The Big Love Letter Event: Emery Lord

It's the last week of The Big Love Letter Event! *sobs* Fear not though, I'm wrapping things up in epic fashion today with a little something special from Emery Lord. I devoured Emery's debut novel Open Road Summer last year and then pounced on her upcoming release, The Start of Me and You (releases March 31st!) with an embarrassing level of enthusiasm when it became available for review. It's safe to say I'm a fan of her storytelling. The Start of Me and You absolutely blew me away, cementing the fact that I will forever read anything and everything Emery decides to write. Even if she decides to do a retelling of Crime and Punishment (that book scarred me for life in high school, my friends. It was so long. With so many Russian names. And it resulted in my one and only F on a test. It haunts me still ;-)

But I digress. All you really need to know is Emery's characters are utterly genuine and a joy to read about, and I can't recommend her enough if you've yet to give her a try! She's here today to share a letter to all the kids out there (and those of us who are still kids at heart) who love to read:

To the kids who always have books stashed in their backpack,
stacked on their nightstands, piled high at library checkout-
To the kids whose characters are dear friends, kids who
would rather be in Narnia than at a sleepover-
To the kids who feel things more deeply than other kids seem to,
I want to tell you: you will find your people.

They may not be in your third-grade classroom, but someday
I promise, you will find us. We reread Harry Pottery every
few autumns, we broke into the Met with Claudia Kincaid,
we traveled by tesseract with Meg Murry and mixed up
raspberry cordial and currant wine with Anne Shirley.
Perhaps you'll be at the library or online or in college and you'll
grumble about homework like "I'd rather dig holes with Stanley Yelnats IV,"
and we'll snort with bits of laughter and you'll realize:
Other people speak the language that you thought you invented,
the language you thought only you could speak.
It will be like Jonas seeing color for the first time. (We loved that one too.)

So hang on, little reader, if you feel you don't belong.
When all the other lights in the neighborhood turn off,
your bedroom light remains aglow as you sneak one more chapter.
If only you could see what the moon sees from the heavens:
the late-night lights of little readers everywhere, glimmering around the world.
And you belong with us- the readers, the feel-too-much, made-up-land dwellers.
Our lights are still on too. You just can't see them yet.

Love,
Emery, whose light was on till 2AM last night. Oops!

*Jenny dies*

If that isn't the perfect ending to this event, I don't know what is. Thank you Emery, for so eloquently summing up what it is to love books and to take comfort in the stories that may only exist in black ink on white pages, but that sometimes feel even more real and vibrant than the world around us.

Book people are my people, and I couldn't be more grateful for all of you!
 

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OPEN ROAD SUMMER

After breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, Reagan O’Neill is ready to leave her rebellious ways behind. . . and her best friend, country superstar Lilah Montgomery, is nursing a broken heart of her own. Fortunately, Lilah’s 24-city tour is about to kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up ballads and healing hearts. 

But when Matt Finch joins the tour as its opening act, his boy-next-door charm proves difficult for Reagan to resist, despite her vow to live a drama-free existence. This summer, Reagan and Lilah will navigate the ups and downs of fame and friendship as they come to see that giving your heart to the right person is always a risk worth taking.

Amazon • B&N • Goodreads

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THE START OF ME AND YOU
(releases March 31st from Bloomsbury)

Brimming with heartfelt relationships and authentic high-school dynamics The Start of Me and You proves that it’s never too late for second chances.

It’s been a year since it happened—when Paige Hancock’s first boyfriend died in an accident. After shutting out the world for two years, Paige is finally ready for a second chance at high school . . . and she has a plan. First: Get her old crush, Ryan Chase, to date her—the perfect way to convince everyone she’s back to normal. Next: Join a club—simple, it’s high school after all. But when Ryan’s sweet, nerdy cousin, Max, moves to town and recruits Paige for the Quiz Bowl team (of all things!) her perfect plan is thrown for a serious loop. Will Paige be able to face her fears and finally open herself up to the life she was meant to live?

Amazon • B&N • Goodreads

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EMERY LORD

Emery Lord is a 20-something Midwestern girl who writes stories about high school and best friends and weird families and the crushes that make you feel combustibly alive and also more awkward than you thought was possible. If you're not sure how to pronounce Emery, try slurring the name "Emily," and that will get you really close.

She lives in Cincinnati in a 100 year-old pink row house with her BFF/husband, a closet full of dresses, and lots of books. If karaoke-ing in grocery store aisles or guzzling coffee while impulse shopping were illegal, Emery would be writing her overemotional YA books from jail. Also, she makes up words sometimes. Like combustibly.

Open Road Summer, her first YA novel, is out now with Bloomsbury. Her second, The Start of Me & You, will be released March 31, 2015.

Website • Twitter • Tumblr

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GIVEAWAY

Danny and I have (what we think) is a pretty fabulous giveaway that will run for the entirety of this event with 5 winners in total when all is said and done:

• Winners 1-4: Each will get a book of your choice from one of the participating authors. (Open internationally as long as Book Depository ships to you! )
• Winner 5  : Hardcover copy of LAILAH by Nikki Kelley plus some awesomely cute swag (international ). Prize is provided by author - thank you so much!
  

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Don't forget to check back both here and at Bewitched Bookworms every Friday in February for more letters and a whole lot more love from these fantastic authors:

• Kristen Simmons (The Glass Arrow)
• Mindee Arnett (Polaris, The Nightmare Dilemma)
• Melissa Landers (Invaded)
• Sara Raasch (Snow Like Ashes)
• Emery Lord (The Start of Me and You)
• Liza Palmer (Girl Before a Mirror)
• Anna Banks (Joyride)
• Heather Demetrios (I'll Meet You There)
• Nikki Kelly (The Styclar Saga)
• Paula Stokes (Liars, Inc.)
• & More!