Interview with Hilary McKay

YOU GUYS! So, I don't do that many blog tours, because they can be work. But occasionally I do, usually for an author I'm already a huge fan of.

The good people at Albert Whitman approached me for this one and it said I could interview the author. I COULD INTERVIEW HILARY MCKAY. Fortunately, they asked over email, and not in person, so they didn't see my stunned stammering followed by my ecstatic happy dance.

Then it took me FOREVER to come up with questions, because all I really wanted to ask was "what's your secret to being totally awesome?" and "Is Saffy real, and if so, can I be her second-best friend (after Sarah)?"

Luckily (for you), I pulled it together. I reviewed McKay's latest, the Lulu books, yesterday.

Questions about Lulu:

Lulu is known for animals. At the beginning of Lulu and the Dog from the Sea, she has "two guinea pigs, four rabbits, one parrot, one hamster, a lot of goldfish, and a rather old dog named Sam." She's also not your only character to have a backyard menagerie (the Cassons, for instance). How many pets do you have? What animal have you always wanted as a pet, but are unable to have?

At the moment I have only one cat and a lot of goldfish. I am looking out for a puppy but it has to be the right one. In the past, especially when my children were younger, we have had rabbits (several) hamsters (three) guinea pigs (two) dogs (two) hedgehog (one) tortoise (one). As a child I longed for a donkey, but I have got over this now.

What is Lulu's dream pet? Where would Lulu's parents draw the line at what she could adopt, even if she did clean up after it?

Well, Lulu isn't silly! I think she would probably like all sorts of wild and interesting animals in her life, but perhaps not as pets. Maybe she will end up working in conservation. She is very interested in animal welfare.

I think her parents might draw the line at snakes. In a later book in the series a snake is mentioned and her mother is not enchanted.

In the illustrations, Lulu is a person of color, even though this is never mentioned in the text. How did you convey this factor to your editor and illustrator?

I said "Let's make Lulu black." And they said, "Yes okay." So we did.

Will we see more of Lulu?

I hope so! There are six books out here and I have two more to write.

Questions about your work in general:

You've written for a wide variety of ages, from picture books to YA. What's your favorite age-range to write for? How hard is it to switch between age-ranges?

My favourite age range is the 10+ books, when you can be a bit more self indulgent with jokes and descriptions and hope the reader hangs on with you. I think books for younger readers are much harder- you need an equally strong plot and characters, but you have fewer words to achieve your end. Illustrations help. Priscilla Lamont's Lulu illustrations have been a wonderful asset to the stories.

Which one of your characters is your favorite? Whose voice refuses to leave your head?

I don't have a favourite character- or at least not a perennial favourite. There are some that I have become very fond of. Lulu is one (and Mellie is another). I have a grumpy young lad in my latest book who has stolen my heart at the moment!

English-English and American-English are not the same, which can cause issues for Americans, especially new readers. The Lulu books have been 'translated' into American. How much of your work in general gets this treatment? How do you feel about it?

I should say that at least three quarters of my work eventually makes its way across the water. The translations are minimal, and I rarely find them difficult. We have a lot of American culture over here, don't forget; films and tv and music, perhaps more than goes back the other way, so the American editions feel quite familiar. (I wonder a lot more about the translations into languages I have no hope of reading! Chinese, Korean, Arabic- I look at the pretty writing and hope for the best!) Also, I was brought up on American children's literature- everything from Alcott onwards. Laura Ingalls, Eleanor Estes, LM Montgomery (okay, Canadian there), Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, and lots more. Ursula le Guin. So in some ways I feel quite at home.

How do I feel about it? Thrilled. Enchanted. Privileged.

Questions about you:

If you could go back and talk to yourself when you were Lulu's age, what would say?

Things were not good for various small reasons when I was Lulu's age. I would say, 'It'll be all right in the end.'

What are you currently reading?

Sara Wheeler The Magnetic North

What are you currently watching?

Grey light across the valley. I wish Spring would come!

What are you currently listening to?

