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Rain Falling on Embers
Author: Liana Gardner
Series: Katie McCabe, #1
Publication date: October 3rd 2023
Genres: Contemporary, Middle-Grade, Young Adult
How do you survive the worst thing that can ever happen?
When thirteen-year-old Katie McCabe’ s dad gets sick and is hospitalized, she’ s sent to live with her uncle in a strange town. But within days of arriving, her dad unexpectedly dies.
Struggling with her new reality, Katie is lost. She doesn’t fit in at her new home and never will.
It only gets worse when Katie starts her freshman year of high school and begins to have run-ins with the son of the man who owns the town— a powerful man with ties to her family’ s past.
Then one day, she is attacked from behind. Blindfolded and slung across the back of a horse, Katie is taken up into the hills. Dumped in the middle of the wilderness in an oncoming storm, she is left to find her way home. But how will she survive?
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an excerpt
Past the grove, the brush became thicker. Sounds from beyond the tree line made me jumpy. When I moved, something else just out of sight moved with me. An occasional grunt and snuffling sounded above the wind. The hairs on the back of my neck rose, but I kept pushing forward, trying to ignore the feeling of being stalked.
A roar came through the trees and my heart leaped into my throat. I turned to face my assailant, but nothing emerged. Pitiful cries came from the trees, but I couldn’t see what had happened. Had it been wounded? Part of me wanted to run before the creature attacked, but I couldn’t leave without knowing.
I crept toward the crying sounds and peered through the trees. A bear about the size of Mark’s German Shepherd, Günter, was caught in a snare. Poor thing. Every time it moved to get free, the snare tightened. I couldn’t leave him there.
Slowly, I approached. “Don’t worry, fella. I’m gonna get you free.” A flame ignited in my belly. How dare some hunter leave a trap. The black bear was nothing more than a big baby and didn’t know anything about snares. He’d die if I didn’t help him.
I held out my hand. “Take a big sniff. I’m not gonna hurt you.” I scratched his nose to help calm him. He was still young enough that his eyes hadn’t turned from blue to black. “Let’s see how we can get you untangled from this.”
Liana Gardner is a Bram Stoker Awards Nominee and the multi-award-winning author of 7th Grade Revolution, The Journal of Angela Ashby, and Speak No Evil. The daughter of a rocket scientist and an artist, Liana combines the traits of both into a quirky yet pragmatic writer and in everything sees the story lurking beneath the surface.
Liana volunteers with high school students through EXP which prepares students for a better life by helping young people gain experience, unlock doors, and build the confidence they need to succeed by bringing industry and schools together to build tomorrow’s workforce and provide career opportunities to students from under-served communities.
Engaged in a battle against leukemia and lymphoma, Liana spends much of her time at home, but her imagination takes her wherever she wants to go. Most recently she was titled Lady of Lochaber and Glencoe and was honored with a star named after her in the Andromeda Constellation.
Liana is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
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