YA New York

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 … (more…)

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.

No, dears, that pic to the left is not a badly edited screencap. It’s a real book cover, and I have to say I adore it. Click on it to get a closer view. Yes, that’s right. You see a faux-browser there. Indeed, you see a faux-browser throughout the entire book, because the whole thing is presented in blog format.

Now, part of me is mad because I had this idea, and I was fully planning on executing it and being the very first brilliant person to do it exactly as it would appear on a screen. But another part of me is very happy, because Susie does this whole thing very well.

A few things to note: This book is written by Welsh author Susie Day, and was released in the UK as Big Woo!. So, unless you’re trying to collect ‘em all, don’t buy both and expect two different books. Anyway, since Susie is Welsh, it makes good sense that her heroine is an awesome British emo blogger named Sarah (the nick serafina, btw, comes from Philip Pullman) who gives herself 112 days to achieve happiness.

I have a theory about British chick lit, which is this: It’s funnier than American chick lit. It’s almost always funnier. This is because British folks speak differently from American folks, and if you have even the slightest weakness for British accents, you will think everything is cute and hilarious. (Fortunately, this book does actually come with a glossary of sorts, which is very short and can be read first or last, and which explains the meaning of words like “spoon,” which you might imagine would mean “an eating utensil,” but actually means “stupid person” … or “eating utensil.”)

Back to the book: It’s not only beautifully presented, but well-written, funny, and at times kind of heartbreaking. (I mean, c’mon. She’s emo! No emo kid can live life without a crisis!) All joking aside, serafina67 finds out that when you put your whole life on the internet, things can sometimes get complicated. We all know a little bit about this firsthand, yes? You posted about your secret crush, and your secret crush found your blog?

In Sarah’s — or should we say serafina’s — case, she starts out yapping pretty normally about her life, and she’s got a pretty decent blog. But then she goes and says something that a lot of people read, and then everyone stops talking to her, and, as my friend Jami B like to say, “antics ensue.” Antics, my friends, are always a good thing worthy of your attention.

Now, if you’ll pardon me, it’s Friday night, and I have to go put together this lamp contraption from IKEA. But I urge you to go out and breathe some life into our gal serafina67 by reading her blog-novel.

Buy serafina67 *urgently requires life* from Amazon.com.

I’m loathe to admit it, but I must: I’m a Twilight virgin. If you’ve wondered these last few months why I didn’t say anything about Stephanie Meyer, or anything about Breaking Dawn … well, it’s because I wouldn’t know what to say. I’d be like, “So, these are some really popular books about vampires, right? And this author is like the new JK Rowling? Is that the deal?”

I mean, I really do want and need to read Stephanie’s books, and I plan to. But for now, I’m just going to start an open thread here, where you can all talk about the Twilight series, what you think of how it ended (so yeah, if you click on the comments, I’m guessing there will be spoilers), and what you think of all the hoopla. I must say, I haven’t seen so many one-star reviews on Amazon.com in a long time. It seems some fans were really disappointed. Your thoughts?

… everyone else was at the Books of Wonder signing the other night. Katie Davis posted pics and a description of the BoW signing on her blog, and Melissa Walker wrote about it on hers, and some people from The N were there, so maybe they posted something about it. Though — sigh — I haven’t been able to find anything yet. If you do, tell us about it, yes?

Remember how I reviewed Zombie Blondes by Brian James awhile back, and I was all, “The zombie trend has started, and this book rocks!” and you were all like, “ZOMG, you have to read Generation Dead!!!”?

Well, I did, and it’s remarkable. Possibly in my top five for the year thus far. Indeed, probably in my top five. Whereas Zombie Blondes was a straightforward horror novel that read like Stephen King for teens, Generation Dead is … well, it’s definitely not horror.

Indeed, I was surprised to discover that this tome is a thoughtful, subversive discussion of … popularity? Acceptance? Racism? We start out with our heroine, Phoebe, telling us a little bit about the zombies at her school. Only they’re not called zombies — using that sort of a slur could get you in big trouble, mister. No, they’re called “living impaired,” and they’re just teenagers who died and then got back up again. Some of them have problems talking, or walking, or with school subjects.

And then one of them goes out for football, and all hell breaks loose. It turns out the coach and most of the players don’t want undead Tommy Williams on the team.

