Veronica Rossi graduated from UCLA and studied fine art at California College of the Arts in San Francisco. She began writing fiction for teens and received first-place awards in the Pacific Northwest Writers Association and SouthWest Writers annual contests before completing Under the Never Sky. It 's since captivated publishers in more than twenty countries worldwide and been optioned for film by Warner Bros. Veronica lives in northern California with her husband and two sons.

I've been waiting so long to be able to share this interview with you all. It took me quite awhile to set it up with Veronica, but I am extremely excited to be able to finally post it. And I greatly appreciate Veronica taking the time to respond to my request for an interview and provide her answers. I really hope you all will enjoy the interview and giveaway!



















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Author: Juliana Haygert
Release Date: April 1st, 2013
Publisher: Self Published
Pages: NA
Age Group: New Adult
Source: Tour

Rating: ★★★★★

Thirty years in the future, a sinister New York City exists in permanent darkness.

A student at the secured NYU, nineteen-year-old Nadine has visions of Victor Gianni, an imaginary guy she has real feelings for. Afraid of being truly insane, she explains the visions away as simple daydreams, but she can no longer deny them when she bumps into Victor in real life. But this Victor doesn’t know her, and turns her away. After the encounter, Nadine’s visions change to those of eerie fates, gods she’s never heard of, demons with sharp claws they are not too timid to use … and instructions.
To discover if she’s losing her mind, Nadine follows the vague directions—with the real, rude and reluctant Victor—leading to a man who knows it all: Nadine can restore an ancient creed by unveiling the clues on her visions, and bring sunlight and peace to the world again. But that’s only if the demons and the other evil forces behind the darkness don’t stop her first.

Author: Melina Marchetta
Release Date: April 23rd, 2013
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Pages: 528
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★★

Separated from the girl he loves and has sworn to protect, Froi and his companions travel through Charyn searching for Quintana and building an army that will secure her unborn child’s right to rule. While in the valley between two kingdoms, Quintana of Charyn and Isaboe of Lumatere come face-to-face in a showdown that will result in heartbreak for one and power for the other. The complex tangle of bloodlines, politics, and love introduced in Finnikin of the Rock and Froi of the Exiles coalesce into an engrossing climax in this final volume.

Quintana of Charyn is an epic conclusion to one of the most memorable series of books I have ever read. I’ve compared the series to some amazing High Fantasy books in the past, but this series seriously holds its own amongst the very best. I have been mesmerized by Melina’s writing and how she has built this world that you get to explore throughout the three book series. Once you step foot in the world, it becomes something you don’t want to leave until the very last page of the final book.

I’m personally sad to see this story come to an end, but I guess that comes with any great series. Melina did an amazing job wrapping everything up and making sure that readers are left with a very satisfying finale to the series. Looking back, I am amazed at how Melina was able to make things play out so fluidly. Everyone would expect for a series to flow together nicely, but it doesn’t always happen that way. In this case though, the series fits together perfectly and will leave you wanting more as you read through each book.

I could go on and on about the characters. If you see my reviews of the first two books you will see where I discuss them more. There really isn’t much more to say in this final review. Melina has created an extremely memorable cast of characters that will remain in your mind long after you have finished the series. You see the characters go through so much throughout the series leading up to this book. And Quintana of Charyn only helps to cement these characters in your mind.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to start this series, I don’t know what you’re waiting for. It is by far one of the greatest fantasy series out there today. So if you enjoy fantasy, you really need to go pick up this series whenever you get the chance to. If you don’t you’re really going to be missing out.

With the close of this series, I am really anxious to see what Melina comes up with next. I have high hopes that she will return to the world of fantasy again in the future, but I guess only time will tell. I am greatly looking forward to reading any of her future work though.

Thank you to Candlewick press for providing me with a copy of this book for review.

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program is the United States’ largest youth recognition program based exclusively on volunteer community service. Since 1995, more than 345,000 young Americans have participated in the program. Each year, the program’s judges select 102 State Honorees to receive an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. where, on May 6th, 10 of them will be named National Honorees. You can watch the live webcast of the May 6th event here: http://bit.ly/YN1OLU.


