YA New York

It’s release day, darlings, and I’ve never been more glad. Because not only is Matthew Sweet’s new album, Sunshine Lies out today, but two of my most anticipated books of the year are out as well.

Let’s start with Cycler by Lauren McLaughlin. Meet Jill and her part-time brother (or second identity?), Jack. Jill is a normal high school senior, except that four days a month she … umm … turns into a guy. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Lauren McLaughlin conceived this book whilst suffering debilitating menstrual cramps, and she describes Jill’s condition as the “worst case of PMS ever.”

I have to say it: The book was brilliantly written, and I’ve been looking forward to reading it since May, when Scott Westerfeld recommended it after I said, “I’m starting a YA review site.” He said, “You should read Cycler by Lauren McLaughlin.” I dutifully wrote down the details, but only finally got the book last week. Good thing. It’s still fresh in my mind. (Note: This was my one and only convo with Scott Westerfeld. Alas, we are not best buds, though I consider his books to be some of my dearest friends.)

Back to Cycler, Jill is really stunningly normal, and maybe a little bitchy. She “deletes” her other persona each month, and she and her mother have conspired to keep Jack locked inside the house for the entire duration of his existence. Okay, forget bitchy. Maybe a little cruel more like it.

Lauren tells the book from both Jill’s perspective and Jack’s. One chapter is Jill, the next Jack. Weirdly, Jack is the much more interesting character. Much, much more interesting. And more fun. And maybe cooler. But the story itself is also way cool, and really well told, and generally brilliant. Hey, listen. If Scott Westerfeld says it’s good, take his word for it. He is, in my opinion, a far more reliable source than I am.

Oh! But you shouldn’t take his word for it, either, because Lauren has ever so kindly made an excerpt available her website. Go read it, and then go read the whole book.

Next up in our Splendid Splashing Release day edition, Kimberly Pauley’s debut novel, Sucks to Be Me: The All-True Confessions of Mina Hamilton, Teen Vampire (Maybe). It’s got a long title, but can be summed up in just one word: hilarious.

Look, there’s a lot of vampire lit out there right now. Not only do we have Stephenie Meyer setting the bar, but we’ve also got Claudia Gray’s Evernight series and … okay, how’s this for wacky: a series about Upper East Side high schoolers who are rich and beautiful and vampires. Gossip Girl: the vampire version??? Weird, but existent.

Kimberly, however, did something completely different. She wrote a comedy, a slightly angsty coming-of-age story about a girl who attends vampire classes that are something like driver’s ed. And vampires aren’t good, or bad. They’re just people who live forever and drink blood and stuff. And Mina, our heroine, has to decide whether she wants to take the plunge and become a vamp, too. There’s a bit of romance, of course, but mostly it’s just plain funny and awesome and doesn’t have any of the worrying connotations of like, Buffy coming out and kicking some vampire butt. It’s not about that at all, and that’s what I love about Sucks to Be Me. It’s just plain awesome funny fun.

Kimberly, btw, is having an online book release party all this week. So stop by her site to win giveaways and to read posts from her special guest authors.

And of course, you can buy Cycler and Sucks to Be Me from Amazon.com.

Oh, and by the way: This Matthew Sweet album kinda rocks. It’s not as good as Girlfriend or 100% Fun, of course, but it’s still awesome.

I have been searching for this book. Seriously, ever since all the hullabaloo (see this), I have been thinking that I really, really needed to read Cures for Heartbreak. Not just because of Margo Rabb’s piece in the New York Times, but also because Cures sounded like a genuinely awesome book.

And it is. It’s heartbreaking. (Duh.) And it’s extremely well-written. In the NYT piece, Margo says she had been working on this book for eight years, and I understand now why she felt that it was a bit of a slam to be told the book was YA. Don’t get me wrong. It is a wonderful book for teens, but it’s just as wonderful for adults.

The book opens with Mia, our protagonist, her sister Alex, and her father shopping for a coffin for Mia and Alex’s mom, who died twelve days after being diagnosed with cancer. (Margo’s mother died nine days after a cancer diagnosis, so this book is more than a little autobiographical, with an afterword talking about Margo’s own struggle with heartbreak.)

Any of us who lost parents at a young age will identify with Mia. Margo’s book is so very real, you can tell she wrote from a very intimate place. It’s the sort of book that could (and should!) be nominated for major literary kudos, and if the YA categorization hindered that, I’d be hopping mad.

My only quibble, and it’s a little one really, is that Margo wrote this book as fiction in the first place. She has fictionalized the details of losses she really experienced, and while I can see how it would help move the story forward more easily, I also feel like the raw emotion would almost be better suited in a memoir. It’s just so pure that, as a reader, I felt like Margo was taking something away from herself by fictionalizing the story. I could sense, reading the novel, that the emotions weren’t the sort of thing you could just make up, and long before I reached the afterword I knew there was a lot of truth in what I was reading.

Regardless, I am amazed by Margo’s ability to encapsulate grief the way she did, to bring readers along for the ride, and for some of us, to help us move through our emotions and understand them better. That, if anything, is the best reason I can think of for this book being YA. A sixteen-year-old who has lost her mom needs this book more than someone does ten or twenty years after losing a parent at a young age.

