Pegasus by Robin McKinley was one of my most highly anticipated books of 2010. I've mentioned before that I love Robin McKinley. She is the author I credit with teaching me that fantasy can be a great genre to read. I was so excited when I noticed a new McKinley book that I'm pretty sure I made those embarrassing 'sqeeish' noises.
When the book came in the mail, I was beyond excited. And then, I started reading... End of excitement. The entire book was a struggle for me to get through. The beginning of the book is really vague, with the readers jumping into the middle of our 12 year old princess' history lesson and the narration doesn't really clear up much after that. I felt like I was reading the story told many years later by someone who kept forgetting the order things happened. It was full of flashbacks and flashforwards that would go on for pages, before the narration would pick up again in the present. I'm normally okay with this in books, but I like a little warning first. These flashes would just happen, and I'd find myself wondering where we were, and when we left the present tense.
I also regularly found myself bored with all the description. McKinley is a fantastic world builder and has a great imagination. I am amazed that she is able to come up with such beautiful and vivid descriptions for this magical world, but I got tired of hearing about them over and over again. It felt too much like a really boring teacher's desperate attempt to make a history lesson interesting to a group of students who couldn't care less. (ie: fail).
The story does definitely pick up once Ebon enters the picture and the story is no longer solely about Sylvi. Ebon was a fun character and I found myself truly enjoying his blunt and honest interior commentary. But this too was over used.
I must also admit that I was seriously upset, disappointed and annoyed when I realized that this book was actually going to have a sequel. I thought that McKinley could easily have cut the book down by 100 or so pages, removing the repetitious and redundant descriptions, and smoothing out the timeline, and then I find out she's going to follow it up with a second book?! Sigh. That was a bit of a bummer. And, of course I need to read the sequel because this book has one of the worst endings I've ever read. It ends, quite literally, in the middle of a scene. Nothing is resolved, everyone seems doomed, and all we have to go on are questions, assumptions and vague references to history.
I know that this review is predominantly negative, which makes me sad, and is not entirely what I was going for. The writing is, as always, beautiful and very well done. Sylvi and Ebon were a great character team, and their friendship is almost palpable. Their connection has enriched their lives, and I'm very interested to see what they will be able to accomplish in the future.
And although I was quite annoyed that this story ends in the middle of the scene, I must admit that I am incredibly interested in watching what Sylvi's father does with this new information, and how it will change their lives.
Overall, this is a beautiful story that just happens to be a little difficult to get through. But, I'd still recommend it for McKinley fans. Just, don't get your hopes too high.
* Disclaimer: I received this book through Star Book Tours.
This week, September 25 — October 2, is Banned Books Week. It is a "Celebration of the freedom to read." How great is that? There is a full week dedicated to readers and promoting the freedom for us to chose which books we want to read. But it's more than that. It's more than just celebrating our right to read. It's also about standing up to those who wish to limit our ability to do so. So many great and wonderful books, directed to all age groups are challenged or banned every year. Complaints are made regarding everything from violence and profanity, to sexual content and drugs. Perhaps the most common is 'unsuited to age group'. It's a catch all, one that I feel is used as a label with people don't want to admit the real reason they oppose the book. Although, I will say that I laugh when it's applied to certain books like My Sister's Keeper. Although it's true that a lot of young adults read it, it's marketed as an adult book. But, sorry guys, you 30, 40, 50+ can't read it, because it's actually unsuitable for your age. Seriously people, come on.
As I've mentioned and I'm sure you've noticed, censorship is something that really bothers me. I don't like it when people think they are more entitled to make a decision about what I can or cannot handle reading than I do. What makes you the expert? And what gives you the right to decide that it's unacceptable for everyone just because you are uncomfortable with it. It makes me sad and angry and upset and conflicted and all sorts of other things that are often hard to express. And, when something bothers me, especially if it makes me angry, I talk about it. A lot. I love that I now have this blog, which allows me to reach more people, share my thoughts and feelings with people all over the world. But, with the topic of censorship, I really feel like I'm preaching to the choir. Out of all the book blogs I've read and visited, not one has been pro censorship. The general consensus seems to be that it's perfectly fine to limit or censor what you read, what your children read, and what you allow into your home, it is never okay to expand that viewpoint into the general population. Or that it's fine to ask a teacher to offer an alternative reading option if you, as a parent or as the reader are uncomfortable with the subject matter, but that it is never okay to deny the entire class (and future classes) the opportunity to read that book.
Sometimes I feel like I'm going to be the next crusader. I'm going to hop onto my metaphorical white steed and crush the seeds and roots of censorship, injustice, and cruelty beneath my the astounding might and strength of my brilliant mind. But other days, I feel the only people I reach are those who already wholeheartedly agree with me. Book bloggers all over the world have been complaining about and railing against Wesely Scroggins and his offensive view of books all week, but I doubt any of that has changed his opinion. I actually doubt that he's even heard about most of it. He might have seen the article Laurie Halse Anderson wrote in response to his, because it was printed in his local paper, but has he seen the public outcry online? I doubt it. So, is it worth it? Does it matter?
Ya. It definitely does. But there is even more that we can do.
