A Dream Within A Dream: Gray Wolf Island Blog Tour: Excerpt + Giveaway

GRAY WOLF ISLAND

Author: Tracey Neithercott 

Publication Date: October 10, 2017

Publisher:  Knopf Books for Young Readers

Pages: 336

Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Description:

Right before Sadie died, she begged her sister, Ruby, to do the one thing she could never do herself: Find the treasure on Gray Wolf Island.

With just a mysterious treasure map as a guide, Ruby reluctantly allows some friends to join her on the hunt, each of whom is touched by magic: a boy allegedly born to a virgin, a girl who never sleeps, a boy who can foresee his own death, and a boy with deep ties to the island. Each of them is also keeping a secret—something they’ll have to reveal in order to reach the treasure.

As the secrets come to light, Ruby will have to decide: Can she make peace with her friends’ troubled pasts and continue to trust them? Can she forgive herself for doing the unspeakable? Deep in the wilderness of Gray Wolf Island, Ruby’s choices will determine if they make it out with the treasure—or merely with their lives.

From debut author Tracey Neithercott comes a darkly compelling tale of profound friendship, adventure, and finding the strength to tell the truth.

Find it: Amazon, B&N, iBooks, TBD, Goodreads

I thunder down the hill, thighs shaking with the weight of my pack and the strain of maintaining a slow march. Charlie gives up on it, letting his legs carry him as fast as gravity likes before face-planting in the tall grass. Elliot kicks Charlie’s pack as he passes. Anne and I attempt to lift Charlie to his feet, but his skinny body’s heavier than it looks and he’s not trying very hard to get up.

I leave them there, hurrying after Elliot and nearly running into Gabe, who appears to be having a conversation with himself. His words don’t wander far from his lips, but though I can’t hear what he’s saying, I can tell he’s passionate about it. His hand rakes through his hair, tugs at it tragically.

“Gabe? Are you okay?”

He closes his eyes, squeezes tight. “Do you hear it, too?”

“Hear what?” I speak like I’m testing a field for land mines.

“The voice. The island. I don’t know.”

But I do know. I heard it, too. A million different sounds of the island—the shhh of waves against its shores; the scuttling, slithering, stomping through the forests; the roar of the wind; the rattling leaves; and the absolute silence of secrets—all of it swirling around in my mind. All of it sounding a lot like Sadie.

Gabe shakes his head. “I think it wants the truth from us, Ruby.”

My stomach drops. “What truth?”

Panic ghosts across his face, and I wonder whose voice he heard on the wind. “All of it,” he says.

I must look like he does: white as winter with wide and wild eyes. We walk in silence as we enter the valley, slowing our steps to lag behind the others.

“It can’t have mine,” I say when we’re finally alone. “Any of it.”

My first book was written by hand and illustrated with some really fancy colored pencils. It was highly acclaimed by my mother. Now, I write YA stories of friendship, love, murder, and magic. (None of which I illustrate—you’re welcome.) I live in Massachusetts with my husband, who suggests improving my novels by adding Star Wars characters.

I’m the author of Gray Wolf Island, a YA novel about the truth, a treasure, and five teens searching for both. Coming fall 2017 from Knopf/Random House.