I was visiting the Paper Lantern Lit blog (to learn more about PLL, go here), and I found these pics from the joint release party for Pandemonium and The Butterfly Clues, by Kate Ellison. Check out Lauren's gorgeous dress!

It looks like they had a lot of fun! Have you got your copy of Pandemonium yet? I'm still waiting for mine, Amazon's international shipping takes forever!

xo, Ella

While we're all anxiously awaiting for Pandemonium's release next March, Lauren prepared something very special to help us live through these next few months: a new short story told in Hana's POV!

You can buy it through Hodder (its UK publisher) here.

AND, there's a really sweet DIY Christmas Decoration you can download here. Print it, make it, take a pic and share it, because that will help you win a Pandemonium copy when it comes out! Cool, huh? 

I'll be making my deco soon, and sharing it with you. You can do the same! 

xo,

Ella

Today's our favourite author's birthday! And although we didn't prepare anything special for today* we wanted to greet her and tell her thanks for sharing her talent with us, and for being an overall beautiful person.

So, go on and say hi to her! You can do it here, on her blog, her facebook or her twitter.

*Check back later, we might have something special coming up...

So, okay, I'm pretty sure I posted this cover as a Cover Crazy once before...but that was before I saw the final version in person! There's so much more beyond what we all thought there'd be.

I love the way there's a second cover hiding beneath the dust jacket (much like with DELIRIUM). The hidden cover features an image on the back that's integral to the story. Plus, doesn't it look so much more mysterious this way? This alone makes it clear that this book should only be owned in hardcover (if at all possible)!



All that gold is shiny and beautiful. If I had been born a dragon, it would most certainly be the most prized possession in my treasure hoard!

I posted this cover video alongside my review yesterday, but for anyone who hasn't seen it....THIS is why I'm even more in love with LIESL & PO's design than ever before:



YouTube

It’s not often that I find a novel as rare and delicate as LIESL & PO by Lauren Oliver. This is the type of book I would have owned as a kid, the kind I would have read and re-read until it fell apart. It’s a throwback to so many of my childhood favorites. I’m really rooting for this one to at the very least be nominated for the Newbery Award. Heck, I’d like to see it win—the golden cover would look complete with a golden Newbery to match. I’d even take Silver, because it would be in good company with two of my other middle-grade favorites, ELLA ENCHANTED by Gail Carson Levine and PRINCESS ACADEMY by Shannon Hale. I think publisher HarperCollins is also eyeing up the big awards. The ARC for LIESL & PO compares the novel to Newbery winners THE GRAVEYARD BOOK by Neil Gaiman and THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX by Kate DiCamillo. It’s also compared to Newbery Honor book CHARLOTTE’S WEB by E.B. White. AND the final edition has a quote on it from last year’s Newbery winner Rebecca Stead (WHEN YOU REACH ME). What a line-up! To keep comparing LIESL & PO to other childhood staples, when reading it, I often felt like this had a Roald Dahl feel to it (especially MATILDA), that there are elements of Cinderella (Liesl lives locked away in the attic and has an evil stepmother and a stepsister), and that the golden embossed cover with ghosts peeking out is very reminiscent of A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens. On top of all that? The artwork reminds me a little of the care and love put into Caldecott winner THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET by Brian Selznick. That litany alone should make LIESL & PO stand out to the committee.

This book is fantastic, destined to be a true classic. It’s whimsical and enchanting. Oliver wrote LIESL & PO after the death of her best friend and pulled together a story from her tragedy, stating that this is the most personal of all her writing. The care and attention she paid to this idea truly shows. Her first middle-grade novel follows a young girl named Liesl who discovers that ghosts are real after her father’s untimely death. A ghost named Po appears in her room along with its pet ghost, Bundle. Liesl can’t tell if Po is a boy or a girl, if Bundle is a cat or a dog…and the truth is, neither ghost knows, either. Those things no longer matter once one has crossed over. Liesl is precocious and smart. Her favorite word is ineffable, because “it meant a feeling so big or vast that it could not be expressed in words” (Pg. 12). These are the types of gems scattered throughout LIESL & PO, humanizing the characters and making them easy to relate to. Liesl’s journey begins when Po informs her that it’s possible to make contact with her father. Because of Po, she’s able to escape from her evil stepmother and step out into the world, where she is joined by Will, a boy who has embarked on a sad journey of his own. Together, Liesl and Po must lay Liesl’s father’s ashes to rest, never knowing that they are actually in possession of the most powerful magic in the world…magic that corrupt adults will stop at nothing to obtain.

