Welcome to the Rosie Loves Jack Blog Tour!
I decided to participate in this blog tour because there aren’t many books out there that feature a main character with Down syndrome. I haven’t read this one yet, but it seems like a worthy read, and I wanted to give all of my readers a chance to win a copy of their own! Read on for a fun game of Two Truths and a Lie with the author, and make sure you scroll down for the giveaway!
To celebrate the release of Rosie Loves Jack by Mel Darbon on March 1st, blogs across the web are featuring original content from Mel, as well as 10 chances to win the hardcover!
Two Truths and a Lie
by Mel Darbon
This is a game I’ve never played but always wanted to, so I thought it would be fun to play it with Rosie Loves Jack. I have three facts about my main character Rosie and three facts about myself. Two out of each three are true. Can you detect which one is the lie?
Two Truths and a Lie about Rosie
1. Rosie is inspired by a real person
Answer (Highlight to Reveal): True: I was lucky enough to work with a group of teenagers with Down syndrome who were all an inspiration to me, but especially a girl called Rosie who sowed the seed for my character Rosie in Rosie Loves Jack. What Rosie taught me was so important and I wanted everyone to hear it. She was kind, funny, and fiercely independent, determined to make her mark in the world and to work, fall in love, and get married. Rosie always pointed out that her best friend’s mother had Down syndrome and was a single mother with a job and her own home. Nothing was going to hold her back, except other people’s prejudices.
2. Rosie has a dog named after the Motorhome brand, Winnebago.
Answer (Highlight to Reveal): True: Rosie’s father desperately wanted to buy a Motorhome but everyone else in the family wanted a dog. Dad lost that argument, and they got the dog and decided to call her Winniebago, Winnie for short, so that they could all say Dad had got his Winnebago…
3. Rosie is an only child
Answer (Highlight to Reveal): Lie: Rosie has a younger brother called Ben. He is a slightly morose, uncommunicative fifteen-year-old, with a cynical sense of humour. In other words, he’s a typical teenage boy! Although they argue and wind each other up, they adore each other, and Ben is very protective of Rosie and would never let anyone upset her.
When Ben was a little boy, he broke a bone in his back and ended up in hospital for a few months. This meant the focus wasn’t on Rosie anymore, but on her brother, so she had to be a lot more independent and she was able to prove that she was more than capable of making decisions and looking after herself. This held her in good stead for her journey to be reunited with her boyfriend, Jack.
Two Truths and a Lie about Me
1. My first job was as a theatre designer in London.
Answer (Highlight to Reveal): True: After I finished my BA Honours degree up in Liverpool, where I studied English Literature and Drama specialising in theatre design, I walked into my local theatre and offered to work with the resident designer for nothing, if she trained me. She took me on, and I had an amazing time learning the craft and taking it forwards with my own designs. I love the theatre and come from a family of writers, directors, and producers, so I spent many a happy hour in the West End theatres, lost in other worlds. I am also an artist, so theatre design combined my love of the written word with my love of painting and designing. Despite this, my heart knew that I wanted to be an author more than anything else in the world. Having Rosie Loves Jack published goes to show it’s never too late to follow your dreams.
2. I have four brothers
Answer (Highlight to Reveal): Lie: I have five brothers! I am the only girl and second from youngest in age. My father always said he didn’t know what to do with me after having generations of boys in his family. Not surprisingly I was a tomboy and always wore trousers and never a dress. If I wasn’t up a tree, I was reading a book in a hidden corner, escaping into magical worlds. My youngest brother is profoundly autistic and needs constant care, which had a huge impact on our lives, but taught us so much about kindness, empathy, and love…also how to be very, very patient.
3. I wrote my first book at twelve-years-old
Answer (Highlight to Reveal): True: I wanted to be the youngest author ever published, so wrote my first book, which was a thriller, about a young girl of twelve, who was drugged and kidnapped. She wakes up to find herself in an unrecognisable room, where she is kept for many years. I was obviously ahead of my time, as Emma Donoghue wrote the well-known book, Room, which was made into the 2015 drama film, about a woman who is held captive for seven years. Unfortunately for me, my novel never made the grade.
Blog Tour Schedule:
3/1 – BookhoundsYA
3/2 – Book Briefs
3/3 – Frantic Mommy
3/4 – Randomly Reading
3/5 – A Dream Within a Dream
3/8 – I’m All Booked Up
3/9 – Multicultural Children’s Book Day Blog
3/10 – Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers
3/11 – Christy’s Cozy Corners
3/12 – Feed Your Fiction Addiction
“The author stays out of Rosie’s way, successfully depicting her protagonist as a person, not a puppet or a platform. The other characters populating the book are realistic, with a striking range of personality traits. The plot is so engrossing that the book is almost impossible to put down. Yes, Rosie loves Jack, and readers are going to love Rosie.” —Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
Rosie Loves Jack by Mel Darbon Published by Peachtree Publishing Company on March 1, 2021
Pages: 352
Cover Artist: Zoe Williams
Fall in love with sixteen-year old Rosie, a girl with Down syndrome who’s fighting for little freedoms, tolerance, and love. A stunning, beautifully insightful debut YA novel from Mel Darbon.
“An enthralling story of resolve and grit... a moving and uplifting novel.” –The Guardian
"They can't send you away. What will we do? We need us. I stop your angry, Jack. And you make me strong. You make me Rosie."
Rosie loves Jack. Jack loves Rosie. So when they're separated, Rosie will do anything to find the boy who makes the sun shine in her head. Even defy her parents’ orders and run away from home. Even struggle across London and travel to Brighton on her own, though the trains are cancelled and the snow is falling. Even though people might think a girl like Rosie, who has Down syndrome, could never survive on her own.
Introducing a strong and determined protagonist with Down syndrome, debut author Mel Darbon gives readers an underrepresented but much-needed point of view with a voice-driven, heartfelt story of finding your place an often big and intimidating world.
Buy
About the Author: Mel Darbon spent a large part of her childhood inventing stories to keep her autistic brother happy on car journeys. She won’t mention the time spent with him standing by level crossings waiting for the InterCity 125 to go past, as she wouldn’t want to be labelled a train spotter. Life took her in many different directions working as a theatre designer and freelance artist, as well as teaching young adults with learning disabilities and running creative workshops for teenage mums. She moved to Bath in 2014 with her husband and their dog, Alfie. Rosie Loves Jack is her debut book.
Author Links:
1 winner will receive a finished copy of Rosie Loves Jack
Check out the other tour stops for more chances to win!
US/Canada only
Ends 11:59pm ET on 3/21
I would like to see more hard-of-hearing, visually-impaired, or dyslexic characters.
I love the creative way to see more about the giveaway. I’m totally going to note that.
I’d like to see more deaf & hard of hearing characters in YA stories.