Alison Forger, 16, of Monroe, Conn., a junior at Masuk High School, promotes the love of reading and writing in young students through a club she organized that sends high school students to elementary school classrooms to assist with reading activities. When Alison was in eighth grade, her English teacher challenged her to use her love of reading and writing to benefit the community. Alison created “Reading and Writing Rock,” a student mentoring club that she has run for the past four years. “I wanted all of those students to be able to pick up a book or write a story and feel the same sort of happiness and satisfaction that I do,” said Alison.

To start her club, Alison, with the help of her English teacher, recruited six fellow students and contacted local elementary school officials, who agreed to let the students visit their school once a week during English classes. The older students read to the children, helped them write stories, taught them about authors and even organized plays based on their favorite books. Over the years, the club has grown to include 35 high school mentors in all three of the district’s elementary schools. In 2010, Alison won an essay contest sponsored by NBC Connecticut’s Education Nation and was awarded $5,000. After soliciting input from elementary teachers involved in her program, she used the money to purchase more than 500 books for the schools. Last summer, she also worked with a local bookstore owner to hand-pick 100 books to stuff in backpacks for children in need. “I always tell other high school students how much fun it is to see the kids light up when you walk through the door,” said Alison.
Emily Morgan, 17, of Moscow, Pa., a senior at North Pocono High School, has raised $24,000 in donations and distributed 1,700 new books, bookcases, art and school supplies, games and puzzles through the organization she founded called “Eat a Book.” Emily, who started the project in 2011 to inspire children to “devour” good books, developed curriculum for two summer camps, publishes a children’s magazine and has built six literacy centers at shelters and other facilities for at-risk children.

Author: Elizabeth Norris
Release Date: April 23rd, 2013
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 496
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★★

Four months after Ben disappeared through the portal to his home universe, Janelle believes she’ll never see him again. Her world is still devastated, but life is finally starting to resume some kind of normalcy. Until Interverse Agent Taylor Barclay shows up. Somebody from an alternate universe is running a human trafficking ring, kidnapping people and selling them on different Earths—and Ben is the prime suspect. Now his family has been imprisoned and will be executed if Ben doesn’t turn himself over within five days.
And when Janelle learns that someone she cares about—someone from her own world—has become one of the missing, she knows that she has to help Barclay, regardless of the danger. Now Janelle has five days to track down the real culprit. Five days to locate the missing people before they’re lost forever. Five days to reunite with the boy who stole her heart. But as the clues begin to add up, Janelle realizes that she’s in way over her head—and that she may not have known Ben as well as she thought. Can she uncover the truth before everyone she cares about is killed?

This series is fantastic. Elizabeth Norris shocked me with Unraveling, but I was completely blown away by Unbreakable. It’s hard to not enjoy a series that keeps you so interested in what is going on, and Elizabeth does an amazing job at making sure that as a reader you’re always in the middle of things. I found a lot of moments where it is pretty easy to feel like you’re actually getting pulled into what you’re reading because you’re so engaged. It’s pretty amazing when that happens.

I love how Elizabeth sets up her stories. The idea of a countdown, and how as the story progresses through that countdown you really see things start to pick up. Especially in Unbreakable, there is a massive amount of action in this book. More so than we saw in Unraveling, at least in my opinion. With so much going on you really got to pay attention to the story. You will learn a lot in this book, especially when it comes to the IA. I’m not going to go into everything that you will learn, but I can promise you that there is a lot of information to keep up with.

The characters were just as fantastic as they were in book one, as far as the ones that returned. But overall, I really had no issues with any of the characters. The characters are another case where you see a lot of important information dished out about them throughout the book which you would really benefit from paying attention to. They are very easy to become attached to though, so if you enjoyed Unraveling you will have no problem jumping back in with the returning characters and even some of the new appearances.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to read Unraveling, you really need to so you can jump in and read Unbreakable now that it is out. You’re really missing out if you haven’t started the series, so make sure to check your bookstores or libraries and pick up a copy of Unraveling and Unbreakable so you can enjoy this epic story that is played out within this series.

I’m not 100% sure if there is going to be a book three. From what I personally understand there won’t. Even with the strong ending this book had, I really feel like there is more that could be branched off from it. But if there isn’t a book three in the works I would be okay with that. I am equally excited to read whatever Elizabeth might decide to write next, just to see what else she has up her sleeve.

Thank you to HarperCollins for providing me with a copy of this book for review. And to Rockstar book tours for a spot on the tour.



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