Nonbinary Knight Reads and Reviews: December 2021

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the WIDER THAN THE SKY by Katherine Rothschild Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

About The Book:

Title: WIDER THAN THE SKY

Author: Katherine Rothschild

Paperback Pub. Date: December 7, 2021

Publisher: Soho Teen

Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, Audiobook

Pages: 288

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org

In the wake of sudden tragedy, twin sisters uncover a secret that rips open their world. Katherine Rothschild explores the pain and power of forgiveness in a stunning debut novel that will shatter your heart and piece it back together, one truth at a time.

Sixteen-year-old Sabine Braxton doesn’t have much in common with her identical twin, Blythe. When their father dies from an unexpected illness, each copes with the loss in her own way—Sabine by “poeting” (an uncontrollable quirk of bursting into poetry at inappropriate moments) and Blythe by obsessing over getting into MIT, their father’s alma mater. Neither can offer each other much support . . . at least not until their emotionally detached mother moves them into a ramshackle Bay Area mansion owned by a stranger named Charlie.

Soon, the sisters unite in a mission to figure out who Charlie is and why he seems to know everything about them. They make a life-changing discovery:their parents were hiding secrets about their sexual identities. The revelation unravels Sabine’s world, while practical Blythe seems to take everything in stride. Once again at odds with her sister, Sabine chooses to learn all she can about the father she never knew. Ultimately, she must decide if she can embrace his last wish for a family legacy--even if it means accepting a new idea of what it means to be a family.

Praise for Wider than the Sky

“Sabine’s struggle to reconcile her memory of her father with the man he really was—and to make room in her life for his hopes as well as her own—cuts to the heart of what it means to love someone unconditionally. Wider than the Sky skillfully weaves multiple character arcs together to examine the ideas of home, hope, and family in surprising new ways.”—Misa Sugiura, It's Not Like It's a Secret

"Lyrical and lovely, Wider than the Sky is one of those rare books that has everything—masterful storytelling, a great love story, important themes, razor-sharp wit, and memorable characters. It's a gorgeous debut that will capture your heart."—Corina Vacco, Delacorte Prize–winning author of My Chemical Mountain

“I haven’t stopped thinking about these sisters since I first read Wider than the Sky. Sabine and Blythe will leap off the page and live in your memories like old friends. There is so much heart and humor in Katherine’s writing; even as her characters grapple with serious concerns and issues, she captures how life can slice us open and yet give us the ability to laugh and love and hope through the deepest pain and loss.”—Jennifer Chambliss Bertman, New York Times bestselling author of Book Scavenger

“Rothschild’s story showcases how secrets impede a person’s ability to see the world clearly and that self-acceptance and honesty are the keys to a happy ending.”—School Library Journal

“Change comes suddenly to the lives of 16-year-old Sabine and her identical twin sister, Blythe, when their father dies unexpectedly, prompting their mother and a strange man named Charlie to move the girls to the small town of Thornewood . . . Rothschild’s first novel is accomplished and nicely plot-rich with some interesting quirks, chief among them being Sabine’s deep-rooted love for Emily Dickinson’s poetry and her compulsive need to recite it.”—Booklist

“Kath Rothschild’s Wider than the Sky is pitch perfect! Young adult readers will fall in love with her wonderfully quirky narrator Sabine and her swoony romance with Kai. Combine that with family secrets and a mysterious stranger and you have the ingredients for a compelling read. I cannot wait to put it in the hands of my young customers!”—Kathleen Caldwell, A Great Good Place for Books (Oakland, CA)

Three Secrets About Katherine Rothschild’s debut novel Wider than the Sky (just out in paperback!)

The inspiration for Wider than the Sky came from my real life growing up, but most “true” things were revised out—only one thing is 100% real. And that’s the house! In the past the real Number 6 Magnolia (not the real address) had a real telephone booth, old-fashioned ice boxes, and a stage in the attic where kids of yesteryear performed plays. Today, the house has been completely renovated and everything is different—except the garden, which to this day remains very similar to when I was a kid.

Wider than the Sky is set in the fictional town of Thornwood but it features real Bay Area locations, such as the Shakespeare Garden and the AIDS Memorial Grove. But, in real life, you can’t see the bust of Shakespeare because it’s locked up in a metal box for fear it will be stolen! I’ve only ever seen a photo of what the bust looks like.

The character Mr. Pumpkinhead is based on a real man who made a talking pumpkin every Halloween, and everyone, even adults, called him Mr. Pumpkinhead. We knew where he lived growing up, but we never knew his real name, as he didn’t engage much with the kid community—except on Halloween!

About Katherine Rothschild:

Katherine Rothschild is a Lecturer in the Program in Writing and Rhetoric at Stanford University, a former ballet and Arabic dance instructor, and an obsessive Twitter food truck-follower. Her first-person essays have been published on KQED/NPR, in The San Francisco Chronicle, and other Bay Area and California publications. She holds an MFA in Fiction Writing, a PhD in Composition and Applied Linguistics, has received artist’s grants from Vermont Studio Center and Kindlings West, and is a longtime member of the SCBWI. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family. Her debut novel is Wider Than the Sky from Soho Teen. Find her on Twitter @Kath_Rothschild.

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will win a paperback copy of WIDER THAN THE SKY, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

12/6/2021	BookHounds YA	Promo Post
12/7/2021	Kait Plus Books	Promo Post
12/8/2021	perusewithcoffee	Promo Post
12/9/2021	Mythical Books	Promo Post
12/10/2021	Phannie the ginger bookworm	Promo Post
12/11/2021	GivernyReads	Promo Post

Week Two:

12/12/2021	Lifestyle of Me	Promo Post
12/13/2021	Nonbinary Knight Reads	Promo Post
12/14/2021	Eye-Rolling Demigod's Book Blog	Promo Post
12/15/2021	100 Pages A Day	Promo Post
12/16/2021	Two Chicks on Books	Promo Post
12/17/2021	Never Hollowed By The Stare	Promo Post
12/18/2021	@readingwordsmith	Review

Week Three:

12/19/2021	The Momma Spot	Promo Post
12/20/2021	Eli to the nth	Review
12/21/2021	Emelie's Books	Review
12/22/2021	Two points of interest	Review
12/23/2021	Rajiv's Reviews	Review
12/24/2021	#BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog	Promo Post
12/25/2021	Karen Dee's Book Reviews	Review

Week Four:

12/26/2021	@jypsylynn	Review
12/27/2021	@thebookishfoxwitch	Review
12/28/2021	brittreadsalattebooks	Review
12/29/2021	My Fictional Oasis	Review
12/30/2021	@coffeesipsandreads	Promo Post
12/31/2021	Lexijava	Review