Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers: Rockstar Book Tours presents... Arden High: TWELFTH GRADE NIGHT by Molly Horton Booth, Stephanie Kate Strohm, and Jamie Green

Sunday, October 9, 2022

Rockstar Book Tours presents... Arden High: TWELFTH GRADE NIGHT by Molly Horton Booth, Stephanie Kate Strohm, and Jamie Green - REVIEW + GIVEAWAY!

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the TWELFTH GRADE NIGHT by Molly Horton Booth, Stephanie Kate Strohm, & Jamie Green BLOG TOUR hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. It's another Graphic Novel adventure, but this time, we're heading to a unique high school with a cast of characters you're bound to find yourself somewhere in. Ladies and gents, check out my review post, make sure to enter the giveaway, and click on over to the other sites participating for more bookish fun!

Title: TWELFTH GRADE NIGHT (Arden High #1)

Author: Molly Horton Booth, Stephanie Kate Strohm, & Jamie Green (Illustrator)

Pub. Date: October 11, 2022

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook

Pages: 160

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org

"Magical and full of queer joy―this book is such a dream!"―Alice Oseman, New York Times best-selling author of Heartstopper

The course of true love never did run smooth . . . and neither does high school in this new graphic novel series for fans of Heartstopper and The Prince and the Dressmaker.

Vi came to Arden High for a fresh start and a chance to wear beanies and button-ups instead of uniform skirts. And though doing it without her twin feels like being split in half, Vi finds her stride when she stumbles (literally!) into broody and beautiful poet-slash-influencer, Orsino. Soon Vi gets roped into helping plan the school’s Twelfth Grade Night dance, and she can’t stop dreaming about slow dancing with Orsino under the fairy lights in the gym.

The problem? All Vi’s new friends assume she’s not even into guys. And before Vi can ask Orsino to the dance, he recruits Vi to help woo his crush, Olivia. Who has a crush of her own . . . on Vi.

Star-crossed love abounds in this hilarious and romantic story of self-discovery, mistaken identities, and the magic that happens when we open our hearts to something new.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first book in the Arden High series, Twelfth Night takes the classic tale from the bard, and gives it a modern day-ish spin. I use the "ish" because there is still MAGIC, still non-human beings, still love triangles to be solved, and feelings to be waded through, but it's all done with a story at its heart that the modern day reader can also relate to.

Between the witty passages, and gorgeously colored panels, hiding in plain sight is the story of a young girl suffering the loss of family, while trying to navigate a new world, and establish her own identity. We have the tale of a boy longing for a chance with a beautiful maiden...I mean, young lady, and while words don't normally fail him, his confidence seems to be taking a blow. There's a story about a young girl who is the most beautiful in the land, both inside and out, and yet her confidence hides away when faced with the object of her desire. There's family history to deal with, and new paths being forged that keep getting more treacherous. There's friends to be made, and yet the stigma of being the new kid to face down. As the story progresses, all the tales spin towards an eventual collision noteworthy in its own right, and yet everyone comes out better for it in the end.

I'm boring this up, but seriously, it was a remarkable tale. I loved how it allowed the characters to just be themselves. There was no shaming, or trying to change them; once clear lines were drawn, or curiosities made clear, misunderstandings turned into funny anecdotes, without a second thought. Hey, high school (let alone life!) can be hard enough, especially starting it solo when you thought you'd have a "partner in crime", so the acceptance, the open mindedness that was displayed here was refreshing, endearing, and, quite frankly, beautiful. We should all be lucky enough to have a circle of friends there for us like this...and we should all strive for the chance to be that friend for someone else.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About Molly Horton Booth:

Molly Horton Booth (they/she) is a writer, editor, and author of Young Adult fiction. Their next book is the graphic novel TWELFTH GRADE NIGHT, coming October 11th, 2022, book 1 in the ARDEN HIGH series co-written by the amazing Stephanie Kate Strohm and illustrated by the incredible Jamie Green. Book 2 in the series, KING CHEER, will be published Fall 2023. Molly is currently a copywriter for Wayfair.com, where she describes bookcases in exquisite detail.

Molly grew up homeschooled, earned their BA in English from Marlboro College, and earned their MA in English from UMass Boston. She lives in Baltimore, MD where she spends a lot of time with her partner, family, and friends, and the rest doting on her pets.

Literary agent: Alexander Slater at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.

About Stephanie Kate Strohm:

STEPHANIE KATE STROHM is the author of It’s Not Me, It’s You; The Date to Save; The Taming of the Drew; Prince in Disguise; Love a la Mode; That’s Not What I Heard; Restless Hearts (Katy Keene #1) and Once Upon a Tide: A Mermaid’s Tale. After graduating with a joint major in theater and history from Middlebury College, she acted her way around the country, performing in more than 25 states.

She currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband, her son, and a dog named Lorelei Lee.

About Jamie Green:

Jamie Green is a maker and professional curious person living in Greenville (funny, right?), South Carolina. They graduated in 2020 from Ringling College of Art and Design with a BFA in Illustration. In 2019, they was recognized by the Society of Illustrators as the Zankel Scholar. Much like her hobbies, their work can be described as the feeling of being bundled up around a campfire or hiking through the autumn woods. It is a goal of theirs to both intrigue and educate, combining nature and whimsy and creating a space for curiosity (as well as a bit of magic). Jamie strives to create picture books, illustrated educational books, magazine covers, interactive materials, and chapter book covers/interiors.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~ GIVEAWAY ~~~

1 winner will receive a finished copy of TWELFTH GRADE NIGHT, US Only.

Ends November 5th, midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Special thanks to the Rockstar Book Tours team for the chance to bring this tour to you and to the publisher for the ecopy for review. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, the publisher, this tour, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title is available soon, so mark your calendar or pre order your copy today! Catch the rest of the tour for more!

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

10/1/2022

Kait Plus Books

Excerpt/IG Post

Week Two:

10/2/2022	A Dream Within A Dream	Excerpt/IG Post
10/3/2022	travelersguidetobooks	IG Review
10/4/2022	The Caffeinated Reader	Review/IG Post
10/5/2022	Unconventional Quirky Bibliophile	Review/IG Post
10/6/2022	A Backwards Story	Review/IG Post
10/7/2022	Just Another Teen Reading Books	Review/IG Post
10/8/2022	See Sadie Read	Review/IG Post

Week Three:

10/9/2022	Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers	Review/IG Post
10/10/2022	@booksrn_rashi	IG Review
10/11/2022	Wanderingwitchreads	TikTok Review/IG Post
10/12/2022	MandaTheBiblio	Review/IG Post
10/13/2022	booksaremagictoo	Review/IG Post
10/14/2022	Novel Novice	IG Spotlight
10/15/2022	Nonbinary Knight Reads	Review/IG Post

Week Four:

10/16/2022	The Book View	Review/IG Post
10/17/2022	Ya Books Central	Excerpt/IG Post
10/18/2022	onemused	IG Spotlight
10/19/2022	Nerdophiles	Review
10/20/2022	A Blue Box Full of Books	IG Review
10/21/2022	A Bookish Dream	Review/IG Post
10/22/2022	@jacleomik33	IG Review

Week Five:

10/23/2022	Celia's Reads	Review/IG Post
10/24/2022	Ohyouread	IG Review
10/25/2022	@thebookishfoxwitch	IG Review
10/26/2022	One More Exclamation	Review/IG Post
10/27/2022	Eli to the nth	Review/IG Post
10/28/2022	The Bookwyrm's Den	Review
10/29/2022	PopTheButterfly Reads	Review/IG Post