Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Book Blitz: How I Became a Teenage Survivalist by Julie L. Casey



Synopsis:

Bracken is a typical teenage boy, more interested in the angles of the girl’s exposed back teasing him from the seat ahead of him than in anything the geometry teacher could present. His life is filled with school, video games, and thoughts of girls, not necessarily in that order. Life just flows along uneventfully and unacknowledged, like the electricity that courses through the power lines — until PF (Power Failure) Day. On PF Day, the sun strikes Bracken’s world with an unseen surge of electromagnetic fury, which cripples power stations and burns transformers to crispy nuggets of regret.

No one in Bracken’s world had ever thought about how much they depended on electrical power, but now, without it, they are plunged into survival mode. Bracken soon realizes how lucky he is to live on a farm in the Midwest. What seemed like a dull and backwards life before is now the greatest chance for survival in what seems like a powerless world. Food, water, and heat are readily available, although hard work is required to make use of them. Bracken and his family must learn to survive like their ancestors, who settled their land.

 



Author Bio

Julie L. Casey lives in a rural area near St. Joseph, Missouri, with her husband, Jonn Casey, a science teacher, and their three youngest sons. After teaching preschool for fifteen years, she has been homeschooling her four sons for ten years. Julie has bachelor of
science degrees in education and computer programming and has written five books, including How I Became a Teenage Survivalist, Time Lost: Teenage Survivalist II, Stop Beating the Dead Horse, In Daddy’s Hands, and Guardians of Holt. She is currently working on the third book in the Teenage Survivalist series, titled Ice Queen: Teenage Survivalist III. She enjoys historical reenacting, wildlife rehabilitation, teaching her children, and writing books that capture the imaginations of young people.

Find out more at
Twitter: @JulieLCasey


 Snippet

I am the second of three brothers. Mom thought it would be cool to name us in alphabetical order, so my older brother is Alexander, I’m Bracken, and my little brother is Calvin. Mom always jokes that if she’d had another kid, she would have named it Done.

I was fifteen when the first solar superstorm wreaked havoc on our lives. It was November 1st and I was at school, trying to concentrate on what the geometry teacher was trying to teach us. I couldn’t quite make my brain behave – it kept wandering away on its own adventure about the girl in the desk in front of me, Silky Henderson. Man, was she hot!


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3 comments:

Julie Casey said...

Thank you for posting!

smiles said...

I love the question for this giveaway!! :D If anything were to happen to Earth, my survival plan would be to leave. I really really really wish I could be one of the first people on Mars. I'd totally leave Earth for another planet. Maybe on a new one, we'd learn from our mistakes and not cause so much damage. Maybe. Unlikely, but maybe. :) Best case scenario should something happen to Earth, I'll already be en route to my new home :D

Love that Julie has a degree in computer programming! My degree is in computer science (additional major in psychology), and I think anyone can benefit from knowing how to program. It has so many applications in businesses, and even if you never write a line of code for your job, knowing how to program strengthens your logic abilities.

Love the concept of this book. I've told friends/family before that I'd go nuts if we lost electricity. I love being on my computer, being online, reading by Kindle, and listening to music. Plus, I have medical equipment that needs electricity. I'd be pretty useless if we had to revert to a settler mindset.

Julie Casey said...

Thank you, Smiles! That's awesome that you would be willing to relocate to another planet. I'm afraid I'd have to stay behind here on my little farm. I agree with you about computer programming (and especially systems analysis, which I was doing when I quit work to stay home with my kids) strengthens one's logic skills.

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