The Debut Dish: February II

Posted In: Uncategorized

Welcome to THE DEBUT DISH!

What exactly is The Debut Dish? Well it’s a way to highlight a few debuts. To let you know a little bit more about them and the author! Perhaps after you read The Dish, you might want to pick one of them up!

Above World by Jenn Reese

Release Date: February 14, 2012
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Age Group: Middle Grade

A suspenseful sci-fi escapade plucks two children out of the ocean for a thrilling adventure.

Thirteen-year-old Aluna has lived her entire life under the ocean with the Coral Kampii in the City of Shifting Tides. But after centuries spent hidden from the Above World, her colony’s survival is at risk. The Kampii’s breathing necklaces are failing, but the elders are unwilling to venture above water to seek answers. Only headstrong Aluna and her friend Hoku are stubborn and bold enough to face the terrors of land to search for way to save their people. But can Aluna’s fierce determination and fighting skills and Hoku’s tech-savvy keep them safe? Set in a world where overcrowding has led humans to adapt – growing tails to live under the ocean or wings to live on mountains – here is a ride through a future where greed and cruelty have gone unchecked, but the loyalty of friends remains true.

What is the oddest thing on your desk right now?

My office is a recliner, so I’ll tell you the oddest thing on my end table instead: a small statue of a tiger. In the martial arts I study, the tiger symbolizes tenacity. I may never be strong like the leopard or flexible like the snake or graceful like the crane, but I can try to work really hard. Not just in martial arts, but in writing and the rest of my life, too. That’s why the tiger gets a special place of honor in my “office” — she’s both a totem and a reminder.

What is your favorite office supply?

My moleskine notebook. Except for the moleskine I lost on a plane, I’ve been keeping moleskines for almost 10 years. Everything in my life goes into my notebooks — story ideas, to-do lists, journal entries, deep-dark wishes, and notes from my kung fu classes. (Just don’t ask me to find anything.)

Who is your favorite super hero?

Nightcrawler from the Uncanny X-Men! Kurt Wagner (from the comic books, not the movies) is a swashbuckling, wise-cracking charmer who brought much-needed levity and humor to the more serious X-Men. He was also one of my earliest crushes, along with Han Solo and Starbuck.

The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg

Release Date: February 21, 2012
Publisher: Dial / Penguin Young Readers
Age Group: Young Adult

Dying of a broken heart is just the beginning…. welcome to forever.

BRIE’S LIFE ENDS AT SIXTEEN: Her boyfriend tells her he doesn’t love her, and the news breaks her heart—literally.

But now that she’s D&G (dead and gone), Brie is about to discover that love is way more complicated than she ever imagined. Back in Half Moon Bay, her family has begun to unravel. Her best friend has been keeping a secret about Jacob, the boy she loved and lost—and the truth behind his shattering betrayal. And then there’s Patrick, Brie’s mysterious new guide and resident Lost Soul . . . who just might hold the key to her forever after.

With Patrick’s help, Brie will have to pass through the five stages of grief before she’s ready to move on. But how do you begin again, when your heart is still in pieces?

If you had to retitle your book, what would you call it and why?

Hmm… maybe something along the lines of THAT TIME YOU BROKE MY ♥ FOREVER (pretty accurate to the story), or THE LUCKIEST, because of what Brie realizes about her best friends, Emma, Sadie, and Tess, when she sees how much they miss her.

“An overwhelming ache—but a good ache this time—soared through my chest. I was so lucky to have had them. No, I was more than lucky. I was the luckiest.”

: )

What is your favorite office supply?

Band-Aids! Before I starting writing full-time, I was a YA editor at Razorbill Books. The amount of paper cuts I received editing all six of Richelle Mead’s 350+ page Vampire Academy novels nearly put me out of commission! To this day, Band-Aids are key.

Who is your favorite super hero?

Captain Planet, he’s a hero, gonna take pollution down to zero.

Oppression (Children of the Gods #1) by Jessica Therrien

Release Date: February 28, 2012
Publisher: ZOVA Books
Age Group: Young Adult

Elyse knows what it means to keep a secret. She’s been keeping secrets her whole life. Two, actually. First, that she ages five times slower than the average person, so that while she looks eighteen years old, she’s closer to eighty. Second, that her blood has a mysterious power to heal.

For Elyse, these things don’t make her special. They make life dangerous. After the death of her parents, she’s been careful to keep her secret as closely guarded as possible. Now, only one other person in the world knows about her age and ability.

Or so she thinks.

Elyse is not the only one keeping secrets. There are others like her all over the world, descendants of the very people the Greeks considered gods. She is one of them, and they have been waiting for her.

Among so many of her kind, she should not be very remarkable–except for the prophecy. Some believe she will put an end to traditions, safeguarded by violence, which have oppressed her people for centuries. Others are determined to keep her from doing just that. But for Elyse, the game is just beginning–and she’s not entirely willing to play by their rules.

What is the oddest thing on your desk right now?

Five bananas. Emergency writing power food. Got to have them.

If you had to retitle your book, what would you call it and why?

My book was originally titled The Descendants. I’ll always have a soft spot for that title, but George Clooney decided to come out with a movie in February called The Descendants, so my publisher and I decided to re-title the book. I love the current title, but darn George Clooney and his good looking moviestarness.

What is your favorite office supply?

I’m a sucker for cool pens. What can I say? I like to write.

Related posts:

1. The Debut Dish: February
2. The Debut Dish: January
3. The Debut Dish: January II
4. The Debut Dish: January III
5. The Debut Dish: January IIII