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Saturday, December 31, 2011

GIVE@WAY & REVIEW: WinterTown by Stephen Emond @lbkids @stephenemond

Book Description

December 5, 2011
Every winter, straight-laced, Ivy League bound Evan looks forward to a visit from Lucy, a childhood pal who moved away after her parent's divorce. But when Lucy arrives this year, she's changed. The former "girl next door" now has chopped dyed black hair, a nose stud, and a scowl. But Evan knows that somewhere beneath the Goth, "Old Lucy" still exists, and he's determined to find her... even if it means pissing her off.

Garden State meets Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist in this funny and poignant illustrated novel about opposites who fall in love.

About the Author

Stephen Emond is the creator of Emo Boy, which ran for twelve issues and two collections with Slave Labor Graphics. He also won a national contest for his comic strip series Steverino, which ran for several years in his local Connecticut newspaper. His first novel, Happyface, was published in March 2010. You can find him at www.stephenemond.com. 

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (December 5, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0316133329
  • ISBN-13: 978-0316133326
SOURCE:  PUBLISHER

MY THOUGHTS
LOVED IT

Evan has lost his best friend, Lucy, in more ways than one when she moves away from New England to Georgia to live with her mother after her parents divorce.  They still see each other once a year during Christmas vacation when she comes back to stay with her father, but in the last year or so, Evan has noticed Lucy has begun to change.  She isn't the "Old Lucy" anymore and he finds her difficult to connect with as well as some other physical changes.  Evan has always been the perfect son, striving in school and extra curricular activities so he can get into an Ivy League school for college.   The story mostly covers a two week period over their latest holiday break and is told through a combination of cartoon strips, drawings and words.  Both Evan and Lucy are gifted artists, but while Evan has tried to downplay his, Lucy has stopped caring about everything in her life.

Without being judgmental, Emond depicts a fact of life for most teens these days; that their parents are divorced, they must shuttle from one household to another and at times, their parents don't even notice them.  Evan sees what is happening to Lucy, but is clueless as to how to help her.  She is in such a dark place because neither of her parents take them time to make sure she is ok. This pretty much broke my heart.  Evan tries everything to get her back to the "Old Lucy" but he only sees glimpses of the happy girl he used to know.   He also has his own issues at home, with a father who only wants him to get into a good university and not whether he is happy in his life or not.

Overall, this is a very classic look about how childhood friends try to stay close while growing apart and the sad fact of life that not everyone has the perfect family unit and most are quite dysfunctional.  The illustrations go a long way in providing the feel for this book and provide some much need humor to a story that could be extremely sad.  Lucy and Evan do end up losing touch with each other by the end of the book and I only hope that they reconnect in better circumstances.  There are mentions of alcohol, alcohol abuse and sex, but not in any graphic form. 




WANT TO WIN THIS ARC BOOK?

 Contest is open to anyone over 13 years old with a reliable mailing address (PO Boxes OK!)
This ends 1.13.12 midnight Pacific Time and the winner will be chosen by Random.org on 1.14.11.
Winner will have 48 hours to respond to email or a new winner will be chosen
This giveaway is sponsored by me and Little Brown Young Readers for ONE WINNER.

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    37 comments:

    1. Thanks for the giveaway! :) AND HAPPY NEW YEAR! :D

      xjustakidx(at)hotmail(dot)com

      ReplyDelete
    2. ooo, it's been on my wishlist for a while. Thanks for the giveaway! :)

      booksbiscuitsandtea(at)hotmail(dot)com

      ReplyDelete
    3. Great giveaway! Thanks and Happy new Year.
      veltara(at)yahoo(dot)com

      ReplyDelete
    4. It does look like a great classic story. Thanks for the chance to win! What a way to kick off 2012!
      JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

      ReplyDelete
    5. Thank you for the giveaway! Happy New Year!!

      I got an error twice trying to add Stephen Emond's site on RSS, so I was unable to do that part.
      Posted on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/VanillaOrchids/posts/185229364909156

      Pam
      vanillaorchids69(at)gmail(dot)com

      ReplyDelete
    6. https://twitter.com/#!/micia18/status/153588498891411456
      blogmicia(at)yahoo(dot)it

      ReplyDelete
    7. Thanks for the giveaway
      blogmicia(at)yahoo(dot)it
      Happy new Year!!

