OctoberPalooza Continues: How To Save a Life

     Thank you to all who have joined me in OctoberPalooza.
     This Celebration of Great Books Extravaganze Experience now continues.
     Mission Statement: To give away copies of amazing books

                                   To support independent bookstores

                                   To gain site traffic

        Rules: Follow the blog for one entry

        Get two entries for each comment you leave (This way if you are already following you can still add to your odds.) Comments may be left on any post, past or present.

     This week, in addition to celebrating Stick's release day October 11, I am turning to an appreciation of Sara Zarr. How to Save a Life officially comes out October 23.
     Every book Sara Zarr  writes gets awards and stuff.
     How to Save a Life is an Amazon pick for Best Book of the Month for October.
    Each of her books is an American Library Association Recommended Books for Young Adults.
     Story of a Girl was a National Book Award Finalist.
    "Bitch" magazine has Sara's book Sweethearts on one of its "Best" lists. This is not only a remarkable example of irony, but also shows how her work reaches across lines and genres and labels.
     You all know how I feel about labels.
    Three copies of How to Save a Life will be sent to lucky winners from Sara's independent bookstore of choice, Eighth Day Books.
    Entries will close at 5:00 PM EST next Sunday, October 16, because the book is unofficially out and available and I want you to have your hands on this book.
    And now feel free to follow or comment.

People Who Got Free Copies of STICK

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all who participated in the first giveaway of OctoberPalooza.
The recipients were chosen by a highly scientific random process.
Callie Kingston
Charles the Reader
Laurie Lamb

Would you be so kind as to contact me in the next twenty-four hours? I need shipping info to give to Mrs. Nelson's Toy and Bookstore.
Email me:

kristen.faulconer@gmail.com

OctoberPalooza continues tomorrow.
Stay tuned.

OctoberPalooza: Celebrating a Month of New Releases and Indie Bookstores

I tried.
I tried to come up with a super-clever title for this contest/giveaway. I love words like "extravaganza" and "gala". But those words make me wary, because they sound like sparkly events that require high heels and big hair. I don't do heels or big hair.
Chagrin.
So then I looked up "lollapalooza"--spelling varies--and it's actually a word in its own right, not just the name of a major music event. According to a reliable online dictionary:

lol·la·pa·loo·za   [lol-uh-puh-loo-zuh]
noun Slang .
an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.

Well. There it is. So I ditched the "lolla" and kept the "palooza" and, Bob's your uncle, there it is.

Details to follow.