YA New York

I am pleased to introduce Susane Colasanti, author of Take Me There and When It Happens. Susane normally blogs over at LiveJournal, and can also generally be found on MySpace. But today, she’s right here with us, writing about S.E. Hinton’s classic, The Outsiders, which was published in 1967 when Hinton was a ripe old nineteen years of age. Without further ado, here is Susane’s guest entry:

*At Teen Author Reading Night this week, an inquiring mind wanted to know: Why do you write for teens instead of adults? This was a really easy question to answer. Because I know what it’s like to be the kid who needs someone to reach out to them. And now I want to give back by being the person who’s reaching out.

Being an author is actually my second career. I was a high school science teacher for almost ten years, most of that time at a school in the South Bronx. My purpose in life has always been to help kids, particularly teens, improve their lives in some way. I want to make their lives better. As a teacher, I only interacted with a hundred or so kids each day. But now I can connect with thousands of readers as an author.

Two life-altering events happened when I was twelve. I suddenly knew I wanted to be a science teacher when I grew up. And I read The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. From the first chapter, that was it. I fell so hard I still haven’t gotten up. The Outsiders changed my life. I cannot describe the full effect The Outsiders had on me (and continues to have on me), but I was completely obsessed. I slept with that book under my pillow every night in a sort of touchstone/osmosis/safety device ritual. I memorized sections of the story that spoke to me the most. I can still recite Robert Frost’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” but I was so bored with all of the other poetry we had to learn for English class (except stuff by E.E. Cummings — that dude rocked). And although I didn’t know it at the time, The Outsiders was the catalyst for my future writing career.

The Outsiders inspired me in a way I wish my books would inspire other kids. I want to write books for people who need to escape into stories, who rely on books to save them. When I was a teen, reading was the one part of my day that I always looked forward to, the only time when I felt completely comfortable and relaxed. It was my way to deal with the pain of growing up and survive the hard times I went through. I felt like my favorite authors were reassuring me that I wasn’t alone, that I could come back to their books anytime and feel better again.

Back in the day (i.e. the 80s), there weren’t that many good young-adult novels out there. The whole genre of teen books was sort of a desolate void. But now there are so many excellent books available for teens. These books encourage people to search for answers in stories that relate to their lives. My life was different from the characters’ lives in The Outsiders, but one thing was fundamentally the same: I was an outsider, too. Every time I read that story, it made me feel alive. And that’s an amazing feeling.*

Buy The Outsiders and/or Susane’s books at Amazon.com.

All content within the asterisks is © Susane Colasanti 2008 and may not be reproduced in any form without her permission.

If you’ve ever been even a little, teensy bit overweight, you’ll appreciate the story of Rosemary Goode, a 15-year-old girl who is five feet, four inches tall, and weighs 203 pounds at her peak.

Suzanne Supplee’s new book about a young woman struggling with (a) weight loss, and (b) learning to love herself in spite of her size, is delicious. It’s a feast for the soul. I read the whole thing in one gluttonous sitting.

Okay, enough already with the bad metaphors. The book is freakin’ good. It’s moving, and sad, and it touches the part inside all of us that doubts whether we’re enough, or too much, whether we can be loved, whether we deserve to be loved. It touches the angry part inside of us that wants to be loved in spite of our faults. It touches the guilty place where we feel selfish and thoughtless. And as if all that drama isn’t enough, there’s a nice bit of romance to make us ladies (and gentlemen) swoon.

I have to admit that when I picked this up at Barnes and Noble, I didn’t have the foggiest idea what it was about. I didn’t need to. With a cover like that, you know it’s going to be yummy. But I’m so glad that Suzanne went there, and talked about what it’s like to be the “big girl” in high school. She writes about compulsive overeating and the whys and wherefores of that particular behavior; she writes about the extra scrutiny we all give to what overweight girls eat; she writes about unhealthy crash diets and … well, you get the idea.

Look, even if you’ve never weighed more than 110 pounds, and you’ve always been a natural size zero, this novel will make you more aware of how the other side lives. And it’ll make you think before you make that fat joke.

It sounds like an after-school special, the way I describe it, but really Suzanne’s book is just heartfelt and real. Please will you go read it? Consider it a personal favor to me. And when you’re done, come back and tell me what you think, okay?

Buy Artichoke’s Heart from Amazon.com.

