Erik Raschke's debut novel, THE BOOK OF SAMUEL, follows a teenage boy whose world gets turned upside down the day his father leaves his family. From that moment on, poor Samuel seems to have one trying situation after another thrown in his direction, making him seem more like a tragic biblical figure than an ordinary kid growing up in the '80s, just trying to make sense of the complex world around him.

We'll be reviewing THE BOOK OF SAMUEL next month, so check back soon! In the meantime, take a look at the trailer below, and download an excerpt here. And if you haven't read Erik's guest blog, you can do so here. Don't forget to let us know what you think in the comments below!

Labels: Book Trailer, Erik Raschke, Excerpt, The Book of Samuel

In case you hadn't already marked your calendars and begun counting down the days, CATCHING FIRE --- the highly anticipated sequel to last year's bestseller, THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins --- hits shelves next week on September 1st! To give you just a little taste of what's in store for Katniss and Peeta in this second installment of the trilogy, you can read the first chapter of the book on Scholastic's website, here. Also, Suzanne is scheduled to appear on National Public Radio's All Things Considered next week, so NPR's site is featuring an exclusive "First Look" of CATCHING FIRE, including text and audio excerpts from chapter two, which you can check out here.

PS - For those of who've read THE HUNGER GAMES, which camp do you belong to, Team Gale, or Team Peeta?

Labels: Catching Fire, Excerpt, Suzanne Collins