Feature Book of the Week : Torn Away by Jennifer Brown

FEATURE BOOK OF THE WEEK

TORN AWAY

by

Jennifer Brown

Jersey Cameron has always loved a good storm. Watching the clouds roll in and the wind pick up. Smelling the electricity in the air. Dancing barefoot in the rain. She lives in the Midwest, after all, where the weather is sure to keep you guessing. Jersey knows what to do when the tornado sirens sound. But she never could have prepared for this.

When her town is devastated by a tornado, Jersey loses everything. As she struggles to overcome her grief, she's sent to live with relatives she hardly knows -- family who might as well be strangers. In an unfamiliar place, can Jersey discover that even on the darkest of days, there are some things no tornado can destroy?

In this powerful and poignant novel, acclaimed author Jennifer Brown delivers a story of love, loss, hope, and survival.

Author Post

Sometimes I like to say that being a writer isn’t about “coming up with story ideas” as much as it is paying attention to the ideas that are already all around you. Story ideas are in the news, they’re hidden in a Facebook post or frozen inside an Instagram photo. They’re in overheard conversations. They’re in weird and unpredictable situations. They’re in epic fails and epic triumphs. They’re in your history. Sometimes they’re just in your heart.

Torn Away was one of those in-my-heart stories.

Some books do take a little bit of coaxing to come out, blinking and timid, into the real world. You might find yourself trying to write to an expectation, or to an obligation, or to a proposal that felt a lot more seamless in synopsis than in actual book. In those cases, it really can feel like you’re “coming up with ideas.”

But other books just seem to be there, waiting at the tips of your fingers, pushing and nudging to be let out. They’re filled with characters who talk to you in your quiet moments. They’re the ones that seem to magically come together. They’re the ones whose characters seem to have the perfect voices for what you have to say.

Torn Away wasn’t just a tornado book for me. I mean, it was, and the tornado was a huge part of what happened to Jersey. Tornadoes are scary and existent in our area, and I chose a tornado because the “what if” of their devastation is a real and present worry in our lives. But the story could have as easily been about an earthquake or a car accident or a building collapse or a cancer or…any sort of tragedy, large or small. It was Jersey that was important to me.

Jersey was stripped of everything she loved, everything central to her, everything that made her feel safe and secure. She was forced to face a new life, alone, and tap into reserves of strength she didn’t even know she had. She had to be not just resilient, but capital-R Resilient. Actually, all caps RESILIENT.

Sometimes, and at any time, we can all find ourselves tapping into that all caps RESILIENCE inside of us. We don’t need to experience loss at the same level that Jersey did to lose everything—or even just what feels like everything—important, loved, and safe in our lives. Jersey might look at our problems and think, Is that it? But more likely, she would put her hand on our backs and say, You’ve got this.

Because you do, and if there was one thing I wanted Jersey’s story to say to you, it’s just that. Regardless of what your tornado looks like, you’ve all caps GOT THIS. I know this, because the story was in my heart from the very beginning.

About the Author

Jennifer Brown is the author of acclaimed young adult novels, Hate List, Bitter End, Perfect Escape, Thousand Words, and Torn Away. Her debut novel, Hate List, received three starred reviews and was selected as an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, a VOYA "Perfect Ten," and a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year. Bitter End received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and VOYA and is listed on the YALSA 2012 Best Fiction for Young Adults list.
Jennifer's debut middle grade novel, Life on Mars, was released in 2014, and her second middle grade novel, How Lunchbox Jones Saved Me from Robots, Traitors, and Missy the Cruel will be released in summer 2015. 

Jennifer writes and lives in the Kansas City, Missouri area, with her husband and three children.

Feature Book of the Week: SYLO by D. J. MacHale

FEATURE BOOK OF THE WEEK

SYLO

BY 

D. J. MACHALE

High-school freshman Tucker Pierce lives on isolated Pemberwick Island, just off the coast of Maine. He has the requisite wiseacre best friend, Quinn, and is crushing on two unobtainable girls, Tori and Olivia. But when a series of sudden and mysterious deaths, including one of Tucker’s classmates, throws everything he knows into turmoil, it leaves him with no idea where to turn or who to trust. Tucker’s conversational, first-person point-of-view draws the reader in as SYLO, a military operation endorsed by the president, takes over the island. It quickly becomes apparent that SYLO forces will stop at nothing to see that everyone stays put. But then Tucker witnesses several cold-blooded killings, and he and his friends are determined to escape to the mainland. Once there, they find more questions than answers, and the story ends with a wide-open cliff-hanger and no resolution whatsoever. With this extremely high-octane story that’s the equivalent to a summer movie blockbuster (enough explosions and firepower to put Michael Bay to shame), MacHale kicks off an apocalyptic trilogy sure to leave readers demanding the next installment.

