News: May 2008 Archives

Even in LA, I'm still getting good news! Thank goodness for wireless, that's all I can say. It's how I was able to read this wonderful five star review for Alyson Noel's CRUEL SUMMER, from TeensReadToo. What I especially love about the review is how the writing style mimics the voice of Colby -- the narrator of CRUEL SUMMER. Enjoy!

The reader will relate to her habit of over-thinking every comment, gesture, or word of an email, and the insecurity she feels around Yannis. I loved this book and totally devoured it. For this reason, I give it five stars!

Josie Bloss' BAND GEEK LOVE continues to get some great early reviews, like this one from the Ya, Ya, Yas and this one from Book Divas. An excerpt:

I really, really enjoyed this book. I give mad props to Josie Bloss for writing an atypical story of a girl dating a younger guy. Josie's [I think she means Ellie's] unorthodox parents are a huge factor that causes her to be so rigid and focused on being a band geek, and I found that aspect to be very real as well. The story had humor, a realistic portrayal of high school life, and of course, a very sweet romance as well. I really enjoyed all of the characters and was pleased Josie Bloss took the time to focus on the very endearing secondary characters and concluded their respective storylines in a satisfactory way as well. Overall, I give BAND GEEK LOVE a resounding two thumbs up and will look forward to what Josie Bloss writes next!

If so, then click on over to Amazon.fr to pick up the French edition of Alyson Noel's FLY ME TO THE MOON, published by Fleuve Noir. C'est tres jolie!!

Back from the beach, with a pile of emails and posts to get all caught up on, more reading still to do (although I got through ALL the books I brought with me to read). Also, that guy in the picture? Not so cute up close and personal. Not that I actually saw him, happily, but I certainly FELT him, and the gauze wrapped around my arm to keep me from scratching where he stung me is a constant reminder, in case I forget (Unlikely!). But on to the important stuff -- all sorts of news and updates!

• Alyson Noel will be speaking TODAY at the Fontana Library in Fontana, CA at 4pm. If you're in the area, please stop by! More details on her blog.
• Newsweek has a fascinating article on teens reading that you should check out. One of the best parts? "Young-adult fiction (ages 12-18) is enjoying a bona fide boom with sales up more than 25 percent in the past few years, according to a Children's Book Council sales survey." The issue of Entertainment Weekly I brought with me on vacay also had a take on this, in an article about teens taking over pop culture.
• An editor I happen to like and respect has a great post up on his blog about submissions, and touches on the issue of The Fear in blogging. What can you write if you're scared it will come back and bite you? How does that influence your blogging?
• A very funny post from Justine Larbalestier on crazy writers. What are your methods for writing that seem strange to others?

Ok, that's good for now. I still have even more reading to do, contracts to go over, emails to answer, and books to reshelve.

Pub day is still about two months away, but you can read the exciting first chapter of BAND GEEK LOVE now, on Josie Bloss's website!

When you're done, come on back here and tell us all about the various geeky things you did in high school. For me, the sheer fact that I went to an all-girls Catholic school should qualify me for extreme geekiness, but when you add in the literary magazine I started up (that ran for one issue) and the school play I performed in with our brother school that was written in Middle English... well, I think my geek credentials are secure.

CRUEL SUMMER, that is, by Alyson Noel. I just got my early finished copies the other day, and they look great! Of course, now I'm also thinking of hot sand, and long beaches, and cool blue water...

But then, I have a short beach vacation coming up this weekend, and I've already got my stack of books ready to be packed. if I hadn't already read CRUEL SUMMER, it would certainly go to the top of the pile. And if you can't get a certain song out of your head after seeing the title, may I helpfully link to a song/video? Not the original, but a remix featured on the soundtrack of Blue Crush. Don't mock me, readers, I have a weakness for girlie sports movies!

Because I don't think it's available online yet, I'm delighted to post this complete starred review of SUITE SCARLETT from the forthcoming June issue of Booklist:

The Hopewell Hotel, 75 years ago a stylish Upper East Side haunt, has fallen on hard times. Its proprietors, the Martin family, have let the last remaining employee go, and now it's up to the four children, Spencer, Lola, Scarlett, and Marlene, to keep things afloat. Enter one Mrs. Amy Amberson, a flamboyant, mysterious guest, back in New York after a long absence, with some clandestine motives. Mrs. Amberson is to occupy the Empire Suite, just today entrusted to Scarlett as a "present" on her fifteenth birthday (a family tradition), for the entire summer, and keeping her happy will test Scarlett's ingenious mettle. What follows is some utterly winning, madcap Manhattan farce, crafted with a winking, urbane narrative and tight, wry dialogue. Beneath the silvered surface, Johnson delivers a complex sibling relationship. Like the Hilary McKay's Casson quartet, first introduced in Saffy's Angel (2002), these siblings are bound by tender, poignant connections, all the more real for the absurdity of their circumstances. We can only hope that they, too, return for more intrepid adventures.

Woot! I love the McKay books, too, and couldn't be happier with the comparison. Have you bought SUITE SCARLETT yet? Have you seen Maureen's happy dance?

With our girl Maureen Johnson, in which we learn that yes, she does in fact know people from the circus. Enjoy the whole thing!

MJ is everywhere! She's on John Scalzi's blog, talking about The Big Idea. My favorite part:

This is not the Manhattan of Gossip Girl. Suite Scarlett isn't about buying things or vying for position. I wanted to write about the New York I understood -- the one where you make things, and the creative underclasses and the rich mingle, sometimes uneasily, sometimes very fruitfully. Scarlett soon learns the skill of making things up -- solutions that have little to do with money, and everything to do with creativity and embracing the implausible and slightly insane. I think this is an especially important principle to introduce to today's teens, some of whom may be laboring under the misapprehension that things in life are supposed to work in a certain way, that a series of standardized tests will lead to a life of perfect order -- a life in which mistakes and risks are things to be feared and avoided.

Also, she's in Michigan! Or will be, tomorrow. With John and Hank Green. If you live in the Grand Rapids area, feel free to go see her in public, and poke at her (the use of sticks as poking devices is neither implied nor condoned).

She's guest-blogging today over at Trashionista. What books have YOU read to pieces? I'm going to go with Richard Scarry's BEST WORD BOOK EVER, which I had in a multi-lingual edition. Each word was in English and I think Spanish and maybe German. It died a happy death after a long productive life. When I went back as an adult to find it again, I got an edition in English, French, and Czech! Which I should totally have brought with me on my trip to Prague a few years ago, but alas, I forgot. Your turn!

Sure, we could run around all day singing a song from "Camelot," or you can head over to Maureen Johnson's blog to celebrate Publication Day of SUITE SCARLETT with giveaways and a very informative video about New York. Enjoy!