Debut YA Book Birthdays ~ Week of November 5

November… wow!  I hope everyone had a fabulous Halloween.  My kiddos had parties and parades and trick-or-treating, but somehow I think I'm the one about to gain 5 pounds.  Hmmm….

So, here we are at the start of Turkey Month, which I'm always partial to since my own birthday falls in November (and Destined will be turning 2, which is crazy).  And while we're talking birthdays, let's check out this week's debut YA book birthdays.  ARE THERE ANY THAT GET YOUR ATTENTION?

AFTER EDEN by Helen Douglas

The day Eden met Ryan changed her world forever. Actually, not just her world. Ryan has time traveled from the future to save the world. In a few weeks, Eden’s best friend Connor will discover a new planet—one where human life is possible. The discovery will make him famous. It will also ruin the world as we know it. When Ryan asks Eden for help, she must choose between saving the world and saving her best friend’s greatest achievement. And a crush on Ryan complicates things more than she could have imagined. Because Connor is due to make the discovery after the girl he loves breaks his heart. That girl is Eden. 

Grounded in a realistic teen world with fascinating sci-fi elements, After Eden is a heart-pounding love triangle that’s perfect for dystopian fans looking for something new to devour.

PALACE OF SPIES by Sarah Zettel (while this isn't Sarah's first novel by a long shot, it does appear to be her first YA novel)

A warning to all young ladies of delicate breeding who wish to embark upon lives of adventure: Don't.

Sixteen-year-old Peggy is a well-bred orphan who is coerced into posing as a lady in waiting at the palace of King George I. Life is grand, until Peggy starts to suspect that the girl she's impersonating might have been murdered. Unless Peggy can discover the truth, she might be doomed to the same terrible fate. But in a court of shadows and intrigue, anyone could be a spy—perhaps even the handsome young artist with whom Peggy is falling in love . . .

History and mystery spark in this effervescent series debut.

ENGINES OF THE BROKEN WORLD by Jason Vanhee (another published author making his debut YA appearance)

Merciful Truth and her brother, Gospel, have just pulled their dead mother into the kitchen and stowed her under the table. It was a long illness, and they wanted to bury her—they did—but it’s far too cold outside, and they know they won’t be able to dig into the frozen ground. The Minister who lives with them, who preaches through his animal form, doesn’t make them feel any better about what they’ve done. Merciful calms her guilty feelings but only until, from the other room, she hears a voice she thought she’d never hear again. It’s her mother’s voice, and it’s singing a lullaby. . . .

Engines of the Broken World is a chilling young adult novel from Jason Vanhee.

BROKEN by C.J. Lyons (and ANOTHER adult author venturing over to YA land)

WOULD YOU PUT YOUR LIFE ON THE LINE TO BE NORMAL?

Diagnosed with a rare and untreatable heart condition, Scarlet has come to terms with the fact that she's going to die. Literally of a broken heart. It could be tomorrow, or it could be next year. But the clock is ticking...

All Scarlet asks is for a chance to attend high school—even if just for a week-a chance to be just like everyone else. But Scarlet can feel her heart beating out of control with each slammed locker and vicious taunt. Is this normal? Really? Yet there's more going on than she knows. And finding out the truth might just kill Scarlet before her heart does...

And this is definitely NOT a debut, but since I adore Jessica Souders (as a person and an author), I have to wish her a VERY HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY for Revelations, book 2 in the Elysium Chronicles.  And if you haven't read Renegade yet (book 1), go forth and do so!

REVELATIONS by J.A. Souders

The Elysium Chronicles, J.A. Souders’ riveting SF series for teens which began with the psychological thriller Renegade, continues in Revelations.

Six weeks after her arrival on the Surface, Evelyn Winters is no closer to unlocking the memories lost in her subconscious than she was when she first came. Isolated in a strange new society, Evie has only Gavin Hunter to remind her of who she once was.

 But even with a clean slate, it’s easy to see that Evie doesn’t fit in on the Surface. And as her differences make her feel more and more alone, she can’t help but yearn for that place she doesn’t remember: the isolated city hidden in the depths of the ocean. Elysium. Home.

