Review: All of the Above - James Dawson

It would be neater, wouldn't it, if this was a story about self-harm or sexuality or eating disorders or ridiculously hot bass players, but it's a story about all of them.

Yeah, it's a mess.

And it's about to get messier . . .

When sixteen-year-old Toria moves to the faded seaside town of Brompton-on-Sea she doesn't expect to fall in love once - let alone twice. But life has a habit of pulling you in strange directions, and when it comes to matters of the heart, sometimes you just have to let go, be free, and let love choose you.

Visit James Dawson's website for more information

Review:
James Dawson has such a distinctive voice and he always manages to create such realistic teenage characters, something he proves once again in All of the Above. This is the kind of book I'd like to be able to send back through time and hand to my teenage self, it's a book about self discovery, a book that shows teenagers it's okay to make mistakes, that it's okay to not know who you are or what you want to be as long as you're true to yourself along the way.

This is a story about growing up, it's about friendships that last and ones that don't, it's about first loves and how they're not always forever loves but how that doesn't make them any less important at the time, it's about discovering your sexuality and how it doesn't matter who you're attracted to, more than anything it's a realistic portrayal of what it's like to be a teenager. I'm sure most people will recognise themselves in Toria and her friends, you may not have shared all of the same experiences as her but you're bound to have gone through some of them.

All of the Above is a fantastic book, it tackles a lot of difficult and sensitive subjects and it does it in a way that is realistic without being preachy. It doesn't try to make you think or feel a certain way but it opens up possibilities that you might not have considered before. I really don't want to go into too much detail about what happens in the story because I think you'll enjoy it so much more if you go in without certain expectations but I think you'll fall in love with Toria and her little group of misfits just as much as I did. The characters are diverse and incredibly realistic and I could recognise traits from my childhood friends in most of them. James Dawson has created a story that will stick with you and characters that you'll remember for a long time to come, his writing gets stronger with every new book and I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.

Source: Received from Hot Key in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Paperback / Kindle:

Review: Being A Boy - James Dawson

Being a boy is hard.

How can you possibly act cool and even think about pulling potential partners when your face is sprouting spots and you're hairy in places you didn't even know you could be hairy?

Luckily, former PSHCE teacher James Dawson provides an uncensored look at puberty, from the social food chain to sex, being a boyfriend and everything in between. With Hilarious illustrations by Spike Gerrell, Being A Boy gives guys everything they need to know to survive - brutal honesty included.

Visit James Dawson's website for more information

Review:
I think it's fairly obvious but I'll say it anyway, I'm not now and never have been a teenage boy, so I don't exactly fall into the target audience for this book. In fact I couldn't get much further from the target audience if I tried so you might wonder why I even picked up a copy of this book in the first place. To be honest the main reason was because I'm a huge fa of James Dawson but I have to admit I was also curious about it too.

Being A Boy is a book that guides teenage boys through the minefield that is puberty, it talks frankly about the changes that they will go through both physically and emotionally and James Dawson doesn't pull any punches. He talks openly and honestly about the good and bad and this is a brilliant resource for teenagers who have questions about everything from talking to girls, first dates, being a boyfriend and even sex. Yes, this book will give teenagers the low down on sex, real sex not just the kind they'll find out about by looking up porn on the internet.

I'm sure that there will be some people out there who are horrified by how detailed this book can be but I think it's a wonderful resource that should be given to every teenage boy you know. This book answers the questions that boys are probably too embarrassed to ask an adult about and dispels the myths that are probably flying around the classroom at school. It gives advice on protecting yourself from STIs or unwanted pregnancy but it does it in an incredibly humorous and non-judgemental way. The whole book is written in that manner and I love that it is so honest about things. The most important message of all is that there is no such thing as normal, it doesn't matter if you're a boy who likes girls, boys or even both. It doesn't matter if you go through puberty before or after your friends do, everyone is different and it's all natural.

Being A Boy aims to fill the gap between what teenagers are taught in school and what they'll discover for themselves using the internet. I dread to think of the kind of things that they uncover by spending five minutes on google and this is certainly a way of making sure they get a more realistic view of sex. That isn't the only topic covered though and I'd say the parts about being a decent human being are just as important, if not more so. The overriding message throughout the book is to treat others as you'd like to be treated yourself, it speaks out against bullying and sexism and is all for equality. As much as this is aimed at boys there is actually a lot of advice on the emotional side of dating that is equally relevant to girls as well and I'm sure most teenagers could learn something from this book.

