New Update!

Hello everyone. All of my Reviews, that I have yet to write, will be posted sporadically during the summer. After the end of this summer, I will not be posting on here anymore, as you will see the info on the right side of the blog.
Thanks for your understanding.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Dented Cans By: Heather Walsh *Book Excerpt & E-Book Giveaway*


Goodreads Description

A family secret is revealed during an ill-fated—yet hilarious—trip to Disney World.

Sixteen-year-old Hannah Sampson knows her family is not what you would call normal. Her father compulsively buys dented cans and has a particular fondness for cans without labels, which are extremely discounted because their contents are a mystery. Her mother takes countless pictures of her family and then glues them down into the pages of her scrapbooks, but does not allow anyone to look at them. Ryan, Hannah’s mischievous fourteen-year-old brother, is headed straight for the remedial track at the local community college, if he’s lucky. Ben, her eight-year-old brother, is a walking sound effects machine, who prefers to communicate with noises rather than words. While Hannah is focused on escaping her working-class Connecticut suburb, she also finds herself being tugged back home as she worries about her brother Ben.

Hannah’s parents inflict one last family vacation on the Sampson children, a trip that goes comically wrong almost from the get-go. Hannah is forced to confront her family’s past in Disney World, of all places, when an emotional argument prompts her parents to disclose a secret they have been keeping from the children for sixteen years. Ultimately, she must decide whether to leave her hometown and not look back, or to focus on helping her family.



Check Out This Book Excerpt

(Here is a brief sample, during the trip to Disney World. This is in
the voice of Hannah, the narrator of the novel)


We did a few more rides, and then we went to the World Showcase, the
section of EPCOT that consisted of pavilions “showcasing” various
countries. In reality just a bunch of overpriced restaurants and gaudy
gift shops “hawking” ethnic food and trinkets. Before we were allowed
to eat lunch, we had to locate a restroom so we could rid our hands of
the thousands of germs that only Dad had the ability to detect. Then
we spread out across two benches in Italy right next to Alfredo’s
Restaurant, where people who actually purchased their food went to
eat. It was a good thing we’d brought our own peanut butter and jelly
sandwiches. That and chicken fingers would have probably been a hard
ethnic cuisine to place. Maybe the Nutritionally Defunct Pavilion?

Mom began passing out the sandwiches. I felt as if I shouldn’t eat
mine, knowing the hard work that went into making it.

“This World Showcase is so boring,” Ryan said.

“This World Showcase is so stereotyped,” I said. “Who knew the only
thing Italians do is listen to ‘O Solo Mio’ while they eat spaghetti
and meatballs? And if you’re German, you obviously dance the polka.
Half of it isn’t even true.”

“Yeah, I didn’t know that Mexicans just hit piñatas all day. And you
can buy your own to whack for just 19.99,” Ryan said.

“Hannah, stop questioning everything. Just try to enjoy it,” Dad said.

Stop questioning everything. I think Dad was just quoting Socrates
there. Didn’t he say that? My fellow Greeks, stop questioning
everything. Just enjoy. Enjoy EPCOT.

“OK, I won’t point out that Africa, the second largest continent on
the planet, isn’t even represented here,” I said.

“We’ve heard enough of your opinion on the matter. Can you please just
let your younger brother enjoy this?” Dad said.

Sure. I could keep the truth to myself. Socrates and I were kindred
spirits. Perhaps Dad had some hemlock for me to drink?

“Did you bring any canned peaches for dessert?” Ryan said.

I laughed.

“OK, very funny,” Dad said.


About The Author
(From Goodreads)
Heather Walsh grew up in North Haven, CT, fantastically close to Pepe's pizza.

She received a B.A. in English at Mary Washington College, which has been renamed to, drum roll please... the University of Mary Washington. This was after a failed attempt to name it Washington & Monroe University, because there aren't enough schools honoring dead Virginian men already. Heather graduated Phi Betta Kappa and summa cum laude, which sounds kind of fancy but really means she took easy classes.
She taught high school English in Brooklyn for one year, where she loved the students but not the system. She then joined corporate America and worked there for too many years as an IT trainer, project manager, business analyst, and SQL dabbler (select * from Dented_Cans).

Her favorite writer is Alice Munro, her favorite movie is The Godfather Parts I & II (tied for first), and her favorite TV show is The Wire. She has lived in some pretty neat places, including Brooklyn (kind of before it was hipster-cool to do so), Manhattan, and San Francisco. The unfortunate result of living in these locations is that she has become an obnoxious foodie.
She currently lives in Brookline, MA with her husband, Mike DeLucia, and their two children.



Giveaway Details & Rules

- This is an International Giveaway!
- Ends March 14th!
- There Will Be 1 E-Book Copy Given Away. Winner picked by Rafflecopter!
- I will be Checking the Entries Regularly, so if there is Cheating, those Entries Will be Disqualified
- As you submit Entries, be sure to use an Email that you use Daily, as that is how I will contact you, if you Win.
- You will have 48 hours to Respond, or I will have to Choose a New Winner! Check Your Spam Folders, just in case it goes in there.
- And Good Luck! :)

*Come back to this post, when the Giveaway is over, to see who won. I usually do Tweet as well*

13 comments:

  1. discovering family secrets in Disney World - oh yeah that sounds cool ;)
    funny excerpt :)
    Thank you for this giveaway :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. The blurb is interesting & the excerpt is funny. I'm still not quite sure what to make of the book, but it has definitely piqued my interest. Haha. Thanks for the Giveaway. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Interesting cover and title

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  4. thanks for the giveaway. I saw this book on another site & it looks quite interesting

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  5. Cool title - cool cover - love it! Thank you so much for the opportunity to win!

    ReplyDelete
  6. The title and cover alone make me want to read this book. Adding to my list

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yay that's wonderful :) good luck and thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  7. An interesting-sounding book, about a very dysfunctional family! But then, what family isn't dysfunctional? Thank you for this opportunity.

    ReplyDelete

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