It’s an exciting time at P’kaboo this month as two new books have been published in rapid succession.
Firstly there is Split Decision by Carmen Capuano, a new novel for the young adult readership.
How was Natalie to know that the decision she was about to make between two potential dates, would forever be a pivotal point in her life? That it would mark the time where childhood innocence ended?
How could she even imagine that the wrong decision would send her life spiraling into the stuff of nightmares where she might not come out alive?
Life takes a cruel twist of fate when Natalie, a completely average [almost] 16 year old is forced to make a split-second decision… a decision that will change her future and forever alter her perception of trust, love and the realities of life.
Following two alternate plotlines as if each were the real one, the reader is kept in suspense right up until the last moment, unable to tell which guy Natalie accepted and which she turned down. And at every step there are twists and turns which will keep you on the edge of your seat, as one thread takes Natalie on a romantic discovery where events take on a more ominous edge than expected, whilst the other takes her on a dangerous slide into the dark side of life, a shadowy world of danger, where the reader is unsure whether she will make it alive to her forthcoming birthday.
This is a book of intensities, of sweet discoveries and dark revelations which you will not want to put down.
First stop for a copy is, of course, the publisher’s web site, but if you want a Kindle version head straight to Amazon. Here’s a nice tweet from Carmen shortly after publication:
Then there is the children’s book Pink Wish Ice Cream by Andrea Kaczmarek, with illustrations by Eva Kuenzel.
As you might guess from her name Mrs Polly Pink-Witch is a witch. In the summer she makes her delicious Pink Wish ice cream and likes nothing better than traveling from town to town in her bright pink ice cream van.
Why is Mrs Polly Pink-Witch’s ice cream called ‘Pink Wish’?
That’s a very good question, and the answer is easy too: if you buy, and enjoy, her delicious Pink Wish ice cream you get a free wish!
Of course, there are conditions attached. This means there are only certain children who get a wish granted. Mrs Polly Pink-Witch can’t stand rude children, so they absolutely never get a wish granted. And you must say please and thank you. Mrs Polly Pink-Witch knows if you really mean it; she can tell if it’s a proper please and a proper thank you.
So which children get a free wish? That’s easy too, I am sure you will guess, but what kind of wishes come true?
Pink Wish Ice Cream deals with a sweet, rounded, good-natured Polly Pink Witch teaching some brats to be nice. It is a classic kiddies book with classic morals, the type your mum, grand-mother and aunt would have instilled in you. It’s really simple: Say “please” and “thank you”, and your wish will be granted; be rude and obnoxious and you forfeit your wish. This even applies if you’re a mommy trying to bend the rules a little for the sake of your kid… I’m curious which lessons the other witches will be instilling in potential sequels.
Split Decision by Carmen Capuano is only a proof-edit and a cover short of e-publication. The cover artist will be available only at the end of June; however this gives us time to raise some publicity. Split Decision is YA, though I’d actually like to classify it as YA crime fiction; a girl (Natalie) is faced with a choice of two dates, and decides to… go on both. That is, the author follows this young lady down both possible decisions, and while the one date very quickly turns sinister, the other, apparently sweet and halcyon, has its surprises too, things that in an ideal world, a young girl just short of sixteen should never have to encounter. Capuano manages to balance these two contrasting paths with delicate skill, not losing traction in either for even a moment. A manuscript I could not put down, even though it was long past midnight and I was overtired.
Darx Circle by Leslie Hyla Winton Noble has been waiting far too long, and many of you have been following its development from the very first idea, on Colonialist’s blog. It is darker and far more serious than the light-hearted YA fantasy we are used to from this versatile author. I’m almost tempted not to place it in YA at all but into general fantasy; but it would be doing it an injustice as firstly the protagonists are young teenagers, and secondly it relates closely to the fantasy worlds he created in “Baa Baa Black Belt”, “Regina” and “Forest Circle Quest”. Tyrannical young Tyrentia accompanies the dreamer Hugh and his friend Dengana onto a quest to discover what is going wrong in the Darx realm. Their epic journey, laced with danger and heartbreak, leads them into the dark heart of the realm, and straight into the palaces of the evil forces trying to corrupt the very core of nature. During this journey Tyrentia also undergoes an inner journey, coming to terms with the evil that lies in her own personal past…
And then there is Marie Marshall’s gripping new YA vampire novel,
Bookseeker Literary Agency 