Waiting on Wednesday: Panic by Sharon M. Draper

Waiting on Wednesday recognizes that we as bookies pine for books. This post is about what I am impatiently waiting for right now. It was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

I am very intrigued by my selection this week. Sharon M. Draper is no stranger in the YA world, but I have managed to miss reading everything she's published so far. That will end with this book. Panic coming out March 12, 2013 is sure to keep my attention. The premise sounds so innocent and completely conceivable that I am itching to get my hands on a copy! Read on.

This gripping and chillingly realistic novel from New York Timesbestselling author Sharon Draper shows that all it takes is one bad decision for everything to change.

Diamond knows not to get into a car with a stranger.

But what if the stranger is well-dressed and handsome? On his way to meet his wife and daughter? And casting a movie that very night—a movie in need of a star dancer? What then?

Then Diamond might make the wrong decision.

It’s a nightmare come true: Diamond Landers has been kidnapped. She was at the mall with a friend, alone for only a few brief minutes—and now she’s being held captive, forced to endure horrors beyond what she ever could have dreamed, while her family and friends experience their own torments and wait desperately for any bit of news.

From New York Times bestselling author Sharon Draper, this is a riveting exploration of power: how quickly we can lose it—and how we can take it back.

From Goodreads

Who would have thought to make a book about that? I mean you hear about stranger danger and teaching kids about "tricky" adults, but what if you just simply misjudged someone? I can't imagine what would be going through my mind or the minds of the loved ones worried about me. I'm truly looking forward to what Sharon has in store for us! 

Have you read any of her books? What were your thoughts? What are you waiting on this week?

If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch review

THERE ARE SOME THINGS YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND ... 

A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen-year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey's younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and the girls are found by their father, a stranger, and taken to re-enter the "normal" life of school, clothes and boys. 

Now, Carey must come to terms with the truth of why their mother spirited them away ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won't let her go ... a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn't spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down.

From Goodreads

Carey has made as much peace as is possible with her "home" in One Hundred Acre Wood. She and her little sister Jenessa (Ness) have a (run down) camper, (some) canned food, a shotgun for self-defense and hunting, and most importantly each other. That's why she feels completely distraught when a man and woman show up at their campsite to take them away. With their mother MIA for several weeks now, on one of her worst meth benders in a while no doubt, Carey doesn't understand how the people knew where to find the girls and (more importantly) how they know the truth about the girls' mother.

Whisked away into the land of plenty by Carey's biological father, the girls find themselves overwhelmed by all the differences between their idea of normal and society's idea of normal. With a world of indoor toilets, light switches, and unfamiliar words, Carey and Ness begin to unravel the truth about their existence in the woods. The hardest part is sharing that truth with those who hold the power to destroy all that Carey loves in this world. Stuck between two worlds, Carey must help Ness find her voice and in doing so, find her own.

Wow. This is without a doubt one of the most triumphant and moving YA books I have read. While outwardly it seems to be such a simple premise, the contents of this book gripped me tight and made me see the truth of the story. It's not just about family, love, and hardship. It's about truth, beauty, and above all hope.

With the story being told from Carey's point of view, we get an encompassing tale. If the story were told any other way, I don't know that it would have had as much power. Carey is the key to the story since she is the only one to experience all the central events. She is the bridge that takes us from the woods, to town, and then into the past to explore the truth of the situations she is facing.

The incredible thing about the writing in this book is the detail. Emily Murdoch did a marvelous job conveying the girls' experience of such simple things that we take for granted every day. Light switches, hot water, opening a vehicle trunk, even bedazzled jeans were so foreign to these girls that the author had to convince you that they were experiencing it for the first time, but without boring you. She did an incredible job because I continually felt like I was in their shoes and never once found myself bored.

The author also took tremendous care with the subjects she broached in this book. Being a kidnapped child of a bipolar, drug-addicted parent is beyond my comprehension, but the more disturbing things that Carey and Ness had to experience were handled with the delicacy of a rare flower. Most of the gritty events the girls' endured are told through specific verb-age and euphemisms that get the gist across to the audience. While there is one scene (towards the end) where she spares few details, it's still presented in a manner I think most young adults who've ever seen an episode of Law and Order: SVU can handle.

In short, don't pass this one up. I know it's not even coming out until late March, but it'll be well worth the wait. You'll love the characters and you'll have the pleasure of reading one of the most poignant books of 2013.

