WORD for Teens

Young Adult Literature: The Class (Day 2)

2012-02-18T09:00:00.019-05:00

"I read about nerds, because I was one, but I was one because I read about them."

We kicked off class by talking about young adult literature as a genre now. (Like, right this very second. And this second. And the next few seconds as well, just to make sure.)

When we were asked what we read and why, the following was said:

"It could have bad grammar or poor styling, but if the characters were good..."

"Covers were, a lot of times, what attracted me to books."

"Who wants the pretty popular girl to get the guy? We want the underdog!"

"[The books I was reading] had a romanticized view of death. ... what the hell was I thinking!? [Death] isn't romantic!"

"Nobody told me what I should read. I wish I had been on better terms with my librarian!"

" 'I wanna be an adult!' I didn't want to be a teenager, even if the characters [in the adult books I was reading] were my age."

We came to the conclusions that a lot of people read as a form of escapism from the world around them. It works to their benefit, and it can help educate with a strange form of wisdom - it teaches us without being overly didactic. (Good literature should disrupt our way of thinking, or make us think!)

We also talked about how we all got our books from the library. (Libraries, my class is sending a lot of lovin' your way!)

The professor also talked about the "four major players" in creating young adult literature:

librarians (the new generation, not the old grumpy ones who have never read YA)
publishers
booksellers
authors

And how, conspicuously absent, is the best player of all: the reader. Our opinion is often discounted because, unlike adults, we can't be both the ideal reader and the publisher or the bookseller or the librarian.

Thankfully, the internet is changing that. (Apparently we'll be looking at how teenagers review things on Amazon, etc., and how that can change what's being put out. Eek!)

We also mentioned, briefly, about how the genre as a whole seems to be character based and issue driven. YA lit tends to talk about a social problem, and the characters are always teenagers. (Unlike in adult literature, where you can have teenage protagonists.)

Next week, we start discussing Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly, both as an historical artifact (what was life like then? the writing style?) and as a piece of literature ("formal features and thematic content")!

A Question For The Comments:

What books did you read as a teen? (Or, if you still are a teen, what are you reading now?) Why? How did you get access to them? Why were you drawn/repelled to them? What purpose did it/does it have in your social, emotional, and intellectual development?

Did you miss a class?
(Syllabus)
(Day 1)

Feature Friday: Bookcase (66)

2012-02-17T15:00:00.001-05:00

Who said storage had to be boring?

“The earth and tree” | inspired by the song Under the spreading chestnut tree. Beneath the tree, within it’s roots, lies a town of oddities and fun items.

Spoon-Tamago posted about this a while back, and it's kind of awesome. It's a tree and books. What it WAS and what it IS. It's symbolic! Or something.

Friday Fronts - Chosen Ones

2012-02-17T09:00:00.000-05:00

I don't like it.

I mean, it's a fine cover visually; the colors balance, the fonts are nice, blahblahblah. I just don't like it on a personal level. It seems like there's a lot of text (if you're going to put the series name on the cover, don't put a slogan!), and as cool as the photo is, it just seems really weird to me. The main character in the story probably doesn't lie down in that really weird angle, so why have the model do it? That's a photoshoot, not a story.

I dunno. Something irks me about it.

What do you guys think?

Book Trailers (11)

2012-02-16T09:00:00.002-05:00

Here we go!

So Silver Bright by Lisa Mantchev

It's not PERFECT. But it does fit the series amazingly well, I think; it captures the overall feel and the characters. I can't put my finger on what I dislike - maybe the voice-over? But it is fun to watch!

A Wrinkle In Time (50th Anniversary) by Madeliene L'Engle

Love love love love love adorable cute love that's all.

What do you think about it?

Waiting on Wednesday: Gilt

2012-02-15T09:00:00.008-05:00

Because we all have something we're waiting for.

Gilt
Author: Katherine Longshore
Series: ---
Release Date: 15 May 2012

In the Tudor age, ambition, power and charismatic allure are essential and Catherine Howard has plenty of all three. Not to mention her loyal best friend, Kitty Tylney, to help cover her tracks. Kitty, the abandoned youngest daughter of minor aristocracy, owes everything to Cat – where she is, what she is, even who she is. Friend, flirt, and self-proclaimed Queen of Misrule, Cat reigns supreme in a loyal court of girls under the none-too-watchful eye of the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk.

When Cat worms her way into the heart of Henry VIII and becomes Queen of England, Kitty is thrown into the intoxicating Tudor Court. It’s a world of glittering jewels and elegant costumes, of gossip and deception. As the Queen’s right-hand-woman, Kitty goes from the girl nobody noticed to being caught between two men – the object of her affection and the object of her desire.

But the atmosphere of the court turns from dazzling to deadly, and Kitty is forced to learn the difference between trust and loyalty, love and lust, secrets and treason. And to accept the consequences when some lessons are learned too late.

I want ALL the historical fiction!

No, seriously. All you have to do is throw me a novel with some serious court politics and I'm in love (so long as, of course, the character gets her happy ending. What? I'm a sap for historical happy endings).

And Kitty sounds like she has the potential to be a kick ass character.

On an unrelated note, does the cover remind anybody else of Snow White?

