Kelly Jensen's Blog, page 78

“Kelly, how about an update?”: On the 30-Day Shred, 3 Years Later

The most popular post on STACKED in our history is not about books or reading or teenagers.

It’s about the 30 Day Shred workout.

That post, written a little over 3 years ago, reviewed the workout and offered my tips and tricks doing it. Since then, I haven’t written an update nor have I followed up with the video and my thoughts on it now. I’ve been asked to give a follow-up, so it’s time.

I should note this: I haven’t done the 30 Day Shred regularly in close to a year. And it’s not because I think it’s a worthless program. The opposite is true — it’s because of commitment to the 30 Day Shred that I made a complete lifestyle overhaul when it comes to fitness and working out. I’ll still pull out this stand by periodically to do a workout, but I have added new workout routines into my regime, and I’ve changed up the ways I’m doing things.

I talked earlier this year about struggling with depression. One of the things I learned while being treated for it was that I had put myself into a really unhealthy place with my diet. Where many people would, without hesitation, look at a woman my size and think she’s fat because she eats too much, my problem was the opposite — I wasn’t eating enough. My body was holding on to weight and fat because I wasn’t giving it enough. You cannot succeed at weight loss if you restrict your eating too much. Three meals a day, composed primarily of vegetables and vegetable-based foods, is not enough calories, even if it’s packed with enough vitamins and minerals. Following that discovery, I upped my eating, focusing primarily on consuming more protein. I don’t eat red meat and never had, so much of this change came through incorporating more protein bars (with no sugar, a thing that’s difficult to find) and drinking a protein-powder shake daily. These two things I was told would be best done immediately following a workout, since my body was using so much energy in a high-powered workout.

What does this have to do with The Shred? Well, it’s learning about how working out as hard as I do, especially as a larger-than-average woman, does have some considerations to keep in mind. It’s learning that my body requires some different things than others might. And it’s to say that what you see on the outside is not necessarily at all what’s going on internally. I am quite fit and I am quite healthy, but I have food-related issues I’m working on that counter the fat-people-need-to-control-their-eating narrative popular in our world, and there are potentially underlying metabolic issues keeping me from losing weight, despite how well I eat and work out.

I’m doing Jillian Michaels’s Fast Fix Kickboxing DVD 3-4 times a week now.  Structured like The Shred, there are three levels, with multiple circuits each. The circuit lengths vary a bit, with some running through six different exercises and others just three. But the workout is a 25-minute ass kick. The first level is a complete cardio workout, the second level is a lower-body workout, and the third level is ab-focused. All three deliver a hard workout, but every time I get through one, I feel incredible. I feel strong and solid and powerful — exactly what you’d want to feel after kickboxing. Jillian, as we know, isn’t easy and she doesn’t take shortcuts. But that’s why it’s so effective and leaves me feeling the way it does. I love this workout to bits and pieces and would recommend it. Though fair warning: it can be a bit confusing and disorienting for those unfamiliar with kickboxing. You’ll feel uncoordinated and like you’re doing things backwards. This is normal, and you’ll eventually get the hang of it if you stick with it. Those with any injuries who can’t do a lot of jumping or kicking would be best to avoid this one, since it is a lot of movement. Level three includes a modified burpee, to give some idea of what intensity of jumping is involved.

When I was working through The Shred, I upped my hand weights from 2-pounds to 3-pounds to 4-pounds. I worked my way up to a total of 6-pounds in each hand, which I thought was incredible process. The kickboxing workout uses hand weights only in the first workout, and I started in with 6-pounds and would easily go up to a higher weight, if I had a second hand weight that was larger. It’s on my to-do list, but going to 8 seems really manageable. My strength has improved tremendously, and doing things like standard push-ups now are easy enough. Same with planks. They might not be enjoyable, but doing them doesn’t kill me like it once did.

But it’s not just kickboxing that I do now. Last fall, right before my birthday, I did my first ever 5K. I walked it, since I can’t run due to previous ankle injuries, and so part of my workouts then began incorporating long walks many times a week. On days I didn’t do a DVD, I would walk. And I have signed up for another 5K this fall to keep this part of endurance up. Incorporating a challenge like a 5K keeps me going.