I know I’m not explaining the layers and nuances that make this novel so stunning well at all. At the same time, maybe that’s a good thing: It leaves more for you to discover on your own. The inside front flap leaves readers with this: “From New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver comes a luminous and magnificent novel that glows with rare magic, ghostly wonders, and a true friendship that lights even the darkest of places.” Perhaps that’s the easiest way to describe something as perfect as this.

This cover is beautiful, the kind that would make me instantly pick it up to see what it’s about. I love all the gold embossing and feel it’s a throwback to a lot of classic children’s literature. The gold oval image with ghosts peering out reminds me a lot of A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens for some reason (perhaps it reminds me of the haunted doorknocker?). The fact that you can take the jacket off and see a secondary cover beneath the book really seals my love for this design. The cover is even more beautiful beneath, complete with two images that capture moments from the novel. The only thing that would make this cover better would be a golden (or even silver…but I want gold, darn it!) Newbery Award seal! But don’t take my word for it…this is one of those cases where you have to SEE the cover to believe it!

(...which was yesterday, and I completely forgot! Sorry, pretty book!)

HarperCollins has created a very beautiful website, which you can visit here to learn more about the book and its characters. Go here to add it to your Goodreads list.

And watch this gorgeous trailer below!

xo, 

Ella

Why I Love This Cover:

When reading my ARC of LIESL & PO, I realized just how very much I already love this cover. I cannot WAIT to see a final version. HarperCollins threw a *lot* of money into the ARC. The image isn’t flat like most ARCs, but embossed…and gold. It looks more like what the final paperback will most likely look like than it does an ARC. Plus, you know, it comes in an awesome box holding the most powerful magic in the world: The written word!




[Photo by Lauren Oliver]

I love all the gold on the cover. The book is absolutely brilliant and I have a feeling that HarperCollins is going to do a heavy push for awards season. Can’t you just picture this book with a bright, shiny golden Newberry on the cover already? Silver just won’t match as well! I also love the fact that the gilded circular image is full of ghosties. It reminds me a LOT of A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens. Actually, the book itself reminds me of several stories, but I’ll post more on that another time.

The cover features Liesl, Po, and Bundle. It’s only missing Will! The coloring is great and the cover is shiny and eye-catching. Kids are going to gobble this one right up, and rightfully so!

What do you think? What cover are you crazy about this week?

When we posted Delirium's new covers, I just couldn't remember what colour Lena's eyes were. The new UK paperback cover's Lena's got blue eyes, while the Special Edition cover's Lena's eyes are brown. So, I thought I'd ask Lauren to clear any doubts.

Lauren: Yeah, it's funny... covers don't necessarily EXACTLY represent the main character accurately... I think they just need to reflect the book's sensibility. Lena does have brown eyes and brown hair, though. I LOVE the special edition cover, personally--I like it even better than the original! 

Today, Nov 8th, is Lauren's 28th (correct me if I'm wrong!) birthday! Reg and I thought we'd say hi to our favourite author and wish her a happy bday. :D

This is me (don't laugh at my funny accent, I haven't spoken in English in months, and I was a little nervous!)

And this is Reg, Deliriously Falling's new member!

Reg is totally right, you should buy Before I Fall if you haven't already! And Delirium IS freaking amazing! We're already brainstorming on what we're going to do for its release!

So, everyone wish Lauren a happy birthday! We'll make sure she gets the message!