Source: Purchased

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Paperback / Kindle:

Vote James Dawson for Queen of Teen 2014!!

Have you placed your votes for Queen of Teen 2014 yet? If not I'm going ask you to head over to the Queen of Teen website and vote for James Dawson now! Don't you think it's about time we had a BOYQUEEN win the title?? I certainly do & I can't think of a better one to wear the crown than James!

Just in case you need a little more encouragement here is James's Queenifesto of reasons to vote for him:

1. If you liked my books. Seriously. I do so hate it when things become a popularity contest.

2. “If I were a tree, I’d have good strong roots in a community like the UKYA world; a hollow trunk full of books; and long leafy branches to provide shade for bookish kids on a hot summer day”.

3. I would use my reign for GOOD. Having a BOYQUEEN would (inevitably) attract attention and I could use that to talk about ISSUES. I’m an activist at heart and will happily talk to anyone who will listen about school libraries, Gove, gendered kid’s books and spreading the good works of UKYA authors far and wide.

4. Having a BOYQUEEN would be weird and I’m all for visibility of weird people. I totes am one.

5. I could ride a pumpkin up and down the country and do lots of royal school visits. I’d probably get a corgi too.

Seriously peeps, James is an awesome guy and a fabulous author so I would LOVE to see him win this title but it's not going to happen without all of our support so GO AND VOTE NOW! Pretty please? You know you want to!

Review: Cruel Summer - James Dawson

He'd assumed Janey's death was the finale. Turned out, it was only the beginning . . .

Ryan is looking forward to spending the summer with his old school friends at Katie's luxurious Spanish villa. He hasn't seen the gang since their friend, Janey, committed suicide a year ago. He hopes this summer they'll be able to put the past behind them and move on - until someone else arrives, claiming to have proof that Janey's suicide was murder!

Ryan was hoping for sun, sea and sand. Suddenly he's facing a long, hot summer of death, drama and deceit . . .

Visit James Dawson's website for more information

Review:
I loved James Dawson's debut novel Hollow Pike so I've been looking forward to getting my hands on Cruel Summer ever since I first heard about it. I'm happy to say it completely lived up to my expectations and I loved every minute of it! Cruel Summer reminded me of a British version of the movie I know What You Did Last Summer and I could easily picture this being turned into a film in the future (I really would love to see that happen!). It also has a flavour of the old Point Horror books I grew up on which I absolutely loved.

The story is of a group of friends who are reconnecting on holiday together in Spain after spending a year doing their own thing at different universities. Their last summer ended badly when their friend Janey committed suicide but when an old school friend turns up claiming to have proof that Janey was actually murdered their relaxing holiday by the pool takes a sinister turn. When Roxanne's body is found before she is able to show anyone her evidence the friends are forced to face reality. One of them is a murderer, but who is it, what's their motive and who will be their next victim?

Cruel Summer is a fantastic thriller that is full of unexpected twists and supported by a great cast of characters. I did eventually figure out who the murderer was but it wasn't easy and I think I'd suspected pretty much every character at some point during the story. The author has done a great job of creating a group of friends who all have distinctive personalities, some are more likeable than others but all feel like real people. The story is told from a couple of different points of view but I have to admit I loved spending time inside Ryan's head the most. The way he thought of life as a TV show was incredibly amusing and I liked the way he went about adding drama to the story. Alisha was another complex character though and one I enjoyed getting to know.

Another fabulous book from James Dawson and one I'd highly recommend to fans of this kind of teen thriller!

Source: Received from Orion Indigo in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Paperback / Kindle:

Foyles 2nd Creative Voices Event & Afternoon Tea with Kimberly Derting - 12th May 2012

Neil from Foyles introducing the authors

A couple of weeks ago I was very excited to be invited for afternoon tea with Kimberly Derting thanks to Headline and Allison & Busby. Before the tea Kimberly was making an appearance at Foyles for their second Creative Voices event so of course I jumped at the chance of attending the event to get the chance to see the other authors who would be there - Cat Clarke, James Dawson and Tanya Byrne.

Kimberly Derting, Cat Clarke, James Dawson & Tanya Byrne

Kirsty and I made our way to London early so we could meet up with Sammee for lunch, I can't tell you how much I love having time to catch up with my blogging buddies. One of the best things about blogging has been the awesome friends I've made! We were all understandably excited and a bit hyper so we made our way to Foyles early to make sure we got good seats. Before the event started we had a chance to chat with some of the other bloggers who were attending the event and some of the lovely publicists I've met over the last couple of years.

