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Now it's easy to laugh about my book ending up on the slut shelf, but I remember how hurtful that word was to me when I was younger. Someone wrote it on the side of my car once in college for some unknown reason, and it left me in tears. Part of why I wrote Salvage was to let girls know that their worth isn't tied up in their sexuality. Having sex doesn't fundamentally devalue you as a person. It doesn't change the fact that you have amazing things to contribute to the world.
Click on through for a Slut Shelf Giveaway, as well as for links to related posts by lots of other authors.
Magabala is Australia’s leading independent Indigenous publishing house based in Broome, Western Australia. An independent Aboriginal Corporation since 1990, Magabala’s objective is, ‘restoring, preserving and maintaining Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.’
...
It’s important in YA that readers can relate to the stories and of course, Indigenous authors writing about Indigenous lives has authenticity and this is something that young readers are looking for in their stories — and they have very strong fake detectors. This goes doubly for Indigenous readers. I believe not just young readers but all readers are hungry for Indigenous stories, they are hungry to learn about their past and forge a new identity for Australia that includes our First Peoples.
The flashbacks are an economical way to dole out the back story—while there aren’t a whole lot of strengths here, it can’t be said that it isn’t tight—and they’re integrated seamlessly into the main narrative. What doesn’t work is anything having to do with an emotional arc: which, unfortunately, is most of the rest.
Just like Ruined (or, you know, what I remember of it), Unbroken reads like part-paranormal-mystery-romance, part travelogue. In addition to loads of details about New Orleans (past and present) and lots of information about the various communities and cultures and subcultures that populate the city, there's some discussion about gentrification and a bit of conversation about preserving history versus quality of life. While much of it definitely reads like the author had some travel guides open at all times as she wrote, for the most part, the information is integrated smoothly and in a non-infodumpy manner.
Celia is smart, creative, curious, sensitive, loves reading, and loves words, but she doesn't talk like someone reading a Diablo Cody script. When she mouths off to one of the jerks at school, she keeps it simple ("You're stupid and mean, and you suck at basketball"; "Keep marching, hate parade"), and in so doing, the moment isn't about the words she chooses, but about the fact that she chooses to to speak up. When she speaks up in defense of others, it comes off as realistic and as real-world possible, rather than as something you'd see in a movie: and that makes it all the more inspiring.
It’s a thrill ride, with explosions and escapes and danger, chases and betrayals and unlikely alliances; and London’s descriptions of the vision-based technology made me think of bothMinority Report and Feed. It isn’t just about the action or the neat technology, though: It’s also a story about trust and redemption, responsibility and forgiveness; about how far people are willing to go to get what they want, and how far they will bend their own moral code in order to justify it.
I enjoyed it so much -- Amal has a great voice, whip-smart and ornery and passionate and laugh-out-loud funny* and sensitive. While the book occasionally does veer into Preachy Land, I think that Amal's character makes it work. I mean, really -- find me a teenager who doesn't get a little self-righteous now and then**. I actually found the subplot about Simone's weight issues more heavy-handed and irritating than any of Amal's railings against Muslim stereotypes.
A gothic storyline AND spiritualism!? How could it get any better? Well, I'll tell ya: three-dimensional characters written with subtlety and compassion and a FANTASTIC villain. Good one, Laura Amy Schlitz. I will very definitely be watching for your next book.
You know what got me about The Fault in Our Stars more than anything else? What made me, on more the one occasion, laugh out loud even while I was bawling**? It wasn't the witty banter or the poetry or the philosophizing or the mullings-over of mortality. It was Hazel's empathy.
Following a public hearing Wednesday, in which more than two dozen residents gave their opinions on whether the book should be censored, including on letter submitted by the author himself, the review committee voted not to remove the book from the school library.
“This book is not about sex,” said committee member Rev. Joie Clee Weiher when she gave her decision to retain the book. “Heated scenes of kissing are merely a hook, a draw for young people to read a book about relationships, respect and the deeper concerns of the human situation."
I ADORED Eliza Crewe’s Cracked. It’s smart, it’s funny, it’s full of action and bare-handed decapitations. Meda’s voice is hilarious and snarky and brash and inhuman and original. She’s an art lover with a wonderfully morbid sense of humor, a monster who takes joy in brutal violence but who secretly hates herself for giving in to her mindless rage, and she’s a girl who’s all alone and just wants to know who she is. She's a quick thinker who considers every angle of a situation, and she doesn't yearn for humanity or, as Buffy’s Spike so wonderfully puts it, exhibit any of “that Anne Rice crap.” She's a mostly unrepentant killer who doesn't shy away from playing the damsel in distress card—even when she's the most dangerous thing in the room.
