Positive by Page Rawl

In this compelling and compulsively readable memoir, nineteen-year-old Paige Rawl tells the story of how she was mercilessly bullied in middle school...and how she overcame the ordeal to change her world for the better.

In this astonishing memoir, Paige tells a story that is both deeply personal and completely universal—one that will resonate deeply with the thousands of children and adults whose lives have been touched by bullying.

Paige Rawl has been HIV positive since birth…but growing up, she never felt like her illness defined her. It never prevented her from entering beauty pageants or playing soccer or making the honor role.

On an unremarkable day in middle school, while attempting to console a friend, Paige disclosed her HIV-positive status—and within hours the bullying began. She was called "PAIDS," first in whispers, then out in the open. Her soccer coach joked that she was an asset because opposing team members would be too afraid to touch her. Her guidance counselor told her to stop all the “drama,” and her principal said she couldn’t protect her. One night, desperate for escape, Paige swallowed fifteen sleeping pills—one for each year of her life to date. That could have been the end of her story. Instead, it was only the beginning.

The gripping first-person account of Paige’s life will pull in even the most reluctant readers of nonfiction, and her call to action to choose compassion over cruelty will stay with them long after they turn the last page. 

Goodreads Summary

If you were born with something terrible inside you, would you be able to handle life knowing that terrible situation was not caused by you. It isn't fair to a child to have them born with a disease. They never got the chance to make a choice and they have to live with the bad decision of someone else. Paige's life story is exactly the same. She was born with a positive HIV status and because of this, her life is not fair.

I loved every second of this gripping and thrilling novel. You get a true feel for Paige and the struggles that she faces as she pushes through her diagnosis and how to deal with it. There is so much pain that she struggles through and the author does an amazing job with the descriptions. It must have been difficult dealing with a punishment you received before you existed on this planet. It was nice hearing about Paige's childhood but sad at the same time because of all the ridicule she faced growing up. If you like reading about sad but true situations, this book is right up your alley.

5 Stars

Reviewed by Chris

This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews. COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READ

Interview with the amazing Sarah Beth Durst!

1) Tell us a little about Chasing Power, what's the main plot?

It's about a girl with telekinesis.  Also lies and secrets.  And banter.

Okay, I should be more specific than that.  Here's my formal description:

CHASING POWER is the story of Kayla, a sixteen-year-old girl who can move things with her mind, and Daniel, a boy who can teleport across continents and who lies as easily as he travels. Together, they embark on an Indiana-Jones-style adventure to find and steal an ancient incantation, written on three indestructible stones and hidden millennia ago, all to rescue Daniel's kidnapped mother. But Kayla has no idea that this rescue mission will lead back to her own family, and to betrayals that she may not be able to forgive... or survive.

2) Who would you be if you were a character in the book and why?

I'm not at all like Kayla -- she radiates self-confidence and can always think of a clever thing to say -- but it would be fun to be her for a little while.  I'd love to banter with Selena or travel the world with Daniel and play with moving things with my mind.

3) What was the hardest scene to write about and why?

Probably the big climactic scene, which I can't tell you about for spoiler reasons.  :)  But it's always challenging to make all the little threads come together.  I must have rewritten that scene at least a dozen times before it felt right.

Love that feeling, when a scene finally feels right.  You half expect trumpets to sound and an elephant parade to march through the house.  Or at least a few ponies.

4) Do you like any one or two characters over the others in the book?

I especially love Selena, Kayla's best friend, and I admire Moonbeam, Kayla's mother -- she may seem flighty but she's so much more.

5) Where did your inspiration for the book come from?

I've always loved telekinesis -- from Yoda to Jean Grey to the kids in Escape to Witch Mountain -- and I've been wanting to write a story about a girl with telekinesis for a long time.  This story emerged when I decided my girl would have very limited powers.  She can only lift very light things.  Interestingly, by limiting myself in that way, it was freeing -- the story emerged because Kayla had to be clever more than powerful.

6) Can we look forward to anything else from you?

Yes!  I am working on a middle-grade novel called THE GIRL WHO COULD NOT DREAM.  It's about a girl whose family owns a secret store where they buy, bottle, and sell dreams, but who can't have any of her own, and the adventure that she and her pet monster go on when someone starts kidnapping dreamers.  It's coming out in fall 2015 from HMH/Clarion Books, and I'm really, really excited about it!

Thanks so much for interviewing me!

This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews. COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READ

Hero by Night: Cover Reveal and Promo!

HERO BY NIGHT Cover Reveal! 11/05

The third in Sara Jane Stone’s phenomenal Independence Falls series

He was nobody’s hero, until he landed in the wrong bed . . .