And now for a mea culpa: I was wrong. I mean, I wasn’t wrong that YA is awesome, but I was wrong about putting Margo into an anti-YA camp. Still, when all is said and done, I am very, very glad this book was published as young adult fiction, because otherwise I would never have gone looking for it.

Everyone’s been buzzing for a little while now about Oprah’s teen book club. It’s an awesome thing, and I’m so, so very glad she has chosen to recognize teen writers. It’s like saying, “YA Ghetto? What YA Ghetto? Do you mean the fabulous world of YA, which is totally worthy of your attention?”

Not to mention that the woman has good taste. Her picks include … Read the rest of this entry »

Oh, kiddies. You missed a BIG night Wednesday. Big. Epic. Huge.

You know why? Not only were there six amazing authors reading from their books, but we were also graced with the presence of a celebrity guest. Yes, indeed, a woman so recognizable and so widely beloved that I fully expect you all to kick yourselves for not attending.

A pity you missed it, but I’m going to share it with you anyway. Ready? Pics inside! Read the rest of this entry »

It was probably very smart that Suzanne Harper’s publicist sent me two of this fantabulous author’s books. Because without the first, I’d never have gotten to the second.

The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney was published last year, but it’s out in paperback now, which means it’s cheaper and so you have no reason not to buy it. Because it’s a lovely novel about a girl who lives in Lily Dale, New York (a real place), where Spiritualists run the game. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Spiritualism, it is a religion centered around the belief that one can speak with the dead. And, boy, can Sparrow speak with the dead. Indeed, dead folks follow her around. And though she usually ignores them, not to mention pretends she has no special powers, one finally convinces her to help him cross over. (You know, to the other side.)

Anyway. Fans of Suzanne’s have been clamoring for a sequel to this novel, and so am I. Suzanne? Are you reading? Please to write a sequel, yes?

Next up was The Juliet Club. This is another novel I picked up and put down, because I read in the first few pages that our heroine, Kate, is a sensible girl who doesn’t believe in love. I have no use for such people.

But then Kate flies off to Verona, Italy for a month to participate in a study-abroad program focusing on Romeo and Juliet. And our sensible heroine turns from a Kate a la The Taming of the Shrew into a star-crossed lover. Actually, it seems everyone in this novel is a star-crossed lover of some sort.

Harper’s writing in both books is delightful, and it took no more than five minutes for me to overcome my antagonism toward Kate in The Juliet Club. In fact, I could do with a sequel to that one, too.

To sum up: I can’t get enough of Suzanne Harper. And I can’t get enough of her books. I want more, and I want it now. I bet you will, too.

Buy The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney and The Juliet Club from Amazon.com.

Darlings, I’ve neglected you terribly. I must confess that the reason I took a blogcation was that I have a little bit of a deadline coming up next Monday, and while it’s not an “off with her head!” type of deadline, I am of course still stressing about it.

So I’ve been working non-stop on my own project, and YA New York has fallen into disrepair. I promise I’ll be back amongst the constantly-blogging soon. But today! Today is my 29th birthday, and I am going off to Playland in Rye, New York, where I celebrate my birthday every year.

Anyway, I thought I’d link to some of the best YA blogs around today, so you’d have something to read in my absence:

• Maureen Johnson is always hilarious. I think it’s a rule that she has to be.
• John Green is also worth reading, though even more worth watching, as he and his brother Hank do lovely crazy YouTube videos.
• E. Lockhart, who has gotten a lot of accolades lately for her fabulous book, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, is also a great blogger. As for her book, it is hands down number one on my Best Books of 2008 list. Of course, it’s possible that could change in the next few months. But I doubt it.
• Meg Cabot is not only the High Priestess of YA, she also rivals Maureen Johnson for best YA author blogger. And if you have lots of time on your hands, you should check out her YouTube videos. Awesome!

So the film version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been delayed to July 2009. When I found out, I was all, “Did they not finish production or something? Is there a problem???”

No:

Allen Horn, president and COO, Warner Bros.:

Our reasons for shifting ‘Half-Blood Prince’ to summer are twofold: we know the summer season is an ideal window for a family tent pole release, as proven by the success of our last Harry Potter film, which is the second-highest grossing film in the franchise, behind only the first installment. Additionally, like every other studio, we are still feeling the repercussions of the writers’ strike, which impacted the readiness of scripts for other films–changing the competitive landscape for 2009 and offering new windows of opportunity that we wanted to take advantage of. We agreed the best strategy was to move ‘Half-Blood Prince’ to July, where it perfectly fills the gap for a major tent pole release for mid-summer.”

(Article.)

Dude. This is a financial decision? And you said so? Out loud? Wow. That’s just kind of … umm … stupid.

