We have two new games/contests to look forward to in this weekend’s reading party.

First one is called “My Book Cover is Better Than Yours“. It’s simple, you choose a YA book and redo the book cover. You can start making it anytime you want just as long as you submit it in time for the exhibit on Sunday, July 17 1:00 PM, East Coast Time, USA. Send it to me (Ivy) via u2u or by email yareaders(at)gmail.com with the subject “Book Cover”. We will then post a poll and let your fellow members vote for the best cover.

Second game is called “My Ending is Better Than Yours“. Nikki and I will choose a popular book that most of you have read. You will then make up a different ending for the book or series. Write your story in less than 500 words. Submit it on July 17 1:00 PM. Site Admins will choose the winner. Send it via u2u or email.

Winners will each get a prize pack.  We will announce more about the prizes soon.

Get those creative juices flowing!

In Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love — the light and the dark, the warm and the cold — in a way you will never forget.

When Linger kicks off, Sam finds himself in quite the situation. Their temperature is still cold enough to keep the wolves tied to the forest – and Beck, his father-figure-type – is still lost to the wolves as well. So is Grace’s friend, Olivia. So when a wolf/kid shows up in his house well before winter’s grasp should have let him go, Sam can’t help but wonder why.

Cole is brash, outspoken, conspicuous, and not exactly what Sam wants around right now. Not that there is ever a right time for someone like Cole to come crashing into your life, but it just seems that Sam’s patience has worn a little thin of late. Cole is charming in that in-your-face-annoying kind of way, but he won my heart in no time, just like he won Isabel’s.

In the absence of her brother, Isabel is going through some stuff in this novel and finds comfort in the least likely of places. Cole irritates the hell out of Isabel (and just about everyone one else, too) but she’s unable to resist his charm. Will they get together? Well, that depends on your perspective, and your definition.

But I know that you’re all dying to hear about Sam and Grace. Sam and Grace keep that innocence that makes their relationship so unique, but at the same time, they take their relationship to a new place of finality, a new place of permanency. For me, reading about Grace and Sam has always felt more like I was reading about two adults, rather than two hormonal adolescents. This time around, though, I think its safe to say that Grace and Sam make choices that very much resemble the stubbornness that teen relationships are so often littered with. It was great to see them in such a way.

I guess you’d probably act all crazy if you thought you were losing the one person you love more than life, too. And that’s exactly how Sam sees it. That’s exactly how Grace sees it. It’s exactly how I saw it.

Linger is a solid second chapter in what is possibly the best young adult werewolf tale of our generation. Grace and Sam stay true to their characters, and we even get to see them grow a little, too. It’s always so great to learn new things about your favorite characters after you thought you already knew everything there was to know. These characters will touch your heart, make you weep, and hollow you out on the inside all at the same time.

Although she’s still a fairly young and fresh writer, Maggie Stiefvater’s prose reads like that of an age old pro. Her imagery and descriptions paint a picture so vibrant and colorful I felt like I was sitting front and center in a cinema. There are four points of view in this installment, and each character’s voice is unique and distinctive enough that following their individual journeys is easy as eating pumpkin pie.

A very impressive novel from a very impressive writer.

Pages: 368

Publication date: July 2010

Rating::

Teaser Quote: “If being a wolf was scientific, not magical, then it had to follow rules and logic. And the fact that the new wolves changed at different temperatures at different times… it didn’t make sense.”

Hi yaReaders,

We’re on the countdown to our online read-a-thon/summer party. The party will officially kick off in your timezone at 3pm, Friday July 16. We understand that staggering the start time is a little awkward, but we figured it was the fairest way to ensure everyone is able to participate for the maximum amount of time.

Over the course of this week, we’ll be announcing trivia topics, games etc so stay tuned for more. I do, however, have the first announcement of book titles that we’re offering as prizes. HarperTeen have kindly donated copies of:

Bruiser by Neil Shusterman

Tennyson:
Don’t get me started on the Bruiser. He was voted “Most Likely to Get the Death Penalty” by the entire school. He’s the kid no one knows, no one talks to, and everyone hears disturbing rumors about. So why is my sister, Brontë, dating him? One of these days she’s going to take in the wrong stray dog, and it’s not going to end well.

Brontë:
My brother has no right to talk about Brewster that way—no right to threaten him. There’s a reason why Brewster can’t have friends—why he can’t care about too many people. Because when he cares about you, things start to happen. Impossible things that can’t be explained. I know, because they’re happening to me.

Award-winning author Neal Shusterman has crafted a chilling and unforgettable novel about the power of unconditional friendship, the complex gear workings of a family, and the sacrifices we endure for the people we love.
Wayfarer – RJ Anderson

In a time of deadly crisis, Linden alone has the power to save her people.

The faeries of the Oak are in danger of extinction, and their only hope for survival rests in fifteen-year-old Linden. Armed with the last of her people’s magic, she travels bravely into the modern human world. Along the way she makes a reluctant ally—a human boy named Timothy.

Soon Linden and Timothy discover a danger much worse than the Oakenfolk’s loss of magic: a potent evil that threatens to enslave faeries and humans alike. In a fevered, desperate chase across the country, Tim and Linden must risk their lives to seek an ancient power before it’s too late to save everyone they love.

