YAnnabe

Which Book Will Win? Alligator Bayou vs. Evil?

Kelly — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 03:59:01 +0000

For the second year, I signed up to help judge the Nerds Heart YA tournament because:

I am a nerd, and
I heart YA.

The books I had to decide between were worlds apart this year—one historical fiction and the other a fantasy. I’ll start with reviews of each one, but if you can’t bear the suspense any longer feel free to skip to the end of this post for the decision…

Can you trust me? Compare our taste!

Alligator Bayou

Author: Donna Jo Napoli
Summary: 14-year-old Calogero is a Sicilian boy who’s lost his mother, so he’s sent to work with other Sicilians in a small Louisiana town during the late 1890s. At that time, Italians weren’t accepted as equals by whites, and being friends with blacks was frowned upon. But that doesn’t stop Calogero from having a crush on a beautiful girl who happens to be black.

What I Loved: This would be an excellent choice for kids who are studying this time period in their history class. Early on, a feeling of what life was like in that world settles into your bones. Kids would learn way more from one good piece of fiction like this than from memorizing important dates and names for weeks on end.

So what I loved most about this book is that it takes an obscure slice of America’s history—how five Italian immigrants were brutally murdered—and serves it up for us to mull over.

The language was spare throughout—not too flowery or overly descriptive, but just enough to get a vivid image across. Here’s a snippet for you, from a scene with Calogero and the girl he has a crush on:

She sets down the lantern glass and puts her hands lightly on my cheeks.

I touch the center of her back at the waist. Just a hint. She moves to me, natural as water running downhill.

What I Didn’t Love: The story gets off to a slow start, or at least slower than I prefer. I didn’t really get a sense that the true stakes were life and death until about halfway through the book. More hinting in the beginning about those high stakes would have helped pique my interest.

But I’m glad I stuck with it and finished.

One more minor issue that tripped up my reading was the way that background information was sometimes delivered through dialogue. In some places, that dialogue came off a little too speech-y for my taste. As in: “Ahem. Now listen to me, while I will tell you everything I know about that topic.”

Borrow: Your local library | Swap
Buy: Your local bookstore | Powell’s | Amazon

Evil?

Author: Timothy Carter
Summary: Stu is a gay teen living in a devoutly religious small town. He also summons a demon on occasion to chat. But none of that is why everyone in town hates him. The trouble all started after Stu’s little brother caught Stu in the act of pleasuring himself and announced it at church.

What I Loved: I wish there were more YA books that explore the nature of religion, so I was glad to read such a playful attempt at doing that.

I also loved that what gets Stu in trouble had nothing to do with him being gay. The townspeople were actually surprisingly okay with his orientation—that is, surprising for a small religious town.

What I Didn’t Love: I don’t have a problem with fantasy or absurd storylines. (In fact, I have a fond place in my weird little heart for books like Lips Touch and Pretty Monsters and Jack Tumor.)

But the fantastical twists and turns in this book did not make a believer out of me.

The humor didn’t exactly convert me to fandom, either. Instead of laughing or even smiling at the jokes, I groaned. Like with this one:

I did think I was better than most people in this town. When you’re a gay teenager with a brain among a community that expects God to “Rapture” them at any given moment, you can’t help but feel that way. If that makes me a snob, then say hello to my upturned nostrils!

I like my humor fresh and original. To me, the humor in this book was not either of those things.

Borrow: Your local library | Swap
Buy: Your local bookstore | Powell’s | Amazon

The Decision

The book that will continue to the next round is…

.
.
.

Alligator Bayou

If you’re a numbers sort of person, here’s the ratings breakdown:

Alligator Bayou: 3/5
Evil?: 2/5

To see how Alligator Bayou fares in the next round of the tournament, keep an eye on There’s a Book for Danielle’s decision.

