Sunday, July 22, 2012

The Island of Lote by Emily Kinney

Milo Hestler is a lonely, unusual, fourteen-year-old girl. She is constantly moving from home to home with her oblivious parents. The only friend she has is her conscience, whom she has named Bob. Her only comforts are cooking and listening to hip-hop.

When her family moves yet again, Milo is bullied mercilessly by her classmates. Such treatment prompts her to travel to Australia for summer camp. During the plane ride, Milo awakens to find the plane deserted and about to crash.

 After parachuting into the ocean, she discovers she is near an island. Milo passes out, and upon waking, learns she was rescued by a boy named Simon, who is cute, but can't speak English. Not able to understand him, she accidentally says yes when he asks her to marry him.

 He leads her to a small town on the island, where they locate someone who can translate for them. Milo is outraged to hear that she is engaged to Simon and wants to call it off, but learns that this island has rules that cannot be broken. She must go through with the marriage against her will.

After learning about the trick he played on her, Milo hates Simon, though it is obvious that sixteen-year-old Simon really likes her. What will happen next on The Island of Lote?

From her earliest memories, Emily Kinney has wanted to be a writer. She lives in Maine. "This book is just the first of many to come, rest assured."

Meet The Author: Emily Kinney 


Hello. My name is Emily Kinney, and I'm a 21 year old author from a little town in Maine. You know what they say about small towns; that the small confines causes a burning desire for something bigger and greater to blossom and expand in the hearts of the talented, or simply the restless. Such happened with me. I have been writing my whole life, even before I was capable of physically holding a pen to shape the letters. When I was very young, I colored (badly) several pictures in a sequence, stapled them together, sought out my mother, and told her what to write on each page. As I grew older and my motor skills developed, I took on the task myself. All my life I've attempted to pen, or pencil, novels, but never got past the first couple of, very short, chapters.

That is, until I was fourteen. That was when I decided to really buckle down and hash out what would become my first complete book, The Island of Lote. It was one of the most joyous experiences of my life, and upon finishing the first draft, I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my time on Earth. My big goal is to become, and be recognized as, a master storyteller. This will be accomplished a number of ways, from writing, to acting, to photography. But for now it all starts with one of my biggest, most defined passions: Writing a story down on paper. Or, a lot of paper. I've never been normal, and from the earliest age possible, I've never wanted to be. Abnormal, odd, peculiar, strange, or anything remotely similar sounded not only just fine to me, but also attractive and exciting. Nothing brings a smile to my face more effortlessly than the thought of being odd. Odd can be good, you know. If it's done correctly, there's nothing to be scared of. It's more so exhilerating and fascinating. Bringing an element of oddness to my stories is always an option I want to reach for, but understand that I have to use sparingly. The world can only handle so much, this is well known. Oddness is not my only influence, however. I am drawn to anything that has a component of storytelling involved. Such as hip-hop, Nintendo games, and films.........(MORE)