One of my dearest friends had something exciting happen this month: Knopf published her book.
(image from Amazon.com)
Horus and the Curse of Everlasting Regret. I think the cover art is SO CUTE.
It has been a long and very exciting wait: I remember when she got the news that the book had been chosen and it seemed like August 2016 was A MILLION YEARS AWAY and would NEVER be here. But now it is here. I went to a bookstore today, and there it was on the shelf! multiple copies of it! RIGHT ON THE SHELF WITH OTHER REAL BOOKS. IN A REAL BOOKSTORE IN MY ACTUAL TOWN.
Anyway. I recommend it. All seven of us at my house have read it. The target age is around 8-12 years, approximately grades 3-7. I don’t usually like to read juvenile fiction so I was worried I’d have to do some suffering for my friend’s sake, but actually I really liked it. It reminded me of the Harry Potter books, where you don’t really feel as if you’re reading a “kid book” per se, except in that you find yourself thinking how much you would have loved it when you were a kid.
It is a little bit of an adventure/thriller/suspense book, with exciting parts. There is good comic relief to keep things from being too tense—but they are a little tense. The mummy is a good mummy, not a scary one. And there is a darling, darling, DARLING, not-scary pet bat.
Anyway! The hardcover is on a really good price right now on Amazon, so I will buy three copies to give away. (U.S. shipping addresses only.) Leave a comment below to enter. (Or you can leave a comment below if you’re NOT entering, and just add that you’re not entering.) You can just say “Enter!” or whatever, but if you like to write a little more, it would be fun to hear who you’d be winning it for: yourself, your kids, relatives, whatever. I’ll pick three names on Friday, August 19th, at around noon Pacific time. [Winners]
This is so exciting!!!! Congratulations to your friend. Publication sounds like a total dream come true. (And I’m entering! Would be a great gift for one of my soon-to-be nieces.)
This sounds delightful!!
Enter please! Would love to give this to my 9 year old son who I am desperately trying to keep interested in reading.
Entering for Dibits! I am sitting in the car rider line right now and it is a million miles long.
I would love to enter! I would probably read it first (like I do with all book gift purchases) and then pass along to my best friend’s 2nd grader who is a total bookworm and makes me beam with joy. So fun that you know the author and can share in all the excitement!
Enter! For me, because I need a little happy today.
That is SO exciting!!
I’d love to win, my 8 year old has read herself through a lot of our library’s selection already, so we supplement with the Salvation Army and inter-library loans, but a fresh book would be wonderful! And it sounds like it’s right up her alley, a little bit scary, funny, and cute.
I’d like to enter as well! Thank you for the giveaway.
Lobster
How exciting for your friend (and for you vicariously)! I’m entering for my 10-year old Harry Potter fanatic daughter. I’m sure she’d love something in the same vein. And you’re totally right, the cover art is to die for. The book jumps right out at you!
How fun! Always need new books for my 4th grader to read. Thanks for doing a giveaway!
It’s incredibly sweet of you to support your friend this way. I would give it to my niece who just started 6th grade… after I read it.
This is exciting! It’s HARD to get a book published! I would love to win a copy to read with my 8 year old daughter.
Would love this for myself and for my 9 year old who is finally on the reading train.
Ooh, fun! I’ll probably buy it if I don’t win :-) My son, who is almost 8, is a voracious reader and I am always ALWAYS looking for new, good books for him to read. Plus, he has two younger brothers who will read all his books in the future!
This is so cool! And youre right – the cover art is darling. I’d love to win and to read it aloud to my 8 and 6 yr old boys :)
This sounds like a book my kids would love!
Looking for book recommendations for my nine year old who’s not that interested in HP, would love to read it with her!
Brava to your friend! I’d want it for my kids, my oldest is 7.
How exciting! I am totally entering–I have a couple of readers in the age group that this is recommended for. Congratulations to your friend!
Enter
Entering for my 8 year old who I think would like a book with a nice mix of excitement and funny. And yay for your friend, that is so cool.
Oh, pick me! My son is a little young, bit we are having a hard time keeping reading interesting and I am SO sick of Lego Star Wars books.