Purge

2012-02-14T09:00:00.002-05:00

Purge
Author: Sarah Darer Littman
Series: ---
Publisher: Scholastic
How Received: publisher ARC

Janie Ryman hates throwing up. So why does she binge eat and then stick her fingers down her throat several times a day? That’s what the doctors and psychiatrists at Golden Slopes hope to help her discover. But first Janie must survive everyday conflicts between the Barfers and the Starvers, attempts by the head psychiatrist to fish painful memories out of her emotional waters, and shifting friendships and alliances among the kids in the ward.

Littman's Purge is a surprisingly fast read for a book that handles a heavy emotional impact; this is partly because Janie's voice is so very distinct, and partly because it is, in fact, a rather small book.

That's not a bad thing - in the small span of time, it manages to present the bulimia and anorexia as the diseases that they are and how exactly they manage to worm their way into people's lives. In terms of the actual presentation of eating disorders, Purge is fantastic.

As for the actual progression of healing - well, coming from a friend who suffered from anorexia, I'd say that Janie goes through the healing process really quickly, especially compared to everybody else in the novel. But I think that's part of the point: that you can be strong and you can overcome even when nobody else around you can or when it seems like life sucks and nobody's paying attention.

So for that reason, I liked Purge. It gives a good example of the disease and it has a fairly inspirational message.

And I also like it because of Janie's voice - despite all her flaws, she's a fun character. She's got her own quirky sense of humor and ends up dropping a lot of lines that are extremely quotable.

Besides, I have to like Purge. It has my favorite final line of any book I've ever read.

Because once you've faced down a plate of cucumbers and won, anything is possible.

Overall Rating & Final Comments: 7/10. A solid piece of fiction that does a good job at capturing eating disorders; however, the character development is a bit rushed and takes away a bit from the story.
Littman's Purge or Anderson's Wintergirls?: You can ask me to pick between Wintergirls and any other novel on eating disorders and I'll always pick Wintergirls. It's beautifully written and captures the struggle with eating disorders so brilliantly. (And since it saved my best friend's life, I'm always biased.)

Thoughts On: Brain candy, "not good writing" and the proper way to enjoy a book.

2012-02-13T09:00:00.008-05:00

A few months ago, one of my friends said that she didn't enjoy The Hunger Games because it wasn't "good writing" and that she didn't understand why people didn't see that. It was a passing comment in a conversation about books; it wasn't meant to spark a discussion or anything.

But it got me thinking, and I've been chewing over that comment for quite some time.

I have a few problems with it, the first being: who are you to decide what is good writing and what isn't?

I mean, yes, there's all the general classifications of good writing: proper grammar, character development, plot structure, you know the bit. (This is why people can easily argue that Twilight isn't good writing. If you don't believe me, I present to you Reasoning With Vampires.) The Hunger Games has all of those things, so technically, it is good writing.

Was it because you didn't connect to the characters or because they didn't stand alone? Katniss is supposed to be a bit of an empty shell after everything she's gone through and goes through; I've always been under the impression that you're supposed to root for her without really understanding her or connecting with her.

But then, if that's it, why would you say it wasn't good writing?

Or why would you say that other people didn't see that and therefore, like you, shouldn't enjoy a book?

Not every book is going to have exquisite writing. The young adult genre, like every other genre of literature, is a perfect example of that. We can't all be John Green and Libba Bray and Ellen Hopkins; we're going to have things that aren't great and don't stand out and are, in all essence, brain candy.

And you know what? I love brain candy. It's some of my favorite stuff to read. I've been reading silly fluffy romance novels since the beginning of high school, and they have some great character development and everything that makes good writing, and even though they're not oh-my-god amazing in terms of actual writing, I love 'em. They make me smile.

If a book can make you smile, or make you cheer for something, or make you feel something you wouldn't have otherwise done, it's doing it's job. And like everything in life, it's subjective.

So there is no proper way to enjoy a book. What you like and the reasons you like something aren't going to be the same way somebody else likes something and the same reasons they like it. True, people tend to group if they think the same, but nobody thinks the same thoughts all the time.

Imagine how boring a society that would be.

So if somebody tells you that you can't like something because it's bad writing, ignore them. Banish the phrase guilty pleasure from your vocabulary, because if it makes you happy, you shouldn't feel guilty about it. Even if if the writing is "not good." Even if it's stereotypical brain candy.

Because there is no proper way to enjoy a book, and if you like something, you better not let them stop you from enjoying it.

Young Adult Literature: The Class (Day 1)

2012-02-11T09:00:00.036-05:00

When I told you guys that I was taking a young adult literature class, a lot of you were interested in seeing what we talked about, learned about, discussed - you get the idea. And since I got permission from the professor to talk about, I decided, well, why not blog about it?

I'll be recapping each day of classes about two weeks after they happen. (Hence why this one is so belated from the start of my school year!) It's only because I set up blog posts in advance, though.

So every time you see a Young Adult Literature: The Class post, you should click on it, because it's looking at young adult literature as it should be looked at: a literary genre.

Let us begin.

__________________________________________

"Young adult literature isn't a genre people take seriously, which will be our first obstacle to overcome."

First day spent going over the syllabus and being let out early? Not if you're in this class. We jumped straight into trying to define young adult literature!

Students came up to the board and wrote down what they thought each individual word meant in the phrase "young adult literature."

