2011 Debut Author Challenge

2011 Debut Author Challenge

I am so excited to let you all know that I have decided to enter The Story Siren’s 2011 challenge! I enjoyed the challenge last year and got to read so many wonderful novels that I wouldn't have had brought to my attention otherwise through it. I also was able to get quite a few debut's at NCTE this year and am pumped to have the collection started!

The Challenge: Read at least 12 debut novels that are middle grade or young adult by December 31, 2011. Titles that are YA debuts by a middle grade author or vice versa count as well! You can join at anytime. The challenge runs from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011.

My list of chosen books is below! I will be adding to this as the year goes and can't wait to read them all.

Leave a comment if you’re participating in the challenge too or want to suggest a title! Share a link to your list!

In no particular order…

1. Anya's War by Andrea Alban

2. The Altar of Bones by Philip Carter

3. Across the Universe by Beth Revis

4. Leverage by Joshua C. Cohen

5. Wither by Lauren DeStefano (review here)

6. So Shelly by Ty Roth

7. Divergent by Veronica Roth (review here)

8. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (review here)

9. Entwined by Heather Dixon

10. Rival by Sara Bennett Wealer

11. Other Words for Love by Lorraine Zago Rosenthall

12. Karma by Cathy Ostlere

13. Department 19 by Will Hill

14. Clarity by Kim Harrington

15. We Are Note Eaten By Yaks by C. Alexander London

16. Moonglass by Jessi Kirby (review here)

17. Between by Cyndi Tefft (review here)

Added:

18. The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma (review here)

19. Die for Me by Amy Plum (review here)

Waiting on Wednesday (16)

Kristi (The Story Siren) pointed me in the direction of this book on her IMM post this week. The cover intrigued me and then I went to read about it... and I want it! Didn't surprise me in the least though!! Happy reading everyone!

The Puzzle Ring by Kate Forsyth

Hannah Rose Brown was not quite thirteen years old when she discovered her family was cursed...

It seemed a day like any other day. Yet for twelve year old Hannah Rose Brown, it is the day when her ordinary life is changed forever, a day when she discovers a past full of secrets and a future full of magic.

Hannah lives with her mother, Roz. Her father Robert disappeared soon after she was born, and she and her mother are all alone in the world. Or so Hannah has always believed. Yet one day a letter arrives, addressed to the Viscountess of Fairknowe. Hannah thinks it's a hilarious mistake but the letter upsets her mother who confesses that Hannah’s father was the Viscount of Fairknowe, and the heir to Wintersloe Castle in Scotland.

The letter is from Hannah’s great-grandmother – someone she never knew existed – begging Hannah and her mother to come to Scotland. At first Roz refuses – she had sworn never to return to Wintersloe Castle. But Hannah is determined to go, her curiosity aroused by the letter’s reference to a curse.

Wintersloe Castle is an old house, built near the ruins of a castle and overlooking the waters of Loch Lomond. On the northern wall is a strange gate, built through the hollow trunk of an ancient yew tree. Through the gate, Hannah can see the round hill that rises behind the house, crowned with a blackthorn tree. This is called Fairknowe on the maps, but the locals call it the fairy hill.

Strange things begin to happen. A toad coughs up a round stone with a hole worn through the middle. When Hannah looks through it, the world seems different. She hears a dog howling at night – yet there is no dog at Wintersloe Castle. Shadows seem to stalk her. One stormy day, the toad shows her the way to her father’s old tower room – and Hannah discovers the history of the curse of Wintersloe Castle, which has blighted the family and the house for centuries.

Hannah is determined to break the curse, but to do so she must go back in time to the last tumultuous days of the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots. She must face all sorts of dangers, including being hunted by the evil queen of the Otherworld and being accused of being a witch...

Isn't the cover so amazing! Love it! Can't wait to read this one!

Happy reading!