I thought “New Moon” was great. I liked it much more than the first movie. It seems everyone thought it would do well opening weekend, but no one expected it to do this well. It broke all kinds of records.

The big story in publishing last week was Harlequin announcing it was launching a self-publishing side. Many authors and organizations (including RWA) are not too happy about it.

I have no problem with self-publishing provided that (1) the author has a platform—a sure way to sell the books, and (2) the author really, really, truly understands what he/she is getting into. The majority of the time, an author doesn’t meet both those criteria and things end up going a way they didn’t expect.

Times have been changing, especially with the economy and the Internet, so I think we need to know that these publishing companies are going to be changing as well. We can fight against it all we want (and we should to an extent), but it will still change. As for the companies, I feel they would be better off doing separate names, websites, etc… This would probably help the authors, editors, and the rest of the publishing community not get so upset. I think I did hear that Harlequin was considering changing the name of the new self-publishing imprint.

Book Reviews

“Story of a Girl” by Sara Zarr
2008
Little, Brown

I’m sorry to say that I have just now read my first Sara Zarr book. I have wanted to for awhile. “Story of a Girl” is a poignant tale of a girl who gets caught (by her dad!) having sex with an older guy when she was thirteen. Now, a few years later, she struggles through the pain and those who won’t forgive her (and the fact that she can’t forgive herself). A very fast read with a complex character. I look forward to reading more of Zarr’s books.

“When You Reach Me” by Rebecca Stead
2009
Random House

I hardly ever read Middle Grade. Actually, come to think of it, I never read MG. But I had heard good things about this one, so I thought I’d check it out. The story takes place in the 70s, and shows a girl dealing with her game show obsessed mom and the loss of her best friend. Along the way strange things are happening, and she starts getting notes from someone. I really enjoyed the mystery in this. It kept the pages turning for me. Compelling book with some good character development and interactions. I can’t tell much about it without giving the plot away. It’s gotten great reviews, and I suspect it will do well.

The CMAs were awesome, of course. Since I love Taylor Swift, I was happy to see her take home all four awards in the categories she was nominated, including Entertainer of the Year. Her couple of performances were also great. And the night wouldn’t have been half as funny if a bunch of the stars didn’t poke fun at Kayne. (And what was the deal with Wynonna Judd’s super dark fake tan? Holy cow, I thought I was going blind watching my HD TV!).

When Swift hosted Saturday Night Live last week, she was funny! Here is the video “Monologue” from that:

 

 

 

 

 

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And her performance on SNL:

One more week until “New Moon”! Do you have your tickets yet? I do! (Yes, I’m way too excited about it).

I’ve been reading faster and more often these days, so I have two book reviews this week:

“Evermore” by Alyson Noel

Info

St. Martin’s, 2009

Thoughts

I’m not usually a paranormal fan, but this reminded me somewhat of “Twilight.” It has a contemporary feel and a great love story with a lot of mystery that keeps you turning the pages. If you enjoy paranormal YA romance, I would recommend this author. This book is part of the “Immortals” series, and the second book (the sequence to “Evermore”) was released a couple of months ago.

  

 

 

“Lost It” By Kristen Tracy

Info

Simon Pulse, 2007

Thoughts

This contemporary YA is about a girl who loses her virginity, and the way she deals with it, along with her struggling family situation. The author has a great voice and style that keep you moving through the story. I liked the ending and how the character was changed even though we don’t quite know what will end up happening in her life.

Keep reading and have a great week!

First, a great article this week from Publisher’s Weekly on the increase of teen book sales, and lots of research on what teens are reading. Check it out.

Is Taylor Swift dating Taylor Lautner? I don’t know, but that would be pretty sweet (we’ll all feel some sort of satisfaction that Edward wasn’t the only one to snag a good girl). Taylor Swift just put out a killer video called “Fifteen.” Go for your dreams girls and forget those boys (unless they’re buying you Starbucks, of course, then give them a few minutes of your time).

 

 

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I’m a little behind on blogging this week. Part of the problem was that I wasted almost an entire day watching the balloon boy thing on the news. Yes, I’m a sucker for sensationalist news (and I kept thinking, “Man, this would make a great novel.”)

