Today I am hosting Holly Schindler as part of the FERAL Blog Tour. FERAL, a YA psychological thriller was published August 26, 2014 by Harper Teen. For my stop on the tour, I've asked Holly to share her favorite bookstore memory.
Welcome Holly!!!
What is your favorite
bookstore memory (either as a reader or an author)?
Like many areas through the country, my hometown of
Springfield, Missouri was hit fairly hard by the recession. Our supply of indie bookstores was already
dwindling, and the recession did a good job of closing the last few remaining
indie doors. Today, my hometown’s main
source of physical book-buying is a Barnes and Noble (and venues with smaller
bookshelves like Walmart or Target). I’d
say that primarily, when a Springfieldian now wants to browse bookshelves to
discover a new author, they head to one of our libraries.
I have to admit, one of my earliest (and fondest)
book-buying memories happened…in a grocery-store. I used to get a new Little Golden Book every
week, when I went grocery shopping with my mom.
(When I outgrew picture books and we sold them off at a garage sale, we
had a MOUNTAIN of Little Goldens on display on a picnic table.)
But the bookstore I loved (and now miss) the most was a
little place tucked into a strip mall…I have a hard time remembering the exact
name of it, but do know it was in the Fremont Shopping Center in Springfield
(so we’ll call the store the Fremont).
The feel of the Fremont was just incredible. It had giant heavy doors complete with carved
lion heads. And it had multiple levels
inside, and ladders to help booksellers reach the highest shelves. It truly was like the quaint bookstores that
occasionally show up in movies—think The Shop Around the Corner in YOU’VE GOT
MAIL.
I remember finding so many of my early chapter-book loves
there—books by Judy Blume or Beverly Cleary.
I remember buying some of my first classics there, too: ALICE IN
WONDERLAND, for example. (I’m also
fairly certain the LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE set I received for Christmas
came from that store).
I remember the Fremont so fondly: the peaceful atmosphere,
the perfume of new books, the assurance that something new and delicious was on
the shelves just waiting for me to finally discover it.
Later on, I became a literature major—
and I still dearly love to read the classics.
Often, I think that, to a great extent, my
love of literature was born in that favorite childhood bookstore, as I wandered
the aisles and tugged colorful spines from the shelves…
FERAL
by Holly Schindler
Published by Harper Teen
August 26, 2014
432 Pages
About FERAL
The Lovely
Bones meets Black Swan in this haunting psychological thriller with
twists and turns that will make you question everything you think you
know.
It’s too late for you. You’re dead. Those words
continue to haunt Claire Cain months after she barely survived a brutal
beating in Chicago. So when her father is offered a job in another
state, Claire is hopeful that getting out will offer her a way to start
anew.
But when she arrives in Peculiar, Missouri, Claire feels an
overwhelming sense of danger, and her fears are confirmed when she
discovers the body of a popular high school student in the icy woods
behind the school, surrounded by the town’s feral cats. While everyone
is quick to say it was an accident, Claire knows there’s more to it, and
vows to learn the truth about what happened.
But the closer she
gets to uncovering the mystery, the closer she also gets to realizing a
frightening reality about herself and the damage she truly sustained in
that Chicago alley….
Holly Schindler’s gripping story is filled
with heart-stopping twists and turns that will keep readers guessing
until the very last page.
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Holly Schindler Bio:
Holly Schindler is
the author of the critically acclaimed A BLUE SO DARK (Booklist starred review, ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year silver
medal recipient, IPPY Awards gold medal recipient) as well as PLAYING HURT (both YAs).
Her
debut MG, THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY, also released in ’14, and became a favorite of teachers and
librarians, who used the book as a read-aloud.
Kirkus Reviews called THE JUNCTION “...a heartwarming
and uplifting story...[that] shines...with vibrant themes of community,
self-empowerment and artistic vision delivered with a satisfying verve.”
FERAL
is Schindler’s third YA and first psychological thriller. Publishers Weekly gave FERAL a starred
review, stating, “Opening with
back-to-back scenes of exquisitely imagined yet very real horror, Schindler’s
third YA novel hearkens to the uncompromising demands of her debut, A BLUE SO
DARK…This time, the focus is on women’s voices and the consequences they suffer
for speaking…This is a story about reclaiming and healing, a process that is
scary, imperfect, and carries no guarantees.”
Schindler
encourages readers to get in touch.
Booksellers, teen librarians, and teachers can also contact her directly
regarding Skype visits.
FERAL
Trailer:
Link:
GIVEAWAY
Holly Schindler is the author of three previous YA novels: PLAYING HURT as well as the critically acclaimed FERAL (starred PW review) and A BLUE SO DARK (starred Booklist review, ForeWord Book of the Year silver medal, IPPY gold medal). A writer of books for all ages, Schindler’s MG, THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY, has made the master list for children’s book awards in Illinois, South Carolina, and Alabama. She is also a hybrid author, having independently released comedic women’s fiction (FIFTH AVENUE FIDOS) and the forthcoming PLAY IT AGAIN, her adult follow-up to her YA PLAYING HURT. She can be reached through her author site: hollyschindler.com, and hosts special sneak peeks and giveaways for subscribers of her newsletter: tinyletter.com/hollyschindler.com.
