The Debut Dish: July III

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!

Secret Letters by Leah Scheier

Publisher: Hyperion
Age Group: Young Adult
Release Date: June 26, 2012

Inquisitive and observant, Dora dreams of escaping her aristocratic country life to solve mysteries alongside Sherlock Holmes. So when she learns that the legendary detective might be her biological father, Dora jumps on the opportunity to travel to London and enlist his help in solving the mystery of her cousin’s ransomed love letters. But Dora arrives in London to devastating news: Sherlock Holmes is dead. Her dreams dashed, Dora is left to rely on her wits—and the assistance of an attractive yet enigmatic young detective—to save her cousin’s reputation and help rescue a kidnapped heiress along the way.

What is the oddest thing on your desk right now?

A Sherlock Holmes stuffed bear

What is your favorite movie candy?

Mike and ikes

What is your favorite beverage?

Coke Zero

Small Medium at Large by Joanne Levy

Publisher: Bloomsbury Kids
Age Group: Middle Grade
Release Date: July 3, 2012

Lilah Bloom hears dead people. And boy, are they annoying!

After she’s hit by lightning at a wedding, twelve-year-old Lilah Bloom develops a new talent: she hears dead people. Among them, there’s her over-opinionated bubby Dora; a comically prissy fashion designer; and an approval-seeking clown who livens up a seance. With Bubby Dora leading the way, these and other sweetly imperfect ghosts haunt Lilah through seventh grade, and help her face her one fear: talking to and possibly going to the seventh-grade dance with her big crush, Andrew Finkel.

What is your favorite office supply?

Post It notes. Hands down – they are a writer’s best friend.

Describe your book in three words.

Ghosts and boys.

What is your favorite beverage?

Chai latte – subject to change with season.

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Age Group: Young Adult
Release Date: July 10, 2012

“In the Kingdom of Goredd, humans and dragons have been at peace for 40 years, though it is an uneasy alliance. Dragons live in human cities in a human form, though they must wear bells to identify themselves. They are treated as second class citizens and considered by many humans to be untouchable. There are forces at work on both sides to tip the balance, banish dragons from the realm and start another war. Into this world is born Seraphina, an unlikely half-human half-dragon girl who straddles both worlds once her origins are made clear. Rich, imaginative and literary, Rachel Hartman has created a new dragon mythology that teens and adults will want to delve into.”
-Deanna, Random Acts of Reading

What is the oddest thing on your desk right now?

A boxed set of Rosemary Wells’s Voyage to the Bunny Planet books. It turns out the bunny queen is Janet. Is that a spoiler?

What is your favorite movie candy?

I don’t usually like candy during a movie, but my son loves Sour Patch Kids and I usually end up eating half of his. Because I’m a responsible parent, see, and I don’t want him getting tooth decay.

What is your favorite office supply?

My Giant Long-Reach Stapler of DOOM. It can staple anything, possibly even the very fabric of space-time.

Flawed by Kate Avelynn

Publisher: Entangled Teen
Age Group: Young Adult
Release Date: July 31, 2012

Sarah O’Brien is alive because of the pact she and her brother made twelve years ago—James will protect her from their violent father if she promises to never leave him. For years, she’s watched James destroy his life to save hers. If all he asks for in return is her affection, she’ll give it freely.

Until, with a tiny kiss and a broken mind, he asks for more than she can give.

Sam Donavon has been James’s best friend—and the boy Sarah’s had a crush on—for as long as she can remember. As their forbidden relationship deepens, Sarah knows she’s in trouble. Quiet, serious Sam has decided he’s going to save her. Neither of them realize James is far more unstable than her father ever was, or that he’s not about to let Sarah forget her half of the pact…

What is your favorite movie candy?

Raisinets! They’re tasty, plus knowing I’m sneaking in a whole serving of fruit while gorging on chocolate keeps the guilt at bay.

What is your favorite office supply?

I’m obsessed with binder clips, apparently. I have no idea how or when this happened, but there are dozens hanging from my idea board, and hundreds more lurking in our desk drawers.