In addition to those two cardio-based workouts, I also have included some kettle bell strength work and a resistance band workout — both of which I do through Fitness Blender, a free series of workouts online. For anyone who wants to start working out and doesn’t know where to begin or what might work for them, I cannot recommend Fitness Blender enough. You can try out a ton of things and get a fabulous workout. It’s not as tough or as intense as Jillian, but sometimes you don’t need that or want that.

I aim to work out 6 days a week, though I consider 4 or 5 days a week a complete success, too. I really listen to my body on this one: when I am hurting, I don’t work out. When I am feeling spent or am mentally depleted, I don’t work out. If I know I haven’t eaten enough to get through a workout and won’t re-up on eating after, I don’t do it. Some days, all I want is a quick walk and other days, I know I need to get in a sweaty kickboxing session. Sometimes, I need to take three days off in a row and not beat myself up about it because I know when I go back to working out on day four, I will be more present and get more out of it.

Learning how to work out with The Shred and having a dedicated, focused regimen helped me discover that I really LIKE working out. I function better in all regards when I work out, and I find myself eager and excited to try new work outs. I like challenging myself and seeing how hard or far I can go — on vacation last week, I walked an average of 5 to 10 miles PER DAY around Toronto. It was amazing to know I did that without dying and it was amazing knowing that all of my hard work paid off to allow me to do that.

In terms of physique, I have definitely toned. Because of previously mentioned challenges, losing weight for me is incredible difficult. But I see great definition in my shoulders and traps (an area that, I learned, I have to work on untangling and stretching since it’s where I carry all of my stress). I can see definition in my abs, especially my lower abs. And my legs? They are rock solid muscle. I’ve always liked my legs, but now I really love them because they look good, they feel good, and they can take a hell of a work out.

I may no longer be doing The Shred, but it’s 100% thanks to doing it that I found working out to be an enjoyable, worthwhile part of my life. I learned by doing it that I can work hard and succeed, and that my body isn’t an object to conquer but rather an amazing tool to work with. Doing The Shred helped me mentally so much that it was certainly part of the reason I found the bravery to seek help for a serious mental health issue I wasn’t taking seriously. It was also part of why I got help for other challenges when I wasn’t seeing results from my life that I should have — and why I can say with ease that isn’t life-altering or shattering, either.

In many ways, The Shred was the program I needed to learn about myself. And it was the program I needed to teach me about the value of personal health and fitness. While I did a lot of working out in high school, participated in athletics, and excelled in PE classes, I never quite understood the value or purpose of personal fitness. We aren’t taught those things; we’re taught the value of competition. And the thing is, health and wellness aren’t a competition. They’re personal, and you have to find a way to work it into your life that works with your life, with your body, with your needs, and with your own goals in mind. When we build everything up as competition, we’re eager to judge ourselves based on those around us, rather than listen to ourselves and our own unique bodies. It’s why an average person might look at a person like me, at my size, and immediately think about how I am a lazy slob who will die of a heart attack in no time — and those things aren’t true.

The Shred was a reminder to keep my eyes on my own paper and focus on improving myself FOR myself.

I still 100% recommend The Shred. It works for those who can handle an intense workout, whatever your fitness level. But the value isn’t necessarily in the video itself. It’s in discovering a routine that works for you and it’s in discovering the cues your own body gives you when it comes to prioritizing fitness in your daily life.

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Review and Giveaway: A Thousand Nights by E. K. Johnston

Lo-Melkhiin has killed three hundred wives, and when he visits our unnamed protagonist’s town next, she knows that her sister will be his next pick. Her sister is the loveliest, after all, but she won’t let Lo-Melkhiin take her and put out her fire. So she dresses in her sister’s finest clothing, and Lo-Melkhiin chooses her instead. She expects to die that first night, but she tells Lo-Melkhiin a little of her sister’s fire, and she lives to see the next day. And the next.

As the days pass, she explores the palace and learns more of Lo-Melkhiin from her surroundings as well as the other women who live there. She also begins to develop magic, colors that drift from her fingertips when she’s around him. Her magic grows, and back home, her sister works her own magic. It becomes clear that Lo-Melkhiin was not always a monster, and with the magic that springs from her stories, she may be able to save herself as well as countless other girls who would have been condemned after her.