The Perfect Writing Retreat

Kelly — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 21:45:28 +0000

Ever since I let a couple large projects at work disrupt my writing routine, I’ve been in a bit of a slump. For example—and it physically hurts me to admit this to the world—I am still working on revising my most recent novel so I can cash in on that agent referral I got in late January.

Yesterday, my husband offered to take care of our daughter one weekend so I can take off for a writing retreat.

Best. Husband. Ever.

But planning my writing retreat has proven to be yet another effective distraction from actually writing. So to get it out of my system, here’s a peek into my daydreams:

A turret. I’ve always wanted my very own writing turret. Preferably with a wrap-around balcony.
Room service. I don’t want to change out of my jammies. This is a must.
No temptations. TV, Internet access, a comfortable bed—all no-nos at my writing retreat.
Ingrid. I’ve never been the type to write with music playing in the background, but lately I’ve made an exception for Ingrid Michaelson. Give her a listen, you’ll see why.

Your Turn

What would your most perfect writing retreat look like?

Photo by ChicagoGeek.

Review: Going Bovine

Kelly — Sat, 22 May 2010 20:22:55 +0000

Can you trust me? Compare our taste!

Title: Going Bovine
Author: Libba Bray
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Rating: 3/5
Why I Read It: I have a track record of loving Printz winners and honor books, and Going Bovine is the 2010 winner.

Summary: 16-year-old Cameron doesn’t care much about anything. But being diagnosed with mad cow disease solves that problem.

Review: Utterly, positively funny. The wit and sarcasm drips off every single page of this book, so much so that I became immune to it after a while. I tend to prefer the brand of funny that hides around the next corner and startles a laugh out of me.

Maybe I would have felt differently if I had started out liking the main character. But he is so incredibly apathetic at the beginning that I didn’t feel compelled to care in return. Then about halfway through, I did start rooting for him.

Because guess what? When Cameron started to care about what was going on around him, I started to care too. And it didn’t hurt that the Don Quixote parallels meant I could relive my English major days.

I enjoyed this book, although it was just alright for me. Could be I wasn’t in the right mood when I read it. Here’s a taste so you can decide whether it’s right for you:

The best day of my life happened when I was five and almost died at Disney World.

I’m sixteen now, so you can imagine that’s left me with quite a few days of major suckage.

Like Career Day? Really? Do we need to devote an entire six hours out of the high school year to having “life counselors” tell you all the jobs you could potentially blow at? Is there a reason for dodgeball? Pep rallies? Rad soda commercials featuring Parker Day’s smug, fake-tanned face? I ask you.

But back to the best day of my life, Disney, and my near-death experience.

I know what you’re thinking: WTF? Who dies at Disney World? It’s full of spinning teacups and magical princesses and big-assed chipmunks walking around waving like it’s absolutely normal for jumbo-sized stuffed animals to come to life and post for photo ops. Like, seriously.

Your Turn: What brand of funny do you go for?

Borrow: Your local library | Swap
Buy: Your local bookstore | Powell’s | Amazon

Did You Like This Book? Try:

Review: North of Beautiful

Kelly — Sun, 16 May 2010 04:00:16 +0000

Can you trust me? Compare our taste!

Title: North of Beautiful
Author: Justina Chen Headley
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Rating: 3/5
Why I Read It: This title was picked by 3 bloggers during Unsung YA Heroes 2010: Biblio File, Write Meg!, and YA Librarian Tales.

Summary: Most people think Terra is beautiful, until they see the port-wine birthmark on her cheek. Surgery won’t remove it, makeup can’t cover it up all the way, and her father certainly won’t let her forget it’s there.

Review: From the first sentence, this story firmly planted me in Terra’s shoes. Terra’s experience will make you realize how focused we are on a single definition of beauty—who has it and who doesn’t. When I was a good ways into the book, I was out at a coffee shop and standing in line. I caught a kid staring at me, and immediately my hand flew to my cheek. There’s no birthmark on my cheek, but the book made me feel for Terra’s situation so completely that for a split second I thought otherwise.

