The Urban Boys by K.N. Smith


The Urban Boys: Discovery of the Five Senses by K.N. Smith



Book Details:

Book Title:  The Urban Boys: Discovery of the Five Senses by K.N. Smith
Category:  YA fiction, 292 pages
Genre:  Action Adventure/ Paranormal
Publisher:  Two Petals Publishing
Release date:  September 2015
Available for review in:  mobi file (for Kindle), ePub, PDF
Tour Dates:  Feb 29 - March 31, 2016
Content Rating:  PG (Action/ fight scenes, some violence)


Book Description:  

The Urban Boys: Discovery of the Five Senses is an action-adventure story about five teen boys who are mysteriously exposed to a foreign energy source that gives them extremely heightened senses. Sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell become hypersensitive gifts that forever change the world!

The story chronicles their effortless interrelations and later exposes the testing of their deep bonds, and introduces the reader to an array of supporting characters who alter the boys’ lives forever. The Urban Boys offers young and mature readers central themes of loyalty, responsibility, honesty, fear, and triumph, which become artfully integrated with cinematic-level action and high drama.

We wonder, will they pass the test of fate, and will each of us pass the test of our very own lives? Intriguing, intelligent, and full of action, The Urban Boys offers a memorable, emotion-packed, thrilling ride for traditional and digital readers of all ages! (first in a series)

Buy the book:  Amazon   Barnes & Noble



Praise for The Urban Boys:

"An energetic YA adventure debut with stellar action sequences. Smith's writing is intelligent and often lyrical. Her exuberant prose never fails to dazzle."- Kirkus Media

"Author K.N. Smith uses her mastery of the written word to weave an entrancing, yet powerful tale of adventure that keeps you turning pages in an unquenchable desire to find out what happens next. The author's matchless prose details cinematic fight sequences and fully developed characterizations especially in a final, stupendous scene that will take your breath away and leave you limp with spent emotions. Five stars for this imaginative and inspiring story, sure to be as appealing to general audiences as it will be to the YA crowd!" 5-stars - Publishers Daily Reviews

"I LOVE to read, but live a hugely busy life. It gets more complicated upon that rare occasion when a book is so captivating, so enthralling, that it is impossible to walk away. With only definitive hours in a day, something has to give. For me, that was sleep! And it was worth every sacrificed minute. “The Urban Boys” was the grand slam home run and exceeded my wildest expectations and I would bet, maybe yours, as well. Totally new concepts and a rich crew of characters – good, bad and ugly… and suspenseful twists that keep you guessing, and such beautiful, strong writing! A must read for fans of YA action/adventure/fantasy!!" 5-stars - Indie Book Reviewers



Tell us more about your world building described as "a carefully crafted universe".

Within the book, Danville Heights is described as a “carefully crafted universe.” With respect to community building, or developing a world out of scratch, this can be a very detailed process. I feel that the author’s job is to transport the reader into the scene. This was part of my personal responsibility to the readers in writing this book. From a global perspective, a writer should look at the big picture, visually speaking. It's very much like planning an event. You close your eyes and see yourself with all of the details floating around you. From that, you can develop a checklist of things that need to be done in order to produce a successful event. As long as all of the details that you saw in your vision are on your list, you'll be okay. World building is exactly the same, except you are adding characters, their various personalities, exchanges between characters, extra details about the physical appearance of the world, and emotion and excitement. 

The urban boys are instinctively called to Sandry Lake.
Is each boycalled by a different feeling or method?

In this novel, when the boys are instinctively called to Sandry Lake, each of their respective senses begins to flare up, and they race off to save our very own lives. They have elevated gifts of hearing, seeing, touching, tasting, and smelling, and it becomes very extreme. The boys develop an intuitive connection to one another, and there are others in the story who can sense them too, and one of them is a killer.

I suffer from "extreme fatigue, and stress and pressure" also.
Will I relate to the boys in this way?
Which traits make each boy come to terms with their unique abilities?

As a way for each of us to relate to the boys, I included things like extreme fatigue and stress and pressure to illustrate their plights. They are young after all, and in our lives we go through a lot and it can easily catch up with us. Luckily for us, we can integrate relaxation techniques into our everyday worlds, but the boys don't have the same choice. After all, fate has been chasing them, and it finally catches up. There are periods in the book when the boys fight the lure of their own destiny, and that's when the choices they make become extremely important to the end result. These boys were raised to do the right thing, so in the book, their collective trait of honesty, or wanting to be honest, really comes through. In our own lives, it’s critical to find a balance, and then balance some more.

I know many parents want to read the books before they have their kids read them or read them along with their kids so they can discuss them.
What ways would you explain to parents that this book benefits 
them and their child by reading?

I love to see parents and their children reading together! It reminds me of the days when my daughters were younger, and we still read together to this day. Besides being involved in the bonding process through reading, this book, being a clean read, will open new areas of their imagination. Some of the writing and attention to detail has been called “poetic,” and it is quite lyrical, so it's a creatively written, inspirational journey for the whole family to enjoy.




K.N. Smith is an American author and passionate advocate of childhood and family literacy programs throughout the world. She continues to inspire students of all ages to reach their highest potential in their literary and educational pursuits. Her creative, lyrical flair sweeps across pages that twist, turn, and grind through elements of paranormal and action-adventure in diverse, exciting, edge-of-your-seat narratives. She lives with her family in California.

Connect with the author:  Website   Twitter   Facebook



Comments

  1. Hi Laura, thanks for being a stop on this tour! K.N. Smith

    ReplyDelete

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