AUTHOR BIO:
Amalie Howard grew up on a small Caribbean island where she spent most of her childhood with her nose buried in a book or being a tomboy running around barefoot, shimmying up mango trees and dreaming of adventure. She received a bachelor’s degree from Colby College in Maine in International Studies and French, and a certificate in French Literature from the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, France. She has also lived in Los Angeles, Boston, and New York City. She has worked as a research assistant, marketing rep, global sales executive, freelance writer, and blogger. A lover of other cultures and new experiences, especially of the culinary variety, she has traveled extensively across North America and Europe, and as far east as China, Indonesia, and Australia. She currently resides in New York with her husband, three children, and one very willful cat that she is convinced may have been a witch’s cat in a past life.
Amalie Howard’s debut novel, Bloodspell, evolved from a short story that took on an eerie life of its own, and is undoubtedly the result of a lifelong infatuation with witchcraft, vampires, and excessive amounts of chocolate.
What books would you recommend for kids/young adults aged 7, 14, 16 and 20?
Seven is a great age because I think this is where you really start to develop an interest in books. I have a six-year-old son and I’m constantly on the lookout for interesting books for him. It’s definitely a key age to cultivate a love of reading. Here are some of the books I read around age seven, and some of the ones I would recommend for young readers:-
Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Magic Tree House, Pippi Longstocking, Beverly Cleary, the Famous Five and the Secret Seven (and pretty much anything by Enid Blyton), The Lightning Thief, Shel Silverstein poems, The Brothers Grimm, The Secret Garden, A Little Princess.
Twelve is a more complicated age because you’re in that space between child and teenager, so it may be hard to find books that appeal to a particular reader – it all depends on maturity or gender. At twelve, I was a voracious reader so I read anything and everything. Reading was my escape. Here are the books I devoured and would recommend at twelve:-
Little Women, Trixie Belden, Anne of Green Gables, White Fang, Black Beauty, the Narnia series, The Witches, the Harry Potter series, His Dark Materials, the Princess Diaries series, Coraline, the Eragon series, Lord of the Rings (for the more advanced reader), and anything by Judy Blume.
At sixteen, which is another odd age because it is in its own way a transitional age, I think you’re either a reader or you’re not. Readers at sixteen would most likely already have specific ideas of what kind of books or genres they are partial to. At sixteen, I read a wide variety of books mostly in the fantasy genre like David Eddings or Mercedes Lackey (of course, only when I had the time after reading very thick textbooks for high school). At sixteen, I would recommend the following books:-
The Belgariad and The Mallorean, Go Ask Alice, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Pride & Prejudice, The Count of Monte Cristo, the Hunger Games series, the Twilight series, The Mortal Instruments series, Fire or Graceling by Kristin Cashore, The Lovely Bones, Romeo & Juliet, American Gods, A Great and Terrible Beauty, Atonement, Dracula, Girl Interrupted, Wintergirls.
Twenty is a more discerning age, and a reader would be more inclined to read a greater range of books, perhaps venturing into non-fiction or the classics. More than likely, readers at this age would be in college so finding time to read outside of their course-load would be a challenge. Here are some of the books I would recommend reading at twenty:-
Paradise Lost, Tuesdays with Morrie, Hyperion, Memoirs of a Geisha, Freakonomics, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Life of Pi, Great Expectations, Dune, Brave New World, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Confessions of a Shopaholic, In Her Shoes, The Passage, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.
Amalie Howard grew up on a small Caribbean island where she spent most of her childhood with her nose buried in a book or being a tomboy running around barefoot, shimmying up mango trees and dreaming of adventure. She received a bachelor’s degree from Colby College in Maine in International Studies and French, and a certificate in French Literature from the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, France. She has also lived in Los Angeles, Boston, and New York City. She has worked as a research assistant, marketing rep, global sales executive, freelance writer, and blogger. A lover of other cultures and new experiences, especially of the culinary variety, she has traveled extensively across North America and Europe, and as far east as China, Indonesia, and Australia. She currently resides in New York with her husband, three children, and one very willful cat that she is convinced may have been a witch’s cat in a past life.
Amalie Howard’s debut novel, Bloodspell, evolved from a short story that took on an eerie life of its own, and is undoubtedly the result of a lifelong infatuation with witchcraft, vampires, and excessive amounts of chocolate.
What books would you recommend for kids/young adults aged 7, 14, 16 and 20?
