BLOG TOUR: HOOPER by Geoff Herbach

Welcome to the Official Blog Tour for Hooper by Geoff Herbach. Today, on our tour stop, we have an exclusive excerpt to share! Follow the tour, HERE, to check out all the blog tour festivities. We also have a tour-wide giveaway to share as well. So... Check it out and grab your copy now!!!

Genre:

Young Adult

Contemporary

Sports

Publish Date:

February 20, 2018

Publisher:

Katherine Tegen Books

Synopsis:

From Geoff Herbach, the critically acclaimed author of the Stupid Fast series, comes a compelling new YA novel about basketball, prejudice, privilege, and family, perfect for fans of Jordan Sonnenblick, Andrew Smith, and Matt de la Peña.

For Adam Reed, basketball is a passport. Adam’s basketball skills have taken him from an orphanage in Poland to a loving adoptive mother in Minnesota. When he’s tapped to play on a select AAU team along with some of the best players in the state, it just confirms that basketball is his ticket to the good life: to new friendships, to the girl of his dreams, to a better future.

But life is more complicated off the court. When an incident with the police threatens to break apart the bonds Adam’s finally formed after a lifetime of struggle, he must make an impossible choice between his new family and the sport that’s given him everything.

       

*Excerpt*

This is where I first found happiness in America. I am a hooper.

I leap high, grab the rebound over all the Wauzeka boys. I drop the rock to the point guard, Caleb Olson, then jog down the court.

Shoes squeak. The pep band drummer drums. Cheerleaders cheer. The air smells like popcorn and nachos and the heat of all these people, a packed gym full of Northrup Polar Bear fans.

This is February. Sophomore year.

I jog underneath the hoop. The defender tries to push me out. I am already too big. He is six foot one, maybe. I am six foot six and all bony arms and legs. I back him down just for fun. Caleb Olson, a senior, takes his time coming down the court. He is so good with the ball in his hand. He is such a fine shooter, too.

We are far ahead. No need to rush things.

I swing outside the paint to the left wing.

The drum drums. The crowd cheers.

Our offense runs through me and Caleb and no one else.

Caleb moves into the frontcourt. The Wauzeka defense sets. I cut again underneath the basket then explode from the post to the top of the key, where I set a pick on Caleb’s defender.

Caleb drives.

I roll.

Caleb lobs the ball high at the rim.

I leap. I catch. I throw it down.

It’s like water breaking through a dam.

The crowd goes crazy, even a kid at the end of our opponent’s bench. He looks like me when I was a little boy, or like my little brother would look if I had one. Blond hair spiked up. Long arms. Long legs. So skinny. He wears a red T-shirt with a big yellow corncob on it. “Fear the Cob” is written in big letters.

That boy is so happy to see me dunk the basketball, and I do not fear the Cob.

Wauzeka, known as “The Cobbers,” won the Minnesota Valley Conference three years in a row, but this victory claims the crown for us.

Northrup Polar Bears reign supreme. We are the champions.

Me and Caleb high-five.

But I don’t like him.

