Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt

Release Date: March 1, 2011
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
Pages: 288
Series: n/a
Review Source: Library

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)
According to her guidance counselor, fifteen-year-old Payton Gritas needs a focus object-an item to concentrate her emotions on. It's supposed to be something inanimate, but Payton decides to use the thing she stares at during class: Sean Griswold's head. They've been linked since third grade (Griswold-Gritas-it's an alphabetical order thing), but she's never really known him.

The focus object is intended to help Payton deal with her father's newly diagnosed multiple sclerosis. And it's working. With the help of her boy-crazy best friend Jac, Payton starts stalking-er, focusing on-Sean Griswold . . . all of him! He's cute, he shares her Seinfeld obsession (nobody else gets it!) and he may have a secret or two of his own.

In this sweet story of first love, Lindsey Leavitt seamlessly balances heartfelt family moments, spot-on sarcastic humor, and a budding young romance.

My Thoughts:
This book is seriously cute!! It was refreshing to read a book with teens that reminded me of myself and my friends in high school. So often the teens portrayed in YA seem uber-mature and experienced in all matters of life, so I loved reading a book that I could relate to. When I was in Grade 9 talking to boys was a Big Deal, so reading about elements like that made the book seem particularly realistic.

One great thing about this book is how many different aspects it had to it. The central storyline of the book is Payton dealing with her father’s illness. I thought Payton’s reaction was completely understandable considering how and when she was told. Sure she was a bit immature, but she’s a young teenager. Even now at almost 25 years old I don’t know how I would react in that situation, so I found Payton’s response as a 15 year old completely justified. It was hard to watch Payton deal with her Dad’s condition and the emotions surrounding it all, but I think it was done in a very realistic way.

As for the boy aspect, how cute was Sean Griswold? He’s totally the type of guy I would have had a crush on in high school. The romance part of the book was so perfectly done, I think. I loved how even though there were relationship issues presented there wasn’t any relationship drama. There’s a fine line between the two, I suppose, but Sean was forgiving, understanding, and sweet. It’s not that he doesn’t show his emotions, and he won’t let girls walk all over him, but he’s also not willing to let stupid things come between him and Payton, which is what always seems to happen in YA. We all know that scene: the misunderstanding that leads to the characters not talking until all is revealed and they make up. Well that doesn’t happen here, and I’m so glad that Lindsey Leavitt steered clear of that cliche. What does happen is a lot more sophisticated and seemed a lot more like the disagreements that happen in real life, and I’m so glad for that.

This is a seriously sweet story that deals with boys, friendship, and, most importantly, serious family issues. If you enjoy contemporary YA this is absolutely not one to miss.

The Cover: It's definitely unique, and I love how all the chalkboard drawings relate to the story.

Rating:
[4/5]

Find Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt on Goodreads, Book Depository, & Amazon.ca

Interview with Tiffany Dominguez + Giveaway

Today I'm pleased to be hosting author Tiffany Dominguez on Book Labyrinth. You may remember that I reviewed Tiffany's novel 'Elemental' a few weeks back. Tiffany agreed to answer a few of my questions, and she also generously offered to give away 2 eBooks of Elemental as well! So check out her great answers, and then be sure and fill out the form below for your chance to win.


If you had to describe Elemental’s premise in a tweet (140 characters or less), what would you say?
Shy Eva, air Elem, is the only one who can stop the uncontrollable Luke. But will she get too distracted by her attraction to him?

Who was your favorite character to create in Elemental?
I think it’s very hard for an author not to write a main character without putting a lot of themselves (or at least how they picture themselves, or how they’d like to picture themselves) in a character. Eva, like me, was socially awkward most of high school because of her brainy personality. She finds it hard to make friends she can relate to. I guess I wanted to see what would have happened if someone would have ever taken notice of me in a positive way, like Eva’s advisor, Hannah. Eva reacts in the way I hope I would have reacted--brave, resourceful, funny, and intelligent.

How important is the setting of Italy to this story?
I love Italy. I traveled there and stayed in a castle in Rome while I attended a study abroad program during college. St. Peter’s Basilica is my favorite sight to see there (no picture could do it justice, only the naked eye), so I set one of the important scenes in the Basilica and St. Peter’s Square.

As far as how important it is to the story, the rise of the Elementals is related to Greek mythology, so some of the key personalities of the book live there. There is also a rich Elemental history which Eva and Luke discover as they travel through Tivoli. I didn’t initially plan on Italy being quite so essential to the story but the geography and history of the area fit the plot perfectly.

I definitely really enjoyed the setting!

