Zac & Mia by A.J. Betts - Blog Tour Review and Giveaway!

Title: Zac & Mia
Author: A.J. Betts
 

Release Date: 24th July 2013

My Rating: 5/5

Blurb:

The last person Zac expects in the room next door is a girl like Mia, angry and feisty with questionable taste in music. In the real world, he wouldn’t—couldn’t—be friends with her. In hospital different rules apply, and what begins as a knock on the wall leads to a note—then a friendship neither of them sees coming.

You need courage to be in hospital; different courage to be back in the real world. In one of these worlds Zac needs Mia. And in the other Mia needs Zac. Or maybe they both need each other, always.

In A Nutshell:

Zac and Mia is a heartfelt, emotional, uplifting and raw novel about cancer, friendship and hope. It is an amazing story and I hope you’ll love it as much as I do.

My Review:

Upon finishing Zac and Mia, words failed me. I can’t think of a book more deserving to win the Text Prize. Set in Western Australia, the novel is the story of Zac and Mia, two seventeen year olds with different types of cancer. The story, told in their alternating perspectives, illustrates two very different journeys that these kids must face at such a young age.

It is honest and raw and doesn’t hold back on the brutality of cancer, sharing what Zac and Mia experience: the chemo, losing their hair, the isolation (both physically and mentally), boredom, medications, the debilitating effects, statistics, overbearing parents, stages of denial, feelings of hopelessness and a desire not to be pitied.

But the story is also heartfelt, emotional and uplifting. It is not a miserable ‘sick-lit’ about two teenagers dying. It is a story about Zac and Mia, who, under horrible circumstances, meet and form a bond that can only be created when experiencing something significant together.

It is a story about how people react and handle the challenges they are faced with. A story of hope and not giving up. It is recognising and appreciating life and the simple things that others take for granted. It is about helping one another and offering support in any way, shape or form and being there even when they push you away. It is finding someone who understands you and coming to terms with your own reality. It is recognising that your life has changed but you don’t have to be defined by the cancer.

Please read Zac and Mia. You will not regret it.

I wash my hands, amused by the reflection in the mirror.

My head is bald, lumpy and asymmetrical, but my eyebrows are thicker than before.

I appear to be morphing into one of those creepy guys from Guess Who.
– Zac page 18

Also by A.J. Betts
Shutterspeed
Wavelength 

 

To celebrate the release of Zac and Mia, the third book by Australian author A.J. Betts and winner of the 2012 Text Prize for Young Adult and Children's Writing, I am participating in a blog tour along with a bunch of other lovely bloggers. You can see the other tour stops here. Thanks to Text Publishing, I have a copy of Zac and Mia to give away!

To enter, you must be a follower of this blog and live in Australia. Please fill out the form below. Entries close 27th August 2013 and the winner will be contacted via email.

**Update**
This competition is now closed. The winner has been contacted via email.
Thank you to all who entered :)

The Text Prize 2013 Winner

So I realise I am a couple of weeks last posting about this but I've had a lot going on so better late then never I say!

As I posted on 22nd May, the short-list for the Text Prize had been announced and the winner was to be revealed on the 29th. Well it was and the winner was...

Diana Sweeney for The Minnow (formally Flood Damage)!

The Minnow explores a young woman’s struggle to regain control of her life after a devastating flood claims the lives of her parents and sister. The Minnow will be published August 2014.

Text Prize 2013 winner Diana Sweeney with Text Publishing's Michael Heyward.
Image courtesy of Bookseller and Publishing Facebook page

Text also announced they would publish Waer by runner-up Meg Caddy, an intricate fantasy novel set in an imagined land of waerwolves, thieves and magic.

Last year's winner Zac and Mia by AJ Betts will be available as of 24th July.

Diana joins these previous winners of the Text Prize:

2012: Zac and Mia - AJ Betts 

2011: Fire in the Sea - Myke Bartlett
2010: The Bridge - Jane Higgins
2009: This Is Shyness - Leanne Hall
2008: The Billionaire’s Curse - Richard Newsome

The 2013 Text Prize Shortlist Announced!

 

Last week, after reading over 350 manuscripts, Text Publishing announced the four finalists for the 2013 Text Prize for Young Adult and Children's Writing.

