Children's Book Week Giveaway Hop + Author Interview with Erin JadeLange (SIGNED BOOK GIVEAWAY!)

AHHH YOU LUCKY, LUCKY U.S. PEOPLE!!! You all have the chance to win a SIGNED COPY OF BUTTER BY ERIN JADE LANGE as part of the Children's Book Week Giveaway Hop! To repeat, that's BUTTER, one of the THE biggest, best, débuts of the year, and SIGNED no less. Seriously, guys, this book is mind-blowingly amazing, whoever doesn't enter is seriously silly! To say we, mere aussie girls, are jealous is probably the understatement of the year (We hate you shipping fees!). We were however, lucky enough to interview Erin who sheds some light on both Butter and her next novel, Dead Ends.



To start, can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I was born and raised in the Midwestern U.S., but now that I’ve had a taste of sunshine and year-round warm weather, I’ll probably never be able to survive another winter. These days, I live in Arizona, where I work as a TV News Producer, a job that gives me a lot of inspiration for my books.

For our curious readers, could you describe your book in three words.
Dark, funny, real. (at least I hope it’s all of these!)

We loved the depth of your characters, how they aren't pigeon-holed to being just the bullies and the bullied, for example, Butter is a bit of both which is something we don't often see in YA fiction. What inspired you to write the novel from the first person perspective of a morbidly obese teenager?
The character of Butter came to me in a flash one day, but I know that flash came from years of covering news stories about childhood obesity, teen suicide and internet bullying. Those stories sort of gathered in the back of my mind until they exploded out in this singular character. At first, I had a pretty simplistic idea of this funny and likeable guy, but the more I wrote, the more he showed me he was dark and complicated as well.

Which character from Butter do you relate to the most, either now or back when you were in high school?
At different stages in my life, I would have related to different characters. In junior high, it absolutely would have been Butter. By high school, I might have identified more with the characters who try but fail to reach Butter. And as an adult, I just hope I’m half as cool as The Professor.

We noticed that you recently did a cover reveal for your next book. Can you tell us a bit about it?
I’d love to! DEAD ENDS is the story of a bully about to get kicked out of school and a younger teen with Down Syndrome who is looking for his missing father. They form an unlikely alliance as they go searching for that father – following their only guide: an atlas full of riddles that lead to obscure towns and a lot of dead ends… until one riddle reveals a secret that could change the course of their journey entirely.

Now onto the miscellaneous portion of the interview, if you had to have a last meal, what would be on the menu?
I think about this all the time! My mom’s spaghetti, hot & sour soup, eggs benedict, Whitey’s chocolate peanut butter revel malt, and Cheez-Its.

Do you think you could win the Hunger Games?
Only if I had Katniss looking out for me, because I would be like Peeta and become an expert in hiding!

Which Hogwarts house would you want to be in? Which do you think you'd be put in?
Ravenclaw!

If you were stranded on a desert island, which three things would you want to have?
A boat, a compass, and the expert ability to sail. (I have no intention of staying on this island!)

And finally, because our blog is called Looking for the Panacea, if you had to choose some Panacea Candidates, what would they be?
I think there is really only one candidate. HARRY POTTER has to be the Panacea of children’s books. It not only brought kids back to libraries and bookstores, but it opened up children’s literature to adults and ushered in a new era of reading. I don’t think we will see that again in our lifetime.

Giveaway Details

• The giveaway is open to US ONLY
• There will be one winner. This person will win a signed copy of Butter by Erin Jade Lange
• You must be a follower of this blog to enter (by GFC)
• You must be 13 or older to enter, and have your parent's permission if you are younger than 18
• Giveaway ends on the 21st May.
• Winners will be notified by email and will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen.
• We are not responsible for any packages lost or damaged in the mail.
• ALL ENTRIES WILL BE CHECKED. So don't cheat. Yeah, we're watching you....

Onto the giveaway!

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