Book Recommendation: DIANA: PRINCESS OF THE AMAZONS by Shannon & Dean Hale, Victoria Ying (DC Zoom)

Happy launch day to DIANA: PRINCESS OF THE AMAZONS, the newest in the DC Zoom line of graphic novels for middle graders. Written by Shannon & Dean Hale and illustrated by Victoria Ying. Thanks to Michele Wells at DC Kids for sending me a copy!

For more of my book collages, feel free to browse my BookADay Padlet as well as my BookADay and Book Recommendation archives. I read a lot more books than I have time to post, especially now that I've joined the Goodreads 2020 Reading Challenge!

THE SWAN RIDERS by Erin Bow (sequel to THE SCORPION RULES, Simon & Schuster)

For more info about Erin Bow's Prisoner Of Peace series, see this Simon & Schuster page.

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More info: Donalyn Miller's #BookADay Challenge - My #BookADay Archives (also see my visual #BookADay archive on Padlet, Flickr and Pinterest).

HEDGEHOG NEEDS A HUG by Jen Betton (G.P. Putnam's Sons Books For Young Readers)

Click the above image for a bigger version of my #BookADay collage for HEDGEHOG NEEDS A HUG by Jen Betton (G.P. Putnam's Sons Books For Young Readers). Jen's debut solo picture book launched earlier this year, and I adore it.

Also check out my interview with Jen Betton earlier this year to find out her SCBWI success story, get a peek into her creative process (with sketches!) and her advice for young writers and illustrators.

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More info: Donalyn Miller's #BookADay Challenge - My #BookADay Archives (also see my visual #BookADay archive on Padlet, Flickr and Pinterest).

COUNTING BIRDS by Heidi E.Y. Stemple and Clover Robin (Seagrass Press)

Above: My #BookADay post about COUNTING BIRDS: The Idea That Helped Save Our Feathered Friends, written by Heidi E.Y. Stemple and illustrated by Clover Robin (Seagrass Press, 2018). I was inspired to add some fan art!

**BOOK GIVEAWAY!** The publisher is giving away a copy of this book! Just retweet my post; a randomly picked winner will receive the book from the publisher (open worldwide).

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More info: Donalyn Miller's #BookADay Challenge - My #BookADay Archives (also see my visual #BookADay archive on Padlet, Flickr and Pinterest).

#BookADay: BECOMING MADELEINE by Léna Roy and Charlotte Jones Voiklis

Where you can find out more about BECOMING MADELEINE:

Becoming Madeleine book page on Macmillan's site

Becoming Madeleine audiobook (which is how I read the book)

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More info: Donalyn Miller's #BookADay Challenge - My #BookADay Archives (also see my visual #BookADay archive on Padlet).

Happy launch day to FAIRY SPELL: How Two Girls Convinced The World That Fairies Are Real - by Marc Tyler Nobleman and Eliza Wheeler (Clarion/HMH)

More info about FAIRY SPELL: How Two Girls Convinced The World That Fairies Are Real by Marc Nobleman and Eliza Wheeler on the HMH site.

More info: Donalyn Miller's Book-A-Day Challenge | Archives of my #BookADay posts. 

THE MAGIC WORDS: Writing Great Books For Children and Young Adults

I rarely post about books on the craft of writing because there are so many good ones, and I was also being inundated by requests from publicists and authors to review their books for Inkygirl readers. To reiterate: I lack the time or inclination to be an official book reviewer, so please do NOT put me back on your lists. Thank you. :-)

I do, however, sometimes post about books I like, and I had to post very briefly about THE MAGIC WORDS: Writing Great Books For Children and Young Adults by Cheryl B. Klein (W.W. Norton).

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Can't wait until Colby Sharp's #TheCreativityProject launches Mar/2018. SO many inspiring stories, comics, drawings!

Excited to be one of the children's book creators in Colby Sharp's THE CREATIVITY PROJECT! Colby invited more than forty authors and illustrators to provide story starters for each other; photos, drawings, poems, prose, or anything we could dream up. When we received our prompts, we responded by transforming these seeds into any form of creative work we wanted to share.

Young People's Poet Laureate Margarita Engle wrote a poem that inspired me to create a story-comic. And one of my creative prompts inspired children's publisher/author (and fellow board gamer!) Daniel Nayeri to write a wonderful story.

So looking forward to seeing how educators use this book in classrooms, and what young readers are inspired to create! THE CREATIVITY PROJECT comes out from Little, Brown For Young Readers in March, 2018.

THE DOLL'S EYE by Marina Cohen (Roaring Brook Press)

Deliciously creepy! I finished this in two sittings. I'm a longtime horror fan, and this was right up my alley; I was inspired to do some fan art, as you can see above. And now I'm even more creeped out by those old-fashioned glass-eyed dolls than I was before! :-)

You can find out more about The Doll's Eye on the Macmillan site.

The book came out TODAY from Roaring Brook Press!

MAUD: A Novel Inspired by the Life Of L.M. Montgomery, by Melanie Fishbane (Penguin Teen Canada)

I grew up on L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables books, so was VERY excited to receive an ARC (via NetGalley) of Melanie Fishbane's debut novel, MAUD: A Novel Inspired By The Life Of L.M. Montgomery.

What I especially loved:

- Fascinating to find out more about the author's life growing up, and inspired me to want to find out more about her.

- Finding out some of the challenges that L.M. Montgomery faced as she pursued her goals, growing up in a world where women were often discouraged from higher education and pursuing a career.

- Storytelling style a wonderful homage to the author's voice in the original Anne books. 

If you enjoyed the Anne of Green Gable books, I strongly recommend that you check out MAUD when it comes out from Penguin Teen on August 25, 2017!