The beginning of the book reminded me a little of Cruel Beauty: a girl sacrifices herself to save her sister, marrying a monster of a man in hopes of eventually killing him. There’s a strong focus on setting in both, too, with the details of each location – the palaces and courts – playing important roles. The dynamics of the relationship between the sisters are different, and the ultimate plots are different as well, but there’s definitely a similar feel, brought on in part by Johnston’s writing, which is beautiful and slightly unearthly in the same way I feel Rosamund Hodge’s is. It’s writing that creates a mood, and it’s easy to get lost in it.

A Thousand Nights also reminded me a bit of A Creature of Moonlight by Rebecca Hahn stylistically, as much of the book consists of building the characters and the world they inhabit, with action taking a decided backseat. As I was reading, I found myself thinking on the fact that I felt like I was discovering the story rather than being told the story. Johnston – and her protagonist – deliberately leave the reader in the dark for much of the book, but it’s not done in a manipulative way. This method of storytelling provides its own sort of impetus to turn the next page, though it’s certainly a slower book than most. Sprinkled throughout are interstitial chapters that shed light on the mythology behind the monstrous Lo-Melkhiin, tantalizing little hints that made me eager to keep reading despite the slower pace.

If your teens are fans of fairy tales and other folklore retold, this is definitely one to check out (and it’s a great readalike for Cruel Beauty, too). It should be especially interesting read back-to-back with The Wrath and the Dawn, the other prominent Arabian Nights retelling published earlier this year. It’s not for impatient readers; hand it to someone who enjoys taking her time unpacking lovely sentences and getting drawn into a beautiful, dangerous world.

We’re giving away a prize pack provided by Disney-Hyperion which includes a finished copy of the book plus a nail polish set and tea bag dispenser. To enter, fill out the form below. The giveaway is open to US addressees only and closes in one week on September 30. Learn more about the book here.

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Cybils 2015

I’m thrilled that I’m helping to judge the Cybils Awards again this year. This will be my fifth year as a participant, my fourth in the YA speculative fiction category, and my second on Round 1. This means I’m going to be reading a heck of a lot of YA SFF and then writing about it here – the good, the bad, and the ugly (but hopefully mostly good).

Nominations open October 1, but I’m already eager to get a jump on my reading. To that end, I’m anticipating what might get nominated, and trying to scope out the best title for me to throw in the ring myself. Here’s a list of books I hope I get to read and discuss this season, all books I haven’t yet read – won’t you consider nominating one of them?

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
An Inheritance of Ashes by Leah Bobet
Need by Joelle Charbonneau
Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell
Sound by Alexandra Duncan
Silver in the Blood by Jessica Day George
The Shadow Behind the Stars by Rebecca Hahn
Hunter by Mercedes Lackey
Zeroboxer by Fonda Lee
Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older
Ash and Bramble by Sarah Prineas
Lizard Radio by Pat Schmatz
Dreamstrider by Lindsay Smith
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

 

 

             

Vacation Reading

I’m on vacation for the next few days. It’s my first grown-up vacation that has nothing to do with work or books or librarianship in quite a while. I’m taking the opportunity to indulge and relax, since these are things I so rarely get to do.

Of course, one of the things I always angst over when it comes to traveling is picking the right books to take with me. I know my habits quite well, but since it’s been so long since I’ve traveled for myself, I’m a little rusty. Without fail, I pack too many books, with the intent of doing a ton of reading while in flight, but when I get to the airport, I end up picking up a copy of Entertainment Weekly and reading that instead. But…now I get EW delivered to my house and I read it every week, so that option is off the table.

So my packing strategy has to be a little more thoughtful, since I know whatever it is I pack will be what I have with me at the airport and at the condo I’m renting (and you bet I’ll be scoping out what books, if any, are in that condo).  I want to read only things that are enjoyable, and I don’t want to pack a single thing with the thought of it being something I feel compelled to talk about — unless I really, really want to. More, I don’t want to pack something that takes up space that doesn’t earn its keep, so I’m leaning toward one print book and then going with my nook/phone for the rest of the books.

And these are the books that I think have made the cut.

 

I may have found Mindy Kaling’s Why Not Me? out early at a bookstore last weekend and made a pretty ridiculous noise when I did. I picked it up and walked out, intending to read it over the weekend. But then I thought it would be a far better read while on vacation, so this print book — which is hardcover, but not particularly heavy — will be getting some precious space in my carryon. I can see this being a perfect in-flight read. I really liked Kaling’s previous memoir, with the right blend of humor and seriousness, and I just like Kaling herself.

