COMING SOON FROM RANDOM HOUSE CHILDREN'S PUBLISHERS

When I received my first invitation to Random House's Summer Blogger's Brunch I have to admit I jumped up and down and squealed. How could I pass up the opportunity for book updates, cakes, a blogger meet-up and a very quirky author reading?! RHCPs have some amazing books coming out soon, and here are some of my favourite picks:

Now is Good (Before I Die) by Jenny Downham
To be published 30th August 2012

Tessa has just months to live. Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, drugs with excruciating side-effects, Tessa compiles a list. It’s her To Do Before I Die list. And number one is Sex. Released from the constraints of ‘normal’ life, Tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up. Tessa’s feelings, her relationships with her father and brother, her estranged mother, her best friend, and her new boyfriend, all are painfully crystallised in the precious weeks before Tessa’s time finally runs out.

Above is the trailer for the film Now is Good, featuring Dakota Fanning, which will be out this September.

*****

The Terrible Thing that Happened to Barnaby Brocket by John Boyne
To be published 2nd August 2012

There's nothing unusual about the Brockets. Boring, respectable and fiercely proud of it, Alistair and Eleanor Brocket turn up their noses at anyone strange or different. But from the moment Barnaby Brocket comes into the world, it's clear he's anything but normal. To the horror and shame of his parents, Barnaby appears to defy the laws of gravity - and floats.

Little Barnaby is a lonely child - after all, it's hard to make friends when you're ten feet in the air. Desperate to please his parents, he does his best to stop floating, but he just can't do it. Then, one fateful day, Barnaby's mother decides enough is enough. She never asked for a weird, abnormal, floating child. She's sick and tired of the newspapers prying and the neighbours gossiping. Barnaby has to go . . .

Betrayed, frightened and alone, Barnaby floats into the path of a very special hot air balloon. And so begins a magical journey around the world; from South America to New York, Canada to Ireland, and even a trip into space, Barnaby meets a cast of truly extraordinary new friends and realises that nothing can make you happier than just being yourself.

*****

The Paladin Prophecy by Mark Frost
To be published 27th September 2012

Will West is careful to live life under the radar. At his parents’ insistence, he’s made sure to get mediocre grades and to stay in the middle of the pack on his cross-country team. Then Will slips up, accidentally scoring off the charts on a nationwide exam.

Now Will is being courted by an exclusive prep school . . . and is being followed by men driving black sedans. When Will suddenly loses his parents, he must flee to the school. There he begins to explore all that he’s capable of—physical and mental feats that should be impossible—and learns that his abilities are connected to a struggle between titanic forces that has lasted for millennia.

*****

Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone
To be published 25th October 2012

The Time Traveler's Wife for teens; Anna and Bennett were never supposed to meet: she lives in 1995 Chicago and he lives in 2012 San Francisco. But Bennett’s unique ability to travel through time and space brings him into Anna’s life, and with him, a new world of adventure and possibility.

As their relationship deepens, they face the reality that time might knock Bennett back where he belongs, even as a devastating crisis throws everything they believe into question. Against a ticking clock, Anna and Bennett are forced to ask themselves how far they can push the bounds of fate—and what consequences they can bear in order to stay together.

*****

Acquired by RCHP only a month ago this book isn't yet on Goodreads, but it is set to be a fast paced thriller.

Crusher by Niall Leonard
To be published 13th September 2012

To catch a killer, Finn Maguire may have to become one...

Everything changed the day Finn found his father in a pool of blood, bludgeoned to death. His dull dreary life is turned upside down as he becomes the prime suspect - how can he clear his name and find out who hated his dad enough to kill him?

Facing danger at every turn, uncovering dark family secrets and braving the seedy London underworld, Finn is about to discover that only the people you trust can really hurt you...

*****

Dodger by Terry Pratchett
To be published 13th September 2012

A storm. Rain-lashed city streets. A flash of lightning. A scruffy lad sees a girl leap desperately from a horse-drawn carriage, in a vain attempt to escape her captors. Can the lad stand by and let her be caught again? Of course not, because he's ... Dodger.

*****

Photo by Phrased and Confused

As part of the Blogger Brunch we also got the opportunity to meet the very quirky and unique Laura Dockrill. She is the author behind her forthcoming book about 10 year Darcy Burdock which is scheduled for publication in early 2013. Her reading was passionate and brought the character to life as if she actually was Darcy (not far from the truth as she admitted afterwards!) Her talents as a writer, poet, illustrator and performer come to life in her books (she already has YA/adults books published) as well as her outward demeanour, and I can only imagine how much the children must love her at the schools she visits, all of which sets a promising landscape for her first children's book. Look out for Darcy Burdock in 2013.


Other titles coming soon from RCHP include:

Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick - To be published 2nd August 2012
Enders (Starters #2) by Lissa Price - To be published 6th December 2012
Such Wicked Intent by Kenneth Oppel - To be published 2nd August 2012
Hot Blooded by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie - To be published 6th December 2012
Muddle and Win by John Dickinson - To be published 30th August 2012
Red Rain by R.L. Stine - To be published 11th October 2012
The Feathered Man by Jeremy de Quidt - To be published 1st November 2012
The Flappers: Ingenue by Jillian Larkin To be published 5th July 2012
Rapture by Lauren Kate - To be published 21st June 2012