Seven is a great age because I think this is where you really start to develop an interest in books. I have a six-year-old son and I’m constantly on the lookout for interesting books for him. It’s definitely a key age to cultivate a love of reading. Here are some of the books I read around age seven, and some of the ones I would recommend for young readers:-
Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Magic Tree House, Pippi Longstocking, Beverly Cleary, the Famous Five and the Secret Seven (and pretty much anything by Enid Blyton), The Lightning Thief, Shel Silverstein poems, The Brothers Grimm, The Secret Garden, A Little Princess.
Twelve is a more complicated age because you’re in that space between child and teenager, so it may be hard to find books that appeal to a particular reader – it all depends on maturity or gender. At twelve, I was a voracious reader so I read anything and everything. Reading was my escape. Here are the books I devoured and would recommend at twelve:-
Little Women, Trixie Belden, Anne of Green Gables, White Fang, Black Beauty, the Narnia series, The Witches, the Harry Potter series, His Dark Materials, the Princess Diaries series, Coraline, the Eragon series, Lord of the Rings (for the more advanced reader), and anything by Judy Blume.
At sixteen, which is another odd age because it is in its own way a transitional age, I think you’re either a reader or you’re not. Readers at sixteen would most likely already have specific ideas of what kind of books or genres they are partial to. At sixteen, I read a wide variety of books mostly in the fantasy genre like David Eddings or Mercedes Lackey (of course, only when I had the time after reading very thick textbooks for high school). At sixteen, I would recommend the following books:-
The Belgariad and The Mallorean, Go Ask Alice, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Pride & Prejudice, The Count of Monte Cristo, the Hunger Games series, the Twilight series, The Mortal Instruments series, Fire or Graceling by Kristin Cashore, The Lovely Bones, Romeo & Juliet, American Gods, A Great and Terrible Beauty, Atonement, Dracula, Girl Interrupted, Wintergirls.
Twenty is a more discerning age, and a reader would be more inclined to read a greater range of books, perhaps venturing into non-fiction or the classics. More than likely, readers at this age would be in college so finding time to read outside of their course-load would be a challenge. Here are some of the books I would recommend reading at twenty:-
Paradise Lost, Tuesdays with Morrie, Hyperion, Memoirs of a Geisha, Freakonomics, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Life of Pi, Great Expectations, Dune, Brave New World, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Confessions of a Shopaholic, In Her Shoes, The Passage, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.
Great choices, Amalie! Thanks for visiting today and sharing with my readers.
TITLE: BLOODSPELL
AUTHOR: Amalie Howard
IMPRINT: Langdon Street Press
PUBLICATION DATE: 1 June 2011
PREVIOUS TITLES IN SERIES: None
The spell was simple...
Cruentus Protectum (Defend the Blood)
But what do you do if your blood is your enemy?
Victoria Warrick has always known she was different. An outcast at school, she is no stranger to adversity. But when she receives an old journal for her seventeenth birthday, nothing prepares her for the dark secrets it holds -- much less one that reveals she's a witch with unimaginable power.
What's more, when she meets the dazzling but enigmatic Christian Devereux, she has no idea how much her life is about to change. Enemies will hunt her. Friends will turn on her. The terrible curse that makes her blood run black will stop at nothing to control her. And Christian has a sinister secret of his own...
Without knowing whom to trust, can Victoria survive her blood's deadly desires? Or will she lose everything, including herself?
AUTHOR: Amalie Howard
IMPRINT: Langdon Street Press
PUBLICATION DATE: 1 June 2011
PREVIOUS TITLES IN SERIES: None
The spell was simple...
Cruentus Protectum (Defend the Blood)
But what do you do if your blood is your enemy?
Victoria Warrick has always known she was different. An outcast at school, she is no stranger to adversity. But when she receives an old journal for her seventeenth birthday, nothing prepares her for the dark secrets it holds -- much less one that reveals she's a witch with unimaginable power.
What's more, when she meets the dazzling but enigmatic Christian Devereux, she has no idea how much her life is about to change. Enemies will hunt her. Friends will turn on her. The terrible curse that makes her blood run black will stop at nothing to control her. And Christian has a sinister secret of his own...
Without knowing whom to trust, can Victoria survive her blood's deadly desires? Or will she lose everything, including herself?
For more information on BLOODSPELL and Amalie Howard, visit:
BLOODSPELL WEBSITE
Amalie Howard WEBSITE
BLOODSPELL description and cover art courtesy of GOODREADS.
Amalie Howard author photo courtesy of bloodspellbook.com.
I received an ARC of BLOODSPELL as part of a blog tour arranged by TEEN BOOK SCENE
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