Legendary, by Stephanie Garber Blurb: A heart to protect. A debt to repay. A game to win. After being swept up in the magical world of Caraval, Donatella Dragna has finally escaped her father and saved her sister Scarlett from a disastrous arranged marriage. The girls should be celebrating, but Tella isn’t yet free. She made a desperate bargain with a mysterious criminal, and what Tella owes him no one has ever been able to deliver: Caraval Master Legend’s true name. The only chance of uncovering Legend’s identity is to win Caraval, so Tella throws herself into the legendary competition …
Teen Author Alyssa Antoci Shares her tips for dealing with Bullies
Guest blogger, author, and teen philanthropist, Alyssa Antoci is the fifteen-year-old author of an anti-bullying children’s book called The Purple Marble. She speaks regularly in schools as an anti-bullying advocate. After countless speaking engagements promoting kindness, Alyssa has summarized the key information she shares with her peers, as well as elementary-aged students. These tips come straight out of her picture book, which many classrooms use as a resource. Seven points Alyssa shares with school kids: 1.) You are NOT ALONE. Chances are most kids are or will be bullied at some point in their lives. 2.) If you are …
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Book Series: One desk, three books. What I’ve been reading
Fat Girl on a Plane, by Kelly deVos Blurb: FAT Cookie Vonn’s dreams include getting out of Phoenix and becoming the next great fashion designer. But in the world of fashion, being fat is a cardinal sin. It doesn’t help that she’s constantly compared to her supermodel mother—and named after a dessert. Cookie scores a trip to New York to pitch her design portfolio, but her plans are put on standby when she’s declared too fat to fly. When she finally arrives, she finds she’s been replaced by her ultrathin rival. Cookie vows to lose weight, get out of the …
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Tales of a Teen: Alyssa in Central Coast Kind Magazine
My teen blogger extraordinaire, author and philanthropist Alyssa Antoci, was recently featured in Central Coast Kind Magazine. Alyssa’s family would love to share the text of that interview with you. We have also provided a link where you can scroll through the online version of the magazine to see how the article came out. It’s beautiful! Astounding Accomplishments, When Little Feet Take Big Steps By Dennis Eamon Young ALYSSA ANTOCI, Author of The Purple Marble(a children’s book that became a musical play), has been on the road of giving and kindness since she was eight years old. …
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Tales of a Teen: What is Alyssa up to this summer?
I’m so excited to catch up with my favorite guest blogger, teen philanthropist and author, Alyssa Antoci. Read more about her travels and some things that surprised her about her recent school visits. Go Alyssa! Hi everyone, I’ve been super busy speaking at so many schools before school ended, but now that it’s summer, I have a lot more time to write and ride my horses! I was taken out to be homeschooled for the last six weeks of school so that I could catch up on all of the school speakings that I wasn’t able to go to because of …
Cover Reveal: Meant to be Broken by Brandy Woods Snow
I love sharing my favorite young adult reads and, even more, I love getting to share hot off the press news about upcoming projects. Debut young adult author Brandy Woods Snow’s MEANT TO BE BROKEN is coming to shelves July 2, 2018. In MEANT TO BE BROKEN… Her secret is big. Mama’s is bigger Learn all about this fun, southern teen romance and its author. Also, stay tuned for a peek at the beautiful cover by Broken Arrow Designs. Brandy Woods Snow is an author and journalist born, raised and currently living in beautiful Upstate South Carolina. She earned a …
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Tales of a Teen: The Kindness Conference
It’s been a while since we’ve heard from one of our favorites––guest blogger and teen anti-bullying advocate, Alyssa Antoci. Alyssa has been busy spreading her message of kindness. Today, she’s here to share about a special honor. Alyssa was recently invited to participate in a world-wide Kindness Conference. I’ll let her tell you all about it. I was so thrilled when my mom got the call that she and I were invited to a Kindness Conference in Half Moon Bay. Kindness leaders from all around the world, including a leader from Unesco who traveled all the way from New Delhi, came …
Book Series: One desk, Three books. What I’m reading now
Bone Gap By Laura Ruby Blurb: Everyone knows Bone Gap is full of gaps. So when young, beautiful Roza went missing, the people of Bone Gap weren’t surprised. But Finn knows what really happened to Roza. He knows she was kidnapped by a dangerous man whose face he cannot remember. As we follow the stories of Finn, Roza, and the people of Bone Gap, acclaimed author Laura Ruby weaves a tale of the ways in which the face the world sees is never the sum of who we are. Read this book if you: love magical realism or slight magical elements …
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Tales of a Teen: The Purple Marble Musical
