Roomies by Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando, Tour dates and GIVEAWAY!

The countdown to college has begun.When Elizabeth receives her freshman-year roommate assignment at the beginning of summer, she shoots off an email to coordinate the basics: TV, microwave, mini-fridge. She can't wait to escape her New Jersey beach town, and her mom, and start life over in California. The first note to Lauren in San Francisco comes as a surprise; she had requested a single. But if Lauren's learned anything from being the oldest of six, it's that you can't always get what you want, especially when what you want is privacy. Soon the girls are emailing back and forth, sharing secrets even though they've never met. With family relationships and childhood friendships strained by change, it suddenly seems that the only people Elizabeth and Lauren can rely on are the complicated new boys in their lives...and each other. With humor and heart, Sara Zarr, National Book Award finalist for Story of a Girl, and Tara Altebrando, acclaimed author of The Pursuit of Happiness, join forces for a novel about that time after high school, when everything feels like it's ending just as it's beginning. 

My Roomie Story:
I have just one experiences with roomies. My twin brother and I where rooming when we were kids, and maybe that is one of the moments where my love for reading started. Before bedtime we used to read, and one time we got the idea of reading to each other from the books we where reading ourselves, as we both had a different book of course. We had a small tv (with a video recorder inside it, remember those days with the good old cartoons?) and a big desk where we sometimes played school.  We had a bunch of old school books and other things like stamps and reading cards and such from a school sale, so that was perfect to play with! But the most of that room I remember where the books. We had a few children's fiction bookshelves and one shelf with non-fiction books with fun books about ballet and my childrens encyclopedia and such for me and books about dinosaurs and drawing for my brother.As far as I remember you could always find me with a book, reading under the book light above my bed. I remember this as one of the best periods of my childhood!

The tour dates of Roomies, featuring the authors Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando;

January 12, 2014 – New York, NY: McNally Jackson [venue link]

January 15, 2014 – Salt Lake City, UT: The King's English [venue link]

January 16, 2014 – Provo, UT: Provo Library [venue link]

February 4, 2014 – San Francisco, CA: Books Inc, Opera Plaza [venue link] 

February 5, 2015 – Petaluma, CA: Copperfield's Books [venue link]

Time for the grand giveaway!
Little, Brown BYR will be giving away a Roomie survival kit/gift pack including earplugs, home spa essentials, a signed copy of the book, a special note from the authors, and other fun things—all packed in a shower caddy (this prize will go to a participating blogger and one of the blogger's readers). Winner announced on January 20th. 

I also will be giving away one copy of Roomies away on my blog. This contest is open to US only. To enter, send an email with your name and mailing adress with  Roomies in the subject line to marjoleinbookblog at gmail dot com. The giveaway closes on January 30th.