Archive for August, 2009

Back from San Francisco …

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

Hello, darling readers.

I’ve done shockingly little reading this week. Well, okay. I did read Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd, which was hard to understand because I was the wrong kind of nerd when I was in high school. What I mean to say is, I didn’t play D&D or watch anything with “star” in the title. I was the president of the Latin Club. Also, I was into several different kinds of debate. Political nerds just aren’t the same, though.

Anyway, the reason I didn’t post or read is that I was in California. I drank coffee and shopped at used bookstores and hung out with Yvonne Prinz, whose upcoming book The Vinyl Princess is super awesome. I spent a bit of time interviewing her, but we also ate shaved fennel and talked about movie stars (Joseph Gordon Levitt: hot. Tom Cruise: not.) and swapped music trivia. Well, actually, Yvonne, who not only wrote a YA book about a delightful music geek girl but is also the co-owner/founder of Amoeba Music — pics to come — had much more musical trivia to share. I just sort of listened and tried to remember the names she was throwing at me.

Right. So, now I’m back. Flew in on the red-eye this morning. Expect to hear from me soon. Probably with more info on Geektastic, because even if I’ve never been to a sci fi/fantasy convention, I at least know who “The Doctor” is.

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Fall project:

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

It would seem there is a mysterious vault at the Brooklyn Public Library, according to an article in yesterday’s New York Times blog, City Room.

The linked article discusses books that have been relegated to a back room because they have been deemed too offensive for the public. There are few requests (eleven since 2005, one of which was to John Green’s Looking for Alaska).

People have objected to the book, as you probably know, for denigrating religion. That seems weird to me, as it grapples with a teen who believes in Some Kind of God and is actually trying to figure out what that God means to him. And, you know, John Green is Christian. Silly people. I know there was a bit of a furor over Looking for Alaska, but it just seems completely unwarranted.

Of course, the panel that reviews books for … removal … generally sides with the book. Don’t worry: John Green will stay on the shelves. New Yorkers aren’t dumb enough to remove a fantastic read like Looking For Alaska from their general collections.

Anyway, I’ve decided that one of my projects this fall will be to make an appointment to visit the Brooklyn Public Library’s Hunt Room. I want to see which books have been relegated to their vault of objectionable material. And I’ll write here about it, of course. (Although I’m guessing folks will be flooding to the Hunt Room now that there’s an article about it.)

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The Way He Lived by Emily Wing Smith

Saturday, August 15th, 2009

thewayhelivedOkay, I’ll admit it. When I found out Emily Wing Smith had written a YA book, I was … jealous.

I was jealous because, about a million years ago, Emily Wing went to the prom with my boyfriend. That was before he was my boyfriend, of course, back when the two of them were growing up in Bountiful and West Bountiful, Utah. It is a town that is so Mormon that the students get a break during public high school to go attend seminary, which is the Mormon version of … intensive Sunday school, I guess. Or, if you’re Jewish, it’s probably more like Hebrew school. ‘Cos you only go to Sunday school on Sundays.

Adam just got home from a trip out west to see his family. He brought Emily’s book back with him, and I’m so glad he did. In addition to being a fantastic read, The Way He Lived gave me an inside look into the suburb where Adam and Emily both grew up.

Also, there’s a character in the book named Adam who (a) wears sweatpants all the time and (b) takes public transit. You should know that in suburban Utah, very few people take public transit. But Adam — the real life Adam — did take public transit. And he wore sweatpants.

Emily, if you should read this, I want you to know that Adam has upgraded to nice-fitting jeans (dark wash), American Apparel T-shirts, and good old-fashioned Chuck Taylors. Oh, and his scraggly goatee? Is now a full-on, awesome beard.

But her book isn’t really about Adam. She just slipped him in as one of the characters she seems to remember fondly from her walks down memory lane.

Instead the novel — I would call it a novel, though it resembles a collection of short stories — is about how seven different teenagers cope with the death of their friend/lover/brother, Joel. Emily’s writing is fantastic, and she deals with all sorts of complex issues: suicide (not that Joel’s death was one; I’m really not giving anything away here), homosexuality, mental illness. It’s the part about mental illness that really sucked me in, because you can tell that Emily wrote truth, which is the best kind of writing there is.

It’s a good book. A great book. Blurbed by Sara Zarr and Carrie Jones. And worth reading. A little jealousy might be natural, too, if only because Emily is so very talented. But it’s the good kind of jealousy, the kind that propels the reader along his or her own road, instead of the kind of jealousy that makes a person fester.

