Happy Book Birthday, POINTE!

Brace yourselves, people. Brandy Colbert's Pointe comes out today!

Theo is better now.

She’s eating again, dating guys who are almost appropriate, and well on her way to becoming an elite ballet dancer. But when her oldest friend, Donovan, returns home after spending four long years with his kidnapper, Theo starts reliving memories about his abduction—and his abductor.

Donovan isn’t talking about what happened, and even though Theo knows she didn’t do anything wrong, telling the truth would put everything she’s been living for at risk. But keeping quiet might be worse.

I am so thrilled to get the chance to welcome this book into the world. It's beautifully written, hard-hitting, and has some of the most realistically flawed teenage characters I've ever read. Pointe deals with some tough issues, including anorexia and molestation. Yet it never feels sensational or over the top. Readers will cheer for every one of Theo's hard-earned revelations and hold their breath as her long-buried secrets threaten her carefully constructed life and her hopes for a future as a professional dancer.

19 year-old ballerina Michaela DePrince, making the spectacular look easy. Seriously, HOW DO BALLERINAS DO THIS? Photo source: Teen Vogue

This is truly one of the finest contemporary books you'll read all year, if not ever.

I'll leave you with some more images of Theo's favorite thing in the entire world.

Theo always rides the subway to ballet class in the city. Source: http://www.pinterest.com/chantelrenee21/live-laugh-dance/

She has been taking ballet ever since she was tiny. Source: http://www.dance.net/topic/6177744/1/Ballet-Beginners/Oh-no-first-BALLET-CLASS-Ultimate-guide-for-beginners.html

If Black Swan didn't convince you ballet will completely destroy your feet, Pointe will. Source: http://pointeperfect.hubpages.com/hub/Does-Pointe-Shoe-Fit-Really-Matter

What Theo wants more than anything is to dance professionally. Source: The Washington Post

Professional ballerina Misty Copeland. Source: Huffington Post

Dancers from the Birmingham Royal Ballet. Source: DanceTabs

Going pro is incredibly demanding. Source: KnightArts.org

It takes hours and hours of practice each week. Source: Education Update

A good pianist is crucial, especially if he's hot and slightly mysterious. Source: The Performer's Warehouse

Michaela DePrince again. This girl is badass, people. You should read about her. Source: http://marinaharss.com/tag/dance-theatre-of-harlem/

Sorry, I couldn't resist the optical illusion dancer. Is she spinning clockwise or counter-clockwise?

 Now you're curious about the person behind this amazing book, right? Here she is. . .

Photo by Jessie Weinberg

Brandy Colbert was born and raised in the Ozarks—more specifically, Springfield, Missouri—and earned a bachelors degree in journalism from Missouri State University. She worked as an editor for several national magazines and currently works as a copy editor for both books and magazines. She is represented by Tina Wexler at ICM Partners.


Yay, Brandy! Yay, Pointe! All of us at the Thirteeners are so excited this book is out in the world now.

Blurbs for POINTE + a Giveaway! [Contest Now CLOSED]

UPDATE, Aug. 15:

The winner of the giveaway is Alyssa Hatmaker! Congratulations, Alyssa—your books are on their way to you. And thank you so much to everyone who entered the giveaway!

So, yesterday was a pretty great day.

Got my ARCs. Yeah. These guys.

(Still finding it hard to stop staring at and/or petting them. I know you get it.)

Now that my ARCs exist, I want to share the very kind words two of my favorite authors had to say about POINTE! Their novels—their debut novels, in particular—have been such an inspiration to me, and in addition to being insanely talented writers, they happen to be two of the coolest, nicest ladies on the Internet. Here's what they had to say about my book:

"A brave and resonant debut that is as captivating as it is heartbreaking. Brandy Colbert has given us a portrait of life after trauma that is skillfully rendered, raw, and unflinching. This novel haunts me." 

—Nina LaCour, author of Hold Still

"POINTE is an impressively written and affecting portrait of loss and self-forgiveness. Brandy Colbert's debut is beautiful, sharp and memorable."

—Courtney Summers, author of Cracked Up to Be

Flattered doesn't even begin to describe how I feel about these blurbs. Surreal seems like a good starting point.

And because I am so excited about receiving my galleys, I'm giving away a signed copy of POINTE to a reader, along with one copy each of Courtney and Nina's debuts. These are two of my favorite books of all time, and I think everyone needs to read them. Want to know a little more about them? Click on the Goodreads links above the covers!

CRACKED UP TO BE

HOLD STILL

To win all three books, comment on this blog post (any comment will do, even just a hello) and leave your name and email in the Rafflecopter widget below. Giveaway is open from Wednesday, July 31 through August 14, 12:00 a.m. Pacific Time. A winner will be chosen that day and announced here on Thursday, August 15. Sorry, but this giveaway is only open to those 13 years of age or older with a U.S. or Canadian mailing address. (I hope to do an international giveaway in the future!)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

And if you want to learn more about POINTE, see below:

Theo is better now.

She's eating again, dating guys who are almost appropriate, and well on her way to becoming an elite ballet dancer. But when her oldest friend, Donovan, returns home after spending four long years with his kidnapper, Theo starts reliving memories about his abduction—and his abductor.

Donovan isn't talking about what happened, and even though Theo knows she didn't do anything wrong, telling the truth would put everything she's been living for at risk. But keeping quiet might be worse.

You can add POINTE to your Goodreads shelves here!

A cover that's totally on POINTE!

I knew there was no way I was going to make it through this post without making some sort of cheesy pun, so I figured, why not put it in the title??? (Hm. This might be why I'm not usually the one who posts these...)

ANYWAY, my lame sense of humor aside, I am SO excited that I get to gush about the stunningly beautiful cover our very own Brandy Colbert FINALLY revealed this week, because OMG you guys--LOOK:

RIGHT??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

I mean... the lighting! The pops of color. EVERYTHING! I love that it's somehow both dark AND dreamy, and it's one of those images that screams: READ ME--I AM GOING TO BE AN AMAZING STORY!

And if the cover doesn't convince you, the back blurb will:

Theo is better now. 

She's eating again, dating guys who are almost appropriate, and well on her way to becoming an elite ballet dancer. But when her oldest friend, Donovan, returns home after spending four long years with his kidnapper, Theo starts reliving memories about his abduction—and his abductor. 

Donovan isn't talking about what happened, and even though Theo knows she didn't do anything wrong, telling the truth would put everything she's been living for at risk. But keeping quiet might be worse.

Yeah. I need to read this book, like now.

I would say more, but I have a feeling none of you are listening to me because you've all scrolled back up to stare at the pretty. And I can't blame you because I keep doing the same thing. So I'll just end by saying, if you want to add POINTE to your Goodreads shelf, you can do that HERE. And congratulations Brandy on a truly beautiful cover. So so so deserved!