BLOG TOUR: Namesake by Sue MacLeod

Hi guys!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers...the place where rain nor sleet nor dark of night, can keep this reader from sharing the bookish love with all of you.  Yes, it's been quite a week (well, few weeks actually) life wise but this reader is still ticking.  Pages are being read, posts are being typed, and seeing as it's Tuesday, teasers are being shared!  But today's teaser is EXTRA special.  Wanna know why?  Well...I'll tell you!  ^_^

Today, we are playing host to a Pajama Press blog tour starring a Young Adult title that infuses the present in the past and vice versa.  It's different, it's curious, it's downright something to ponder while adding it to your wish list, and today, we're gonna give you something else to "chew" on.  But first, let's learn a little about the book...

Namesake

by

Sue MacLeod

 978-1-927485-29-3 

Pajama Press

All Jane did was read aloud from an old book—but suddenly she’s face to face with her history project, Tudor England’s Lady Jane Grey.

It started with a history project. Mr. Gregor assigned a research paper on a figure from the Tudor era, and of course Jane Grey had to pick her namesake—Lady Jane Grey, the fifteen-year-old girl whose parents schemed to place her on the throne of England, then abandoned her to face the executioner. The project is engrossing from the start, but when Jane opens a mysterious prayer book and finds herself in the Tower of London in 1553, she ends up literally drawn into her namesake’s story. Soon, Jane is slipping into the past whenever the present becomes too unbearable, avoiding her mother’s demands, her best friend’s fickleness, her crush’s indifference. In the Tower she plays chess with the imprisoned Lady Jane, awed by her new friend’s strength and courage. And it is in the Tower, keeping vigil as the day of the execution draws near, that Jane learns that she, too, must have the courage to fight for her own happiness.

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Pretty cool, right?

Sounds good to me...and seeing as it's Teaser Tuesday, I thought the PERFECT match for today's feature and a great way to share the reading run with you, would be with a special excerpt!  Sound good?  You're welcome.  ^_^  Ready, set...be teased and read!

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EXCERPT:  Namesake

That night, I heard Mom’s boot heels tapping down the hallway.

Her black suede boots; I knew the sound. All the rules,

like No Shoes in the House, turned to smoke when Analise

was heading for a bender. The back door slammed, and then

her old Volvo chup-chupped into gear.

I flicked my light on after a while, and lay there staring at

the ceiling. I couldn’t concentrate to read. Couldn’t turn on

my music, not with one ear cocked in case she came back.

And Tom. Couldn’t think about Tom. He was like a gift. And

if a gift got unwrapped in this atmosphere, the sweetness and

excitement might get contaminated....

If only I could drift off to sleep, like I could drift from

my century to Jane’s and back. Sometimes I wondered how

that looked to her: when I’d hear something calling me and

suddenly be—gone....

In the end I got the prayer book from my drawer. One of

the most comforting things ever was just to look at it and hold

it. It really took me someplace—in the figure-of-speech way,

I mean. It fell open to a page with an illuminated letter O. A

swirl of curlicues. No clear path in or out. A maze.

What can I do, my lady? Is there some way I can save you? Is

there somehow a parallel universe where you could get to live your

life? Are you holding this book too, right now?

Can we both be?

I decided to go.

Everything was black.

Was time unwinding faster? Had it all—had it happened

already?

I felt colder than I remembered feeling.

Jane?...

It was her room. I could just make out the outline of the

window now, and a thread of light across the floor.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Pretty heavy scene...or so it sounds.

What say YOU readers?

Yay or nay?

It's just a few choice words, but they can both hook or hinder.

The comments are open; I'm all ears.

Special thanks to Erin at Pajama Press for the chance to participate in this tour...as well as the review copy for my full post coming this November!  (THANKS!)  For more information on this title as well as their full catalog, be sure to stop by their official site, like them on Facebook, pin them on Pinterest, or follow along on Twitter.  To see just where the blog tour leads next (*hint* - Bookish Notions - tomorrow!), be sure to join the "Pajama Party"....and finally, to learn more about the author behind the work, pay a visit to her virtual doorstop.

Until next time...happy reading!