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. Â I can honestly say that this book, This Song Will Save Your Life is on my favorites of 2013 list. Â I went in not sure what to expect and I ended up falling in love with Sales story. Â Not only does it address some serious social issues, but it’s done in such a fresh, wonderful way. Â Elsie’s voice is so genuine and I enjoyed getting to know her. Â If you haven’t read this book, I have to tell you that you must! It’s an amazing read! Â
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 And I wrote another unpublished YA novel, for which I was awarded the Olga and Paul Menn Foundation Prize for Fiction Writing.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!!Â
Recent Comments