This banned books week, try to do something new that can spread the word farther. Donate a banned book to the library — public or school — that they don't already have. Write a (polite and non-inflammatory) letter to the editor for your local paper. Attend school board meetings where they discuss whether to ban specific books challenged by community members and share your thoughts and feelings there. And don't limit your activity to banned books week. This is an ongoing challenge across the world. It's not something that is unimportant during the rest of the year. If someone in your community challenges a book, stand up for it. Donate copies to students you think would benefit from it.
I'd love to hear what you are trying to do to combat censorship and promote freedom of expression. Feel free to leave me a comment or a link to a post telling me what you've done to try and end censorship.
So, I know that everyone has been talking lately about Wesely Scroggins wonderful article promoting book banning. (Spit) As soon as I read about it, I knew I was going to have to say something about it, because it makes me so angry and when I get this angry, I get a little bit irrational. Like, deciding I should fly to Missouri with my two 50 lbs suitcases and 2 carry-on items filled with copies of Speak, and Slaughterhouse-Five Twenty Boy Summer, distribute them to anyone on the street who looks like they want a copy, then head over to Scroggins office and laugh in his face when I tell him that I just handed out 200 copied of his filth to the members of his town... Ahem.
That's not practical. I don't have that kind of money, but boy do I wish I did. If I could make it rain banned books, I definitely would. I know that this little town of Republic, MO is getting a lot of attention right now, but this happens all over the place and every time, it makes me cry a little inside.
But, I'm not writing today to talk about banned books in general, although I am sure a post about that will come soon enough. I'm here today to talk about a book that I love. That I've loved since I first picked it up like 5 years ago. A book that I think could very easily make that difference in a person's life that let's them know they are not alone, that there are people who know what they are dealing with and that there are people who will listen and who will help. I'm talking about Speak.
I will say that I feel a little bad for Twenty Boy Summer and Slaughterhouse-Five. They were called out in the same article but haven't been getting nearly as much attention as Speak. I haven't read Twenty Boy Summer yet, although I did just grab it from the library and I plan to read it this week (Thank You Dr. Scroggins) but I have read Slaughterhouse-Five and I thought the book was brilliant. But, I'm going to be just like everyone else and focus on Speak because what he said about that book is reprehensible.
I did read the full article, and I specifically looked at Scroggins reasons for believing Speak to be pornographic. I read it more than once, and do you know what conclusion I came to? He's either puffed up on his own self importance or he's the guilty party and is trying to cover up his issues with a public outcry against this wonderfully uplifting, moving and incredibly powerful book. I've read the book Scroggins. Have you? Have you really read it? Or does the word rape automatically make you assume that it's pornographic. Because, if that's the case, you might have bigger issues than just not wanting the upstanding citizens in your town to read this book.
But really Scroggins, when it all comes down to it, we get the last laugh. You do realize, do you not, that more people, especially those very high school students you want to protect are now going to pick up Slaughterhouse-Five, specifically because you mentioned the frequency of the f-word and the immoral scene behind glass. Sales of Speak and Twenty Boy Summer are only going to rise with the number of bloggers, authors and people upset by your small-mindedness. Just take a look around at all these book bloggers and others who are hosting giveaways of some variation of these books. That's helping to promote them. I don't know if you are even able to comprehend the amount of publicity you are giving these books because you spoke out against them. Now, everyone is speaking up FOR them, and when it all comes down to it, you are the one going to look the fool. How does it feel to have a huge population of very well read, very outspoken people fuming mad at you? Are you proud of yourself? Does it make you feel better to know that you are publicly condemning a book that has saved the sanity and emotional well being of countless young girls and boys?! If you don't believe me, view Ms. Anderson's website. She has a video link up, where she talks about the thousands and thousands of letters she has received from victims telling her that this one book saved them, brought them hope. I highly doubt that anyone who has been the victim of rape or any sexual attack would be writing thank you notes to the author of a book glorifying the action, or making it pornographic. It just wouldn't happen.
I'm going to say something mean now, so I need to be clear that it's not just directed at Scroggins, but to all those out there who believe they are more qualified to decide what I should or should not be able to read, or what you should or should not be able to read... I hope you choke on your own bile.
I wonder if a book can sue for defamation of character... ?
I recently read and reviewed Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure and it's sequel, Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country. (If you missed that, you can find my review HERE.)
