Waiting On Wednesday: Random House Winter 2014 Catalog

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill of Breaking The Spine in which upcoming, eagerly anticipated releases are highlighted on the blog.

This week, I've chosen to feature a few picks from the Random House Winter 2014 Catalog:

Being Sloane Jacobs by Lauren Morrill
Date: January 7, 2014

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Meet Sloane Emily Jacobs: a seriously stressed-out figure-skater from Washington, D.C., who choked during junior nationals and isn’t sure she’s ready for a comeback. What she does know is that she’d give anything to escape the mass of misery that is her life.
Now meet Sloane Devon Jacobs, a spunky ice hockey player from Philly who’s been suspended from her team for too many aggressive hip checks. Her punishment? Hockey camp, now, when she’s playing the worst she’s ever played. If she messes up? Her life will be over.
When the two Sloanes meet by chance in Montreal and decide to trade places for the summer, each girl thinks she’s the lucky one: no strangers to judge or laugh at Sloane Emily, no scouts expecting Sloane Devon to be a hero. But it didn’t occur to Sloane E. that while avoiding sequins and axels she might meet a hockey hottie—and Sloane D. never expected to run into a familiar (and very good-looking) face from home. It’s not long before the Sloanes discover that convincing people you’re someone else might be more difficult than being yourself.

Okay so, I'm not normally a contemporary girl, but I admit I love these trading places stories. The premise of Being Sloane Jacobs reminds me an awful lot of the stories and movies I loved growing up and I'd love to revisit this familiar plot again.

The Tyrant's Daughter by J.C. Carleson
Date: February 11, 2014

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From a former CIA officer comes the riveting account of a royal Middle Eastern family exiled to the American suburbs.
When her father is killed in a coup, 15-year-old Laila flees from the war-torn middle east to a life of exile and anonymity in the U.S. Gradually she adjusts to a new school, new friends, and a new culture, but while Laila sees opportunity in her new life, her mother is focused on the past. She’s conspiring with CIA operatives and rebel factions to regain the throne their family lost. Laila can’t bear to stand still as an international crisis takes shape around her, but how can one girl stop a conflict that spans generations?
J.C. Carleson delivers a fascinating account of a girl—and a country—on the brink, and a rare glimpse at the personal side of international politics.

The Tyrant's Daughter is not my usual kind of read at all, but I was immediately interested when I read the blurb. It's so rare that you see these kinds of reality-driven stories in YA and I think that's sad because they're a great way to enlighten yourself to real world issues.

The Glass Casket by McCormick Templeman
Date: February 11, 2014

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Death hasn’t visited Rowan Rose since it took her mother when Rowan was only a little girl. But that changes one bleak morning, when five horses and their riders thunder into her village and through the forest, disappearing into the hills. Days later, the riders’ bodies are found, and though no one can say for certain what happened in their final hours, their remains prove that whatever it was must have been brutal.
Rowan’s village was once a tranquil place, but now things have changed. Something has followed the path those riders made and has come down from the hills, through the forest, and into the village. Beast or man, it has brought death to Rowan’s door once again.
Only this time, its appetite is insatiable.

I didn't really get this from the synopsis from Goodreads, but I read elsewhere that The Glass Casket is meant to be a twisted retelling of Snow White, which sounds super cool. I've never actually ventured into Snow White retellings before so I'm really curious to read McCormick Templeman's (great name!) take on it.

The Mirk and Midnight Hour by Jane Nickerson
Date: March 11, 2014

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A Southern girl. A wounded soldier. A chilling force deep in the forest. All collide at night's darkest hour. Seventeen-year-old Violet Dancey has been left at home in Mississippi with a laudanum-addicted stepmother and love-crazed stepsister while her father fights in the war--a war that has already claimed her twin brother. When she comes across a severely injured Union soldier lying in an abandoned lodge deep in the woods, things begin to change. Thomas is the enemy--one of the men who might have killed her own brother--and yet she's drawn to him. But Violet isn't Thomas's only visitor; someone has been tending to his wounds--keeping him alive--and it becomes chillingly clear that this care hasn't been out of compassion. Against the dangers of war and ominous powers of voodoo, Violet must fight to protect her home and the people she loves. From the author of Strands of Bronze and Gold comes a haunting love story and suspenseful thriller based on the ancient fairy tale of Tam Lin.

I was first made aware of the fairy tale of Tam Lin from Amanda's awesome feature at the beginning of this year and I've been curious about reading a retelling of it ever since. The Mirk and Midnight Hour fits the bill perfectly. And it helps that Jane Nickerson's Bluebeard retelling, Strands of Bronze and Gold, received favourable reviews.


How about you? Are you waiting on any of these Random House Winter 2014 reads? Are there any upcoming books from the Random House Winter 2014 Catalog that I didn't include here that you feel I should add to my list?