 

 

Lauren Groff’s Fates and Furies has gotten so much positive buzz around Book Riot, and generally, when an adult literary novel does, I tend to like it (that’s how I picked up Station Eleven last year and it was totally up my alley). But the thing that really made me want to pick up this book was this post about how it’s a great read for fans of Lana Del Rey. I gave up my print ARC of this at BEA to a coworker, but I snagged a digital galley. It’s a novel about a doomed marriage, told through both members of the couple, and it has a bit of a mythological thread to it.

 

 

I’ve been told about E. Katherine Kottaras’s How To Be Brave (November) for a while now — it’s a story with a fat main character where weight isn’t her story. It’s a book about grief and how one can choose to really live life, even when one’s life has been permanently altered. I’m hopeful it’s a solid rendering of a fat girl with a full life, so as much as it’s the kind of book that could be a little heavy for vacation reading, it sounds like the kind that once I’m hooked, I won’t want to put down. This one I’ve got loaded on my nook, so it won’t take up luggage space, which I appreciate.

 

 

Okay, I’m probably a liar about “light” reading, since I’ve also loaded E. K. Johnston’s Exit, Pursued By A Bear (March 2016) on my nook too, and it’s a story about rape and rape culture. The pitch is that it’s Veronica Mars meets William Shakespeare. I’ve probably consumed more books on this topic this year than is healthy (and indeed, also ordered Louise O’Neill’s Asking for It from the UK to read after vacation) but I’ve been thinking about writing something relating to these books, and I’ve heard positive things about Johnston’s take. The cover of this one reminds me of Queen of Secrets from a few years ago. I know this will be a tough read, but, like I said above, as long as I can get into it pretty quickly, I find tough reads are fine for “relaxing” reading.

 

 

I do a little work for Panels, which means reading a lot about comics. While I’m not a huge superhero comics reader, I’ve found myself pushing beyond my comfort reads when it comes to comics. I loved Black Widow, and I have been loving Ms. Marvel. So when Panels writers were raving about Squirrel Girl, I had to snag some single issues to see what it was all about. Now that they’ve been sitting on my shelf for a few months, perhaps it’s time to actually read them. The nice thing about single issues is that while I have to pack the physical copies with me to go on my trip, I don’t have any attachment strong enough to feel I need to bring them home when I’m done. They can be recycled.

 

Now that I’ve meticulously planned my reading to be packed . . . I bet I end up hitting a bookstore or two and buying entirely different things to not read while I’m actually doing vacation-y things.

             

The Detour by S. A. Bodeen

S. A. Bodeen can usually be relied upon to write a solid thriller. I enjoyed both The Compound and its sequel as well as The Raft. She writes books with great hooks and fast-moving plots that pull you in immediately. Her latest, The Detour, doesn’t quite measure up, I think – but it should still satisfy readers looking for some thrills.

Livvy Flynn is a teenage phenomenon. She published her first book while in high school and it was a huge hit. It’s earned her buckets of money and lots of fame, but she’s totally oblivious to how unusual this is. In fact, she looks down on other aspiring writers – especially those older than her, so basically all of them – and generally thinks they’re total failures. She’s the unlikable protagonist in a nutshell. When she’s invited to a writer’s conference to speak, she accepts and figures it will be a breeze. On her way, though, she’s in a car wreck. And when she wakes up, she’s not in the hospital – she’s in some strange woman’s house, tied to a bed. It quickly becomes clear that this woman has it in for Livvy Flynn.

There’s more than a passing resemblance of Stephen King’s Misery in The Detour, though the woman’s reasons for keeping Livvy captive are somewhat different. Bodeen acknowledges the similarity, since Livvy herself is familiar with King’s book. Like in Misery, the woman in The Detour does all sorts of horrible things to Livvy. She also has a daughter who may be even worse.

