Carolyn Meyer

VICTORIA REBELS, January 2013


Who can resist picking this up and starting to read:

Kensington Palace, England, 1827

I hate John Conroy!
Mamma knew that I was never fond of him, but she did not suspect how much I despised him. "He has been a good friend to us since your papa died, Vickelchen," she reminded me. My father, the duke of Kent had died when I was an infant. "I do not know what I would have done without Sir John."
He may have been a friend to Mamma--too good, in my opinion--but he was never a friend to me, though he pretended to be. And I had to pretend that I did not loathe him.

GILLIAN'S CHOICE, #3 in the HOTLINE series, available only as an e-book

Gillian, a quiet classmate, confides in Angie that she’s pregnant and afraid—afraid to tell her parents or the baby’s father, afraid of what lies ahead. But Angie, too, has problems. She hasn’t been happy about what’s been going on with her boyfriend, and she can’t seem to make him understand her feelings. It’s hard enough to sort out her own choices—so how can she help Gillian figure out what to do? And what can the hotline do for either of them?

THE PROBLEM WITH SIDNEY, #2 in the HOTLINE series, available only as an e-book

When a fourteen-year-old runaway starts calling the hotline, it's clear that some of the hotliners are getting much too involved. Jenny, Kurt, Angie and Lan set up the crisis hotline in school to help troubled kids, but in this second book in the Hotline series, the hotline itself is facing problems of its own. The runaway girl, who calls herself Sidney, says she's living in a local park with drug dealers, but when anyone suggests going to a shelter, she doesn't want to hear it. She keeps calling the hotline, and her stories are disturbing--but are they true? And how far can the hotline go to help her?

BECAUSE OF LISSA, the first of the HOTLINE series, four contemporary novels available only as e-books.

News of Lissa Mainzer’s suicide shocks everyone. Lissa’s friends Jenny, Kurt, Angie, and Lan are determined to keep others from feeling that desperate. They work to form a crisis hotline at their high school, taking the calls in shifts, trying to help other teens with their problems while the hotliners themselves must deal with the challenges in their own lives. But when a call comes from Monica, they face a crisis. They couldn’t save Lissa, but what about Monica? And what about the hotline—can they save that as well?

THE WILD QUEEN: THE DAYS AND NIGHTS OF MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, published June 2012.

Here's what a Kansas reader, Abby, 16, said about it: "Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, is more than just a figure in your History textbook. The suspense, scandal, and danger of 16th century Europe come together in a beautifully composed narrative to spin the true-life story of this wild queen!"

Lauren, 14, nominated it for Teens' Top Ten: "...very intriguing in plot. I couldn't put it down! I love historical fiction, and I think it is really nice to read a book in YA that doesn't involve something paranormal."

I loved the hardback cover, but this one just blows me away!

From School Library Journal review: "This fictional memoir of Egypt’s alluring, mysterious queen resonates with historical authenticity, plausible emotional dilemmas, and passion for power and survival....A rich assortment of characters, places, and events is woven into this appealing, well-paced, informative examination of Cleopatra’s dramatic life and times."