Book Giveaway: Hope Rising

Author Amy Spade recently contacted me about reading her new young adult novel Hope Rising. I happen to (sometimes sheepishly) be a fan of YA literature, and I'm always looking for something to read. So how could I turn down an opportunity when it came knocking at my door? I mean ... e-mail inbox? I couldn't. Duh.

Amy graciously sent a digital copy of Hope Rising to my Kindle Fire (super-nifty, I might add) and I began reading straight away. I quickly discovered the novel is about a high school senior named Reggie whose parents tragically passed away. She ends up moving to a different town and has to figure out where she fits in at her new school and really, her new life. There's a little romance, a little heartache, a little "Mean Girls" and a lot of family love. It pretty much covers everything so I rather enjoyed it.

I'm one of those philosophy geeks who's always trying to find the meaning in everything that passes through my brain, so of course I was eager to discover the message contained within Hope Rising. After reading it and pondering on the story, I decided that the moral is "everybody hurts." Just like that R.E.M. song. Cheesy but true. Reggie has every reason to shut the world out in her state of grief and pain, but she comes to realize that everyone around her has their own story of hurt as well -- even the boy she has come to adore.

I sometimes get caught up in my problems and forget that all the other people in my life have problems, too. Maybe even the same problems. And even though I'm 25 and far out of high school, I sometimes act like an immature 17-year-old and forget. Hope Rising serves as a reminder to be aware of others' pain as well as your own and realize that they are trying to heal from life's battle wounds, too.

Since I enjoyed this book (clearly -- I breezed through it in less than a week!) I'd like to give a copy away to one of my readers! YES, YOU! Just use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Oh and one more cool thing. You can read the first chapter of Hope Rising here. So go!