I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the FRANKIE & BUG by Gayle Forman Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

About the Book:

Author: Gayle Forman

Pub. Date: October 12, 2021

Publisher:  Aladdin

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook

Pages: 288

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org

In the debut middle grade novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Gayle Forman comes a poignant and powerful coming-of-age story that follows a young girl and her new friend as they learn about family, friendship, allyship, and finding your way in a complicated world.

It’s the summer of 1987, and all ten-year-old Bug wants to do is go to the beach with her older brother and hang out with the locals on the boardwalk. But Danny wants to be with his own friends, and Bug’s mom is too busy, so Bug is stuck with their neighbor Philip’s nephew, Frankie.

Bug’s not too excited about hanging out with a kid she’s never met, but they soon find some common ground. And as the summer unfolds, they find themselves learning some important lessons about each other, and the world.

Like what it means to be your true self and how to be a good ally for others. That family can be the people you’re related to, but also the people you choose to have around you. And that even though life isn’t always fair, we can all do our part to make it more just.

Praise for The FRANKIE & BUG:
“I knew I would like Frankie and Bug from the moment I started reading it. What I didn’t know is how much I would end up loving it (a realization that hit me about halfway through the book, when it took a turn I didn’t see coming). This joyful, occasionally heartbreaking, deeply moving thrill ride through the 80s has it all: a mystery to solve, boy bands, and the tender surprise of new friendships. I didn’t want it to end.” (R. J. Palacio, bestselling author of WONDER )

“This wonderful, bighearted book has everything a bored eleven-year-old could ask for: from ice cream and roller-skating to tabloid murders and family secrets. After you spend the summer with Frankie and Bug and their colorful costars, you’ll want to go back to Venice Beach every year. Gayle Forman, please make me another!” (Raphael Simon, a/k/a NYT Bestelling author Pseudonymous Bosch )

“A beautiful and tender story about the discovery of a powerful friendship, starring two fantastic kids and one extraordinary family.” (Newbery Award-winning author Rebecca Stead)

* “Through Bug’s innocent perspective, Forman illuminates the pains and injustices suffered by so many, and readers will avidly watch this young girl stand up to skinheads and relatives, discovering that “family” are those who have your back, loving you without conditions, and allowing you to be who you are. The characterizations, setting, and messaging are genuine and heart-tugging, making this a must-read.” (BOOKLIST, starred review)

“During a summer of change and big realizations, Bug learns vital and sometimes painful lessons about the power of embracing her true self and meeting people where they are. Forman (We Are Inevitable) tenderly depicts a girl whose understanding—of identity, sexuality, and prejudice—is rapidly expanding, and whose chosen family provides a safe, loving space in which to navigate her experiences and learn to show up as an ally.” (Publishers Weekly)

“Readers interested in complex emotional development and relationships will appreciate each character’s subtle nuances. Superb storytelling.” (Kirkus Reviews)

Review: This book was a real page turner. Reading this I had no idea what it entailed but I kept on reading and it absolutely just made me wonder who Frankie and Bug were. They seemed total opposites until they shared one thing in common. Course you will have to find that out for yourself. Danny and Bug seemed really close too. Until Bug starts to notice changes in her brother. All signs pointed to me that he was growing up and Bug was just beginning to realize that. The whole family plays one big role in this story. You’ll have fun discovering who the “Midnight Marauder” is and why Frankie made a map.

About Gayle Forman:

Gayle Forman is an award-winning author and journalist whose articles have appeared in numerous publications, including Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, and Elle in the US. Gayle Forman’s novel, If I Stay, was released as a blockbuster movie starring Chloë Grace Moretz in 2014. Her most recent YA novel is We Are Inevitable. Gayle lives in Brooklyn, New York with her family.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will receive a finished copy of FRANKIE & BUG, US Only.

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the A REBEL IN AUSCHWITZ by Jack Fairweather Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

About the Book:

Author: Jack Fairweather

Pub. Date: October 19, 2021

Publisher:  Scholastic Focus

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook

Pages: 352

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Audible, B&N, iBooks (audiobook), Kobo (audiobook), TBD, Bookshop.org

With exclusive access to previously hidden diaries, family and camp survivor accounts, and recently declassified files, critically acclaimed and award-winning journalist Jack Fairweather brilliantly portrays the remarkable man who volunteered to face the unknown in the name of truth and country. This extraordinary and eye-opening account of the Holocaust invites us all to bear witness.

Occupied Warsaw, Summer 1940:

Witold Pilecki, a Polish underground operative, accepted a mission to uncover the fate of thousands interned at a new concentration camp, report on Nazi crimes, raise a secret army, and stage an uprising. The name of the camp — Auschwitz.

Over the next two and half years, and under the cruellest of conditions, Pilecki’s underground sabotaged facilities, assassinated Nazi officers, and gathered evidence of terrifying abuse and mass murder. But as he pieced together the horrifying Nazi plans to exterminate Europe’s Jews, Pilecki realized he would have to risk his men, his life, and his family to warn the West before all was lost. To do so meant attempting the impossible — but first he would have to escape from Auschwitz itself…

Praise for The Volunteer (adult edition):

“This is a story that has long deserved a robust, faithful telling, and [Fairweather] has delivered it.” — Wall Street Journal

“An extraordinary story.” — The Times

* “A forceful narrative with unstoppable reading momentum, Fairweather has created an insightful biography of a covert war hero and an extraordinary contribution to the history of the Holocaust.” — Booklist, starred review

“Witold Pilecki is one of the great — perhaps the greatest — unsung heroes of the second world war… Jack Fairweather’s meticulous and insightful book is likely to be the definitive version of this extraordinary life.” — Economist

Review: This book was filled with information and imagery. I have to say Witold was very brave to do what he had to save his family and more. There’s lots of stories that are untold that we can never comprehend during this bad time in history. If you like reading about the holocaust this is definitely a book to pick up.

About Jack Fairweather:

Jack Fairweather is a former war reporter in Iraq and Afghanistan and the author of A War of Choice and The Good War. The adult edition that tells this story is titled The Volunteer: The True Story of the Resistance Hero Who Infiltrated Auschwitz, which was named winner of the Costa Award and a #1 Sunday Times bestseller. Jack has served as the Daily Telegraph’s Baghdad bureau chief, and as a video journalist for the Washington Post in Afghanistan. His war coverage has won a British Press Award and an Overseas Press Club award citation.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will receive a finished copy of A REBEL IN AUSCHWITZ, US Only.