rgz

readergirlz is a literacy and social media project for teens, awarded the National Book Foundation's Innovations in Reading Prize. The rgz blog serves as a depot for news and YA reviews from industry professionals and teens. As volunteers return full force to their own YA writing, the organization continues to hold one initiative a year to impact teen literacy. All are welcome to "like" us on Facebook!

Friday, April 24, 2015

SERIES SECRETS: DUST TO DUST

Welcome rgz Diva Melissa Walker

 Melissa's here to tell us some Series Secrets about Dust to Dust 

 ~Dust to Dust is the mysterious, thoughtful, and poignant sequel to Melissa Walker's haunting and heartbreaking novel Ashes to Ashes.~



-Did you run up against any roadblocks as you wrote Dust to Dust? Anything you wished you set up differently in Ashes to Ashes?

No roadblocks really, but there’s a new character who appears in Dust to Dust and I really enjoyed him, so when he came along, I wished he had been part of the duology from the beginning, just because he was such fun!

 -What did you enjoy most about writing book two?

The contemporary setting of book two, as opposed to the otherworldly feel of book one, is much more my comfort zone. Having the characters in school, driving around, at home and in Charleston was easier for me than having them in the Prism, which was a world somewhere between Earth and Heaven. So I enjoyed that ease.

-What would you like readers to take away from this book?

Dust to Dust deals a lot with holding onto pain, and how important it is to be able to let go and enjoy the present moment rather than grappling with past slights or sadnesses. I always hope that readers who've grown to like the characters feel that everyone’s in the right place at the end. I never tie things up perfectly, but I do try to have everyone in a place where we’re okay saying goodbye to them by the last pages.

About the book: When Callie McPhee miraculously recovers from a tragic accident that should have taken her life, she thought her connection to the ghost world would be severed forever. And that she would never see Thatcher—the ghost she fell in love with in the hereafter—again. But when she receives unexpected signs from Thatcher, she's led down a dark road toward the angry souls who once tried to steal her soul's energy for another chance at life. Now Callie must prevent the real world and the spirit world from colliding, and that could mean saying good-bye to people she'd never imagined she'd lose.

More about Melissa Walker here

Dust to Dust, Katherine Tegen Books. out May 5th! Get the book here


Monday, April 20, 2015

Well Done, #rockthdrop 2015

A GIANT thanks to everyone for participating in #rockthedrop! We had publishers, magazines, fabulous teens, teachers, librarians, and parents dropping books in public places to be found and loved. What a celebration of Support Teen Literature Day!

High five to all the droppers. We heart YOU! And congrats to the finders. Welcome!

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LorieAnncard2010small.jpg image by readergirlz

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

#rockthedrop 2015!

Today's the day, rgz! It's time for Operation Teen Book Drop, 2015, also known as #rockthedrop. April 16th is YALSA's Support Teen Literature Day

Quick! Print out a bookmark below, created by Little Willow. Place it in a favorite YA book, and leave the novel in a public spot to be found. Tweet or post a pic at our facebook page with the hashtag #rockthedrop. Show your love for YA lit and brighten someone's day. 

Off you go! Be sneaky. Be creative. Have fun! Oh, and if you find a book, let us know that, too! Drop a note in the comments. Alrighty. GO!


And thanks to iheartdaily for their support! 
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LorieAnncard2010small.jpg image by readergirlz

Watch For It: In the Time of Dragon Moon

The day before we #rockthedrop, I wanted to give a shout-out to co-founder Janet Lee Carey for her new release, In the Time of Dragon Moon. Woohoo! I just zoomed it into my own Kindle. :)



Is it not gorgeous? What a special book for readergirlz, as Janet began this series with the publication of Dragon's Keep when we began our online communityDragonswood soon followed. Here's what VOYA said about the trilogy conclusion:

"A story of courage and romance that readers will not soon forget. While Uma's struggle to help the queen and save her people is intriguing, the depth of her character reaches much further, exploring issues of race, gender, and identity....The text will be a sure favorite of fans of high fantasy."

The launch party was fabbity fantastical:


Katherine Grace Bond, Janet Lee Carey, and Justina Chen

Now, how about the summary:

An epic fantasy about dragons, dark secrets, Pendragons, and magic

On the southernmost tip of Wilde Island--far from the Dragonswood sanctuary and the Pendragon Castle--live the native Euit people. Uma, who is half Euit and half English, and not fully accepted by her tribe, wants to become a healer like her Euit father. But the mad English queen in the north, desperate for another child, kidnaps Uma and her father and demands that he cure her barrenness. After her father dies, Uma must ensure that the queen is with child by the time of the Dragon Moon, or be burned at the stake.
Terrified and alone, Uma reaches out to her only possible ally: the king's nephew Jackrun, a fiery dragonrider with dragon, fairy, and human blood. Together, they must navigate through a sea of untold secrets, unveil a dark plot spawned long ago in Dragonswood, and find a way to accept all the elements--Euit, English, dragon, and fairy--that make them who they are.


Grab this new work, rgz. And then drop a review online, everywhere. Your words matter! Read, reflect, and reach out! 

In the Time of Dragon Moon
by Janet Lee Carey
Kathy Dawson Books, 2015

LorieAnncard2010small.jpg image by readergirlz