Debut YA Birthday Celebrations ~ Spring Break Edition

Hello everyone and happy Spring!  Here in Florida, our January was warmer than the week of Spring Break, so it's a bit disappointing.  This weekend has been nothing but rain to the point that I had waves on my back porch.  Sigh.  If it were just me, I'd take advantage of the rain with lots of reading time, but my hubby and kids go stir crazy, so that's not good.

How's your spring break looking?  Anyone have big fun plans?  Before you answer that in the comments (and I hope you do!), check out these two new debut YA authors whose books are taking the stage this week.

DEAR LIFE, YOU SUCK by Scott Blagden

“The shrinkadinks think I have a screw loose. Ain’t playing with a full deck. Whacked-out wiring. Missing marbles.” 

Irreverent, foulmouthed seventeen-year-old Cricket is the oldest ward in a Catholic boys’ home in Maine—and his life sucks. With prospects for the future that range from professional fighter to professional drug dealer, he seems doomed to a life of “criminal rapscallinity.” In fact, things look so bleak that Cricket can’t help but wonder if his best option is one final cliff dive into the great unknown. But then Wynona Bidaban steps into his world, and Cricket slowly realizes that maybe, just maybe, life doesn’t totally suck.

IF YOU FIND ME by Emily Murdich

There are some things you can’t leave behind…

A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey’s younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and two strangers arrive. Suddenly, the girls are taken from the woods and thrust into a bright and perplexing new world of high school, clothes and boys.

Now, Carey must face the truth of why her mother abducted her ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won’t let her go… a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn’t spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down.