Spotlight Wednesday: GIRL, STOLEN by April Henry!

I'm so excited to be spotlighting GIRL, STOLEN, by fellow Contemp April Henry! I'm a huge fan of dark thrillers, so this book is right up my alley, and waking up to find it waiting for me on my Kindle was like five birthdays wrapped up in one!

Sixteen-year-old Cheyenne Wilder is asleep in the back of her mom's car when it's stolen from the pharmacy parking lot. Cheyenne is not only sick with pneumonia—she's also blind. Griffin, the teenager who was stealing packages out of parked cars, hadn't meant to kidnap her; he just impulsively stole the car with her in it. But once Griffin's dad finds out that Cheyenne's father is the president of Nike, everything changes-now there's a reason to keep her. Will Cheyenne be able to survive this harrowing ordeal and escape? And if so, at what price?

Henry tells her story in alternating points of view, so that we get to know both Cheyenne and her abductor. I was surprised at how quickly I found myself sympathizing with Griffin, even as I was rooting for Cheyenne to escape her captors. The story is tight and fast-paced, like the best Hollywood action movie, making for a compulsive read. Need more proof that GIRL, STOLEN, makes for good film? Here's a look at the book's trailer:

Creepy, right? Love it!

Kirkus Reviews called the book, "constantly interesting and suspenseful," and I concur one hundred percent. Check it out today!

Can't wait for your GIRL, STOLEN fix? Read an excerpt on April's website, which also features fun tidbits such as an FAQ section detailing the real-life inspirations behind some of her most chilling thrillers. As a writer, I'm way impressed by the research April does for her books.

The days are getting shorter - and early evenings are perfect for curling up with some fast-paced suspense, don't you think? I read this book in one day, and I'm betting you will, too! Let us know what you think of the book - and what other mysteries are currently on your to-be-read list!

HOT TOPIC TUESDAY: Trust Your Gut

Contemp April Henry's gripping novel GIRL, STOLEN hits the shelves today. You'll be hearing much more about this suspenseful page-turner tomorrow in our Spotlight Wednesday feature.

But briefly: 16-year-old Cheyenne Wilder is resting in the back seat of her stepmother's Cadillac Escalade, ill with pneumonia, while her stepmom runs into the pharmacy to pick up a prescription for her. When Griffin carjacks the Escalade as a gift for his father, Cheyenne, who is legally blind, ends up a hostage who must rely on her own devices to try to save herself.

April says: "Cheyenne might have saved herself if she trusted her instincts and jumped out of the car first thing."


I don't know about you guys, but it's taken me a LONG time to learn to trust my instincts. I can't tell you how many unfortunate situations I might have avoided as a teenager - and as an adult - if only I'd paid attention to that nagging feeling in my gut. The one that warned, "Oy, Sarah, there's something not quite kosher about this," or "Saraleh, use your kop.(head) This isn't the smartest thing you've every done." My gut talks to me like a Jewish mother. It must be in the genes.

From The Contemps

The face of my Gut Instinct. Yes, my gut sounds kind of like Golda Meir.

Like when my cousin from the West Coast encouraged me to use Sun-In so I could get California Girl highlights. Despite the gut misgivings, I allowed her to spray half a bottle of the stuff on my long, brunette locks. At the end of the day, I ended up with seriously brassy hooker hair. Growing it out took forever and it wasn't pretty. My parents finally paid for me to have it dyed dark again because they didn't want me to look like a slut at my cousin's bar mitzvah.

(Okay, maybe it wasn't quite this bad, but it sure felt like it)

Even as an adult I've stupidly ignored my better instincts. When I started trying out the whole on-line dating thing after separating from my ex-husband (there's a book in that someday - a comedic horror novel) I could have avoided the Date from Hell with Bleeding Ear Guy had I heeded the rumblings of reservation in my tummy. Instead, I was too worried about being impolite and hurting the feelings of some psycho, who yes, really did have blood pouring from his ear when we met for our date.



There were a few times I did trust my instincts, and it was the right decision. Like when that guy I had the wildest crush on in high school was trying to get me to give up my virginity to him at the State Drama competition. I trusted my gut when it said, "No, bubbeleh. This should be something special with someone you really love." Boy was I glad later that night, when I saw him making out with my best friend at the cast party. Well, maybe glad is pushing it. Truth be told, I cried hysterically for hours and might have ended up having a teensy bit too much to drink. But the good news is that I didn't make a HUGE mistake.

How about you? Have you managed to avoid a bad situation because you trusted your guy? Or did you end up in a sticky situation because you didn't?

Spill all in the comments.

EDITED: Here's a further, somewhat more serious discussion about Trusting Your Gut over at my blog. xo Sarah

Spotlight Wednesday: You by Charles Benoit & John Belushi is Dead by Kathy Charles

This week, we have two great contemporary recommendations for you. Both are first-time YA novels (and one is the author’s very first book). Let’s share a little YA Contemps love with the authors of You and John Belushi is Dead.


You by Charles Benoit You want action, danger, thrills? Then you want You, Charles Benoit’s first novel for teens. Booklist says, "This is a brutal, fast, and satisfying read." And it's the rare novel that is written in the second person. In other words, the main character is "You." 


It begins: You're surprised at all the blood. He looks over at you, eyes wide, mouth dropping open, his face almost as white as his shirt. He's surprised too. Now how could you stop reading after that?