As if dealing with stares and nasty comments from strangers weren’t enough, Terra’s home situation will break your heart. Her dad is verbally abusive and controlling, almost beyond belief. Terra copes well enough by writing him off, but her mom copes by overeating. This subplot, while powerful, felt a little over-the-top at times. In some scenes, Terra’s mom was just a little too pitiful, and I didn’t believe she was really that weak.

The other reason I didn’t connect 100% with this book is the amount of internal dialogue where Terra explains what she’s feeling. When it comes to internal dialogue, I’m in the camp of less is more. Terra would explain the same emotional struggles over and over again, and I found myself skipping over those parts to get to the action.

But the harsh reality of Terra’s struggles kept me grounded in the story, and the romance felt genuine. This was a good read, just not a favorite for me.

Your Turn: Have you ever unintentionally adopted a habit or quirk of the main character’s from the book you’re currently reading? Or “remembered” something that happened to you, when it was actually from the book?

Borrow: Your local library | Swap
Buy: Your local bookstore | Powell’s | Amazon

Did You Like This Book? Try:

Did You Win?

Kelly — Wed, 05 May 2010 03:47:01 +0000

It took me a little longer than I expected to slot all the winners for the The Great Unsung YA 2010 Giveaway because:

I’ve never done a giveaway with such a huge amount of entrants before, and
I wanted to make sure the winners got one of their top three picks.

After a little game of musical chairs, I was able to accomplish #2 in all except one case!

So without further ado, here are the lucky winners, thanks to random.org:

Alexa Nagasue and a BONUS copy for Shesten Melder: Gamma Glamma by Kim Flores
(A special thanks to the author for sending over an extra copy of an uncorrected proof so Shesten could get the bonus win!)
Annika Dalton: The Secrets of the Cheese Syndicate by Donna St. Cyr
Kat Drennan: My Life from Air-Bras to Zits by Barbara Haworth-Attard
Keira Gillett: The Thirteen Curses by Michelle Harrison
Lisa Gibson: The Puzzle Ring by Kate Forsyth
Mary Bell: Unsigned Hype by Booker T. Mattison
Melanie Goodman: Border Crossing by Jessica Lee Anderson
Sabrina Horande: Trudy by Jessica Lee Anderson
Stacy Walker: Year of the Horse by Justin Allen
Susie Sharp: The Death-Defying Pepper Roux by Geraldine McCaughrean

Congratulations, all! Details are on their way via email.

Photo by A Christmas Story House Gift Shop.

This Pesky Thing Called Work

Kelly — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 03:18:09 +0000

At my day job, my official title is “Sustainability Specialist.” I am the only person at my company with that title, so most of the time I’m not exactly sure what I’m supposed to be doing.

But there’s one week out of the year where I am certain of my place in the world. And that’s Earth Week. I coordinate a week’s worth of events for more than 2,300 employees at our corporate campus.

We tried a new event this year, called Trash-to-Treasure. The idea is that you bring in items from home that you don’t want or need anymore, others do the same, and then everyone can browse the lot and take whatever they want for free.

It turns out free stuff goes over awfully well.

When Books Become Trash

At this event, we had a section for books needing new homes. I didn’t recognize most of the titles there, the bulk of which were romances. But three stood out to me:

Twilight
A hardcover thesaurus
A Word 97 user manual

#1 was gone even before the event officially started, snagged by a woman who looked to be in her mid-20s. She had already read the book but didn’t own a copy. Just as I was opening my mouth to sing the praises of The Hunger Games and Graceling, she scurried off with the bane of good writing and modern womanhood clutched to her chest. Damn.

#2 and #3 didn’t find new homes, so they got boxed up with all the other leftovers and taken to the Island of Misfit Books, aka Goodwill. I don’t have high hopes for the Word 97 manual, poor thing. The thesaurus may find a new home if it’s lucky.

What’s a Green Book Lover to Do?

