Yes! Yes! Yes! Finally you can get the series in either paperback or e-book from Amazon.com

You can buy Burn Bright in paperback or ebook on Amazon right here.

You can buy Angel Arias in paperback or ebook on Amazon right here.

You can buy Shine Light in paperback or ebook on Amazon right here.

Author, speaker, consultant and media expert, Sarah’s expertise is working with gifted and talented young people who have the capacity to become high achievers.  She has an ability to raise expectations and aspirations of all young people she comes into contact with.  Sarah Newton has shared her wisdom with millions who have tuned into her TV and radio shows, followed her writing and listened to her thought-provoking talks.

Hailed as “The Supernanny for Teens” by TV Times Sarah has worked in this field now for over 19 years of her life. Sarah is also the founder of Talented Teens, Teenage Dr Love and the editor and creator of Celebrity Parent Advice. Sarah is also leading the way forward in personality led parenting and youth coaching.

What set you along this life path, working with teens?

I worked with young offenders and children at risk of offending for 10 years as a police officer in London. When one of the young people I worked with took their own life, it made me think there had to be a different way to deal with youth and I started on the track I am on nowadays.

A catch phrase when speaking about trolling (online bullying) is, “You can’t troll a troll”, which boils down to an eye for an eye. As a global community, how do you suggest young adults approach trolling?

As a global community, I think we need to see “trolling” as a crime and label it as such. If you said these things in public they would be, so why is it different on-line? I think all social networks should stop anonymous accounts and be on top of this more than they are.

Young adults themselves need to think more before they start these accounts and turn comments off on YouTube, for example if it upsets them too much, then have some else manage their account so they can field some of the offensive comments. I see so many young people engage with the trolls and this only puts fuel to the fire. Never answer anonymous comments on Ask FM, etc. It really isn’t worth it. Always think what a potential college/employer might think if they saw your comments back to these people. A girl in the UK has just had to pull out of a very prestigious job because of comments she made on twitter 4 years earlier. Be careful what you write; it may come back to bite you.

In your opinion do parents place too much emphasis on the academic achievements of their young adults rather than their hobbies or personal life goals?

In my opinion No they don’t. While I recognise the importance of hobbies and life goals, I also know that education is the key to opening doors and I believe that we should always have high expectations for our children when it comes to education. I have never heard an adult saying they wished that they had tried less at school.

Do you believe in the generation gap, and how much of an issue do you think it plays in the effective communication between young adults and their parents?

I think the gap has gone and we have more of a generation lap now, with young people lapping their parents in their knowledge of such important thing such as the Internet. A lot of the study results coming out about this are showing that parents and young adults are becoming closer than ever, with young people looking to their parents more than ever before for advice and guidance and most of them citing parents as role models. I think young people will always feel misunderstood; I think that is the nature of things, but I feel communication is better and different than it was when I was a teenager.

What can young adults gain from visiting your website www.sarahnewton.com?

They will find someone who understands them, the world they live in and offers different perspectives to the adults in their lives.

The majority of my site is aimed at parents and adults who work with youth, however one of my projects, Talented Teens, http://sarahnewton.com/talented-teens/ shares inspirational stories and advice about young people for young people and we do have a very cool little gadget which allows young people to discover their talent. You can find it in the left hand column on this page http://sarahnewton.com/c/blog/

Bel:

Cover

In the same vein as Partials, we have teenage backs. This time one female one male looking out over a cityscape and a large body of water in the foreground.

Characters

Dan hasn’t failed to amaze me with the depth of his characters. Their growth and the authenticity of their reactions make this an eerily spot on representation of how I imagine people would be like in this type of situation.

Favourite

Toss up between Kira and Samm. Just awesome.

Least Favourite

Dr. Morgan. Absolute power corrupts absolutely and no truer phrase has ever described a character.

Beginning

We pick up from the end on Partials (duh) Kira is out searching for a way to save both species, human and partial alike.

Storyline

There’s a reunion between Kira and Samm and they have to go to hell and back.

Ending

Not telling.

Thoughts

If I didn’t need to sleep I would have ripped through this one as quickly as I did Partials. I LOVED this one even more so because it forces you to think about why certain decisions may be difficult in the short term, but really, what would you do for the greater good, and can the term ‘at any cost’ really apply in your life? We’re again being asked to analyse our moral compass.

The only poopie thing about this being a brand new book and having read it so quickly, is I now have most likely a year or more to wait to find out what happens next. ARRRGGHH!!

Quote

“Sometimes a vote of confidence can be the most nerve-racking thing in the world” Kira

Krista:

Cover

I think the covers represent the stories well in this series. As Samm and Kira and their travels into the cities are the main focus of this story, them looking off into the distance is a perfect representation for this story.

Characters

We mostly follow the story of Kira and Samm, but at times break off to what is happening in other towns and parts of the partial war that has begun on Long Island. The story is told from different perspectives to get both sides of the story, but the majority is still from Kira but the other from Marcus, back home on the Island.

Favourite

Kira is my favorite character. I love how determined and smart she is. She is always putting the lives and betterment of other people above her own needs and questions everything. Deciding answers for herself.

Least Favourite

I have to agree with Belinda on this one, Dr Morgan. Of course the villain of the book, the one we love to hate and hopefully in the end will get what’s coming to her.