Guest blogger, teen author, and philanthropist, Allysa B. Antoci is on the blog today to share all about her anti-bullying picture book being adapted into The Purple Marble Musical! Hello Everyone, Alyssa Antoci here, author of The Purple Marble. I want to update you all on what has been happening the last few months. Recently, my book, The Purple Marble was adapted into a one-act musical by PCPA, called The Purple Marble Musical, and is currently performing in over 70 schools through their outreach program on the central coast. I have had the opportunity to go to four performances at local …
Tales of a Teen: Alyssa Attends Strength Behind Stars
Happy New Year! Today, guest blogger Alyssa Antoci is here to talk about her work with the Strength Behind Stars Kindness Concert. Alyssa prepared for many months for her performance at this first annual event and we’re so proud of her! Blog about Strength Behind Stars Concert Hello everyone, It’s been awhile as I’ve been so busy prepping for our first annual Kindness Concert where voices unite for kindness. We held local auditions in our area for vocalists and 11 were chosen, ages 6 to 17, to sing at Strength Behind Stars first annual Kindness Concert. We held the event …
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Tales of a Teen, Alyssa Antoci at Ability Awareness
It’s almost November and our resident teen anti-bullying crusader, Alyssa, has been working hard visiting schools and other key venues to spread her kindness message. I’ll let her tell you about a special Ability Awareness event she recently attended in Laguna Beach, California, and how it impacted her. Hello Everyone, Last weekend, I was asked to read my book, The Purple Marble, and speak at Ability Awareness Project’s annual event in Laguna Beach. This event was to unite and honor those kids and teens that have taken their lives due to bullying. I was so shocked and saddened that so …
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Blog Tour Stop and Giveaway: Seize Today, by Pintip Dunn
The Cherry Blossom Chronicles Crew is proud to be a part of young adult author, Pintip Dunn’s, blog tour stop. Pintip’s new book is fresh off the presses with Entangled Teen Publishing. Seize Today concludes the fabulous dystopian trilogy, Forget Tomorrow. Read on to learn more about this new book and find links to a giveaway at the end. Pintip Dunn is a New York Times bestselling author of YA fiction. She graduated from Harvard University, magna cum laude, with an A.B. in English Literature and Language. She received her J.D. at Yale Law School, where she was an editor of the YALE …
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Series: One Desk, Three Books. What I’ve Been Reading Lately
We’re back with our young adult book blurb series. Check out these exciting reads! They are some of our recent favorites. If you missed the first edition of One Desk, Three Books, find it here. Now for this week’s picks: SaveSave At First Blush, By Beth Ellyn Summer Blurb: Who would have thought that a teenager could have a successful career creating makeup tutorial videos on YouTube? For Lacey Robbins, this dream has been her reality. An up-and-coming YouTuber, she has thousands of fans and can’t wait for the day when her subscriber count reaches the one million mark. …
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Tales of a Teen with Alyssa Antoci: Making a Difference
Our resident teen blogger, philanthropist, and author, Alyssa Antoci is back today with a topic dear to her heart. With the tragedy and hurt we’ve seen in our world lately, we are thinking a lot about things we can do to make a difference. Last year, Santa Barbara Life & Style Magazine interviewed Alyssa and her family and highlighted some of the ways they’ve worked to leave a legacy of philanthropy and love. What are some simple ways you can make a difference in our world? Sometimes making a difference is positively impacting even one person. You can …
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Five Minutes With…YA Author Pintip Dunn
We’re back with another one of our favorite young adult authors! Pintip Dunn is a New York Times Bestselling author of young adult dystopian and contemporary thrillers. In 2016, Pintip won the prestigious RWA Best First Book RITA award for the first novel in her Forget Tomorrow trilogy. She’s has been flooding the YA market with amazing fiction ever since. Next week, we’ll be sharing our own review of the final book in the Forget Tomorrow series, Seize Today, which releases October third. Today, we’re happy to have Pintip Dunn stopping by and sharing some fun tidbits! 1. Tell us …
Book Blitz and GIVEAWAY: Thunderstruck by Brenda Drake
Young Adult author Brenda Drake is back on the Chronicles today with a brand new book from Entangled Crave: Thunderstruck. At the end of this post, look for information on a special giveaway to celebrate Thunderstruck’s birthday week. Please let us know if anyone wins! We were provided with an advanced copy of this YA fantasy novel, steeped in myth and lore, and can’t wait for you to read it too. All about Thunderstruck: Stevie Moon is famous…at least to the subscribers on her comic review vlog. At school, she’s as plain as the gray painted walls in the cafeteria. …
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Series: One Desk, Three Books. What I’ve been Reading Lately