According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, 15,900 fans have already signed a petition asking Warner Bros. to keep the original release date (November). Now, I’m all about fans working for change or whatever, but … also stupid. Because, no offense, I don’t think it’s going to change stuff. Still, you know. The petition is here, and actually as of this writing the number of signatures is up past 17,000. You can sign or not. I don’t care much …

Because these movies generally suck. Except for the third one. But Half-Blood Prince is my favorite HP book, and I would be distressed if it turned out to be another stiff translation from the page to the screen. (Though of course I’ll go anyway.)

Oh, and maybe you’ve heard about the video game Electronic Arts has been planning to go launch at the same time as the movie (that is, November)? They haven’t decided what to do. Wait. Who plays these games, anyway? Are the HP games any good? Wasn’t this one supposed to be … maybe … decent?

No word about either from JK Rowling on her site. Oh, but are you psyched to read The Tales of Beedle the Bard? I kind of want the Collector’s Edition, which is one of those Amazon.com-only exclusives. But it does look shiny. And it’s only, you know … what??? A hundred bucks? Oh. Maybe someone will get me a Chrismannukkah gift, or something. Hmph. Although it is for charity, I suppose. Still …

All around, HP news not very cheerful today. (Not that it should be. Isn’t this series, like, over???)

(Our super-awesome LA and film correspondent, Jami B., weighs in in comments.)

Another fantabulous event coming up on Wednesday, Aug. 20:

David Levithan hosts another author panel, featuring Nora Baskin (All We Know of Love), Matt de la Pena (Mexican Whiteboy), Donna Freitas (Possibilities of Sainthood), Lauren McLaughlin (Cycler), Lauren Mechling (Dream Girl), Margo Rabb (Cures for Heartbreak) and Martin Wilson (What They Always Tell Us).

6 p.m., 425 Sixth Avenue at 10th Street. I’ll be there this time, for sure, because I have a dinner date afterwards. And nothing keeps a girl honest like a good old-fashioned plan to meet up with a friend. Between now and then I hope to read a few of these books, because this time there are more I haven’t read than there are that I have. And I do owe you about a million reviews. Later today, or this weekend: a photo of the pile of books I’ve read and am planning to write up for you.

♥
brina

Michael Grant, author of Gone, recently took the time to chat with me — he called me on the phone, all the way from Italy, which was incredibly kind on his part. Michael has written about a million books under various pseudonyms, so he has a lot of great insight on all things literary and on many that are not. (I must add that he was really super-fun to talk with, and if he didn’t live in Tuscany, I’d kidnap him for weekly interviews.) And now, for your reading pleasure, I present: Twenty Questions with Michael Grant … Read the rest of this entry »

It’s ridiculous, isn’t it, how a gem can be right in front of you for months and months, and you don’t see it at all? This, alas, is what happened to me with A Curse Dark As Gold. It came highly recommended by Sarah Beth Durst (author of Into the Wild and Out of the Wild), and it was one of the first books to land in my mailbox. Yet somehow there were other fluffier things that beckoned. Shiny pink things of no substance.

I must apologize. I mean really, really apologize. Because, you see, today I hit rock bottom. I can now say I have read every single book in this apartment, and it took until today for me to find out that Elizabeth C. Bunce’s work is a frickin’ masterpiece.

All right. Let me back up a bit. Months ago I opened this book, read the first two pages, and yawned. What was this? Some sad tale about a girl whose father has died? No, no, and no. There were all sorts of whimsical books staring me in the face, and this one didn’t make the cut. I set it aside, meaning to catch up on it later. Which of course meant that I lost sight of it and never found it again until … well, until today.

I have spent the entire evening reading, feeling as if I wouldn’t be able to breathe properly until I finished this story. Charlotte Miller is a young woman — probably somewhere between sixteen and eighteen, though we never find out her exact age for sure — when her father dies and leaves her and her sister to fend for themselves. As the proprietors, or should I say, proprietresses, of a mill that has had a long run of bad luck, which doesn’t seem to be getting any better.

And if the concept of a mill sounds ancient, that’s because it is. The book isn’t set in any specific place or time, though I imagined it as England in the early 1800s. But it is most definitely a sort of historical romance, or historical tragedy. (Reminiscent of a not-teen-lit book I read awhile back, Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. I can’t pay a much higher compliment, because that novel set me reeling for at least a few weeks after I’d finished it.)

Oh! This should have been something I said much earlier: A Curse Dark As Gold is a sort of retelling of the story of Rumpelstiltskin. Although that really isn’t fair, because Elizabeth has woven a story much deeper and more complex than the Brothers Grimm version you may know. Instead of a simple girl who seems to act without thinking, like the character in the older tale, Charlotte is brave, headstrong, smart, rational, a problem-solver. She’s a natural leader, in a time when women aren’t really allowed to lead anything but a household. And there is, of course, a curse involved, though I won’t divulge too much about that.

Let me just say this: If you had to pick only one — Rumpelstiltskin or A Curse Dark As Gold — to read in your lifetime, I’d advise you to go with the latter. I know this is the second time I’ve done this lately, but this is yet another candidate for my top five books of 2008. I’m thinking it’s a lock-in, in fact, and will probably be in a close race for the top three. It really is that good.

Buy A Curse Dark As Gold from Amazon.com.