Nothing. I can hear a blackbird singing, far away traffic, my daughters flute, and the washing machine.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Tomorrow, Hilary McKay will be at Bring on the Books. You can see her full tour schedule here. I especially want to highlight her excellent post about libraries that appeared earlier in the week on GreenBeanTeenQueen.

Want to win a signed copy of a Lulu book for your very own? (The answer is OF COURSE I DO, JENNIE!) Fill out the form below and I'll pick a winner next weekend!




Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

LAST CHANCE TO WIN!

Happy Birthday to me!
Happy Birthday to me!
Happy Birthday to me!

Birthdays are great but I haven't been totally excited about it this year. This blog giveaway is a way to build excitement for me. In real life I haven't been this OMG BIRTHDAY! about it. (Which is a bit weird, because I'm usually OMG SQUEE about anything that involves Fudgie the Whale. My going away party at my last job involved Fudgie for breakfast and may have therefore been one of the best days of my life.)

It's not that I'm dreading being a year older but, it's not a milestone year (it ends in a 2, not a 0 or 5) and there's so much else going on right now-- like my new job (which is awesome, but it's a huge [very positive] change in a lot of different ways) and the Kung Fu Princess is really keeping me on my toes lately-- she just gained a ton of new skills that allow her to create even more mischief and she's going to start walking any second now, and then the world is doomed (you may want to start boarding your windows now).

But, today's the day. I'm going to get my free yogurt from Red Mango and my present from Sephora. I'm going to get a pedicure. I'm going to chill at home and watch the opening ceremonies.



AND YOU ARE GOING TO WIN SOME BOOKS! You have until midnight (Eastern) tonight to through your name in the hat for two autographed copies of Tom Angleberger's Fake Mustache: Or, How Jodie O'Rodeo and Her Wonder Horse (and Some Nerdy Kid) Saved the U.S. Presidential Election from a Mad Genius Criminal Mastermind provided by the very awesome Spy Museum.

Winners will be drawn tomorrow.



Book Provided by... the Spy Museum.

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

It's my party, I'll give books if I want to...

Tomorrow is my birthday! That means it's also the last day to enter to win!

The very awesome Spy Museum gave me two autographed copies of Tom Angleberger's Fake Mustache: Or, How Jodie O'Rodeo and Her Wonder Horse (and Some Nerdy Kid) Saved the U.S. Presidential Election from a Mad Genius Criminal Mastermind to give away. As it's my birthday and I can share my cake with you, I thought I'd give away some books instead.

For your chance to win, fill out the form below by midnight on July 27th (THAT'S TOMORROW!) I'll draw the winner on the 28th.



Book Provided by... the Spy Museum.

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Win an Autographed Copy of Fake Mustache!

The very awesome Spy Museum gave me two autographed copies of Tom Angleberger's Fake Mustache: Or, How Jodie O'Rodeo and Her Wonder Horse (and Some Nerdy Kid) Saved the U.S. Presidential Election from a Mad Genius Criminal Mastermind to give away. I've been saving them for this week because it's my birthday! So I'm giving you presents! (And eating cake, but that's hard to do on the blog.)

For your chance to win, fill out the form below by midnight on July 27th. I'll draw the winner on the 28th.



Book Provided by... the Spy Museum.

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Fake Mustache Giveaway!

Instead of giving my presents for my birthday this week, I thought I'd give YOU some instead.

Luckily for us, the very awesome Spy Museum gave me two autographed copies of Tom Angleberger's Fake Mustache: Or, How Jodie O'Rodeo and Her Wonder Horse (and Some Nerdy Kid) Saved the U.S. Presidential Election from a Mad Genius Criminal Mastermind to give away.

That means TWO people get to win. Huzzah!

For your chance to win, fill out the form below by midnight on July 27th. I'll draw the winner on the 28th.



Book Provided by... the Spy Museum.

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Birthday Giveaway!

Friday's my birthday! It's not a big one, but still, I like my birthday.