AUTHOR POST

When I was young (er), we didn’t have the same wealth of wonderful novel-length fiction written for us the way young readers do today.  Yes there was some.  Narnia comes to mind.  Lord of the Rings, too.  Going back further there was The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew.  Or you could go WAY back to find Tom Swift.  Still, hefty fiction for young readers was few and far between.  Today, young readers have far more to choose from.  Thanks mostly to Harry Potter. 

My standard joke is that when I was a kid, since there wasn’t much to choose from, my taste in reading went from Dr. Seuss…straight to Dr. No. (James Bond).  My two favorite authors were Ian Fleming, who wrote the James Bond novels; and Alistair McLean, who wrote adventure novels.  Fleming’s novels were usually about some ingenious bad-guy who hatches an incredibly complicated and clever evil plot.  It was up to the good guy (James Bond) to solve the mystery and stop him.  The McLean novels, on the other hand, were usually about a team of people who were thrust together to go on a dangerous mission.  His stories were as much about the character conflicts between the team members as they were about the missions themselves.  I read all of their books, and still have some in my library today.

The SYLO Chronicles (starting with the first book, SYLO) is my attempt to write one of these stories.  What I did was combine some of the best story elements that were frequently used by my two favorite authors.  In SYLO you will read about a mysterious plot being carried about by ingenious bad guys…much like a Fleming novel.  The trick with SYLO is to figure out who the bad guys really are!  It’s up to the good guys to figure out what this plot is, and hopefully stop it.  You’ll also have the added challenge of trying to figure out who the good guys are too!  In classic Alistair McLean fashion, a team is assembled, or in this case thrown together, and the question becomes whether or not they’ll be able to solve the mystery without killing each other first.

My hope is that readers will get the same kind of enjoyment from The SYLO Chronicles as I did from reading books like Moonraker and Where Eagles Dare.  That’s a tall order, but it’s a mission I have chosen to accept.  Hopefully I will survive. 

Let the Book Battle begin!

D.J. MacHale

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

D.J. MacHale is a writer, director, executive producer and creator of several popular television series and movies.  As an author, his ten-volume book series:  PENDRAGON: JOURNAL OF AN ADVENTURE THROUGH TIME AND SPACE became a New York Times #1 bestseller.

He was raised in Greenwich, CT and graduated from Greenwich High School. While in school, he had several jobs including collecting eggs at a poultry farm, engraving trophies and washing dishes in a steakhouse…in between playing football and running track. D.J. attended New York University where he received a BFA in film production.

His filmmaking career began in New York where he worked as a freelance writer/director making corporate videos and television commercials. He also taught photography and film production.

D.J. broke into the entertainment business by writing several ABC AFTERSCHOOL SPECIALS. As co-creator of the popular Nickelodeon series: ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?, he produced all 91 episodes over 8 years.  D.J. also wrote and directed the movie TOWER OF TERROR for ABC’s WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY which starred Kirsten Dunst and Steve Guttenberg. The Showtime series CHRIS CROSS was co-created, written and produced by D.J. It received the CableAce award for Best Youth Series.

D.J. co-created and produced the Discovery Kids/NBC television series FLIGHT 29 DOWN.  He wrote every episode and directed several. His work on FLIGHT 29 DOWN earned him the Writers Guild of America award for Outstanding Children’s Script and a Directors Guild of America award nomination.

Other notable writing credits include the ABC AFTERSCHOOL SPECIAL titled SEASONAL DIFFERENCES; the pilot for the long-running PBS/CBS series GHOSTWRITER; and the HBO series ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN, BOY DETECTIVE for which he received a CableAce nomination for writing.

Also in print, D.J. co-wrote the book THE TALE OF THE NIGHTLY NEIGHBORS, based on his own teleplay and penned the poetic adaptation of the classic Norwegian folk tale EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON.  His most recently completed work is the spooky MORPHEUS ROAD trilogy; and a whimsical picture book THE MONSTER PRINCESS.

SYLO is D.J.’s third middle grade/YA book series. It too will be a trilogy.

D.J. lives in Southern California with his wife Evangeline and daughter Keaton. They are avid backpackers, scuba divers and skiers. Rounding out the household are two elderly goldfish, a spoiled golden retriever named Casey and a Kitten, Kaboodle. 

To learn more about D.J. MacHale's books visit his website.

