The contest runs from Black Friday (11/25/11) through December 1st 11:59 EST. Coincidentally, December 1st is the launch date for Tattered the third book in the Misfit McCabe series. So that’s another book you could throw on the fire… #justsayin What do you have to do to enter for a chance to win? Follow the below authors on Twitter and Like them on Facebook for chances to win the Fire and lots of cool books. Easy Peasey. Well, what are you waiting for?

From the back cover: What do Sunday afternoon court proceedings, cheerleader tryouts, and a book burning have in common? Katie McCabe is back in action.

After her nemesis Harvey is found guilty and sentenced to community service, Katie wants to believe her troubles are over, but Harvey won’t rest until he gets revenge. When blackmail rears its ugly head, she’s caught between friends and enemies putting her growing relationship with Tom at stake. Books go up in flames and Katie’s world rains down in tatters.

And now….. *drumroll please* …. the cover!!!!

From the back cover: What do Sunday afternoon court proceedings, cheerleader tryouts, and a book burning have in common? Katie McCabe is back in action.

After her nemesis Harvey is found guilty and sentenced to community service, Katie wants to believe her troubles are over, but Harvey won’t rest until he gets revenge. When blackmail rears its ugly head, she’s caught between friends and enemies putting her growing relationship with Tom at stake. Books go up in flames and Katie’s world rains down in tatters.

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There will definitely be more to come for this book, I will have a preview widget and all the rest. So, stay tuned….

Misfit McCabe sucks the reader into young Katie McCabe’s life as she transitions from her normal, everyday life into a new town full of new people. The pace is quick, but I was never left behind for a moment wondering what was happening. Truly a fast, satisfying read. LK Gardner-Griffe writes fluid prose with very few hiccups along the way. The characters in the story are so real, though the mundane actions they take carry weight.

I had trouble settling into the story and noticed a few awkward phrases, but after the first few pages, I was hooked. Katie McCabe is a troublemaker, and she knows it. What sets her apart though, is that she doesn’t mean to make a mess of things: it just happens. The story starts fast, like a jump into a cool lake. Katie is smoking and drinking with her best friend Timmy out in a shed.

Gardner-Griffe shows us Katie at her weakest and strongest. Katie does not get away with anything she does, and yet I cheered on almost all of her decisions, though as bad as some were, it felt good to see her stand up to a bully—and in this case the bully isn’t some low brow jock, an interesting twist. Katie McCabe, not living up to the traditions of her family name, doesn’t know what she’s in for when she starts a ripple through the town with her arrival.

Katie is faced with tough choices, and she has to mature rapidly in her ever-changing world. She is dumped from the hands of her frustrated, loving (and sick) father, to her unsuspecting Uncle Charley. Throughout the book Katie zips from one emotion to the next. One minute I was jubilant, the next, I wanted to cry, and right after, I wanted to punch someone: I felt like a teenager again.

This story isn’t for those who want to read fluff. Misfit McCabe deals with real problems that teens (and adults) can learn from. Katie makes mistakes, and she pays for them, and importantly she learns. Her father and her uncle make mistakes as well: as does her cousin Sarah. Gardner-Griffe lets them make their mistakes, and we, as the reader, benefit from the choices they make and how they right their wrongs; when they make a good choice after learning, I let go of a breath I didn’t know I was holding!

What I enjoyed most from Misfit McCabe is a peek into what it is like to be a teen again—what the problems feel like, the emotional quicksilver—and the desire to read more. I love a book that pulls me through, and Misfit McCabe does exactly that; I was never dragged too fast, nor waiting for something else to happen.

Would I recommend this book: yes. Wholeheartedly. I will be ordering Nowhere Feels Like Home, and anxiously awaiting the rest of the series. LK Gardner-Griffe is an excellent writer who knows her audience: teens who want real substance, real characters, accessible language, and above all, a darn good story.

It’s official. For the second year in a row, LK Gardner-Griffie has garnered Pearson Prize Teen Choice award honors with her late 2009 release, Nowhere Feels Like Home. The second book in the Misfit McCabe series captures the tumultuous emotions of the teen years through the struggles of fourteen-year-old Katie McCabe as she copes with grief and anger. By inviting teens to select their favorite books for the contest, The Pearson Prize excites teens about reading.

