Thanks so much to everyone who helped celebrate the cover and title reveal for Stars So Sweet, the third volume in the All Four Stars series. Your enthusiastic comments, Tweets, Facebook posts, and e-mails really made this author’s week!
(As did the package I received in the mail yesterday from my publisher, containing these beauties. Great timing, because now I can ship two off to the winners right away!)
So now, without further ado, the two randomly selected winners of signed advance copies of Stars So Sweet are… jpetroroy and LMcCJ! Congratulations, and read deliciously!
I wish that I had enough advance copies to share with everyone who wants to read them. Rest assured that there will be some more giveaways as the publication date gets closer, and I’ll make sure to post about them here and on my Twitter and Facebook pages.
In the meantime, here’s a list of some of my favorite recent middle-grade reads. If you read one of these books and enjoy it, make sure to let me know!
an All Four Stars book, coming July 19, 2016! ISBN-13: 978-1-101-99648-5
Summer is winding down, and Gladys Gatsby’s stomach is full of butterflies about starting middle school. But her concerns go beyond juggling schoolwork and losing touch with old friends; she also has to worry about looming deadlines from her undercover job as the New York Standard’s youngest restaurant critic.
When her editor pushes for a face-to-face meeting, Gladys knows she must finally come clean to the grown-ups in her life about her job. Her perfectly planned reveal is put on hold, though, when her parents arrive home with a surprise: Gladys’s aunt Lydia—one of the only adults who knows her secret—fresh off a plane from Paris. Gladys and Aunt Lydia try one last ruse to fool her editor at the Standard, but for how long will Gladys be able to balance the drama of middle school with her secret life?
This third book in the delicious All Four Stars series sees Gladys facing her biggest challenge yet: being true to herself and honest with her friends and family, regardless of what those around her think.
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Huge thanks to the Penguin Young Readers design team, and as always to brilliant cover artist Kelly Murphy, who has captured Gladys so perfectly in this cover!
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You can now preorder Stars So Sweetfrom the following vendors:
…and it should be available from many more retailers within the next month. Please consider supporting your local independent bookstore (find one here) by preordering the book from them. And, of course, if you’re in Colorado or New York, I hope to see you at a launch event next summer!
Check out the cover for STARS SO SWEET, third book in @TaraDairman‘s ALL FOUR STARS series, & win an ARC! http://wp.me/p1VIEB-Tz #kidlit
Just let me know in your comment if you’ve signed up for the newsletter (either now or in the past) and/or tweeted. And feel free to share this cover far and wide. I hope you love it as much as I do!
The book can be sent to a mailing address in the USA or Canada. I’ll announce a winner one week from today, on Thursday, November 5.
Friends, if you’d like to start your Monday off with a good deed (and quite possibly a misty eye), please check out my brother- and sister-in-law’s beautiful video and inspiring story. They *both* survived cancer before the age of 32 and are now seeking to adopt. They are honestly two of the very best people I know, and are going to make incredible parents.
If you have the time to help share their story on social media and/or can find a few dollars to support them, I know that everyone who loves Matt and Heidi would be so grateful. Thank you!
First, it’s been named an “Editor’s Pick” over at Honolulu Family Magazine, which features it in their “5 Great Books for Kids” article. They are also giving away a copy.
And Kiwi Magazine has named it one of their new summer reading favorites, saying “This fast-paced book is full of surprises and likable characters who quickly learn not to judge a (cook)book by its cover.” Thank you for the lovely write-up!
The title and cover reveal for the third book in the All Four Stars series will be coming soon, and my newsletter subscribers will get an exclusive first peek at it. You can sign up here if you haven’t already–thanks!
I recently Skyped with a terrific book club in Massachusetts, and the members asked me to recommend some other middle-grade novels that they might enjoy. I ended up putting a list together and e-mailing it to them, and since this isn’t the first time I’ve had a question like this, I thought that I’d share it here as well so that I can easily refer people to it in the future.
Of course, once I got started, I thought of more and more books I wanted to include, and I had to stop somewhere. So please don’t consider this a comprehensive list by any means…but I do wholeheartedly recommend every single one of these titles and hope you’ll check them out. Here we go!
Mind-bending mysteries: Nooks & Crannies by Jessica Lawson Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
Laugh-out-loud funny books: Hook’s Revenge by Heidi Schulz The Only Thing Worse than Witches by Lauren Magaziner Remarkable by Lizzie Foley The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex
Unputdownable historical fiction: Katerina’s Wish by Jeannie Mobley When Audrey Met Alice by Rebecca Behrens (actually a mix of contemporary and historical!) The Sound of Life and Everything by Krista Van Dolzer
Madcap NYC-set adventures: At Your Service by Jen Malone Better Nate than Ever by Tim Federle (which is also LOL funny!)