How fun!! My daughters would enjoy this (and so would I)
How exciting! My youngest would love a copy.
I would love to find a good book for my nine year old son who is a good reader, enjoyed the first three Harry Potet books, but doesn’t like reading books that are, “too suspenseful”
Congrats to your friend! I hope the book sells like hotcakes. I would like to enter; I’d give it to my smartypants niece.
I would love to enter! I would be gifting this to my almost 8 year old for a birthday present!
Pick me please!
This looks like such a cool book! Plus I could pass it in ti my 10 year-old godson when I was done!
I have young relatives in 4th and 5th grades who would be thrilled right down to their socks to have this book. I might have to buy two copies if I don’t win, or buy a single copy if I do.
Thanks, Swistle!
How exciting! My kids are a bit little for this but I’d love to read it and share it with some teacher friends.
How exciting! I would pass this along to a family of readers whose kids are in this exact bracket!
What exciting news! I’m always looking for something my “But I hate reading!” 9 year old boy might like.
This seems like a good read aloud for my kids. My oldest loves bats!
How exciting for your friend! I hope to win a copy for my 8yo daughter :) Thanks for doing this!
Enter! Sisters would love.
Entered because I need to start building my two year old’s library! (And of course I will enjoy reading it myself).
Congrats to your friend! Book launches are incredible moments in the life an author. I am going to shamelessly suggest that folks buy a copy in a real store as a celebratory gesture. Her book tour will be an important period of introducing this gem to the world and book tours are put on by hard working publicists and booksellers, the reward for which is book sales! Sincerely, Longtime Blog Reader and Bookstore Owner who will definitely be stocking this book!
Hooray! I bought one at the physical bookstore today, to celebrate seeing them there!
Entering! How about if I say that I’m joining the fray to get first crack at it myself, and then to pass it on to my 8 year old nephew?
Congrats to your friend, Swistle, and I’ll put it on the list for my next bookstore trip should I not win. Thanks for doing this.
Enter! I’d love to read this to my boys. We are all obsessed with books.
At first I was going to say, Not Entering, but HOORAY for your friend and YOU for sharing the love (anyone who tries to foster a love of reading in children moves to the head of the class in my book) – mainly because my son is WAY WAY past this age group.
But then I remembered, my dear friend’s son IS in that age group, loves Harry Potter and reading and this would be a perfect gift for him. But even if I don’t win, I will probably buy this book for him anyway.
It’s sweet of you to support your friend this way, thanks for the chance to win!
Hooray for your friend! I’m entering for my second-grade son..and then I would read it, too!
How exciting for your friend. It is a major accomplishment to publish a book and then for it to be carried in bookstores is even more!
Love to enter.
Enter me please.
Oh, so fun!!! I have a 13, 7, and 5 year old. This would be fun!
That looks so cool! I read all the available “look inside” pages from Amazon and I think that I’ll really enjoy it, along with my 11- and 7- year old boys. (If I don’t win, which I don’t expect to, I may buy it for them for Christmas anyway.)
How exciting! I’d like to enter for one of your giveaway copies for my 10yr old grand daughter. If I don’t win I will go buy one for her in a bookstore as Adah suggested above because I totally believe in brick & mortar bookstores and keeping them alive! Thanks!
That’s so exciting! I work with kids in that age group, so I’d love a copy! (And I’d like to read it, too!)
I can’t believe there is such a thing as a darling bat. I would read the book anyway…after my 9 year old was done!
Oh! My son might be ready for this!
I would buy this just for the cover alone! So adorable!
This sounds like a great family read along. Count me in!
Count me in, please!
Entering for myself but I’d tell my eight year old needling it was for him.
How exciting! I would love to enter, I’m always looking for good books to read with my kids!
My 9 year old book worm loves the Harry Potter series so much, he’s read all seven books twice. He’s always looking for the next good book. I think he’d love to read this!
I’d love to enter–sounds like a great book for my son!
Entering for me and Egg! I think she’ll love it.
Oh me, me! I’m entering! We will read it and then I will put it in my library, where 688 middle schoolers will have the option to check it out!