Young: new(er), not aged, developing, ignorant, knowledge without experience, naive, innocent, inexperienced
Adult: status of an individual above 18, next level of maturity beyond adolescence, matured, grown, responsible, socially obligated
Literature: work or text of writing designed to capture the human experience from a particular point of view, writing with a level of sophistication, writing that provokes emotion, canonical works of writing

A lot of discussion was had about who actually defines an adult. Sure, the government defines it as an eighteen year old, but not all adults are "matured" and "responsible." Eighteen year olds can go to war, smoke, vote and win the lotto - but is there that magical moment when they become adult? They're liberated from parents, but still obligated to society.

Perhaps young adult comes from teenagers no longer being completely ignorant and having that knowledge without experience. They might not know how to handle the world around them, but they're beginning to learn. They're no longer "innocent" - they're being exposed to sex, abuse, relationships, and things that wreck havoc with emotions.

And then, of course, all of this tied into literature.

Professor: "[YA is seen as] trash, an immature form of writing for immature students... we'll analyze things seriously that aren't taken seriously, and if you have a problem with that, get over it. I'm not going to pretend The Hunger Games is "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," because it's a different genre. But we're still going to analyze critically, because there is a great benefit to that."

You can see why I like her. (She also describes young adult lit as "plot driven narratives [that are] pretty engaging.")

The literature we'll be reading will be looked at both as a literature and as historical artifacts to trace the development of the genre from it's start during WWII to now, as well as who determines the genre and how they choose things.

Young adult history moment: The genre first emerged during WWII. It embodied the beginning of a psychological that students didn't just jump from children to adults. With more students staying in school due to the Great Depression, the youth culture emerged and the psychology along with it - and the demographic that started the genre.

Worthwhile Quotes from the Readings:
Fitzgerald, "Influence of Anxiety"

YA literature is, as one historian remarked, something of a secret garden, or a ghetto. Parents know about children's literature, but they don't often read their older kids' books.

YA literature is marvelously various - almost dizzingly so - but it has some distinct limitations. For one thing, publishers and librarians define YA literature not as all books that might appeal to teens but specifically as books with teen protagonists and teen perspectives.

In fact, fantasy seems to be the repository for all the story types that cannot, or simply do not, exist in other YA genres.

"We have to give kids hope," one YA specialist explained.

Sutton is surely right that kids read like adults.

Daniels, "Literary Theory and Young Adult Literature" [link]

Some still believe that YA literature is merely a secondary category of child-like storytelling - didactic in nature - and unworthy of serious literary evaluation, when, in fact, it is really an overlooked and underappreciated literary genre...

What would help in this regard would be not only for critics to recognize the difference between the genres, but to simply acknowledge that regardless of genre, both children's and YA works are literature.

"If we're going to call it literature, whether or not we preface the word with the young adult qualifier, then... we should hold it to the standards of literature."

Did you miss a class?:
(Syllabus)

Would you like me to keep doing these? I do have to take notes for the class anyway, so if you guys liked this, I'll keep going. If not, well... they may crop up anyway. I like making them. Hehehe.

Feature Friday: Bookcase (65)

2012-02-10T15:00:00.000-05:00

Who said storage had to be boring?

Bookworm Blondie originally posted this on Tumblr; I know I posted something like it a while back, but I can't help my love of circle bookcases! And seeing as this one's part window, and it looks like you could convert it into a place to sit... it's awesome.

What do you think?

Friday Fronts - Destiny's Fire

2012-02-10T09:00:00.001-05:00

Ah, Destiny's Fire. I can't talk about the official cover without talking about the original cover, can I?

Destiny's Fire has one official cover, but before that happened, they released THIS. And nobody wanted THIS, and it's clear why.

It looks like somebody threw together a bunch of photoshop things, smacked some text on, and went, "Here, we have a cover!" There's no thought that went into it; the colors are icky; the cover, sadly, just doesn't appeal.

But hey, they fixed it to this!

I like it a lot - I like how they incorporated the steampunk elements. I don't understand the pose that the girl is in, but I'll let it slide in exchange for the corset/goggles. The text is incorporated MUCH better.

But it's a lot less gender-neutral than the first one is; I'm all for wanting boys to pick up covers with are pink, but you could have stuck with the blues and made it a little more friendly to those who aren't exactly inclined towards pink.

Also, as I hate the color pink on covers anyway, it makes me wrinkle my nose a bit.

What do you think?

Between Here and Forever

2012-02-09T09:00:00.001-05:00

Between Here and Forever
Author: Elizabeth Scott
Series: ---
Publisher: Simon Pulse
How Received: publisher ARC

Abby accepted that she can’t measure up to her beautiful, magnetic sister Tess a long time ago, and knows exactly what she is: Second best. Invisible.

Until the accident.

Now Tess is in a coma, and Abby’s life is on hold. It may have been hard living with Tess, but it's nothing compared to living without her.

She's got a plan to bring Tess back though, involving the gorgeous and mysterious Eli, but then Abby learns something about Tess, something that was always there, but that she’d never seen.

Abby is about to find out that truth isn't always what you think it is, and that life holds more than she ever thought it could...

Considering that the novel I read before this was The Fault In Our Stars, I enjoyed Between Here and Forever much more than I expected to.

It's not that I didn't expect to like it; I do enjoy Elizabeth Scott's writing (her darker works more than her contemporary fluff), but I didn't know which way this novel would swing, and normally I have little tolerance for characters who don't think that they're as awesome as they are.

Normally because I want to shake them until they realize that they're fabulous, just like I do with some of my friends who have the same problem, but that's not the point.