I have one desk where I usually write my YA novels. But as an author, I’m constantly reading YA books. Many books pass over my desk (and then on to Kate) so we thought we’d start sharing quick blurbs about the titles we’ve been enjoying. We will keep doing full reviews for new books and debuts. But many times readers might stop by and want to know – what should I pick up next? We will never feature titles we don’t recommend. These are tried and true and some have been around for a good while. As part of our …
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Teen Author, Bethany Stevenson: YA is for Real Teenagers
Last week we featured teen YA author and illustrator, Bethany Stevenson, as one of our Extraordinary You girls. Catch her profile here! Today, Bethany is back with some heartfelt thoughts about what she’s been noticing in YA lately, and how some authors are depicting teens in YA. Bethany provides a unique voice in this issue. She’s not only a teen reader, she’s an author with many words and stories under her belt .If you’re a teen Chronicles reader, we’d love for you to read Bethany’s post and comment with your opinions on what you’re seeing in YA books. If you’re …
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Extraordinary You: Author and Illustrator, Bethany Stevenson
We’re so excited to showcase our latest Extraordinary You girl. We discovered Seventeen-year-old author, Bethany Stevenson, and were instantly wowed by her talent and drive. Bethany is not only reading loads of young adult novels, she’s writing them. Oh, and did we mention Bethany is also a skilled illustrator? Read on to learn more about this truly extraordinary teen. Let’s start with writing. We’d love to know how you became interested in writing young adult novels. I’ve been writing since I could hold a pencil and write jumbles of letters. Sure, I couldn’t spell and refused to read until an …
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Tales of a Teen by Alyssa Antoci. It’s Video Time!
Teen guest blogger, Alyssa Antoci, faithfully shares her thoughts on current issues, as well as keeping us in the loop about special events in her life. Today, she’d like to share a video that showcases her special efforts in creating kinder schools and equipping kids with anti-bullying strategies. Alyssa spends so much time on her philanthropic work, and she’s about to enter high school. We will be joining Alyssa as she tackles new challenges while still pursuing her dream of getting her book, The Purple Marble, in every classroom across the country. Alyssa wants to break the bullying cycle. Find …
Tales of a Teen, by Alyssa Antoci – European Trip Report
Happy Friday, readers. Teen guest blogger, Alyssa Antoci, is here today to tell us all about her European vacation. We love travel here at the Chronicles and hope Alyssa’s post inspires you to dream of faraway places and adventures. My First European Vacation By, Alyssa I started the summer off with a two week European vacation. We first started by flying to Rome, staying one night, and then getting on a huge cruise line called Norwegian Epic. Every day, we arrived in a new port and took an excursion through the cities we visited. We first arrived in Rome and …
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Young Adult Author Series: Five Minutes With…Author Brenda Drake
Just in time for summer, we’re kicking off our brand new series: Five Minutes… The Cherry Blossom Crew will be interviewing amazing authors of young adult books in all genres. We’d love to introduce you to some new books, as well as authors you might not have heard of. Our series is designed to give you a little glimpse inside the mind, and maybe a peek into the life of successful authors writing for teens right now. First up, we’re pleased to have New York Times Bestselling author, Brenda Drake, spending five minutes with us. Brenda Drake writes young adult paranormal fantasy …
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Diary Series: Tales of a Teen, by Alyssa Antoci
The Cherry Blossom crew is proud to welcome teen author and philanthropist, Alyssa Antoci, as a regular contributor to our blog. Alyssa will be sharing in a diary format about common teen struggles, special events, and anything else that is on her heart. Alyssa is one of our Extraordinary You girls and has a lot to say about being a teen, today. Let’s turn our blog over to our special guest. We’re so glad to have her! Dreams and Goals, by Alyssa Antoci Hello friends, my name is Alyssa Antoci and I am 14 years old and am an author of …
Extraordinary You: Anti-Bullying Crusader Alyssa B. Antoci
Teen Author and Philanthropist, Alyssa, Takes on Bullying with Books We’re so excited to feature our latest Extraordinary You girl. Fourteen-year-old Alyssa B. Antoci is a true world changer and crusader for her cause. At just eight years old, Alyssa wrote her first picture book called The Purple Marble. Her story was inspired by one of her close relatives and his experiences with bullying at school, and then her own experiences with unkind classmates. Today, Alyssa is working hard to gift copies of The Purple Marble to schools all across the country. She even wrote discussion questions and other materials to help …
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Living Abroad: A Tale of Two Teens
