Summerlost Blitz (and Giveaway!)

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Hello, all! Today I'm trying something a little different: a blitz post! Ally Condie (author of the Matched trilogy) has a new book out today, and I thought it looked so cool I volunteered to help spread the word. As a word of warning, I haven't actually read Summerlost yet so I don't know if it's really as good as it looks.

Here's the description:

It's the first real summer since the devastating accident that killed Cedar's father and younger brother, Ben. But now Cedar and what’s left of her family are returning to the town of Iron Creek for the summer. They’re just settling into their new house when a boy named Leo, dressed in costume, rides by on his bike. Intrigued, Cedar follows him to the renowned Summerlost theatre festival. Soon, she not only has a new friend in Leo and a job working concessions at the festival, she finds herself surrounded by mystery. The mystery of the tragic, too-short life of the Hollywood actress who haunts the halls of Summerlost. And the mystery of the strange gifts that keep appearing for Cedar.
Infused with emotion and rich with understanding, Summerlost is the touching middle grade debut from Ally Condie, the international bestselling author of the Matched series, that highlights the strength of family and personal resilience in the face of tragedy.

Looks good, doesn't it? Ms. Condie wrote a letter to help entice us even more:

Dear Readers, 

I think most of us have had our hearts broken. Sometimes we can see it coming, and sometimes it comes down with the unexpected force of a sudden gale of wind or a rising of waters that we thought were still and safe. Loss is universal to human experience, but the way we each feel and recover is one of the most personal things we do. 

In Summerlost, Cedar is dealing with the loss of her father and younger brother. And my intent was to show how hard their deaths are for her. But this is also a book about the healing power of friendship. Most of us have been broken-hearted; I hope that most of us have also discovered the miracle of friendships that were just what we needed. Cedar and Leo’s friendship is based on someone I met when I was twelve. Like Leo, my friend was fun and liked to enlist me in crazy adventures (although we never gave a secret guided tour of our town the way they do in Summerlost). And, like Leo, he thought I was wonderful and of worth at a time when I needed it most.  

SUMMERLOST is my attempt to pay tribute both to the pain we feel and the friendships that save us. Thank you so much for supporting this book, and for your willingness to give Cedar’s story a try. I hope it makes you think of a wonderful friend of your own, whether that is someone you met in the pages of a favorite book or outside, in the world where it is often hard and beautiful to live. 

Best wishes and happy reading always,
Ally Condie

I don't know about you, but I'm definitely looking forward to reading Summerlost. I'm getting some very Love, Aubrey vibes from the description, and if you've read my review of that then you know how much I love sad, meaningful books.

Anyway, you can enter to win a copy of Summerlost in the Rafflecopter form here. If you do win, be sure to let me know what you think of the book!