MMGM: Fog by Caroline B. Cooney

E-book includes illustrated
 biography for Cooney Fans! 

Date Published: August 7, 2012, Ebook Form

ISBN: 1453264221
Genre: Middle Grade and YA, thriller, supernatural,
Publisher: Open Books
Themes: friendship, family, home, class, thriller
Add it on: Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble/ Sony/ Kobo/ Google/ Apple

About The Book: The Shevvingtons are perfect. Mr. Shevvington is the charming, handsome principal of Christina's school. His wife is a dedicated English teacher. When the Autumn fog rolls over the coast, Christian and Anya begin boarding at the Shevvington's home, where Christina discovers that nothing is as it seems. Anya is slowly losing her mind, and Christina knows the Shevvingtons are behind it. But who will take her word against that of the Shevvingtons? This is book one in the Losing Christina series.

First Line: It was very hot the last week before school began: as though the wind from another world were crossing the island.

Great Passage: "Above them the poster of the sea looked out the window. The fingers that rode the painted white froth beckoned, and the curl of the waves was like the curl of the waves." —Kindle Location 1011

What Others Have Said: "The islanders know that the mainland kids will pick on them, but that trouble pales as Christine becomes aware of something evil: Anya seems to be going mad, and Christine is sure that the loathsome Shevvingtons are behind it. They seem to be conspiring with the ocean for a human sacrifice. Short on logic and suspense, this novel may appeal to diehard horror fans, but Stephen King or Dean Koontz would might be a better choice."
 —Publishers Weekly 1989, First edition, seen on Amazon.

"I loved the idea of the story - the strong beginning had me entranced and the personification of the sea was excellent, allowing me to view it as the real villain of the story. The ending had an excellent twist which I really didn't expect. The atmosphere was excellent and I did feel a chill on reading the scarier parts. Some of the main characters were very strong and well written." —Serendipity Reviews 


More Bloggers Weigh In:
Secrets And Sharing Soda
comp lit and mediaphilia

The Write Path

What I Thought: I thought this was a fun, scary and at times intense story. The original came out in 1989 and has just been released as an E-book. I received a copy from Netgalley. I was interested because I new her from my own childhood with the famous book/movie, Face On The Milk Carton, also being re-released with a new cover. I was relieved that changes weren't made to the original story because I have seen incidents where authors try and update a book. It usually doesn't work. I think there is nothing scarier to a child than to not be listened to by the adults that matter in their lives.The first in this series newly released as the Losing Christina series.

Writing Insights:
Setting as Character: This is a great example where the author has used setting as a character. The ocean is the antagonist that that washes up against all the characters providing pounding rhythmic tension throughout the story. 

Re-Release Strategies: I was very interested in how Cooney's books are being released with new covers, titles and series names. This trilogy  has been repackaged as the Losing Christine Series. Her famous Face on The Milk Carton, five book series is being released as the Janie Series . Book 4 is actually split into two, which comprises a  32-page short story released in May, 2012. Updating the whole series in preparation for the final book five that came out January, 2013.
The Take-away:  Short fiction is a great way to test the waters if you've had a series and are thinking about adding to it. Short fiction can also keep you in the minds of your readers. Lindsey Buroker has some interesting article about short fiction here. Here's a link to an interview with several authors who have found success with the short fiction in e-books.  

About The Author: 
Caroline B. Cooney
Website

Who: Caroline Cooney was born in 1947 and grew up in Old Greenwich, Connecticut. This prolific author was always ambitious, and as a youth, loved school and was involved in many different activities. Cooney was also an avid reader and recalls that series books such as The Hardy Boys and Cherry Ames were her favorites. These characters had a big influence on her life, and in fact, she says that "Cherry Ames, Student Nurse was my reason to go to nursing school in Boston later in life." —Teen Reads

When: Cooney began writing in college. She professes, "I love writing and do not know why it is considered such a difficult, agonizing profession. I love all of it, thinking up the plots, getting to know the kids in the story, their parents, backyards, pizza toppings." —Teen Reads

What: Cooney is the author of more than 90 suspense, mystery, and romance novels for teenagers, which have sold over 15,000,000 copies and are published in several languages. The Face on the Milk Carton has sold over 3,000,000 copies and was made into a television movie. Her books have won many state library awards and are on many booklists, such as the New York Public Library’s annual teen picks. Caroline grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut, and spent most of her life on the shoreline of that state but recently moved to South Carolina to live near family. She has three children and four grandchildren. She was a church organist for many years, accompanied the choirs at her children’s schools, and now plays keyboard for musicals. Among her recent titles areThree Black Swans, They Never Came Back, and If the Witness Lied. Her most recent is The Lost Songs, set in her new part of the world. Soon to come is Janie Face to Face, the fifth book in the Janie series, which begins with The Face on the Milk Carton. She is researching her next book, which will be the exciting, terrifying, and completely unexpected story of the children who will one day sail on the Mayflower to the New World. —Author's Website


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Next Week: The Cyper by Julian Rosado-Machain