I recently conducted an interview with the author, Allan Richard Schickman about his novels and am delighted to share his responses with you! You can also find out more about Allan and his books on this website. (in my blog.) ____________________________________________________
First, I would like to thank Allan Shickman for being willing to answer some questions. I really enjoyed reading his novels and am excited to have this chance to talk with him. The pleasure is all mine. I find to my surprise that I just love to talk about myself and my work. So, have you always known you wanted to be a writer? Or is it something that just kind of happened? You have it exactly right. It just sort of happened. As a student I liked to write, and tried my hand at it from time to time. As a professor I wrote scholarly articles, and most of those journals have very high standards. It was an honor to be published in any one of them. Only upon retirement did I attempt a fictional book. Once I wrote that first chapter I was hooked. Because I am a reader and I love getting great book recommendations, especially from authors I enjoyed, what are some of your most favorite books? I have always been a lover and student of the classics. Once I find a book I like, I am apt to read it several times over a period of years. Dostoyevsky is my favorite. I read Crime and Punishment when I was sixteen, and I still reread it from time to time. Later in life I discovered Thomas Hardy. I love The Mayor of Casterbridge. Twain’s Huckleberry Finn was one book when I was young, and quite another, richer, book now that I’m older. One never really knows a book until he has read it three times. In that, it’s like a symphony or an opera. What would you say has been the most influential book or literary experience for you and your writing? Hard question. The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky taught me how complex, contradictory, and downright funny human beings can be. Shakespeare and Milton taught me that language can roar and thunder, and stir the imagination. Your bio mentions that you were an Art History Professor for years. How did you end up writing a historical fiction novel about the Prehistoric era? That seems like quite the jump. It is not really such a jump. Prehistoric people produced art. I studied it and their possible reasons for producing it. Some of that was in the back of my mind when I wrote the Zan-Gah novels. But there is a lot nobody knows. For all we know, women, not men, did those famous cave paintings. So I mixed knowledge with imagination. How much research went into writing these two novels? Some. I already knew a little about prehistoric art and life. I needed to learn about slings, and about fishing by hand. I researched twins in primitive societies, and discovered that such societies were sometimes terribly frightened by the birth of twins. They would kill them and their mother (never their father). I used that fear in my books. I also went to a marvelous cavern, Onondaga, in my own cave-rich state of Missouri. I was the only guy in the whole cave who was taking notes. Eyeless salamanders! Cool. We met a lot of interesting tribes with very complex and different ways of life. Were each of these tribes something out of your imagination, or were they based on actual tribes from history? Mostly imagination. There were no wasp people that I know of, but I did not make up totemism—the belief that a clan is related to an animal and shares some of its qualities. Why not have a people that models itself after stinging wasps? What sort of evidence and artifacts (if any) do we really have about this era? We have a lot. Whole volumes are written about cave paintings, petroglyphs, sculpture, etc. We have very fat, bulbous steatopygous figures assumed to be models of fertility. I hinted that Siraka-Finaka might have been shaped like the Venus of Willendorf (aw, go ahead and google it), but I didn’t push the idea very hard. There were some amazing characters in these novels—really strong and well-defined. It made me really glad there was a sequel, because it meant I was able to read more about them. However, the first book does end in a pretty comfortable spot. Was it always your intention to write a sequel to Zan-Gah, or is that a decision that came later. Thanks for “amazing.” I like “amazing.” However, I never intended to write a sequel, but some of my teen friends and relatives encouraged me to do so. The thing is, you can’t write anything until you get an idea. Then you slowly develop it, and put leaves on the tree, so to speak. The second book gave me a chance to develop characters introduced in the first, and work on new ones too. It gives me great satisfaction to think that my readers take an interest in my fictional characters, and want to read more about them. Any plans for a third Zan-Gah adventure? Yup. Speaking of future plans, do you have a current work-in-progress? If so, are there any details you can share about it with us? I am working on a third Zan-Gah book, but I am reluctant to talk too much about it. The story continues with Dael's self-imposed exile, as he seeks some sort of redemption or resolution of his life. He will go to live with the crimson people (introduced already in Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country). I think I will call it Dael and the Painted People. But first I have to write it. Is there anything else you'd like to share with us today? I ask what an author has no right to insist on, that folks read the Zan-Gah books with a little care. It isn’t a race. If you don’t feel the books, you haven’t read them. Thank you again for answering my questions today. I really appreciate it. Just one last question before we go (because I know which I prefer and it's always an interesting question) Do you prefer wearing shoes or going barefoot? I always shower, swim, and go to bed barefoot. Any other time, I am shod. Thank you too. ____________________________________________________ How wonderful! I'm definitely excited for this third Zan-Gah novel. And, I totally googled that statue.:) Also, I am going to be offering a signed copy of each of these books to one lucky reader in the next few days so stayed tuned! Be sure to comment and let me know what you think!
We have something fun for you today. Right now on both The Book Rat and Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing, we're hosting 2 super cute guest posts (you can see mine below) and 2 Prize Packs to go along with them. Alanna from The Flashlight Reader wanted to be involved in FTF, and wanted to get her students involved (which I was so on board with!), so she decided to have them do acrostic poems for Fairy Tale Fortnight, and I have 1 to share with you! Check it out:
Forgotten by her stepmother And evil stepsisters Impossible, never ending chores Resigned to be a slave, but Yearning to be free
Today brings change with A magical wand Love at first sight while Enchanted dancers Swirl in to the night
To add to the awesome, she decided to sponsor a giveaway as well (well, 2 ---> the other one is on Misty's blog, along with another great acrostic!)
***GIVEAWAY*** 1 lucky winner will get a fabulous prize pack of children's books, which includes:
1 copy of Swan Lake with an audio CD 1 copy of Sleeping Beauty 1 copy of Petite Rouge: A Cajun Little Red Riding Hood 1 copy of The Emperor's Kite by Jane Yolen + SURPRIZES!
To enter: Leave a comment with a way to contact you, and leave some love for Alanna and her students OR tell us why you want to win. +1 for spreading the word US/CAN only Ends May 5th May 8th!
Just when you think Fairy Tale Fortnight can't get any better, it does! As if Sierra from Yearning to Read wasn't already made of awesome (click her to enter for the Jessica Day George Prize Pack she donated) she is also donating her personal copy of My Fair Godmother by Jeannette Rallison. She purchased the sequel (My Unfair Godmother) in hardcover and wants a matching set (and who can blame her?!) So, be aware that this is a slightly used copy, but Sierra says that it's in great condition.