However, Between Here and Forever ended up being a happy medium of Scott's works. It deals with serious issues, but balances it out with just the right amount of teenage relationship angst/fluff. The plot itself isn't that difficult to figure out - I knew who would end up with who and the big plot twist involving Tessa by the end of the third chapter - but it's worth hanging in there just to see Abby's character develop.

I adored Eli, though I wish he wasn't OMIGODthemostgorgeousmantowalktheplanet. (Though considering he wasn't the stereotypical white boy, I can see why he would come across as the most gorgeous man to walk the planet, especially in a town like that.) His character development was absolutely fabulous as well.

The best character, by far, was Clement. But I'll let you read the book and enjoy him (and his hilarious comments) yourself.

Overall Rating & Final Comments: 8/10. Predictable; mostly a fluff read, but great character development and an overall enjoyable story.

Has anybody else read this? What did you think?

Waiting on Wednesday: Slated

2012-02-08T09:00:00.000-05:00

Because we all have something we're waiting for.

Slated
Author: Teri Terry
Series: Slated (#1)
Release Date: 3 May 2012

Sixteen-year-old Kyla has been 'slated': all of her past memories erased, her entire personality wiped blank. She has been assigned a new name, a new date of birth and even new parents. The government that did this to her claim she was a terrorist, and that she has been given a second chance. But Kyla knows that the government has been lying. Without her memories, how will Kyla ever find the truth? And if her old self is really and truly dead, then what are the terrifying images that still haunt her dreams?

Despite having the most arguably horrid name in the history of author names, I'm interested in Teri Terry's new book. (Seriously, who names their child that!? I hope it's a pen name, or that poor childhood...)

I like the sound of the novel, though. It reminds me of an inverted version of the movie HANNA that came out a while back (at least from the trailers; I never saw the movie). I just hope that Kyla will end up kicking ass and taking names.

Guest Post: Erin Cashman (The Exceptionals) & Giveaway

2012-02-07T09:00:00.009-05:00

This giveaway is over.
As a reader, you may also love to write. I have written for as long as I can remember, and have taken several creative writing classes. But the single most important thing I did to improve my writing was to become a more active reader.

Now, whenever I read a book, whether curled up in a chair or in bed before I go to sleep (my nightly ritual), I have my green 3 ring binder handy. When I come across a phrase or description that is beautiful, unique, interesting, I stop, and try to take something away from it. For example, in describing a first kiss, it’s so easy to write “she had butterflies in her stomach”.

The reader immediately knows how the character is feeling. But when a writer falls back on clichés, the writer is telling the reader the information. It is much harder, but far more effective, to find a new way to convey the mood or emotion. Consider how J.K. Rowling describes Harry’s first kiss in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix:

“He could not think. A tingling sensation was spreading throughout him, paralyzing his arms, legs, and brain.”

When a writer effectively uses a fresh way to describe something, I stop and try to come up with my own way to express it – which I scribble down. Now when I’m writing – and I use it even more often during re-writes -- I have my notebook with me, and I reference it often.

This system also works for descriptive words -- I jot down adjectives and verbs I like. In the back of the notebook I have a few pages devoted just to action verbs. How many times can I write ran, darted, bolted... ? But now I can quickly look and find thundered, side-stepped, squeezed, pranced, trundled along...

Recently I’ve focused more on character descriptions, and again, I will refer to the incredible J.K. Rowling. A trick she sometimes uses is to compare her characters to animals. For example, in The Half-Blood Prince, she compares Rufus Scrimgeour to an old lion (his name even sounds lion-like!) She writes:

“There were streaks of gray in his mane of tawny hair and his bushy eyebrows; he had keen yellowish eyes behind a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles and a certain rangy, loping grace even though he walked with a slight limp…”

What a fabulous introduction to the new Minister of Magic! The reader can easily conjure up Scrimgeour in their minds, and we also know that he is a commanding presence by the very fact that she compares him to a lion.

So if you like to write, try to become a more active reader; jot things down that pique your interest. And even if you don’t write, I find that when I notice the nuances of a book more closely, I often enjoy it more (although I will warn you -- it does take longer to read it!)

Erin Cashman grew up in Framingham, Massachusetts. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Bates College in Maine and from Boston College Law School. She lives in Massachusetts with my husband, three children, and their dog. The Exceptionals is her first novel.

In a famous family of exceptionally talented people, fifteen-year-old Claire Walker is ordinary . . . or so she leads everyone to believe. Yet the minute she steps out of line, her parents transfer her to Cambial Academy: the prestigious boarding school that her great-grandfather founded for students with supernatural abilities, or “specials”. Although Claire can’t see ghosts or move objects with her mind like the other students, she does have a special she considers too lame to admit: she can hear the thoughts of animals.

Just as she is settling in, one by one the most talented students – the Exceptionals – go missing. In an attempt to find out what happened to them, Claire uncovers a dark prophecy involving a plot to destroy Cambial and a mysterious girl who can communicate with a hawk. Could she be that girl? Does the gorgeous but secretive boy she meets in the woods know more than he is letting on? After years of ignoring her special gift, Claire decides the time has come to embrace her ability... before it’s too late.

Want to win a copy of Erin Cashman's The Exceptionals? Just fill out the form below!

