And when is this exciting event, you ask?
Friday, May 17, 2013, at 7 p.m., at the Books Inc. on 4th Street in Berkeley

Come come come! It will be fun!

And that reminds me: it’s time for a last-minute Goodreads giveaway. Details right here:

Goodreads Book Giveaway

A Box of Gargoyles

by Anne Nesbet

Giveaway ends May 07, 2013.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Then the hurricane arrived. The power went out. I camped out for several extra days. In my daughter’s dorm room. But thanks to the author events, I had no shortage of excellent books to read! Using my mechanical, no-batteries-necessary flashlight, I worked my way through the spooky cold waters of LIES BENEATH (by Anne Brown) and the surprisingly romantic hospital rooms of SEND ME A SIGN (by Tiffany Schmidt) and the rather scary multiverse of FAIR COIN (by E.G. Myers) and the gives-me-a-lump-in-the-throat-just-thinking-about-it hospital/rehab place of CRACKED (by K. M. Walton). I’m in the middle of Gina Damico’s hysterically dark SCORCHED right now; Jessica Spotswood’s tale of forbidden witchcraft, BORN WICKED, I read in one gulp last spring; and that leaves Elisa Ludwig’s PRETTY CROOKED to brighten my weekend. Not bad for one storm, hmm?

But the main reason I started this post just now is that when I got home late last night, this is what I found waiting for me:

Let’s take a closer look at that cover image! It’s quite pretty!

So I’m happy. I have to tell you, I really love this book! It doesn’t come out until May 2013, but that just makes my spring that much more Anticipatory!

Welcome to the CABINET OF EARTHS stop on the third (third! third!) YAmazing Race with MGnificent Prizes! We can’t stop doing these things! They are too much fun! But gosh, since the last time we did this, my hair has turned bright blue: Side-effect of writing, perhaps?? Back to our race, however: From October 22 (at NOON Eastern Standard Time!! not before NOON!!) to October 29 people will once again be zipping around the internet to learn about new books for young people and win those MGnificent Prizes mentioned in the race title! For details and info on prizes, check out the home blog of the Apocalypsies. ……..And here’s the summary of THE CABINET OF EARTHS–in it you’ll find all you need to know in order to pass the extremely difficult and challenging quiz at the end of the “Egging Houses” leg of the blog race! (To be honest, I read that first as “Egg Houses,” and instead of thinking of chickens, I thought of egg-shaped houses, standing on cute little chicken legs. Not Baba Yaga scary chicken-legged houses, mind you, but sweet egg-shaped ones. Never mind, never mind: on to the summary of THE CABINET OF EARTHS:)

The Cabinet of Earths (HarperCollins, 2012)

The Cabinet of Earths

On their first day in Paris, Maya and her little brother, James, find themselves caught up in some very old magic.  Houses with bronze salamanders for door handles, statues that look too much like Maya’s own worried face, a man wearing sunglasses to hide his radiant purple eyes–nothing is what it seems.  And what does all that magic want from Maya? With the help of a friendly boy named Valko, Maya discovers surprises hidden in her family tree–grandmothers who walked in magic, a cousin so unremarkable she’s actually hard to see, and a terrible family habit of betraying one’s brother.  To save her own brother, Maya must take on the magical underworld of Paris . . . before it is too late.

 
“a-shimmer with magic” (Horn Book) . . . “charmingly creepy” (Kirkus) . . . “evocative prose and a confident narrative voice” (Publishers Weekly) . . . “readers will be swept along by the novel’s swift pace”(Shelf Awareness) . . . “a unique, interesting fantasy with just enough suspense to keep readers turning the pages into the night” (VOYA)

Would you like to win a signed copy of this book for your very own? Well, that can happen! Just add a comment to this blog-entry in which you pick a page number (between 1 and 256), and I will respond with a brief quote from that page, AND also add your name to the by-now-traditional, magical, and entirely figurative stainless steel bowl from which one random winner will emerge. But this time, there’s an extra twist: every now and then I may give a quote from A BOX OF GARGOYLES instead–that’s the sequel to THE CABINET OF EARTHS, due out next spring. So stay tuned for a few advance glimpses!!

Good luck, all of you YAmazing racers, and thanks for dropping by! Time now for me to send you on to . . . the thoroughly entertaining blog of my fellow House-Egger, Elisa Ludwig, whose book, PRETTY CROOKED, needs very much to be read by YOU!

