E. Kristin Anderson's Blog, page 30

Review: OVER YOU by Amy Reed

Toxic friendships are a very real thing.  Which is part of why I really loved OVER YOU by Amy Reed.  Unlike the title might suggest, this isn’t a story of getting over a boy, but finding one’s own identity despite the best friend who can’t seem to let you be yourself.

Simon Pulse, June 2013.

The first half of OVER YOU is told in second person.  The protagonist, Max, narrates to her best friend, the spontaneous and adorable Sadie.  And Sadie is Max’s world.  Max doesn’t seem to know how this happened, but they’ve been best friends for so long, and Max needs to be Sadie’s friend because Sadie can’t survive without Max.  So when Sadie decides to go live with her absentee mom at a commune in the middle of nowhere for the summer, Max goes along.  And it’s not long before things start to change.

First, there’s the fact that Sadie’s mom manages to still be kind of absent.  And then there’s the fact that Max is way better than she’d ever imagined at connecting with people.  Like Dylan.  Dylan for whom Max is falling hard.  Max isn’t used to getting the guy.  And Sadie isn’t used to not getting what she wants.  These girls are about to hit an obstacle that neither of them expected, but which both of them desperately need.

Amy Reed‘s elegant prose is the perfect vessel for a story that so many real life girls experience, and one that needs to be told as much as the characters in OVER YOU needed to experience in the novel. This is a book that I’m hoping to see on lots of “must read” lists, both informal and authoritative.  Amy Reed is a genius, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.

Review: WISE YOUNG FOOL by Sean Beaudoin

The latest from Sean Beaudoin, WISE YOUNG FOOL, is the kind of book that sits with you.  The characters feel real, like people you’ve just spent a bunch of time hanging out with, and closing the book feels like saying goodbye.  And rather than review this book, I feel like Richie Sudden would be okay with me making a short list of things you should know about WISE YOUNG FOOL before you dive in. (Which you should, it’s fantastic.)

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, August 2013.

1. Richie Sudden, our hero, narrates this story alternating between segments before he ended up on juvie and in journal entries that narrate his experience in juvie.  Sean Beaudoin executes this method with all the cleverness you’d expect from the master of snark.

2. If you haven’t recently brushed up on your classic rock references, Richie and his cohorts will give you a run for your money.  Watch for the Def Leppard drummer joke in chapter 8.

3. Parental figures in this book are actually present, and flawed, and interesting.  Richie is generally unhappy with most of these authorities, but, then again, that’s his job as a high school year old metal head.

4. The worst thing that could possibly happen to Richie is to miss and/or lose the forthcoming battle of the bands event. His best friend is counting on him.  And, whether Richie knows it or not, so is his future.

5. Of course that’s all before juvie, where the worst thing that could happen to him is Spence Proffer and his sadistic fight club.

6. And then there’s Ravenna.  She’s really, really, really hot.

WISE YOUNG FOOL is stupid good.  It’s thrilling, it’s charming, it’s witty, and it’s a book you clearly need to get your hands on.

Review: BROKEN by Elizabeth Pulford and Angus Gomes

BROKEN is a fantastic new novel from Elizabeth Pulford and Angus Gomes that fully takes advantage of the “multimedia” concept.  Told partially in prose and partially in graphic novel segments, and accompanied by fictionalized news articles, the story follows Zara’s quest to find her brother Jem.

Running Press Kids, August 2013.

Here’s the thing: Zara is in a coma.  And while she’s drawn herself into Jem’s favorite comic book, she is constantly pulled back into her hospital room, where she can hear the conversations of her loved ones around her.  Her best friend brings her gossip from school, and while Zara wishes she could be there with her, she knows that she won’t be able to do anything until she finds Jem.  But even if she is able to confront the villain Morven, she also needs to confront the painful truth that her comic book world is helping her to avoid.

A fast-paced and beautifully written novel, BROKEN is a must-read for lovers of graphic novels, and for readers who are looking for a book that works outside of the box.  Both realistic fiction fans and fans of the fantastical will take a shining to this heart-wrenching story that finds a fantasy world in the protagonist’s attempts to cope. This book isn’t like anything you’ve seen before, and I bet you’ll like it.