After an introduction from Neil it was time to hear from each of the authors.

Kimberly Derting

First up was Kimberly Derting who told us a bit about both of her latest releases The Last Echo which is the third book in her Body Finder series (you can read my review here) and the first book in her new dystopian fantasy series The Pledge (you can read my review here). I'm a massive fan of Kimberly's writing so if you haven't read any of her books I'd definitely recommend them! The Body Finder books are about a young girl called Violet who has the unusual ability to find dead bodies, each body has an echo - a taste, a smell, a colour or even a sound - that Violet can detect. The echo is also left as an imprint on the victim's murderer and Violet uses her ability to help the police hunt serial killers. In her new series Kimberly has created a unique dystopian world where the class system isn't just about how much money you have or the jobs your family do. The class you come from also controls the language you speak and it is forbidden to even look at someone from another class if they are speaking in their own language. Main character Charlie has the ability to understand all of the languages, even though she has never been taught them, but she has always been warned that it is vital to keep her power a secret. If anyone discovers what she can do it would be the death of her but where did this ability come from and what will it mean for her future?

Cat Clarke

Next up was Cat Clarke talking about her second novel Torn (read my review here) which was published in the UK earlier this year. I first met Cat back before she was a published author and couldn't have been more excited when her debut novel Entangled (read my review here) was published last year. Torn is a fantastic novel about a group of teenagers on a school activity holiday in the wilds of Scotland. When some of the students decide to get revenge on one of the popular kids who has made their lives a misery things go horribly wrong and they are left to face the consequences. Nothing will ever be the same again but they all deal with their guilt in very different ways. Torn was one of those books that really makes you think, the scariest thing was how realistic it felt and you could easily picture something like that happening in real life!

James Dawson

James Dawson's debut novel Hollow Pike (read my review here) was one of my most anticipated reads of 2012 so I was incredibly excited to get a chance to meet him! I'm telling you now he was one of the funniest authors I've ever met and I absolutely loved listening to his reading from the book. James decided to read out a scene where there is a fight between two of the main characters Laura and Kitty, this isn't just an argument - it's a proper bitch fight with hair pulling, scratching and even a tumble down the stairs - so it was a great scene to listen to, especially as James got really into it and even gave the characters different accents! Hollow Pike is a fantastic book that tackles the difficult subject of bullying and does it with honesty and realism. I wish there had been more books like it when I was a teenager who was being bullied horribly on a daily basis because it would have been nice to have felt less alone. I really can't recommend the story highly enough.

Tanya Byrne

Last but by no means least was debut author Tanya Byrne who was talking about her book Heart-Shaped Bruise. Now this was the only book mentioned that I haven't read yet but after listening to Tayna's reading I've definitely added it to my wish list! Heart-Shaped Bruise sounds like an emotional and heart breaking read and I'm looking forward to picking it up.

After all of the authors had spoken about their books and answered questions from the audience there was time for a book signing and we got to have a quick chat with them all. Here are a few more pictures I took at the event:

I'd like to say a massive thanks to Neil from Foyleswebsite to keep an eye out for future events.

After the Creative Voices event finished it was time for us to make our way to Drink Shop Do (visit their website here) for afternoon tea. Luckily we had Hannah & Lynsey from Headline to help us get there or I'm pretty sure I'd have ended up getting lost. It was a bit like being on a school trip as we all negotiated the underground trying to make sure that nobody was left behind! I have been to Drink Shop Do before and I have to say if you're ever in London & looking for somewhere a bit different to go then it's well worth a visit. The afternoon tea was fabulous but they also do all sorts of themed evenings that look like a lot of fun.

Nom nom nom!

We were well and truly spoilt with sandwiches, scones and sweets washed down with tea of course. Have you ever heard of cherry bakewell tea? I hadn't but it tasted delicious & was exactly like drinking a bakewell tart!!

Sammee, Kirsty, Kimberly Derting & me

It was wonderful to have a chance to chat with Kimberly and find out more about her plans for future books. She was very careful not to give us any spoilers though no matter how hard we begged her to lol. I was really shocked that Kimberly remembered writing a guest post for my blog way back in 2010 when she was promoting The Body Finder! She wrote a fab post about how her (male) cat ended up being given the name Princess Beachball and has been having a bit of an identity crisis ever since! You can read the post here if you're interested.