Quick Recap:
[1] signed copy of The Exceptionals up for grabs
[several] signed postcards up for grabs
[1] winner
ends February 14

How To Win:
[mandatory] fill out the form below
[mandatory] follow WORD

A Celebration of A Wrinkle In Time (50 Years, 50 Days, 50 Blogs)

2012-02-06T09:00:00.020-05:00

I first read A Wrinkle In Time back in, oh, middle school? Maybe even before that. There's just always been a copy of it floating around in my life. I can't remember there not being one in the house. (Seriously. I finally realized I wouldn't reread the entire series, only the first one, so I packed them all up - I do hate to seperate full series! - and gave them to a friend. Lo and behold, the next day, the 50th Anniversary edition came in the mail.)

So I've seen a whole bunch of covers for A Wrinkle in Time. I've seen different designs on the inside of the book, and I've seen different quotes emphasized on the backs, depending on who put it out and when and what the trend was at the time and yadayada.

So when the tour asked me to be a part of "Expressions" week, I knew I wanted to do something with the covers. (And I tried a cover redesign at first, but let's face it, the 50th one is so good, and I can only do so much without Photoshop!) And then I thought about recasting the (terrible) movie (that I have a soft spot for), and that didn't work because nobody I could think of was young enough.

And I thought and I thought and I thought about how quotable the book is and how excellently I love the covers and how every time I see Madeleine l'Engle's face I smile.

And then, bam! This.

But what I love most about the covers is that each of them is so different. So appealing to a different group of people. Sucking individuals who wouldn't normally pick up a sci-fi/fantasy story and dragging them in and daring them to love it. (And we do, because who couldn't?)

Maybe I'm just rambling out of sheer love of the book. (Maybe my lack of Photoshop has finally driven me crazy. Maybe my abuse of the parenthesis in this post has driven me nuts.)

Either way, you should read it if you haven't. You'll find a spot in the book that suits you, a quote, a memorable moment. Or maybe you'll just fall in love with the cover.

Oh, and for those of you who are actually curious about the 50 Year Anniversary edition of the book... here.

The 50th Anniversary Commemorative edition features:
• Frontispiece photo*†
• Photo scrapbook with approximately 10 photos*†
• Manuscript pages*†
• Letter from 1963 Caldecott winner, Ezra Jack Keats*†
• New introduction by Katherine Paterson, US National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature †
• New afterword by Madeleine L’Engle’s granddaughter Charlotte Voiklis including six never-before-seen photos †
• Murry-O’Keefe family tree with new artwork †
• Madeleine L’Engle’s Newbery acceptance speech

* Unique to this edition † never previously published

In which I redirect you.

2012-02-05T13:00:00.000-05:00

This will be an awfully short blog post, because I'm simply redirecting you to an interview with me.

Yes! Katie from Katie's Book Blog is doing a Blogger Interview series, and today is me. I talk about my favorite book, my indecision, how WORD started, and what my life is like.

Click here to check it out.

I Am Morgan le Fay

2012-02-04T09:00:00.003-05:00

I Am Morgan le Fay
Author: Nancy Springer
Series: A Tale from Camelot
Publisher: Puffin
How Received: gift

Morgan is a willful, mischievous girl with mismatched eyes of emerald and violet. A girl of magic, whose childhood ends when King Uther Pendragon murders her father and steals away her mother. Then Pendragon dies and, in a warring country with no one to claim the throne, there are many who want Morgan dead. But Morgan has power, and magic. She is able to change the course of history, to become other, to determine her own fate-and, thus the fate of Britain. She will become Morgan le Fay.

I've been on a huge Arthurian legend kick lately; I've been reading young adult novels, adult novels, collections of short stories, classic literature - anything I can get my hands on that involves Arthurian legend. Hell, I'm even working my way through a book that uses historical evidence to prove that Arthur himself was a real person. (Arthur's Britain by Leslie Alcock, if you're interested.)

That being said, I liked this interpretation of Morgana's character. (Yes, yes, I know her name is Morgan, and in a lot of the tales she's Morgan, but I prefer Morgana so much more. Sounds a bit more mystical, don't ya think?) She became the strong sorceress that she's supposed to be, with a strong spirit and fingers dipped in evil, but she's still likeable.

[SPOILER ALERT] I won't lie; her childish streak got a bit annoying at times, especially given her situation. You spend three years with fairy-folk and you haven't learned a thing? But the epilogue does clarify that, though she senses her fate, she does give Arthur a fair chance at earning her loyalty - all she wanted was to be treated as an equal, and since he could not do that, she could not accept him as king. [END SPOILER ALERT]

I like the way Morgause was presented, and I'm curious as to what would have happened had Springer written another novel involving her. Given the string fate has wrapped around her and Arthur, her family, and her own seemingly placid personality (though there's strength under there), it would be interesting to see into her mind a bit.

Final Comments: It's an interesting take on Morgana; if you want to start taking a peek into various bits of Arthurian literature, I'd take a look at this. Fans of BBC's MERLIN might want to pick it up as well - though that Morgana has a different backstory, I can see this one fitting her quite well!
Cover Comments: Ick ew no. There's too much muddle of colors. I did a cover redesign for this (and I Am Mordred) over at the WORD for Teens Tumblr using the characters' from BBC's Merlin, if you're interested.

Have you read this or any of Springer's other books? Have any YA recommendations of Arthurian literature for me?

Feature Friday: Bookcase (64)

2012-02-03T15:00:00.000-05:00

Who said storage had to be boring?