Kyle lists the top 10 things his parents say to him:

• Is that all your going to do today, sit in front of the computer?
• When I was your age, I had two jobs.
• Why don't you wear some clothes that fit for a change?
• Turn it down, I can hear it all the way over here.
• You're not eating that for dinner.
• Did you do your homework?
• Stop mumbling and speak up.
• Now what did you do?
• Because I said so.
• No

Question: What else should be on the list of things parents say? Feel free to suggest something something good or bad.

Or do you want to read about obsessions, mysteries, and murders? Then pick up Kathy Charles' first book: John Belushi is Dead.

Seventeen-year-old pink-haired Hilda and punk Benji have an obsessive hobby -- they haunt places where Hollywood celebrities have died. Publisher's Weekly says, "Chock-full of gory details of famous murders, suicides, and urban legends (Belushi, the Mansons, the Black Dahlia), Charles' first novel...is not for the faint of heart, but rewards readers with chilling reminders of the all-consuming nature of celebrity and the transience of life. 'Death didn't just come for me, or my parents,' Hilsa muses, 'it came for everyone: the rich and famous, beautiful, and privileged.'"

Excerpt: John Belushi once said that happiness is not a state you want to be in all the time. I knew what he meant. He was talking about the uncontrollable urge to fuck it all up, the desire to put a knife in the toaster of existence just to see what would happen. To put a bomb under your blessings and watch them blow sky high, swan dive off the precipice and give in to the free-fall. Belushi had it all: money, fame, a wife, a home. But he didn't want to live in the safety of these creature comforts. He wanted to exist on the knife's edge, the sharpest point of the blade where you could fall eitehr way, the only guarantee that you will inevitably get cut.

Question: Who is your favorite dead celebrity and why?

Hot Topic Tuesday: Have you ever known a girl who would do anything to get a guy to like her?

Today’s guest post is by Angela Morrison.  You can visit her on the web at www.angela-morrison.com

Listen to your inner creep vibe

I grew up in Tekoa, Washington--the tiny farm town where my debut novel, Taken by Storm, is set. My freshman year started off with a class that had a bunch of sophomores in it. The guy that sat behind me had a thing for Tootsie Pops. His pockets bulged with them. He always made a big deal about sharing with me. Yeah, it was flirty, and I knew that, and I didn't really like him--okay, he creeped me out. But hey, it was just a Tootsie Pop. Way rude to refuse. In a small town, where everybody knows everything, openly offending that guy could have been bad news for me. So I played nice.

His attentions increased, and I was freaking out. I didn't want to be mean, but the creepy vibe was getting worse and worse. (Girls, always listen to your inner creep vibe. It will never let you down.) A couple of cheerleaders noticed one of their darling boys had a thing for totally unworthy me and sprang into action. They made sure I overheard that they'd fixed him up with a way-hot cheerleader from an even tinier town nearby.

Phew! I wanted to jump up and hug them, but I kept my gigantic sigh of relief silent. I still, to do this day, avoid Tootsie Pops. 

Love finds you in physics class - or does it?

When I foisted this experience on Leesie, my unsuspecting heroine in Taken by Storm, I made the guy way hotter--way  creepier. It's fiction. You gotta hype it. Tootsie Pops just weren't going to be dramatic enough. (Yes, authors obsess over the strangest things.) So I filled his pockets with Hot Tamales--that stained his tongue red, scented his breath cinnamon, and made Leesie's temperature rise. And she doesn't get rescued like I did. Leesie refuses the guy over and over, and he tortures her all through high school. 

A cute, nice guy who took me to
prom at his school.  Guess the year!

That's the state of Leesie's senior year when Michael, devastated and devastating, walks into her physics class, and she can't take her eyes off him.

She stares at him for two weeks before she gets the nerve to break the ice. As Michael gets more interested in her, Leesie, a faithful Mormon, starts fudging on the rules that have always guided her life. Michael suffers from an immense loss. He needs her. Her warm heart can't resist. It starts small. She drives him up to the lake, alone. She sneaks out to see him without telling her parents. Soon they are making out all the time and Michael wants a lot more. Leesie discovers she's in danger of losing everything she's planned her life to be.

Could love be staring you in the face?  

Michael is pure fantasy. He's nothing like anyone I ever dated. Like Leesie, I spent plenty of time in my younger days dreaming of the one guy who would make everything different. Can you relate? I found mine in college, and our lifetime together makes me believe in love even more now than I did in high school. I guess that's why I write books about teens struggling to figure out what love is and recognize it when it's staring them in the face!

I love meeting today's strong girls when I visit schools. You are so impressive. I hope you believe in love, too, but I worry when I hear about younger and younger girls who will do anything to get guys to like them. Promise me you'll be careful and stand up for yourselves, okay? Celebrate who you are. Don't do anything that will destroy who you are becoming. That's just as important as who you love or who loves you. Sometimes it doesn't feel that way, but I promise you, it's true.

Thanks, Contemps, for letting me stop by. I'm excited to follow this week's hot topic discussion.

If you liked Taken by Storm:  Check out Angela's newest releases - Unbroken Connection (the sequel to Taken by Storm) and Sign me to Sleep - as well as Shattered by Kathi Baron and You, Maybe by Rachel Vail.  

Hot topic question

What do you think of a girl who gets so hung up on a guy that she will stop at nothing to get him to like her?  If she does snag his attention, do you think the relationship has a chance of lasting?