Charm & Strange has been out now for a few days and I am so overwhelmed from the kind words and messages I’ve received from readers who’ve connected with Win’s story. It’s very special.

I also found out that the book got a wonderful review from the ALA Booklist journal! It was in their June 1st issue and will also be in the June 15th issue. It reads:
[gn_quote style=”2″]Debut author Kuehn comes out swinging with this confident, unnerving look at a damaged teen struggling with something violent inside of him. The book alternates two time frames. In the first, 16-year-old Win is a withdrawn boarding school student tortured by the “eviscerated,” “partly consumed” body of a townie in the woods just off-campus. The second story line follows Win as an anxious 10-year-old first dealing with the suffocating feral feelings that tell him he is harboring a beast. “My wolf is in me,” he says, and readers will turn each page warily, expecting a grisly transformation scene. But Kuehn is up to something far more ambitious here. Her prose butts up against important events time and again without granting us an unobstructed view. Until the end, that is, which is more shattering than most readers will be prepared for. Though there is some running in place due to the alternating time lines, Kuehn absolutely nails the voice and keeps us on constant edge regarding exactly what genre of book it is that we’re reading. – Daniel Kraus[/gn_quote]

Ah, I love that review so very much, for so many reasons. My publicist at St. Martin’s sent a photo of the actual journal page and it is so strange to see mention of the book in print. A good kind of strange.

In other news, I will be at Mrs. Dalloway’s in Berkeley this Saturday (June 15th) at 7:30. If you’re local, please stop by! There will be food and drinks and book talk and fun.

The launch party at Books Inc. on Tuesday was a blast. It was a dual party with author Corina Vacco, whose debut YA novel My Chemical Mountain just came out. So many people came! It was amazing and Maggie, Connie, and all the Books Inc. staff were so kind and supportive.  I also read from the book for the first time ever, which made me very nervous, but it went well. Here are a few pictures from the night: