The Party Shall Live On!

I said this in a past post, but in case some people didn't see it...you have this week to finish reading all the posts and leaving a comment to enter the Penguin Prize Pack (details for that in the first post!) End date: April 10

Sharonanne has a guest post, and I forgot to put an end time to that...so I'll just make it April 10 as well!

Thank you to all the bloggers and authors who donated a review, guest post, prize, etc. to make this a fun party for Julia and everyone else. I really do hope you will go out and buy a copy of Willow. I did, and I'm so stoked to have a finalized version, even though I was lucky enough to read an advanced copy (Thanks, Julia!)

Remember, you have until April 30 to buy a copy and send in proof to enter for TWO romance/paranormal books of your choose from the list and also to be entered for the HUGE giveaway of gift cards and other books.

Spread the word about Willow and this blog, as it's not going anywhere after the party is over. To keep the love living on, I'm willing to post any or your thoughts and reviews once you read Willow.

If you are a book reviewer, I'll re-post it if you send it to me and if you aren't, then consider this your shot to share your thoughts about the book! If you ever have any questions about Willow, leave them in a post and I'll try and find the answer for you, or maybe we can even do a future Q&A with Julia...just depends! So get out there and get the book. And follow this blog!

Alisa M. Libby on Debut Novels: Last Guest Blog

The Debut Novel

Let's pause for a moment and contemplate the immense accomplishment of the first novel. Writing is a largely solitary act, and while clicking away on your little keyboard in a dark and secluded chamber it's difficult to imagine that your words will one day be released to the larger world. Publication is, in my experience, by turns joyful and terrifying--sometimes both of those feelings at the very same time.

I've heard it said that it takes a person's entire life to write their first book. That said, let's raise our coffee mugs in cheers to Julia, for having accomplished this feat with Willow. Not only has Julia written her first novel, but she chose to tackle huge, dark, terrifying subjects in doing so. May we all be so brave as we click click click out our dreams, in the shadows.

Cheers to Julia, from Alisa M. Libby

Author of The King's Rose, a novel about King Henry VIII's fifth wife, and The Blood Confession.

http://www.alissalibby.com/

Sharonanne Guest Blog + Contest!!

The loss of a parent during childhood is something only those who have fully experienced it can understand. Losing a parent at such a young age leaves you with this feeling of emptiness than is difficult to describe. It is like you are normal one moment and the next a part of you is gone forever. Willow loses not one but two parents in an accident that she thinks is entirely her fault. Author Julia Hoban does a brilliant job In Willow of making Willow’s grief real. Willow and her emotions leap out of the pages.

I probably found Willow so easy to relate to because of my own past. I was 11 when my father died suddenly from a heart attack. At the time I was so young and I thought that I did something to make him leave. Willow especially feels this way because she was driving the car when both of her parents were killed. Willow handles her feelings of guilt by cutting herself. For a while, in my early teens I handled my grief in much the same way.

This is not something that I usually to reveal to people for obvious reasons. However, I don’t think I can write this post about my own experiences with loss without mentioning it. I went through a very dark period in my early teens very much like Willow. I didn’t know how to release my emotions so instead of crying I would cut myself. Now years later I can look back on my past and see that my dad’s death was not my fault and that it is okay for me to express my emotions.

Willow really was a special book for me because of my past and I really cannot thank Julia enough for writing it! I only wish that it had come out 15 years ago.


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Thank you so much Sharonanne for sharing your story with us all!

If people comment on this guest blog, they will be entered to win a $10 gift certificate to Amazon.com

This is open to whoever Amazon ships too!

http://www.sharonlovesbooksandcats.blogspot.com/

A Mom's View on Willow!

Willow by Julia Hoban (book review)
http://www.mommyblogreviews.com

I started reading this book and found I could not put it down. It took me six hours to read the 342 pages, and I came away from the experience smiling but feeling vaguely haunted by some of the images the book conjured for me.

This book is as complex as it is simple. It is a character driven story, and the characters are all really robust - you will not find any two-dimentional characters in this book. Even the supporting characters have a depth to them that I have found uncommon in the current genre of teen fiction.

It is no secret from the back cover of the book that the main character is a cutter. If you don’t know what a cutter is you can get more information at this handy-dandy Wikipedia entry on self-injury (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-injury) If you do know what a cutter is, either from personal experience or from someone in your family, be warned - some of the scenes in the book are graphic, but in a very authentic, respectful way. Nothing over the top or silly, which makes it even more disturbing in some instances but keeps the book grounded. It makes the fiction feel less like fiction and more like it could be based on a true story, which makes the story more compelling.

There is a love story here, as well as a story about family bonds and growth. It is a snapshot into a time period in a girl’s life - a time right after her parents have died and she feels responsible for the accident that took their lives.

It is a powerful, gripping, emotional story of loss and pain and growth and healing.
While this book is aimed squarely at the teen market, I think that the quality of writing and power of the storyline make it a great read for adults as well.

If you plan to give this book to your teen, talk about it with them when they’re finished. Willow is a book that can open the door between you and your teen to talk about the difference between perception and reality. How a teen can feel the world is perceiving them one way and how that can be vastly different from the reality that acutally surrounds them.