Review: IF YOU COULD BE MINE by Sara Farizan

There is nothing more epic than forbidden love.  But Sara Farizan‘s debut, IF YOU COULD BE MINE, takes the forbidden love trope to a new level — with a dose of reality.

Algonquin Young Readers, August 2013.

Sahar and Nasrin have been in love since they were children.  The two girls have been sneaking around for years, stealing kisses behind closed doors.  If they lived somewhere else, maybe being gay wouldn’t be such a big deal.  But in Iran, it’s not only taboo, but it’s a crime.  Sahar dreams of having a life with Nasrin, but when Nasrin’s parents arrange for her to be married, these dreams fall apart.  If only Sahar were a man, they could be in love in the open.  She could be Nasrin’s betrothed.  And here’s the twist: in Iran, being a man stuck in a woman’s body is considered a medical problem, treatable with surgery and hormones.  Sahar thinks that maybe if she can convince herself — and doctors — that she is a transgendered person, there might be hope for her and Nasrin.  Faced with some of the hardest choices of her life, Sahar has to ask herself: what is the limit of what she’ll do for love?

Set in modern day Iran, IF YOU COULD BE MINE paints a portrait of young women in a country that most Western readers know little about.  And, yet, this is a book that is first and foremost a love story, a story of angst and perseverance in the face of impending tragedy.  It is not only a book about gay teens, but a coming of age story.  This is a book that will surely be collecting awards in the near future.  And it will deserve every one.

Review: THE RULE OF THIRDS by Chantel Guertin

In the wake of a pretty crappy year, Pippa Green knows what she wants more than ever.  She wants to be a photographer her dad would be proud of.  She wants to win the regional award that could get her accepted into Tisch camp, run by the arts school at NYU.  And she wants her panic attacks to go away.  Forever.

ECW Press, October 2013.

But just when Pippa starts to feel like things are going back to normal, a few things start to shake the ground beneath her feet.  For one thing, the new guy at school, Ben Baxter, is seriously cute AND into photography, just like her.  He even shows killer slides at the first photo club meeting.  Then there’s the fact that she’s keeping a secret from her best friend, Dace, that could really rattle their life plan as pro photographer and fashion model.  When Pippa gets assigned to serve her requisite volunteer hours at the local hospital, though, that might be the last straw.  Pippa and hospitals simply don’t mix.

Pippa doesn’t walk away, though, which leads her to a boy that she used to know.  Dylan McCutter, whom she’s had a crush on for years, and who is supposed to be at Harvard.  Rather than questioning why he’s still in small town New York, Pippa lets herself fall for him.  And for Ben.  And ends up tangled up in yet another mess that could send her into a tailspin.  Which she can’t afford right now, since that photography contest is coming up, and fast.

Chantel Guertin‘s THE RULE OF THIRDS is a fast-paced and fun contemporary novel that manages to tackle some could-have-been-tough social issues (friendship, loss, mental illness) with grace and a side of humor.  This is definitely the kind of book that Susane Colasanti and Sarah Dessen fans will enjoy curling up with this fall.

 

Review: OPENLY STRAIGHT by Bill Konigsberg

All Rafe wanted was to be himself.  Except sometimes being himself comes with all these labels and pigeonholes.  Which is why this proud gay kid, son of the president of the local PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) president, is going back in the closet.

Arthur A. Levine Books, May 2013.

His best friend Claire Olivia and his parents don’t know that this is the plan when he moves across the country to attend a New England boarding school, leaving liberal Boulder behind.  He isn’t going to tell anyone that he’s gay.  He moves in with his room mate, joins the soccer team, and pretends to be just one of the guys.  Except, in Rafe’s mind, he is just one of the guys.  And for once in his life, he’s not “the gay kid.” This experiment get difficult, though, when his new best friend turns out to be so, well, hot.  And when Rafe and Ben’s bromance looks like maybe it could be something more, it’s impossible for him to know what to do.  His lies have been piling up and he’s backed into a corner.

