Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

bitterblueDid you fall in love with Graceling? Me too! So I’m really looking forward to the third book in the series, Bitterblue which is due out soon.

From the publisher: Eight years after Graceling, Bitterblue is now queen of Monsea. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisors, who have run things since Leck died, believe in a forward-thinking plan: Pardon all who committed terrible acts under Leck’s reign, and forget anything bad ever happened. But when Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle—disguised and alone—to walk the streets of her own city, she starts realizing that the kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year spell of a madman, and the only way to move forward is to revisit the past.

Two thieves, who only steal what has already been stolen, change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Leck’s reign. And one of them, with an extreme skill called a Grace that he hasn’t yet identified, holds a key to her heart.

Download an excerpt (PDF).

Good Things Come in Threes

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness Any book worth writing is worth a trilogy, right? Sometimes it seems like that, especially when it comes to YA fantasy and science fiction. Sometimes it feels like you can’t pick up a book without finding a cliffhanger ending or a big bold “TO BE CONTINUED” on the very last page.

Hate to wait? We can help! Here are a few trilogies that are already complete. No waiting required–unless there’s a hold list!

Blood Red Road – The Dustland Series

Keep an eye out for this title – the first in a trilogy called the Dustland Series. Here’s what a reviewer at Publishers’ Weekly had to say about this futuristic rescue mission:

When 18-year-old Saba’s father is killed and her twin brother, Lugh, is kidnapped, she sets out to rescue him, along with their younger sister, Emmi, and Saba’s intelligent raven, Nero. Their travels across the desert wasteland bring them to a violent city in which Saba is forced to fight for her life in an arena. When she escapes with the help of a group of women warriors, she and her new allies (including a handsome and infuriating male warrior named Jack) try to prevent Lugh from being sacrificed. … readers will be riveted by the book’s fast-paced mix of action and romance. It’s a natural for Hunger Games fans. Ages 14–up.

Sir Terry Honored

Sir Terry Pratchett is the recipient of the 2011 Margaret A. Edwards Award honoring his significant and lasting contribution to writing for teens.

Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2009 for services to literature, Pratchett published his first short story when he was thirteen. A resident of Somerset, England, Pratchett has one daughter, a wife, and many cats. He has published over fifty books and his works have been translated into thirty six languages.

Pratchett’s tales of Discworld have won over generations of teen readers with intelligence, heart, and undeniable wit. Comic adventures that fondly mock the fantasy genre, the Discworld novels expose the hypocrisies of contemporary society in an intricate, ever-expanding universe. With satisfyingly multi-layered plots, Pratchett’s humor honors the intelligence of the reader. Teens eagerly lose themselves in a universe with no maps.

Readers first encountered Discworld with The Color of Magic.

The adventures of young witch Tiffany Aching begin in The Wee Free Men.

“Pratchett’s work draws teens into a world where humor, perseverance and hope are the order of the day,” said Edwards Committee Chair Robin Brenner.

Chronicles of Narnia Turn 60

lion witch wardrobeIn the first book in C.S. Lewis’s Narnia series, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, published in 1950, the nefarious White Witch casts a terrible spell on Narnia: It is always Winter, but Christmas never happens. Without the joy, hope and good tidings that Christmas heralds, Narnia is plunged into dismal despair. When the four Pevensie children enter Narnia through their wardrobe, the White Witch’s powers begin to weaken, an event signaled by the triumphant return of Father Christmas.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of C.S. Lewis’ much loved Chronicles of Narnia series.