Join us Tues., Sept. 23, 5:30 pm, as the Fierce Reads book tour makes a stop in Charleston. Ann Aguirre (Mortal Danger), Caragh O’Brien (The Vault of Dreamers), and Marie Rutkoski (The Winner’s Curse) will sign copies of their Young Adult novels and a discussion will be led by moderator Andria Amaral.
Mortal Danger (Feiwel & Friends, hb., 384 pp. $18). follows Edie Kramer who has a score to settle with the beautiful people at Blackbriar Academy. Their cruelty drove her to the brink of despair, and four months ago, she couldn’t imagine being strong enough to face her senior year. But thanks to a Faustian compact with the enigmatic Kian, she has the power to make the bullies pay. She’s not supposed to think about Kian once the deal is done, but devastating pain burns behind his unearthly beauty, and he’s impossible to forget.
ANNE AGUIRRE is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author with a degree in English Literature; before she began writing full time, she was a clown, a clerk, a voice actress, and a savior of stray kittens, not necessarily in that order. She grew up in a yellow house across from a cornfield, but now she lives in sunny Mexico with her husband, children, and various pets. She likes all kinds of books, emo music, action movies and Doctor Who. She writes all kind of fiction in multiple genres, both YA and for adults.
The Vault of Dreamers (Roaring Brook Press, hb., 432 pp. $18), takes place at The Forge School, the most prestigious arts school in the country. The secret to its success: every moment of the students’ lives is televised as part of the insanely popular Forge Show, and the students’ schedules include twelve hours of induced sleep meant to enhance creativity. But when first year film student Rosie Sinclair skips her sleeping pill, she discovers there is something off about Forge. In fact, she suspects that there are sinister things going on deep below the reaches of the cameras. What’s worse, she starts to notice that the edges of her consciousness do not feel quite right. And soon, she unearths the ghastly secret that the Forge School is hiding—and what it truly means to dream there.
CARAGH M. O’BRIEN is the author of the Birthmarked trilogy. Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Ms. O’Brien was educated at Williams College and earned her MA from Johns Hopkins University. She recently resigned from teaching high school English in order to write young adult novels.
The Winner’s Curse (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, hb., 368 pp. $18), is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart. As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions. One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin. But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.
MARIE RUTKOSKI is the author of several novels for children and young adults. She grew up in Bolingbrook, Illinois as the oldest of four children and decided early on that she was Someone Who Loved Books. Marie is now a professor of English literature at Brooklyn College, where she teaches Renaissance drama, children’s literature, and fiction writing.
GRADY HENDRIX is from Charleston and is a writer and journalist and one of the founders of the New York Asian Film Festival. A former film critic for the New York Sun, Grady has written for Slate, the Village Voice, Time Out New York, Playboy, and Variety.
