NEVERDARK Coming Soon to a School Near You!

Just when you think things can't get any more awesome, they do!

We're over-the-moon excited to officially announce that NEVERDARK is now part of the Public School Curriculum for the Province of PEI, Canada.

It will be in all sixth-grade classrooms and all public school libraries, Island-wide, this September for the 2012/2013 school year.

We are so, so excited about this and would really like to publicly thank  Hon. J. Alan McIsaac, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, Ross Young, Executive Assistant to Hon. J. Alan McIssac, and Kathy McDonald, Director of English Programs for making this happen.

We'd also like to give a big shout-out to J.P. Gallant at Cavendish Farms for getting the ball rolling.

Over the next year, we look forward to meeting many of our new readers directly and talking to our amazing educators about all things bookish, and fey, and just plain fun for tween readers.

Hooray for Chapters Indigo!

This is so exciting!

As a Canuck, it's irked me that NEVERDARK has not been available for purchase through our most awesome bookstore chain (and all-around Canadian institution),  Chapters Indigo .

Well.

All that changed today!

As of this moment, NEVERDARK is ON THE SHELVES for your purchasing pleasure at Chapters Indigo in Charlottetown or at any in-store kiosk, NATION-WIDE.

Of course, it's also available online at Chapters.Indigo.ca if you don't want to change out of your p.j.'s to go shopping.  I confess, this is how I usually do it.

I am literally hopping up and down with joy!

The Canadian retail price is really good, too:  the paperback is only $9.98 for members and it's eligible for free shipping.

I so love free shipping!

Best of all, they're even going to host us at an In-Store Book Signing!

I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait!!

DATE:  Saturday, September 22, 2012
TIME:  2 - 4 pm.
PLACE:  Chapters Indigo, 465 University Avenue, Charlottetown, PEI.

How cool would it be to see you there?  VERY!

Last, but certainly not least, I'd like to give a special shout out to Steven Forth, Director of Strategic Sourcing and Vendor Relations at Indigo Books & Music, for making this happen:

THANK YOU, STEVEN!!

Seriously, Dude, you rock. :o)

The Search For WondLa

WondLa = Wonderful?

Meh, not so much.

I had a really hard time rating this book about Eva Nine, possibly the last human girl alive in an alien world.

There were a lot of things I really enjoyed about The Search For WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi:  the main character, Eva, is very engaging, as is her "Muther" robot and many of the creatures she meets on her quest to find other humans and to escape the evil huntsman, Beesteel.

The story started as strong as any I've ever read.  I recall--explicitly--saying out-loud, "Oh, yay!  It's going to be good!" after reading the first chapter.  Even through the first hundred pages of character introduction and world building, I was seriously feeling the five stars.

And then, the "middle".

YAWN.

Two hundred pages of repetitive world-building.  I found myself asking, "Okay...is something, anything significant going to happen any time soon?

And then, when the odd thing did, it was over so fast and so anti-climactic (Oh, look!  She escaped Beesteel, again....), that frankly, I started getting annoyed.

Fortunately, I kept at it and was rewarded with a satisfactory ending.  Over-all, though, I feel this book held such great promise but for me, was cumulatively underwhelming.

I give the first 100 pages five stars, the next 200 pages, 2 stars, and the final 100 pages, 4 stars.  Add to that a hearty five stars for the illustrations (I loved those--all of them), and we eek out a weak 3 stars on the whole.

SKIN DEEP by Laura Jarratt - 5 STARS!!

An enthusiastic FIVE STARS for Laura Jarratt's SKIN DEEP

SKIN DEEP by Laura Jarratt is quite simply, a beautiful book. It's the story of Jenna, the girl who was horribly disfigured in a tragic car accident, and Ryan, the gypsy traveller who's forced to be more parent than child to his bi-polar Mom. 


There are so many things to love about this story: for starters, the title is perfect as the theme of the novel is really about learning the layers of beauty, and how it can bloom or get twisted, the deeper you go. One of the things I liked most was how well each character is developed--even the baddie, Stephen Carlisle, has his reasons. 


Throughout the story, characters act heroically, and terribly, each according to their personal journey and their circumstances at the time. Sort of like how real life works, huh? 


Imo, it's this sublime craftsmanship--Jarratt's ability to reflect real life at its most personal and challenging--which catapults 
SKIN DEEP to a higher level. This is a very smart book with a very big heart and I recommend it highly.

2 More FIVE STAR Reviews for NEVERDARK!

Here's what Harrison317 and Nadkim had to say about NEVERDARK on Amazon.com:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Delightful, April 19, 2012
By harrison317
Amazon Verified Purchase
This review is from: Neverdark (Kindle Edition)

Laughable, witty, and energetic. An outstanding story detailing the escapades of a young fairy princess on a wild adventure to save her world tree from ruination by a resource hungry fairy and his cohorts. The characters' personas and situations are tweeked to resemble real world/life diversity so that you are frequently comparing things to your own daily experience of life. Heartfelt compassion, love, and laughter throughout producing a very well written book. Would greatly recommend this one! Happy reading!

5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant read, April 18, 2012
By nadkim (west yorks)
This review is from: Neverdark (Kindle Edition)

The descriptions of the different places were amazing. The characters so likeable and life like, each word dragged you into the story further and further. The storyline was fantastic, plot very good, I couldn't see any flaws (that I was aware of). Fiera and Sparky complimented each other perfectly. Well done.

NEVERDARK is always FREE to borrow for AMAZON PRIME members. It can also be purchased here:
http://www.amazon.com/Neverdark-ebook/dp/B0069TD5AI/

Something Wonderful is Still Happening!!

Woke up this morning to find that Neverdark is now solidly a TOP 100 BESTSELLER in Amazon's Kindle Store.

Stats are now:

#1 Children's Ebooks >Sci Fi, Fantasy & Magic
#1 Children's Fiction > People & Places
#1 Children's Ebooks > Girl's & Women
#2 Children's Ebooks > Ages 9 to 12
#4 Children's Fiction

and #47 in the Kindle Store, for all genres (including adult).

GREAT OAK!  Who'd 'ave thunk it!

Big, big, gynormous SHOUT-OUT to:

That Girl Tyson
Lucia Adams
Rebecca Hamilton
A.M.

'Fanks, mates.

SOMETHING WONDERFUL IS HAPPENING

Something Wonderful is Happening

Something wonderful is happening *right now* on Amazon.com.

NEVERDARK , my debut Indie faerie story for tweens is currently:

#85 In the Kindle Store (FREE)
#2 In Children's Ebooks Ages 9-12
#1 In Children's Fiction Girls & Women

But, that's not the truly wonderful bit.
It's this:

Lovely, amazing, bold champions of the book all over the world are FB'ing and Tweeting and posting like mad to make this happen. Heroes like Liz (Seanat, Elka), from Goodreads, That Girl Tyson of Youtube Blogger Fame, Lucia Adams, Rebecca Hamilton ( THE FOREVER GIRL), and JohnDoe (Authonomy) are sending me PM's to let me know they're spreading the word on Reader Sites I've never even heard of (but probably should have).

This is taking hold.

Most importantly, nearly FOUR THOUSAND kids who didn't have access to NEVERDARK now do.

I just wanted to say, THANK YOU for all that. 

Sincerely,
CS (Sho) Einfeld