It’s written in letter form from a girl who was kidnapped to the guy who kidnapped her. No one I’ve recommended these books to has said they are anything other than life-changing, kids and adults alike.įirst, there’s STOLEN, by Lucy Christopher.

I read a ton of YA, too, so these are both YA books, however, they are definitely adult books, too. As far as your question goes, I’ve got two-I hope that’s okay. I mean, I hope you don’t hurt yourselves punching things because of my book, but it would be kind of an awesome story to tell. What was the last book that had you so emotionally involved you were ready to battle an inanimate object on a character’s behalf? The cruelty Sam endures at the hands of her superiors and her classmates is the type that had me wanting to punch the cover of the book in the hopes that a certain character or two might feel my knuckles where it would hurt them most. I’d like to think Sam would make Amos be in a play or something-something that would totally put him outside his comfort zone and annoy the heck out of their dad at the same time! And, it couldn’t be “Run a tough mudder,” because, you know, these guys are tough.

Oh, man, you’re throwing out the tough questions today! You know, their dares are such a part of them that at this point it would have to be something huge. If Amos were alive to see her complete it, what gauntlet might Sam have thrown down for him next? It’s her late brother’s final dare that has Sam enrolling at Denmark Military Academy. Believe me, this friend has never lived this down! I hated college, wanted to join the military, and my friend said, “Hey, I’ll give you $25 bucks if you last a year at military school.” Here’s a not-so-secret secret: I survived the year, but never got my $25. The truth is, I don’t think there was a return dare. Man, I wish I had some epic dare to give back, like swimming with sharks with fish strapped to your body or something like that. Can you tell us what you dared the other person to do in return?

Like Sam, you ended up at a military school on a dare. I think it's fairly obvious from my gushing this week and last that Rites of Passage has my highest recommendation, so I hope everyone picks up a copy next Tuesday when it releases! Protagonist Sam proved herself to be stronger than those around her mentally when she simply couldn't be so physically, and I may or may not have hugged the book to my chest and imagined she might take some comfort from it. As you guys already know, this book is one that made me rage and cry and want to scream at the top of my lungs at the unfairness of it all, but I loved every single second of it. I couldn't be more excited today to welcome author Joy Hensley to the blog to answer a few questions about her debut YA novel, Rites of Passage.

Rites of passage joy hensley