Archives par étiquette : Writers House

THE HOUSE PARTY de Rita Cameron

A compulsively readable novel for fans of book club favorites like Such a Fun Age, Little Fires Everywhere, and Dear Edward that poses powerful questions about privilege and mercy, and examines how a single, irreversible event can send a seemingly tranquil town into total disarray…

THE HOUSE PARTY
by Rita Cameron
William Morrow, September 2022
(via Writers House)

The party starts out innocently enough. On a Friday afternoon, with only six weeks ‘til graduation, a few local teenagers find a garage door opener on the deck of a nearly-fully-constructed luxury home. By evening, word has gotten out, and virtually the entire the senior class is partying at the house, music blasting, booze flowing. The skaters are using the empty swimming pool as a half-pipe, some kid is selling coke in the upstairs bathroom, and the stoners are building a fire pit in the backyard. It’s a bona fide rager. Of course nobody plans to trash the house, but somehow, by the end of the night, the kitchen is flooded, there are holes in the walls, the deck is singed, and the custom glass windows are shattered. What should have been the best party of the year has become the town’s worst ever case of vandalism.
And just like that, Mae Jensen’s dream house has been destroyed, before she ever even had a chance to live in it. The house she has spent countless hours designing and obsessing over, the house that was going to be proof she had made the right choices, that she had built something beautiful out of her life. The perfect house that would compensate for her failure to have a child, the house that was going to save her marriage. All ruined. And for what?
THE HOUSE PARTY explores the fallout from this one out-of-control night, putting Mae’s marriage to the ultimate test, jeopardizing the futures of the “good kids” who have done a very bad thing, and dividing the town over questions of privilege and responsibility. As the police close in on a list of suspects, the tight-knit community begins to turn on each other, and on anyone they consider an outsider, as they attempt to protect their futures and their families.
Set against the backdrop of the 2008 mortgage crisis and recession, THE HOUSE PARTY examines how easily friendships, careers, and marriages can unravel when the differences in wealth and power that lie beneath them are forced to the surface.

Rita Cameron is the author of Ophelia’s Muse (Kensington, 2015). She studied English literature at Columbia University, and law at the University of Pennsylvania.

THE WORLD BEHIND THE WORLD d’Erik Hoel

In a sweeping intellectual narrative, award-winning neuroscientist and author Erik Hoel argues there are two fundamental perspectives on reality: the intrinsic and the extrinsic. The intrinsic perspective is that of consciousness and experience, the feelings and sensations that make up your waking world. The extrinsic perspective is that of science, which views the universe as a set of mechanisms and relations.

THE WORLD BEHIND THE WORLD:
Consciousness, Free Will, and the Limits of Science
by Erik Hoel
Avid Reader, Fall 2023
(via Writers House)

The two perspectives have had an uneasy, sometimes troubled relationship. Throughout history some cultures have emphasized one perspective more than the other, which has radically changed how humans think about and conceptualize our own selves. Technologies and media often implicitly enforce one perspective: for instance, television and movies take the extrinsic perspective, exploring the world of relations and images, while literature and novels take the intrinsic perspective, exploring the world of consciousness.
Hoel offers a whirlwind tour of the two perspectives across the ages, like how the intrinsic perspective is absent from Homeric epics and earlier eras, its historical development and ultimate culmination in the invention of the novel, the separation of the two perspectives by Galileo Galilei when he recommended science remove the observer to focus solely on the extrinsic, and the reintroduction of the intrinsic perspective to science by Francis Crick, the discoverer of DNA, who proposed a search for the neural correlates of consciousness that continues to this day.
Hoel shows how our picture of reality is incomplete following Galileo’s separation and emphasis on the extrinsic. The ignored intrinsic perspective sheds light on fundamental scientific questions like causation, emergence, how the brain functions, the biological purpose of dreaming, artificial intelligence, and even why humans create art. He reveals how our own culture is becoming more based in the extrinsic perspective over time, neglecting the intrinsic and forgetting the importance of human consciousness, all to its cultural, scientific, and artistic detriment.
Ultimately, the two perspectives have stood apart for too long and must be reunited. To this end Hoel proposes a way to merge the intrinsic and the extrinsic in a radical new theory of consciousness.

Erik Hoel received his PhD in neuroscience from the University of Madison-Wisconsin. He is a research assistant professor at Tufts University and was previously a postdoctoral researcher at Columbia University in the NeuroTechnology Lab, and a visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Hoel is a 2018 Forbes “30 under 30” for his neuroscientific research on consciousness. His first novel, The Revelations, was published in April 2021 by The Overlook Press. He lives in Massachusetts.

CAKE EATER d’Allyson Dahlin

An utterly addictive new YA novel from debut author Allyson Dahlin! Set in an alternate future Versailles, social influencer Marie Antoinette and her shy new husband Louis Auguste must right the wrongs of generations, amid rampant misinformation and capitalist propaganda.

