Promise not to tell Daisy, and I'll let you in on a secret. We'd met several times at different author events here in the Bay Area but we didn't really connect. She is fancy and well put-together and I am...not. As Taylor Swift says, she wears high heels, I wear sneakers. She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers. Daisy knows everything about new media and marketing, is pretty, smart and vivacious and generally the kind of person I try to stay away from.
We were at an author event in San Francisco last spring, and she had an ARC of THE MOCKINGBIRDS in her bag that she let me see. I opened it casually and thumbed through the first few pages, and was riveted after the first chapter. It is one of the best opening scenes I've read in a novel in a long time. Heartfelt, poignant and just perfect - I had to read more. I looked up at Daisy with newfound respect and a little shame at how judgmental I'd been. Yes, she was still fancy, but damn the girl could write a book. By the end of the evening, I'd wheedled the ARC out of her hands and added her as one of my best friends.
The rest of the book is as good as the opening - you'll have to pick up your own copy to see what I mean. From the publisher:
Some schools have honor codes.
Others have handbooks.
Themis Academy has the Mockingbirds.
Themis Academy is a quiet boarding school with an exceptional student body that the administration trusts to always behave the honorable way--the Themis Way. So when Alex is date raped during her junior year, she has two options: stay silent and hope someone helps her, or enlist the Mockingbirds--a secret society of students dedicated to righting the wrongs of their fellow peers.
In this honest, page-turning account of a teen girl's struggle to stand up for herself, debut author Daisy Whitney reminds readers that if you love something or someone--especially yourself--you fight for it.
This is a book that is not just important for girls to read - boys will get a lot out of the story as well. Pick up your copy today, and congratulations to Daisy!
On this date: In 1947, Howard Hughes Spruce Goose took it's one and only flight.
No comments:
Post a Comment