Teens, Ashlei and Elizabeth share their experiences living abroad There might come a time when you need to move to another country because of your parents’ work, family, or another reason. The thought of living abroad might seem daunting or scary. You’ll have to leave your city, home, and likely your friends and some family members, too. But, living abroad can also give you some amazing experiences and adventures. Today, the Chronicles Crew is talking to two girls who know all about this. Fifteen year old Ashlei and twelve year old Elizabeth lived abroad for three years. They recently moved back …
Book Review: The Remnant Chronicles, Book 1
Book 1 of The Remnant Chronicles, The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson We couldn’t wait to finish the first book of The Remnant Chronicles so we could review it and recommend it to you. This YA fantasy is truly a cut-above many fantasy series offerings we’ve read. It’s that good. Book one of the Remnant Chronicles opens in the mythical kingdom of Morrighan. Princes and First Daughter, Lia, is getting ready to meet a fate she deems just a hair above dying itself: an arranged marriage to a prince from neighboring kingdom, Dalbreck. A prince she thinks is ugly, …
Book Review: Unblemished by Sara Ella
Hey Chronicles readers, it’s time for another book review. We love to promote YA literature. Especially books that are compelling, well written, and meaningful. I read today’s book in less than three days and couldn’t wait to talk about it here, with you. Bonus: it has a beautiful cover! We’re thrilled to present Unblemished – the fantasy/magical realism adventure by debut author, Sara Ella. Sara Ella’s Unblemished is the first novel in a three book trilogy. We’re proud to say that Unblemished is a jewel of a YA read. The story is steeped in magical realism and features an interesting and unique seventeen-year-old heroine. …
Trip Report Series: Kate goes to Boston
Seven Things about…Boston We’re kicking off a new travel series with our very own Kate and her summer vacation trip report. We love exploring new places and love to find out secrets and favorite things about the places we want to visit. If you’ve been on an amazing trip this summer, or you’re on your way soon, contact us to share your memories and photos. It’s easy! All you have to do is complete our seven prompts. So, I traveled to…Boston, Massachusetts. The coolest thing I saw was… the Boston Aquarium, which is actually called New England Aquarium. I …
Extraordinary You: India Ruckle
Extraordinary Art This month’s Extraordinary You segment features high school junior, India Ruckle. India is a gifted honors student and budding artist with talent you’ll have to see to believe. Read her honest and inspiring story! Tell us about how you became interested in art and drawing. Well, in elementary school I began to draw things in fairytales like dragons and things from the books I was reading, and I realized that I could create anything I could think of. My friends and I would make little origami frogs and hearts. It was pretty nerdy but also really fun. Throughout …
Book Review: The Orphan Queen
Author, Jodi Meadows We must be on a fantasy kick, lately! Last time it was the Storm Siren series, by Mary Weber. Today, we’re reviewing the very popular Orphan Queen duology by Jodi Meadows. In The Orphan Queen, Wilhemina Korte wants one thing very badly: to reclaim her kingdom of Aecor and become the rightful queen. When Aecor was overtaken by the rival Indigo Kingdom years ago, young Wil became an orphan and joined in with other sons and daughters who were also spared. This group of shattered orphans banded together and called themselves the Ospreys. Wil, and one of …
Extraordinary You: Kiley Vick
Gymnastics Star, Kiley! Meet Kiley, gymnastics diva and Extraordinary You girl for the month of June. Kiley is a busy Jr. High student and also manages a busy training schedule that makes our heads spin. How does she do it all? How did you become involved in gymnastics? How old were you? I first became involved in gymnastics in kindergarten. Our grade did a circus performance and I was chosen to be an acrobat. This began my interest in gymnastics at six years old. What are you focusing on right now in your training? I am focusing on my level 5 …
Book Review: Mary Weber’s Storm Siren Series
This is the first of many books we’re happy to review and recommend on the chronicles. We’ll be sharing our favorite authors and stories in many genres that are riveting, exciting, and well-written. First up…the Young adult Storm Siren Trilogy by Mary Weber. This trilogy begins with Storm Siren, which is the only one I’ve read so far. But I enjoyed it so much, I have no hesitation in recommending the entire series. Mary Weber is that good! “I raise my chin as the buyers stare. Yes. Look. You don’t want me. Because, eventually, accidentally, I will destroy you.” Whoa! …
Extraordinary You: Juliana Debellis
Extraordinary You will be a regular feature on the chronicles. Our goal is to showcase tween and teen girls who are doing extraordinary things with their time and talents. Our first Extraordinary You girl comes with a beautiful and inspiring story of skill, hard work, and determination. Juliana Debellis is a high school student and pre-professional ballerina. Besides that, she’s an intelligent and hard working honor role student. How did she get where she is today? Read her story and find out! 1. How did you become involved in ballet? How old were you? I first started ballet at three …