The very awesome Spy Museum gave me two autographed copies of Tom Angleberger's Fake Mustache: Or, How Jodie O'Rodeo and Her Wonder Horse (and Some Nerdy Kid) Saved the U.S. Presidential Election from a Mad Genius Criminal Mastermind to give away. Why not do it for my birthday?

For your chance to win, fill out the form below by midnight on July 27th. I'll draw the winner on the 28th.



Book Provided by... the Spy Museum.

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Princesses of Iowa

The Princesses of Iowa M. Molly Backes

As I have mentioned a few times this week, when it comes to this book, I am not an impartial reviewer. Molly and I have known each other since high school. I have read several drafts of this book and am mentioned in the acknowledgements. I believe in this book and in Molly. I'm not going to pretent to be unbiased on this one.

Paige and her friends have spent years getting to this point-- Homecoming, senior year. They have done all the right things to be the most popular girls in school, to guarantee them a spot on court, and the Homecoming Queen crown for one of them. But that was before the car accident last spring. Before Paige was shipped off so her mother could do damage control, before Paige could learn how badly Lacey had been injured, before Lacey and Jake started spending all their time together. And now it's senior year, but Paige is having problems stepping back into her picture-perfect life. Her friends don't seem to want her there and she's not sure she wants to be there. And when the town turns against the new Creative Writing teacher for being gay, Paige has to decide what's worth fighting for--the path and she's had laid out for her for years, or what's right.

Paige is a queen bee mean girl. You don't want to like her, but Molly paints her so fully that you can't help but root for her to find her own way. You don't want to like Paige, and every time you start to, she'll do something to make you want to smack her, but at the same time, she'll break your heart and make you proud. Her voice is clear and strong, and her path isn't easy or clear, but as she goes along, she grows on you something fierce. Her relationship with Lacey is so complicated-- part friendship, part competition. They say "keep your friends close and your enemies closer" and it's hard to tell with Lacey and Paige if they're close because they're friends or enemies.

More than anything though, I love Molly's writing so so so much. I've been quoting bits of it all week (all quotations are from the ARC and therefore not final) and she really has a way with language to paint a scene and a mood. But there's a way she can turn a phrase that will take your break away.

I am so very excited that Princesses of Iowa is out TODAY! Go read it!

Because I love this book and I love Molly so much, I'm giving away 2 copies that Molly's agreed to sign for the winners. You have until midnight tonight to get your entries in, by filling out the form below:




Book Provided by... the publisher, via NetGalley

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Interview with M. Molly Backes!

OMG YOU GUYS! The Princesses of Iowa comes out TOMORROW!

I've been talking about her and her book all week, and now it's time for the interview that Molly promised me 5 years ago...

General Questions about Molly

This is not your normal blogger/author interview. You and I go back to the days before blogs. Wanna tell the kids how we met?

I do! If I recall correctly, it was almost exactly mmrph years ago this month, at an admitted students weekend at Grinnell College, so we were both seniors in high school. One of us was wearing a UU chalice necklace, and the other was like, Hey, is that a UU chalice necklace? And then Necklace was like, Why yes, it is, and then Asker was like, I’m also a Unitarian and also I’m from Wisconsin! And Necklace was like, me too! We are the same person! Let’s be best friends!

I don’t remember which of us played which role in the conversation, but I’m fairly sure it went just like that. And then we went on to not actually hang out in college – but then, through the tight-knit (some say “cultish”) online community of Grinnell students &alums, we became besties. Awwww.

ed. note: That's how I remember it too. Also, I was the asker and you were the askee. 

When I lived in Michigan and worked at the co-op grocery store, people mocked my love of Iowa, except for one guy in the kitchen, because he used to live in Des Moines. One day, he decided to move back to Des Moines and everyone was like "ugh, why?" and then he came to me and I was super jealous and he said "you're the only one here who gets it." The Iowa-hate is even worse here on the coast. Tell the good people at home why Iowa is awesome. Please keep the Dar Willaims quotations to a minimum (Even though it's totally her fault that I ended up there.)

