I'm very excited to be taking part today in the blog tour for Canadian author Eileen Cook's latest YA novel, The Almost Truth, which was just released in bookstores earlier this week!
If you're a fan of the YA contemporary genre, then you simply must get your hands on a copy of this book! The Almost Truth is my favourite novel by Eileen Cook yet.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada, I was able to ask Eileen Cook a few questions about The Almost Truth...
From the author of Unraveling Isobel and The Education of Hailey Kendrick, a smart, romantic novel about a teenage con artist who might be in over her head.
Sadie can’t wait to get away from her backwards small town, her delusional mom, her jailbird dad, and the tiny trailer where she was raised…even though leaving those things behind also means leaving Brendan. Sadie wants a better life, and she has been working steadily toward it, one con at a time.
But when Sadie’s mother wipes out Sadie’s savings, her escape plan is suddenly gone. She needs to come up with a lot of cash—and fast—or she’ll be stuck in this town forever.
With Brendan’s help, she devises a plan—the ultimate con—to get the money. But the more lies Sadie spins, the more she starts falling for her own hoax…and perhaps for the wrong boy. Sadie wanted to change her life, but she wasn't prepared to have it flipped upside down by her own deception. With her future at stake and her heart on the line, suddenly it seems like she has a lot more than just money to lose....
1) In The Almost Truth, Sadie is a young con artist who needs to quickly recover the money her mother wiped from her bank account that should have been the key to leaving her trailer park life behind. If you took a page out of Sadie's books, but didn't have to worry about the consequences, what kind of con or "almost truth" would you try to pull off?
I'd love to pull off a con where I convinced people I could dance. I have to be the person with the least amount of rhythm ever. In any sort of fitness class I'm always the person going to the left instead of the right. I'm not sure that's a con as much as a total fantasy. If I could pull off a more realistic con, I would convince people whenever I fly that I was actually supposed to be in first class. I've flown in coach and I've flown in first class, and first class is WAY better. I'm pretty sure it's illegal to lie to airport people- but it would almost be worth it.
2) Who were you favourite characters to write about in The Almost Truth?
This is a hard question because I tend to fall in love with a lot of my characters. My two favourites with this book were Sadie and Brendan. They have a lot in common, they might be described as having questionable morals in some areas, but they are both fiercely loyal to their friends and have a strict sense of what they see as right and wrong. I admire people who are willing to go after what they want full speed ahead.
3) From tales of revenge to a classic coming-of-age story, what is it about the contemporary genre that inspires your always highly enjoyable YA novels?
Thank you! I love reading and writing contemporary YA. It's possible I have a lot of unresolved issues from high school, but when I sit down to write I tend to think in terms of issues that feel familiar to me, friendships, family, falling in love, and all the things that can wrong. When I look back at my books I can see that I tend to tackle the question, Who am I? Sorting out who you want to be is one of the biggest challenges that everyone faces- heck, some people are still trying to figure it out. Growing up I spent a lot of time (way too much time) worrying about other people thought. My life turned around when I started to focus on impressing myself instead of others.
*****
Thanks so much to Eileen Cook for answering my questions about The Almost Truth! I already can't wait to read her next YA novel! If you'd like to learn more The Almost Truth, you can visit Eileen Cook's website, follow her on Twitter, or friend her on Facebook.
Have YOU ever told an "almost truth" and then had it totally backfire?