Copyright © 2018 by Geoff Herbach

~~~~~

Praise for HOOPER

“Lessons on small-town politics and what it means to be a good friend abound in this well-plotted work.” ―Booklist

“Herbach’s ability to expand the narrative from solid game play to confronting racial injustice is remarkable. No one here is perfect, and their failures make readers cringe yet root for success. Hoops and so much more.” ―Kirkus Reviews

“There’s much to love in this sports tale. Fast-paced play-by-plays vividly depict the speed and beauty of the game. Adam’s backstory is heartrending and with immigrant mistrust and nonviolent protests in the national spotlight, this is a timely and realistic teen drama and swish—nothin’ but net.” ―School Library Journal

“This sports/school/domestic drama checks all the boxes. What could be another boilerplate basketball novel benefits from a tight cast of well developed secondary characters who surpass their expected stereotypes.” ―Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“Fresh, funny, thoughtful, subversive, and totally absorbing. Book of the year!” ―Robert Lipsyte, Margaret A. Edwards award-winning author of The Contender

“Funny, gut-wrenching, and spilling over with heart, Hooper is an uplifting breath of joy, and gives us all cause to be hopeful. I loved it!” ―Andrew Smith, Michael L. Printz Honor and New York Times Bestselling author of Winger and Grasshopper Jungle

“Hooper is a slam dunk! A sports novel with incredible action and tons of heart. I challenge you not to fall in love with these terrific, flawed characters, and just try to put this one down once you start. Impossible.” ―Bill Konigsberg, Award-Winning Author of Honestly Ben

“Raw, funny, and deeply honest, Geoff Herbach gifts us a story about the messiness of life and the importance of talking about it—ultimately showing us how to not only trudge through it, but to soar.” ―Gae Polisner, author of In Sight of Stars and The Memory of Things

“Author Geoff Herbach has a remarkable ability to create characters who make us laugh and think, sometimes within the same sentence. Read Hooper and let your self be changed.” ―John Coy, author of Gap Life

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**About the Author**

Photo Credit: Katherine Warde

Geoff Herbach is the author of the award winning Stupid Fast YA series as well as Fat Boy vs the Cheerleaders. His books have been given the 2011 Cybils Award for best YA novel, the Minnesota Book Award, selected for the Junior Library Guild, listed among the year’s best by the American Library Association, the American Booksellers Association and many state library associations. In the past, he wrote the literary novel, The Miracle Letters of T. Rimberg, produced radio comedy shows and toured rock clubs telling weird stories. Geoff teaches creative writing at Minnesota State, Mankato. He lives in a log cabin with a tall wife.

Stay connected with Geoff Herbach

    

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***The Giveaway***

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COVER REVEAL: Tattered by Devney Perry

We are thrilled to share this Cover Reveal for Tattered, the first title in the Lark Cove series, by Devney Perry. This can be read as a standalone. Check out the beautiful cover and pre-order your copy now!!!

Genre:
Adult
Contemporary Romance
Series:
Lark Cove, #1
Publish Date:
June 19, 2018

Synopsis:
Thea Landry has always known her place in modern-day society. It’s somewhere just above the trash can her mother dumped her in as a newborn but below the class where much comes easy. With her tattered shoes and bargain-bin clothes, her life has never been full of glamour.

So when a rich and charismatic man takes interest, she doesn’t fool herself into thinking their encounter is anything more than a one-night stand. Months later, she’s kicking herself for not getting his phone number. Or his last name. She’s given up hope of seeing him ever again.

Until one day, years later, Logan Kendrick waltzes into her life once more and turns everything she’s built upside down. This time around, she won’t make the same mistake. She’s going to fight to keep him in her life—not for herself.

But for their daughter.

      

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**About the Author**

Devney Perry is the USA Today bestselling author of the Jamison Valley series. She lives in Montana with her husband and two children. Afterworking in the technology industry for nearly a decade, she abandoned conference calls and project schedules to enjoy a slower pace at home with her kids. She loves reading and, after consuming hundreds of books, decided to share her own stories. Deveny loves hearing from readers!

Stay connected with Devney Perry

     

Cover Reveal Organized by

BLOG TOUR: Tinfoil Heart by Daisy Prescott

Welcome to the Official Blog Tour for Daisy Prescott's Tinfoil Heart! On our tour stop today, we have an exclusive excerpt and an author-hosted giveaway to share!!! So... Check it out and grab your copy now!!!

Genre:

New Adult

Romantic Comedy

Publish Date:

April 24, 2018

Synopsis:

A new romantic comedy about love, letting go, and little green men from USA Today Bestselling author Daisy Prescott.

My father was abducted by aliens.

Or so I believed for the last eighteen years.

After my mother's death, I moved to Roswell, capital of all things alien. I’m going to find out the truth and nothing will stop me . . . except Boone Santos.

Compared to the intergalactic tinfoil hat brigade, he's a god amongst mere mortals. Too handsome for his own good (and mine), with a grumpy arrogance, and the most beautiful smile ever—he smashes my plan to pieces like a UFO crashing into the desert.

I need a tinfoil hat for my heart.

Do I believe in aliens? I’m not sure.

What do I believe? I’m not going to fall in love with Boone. Definitely not . . .

      

*Excerpt*

I’m never coming back here.

“Well, thanks for taking everything.” I wipe my hands on my skirt and try to put them in the dress’s pockets, only remembering too late this dress doesn’t have them.

What a waste of a nice blue floral summer dress. Every dress should have pockets. So should cardigans. This is why I buy mine in the men’s section of thrift stores. Old man cardigans always have pockets for candy or rubber bands, or whatever old men need to carry in their sweater pockets. My own grandfather put butterscotch and star mints in his. At his funeral a few years ago, I snuck a couple pieces of each into his casket.

Full of rejects from the garage sale, the big truck drives away. I stand alone in the driveway. The desire to wave good-bye hits me in the center of my chest, and I realize it’s not the stuff I’m going to miss, it’s my life.

Behind me, my grandparents’ house, the only home I’ve ever known, is an empty shell. Shadows of old frames and mirrors fill the walls, revealing the true colors of the Laura Ashley floral wallpaper my grandmother installed in the eighties. Sunlight faded carpet darkens where the sofa and Grandpa’s favorite recliner once sat. Upstairs, the bathroom sink still drips, unaware no one is here to curse at the incessant tap, tap, tap against the pink porcelain.

Let the new owners deal with the unreliable plumbing.

The closing is tomorrow. A new family will move in and fill this house with their own memories. I hope they replace the carpet—it’s seen some shit. Literally.

I’m alone.

Single.

No living family.

Can an adult be an orphan? Sure feels that way.

An orphan at twenty-seven. Too old for Daddy Warbucks to swoop in and adopt me into a life of wealth. No adorable mutt by my side to listen to my sad story.

I don’t even have cats.

The last pet I had was a depressed goldfish. He could barely muster up the interest to do laps around his bowl. I could totally relate to him feeling trapped, living a monotonous existence without purpose or passion.

My entire life has been spent in this faded upstate town, long past its prime. Whatever good or interesting that could happen here, already has. Tethered here by my family and small town expectations, I’ve tried to make the most of growing up in a place where success is an echo and hope is a memory.

Now there’s no reason to stay.

A strange sense of freedom expands my ribcage as I inhale the thick, humid air of the New York August day.

Now I can go anywhere. Adventure and the open road await.

Go west.

I stayed because of her.

Mom left once. Right out of high school. She packed up, impatient to put miles between her and this forgotten place. When she came home six months later, pregnant and married, her adventure became an example of why it’s better to accept our place in the world than expose ourselves to unknown disappointments.

At least that’s what the locals like to remind me.

The grass is never greener.

What about my father?

He followed her home and stayed. For a while.

Until he left in the middle of the night.

At first mom said he was away on a business trip.

Then the story changed to caring for a sick relative out of state.

Eventually, she told me the truth.

He’d been abducted.

By aliens.

   

~~~~~

**About the Author**

USA Today Bestselling Author Daisy Prescott writes romantic comedies with heart.

Her Modern Love Stories feature characters in their thirties and forties finding and rediscovering love in unexpected and humorous ways. Her Wingmen books star regular guys who often have beards, drive trucks, and love deeply once they fall. Look for her new Rom Com series, Love with Altitude, in 2017.

Born and raised in San Diego, Daisy currently lives in a real life Stars Hollow in the Boston suburbs with her husband, their rescue dog, and an indeterminate number of imaginary house goats. When not writing about herself in the third person, Daisy can be found traveling, gardening, baking, or lost in a good book.

Daisy loves to keep in touch with her readers.

Stay connected with Daisy Prescott

     

email: daisyauthor@gmail.com

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***The Giveaway***

Note: Not Responsible for Lost & Damaged Prizes in Your Mail Box

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