So. Go forth and read. Look here for an interview with Emily’s high school friend, Adam, who probably has many more insights than I do. And who also can’t escape his impending interview. I know where he lives. (Insert evil cackle here.)

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Homecoming by Tonya Hurley

Friday, August 14th, 2009

homecoming1 This is not an actual picture of Homecoming, the second novel in Tonya Hurley’s ghostgirl series. No, the book is much prettier and more elaborate. It’s dark purple, with a silver gilded spine, and every page has color. It is an absolutely beautiful book.

Unfortunately, I can never read my copy again, because I used it to kill a house centipede. That’s why I’m going to give this one away and buy a new one. Also because it’s good, and it deserves to be read again.

Heaven, it would seem, is a phone bank. In Tonya’s first book we met Charlotte Usher, the girl who died on the first day of school by choking on a gummy bear. I have to say, I didn’t love Charlotte at first. She seemed selfish and clueless. But she proves herself in this second installment that involves three girls at the brink of death, with Charlotte working Heaven’s phone bank (or not working, as the case may be).

Anyway, it’s an absurd and absorbing read, in addition to being one of the prettier books I’ve ever read. I really wish I hadn’t used it to kill a house centipede. Indeed, if I hadn’t, I’d quote bits of it to you.

Instead, I’ll let you go buy your own copy. You can’t miss it.

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Model Incorporated

Wednesday, August 12th, 2009

modelinc I think books about modeling are kind of over. Which is not to say it hasn’t been a good run: We’ve had Melissa Walker’s Violet, Cheryl Diamond’s gritty memoir, and Meg Cabot’s awesome sci fi experiment with Nikki/Em. (I would be happy to see more of any of these, btw.)

But then the other day I took in a big delivery of some of those “stock” model books. And I just knew: It’s over. It’s over the way Gossip Girl (the books, not the televisions series) is over, the way vampires are over.

That being said, I have enjoyed one of these factory-produced novels, and I think it deserves a callout: Model, Incorporated is a well-written, engaging story (continued from This Year’s Model) about a young woman from New Jersey whose modeling career is either stalling or taking off, whose love life is a mess, and whose parents are doing their best not to be overprotective. I love how the writer and editors wove it all together.

You see how I said writers and editors, there? I’m sure that Carol Alt, the model (once the face of Lancome) and raw diet proponent to whom this book is credited, had some involvement in the book. Indeed, it seems to be based on her own life story, and we even get a little plug for raw foods.

But the copyright goes to … Altron, Inc. My bet is that there’s some writer out there who has just knocked one out of the park and ought to have a try at making a name for herself. Or himself. (You go, ghostwriter!) And if you’re looking for a last beach read of the summer, you should definitely look for this at your local library.

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Farewell, vampires.

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

This EW interview with Neil Gaiman is worth looking at. And talking about. Gaiman not only talks about some of the famous vampires of our time — though he stays away from YA. (Probably because it’s a frank discussion of sex. But that’s part of the vampire thing, isn’t it?)

But on his own blog he says of the undead, “You shouldn’t be glutted with vampires: they should be a spice, not a food group.”

I think Neil’s right. But in the last few years, we’ve gotten to meet some pretty awesome vamps thanks to the overwhelming popularity of the species.

A few of my favorite vampires:

• Lucius Vladescu, the snarky love interest from Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey.
• Mina Hamilton from Sucks to Be Me by Kimberly Pauley. Actually, her entire vampire ‘verse is pretty cool and unusual.
• Balthazar, the cool vamp from the Evernight series by Claudia Gray. Vastly preferable to that Lucas character, in my opinion. Also love the hilarious aged vampires who don’t understand modern technology.
• My favorite vampire? Would be Spike from the legendary Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series. (Did you know there’s a whole host of Buffy teen novels out there? I didn’t. But I’m going to pick some up.) Anyway, I can’t imagine why Neil Gaiman didn’t mention Buffy or Joss Whedon. The man is truly responsible for bringing back vamps. Anyway, Spike is by far the best vampire ever. He’s snarky, he’s evil, he’s comic relief, he’s wise without knowing it — in all, I think he’s probably the most well-rounded character on the series, and the one who evolves the most with the passage of time. (Forget Angel. He’s a sap.)

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In other news: We’re all poor nowadays, right? Well, if you’ve yet to read Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, Simon and Schuster is giving away a .pdf version for free. I should mention that this promotion is in advance of Scott’s upcoming book, Leviathan. For some reason I have a hard time with this title, as it always makes me think of (a) Thomas Hobbes and (b) David Levithan.

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