Welcome to the World, Jenn's Book!

Do you hear that toot tooting and woo hoo-ing way off in the distance? That's me, celebrating the grand entrance of The Secret Year, the long awaited baby of my friend Jenn Hubbard.
Do you know Jenn?
Here's her pretty face.

Jenn contacted me a couple of years ago when she was considering signing with Nathan Bransford, my literary agent. Is he as amazing as he seems? Oh yes. Even more so.
She signed (I'm taking complete credit in case you're wondering :) ) and we became friends. Actually, I suppose we're sisters of some sort. So that makes The Secret Year my niece, right? No wonder I'm so proud. But anyone connected with The Secret Year would feel that way. To quote Booklist, "With this debut novel, Hubbard has crafted a fine addition to the pantheon of YA literature." How impressive!

I remember how thrilling it was when my own baby found her place in the world. I drove to three different stores on publication day just to look at it, to squeeze it and stroke it and admire it on the shelves. After such a long labor, it was exhilarating.

So Jenn, I thought I'd show you how The Secret Year looks in South Carolina.

See, there it is!


Let's take a closer look.

What a lovely spine. And there were three copies, not two. I'm holding one in my hot little hands.


Oh my goodness, how did that happen?
It's now arranged properly, with the cover for all to see.
Very nice.


And equally nice is this lovely girl who rang up my purchase, who has now heard all the buzz about the book and can't wait to read it. And hopefully gush about it to everyone she knows.

Would you like to hear more about the book? Here's Booklist's complete summary/review:

For a year, 16-year-old working-class boy Colton Morrissey met rich girl Julia Vernon, his schoolmate and girlfriend of a member of the local gentry, on a regular and frequent basis. No one knew of their romance until the night Julia was killed in a car accident (in which Colt was uninvolved). Hubbard sensitively shows the year before the accident and the year following—as Colt comes to terms both with Julia’s death and the need to share the secret of their romance. Julia is revivified through a diary she kept and which her brother gives to Colt. His friends, including would-be lovers and guys who can’t see past class lines, and parents are fully human; his mostly offstage older brother joins the action long enough to help Colt understand why the worst secrets are those we keep from ourselves. With this debut novel, Hubbard has crafted a fine addition to the pantheon of YA literature.

Wow.
There's also an excerpt over on Nathan's site, here, that might give you a feel for what the book is like. Scroll down. It's at the end of the post.

Congratulations, Jenn!
Have a super weekend, everybody!
Love, Becky