Tuesday, March 5, 2019

~ BLOG TOUR WITHIN THESE LINES ~

~ BLOG TOUR STOP ~
--  'WITHIN THESE LINES'  --
AUTHOR STEPHANIE MORRILL
~Post Includes:  Book Spotlight, Excerpt,
Author Bio, Unique Guest Post & Giveaway~
  
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Welcome to the Blog & Review Tour - and Giveaway - for Within These Lines by Stephanie Morrill, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours! 

ABOUT THE BOOK

9780310765264Title: Within These Lines  
Author: Stephanie Morrill  
Publisher: Blink YA  
Genre: Historical Young Adult Fiction  
Release Date: March 5, 2019

When Evalina Cassano and Taichi Hamasaki are torn apart by the events following the attack on Pearl Harbor, they must fight if they want any hope of returning to one another before World War II steals their future together. Within These Lines is one unflinching, haunting, historical novel you don’t want to miss; perfect for fans of Monica Hesse, Ruta Sepetys, and Elizabeth Wein.

Evalina Cassano’s life in an Italian-American family living in San Francisco in 1941 is quiet and ordinary until she falls in love with Taichi Hamasaki, the son of Japanese immigrants. Despite the scandal it would cause and that inter-racial marriage is illegal in California, Evalina and Taichi vow they will find a way to be together. But anti-Japanese feelings erupt across the country after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Taichi and his family are forced to give up their farm and move to a Japanese-American internment camp.

Degrading treatment makes life at Manzanar Relocation Center difficult. Taichi’s only connection to the outside world is treasured letters from Evalina. Feeling that the only action she can take to help Taichi is to speak out against injustice, Evalina becomes increasingly vocal at school and at home. Meanwhile, inside Manzanar, fighting between different Japanese-American factions arises. Taichi begins to doubt he will ever leave the camp alive.

With tensions running high and their freedom on the line, Evalina and Taichi must hold true to their ideals and believe in their love to make a way back to each other against unbelievable odds.  

Within These Lines:
  • Is a young adult historical novel set in the World War II era
  • Contains themes of love, separation, social justice, war, and diversity
  • Perfect for junior high and high school students
  • A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection
EXCERPT:  LINK TO READ EXCERPT
PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository | Christian Book | iTunes

GUEST POST COURTESY OF THIS AUTHOR:

--Behind-the-scenes facts about the book:

--The book idea came from a Stuff You Missed in History Class podcast. They did a two-part episode on Executive Order 9066, which is the order Franklin D. Roosevelt signed that gave the US government permission to evacuate Japanese Americans and put them in concentration camps.

--I found these episodes fascinating, and because I’ve always written for teenagers the idea popped into my head, "What would've happened if there was a Caucasian teenage girl who was in love with a Japanese American teenage boy, and his family was taken away?" As I researched a little bit, I realized the story could be even more interesting if my Caucasian teenage girl was actually an Italian American teenage girl, since Italy was aligned with Germany and Japan, yet Japanese Americans were the only people group targeted as a whole with the incarceration.

--After I named my main characters Evalina and Taichi, I went on a writing retreat with my best friend, historical romance author Roseanna White. When I told her the names, she was like, “No way! My main character’s name is Evelina.” That’s the first time we’ve ever simultaneously worked on books with characters who had the same name.

--When I first the first draft, my dad (who’s in his early 60s) was diagnosed with terminal cancer and we were told he only had months to live. For a while, I didn’t think I was going to meet my deadline with the book, but going through such a hard season enabled me to deepen the emotion-level and somehow everything stayed on track time-wise. The best part is, God worked a miracle and my dad is here to celebrate the release with me!

--Evalina’s parents are in The Lost Girl of Astor Street. They’re Alessandro, Mariano’s younger brother, and Zola, Mariano’s former fiancé.

--One of the reasons the book is set in San Francisco is originally I had a story thread in there that involved Alcatraz. That was cut in the first round of edits because it didn’t match the tone of the rest of the book.

--A park ranger at Maznanar National Park answered a question early on for me in the brainstorming process, and then when the book was ready, she fact-checked it for me! She was such a generous and knowledgeable source.

--I originally thought every chapter would end with a letter between Evalina and Taichi, but that started to feel tedious.

--When I named Taichi, I thought he would be called Tai through out the book, but I didn’t like it. It felt like it stripped away part of his Japanese heritage, so it ended up just being his best friend who calls him that.

{Note from June:  A special word of thanks to this author for expediting the composition of this guest post due to my oversight in not submitting my guest post topic to JustRead until late last week. Thank you, Stephanie, for sharing such a detailed and thoughtful post here on such short notice! I truly appreciate it.}

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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Stephanie Morrill writes books about girls who are on an adventure to discover their unique place in the world. She is the author of several contemporary young adult series, as well as the 1920s mystery, The Lost Girl of Astor Street, and the WWII era romance, Within These Lines. Since 2010, Stephanie has been encouraging the next generation of writers at her website, GoTeenWriters.com. She lives in the Kansas City area, where she loves plotting big and small adventures to enjoy with her husband and three children. You can connect with Stephanie and learn more about her books at StephanieMorrill.com, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.  

CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR: website | facebook | twitter | instagram

GIVEAWAY

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(1) Grand Prize winner will win a release copy of Within These Lines & a special designed poster of Within These Lines from the publisher, Blink YA. Featured quote on poster: "Be Brave Enough to Care and Bold Enough to Act"

(5) First Prize winners will each with a special designed poster of Within These Lines from the publisher, Blink YA. Featured quote on poster: "Be Brave Enough to Care and Bold Enough to Act"

Be sure to check out each stop on the Bookstagram Tour and (upcoming) Takeover Tour, as well as this tour for more chances to win. Full tour schedule shown below. Giveaway began at midnight March 5, 2019 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on March 18, 2019. Winners will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. Due to shipping cost, only US mailing addresses valid. For our giveaway rules and policy, click HERE.



Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

Be sure to stop at the following tours for more chances to win!

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2 comments:

  1. I just finished reading this one and was amazed at how much it sinks it. I'm not usually a fan of slower, emotional reads, but this one is beautifully done. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm looking forward to read this one!

    ReplyDelete

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