So, why is this one not as strong as Bodeen’s others? It’s not the unlikability of the protagonist, which I’m sure some reviewers will point to. In fact, Livvy does experience some growth as a person, and her ordeal brings out some buried insecurities that shed a lot of light on why she is the way she is. Instead, I had problems with the way some of the events played out; it was difficult to understand why Livvy didn’t figure some things out much, much sooner. There’s a secret with a boyfriend that’s glaringly obvious but isn’t revealed to Livvy herself until the last chapter. Bodeen doesn’t seem to expect that her readers can connect the dots unless they’re hinted at quite forcefully, and the plot suffers. Suspension of disbelief is also a problem. At one point, a police officer stumbles into the house but doesn’t do anything about the girl who has clearly been kidnapped and tortured – and Livvy is completely understanding of it in the end (there is no good explanation for his behavior). I don’t know which part of that I had a harder time believing, that he did nothing or that Livvy was fine with it.

Despite the flaws, this may be a good one to hand to teens who just can’t get enough of thrillers, particularly those that don’t veer into mystery territory. It’s also interesting if you don’t know much about the publishing industry, since things like average amounts of advances and sales figures are discussed a bit (and by extension just how unusual Livvy’s situation is).

Review copy received from the publisher. The Detour will be published October 6.

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Arabian Nights

I’ve noticed an uptick in the number of stories being published that are related in some way to the Arabian Nights. Re-workings of Aladdin seem to be gaining traction, and at least two books published this year are re-tellings of the Scheherazade frame story, which should have huge pull for writers. I’m kind of surprised we haven’t seen more re-tellings of it sooner. Fairy tale re-tellings are perennially popular, though, and now that we’ve exhausted vampires, werewolves, and mermaids, genies are the next logical step – in fact, genies have been trending quietly for a couple of years now, though they’re not exclusive to the Arabian Nights.

All the titles below have some sort of link to the Arabian Nights or Arabic lore in general. All descriptions are from Worldcat except where noted. What others have I missed? Which ones have you read already?

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

In this reimagining of The Arabian Nights, Shahrzad plans to avenge the death of her dearest friend by volunteering to marry the murderous boy-king of Khorasan but discovers not all is as it seems within the palace.

A Whole New World by Liz Braswell

Aladdin is a street rat. There’s really no getting around that. Like most, he’s just trying to survive another day in impoverished Agrabah. Jasmine is a princess, one who is about to enter into an arranged marriage. All she wants is to escape her fate, to see what lies beyond the palace walls. But everything changes when the sultan’s trusted advisor, Jafar, suddenly rises to power. With the help of an ancient lamp, Jafar becomes determined to break the laws of magic and gain control over love and death. Soon Aladdin and the deposed princess Jasmine must unite the people of Agrabah in rebellion to stop the power-mad ruler. But their fight for freedom grows costly when it threatens to tear the kingdom apart.

Exquisite Captive by Heather Demetrios (sequel: Blood Passage, March 2016)

Nalia, a gorgeous, fierce eighteen-year-old jinni, is pitted against two magnetic adversaries, both of whom want her–and need her–to make their wishes come true.

Becoming Jinn by Lori Goldstein (sequel: Circle of Jinn, May 2016)

Behind closed doors, sixteen-year-old Azra is learning how to harness her powers and fulfill the obligations of her destiny. Mentored by her mother and her Zar “sisters,” Azra discovers she may not be quite like the rest of her circle of female Jinn … and that her powers could endanger them all.

A Thousand Nights by E. K. Johnston (October 2015)

Lo-Melkhiin killed three hundred girls before he came to her village, so when she is taken to the king’s dangerous court she believes death will soon follow, but night after night Lo-Melkhiin comes to her and listens to the stories she tells, leading her to unlocking years of fear that have tormented and silenced the kingdom, and soon she is dreaming of bigger, more terrible magic, power enough to save a king, if she can put an end to rule of a monster.

The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury (February 2016)

When Aladdin discovers Zahra’s jinni lamp, Zahra is thrust back into a world she hasn’t seen in hundreds of years — a world where magic is forbidden and Zahra’s very existence is illegal. She must disguise herself to stay alive, using ancient shape-shifting magic, until her new master has selected his three wishes. But when the King of the Jinn offers Zahra a chance to be free of her lamp forever, she seizes the opportunity—only to discover she is falling in love with Aladdin. [Goodreads]

The Fire Wish by Amber Lough (sequel: The Blind Wish)

When a princess captures a jinn and makes a wish, she is transported to the fiery world of the jinn, while the jinn must take her place in the royal court of Baghdad.

 

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September Debut YA Novels

 

 

It’s time for another round-up of debut YA novels of the month.

