Blog Tour: The Dirt

Title:  Dirt            

Author: Lori Culwell

Publisher: Booktrope Editions

Publish Date:  22 November 2012

Pages: 205

ISBN:  978-1-935961-36-9

Source:  received for blog tour

Genre:  YA, contemporary

Series:  none

Rating: Really liked

Lucy Whitley cannot wait to get out of Palm Desert. It’s not a place for a frizzy-haired science nerd, particularly when her fashion-obsessed older sister Sloane is the head of a clique of pretty girls who rule the school—and practically the whole town. Fortunately, life is about to change forever. Lucy’s dad is getting re-married, and then she can transfer to a boarding school in Connecticut, escaping all the mean girls and the endless whispers about the Whitley family scandal. Everything is going to be perfect—as long as the wedding goes smoothly.

What if your future depended on everything going smoothly with something that you had no control over?  That is what happened to Lucy Whitley.  She wanted to get out of Palm Desert, away from her family that is always in the press and go to Darlington Academy, a boarding school that is focused on the sciences.  First, she has to get everyone ready and the wedding has to happen.  The wedding is between her father and Lisa Sullivan.  This is simple, right?

                                                                    

Lucy’s sisters are not as easy to steer in the right direction.  The oldest is Sloane.  She is the president of a secret organization called “PG.”  She does whatever she wants and doesn’t answer to anyone.  Getting her to do what is asked of her for the wedding is a hard task.  She also picks on Lucy for her being “ordinary.”  Her younger sister is Frankie.  She is the dread-wearing, skate board loving one who wears her converse sneakers underneath her bridesmaid dress.

Everything is going as planned and Lucy has started the countdown until she can start at Darlington, when a surprise happens.  Someone shows up to the wedding that wasn’t expected, her sister Megan.  They haven’t seen or heard from Megan since their mother left with her nine years ago.   Why does she show up now?  What does she want?  Is she really their long-lost sister, Megan?

This book wasn’t one of those books that hooked from the get go.  I find that true with contemporary novels.  I guess it’s because I don’t read them enough.  Like the contemporary books that I have liked in the past, I warmed up to the book and couldn’t put it down.  I liked the dynamics of the relationships between the members of the Whitley family, especially Sloane, Lucy and Megan.  This alone is worth reading the book for.  Would I recommend this book?  Absolutely.

There are two contests running during this blog tour.  You can enter at any stop during the tour.  The first one is US only and it is for 5 (five) paperback copies of The Dirt.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The next contest is international and it is for 12 (twelve) e-book copies of The Dirt.

a Rafflecopter giveaway