Okay, so everyone but everyone was at the New York Public Library’s Jefferson Market Branch last night. ALL the cool kids were there. Or almost all of them. Sarah Mlynowski had to give the event a miss because she was called away to Montreal on an emergency (Best wishes and big hugs to you, Sarah — we hope everything is or will be all right). We missed her, but we had fun anyway, because in addition to all the authors I told you about before, Ms. Rachel Vail was there.

I’ve got tons of pics, but of course you’ll have to look inside for them.

Well, okay, here’s a taste:

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I haven’t posted a review in the last few days. This is frustrating, I’m sure. It’s frustrating to me, too. You see, all my books are BURIED. We have electricians in the house, tearing everything apart and covering the place in plaster dust. I had to protect my books (and any other valuables), and the room that was once my office is currently a wasteland of open holes in the walls, etc.

However, tonight I am attending the reading to end all readings, and I’ll take pics and post them for y’all tomorrow. My sincerest apologies for the downtime.

My dearest readers,

I am delighted to present Jennifer E. Smith, author of The Comeback Season, who wrote a guest entry for us today about one of the books that inspired her when she was growing up. She chose a tearjerker, Where the Red Fern Grows, which is probably the novel that inspired the phrase “a book about a boy and his dog.” But here, I’ll let her tell you all about it:

Where the Red Fern Grows, a review by Jennifer E. Smith

* When my first book, The Comeback Season, went out into the world this spring, the one thing I heard more than anything else was that it made people cry. And inevitably, my first impulse was always to apologize.

Rarely is making someone cry considered a good thing. But even so, I’ve always relished those books and movies that elicit that sort of reaction, the ones that wrench your heart in such a way that it never quite goes back to its original shape.

The first time I read Where the Red Fern Grows was in a sixth grade classroom. We were assigned a certain amount of pages each night, but my teacher decided we’d read the ending together as a class. Sixth grade is not really the ideal time to be seen bawling by your classmates, but I remember being completely gutted by the ending, shocked and sad and just generally crushed. It felt like I’d gone through it all myself, the longing for a couple of red hounds, the bravery and sacrifice in the face of danger, the sharp sting of loss at the end. It stays with me even now; I could cry just thinking about Old Dan and Little Ann. Just as I did back then. (In front of my entire sixth grade class.)

A lot of people can’t bear to read these kinds of stories. Life is too sad as it is, I suppose. But for me, it’s a kind of release, and there’s a certain cathartic joy to it. Those are the sort of books that have stayed with me over the years, that cling to my memory in the face of so many years and so many other stories. To say they are unforgettable isn’t quite enough. Books like Where the Red Fern Grows simply become a part of you.

So now, when people tell me they cried when reading my book, I’m no longer going to apologize. It seems to me the most generous kind of compliment, the idea that my words could affect someone in the same way Wilson Rawls’ words still affect me. From now, I’ll simply thank them instead…and perhaps suggest they don’t read the ending in public!*

All material between the asterisks is © Jennifer E. Smith 2008. This material may not be reproduced in any form without her permission.

It seems like a crime to be posting a review of such an excellent book on a Saturday, when everyone is probably outdoors doing fun outdoors things, instead of reading blogs. But honestly? Almost from the moment I picked this book up, I’ve been thinking, “Oh my God. I have to rave about this one.” And so I’m like a little kid who can’t wait for Christmas (or Monday) morning, and I’m letting this particular gift out of Santa’s bag o’ books a bit early.

Brian Malloy’s new book is about a girl who is desperately in love with a guy who is, of course, gay. The old adage, “All the good ones are either gay or taken” rings completely true here.

A brief detour from the review part of this review:

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This is the mother of all author readings, and you’ve really got to come. Seriously. It’s on Wednesday, June 25th, as in next week, and I’m telling you now so you’ve got plenty of time to plan.

David Levithan, author of books like Boy Meets Boy and co-author of the fabulous Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, not to mention editorial director at Scholastic, will host the mammoth event.

All right. Now on to the authors who will be reading:
• Susane Colasanti, who wrote Take Me There and When It Happens
• John Cox, author of Box Out*
• Sarah Beth Durst, whose new book Out of the Wild I wrote about earlier this week
• Daphne Grab, author of Alive and Well in Prague, New York
• E. Lockhart and Sarah Mlynowski, two of three co-authors of How To Be Bad and a whole bunch of other great books besides
• And last but not least, Randi Reisfeld, an author and an editor at Scholastic. Her newest book, Rehab, comes out in July, and I think we may get a sneak peek at this here reading.