Yeah, when I was getting ready to go to school there, everyone was like, “Iowa stands for ‘Idiots Out Walking Around’!” and “Why does all the corn in Illinois lean to the west? Because Iowa sucks!” (Wisconsin’s state-bullying isn’t limited to Iowa; we also like to make fun of Illinois and Minnesota, and sometimes consider building a militia to take back Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.)

The sad thing is that when I moved to Iowa, no one there seemed to know that they were basically universally hated & mocked by every other state in the Midwest. Iowa hates no one! They’re the nice state.

Seriously, though, a friend of mine once described Iowans as “lacking guile,” and I always felt that was such a great description. There’s something about Iowans… I’m nervous about making broad generalizations here, because I don’t want to pull a Stephen Bloom and become the next most hated person in Iowa. (Note: Iowa does hate someone! They hate Stephen Bloom.)

But look: Iowa is SO beautiful -- it’s much more than cornfields (though I happen to think the cornfields are very lovely, myself) – it’s also rolling hills and secret caves and winding rivers and stunning bluffs. The next time someone tells you that Iowa is flat, make them do a Google image search for “driftless area Iowa” and then stand over their shoulder screaming “ISN’T IT SO BEAUTIFUL????”

Despite our shared Iowa connection, we're both actually from Wisconsin. What do you think the Pack's chances are this year?

Chances are good that my best friend Cindy will yell at me if I call her during a game. Hey-o! But seriously, I have no idea. I’m more of a Badgers fan myself. I literally had a dream about Bucky Badger last night – my friend was mad because he thought I’d gotten us lost, and then we ran into Bucky Badger, and I was like, “See, if I hadn’t gotten us lost, you wouldn’t have gotten to meet Bucky!”

ed note: I think this really shows the difference between us-- you grew up outside Madison, I grew up outside Green Bay


You teach writing when you're not doing your own writing. Before that, you taught English and got your entire class to do the NaNoWriMo's young writer's program. What's your secret to being so awesome?

Ha. Mostly coffee, plus a short attention span and an unwillingness to be bored. I don’t know, I’ve always felt that I have the teacher gene, so a part of me is only truly happy when I’m teaching. A big theme of my life has been trying to find a balance between teaching and writing, which is why NaNoWriMo was so awesome – I got to do both! Incidentally, there was no such thing as a young writer’s program when I did it with my kids, but I emailed the headquarters to let them know I was planning to attempt it with 140 middle schoolers, and they sent me a bunch of swag.

ed note: So basically, you invented the Young Writer's program. I'm pretty sure that's what happened.

Whatcha reading?

I just finished reading two manuscript drafts, one a MG from a student of mine, one a grownup novel from a friend. They were both great!

Whatcha listening to?

I’m trying to perfect my Peter Gabriel Pandora station. It needs a LOT of babysitting. This morning I added Everything But The Girl, and so I’ve gotten a bunch of early 90s ladyrock, which is awesome, but I don’t want my PG station to turn into my Chick Rock station, soooo….

Whatcha watching?

OMG I JUST FINISHED ALL THREE SEASONS OF VERONICA MARS AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH. Now I don’t want to watch anything else ever again.

If you could go back in time and talk to your high school self, what would you tell her?

1. Take it easy on yourself and consider getting more than 3 or 4 hours of sleep a night.

2. If your friends constantly make you feel like shit about yourself, find new friends.

3. Don’t quit dance classes. Are you crazy? Quit one of your five hundred other extra-curriculars instead. Turns out regular exercise makes you feel less insane. WHO KNEW.

4. Keep writing and keep listening to yourself. You’re actually doing a good job at life so far, all things considered.

I've mentioned a few times on the blog that you taught me how to apply eyeliner using only your words. Do you want to tell everyone your eyeliner tricks? (Sadly, only using your words means I can't Pin this.)

I’m pretty sure the main thing I told you was that you’re allowed to gently stretch your skin in order to make a straight line. Sure, we’ll probably have terrible crows feet eventually, but… worth it! Plus, then we’ll just fill in our wrinkles with more eyeliner and be old ladies who rock Amy Winehouse eyes.

