Thursday, February 14, 2008

Book Giveaway Day 4 -- "15 Guys, 11 Shrink Appointments, 4 Ceramic Frogs and me, Ruby Oliver"

Tip of the Day: Financial guru Suze Orman is GIVING AWAY her book, WOMEN AND MONEY until 8 p.m. EST TODAY. Go to www.oprah.com and click on the link at the top to get your copy. Have a great Valentine’s day! <3

And, elainareads, write to us at author2authorDOTblogATgmailDOTcom with your name and snail mail address because YOU are the lucky winner of Wendy Toliver’s THE SECRET LIFE OF A TEENAGE SIREN.

Isn’t that line in the title a great line? It sums up the story so simply and it’s written on the super cute cover of the book, THE BOYFRIEND LIST, by E. LOCKHART. The Boyfriend List stars 15-year old Ruby Oliver who is having a super sucky time at school. So bad that she is having panic attacks and her parents send her to a shrink for help. And to understand what is going on with her better, the shrink has her make a list of all of the boyfriends she has ever had—which you just know is going to get her in trouble too. Through examining each relationship, we see how Ruby got to the point she is at.

You’ll adore the book for its interesting format and of course—love/relationship problems throughout. Like how Ruby just loves her boyfriend SO much and then how not only is her heart completely broken when he dumps her out of the blue but it is a double whammy when it is at the hands of her BFF. You’ll also instantly feel for Ruby and her new situation at school--one of those times when all of your friends turn on you and you want to just hide and never go to school again but you force yourself to face it anyway. Something probably all girls can relate to at one time or another. For me it was this one girl in 5th grade that we’ll just call Christy (because a) I shouldn’t post her last name and b) I can’t remember it anyway. Hey, at least I wasn’t too scarred!). We were BFFs until one day she thought I said she smelled or something (which I totally didn’t) and turned all of my friends against me. It was horrible! I hid in the bathroom handicap stall at lunchtime for a week until I finally told my mom and she called Christy’s mom and told her to stop being a little snot and apologize. She did and we were never friends again after that but at least I had my other friends back.

Ok, so I veered off the Valentine’s/love thread a bit here but hey—this book has it all! Heartbreak can be a part of Valentine’s Day and BFFs can break your heart too. Was there ever a Christy in your life? Do share if so. Come on—it’s group therapy! Or, just comment anyway before Midnight EST and you’ll have the chance to win this book (two chances if you post with the link to your promo of our contest) and see how things turn out for Ruby. Lisa, Miss Pinch Me I’m Pubbed, will announce the winner tomorrow!

Kristina, Miss Soon-to-Pub

16 comments:

Ghost Girl (aka, Mary Ann) said...

Awww. Poor Ruby. I remember wanting to hide out in the bathroom--forever! I was truly a wallflower and had no self-esteem. Sorry...I'm getting off track. This sounds like a cute book.

And hey! I have a character in my book named Ruby...maybe that's a good omen?

the story siren said...

i don't remember a "christy", but when i moved to a new school in the fifth grade i sat on a bench at recess for the first month by myself because the kids there thought i talked funny. i was really shy anyway and found it hard to talk around new people, so them making fun of the way i talked didn't help. i did eventually make a couple friends, but then i went to a new school the next year.

Emily Marshall said...

I didn't have a Christy per say, but I did have one sort-of friend that started talking bad about me behind my back for no reason. I found out about it. Even though we kept most of the same friends throughout high school, I never really liked her again.

Anonymous said...

omg i totally want to read this book!!! ahh! it sounds awesome :)

Kristina Springer said...

Hey Guys,
Quick note on the Suze Orman book. They moved the link from the first page. When you get to the Oprah site, click on the link to yesterday's show on the left. Then you'll see a pic of Suze at the top and there are three links. Click on the one that says Exclusive: Download Suze's entire book.

Chelsea said...

Ahh. I really want to read this book! Sounds amazing. Thanks for all the contests! :)

Chelsea

KT said...

this book sounds really neat!

Kate Fall said...

Ugh, the best friend/boyfriend thing. When I was 14, I broke up with my boyfriend, trauma trauma, and one of my 2 best friends was like, can I go out with him now? I was like, but you just talked me through the breakup because he was a scumbag!

So I said, sure, go ahead. I still feel bad about that, even though she was asking for it. I think her relationship with evil guy lasted for 2 hours. I'm really not sure what else I could've done ...

Anonymous said...

I think that all girls go through a mean stage around middle school. I definitely had a Christy, and I may have been a Christy for a little while too. The book sounds great.

Here's a link to my library blog, you may have to scroll down to see the post:
http://graffiti.tscpl.org/

-Lena

Aimée Dillon said...

Joyously (?) I never had excattly the same experience that the girl did (i.e BFF stole BF), but I had a "best friend" who I thought was great, always putting me down or making up lies to be a little bit better. As if I had been secretly entered into a contest to see who had a better story, antedote, body, stories, poetry, art, more french fries in the happy meal of life. It ended when as camp I went to get some bug juice and it was low, but I titled the container for others to refill or fill their own cups, I walked away with only a half of cup, but not worried about it. My friend peered into my cup and announced "I HAVE MORE JUICE THAN YOU!!" I grabbed her cup and dumped it on her head, "not anymore"

paperxxflowers said...

I remember back in middle school almost my whole grade spread nasty rumors about my friends and me. Luckily, things change in high school, eh?

DeenaML said...

Jr high was like "The Year My Face Was Perpetually Red." I can't believe I survived it. At the time, it felt "normal," but looking back, man, the girls were questionable and nasty. Though I never had to each lunch in the bathroom....

Ghost Girl (aka, Mary Ann) said...

This is why I hung out with boys! Seriously. I was a bit of a tomboy, though I had reached the age where I liked boys, you know, in that way (I already mentioned the whole "wallflower" thing). But I also liked the company of good guy friends and never had to worry about the backstabbing or petty lying, etc. I wasn't going to dish it back, so I just stayed out of all together.

Kristina Springer said...

Love the bug juice story Aimee! Hi to the other bathroom hider GG! :-) Those kids sucked story siren! And Em, don't you hate girls like that? That still happens even at our age-- ha! And OMG Kate-- that is just like Ruby in the book! You should totally read it if you haven't. And paperxx--- didn't the girls get more vicious in high school? I remember all the knock down fights the girls had (I luckily avoided that!).

Thanks for sharing everyone!

Ghost Girl (aka, Mary Ann) said...

As a high school teacher, I broke up my fair share of fights, and I gotta tell ya...the chick fights were the worst by far!

Amanda Morgan said...

Oh, definitely. But I always had girls like that but I always had good friends to back me up.

And my post is at http://mandymorgan.livejournal.com :)