We had an absolutely fabulous time chatting about books, authors and life in general along with eating way too many sweets! I got a little bit addicted to the strawberry licorice straws lol. I'd like to say a massive thank you to Kimberly Derting for taking time out of her holiday to spend the afternoon with us all. I'd also like to say a massive thanks to Sam, Hannah & Lynsey from Headline and Chiara from Allison & Busby for organising the event and inviting me to go along.

Who Was There:

Cat Clarke - Website

James Dawson - Website

Kimberly Derting - Website

Tanya Byrne - Website

Neil - Foyles

Sam, Hannah & Lynsey - Headline

Chiara - Allison & Busby

Andy & Dan - The Pewter Wolf

Kirsty - The Overflowing Library

Leanne & Sue - District YA

Michelle - Book Club Forum

Sammee - I Want To Read That

Review: Hollow Pike - James Dawson

A killer is out there, and the birds see everything...

Lis London is hoping for a fresh start when she arrives in the sleepy village of Hollow Pike.

But nothing here is as it seems... and a killer stalks the night.

Something wicked this way comes...

She thought she'd be safe in the country, but you can't escape your own nightmares, and Lis London dreams repeatedly that someone is trying to kill her.

Lis thinks she's being paranoid - after all who would want to murder her? She doesn't believe in the local legends of witchcraft. She doesn't believe that anything bad will really happen to her. You never do, do you?

Not until you're alone in the woods, after dark - and a twig snaps...

Visit James Dawson's website for more information

Review:
Lis has moved to live with her sister Sarah to get away from the bullies who were making her life a misery.  All she wants is a fresh start somewhere that she will be accepted for who she is and where she won't be tormented daily.  When she is befriended by the popular crowd on her first day it looks like she has found what she always dreamt of but the more she gets to know Laura and her crowd of groupies the less she likes what she sees.  Is is really worth being part of Laura's gang if it is at the expense of others?  Getting to know the school outcasts Kitty, Delilah and Jack she starts to question everything.  Then after a prank goes wrong and Laura's body is discovered in the woods Lis finds herself in more danger than she could ever have imagined.

I have been waiting to get my hands on Hollow Pike since the cover was revealed at the Orion Indigo event last year - it was one of my most anticipated novels of 2012!  I fell in love with the cover but it was James Dawson's atmospheric writing that really pulled me into the story and kept me turning the pages.

The story is actually less about the supernatural than I expected it to be but that isn't a negative - it just surprised me.  The focus is more on the effects of bullying which is such an important subject and made for a really interesting story.  As someone who suffered from constant teasing throughout school this is the kind of book I wish I'd had access to as a teen.  Even as an adult I connected with Lis, I was reminded of just how I felt at school and I had the satisfaction of seeing Lis stand up for herself in a way I only wish I could have done myself!  If you know a teen who is suffering from bullying you should buy them this book immediately.  In fact I think you should buy it for any teen as it will hopefully make them think about their actions before they become a bully themselves.  I really enjoyed watching Lis trying to find a place for herself in her new school, she slowly starts to realise that in order to be happy you have to be true to yourself no matter what anyone else thinks of you.

Alongside the themes of bullying you also have a creepy and chilling murder mystery to solve.  The descriptions of the woods, the mysterious birds that seem to be following Lis and the nightmares that are haunting her all created a spooky feel to the story that had me on the edge of my seat.  Hollow Pike is a great debut and I'm looking forward to seeing what James Dawson comes up with next.

Source: Received from Orion Indigo in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Book Trailer: Hollow Pike - James Dawson

I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to getting my hands on James Dawson's debut novel Hollow Pike, I've been waiting very impatiently for this one since the Orion Indigo launch event last year so am very pleased that I'll finally be able to pick up a copy when it goes on sale next week (on the 2nd of February yay).  In the meantime I thought I'd share the awesome trailer with you all to help build up the excitement!  I know some of you have already got your hands on this one so if you've read it then please let me know what you thought of it (leave me a link to your reviews if you've already posted them!)

A killer is out there, and the birds see everything...

Lis London is hoping for a fresh start when she arrives in the sleepy village of Hollow Pike.

But nothing here is as it seems... and a killer stalks the night.

Something wicked this way comes...