Like always, this round-up includes debut novels, where “debut” is in its purest definition. These are first-time books by first-time authors. I’m not including books by authors who are using or have used a pseudonym in the past or those who have written in other categories (adult, middle grade, etc.) in the past.

All descriptions are from WorldCat, unless otherwise noted. If I’m missing any debuts out in September from traditional publishers — and I should clarify that indie presses are okay — let me know in the comments. As always, not all noted titles included here are necessarily endorsements for those titles.

 

 

 

A 52-Hertz Whale by Bill Sommer and Natalie Tilghman: Reveals, through emails from various people, the growing connection between sixteen-year-old James, who is obsessed with the fate of a juvenile humpback whale he adopted, and Darren, a would-be filmmaker who once did community service in James’s Special Education classroom.

 

Becoming Darkness by Lindsay Francis Brambles: Toward the end of World War Two Hitler unleashed the Gomorrah virus, which wiped out most of humanity and turned the rest into vampires, except for those like seventeen-year-old Sophie Harkness, who carry a genetic mutation that makes them immune–but when her best friend is murdered and attempts are made on her life, Sophie sets out to discover the dark secrets that lie at the heart of Haven, the last refuge of the immunes.

 

Blood and Salt by Kim Liggett: Seventeen-year-old Ash Larkin finds out her family is involved in a centuries-old saga of love and murder, alchemy and immortality when she follows her mother to an isolated settlement in the cornfields of Kansas. Included in our big round-up of YA horror.

 

 

 

 

The Body Institute by Carol Riggs: To help out with her family’s financial situation, seventeen-year-old Morgan Dey begins working for the Body Institute, an organization that uses new technology to allow one person to take over another person’s body temporarily to return that body to the proper weight and physical condition. (Worth noting: the description of this one doesn’t pass much muster with Size Acceptance in YA)

 

Burn Girl by Mandy Mikulencak: When her mother dies of a drug overdose, sixteen-year-old Arlie must adjust to living with an uncle she has never met and going to school on a regular basis.

 

The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich: Told through journal entries, a psychotherapist’s notes, court records, and more, relates the tale of Carly, a teen who was institutionalized after her parents’ death but released to Elmbrige High School, where she is believed to have a second personality or soul named Kaitlyn, and/or be possessed by a demon. Included in our big round-up of YA horror.

 

 

 

Dream Things True by Marie Marquardt: Evan, the nephew of a conservative southern senator, and Alma, who lives with her large, warm Mexican family, fall in love, but when Immigration and Customs Enforcement begins raids on their town, Alma knows she needs to tell Evan her secrets, but how can she tell her country-club boyfriend that she is an undocumented immigrant?

 

Drowning is Inevitable by Shalanda Stanley: After seventeen-year-old Olivia and her friend Jamie accidentally kill Jamie’s abusive father, two other friends, Max and Maggie, join them in running away from St. Francisville, Louisiana, to hide out in New Orleans while they try to figure out what to do next.

 

Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon: The story of a teenage girl who’s literally allergic to the outside world. When a new family moves in next door, she begins a complicated romance that challenges everything she’s ever known. The narrative unfolds via vignettes, diary entries, texts, charts, lists, illustrations, and more.

 

 

 

Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa: At Saint Francis Prep school in Mountain View, New Jersey, Mira, Jeremy, and Sebby come together as they struggle with romance, bullying, foster home and family problems, and mental health issues.

 

The Fix by Natasha Sinel: After becoming friends with Sebastian Ruiz, a recovering addict, seventeen-year-old Macy Lyons is forced to come to terms with her own secret.

 

Jillian Cade, Fake Paranormal Investigator by Jen Klein: A seventeen-year-old girl runs a fake paranormal detection agency, but when she takes a case involving a non-paranormal missing person, things start to get strange and her feelings for partner Sky Ramsey start to grow.

 

 

 

The One Thing by Marci Lyn Curtis: After losing her sight–and the future she dreamed of–seventeen-year-old Maggie meets the one person with the ability to help her see all the possibilities life still holds.

 

Lock & Mori by Heather W. Petty: In modern-day London, sixteen-year-old Miss James “Mori” Moriarty is looking for an escape from her recent past and spiraling home life when she takes classmate Sherlock Holmes up on his challenge to solve a murder mystery. Included in “3 On A YA Theme: Takes on Sherlock.”