________________________________________
Finding your one true love can be a Grimm experience! After her boyfriend dumps her for her older sister, sophomore Savannah Delano wishes she could find a true prince to take her to the prom. Enter Chrissy (Chrysanthemum) Everstar: Savannah’s gum-chewing, cell phone–carrying, high heel-wearing Fair Godmother. Showing why she’s only Fair —because she’s not a very good fairy student—Chrissy mistakenly sends Savannah back in time to the Middle Ages, first as Cinderella, then as Snow White. Finally she sends Tristan, a boy in Savannah’s class, back instead to turn him into her prom-worthy prince. When Savannah returns to the Middle Ages to save Tristan, they must team up to defeat a troll, a dragon, and the mysterious and undeniably sexy Black Knight. Laughs abound in this clever fairy tale twist from a master of romantic comedy _______________________________________________
To enter: Leave a commenttelling us why you want to read this book (and give a BIG THANKS to Sierra!); make sure I have a way to contact you! +1 for following Sierra on her blog via GFC | email | Facebook US onlyEnds May 5th May 8th!
With us today, we have Mette Ivie Harrison, author of The Princess and the Hound, The Princess and the Bear, The Princess and the Snowbird, Mira, Mirror and the upcoming Tris and Izzie. Her bio tells us that her name, Mette is Danish and when spoken, rhymes with 'Betty'. She currently lives in Utah with her husband and five children. And, she tells us 'I write during nap time, or at 4 in the morning, or while the broccoli for dinner is burning. Whenever Ig et a chance. I love to write the kind of books that I love to read. And I love to discover what it going to happen next, just like a reader would.' As if being a writer isn't enough, she also participates in triathlons.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I wrote the first draft of The Princess and the Hound in 1997, and in that version, it was a retelling of the story of The Princess and the Pea. Doesn’t sound likely, does it? What happened as I was writing the first scene, in which the bedraggled princess knocks on the door of the castle to escape from a rainstorm, was that she came in with this hound. This big, black hound whom she would not let anyone take away from her. It was obvious they were very close, that their relationship was not like any other hound and girl. And Prince George, who told the story from the first, could not stop thinking about this princess and this hound. He had to find out the mystery behind their relationship.
So, it was a mystery and a romance from the beginning, and it was based on a fairy tale. But as I rewrote it many, many times over the next eight years before it was accepted for publication, it took on its current hints of Beauty and the Beast. In fact, I thought of it as a new fairy tale, a story that would make the reader sure that this was a fairy tale she had missed reading from the original Grimm’s collections, but in fact was my own invention. It wasn’t until my editor pointed out the hidden Beauty and the Beast that I realized she was right. There are many fairy tales based on Beauty and the Beast, however, and it is only if you look for it that you will see that as a backstory.
Some readers have complained that The Princess and the Hound isn’t a retelling at all. Well, it’s not like any other retelling you’ve probably ever read. I think my brain is just twisty this way, and as soon as I hear a story, I start thinking of the way I would tell it, and by the time I actually tell it well enough that it could be published, it doesn’t look very much like the original. I got some of the same complaints from readers of Mira, Mirror. If you want a retelling of Snow White, you might not be happy with Mira, Mirror, because Snow White appears in one sentence and then disappears. It’s the story of the mirror and the evil queen before Snow White and after. It’s my own story, one only I could tell.
I remember an experience at a writing conference I went to in 2010. Candace Fleming was there and she was teaching a section on writing historical non-fiction. She had just finished writing The Lincolns, a wonderful biography of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, and she told us about a bit of historical fact. Mary Todd had been stopped by a night watchman while running by the streets of Atlanta in the wee hours of the morning. The night watchman thought she would only be running toward an elopement, but in fact, she was going to an early morning poetry class, held at that hour so that the oppressive heat of the summer did not bother the students. We were supposed to work on telling only the facts of the story, adding in no details we could not verify. This was something I could not do. Really. I just wanted to go off in all directions on my own. In fact, I started working on a novel called The Asylum after this workshop, using the idea of a girl sent to an insane asylum (as Mary Todd Lincoln was sent by her own son after Abraham’s assassination) for no reason other than that she would not do as she was told.
Tris and Izzie, which will be out in the fall with Egmont, is a project I have been thinking about for a long time, as well. I studied German Literature in college and have a PhD in it. I read Tristan and Isolde in the original middle high German in grad school, and also listened to Wagner’s opera of it. It’s one of the greatest love stories of all time, but it’s also very frustrating to me. It doesn’t have very modern sensibilities about women, and I object to the adultery scheme. Plus the ending is wretched, not romantic at all. And I hate love triangles. So why in the world would I choose to do a retelling of that story? Well, the challenge of it always gets me excited. I feel like I tend to retell fairy tales I hate more often than ones that I like, because I want to fix them. Tris and Izzie is my “fixed” version of the original. I get to play with a love triangle, but in a way that I don’t find objectionable.
