Indies Introduce New Voices...Six Feet Over It!

At the Reps Picks Lunch on Monday, April 7th at the ABC Children’s Institute, booksellers were introduced to the 10 titles to be featured in the Summer/Fall Indies Introduce New Voices program. Indies Introduce Icon

A panel of 10 children’s booksellers selected, from over forty titles, the three middle grade and seven young adult titles as the best debuts of the upcoming season. Amazingly, Six Feet Over It was included in this list, and the booksellers had some wonderful reactions to the story. Thank you so much to the booksellers who read all of the debut books this season, thank you American Booksellers Association, and Indies Introduce! It is a list of books I can't wait to get my hands on...including Six Feet Over It! August 26th can't come soon enough. Check out these kind words:

The blurb says darkly funny and it is that and more. Leigh's father buys a cemetery where she is expected to help families make choices. Leigh has suffered great heartache in her fifteen years – parents who don't seem to care or understand, almost losing her sister to cancer, and worst, losing a good friend with no chance to say goodbye. Leigh's acerbic wit gets all of us through this story and we cheer when she finally finds another friend to lean on. Valerie Koehler, Blue Willow Bookshop (Houston, TX)

Sad, sweet and funny, this is the coming-of-age story of Leigh, a teenage girl who lives and works in a cemetery, selling grave sites to those who are planning ahead for their own deaths ("Pre-Needs") and those grieving their deceased loved ones ("At-Needs"). Leigh's life is steeped in death, grief and abandonment, and she is convinced that anyone she loves will be doomed by association. However, with the efforts of an immigrant groundskeeper and a persistent, home-schooled Tolkien fan, Leigh gradually learns that she can embrace joy, friendship and love, even while understanding the inevitability of death. I devoured this book in one ecstatic gulp, and it left me breathless. Count me as a Jennifer Longo fan for life. Emily Ring, Inklings Bookshop, (Yakima, WA)

At 17 years old, Leigh has already had more than a passing acquaintance with death and near death experiences with those she loves. So when her father decides to buy a graveyard, it somehow seems only fitting to Leigh that she’s the one who will be the primary representative in the family to sell grave sites. Although she is smart and funny, she shies away from making friends, even with a quirky homeschooler who does everything she can to befriend Leigh and the handsome, gentle, just a little too old for her, gravedigger who is loved by everyone. This is a sweet, clever, witty coming of age story that will steal your heart. Kris Vreeland, Once Upon A Time (Montrose, CA)

My cover! Brought to you by Random House, edited by Chelsea Eberly, agented by Melissa Sarver White.

More to come! Happy Spring!