 

Sanctuary by Jennifer McKissack: After the sudden death of her aunt, Cecilia Cross is forced to return to the old mansion on a remote island off the coast of Maine, ironically named Sanctuary, the place where her father and sister died, and from which her mother was committed to an insane asylum soon after–and it is also a place of dark secrets, haunted by the ghosts of its original owners, and inhabited by her vicious uncle. Included in our big round-up of YA horror.

 

 

 

This Monstrous Thing by Mackenzi Lee: When a talented mechanic in 1818 Geneva brings his brother back from the dead using clockwork parts, the citizens of Geneva think they may have inspired the recently published novel Frankenstein.

 

Truest by Jackie Lea Sommers: Westlin Beck’s summer is turned upside down when the Hart twins move to town: aggravating, intriguing, and quirky Silas and his mysteriously ill sister, Laurel.

 

 

The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore: Although Lace Paloma knows all about the feud between the Palomas and the Corbeaus, she finds herself falling for Cluck Corbeau when he saves her life while both families are performing in the same town.

 

The Unquiet by Mikaela Everett: For most of her life, Lirael has been training to kill–and replace–a duplicate version of herself on a parallel Earth. She is the perfect sleeper-soldier. But she’s beginning to suspect she is not a good person

 

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Little Robot by Ben Hatke

 

We’re taking part in the blog tour for Ben Hatke’s brand new graphic novel for kids, Little Robot. You can see the full schedule here and you should visit all of the sites to check out what they have to say about this delightful read.

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Ben Hatke’s Little Robot is a near-wordless graphic novel suitable for upper elementary, middle grade, and older readers — and more than that, it’s a sweet story about friendship, about girls who do and make things, and about how it’s not always a bad thing to be different. It is a feminist graphic novel for even the youngest of readers.

Our main character is a young black girl, and while she’s unnamed, we know a lot about her. She lives in a poor area, in a trailer home, and she often feels left out by her peers and siblings. During the time other kids are at school, she prefers to sneak through the fence to one of the neighborhood backyards and swing on their swing set. This is an activity that seems to be noticed by the homeowner, but it’s not something he shoos her away from.

One day, though, the main character decides to go on an adventure. When she wanders down to the dump to wander around through the broken and abandoned pieces of other people’s lives, she sees a box floating in the nearby creek. Upon further investigation, she discovers it’s not just a box; inside is a robot.

Using her skills, she builds the robot into a complete creature, and they quickly become close friends.

It becomes apparent quickly, though, that something is odd about the robot being discovered. As readers, we’re privy to it because we’ve seen the beginning of the book, but neither the young girl nor the robot know. The robot had fallen off a truck heading to a plant where he’d be shipped elsewhere, and now, machines are out on the hunt to recover the lost robot. When the robot is discovered and his return to the warehouse seems inevitable, can the little girl use her strengths to keep her friend near her? Or will she lose him?

Little Robot, being as light on text as it is, relies on story telling through its pictures, and those pictures are, without question, the stars of the book. Each little detail is carefully drawn, and emotions and thoughts are depicted clearly through slight changes in character faces, stances, and actions. This is true of both the girl and the robot, and seeing how they interact with one another is sweet without being saccharine or cloying:

But what really makes this graphic novel resonate is the way that the main character is a girl who loves science and technology. She’s clever and she’s industrious, with no fear of trying new things, even if they don’t always work out the way she hopes. There’s curiosity and interest in trying and in making, and seeing that played out in such a fearless manner is memorable. More, that it’s a black girl who isn’t from the best of circumstances makes it even more powerful — STEM is for anyone who wants to explore science and tech, and Hatke does a major service in showing this through his story. Girls will see someone like them tinkering and toying and having fun with it. The gleeful expression in the very last panel above says it all.

Graphic novels like this are so enjoyable to read, and Little Robot is no exception. In many ways, this reminded me of Sara Varon’s work, particularly Robot Dreams. It’s smart, charming, funny, and full of heart without shying away from tackling some big complex issues on a level that young readers just “get.” This is a must-purchase for libraries and school classrooms, though because it’s by Ben Hatke, I probably don’t even need to say that.

