Summer Reading with Melanie Dickerson

Melanie Dickerson writes some of my favorite Fairy Tale Retellings! (Seriously though, they are awesome and I recommend every single one of them!)

Today I have a post authored by Melanie exactly about (you guessed it) SUMMER READING!

Summer Reading

By Melanie Dickerson

 

When I was a kid in the 1970s and ‘80s, I loved to read, and I read a lot during the

summer—when I wasn’t climbing trees, building forts, or riding motorcycles with my

I grew up in a rural area of south Alabama about 50 miles from Harper Lee’s

hometown of Monroeville, the basis for the setting of To Kill a Mockingbird. The school

I attended had a very small library with mostly classics, many of them so old their pages

were yellowed, sometimes had a little mold on the edges, and a few holes where rats had

eaten them. That kind of thing didn’t bother me, as long as all the words were there.

In the summer, it was a little harder to get books. We were relatively poor, but I

would save up my allowance to buy books through the Scholastic order forms we got at

school. Then I would re-read the books over the summer. My mother did sometimes take

me to the library, not in our tiny hometown, which did not have a library, but in another

nearby town, Georgiana. It was also very small and was only open maybe three days a

After borrowing my school library’s copy of Gone With the Wind a few times, I

bought my own and re-read it every summer when I was a teenager. Since there were no

book stores in our area, I joined a mail order “book club” and started ordering books from

there. But I also started writing, and I can remember writing my first novel at the age of

13 in a notebook, then typing it on a typewriter, sitting at the kitchen table. I can

remember my thighs sweating on the fake leather chairs in the Alabama heat. But seeing

my stack of typewritten pages and knowing this was a story I had created was a

Summers were wonderful. I was free to lie around on the couch and read as much

as I wanted to—in between my chores of shelling peas, washing dishes, and hanging out

clothes on the clothesline. Reading could take me away from life and transport me

somewhere just a bit more exciting, like the high seas in Rafael Sabatini’s The Sea-Hawk,

or the French political intrigues and fight scenes of The Three Musketeers by Alexander

Dumas. As I grew older, I could imagine myself as an ordinary-young-woman-turned-

romance-heroine, like Lizzie Bennet in Pride and Prejudice or Anne in Anne of Green

Gables or Jo March in Little Women or Jane in Jane Eyre.

I grew up reading the classics. My own children these days don’t have much

patience for the outdated language and slower pace of these old classics, but I’m not sorry

that these were the staples of my library, and therefore, of my childhood reading.

 

Be sure to check out Melanie's books this summer if you haven't ever read them!

The Healers Apprentice is Sleeping Beauty, The Merchants Daughter is Beauty and the Beast, The Fairest Beauty is Snow White, The Captive Maiden in Cinderella and The Princess Spy is The Frog Prince. (And I did that by memory so if I am wrong please correct me in the comments below!)

I have not read The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest yet but I believe that it is a Swan Lake and Robin Hood retelling!

 

 

Out Now:

 

 

Coming Soon:

 

 

 

Summer Reading Interview with Jennifer E Smith

Jennifer E Smith is one of my all-time favorite authors, and she also writes some of my favorite contemporary fiction. I am SO EXCITED to have an interview with her here on the blog about summer reading and writing contemporary books!

 

-Did you participate in library summer reading programs?

Are you kidding?  I was obsessed with the summer reading programs at my library when I was growing up. I remember one summer, there was a Wizard of Oz theme, and for every book you read, you got a construction paper footprint with your name and the title, and you got to stick it onto the giant yellow brick road that wound around the walls of the children's section. I can't even tell you how many footprints I added that year, but I'm sure the librarians were a bit overwhelmed by my enthusiasm!  

 

-Did you write any of your books over the summer?

Yes, I've written many of my books over the summer (which is probably why so many of them end up being set during that particular season).

 

-Top 5 book recommendations for summer?

Anything by Sarah Dessen, Stephanie Perkins, Jenny Han, John Green and Gayle Forman.

 

-Why do you write YA contemporary and not fantasy/paranormal/adult?