R. J. Anderson has artfully crafted a world of stunning magic, thrilling adventure, and delicate beauty, where the key to the future is in an unexpected, forbidden friendship.

Stranded – J.T Dutton

My best friend, Katy, says a person with a sparkly two-part name like Kelly Louise should be guaranteed a little glamour and excitement and not be forced to move back to Mom’s middle-of-nowhere hometown—now the center of a media frenzy since a farmer found an infant in his cornfield. (It just slipped from some mystery mother’s body without anyone noticing.)

Bizzaro.

But Baby Grace shadows every hair flip, every wink, and is keeping me from losing my virginity, despite my dynamite new boots. Even Katy doesn’t have any more good advice. The one boy around who rates anywhere near acceptable on the Maximum Man Scale only has eyes for my cousin, Natalie, who only has eyes for Jesus.

But Natalie has a secret.

Everyone is so busy burying the truth about Baby Grace, they can’t see who they’re burying alive.

Welcome to Heaven, Iowa.

Prism by Faye and Aliza Kellerman

Aida Hutchenson, Zeke Anderson, and Joy Tallon: three teens with nothing in common, thrown together by an explosive accident that turns their class trip into a desert nightmare. And the next morning . . . a return to their ordinary lives with everything just as it was before. Or is it? Increasingly unnerved by the distorted world around her, Kaida must band together with Zeke and Joy in hopes of making it back to the reality she remembers . . . and surviving the one she’s fallen into.

New York Times bestselling author Faye Kellerman teams up for the first time with her teen daughter, Aliza Kellerman, to deliver this breathlessly suspenseful paranormal thriller.

Vampire Diaries: The Awakening – L.J Smith

A deadly love triangle

Elena: beautiful and popular, the girl who can have any guy she wants.

Stefan: brooding and mysterious, desperately trying to resist his desire for Elena . . . for her own good.

Damon: sexy, dangerous, and driven by an urge for revenge against Stefan, the brother who betrayed him.

Elena finds herself drawn to both brothers . . .

who will she choose?

A huge shout out to HarperTeen for providing such an outstanding plethora of titles for us!

Most of the giveaways will be conducted via twitter and the forum. You must be following us on Twitter in order to participate in this part of the party. If you don’t have twitter, we suggest you sign up for an account before the weekend. We can be found at yareaders(at)gmail.com

We’ve created a thread on our forum where you can register your twitter account and MSN account for other yaPartyReaders to add you to their communication lists. Click here for the thread.

Remember, if your name is not on the reigstration list, you cannot be eligible for these great prizes.

We’ll have more prize pack, trivia and game announcements as the week continues.

Get ready for an Awesome Adventure this Summer! HarperTeen have some outstanding things going on…

www.AwesomeAdventureBooks.com is ready for summer with awesome new middle grade books, exciting online games, and huge weekly prizes!

Discover great summer reads and book quizzes on The Adventures Page

Watch your favorite books come to life in the The Expanded Game Arcade

Check out the huge prizes (including an iPad!) available each week on the The Sweepstakes Page

Meet the Awesome Adventure authors and watch the latest book trailers on the new Awesome Adventure playlist on YouTube

Enjoy your summer with HarperTeen!

A NEW SERIES BASED ON THE HIT SHOW FROM ABC FAMILY

GREEK: Double Date features an all-new storyline that goes beyond the primetime soap with the same characters fans have grown to love.
·         Since its network debut in July 2007, Greek has reached nearly 24 million total viewers.

·         GREEK: Double Date is a quick, captivating beach read for teens of all ages and fans of the show. ABC Family currently draws a highly literate teen audience with approximately 82% reading books, other than for school purposes, as a leisure activity.

·         Greek is ABC Family’s longest-running original series currently on the air and has consistently been a Top 5 hit with teens in its basic cable time period. Check your local listings as Greek will be returning soon for its fourth season!

·         Get an inside look at the social minefield that is the Greek system at one fictional Midwestern college, Cyprus-Rhodes University.

·         Three more Greek books are set to release in August 2010, November 2010 and February 2011.

BLURB:

Two dates – same night!

Major oops. When Casey Cartwright’s brother begs her to be nerdy Dale Kettlewell’s date to the sure-to-be-boring Honors Engineering Awards, Casey says yes. Even though Dale is totally not her type… and might have a crush on her. Ugh. But it’s a nice thing to do, and Casey’s always been the “nice” girl.

But now, that night conflicts with the biggest event of the semester, the All-Greek formal. Casey already has a date lined up: hot transfer student Rob Howell. He’s her plan to get over her sexy-slacker ex, Cappie. And even nice girls get to be bad sometimes, right?

What to do? With a little help from BFF Ashleigh, unwanted advice from frenemy Rebecca Logan and even a push from Cappie, what Casey does may surprise even herself.

yaReads is offering our readers ONE copy of this exciting new teen series from Harlequin Teen.

The Nitty Gritty:

• Simply fill out the form below with your name, email, and mailing address.  We randomly draw the winners using random.org.
• Giveaway is open only to U.S. and Canadian residents.
• Ends on July 31, 2010.