OPENLY STRAIGHT by Bill Konigsberg is as hilarious as it is poignant.  The relationships are honest and real, and the struggles Rafe encounters are relatable for not only gay readers, but readers who have ever faced being labelled…which is pretty much everyone.  This is a book that I’d like to see in every library, and I’d like to think we’ll see a few shiny stickers on it in the near future.

Up to no good. And other things.

Oh, hello there. I wanted to give you a little brief goings on, since it’s fall and all and some of y’all are back to school and I’m back to…well…it seems like I’m mostly back to allergies, but we’ll see if that progresses into anything useful.  Anyway, here’s some juicy…gossip?  Details? Juice.  Obviously juice. In August somehow I was awarded Deviousness over at deviantART.com, which shocked the hell out of me, considering that I’m moderately quiet on the site compared to most of the folks who end up with the nice little crown.  I’m honored and pleased and humbled and I can’t thank the team enough.  I hope that I can continue to be moderately useful to young writers on dA going forward.

Dean reads banned books!

In other news, Banned Books Week was the last week of September.  But in my own garish fashion I celebrated Banned Books for the ENTIRE MONTH. (If you missed this, you’ve been under a rock.  Sorry.) So, anyway, I had a guest post every day for the month of September from authors on banned books, including the likes of Ellen Hopkins, Sonya Sones, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Ken Scholes and Cheryl Rainfield.  Yeah, I know.  I’m STILL freaking out.  I had posts from authors whose books have been banned, and authors who once burned books themselves.  Posts from authors who are also librarians who have had to deal with censorship at their libraries.  Posts about favorite banned books and about censorship in countries other than the US.  And posts from authors who WANT their books to be banned or challenged.  LOTS of interesting stuff, and I hope you’ll check it out! I’ve started doing some school visits for the fall! In September I visited a middle school here in Austin. The class had all read DEAR TEEN ME, so it was really cool to talk with them about the book. Last week or so I got the most amazing package full of thank you notes. Letters like these make everything I had to go through in middle school and high school worth it:

I might have cried a little.

And then I visited a school Seekonk, Massachusetts (yes that’s a real place) via Skype in a a week and a half ago and it was AWESOME, since the whole school had to read DEAR TEEN ME for summer reading.  If your school is interested in having me as a speaker, let me know. I do discounted in-person visits and free Skype visits for schools/classes who are assigned the book or for teachers who buy a class set.

The year I wrote the novel that got me an agent!

Which brings me to….I AM NOW OFFERING PROGRAMMING FOR NANOWRIMO.  (Note: I have no affiliation with NaNoWriMo other than my love for the method.)  I am giving talks and can be hired for classes on using the NaNoWriMo method to finish a book in the month of November.  I’ll talk to college students, high school and middle school students, adult professionals, book clubs, creative writing clubs, classrooms, you name it!  I can do longer and shorter presentations, either in class or via Skype.  Contact me for details!

I can make your writer self feel like Chuck!

In other news, I’ve got my nose to the grindstone, cranking out the end of the novel I was working on this summer and prepping for my own NaNoWriMo meltdown festivities.

I’m also available for my usual services over at Yellow Bird Editors.  If you need a query critique, chapter critique, copy editing, coaching, or something along those lines, come check us out.  I’d love to  help you!

And…I’m hoping to get some reviews up this week.  Nag me on Twitter, I’m so far behind, I could use some good old-fashioned shaming!

What’s new with you?  Tell me in the comments!

Some Goings On: Austin Teen Book Festival and the release of COIN OPERA 2!

Normally these two awesome things would be so awesome they would merit their own posts.  But they happen to be happening at pretty much the same time.  So one post it is.  OMG.  Too much awesome.  I hope it doesn’t explode my blog.

First, I want to give a shout-out to author/editor/poet/design/publisher pair Jon Stone and Kirsten Irving, who, with a little help from Kickstarter, released their latest anthology COIN OPERA 2 this past month.  It’s been a long time coming (I think I sent them the poems I have in the anthology in…2010?  2011?) and it has been well worth the wait.  COIN OPERA 2 (Sequel to mini-anthol COIN OPERA) is a collection of poems about video games.  From Atari to Nintendo to Playstation to your PC, the arcade, and beyond, COIN OPERA 2 has it covered. Speaking of covered, here’s one of two covers:

Sidekick Books, September 2013.

