Nothing is as it seems in this chilling, twisting tale by bestselling author Andrea Portes, perfect for fans of Madeleine Roux and Danielle Vega.Rife with dark humor and chilling twists, This Is Not a Ghost Story is American Horror Story meets There’s Someone Inside Your House. It will have readers flipping back to the very first page after the shocking finale. I am not welcome. Somehow I know that. Something doesn’t want me here. Daffodil Franklin has plans for a quiet summer before her freshman year at college, and luckily, she’s found the job that can give her just that: housesitting a mansion for a wealthy couple. But as the summer progresses and shadows lengthen, Daffodil comes to realize the house is more than it appears. The spacious home seems to close in on her, and as she takes the long road into town, she feels eyes on her the entire way, and something tugging her back. What Daffodil doesn’t yet realize is that her job comes with a steep price. The house has a long-ago grudge it needs to settle . . . and Daffodil is the key to settling it.
CONTRIBUTORS: Andrea PortesEAN: 9780062422453COUNTRY: United StatesPAGES: WEIGHT: 231 gHEIGHT: 203 cm
PUBLISHED BY: HarperCollins Publishers IncDATE PUBLISHED: CITY: GENRE: YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Ghost Stories, YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Horror, YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Paranormal, Occult & SupernaturalWIDTH: 135 cmSPINE:
Book Themes:
Children’s / Teenage fiction: Horror and ghost stories, chillers, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Fantasy, Children’s / Teenage general interest: Mysteries and the unexplained
“[Portes] tempers gruesome scenes with Daffodil’s likable and chatty personality, and creates a memorable novel reminiscent of John Bellairs stories.” — Publishers Weekly
“The chills here are on par with The Shining. Readers [will] know to be very, very afraid.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“For all that the title claims, something spooky is happening in this house. This is a horror book that pokes fun at itself and the genre, managing to be both spooky and funny…[with] an interesting twist at the end.” — School Library Journal
Praise for ANATOMY OF A MISFIT: “It’s rare that a book can be as funny and absolutely delightful as it is moving and thought provoking, and Anatomy of a Misfit is both.” — Lauren Oliver, author of Before I Fall
"A self-deprecating and highly memorable heroine whose bawdy, laceratingly funny narration makes her instantly endearing while also revealing her flaws, uncertainties, and ethical quandaries." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A romance filled with seriously funny dark humor and tragedy.” — Kirkus Reviews
"Anika’s droll voice shines, and her emotions are palpable. After a heartbreaking tragedy, Anika’s ending . . . will leave readers cheering." — School Library Journal
"Fifteen-year-old Anika Dragomir throws her arms around us and draws us in from the very beginning… Droll, intimate, often laugh-out-loud funny narration carries the reader through more than 300 pages... Anika’s winning voice may just be the star of Portes’s first young adult novel." — New York Times Book Review
"Anika Dragomir is the funniest, snarkiest, most insightful misfit a reader could ever hope to meet. I laughed my way through Anatomy of a Misfit right up until the very end, when the book broke my heart into a million pieces. This is a beautiful, brave and powerful novel." — Melissa Kantor, author of Maybe One Day and The Breakup Bible
PRAISE FOR ANDREA PORTES: < “Portes writes with such cool grace we almost forget to be astonished by her narrative’s complexity.”
— Matthew Specktor, American Dream Machine
"Portes’s short chapters and staccato narration make for a quick and compulsive read." — Publishers Weekly
"Andrea Portes writes with the tip of a knife, shape-shifting between characters and laying bare their darkest secrets." — Dylan Landis, Normal People Don't Live Like This
Andrea Portes is the bestselling novelist of two critically lauded adult novels, Hick, her debut, which was made into a feature film starring Chloë Grace Moretz, Alec Baldwin, Blake Lively, Eddie Redmayne, and Juliette Lewis, and Bury This. Her first novel for young adult readers, Anatomy of a Misfit, was called “perfection in book form” by Teen Vogue. Her other YA novels include The Fall of Butterflies and Liberty: The Spy Who (Kind of) Liked Me. Andrea Portes’s spooky, timeless middle grade debut is Henry & Eva and the Castle on the Cliff.Andrea grew up on the outskirts of Lincoln, Nebraska. Later, she attended Bryn Mawr College. Currently she lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Sandy Tolan, their son, Wyatt, and their dog, Rascal. You can visit her online at www.andreaportes.squarespace.com.