I often find that when I read a standard romance with a love triangle, I want to smack all three characters around. What are those two hot guys doing, waiting around to be chosen? They need to get a life, both of them, and dump her. Plus, what is her problem? Doesn’t she know she can’t hold guys on a string like that? If she seriously can’t choose, then she’s too stupid and young to have a romance right now anyway and she should go to an all girls’ school until she grows up. So, in my version of the love triangle, you can imagine things are a little different. I don’t want to give it all away, but I hope readers like my modern take.
Tris and Izzie is also the first time I’ve had a chance to try out a humorous slant on a retelling. It’s not slapstick funny, but Izzie tells the story and she has an ironic twang to her depiction of events that I think works well. There’s lots of action and big save the world stuff going on, but she can also make fun of herself and what’s going on at the same time. It may not feel like it’s as serious a love story or a meditation on life as The Princess and the Hound, but there’s some serious stuff hidden in there, too. I mention how I feel about love triangles, about girls who can’t choose who they love, and about girls who are fighting over the same guy. Also, what secrets do to relationships. And what has happened to our scientific world in which we have no sense of magic anymore. Those are some of the big themes that I think are touched on, while the readers are having a good time reading.
I've got a new website up: www.trisandizzie. com which I’m trying to promote. There is a “Dear Izzie” vlog there, where “Izzie” answers questions for the romantically and magically challenged. So I will give a free book away to the best question posted here in comments, with the understanding that all questions can be used on my blog. Hope you have fun!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ What a wonderful post Mette! It was awesome hearing more of the story behind the book. And Tris and Izzie looks amazing! Can't wait to read it!! Isn't that cover gorgeous?!
Alright everyone! You heard her! Go to www.trisandizzie. com and come up with some questions for Izzie for your chance to win a copy of The Princess and the Hound!
Be sure to leave your questions in the comments section of this post!! Contest ends May 5th. May 8th!
Nickel Plated by Aric Davis is the story of Nickel, a 12 year old who ran away from foster care 2 years ago and has been living on his own since then. He supports himself by growing pot and selling it to high school students and blackmailing pedophiles he finds in internet chat rooms. He also does private detective (esque) work on the side for people referred to him through word of mouth. Adults he charges. Kids, he helps for free.
I'm still not completely sure how I felt about this one. I loved the premise — 12 year old boy: anti-hero, hero, vigilante. I also have to admit that I kind of liked that Nickel targeted pedophiles. People who hurt children make me sick. So I was very interested to see how that angle would be handled. While I liked the idea of this book, I'm still not sure how I feel about the execution.
Nickel was a little bit too good at what he did for me to believe him. He is 12. I get that he's had a really tough life. I get that kids are stronger, smarter, and more capable that adults often give them credit for. I know that extreme situations or circumstances find a way of drawing more out of us than we thought we had to give. I get it. But I have a really hard time believing that a 12 year old kid is capable of doing everything that Nickel does throughout the book. And too many things just fell into his lap. Too many pieces of the puzzle were just sort of handed to him. It was just a little bit too far-fetched for me to believe.
I also felt a bit of disconnect throughout the whole story. You read the book, and you hear these horror stories from Nickel, see into this horrid cesspool of humanity, but I never felt like it was emotional. Nickel earns an income from blackmailing pedophiles he finds in internet chat rooms. He does this because of his past, so that no other kid will ever have to live through the horrors he's had to deal with. And sure, we are told about a shudder here, or a oft repressed memory there, but I never felt Nickel's emotions here. It was all telling. We are told that Nickel could probably use a hug, would like a mom and misses his dad something fierce. But it's never really felt. It's like Nickel thinks if he talks about the emotions enough he will start to feel them, but he doesn't, not really.
But, even though there were a few things that I struggled with while reading this book, overall I did really like it. I think the book would have been a little more believable had Nickel been 14 instead of 12, because a lot changes in those 2 years, and a lot of maturing takes place. His thoughts and reactions to all things female would have been more believable (I have yet to meet a 12 year old who finds adult women 'hot'.) But Nickel really was a great character. He genuinely wants to make sure that other kids have a better life, to make sure that none of these other kids every have to suffer through the hellish childhood he had. When he was talking about other kids, and making them safer, that is where I felt like Nickel was real. There were sometimes I didn't necessarily believe his emotions, but never when talking about protecting kids. It breaks my heart that this 12 year old kid feels so responsible for others, feels so much like he must be the protector. Someone needs to give that boy a hug.
Books like this make me want to become a foster parent, when I reach a stage of life where I'd be able to. I want to take kids like this and prove to them that not everyone is bad, that not everyone will hurt them. Nickel needs that. He's done an admirable job of living on his own, and taking care of himself, but there are some things that a kid that age should never have to worry about. It hurts that he does.
So, overall, even though there were some things about this book that didn't necessarily work perfectly, it's definitely one that I am glad I read, one that I will recommend, and although I don't know if there are any plans for a sequel, I would definitely be willing to read about Nickel in the future. It's a story with a solid core, and Davis has potential as a writer. There is some stuff that needs to be tightened up, or fine-tuned, but I can really see Davis growing as a writer in the future, and I wouldn't mind watching him grow as a writer as Nickel grows as a character.
GIVEAWAY-
I also have a copy of this book available for one commenter! Leave a comment with your email address, and you could win a copy of the book!:)
The contest will be open until next Wednesday, April 20 at 11:59pm. Sorry International followers, but this is US only.
Hello everyone! Let's welcome Donna to the blog today! Ifyouwould like to be a Memory Monday guest, click for more information or send me an email! Now here's Donna!