What are 3 random facts about you that you’d like to share?
ONE: Cooking and eating gourmet food is a transcendent experience for me (if you’ve ever eaten something like gelato from Italy or Grandma Dominguez’s homemade tortillas, you know what I’m talking about). I have my own gourmet cooking blog at http://cookgourmet.blogspot.com.
TWO: I have such low pressure that doctors marvel I’m still breathing. I attribute it to all the reading I do.
THREE: When I was younger, I used to walk my red wagon down to the library to check out books. I’d fill it up, take it home, read them all, and go back the next day. Not much has changed.

Aww, a red wagon full of books. Love it!!

What are some of your favorite recent YA novels?
Divergent by Veronica Roth, Wither by Lauren DeStefano, The Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa, Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

Divergent and Wither are some of my faves from this year as well!

What can readers expect from you next?
My second novel, LOST DYNASTY, is under consideration by a major publisher. It’s a speculative fiction novel about an 18-year old girl trained to be one of the world’s best assassins in order to protect her family from the man who has systematically destroyed them all.

My third novel, a Steampunk adventure set in Victorian England, is about half finished. It’s Elizabeth Bennett in leather carrying a ray gun (not her specifically but you get the idea). You can read the first chapters of all of my books on my website www.tiffanydominguez.com.


Those other books sound amazing, Tiffany! Thanks so much for answering my questions.

You can visit Tiffany at her website. She also runs a YA book review blog called Scribble by Moonlight.


Now for the GIVEAWAY!

The Prize:
- 2 winners will each receive an eBook of 'Elemental' from Smashwords

The Rules:
- Open internationally
- Entries will be accepted up until midnight EST on July 24

How to enter:
- Fill out THIS FORM.

Wildefire by Karsten Knight

Release Date: July 26, 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Pages: 400
Series: Wildefire #1
Review Source: GalleyGrab

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)
Every flame begins with a spark.
Ashline Wilde is having a rough sophomore year. She’s struggling to find her place as the only Polynesian girl in school, her boyfriend just cheated on her, and now her runaway sister, Eve, has decided to barge back into her life. When Eve’s violent behavior escalates and she does the unthinkable, Ash transfers to a remote private school nestled in California’s redwoods, hoping to put the tragedy behind her. But her fresh start at Blackwood Academy doesn’t go as planned. Just as Ash is beginning to enjoy the perks of her new school—being captain of the tennis team, a steamy romance with a hot, local park ranger—Ash discovers that a group of gods and goddesses have mysteriously enrolled at Blackwood…and she’s one of them. To make matters worse, Eve has resurfaced to haunt Ash, and she’s got some strange abilities of her own. With a war between the gods looming over campus, Ash must master the new fire smoldering within before she clashes with her sister one more time… And when warm and cold fronts collide, there’s guaranteed to be a storm.

My Thoughts:
There is something about this book that makes it incredibly interesting and “unputdownable”. First of all I loved the diversity in the characters. All the different race/ethnic backgrounds, and likewise the different gods and goddesses from all over the world, made the story more interesting. And I really grew to like the characters, even care about them, in the short time we spend getting to know them. How the characters all came together is another interesting part of the book, and one which I’m very curious to read more about in the next book.

I love this book a lot because of the writing. Karsten Knight dragged me into the story right from the beginning. When there was imagery it was fantastic and I wasn’t at all put off (like I usually am) by the descriptions, because they were so interesting and fitting. The book contains an intriguing build up of action as it goes on, leaving you completely engaged.

Of course no book is perfect. My biggest complaint is the main character herself. Ashline (or Ash) was incredibly strong and sarcastic, which was great, because who wants to read about a weak heroine? Hint: Not Me. Unfortunately Ash came on much too strong for my tastes at some points. You don’t have to be the rude version of sarcastic in order to be strong. My biggest problem with Ash, though, was her violent behaviour. Ash demonized another character for being violent, yet her actions didn’t show her to be that much different. A blasé attitude toward violence, where people go around threatening and hitting people for little reason, is not exactly cool in my books.

I obviously had some qualms with the book, but I’m giving it 4 stars because of how engaged I was when reading it. I just didn’t want to put it down (it was like “oh crap, how did it get to be 2 am?”). So as for the negatives, I can totally understand why some people aren’t feeling this book, yet on the other hand I can totally understand why this book has gotten so much hype. I would say it’s well worth a read, especially to get to the ending that will leave you begging for Book 2.

The Cover: The colours are pretty, and I like how it's interesting and symbolic.

Rating:
[4/5]

Find Wildefire by Karsten Knight on Goodreads & Amazon.ca