#readbythesea2018

Would you rather wake up and be 45 with $50 million dollars OR wake up and be 12 with all the knowledge you have today??? 📚 I’m going with the money people. No way repeating high school is worth more than $50 million 😂 although, being young does increase my chances of science helping me attain immortality...... but, to be honest, so does excessive amounts of money. So, that’s my final answer! 📚 The last book from @booksparks #readbythesea2018 #yasummerreads is this gorgeous book #schooltales 📚 a deep look at what high school reform could look like, this contemporary novel seems profound and engaging! Synopsis below 👇🏻 📚 Contemporary legend says the business of high school is boring and must forever be that way―that its sole purpose is to deposit tidbits of knowledge into young minds and standardize the way each attacks the world. School Tales begs to differ. As is made clear by its five spunky student narrators, high school, the home-base social institution for teenagers, exerts powerful agency over answers to fundamental questions―Who am I? What do I want to learn? Am I able to direct my life? Can I trust friends to be there for me? How do I find a sense of purpose in contributing to our world?―and is a time of struggle with life’s questions amidst intense pressure to make decisions by graduation and launch into adulthood. Students in School Tales, living in a small town of the southern Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, encounter a number of personal and public issues including racism, anxiety, shame, a cross-country move, gender identity, immigration, family instability, depression, lack of self-direction, abuse, and law enforcement. The lessons they learn in school include the meanings of freedom, success, friendship, exploration, inquiry, confidence, false either/or choices, and dreaming. As these students take charge of their learning, the true goal of high school emerges―and the result is a truly heart-warming view of students building what they would call “a life worth living.” https://www.instagram.com/p/BnHFDupl__x/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1jaclhu7bncvg

If you could transform into an animal, what would you choose??? 🦅 If mythical creatures are off the table, I’d probably have to go with a bird. The temptation to fly is just too great! 🦅 As August dwindles away, so does the #tbr for @booksparks #readbythesea2018 #yasummerreads challenge. The second to last book is #theleavingyear by #pammcgaffin 📚 the cover is stunning and I have heard nothing but fabulous things about it!!! Synopsis below 👇🏻 🦅 As the Summer of Love comes to an end, 15-year-old Ida Petrovich waits for a father who never comes home. While commercial fishing in Alaska, he is lost at sea, but with no body and no wreckage, Ida and her mother are forced to accept a “presumed” death that tests their already strained relationship. While still in shock over the loss of her father, Ida overhears an adult conversation that shatters everything she thought she knew about him. This prompts her to set out on a search for the truth that takes her from her Washington State hometown to Southeast Alaska, where she works at a salmon cannery, develops love for a Filipino classmate, and befriends a Native Alaskan girl. In this wild, rugged place, she also begins to understand the physical and emotional bonds that took her father north and why he kept them secret―a journey of discovery that ultimately brings her family together and helps them heal. Insightful and heartfelt, The Leaving Year is a tale of love and loyalty, family and friendship, and the stories we tell ourselves in our search for meaning. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm8yUWKlLL_/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=15i42dsogrlw8

Favorite villain retelling??? 🐚 There is seriously nothing I love more than when authors make me love the villain. How do you take the cruelty, the evilness, the wicked nature of a villain and make them sympathetic??? I live for this type of novel!!! They are hands down my favorites. That moment, that defining moment where we see a character transforming into the villain as we know them is so satisfying to me. Probably because I don’t like flat or cliche villains. I like them complicated, and even sympathetic. I want to feel bad for the bad guys. Or at least understand what makes them bad. What can I say? Tragedy gets me every single time, and there is NOTHING more tragic than someone turning to the dark side. Just ask Anakin. 🐚 I was so beyond stoked when I saw that @booksparks was including #seawitch by @shhenning @epicreads in their #readbythesea2018 #yasummerreads 🙌🏻 and let me tell you, guys, this book is SO GOOD!!!!! It has everything EVERYTHING I love in a villain story. It’s so good I forget this was a villain story and when the book hit a certain twist, I was so swept into the story it hurt!!! No one is who they seem and the skill that Henning weaves tiny details into her story lines is remarkable!!! If you love dark, and tragic, and a story so haunting you’ll want to wrap yourself in the black tentacles of magic, grab this book!!! https://www.instagram.com/p/BmyesQGlSXI/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=y5gr50s33m1c

Which fictional pirate crew would you join??? ⚔️ I know, I know. I’m predictable. Not only did I ask about pirates (again) but I’m going to choose a stunningly obvious answer (again). In my defense, the heart wants what the heart wants, and if being part of Captain Jack Sparrow means endless stabnanigans and endless hours on the Sea with Will Turner, well 🤷🏼‍♀️ I think the choice is clear 😂 besides, at least I know we’ll always place a priority on rum! ⚔️ Have you guys read #theserebelwaves yet??? I may or may not have screamed out loud when I opened this surprise #bookmail from @booksparks @epicreads 🖤 they added this gorgeous beauty to their #yasummerreads #readbythesea2018 lineup and I immediately devoured the entire thing!!! @sara_raasch tore out my heart with that ending and I’m fairly certain she’s now keeping it locked in a box and given it to Davy Jones 🤔 oh well. I suppose it’s the price we #booknerds pay. If you love pirates, and strong female characters, magic, treachery, and twists you WILL NEVER SEE COMING..... then grab this book IMMEDIATELY!!! Don’t even stop to grab the rum!!! https://www.instagram.com/p/BmoM30slMdH/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=8bjjyk3woyqe

“When a jazz nerd falls into the EDM scene, her world is turned upside down....” 🎧 🎶 🎧 Next up on @booksparks #readbythesea2018 #yasummerreads is #whenthebeatdrops by @heckerbooks and man does this sound fantastic!!! 🎧 🎶 🎧 Seventeen-year-old trumpet prodigy Mira was a girl with a plan: spend her summer focused on jazz and nothing else. But when she attends a warehouse party in an attempt to bond with her older sister, the last thing she expected was to fall in love with dance music—or to have it tear her life apart. 🎧 🎶 🎧 Since I don’t have any cool records or fancy headphones (I’m looking at you @hollyslittlebookreviews and @jennsbookvibes) I decided to take my party to the beach! It is the read by the sea challenge after all 😂 plus, get it? Bongos?! Beats?! Come on, I can’t be the only one laughing!!! Alright fine, my #booknerd is showing. But still. I’m quite pleased with myself and that’s really what matters, right?! 🎧 🎶 🎧 Since this book is all about the unexpected, what band or song came out of nowhere that made you fall in love with it???

When you can’t go to the beach, @booksparks sends you the beach in a box! Or, something close enough! 🌊 🐚 🌊 I got up today ready to tackle the world! And then got slammed down with a migraine. Luckily, I was able to take some meds and rest, so the worst of it is fading. Now I’m ready for a bath and a book! #whoareyoutrudyherman is the first book in #booksparks #readbythesea2018 YA summer reading challenge and as their slogan says, #shellyeah I’m excited! 🌊 🐚 🌊 And, if you saw my stories, you know that it’s Tuesday! Which means another super fun edition of #tuesdayswithjena is live and kicking on my blog today, link in my bio! I’m talking all things wee dragons and hedgies with @readtolivetowrite and, believe me, you do not want to miss this!!! Did I mention her hedgehog 🦔😍🦔 come for the cuteness, stay for her flash fiction! 🌊 🐚 🌊 Do you love going to the beach or lounging near a pool? What’s your favorite summer time way to cool off and relax???