Welcome to the CABINET OF EARTHS stop on the second, even YAmazinger YAmazing Race with MGnificent Prizes! Yep, we had so much fun with our first epic blog race back in January, that we decided to do it again. From May 2-May 8 we will be sending people zipping around the internet to learn about new books for young people and win those MGnificent Prizes mentioned in the race title! For details and info on prizes, check out the home blog of the Apocalypsies. ……..And here’s the summary of THE CABINET OF EARTHS–in it you’ll find all you need to know in order to pass the big, scary quiz at the end of this leg (“Laser-Eyed Iguanas”–oooooooh, spooky) of the blog race!

The Cabinet of Earths (HarperCollins, 2012)

The Cabinet of Earths

On their first day in Paris, Maya and her little brother, James, find themselves caught up in some very old magic.  Houses with bronze salamanders for door handles, statues that look too much like Maya’s own worried face, a man wearing sunglasses to hide his radiant purple eyes–nothing is what it seems.  And what does all that magic want from Maya? With the help of a friendly boy named Valko, Maya discovers surprises hidden in her family tree–grandmothers who walked in magic, a cousin so unremarkable she’s actually hard to see, and a terrible family habit of betraying one’s brother.  To save her own brother, Maya must take on the magical underworld of Paris . . . before it is too late.

 
“a-shimmer with magic” (Horn Book) . . . “charmingly creepy” (Kirkus) . . . “evocative prose and a confident narrative voice” (Publishers Weekly) . . . “readers will be swept along by the novel’s swift pace”(Shelf Awareness) . . . “a unique, interesting fantasy with just enough suspense to keep readers turning the pages into the night” (VOYA)

Would you like to win a signed copy of this book for your very own? Simply add a comment to this blog-entry in which you pick a page number (between 1 and 256), and, as in January, I will not only respond with a brief quote from that page, but also add your name to the magical and entirely figurative stainless steel bowl from which one random winner will emerge! Good luck, all of you YAmazing racers, and thanks for dropping by! Time now for me to send you on to . . . the thoroughly entertaining blog of my fellow Laser-Eyed Iguana, Tom Ryan!

And now we come to the “MGnificent Prizes” part of the Race (while you eat your post-race blood-sugar-enhancing snacks) . . .

After gathering all the requested page numbers and dropping them into the magical and entirely figurative steel bowl . . . and stirring . . . and randomizing . . . and reaching in with virtual silver tongs to extract The Winning Number . . . we have, not just one winner, but two!

Aik and Aeicha@WordSpelunking, proving once again that great minds think alike, both chose p. 123, so I will be sending signed copies of The Cabinet of Earths out to each of those lucky winners! (You should get an email from me very soon, Aik and Aeicha, with the details.)

Thank you so much, everybody, for playing the page-hunt game, and congratulations on your truly YAmazing Racing Skills!

Welcome to the CABINET OF EARTHS stop on the YAmazing Race! Yes, it’s an epic blog race, running January 16-23 all over the web and designed to introduce the brave & steadfast participants to over 50 new authors of books for young people! For details and info on prizes, check out the home blog of the Apocalypsies. ……..By the way, do you live in or near New York? Come to my book launch party THIS THURSDAY, January 19th, at The Corner Bookstore, 1313 Madison Ave. (at 93rd) in NYC!…….. Meanwhile, here’s the summary of THE CABINET OF EARTHS–in it you’ll find all you need to know in order to pass the big, scary quiz at the end of this leg of the blog race!

The Cabinet of Earths (HarperCollins, 2012)

The Cabinet of Earths

On their first day in Paris, Maya and her little brother, James, find themselves caught up in some very old magic.  Houses with bronze salamanders for door handles, statues that look too much like Maya’s own worried face, a man wearing sunglasses to hide his radiant purple eyes–nothing is what it seems.  And what does all that magic want from Maya? With the help of a friendly boy named Valko, Maya discovers surprises hidden in her family tree–grandmothers who walked in magic, a cousin so unremarkable she’s actually hard to see, and a terrible family habit of betraying one’s brother.  To save her own brother, Maya must take on the magical underworld of Paris . . . before it is too late.

 
“a-shimmer with magic” (Horn Book) . . . “charmingly creepy” (Kirkus) . . . “evocative prose and a confident narrative voice” (Publishers Weekly) . . . “readers will be swept along by the novel’s swift pace”(Shelf Awareness) . . . “a unique, interesting fantasy with just enough suspense to keep readers turning the pages into the night” (VOYA)

Would you like to win a signed copy of this book for your very own? Simply add a comment to this blog-entry in which you pick a page number (between 1 and 256), and I will not only respond with a brief quote from that page, but also add your name to the magical and entirely figurative stainless steel bowl from which one random winner will emerge! Good luck, all of you YAmazing racers, and thanks for dropping by! Time now for me to send you on to . . . the lovely and welcoming blog of Shelley Coriell!