Bio:
I live on the beach in a suburb just outside of NYC (which is where I work) I have my 2 girls, been married for almost 5 years. am a grad student in Library Science, will graduate in May 2011!!! and that's it Besides my major addiction to books. I have over 800 all around my house and in my office and that doesn't include my large array of children's books!! I blog at Book Nazi.
Post: My family really doesn't read I am pretty much the only one so when I was younger I would go to the libraRY all the time. I reember reading books from R.L. Stine and then I moved on to adult books. They had this section of books that were recommended from the librarians so I would just spend hours going through them. I used to just sit and read a book the whole day. I haven't done that since I "grew-up".
So, my memeroy is just reading by myself and always having a passion for it. So much so that I have one more semester for my Masters in LIbrary Science! Not much has changed, I still love my books!!!
Oh and now I read to my 2 girls (Marley 2 and Vinni 1) every night and sometimes in the day too and now they sleep with their books. They love books just like me and I am hoping to pass on my passion for them in the long run!!!
Thanks again for stopping by Donna! I remember spending a lot of time in the R.L. Stine section of my library as well!
Fall for Anything by Courtney Summers is the kind of book I've always loved, but haven't read much of lately — contemporary fiction, with a protagonist full of painful somethings, struggling to add balance back into their world. (How's that for vague?;) )
Eddie is reeling from the suicide of her father, struggling to understand why he could do something like this. His suicide note was vague and Eddie is left needing to know why her father felt the need to end his own life. Her mother hasn't gotten dressed in anything except his bathrobe since he died, let alone remember to go grocery shopping or take care of Eddie, so Beth, her mom's best friend, moves in temporarily to try and help out. But, although she means well, I seriously wanted to slap her. She isn't helpful. Almost everything she says/does makes things harder on Eddie, and increases the weight pressing against her shoulders. Eddie is already in a pretty black place. She doesn't need the judgements of her mom's best friend making things worse.
Her best friend, Milo, wants to help her, but she is keeping part of herself back right now, and she also knows that Milo is keeping something from her about the night her father died, information Eddie feels is necessary for her to begin understanding why her father did what he did.
Then, Eddie meets Cullen. He was a photography student of her father's and they sort of share grief. Eddie is desperate for someone she can relate to, who also feels a gaping loss and needs to know why, so she latches on to Cullen and makes some pretty reckless decisions.
Milo is awesome. He is just a rock solid best friend, trying to be there for Eddie when she needs him while he is also struggling through some changing emotions. He's not sure how to help Eddie, and you can definitely sense the pain he's in, because he doesn't know how to help. Cullen was a strange character, right from the start, and he's one I was never quite sure how I was supposed to feel about. Initially, I liked him because he seemed to be someone for Eddie to share pain with as a way to heal. But then, I honestly believe that Cullen became toxic. Thinking about him now makes me shudder. And yet, he isn't necessarily a bad person, just seriously misguided and maybe a little deranged.
The pain in this book was so real it's palpable. I loved that photography was such an integral part of this story, because, to me, reading this book was like looking at a particularly powerful photograph. It's so real you can almost reach out and touch it, but it's also one of the more distant art forms, because no matter how intimate the shot, the photographer is removed from the subject and only has contact with the lens. I don't know if that makes as much sense to you as it does to me, but I definitely felt like it could not have been done better.
I hadn't read anything by Courtney Summers before picking this up, but I ended up buying a copy of Cracked Up to Be a few days after finishing this one because I was so amazed and wowed by the story. It's a heartbreaking story made powerful by the writing and a couple weeks later, the story still leaves me reeling every time I think about it.
The ending was just as powerful as the rest of the story, and I was left with a feeling of rightness. Not everything was completely resolved and it isn't even a particularly happy ending. But, that's life. Real life doesn't come with wrapping paper and bows for our struggles, so books about pain shouldn't either.
If you haven't read this book yet and you enjoy contemporary YA I think you are seriously missing out. It's raw, emotional and powerful. It's going to make you uncomfortable. It will make you wonder, and it kind of blurs a few lines between right and wrong, but it makes you think and it makes you feel, and I don't know what else you can ask from a book.
*Disclaimer: This book was received through Around the World Tours.
I don't remember how I discovered Lois Duncan, but I remember reading her books. A large part of my jr. high years revolve around her books. I read them all. Every single book I could get my hands on. And some of them completely blew my mind. Let me share.
One of my most favorite Duncan books is Daughters of Eve. It starts out with young girls growing into feminism to rise again the town full of complete chauvenistic pigs in which they live, and quickly degenerates into a dangerous, out of control, vendetta pushed and encouraged by the slightly deranged and very bitter advisor who planted the seeds of feminism in the first place. Let me tell you, reading this took me from, "Yes!! Feminists rock!" to "Wow! That is some crazy-a** s**t". Freaky. Seriously gives me chills, even now. Gallows Hill is also creepy but a huge favorite. A small town in Missouri is the reincarnation of Salem Village during the witch trials and new-girl Sarah doesn't know what she's getting herself into.
Ransom is about 5 high school students who are kidnapped by their substitute bus driver and taken to a remote cabin in the mountains. This book convinced me that I needed to be prepared and knowledgable about how to react in the event of an abduction, because, you know, they are going to steal my bus. And, it made me want to learn to read in French. Again, definitely a favorite.
