Saturday, December 8, 2012

*** Book Spotlight *** Sheltered by Debra Chapoton

Blurb for Sheltered: 

Living together unsupervised, five troubled teens confront demonic forces and are compelled to deal with their problems in distinctly different ways. Paranormal meets psycho meets Goth in this story of a supernatural haunting and budding love. 

High school junior, Ben, hacks into his step-father's real estate holdings and provides rooms in an old two-story house to various outcasts: the schizophrenic kid, the angry Goth girl, and the homeless girl who worships him. When Megan needs a place to live she comes to the rooming house with a different set of problems and the ability to confuse and attract Ben. 

One by one strange and mysterious occurrences stretch the teens’ beliefs in the supernatural. How they deal with demons, real and imagined, has tragic as well as redeeming consequences. 

Excerpt from Sheltered: 

Prologue 

Next Wednesday 

Emily knew the precise moment that Ben returned, she felt him in her scars. She watched him carry some things to the house, heard the door close; she smiled when she heard him call out that Santa was here. He did that once before, in early December, insisting that she accept the gift he held out, not wanting her to wait until Christmas to use the mittens he knew she needed. 

She went toward her door now, wondered what he had brought, and then heard Megan’s voice below. Oh no, he probably brought something for her. She scuttled back to her nest by the window and stared outside, was still staring fifteen minutes later when she saw them walk down the street, Ben shouldering a shovel, his other hand knotted with Megan’s. 

She touched the skin on her arms, lightly at first, making it tingle. The image of Ben with Megan multiplied across her mind in broken mirrors, a repugnant picture that reflected her own self-loathing. She scratched at her scabs, felt the pricks of pain force away the ticklish sensations. She closed her eyes. 

When she opened them she saw a figure standing at her door. 

“Who–?” she started, but the figment waned to less than a shadow. Still, though, there was something at her door. 

She rose slowly and held her hand out. 

Its face was more womanly now, friendly, motherly. Yes, she knew this face. Its pearly white skin so shocking against the ruby lips, the stringy hair a match to her own. Her mother. 

She stretched her fingers toward the face. The hallucination faded then sharpened. The eyes began to blaze. She drew her hands back to her own face. What’s wrong with me? The delusion grieved Emily; all around her fluttered a longing. 

And a deadly fear.

MY REVIEW

5 OF 5 SHELTERED

Sheltered totally took me by surprise. See the blurb says the five teens come together in a rooming house and have to deal with there issues and another issue that has come into play. But what this book did not tell you was that it is so heart wrenching and gut clenching it had me reaching for the box of tissues. HOLY HADES did I want to jump through this book and save all five teens. As a mother of a teen I was like oh man I just need to comfort them. Debra did such an excellent job of pulling you in and having you see first hand what happened to these teens and what they were about to face. I HIGHLY recommend this book to all book lovers out there.

Sheltered is a story about five teens who have some kind of issue they are dealing with. Ben is sort of the ring leader or go to guy because he rents the boarding house where they all live. Ben is is tortured in his own way and has issues at home that he feels like his mother is just not listening to. Then we have Chuck who is Schizophrenic and talks to his brother all day long. Then you meet Cori who is a goth girl that just pulled the strings of my heart because she was so lost and confused and she had no one to confide in. Then we meet Megan who is the heart of the story for me. She has lost something so dear and near to her heart that she is trying to figure out a way to get it back. She likes Ben and the two quickly like each other and they compliment each other. They are looking for the same things out of life and Ben can give Megan what she needs.

In the end the five teens have to come to terms with what is going on in their lives as well as what is happening in the house. Will they be able to survive the house and their issues or will each one succumb to horrible things? Read this book to find out because I promise you will not be disappointed!
Author: Debra Chapoton 
Debra's Bio: 
Debra Chapoton has taught kids of all ages in her main career as a teacher. She has a BA in Spanish and a Master of Arts degree in Teaching English. She started writing in 2002 and was surprised to find out that the characters quickly take over the action and dialogue in the stories. 

Her first YA novel, Edge of Escape, was self-published and then discovered by Piper Verlag Publishing and translated into German. Stalking and obsession get a sympathetic twist in this story of physical and psychological survival. 

Her second YA novel, Sheltered, detours into a different genre as she writes about five teens who confront supernatural forces. Two boys and three girls all harbor secrets which make some of them susceptible to demon possession. Embracing all things supernatural might protect them, but are they ready for the consequences? 

Chapoton has also written eleven chapter books for middle grade kids and a non-fiction work for adults, Crossing the Scriptures. 

When she’s not writing Chapoton enjoys the quiet of the full log home she designed and built with her husband. They live in the middle of 62 acres of beautiful woods in northern Michigan.

Websites: 


Title: Sheltered 

Purchase Links: Available in Paperback and Digital (paperback link available in October) 




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