I knew when I was making up my list for this feature, that I wanted to include Leila Sales and This Song Will Save Your Life. I can honestly say that this book, This Song Will Save Your Life is on my favorites of 2013 list. I went in not sure what to expect and I ended up falling in love with Sales story. Not only does it address some serious social issues, but it’s done in such a fresh, wonderful way. Elsie’s voice is so genuine and I enjoyed getting to know her. If you haven’t read this book, I have to tell you that you must! It’s an amazing read!
Making friends has never been Elise Dembowski’s strong suit. All throughout her life, she’s been the butt of every joke and the outsider in every conversation. When a final attempt at popularity fails, Elise nearly gives up. Then she stumbles upon a warehouse party where she meets Vicky, a girl in a band who accepts her; Char, a cute, yet mysterious disc jockey; Pippa, a carefree spirit from England; and most importantly, a love for DJing.
Told in a refreshingly genuine and laugh-out-loud funny voice, THIS SONG WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE is an exuberant novel about identity, friendship, and the power of music to bring people together.
ABOUT LEILA
I grew up outside of Boston, Massachusetts, with my parents and our cat. When I was little, I wanted to grow up to be a writer, actress, or singer. The writing part turned out to be easiest to accomplish, since it turns out I can’t really carry a tune, though I can do a mean karaoke rendition of “Hey Mickey.”
I wrote and illustrated approximately one million picture books when I was in elementary school, all of them about unicorns or cats or princesses, or princess unicorns who were best friends with princess cats. When I was seven, I wrote a longer story about quintuplets named Marissa, Larissa, Clarissa, Melissa, and Alyssa. The quintuplets were not princesses, but they did get invited to a royal ball.
During middle school and high school, I wrote five upublished YA novels. Sometimes I stopped writing for long enough to do my homework, like the time I wrote a picture book about German Unification for history class.
I went to college at the University of Chicago, where I majored in psychology. I also performed in Off-Off Campus (the U of C’s improv and sketch comedy troupe), competed in debate tournaments all over the world, helped judge the world’s largest scavenger hunt, and wrote a humor column for the school paper. And I wrote another unpublished YA novel, for which I was awarded the Olga and Paul Menn Foundation Prize for Fiction Writing.
After graduating, I got a job at a children’s book publishing company in New York City, where I happily remain to this day. My first YA novel was published in 2010, and since then, I’ve just kept working on more. During the daytime I read other people’s books, and during the nighttime I write my own. What more could I need?
We have an amazing giveaway for one lucky person – A signed ARC of This Song Will Save Your Life and a CD of music created by Leila Sales to go with the book!! – US ONLY – Make sure you get your entries in!!
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