#heather kaczynski

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books read in 2019  —  dare mighty things & one giant leap by heather kaczynski

"i wanted to be a pioneer. to dare mighty things. what was out there would forever call to me and the things i could do for history were more important than my one little life."

[quietya]

Dare Mighty Things by Heather Kaczynski

THE RULES ARE SIMPLE: You must be gifted. You must be younger than twenty-five. You must be willing to accept the dangers that you will face if you win. Seventeen-year-old Cassandra Gupta’s entire life has been leading up to this—the opportunity to travel to space. But to secure a spot on this classified mission, she must first compete against the best and brightest people on the planet. People who are as determined as she to win a place on a journey to the farthest reaches of the universe. Cassie is ready for the toll that the competition will take; the rigorous mental and physical tests designed to push her to the brink of her endurance. But nothing could have prepared her for the bonds she would form with the very people she hopes to beat. Or that with each passing day it would be more and more difficult to ignore the feeling that the true objective of the mission is being kept from her. As the days until the launch tick down and the stakes rise higher than ever before, only one thing is clear to Cassie: she’ll never back down . . . even if it costs her everything.

[bookaddict24-7]

New Young Adult Books Releasing Today! (October 10, 2017)

Another big week for YA new releases! Are any of these on your TBR? Have I missed any titles? Let me know!

First in a Series/Standalones: 

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

Breathless by Tara Goedjen

Dare Mighty Things by Heather Kaczynski

The Memory Trees by Kali Wallace

This Darkness Mine by Mindy McGinnis

All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao

Gray Wolf Island by Tracey Neithercott

The Berserker by Emmy Laybourne

The Gatekeepers by Jen Lancaster

Last Star Burning by Caitlin Sangster

Sequels: 

Into the Bright Unknown (The Gold Seer Trilogy #3) by Rae Carson

The Knowing (The Forgetting #2) by Sharon Cameron

Happy reading!

[richincolor]

We have three books on our radar for this week, and they all look like they could be a lot of fun. Are any of them make it to your TBR pile?

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns (Rise of the Empress #1) by Julie C. Dao Philomel Books

An East Asian fantasy reimagining of The Evil Queen legend about one peasant girl’s quest to become Empress–and the darkness she must unleash to achieve her destiny.

Eighteen-year-old Xifeng is beautiful. The stars say she is destined for greatness, that she is meant to be Empress of Feng Lu. But only if she embraces the darkness within her. Growing up as a peasant in a forgotten village on the edge of the map, Xifeng longs to fulfill the destiny promised to her by her cruel aunt, the witch Guma, who has read the cards and seen glimmers of Xifeng’s majestic future. But is the price of the throne too high?

Because in order to achieve greatness, she must spurn the young man who loves her and exploit the callous magic that runs through her veins–sorcery fueled by eating the hearts of the recently killed. For the god who has sent her on this journey will not be satisfied until his power is absolute.

Dare Mighty Things by Heather Kaczynski HarperTeen

THE RULES ARE SIMPLE: You must be gifted. You must be younger than twenty-five. You must be willing to accept the dangers that you will face if you win.

Seventeen-year-old Cassandra Gupta’s entire life has been leading up to this—the opportunity to travel to space. But to secure a spot on this classified mission, she must first compete against the best and brightest people on the planet. People who are as determined as she to win a place on a journey to the farthest reaches of the universe.

Cassie is ready for the toll that the competition will take; the rigorous mental and physical tests designed to push her to the brink of her endurance. But nothing could have prepared her for the bonds she would form with the very people she hopes to beat. Or that with each passing day it would be more and more difficult to ignore the feeling that the true objective of the mission is being kept from her.

As the days until the launch tick down and the stakes rise higher than ever before, only one thing is clear to Cassie: she’ll never back down . . . even if it costs her everything.

Sparrow by Sarah Moon Arthur A. Levine Books

Sparrow has always had a difficult time making friends. She would always rather have stayed home on the weekends with her mother, an affluent IT Executive at a Brooklyn bank, reading, or watching the birds, than playing with other kids. And that’s made school a lonely experience for her. It’s made LIFE a lonely experience.

