give Up the Ghost by Megan Crewe. "As a character, Cass grows leaps and bounds by the end of Give up the Ghost and I love her for that."

Cat of Beyond Books reviewed The Puzzle Ring by Kate Forsyth. "The entire story is enchanting from the first pages."

Steph of Juiciliciousss Reviews reviewed Going Bovine by Libba Bray. "Going Bovine is packed with sarcasm, irony and humor. It'll make you laugh out loud."

Books I reviewed this week:

• Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater (that was featured on the Flux site!)
• The Hate List by Jennifer Brown
• The Cupcake Queen by Heather Hepler
  

Books Released This Week:

Voices in the Dark by Catherine Banner
The Cupcake Queen by Heather Hepler
Going Bovine by Libba Bray
Candor by Pam Bachorz
A Pearl Among Princes Coleen Paratore
Devoured by Amanda Marrone

Contests

I'm going to do the contest part a little different this week, since a lot of you left contest links in the comments. Feel free to fill in your contest info in the Mister Linky.

Please use the Mister Linky as instructed.
Your Name: Put your prize here.
Your URL: Put a DIRECT link to your contest.

for example, if I were to put one of my contest in the Mister Linky it would look something like this:
Your Name: Night Runner by Max Turner
Your URL: http://www.thestorysiren.com/2009/09/win-copy-of-night-runner.html

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