Welcome to Swoony Boys Podcast! This is our stop on Any Way You Slice It Tour hosted by Me, My Shelf and I. We are so happy to share our thoughts on Any Way You Slice It and help you get to know Kristine Carlson Asselin better. We’ve got 10 Random Things About Kristine and a fun giveaway at the bottom of the post! You don’t want to miss it! Here we go:
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Any Way You Slice It by 10 Random Things, Any Way You Slice It by Kristine Carlson Asselin, giveaway, Kristine Carlson Asselin, tour Published by Bloomsbury Publishing, Bloomsbury Spark on April 21st, 2015
Genres: Contemporary
Goodreads Buy the Book
Penelope Spaulding just can't catch a break. Between long hours at the family restaurant, homework, and her parents' plans for her future, it's hard to find a spare moment to breathe. But when she laces up her skates and steps on the ice, everything slips away...
Racing around the rink allows her to blow off steam after yet another fight with her dad about going to culinary school. So when Jake Gomes, the bad boy who lives down the street, dares her to join the Rink Rats, the local misfit hockey team, she surprises herself and joins in silent defiance of her father and his expectations.
The more she plays, the easier it is to keep lying, and soon Pen finds it impossible to come clean. She’s sneaking out to practice—and loving every minute of it. It doesn’t take long for her to fall in love with hockey…and Jake’s not half bad either. But she knows it can’t last. As soon as her dad finds out, she’ll be benched. For good.
She’s absolutely not going to tell her parents until she’s sure it will be worth the inevitable fight. Not only is she skipping shifts at Slice Pizza while a foodie reality show is on the horizon, but her lies are starting to take their toll on her game. It’s only a matter of time before everything falls apart.
With the team counting on her and with her relationship with Jake on the line, will she have to sacrifice the thing she wants most for the people she loves? Or can she step up and take her best shot?
***10 Random Things***
Get to know Kristine Carlson Asselin
- I had braces as an adult, got them off in 2013 at age 44.
- My parents owned and operated a golf course for my entire teen years.
- My first car was a 1990 Dodge Shadow.
- I’m addicted to Dentyne Fire cinnamon gum. It killed me not to chew it for the year I had braces.
- I got my Pocket money during college from tips bar tending weddings and parties.
- When I was pregnant with my daughter, my food cravings were chicken pot pie and mashed potatoes.
- I became the sports editor on my high school yearbook because I had a crush on a boy on the varsity soccer team.
- My favorite band is America, famous for HORSE WITH NO NAME and Sister golden hair. Since 1988, I’ve seen them in concert over 30 times.
- AWYSI is my first novel, but I have 15 children’s nonfiction books for the school library market.
- I was in the audience in 1999 when Adam Sandler recorded the live version of The Chanukah Song, Part II at Brandeis University.
- Meatloaf once cursed at me (by name) at a concert in 1991. And yes, there is more to that story. 😉
***REVIEW***
Verdict:
| Rating Report | |
|---|---|
| Cover |  |
| Characters |  |
| Plot |  |
| Writing | |
| Swoon |  |
| Overall: | 3.5 |
***About Kristine Carlson Asselin***
Kristine Carlson Asselin is the author of fourteen children’s books for the school library market. In addition to nonfiction, she writes Young Adult and Middle Grade fiction. She has a BS from Fitchburg State University and an MA from the University of Connecticut.
Her debut YA novel – ANY WAY YOU SLICE IT – will be available from Bloomsbury Spark in 2015. Her first picture book, WORST CASE OF PASKETTI-ITIS was published in June 2013.
A member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Kristine loves attending workshops to practice her craft and meet other writers. She is currently on deck to direct the 2014 New England SCBWI Conference.
She loves books–mostly middle grade and young adult. She’s a sucker for a good love song. And she can’t resist an invitation for Chinese Food or Ice Cream. But not together.
She is represented by Kathleen Rushall of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.
Kristine lives with her husband and daughter in a suburb near Boston.
***GIVEAWAY***
Good luck and make sure you check out the other stops on the Any Way You Slice It Tour!
My escape is music. I put on my headphones, click play, and let the world escape.
Totally agree, Tori. Music is one of my favorite escapes, too!
Listening to podcasts! It really helps me to relax just listening to other people’s voices; grated they must be talking about something semi-interesting and be funny!
That’s great, Mary! We love podcasts, too 🙂
Music has always been one of my escapes. Parents started that early on when I was a colicky baby. Somehow, they learned that Tom Petty would shut me up (Free Fallin in particular). It’s probably why music was such a way to work out emotions for me, having that strong of a connection as a baby without understanding the words. Playing the opposite of what I’m feeling can decrease that feeling, while playing something that’s similar, a sad song, will make me more upset. I also used musical instruments as an escape. School was boring, and I hated going. Spending 8 hours a day somewhere doing things that I could get through in 4 was so frustrating. The work was easy, so I’d either be sitting around waiting for a bell to ring to switch classes or the time would be spent reading aloud from textbooks (which always took *forever* and would get me yelled at to follow along with the class – I’d be way past them and learned how to use a bookmark of some sort to show where people had last read, so I couldn’t get called out for not knowing what spot I should start at.) Music was entirely knew to me, and thought it also came fairly naturally, it was something that allowed me a bit more freedom. Private lessons, it goes at the student’s pace. Slower or faster, as differing amounts of time were needed to master different techniques. I just kind of kept adding on to the list of things I could play or could play at a beginner level, so if my strings class was too easy or in the beginner half of the class, I could go grab a cello and play along on that to learn. It made me hate being in school less if I had music during the day 🙂
Wow, Sarah, thanks for sharing that with us. We love music, too (and Tom Petty)!