I am so thrilled to be part of what I think is kind of a groundbreaking anthology.  Maybe I’m just, you know, kind of biased, since I’m a contributor and I kind of love Jon & Kirsty.  But I’m also thinking that having this sort of fun with poetry has been…not really happening lately.  What better way to give poetry a kick in the ass than to pair it with computer games?  My pieces in the anthology cover the super serious topics of Super Mario Bros. and Metroid.  Buy links for COIN OPERA 2 are not yet up at Amazon or the usual suspects, but you can inquire about the book at the Sidekick Books website.

Seriously.  SO EXCITED about this.  The book is beautiful.  You will love it.

Okay.  So as if that wasn’t awesome enough, there’s also this:

So this past weekend I was at that Austin Teen Book Festival.  Which is, like, whatever, because I was a founding member of the ATBF…staff?  Ish? (I worked at the sponsoring store at the time and moderated a panel.) And I’ve gone every year, including volunteering to monitor/guard/Gestapo the author hospitality room for the last two years. (If I’ve told you to GTFO because you’re not fancy enough for the fancy room, apologies.  That job now belongs to Nancy Tuuling of Girls in the Stacks.  Muahahahaha! BEWARE THE NANCY.)

This year, however, was a full circle year.  I was there as an Author.  I moderated the Truth & Consequences panel with Bill Konigsberg, Jo Knowles, Sean Beaudoin, Jenny Han, Siobhan Vivian, and Rob Thomas. (No, stop, not THAT Rob Thomas.  The COOL Rob Thomas from Veronica Mars who also wrote YA novels such as RATS SAW GOD which is incredible.)

This is the part where I told Rob Thomas that I don’t tolerate shenanigans on my panel. (Or maybe it’s just me giving him a preview of the questions and being all like hey what’s up I love Veronica Mars and RATS SAW GOD.) Photo courtesy of ATBF.

Very serious authors. L-R: Sean Beaudoin, Me, Rob Thomas, Siobhan Vivian, Bill Konigsberg, Jenny Han, & Jo Knowles. Photo courtesy of ATBF.

JK, we’re hilarious. Photo courtesy of ATBF.

I also signed books.  A lot of them.  I think there are some on sale at BookPeople with my signature in them.  I posed for photos.  With readers.  With librarians.  With babies. (Okay, one baby.  And, no, the mother didn’t let me sign her baby, but I had to ask.) I saw tweets about myself saying how nice I was in person.  Which is weird, because I’m so not famous enough to be an asshole and, lets be honest, most YA/kidlit authors are pretty freaking nice. (Most of the grown up authors, are, too.)

A moment of hilarity: Me, Bill Konigsberg, and Jo Knowles. Photo courtesy of ATBF.

I made my panel answer super hard questions about censorship and writing about “edgy” topics (see also: reality, duh) for teens…and worldbuilding and sequels and boys and friends.

Basically, it went like this:

Less than 10 minutes in and the Truth & Consequences panel is already talking about sex, drugs, and f-bombs. Epic. #ATBF13

— Audrey C (@racktastic) September 28, 2013

My panel gave totally genius answers.  If you want to see more of their genius, you should read their books.  (You can also check out this awesome recap from Teen Press Corps members Collette and Willa.)

Did I mention how seriously awesome the author hospitality room was again this year?  Jeebus, they continue to outdo themselves. This year I think my favorite might have been the photo booth.  Or the ATBF koozies.  Or the snacks.  Or the card-catalog decor.  Or the little book-art barrettes.  Or….

Awesome photo booth was awesome. Photo courtesy of ATBF.

One of my favorite things about festivals is meeting friends I only know from the Internets.  Like I’ve been chatting online with Sara Farizan since I first heard of her awesome book IF YOU COULD BE MINE, and here I am with her and Gestapo Nancy:

Nancy, Sara, and Me. I promise I’m not grumpy, just allergic to mold, ragweed, elm, and everything else in Austin. I love this town! Photo courtesy of The Writing Barn.

Or the fact that I finally get to meet Jo Knowles, a favorite author and long-time fellow Intellectual Freedom Fighter:

Me and Jo! Photo courtesy of The Writing Barn.

