Blog Tour: First & Then

September 23, 2015 Heidi Blog Tour, Giveaway, Guest Post 4

Welcome to the next stop on the First & Then blog tour. I was so excited when I heard about this tour for two main reasons:

I’ve watched Emma Mills’ YouTube channel over the years and really enjoy it. Her videos are funny and smart and that’s something I love in a book, too!
The folks at Macmillan came up with such a fun blog tour idea! Each blog was assigned a book superlative to focus on in our post. Mine is:

Most Important to Share with a Friend

I don’t think I could have been assigned a more perfect topic!! As a librarian I am recommending books all the time. I also encourage my students to recommend books to each other. Whenever we get new books I put a sticky note inside for students to share their thoughts and recommend the title to others.

So of course I think sharing books is important. I was curious to see what First & Then author Emma Mills thought about recommending books and she was gracious enough to write a little something up:

Why Sharing Books is So Important

I can’t count the number of times I’ve thrust a book at someone and said, “I need you to read this so we can talk about it!!!!” I think sharing books is so truly important because books and stories connect us on a very human, emotional level. I love getting wrapped up in a story on my own, but I also love dissecting a particular relationship or re-living a favorite part or squee-ing about swoony characters with someone else. The act of sharing a book transforms it into a shared experience—one that transcends the page!

So well said! This is such a wonderful benefit of sharing books. Now for my recommendations…. I read and really enjoyed First & Then. I’ve come up with a list of a few books that I think First & Then “fits” with. If you like these books you’ll probably like First & Then. Also, if you like First & Then, you’ll probably enjoy these books 🙂 But first, more about First & Then:

About the Book:

Devon Tennyson wouldn’t change a thing. She’s happy watching Friday night games from the bleachers, silently crushing on best friend Cas, and blissfully ignoring the future after high school. But the universe has other plans. It delivers Devon’s cousin Foster, an unrepentant social outlier with a surprising talent for football, and the obnoxiously superior and maddeningly attractive star running back, Ezra, right where she doesn’t want them first into her P.E. class and then into every other aspect of her life.

Pride and Prejudice meets Friday Night Lights in this contemporary novel about falling in love with the unexpected boy, with a new brother, and with yourself.

My Recommendations:

I’ve narrowed my recommendations or “read alikes” down to twelve YA books I love. First & Then gave me some of the same feels I felt in each of these books. Of course it’s not exactly like them 100%. But there is something there that connects them for me. It might be the football aspect or the friendships or the relationships… I’d be interested to see if anyone who has read the book agrees!