I accidentally found this on Etsy; it was created by somebody named stellabluedesigns. I kind of really adore it, actually; she makes other ones that come in all various sizes, and I think they would look really cool in a super industrial looking kitchen or something. I dunno. It just seems awesome to me.

What do you think?

Friday Fronts - Bird

2012-02-03T09:00:00.005-05:00

Can we talk about how gorgeous this cover is?

First, let's just address that the cover is actually relevant to the book. There's no girl who doesn't look like the main character; there's no photography of random things; there's no weird poses. It's a beautiful painting of a place that's actually in the book.

Secondly, just - it's just pretty. The shadow coming in and beginning to steal over the house; the kite flying away; the trees; the house; the simple font.

I love it.

Thoughts on: Television for the Bibliophile

2012-02-02T09:00:00.039-05:00

I love a good story no matter where it is. Of course, as a biblophile, books are my first love. I do love television, though.

Here are some television shows I'd recommend to us book-lovers looking for a new show!

For the contemporary lover...
CASTLE

Quick summary: Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) shadows Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) as research for his mystery novels.

CASTLE is one of my favorite shows. From a pure plot point of view, it's absolutely fantastic - though each episode works as it's own standalone case, the overarching plotlines (which include the big one of Beckett's mother's case and the smaller ones, like Alexis trying to figure out college and Castle working on publishing a new book) are so well put together that it's astounding - as is the continuity of it! The character development is fantabulous, and the writing is hilarious and excellent.

And the acting, the acting! It's bloody brilliant. (Stana Katic needs to win ALL THE AWARDS, though no awards show seems to realize this. Actually, the entire cast does.)

For the mystery/classic lover...
SHERLOCK

Quick summary: In this modern day retelling of Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) meets John Watson (Martin Freeman) and they end up living together and aiding the London police force.

THIS SHOW. This show. I feel all the emotions when I watch this show. The writing is absolutely fantastic; it really sticks true to the original Sherlock tales. (Unlike the Robert Downey Jr. ones: though I love those, they turn Sherlock into an action figure, not, you know, Sherlock.) The acting is absolutely stellar.

The great thing is that every episode is an hour and a half long, so even though there are only three episodes per season, they're like mini feature films!

For the science-fiction lover...
DOCTOR WHO

Quick summary: A nine hundred year old Time Lord travels through time and space in a public police call box with a slew of Companions.

Um. Yeah. It's really hard to explain DOCTOR WHO really quickly, because it's all spacey-wacey timey-wimey. But it's worth watching if you like science-fiction (or even fantasy), because it's just bloody fantastic. It's quotable, it's lovable, it's excellently well put together. The plots are oh-my-god amazing, and the acting is stellar.

Besides, it's British. That makes it awesome.

For the fairy tale lover...
ONCE UPON A TIME

Quick summary: Thanks to a curse, all of the fairy tale characters have been trapped in our world in a town called Storybrooke, and only Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison) can save them.

I love this show. It's brand new - the first season isn't even finished yet - but it's quickly become one of my favorite shows. The overarching plotline is tied together so well with all of the little individual episodes about the fairy tale characters that I can't help but flail and squee with love.

And the acting! The symbolism! The adorable cast!

And, you know, Rumplestiltskin. I have no idea what he's planning, but damn, do I want to know.

For the medieval romance lover...
MERLIN

Quick summary: Merlin (Colin Morgan) is a young man whose destiny is to protect the future King Arthur (Bradley James). In a world where magic is prohibited, that isn't easy.

I have all the feels about this show. It's amazingly well done, even if it is silly sometimes and cliche.

But Colin Morgan and Katie McGrath - Merlin and Morgana - make me feel all the feels. They're both brilliant actors and I ship their characters SO MUCH but it'll never happen because all of my favorite ships are doomed to hate each other or die.

ONE DAY I will have a ship I can enjoy peacefully. (Oh. Wait. That's what Castle is for!)

I'd also recommend GAME OF THRONES for fantasy lovers and DOWNTON ABBEY for historical lovers, but I haven't watched either of them... so... hmm. What would you recommend?

Interview: Jessica Spotswood (Born Wicked)

2012-02-01T09:00:00.004-05:00

Swinging by today is Jessica Spotswood, author of the debut novel Born Wicked!

Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they're witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship—or an early grave.

Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with only six months left to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word . . . especially after she finds her mother's diary, uncovering a secret that could spell her family's destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra.

If what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren't safe. Not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood—not even from each other.

Doesn't it sound destructively dangerous? I'm excited to read it!

Nicole: Welcome to WORD, Jessica! What was the hardest or your least favorite part (if you have one!) about writing Born Wicked?
Jessica Spotswood: I think the hardest part was not losing faith in myself. My previous manuscript secured me an awesome agent but didn’t sell. I felt in my heart of hearts that Born Wicked was better, that it was the very best I could do at the time, and I loved it. But you never know. I was a little melodramatic sometimes. “If this book isn’t good enough either, what will I doooo? I will probably diiiiie.” (Note: Actually, I would have eaten a lot of cookies and then written another one. That’s what writers do. But the Doubt Monsters are hard. They don’t go away after a book deal, either.)

N: What do you think of the cover?
JS: I love it! I think the girl on the cover looks very like Maura, the middle Cahill sister, with her bright-red hair and brilliant blue eyes.

N: Did any of the characters end up doing something that shocked you as you wrote it?
JS: Not in Born Wicked. In book two, Maura says several things that just poured out of her mouth, that are in line with how she’s feeling but are rather cruel. Also, the girls’ godmother Zara asks something of Cate that wasn’t in the outline, which was very much a surprise to both Cate and me.

