The 2009 Debs are celebrating L.K. Madigan’s wonderful books to support her fight against cancer. This past week Lisa shared her very difficult news on her blog.

To show our love and support for her, we’re giving away 40 sets of her two novels over on the 2009 Debs website. Each winner will receive both Flash Burnout and The Mermaid’s Mirror. To enter, simply help spread the love.

Lisa’s first novel, FLASH BURNOUT, won the Morris Award in 2009. Her second novel, THE MERMAID’S MIRROR received a starred review from Booklist.

The contest runs through Monday, January 31^st. Click through to the 2009 Debs website for all the information.

We’re back, only to send you elsewhere. There’s an awesome giveaway over at The Compulsive Reader.

The Christmas Cheer Giveaway includes not only a signed copy of The Geek Girl’s Guide to Cheerleading, but a signed copy of The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong, signed copy of Airhead by Meg Cabot (the book that almost made me drive off the road), and even an Infernal Devices poster signed by Cassandra Clare … and more!

Hurry on over to enter. Contest comes to an end with the end of 2010.

This is worth another around the web this week post.

Little, Brown, the publisher of Twenty Boy Summer, has donated another 62 books to the Debs Speak Loudly giveaway, for a total of 100 books! Visit the  2009 Debutantes website to enter. All it takes is a comment. And with 100 books, your chances are very good.

In other news, Nathan Bransford talks about why so many dead/absent parents in children’s literature. Lazy writing? Or is there something more nefarious going on? Or, are there other, legitimate, reasons for this? Go have a read.

Thinking about dating a writer? Enamored by the meme going around tumblr about just how great that would be? You may want to rethink that. Look here for a point by point deconstruction. My favorite (although there are so many to choose from):

Writers are surrounded by interesting people. Every last one of whom is imaginary.

And … remember, I’ll be at the Minnesota Educational Media Organization (MEMO) fall conference on Friday, October 1st. If you happen to be there too, stop by and say hi!

Bringing you around the web this week, a day early.

From the 2009 Debutantes website:

Banned Books Week has special significance for the Debs this year. Our own Sarah Ockler and her debut novel, TWENTY BOY SUMMER, are under challenge right now in Republic, MO, along with Kurt Vonnegut’s SLAUGHTERHOUSE 5 and Laurie Halse Anderson’s SPEAK.

In response to this, the 2009 Debs are giving away thirty-eight (38!) copies of Twenty Boy Summer. Visit the Debs site for more details, but the contest is open between now October 2, 2010. Entries open to everyone worldwide. We’ll ship anywhere!

For more information on what’s going on, visit Sarah Ockler’s site and read her blog. Additionally, check out Laurie Halse Anderson’s blog as well. You can also read Sarah’s wonderful response to the challenge here.

Unfortunately, Mr. Vonnegut is no longer with us and cannot respond to the challenge, but one can imagine what he might have to say.

I’ve seen a few suggestions around the web that the authors in question and their supporters not speak loudly about this–that only gives the challenger in question too much attention, a national platform.

Just ignore him and he’ll go away.

Except sometimes, people like that won’t. Sometimes, they convince other, reasonable people that there is a threat contained between two covers of a book.

The thing is, children may learn facts from history, but they learn empathy and truth from fiction. How and where do we want our young adults learning about the harsh realities of the world? From the safe confines of a book–where they have the time and opportunity to think about the situations presented and the moral and ethical implications.

Or should we simply shove them out the door unprepared? Let them learn it on the street, from peers who may be as ill-equipped as they are. All under the guise of keeping them safe.

How do we expect our children to make good ethical decisions when we’ve shielded them from ethical dilemmas? Why do we decry the “me-me-me generation” and then take away the very thing that teaches empathy? We complain that children don’t read, then snatch away the very books that engage them.

So sometimes you have to speak loudly to be heard above the din. Like Sarah Ockler. And Laurie Halse Anderson.

Speak loudly, because some would prefer you not speak at all.

First, thanks to everyone who entered our book birthday zombie/cheerleader giveaway! (Wow, that’s a mouthful–hopefully not an undead mouthful.) Thanks for taking the time to enter and spread the word on Twitter and Facebook. We appreciate it.

So, we compiled all the entries and with a little help from Random.org, now have our two winners. Congratulations to:

Brianna Miller

Susan Pettrone

Brianna and Susan, we’ll be contacting you via email very soon, but if you don’t hear from us, drop us a line at geekgirlx2 @ gmail.com.

But wait, there’s more. Still in need for some great summer reading? The fabulous and funny Rhonda Stapleton is giving away all three books in the Stupid Cupid trilogy. All you have to do is get creative and provide the best “sprained wrist” story she can tell her co-workers (you’ll see what I mean when you visit her blog).

To celebrate the one year anniversary of The Geek Girl’s Guide to Cheerleading being in the wild–and still available in many bookstores–we’re teaming up with Stacey Jay to bring you two awesome prize packs.

Zombie Cheerleader prize pack #1:

A tote bag with original artwork inspired by MY SO CALLED DEATH
A signed copy of MY SO CALLED DEATH
A signed copy of THE GEEK GIRL’S GUIDE TO CHEERLEADING
One zombie emergency T-shirt (just in case)

Zombie Cheerleader prize pack #2:

A tote bag with original artwork inspired by UNDEAD MUCH?
A signed copy of UNDEAD MUCH?
A signed copy of The GEEK GIRL’S GUIDE TO CHEERLEADING
One zombie emergency T-shirt (just in case)

The T-shirt:

Fashionable and instructional

Here’s what you need to do to enter:

Leave a comment on this blog post, letting us know: zombies: cool or creepy?