Many unwanted books just sit on a shelf somewhere, not getting used or read or picked up for months, even years. That depresses the heck out of me. It’s one reason that I love sites like PaperBackSwap because the book you no longer want will end up in the hands of someone who does want that specific title.

But what of the old user manuals and thesauri? Is there any way to prolong their usefulness before chucking them into the recycle bin?

Your Turn

What do you do with misfit books?

And while you ponder that, I’m going to get started on the Biggest Review Backlog Ever. I hope the Earth will be okay with one less Sustainability Specialist for a while.

p.s. The Great Unsung YA 2010 Giveaway has ended, but in the craziness of Earth Week I didn’t pick the winners on Monday night. I will this weekend!

Photo by SpecialKRB.

Review: Hush, Hush

Kelly — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 05:57:53 +0000

Can you trust me? Compare our taste!

Title: Hush, Hush
Author: Becca Fitzpatrick
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Rating: 1/5
Why I Read It: This review at Forever Young Adult put the book on my radar so when I saw it on the library shelf, I snagged it.

Summary: High school senior Nora and her best friend are lab partners in biology, but for some reason their teacher makes a new seating chart with only weeks left in the year. Nora gets stuck with the new guy who she feels simultaneously attracted to and repulsed by.

Review: This book was lucky to get even a 1-star rating from me. The star it did earn is based purely on the writing—which I thought was good for the most part save for some repetitive internal dialogue—and nothing to do with the actual story.

Because I hated the actual story.

Nora’s love interest, Patch, is downright abusive to her, but she keeps coming back for more. It’d be one thing if through the relationship, she learned to assert herself or learned that she doesn’t deserve to be treated that way or learned anything about herself, actually. Nope.

Nora can tell he wants to hurt her, at least emotionally if not also physically. And it seems to make her want Patch all the more.

Maybe I just need to get over it. After all, it’s just a story. A bit of candy in book form. At least it gets kids to turn off the TV and read.

But…is it “just a story”? Here’s a quick snippet from a book called Influencer, which looks at behavioral science research to determine what motivates people to change their behavior.

Entertainment education helps people change how they view the world through the telling of vibrant and credible stories. Told well, these vicariously created events approximate the gold standard of change—real experiences… We can use words to persuade others to come around to our way of thinking by telling a story rather than firing of a lecture… A well-told narrative…changes people’s view of how the world works because it presents a plausible, touching, and memorable flow of cause and effect that can alter people’s view of the consequences of various actions or beliefs.

Meaning? Stories matter. Lectures from parents and teachers, not so much. Stories—and the messages they carry—break through where nagging doesn’t and make a real impact.

The impact books like this and Twilight will make—are making—scares me. Not because I imagine girls will finish the book, set it down, and think to themselves “Golly gee, I’d sure like to find me an emotionally abusive boy.” The problem is they won’t think about it. They’ll get caught up in the story, which will leave an imprint on their sensibilities.

I wish this were just an irrational fear of mine. Unfortunately, research has proven this is exactly what happens. Again, from Influencer:

Concrete and vivid stories exert extraordinary influence because they transport people out of the role of critic and into the role of participant. The more poignant, vibrant, and relevant the story, the more the listener moves from thinking about the inherent arguments to experiencing every element of the tale itself. Stories don’t merely trump verbal persuasion by disproving counterarguments; stories keep the listener from offering counterarguments in the first place.

So why did this book get my dander up? Because this is the message it mainlines to girls: A boy who abuses you is hot. The reason he abuses you is he truly loves you. If you put up with the abuse long enough, he’ll prove his love to you and it will all be worth it.

Finally, a quick sidebar: I have been working on this review since I finished the book a couple months ago, but a few recent posts on this same topic gave me the courage to say how I really felt about this book. Thank you to those bloggers for speaking up.

Your Turn: Which came first—the books that equate stalking with hotness, or the girls who want to read them?

