YA Scavenger Hunt Spring 2015

Come one, come all – it’s the YA SCAVENGER HUNT! One of the most exciting events in the blogosphere is on now.

YASH spring 2015 is NOW CLOSED. But don’t despair, it all comes back fall 2015.

I’m Teri Harman, author of magic and wonder, and I’m pleased to be your hostess on this leg of the hunt.

I am a book geek – I read and buy too many. I also love to cook, but more to eat. Fall is the best of all. And I adore my subscription to Netflix.

On this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each participating YA author, you also get a secret number. Add up the numbers, and enter it for a chance to win a major prize–one lucky winner will receive at least one signed book from each author on my team in the hunt! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online until noon PST on Sunday, April 5th!

You can start right here or you can also go to the YA Scavenger Hunt homepage to find out all about the hunt.

There are several contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all of them! I am a part of the RED TEAM–but there are also lots of other teams and if you do those hunts too you’ll have a chance to win a whole different set of signed books!

Directions: Below, you’ll notice that I’ve listed my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the red team, and then add them up (don’t worry, you can use a calculator!). Hint: the secret number is highlighted in

RED

Entry Form: Once you’ve added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.

Rules: Open internationally. Anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian’s permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by April 5, 2015 at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.

Now that all the technical stuff is out of the way, I’ll introduce the author I am hosting on this hunt.

I am super excited to be hosting…

ALEXIS BASS

Alexis’s Bio: Alexis Bass grew up in Washington, went to college in Arizona, and spent her early twenties in Seattle. She currently lives in Northern California with Dylan McKay, her gorgeous and rambunctious golden retriever. She loves good fashion and good TV as much as a good book, and is a huge advocate of the THREE (yes, 3) C’s: coffee, chocolate, and cheese.

***

Now the good stuff.

Alexis is showcasing her book, LOVE AND OTHER THEORIES.

Here’s the scoop:

If you want more, you have to give less.

That’s the secret to dating in high school. By giving as little as they expect to get in return, seventeen-year-old Aubrey Housing and her three best friends have made it to the second semester of their senior year heartbreak-free. And it’s all thanks to a few simple rules: don’t commit, don’t be needy, and don’t give away your heart.

So when smoking-hot Nathan Diggs transfers to Lincoln High, it shouldn’t be a big deal. At least that’s what Aubrey tells herself. But Nathan’s new-boy charm, his kindness, and his disarming honesty throw Aubrey off her game and put her in danger of breaking the most important rule of all: Don’t fall in love.

***

So now, ALEXIS’S FANTASTIC BONUS MATERIAL . . .

LOVE AND OTHER THEORIES BONUS SCENE. POV: NATHAN DIGGS.

There’s no denying she’s beautiful. What-am-I-even-looking-at beautiful. Confusing beautiful. This-girl-can’t-possibly-want-me beautiful.

But she does want me.

For now, anyway.

“Would you drive faster,” she says. Irritated is her natural disposition, but tonight she’s in rare form.

“I’m already going over the speed limit.” Six miles over, to be exact.

“Not fast enough. I just want to be there already. Step on it, Diggs.”

Her bare legs jiggle in the seat. Anxious, anxious, anxious. This girl likes a good party more than anything else. More than chocolate, maybe—it’s a theory I’ve yet to test. But some of this energy coming off her seems nervous. She chews on her thumb, catches me looking, and yells again, “Go! Come on!”

“I’m not getting a speeding ticket.”

“You’re so lame.”

“Perhaps. But I have a perfect driving record.”

“Live a little, will you, please.”

I roll my eyes—it’s not the first time she’s said this to me—and we sit in the quiet, as the wind whooshes around us. It’s too chilly this late at night to have the windows down, but Shelby likes the breeze. So they are down all the way, and we’ve got the heat turned on full blast. The fresh air is nice on a still and crisp night like this. It’s actually the perfect way to ride—something I didn’t even know I’d like.

“I really have to pee,” she says. The truth comes out eventually, it always does with her, if you’re patient. This is highly probable, since Shelby downed a vodka tonic at her house faster than ever—multitasking, as she was also saying things to make me laugh and fighting with her sister over something I couldn’t quite understand. Her mom came out to tell everyone to shut up because she and Bill were trying to watch a movie in her room, and Shelby and her sister yelled more, throwing around blame, until finally Shelby’s mom said, “This, this, is why we never stay in town on the weekends!” Shelby’s sister took that opportunity to tell Shelby, “Way to go,” and she escaped out the front door before Shelby could give a rebuttal. Shelby took a shot, chasing it was water—yikes. She was going to have another, but I said, “Take it easy,” and to my surprise she listened. She let me hold her arm and lead her outside.

“Do you want me to pull to the side of the road?”

“No!” She gasps in disbelief, like she’s offended I would even suggest it. But we’re on a street that isn’t busy, and surrounded by fields. So I pull over anyway, right by a large tree that will shield her from the road, even though it is dark. I reach into the glove compartment and hand her a travel pack of Kleenex.

Shelby groans, but snatches them out of my hands and slams the door on her way out. I feel myself smile. She must really have to go.

She’s a few feet away, but thanks to the open windows I can hear her. Just the sound of the crickets and a steady stream of Shelby Chesterfield’s pee.

“Wow.” I congratulate her as she climbs back in the car. She slams the door on her way in too, but her lips are pursed, like she wants to smile. She fidgets as she puts on her seatbelt and I start the engine. I relish a little in her embarrassment. It doesn’t happen often.

Suddenly, she bursts out laughing. She leans back and puts her feet up on the dash, suddenly flippant. Suddenly cool with all of it. This will make a good story—I wonder if that’s what she’s thinking. It’s what I’m thinking, admittedly.

I like the mechanics of things—the why of them—the probability of things working a certain way because that’s the way they’ve worked before. I can read Shelby—the why is never clear, but I understand the likelihood of her actions.

Without meaning to, I think of Aubrey, and how I don’t know if I ever really understood her or just thought I did. I think of how she was surprising to me, but also seemed very familiar. I feel sick. This space in my brain is off limits. Shelby is here. We are having fun. So much fun. We are doing what we’re supposed to be doing before we graduate. We are letting go. I want to let go. But part of me hopes I don’t lose too much; that I haven’t already.

“Out with it, Diggs,” Shelby says to the quiet. She can read me perfectly; the why of me and the probability of what I’ll do, and she most likely also sees through everything that I like to think makes me mysterious. She pokes me in the shoulder and when I glance at her she is smiling this warm, inviting smile.

There’s no use hiding anything from her, and what’s the point anyway?

“Is Aubrey going to be there?”

“Why wouldn’t she be?” Shelby says, shrugging.

A million reasons pop into my head. She’s with someone else, “tutoring.” She has to work early the next day—though I’ve memorized her schedule, I know that’s not the case. She doesn’t want to see me. She doesn’t want to see me arriving with Shelby. Everything is possible. Nothing is certain, except that Shelby is beautiful. She knows Aubrey the best, better than I’ll ever know her, perhaps. This thought makes me so melancholy, but Shelby smiles at me like there is nothing to worry about.

***

Intrigued? Well, good. Because as part of the hunt you can WIN a copy of LOVE AND OTHER THEORIES. Or you can order on AMAZON. And for more about Alexis and her books visit HER WEBSITE.

NOW – HUNT ON! The next number in the hunt can be found on A. LYNDEN ROLLAND’s BLOG.