Title: My Kind Of Crazy
Author: Robin Reul
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Romance
Release Date: 5th April 2016
BLURB supplied by Sourcebooks Fire
A promposal that (literally) goes up in flames sparks a
friendship that might be just crazy enough to work
Despite the best of intentions,
seventeen-year old, wisecracking Hank Kirby can’t quite seem to catch a
break. It’s not that he means to screw things up all the time, it just
happens. A lot. Case in point: his attempt to ask out the girl he
likes literally goes up in flames when he spells “Prom” in sparklers on her
lawn…and nearly burns down her house.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, Peyton
Breedlove, a brooding loner and budding pyromaniac, witnesses the whole
thing. Much to Hank’s dismay, Peyton takes an interest in him—and his
“work.” The two are thrust into an unusual friendship, but their boundaries are
tested when Hank learns that Peyton is hiding some dark secrets, secrets that
may change everything he thought he knew about Peyton.
PURCHASE LINKS
EXCERPT
So here’s the thing. It’s not like I woke up this morning
and said, “Hey, I think I’ll light the 100-year-old Eastern Red Cedar tree in
front of Amanda Carlisle’s house on fire today.” Because I don’t know about
you, but when I wake up, my mind doesn’t go straight to arson. Honestly, the
first thing I focus on is how fast I can get from my room to the bathroom
without my dad’s girlfriend, Monica, trying to chat me up while I’m awkwardly
standing there in my boxers.
I’d read online that how you ask a girl to Prom can completely make or break a
guy’s chances. I wanted to do something special that Amanda would never forget.
Apparently it worked, just not the way I intended. ‘Use sparklers to spell out
PROM’ the article on the Internet said. There was even a picture with them all
lit up on the ground. Totally idiot proof.
I snuck into her yard like a ninja under
the cover of darkness and tried to jam the sparklers in her lawn, but the soil
was hard and unyielding. I looked around, desperate, and then I spied a nice soft
patch of mulch underneath the cedar tree near the side of her yard. It was
perfect, and the sparkler slid in easily. A few minutes later, I had them all
lined up just like I’d seen in the picture, and once they were lit, yelled,
“Amanda!” I actually had to call out twice because she didn’t hear me the first
time. Then she came to the window and gazed down as the sparklers fizzled down
to the ground and--boom!
Turns out that was fresh pine
mulch underneath that cedar. Pine trees produce turpentine, so I might as well
have lit those sparklers in a pool of gasoline for how quickly the mulch caught
fire.
I didn’t know what to do, so I
ran. Which is why I’m now hiding behind a bush across the street in her
neighbor’s yard. This is definitely going down in history as the most epic
promposal fail ever. And then, as if things couldn’t get more catastrophic,
they do.
Baseball is practically a
religion where I live in South Coast Massachusetts. People take their Red Sox
pretty seriously, and the die-hards decorate their trees with red and blue
streamers every season in a show of support. The Carlisles are no exception.
And it doesn’t take long for the flames to catch and race the length of those
ribbons into the dry branches above.
From where I’m crouched down,
I have a perfect view of the Carlisle house. I can see Amanda’s eyes widen and
her jaw drop open as she observes the quickly escalating situation in her yard.
She pulls away from the window, I’m guessing to call the fire department. We
should probably talk about Prom some other time.
With things clearly going south, I do what any sensible person would do: I get
the hell out of there. Of course, a sensible person wouldn’t have put sparklers
in a pile of fresh mulch directly under a highly flammable tree. Hindsight is
20/20.
So in the most casual way
possible, I hook my backpack - which is loaded with empty sparkler boxes - over
my shoulders, hop on my bike, and pedal away from the scene at what I hope
passes for a normal speed. Cool as a cucumber, that’s me.
I reason for a brief moment
that, perhaps, Amanda didn’t actually see me there. Even if she did, she
doesn’t know me all that well so she might not recognize me. I am wearing black
jeans, and my Batman hoodie conceals my medium-length, stick straight brown
hair, so I am sort of camouflaged. Not to mention, those
flames were pretty distracting.
The fire station is about five streets
away, near the library. I start to worry that the firemen won’t get there fast
enough and Amanda’s whole house might burn down. I know I’m a lame-ass chicken
shit for hightailing it out of there, but the last thing I need is Dad on my
case for something else. As far as he’s concerned, I can’t do much right. I
would like to say he’s just being an asshole, but lately I’ve been wondering if
he’s onto something.
I consider turning around and heading back to Amanda’s, which would be the
right thing to do, but I swear I’m about to piss myself with fear so I pedal
faster, listening for the sounds of approaching police sirens. For good
measure, I jerk my bike off the main road, cutting through the back alleys
toward home.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robin Reul has been writing stories since she was old
enough to hold a pen. Though she grew up on movie sets and worked for years in
the film and television industry, she ultimately decided to focus her attention
on writing young adult novels. And unlike Hank, she does not know how to ride a
bike. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, son and daughter. My Kind Of Crazy is her first novel.
AUTHOR LINKS
Website: http://robinreul.com/
My Kind of Crazy Landing Page: http://books.sourcebooks.com/my-kind-of-crazy/
***GIVEAWAY***
This is a US/Canada ONLY Giveaway
The Prizes = 2 copies of My Kind Of A Crazy
PRAISE FOR THE BOOK
“I had so much fun reading this book that it made want to accidentally set things on fire. Great characters you instantly care for, and a lot of heart.” -- Adi Alsaid, author of Never Always Sometimes and Let’s Get Lost
“MY KIND OF CRAZY is for everyone who felt they never fit in and weren't sure that they wanted to.” --Eileen Cook, author of Remember and What Would Emma Do?
“Hank Kirby will steal your heart, Peyton Breedlove will set it on fire, and then together they’ll mend the pieces.” --Shaun Hutchinson, author of FML and Violent Ends
“MY KIND OF CRAZY is my kind of read, and Reul, the best kind of writer.” --Gae Polisner, author of The Summer of Letting Go and The Pull of Gravity
“Funny, authentic, and, at turns, heartbreaking.” -- Jessi Kirby, author of Things We Know By Heart
“A sensitive look at two teens with complicated histories learning to build a future together.” –Kirkus
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