Borrow: Your local library | Swap
Buy: Your local bookstore | Powell’s | Amazon

Did You Like This Book? Try:

Review: Fly on the Wall

Kelly — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 03:48:33 +0000

Can you trust me? Compare our taste!

Title: Fly on the Wall: How One Girl Saw Everything
Author: E. Lockhart
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Rating: 2.5/5
Why I Read It: I enjoyed the author’s other books.

Summary: 16-year-old Gretchen doesn’t fit in at The Manhattan School for Art and Music, something weird is going on between her parents, and her best friend seems to be avoiding her.

Review: This one was just okay for me.

I was liking the story until about halfway through when the action slowed way down. I’m not spoiling anything you can’t get from the Amazon description—and maybe I’m outing myself as a jaded old married lady—but in particular, I could have done without the pages of reflection on the male anatomy.

The pace picks up again in the last 30 pages or so. But after no real action for so long, it seemed like everything wrapped a little too neatly.

Here’s a taste so you can decide for yourself. Gretchen is talking to her best friend, Katya, about a guy named Titus:

Later that afternoon, Sanchez the gym teacher makes us play dodgeball, which leaves bruises all over my legs. I’m not that fast, and I get hit a lot. Titus hits me twice.

“Do you think it means something?” I ask Katya after gym, sitting on the locker room bench in a towel.

Katya is naked in the shower like that’s a normal way to have a conversation. She’s washing her hair like she’s just everyday naked in front of people.

Well, we are everyday naked in front of people. Gym is five days a week, shower required. But anyway, Katya is having a naked conversation like it doesn’t even bother her, which it obviously doesn’t—even though she’s not built like a model, just regular.

The locker room is so cramped and tiny that I can feel the warm spray of her shower water on my knee as I’m sitting on the bench.

“It would have meant something if we were sixth graders,” says Katya, scrunching her eyes as she rinses out the shampoo.

“Like what would it mean?”

“You want to hear me say it?” She’s laughing.

“Yes.”

“It would have meant that he liked you back.”

“I didn’t say I liked him,” I mutter.

Your Turn: When’s the last time you were happily trucking along in a book but then you lost interest?

Borrow: Your local library | Swap
Buy: Your local bookstore | Powell’s | Amazon

Did You Like This Book? Try:

Review: Something, Maybe

The Great Unsung YA 2010 Giveaway

Kelly — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 02:19:38 +0000

A few weeks ago, more than 75 bloggers posted their Unsung YA Heroes picks—unsung books we love and think deserve more attention from the world of YA readers.

It was so much fun that we’ll make the Week of the Unsung an annual event, each day focusing on a different genre. But there was just no way I could wait another year.

So in the meantime, I’m giving away copies of 10 of the top 12 most obscure picks from Unsung YA 2010. These books haven’t been made into movies, and they haven’t sold millions of copies. But what they lack in hype, they make up for in awesomeness.

A big thank you to all the authors and publishers who made this giveaway possible!

The Books to Win!

A Is For Angst by Barbara Haworth-Attard (also published as My Life from Air-Bras to Zits)
Picked By: Erin Explores YA
Border Crossing by Jessica Lee Anderson
Picked By: The Hate-Mongering Tart
The Death-Defying Pepper Roux by Geraldine McCaughrean
Picked By: Gaskella
Gamma Glamma by Kim Flores
Picked By: Archimedes Forgets, Biblio File
The Puzzle Ring by Kate Forsyth
Picked By: Beyond Books
The Secrets of the Cheese Syndicate by Donna St. Cyr
Picked By: The Hate-Mongering Tart
The Thirteen Curses by Michelle Harrison
Picked By: Beyond Books
Trudy by Jessica Lee Anderson
Picked By: The Hate-Mongering Tart
Unsigned Hype by Booker T. Mattison
Picked By: Semicolon
Year of the Horse by Justin Allen
Picked By: Arch Thinking

How to Enter

Fill out the Google form below by Monday, April 12, at 11:59 pm CST. Leaving a comment on this post does not enter you in the giveaway.
You can earn up to 5 entries per person:
- Make a Promise (+1 entry)—Pledge to read one unsung YA book in 2010, and tell me the title. See the full list here or links to each blogger’s list here.
- Link Back (+2 entries)—From a post on your blog, link back to this giveaway and mention what Unsung YA Heroes is. Feel free to also link to the wrap-up post.
- Tweet (+2 entries)—Tweet about this giveaway.
Pick the top 3 titles you’d like to win. Wherever possible, I will honor the winners’ preferences.