Another favorite of mine was The Third Eye which is about a young girl who begins to have psychic flashes, helping her find missing children. Killing Mr. Griffin, which was one of my first experiences reading about a sociopath and They Never Came Home explores that concept a little bit also (although not quite as well).
I decided that I needed to learn to play tennis because a strong backhand comes in seriously handy for our main character in Don't Look Behind You as their family is on the run from a contracted hit man, Down a Dark Hall is one of the (I assume) original magical/supernatural boarding school books, and Locked in Time makes me happy that I will always be growing older, even if sometimes we think it sucks. There were some of her books that weren't my favorites, and some of those that I have only read once. But, most of them were books that I read over and over again. They were deliciously creepy without being gross or full of the cheap thrillish horror, like R.L. Stine was (although, seriously — I loved him in grade school. He will be the subject of an upcoming post!) I don't know how good these books would be if I were reading them for the first time now that I'm older. I have a feeling that I'd be more likely to notice inconsistencies and some of the stories might have a harder time convincing me to suspend my disbelief, but they were absolutely perfect for me in jr. high, and I love them still. I want to own most, if not all of Duncan's books eventually, because I have so many fond memories of reading these books, and think they'd still be fun to revisit sometime down the road. Do any of you remember reading Lois Duncan? Don't forget to fill out the form, if you'd like to be a guest poster for Memory Monday! I'd love to have you!!
Please help me welcome Alexa to the blog today! She is our third Memory Monday guest! And, because she loves the book she's talking to us about so much, she is going to be giving a copy away!!
Hi Everyone! I'm Alexa, I'm a 20 year old college student studying to get a Bachelors Degree in Nuclear Medicine. I normally get blank looks when I say nuclear medicine so basically it is just a fancy title for the techs that take MRI, CT and PET scans. I love to read YA books and Adult Romance so I started a blog to share my opinions with others out there who love to read. I started my blog, Pages of Forbidden Love, back in August and I'm amazed and how many great people I have already met through my blog. The blogging community is full of great people with new things going on all the time. My book wish list is now miles longer since I now read so many great reviews for all sorts of books that I would have never even thought of reading before.
As part of Memory Monday I would like to share one of my childhood memories with you, I promise it has to do with books. When I was little, try first and second grade I really didn't like reading. I've always been a math and science person but I hated reading. Obviously this is a huge problem because when you are in first and second grade you need to learn how to read and it is a big part of your education. It was so bad that I had to stay after school with my teacher for her to spend extra time teaching me how to read.
Through the extra time spent with my teacher I learned how to read but I still didn't like it all that much. All of a sudden between 8th and 9th grade I started to go to the library to check out books from them and slowly I started to find books that were great for me. I feel that every person can be a reader, they just have to sometimes get through some genres that aren't for them before they find ones that they really enjoy.
One of the first books that I became hooked on was Battle Dress by Amy Efaw. The story is about a girl named Andi who wants to escape her family live so badly that she wants to go to West Point Academy to join the military. The story has a great group of male characters that in a weird way accept Andi even though she is one of the few girls in their Platoon. This story is a great story about a girl making it in a "man's" world. I personally love this book and I have read it at least 4 times. However, this book sadly seems to go unnoticed in the book world. Even though I am not a huge fan of the military I think this is a book anyone could read and love, who doesn't love a strong female who could be a good role model for younger girls. This book is about so much more than just West Point or the military, I hope that more people will read this book, give it a chance, what do you have to lose?
Giveaway: In order to try to get more buzz going about one of my favorite books I'm going to be giving away a copy of Battle Dress by Amy Efaw. I will be giving away the newest reprint which is the black cover featuring Andi that I posted above.
Rules: This giveaway is open to US Residents only. The giveaway will run from today, Feb 14th until Feb 28th at 11:59 PM. The winner will be announced within one week of the giveaway's end date.
How to Enter: ~ Leave a comment on this post with your email address
Extra Entries: +1 Follow Ashley's blog (Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing!) +1 Follow my blog Pages of Forbidden Love A huge thank you to Ashley for letting me be a guest on her blog.
Thanks again for being with us today Alexa! This is a book that's definitely going onto my wishlist! If you would like a chance to be a guest blogger for Memory Monday, fill out this form, or send me an email!
C.Y.A.: Covert Youth Agency — The Case of Tangled Love by Jason Ancona is the story of the nerd. Most YA heroes and heroines are awesome people, who aren't from the evil 'Mean Girls' popular crowd, but are definitely well known, well liked, and just above normal. But the adorable main characters in C.Y.A are the oft overlooked crowd, and they are most definitely nerds.
That's okay though. For the most part each of them has accepted their role as nerdy, and in Peter's case, has wholly embraced it. His friends and family even call him Pi. But, he's totally in love with his childhood best friend, who happens to be a member of the popular crowd because she's dating a hot shot football player.
Feeling like students, especially the nerds, were being treated unfairly, and given no way of fighting back, Pi came up with the idea of the C.Y.A, or Covert Youth Agency and their purpose is to provide an agency for kids to contact when they need help an adult can offer. Pi is the ringleader, the motivation and basic brains behind the organization.