More information about MAUD at Penguin Random House and on Melanie's blog.

Related links:

Publisher's Weekly review of MAUD: A Novel Inspired by the Life Of L.M. Montgomery

Maud author Melanie Fishbane on the various TV and movie adaptations of Anne Of Green Gables: on Quill & Quire

Guest Post: Melanie J. Fishbane, author of Maud: A Novel Inspired By The Life Of L.M. Montgomery, on Earning & Celebrating Success: on Cynsations

Loved Kate Blair's debut YA novel, TRANSFERRAL (Dancing Cat Books)

LOVED Kate Blair's debut YA novel, TRANSFERRAL. Such a good read: great pacing, engaging characters, thought-provoking, thoroughly satisfying ending. Love the original twist on the dystopian theme. This would make an excellent holiday gift for a teen reader! For more info including reviews and awards, see the TRANSFERRAL page on the Dancing Cats website.

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THE SECRET LIFE OF LINCOLN JONES by Wendelin Van Draanen (Knopf)

I recently read THE SECRET LIFE OF LINCOLN JONES by Wendelin Van Draanen, which launches today from Knopf Books For Young Readers. Thoroughly enjoyed it. The narrator is 11-year-old Lincoln, who keeps secrets in his notebook. His voice is fresh, funny and I love how he sees the world. 

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Why I Love SUPER HAPPY PARTY BEARS! Plus Three Questions with Marcie Colleen

Just read the first two books in Marcie Colleen's debut chapter book series, SUPER HAPPY PARTY BEARS (just launched from Imprint/Macmillan) Omigosh, I am in love with these books. Here are just a few reasons:

- So many laugh-aloud moments, for both kids AND adults. What I especially loved: the humor aimed at adults is NOT the "nudge nudge wink wink, we gro

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#BookADay: MiNRS 2 by Kevin Sylvester (Simon & Schuster, launching Oct/2016)

Just read Kevin Sylvester's MiNRS 2 in one sitting, on the train to Buffalo. Or almost one sitting: I had to stop reading for a few minutes at U.S. Customs to answer the standard border crossing questions (I did keep reading in line until the very last minute). We were all told to turn off all digital gadgets during the 1.5 hours at the border, including digital readers, but HA!!!! I had a PRINT book.

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#BookADay: HOW TO OUTFOX YOUR FRIENDS WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE A CLUE by Jess Keating (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky)

‪#‎BookADay‬: HOW TO OUTFOX YOUR FRIENDS WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE A CLUE by Jess Keating ( Sourcebooks Jabberwocky). I'm a fan of Jess's "My Life Is A Zoo" series for middle grade, and this third book in series totally lived up to the first two - I *lovelovelove* the main character's fresh, funny voice: clever without being mean-sarcastic, smart and quirky and original. There were SO many moments throughout this book where I thought, "dear lord, I so remember feeling EXACTLY LIKE THAT when I was that age."

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#BookADay: BEWARE THAT GIRL by Teresa Toten (Doubleday Canada)

If you are looking for a great summer read (and esp if you enjoyed GONE GIRL or WE WERE LIARS), I *strongly* encourage you to get a copy of psychological thriller BEWARE THAT GIRL by Teresa Toten (Doubleday Canada). Don't start reading it at night, because you will be up waaaaayy too late. Love the dark edge and unpredictability (you THINK you know the implication of the title...), the mystery within mystery, the satisfying conclusion. For teen and above.

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#BookADay: THE GAME OF LOVE AND DEATH by Martha Brockenbrough

Holy cow, did I love THE GAME OF LOVE AND DEATH by Martha Brockenbrough (Arthur Levin Books, 2015). I found myself slowing down my reading about 3/4 way through because I DIDN'T WANT IT TO END. And I was inspired to do some fan art (see image). The romance was so original and genuinely moving. Love the premise and also the twist on the usual character portrayal of Love and Death. This is definitely going on my "books I look forward to rereading many times" shelf.

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More info: Donalyn Miller's Summer Book-A-Day Challenge | Archives of my #BookADay posts. 

#BookADay and *Giveaway*: DRAW THE LINE by Laurent Linn (Simon & Schuster, 2016)

#BookADay: DRAW THE LINE by Laurent Linn (Simon & Schuster, 2016). An amazing debut YA novel that handles difficult issues (including hate crimes, bullying) with sensitivity and authenticity. Loved the geeky humor throughout! Loved the main character's superhero comics, and that the superhero refuses to fight hatred with hatred. Loved how the friendships progress throughout the book, and how the main character develops. Just LOVED.

I have an extra copy of the book, so am having a GIVEAWAY. To enter, just post a comment at the end of this blog post or on Facebook in response to my giveaway post. I'll choose a random commenter next week. Open to anyone in Canada or the U.S.

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#BookADay: MY LIFE BEFORE ME by Norah McClintock (Orca)

Just finished MY LIFE BEFORE ME by Norah McClintock (Orca Book Publishers, 2015). Inspired by a talk at CANSCAIP by Norah and some of the other SECRETS authors, I bought the whole set of SECRETS books last year. I was intrigued by the premise and also liked the fact that each of these YA books is standalone. I was also inspired to do a bit of fan art (see attached image).

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ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES by Jennifer Niven: funny, sweet and heartbreaking

I finished reading Jennifer Niven's ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES on the flight home from Chattanooga. Tears were involved. Such amazing writing, so many truths, humor and heartbreak. The characters and story still haunt me, but in a good way. Highly recommended.

Added: Ooo, and Jennifer just gave a sneak peek of her new book, HOLDING UP THE UNIVERSE.