Today, we are kicking off this 5-day Book Blitz + Giveaway for Mia Kerick's The Princess of Baker Street! Today, we celebrate this book birthday with an exclusive excerpt AND a blitz-wide giveaway!! So... Check it out and grab your copy now!!!
Genre:
Young Adult
Contemporary/LGBTQ+
Publish Date:
January 22, 2019
Publisher:
Harmony Ink Press
Publisher:
Harmony Ink Press
Synopsis:
“Always wear your imaginary crown” is Joey Kinkaid’s motto. For years, Joey, assigned male at birth, led the Baker Street kids in daring and imaginative fantasy adventures, but now that they’re teenagers, being a princess is no longer quite so cool. Especially for a child who is seen by the world as a boy.
Eric Sinclair has always been Joey’s best friend and admirer—Prince Eric to Joey’s Princess Ariel—but middle school puts major distance between them. As Eric’s own life takes a dangerous turn for the worse, he stands by and watches as Joey—who persists in dressing and acting too much like a Disney princess for anybody’s comfort—gets bullied. Eric doesn’t like turning his back on Joey, but he’s learned that the secret to teenage survival, especially with and absent mother, is to fly under the radar.
But when Joey finally accepts who she is and comes to school wearing lip gloss, leggings, and a silky pink scarf, the bullies make her life such a misery that she decides to end it all. Eric, in turn, must decide who he really is and what side he wants to stand on… though no matter what he chooses, the consequences with be profound for both teens, and they’ll face them for years to come.
Is there a chance the two teens can be friends again, and maybe even more?
“Always wear your imaginary crown” is Joey Kinkaid’s motto. For years, Joey, assigned male at birth, led the Baker Street kids in daring and imaginative fantasy adventures, but now that they’re teenagers, being a princess is no longer quite so cool. Especially for a child who is seen by the world as a boy.
Eric Sinclair has always been Joey’s best friend and admirer—Prince Eric to Joey’s Princess Ariel—but middle school puts major distance between them. As Eric’s own life takes a dangerous turn for the worse, he stands by and watches as Joey—who persists in dressing and acting too much like a Disney princess for anybody’s comfort—gets bullied. Eric doesn’t like turning his back on Joey, but he’s learned that the secret to teenage survival, especially with and absent mother, is to fly under the radar.
But when Joey finally accepts who she is and comes to school wearing lip gloss, leggings, and a silky pink scarf, the bullies make her life such a misery that she decides to end it all. Eric, in turn, must decide who he really is and what side he wants to stand on… though no matter what he chooses, the consequences with be profound for both teens, and they’ll face them for years to come.
Is there a chance the two teens can be friends again, and maybe even more?
*Excerpt*
Early Monday morning, Travis calls to tell me our bus stop has been changed.
“What?” I ask. “The bus stop isn’t in front of the Kinkaids’ house anymore?” On the corner of Baker Street, by the Kinkaid’s mailbox, has been the Baker Street bus stop since forever, it seems.
“Nope. Something crazy is going on at the Kinkaids’ house. Joey hasn’t been in school since last Thursday. He probably caught the stomach flu from you.” He laughs. “At least I hope so.”
“Weird,” I say. But it’s actually really weird because school bus stops only change over the summer, and hardly ever even then. “So where do we catch the bus now?”
“In front of Emily’s house. It’s only a few minutes more to walk on Baker Street, so it’s no big deal.”
“Yeah, I guess.” I still think it’s messed-up.
When I get to Emily’s house, the strangeness in the air smacks me hard in the face, and I know something’s seriously wrong. There are parents at the bus stop, which hasn’t happened since the first day of kindergarten—and we’re in eighth grade now. Even Chuckie is here. And the grown-ups are all leaning in toward each other, talking real quiet while stealing sneaky peeks at us. The kids are clustered at the other side of the driveway, and they’re whispering with their heads down but refusing to look at each other.
Since I’m the last one to get to the bus stop, I race right into the middle of the group. I surprise Emily so much that she spins around and stumbles back, and then she gapes at me with somber eyes. I ask in my coolest voice, “What’s going on? You guys are acting like somebody died.”
Every single kid’s head snaps my way at once, and they all gawk at me like I got three heads and they’re all wearing bright purple wigs. I know I stuck my foot in it big-time, but I just don’t know how. Freaked-out faces with eyes as round as dinner plates, like Mom used to say, back when I had a mom, are all focused square on me. Emily steps forward and puts her hand on my shoulder. Even through my coat, the weight of her hand feels good because I been so lonely in my cold house this week, but the panic in her expression rips the good feeling away.
Plus the pink patches around her eyes scream out “I been bawling all morning!” even if the wetness has dried. She’s got the strangest, most haunted look on her face when she says the words I won’t ever forget. “Joey… Joey Kinkaid almost died.”
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**About the Author**
Mia Kerick is the mother of four exceptional children—one in law school, another a professional dancer, a third studying at Mia’s alma mater, Boston College, and her lone son, heading off to college. (Yes, the nest is finally empty.) She has published more than twenty books of LGBTQ romance when not editing National Honor Society essays, offering opinions on college and law school applications, helping to create dance bios, and reviewing scholarship essays. Her husband of twenty-five years has been told by many that he has the patience of Job, but don’t ask Mia about this, as it’s a sensitive subject.
Mia focuses her stories on the emotional growth of troubled people in complex relationships. She has a great affinity for the tortured hero in literature, and as a teen, Mia filled spiral-bound notebooks with tales of tortured heroes and stuffed them under her mattress for safekeeping. She is thankful to her wonderful publishers for providing her with an alternate place to stash her stories.
Her books have been featured in Kirkus Reviews magazine, and have won Rainbow Awards for Best Transgender Contemporary Romance and Best YA Lesbian Fiction, a Reader Views’ Book by Book Publicity Literary Award, the Jack Eadon Award for Best Book in Contemporary Drama, an Indie Fab Award, and a Royal Dragonfly Award for Cultural Diversity, a Story Monsters Purple Dragonfly Award for Young Adult e-book Fiction, among other awards.
Mia Kerick is a social liberal and cheers for each and every victory made in the name of human rights. Her only major regret: never having taken typing or computer class in school, destining her to a life consumed with two-fingered pecking and constant prayer to the Gods of Technology. Contact Mia at miakerick@gmail.com or visit at www.miakerickya.com to see what is going on in Mia’s world.
Stay connected with Mia Kerick
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***The Giveaway***
Giveaway Open Internationally
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