Dark Books for Teens

Lands Atlantic Publishing House was a vendor at the 2010 West Virginia Book Festival in Charleston, W.Va. last month (Oct. 2010). The publish books for young adults.

I [Danny Pettry have discovered that I find most enjoyment from reading books from the "young adult" section! Many books in the young adult section and even teen books aimed for women seem to have a dark edge to them (based on my experiences) reading them.

I regret to say that I'm not sure who the woman in this picture is. She is with the publishing company or one of the signing authors. She is holding two interesting books.

Book # 1 (up front) that she is holding is called "The Pace."

It is the first book in a series about a man named Weston. He isn't immortal, but this guy does not age. An 18-year-old named Sophie wants to find out why. In her quest to discover why she uncovers something about her own life that she might not want to know.

Here is the amazon link for book # 1:




Here is the amazon link for book # 2:




Book # 2 (in the back) that she's holding is Jennifer Murgia's book "Angel Star."

It is a book about a 17-year-old girl named Teagan. She falls in love with her guardian angel who has came to Earth.
I like how Murgia puts it, “where there is light, dark follows.”
Another angel threatens the life of Teagan and all the people who she knows.
This book sounds exciting. The follow-up book Lemniscate will be released in 2011. That is exciting. I love hearing about creative people who are creating things!

Here is an amazon link for the book:

Quote of the day

If I had my life to live over, I would try to make more mistakes. I would relax. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would go barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would have more dogs. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies. I would have more actual troubles and fewer imaginary ones.

[Not sure who said it first].

What if you could do it all over again?

What book are you reading this week?

I’m reading an awesome book, Before I fall, by Lauren Oliver. I discovered it at Wal-Mart one night. The summary on the back was attention-getting for me.

I didn’t buy it right away, but did purchase it on Amazon a few days later because I wanted to know what happens in the story.

I love this book so far (after reading 60%)

Click on this Amazon link to read more about it. The book is ranked in the top 5,000 best-selling books on amazon as of today. That is a fairly good rank for a book. My children's book, Building Character" is ranked about 800,000.



It’s about this high school girl named Sam who dies in a car crash. She has what I like to call “Groundhog Day Syndrome.” It is like the movie groundhog day because she repeats the same day over and over again. Except it is Feb 12th a.k.a. Cupid Day at school in this book.

But this book is so much better than groundhog day!

I’m not certain if she is fully living her life with a second chance each day or living a shadow of it in an afterlife until she passes on.

Here is a youtube trailer for the book. I regret to say this trailer doesn’t do justice for the book. The book is so much more fascinating.

She gets to live her life over each day. She has the opportunity to do it different. What would you do if you could do it all over again?




I don't know the ending of this book yet because I still have about 40% more to read. This may be a good thing so I won't give any book-spoilers in this blog. I fully recommend this book. I'm going to give my copy to my mother after I read it.

Here is the link again:



Here is short book review I found on youtube:



Here is the link again:

Do you have a library card?

Do you have a library card?

If not, you need to get one.

Reading is so important.

My favorite motivational speaker, the late Jim Rohn said, "the book you don't read won't help you."

Walt Disney said, "There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island [all you have to do is read them.]

Abe Lincoln said something along the lines that a person who brings him a book that he has not read would be his friend.

I [Danny Pettry] beleive that wisdom is hidden in books (both fiction and non-fiction). However, you must read them to discover the secrets. I had written a self-improvement book called Discover Hidden Secret Wisdom. It was on the importance of reading. Part of the profits went to First Book, which is a non-profit group that provides books to children in need.

I was at the W.Va. Book Festival!



Here is a picture of my sister, my mother and myself at the Book Festival. I had a booth to promote my first children’s book, “Building Character with Sam, Izzy, and Many Other Dogs.”



Kanawha (pronounced: /kəˈnɑː/) is a county in West Virginia. The county seat is Charleston, which is also the state capitol of West Virginia.


Kanawha County is one of the main sponsors for the West Virginia Book Festival. So naturally, the Kanawha County Public Library was there.

Here is a picture of the Kanawha County book mobile in the Charleston Town Center where the Book Festival was held. I thought having that indoors was wild.



Here are some more fun pictures from the W. Va. Book Fair:





The Kanawha county Public Library has Teen Services. Teens can stay informed on programs, contests, new books and more. You can click the “like” button for their facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Charleston-WV/Kanawha-County-Public-Library/162450860303?ref=ts&v=wall#!/pages/Charleston-WV/Kanawha-County-Public-Library-Teen-Services/123854341003395

I [Danny Pettry] am a big fan of teen books. As many people already know, I didn’t read a full book until I was 18-years-old. I think catching up on reading is one reason I like teen books so much now.

I'm the author of a few books.
You can get more information about them at these amazon links below: