The Crooked Star Gazette April 6, 2013

To catch up here on the blog …

NEWS:

If You Find Me

… sold to Taiwan and to Spain.

… was nominated by YALSA for the BFYA (best fiction for young adults) list for 2014.

… Entered its SECOND PRINTING.

AND …

The first flowers of Spring are blooming!

Happy Spring, everyone!

Shine On: The IF YOU FIND ME Blog Tour! March 17, 2013

It’s not easy to shine. We all think it is, looking into whatever light we find, wherever we’re lucky enough to find it, whether people, place or thing.

But the truth is, it takes courage to shine. To take that risk, that leap, that plunge. To let people see you, hear you, read you, know you … to own that light and believe in the inalienable right to shine, shine, shine.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Marianne Williamson

Please join us on the IF YOU FIND ME blog tour, kicking off March 18th at The Midnight Garden! I’ve been hard at work composing original material, companion pieces and even an interview with Carey! Here’s what Wendy Darling has to say:

Please join us next week, when the official If You Find Me Blog Tour begins!

We have a fantastic line-up of exclusive interviews, excerpts, and guest posts for you hosted by some wonderful bloggers. Each stop will also provide an opportunity for you to win a copy of this beautiful book as well, so be sure to follow along with the tour.

3/18  The Midnight Garden
3/19  Alluring Reads
3/20  Live to Read
3/21  YA Romantics
3/22  Winterhaven Books

          3/23  Once Upon a Prologue

          3/24  Hobbitses

3/25  ExLibris Kate
3/26  Xpresso Reads
3/27  Bookish
3/28  Great Imaginations
3/29  Good Books and Good Wine

Blog Tour Coordinator Extraordinaire

I look forward to seeing you there! : )

*Thank you to the blog owners and hosts making this tour possible. Your kindness and generosity mean the world to me!

A School Library Journal Starred Review For IF YOU FIND ME! January 31, 2013

(Star) MURDOCH, Emily. If You Find Me. 248p. St. Martin’s Griffin. Mar. 2013. ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-1-250-02153-3; pap. $9.99. ISBN 978-1-250-03327-7

Gr 9 Up–Following a bitter custody battle, Carey’s mentally ill, junkie mother kidnapped her and disappeared. Living in a broken-down camper hidden deep in the woods of Tennessee, Carey, now 14, takes care of her younger sister, Janessa, who is selectively mute, while their mother seeks her next fix. When protective services intervene, Carey’s father, a man she only knows through her mother’s lies, reclaims the girls and takes them to live with him, his new wife, and his stepdaughter. Over the following weeks, the sisters encounter luxuries often taken for granted: square meals, running water, warm beds, and a loving family. Carey even experiences first love with a boy from her past. But she doesn’t feel she deserves this happily ever after because of a terrible secret: she did something horrific in order to protect her sister. Would her new family still want her if they knew the truth? Murdoch’s debut is beautifully written. The deep bond between the sisters is almost physically palpable, as is their intense longing for love and acceptance; they will quickly endear themselves to readers. This absorbing title will find a captivated audience with fans of Caroline B. Cooney’s “The Janie Novels” series (Delacorte) and Sara Zarr’s books.–Alissa J. Bach, Oxford Public Library, MI

Here’s the link: Book Review: Grades 5 & Up | February 2013 | School Library Journal

A huge congrats to another @TheLucky13s writer, Megan Shepherd, also with a starred review!

And as always, thanks for your good company on this winding, exciting journey. It’s even more wonderful being able to share it with all of you.

My name alongside Sara Zarr and Megan Shepherd? *Swoons*.

A Lovely VOYA Review for IF YOU FIND ME! January 28, 2013

Voya Magazine

Feb issue

 4Q 5P A/YA

Murdoch, Emily. If You Find Me. St. Martin’s, 2013. 256p. $17.99. 978-1-250-02152-6.

Come into the Hundred Acre Wood. Discover how the woods can hide you and protect you, but can also hurt you. Fifteen-year-old Carey finds herself alone with her five-year-old sister, Jennesa. Her mother has deserted them, again, only this time their long-lost father discovers them. All Carey remembers is the smell of his aftershave and the evil words her mother has often told her about him. Follow Carey on her journey of self-discovery, from the end to the beginning.

Fans of Stolen by Lucy Christopher (Chicken House, 2010/VOYA June 2010) will love this suspenseful, mysterious novel. With a twist on the Stockholm syndrome, characters are easy to identify with. Carey faces school, mean girls, bullying, and sibling rivalry. There are minor sexual descriptions. The book is a page-turner. There are references to Shakespeare, King Arthur, and Winnie the Pooh. Music fans will appreciate Carey’s devotion to her violin and will relate to the importance of music in her life. Murdoch has created a moving, riveting read that will have teens staying up late to finish the novel.

—E. Frank.

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Such a lovely review!

For other writers: as you can see, the rankings, numbers, ratings never stop.

What matters most is how YOU feel about your book. If YOU don’t love it, it won’t matter what the trades say.

Wishing you words that sparkle, shimmy and dance!

A Kirkus Starred Review For IF YOU FIND ME! January 24, 2013

KIRKUS

IF YOU FIND ME (star)
Author: Emily Murdoch

Review Issue Date: February 15, 2013
Online Publish Date: January 28, 2013
Publisher: St. Martin’s
Pages: 256
Price ( Hardcover ): $17.99
Price ( e-book ): $9.99
Publication Date: March 26, 2013

ISBN ( Hardcover ): 978-1-250-02152-6

ISBN ( e-book ): 978-1-250-02153-3
Category: Fiction

Ten years after her abduction, 15-year-old Carey is returned to her father and must face harsh realities about her mother, her little sister and their life in the Tennessee woods.

Carey and her younger sister live in a camper deep in a forest, away from anyone who might see and report two girls surviving with their drug-abusing, at-times absent mother, Joelle. It’s during one of her longer absences that the girls are found by a social worker and Carey’s father. Joelle reared Carey on stories of her abusive father, and the teen fears separation from her sister, Jenessa, who rarely speaks and is totally dependent on Carey. Now she finds herself snatched from a life of bare-bones survival to one of physical comfort with her father and his new family. Despite all she has done to raise and educate Jenessa and herself, Carey is hiding things about their life in the woods and the cause of her sister’s silence. This deeply affecting story is made all the more so by Carey’s haunting first-person narration. The portrait of a teen attempting to navigate a previously unknown world of family and school is well-drawn, especially the tension between Carey and her new stepsister, Delaney, and Carey’s budding relationship with a boy she knew before she disappeared.

A compelling narrative that is both unflinching about life’s pain and hopeful about its possibilities. (Fiction 14 & up)

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I’m speechless. Truly.