Beginning

We find that Kira has left the island in search for information about the Trust, the people who invented, made the partials in her search for the cure. Back on the island, the Partials leader is searching for Kira and the war begins, as the people begin to form groups and get ready for war.

Storyline

Kira and Sam are on the search for the Trust. They must find the inventors or information on how the partials and the company ParaGen so they can find the cure that is causing them to die. Also the cure for reason the humans are not reproducing. Time is running out before both populations will die off.They travel from New York to Denver in search of information and in danger of getting captured any minute. The alert has gone out for Kira and everybody is looking for her.

Ending

Not quite a cliffhanger, but this one leaves us in a pretty intense moment. With so many questions left still to be answered. I’m seeing that the next book is going to be full of action, and answers.

Thoughts

I didn’t end up loving this book as much as I did Partials.. A lot of information is given to us in this one, but it’s spread out and this is a rather large book. So it took some time to get through. Not as many action scenes to break up the traveling and amount of information that we are given. I think that the Partials series is very unique with a blend of science fiction, survival story that really gets you thinking. I can see that the next book in the series will answers a lot of the questions that are still up in the air. As well as a lot of action and hopefully some adventure with the war that has begun.

Quote

“It’s not enough, is it? Just to follow; just to have faith in someone bigger and smarter and better informed. That’s how we’re built, that’s how every Partial is wired – to follow orders and trust in our leaders – but it’s not enough. It never has been. We’ve followed our leaders, and sometimes they win and sometimes they lose; we do what they say and we play our part. But this is our decision. Our mission. And when we’re done, it will be our victory, or our defeat. I don’t want to fail, but if I do, I want to be able to look back and say, ‘I did that. I failed. That was all me.”

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

Hardcover, 371 pages  Published January 1st 2013 by Amulet Books  ISBN  1419704281 (ISBN13: 9781419704284)

I dare you to read this book and not have the imagery of great movies from Tim Burton (The Nightmare Before Christmas) and Henry Selick (Coraline). This is definitely not a re-telling of Alice in Wonderland. This is a re-imagining. Everything that you have grown up knowing about the world from the tales of Lewis Carroll are so far from what this book represents that you will question everything you thought you have ever loved about the tale.

Alyssa is the great, great, great grand-daughter of Alice Liddell, the once naive young girl who recounted stories to Mr Lewis Carroll. Since Alice’s first venture into Wonderland, and her finding her way home, all of the females in her family have become cursed. It’s on one of Alyssa’s visits to her mother in the Asylum that things go wrong. Alyssa decides that once and for all the curse must be broken. She returns to Wonderland to release them from it.

Alyssa has always heard the insects talk to her; she collects them for her artwork. But when she sees a huge moth and decides to research it, she inadvertently calls it’s interest to her. It’s name is Morpheus, from Wonderland itself, and it has come to guide her. But before Alyssa can enter the mirrored gateway, her love interest and long-time neighbour Jeb shows up at her door. Never in her wildest dreams did she think that Jeb would jump after her into the hole. And now they must work together to break the curse and get home safely.

The creatures of A.G. Howard’s visions of Wonderland are very Gothic and more evil than I expected. The rabid rabbit (known by Alice as the White Rabbit because of his skeletal figure), is just one of the creatures that we think we know as readers of the original story – but with a difference. The creatures in this world are unique, horrific and sometimes enticing.

Alyssa must complete several tasks –  from quenching the hunger of the great Walrus, to fixing the watch at the tea party. Each task will take her and Jeb into more danger, especially because he doesn’t trust Morpheus. Morpheus seems to have another agenda.The danger is that Alyssa is strangely attracted to Morpheus and Wonderland is beginning to feel more like home.

This novel had more twists and turns than a roller coaster. As soon as I finished it, I picked up the audio-book, just because I felt like I missed too much the first time through. The imagery is amazingly eerily. When trying to compare it to the original work of Alice in Wonderland you can see how a young child might have construed these much darker characters and it makes sense. And it’s kind of scary. And there are more plot twists and story lines so that the ending makes for a huge “wow” moment. It’s going to make an amazing movie someday, great visuals and I highly recommend if you like dark twists to your stories.

Today, I have some important thank-you’s to make.

Firstly to my wonderful agent who I love to bits, who has kept the faith with me through all kinds of ups and downs. I never feel like I’m on this journey alone with her at my side. Love you big time Tara!

To Jarek Kubicki, who was ABSOLUTELY amazing and generous, making his covers available to me. I think you will all agree that they are quite exceptional and worthy of many awards. I love Jarek’s art and I hope he has a splendid, successful career. Please take the time to browse his Deviant Art website and experience his genius. Jarek also has a store where you can buy the images from the covers for your t-shirts and coffee mugs etc.

To Yunyu, for making her song available to share with the Night Creatures VIP’s. And for writing Angel Arias for me. What a beautiful, haunting, special song! What a special talent she is!

To the VIP club for spreading the love, and then for spreading MORE love when we rebooted the covers. Gigantic squeezy hugs to you all.

To my team, who put up with endless emails from me. I hope you’re having fun?! Love you all.

For all my friends on FB, Twitter etc who have helped me along the way by sharing news and putting up with my endless retweets and posts.

Well what a journey this has been! Seven years to write, three years to see it available every where! I SO hope you enjoy it.

Marianne xxx000