Book Spotlight & Giveaway: IF I TELL

Title: IF I TELL
Author: Janet Gurtler
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Release Date: October 2011
Pages:

I'd like to thank the publisher for supplying me with a copy of this book for review.

Favorite Line/Passage: Tina didn't even flinch. "Now here's a match made in crack heaven," she spit out. "The druggie and the not-quite-black girl."

My heart tripped over itself, but Jackson didn't even glance her way. He leaned down and whispered in my ear. "Remember what I said about gossip and judging?" (sounds pretty teen, huh?)

Description: It was like watching a train wreck. I wanted to look away but couldn't take my eyes off them.


Her best friend and her mom's boyfriend. Locking lips. This is the secret Jasmine Evans  has to keep at all costs. Because her mom is pregnant, and Jaz doesn't want to ruin her life-again (just being born did it the first time). But the harder Jaz tries to pretend everything is okay, the faster her life spins out of control. Until Jackson. He doesn't care about the popularity of her friends or the color of her skin. But can she really trust a guy who just transferred in from reform school? She might be willing to chance the heartbreak, but telling him everything and risking the truth getting out is a whole other level of scary. 

NIGHTSTAND WORTHY +1

My Splats: IF I TELL explores the age-old struggle of discovering information that could hurt someone if revealed and what to do with that information. And being a teen takes it to a new level. 

Jasmine is very easy to like, probably because she's like some teens who keep appearances outside but their insides tell a different story. She's never felt worthy of her life. Her birth put a damper on her mother's life, so she was raised by her grandparents. She and her mom have a good relationship, though, which was an interesting sway from what I expected.

Compounding matters, Jasmine's mother and grandparents are Caucasian, where her birth father was black. She ends up with dark skin and lives in an area that doesn't let her forget it. EVERYONE seems to know that she's a mixture of black and white, which bothers her. She doesn't feel black or white or that she belongs with either.Being a product of inter-racial parents as well as an absent parent (her birth father) is at the heart of so many emotions for this girl, and I'm sure many teens will relate to it.

The inner conflicts of this character from her racial attitude to her fear of water and not being accepted are deep and well distributed throughout the story. The reader discovers more about Jasmine just as Jasmine discovers more about herself. The writing is fluent, stringing one scene to the next.

The slow unfolding of a hidden lie moves the story along and intertwines other characters and emotions. Using a boy with a shady past added conflict for Jasmine and tension, even a bit of mystery to the story. 

In the end, the story and characters grow and the reader is satisfied. I would recommend this book to any teen or contemporary reader.

To ENTER the giveaway for a chance to win a free copy, fill out the form below. GOOD LUCK!!

I also need to announce the winner of a copy of HOOKED, by Les Edgerton, which I offered during the Season's of Reading Blog Hop. I'm also giving away a copy of Janet's book I'M NOT HER to my local high school library.

The WINNER is:

KELLY HASHWAY!!

Kelly has already joined me in donating a book to her local library!

Congrats!!