Enter!!
Oh, congratulations to your friend! The book looks great, and it is so nice you’re supporting her in this way. I would read it myself and then pass it on to my niece.
Yay book giveaway!! I am always looking for good read aloud books for my 8 year old daughter and I to read together. We read a chapter at night before bed. I gave birth to a miniature me and we butt heads a lot during the day, so this is our chance to unwind, relax and spend quality time together. This sounds like a great one that we would both enjoy!
Enter me please! Perhaps I could read it over many nights to my 5 year old.
Sounds like a fun read!
Enter! I think my soon to be 9 year old would love it as would my 6 year old. Trying to get them to love reading has been a struggle for me.
I am always looking for books to interest the 8-almost-9 year old. I think this will make an excellent birthday gift!
Entering for my daughter, myself, and ultimately my students.
How fun! A copy for my beautiful nieces to share!
Congratulations to your friend!!! What an exciting accomplishment!!!!
I would love this for my nephew! It sounds right up his alley.
How fun! I would love this for my 8 year old reader! We’ve made a new, no-TV-before-dinnertime rule (eek) so I can use all the help I can get. ;)
That is so cool!
I’d love to give this for a September birthday gift!
Massive congrats to your friend! What a huge accomplishment! I’d love a copy to read myself before passing it on to a niece who I know would love it.
Entering me! Simon is a bit too young for it now, so I’ll get it for my cousin. Then I can buy another one for Simon in a few years.
Enter please! I think my 4th grade daughter would LOVE It!!! Thank you!!!
Enter please. I would read it first, and then if it seemed like my 5yo could understand it, I would read chapters to him at bedtime.
Oh, and I meant to ask: is it going to be the first in a series?
Not sure yet—it depends on whether the muse cooperates!
How exciting for your friend!
Yay! I love bats! But am entering for my nephew !
I would love to win this for Gabriel. Do you think it has equal appeal to boys/girls? I find that Gabriel is getting to a reading level where the books for girls dramatically outnumber the books for boys, which is….interesting, I guess. (I guess older boys typically don’t read as much as older girls? Is that true? I know my husband doesn’t read books….)
I THINK it would: the two main characters are a boy and a girl working together, so it seems like it would work for either.
It’s interesting about reading: I still read, but I think my brother mostly stopped around middle school age. I mean, he still reads SOME, but nowhere near like before. My two older boys still do SOME reading, but not as much as they used to, and not as much as Elizabeth.
I’m not sure if I’d save this for my son or give it to my niece and/or nephew, but either way, I’d love to read it first. :)
Enter! This looks like something that would be DEVOURED at my house! We have voracious readers age 8 and 10, and a picky reader age 13. We are always looking for new things to read. So exciting for you and your friend!
Entering for my nephew! (Who will hopefully hand it down to my kids when they’re old enough.)
So fun! I love it when friends get published!
I’m entering for my 10 & 7 year old daughters, they go through books like water :)
How fun, congrats to your friend! I’d love to win a copy for myself to check it out before passing it on to my friends’ children.
I have a 10-year-old kid who is not a very good reader. I mean, he READS ok, but he doesn’t really…like to read. This is a new concept to me; his siblings and I are avid readers. He’d rather be outside playing football or baseball or whatever. ANYWAY. One of the few books that I can get him to read are the Harry Potter books. Slowly and with some effort, but he seems to like the genre. I would love to have him try this book…it seems right up his alley. And at this point I would love to have Silent Reading Time not be a struggle.
How wonderful! It sounds like a book my son would really enjoy.
Entering with great delight. I have a soft spot for MG fiction for myself, but I also have a friend who’s a book blogger and I’d let her read it. (She’s got a backlog of things to blog about, but delightful things tend to jump the queue, and this looks as much up her alley as it does mine.)
I’ll enter. I DO love reading YA and children’s fiction, and so does my husband. Lucky for our kids, because they get a lot of read alouds. My daughter is almost 8, and might be able to read it herself soon as well.
Please enter me! I am a substitute teacher, and I try to bring fun books with me for the age group I’m teaching. That way if we have a free moment, I can do a read aloud.
