Kiss N’ Tell Blog Tour + Giveaway!
Oct •
11 •
2012
Who I Kissed by Janet Gurtler
October 1, 2012 Sourcebooks Fire “She never thought a kiss could kill…Samantha didn’t mean to hurt anyone. She was just trying to fit in…and she wanted to make Zee a little jealous after he completely ditched her for a prettier girl. So she kissed Alex. And then he died—right in her arms.Was she really the only person in the entire school who didn’t know about his peanut allergy? Or that eating a peanut butter sandwich and then kissing him would be deadly? Overnight Sam turns into the school pariah and a media sensation explodes. Consumed with guilt, abandoned by her friends, and in jeopardy of losing her swimming scholarship, she’ll have to find a way to forgive herself before anyone else will.”
Coming Up For Air:
Gurtler explores her inspiration for the book and her character development of a girl who has to learn to forgive herself for a tragic mistake that upends so many lives.
I haven’t made a secret of the fact that this book was inspired by my son, Max, a cool dude who happens to have a severe peanut allergy. This book takes my worst fears and puts them it into action. I used to joke with Max that before he kisses a girl, he has to ask her what she had for lunch. Or dinner. He doesn’t find it funny anymore.
We did have a talk when I decided to write this book. I told him that though it was fiction, it was partly to raise awareness of the dangers that kids with allergies face. And I told him of course, that it was something I never ever wanted to him to deal with. So no kissing girls. Ever. Ha ha. Not really the last part. He didn’t find that funny either.
Long before the character of Sam came to life for me, I remember hearing a story in the news, similar to the storyline in WHO I KISSED, about a child dying from a ‘peanut butter kiss’. It stuck with me as a parent of a peanut allergy kid. How horrifying it would be for everyone. Including the child who accidentally caused a death. I also remember hearing a story about a kid at a birthday party who died when the knife used to cut the cake (peanut free cake) was tainted with peanut butter. I don’t know if that story was true, but when you have a child with allergies those types of things make an impression.
As a parent of a kid with severe food allergies, you get used to people who don’t understand the severity of the allergy. People who complain about not being able to take a peanut butter sandwich to a peanut free school when it is “all their child will eat.” On one level, I totally get that. Confession. I LOVE peanut butter. But on the other hand, something innocent has the potential to cause my child harm, or even cause death and I don’t want to let that happen. I’ve had to shake off my loathing to make people uncomfortable. I have to speak up. I understand that most people don’t mean harm when they send a peanut butter sandwich to school or open a bag of peanuts beside me in the airport. But I have to ask them to put away peanuts or nuts when my son is around. Or to ask their kids to wash their hands after eating something with nuts before playing with my son.
My strongest argument for why other people should care is — how would YOU feel if your child (or you) caused the death of my son. I know I would feel pretty darn awful (to put it mildly), but what would it do to your child and/or you? How could a child possibly deal with something like that? How could a parent possibly deal with their role in something like that? And the thing is, it’s possible.
It’s about taking ownership of that possibility, but also dealing with the consequences of a very honest mistake. WHO I KISSED looks at how an innocent girl, who unwillingly and unknowingly is involved in the death of a boy who dies. A boy who is allergic to peanuts. It’s about thinking how that would affect you? How would you cope? What would you do?
Ultimately, like most of the books I write, I think there’s also hope in this book. And some lighter moments too. I created two characters, Aunt Allie and Fredrick to help Samantha deal and also to help the reader deal with the emotional intensity of the book. Plus there’s hot boys. I like them too.
Giveaway!
Giveaway:
- 1 Copy of Who I Kissed
- Ends October 19, 2012
- Hosted by publisher!
Rules:
- To Enter, fill out the Rafflecopter form below
- Must be 13 years of age or older
- Contest is open to US ONLY!
- Winner will be announced on the blog via Rafflecopter
- Winner will be notified by email
- Do NOT put your email in the comment section
- Check out my Contest Policy
Good Luck and Happy Reading!
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Awesome!!! I REALLY want to read this book because it sounds very interesting! Thanks a lot for the giveaway!
– Farah @ MajiBookshelf
I completely agree with this guest post! I have a son too and he hasn’t even had peanut butter yet. But I wouldn’t want to be a parent who has to fear every day that a simple sniff of peanuts could kill their kid. People who complain about not being able to make PB sandwiches obviously can’t see the other side.
“So no kissing girls. Ever. Ha ha. Not really the last part. He didn’t find that funny either.”
That made me snort:) I imagine he didn’t find that too funny! I can’t even imagine having such a severe allergy, and that something so innocent as a kiss from someone who maybe had peanut butter for lunch could kill me even though I didn’t ingest it myself. I’m really looking forward to reading this book, thanks for the guest post Savy and Janet!
This is a great post. My friend’s child has a peanut allergy so I understand a tiny bit about this. If children really have to have peanut butter they can do so at home. It’s not as if you are purposely trying to restrict or inconvenience others. And yes, I probably couldn’t live with myself if caused another’s death, even if it was totally unintentional and innocent.
ROFL! What a great sense of humor to have and tell him not to kiss girls. 😀
I think this is a great question to put to all those parents who insist on peanut butter for lunches. I have heard that one school was thinking of a special area for those that must have PB and J (like autistic kids who won’t eat anything else) and then have them wash their hands before leaving the lunch room. I thought that was a good compromise.