Want an extra entry (or three)?

Post a link to the contest on your blog, Twitter or Facebook account and send us the link (geekgirlx2 @ gmail.com). We’ll give you an extra entry for each location.

Contest runs from May 8, 2010 to May 31, 2010. That’s nearly a whole month to get your entries in, so spread the word for some zombie cheerleader swag.

And since this is our one year anniversary, and as a thank you to our readers worldwide, the contest is open to readers everywhere.

Good luck and thank you!

Yes, it’s true. Geek Girl has gone where no geek girl has gone before (that we know of):

That’s right! We’re in American Cheerleader Magazine, or more precisely, there’s a review of The Geek Girl’s Guide to Cheerleading in the May/June 2010 issue (which we haven’t seen yet, but copies are on the way).

And Darcy and I chatted some more with senior editor Brittany Geragotelis for an interview on their website here: Time Out With: Authors Charity Tahmaseb & Darcy Vance.

Plus, keep an eye on their contest page. Pretty soon, five autographed copies of Geek Girl will be up for grabs as well.

May is shaping up to be a cheer-tastic kind of month.

During the month of March, Simon and Schuster is giving away twenty sets of Deb Caletti’s books to celebrate the release of her new one: The Six Rules of Maybe.

The prize pack includes:

• The Secret Life of Prince Charming
• The Fortunes of Indigo Skye
• The Nature of Jade, Wild Roses
• Honey, Baby, Sweetheart
• The Queen of Everything

Visit the Simon and Schuster website for all the details and to enter the contest.

Good luck!

* * * Contest Time * * *

As promised, the Geek Girls are here to help you through not only Valentine’s Day, but February as well, which is somehow both the shortest and yet longest month of the year.

Here’s your chance to win a signed copy of Stupid Cupid by the fantabulous Rhonda Stapleton, but also this completely cute <3 T-Shirt from Think Geek. Simply leave a comment at the end of this entry (with email so we can contact you) and that’s it.

Now, without further ado, we bring you Rhonda and Stupid Cupid:

Felicity Walker believes in true love. That’s why she applies for a gig at the matchmaking company Cupid’s Hollow. But when Felicity gets the job, she learns that she isn’t just a matchmaker…she’s a cupid! (There’s more than one of them, you know.)

Armed with a hot pink, tricked-out PDA infused with the latest in cupid magic (love arrows shot through email), Felicity works to meet her quota of successful matches. But when she bends the rules of cupidity by matching her best friend Maya with three different boys at once, disaster strikes. Felicity needs to come up with a plan to set it all right, pronto, before she gets fired…and before Maya ends up with her heart split in three.

Interview with Rhonda:

1. The Geek Girls think labels and stereotypes are the stupidest things going but still, we can’t help being curious. If you had to put a label on your high school self, what would it be?

Totally a band nerd. haha. I loooooved band so much and identified myself with that group for most of high school.

2. While stalking, um, we mean researching you for this interview we learned that you are prone to obsessive crushes on things like actors, authors and musicians. What have you obsessed about lately?

OMG I am so prone to obsession. It’s sick. I shouldn’t admit it. I can’t help it though–wah! Don’t judge me! Anyway, I’m currently obsessed with the local indie station here in Cleveland (91.1). I never listened to it before a week or so ago, and now I love it. There’s all kinds of cool music I haven’t heard before, which is so fun!

3. Speaking of crushes, do you believe in love at first sight?

Oh, heck yeah. The zings that shoot through your body. The feeling like time slows down and you become hyper-aware of everything around you. The instant connection you feel when your eyes lock. I totally believe people are instantly drawn to each other. Some people know even just from one look if that person is right for them.

4. Step into our time machine. It’s 2011. Stupid Cupid, Flirting with Disaster and Pucker Up have all been released to great acclaim. You were the featured guest on Oprah’s very last-est show ever — where she touted your novels as the “greatest books of all time”. Stephenie Meyer recently did a prime time TV interview in which she revealed that Edward Cullen really did give Bella a copy of Stupid Cupid for Valentine’s Day. You are stinkin’ rich. How do you celebrate?

Dude, I love your version of reality. I will subscribe to that, thankyouverymuch. Ummmmm, I’m stinking rich? I go on a big fat odyssey. I visit Japan. Germany. Switzerland. Tibet. London. All those places I’ve always wanted to go. I absorb the food and drink and culture. I bring my family with me so we can all share in it!!

5. What is the one interview question you wish someone would ask?

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll pop? (I want this one because I totally counted it out when I was a kid…I think I got up into the thousands! I’d be willing to try it again for an exact count. haha)

Thank you, Rhonda for visiting with us!

To enter the contest:

Leave a comment on this entry from now through February 13th, 2010 for your chance to win Stupid Cupid and the <3 Tee.

On Valentine’s Day morning, we’ll draw a winner from all the comments. And since we haven’t had a contest for a while, we’ll open this one up to all entries, including those outside the U.S.

Here’s the first wave in helping you survive Valentine’s Day:

We’re over at Free Book Friday this week–with four signed (by both of us) copies of The Geek Girl’s Guide to Cheerleading up for grabs.

Head on over, read the interview, and sign up to win. Free Book Friday will not give out or sell your email address, and that’s all you need to win.

Good luck!