Would love to win for my 5th grade classroom! Thanks!
Gifts are my love language so of course I will enter!
What fun! Thank you for doing this. I’m entering for myself because I’m doing research into the geography in children’s adventure books like this and I’m always intrigued by new titles. :)
I’m entering for myself, with a plan to eventually pass it on to my nieces once they’re a little older…
Enter! For me :) and then a holiday present for my daughter. I’m so sneaky.
Entering! This is the sort of book that would get passed around in my family (As all good books do)! From myself to my parents to my grandparents to my cousin to my cousin’s 3 kids (2 girls and a boy aged 11, 9 and 7).
Hi Swistle,
This is very exciting! How do I order the book on Amazon through your blog? Don’t you receive a little bit of money from Amazon if merchandise is ordered through your blog?
No need to include me in your give-away as there are much more deserving readers who would love to win the book. I will be ordering the book right away, gifting one to my 9 year old grandson (sounds like a perfect book for his dad to read out loud to him and his 6 year old sister) and keeping the other for myself. If you can make a few cents, I’d rather order the books through your blog!
I do, yes! If you arrive at the book on Amazon through a link on my blog and then purchase the book, the few cents happens automatically. Thank you—that’s really nice of you! The few cents add up, and I like to use them for things such as this giveaway. *starts singing “The Circle of Life”*
I never *wanted* to be the kind of person who lurks on a blog for years, only to comment for the second time ever in order to enter a contest, but… here I am. This looks like a book that both my 7 year old *and* my 12 year old *and* me would love: a rare feat!
How fun! I want to enter! I typically read only nonfiction, but I’m getting So Bored of sentences that start with, “Recent studies suggest…” and this book sounds like an awesome break from pace. Thanks for doing this.
Congrats to your friend. I have a rising 5th grader who would probably enjoy it.
Entering for my 7 year old daughter – who is obsessed with mystery/suspense/adventure type books right now. We’ve just made it through all of the A to Z mysteries, so this would be awesome!
If anything is described as Harry Potteresque I know I need to try it! And so do both of my boys!
Congrats to your friend! I’m entering for 9 year old who finally just recently became a cheerful reader. **breathes heavy sigh of relief**
How exciting for your friend! Entering for my 9-year-old son. This sounds right up his alley!
I have a 5th grade girl and a 2nd grade boy, and I count on you OFTEN for gift recommendations for them and my nephews and nieces! I would love to win this book to read at our house and pass on to the rest of the family. Thanks.
We are just about to finish up Harry Potter with R and this sounds like a great next step. Congrats to your friend!
It’s incredibly thoughtful of you to post this, and it’s been especially fun to read these comments.
Thank you, thank you!
(Erm, not entering, just commenting :) !)
So cool, we’d love a new read!
That cover is ridiculously cute! I would give it to my 8 year old. Congratulations to your friend!
Everyone in my family loves to read, and this looks like something we would enjoy =)!
This looks like something my 6 yo would love to hear! Thanks for the chance!
This looks great! We are reading Harry Potter to our 8 and 7 year old and while we are reading the Goblet of Fire, she is re-reading the Prisoner of Azkaban at school, so it will be nice to mix it up!
I’m entering. If I win, I’ll put in the library in my 4th grade classroom!
Oh Yay! I love books of all ages! I would love to win
Fun! I will have to check out this book whether I win a copy or hunt one down on my own. I’m new to teaching middle school, so I’m trying to build my library of age-appropriate books. Also, I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but this book’s cover is SO CUTE! Congratulations to your friend on getting published, and I look forward to reading it.
Right up my ten year old son’s alley.
That is exciting! I would love to enter. I read books to my boys, since my 8 year old has dyslexia and doesn’t like to read on his own, since it’s so tiring for him. Thanks for the chance to win.
Oh! I think my kids and I would all love this!
Enter! I hope I’m not too late! I have two boys in this very fun reading age and it’d be fun for them to discover a new author before all their friends hee hee!
Entering for my almost 9 year old triplets who are in 3rd grade and would love something new to read!