Oh, I just searched for it in my email and turns out it was like 10 Steps to an Adequately Made-Up Eye. If your readers are actually interested, I will re-send and you can post it later.

ed note: Readers, if you've ever struggled with your eyeshadow, demand Molly pass this on. Seriously, we went to a hippie college where most of our classmates didn't regularly shower and Molly always had awesome eye make-up on.

Book Questions:

Give us your elevator pitch.

How long is the elevator? If we’re just going up to the third or fourth floor, I’ll say, “It’s a reverse-Cinderella story in which a homecoming princess who seems to have it all – perfect boyfriend, popular best friends, etc – starts to wonder if there’s more to life than being popular.”

If we’re still on the elevator after that? Like we’re riding all the way to the top of the Sears Willis Tower? I’ll start awkwardly shouting out other elements of the book. “Hot teacher who might be gay! Fake car accident! Real car accident! Sexy nerd! Angry alternateen! Jokes about Muttnik! Airbrushed rainbow t-shirt that says ‘I Love My Iowa Grandma’!” And then everyone will get off the elevator whispering “Did that girl have Tourette’s?”

If we were going to do a mash-up of your book a la Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, what supernatural creature(s) would be added in and how?

Birds! Like, Hitchcockian birds. Am I right? There are already a lot of birds in Iowa, so it wouldn’t take much to add a menacing crow or two to basically every single scene, and then whenever the characters are outside (which is often), they’ll just get divebombed.

OR evil cars, a la Stephen King’s Christine, or the one where all the machines attack and everyone ends up in a truck stop. Spoiler alert! Who crashed the car? IT CRASHED ITSELF!! EEEEEEEVIL!

Side note: Speaking of monsters, along the upper Mississippi River (that’s Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa, for you geographically-challenged folks), there are these things called fishflies, which are SUPER gross giant bugs that smell like fish, and once a year they all hatch on the same day and SWARM the towns and cover all the windows and then die all over, to the point where people have literally gotten in car accidents because they slid on the insect carcasses, and the towns actually have to bring tractors out to shovel bug carcasses off the streets. It is truly horrifying. Don’t google it, I’m serious. You’ll never be able to unsee that shit.

ed. note: you know, having lived on the East Coast for almost 7 years now, I had managed to block that from my mind. THANK YOU FOR REMINDING ME.

Using only fictional characters, cast the movie version of your book.

This is the hardest question ever.

Paige: Franny Glass
Lacey: The Red Queen
Nikki: Emma Woodhouse
Jake: Logan Echolls
Ethan: Marcus Flutie
Shanti: Rowie Rudra
Mirror: Daria Morgendorffer
Mr. Tremont: Henry DeTamble
Mrs. Sheridan: Ruth DeWitt Bukater

What else did I forget to ask? Ask it and answer it.

Q: Remember that time you interviewed me for your blog?
A: Why yes, I do!


HEY! Want to win an autographed copy of The Princesses of Iowa? Fill out the form below. Molly will even sign it for you!




Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Sunday Salon: Princesses of Iowa

So you've noticed that all week that I've been super-pushing The Princesses of Iowa by M. Molly Backes.

It comes out in 2 days! That's the day after tomorrow!

This is Molly's first book and I think it's wonderful. I'll admit that's not an unbiased opinion. I met Molly in the late 90s. We're friends. Before I was a librarian, before we were author and blogger, before everything. Back when we were still in high school, I met Molly.

And let me tell you, she's always been way cooler than me. When she first emailed me a few years ago to see if I'd read/edit the manuscript that she was about to start querying, I died a little. Like, in a good way. She says she was nervous about asking but I just thought "OMG Molly Backes thinks I'm worthy to read this draft! EEP!"

My opinion is COMPLETELY biased. I'm mentioned in the acknowledgements (EEP!)

Molly's a damn good writer. Hopefully you saw that with the bit of the prologue that I posted yesterday. But not just that, Molly taught me how to use eyeliner. I like makeup. I think it's fun. I like the fact that I don't have to wear it on a regular basis, so when I do, it's special. One day, I was lamenting (online) about how I am completely incapable of doing eyeliner. Molly told me how to apply eyeliner. USING ONLY HER WORDS. No pictures, no video, just explaining with her words. I am now fully capable of wearing eyeliner. And that's how good a writer Molly is-- she can tell you how to do eyeliner without pictures or video.

