Contest: Win a copy of The Education of Bet!

I have an arc of THE EDUCATION OF BET for one lucky winner at The Hiding Spot!

Please be sure that you read through the information and rules below.

Prize:

(1) arc of THE EDUCATION OF BET

How to Enter:
You MUST comment on my review of THE EDUCATION OF BET. (Comment is required.) Then you MUST fill out this FORM. If you neglect to comment on the post or fill out the form, you will not be entered to win.


Extra Entries:
Not required. Extra entries are detailed on the entry form as well.
+1 Tweet this contest. (Leave a link.)
+1 Link this contest on your sidebar, in a post, or on FB. (Leave a link.)


Details:
Contest will close September 30, 2010. Open to US and Canadian mailing addresses only. Sorry International readers!

Good luck!

Review: The Education of Bet by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Title: The Education of Bet
Author: Lauren Baratz-Logsted
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin BFC
Pub. Date: 7.12.2010
Genre: Historical YA
Keywords: Identity Swap, Secrets, Gender Roles, Family, Romance
Pages: 192
Description (from GoodReads):
Bet is sixteen, very intelligent, but only knows as much as her limited education will allow. In Victorian England, girls aren't allowed to go to school.

Will is also 16, and though not related by blood, he and Bet act like brother and sister. In fact, they even look like brother and sister. And though they're both raised under the same roof, by the same kind uncle, Will has one big advantage over Bet: He's a boy, and being a boy means he isn't stuck in the grand house they call home. He gets to go out into the world--to school.


But that's not what Will wishes. He wants to join the military and learn about real life, not what's written in books.


So one night, Bet comes up with a plan. She'll go to school as Will. Will can join the military. And though it seems impossible, they actually manage to pull it off.


But once Bet gets to the school, she begins to realize the education she's going to get isn't exactly the one she was expecting.
 
THE EDUCATION OF BET took me completely by surprise! Before this novel, I'd never read anything by Lauren Baratz-Logsted, but I was intrigued by the description.
 
I found the lengths Bet and Will go to in order to disguise Bet as a boy entertaining. I was skeptical that Baratz-Logsted would be able to make this aspect of the novel believable, but I actually found it very convincing. I especially loved that there were adults at the school aiding Bet in her quest for an education.
 
It was inspiring to see Bet fight so hard for something she wanted... something other than a boy. Don't get me wrong, I love a good romance, but it was refreshing to see the main character so passionate about something else. It definitely reminded me how lucky I am to have the opportunity to go to school... with all the stress, homework, and insane costs, it's easy to forget that.
 
But wait! There's romance too! Which, honestly, I should have anticipated, but I really hadn't. It was interesting an interesting and memorable romance, since, during the development of the romance, Bet is still disguised as Will. Understandably, this leads to some awkward moments, but Baratz-Logsted did a wonderful job making their story believable.
 
Grade: A
 

Review copy provided by publisher.

One Question Blog Tour feat. Lauren Baratz-Logsted!

Today Lauren Baratz-Logsted visits The Hiding Spot as part of the One Question Blog Tour to promote THE EDUCATION OF BET, which was released July 12th! As the name implies, I was able to ask Lauren one question before she traveled on to her next stop at There's A Book!

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The Question

My blog is dedicated to my personal hiding spot, books. Who, what, or where can be credited as your personal escape from reality?

Well, you got me. The only answer I can possibly give is the same answer you gave: books. Whether reading them or writing them, books are my escape. When reading, I get to explore other worlds. When writing, I get to create worlds that others will hopefully want to explore with me. Really, I'm a one-note person. When my daughter is in school, I either write or read pretty much every minute from 7am to 4pm. One thing I do wish? That I could read the way I did when I was younger. By that I mean truly lose myself in a book. I can remember lying in bed at night with a new book when I was a kid, stopping every so often to fully visualize characters and settings to the point where it was as though I was living inside the story. As a result I still have a map in my mind of exactly what I think the Devon School from A Separate Peace looks like. But ask me to describe in detail the setting from a book I read last week and, unless the author's power of description was truly spectacular, I can't tell you a thing. So the escape is still there but it's a different escape than it once was.

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For more about Lauren and her novels, visit her website!

And be sure to check out some of the other questions Lauren's been answering... and what's coming up!

July 26: Christina/Insert Book Title Here: What advice would you give an aspiring author? HERE



July 29: Danielle/There's A Book: Recently, you mentioned that you have an absolute "love affair" with door stops aka Fat Books (BiblioBuffet's Writer-in-Residence). Having said this, knowing that you've written some "skinnier" books, and must have a few favorites of those out there...I'd like to ask what your top 5 "skinny" books are and none of them may have been written by yourself or a family member. HERE