She thought she'd be safe in the country, but you can't escape your own nightmares, and Lis London dreams repeatedly that someone is trying to kill her.

Lis thinks she's being paranoid - after all who would want to murder her? She doesn't believe in the local legends of witchcraft. She doesn't believe that anything bad will really happen to her. You never do, do you?

Not until you're alone in the woods, after dark - and a twig snaps...

Visit James Dawson's website for more information

Publisher Spotlight: Orion / Indigo - January - April 2012

I thought it would be fun to start spotlighting new releases that different publishers have coming up over the next few months for us to look forward to.  I'm constantly looking for new books to add to my wish list and thought it would be a nice way of spreading the bookish love with other bloggers.  So stepping into the spotlight today we have . . .

Orion's have some fabulous YA titles lined up for us in 2012 through their new Indigo imprint.  I'm sure there are going to be some on this list that you'll be adding to your wish lists (I know I've added to mine!)  Check out the Orion website for more information.

January 2012:

The first book I'm going to mention is Dark Parties which is Sara Grant's debut novel.  I was lucky enough to meet Sara and get a copy of Dark Parties at the Indigo blogger event in July (you can read all about the event & even see a video of Sara reading from the book here).  You can also find out more at Sara Grant's website.  This looks like an amazing book and it's one I'll be reading soon.  Watch out for my review in early January!

Sixteen-year-old Neva plots to escape her world, where everyone looks the same and no one is allowed to leave, in this compelling thriller about identity, trust and freedom.

Neva keeps a list of The Missing - the people like her grandmother who were part of her life but who have now vanished. The people that everyone else pretends never existed.

In a nation isolated beneath the dome of the Protectosphere - which is supposed to protect, but also imprisons - Neva and her friends dream of freedom.

But life is becoming complicated for Neva. She's falling for her best friend's boyfriend - and she's learning more than she ever wanted to know about what might be happening to The Missing...

Also published in January is Dark Warning by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick.  I love books about people with psychic abilities so I know I'm going to enjoy this one.  I'm also intrigued by the Irish setting, I've not seen many YA books set in Ireland so hopefully this will capture the atmosphere.  Visit Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick's page on Goodreads for more information.

Ever since Taney was four she's known she could see things before they happened.

She also knows that she must keep her gift a secret - at all costs.

Teased and isolated by the local children for being strange, as Taney grows older, she has more and more questions. Why is her father so terrified of her gift? What happened to her mother?

Then she meets the mysterious Billy, an outsider just as she is. Charming and attentive, Billy is the first person with whom Taney can simply be herself; with whom she can share her strange burden, and begin, instead, to feel proud of her ability.

But then the visions come - lone girls attacked as they walk home at night. And as Billy begins to withdraw further into himself, Taney must ask herself who to trust - her only friend, or the visions that torment her dreams...

In January Orion will be re-releasing several titles as paperbacks under the Indigo imprint: Crossing Over by Anna Kendall (visit Anna's page on Goodreads here), Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding (visit Chris' website here) and The Double-Edged Sword by Sarah Silverwood (visit Sarah's blog here)  Here are the covers and blurbs:

The Land of the Dead is a dangerous place to be... and so is the Land of the Living

Whether it's a curse or a blessing the fact remains: whenever Roger is in enough pain he can cross over to the Land of the Dead and speak to the people there. It's an unexpected gift - and one that, throughout Roger's life, his violent uncle has taken advantage of.

So when Roger has the chance of a new life, it seems a gift. But life is unexpected, and when Roger falls in love with the bewitching, wilful Lady Cecilia he has no idea what he is letting himself in for. With every step he takes towards her, he is drawn deeper into court intrigue, into politics, and even into war.

Bound by secrets, Roger is torn between his own safety and that of his friends. He can save them, but only if he can bring himself to perform a deed, so unthinkable, that the living and the dead shrink from it alike…

********************

A fast, furious, tongue-in-cheek SF romp

Frey is the captain of the Ketty Jay, a formidable air ship, and leader of a small and highly dysfunctional band of layabouts. He and his gang live on the wrong side of the law running contraband, robbing airships and generally making a nuisance of themselves.

A hot tip on a cargo freighter loaded with valuables seems like a great prospect for an easy heist and a fast buck until the freighter explodes. Suddenly Frey isn't just a nuisance anymore - he's public enemy number one, with the Coalition Navy on his tail and contractors hired to take him down.