And now she's gone and written a book. A book about taking back your life. A book about standing up for what is right. A book about making amends, about change, about shedding off perfect and stepping into you.

I'm giving away two autographed copies. Fill out the form below:




Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Win a book! An autographed book! A really good book!

Everyone knows you're not supposed to drink and drive. I mean, obviously. They start telling you that in fourth grade and you nod along, wide-eyed, because you can't imagine ever being stupid and awful enough to drink at all, much less drink and drive. You make posters about how dumb it is, drinking and driving, and they hang them in the elementary school hallway. You tell your parents to stop smoking and accuse them of being alcoholics if they have a glass of wine with dinner more than once a month, and in health class you take tests on drugs, where every single drug is listed with a bunch of outdated slang and possible side effects, with all include death. Tobacco (butts, heaters, cancer sticks): lung cancer, emphysema, DEATH. Alcohol (booze, hooch, sauce): impaired judgement, loss of consciousness, DEATH. Marijuana (ace, grass, hay): disorientation, paranoia, DEATH. Heroin (boy, horse, smack): euphoria, convulsions, coma, DEATH.

...

What they don't tell you is that sometimes you might not care about the side effects, that they might not be such a bad trade-off if it means you get to get the hell out of your own head for a little while and let go of the breath you're always holding, the tiny bit of pudge on your belly you're forever sucking in, if for one stupid night you can stop worrying about what people think about your and stop watching every word you say. And maybe that night, as you're holding an ugly plastic cup and listening to everyone have the exact same conversations as last weekend and you're inside your head thinking all the same thoughts, and sometimes you kind of hate your friends, sometimes you really kind of hate yourself, and maybe you wouldn't mind getting hurt or going into a coma or something. Something.

And what they don't tell you in fourth grade is that if everyone's drunk and the least drunk person offers to drive, it will make a kind of crazy sense, and everyone might congratulate themselves on how responsible they are ...

You guys, that's just how The Princesses of Iowa STARTS. 3 days until it comes out! You know you want to read it! Maybe even have your own personal copy? Autographed? Fill out the form below for a chance to win.




Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Princesses of Iowa Giveaway

When did she stop forgiving people their mistakes? We used to tell each other every secret, but one day secrets turned into weapons and we brandish them back and forth to keep one another in check, walking along a perfect straight line, daring on another to fall.

What happens when you realize you don't like your best friend?

4 more days until The Princesses of Iowa comes out!

Wanna win an autographed copy? (The answer is yes) Fill out the form below!




Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Princesses of Iowa Giveaway!

After a car crash that should have been worse,

After the worst summer in Paris ever,

Paige Sheridan has returned to Willow Grove, ready to step back into her picture-perfect popular girl life.

But the car crash and that summer changed everything. Her picture-perfect life isn't so perfect anymore (was it ever?) and Paige isn't entirely sure she wants it back, anyway.

The Princesses of Iowa by my friend Molly Backes comes out in 5 MORE DAYS!

Fill out the form below for a chance to win your VERY OWN autographed copy. You know you want to.




Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Win a copy of Princesses of Iowa!

Only 6 more days until The Princesses of Iowa comes out!

I have been waiting for this book to come out since I read an early draft a few years ago. Since then, I've read many other drafts and it just keeps getting better. I want you to read it to, so I'm giving away TWO autographed copies. That's right! TWO WINNERS!

Fill out the form below to win!



Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Win an autographed copy of Princesses of Iowa

Molly's book, The Princesses of Iowa comes out a week from today! YAY!

Do you want your VERY OWN AUTOGRAPHED COPY? (of course you do) Fill out the form below for a chance to win!



Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

My Baby Needs a Place to Sleep! Week 9

Another week, another attempt to get rid of some books so that I have space to put a crib!

