Just a quick post to let you all know I'm thinking of you and I'm working and editing like a fiend. In the meantime, the quote above made me smile and the link below is a new way you can follow me.
Cheryl Rainfield has been writing powerful stories for YA readers since 2010 with her amazing debut, SCARS (My Review). Not only is this a powerful story about a teen girl's struggle with self-harm and cutting, but the underlying reason that caused this behavior. Cheryl wrote SCARS from a personal place and makes herself completely vulnerable and true in her writing. In fact, the picture on the cover is actually of Cheryl herself.
A few months ago, in January, I revealed the original cover for STAINED along with several other participating bloggers. As it turns out, this cover was deemed too graphic and has been updated. I think the new cover is just as powerful and even more mysterious as it hints at the story inside. The great news is that Cheryl's powerful writing remains and is the same great story inside. I hope you'll join me in reading this title when it releases October 1, 2013, which is one month sooner for those of you who have been waiting for this title like me. If you haven't added this to your TBR pile on GoodReads yet, please do so here.
Since Cheryl has put together this new cover reveal for STAINED, she has added a few goodies for her readers to enjoy. So, let's get to them and the cover reveal below.
Book Description:
In this heart-wrenching and suspenseful teen thriller, sixteen-year-old Sarah Meadows longs for "normal." Born with a port-wine stain covering half her face, all her life she’s been plagued by stares, giggles, bullying, and disgust. But when she’s abducted on the way home from school, Sarah is forced to uncover the courage she never knew she had, become a hero rather than a victim, and learn to look beyond her face to find the beauty and strength she has inside. It’s that—or succumb to a killer.
BLURBS for STAINED:
“Powerful. I raced through it, wanting to know if Sarah would find a way to escape both her captor and her self-doubts. A real nail-biter! “
- April Henry, New York Times-bestselling author of The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die
“A compelling, gutting, and ultimately triumphant read. You won't want to stop turning pages -- Or blink. Or breathe. -- until you reach the very last one.”
-Jennifer Brown, award-winning author of Hate List
“STAINED is dark, tense and gripping; a triumph of one girl's heart, soul and will to survive. Sarah's strength during her descent into terror kept me reading way past bedtime! “
-Laura Wiess, critically acclaimed author of Such a Pretty Girl
BOOK TRAILER:
Check out the all new book trailer for STAINED here:
FROM the AUTHOR:
Like I did with SCARS and HUNTED (My Review), I drew on some of my own experiences of bullying, abuse, and trauma to write STAINED and to give it greater emotional depth. Like Sarah in STAINED, I experienced abduction, imprisonment, periods of forced starvation, mind control, and having my life threatened. And like Sarah, I tried hard to fight against my abuser, keep my own sense of self, and escape. I hope readers will see Sarah's strength and courage, and appreciate her emotional growth as she reclaims herself.
You've been very patient for this all new cover reveal, and here it is, the cover for STAINED by Cheryl Rainfield:
I love the new cover and think it's a great way to add mystery as the reader accesses this powerful story by Cheryl Rainfield. I am excited to read it and have been given an advanced e-copy via Netgalley and the publisher, Harcourt. I will post my review of STAINED closer to the release date, so look for that and hopefully some giveaway goodies Cheryl is kind enough to share.
Rarely does a book come along like this and touch the reader, at least this reader, so deeply and so profoundly I am at a loss to fully articulate the beautiful and tender way Saenz speaks the brevity of words and says volumes and volumes in the spaces of each page.
This book was mesmerizing, heart-wrenching, and brought me to tears and laughter more than once throughout the book.
Dante and Ari meet at the pool during summer vacation. They become friends because Dante teaches Ari how to swim. They are both minorities (Mexican American) and have loving and complicated families.
Dante's family is very open and loving. They communicate freely and are not ashamed to show love toward Dante. They welcome Aristotle as Dante's friend and when something happens that changes Dante forever, the family becomes even more closely bonded to Ari. They welcome him as a son.
Aristotle's family is a bit more of a puzzle. Aristotle's dad has nightmares and won't talk about his time in Vietnam. Ari is often mute about the mystery of his father and why he can't seem to talk as openly with his father as he can with Dante's father. Ari's mother won't speak about Ari's older brother who is in prison. They have removed all pictures and evidence he even exists. Ari suffers in silence about this but often thinks about his brother and wonders why no one will talk about what happened, or why they'd rather pretend he doesn't exist.
Dante is an artist who hates shoes. Ari is a rebel who likes to cuss. Dante has a secret he's afraid to share with Ari. Ari doesn't even understand why he gets so angry and why he keeps having nightmares.
Saenz weaves an amazing and rich story with a breathless pacing and short chapters. Every word is a poem, every chapter is a painting. Dante and Ari become separated for a time and both develop new aspects of themselves that come into play when they are reunited.
The story is powerful and gripping. I have not read such fully developed characters in a long time and the love story here is exquisite.
This book is amazing. You must read it. So powerful. Such a testimony to love and the powerful way it sweeps over us and draws us under like the ocean laps at the shore.