Describe your book in three words.

Dark. Evocative. Gut-wrenching.

The End of the World as We Know It by Iva-Marie Palmer

Publisher: Alloy Entertainment
Age Group: Young Adult
Release Date: July 10, 2012

The Breakfast Club meets The War of the Worlds in The End of the World as We Know It, the latest release from Alloy Entertainment (The Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars, 666 Park Avenue, Gossip Girl)

They wanted to party like it was their last night on earth. They just might get their wish….

Meet the four most unlikely heroes ever:

Teena McAuley: Queen Bee, first-class problem solver, resident heartbreaker.
Leo Starnick: UFO conspirator, pizza delivery boy, all-around slacker.
Evan Brighton: Baseball all-star, extreme virgin, Teena-worshipper.
Sarabeth Lewis: Straight-A student, weekend hermit, enemy of the color pink.

When Teena locks Leo, Evan, and Sarabeth in the basement during her biggest party of the year, she doesn’t plan on getting trapped in the Loser Dungeon herself. She can barely imagine a night with these dweebs—let alone a lifetime. But when an alien invasion destroys their entire Midwestern suburb, it looks like these unlikely friends are the last people on earth. Now, it’s up to them to save the world….

Where will you be for The End of the World as We Know It?

What is the oddest thing on your desk right now?

I thought there’d be more weird stuff, but it’s pretty standard. There is a funny photo of my son meeting the San Francisco Macy’s Santa Claus last year. He has the most serious expression a one-year-old can muster, and the whole photo looks dated, like we took a time machine to Santaland circa 1979.

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

I had proposed the title, Are You There, Ray Bradbury? It’s Me, We’re Screwed

I still sort of love that title, because it feels so whole, in a way, as though it captures the story’s sci-fi elements but also its humor and the coming-of-age/finding yourself storylines.

What is your favorite beverage?

Diet Coke. I’m not proud of this, but I was once interviewed about Diet Coke addiction for a website and, now it is my claim to fame when you Google me.

Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard

Publisher: Harper Teen
Age Group: Young Adult
Release Date: July 24, 2012

Eleanor Fitt has a lot to worry about. Her brother has gone missing, her family has fallen on hard times, and her mother is determined to marry her off to anyone with a pulse. As if things couldn’t get any worse, the Dead are rising in Philadelphia! Eleanor knows her brother is somehow involved, and she enlists the Spirit-Hunters to help find him. But her growing attraction to Daniel, one of the Spirit-Hunters, threatens to derail her efforts. With her reputation on the line and her life hanging in the balance, can Eleanor find her brother and manage to stay alive?

What is your favorite movie candy?

Anything sour–Sour Jack Kids or Sour Gummi Worms… If it’s got sugar and sour, I am SET.

What is your favorite office supply?

Erasable pens. I am a big fan of the rewrite/revise by hand…and I’m not particularly good at *committing* to what I put on the page. Erasers on pens are the best invention (possibly in the entire history of the universe) because I get the clean, readable look of pen over my printed pages, but I can also say, “OH CRAP. REDO.”

Who is your favorite super hero?

Does Nancy Drew count? I mean, I *know* she has no special powers, but as a kid, she was my HERO(INE). I mean, on top of being one bada** sleuth, she’s pretty much good at EVERYTHING.

Ice skate and win a competition? Check. Sew a new gown before tonight? You bet. Hot wire a car and then drive defensively across Hawaii? Nancy’s done it, like, seventy-five times.

Nancy Drew is like James Bond (minus the potential for STDs) in the body of an 18-year-old girl–who wouldn’t want to be her?

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Age Group: Young Adult
Release Date: July 31, 2012

In Pushing the Limits, two teens, brought together by their court ordered therapist, work together to learn the secrets of their case files, but neither foresaw the shattering consequences of learning the truth regarding their families or of falling in love.

What is your favorite movie candy?

Kit Kats. I’m in love with Kit Kats!

What is your favorite office supply?

Colored highlighters; specifically pink.

Describe your book in three words.

Intense. Emotional. Sexy.