Prom and Other Terrors - A Giveaway!

Thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, I've got a fun spring giveaway for you.  April brings to mind flowers and showers and best of all - prom!  That crazy, fun, romantic, scary, depressing, you-name-it-emotion high school rite of passage.  I remember worrying so much every year about whether I'd go to prom.  It's amazing the feelings that still come when someone says the word "prom."  The anticipation, the worry that you won't get asked, the worry over dresses and boys and whether or not you'll get kissed (what can I say, prom for me was pretty innocent). 

And to celebrate this experience, HMH has four prom books to give away to one lucky reader!  You can find HMH on Facebook and on Twitter - go check them out.

Illuminate by Aimee Agresti
Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber
Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey
The Fashion Coloring Book by Carol Chu and Lulu Chang

The contest will end on April 22 and I'll announce a winner on the 23rd.  HMH will send the prize directly to the winner.  All you have to do is leave a comment on this post, telling me one good or bad thing about your own prom experience (or lack of experience, as the case may be).  Then just fill out the form below.  US addresses only and you must be 13 or older to enter.  And if you're very lucky, I'll post a nice photo of my friends and myself dressed up with our "dates" (that ought to keep you intrigued for a few minutes anyway).  Good luck!

So, tell us your prom experiences!  The good, the bad, the ugly. 

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

Celebrating Libraries and Reading!

It's National Library Week...and I've got no planned celebrations.  Boo.  But, I thought I'd tell everyone to head out to a library this week.  Appreciate the services offered by them (and, you know, the librarians, cause they are awesome too :).

If you're looking to find out what great libraries are near you, check out these links from Find the Data to find and compare local public or academic libraries.  It's kind of fun to look at stats of the libraries nearest you.

Anywho, get out and celebrate libraries and reading, because it's Support Teen Literature Day today!  So if you want to Rock the Drop (ie leave a book lying around for someone else to enjoy) please do!  I think I'll take a few ARCs and leave them around my town for someone to discover.  Lots of great things to celebrate this week!  (And I have a giveaway coming up later today - be sure to come by later to find out more.) 

What do you plan to do to celebrate National Library Week or Teen Literature Day?

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

Book Review: Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Publication date: February 2012
Pages: 304
Source: e-book from NetGalley
For: Fun (and review...and Debut Author Challenge)!

Will Scarlet is a member of Robin Hood's secret band of thieves, though most people don't know he's actually a girl. Scarlet is a tough girl hiding from a secret past that might just catch up to her when someone from the past shows up in Nottingham - looking to take down the Hood and his band.

Things I Liked:
I am in love with great historical fiction.  I know it doesn't seem like it, when I review so much fantasy, dystopian, and paranormal, but a really well-written, well-researched HF hits just the spot in my reading itch.  I loved the details and the language and Scarlet most of all.  She felt real, she was not glorified or perfect or even nice most of the time.  I honestly started saying "I were" and "it were" sometimes because I was so immersed in the story and the way it was written.  I'm also a big fan of the girl disguised as a boy thing, but I think this one did it better than many.  Not only was she not fooling those closest to her, she wasn't trying to.  I think it's much easier to fool the masses and people you don't interact with regularly and nearly impossible with those you live with every day.  And it doesn't hurt that it had a fabulous Robin Hood that I fell in love with.  There's something so fascinating about his stories and his legend.  Makes me want to read The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley that Suey and Angie have raved about.  Great stuff!

Things I Didn't Like:
The only thing I want is another story, a sequel (I know, great stand alones should be left that way).  Truly, though, I liked how it ended and things weren't instantly fixed.  But I want to know when and how they do get fixed.  I think people might not enjoy the story if they are annoyed by (intentially) poor grammar or if they don't like historical fiction in general. 

Read-alikes:
The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley
A bit like StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !@ 
most of it was religious exclamations

mrg-factor: X 
implied, but nothing described

v-factor: ->-> 
some action fighting and rather horrific stuff, but not truly gory

Overall rating: ***** 

Who's your favorite swashbuckling hero/heroine?

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage