The Books

The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls

middle grade dark fairy tale | tumblr | goodreads | soundtrack

coming from Simon & Schuster BFYR, August 28, 2012!

Victoria likes things neat and tidy. Her hair gleams, her grades shine, and her room is as immaculate as the manicured lawns in her hometown of Belleville. Her life is perfect.

Until her best friend Lawrence goes missing.

Without Lawrence, Victoria has no one to walk to school with, no one to reprimand for not doing his homework, no one’s life to run but her own. Naturally, Victoria launches an investigation. But Lawrence isn’t the only missing kid in town. Beneath Belleville’s perfection are dark, deadly, creepy secrets, and Victoria soon realizes Mrs. Cavendish’s children’s home down the street is behind it all. Kids who go there come out better — prettier, smarter, well-behaved — or they don’t come out at all.

The grown-ups Victoria talks to only feed her lies. But Victoria is not top of the class for nothing. She will have to use her smarts to save her only friend and her beloved hometown from Mrs. Cavendish’s evil clutches . . . even if it means getting a little bit messy.

International

Germany, Heyne

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The October Year

middle grade ghost story | tumblr | goodreads

coming from Simon & Schuster BFYR, Fall 2013!

13-year-old Olivia Stellatella and her father have sold all their belongings to keep her father’s orchestra from going bankrupt. Now, they live out of suitcases in the back rooms of Emerson Hall, where the orchestra performs.

Olivia hates it there.

She hates her squeaky cot and shabby clothes. She hates her father, too, for being so obsessed with music that he drove Olivia’s mother out of the house and got them into this mess. Most of all, Olivia hates the orchestra. It’s the orchestra’s fault that her father’s the way he is. She can’t wait for it to fail.

Until the ghosts come.

They’re lonely, frightened, and stuck in our world. Only if Olivia and the 14-year-old usher, Henry, can help the ghosts solve the mysteries of their deaths — deaths that are somehow related to the Hall’s past — will they be able to move on and find peace. But time — and money — is running out. The mayor wants to bulldoze the Hall to the ground, which would put Olivia and her father out on the streets and trap the ghosts in our world permanently. And other ghosts — bad ones — will do anything to keep them here. As the “ghosts of Emerson Hall” craze sweeps the city, Olivia faces life-changing family secrets and must fight for her life when her world, and the world of Death, collide.

Inspired by The Phantom of the Opera, When You Reach Me, and The Invention of Hugo Cabret, as well as the author’s experiences as a musician, The October Year is a middle grade ghost story about loss, magic, music, and the power of friendship.

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Cracked

young adult fantasy; re-telling of The Nutcracker | tumblr

To find her abducted father and keep her sister safe from the lecherous politicians of 1899 New York City, 17-year-old Clara Stole must journey to the wintry kingdom of Cane. There, Anise, queen of the faeries, has ousted the royal family in favor of her own totalitarian, anti-human regime. Clara’s only companion is 18-year-old Nicholas, Cane’s rightful prince, whom she freed from a curse that left him trapped in disfiguring faery magic — but time is running out, for both Nicholas and Clara’s family, and Cane is anything but sweet.

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Earthshine

young adult epic/post-apocalyptic fantasy trilogy | tumblr

Two girls. Two times. Two countries.

One family.

One war.

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Don’t forget to check out my Tumblr, where I post inspirational photos for each project! (Not inspirational like thank you Jesus, but inspirational as in they inspire me to work. But you probably figured that out on your own.)