Fill out the form below by next Sunday (April 24). You have until midnight (eastern).

You get:

Jacob Wonderbar and the Cosmic Space Kapow by Nathan Bransford (ARC)
Shark Wars by Ernie Altbacker (ARC)
Demigods and Monsters: Your Favorite Authors on Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series by various (paperback)
The Emerald Casket (The Archer Legacy) by Richard Newsome (ARC)
Ghoul Strike! by Andrew Newbound (ARC)
Looking for Marco Polo by Alan Armstrong (ARC)

3 of these books aren't out yet. I know I won't get a chance to read and review them before the baby comes and who knows what's going to happen after then!




Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

My Baby Needs a Place to Sleep! Week 8

After a week off, it's time to give away more books!

Fill out the form below by midnight (Eastern) on Sunday, April 17 for a chance to win!

You get...

The Daughters by Joanna Philbin (paperback)
The Daughters Break the Rules by Joanna Philbin (ARC)
Bliss by Lauren Myracle (ARC)
Karma for Beginners by Jessica Blank (ARC)



Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

My Baby Needs a Place to Sleep! Week 7

Sorry I'm getting this week's giveaway up a little late!

Fill out the form below by midnight eastern on Sunday, April 3 for your chance to enter! The books are a little heavy, so US entries only, please.

You get a copy of...

Rockville Pike: A Suburban Comedy of Manners by Susan Coll (hardcover, ex-library copy)
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (paperback)
The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler (hardcover, ex-library copy)
Charms for the Easy Life by Kate Gibbons (paperback)
A Theory of Relativity by Jacquelyn Mitchard (ARC)




Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

My Baby Needs a Place to Sleep! Week 6

You have until midnight next Sunday night (March 27th, Eastern time) to enter this week's giveaways. YES! PLURAL!

You can win the YA Thriller Pack

What Happened to Cass McBride? by Gail Giles (autographed, hardcover)
The Creek by Jennifer Holm (autographed, hardcover)

Or the Middle Grade Adventure Pack:

The 100-Year-Old Secret (Sherlock Files) by Tracy Barrett (ARC)
Red Dragon Codex (The Dragon Codices) by R. D. Henham (ARC)
STORM: The Infinity Code by E. L. Young (ARC)
Magickeepers: The Eternal Hourglass by Erica Kirvo (hardcover)

Just fill out the form below! These giveaways ARE open to everyone, no matter what country you live in.







Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

My Baby Needs a Place to Sleep! Week 5

Here's the latest prize pack in my giveaway series!

You have until Midnight (Eastern) next Sunday night (March 20) to enter. Just fill out the form below. Once again, this is a bigger prize pack, so I can't send it to anyone outside the US. Next week's giveaway will be smaller and open to international entries.

You get...

Elvis & Olive by Stephanie Watson (ARC)
Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace (paperback, ex-library copy)
Seeing Sky-Blue Pink by Candice Ransom (ARC, autographed)
Secret in the Tower: Time Spies, Book 1 by Candice Ransom (paperback, teacher's edition)
Rapunzel, the One With all the Hair by Wendy Mass (paperback)
Sleeping Beauty, the One Who Took the Really Long Nap by Wendy Mass (paperback)
May (Daughters Of The Sea) by Kathryn Lasky (hardcover)



Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

My Baby Needs a Place to Sleep! Week 4

There's still a few more hours to enter last week's giveaway here.

This week's giveaway is full of YA goodness.

Here's what you get:

What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones (hardcover)
Plastic Angel by Nerissa Nields (hardcover with CD)
What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones (paperback)
Long May She Reign by Ellen Emerson White (ARC)
Haters by Alisa Valdes-Rodrguez (hardcover)
Leap by Jane Breskin Zalben (hardcover)
Keesha's House by Helen Frost (paperback)
Something to Blog About by Shana Norris (ARC)
Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? by Louise Rennison (hardcover)

Due to the number of books in this giveaway, this week it's only open to people in US.

All you have to do is fill out the form below by midnight (Eastern) on next Sunday, March 13.



Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.