Armed with a golden retriever and a concealed weapons permit, Lena Clark is fighting for normal. She served her country, but the experience left her emotionally numb, afraid to be touched, and estranged from her career-military family. Staying in Independence Falls, and finding a job, seems like the first step to reclaiming her life and preparing for the upcoming medal ceremony, until the town playboy stumbles into her bed . . .

Chad Summers is living his dream-helicopter logging by day and slipping between the sheets with Mrs. Right Now by night. Until his wild nights threaten his day job, leaving Chad with a choice: prove he can settle down or kiss his dream job goodbye. But after a party, Chad ends up in bed with the one woman in Independence Falls he can’t touch. Too late he realizes the passionate sleeping beauty is the shy, struggling soldier his little sister befriended.

The playboy’s touch ignited something in her. And Lena is determined to find out if it is the man, and his wicked demands in the bedroom, or if she’s finally starting to heal. Chad is ready and willing to give into the primal desire to make Lena his at night-on one condition. By day, they pretend their relationship is real so he can show Independence Falls-and his boss-that he has shed his wild image. But their connection extends beyond the bedroom, threatening to turn their sham into reality-if Chad can prove he’s the hero Lena needs night and day . . . forever.

About the Author:
After several years on the other side of the publishing industry, Sara Jane Stone bid goodbye to her sales career to pursue her dream-writing romance novels. Sara Jane currently resides in Brooklyn, New York with her very supportive real-life hero, two lively young children and a lazy Burmese cat. Visit her online at www.sarajanestone.com or find her on Facebook at Sara Jane Stone.

Join Sara Jane’s newsletter to receive new release information, news about contests, giveaways, and more! To subscribe, visitwww.sarajanestone.com and look for her newsletter entry form.

This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews. COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READ

Martian Goods and Other Stories by Noelle Campbell: Promo and Giveaway!

Martian Goods and Other Stories by Noelle Campbell On a barren world where air is priceless and women are bought and sold, one man longs for love, but is she worth the price? In this collection of short stories by science fiction author Noelle Campbell, Mars is the new frontier where men stake their claims for a new life. But some commodities are harder to come by than others--including women, who are often willing to sacrifice everything to escape an Earth that is no longer free."

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  Excerpt Richard “Rock” Klein Captains Log 14.10.2665 Patraeus Station, Outside Luna Docking Bay 24 They say space is cold. But it’s not *just* cold. No one has ever really felt how cold it is and lived to tell about it. We know instinctively that anything so vast and so empty must be cold. The irony is that all the things we spend time with while in space also make us feel cold and empty. We travel in cold metallic ships from cold empty space to cold empty space. Machines have no disability like perception. Filled with Artificial Intelligence and hundreds of processors heating up their hard drives, they are still only metal and plastic. They don’t care if they sit in space or in a shipyard for twenty years. They do not desire warmth and companionship. They just exist. If you have one of those new bioships it might feel a little more like a horse than a cold lifeless THING, but in the end, it’s still a machine. It gives out as much personality and intelligence as an animal and it only lives to fill its purpose. It knows exactly what it should be and do. There is no goal for a spaceship to one day become a station. It is what it is and will never be more. We try to fill the spaces with ego or warm it with personality. Those of us who spend so much time in space hardly know what exaggerated bravado is. We believe the lies we tell ourselves. We believe all the fantasies we create about ourselves and the things… and people, we love – or maybe it’s just ‘want.’ I’ve given up trying to tell the difference between love and desire. I just want warmth. We leave a planet’s atmosphere to be greeted by a sheet of black with pinpricks of light. There is so much empty blackness between each point of light, that space seems cold even without feeling the temperature drop. We spend much of our time trying to make it feel warm and filled. The ship is cold and empty this morning and I think of her. Samaya. Six months ago she warmed these halls. Maybe it was longer, but I remember it like it was yesterday. No one has ever turned me on, out and completely neutroned me like Sam did. We were good. No. That’s a lie. We were slammin’ fantastic. I know how good it can be between a man and a woman. That’s why I hate her and why I can’t get her out of my mind at the same time. I sit at these docs and the ship is so quiet, all I can think of is the noise that Sam used to make, the scents she used to leave, the warmth, the humanity, as flawed as it was. Every time I have to sit and wait for maintenance, I think of her. You might look at the logs from a year ago and come to the same conclusion I did then: She could be a cold-hearted bitch. Still. . .a cold hearted bitch is better company than an empty starship.       Author Noelle Campbell Noelle Campbell has been involved in science media for more than a decade, covering stories for the entertainment sections of syfy (when it was still scifichannel), space.com, and local media in Houston, Texas—the home of the Space Center. As an advocate for the disabled, Noelle thinks the best way to prepare for the future is to imagine what it will be like and loves to imagine a life on Mars, which she does in her first published collection of short stories, Martian Goods & Other Stories.  

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        Book Blast Giveaway $100 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash Ends 11/27/14 Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.   a Rafflecopter giveaway This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews. COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READ