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Some Girls Are Donation Drive: The Response

A quick post to share a few links to stories that wrap up and are the direct result of the amazing outpouring of donations to get Some Girls Are into the hands of teens in Charleston.

First, I wrote about the process and final send out results at Book Riot. This post hit reddit, and then later on, it hit the front page of reddit. That sort of readership — and the result was overwhelmingly positive — made me even prouder of what we were able to make happen. Along with getting books to teens, we raised the issue of censorship with a huge audience that may otherwise never understood how it works. Here’s the piece.

Meanwhile, down in Charleston, the local news channels have been running with the story. ABC 4 interviewed Andria about the donation drive, and that helped get the word out to the community to come out and pick up books. According to Andria, the library nearest to West Ashley is already asking for more copies since they’ve been being picked up quickly.

CBS 5 in Charleston also interviewed Andria, and this particular video is more than worth the watch. One of the teens who read the book talks about it and how much it mattered to her. A mother, too, is interviewed about the book and both highlight why I wanted to help with this initiative. Watch it here and prepare to get misty-eyed like me.

This afternoon, a reporter from the Charleston Post and Courier gave me a call, and we talked about book challenges, my experiences working with teens, and I rambled at great length about intellectual freedom and teenagers. Here’s the piece.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this possible. The impact is not small, and I couldn’t be prouder than seeing and hearing about the teens who are picking up the book and opening up conversations, among themselves and with adults in their lives.

             

Long Weekend Reading Part 2: Princeless

After finishing up Lumberjanes this weekend (and being very sad I didn’t have more to read immediately), I started on Princeless by Jeremy Whitley and M. Goodwin. This comic ticks so many of my boxes: fairy tale re-telling, a smart girl who can fight, a little big of magic, plenty of snark.

The protagonist of Princeless is Adrienne, a princess whose parents (the king and queen) have imprisoned her in a tower guarded by a dragon. It’s a tradition in their kingdom; the idea is that only the bravest, best (male) warrior will be able to defeat the dragon and rescue the princess, thereby earning the right to be the next king (women and girls cannot rule in their own right, of course). Adrienne learns of this tradition in a very Disney-fied way when she’s a little girl, and there’s some awesome snark where she just rails against this terrible story, begging her mother not to lock her up like that. But of course, that’s how it goes for her. At least at first.

Adrienne doesn’t put up with it for long. She’s formed a bond with her dragon, who has eaten many would-be dragon-slayers over the months (years?) she’s been in the tower. And when Adrienne decides enough is enough, the dragon – Sparky – helps her stage her own death so she can go rescue her sisters, who are similarly locked up in towers.

I love how Princeless plays with fairy tale tropes, mocking them in a loving sort of way. There’s one awesome scene where Adrienne decides to stop by a shop to get some armor that fits her (she had previously cobbled a set together from the dead knights’ leftovers). The female armor offered has names like the Diana, and it’s as impractical as the name would suggest. Of course, Adrienne is able to convince the smith (another girl who becomes her friend and adventures with her) that armor for women and girls doesn’t have to differ that much from armor for men and boys. It’s a perfect scene, great for the comic’s intended age group of middle grade readers.

One of the most important aspects of Princeless is that Adrienne is black. It’s really, really rare to find a black princess in a fairy tale story, particularly one so uber-white as Rapunzel. Whitley and Goodwin call attention to this, too, in an early part of the story, when one of Adrienne’s would-be rescuers refers to her as “fair,” as many fairy-tale knights do in other tales. “Be you a moron?” she says to him. “Do you know what fair means? You’re so anxious to take a wife! Why don’t you take a book first?”

I was reminded strongly of Shannon Hale and Dean Hale’s Rapunzel’s Revenge while reading this, as both focus on a re-telling of Rapunzel where the princess uses her own ingenuity to rescue herself. They’re natural readalikes for each other, though they’re not quite the same in tone, and the story post-escape plays out much differently. There’s also a strong Dealing With Dragons feel to it. I’m not sure how much today’s kids are still reading that series, but the relationship between Adrienne and Sparky is similar to that between Cimorene and her dragon. I have a feeling Cimorene and Adrienne would be great friends.

The art is great, perfectly friendly for a middle grade audience with character expressions full of personality. I’ve only read the first volume, which collects issues 1-4, but there’s a second one out that collects 5-8, plus a handful of other stories. Highly recommended.

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