08 June 2013

Title: The Avery Shaw Experiment
Author: Kelly Oram
Publisher: Bluefields, 278 Pages (May 4th, 2013)
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Synopsis: When Avery Shaw’s heart is shattered by her life-long best friend, she chooses to deal with it the only way she knows how—scientifically.

The state science fair is coming up and Avery decides to use her broken heart as the topic of her experiment. She’s going to find the cure. By forcing herself to experience the seven stages of grief through a series of social tests, she believes she will be able to get over Aiden Kennedy and make herself ready to love again. But she can’t do this experiment alone, and her partner (ex partner!) is the one who broke her heart.

Avery finds the solution to her troubles in the form of Aiden’s older brother Grayson. The gorgeous womanizer is about to be kicked off the school basketball team for failing physics. He’s in need of a good tutor and some serious extra credit. But when Avery recruits the lovable Grayson to be her “objective outside observer,” she gets a whole lot more than she bargained for, because Grayson has a theory of his own: Avery doesn't need to grieve. She needs to live. And if there’s one thing Grayson Kennedy is good at, it’s living life to the fullest.

Aspiring social scientists Avery Shaw and Grayson Kennedy were required to keep detailed journals of all their exploits during The Avery Shaw Experiment. Only the participants of the 2013 Utah State Science Fair were allowed access to these records, but we're in luck because the ever-sneaky, privacy-invading author Kelly Oram has managed to get her hands on those journals and has decided to share them with the world. Today's featured entry has been stolen from the pages of Avery's diary. Enjoy!

“Post Shower Avery And Grayson Things” (Avery)

Dear Diary,

He brought me roses! No one has ever given me roses! When he showed up holding a giant bouquet my face turned the same color as the flowers, but he was still so sweet to bring them. It didn't really help the whole not-a-date thing, but I didn't care. I loved them.

Grayson is completely crazy. Hilarious and sweet beyond compare, but absolutely insane. Tonight he brought me a list that he’d titled Post Shower Avery and Grayson Things. He had this silly notion that he and I needed “things” the way couples have things—like a song, or a place… When I argued that we weren't a couple, he said we were science partners, which was just as important. He said in order for the Avery Shaw Experiment to be successful, we, as partners, needed to have a solid foundation to build our relationship on.

In a way he was right. We are going to be working very closely together for the next while, and the subject of our experiment is very personal. The more we know each other the better we’ll work together. I hadn't really thought about it before, but Grayson and I haven’t spent much time together on our own.

Of course I knew him. Or, I knew the image he puts on for people. But until tonight, I’d never really seen much of the real him. I can’t tell you how surprised I am. I mean I knew he came to my rescue with Aiden, so I knew he was nice, but I had no idea he could be so… so… again I am at a loss for words to describe him. He went above and beyond tonight. This whole evening was crazy, but it was incredible! I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun or laughed so much.

First, Grayson took me to dinner at a place widely known for doing karaoke on Friday nights. I about had a heart attack when he pulled into the parking lot. I was going to refuse to go inside, but Grayson promised me that under no circumstances whatsoever would I have to sing. If I’d had any idea what he was planning, I’d have made him promise that he wouldn't sing either. I’ll never make that mistake again.

We ordered dinner and then Grayson asked to see the song catalog. (This is where he’d shown me the Post Shower Avery and Grayson list.) He told that we needed a song to add to that list, then made me randomly open the catalog and point with my eyes closed. Whatever song my finger landed on would become “our” song.

“Ring My Bell” by Anita Ward.

I laughed. It was funny. But then Grayson made his way to the stage and I stopped laughing. I knew what he was going to do, and I felt like crawling under the table to hide. First, he apologized to the crowd for what was about to happen, but explained that the song he was about to sing was “our” song and he just had to sing it for me.

Oh my gosh! Grayson didn't just sing that song. He performed it like a pro! He danced around the stage belting out the song in his best falsetto. He made a complete fool of himself, but he did it for me. To make me laugh. He did it to level the playing field between us so that I wouldn't be so intimidated by him or feel like such a geek around him. And once I got over the horror of everyone looking at me, it worked. He looked like the biggest dork ever up there. I can’t believe he sacrificed his own dignity just to make me feel less shy around him. It was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.

I laughed until there were tears in my eyes, and “Ring My Bell” is definitely now “our” song. Forever. Kind of like “showering together” and “smiley face stickers” are “our” things. (He’d added both of those things to the list before he’d picked me up tonight.)

The ridiculousness didn't stop there either. Grayson took us all around the city on this strange sort of scavenger hunt to acquire a bunch of “things.” Among other things, chocolate milkshakes, pennies that you smash into souvenirs, and llamas are all now our things too. Yes, I said llamas! I knew we had a llama farm here in Spanish Fork, but I’d never been to it. Neither had Grayson, so he said it was the perfect place to make “our place” since we could experience it for the first time together. Did you know you can rent llamas? When Grayson learned that he freaked out. He insists that once it warms up we are going to go hiking together on llamas!

“I’ve got news for you, Aves. When a guy says he wants to take you out in the name of science, he’s totally full of it. He really just wants to take you out.”

“But you’ve taken me out like a million times for the experiment. You kissed me once in the name of science.”

“Exactly.”

~Kelly Oram, The Avery Shaw Experiment

Be sure to catch all of the entries from the Avery Shaw Diaries!

June 3rd -- "I See London, I See France" (Avery) -- Colorimetry
June 4th -- "Purging" (Grayson) -- Reading Teen
June 5th -- "Too Hot To Handle" (Avery) -- I Am A Reader, Not A Writer
June 6th -- "Self Control, Or Lack Thereof" (Grayson) -- Book Passion For Life
June 7th -- "Most Definitely A Real Date" (Grayson) -- Confessions of a Bookaholic
June 8th -- "Post Shower Avery And Grayson Things" (Avery) -- A Life Bound By Books

About the Author:

Kelly Oram wrote her first novel at age fifteen–a fan fiction about her favorite music group, The Backstreet Boys, for which family and friends still tease her. She's obsessed with reading, talks way too much, and loves to eat frosting by the spoonful. She lives outside of Phoenix, Arizona with her husband and four children.

Find Kelly Online:

Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

GIVEAWAY!!!
               
Have a soft spot for Grayson? Good news, you have a chance to hear from him personally! Avery loved the diary Grayson made her so much that Grayson decided to make another one for one very lucky fan. Enter the giveaway below for a chance to win your very own personalized Secret Grayson Kennedy Love Diary, complete with a personal letter/journal entry from Grayson himself! The winner of the diary will also receive some Kelly Oram bookmarks and a signed Avery Shaw Experiment mini-poster. (roughly 8"x11") Five other lucky winners will also receive signed Avery Shaw Experiment mini-posters.

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3 comments:

  1. Hilarious excerpt! I had to look up the song ring my bell but once I listened to it I couldn't stop smiling at the thought of Grayson singing it. :)

    If I could ask Grayson one question, what would it be? hmm how many girls has he really dated? this would get him in trouble but I could imagine him charming his way out of this. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Grayson, what on Earth caused you to know how to sing the song Ring My Bell?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Grayson, if you knew what you know about Avery now, would you have become her friend first before her brother?

    ReplyDelete

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