Next thing we know, Phoebe, Tommy and several other students are roped into participating in a work-study program to learn more about the “biotically different,” and the angry mobs start to pop up.

I really wouldn’t call Generation Dead horror. I’d call it a clever exploration of class status. But that’s getting all technical and academic and stuff, and I don’t want you to think this isn’t a thrilling read. It is so thrilling that I almost got hit by a car when I was crossing the street while reading. (Hey! I had the “walk” signal!)

Anyway, if I had a rating system a la the Olympic judges, this would get a perfect 10. Now, you have to understand that I actually read this book in spite of my absolute terror of zombies. (Things I am mortally afraid of: cockroaches, mice, zombies, cleaning under the stove.) Prior to reading this book, my idea of zombies was 28 Days Later (which, by the way, is a fantastic movie even if it does feature my least favorite scary creature).

But now … I don’t know. I think maybe the biotically different could be, like, kind of cute and cuddly. Or at least worth snuggling up to until you finish this book. Go buy it! You only have a few weeks before school is back in session, and work goes back into that post-Labor Day funk.

Buy Generation Dead from Amazon.com.

First, a reminder:

In just three hours, you, yes, you, could be here:

Books of Wonder
18 W. 18th Street
Reading with:

Melissa Walker
Lisa McMann
Linda Gerber
Claire Mysko
Katie Davis
and
Jenny Davidson

I, however, cannot be there, due to circumstances beyond my control. Alas, no pics from me tonight, but there will be another night with other authors, and though I can’t send pics and gossip from these, I’ll send pics and gossip from those.

Hopefully, you can go tonight. And if you do, and you want to snap your own shots and write something up for us, I’ll send you a box of literary goodies. Let me know if you’re up for it, or for covering any other YA NY events e-mail me!

It’s here! It’s finally here! The third book in the Violet series, Violet in Private by Melissa Walker, is out today.

I wanted to scan a picture of the beaten up copy of the galley Melissa’s publicist sent me way back when so you could see how long I’ve been waiting. Get this: I was so enamored of Melissa’s first two books, Violet on the Runway and Violet By Design, that Caitlin was kind enough to send me her very own copy of the galley, and of course I just gobbled it up.

Here’s the deal: Violet, who became a runway model after getting scouted at the concession stand of the movie theater in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, has gone off to college. She wants a normal life, and modeling is not on her agenda. Of course, since she ends up at Vassar, only an hour’s ride away from New York City by train … well, let’s just say it’s not that easy for her to disentangle herself from the modeling world.

Melissa, in addition to being a seriously awesome gal, is a fantastic writer, and this book is every bit as yummy as her first two. Indeed, if you haven’t read the other Violet books by now, you need to go get them straightaway. Buy all three, and have yourself a bubble bath reading marathon. Or a beach reading marathon. Or you could just sit in your favorite comfy chair in your favorite air-conditioned room and read like a mad person. But whatever you do, you must read Melissa’s work if you haven’t already. Because it is fantabulous.

Oh! And an extra treat: If you’re in New York City, Melissa will be reading from her new tome tomorrow night at 6 p.m. at Books of Wonder. 18 W. 18th Street. Other authors include Lisa McMann, Linda Gerber, Claire Mysko, Katie Davis and Jenny Davidson. I’ll be there, and I hope you will too. But if you can’t make it, don’t worry — I’ll take plenty of pics.

Last week I had the honor of interviewing Kimberly Pauley, the founder of YA Books Central and the author of Sucks to Be Me: The All-True Confessions of Mina Hamilton, Teen Vampire (maybe), which will be released Aug. 26.

Though I’ll hold off a bit for a full review, I do want to rave about this novel a bit. It’s not your usual vampire book. Instead, it’s a really humorous story about a teen (almost) vampire who has to attend vamp classes in the evenings, classes that are something like driver’s ed.

On to the twenty questions! (more…)

Okay, I’m still on blog-cation, but I figured I’d throw you a bone, mainly because our LA correspondent, Jami B., told me a few days ago that the trailer for Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (the movie) is online. If you haven’t read the book by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, you need to get a move on, because the film debuts Oct. 3 and it promises to be super-awesome. Although, as we all know, films are almost never quite as awesome as the books upon which they’re based. Anyway. Go watch the trailer, then go read or re-read the book. How psyched are you???

PS. That pic to the left is from the movie poster. You can click it to enlarge the image. ♥