 But she can’t exactly tell Gavin what she’s feeling. Not when he’s the one who helped her escape Elysium in the first place, and has the scars to prove it. Though the doctors say otherwise, Gavin believes that Evie just needs time. And if her memories don’t come back, well, maybe she’s better off not remembering her past.

 But the decision may be out of their hands when Evie’s ever-elusive memories begin to collide with reality. People and images from her past appear in the most unlikely places, haunting her, provoking her…and making her seem not only strange but dangerous.

 Evie and Gavin can’t wait around for her memories to return. They’ll have to journey across the Outlands of the Surface to find help, and in the end, their search may just lead them back to the place it all started…

RENEGADE by J.A. Souders (review + contest)

Seriously, I couldn't be more excited to be participating in this blog tour today.  Not only is Jessica (J.A.) a friend and an Oasis sister, but RENEGADE was freaking amazing.  She allowed me to get an advance peek at the novel and I devoured it.

Since the age of three, sixteen-year-old Evelyn Winters has been trained to be Daughter of the People in the underwater utopia known as Elysium. Selected from hundreds of children for her ideal genes, all her life she’s thought that everything was perfect; her world. Her people. The Law.

But when Gavin Hunter, a Surface Dweller, accidentally stumbles into their secluded little world, she’s forced to come to a startling realization: everything she knows is a lie. Her memories have been altered. Her mind and body aren’t under her own control. And the person she knows as Mother is a monster.

Together with Gavin she plans her escape, only to learn that her own mind is a ticking time bomb... and Mother has one last secret that will destroy them all.

From the very first pages, Evie's world is palpably real.  You can easily imagine living in the darkness of the seas, surrounded by water, never having experienced sunshine or the outside world.  Evie herself is an instantly likable character, and although she is "perfect," you know right away that she's been brainwashed.  Perfection is a forced perception and that perception is slowly shattered.

Which is another thing I loved about the story.  There's not one cataclysmic event that turns Evie's world upside down.  There is a slow building of little events - the clicking in of little puzzle pieces - that leads up to a very dramatic conclusion.  You get to figure out what's happening right along with Evie (and a very delicious Gavin) and live the nightmare right along with her.  And because (as the description tells you), Evie's memories have been altered, the realization of what really happened in Evie's past and what Mother has planned for the future, are just as shocking to Evie as they will be to you.

To sum this story up, it was like a futuristic, underwater Nazi Germany, where a perfect race is being cultivated and anyone who stands in the way meets death at the hands of a crazed dictator.  Only in this case, the dictator is known as Mother.  How creepy is that???

Trust me when I tell you that this book is AMAZING.  There was never a moment when I felt bored.  Instead, I turned the pages as quickly as I could and loved every minute of it.  I'm so happy and proud for my friend, Jessica, and can't wait to see what the next book in the series has in store for Evie and Gavin!

Jessica was awesome enough to share a few of her favorite quotes from the novel. I think the second is my FAVORITE!!  :)

"How can you even know who you are, if you can’t remember who you’ve been?”

"A woman’s best weapon is her smile, unless there’s a loaded Beretta 9mm nearby."

"So many memories. So much lost. So much to regain . . . again."

"No matter what cataclysmic event you’re facing, please be sure to double- check the seals on all of your samples and the tamper- proof container before reporting to your designated evacuation area."

AUTHOR BIO:

J.A. Souders lives in Florida with her husband and their two children and is an active member of RWA, DFRW, YARWA, SCBWI, and SFWA. RENEGADE is her first novel.

To get your hands on a copy of RENEGADE or to follow Jessica, check out these links:

http://jasouders.com/ (Website)

http://jasouders.com/blog/ (Blog)

https://www.facebook.com/JASouders (Facebook)

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4880398.J_A_Souders (Goodreads)

http://twitter.com/jasouders (Twitter)

BUY:

Amazon

The Book Depository

Oh, and you want to win something, right?  Here's the Rafflecopter.  :)  (Sorry, open to U.S. Residents only for swag and RENEGADE pre-order copies)

a Rafflecopter giveaway