I was thoroughly exhausted by the end of the day, especially considering that the day started with P. J. Hoover saving my life as we walked from the parking garage to the convention center. (Mostly it involved me being sick to my stomach to the point of almost passing out and P. J. being all like LEAN ON THAT TREE!  DON’T PASS OUT, YOU’LL RUIN YOUR DRESS!) Lesson of the day: Never go anywhere without at least one P. J. Hoover. (Thankfully, there is no photographic evidence of my near death experience.  But I will forever love P. J. and that one tree on the corner of 4th and Congress.)

What a weekend!

What are you up to?  Were you at the fest?  Was I photographed with your baby?  Or your teenager?  Send me your pics!  Let me know what you loved!  Put some random drivel in the comments!

 

Banned Books Month: Guest Post from Ann Marie Frohoff: Banned? I would be honored.

As someone whom has been a storyteller, a dreamer, a fantasy weaver my entire life, I’d never thought in my wildest dreams I would become an author. I was never a reader until my late teens, other than fashion magazines and Vanity Fair; I couldn’t have cared less about books. Then one day I dug one out from the back of an airplane seat, and I was hooked.

Delacorte Books for Young Readers, Reissue Edition, April 2010.

I did read Judy Blume and I remember like it was yesterday, the words pressing into my eyeballs with my hand covering my mouth, I couldn’t believe what I was reading (books acquired from a neighbor). At 8-years-old, in my house things like that weren’t spoken of. I thank god for Judy Blume. I guess my parents thought I’d learn through osmosis by just hanging out or something, eventually.

Fast forward. Banned Books? What the hell are banned books? Oh, ok! (Go ahead and roll your eyes at the newbie, untrained, wet-behind-the-ears earnest gal peddling her little stories.) Interesting thing is I knew when I was writing my debut novel, FIRST KISS, book 1 in my YA series Heavy Influence, this book would probably not go over well with many parents. SEX, DRUGS AND ROCK AND ROLL, never do – add in a little under age action. You get the point, even if there is a moral to the story.

As a mother of a teenage girl and one who has lived a pretty edgy teen life myself, I knew “1-star reviews” would be inevitable based on the story – not to mention other things (though I’ve been lucky so far). I do believe that in today’s world that authors like myself, who write edgy YA, have it much easier than those back in the day. Today’s media is so saturated with over the top, glamorized plot lines that even teens are saying, “we don’t talk or act like that.” My point is, as a fan of Ellen Hopkins, we need more writers like her and I can’t wait to find and be introduced to those who are fearless in their storytelling.

On to a banned book, that is one for today’s ages and I believe important (even if it is one-sided): DADDY’S ROOMMATE by Michael Willhoite. I enjoyed this book. This book is honest and real. It’s about a man who divorced his wife because he finally had the courage to be true to himself and come out of the closet. Clearly, the title gives away that he is also a father. So why ban it? Fear. Fear makes people in power do crazy things, but no more on that…I don’t want to rock any boats.

AMF Publishing, June 2013.

Let’s face it – there are conservatives, different types, types that either never experienced that kind of life, or want to protect children from salacious temptations that may have taken them to the dark side. But guess what? I don’t think I’ve ever read an edgy book that hasn’t had its “rock bottom” moments, twists that make you think: “What the fuck? Thank god that never happened to me.” Or from my daughter’s point of view, “I don’t want that to ever happen to me.” WE NEED THESE BOOKS! I talk openly and extensively with my 14-year-old about Ellen’s books, of which I had NO IDEA were about her own life and her daughter, until my dear friend and publicist, Amy Del Rosso, told me – Talk about real, talk about influence, talk about not being fearful and embracing everything that every book has to offer and sharing all of it – SHARING IS CARING.

Bottom line, kids these days are going to get their hands on whatever they want to read, banned or not.

Ann Marie Frohoff.

Ann Marie (“Annie”) Frohoff grew up in sunny Southern California. As a teen and young adult, she spent her time frequenting and living in nearly every beachside city up and down the coast.

Ann Marie is a debut author whose vision to tell a story started out like many other aspiring writers, with a dream, literally.