Then, we have the 13 years old female genius computer hacker, Delilah, who is responsible for gathering confidential information, hacking databases, and operating the hidden link within the school's website. Can I take a moment to let the feminist in me out long enough to say that I am totally in love with letting the hacker be a girl, and the youngest member of the team?! That made me so happy! Although, I do pity her the name Delilah. That just has such bad connotations.
Ben is the third and final member of the team, and he is sort of an 'everyman'. His nickname is Tollhouse, and he's overweight. He fits in well with nearly every group in school and everyone seems to like him.
This book is the story of their first case, and it involves the girl Pi has been in love with for years, wanting to know if her boyfriend cheated on her at a party. Pi is eager to accept the case, because it gives him an easy way to break them up, and become the perfect person to offer a shoulder to cry on.
I was so impressed with this book! It was incredibly funny and so worth the read. Who among us didn't want to have some awesome secret organization when we were kids, bringing down mean gym teachers, and restoring balance and justice to the halls of the school?! Okay, well maybe not that part, but seriously. Who didn't have some sort of secret club growing up?!
This book is the first in a series, and it spends a lot of time developing the characters. We learn a lot about each of our C.Y.A. members in this novel, and Ancona does a wonderful job of providing his characters with depth, and emotions. I did feel like some of the family situations were underdeveloped. Ancona brought up a lot of tense family scenes involving the parents of our three secret agents, but then took them nowhere. I'm going to assume that this is because there are plans for sequels to the story, which makes sense, because you can't put all your eggs in one basket. You have to have some where for the story to grow.
My biggest complaint with this novel is the ages of the characters. While I know that there are a lot of precocious kids out there who act older than their age, I had a really hard time believing these kids were only 13 and 14. I consistently thought of them as older, more like 16 and 17, and every time their age was mentioned, it jarred me a little, because they don't really act that young.
However, that one small grievance aside, I did really enjoy this book and I strongly encourage you to pick up a copy. I will definitely be looking forward to reading the sequel, which has a tentative release date of March of this year. You can see and read more on the author's website. Jason Ancona
I also feel like it's important that I admit I am a bit of a nerd as well. I worked out the answer to the ladybug code when I had finished the book.
*Disclaimer: I received this book from the author in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
Hello everyone, and welcome to Memory Monday, guest blogger edition! I'd love to welcome Emily, or Ems, someone I've known for a very long time. She's prepared a lovely post to share with all of you about her childhood reading experiences, so stop, stay a while, and let us know what you think!
Info:
Ems: 30-something book reviewer, book lover, library haunter, old bookshop fiend, and general bibliophile. Currently a graduate student in Education at Idaho State University, with plans to become the greatest advocate of books the public school system has ever seen. Working on a novel herself, which may or may not see the light of day. It doesn’t really matter, since writing is almost as cathartic as reading for her. Ems blogs about books and life, at In which Ems reviews books and Some days I'm just plain philosophical, respectively.Post: I fell in love with reading at a very young age, thanks to my mom. One of my earliest memories is of her reading to me from a Babar book. Oh, how I loved Babar! I’d have done anything for that elephant, not to mention all his friends. It was the book I’d request over and over. Knowing what I know now about how kids get attached to books, I’d kind of like to give my mom some kind of award for reading it to me so many times.
Not only did Mom read Babar, but she read everything. We were forever reading. I feel very lucky to be the oldest child, because I had her undivided attention for almost 2 ½ years! My other siblings aren’t nearly the readaholic that I am. They didn’t get as much solo Mom-time as I did. To be fair, I was probably hanging around begging for books during their solo Mom-time.
Mom and I read just about everything under the sun. She introduced me to Barbapapa, Amelia Bedelia, The Little Golden Books, Charlotte and Wilbur, a mouse named Ralph, Sylvester the donkey, and the list goes on and on. The characters lived for me back then, and they still do. I can’t read a childhood favorite without getting a little bit choked up.
I love that she never felt obligated to stick to ‘age appropriate’ books with me. She just read. When we’d go to the library, I’d get to pick some and she’d pick some for me. She made sure that I had exposure to a wide variety of authors and illustrators. I know that it’s because of her that I’m such a bibliophile.
Because of my mom, I learned to read early too. She kept a list of books that I’d read by the time I was four years old, and it’s hundreds of books long. I really wish I could find that list now. It’s around here somewhere, but eludes me. The list isn’t just picture books either. I read my first chapter book (Babar, of course) when I was three. Nothing could stop me. By the time kindergarten rolled around (I was four years old for kindergarten), I was already reading on a fourth grade level and had read every book we owned multiple times. I got my own library card at five.
I learned that if there’s one thing I’m going to replicate with my own kids, it’s reading aloud to them and showing them that Mom loves to read too. (My mom doesn’t really read that much herself, ironically. I don’t know why she decided it was so important to read to me, though I’m forever grateful for that.) I’ve got to model reading for pleasure to them so they see that it’s a pretty okay pastime to have. As a future teacher, it’s something I’ll pass on to my students as well. Hey kids, it’s okay to love reading! It’s okay to get lost in books! It’s the cool thing to do!
Thanks so much Emily! That was a wonderful post! I love that you mom kept a list for you, and I hope you find it soon! That would be a treasure!
If you would like be be a guest blogger on a future Memory Monday, fill out this form, or send me an email!