Miley Raps—Or at Least Tries

I love Miley Cyrus. I’m not even a teen (no, I won’t tell you how old I am, but I recently exited my 20s), and yet I love her movies and music. When she quit Twitter with more than 1 million followers, I was disappointed. There were rumors she quit because her boyfriend told her to. Then she clarified in, um, a rap video (yes, a rap video) that she quit because she wants her privacy. If she wants her privacy she shouldn’t be putting out rap videos! Here it is for your viewing enjoyment:

Thank you to Jenny B. Jones who told me about the Jimmy Falon spoof, which I was sorry I missed but glad I could find it online.

 

News for Writers

So the buzz/arguments/blogs this week in the CBA publishing world surrounded the fact that the biggest CBA publisher there is, Thomas Nelson, has added a self-publishing imprint. It’s controversial because, well, somewhere along the lines we got this idea that self-published books were garbage. It’s also controversial because the imprint name they are using was used at one time for some well-known authors. A few years ago they switched those authors under the Thomas Nelson imprint, but still, not some happy authors out there.

Personally—other than the imprint name problem—I think it’s a great idea. It’s a way to make money, and the face of publishing is changing dramatically. It should be an option for those who want it, and Thomas Nelson will offer a nice product for those authors (mostly non-fiction writers, although I am still waiting for the day when some fiction author self-publishes a teen novel and makes a ton of money because (1) teens live online, and (2) teens don’t care what a book’s imprint is).

Anyway, you can read a balanced response to the move on agent Rachelle Gardner’s blog.

In Other News

• A few weeks ago I posted a blog about teens in the news, failing to post any positive stories. Then I read this great article about a new book coming out (“The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind”) telling the story of a teen in Africa who changed his community. Very touching and heart-warming story that you can read here.
• If you are a teen author, you should join two awesome groups that I’ve recently joined. One is the YA RWA (YARWA) chapter. They have a fun loop, and since they are new they have a lot of other things planned for the future. The second is TeenLitAuthors, a Yahoo group that discusses everything YA. They often have guest agents and authors on the loop to answer questions.

Have a great weekend!
Sandi

Every once in a while I like to review a novel that may not be a new release, and/or that may not be a YA author as well. I’ve heard good things about Jodi Picoult, so I read her 2007 novel, “Nineteen Minutes.”

Info                                                                      

Adult Contemporary Fiction
Washington Square Press

Summary

A small ordinary town is turned upside down with a teenage boy goes on a shooting rampage at his high school.

Thoughts

What I liked most about this book was that the author got deep into everyone’s point of view, including the parents of the teen who was the shooter. When a school shooting happens, we often don’t consider what it must be like for the parent of the shooter. I also liked that the book dealt with the problem of bullying. My emotions changed so much through the book; on the one hand, I was angry at the teen shooter for what he did, but on the other it was hard not to sympathize with him because of the intense bullying he suffered.

Even though this isn’t specially a teen book, I think teens would enjoy it. I read in an article that some schools have adapted parts of the book to use in their anti-bullying curriculum.

Through the entire read, I thought of Columbine, as I was just out of high school when it happened, and I remember it impacted me deeply. I often wondered about certain aspects of those involved in terms of psychology. Even though Picoult’s book is fiction, she did a lot of research, including interviewing those involved in previous U.S. high school shootings. This made the book feel more real and intense.

For an interesting read on what goes on in the minds of those involved when a school shooting occurs, I recommend Picoult’s book.

I have a section on my blog with writing contests that have YA categories. Today I’m adding another. I’m part of a writing group in Phoenix and they are launching a contest of their own.

The group is the Christian Writers of the West. The contest is for unpublished writers. The categories are:

• Contemporary fiction
• Historical fiction
• Suspense/thriller/mystery
• Sci-fi/fantasy/allegory
• Young adult
• Women’s fiction

There is a $20 fee per entry, and we have some awesome editors and agents who will be serving as final round judges.

To find out more or to enter see: http://joyfulhutch.googlepages.com/rattlerscontest

(I need some more positive news! If you have any, send it my way)

Muslim girl converts to Christianity; runs away from home. You may have heard of the teenage girl who converted from the Muslim faith to Christianity and was scared of her parents “killing” her, so she ran away from home. A custody battle is in the courts trying to determine if she is indeed in any danger.