U.S. and Canada entries only, please.

But Wait…There’s More!

This won’t be the only Unsung YA giveaway! I’ll update this post to link to other giveaways as they’re announced. If you posted an Unsung YA list (or even if you didn’t!), please join in with your own giveaway. It can be as easy as giving away a copy of an Unsung YA title you already have lying around the house. Then just drop me a line with the link to your giveaway post so I can list your giveaway here.

Below, I list the Unsung YA 2010 titles offered up in each giveaway, but giveaways marked with +++ at the end of the titles list are also giving away additional titles. Bonus!

The Bibliophilic Book Blog—Ballad and Lament by Maggie Stiefvater +++
Deadline: April 15
Bites—Fade to Blue by Sean Beaudoin, Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey +++
Deadline: April 6
Bloody Bookaholic—Another Faust by Daniel and Dina Nayeri, Ash by Malinda Lo, Give Up the Ghost by Megan Crewe +++
Deadline: April 18
Everything To Do With Books—The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King
Deadline: March 30
I Heart Monster—The Faerie Path by Frewin Jones (part of the First in a Series Six-Pack giveaway), Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon +++
Deadline: April 15
in which a girl reads—Willow by Julia Hoban +++
Deadline: April 17
Karin’s Book Nook—City of Bones by Cassandra Clare +++
Deadline: March 27
Not Enough Bookshelves—Jellicoe Road and Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta +++
Deadline: March 28
Presenting Lenore—Genesis by Bernard Beckett +++
Deadline: March 31
Read Into This!—After by Amy Efaw, Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott +++
Deadline: April 15
Steph Su Reads—Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway, Good Girls by Laura Ruby
Deadline: March 19
This Purple Crayon—Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan, The Singer of All Songs by Kate Constable, What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones
Deadline: April 12
T.V. and Book Addict—Absolutely Maybe by Lisa Yee, Thanksgiving at the Inn by Tim Whitney +++
Deadline: April 1
Wastepaper Prose—Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater +++
Deadline: April 10
wicked walker—Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers, Numbers by Rachel Ward, Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George +++
Deadline: April 16

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I Haveth a Sickness Made of the Epic

Kelly — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 03:00:45 +0000

About two weeks ago, I got this cold, maybe flu, thing. Runny nose, fever, aches all over.

Just as I started to feel better, the fluey bits decided they wouldn’t be content to use my body as their own personal disco club and leave it crumpled on the floor like a dirty tissue. Oh, no. They had to leave behind a sinus infection.

But full disclosure: I don’t really know what I’m talking about because…

I’m delirious from a fever that’s lasted two weeks.
I haven’t seen a doctor yet. (I do that as a last resort, which is obviously well past now. But it didn’t hit me until Friday night during a dinner that I could not force myself to eat, when I blubbered to my husband that I shouldn’t have waited so long, and the blubbering just made me more congested. So I go on Monday.)

I’ve never been this sick for this long. So sick I’m not even interested in reading from my sick bed.

What I really want to be doing is posting about the Unsung YA giveaway I have all ready to go, but this is about the most I can bring myself to craft out of thin air. The sooner I get better, the sooner you get your fabulous giveaway.

Your Turn

What’s your favorite trick for getting over a cold/flu/sinus infection?

Or howzabout some tips for thanking a spouse who’s been taking care of the house plus a two-year-old all by his lonesome?

(Here endeth the whine.)

Photo by jamelah.