Provided by Around the World Tours

Stolen: A Letter to my Captor by Lucy Christopher review

Sixteen year old Gemma is kidnapped from Bangkok airport and taken to the Australian Outback. This wild and desolate landscape becomes almost a character in the book, so vividly is it described. Ty, her captor, is no stereotype. He is young, fit and completely gorgeous. This new life in the wilderness has been years in the planning. He loves only her, wants only her. Under the hot glare of the Australian sun, cut off from the world outside, can the force of his love make Gemma love him back? The story takes the form of a letter, written by Gemma to Ty, reflecting on those strange and disturbing months in the outback. Months when the lines between love and obsession, and love and dependency, blur until they don't exist - almost.

From Goodreads

Stolen from an airport seems like a headline you would see for a small child, not for a late teenager. Unfortunately for Gemma that is her current reality. While "vacationing" with her parents, Gemma is whisked away by a ruggedly handsome young fellow through deceit & drugs. When she finally comes to, she finds herself locked in a bedroom in the middle of nowhere. And we're not talking "middle of the forest" nowhere, we're talking "in the outback of Australia with nothing but sand dunes & rocks" nowhere. Immediately she begins to freak out about what he might have done to her or might still do to her.

Gemma's not completely stupid; she's seen enough television & movies to know that the bad guy always has a plan for his captive, the police are probably looking for her, & her parents are worried sick. What she didn't know is that her captor has a name, Ty, the police are quickly losing any & all hope on her trail & Ty questions her parents' care. While she continually resents Ty, tries to escape (think outside the box on the word "escape"), she does start to come to terms with her imprisonment. While he is still odd, Ty never tries to hurt her & cares for her to the best of his abilities. He's built the whole set up, just for her.

Such a terrifying & jarring story, Stolen is told from Gemma's point-of-view in the form of a letter to Ty. We see the whole thing through her eyes, including her perception of Ty & his behavior. What I feel is lacking is more of Ty's input. I know it's part of his characterization to be stand-offish & withholding information, but I kind of wish we could have known more about him.

I wouldn't consider this a "must read" but definitely a "should read" because I did enjoy the book. The style lends itself well to the story & I actually found myself being absorbed in it all. Give it a shot if you like a more unsettling story.

Want to Go Private? by Sarah Darer Littman

Abby has always been the smart, well-behaved girl. Very reliable & dependable for anything really. Moving up to high school is just another step towards accomplishing all that she has worked so hard for in school. But, it's different. The good things aren't the same & the bad things are just more prominent. With a best friend turning into a social butterfly, Abby turns to a teen website for chatting & socializing. That's where she meets Luke.

Luke is charismatic, cute, supportive & everything Abby wants; but he is far from what she needs. Despite dating Billy, her lab partner, Abby is drawn to Luke's presence & needs him in her life. She doesn't think anything of telling him very personal details & even accepts gifts from him. It's all fun & games until Abby starts spending so much time with him online that she begins to neglect her studies & her real life. After a particularly nasty fight with her parents Luke suggests a weekend getaway to "teach them a lesson." Abby falls for it & begins a nightmare that she will never live down.

Want to Go Private? was a haunting tale that mirrors real life so much it scares me. Abby is a brilliant young woman who is at one of the most vulnerable stages in life. Feeling isolated & lacking self-esteem, she turns to the one person who knows how to make her feel better. Luke is a prime example of the scariest type of urban predator. He preys on vulnerable girls & uses their own issues against them, to hurt them. The storyline between these two characters was so authentic, I felt like I myself at 14 could have been wooed by his abilities.

This book is a bit more graphic than I was expecting simply because I wasn't 100% sure how far the author would expose the characters. Sarah Littman goes all in, sparing no detail to get across just how awful things turned out for Abby. The author also shows how things can be turned around & start to look up. While this is a difficult subject matter, the book was filled with hope & the message that we need to be just as careful electronically as we are in person.

An amazing read that I couldn't put down, Want to Go Private? is as striking & authentic as Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott. If the subject matter doesn't bother you & you want to read something gripping, then this is your book.

ARC graciously provided by Around the World Tours.

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Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

Alice wants to be released. Alice wants to eat a real meal. Alice’s name is not really Alice.
In this all too real and vivid story, we find that Alice is a 15 year old, half-starved girl who was abducted from a school field trip at the tender age of 10. Having been held hostage and repeatedly abused by a man named Ray for the last 5 years, Alice is always looking for a way out, but she still believes that Ray will kill her family if she runs.

Now that she is getting too big for Ray’s tastes he has charged her with the obtainment and training of a new girl. In her search for the new girl, Alice meets some people who know that something is off and they try to help her. Fortunately for Alice, they do.
A disturbing read, this book is not for the faint of heart. Alice is often sexually abused by Ray and while the author utilizes a lot of allusion and suggestive details, it is very easy to imagine. In a way, the book is along the same lines of a car crash. You want to stop and look away, but you can’t seem to do so. Absolutely captivating, this book is on par, if not better, than Love You, Hate You, Miss You. Check out my review of that here.