D.J. MacHale is a writer, director, executive producer and creator of several popular television series and movies.  As an author, his ten-volume book series:  PENDRAGON: JOURNAL OF AN ADVENTURE THROUGH TIME AND SPACE became a New York Times #1 bestseller.
He was raised in Greenwich, CT and graduated from Greenwich High School. While in school, he had several jobs including collecting eggs at a poultry farm, engraving trophies and washing dishes in a steakhouse…in between playing football and running track. D.J. attended New York University where he received a BFA in film production.
His filmmaking career began in New York where he worked as a freelance writer/director making corporate videos and television commercials. He also taught photography and film production.
D.J. broke into the entertainment business by writing several ABC AFTERSCHOOL SPECIALS. As co-creator of the popular Nickelodeon series: ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?, he produced all 91 episodes over 8 years.  D.J. also wrote and directed the movie TOWER OF TERROR for ABC’s WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY which starred Kirsten Dunst and Steve Guttenberg. The Showtime series CHRIS CROSS was co-created, written and produced by D.J. It received the CableAce award for Best Youth Series.
D.J. co-created and produced the Discovery Kids/NBC television series FLIGHT 29 DOWN.  He wrote every episode and directed several. His work on FLIGHT 29 DOWN earned him the Writers Guild of America award for Outstanding Children’s Script and a Directors Guild of America award nomination.
Other notable writing credits include the ABC AFTERSCHOOL SPECIAL titled SEASONAL DIFFERENCES; the pilot for the long-running PBS/CBS series GHOSTWRITER; and the HBO series ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN, BOY DETECTIVE for which he received a CableAce nomination for writing.
Also in print, D.J. co-wrote the book THE TALE OF THE NIGHTLY NEIGHBORS, based on his own teleplay and penned the poetic adaptation of the classic Norwegian folk tale EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON.  His most recently completed work is the spooky MORPHEUS ROAD trilogy; and a whimsical picture book THE MONSTER PRINCESS.
SYLO is D.J.’s third middle grade/YA book series. It too will be a trilogy.
D.J. lives in Southern California with his wife Evangeline and daughter Keaton. They are avid backpackers, scuba divers and skiers. Rounding out the household are two elderly goldfish, a spoiled golden retriever named Casey and a Kitten, Kaboodle.
- See more at: http://djmachalebooks.com/the-author/#sthash.5uinGEvj.dpuf

D.J. MacHale is a writer, director, executive producer and creator of several popular television series and movies.  As an author, his ten-volume book series:  PENDRAGON: JOURNAL OF AN ADVENTURE THROUGH TIME AND SPACE became a New York Times #1 bestseller.
He was raised in Greenwich, CT and graduated from Greenwich High School. While in school, he had several jobs including collecting eggs at a poultry farm, engraving trophies and washing dishes in a steakhouse…in between playing football and running track. D.J. attended New York University where he received a BFA in film production.
His filmmaking career began in New York where he worked as a freelance writer/director making corporate videos and television commercials. He also taught photography and film production.
D.J. broke into the entertainment business by writing several ABC AFTERSCHOOL SPECIALS. As co-creator of the popular Nickelodeon series: ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?, he produced all 91 episodes over 8 years.  D.J. also wrote and directed the movie TOWER OF TERROR for ABC’s WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY which starred Kirsten Dunst and Steve Guttenberg. The Showtime series CHRIS CROSS was co-created, written and produced by D.J. It received the CableAce award for Best Youth Series.
D.J. co-created and produced the Discovery Kids/NBC television series FLIGHT 29 DOWN.  He wrote every episode and directed several. His work on FLIGHT 29 DOWN earned him the Writers Guild of America award for Outstanding Children’s Script and a Directors Guild of America award nomination.
Other notable writing credits include the ABC AFTERSCHOOL SPECIAL titled SEASONAL DIFFERENCES; the pilot for the long-running PBS/CBS series GHOSTWRITER; and the HBO series ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN, BOY DETECTIVE for which he received a CableAce nomination for writing.
Also in print, D.J. co-wrote the book THE TALE OF THE NIGHTLY NEIGHBORS, based on his own teleplay and penned the poetic adaptation of the classic Norwegian folk tale EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON.  His most recently completed work is the spooky MORPHEUS ROAD trilogy; and a whimsical picture book THE MONSTER PRINCESS.
SYLO is D.J.’s third middle grade/YA book series. It too will be a trilogy.
D.J. lives in Southern California with his wife Evangeline and daughter Keaton. They are avid backpackers, scuba divers and skiers. Rounding out the household are two elderly goldfish, a spoiled golden retriever named Casey and a Kitten, Kaboodle.
- See more at: http://djmachalebooks.com/the-author/#sthash.5uinGEvj.dpuf