N: Do you remember the moment you came up with the idea for Born Wicked?
JS: Yes! I had a dream about three sisters who were fighting over a magical locket from their mother. There’s no magical locket in BW, but the idea of writing about the complicated relationships between three sisters stuck.

N: If you could be transported into any Disney movie, which one would it be?
JS: Beauty & the Beast! I love the Beast’s library.

Don't Breathe A Word

2012-01-31T09:00:00.003-05:00

Don't Breathe A Word
Author: Holly Cupala
Series: ---
Publisher: HarperTeen
How Received: publisher copy

Joy Delamere is suffocating...

From asthma, which has nearly claimed her life. From her parents, who will do anything to keep that from happening. From delectably dangerous Asher, who is smothering her from the inside out.

Joy can take his words - tender words, cruel words - until the night they go too far.

Now, Joy will leave everything behind to find the one who has offered his help, a homeless boy called Creed. She will become someone else. She will learn to survive. She will breathe... if only she can get to Creed before it’s too late.

My little sister and I read vastly different literature. She sticks nearly solely to dark contemporary literature, while I like to stay with my fantasy and science-fiction. Every now and then, we flop and read something in the genre that the other loves - I usually do it unprompted, my sister upon my recommendation.

The moment I finished this book, I walked into her room, put it into her hands, and said, "Read this."

I liked this book a lot. Not enough to keep my copy and demand my sister get her own, but it is one of the best pieces of contemporary fiction that I've read in a very long time. Cupala manages to capture the emotion that teenagers experience when they're trapped in a situation that they can only see one way out of. From the first page, I pitied Joy - her weakness, her own entrapment, the birdcage she had set for herself. I hated Asher. I loved Neeta and how she kept trying to help Joy, even when Joy herself thought she was lost forever. I pitied May and how she kept getting sucked back into the same routine. I adored Creed and everything he stood for. And my love for Santos knows no bounds - though that may just be because he paralleled their lives to Jean Valjean in Les Miserables.

[SPOILER ALERT] For all the superamazingness that is most of the novel, the ending, of course, is a bit unrealistic. All of the characters get some variation of a happy ending or a comeuppance. The optimist in me loves that, and the reviewer in me goes, "Hey, that shouldn't have happened!" But my optimist keeps winning on this one. [END SPOILER ALERT]

Given how often library books were brought into the story, I'd love to recommend the fictional Joy one - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. With all the problems she had breaking out of her birdcage, I think she'd understand Jane, and how she was "no bird; and no net ensnared [her]; [she] was a free human being with an independent will."

Overall Rating & Final Comments: 9/10. Loved it and would most definitley recommend it to anybody looking for a great, (mostly) realistic contemporary read.
Cover Comments: PERFECT. Captures the mood of the book brilliantly.

Guest Post: Marie Lamba (Drawn) & Giveaway

2012-01-30T09:00:00.005-05:00

This giveaway is over.

Do Over!
How many times in your life do you get to reinvent yourself? To leave behind your past and become the person you really want to be?

For some of us, it can happen when we move to a new place or switch schools. Or maybe you simply decide that this is the moment when you will make a change in your life.

In my new paranormal YA novel Drawn, Michelle longs to escape her past and have a fresh start. As she says in this early scene from the book:

The two of us have only been in England for a few days, yet I’m already convinced it’s the best place in the universe. Not because of the quaint little shops or everyone’s adorable English accent, or even because of this supposedly grand castle on the edge of town. No. This place is perfect because here no one knows that back in New Jersey my family, the De Freccio’s, are called the De Freak-o’s.

Back in New Jersey, Michelle’s mother was an eccentric psychic who suddenly up and left the family without a trace. And her brother was a diagnosed schizophrenic. And Michelle had been friendless, an outcast. But in England, she hopes for a new life. A normal one.

Honestly, while writing Drawn I could really identify with Michelle’s do over moment. In elementary school a bunch of snotty girls used to push me around during recess, and it crushed my spirit. So in middle school, where lots of new kids filled the classrooms, it looked like a clear do-over moment to me.

But reputations tend to cling to a person, so it was pretty rocky for me at first. Those nasty kids still were in my school, even though their power was now diluted. Still I was too self-conscious and too worried about what I said and wore and how people looked at me.

Now looking back I can see the real problem wasn’t those girls, it was what I carried inside myself: the loser image I wanted to ditch, but that on some level I’d bought into. What if they were right about me?

In the novel, Michelle may have left her past behind, but her insecurities have come along for the ride:

I get that familiar hot burn of humiliation. I always felt it whenever someone back in New Jersey would pull a trick on me, convincing me that I really was invited to a party, or that science class was actually meeting out near the woods on the edge of school grounds. I discovered I was an easy mark. Too trusting, too eager for friends.

I’d promised myself that those days were over. But here, an ocean away from New Jersey, it’s starting all over again. It’s like I’ve got a permanent “KICK ME” note stuck on my back.

Luckily for me, by the end of middle school I did have friends. I was liked. I remember wondering, why? It mystified me. Wasn’t I the same person who was so looked down on earlier?