I love reading across all genres, but in terms of my own writing, I've always gravitated more toward realistic fiction. I'm not exactly sure why, to be honest.  Maybe it's because I read more of it when I was a kid.  I think it's a bit like being left or right handed.  There are a few lucky people who are able to do both, but for most of us, one or the other just comes more naturally.  And for me, it's always been contemporary.

 

 

If you have not read Jennifer's books then this summer is the perfect time to pick one up!

 

Available Now:

 

 

    

 

Coming Soon:

 

 

 

About Jennifer:

Jennifer E. Smith is the author of The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, The Storm Makers, You Are Here, and The Comeback Season. She earned her master's degree in creative writing from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and currently works as an editor in New York City. Her writing has been translated into 28 languages.

 

Goodreads Twitter  Website

Summer Reading with Cheyanne Young + GIVEAWAY!

I have only had the pleasure of reading 1 of Cheyanne's books, (which you can win a copy of below!) But I REALLY enjoyed it! Below you can find some books that Cheyanne recommends you read this summer.

Cheyanne Young’s top 5 Summer Reads

 

1. Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen
Colie expects the worst when she’s sent to spend the summer with her eccentric
aunt Mira while her mother, queen of the television infomercial, tours Europe. Always
an outcast — first for being fat and then for being “easy” — Colie has no friends at
home and doesn’t expect to find any in Colby, North Carolina. But then she lands a
job at the Last Chance Cafe and meets fellow waitresses Morgan and Isabel, best
friends with a loving yet volatile relationship. Wacky yet wise, Morgan and Isabel
help Colie see herself in a new way and realize the potential that has been there all
along.

Sarah Dessen is my favorite author, so I’d recommend every book of hers for every
occasion in your life. However, for the sake of other books, I’ll keep it to just this one.
Keeping the Moon is my favorite of Sarah Dessen’s books and it’s a perfect summer
read about making new friendships, new love interests, and finding out who you
really are.


2. Sugar by Deirdre Riordan Hall
I’m the fat Puerto Rican–Polish girl who doesn’t feel like she belongs in her
skin, or anywhere else for that matter. I’ve always been too much and yet not
enough.
Sugar Legowski-Gracia wasn’t always fat, but fat is what she is now at age
seventeen. Not as fat as her mama, who is so big she hasn’t gotten out of bed in
months. Not as heavy as her brother, Skunk, who has more meanness in him than
fat, which is saying something. But she’s large enough to be the object of ridicule
wherever she is: at the grocery store, walking down the street, at school. Sugar’s life
is dictated by taking care of Mama in their run-down home—cooking, shopping, and,
well, eating. A lot of eating, which Sugar hates as much as she loves.
When Sugar meets Even (not Evan—his nearly illiterate father misspelled his
name on the birth certificate), she has the new experience of someone seeing her
and not her body. As their unlikely friendship builds, Sugar allows herself to think
about the future for the first time, a future not weighed down by her body or her
mother.
Soon Sugar will have to decide whether to become the girl that Even helps
her see within herself or to sink into the darkness of the skin-deep role her family
and her life have created for her.

I had the pleasure of getting an ARC of this book and it blew me away. Hands down
my favorite book of the year, and there’s something about it that makes you refuse to
put it down after you start reading. That’s why I’m recommending this book as a
summer read, because you’ll need to be out of school/work and any other
obligations before you start this powerful book.

3. The Distance Between Us by Kasie West
Money can't buy a good first impression.
Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers learned early that the rich are not to be
trusted. And after years of studying them from behind the cash register of her mom's
porcelain-doll shop, she has seen nothing to prove otherwise. Enter Xander
Spence—he's tall, handsome, and oozing rich. Despite his charming ways and the
fact that he seems to be one of the first people who actually gets her, she's smart
enough to know his interest won't last. Because if there's one thing she's learned
from her mother's warnings, it's that the rich have a short attention span. But just
when Xander's loyalty and attentiveness are about to convince Caymen that being
rich isn't a character flaw, she finds out that money is a much bigger part of their
relationship than she'd ever realized. With so many obstacles standing in their way,
can she close the distance between them?

Okay, yeah. There’s three books in this series, and they are all absolutely amazing.
They are what I consider the perfect first love story. I’m only recommending this one
because it’s the one I read first and that’s why it’s my favorite. THEY ARE ALL
AMAZING. The dialogue is witty and charming and the boy is swoony in all the best
ways. READ THIS BOOK.