D.J. MacHale is a writer, director, executive producer and creator of several popular television series and movies.  As an author, his ten-volume book series:  PENDRAGON: JOURNAL OF AN ADVENTURE THROUGH TIME AND SPACE became a New York Times #1 bestseller.
He was raised in Greenwich, CT and graduated from Greenwich High School. While in school, he had several jobs including collecting eggs at a poultry farm, engraving trophies and washing dishes in a steakhouse…in between playing football and running track. D.J. attended New York University where he received a BFA in film production.
His filmmaking career began in New York where he worked as a freelance writer/director making corporate videos and television commercials. He also taught photography and film production.
D.J. broke into the entertainment business by writing several ABC AFTERSCHOOL SPECIALS. As co-creator of the popular Nickelodeon series: ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?, he produced all 91 episodes over 8 years.  D.J. also wrote and directed the movie TOWER OF TERROR for ABC’s WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY which starred Kirsten Dunst and Steve Guttenberg. The Showtime series CHRIS CROSS was co-created, written and produced by D.J. It received the CableAce award for Best Youth Series.
D.J. co-created and produced the Discovery Kids/NBC television series FLIGHT 29 DOWN.  He wrote every episode and directed several. His work on FLIGHT 29 DOWN earned him the Writers Guild of America award for Outstanding Children’s Script and a Directors Guild of America award nomination.
Other notable writing credits include the ABC AFTERSCHOOL SPECIAL titled SEASONAL DIFFERENCES; the pilot for the long-running PBS/CBS series GHOSTWRITER; and the HBO series ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN, BOY DETECTIVE for which he received a CableAce nomination for writing.
Also in print, D.J. co-wrote the book THE TALE OF THE NIGHTLY NEIGHBORS, based on his own teleplay and penned the poetic adaptation of the classic Norwegian folk tale EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON.  His most recently completed work is the spooky MORPHEUS ROAD trilogy; and a whimsical picture book THE MONSTER PRINCESS.
SYLO is D.J.’s third middle grade/YA book series. It too will be a trilogy.
D.J. lives in Southern California with his wife Evangeline and daughter Keaton. They are avid backpackers, scuba divers and skiers. Rounding out the household are two elderly goldfish, a spoiled golden retriever named Casey and a Kitten, Kaboodle.
- See more at: http://djmachalebooks.com/the-author/#sthash.5uinGEvj.dpuf

D.J. MacHale is a writer, director, executive producer and creator of several popular television series and movies.  As an author, his ten-volume book series:  PENDRAGON: JOURNAL OF AN ADVENTURE THROUGH TIME AND SPACE became a New York Times #1 bestseller.
He was raised in Greenwich, CT and graduated from Greenwich High School. While in school, he had several jobs including collecting eggs at a poultry farm, engraving trophies and washing dishes in a steakhouse…in between playing football and running track. D.J. attended New York University where he received a BFA in film production.
His filmmaking career began in New York where he worked as a freelance writer/director making corporate videos and television commercials. He also taught photography and film production.
D.J. broke into the entertainment business by writing several ABC AFTERSCHOOL SPECIALS. As co-creator of the popular Nickelodeon series: ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?, he produced all 91 episodes over 8 years.  D.J. also wrote and directed the movie TOWER OF TERROR for ABC’s WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY which starred Kirsten Dunst and Steve Guttenberg. The Showtime series CHRIS CROSS was co-created, written and produced by D.J. It received the CableAce award for Best Youth Series.
D.J. co-created and produced the Discovery Kids/NBC television series FLIGHT 29 DOWN.  He wrote every episode and directed several. His work on FLIGHT 29 DOWN earned him the Writers Guild of America award for Outstanding Children’s Script and a Directors Guild of America award nomination.
Other notable writing credits include the ABC AFTERSCHOOL SPECIAL titled SEASONAL DIFFERENCES; the pilot for the long-running PBS/CBS series GHOSTWRITER; and the HBO series ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN, BOY DETECTIVE for which he received a CableAce nomination for writing.
Also in print, D.J. co-wrote the book THE TALE OF THE NIGHTLY NEIGHBORS, based on his own teleplay and penned the poetic adaptation of the classic Norwegian folk tale EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON.  His most recently completed work is the spooky MORPHEUS ROAD trilogy; and a whimsical picture book THE MONSTER PRINCESS.
SYLO is D.J.’s third middle grade/YA book series. It too will be a trilogy.
D.J. lives in Southern California with his wife Evangeline and daughter Keaton. They are avid backpackers, scuba divers and skiers. Rounding out the household are two elderly goldfish, a spoiled golden retriever named Casey and a Kitten, Kaboodle.
- See more at: http://djmachalebooks.com/the-author/#sthash.5uinGEvj.dpuf