Frey knows something they don't. That freighter was rigged to blow, and Frey has been framed to take the fall. If he wants to prove it, he's going to have to catch the real culprit.

It's going to take all his criminal talents to prove he's not the criminal they think he is…

********************

Fin finds himself at the heart of an ancient prophecy when the Knights of Nowhere kidnap the Storyholder, threatening his world - and all the worlds woven into place by the Stories...

Finmere Tingewick Smith was abandoned on the steps of the Old Bailey. Under the guardianship of the austere Judge Harlequin Brown and the elderly gentlemen of Orrery House, Fin has grown up under a very strange set of rules. He spends alternate years at two very different schools and now he's tired of the constant lies hiding the insanity of his double life.

But on his sixteenth birthday, everything changes. The Judge is killed, stabbed in the chest with a double-edged sword that's disturbingly familiar, and from that moment on, Fin is catapulted into an extraordinary adventure. The Knights of Nowhere have kidnapped the Storyholder, the keeper of the Five Eternal Stories which weave the worlds together. As a result a black storm is coming, bringing madness with it.

Fin may be just 16, but he has a long, dark journey ahead of him if he is to rescue the Storyholder and save Existence!

February 2012:

I've had this debut on my wish list for months now so I can't wait to finally get my hands on a copy!  Hollow Pike by James Dawson is one of my most anticipated reads for 2012 and I have a feeling this one is going to be huge.  What do you think of the cover?  It's beautiful isn't it!  You can find out more at James Dawson's website.

A killer is out there, and the birds see everything...

Lis London is hoping for a fresh start when she arrives in the sleepy village of Hollow Pike.

But nothing here is as it seems... and a killer stalks the night.

Something wicked this way comes...

She thought she'd be safe in the country, but you can't escape your own nightmares, and Lis London dreams repeatedly that someone is trying to kill her.

Lis thinks she's being paranoid - after all who would want to murder her?  She doesn't believe in the local legends of witchcraft. She doesn't believe that anything bad will really happen to her. You never do, do you?

Not until you're alone in the woods, after dark - and a twig snaps...

March 2012:

March sees the publication of The One Dollar Horse by Lauren St John.  This one will definitely appeal to the horse lovers out there.  Visit Lauren St John's website for more information.  There is no cover available for this one yet but here is the blurb:

Casey Blue loves horses but living, as she does, in the inner city with her father, who is not always on the right side of the law, her dreams of becoming an event rider seem out of reach. Until one day she rescues a horse from the knacker’s yard….

She works hard waitressing to keep the horse, whom she names Storm Force, at her run down local stables, and she nurses him back to health. In time a sleek and highly strung thoroughbred emerges from the bag of bones she rescued and Casey sets about finding out who her horse really is. When Casey is talent-spotted and sponsored, she and Storm Force move into a different riding league and suddenly her dream of competing at Badminton is within her grasp. But dreams can turn into nightmares, and Casey is just about to come face to face with the worst nightmare ever!

A real life thriller that delves into the competitive and elite equestrian world of Grand Slam riding with all its highs and lows, jealousies, envy, triumphs and tragedies.

April 2012:

Chomp is Carl Hiaasen's UK YA debut and it sounds like it is going to be a really fun read.  If you're looking for something light hearted this could be just the thing.  If you'd like more information check out Carl's website here.

CHOMP is a hilarious new Hiaasen about an animal wrangler whose career takes an unusual turn in the world of reality TV from the moment he is hit on the head by a frozen iguana

Carl Hiaasen is a multi-million copy seller in USA with children's novels HOOT and FLUSH and SCAT, sales of which currently total 4.3 million.

Wahoo Cray has grown up with a zoo in his backyard - alligators, snakes, rats, monkeys, parrots, but it's his dad who's the unpredictable critter. When his dad takes a job with a reality TV show called 'Expedition Survival', Wahoo figures he'll have to do a bit of wrangling himself to keep his dad from killing the show's inept star Derek Badger, who insists on using real wild animals for his stunts. And Wahoo's acquired a shadow named Tuna, a girl who's sporting a shiner courtesy of her old man and needs a place to hide out. They've only been on location in the Everglades for a day before Derek gets bitten by a bat and goes missing in a storm. Search parties promptly get lost themselves. And Tuna's dad shows up with a gun...

It's anyone's guess who will actually survive 'Expedition Survival!'

So what do you think of the Indigo releases?  Which of these are going to be at the top of your wish list for 2012?