Cover Stories: This Gorgeous Game by Donna Freitas

This Gorgeous Game by Donna Freitas is a disturbing page-turner with great heart, warmth and depth. You'll be hearing a lot about this book this summer!

Also, it's got a great cover. Here's Donna with more on that:

"Because This Gorgeous Game is both so dark and so personal, at first I was at a complete loss as to what image might represent it -- I almost wouldn't let my mind go there. But when I did, because eventually of course I would, there were two images I kept thinking about. The cover would be of a girl andonly a girl -- even though This Gorgeous Game is about a girl who is stalked, I absolutely, positively did not want any hint of the stalker on the cover, I cannot express that strongly enough.

"The first image idea was of a girl walking down the street looking over her shoulder, almost looking behind her, but also at the reader, and the would seem anxious. The other image idea was a photo of a girl who looks trapped -- which I know is kind of vague. But I'd seen a photo on Getty of a girl who is curled up in a ball and she is literally inside a series of boxes -- a box inside a box inside a box, etc., and inside the smallest box at the center is the girl. It is a very disturbing photo, haunting and unforgettable. I knew it was a bit too much for the actual cover, but the idea was as close to the feeling I was going for as it gets..."

Read the rest of Donna's Cover Story, and see early cover versions, at melissacwalker.com.

Rgz Salon: This Gorgeous Game by Donna Freitas, Reviewed by Rene' Kirkpatrick

René Kirkpatrick has been a bookseller and book buyer, specializing in children's and teen literature, for many years. She has a degree in elementary education and reads widely across all genres. She is currently a buyer at Third Place Books.

We're honored to have her here as part of the rgz SALON, a feature where four of the top kidlit experts clue us in to the best YA novels they've read recently. Here's René, reviewing a fantastic book that comes out tomorrow!

"This Gorgeous Game, by Donna Freitas, is a very intense book about a girl who wins a writing contest. The prize is the adored local writer priest who becomes her writing mentor. He becomes obsessed with her and won’t leave her alone, texting her, following her, calling her phone and filling the memory with messages. At first, she is flattered and amazed that he would find her worthy of his attentions, but it doesn’t take very long before she becomes wary and scared. She tries to distance herself from him but he holds harder, insisting she read the book he wrote with her in mind. It seems he is using Thomas Merton as his role model. If you don’t know the reference, I didn’t, you will need to read the book to find out. It is a scary book that many people will identify with: how do you deal with the aloneness that comes when you are the victim? Is the whole thing your fault? How do you stop it? Should you? What if they get mad at you? Don’t “they”, those elders you should respect, know what’s best for you? It was really hard to put down but a good cautionary tale. Ages 12 and up."

PS-Read the Cover Story for This Gorgeous Game here.