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Nothing is as it seems in this chilling, twisting tale by bestselling author Andrea Portes, perfect for fans of Madeleine Roux and Danielle Vega.Rife with dark humor and chilling twists, This Is Not a Ghost Story is American Horror Story meets There’s Someone Inside Your House. It will have readers flipping back to the very first page after the shocking finale. I am not welcome. Somehow I know that. Something doesn’t want me here. Daffodil Franklin has plans for a quiet summer before her freshman year at college, and luckily, she’s found the job that can give her just that: housesitting a mansion for a wealthy couple. But as the summer progresses and shadows lengthen, Daffodil comes to realize the house is more than it appears. The spacious home seems to close in on her, and as she takes the long road into town, she feels eyes on her the entire way, and something tugging her back. What Daffodil doesn’t yet realize is that her job comes with a steep price. The house has a long-ago grudge it needs to settle . . . and Daffodil is the key to settling it.
CONTRIBUTORS: Andrea PortesEAN: 9780062422453COUNTRY: United StatesPAGES: WEIGHT: 231 gHEIGHT: 203 cm
PUBLISHED BY: HarperCollins Publishers IncDATE PUBLISHED: CITY: GENRE: YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Ghost Stories, YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Horror, YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Paranormal, Occult & SupernaturalWIDTH: 135 cmSPINE:
Book Themes:
Children’s / Teenage fiction: Horror and ghost stories, chillers, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Fantasy, Children’s / Teenage general interest: Mysteries and the unexplained
Andrea Portes is the bestselling novelist of two critically lauded adult novels, Hick, her debut, which was made into a feature film starring Chloë Grace Moretz, Alec Baldwin, Blake Lively, Eddie Redmayne, and Juliette Lewis, and Bury This. Her first novel for young adult readers, Anatomy of a Misfit, was called “perfection in book form” by Teen Vogue. Her other YA novels include The Fall of Butterflies and Liberty: The Spy Who (Kind of) Liked Me. Andrea Portes’s spooky, timeless middle grade debut is Henry & Eva and the Castle on the Cliff.Andrea grew up on the outskirts of Lincoln, Nebraska. Later, she attended Bryn Mawr College. Currently she lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Sandy Tolan, their son, Wyatt, and their dog, Rascal. You can visit her online at www.andreaportes.squarespace.com.
An awesome read that whiled away a long airport layover
Recently I had a 10-hour layover at the Zürich airport. The wintery weather ruined my plans of a visit to the city. Thankfully, I had just bought Mervyn Nel's latest novel in South Africa. This page-turner (like his first novel "Theft from Delos") not only kept me occupied...it engrossed me up to the last surprise-filled chapter!
Although the story-line is quite different from his first novel (despite both revolving around daring heists), it shares the author's signature style of strongly appealing to both the intellect as well as the senses. It is evident that he does meticulous research on all of the settings in his books, so that were you to actually visit Venice (or Delos and the surrounding islands) you would most likely experience a strange sense of déjà vu!
The sensory nature of his books makes them feel/look/smell/sound more like vivid movies. I am convinced that both his books are begging to be turned into fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat motion pictures.
The characters in "The Priest and the Gondolier" leap from the pages of the novel. You definitely feel you want to avoid the "bad guys" in a dark alley! More importantly, the protagonists all have their own unique qualities and charms (my favourite is Chief Superintendent Gina Rossi) and deserve even more elaboration...I think the "The Priest and the Gondolier" most certainly deserves a sequel that will allow Gina Rossi and Harry Wilson (an Interpol art expert) to unravel and resolve a number of very promising sub-plots!
I have been struggling to find books that I enjoy for some time now, especially with fiction. I ordered Finding Endurance on whim, having seen many positive views on the Good Book Appreciation Society's Facebook page, but I thought it might be yet another book that I ditched 100 pages in/100 pages from the end because I really didn't care what happened to the characters. How wrong could I be? I've been obsessed with polar travel for years, but I knew that this book was not going to be another rehash of the amazing Shackleton and his achievements. Well, it blew my hair back, as they say in the classics. Darrel Bristow Bovey has created a masterpiece! It is funny, sad, mind-blowing and the best book I've read in years. It is certainly the best South African book in a VERY long time. I'm telling everyone to read it, as i think everyone will get something out of it. I'm dreading finishing it, and may have to just read it again immediately!