After taking her then eight-year-old daughter to a concert, her dream weaving took on a life of its own. Long story short, she quit her high- paying corporate job and went for broke to follow her dream.

The first installment in her Heavy Influence Trilogy, FIRST KISS, released June 11, 2013 — The series is a story about young, reckless love between a rising rock star and his younger muse, spanning 10 years of their tumultuous and passionate relationship. Each book in the Trilogy will come with a soundtrack of original music, of which the lyrics will appear in the pages of the books.

Annie has settled in the South Bay area of Los Angeles with her family.

Banned Books Month: Guest Post from Alison Ashley Formento: Keeping Banned Books in the Hands of the Readers

Scholastic, Inc., January 2013.

Browsing bookshelves is a favorite pastime of mine (and most authors I know). What avid reader doesn’t love going into a library or bookstore and walking out with something new to read, especially something put in my hands by a bookseller who says, “I know you’ll love this book.” So far, every bookseller I’ve met have been spot on in their recommendations and I so appreciate those who recommend my books to readers, too. It was a bookseller who first suggested Dav Pilkey’s CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS to a certain reluctant young reader in my household. When I discovered that Pilkey’s books featuring diapered crusaders were banned and difficult to find at area libraries, local booksellers kept my now-eager young reader up-to-date with the latest in the series.

Merit Press, September 2013.

In the past few weeks I’ve been fortunate enough to find my new young adult novel TWIGS stocked on bookstore shelves and I wondered where does the independent bookseller stand in the discussion on banned books? Bill Skees, the owner of Well Read (New and Used) Books in Hawthorne, NJ shared his views after Jay Asher’s THIRTEEN REASONS WHY caused a stir with some parents when it was on the middle school reading list last year:

Most of my customers take our freedoms of choice for granted.  They come in, they shop, they pick up the titles they want (or order them) and they leave.   Most don’t give a lot of thought to the wide and deep selection of titles that abound in our various local bookstores and libraries. 

Well Read Books in Hawthorne, New Jersey.

Once in a great while we have a book that causes some people to take notice (for good or ill).  They then question why the book is available and why they or their children should be exposed to it.  I always tell them that if they are concerned about what their children read that they are the arbiters and they should be reading what their children read.  These previews are what generate the great discussions at the dinner table among the entire family.  Banned Books Week for me is a chance to open that discussion up to the entire family, don’t abdicate your responsibilities to others.  Open your minds and hearts and take conscious control of your own lives.  Above all other things revel in the choices that our forefathers fought for and that we enjoy every day.

Holly, a bookseller at A Children’s Place Bookstore in Portland, OR offers another perspective on selling controversial banned books:

As a bookseller, I tailor my recommendations according to what children say they are looking for, and according to the parameters that their parents give me. I sell banned books every day. Not because I am pushing particular content, but because readers ask me for what they want and I help them find it. It’s my job to match readers with books they will love, books that will inspire them, help them, and keep them reading. And lucky me, I don’t have to pay the slightest bit of attention to the fact that a book is banned in a particular location. Except to make sure that we have that book on hand because there are readers who have suddenly lost access to a book they may want or need.

The lucky part about being a bookstore is that it is very easy for us to support banned books. People understand that bookstores are a place to choose what they want, and we do not face the same public pressure that a library or school would when choosing the books we stock. I believe bookstores fill an incredibly important role in keeping banned books in the hands of readers–if a library won’t or can’t stock a book, we are the only place where a reader can find that book. We allow people to choose what they read, and that is a hugely important personal freedom.

Alison Ashley Formento.

Alison Ashley Formento writes for children and young adults. Her multi-award-winning nature picture books include THIS TREE COUNTS!, THIS TREE, 1, 2, 3, THESE BEES COUNT!, THESE SEAS COUNT!, and THESE ROCKS COUNT! (Albert Whitman & Co.) Her freelance writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Writer, Parenting and several other publications. Alison’s debut young adult novel, TWIGS (Merit Press/Adams Media 2013) has been named “one of the fall’s hottest reads.”

TWIGS book trailer: https://vimeo.com/73767293

To learn more about Alison, visit her website: www.alisonashleyformento.com