Over at Book Riot this week, I wrote about books that take place in 24 hours or less. It’s a time constraint I find endlessly fascinating, and I talked a little bit about why over in that post, as well as included a lengthy reading list of YA books that take place in that short a time span.

One of the books I talked about was Tiffany Schmidt’s forthcoming Bright Before Sunrise, which comes out next February 18. It’s really unfair to talk about a book this far in advance, but I wanted to talk about it a little bit today not just because it fit with the theme of short time frames, but also because it hits on a theme that is near and dear to my heart: girls and the expectation that they be “nice.”

You may remember I talked about the idea of girls having to be nice last winter. There’s an expectation that girls have to be nice, even if it means sacrificing what it is they desire. Socially, girls are told that they need to be nice and kind. They’re shown that in the media over and over, and it becomes ingrained in how they act.

Schmidt’s book plays against this very idea. Brighton, one of the main characters in the book, is led to believe that being nice is more important than going after what it is she wants. She fears breaking beyond the label of nice — she can’t imagine what it would be like to be seen as anything but nice. But in the today of this story, something huge is going on in her life, and for once, Brighton wants to be anything but “nice.”

Jonah, the second main character in the book, is a new boy in town. And before you start to believe this is going to be a whirlwind romance, let me assure you it’s not. Yes, there might be a little bit of romance near the end, but this isn’t about Brighton asserting her independence and undermining her “nice” reputation by getting with a bad boy. It’s about Jonah challenging Brighton to examine her own conception of self. He asks her to look at herself and her needs and wants and consider the importance of those over the importance of being seen as “nice” and “kind” and “liked” in the eyes of other people.

No, this isn’t a story about a boy who changes Brighton’s life. And no, this isn’t a story about a girl who changes Jonah’s life. It’s about two people who challenge one another to critically examine their own lives on their own terms and come to conclusions for themselves. Can you strip yourself down to your barest essentials and be happy with what’s looking back? If not, how can you make that happen? Those are the questions at the heart of Schmidt’s book.

I plan on a longer review when the book is nearer to publication, but in the tradition of doing previews of books I’ve read and loved a little early, I wanted to get this book on the radar of readers who are looking for realistic fiction of this ilk. I had the opportunity to read this a few months ago, and it’s still on my mind. I loved Brighton for being imperfect and striving to figure out how she can better herself while fretting about how others would think about her for doing so — it’s realistic. We all do this. I loved Jonah and how, despite not having all of the best cards in his hand, makes what he can of them while not worrying what other people think of him, even when maybe he could consider that and find his experiences in his new school enjoyable, rather than something to simply get through. Both characters are complex and dynamic, and the ways their lives collide in one night are equal parts funny as they are authentic.

When Tiffany asked if I’d be interested in giving away an advanced copy of Bright Before Sunrise, I couldn’t say no. This is a book that I am very enthusiastic about and one which I hope gets into the hands of many, many readers when it’s available.

Before that, though, I’ve got an extra treat. Tiffany was kind enough to choose an excerpt from the book for me to share with readers. I had hoped to post this as full text, but for a number of reasons, including formatting and design, I had to keep it intact as a document.

This particular scene is one I feel really sets us up to understand what Brighton’s goals are prior to questioning her need to be liked. It’s here when she challenges herself to make Jonah like her. Because her goal to this point has been to be liked and be nice, in what could have been an awkward and real situation, she chooses to pursue being liked to fill that silence.

Curious now? I’ve got THREE copies to give away, along with a tote bag featuring the book cover, and the bag itself will be stuffed with swag. That is THREE prize packs all together.

Open to US residents, you can enter below. It looks like this:

This is a book I cannot wait to talk about more and it’s one I cannot wait to get into the hands of my teen readers, particularly those girls who believe the way through life is being nice and sacrificing their own voices in the name of being liked.

Dearest readers of STACKED,

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We started this blog 4.5 years ago (to the day). We wanted a place to share our thoughts on books, and since then, we have found an amazing community of readers, of advocates, of people as passionate as we are about books and sharing them. We’ve made some incredible friends, and we’ve been lucky enough to write and write and write and have people not just share their thoughts with us, but they’ve shared our thoughts with other people.

It is an incredible feeling to know people want to hear what we have to say.

Today marks our 1 millionth hit since we began our blog. ONE MILLION UNIQUE HITS since we began this blog 4.5 years ago. That’s an incredible number, and it’s made even more mind-boggling to know that half of that has been from the last year alone.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We want to thank you not just in a post, but we want to thank our readers — long-time loyal ones and brand new readers alike — with a pair of giveaways that we are very excited about. We’ve never done something like this before, but we are excited to give it a whirl.

The first giveaway is what you may consider fairly straightforward. We’ve got a pile of YA books (and some advanced reader copies) we want you to have. There will be between 8 and 10 titles total up for grabs, a mix of genres, including the following:

• Yesterday by CK Kelly Martin & the brand-new sequel Tomorrow
• What Goes Around by Courtney Summers 
• The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas
• Half Lives by Sara Grant
• Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage on audio
• The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder on audio
• An advanced reader’s copy of Tin Star by Cecil Castellucci
• An advanced reader’s copy of Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira
• Any 2013 hardcover or paperback YA novel of the winner’s choice

As well as a handful more. Kimberly and I want to build a really nice mix of stuff to give away, so we’re scouring our brains to give away some favorites, as well as some new things we think our readers would like.