Author LK Gardner-Griffie specializes in teen literature and Nowhere Feels Like Home continues the story of rebellious Katie. Stuck in bed with a broken ankle and reeling from the loss of her father, her home, and life as she knew it, Katie must deal with her anger toward the town bully and a world that’s fallen apart. Teens identify with Katie’s emotional journey to fit into a new school, a new home, and a new family.

The Pearson Prize Teen Choice Award started in 2008 as a way to engage Montreal teenagers in reading books. The brain child of Michael Earnest Sweet, the prize also serves as a way to bring in books for teens to read on a limited budget. Authors donate books as their entrance fee to the contest, the teens get books to read, and the authors get recognition.

LK Gardner-Griffie says, “I am thrilled to have my work selected as a winner in the 2010 Pearson Prize Teen Choice awards and overjoyed that the students continue to enjoy my work and can connect with Katie.” For more information on Nowhere Feels Like Home and LK Gardner-Griffie, visit www.griffieworld.com. The Misfit McCabe series is available on Amazon.com. For more information about the Person Prize, visit www.pearsonprize.org.

Pearson Prize Teen Choice Award contest is held annually in Montreal, QC to help promote reading and obtain books for the schools. Nowhere Feels Like Home is a young adult novel and one of the 2010 Pearson Prize winners.

Book 2 in the Misfit McCabe Series by LK Gardner-Griffie

Nowhere Feels Like Home picks up from the exciting conclusion of Misfit McCabe and continues the saga of Katie McCabe and the McCabe family. Katie McCabe finds herself facing the demons of the past as she convalesces with a broken ankle. Everyone keeps trying to make her talk about what happened when she broke her ankle and all Katie wants to do is forget the whole thing happened. She becomes even more frustrated when Uncle Charley tells her she can’t talk about her experiences with anyone at school.

Nowhere Feels Like Home unveils some of the McCabe family secrets and brings Katie to a better understanding of the past she has never known.

Back Cover copy

Stuck in bed with a book and a broken ankle, Katie McCabe must deal with her anger toward the town bully who put her there and the grief of losing her father, her home, her friends and life as she knew it before her world fell apart. The tragic death of her father is the reason she’s now living with her Uncle Charley and three overprotective cousins. While plotting revenge against the bully, Katie is outraged to be warned to keep quiet about how she got the broken ankle. Her new family tries to make her comfortable by sharing parts of their own past as Katie tries to fit in but it’s cousin Sarah who has to try to keep Katie in bed and watch over her when a love interest from school comes calling. Despite her new family’s good intentions, Katie feels like an outsider. Will she ever fit in? To Katie, Nowhere Feels Like Home.

Links to Buy

For signed or inscribed copies, please visit the my author website.

Also available online at:

Amazon.com
Kindle
Nook
Various eBook formats through Smashwords.com

Book 1 in the Misfit McCabe series by LK Gardner-Griffie

When Katie McCabe accidentally burns down a neighbor’s shed, she thinks it’s the worst thing that can happen. Boy is she ever wrong. Katie soon faces life-changing struggles when her father falls ill and she is hustled off to live with her Uncle Charley. But the first person she meets is an enemy with ties to her past who believes in dangerous retribution. The only bright spot is making a friend who wants to be more than pals. When her nemesis abducts and dumps her in the hills, Katie must battle time and nature to survive.

Back cover copy

As summer was coming to an end, accidentally burning down a shed became the least of 14 year old, Katie McCabe’s problems. Having lost her mother when she was just a baby, Katie was shattered to learn that her father was seriously ill. Hustled off to live with Uncle Charley while her father was hospitalized, Katie struggles with accepting her changing life. On her first day in town, she meets Harvey Jr., and they quickly become adversaries. As the warfare between Katie and Harvey escalates, involving trips to the vice principal’s office, cheating, lies, and vandalism, she battles homesickness and fear that her life could be changing forever.

Links to Buy

For signed or inscribed copies, please visit the author’s website.

Also available online at:

Amazon.com
Kindle
Nook
Various eBook formats through Smashwords.com