Jeri Smith-Ready

Happy Birthday to Constellation Books (oh, and SHADE)!

I'm writing this from my small but lovely (no, small and lovely--I prefer a room where the bathroom is a few steps away) New York hotel room, where I spent the night after reading at Lady Jane's Salon. It was a fabulous experience, and I'll be blogging about it later this week. (No, really, I will, because they asked me to.)

Lots of exciting stuff has been happening over the last week. My plan is to fill in a few blog posts as soon as I get a chance, backdating them to pretend I did them on time. You'll see--it'll be fun.

But today is the release of Shade, my first young adult book. I'm staggered by the outpouring of support and enthusiasm online. Bloggers and reviewers and friends have been talking it up, and apparently it's going over well on Simon Pulse's teen-only Pulse It site, where teens can read the book online for a month while it's featured, then discuss it with each other in the forums--and hopefully tell their real-world friends, too!

This came out yesterday from Publishers Weekly, making me scream and scare the cats:

Shade
Jeri Smith-Ready, Simon Pulse, $17.99 (320p) ISBN 978-1-4169-9406-0
Sixteen-year-old Aura, the first child born after the “Shift,” is in the vanguard of a change in human perception. Ghosts are now visible, everyday creatures, but perceptible only to those born after the Shift, creating a subtly delineated schism between generations. What the Shift was and why it occurred are still mysteries--very personal ones for unwilling pioneers like Aura. The uncomfortable questions turn excruciating when her boyfriend, Logan, dies of an accidental overdose. His ghost can give Aura some comfort, but it can’t touch her or interact with the world the way the living Logan could--or the way a charming Scottish transfer student, Zachary, can. Though adult author Smith-Ready’s occasionally racy YA debut resolves almost none of the issues surrounding the Shift, leaving the door open for future books, it is a fully satisfying read on its own, with well-developed, believable characters. Aura’s grief, Logan’s rage, and Zachary’s wistfulness are expertly sketched. Perhaps even more impressive is the understatement of the paranormal premise--Smith-Ready changes the world completely by simply changing our ability to see. Ages 14–up. (May)

So yeah, I'm pretty much over the moon. A little tired, but glowing nonetheless.

Anyway, I have to run and get a shower soon so I can make my train (and hopefully see Shade on the shelves of the Madison Square Garden Borders!), so I want to ask you to help me wish Lauretta Nagel and her awesome bookstore, Constellation Books, a Happy Third Birthday!

Lauretta started her store in a time that can only be described as "challenging," a time when many independent bookstores (heck, many chain bookstores, for that matter) have been shutting down after decades of business. She holds a ton of community events and has become part of the fabric of downtown Reisterstown, Maryland, not far from where I live.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, Constellation is the source for signed copies of my books. To get your signed copy of Shade, either call the bookstore at 410-833-5151, or place your order online, and when you get to the order page, note in the comments if you want it personalized.

If you decide to buy elsewhere, there's always Mysterious Galaxy, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, or Powell's.

The audio version of Shade also releases today! You can buy it at most of those online stores, or directly from iTunes. I for one cannot wait to hear it.

Gotta run--they don't hold trains for anyone, not even people with books out today. I hope you enjoy Shade! Woo-hoo! Bye!

Labels: reviews, SHADE series

• posted by Jeri @ 8:46 AM
• 6 comments