Hi Everyone! I’m happy to announce I have a new website with a built-in blog. All of my posts from this site have been transferred to the new site and I will no longer be using this one (though I will keep it live for another year or two).
So if you wouldn’t mind adding my new site to your blog roll, I’d appreciate it.
I’m getting ready to launch a new website which has a built-in blog. I’m trying to figure out if this blog can merge with that one. It’s complicated, so I haven’t been on here much.
In the meantime, there is a cool contest going over at the KidLit blog: http://kidlit.com/kidlit-contest/
There are some others I’ve heard of, but I keep forgetting to post them. I hope it won’t be too long before I’m back on. Happy writing!
Sandi
I apologize for my absence. Part of it is that I was crazy busy grading finals. The other part of it is that I have someone redesigning my website/blog and I’m super excited and keep thinking that I don’t want to post until the new site launches. But that would be wrong in blog etiquette, so here we go with some last 2009 book reviews:
“Along for the Ride” by Sarah Dessen
Info
Contemporary YA fiction (ages 12-19)
Viking, 2009
Summary
Since Sarah Dessen is my favorite YA author, this was an easy and likable read for me. What I enjoyed most was that the characters were either about to start college or had been out of high school for a year or two, making it more interesting for readers who enjoy YA with college characters.
The story and characters were intriguing, and like all Dessen books, the plot keeps you interested, especially the romance.
“Twenty Boy Summer” by Sarah Ockler
Info
Contemporary YA fiction (ages 12-19)
Little Brown, 2009
Summary
I enjoyed this new author and couldn’t put this one down. The story follows a girl who has lost the guy she loves, and how she works through that—especially considering the guy she loved was her best friend’s brother. Wonderful characters and a page-turning plot.
I normally try to only say positive things about the books I read, but one thing bothered me about this book… the title. Because the title is “Twenty Boy Summer,” and the blurb on the back makes it sound like the main character seeks out twenty boys in order to get over her loss, that was what I expected. But instead she meets only a few guys and ends up seriously dating one of them. So as I read the book I kept waiting for her to date twenty guys, but it never happened. Still an awesome book, but totally threw me.
“If I Stay” by Gayle Forman
Info
Contemporary YA fiction (ages 12-19)
Penguin, 2009
Summary
In this book a girl is in a car accident with her family and gets to decide whether she stays on earth without her family or if she dies along with her family. As she’s in the hospital, she’s in a state where she can see everything going on around her. She wrestles with staying and pursuing her dreams, or leaving earth to go be with her family. I really enjoyed the author’s voice on this one.
I hope you have a wonderful New Year!
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:
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
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).
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
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:
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 8th 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.
