Orphaned through a double homicide… check. Shipped off to Vermont to live with a rule-abiding, overprotective, middle-aged godfather and his perfect family… check. Losing a lucrative natural products business and clientele base… check. True, Karma’s threefold retribution is not the sixteenth birthday gift that Nan expects, but it’s exactly what she needs.
Cordeleya “Nan” Hammock is a self-described loner who cherishes her self-reliance, independence, and freedom, buys into conspiracy theories, and has a healthy distrust of technology. Within a month of her relocation to Vermont, she befriends the prettiest girl at the Academy, blurs the friendship line with her best friend from home, and despite her best efforts, gets suspended from her new high school… four times. But with the passage of mandatory LEASH laws, constant camera surveillance, a draft for a war she doesn’t believe in, and school personnel who pose an imminent threat, Nan just might lose it all… again.
Join the quest to live unLEASHed.
Lauren Courcelle’s Young Adult debut, unLEASHed, is the first book in a brand-new, futuristic series. It is a departure from her other books as it is intended for readers ages 14+ due to obscenities, violence, and mature situations. Her previous books (the first four of the Persephone Smith series) are written for a Middle Grade audience. She cannot emphasize enough that this is absolutely NOT the fifth book in that series.
I always laugh when I'm asked to review my own book. Obviously I think it's (fill in your choice of a positive superlative) or else I wouldn't have published it. I'm a perfectionist by nature, so I feel this book tells Nan's story in the best way I can. I want to caution readers that it does contain language and situations that would be inappropriate for very young audiences. (Hey, one of the nice things about books is that they'll be there when you're ready for them, even if it requires waiting until one grows into them!) But at the same time, I hope that parents keep an eye on what their kids are reading such that if they ever encounter something that takes them aback, they can confidently bring the concern to their parents and engage in a healthy conversation about the topic. So yeah, no regrets.
I always laugh when I'm asked to review my own book. Obviously I think it's (fill in your choice of a positive superlative) or else I wouldn't have published it. I'm a perfectionist by nature, so I feel this book tells Nan's story in the best way I can. I want to caution readers that it does contain language and situations that would be inappropriate for very young audiences. (Hey, one of the nice things about books is that they'll be there when you're ready for them, even if it requires waiting until one grows into them!) But at the same time, I hope that parents keep an eye on what their kids are reading such that if they ever encounter something that takes them aback, they can confidently bring the concern to their parents and engage in a healthy conversation about the topic. So yeah, no regrets.