The only restriction for this giveaway is that you are a US or Canadian resident, since we’ll be covering shipping.

Our second giveaway is a little bit different, and we aren’t entirely sure how this will go over, but it’s one we’re VERY excited to try out. We’re going to give away a 30 page manuscript critique. Kimberly and I will both read the first thirty pages of your middle grade or young adult manuscript and offer a boatload of feedback for you — what we think is working, what we think could be improved, and more. We’ll include not just a letter, but marginal commentary throughout.

Because we can do this one electronically, we’re happy to offer this giveaway for anyone who has a manuscript in English.

You can enter either giveaway or you can enter both. We’ll choose our random winners Monday, November 11.

Thanks for being such supportive and amazing readers — we really appreciate all of your feedback, your sharing, and your thoughts on our blog.

— Kelly & Kimberly

Back in January of 2010, I was lucky enough to be part of the judging panel for the Cybils award in YA fiction (which if you are a blogger and want to take part, there are still a few days left to apply). This was my first time ever being on a book-related panel like this, and it was really neat to be a part of a process of working with a handful of other well-read bloggers discussing, debating, and ultimately choosing one book from among seven to be “the best” in terms of literary quality and teen reader appeal as the Cybils winner.

The winner we picked that year was:

Almost immediately upon finishing it, I ordered Some Girls Are. I then sat on the Cybils reading panel the following year (in the fall of 2010) and after reading a lot of books, Some Girls Are ended up on our short list of titles, too.

I’ve since been a huge fan of everything Courtney’s written because her characters are honest. They’re not made to be pretty or to be friendly and appealing to anyone in the story nor to readers. They’re sometimes harsh, sometimes brutal, and always complex. The stories are sharp and unrelenting, with writing that complements them — that’s one big reason that Cracked Up to Be was a Cybils winner.

If you haven’t read her books, perhaps you remember Courtney from one of her guest posts here at STACKED, either as part of our So You Want to Read YA? series, our Horror series, or as our very first Twitterview victim way back in 2010.

St. Martin’s Press is publishing a bind-up of Courtney’s first two gritty books, Cracked Up to Be and Some Girls Are titled What Goes Around next Tuesday, September 3. This is the perfect opportunity for those who haven’t checked out her books yet to get a taste of two of her books in one place.

Readers who love Ellen Hopkins’s books for their gritty, edgy topics or who love Laurie Halse Anderson for her ability to write raw realistic fiction will find much to appreciate in the two books in What Goes Around.

So what are they about?

Cracked Up to Be is about perfect Parker Fadley falling from the top of the social hierarchy, head cheerleader, do-gooder to being the girl who wants nothing more than to fade out and keep what happened to cause this sudden change in her attitude hidden as much as possible. She feels tremendous guilt and angst over an event she witnessed, but she lets it out in snark and bitterness. Inside, though, she’s being eaten alive.

Some Girls Are follows Regina Afton as she, too, falls from being at the top of the social hierarchy, but what causes her downfall isn’t what’s eating her up inside. It’s what she reveals to her best friend that causes her to become cast out and attacked — but Regina, unlike Parker who retreats inward, takes her pain and hurt externally. It’s Mean Girls with actual mean girls.

You can read a 70 page excerpt from What Goes Around right here, which includes a sample of both books.

I think any reader who will find these two stories together for the first time will see a lot of interesting parallels between them, though they are far from the same story. Parker and Regina are very different girls, but the way they each process pain is fascinating to watch (even — especially — if it’s completely unpleasant).

In honor of the release of What Goes Around, I’ve got a giveaway. St. Martin’s Press has generously offered up two copies of the bind-up for me to pass along to interested readers. It’s limited to US and Canadian residents only.

Because I’d love to see more people reading these books and talking about them, I’m also going to give away a set of all of Courtney’s books to one reader. The caveat is this: I want this set of four books, which includes Cracked Up to Be, Some Girls Are, Fall for Anything, and This is Not a Test to go to a teacher or a librarian who will get these books into the hands of their teen readers. This can mean putting them in a library or classroom collection OR giving them away as a prize to a teen. All I ask is you use your work email address and click the little box in the form telling me you’re a teacher or librarian and are interested in being entered into the giveaway for this set of books.

Ciara, who runs the blog Lost at Midnight, is hosting a read along for new readers and those who have read but want to reread or share a blog post in response to any of these books (I’m cooking up a guest post myself!). You can sign up to take part and read or blog about one of Courtney’s books each month this fall. Check it out. You can also find Courtney on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr.

Recapping: 2 copies of What Goes Around are up for grabs to anyone in the US or Canada, and one set of all of Courtney’s books are up for either a teacher or librarian. Two chances to win for anyone and three chances for those who may be a teacher or librarian. I’ll pull winners on or around the second week of September.