Teen sets self on fire after watching YouTube video. I wouldn’t blame YouTube for this one. And maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but teens (and adults) often doing dumb things. It’s part of growing up. Lesson learned.

12-year-old Yemeni girl married to 24-year-old; dies after childbirth. It’s really sad this type of stuff is still going on in our world. Quit calling it in the name of culture and call it for what it really is: rape and pathetic.

High school football player wrestles gun from girl on bus. A senior football player is a hero after taking away a gun from a girl on a bus who was angry. Not that I condone her behavior, of course, but she apparently was mad because of other people who had been making fun of her. Just another example of the problem of bullying in our high schools. In this article, they say she never went to a teacher about the bullying and when someone threw a piece of paper at her she just smiled. Please. Not all these kids ask for help when they need it, so we can’t expect they will.

Muslim teen sues A&F for discrimination. I suppose I would be mad if I were told I couldn’t wear a cross necklace to a job, but I would think businesses have the right to make you dress in uniform, so I can understand their side of it too.

Will online college kill traditional college? Since I teach online college, I found this article to be compelling.

VFW Essay Contest. My friend Mechelle sent me this great link. In light of Patriot’s Day (September 11), The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) offers an essay contest for students in 6, 7, or 8^th grade called Patriot’s Pen. Contestants are to write a 300-400 word essay. The topic this year is: “When is the Right Time to Honor Our Military Heroes?” Essays are submitted to local VFW posts. The winners are given a savings bond. If you are a student in one of these grades (or know of one), this is a great way write, voice your thoughts, and possibly win some money.

If you can get past the fact that it’s a complete rip-off of “Twilight,” it’s actually decent.

I prefer contemporary teen fiction and television to paranormal and fantasy (I know, don’t hate me), which is probably one reason I liked “Twilight” so much. “Vampire Diaries” claims to be “darker” and more “edgier” than “Twilight,” but at this point I’m not seeing how that is (the bad vampires bite and kill people, the high school scene is much the same, etc…).

I like the characters, especially the tension between the two brothers (good vampire vs. bad vampire). I also like the high school drama as it’s portrayed (the main character deals with her parent’s death and her brother has drug problems).

There are still a lot of unknowns (who is “Katherine,” and why is Stefan obsessed with Elena? It’s a little creepy that he keeps showing up, catching her off guard, and that his parents are gone too and that he lives with his uncle—Elena’s parents are gone and she lives with her aunt). This tension is good; it keeps us glued to the TV. I have to hand it to the CW…they know how to reach their audience.

 It’s worth tuning into, at least to give it a shot (or bite, ha ha ).

I promise I’ll get back to the focus of this blog, which is YA books. But I couldn’t resist posting on the VMAs. Taylor Swift is my favorite musical artist, and last night she was the unlikely winner of the best female video on the VMAs. In the middle of her acceptance speech, Kayne West took the mic from her hand and began ranting about how Beyonce’s video (up against Swift’s) was one of the best videos of all time and should have won.

I like Beyonce’s song and video too (“Single Ladies” (Put a Ring on It)”), but that was just plain rude and wrong. The poor girl was giving her acceptance speech. She was, however, somewhat vindicated—West was booed by the audience and told to leave the building. Later, when Beyonce won video of the year, she invited Swift up to finish giving her speech (plus, a couple of singers tweeted some choice words about West). He did, though, apologize on his blog today.

The VMAs are known for their controversy (think last year and Brand’s rude comment about the Jonas Brothers purity rings), and their crazy antics (this year Lady Gaga speared herself in fake blood as a testimony of the Paparazzi and what they did to Princess Diana). So, if nothing else, it’s some strange, yet interesting entertainment.

Photo credit: AP | Singer Kanye West takes the microphone from singer Taylor Swift as she accepts the "Best Female Video" award during the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009 in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

I have to say the “New Moon” clip was awesome. The movie looks better than the first one and I can’t wait.

 

 

 

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The MTV Video Music Awards are Sunday night (September 13^th) at 9 p.m. (EST). Here’s hoping Taylor Swift wins for best Female Video! (video posted below…watch it, it’s cute!)

And, one of the best parts, there will be a preview of “New Moon.” Yippee!

 

 

 

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