CAKE EATER
by Allyson Dahlin
HarperTeen, August 2022
(via Writers House)

The year is 3070, and Marie Antoinette has just arrived at Versailles. Marie is an App sensation, a style icon and a maven of social influence with millions of followers—but here, in the glamorous Franc Kingdom, her job is simply to marry Louis August. Unfortunately, Louis doesn’t seem interested in Marie, making her feel lonelier than ever in this new country. Luckily, Marie has a distraction: opulent soirées and decadent after-parties abound in Versailles.
But beneath the luxurious world lies a sinister underbelly, and a storm hits Versailles that reveals to Marie and Louis the gilded world around them for the cracked facade it truly is—a hideaway for the rich and powerful, while the people outside suffer and starve. Determined to set things right, Louis and Marie must devise a way to right the wrongs of generations past—and outwit those who want to keep them pawns in a deadly game.
CAKE EATER will take readers to a glittering world full of breathless luxuries, deadly secrets, and a thrilling romance that attempts to rewrite history itself.

Allyson Dahlin grew up on a farm in central New York, where she had little to do but read loads of library books and make up magical and slightly creepy stories about the woods and farm animals while pretending to be a witch/homesteader. She studied psychology in college while working as a housekeeper at a motel in Cooperstown. That job involved a lot of boring hours to think up backstories for the guests whose rooms she cleaned. A shawl left on a chair by an aging opera soprano, a stack of old baseball cards left by a Hall of Fame inductee, and the legend of a monster in the lake were all fodder for stories. It was during that time she transformed from a reader and a daydreamer to a writer.

THE SHEEP, THE ROOSTER, AND THE DUCK de Matt Phelan

Wherever there is injustice, nefarious plots, or threats to society, the Sheep, the Rooster, and the Duck are there to stop them! A sly villain with a plan to cause havoc across the globe is no match for three extraordinary animals—and their two young human friends. From acclaimed author and artist Matt Phelan, a hilarious, action-packed, and highly illustrated middle-grade adventure perfect for fans of Skunk and Badger and Flora & Ulysses.

THE SHEEP, THE ROOSTER, AND THE DUCK
by Matt Phelan
Greenwillow Books, March 2022
(via Writers House)

The very first passengers to ride in a hot air balloon were a sheep, a rooster, and a duck in 1783. And while hot air balloons are indeed wondrous, ten-year-old Emile is too busy being the fastidious caretaker of ambassador Benjamin Franklin’s château in Paris to think much about them. But forces both good and nefarious are after the wonderful—and sometimes dangerous—inventions in Franklin’s notebook. Soon, young Emile finds himself right in the middle of a sinister plot. And right in the middle of the secret headquarters for France’s undercover heroes—the same sheep, rooster, and duck that piloted the first hot air balloon. If Emile can muster his courage and be bold, he may be the key to helping the heroes save both Benjamin Franklin and the world. 
A highly illustrated adventure full of secrets, hijinks, and reimagined historical events. This rip-roaring and surprising story is ideal for reluctant readers, aspiring heroes, and fans of Peter Brown’s The Wild Robot.

“This amusing, fast-paced tale of land, sky, and spies will easily draw in reluctant readers.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Incredibly creative and equally silly, mixing historical figures and locations with offbeat humor and adventure. . . A little bit of history, a touch of mystery, and heaps of fun.” —Booklist (starred review)
“A grand, giddy, and, at times, literally soaring tale.” —Kirkus (starred review)

Matt Phelan is the author and artist of the picture books Pignic and Druthers, as well as the acclaimed middle-grade novel Knights vs. Dinosaurs and its two sequels, Knights vs. Monsters and Knights vs. the End (of Everything). He has also written and illustrated several award-winning and best-selling middle-grade graphic novels: Snow White, The Storm in the Barn, Bluffton, and Around the World. Matt Phelan lives with his family in Pennsylvania.

THE TERRIBLES: WELCOME TO STUBTOE ELEMENTARY de Travis Nichols

This chillingly hilarious illustrated middle-grade series is Goosebumps meets Sideways Stories!

THE TERRIBLES: WELCOME TO STUBTOE ELEMENTARY
by Travis Nichols
Random House, Summer 2022
(via Writers House)

Meet the Terribles! They’re your friendly neighborhood vampires, ghosts, werewolves, and mummies! They go to school, do homework, play hide-and-creep, start a band with an alien from outer space, and bring monsters to life with a bit of lightning. Ya know, the usual stuff. Basically, the Terribles are completely normal kids, just like YOU! Well, sort of. In the first book, we get to know a monstrous class at Stubtoe Elementary as they prepare for the coronation (read: fancy birthday party) of Emma (Emmanatenkhamen XIII). She’s a kid mummy. You’ll also meet Vlad, a vampire who schemes to see the sun, and Griff, a boy who’s shy, not to mention invisible. There’s a kid kaiju, a young (mad) scientist, and a horde more!

Travis Nichols is the author and illustrator of books and comics for kids and post-kids, including Maze Quest, Betty’s Burgled Bakery, Fowl Play, Skedaddle, Masterpiece Sketchbook, Monsters After Hours, and Monstrous Fun. He’s written and illustrated comics for SpongeBob SquarePants, Uglydoll, Nickelodeon Magazine (RIP), and Hello Kitty.