Details! The event is at 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 25th at the Jefferson Market Branch of the New York Public Library. 425 Sixth Avenue between 9th and 10th Streets. I’ll be there, and I have an inkling there will be a whole host of authors there, in addition to the ones on the bill. YA writers can’t stand to miss a good reading, you know.

* I can’t find this book on Amazon, nor can I find John Cox on the entirety of the interwebs. Either there is a spelling mistake, or the mysterious Mr. Cox’s mysterious book is … mysterious. If you know anything about the teen author John Cox (not, I think, the politician whose name is all over the place), please do say something in comments so I can correct this entry!

UPDATE: Thanks to Alea, we now know that the mysterious writer is one Mr. John Coy, whose new book Box Out is available on Amazon.com.

Sarah Beth Durst’s second book, Out of the Wild is out today, and in celebration of the event I’m proud to present an interview with Sarah herself. First, a bit about her novels:

Into the Wild, Sarah’s first book, was a hilarious and thrilling romp involving fairy tale characters who had escaped their endlessly repeating stories to live in the real world. Our heroine, Julie, is actually the daughter of Rapunzel and her prince, and the granddaughter of a reformed wicked witch. She’s also the adoptive sister of Puss in Boots. If that doesn’t reflect a nice sense of whimsy, I don’t know what does.

Sarah’s first novel explores what happens when “The Wild,” the magical forest that contains fairy tale characters, tries to take them back. Her second picks up where the first left off: with the ultimate cross-country road trip, taken by Julie and her princely father. It’s a fantastic read, and I heartily encourage you all to rush out and gobble it down. Preferably in a tub full of rose-scented bubble bath.

Now that explanations and exhortations are out of the way, we move onward, my friends, to the interview: (more…)

Rumor has it that some folks out there are making a Gossip Girl video game, with versions for both the Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo DS.

Here’s the blurb from DS Fanboy:

Gossip Girl (Wii/DS): “In the game “Gossip Girl”, spend a semester fraternizing with the glamorous socialites of Manhattan’s Upper East Side at an elite private school. Explore the hippest social hot spots of New York City and attend the most fashionable parties. Shop in the trendiest boutiques of the fashion district and customize your character’s appearance. Gain entry into exclusive social cliques where you’ll make or break relationships with popular girls and date the most desirable boys while you build up your social status. Read the Gossip Girl Blog and see how the choices you make become part of the complex world of shifting friendships, jealousies and scandals.”

Pure rumor, pure speculation, but isn’t that what Gossip Girl is all about? Yummy.

You know I love you,
brina

Michael Grant’s new novel, Gone, is like a combination of Left Behind, X-Men and Lord of the Flies. There is no better way to let you in on this story than to quote from the first few lines:

“One minute the teacher was talking about the Civil War. And the next minute he was gone.

There.

Gone.

No “poof.” No flash of light. No explosion.”

Unfortunately, Michael doesn’t continue with the obvious next sentence, “Just gone.” But he does make you think it, and his first few lines really do all they need to to suck a reader in.

To the plot: It’s like the Rapture has taken place, except that there is an age line instead of a religious restriction on who goes and who stays; everyone over the age of fifteen has disappeared from Perdido Beach, California. An impenetrable barrier keeps the kids in and everyone else out, and so a group of young teens are left to take care of themselves and the younger children who are stuck in this new world.

Of course, Michael doesn’t just let everyone hang out and have fun — no, bullies emerge, as do defenders, and there are kids with strange new powers, and animals are mutating. It’s all very confusing and frightening and awesome enough to suck you in for a good two days. In fact, at a whopping 558 pages, it’s definitely something you can really sink your teeth into this summer.

The hilarious aspect of this book is the trailer — you know about book trailers, yes? Well, here we have one that I can’t help but giggle at because it starts out with that totally laugh-worthy phrase … “What IF?” Watch for yourself:

In spite of the trailer being a bit over-the-top, I have to say this is a very good read. I wouldn’t be bothering to tell you about it if it weren’t true, now would I?

Buy Gone now from Amazon.com.

PS. I’d be willing to bet a good chunk of change that we’ll see a sequel to this one. In fact, I’ll be quite disappointed if we don’t.