Thursday, May 1, 2014

Ride of Your Life by Shevi Arnold


 Seventeen-year-old Tracy Miller met the love of her life . . . thirty years after her own death.

Tracy was working at the House of Horrors at the Amazing Lands Theme Park when the fire broke out. Instead of running, she lost her life trying to save eleven-year-old Mack. Now thirty years have passed, and suddenly everything changes with the arrival of two new ghosts: a little girl named Ashley and a cute, seventeen-year-old boy named Josh. Josh would do anything for Tracy, but can he help her let go of the past? 

Ride of Your Life is a bittersweet, romantic, YA ghost story that was inspired by a true event, the Great Adventure Haunted Castle fire, which killed eight teenagers in 1984, exactly thirty years ago this May 11th. It is a fantasy novel about undying love, and it won third-place in Smart Writer’s Write It Now (W.I.N.) contest in the YA category, which was judged by Alex Flinn, the author of Beastly and Cloaked.

Hang on. Love can be as terrifying as a roller coaster, but it can also be the Ride of Your Life.

Additional information about the Six Flags Great Adventure Haunted Castle fire- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haunted_Castle_(Six_Flags_Great_Adventure)



Shevi is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors of all time! The first book I read by her is Why My Love Life Sucks (The Legend of Gilbert the Fixer) and I was a sucker for it. Then I land this awesome book and BAM... I'm hooked. The simple fact that this book is based on a real life event and turned from a tragedy into a ghostly love story makes it seem possible. I would have to say that I love Tracy! She is the coolest ghost is the book. When she meets Ashley and takes her under her wing and the fact that she stayed with Mack this whole time...she needs her wings dammit! 
What I love most about Shevi's books are the little details that make a difference. The emotions that the character was feeling in the moment makes you feel like you are there as a witness to the event. It is an incredible feeling to have when you are reading a book. 
SO on that note...I highly recommend reading Ride of Your Life! 


Links-

About the Author-
Shevi Arnold grew up in Philadelphia, and her family had a season pass to Great Adventure in the early 1980s. She was nineteen-years-old and studying overseas when a fellow college student asked her if she had heard about the Great Adventure Haunted Castle fire. Eight teenagers had lost their lives. Like many, Shevi was shocked by the news. In her mind, she wanted to give that tragedy a happy ending. Ride of Your Life is the result.

Shevi loves writing, illustrating, and making people laugh—and she’s been doing all three since 1987 when she started working as an editorial cartoonist for a newsweekly. She’s also worked as a comics magazine editor, as an arts-and-entertainment writer specializing in comedy and children’s entertainment, and as a consumer columnist. Nowadays, though, she enjoys writing (and sometimes illustrating) humorous fiction, fantasy, and science fiction for children, teens, and geeks of all ages. Her other books include Toren the Teller's Tale, Dan Quixote: Boy of Nuevo Jersey, and Why My Love Life Sucks (The Legend of Gilbert the Fixer, book one). She is currently working on Why It Still Mega Bites, the second book in the Gilbert the Fixer series.

Links-


1 comment:

  1. Thank you, Crystal! I'm so glad you loved the book.

    ReplyDelete