But when the one teacher who really understood her — Mrs. Wexler, the school librarian, a woman who let her eat her lunch in the library office rather than hide in a bathroom stall, a woman who shared her passion for novels and knew just the ones she’d love — is killed in a freak car accident, Sparrow’s world unravels and she’s found on the roof of her school in an apparent suicide attempt.

With the help of an insightful therapist, Sparrow finally reveals the truth of her inner life. And it’s here that she discovers an outlet in Rock & Roll music…

[journeyintotheshelves]

Tuesday’s Treats is a weekly blog post dedicated to newly released books that I’m most excited for. (Books are in no particular order.)

All books featured this week will be released: OCT 10th

1. Turtles All the Way Down: John Green (goodreads) (book depository)

The hotly anticipated Turtles All the Way Down is finally here! Everyone’s interested (some a bit worried) if this one will live up to the legacy that is The Fault in Our Stars. But, as someone who’s read and loved all of John Green’s books, I’m so excited to read another story by this brilliant man.

YA Contemporary Fiction; Dutton/Penguin, Hardcover (US)

2. All the Crooked Saints: Maggie Stiefvater (goodreads) (book depository)

I’ve had a love/hate relationship with Stiefvater’s past works, but I have hope for All the Crooked Saints. A book about miracles, magic, owls, and rock ’n roll? It’s honestly a book right up my alley.

YA Fantasy; Scholastic, Hardcover (US)

3. Dare Mighty Things: Heather Kaczynski (goodreads) (book depository)

Cassandra has been waiting her entire life for this moment. The moment where she begins the contest to secure a spot on a classified mission to space. But in order to do that, she must compete against the best and the brightest people around the world to secure her spot. She may have been waiting and preparing her entire life for this moment, but that doesn’t mean that she’s ready for the reality of it all.

YA Science Fiction; HarperTeen/HarperCollins, Hardcover (US)

4. Forest of a Thousand Lanterns (Rise of the Empress: 1): Julie C. Dao (goodreads) (book depository)

East Asian fantasy meets The Evil Queen legend, Forest of a Thousand Lanterns follows the story of eighteen-year-old Xifeng as she rises to power. As told by her aunt, a witch, Xifeng is destined to become the Empress of Feng Lu, but only if she embraces the darkness, the magic that lives within her.

YA Fantasy, Fairy/Folktale Retelling; Philomel Books/Penguin, Hardcover (US)

5. The Nowhere Girls: Amy Reed (goodreads) (book depository)

The Nowhere Girls follows a group of girls who come together to avenge the rape of a classmate. Any book about girls banding together to fight the patriarchy is my kind of book, and this one may be one of the most important ones yet.

YA Contemporary Fiction; Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster, Hardcover (US)

6. Gray Wolf Island: Tracey Neithercott (goodreads) (book depository)

Before she died, Ruby’s sister asked her to do one thing: find the treasure on Gray Wolf Island. Determined to not let her down, Ruby and a group of friends — who all have a bit of innate magic — venture to the island. But each of them have a secret…secrets that may pull the team apart, and may cost them all of their lives.

YA Fantasy, Mystery; Knopf/Random House, Hardcover (US)

[mobilepubliclibraryteens]

THE RULES ARE SIMPLE: You must be gifted. You must be younger than twenty-five. You must be willing to accept the dangers that you will face if you win. Seventeen-year-old Cassandra Gupta’s entire life has been leading up to this—the opportunity to travel to space. But to secure a spot on this classified mission, she must first compete against the best and brightest people on the planet. People who are as determined as she to win a place on a journey to the farthest reaches of the universe. Cassie is ready for the toll that the competition will take; the rigorous mental and physical tests designed to push her to the brink of her endurance. But nothing could have prepared her for the bonds she would form with the very people she hopes to beat. Or that with each passing day it would be more and more difficult to ignore the feeling that the true objective of the mission is being kept from her. As the days until the launch tick down and the stakes rise higher than ever before, only one thing is clear to Cassie: she’ll never back down . . . even if it costs her everything.

[just-ace-book-things]

Heather Kaczynski Q&A

Today's guest for A-spec April is Heather Kaczynski, author of Dare Mighty Things and recent sequel One Giant Leap. A sci-fi with a diverse and exciting cast, Dare Mighty Things follows...

[yacovergalore]