      ReplyDelete
    8. Thanks for the giveaway :D

      Happy New Year!

      rottinawayxP(at)yahoo(dot)com

      ReplyDelete
    9. I've been wanting this for a while now ^_^ Happy New Year and thanks for the giveaway

      faefever25(at)hotmail(dot)com

      ReplyDelete
    10. Thanks for the chance to win a copy of WinterTown! :)

      I also tweeted about your review and the giveaway: http://twitter.com/#!/FreakChiq/status/153831172990971904

      Happy New Year!

      Sabina
      sabina(dot)dezman(at)gmail(dot)com

      ReplyDelete
    11. https://twitter.com/#!/micia18/status/153942978975645698
      blogmicia(at)yahoo(dot)it

      ReplyDelete
    12. Would love to win this! Happy New Year :D

      Kara D
      supersonic182(at)gmail(dot)com

      ReplyDelete
    13. https://twitter.com/#!/micia18/status/154223825570115584
      blogmicia(at)yahoo(dot)it

      ReplyDelete
    14. Daily entry 1/3/12.
      JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

      ReplyDelete
    15. 1/4/12.
      JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

      ReplyDelete
    16. https://twitter.com/#!/micia18/status/154634728086056961

      blogmicia(at)yahoo(dot)it

      ReplyDelete
    17. https://twitter.com/#!/micia18/status/155028006254034945
      blogmicia(at)yahoo(dot)it

      ReplyDelete
    18. daily entry
      Thanks for the giveaway
      blogmicia(at)yahoo(dot)it

      ReplyDelete
    19. 1/5!
      JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

      ReplyDelete
    20. https://twitter.com/#!/micia18/status/155384834510962688
      blogmicia(at)yahoo(dot)it

      ReplyDelete
    21. https://twitter.com/#!/micia18/status/155655963607703552
      blogmicia(at)yahoo(dot)it

      ReplyDelete
    22. daily entry
      Thanks
      blogmicia(at)yahoo(dot)it

      ReplyDelete
    23. 1/7/12.
      JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

      ReplyDelete
    24. https://twitter.com/#!/micia18/status/155980404237668352
      blogmicia(at)yahoo(dot)it

      ReplyDelete
    25. daily entry
      Thanks
      blogmicia(at)yahoo(dot)it

      ReplyDelete
    26. Tweeted:

      https://twitter.com/#!/librarygrinch/status/156314620578115584

      Thanks! :0)
      librarygrinch at gmail dot com

      ReplyDelete
    27. https://twitter.com/#!/micia18/status/156326768410771456
      blogmicia(at)yahoo(dot)it

      ReplyDelete
    28. daily entry
      Thanks
      blogmicia(at)yahoo(dot)it

      ReplyDelete
    29. https://twitter.com/#!/micia18/status/156763633609748480
      blogmicia(at)yahoo(dot)it

      ReplyDelete
    30. daily entry
      Thanks
      blogmicia(at)yahoo(dot)it

      ReplyDelete
    31. 1/11/12. Thanks!
      JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

      ReplyDelete
    32. https://twitter.com/#!/micia18/status/157107550427430912
      blogmicia(at)yahoo(dot)it

      ReplyDelete
    33. daily entry
      Thanks
      blogmicia(at)yahoo(dot)it

      ReplyDelete
    34. https://twitter.com/#!/micia18/status/157424660806512640
      blogmicia(at)yahoo(dot)it

      ReplyDelete
    35. Thanks for the giveaway.

      lizzi0915 at aol dot com

      ReplyDelete
    36. I would like to read WinterTown. Thank you for the lovely giveaway opportunity.
      tweeted = https://twitter.com/#!/ZDz59001/status/157928978005495808

      dz59001[at]gmail[dot]com

      ReplyDelete
    37. Pamela Rosensteel

      An email has been sent to the lucky person named above

      The winner has 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

      Thanks to all who entered.

      PLEASE CHECK YOUR SPAM FOR THE EMAIL FROM BOOKHOUNDS @ HOTMAIL REQUESTING YOUR MAILING ADDRESS!

      ReplyDelete

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