Back in September, I had the chance to meet actress Bella Thorne as part of the Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day press trip with Disney. While our group was interviewing Bella, she told us all about her new book coming out in November, called Autumn Falls. I immediately talked with Bella’s publicist, who sent me a book shortly after I got back home. Although an early review copy of Autumn Falls was provided, all thoughts are my own. I am purchasing and mailing out the giveaway copy at my own expense.
About Bella Thorne:
Bella is best known for her roles in the Disney Channel show Shake It Up (that’s certainly how my kids know her) as well as movies like Blended and the recent Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, where she played the “perfectionist” girlfriend, Celia.
Bella just barely celebrated her 17th anniversary on October 8, which makes her younger than my oldest daughter, but she has quite an impressive list of accomplishments, the most recent of which is the publication of her first novel.
As someone who loved to write as a child, I was incredibly impressed with Bella’s drive to write her own story. During our interview in September, we learned about Bella’s life-long struggle with dyslexia. Instead of letting it get her down, she has used her struggles to not only push herself farther, but to encourage other young people to do the same.
Here’s what Bella had to say about her new book:
It’s very close to my heart. It’s not about a girl who’s publicized and beautiful and gorgeous and wears heels and makeup and, you know, a star. It’s not about that. It’s about a girl named Autumn Falls whose father dies and leaves her a book.
He leaves a journal to write in. She’s like, wow, dad, thanks. Die on me and leave me a journal. Okay. And what she doesn’t realize is when she writes in the journal, things come to life, but since she’s dyslexic they come to life a little bit wonky, mostly backfiring on her throughout the series.”
About Autumn Falls:
Autumn Falls, Bella Thorne’s debut YA novel, written with NY Times best selling author Elise Allen, is finally available to own (as of November 11 2014!). Here’s a little bit about the story:
Blending in is almost impossible when you are Autumn Falls. With her bright colored hair and klutzy tendencies, Autumn doesn’t exactly fly under the radar at her new Florida high school. Navigating the hallways can be brutal, and when Autumn catches the eye of one of the resident hotties, she finds herself going toe-to-toe with his best friend, who happens to be the school’s queen bee and chief mean girl.
Autumn has never needed to vent more and when her grandmother gives her a half-empty journal that belonged to her father, Autumn vents all her frustrations and expresses her deepest desires. And suddenly she finds the unthinkable happening: whatever she wishes for in the journal comes true. Is it coincidence, or might the journal be more than just space waiting to be filled? Teens will be dying to learn the truth in Thorne’s lighthearted and entertaining novel, which will appeal to both fans and anyone who can relate to being a teenager in today’s world.
Bella’s second novel in the Autumn Falls trilogy will be published in Fall 2015.
The first time I saw Bella Thorne: at the Chimpanzee Premiere in Florida April 2012 (pictured with Zendaya)
My thoughts about Autumn Falls
Autumn Falls is a light hearted easy read. I actually found myself wanting to find out what happened to Autumn as she transitioned to her new school. It was a fairly accurate view into the life of a teenage girl (which isn’t surprising considering it was written by a teen!). The target audience is definitely the YA/teen crowd.
My 11-year-old daughter was really interested to read it, but I hesitated because of my own sensitivity to harsh language. Most of the language in the book was very mild to most standards (Oh My ___ and the like) but there was a situation in the book where Autumn’s dyslexia mixed up what she thought she was writing/reading…and the word SH__ was used, spelled out, in the book. Even though the situation was quite amusing, I wasn’t keen on my 11-year-old reading a book with bad language in it.
Win a copy of Bella Thorne’s Autumn Falls
Just for fun (no sponsorship here) I would love to send a copy of AUTUMN FALLS to a lucky reader. All you have to do is enter on the Rafflecopter form below – enter as many times as you’d like (there are several once-a-day entries. Pass the word and share the love….and good luck!
US mailing addresses only for a hard copy of the book. However, I am more than happy to send an eBook to anyone, anywhere. So to avoid international shipping, I will substitute an ebook for the hared back book for people living outside the continental US.
Giveaway ends 11/25/2014, after which a winner will be chosen at random and notified via email.
Note: I’ve heard reports that Rafflecopter’s newest update has given some people problems, so if you can’t enter via the form below, please leave a comment below letting me know why you’d love to win this. You can also tweet this post out and leave me the url of your tweet in the comment section for an additional entry. Good luck!
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As a fellow Florida student who didn’t quite fit in, I think my daughter would really enjoy this one!
I would give this to my daughter, who I think would really enjoy it!
I would love to win Bella’s book, i’m a huge fan so I love her so much, and i only can get Autumn Falls in March but I can’t wait until march to read it! So I really want to win this book so much.
l hope I’m lucky enough to win! I’m not from US so it’s hard To get a physical copy
I would gift this book my daughter. She loves Bella Throne and to read. It would be a great stocking stuffer! Thanks for the opportunity!
I would actually love to win this for my friends daughter, she would absolutely love to read this book :)
Hi :) I’m huge fan of Bella and I can’t wait read her book! I’m proud she beat her dyslexia and wrote a book!