EXCITING NEW BOOK NEWS

Normally, I like to do very structured posts. I'm not one for off-the-cuff, spur-of-the-moment posts ever since I discovered the scheduling feature, and I usually leave book news to websites and blogs actually devoted to such things. However, this is news that I just can't hold back. 

ANDREW SMITH JUST ANNOUNCED THERE WILL BE A SEQUEL TO WINGER.

Yeah. Winger. Aka, one of the best books I read in all of 2013. A book that I stayed up half the night on a work night to finish, then spent a good while crying myself to sleep after because of all the emotions it stirred in me. The book I love so much I rated it 5 stars and listed it in at least 7 Top Ten Tuesdays (and have plans to include it on this upcoming week's list as well) and raved about it in my 2013 End of Year Book Survey. I love this book so much that I have a hardcover (which I happened to have gotten signed this past Saturday when I saw Andrew at YAK Fest and he was clearly sitting on this news the whole time!) and the ARC I received from Simon & Schuster at TLA last year and refuse to give away. 

Can we take a second to admire the fact that my

incredibly boyish bedspread coordinates with the cover?

For those of you who haven't even heard of Winger (WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!), here's the summary:

Ryan Dean West is a fourteen-year-old junior at a boarding school for rich kids. He’s living in Opportunity Hall, the dorm for troublemakers, and rooming with the biggest bully on the rugby team. And he’s madly in love with his best friend Annie, who thinks of him as a little boy.

With the help of his sense of humor, rugby buddies, and his penchant for doodling comics, Ryan Dean manages to survive life’s complications and even find some happiness along the way. But when the unthinkable happens, he has to figure out how to hold on to what’s important, even when it feels like everything has fallen apart.

Filled with hand-drawn info-graphics and illustrations and told in a pitch-perfect voice, this realistic depiction of a teen’s experience strikes an exceptional balance of hilarious and heartbreaking.

  

Go check it out on Goodreads, and look at all the raving reviews. I don't personally know anyone who didn't love it. While you're there, you may as well go ahead and add the as-of-yet untitled sequel as well. 

Now, those of you who are really observant will see that I stated I have two copies of Winger. But, in the picture above, there are clearly three copies. So, what gives? Like I said, I saw Andrew at YAK Fest last weekend. I had a bunch of his books to be signed for an enormous Andrew-Smith-themed giveaway, probably when I finally got my hands on Grasshopper Jungle. Eff that noise. No better day than today! I'm holding onto the other books for another time, but in celebration of this amazing news, I'm giving away a signed copy of Winger. Open to the US & Canada. Ends 12 AM February 11.

a Rafflecopter giveaway