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Hi Everyone,
As Esther mentioned on Wednesday, this week we're participating in Random Acts of Publicity 2012. Unlike Esther, who introduced you to some new books, I want to remind you about three books published earlier this year that we've already mentioned here but that you may not have gotten around to reading yet. 

Back in May, I celebrated the release of my good friend Karen Schreck's new book, While He Was Away (Sourcebooks Fire), with a guest TeachingAuthor interview. I have to confess--I'd read Karen's manuscript quite some time ago, but I didn't have a chance to read the final book until just last week. While I loved the original story, I think the revisions brought more depth to both the characters and the plot. Even though I knew how the story would turn out, it still brought tears to my eyes. Well done, Karen!

If you missed my interview with Karen, here's her summary of the book's plot:

While He Was Away (Sourcebooks Fire), is about an eighteen-year old girl, Penna Weaver, whose boyfriend, David O’Dell, is deployed to Iraq. Penna and David are deeply in love, and commit to be true to each other while he’s away, but Penna quickly realizes that the realities of David’s situation will make this more challenging than either of them expected.  Lonely and isolated, it seems Penna’s world is falling apart, until she works to solve a family mystery, hidden for half a century, about love in wartime, and ultimately learns some powerful truths about love and forgiveness.

Karen recently posted on her blog that the book has already gone into a second printing. I encourage you to read Karen's book if you haven't already so you can understand why.  
Another book I'd like to recommend that I've just recently read myself is the latest release of my fellow TeachingAuthor, Mary Ann Rodman. Her picture book, The Roller Coaster Kid (Viking) came out in July and received some lovely reviews. No surprise if you've read the book, which does a wonderful job of weaving together several different themes. As Mary Ann said in her three-part series celebrating the book's release :

The heart of The Roller Coaster Kid is learning to face fear, whether it is of riding a roller coaster, or of the death of a loved one.

If you know any young readers who have lost a grandparent, you may want to consider sharing Mary Ann's book with them. 

And finally, just last week I posted a guest TeachingAuthor Interview with poet, author, teacher, and now editor, Heidi Bee Roemer to celebrate the release of the anthology she co-edited with Carol-Ann Hoyte: And the Crowd Goes Wild! A Global Gathering of Sports Poems (FriesenPress). I'm proud to have one of my poems included in this terrific anthology, and to know that a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Right to Play, an international organization that uses sports and games to educate and empower children facing adversity. We're currently running a giveaway where one lucky TeachingAuthors follower can win an autographed copy. See my interview post to enter. Or, if you can't wait, the book is now available for purchase as either an e-book or paperback directly from FriesenPress. And if you have time, I hope you'll visit us at one of the upcoming launch events:

U.S. LAUNCHES
Wednesday, September 26 at 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Mokena Library
11327 W. 195th Street
Mokena, Illinois 60448

Tuesday, October 16 at 7 p.m.
Anderson’s Bookshop
123 W. Jefferson Ave.
Naperville, IL  60540

Saturday, November 3 at 1 p.m. 
The Arlington Heights Library
500 N Dunton Ave.
Arlington Heights, IL

Saturday, November 17 at 1 p.m. 
The Magic Tree Book Store
141 N. Oak Park Ave.
Oak Park IL, 60301

CANADIAN LAUNCHES
Saturday, October 13 at 2 p.m.
Sunnyside Branch -- Ottawa Public Library
1049 Bank Street, Ottawa

Friday, November 9 at 5:30 p.m
Northern District Branch -- Toronto Public Library
40 Orchard View Blvd., Toronto
(just north of Yonge and Eglinton)


Finally, if you'd like to celebrate any 2012 books that may not have received as much attention as they deserved, please share their titles in the comments. And after you're done entering our giveaway, head on over to Write. Sketch. Repeat. to celebrate Poetry Friday!

Happy reading AND writing!
Carmela

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