Sucks To Be Me Launch Party (Now Over)

Sucks to Be Me
The All-True Confessions of Mina Hamilton, Teen Vampire (Maybe)
by Kimberly Pauley
Sucks to Be Me Launch Party
Hardcover: 294 pages
Publisher: Mirrorstone (August 26, 2008)

Hey, Ya'all!  My good friend, Kimberly Pauley just published her new book, Sucks to Be Me. Sure, it's a vampire story, but nothing like you've ever read before... so throw all your old notions and pre-conceived ideas about vampires out the window because that's not what you'll find in Kim's new book. What I'm sure you will find, is a barrel of fun... vampire style.

Like the snail I can sometimes be, I haven't read Sucks to Be Me yet, but at least I do have a copy in my possession.  It looks like Sucks to Be Me is next on my to be read list, and there WILL be a review here someday... hopefully soon.  In the meantime, why not join the party on Kim's website. There are tons of cool prizes to be had by some lucky grand prize winner, and there are other, smaller prizes too that you can enter to win. 

What you need to know:
September 11th will be the final entry day for the grand prize pack. The grand prize contest closes on September 21st.

So yeah, why are ya'all hangin' out here with me when Kim has something much better going on at her place?  Oh, and, if you're still here reading this... you can get an extra entry into the drawing for that big prize package Kim is giving away... just tell her you read my blog and point back to this entry. Now, on with ya! Click the link to Kim's site at the top of this entry and join the fun!

A Timeless Love Story

Cover image courtesy of medelgado.com

The First Sandcastle: A Novel
by M. E. Delgado
http://www.medelgado.com/
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Barrio City Press (March 2, 2008)
Rating: 4 stars of 5 possible

The First Sandcastle is a coming of age story about a young man growing up in a dysfunctional family. The main character, Marlo Clemente, attempts to reconcile the love he feels for his mother and the warped view of life taught by his father... that women are evil.

Marlo's art and his friends provide solace from everyday home life. When one of Marlo's friends (Danny) falls in love with a girl who uses Danny for her own purposes and then crushes his hopes and dreams, this only reinforces what Marlo has learned from his father.

How Marlo deals with the further confusion that sets in when he meets a girl he feels is unlike others is a captivating story that gives the reader a lot to think about. The peer pressure of growing up, and the issues a normal teen must deal with, along with the not-quite-separate issues that evolve from the family's dysfunctional relationships among themselves and others are deeply felt by the reader. The timeless feel and the steady pacing of this story should provide a basis for a wide audience, though I have the feeling that it is also the ideal YA novel.

Mr. Delgado builds the highly emotional story to a dramatic climax and makes the reader feel every minute of Marlo's pain when he discovers that he's just as his girlfriend's mother says: "exactly like all the other boys". Marlo's relationship with his own mother improves and she helps him realize that we are all human and fallible.