Tasty foodie books: Cupcake Cousins (and sequels) by Kate Hannigan It’s Raining Cupcakes (and sequels) by Lisa Schroeder
Deliciously creepy books: Mothman’s Curse by Christine Hayes The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy by Nikki Loftin Grave Images by Jenny Goebel Doll Bones by Holly Black Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Fabulous fairy-tales: Grounded by Megan Morrison A Nearer Moon by Melanie Crowder Nightingale’s Nest by Nikki Loftin The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne Valente (best title ever, no?)
Wonderful contemporary stories: Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt Rhyme Schemer by K.A. Holt (an excellent novel in verse)
What are your recent favorite middle-grade reads? Feel free to share more recommendations in the comments.
It’s been “coming soon” for an embarrassingly long time, but book club/classroom discussion questions for All Four Starsare finally here! You can find them by clicking the Visits tab on this site.
And if you’re reading All Four Stars or The Stars of Summerwith your book club or class, don’t forget that I offer free 15-minute Virtual Q&A sessions for groups as well! Details on the same page.
One year ago today–after nine years of writing, rewriting, submitting, hoping, and waiting–a little book called All Four Stars hit the shelves. A whole bunch of you showed up to celebrate with me at Books Of Wonder in New York, and I could hardly believe what an amazing welcome you gave Gladys into the world.
Now she’s out in paperback, sporting a shiny Crystal Kite sticker, is continuing her adventures in The Stars of Summer, and has another sequel on the way. I’ve received letters, e-mails, and even book reports from young readers who have embraced her story. Enthusiastic librarians, teachers, and booksellers have put her into thousands of readers’ hands.
Sometimes in her restaurant reviews, Gladys struggles to find the right words to describe a truly transcendent meal, and I feel the same way right now. But I’ll try. To everyone who has taken the time to read my book, recommend it to a friend, purchase a copy, request it at your library, write to me to share your thoughts on it…you’ve played a huge part in making my dream of becoming a published children’s author come true. THANK YOU.
I can still hardly believe it as I type this, but All Four Starshas won the SCBWI Crystal Kite Award for the Southwest Region of the United States!
This award means a lot to me because it’s voted on by members of SCBWI (The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators)–my children’s-book-creating peers. I can’t say thank you enough to all my colleagues in Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Southern Idaho, and Wyoming who took the time to read my book and felt it was worthy of their votes.
I’m looking forward to celebrating this fall at my local chapter’s annual conference in Denver. Huge congratulations to all the nominees and finalists, and to the winners in the 14 other SCBWI regions (and especially to my friend and agent-sib Laurie Ann Thompson, whose fantastic debut book Be A Changemakeris the winner for the Western region!)
Well, friends, The Stars of Summer blog tour draws to a close today, but what a fantastic final set of posts Gladys and I have had from bloggers over the last few days! We had this incredible in-depth review from Jen at Pop! Goes the Reader, this delicious Q&A with Stephanie at Kitchen Frolic, an interview AND review from Brenda at Log Cabin Library, and finally, today, a review and brief Q&A with Michael at Project Mayhem. Thank you so much, everyone for helping welcome The Stars of Summer into the world!
As the virtual tour ends, though, the live tour kicks off! I am now on the east coast, and gearing up for two New York events this week: first, my NYC launch party at Books of Wonder this Thursday at 6pm, then my reading and signing at The Dance Loft in Long Beach this Sunday at 4pm. In the weeks after that, I’ll also be appearing at Wellesley Books in Massachusetts (Boston area), One More Page in Arlington, VA (DC area), Kids Author Carnival in NYC, and The Voracious Reader in Larchmont, NY. Please check my events page for my full schedule, and I’d love to see you at one of these panels or parties!
The blog tour for The Stars of Summercontinues! Yesterday, the fantastic YA author Dahlia Adler–who is also a friend and a big fellow foodie–helped welcome my new book to the world with macaron pics and hot dog condiment chat at The Daily Dahlia. YUM.
And today, at For What It’s Worth, book blogger Karen has a review of the book and shares a recipe for brats with a slaw that contains blueberries! Wow!
In other news, last night was my first launch party for The Stars of Summer, at my terrific local indie, Boulder Book Store. We served completos Italianos and homemade cookies from the book, gave away prizes in a hot dog trivia contest, and generally just had a blast with all of the terrific friends, writers, kids, and even strangers who came out to celebrate. I’m still basking in the happy glow of being surrounded by so much love and support. Thank you, Boulder!! Here are a few of my favorite pics–full photoset at my Facebook author page.