 

Waer by Meg Caddy
An intricate fantasy novel set in an imagined land of waerwolves, thieves and magic. Twenty-one-year-old Perth student and childcare worker Meg Caddy has been working on the novel since she was fourteen, and is following in the footsteps of her author father, David Caddy, who has published several books with Fremantle Press.

Lost Vegas by Jo Hegerty
A funny, heartwarming story for younger readers about a bullied boy and his second-hand, far-from-ideal dog, Vegas. Jo Hegerty is a Brisbane-based journalist, editor and blogger.

Elizabeth and Zenobia by Jessica Miller
Elizabeth and her imaginary friend Zenobia suddenly find themselves living in the haunted home of Elizabeth’s distant father, Witheringe House. Brisbane-based Jessica Miller has written a fantastically imagined story for eight- to twelve-year-olds about all the different ways we can be haunted.

Flood Damage by Diana Sweeney
A timely novel for older readers, Flood Damage explores a young woman’s struggle to regain control of her life after a devastating flood claims the lives of her parents and sister. Diana Sweeney has published a number of papers in academic journals, but Flood Damage is her first novel.

The winner will be announced on 29 May. 

 

The Text Prize is awarded annually to the best manuscript written by an Australian or New Zealander for young adults.

Both published and unpublished writers of all ages are eligible to enter with works of fiction or non-fiction. Judged by a panel of editors from Text Publishing, the winner will receive a publishing contract with Text and a $10,000 advance against royalties.

The previous winners are:

2012: Zac and Mia - AJ Betts (to be published August 2013)

2011: Fire in the Sea - Myke Bartlett
2010: The Bridge - Jane Higgins
2009: This Is Shyness - Leanne Hall
2008: The Billionaire’s Curse - Richard Newsome

Source: Text Publishing

Author Interview: AJ Betts

Originally from Queensland, Aussie YA author Amanda (AJ) Betts has lived in Perth for the last eight years and is avid cyclist. She has written two novels which means I frequently bump into her at writers events around Perth. ShutterSpeed (2008), and Wavelength (2010), which was shortlisted for the West Australian Premier's Prize in 2011, are both published by Fremantle Press. Amanda won the Text Prize in 2012 for her new novel, Zac and Mia, which will be published August 2013.

Please welcome Amanda (AJ) Betts!

I was the kind of kid who... would spend hours in the garden looking for insects.  

My mother always told me... to wear undies.

The biggest lesson I learnt at school was... don't try to please everyone (actually, I'm still learning that one...)

My first big crush was... shame, I can't say! He was sweet and brought me unexpected gifts.  

I earnt my first pay cheque... waitressing at my parents' cafe on school holidays.

I really hate it when... a driver abuses while I'm cycling.

I’m very good at… coming up with excuses.  

I’m frightened of… regret.

When I’m in the shower I sing… loudly! And brilliantly. Apologies to the neighbours.  

My road to publication was… scenic and winding, with lots of interesting foliage. I enjoyed the ride.

The last book I read was… 'The Big Picture' by David Suzuki.

I would love to meet… someone from the future.  

When I get the munchies I eat… anything that makes a satisfying crunch sound.

I’m currently working on… a speculative fiction set 300 years in the future off the coast of Tasmania.

I hope I never… give up.

Life is… a comedy. A surprise. A joy. 

Thanks for being a part of Aussie Author Month, Amanda!

Amanda on Goodreads

Amanda's website

My review of ShutterSpeed

My review of Wavelength

2012 Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing

I would like to say a massive congratulations to Perth author AJ Betts, who has won the 2012 Text Prize for Young Adult and Children's Writing, for her novel Zac and Mia!

Zac and Mia is the story of two teens who meet and form a relationship on a cancer ward, but who find life outside the hospital much more complicated.

AJ has previously written Shutter Speed and Wavelength, both published by Fremantle Press.

From the Text website:

The Text Prize is awarded annually to the best manuscript written by an Australian or New Zealander for young adults.

Both published and unpublished writers of all ages are eligible to enter with works of fiction or non-fiction. Judged by a panel of editors from Text Publishing, the winner will receive a publishing contract with Text and a $10,000 advance against royalties.

The previous winners are:

2011: Fire in the Sea - Myke Bartlett
2010: The Bridge - Jane Higgins
2009: This Is Shyness - Leanne Hall
2008: The Billionaire’s Curse - Richard Newsome

Zac and Mia will be published August 2013