It’s a talk no teen wants to have but every teen could benefit from. Willow is the perfect way to have that talk, to keep the lines of communication open. To maybe use Willow’s story to help your teen through a time of healing he or she may be going through right now - to help them understand pain isn’t forever.

Cyn Balog: Not Alone

Cyn Balog Talks Willow
http://cynbalog.com/
Her book, Fairy Tale, due out in June!
Lyrics in photo from: Saosin "You're Not Alone"

I was excited to find out that Julia Hoban’s new book, Willow, is about mental illness, specifically a girl who cuts herself. I think a lot of people on the outside of this topic might look at it and go, “Why would anyone do that to themselves?” and personally, I get that. I get that from the outside, deliberately hurting yourself because you hurt so bad inside might seem counterproductive. But I also understand the other side, because I was there.

I know the feeling of release that comes with opening up a wound, the feeling of letting out all the pain you have inside. I know of the switch that turns on in your mind, making the feeling of holding a blade in your hand like a drug you’re addicted to. I know that sometimes the pain is so great that there seems like there is no other alternative. I know that nothing, nothing, makes you feel worse than when people see your scars and look at you like you’re an idiot.

On the brighter side, I also know there can be a recovery. There can be healing. I am a young adult author too, and though I have been able to put all that behind me, though the publishing world tells us to “write what we know”, I can’t bring myself to touch this topic. I still can not find a way to write coherently about it. It’s too hard. But it’s a most comforting feeling to know we’re not alone, and I think that this book is important because of that. So thank you, Julia, and best of luck with the release of Willow!

I Bought It, Did You?

That's right! I bought Willow today at the bookstore, and I'm so excited to have my very own finalized version.

Again...I bought it, did you? And if not, what are you waiting for? It's an amazing book and you could enter to win a ton of other prizes if you buy it in April. I don't think there is a downside to this really...I mean, yeah, the book might not be for you in the end...but if that's true then you can pass it along to someone else or simply know that you helped a super awesome author! :)

See that? No downside. Buy the book. ASAP

Reviews and Update: Kelsey and Chelsea

UPDATE: I'm going to add one more day to this party, so come back tomorrow for more posts! There should be one more guest blog by a book reviewer as well as another author post. Also, the contest this week (from commenting on the posts) for Penguin will end on April 10 (next Friday) so that more of you have time to read/comment on everything! Spread the word and buy Willow: Out Now!



Review by: Kelsey
http://justblindedbookreviews.blogspot.com/

Willow was yet another 'dark' novel that, thank god, did not dissapoint me, even with the super high expectations that I had. Julia has written an amazing tale filled with loss, love, and self-journeys. I really hope that I can find words to explain just how much I loved Willow.

Despite all of Willow's faults she's one of those characters that you can look up to, and even if you haven't been through what she has she still comes across as relateable. You really get to see her grow up in this book, she learms to accept and forgive, and also that hurting herself isn't the way to deal with pain. She really becomes her own person and it's so enjoyable to read that transition. The only fault that she had that really bothered me was her paranoia, it seemed as if someone was always out to do mean or hurtful things to her.

One of the things that I really focused on while reading Willow was the relationship between her and her brother, David; it was only of the subjects spotlighted in it. I was never annoyed at the way he acted around or to Willow; it seemd only too natural for his character that he would react in such a way. Though, I must say, when she blew up at him I was surpirsed by how he semi-admitted to feeling about her because I never felt that it was how he did feel about her; I was ecstatic when it turned out that it wasn't like that at all.

Of course, I couldn't write this without gushing about Guy (I couldn't stand his name though). He was the perfect love interest for Willow, but he was also much more than that, he was the perfect everything for her. Those moments that they had together always left me craving for another one between them. Though it wasn't always about steamy scenes between them, they could actually talk to each other about things--like what they were interested in, or their feelings and emotions.

SPOILERSPOILER

When Willow lost her virginity to Guy it almost took my breath away how romantic it was and how right it felt for the two of them.. It was...perfect (again, I'm using that word so much).
I hope that everybody has the common sense to read Willow when it's released.

ENDSPOILERENDSPOILER

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Review by: Chelsea
http://www.thepageflipper.blogspot.com/

Today, April 2nd, Willow by Julia Hoban is released. It's one of the best books of 2009. And, okay, there have only been 4 months so far. But it's going to be very, very (almost impossibly!) hard to top this one.We have Willow as our MC - a girl who is grieving terribly hard after a car accident involving the death of her parents. And Willow was driving. The guilt proves to be too much for her, and she releases her pain in self-mutilating cuts all over her body.

Things continue as they are for a while, until Guy comes along and discovers her secret, cropping up an outpouring of emotions.That summary doesn't do Willow any kind of justice. Or Willow, the character, either. Both are so intensely deep and multifaceted that it's difficult to put into words (unless you're Julia Hoban, of course.)

Willow was such an incredible character; her emotions and actions were so natural and true in a completely painstaking way. How she dealt with her grief, family, Guy, life - everything - made her not just a character but a real, live person. She comes out of the pages, grabs you, and lets you peek in on her life story.

This book is packed with meaning and depth, but it's also written in an enjoyable way. I had fun reading it, despite the depressing context (is that morbid?) Hoban mixes dark with light, spinning it into something Rumpelstiltskin would be very proud of. You've made gold, Julia Hoban.

Readers, go out and buy this one. Fast.