In the novel, when things start looking up for Michelle, it mystifies her too:

I sigh, realizing I’ve disappointed my friends. I blink a few times, as this all sinks in. I’ve just turned down an “in” with the popular kids. And I actually have friends. It seems that by simply moving to a new place, I’ve somehow climbed out of my social wasteland. I think of all the high school kids in the world who are teased and shunned. They should all have the chance to move and start over—kind of like a witness protection program, but for outcasts.

Actually, I believe there is a sort of relocation program for anyone who needs it. And you don’t need an airline ticket to England to get there. It’s not a place, but a state of mind deep within ourselves. Michelle started to have friends not because she moved but because she had already begun to change inside. To trust others and have more faith in herself. She truly wasn’t that same person anymore. And that’s what happened to me, too, in a way. I’d started to genuinely feel good about myself and to open up to people more and that made all the difference.

Of course nothing is simple, and real change doesn’t happen overnight. You don’t just wake up one morning and DING! Everything is all butterflies and happy songs. It takes time to gain inner strength and for those better choices in what you do and who you hang out with to all gel and reshape your days into the life you truly want. For me, it was a process of feeling better about myself and discovering what was most important to me. It did take time, but by the end of high school I felt like really strong, really happy.

Michelle does a lot of incredibly brave things in the book, but to me, she is most courageous when she owns up to this:

Maybe I am a fool. Maybe Christopher doesn’t love me. But that doesn’t mean I’m not in love with him…

It’s a huge risk, trusting that this is enough. And it propels Michelle into a life threatening struggle where she puts everything on the line. But in the end, trusting her own feelings opens Michelle up to true friendship and to true love.

Taking risks and believing in yourself. It’s the bravest thing you can ever do, and what do overs are all about. So believe!

Marie Lamba is author of acclaimed young adult novels including What I Meant… (Random House), Over My Head, and Drawn. When she isn’t writing or trying to reinvent herself, she’s working as an Associate Literary Agent at The Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency in NYC.

Teen artist Michelle De Freccio moves to England in search of a normal life...instead she finds a hot medieval ghost with a sketchy past.

It all begins when a strange guy appears in Michelle's drawings. When she actually meets him at the town’s castle, she's unmistakably drawn to him. But something is definitely not right. For starters, he wears medieval garb, talks of ancient murders and tends to disappear each time they kiss.

Could he possibly be a ghost? Could Michelle be losing her mind? Or has she simply uncovered a love so timeless it’s spanned the centuries…

Would you like to WIN an e-book copy of Drawn!? Just fill out the form below!

Quick Recap:
[1] e-book of Drawn by Marie Lamba up for grabs
[1] international winner
ends February 6

How To Win:
[mandatory] fill out the form below
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Thoughts On: Love triangles and DNF books

2012-01-28T09:00:00.004-05:00

I've realized something lately.

The last few books I haven't finished haven't been because I didn't like the characters. Actually, in the case of Glow's Waverly and Fracture's Delaney, I actually really liked the characters.

And yes, yes, yes, before all you Fracture lovers start jumping on me that it's NOT A LOVE TRIANGLE!!1!!111!!eleven!!!, I understand that it doesn't end up being a love triangle, that Delaney understands she has a weird connection based on whatever happened to her brain, and ends up with Decker. That doesn't stop the first 157 pages (a good half of the book) of it being a love triangle.

With Glow, I don't even know if it ends up being a love triangle; I only got 48 pages into it before I gave up. But given that the summary is about "two young lovers on a ship bound for New Earth" and the first 48 pages gives us Waverly contemplating her love of Kiernan and thinking about what a potential relationship with Seth would have been like, I can only presume that's where it's heading.

I don't like love triangles. I've been over this before; I devoted an entire thoughts on post to that alone. It's not because I don't think they can work - I love me some Iron Fey, and give me Lancelot/Guinevere/Arthur any day.

But often times, they're there for unnecessary reasons.

And I realized that's what making me put this book down.

Why can't Kiernan and Waverly just be in love? Why can't Seth just be an old friend of Waverly's who was pulled away by his father, and that's why their relationship is weird?

Why can't Delaney fight the feelings she has for creepy-new-guy-with-the-same-powers-who-is-following-her-around (Troy) and focus on her semi-relationship with Decker? Why can't Troy feel a connection to her because of their abilities and use it to teach her rather than try to stick his tongue down her throat?

Why am I being given this silly love triangle that doesn't make sense in terms of the larger plot and the character development instead of focusing on what's actually important to the story?!

And that's why I keep putting these books down. Because the love triangles make the story bad - not because love triangles themselves are badly written, but because they're so unnecessary to the plot of some of these stories that it takes away from what could be an interesting story.

What makes you stop reading a book?

Feature Friday: Bookcase (63)

2012-01-27T15:00:00.001-05:00

Who said storage had to be boring?

Claudia Bignoli designed this. I think it's awesome because I like curvy furniture that stands out and is awesome and yeah. I like that it can store a lot of books but hide what them simultaneously depending on the angle. It gets rid of that cluttered look! Haha.

What do you think?

Friday Fronts - For Darkness Shows The Stars

2012-01-27T09:00:00.001-05:00

Everybody and their mother seems to love this cover. I don't understand it. I mean, it's certainly pretty. It's not a bad cover. But I just don't think it stands out.

Maybe it's the weird face and pose of the girl, or the font that is pretty but doesn't seem to mesh with the girl itself. I'm not sure. I think it's the girl that puts me off the most; she doesn't seem to fit. (Her ridiculous skinniness doesn't help, either.)