4. I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios
If seventeen-year-old Skylar Evans were a typical Creek View girl, her future
would involve a double-wide trailer, a baby on her hip, and the graveyard shift at
Taco Bell. But after graduation, the only thing standing between straightedge Skylar
and art school are three minimum-wage months of summer. Skylar can taste the
freedom--that is, until her mother loses her job and everything starts coming apart.
Torn between her dreams and the people she loves, Skylar realizes everything she's
ever worked for is on the line.
Nineteen-year-old Josh Mitchell had a different ticket out of Creek View: the
Marines. But after his leg is blown off in Afghanistan, he returns home, a shell of the
cocksure boy he used to be.
What brings Skylar and Josh together is working at the Paradise--a quirky
motel off California's dusty Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared
isolation turns into an unexpected friendship and soon, something deeper.

This book is dynamite!! In fact, don’t even read that summary because it doesn’t do
the book justice. Heather Demetrios became an instant read author for me with this
book. For the rest of my life, I will read anything she writes. She is a genius and the
boy in this book? You will love him.


5. Reap by Christina Channelle
Foreign, or rather unfamiliar, would be the word I would use to describe how I
felt.
Faintly, I could hear the glimmer of voices surrounding me in this dark haze,
caressing my ears like skin against silk. I felt like I was in a cocoon of sorts,
protectively enveloped, quietly drifting in some far-off place. I wanted to stay that
way forever.
But we all know that what you want never really seems to happen in the real
world.
Something’s not right in Mia’s head.
The first thing is that her name isn’t Mia. In fact, she has no clue what her
name is—who she is. All that she knows is that she’s not like the ones who found
her: Dante with his kind blue eyes, Amy with her child-like demeanor, James with his
questioning gaze.
And Briggs.
The one she cannot decipher no matter how hard she tries.
As Mia tries to fit in with these people, a strange occurrence is amidst
outside. And as she finally remembers who she is …
Well, let’s just say that things get a little more complicated.

This book is a novella, so I saved it for last. You’ll be all swooned out after reading
the first four books and this one will blow your mind. It is my favorite novella ever,
and I read it twice in one sitting. First because it was awesome, and secondly, to see
if I could find any clues leading up to the massively mind blowing twist at the end.
*hint* There are clues. See if you can find them!

About Cheyanne Young:

Cheyanne is a native Texan with a fear of cold weather and a coffee addiction that

probably needs an intervention. She loves books, sarcasm, nail polish and paid holidays.

She lives near the beach with her family, one spoiled rotten puppy and a cat that is

plotting to take over the world, one scratched up welcome mat at a time.

A recent day-job quitter, Cheyanne can be found furiously typing on her computer,

probably complaining on Twitter about how she should be writing. When she’s not

honing her procrastination skills, she’s writing books for teenagers. She is the author of

several books for teens and recently turned her love of superheroes and writing for teens

into books about teenage superheroes. POWERED is her first superhero book but it won't

be her last. Because POWERED is a trilogy. Duh.

 

You can find her online at www.CheyanneYoung.com or on Twitter @NormalChey

 

About Motocross Me

When Hana Fisher moves to the small town of Mixon, Texas to live with her dad, she
dreads having to work at the boring pile of dirt he fondly calls a motocross track. But
when she gets there, she finds the rinky-dink dirt bike track from her childhood has
grown into the most respected racing track in the state - not to mention it's just crawling
with hot, sweaty guys.
Now popular by association, Hana endures the pain and sweat of working in the summer
heat in order to fit in with a sport she’s growing to love. She gets a real family, a best
friend and not just one, but two of the fastest racers trying to win her heart.
When Hana abuses her status as the track owner’s daughter to help the gorgeous Ryan
Russo cheat in the biggest race of the year, she risks more than just losing her job. Every
good thing in her life is at stake now- her friends, her dad’s trust, and Ash Carter- the
kind-hearted racer who may not be as alluring as Ryan, but is proof that nice guys don’t
always finish last.


Enter the giveaway for a signed paperback below! Giveaway ends June 30th.