"And you have the record for frowning." AHAHAHAHAHA.
Also, the Jasper stuff.
Okay. I didn't see Eclipse, so I just Googled "edward cullen tambourine" to make sure that there wasn't actually a tambourine scene. There wasn't, right? Because if there was, clearly I'm going to have to watch it.
Due to the zoning in her town, Reyna is starting her freshman year at a different school than all of her friends. When abrasive, honest-to-a-fault Olive Barton takes an interest in becoming her friend, Reyna is torn. She's somewhat concerned about becoming friends with a social pariah—see "abrasive" and add "fashion-victim", "ongoing battle with the Queen Bee", and "seemingly humorless"�but mostly, she's just happy to have someone to eat lunch with.
Her friendship with Olive leads to her worldview expanding, to her assumptions being challenged, to sitting down and reconsidering identity and reconsidering friendship: what she wants to put into it, what she wants out of it, what it even IS.
Pros:
Points to Kocek for her complex portrayal of Reyna: her freakout about Olive's coming out is not at all flattering, but it felt clear to me—although certainly not to Olive, and not even to herself at first—that said freakout was about change, about being thrown for a loop, than about really having an issue with Olive's sexual orientation. Even when she stoops to being nasty to Olive about being a lesbian, it's not really about that. (Not that it makes it any less hurtful to Olive, but again, PEOPLE ARE COMPLICATED.)
Along those same lines, points to Kocek for allowing Reyna and Olive to both indulge in some really crappy behavior without demonizing them: sometimes people who're generally pretty nice react to confusion or hurt feelings by lashing out and acting like jerks.
I could go on about all of the details that make Reyna's perspective so believable and well-rounded—her tendency to filter everything she sees through her own past, which leads her to make some big (and erroneous) assumptions about other people. Put simply, Kocek risks the 'unlikable' label in order to be honest. (Not that there's anything wrong with 'unlikable' characters: I, for one, tend to enjoy them! Except stupid Joffrey. But that's different.)
Cons:
It's possible that I'm just super-sheltered, but it seems unlikely to me that a teacher in a somewhat affluent school district in contemporary Connecticut would get away with such overtly bigoted behavior in the classroom. Every time he opened his mouth, I just saw the words EVENTUAL LAWSUIT hanging over his head in blinking neon, and I can't imagine that A) the administration wouldn't have felt the same way and B) that the administration wouldn't have HEARD about it before they did. High schools are hotbeds of gossip: that sort of stuff doesn't stay under the radar for long. So I found that storyline difficult to buy.
Levi is too perfect to be believed: he's more patient than most adults would be with Reyna's slow journey towards acceptance of the idea that Gay People Are Regular People, Too; I found it bizarre that he continued to like her even during her (admittedly brief) stint as a bully; and the I Have Two Mothers reveal was a little too pointed for me.
Along those same lines, the Queen Bee was a totally two-dimensional monster.
Nutshell:
A bit message-y—sexuality, bullying, suicide, grief, stepmothers, alcoholism, runaways, and more!—but some really strong character development and a thoughtful, bravely complex look at friendship.
Altered Perceptions is an anthology of great authors, donating their work to help author Robison Wells, who's crippled by debt, caused by his mental illnesses.
Some of the authors included are: Mary Robinette Kowal, Brandon Sanderson, Ally Condie, Lauren Oliver, Sara Zarr, Brandon Mull, Jessica Day George!
There are lots, lots more, so click on through for the full list.
...which sets out to be a love story, a ghost story, a story about abuse, and a story about family. Of the four, the ghost story comes the closest to being successful. The idea of a ghost that can travel via and control water is scary in and of itself, and Ward really makes great, cinematic* use of it, sometimes with powerful, gushing torrents, sometimes with insidious, creeping mold. Ghost Rob’s growing strength is rivaled only by his malevolence, and Carl’s deteriorating mental state—despite clear signs of an actual haunting, at times I wondered if it really might all be in Carl’s head—adds to the tension.
As it sadly didn't do a whole lot for me, I went ahead and recommended some OTHER books that I enjoyed much more...
INCLUDING A CERTAIN SERIES STARRING MISS SHIRAZ BAILEY WOOD.
And also one that I haven't read yet, but that LOOKS really super.
Sidenote: Due to the water and the palette, this cover is pretty ambiguous... but if the girl on the cover is supposed to be Neisha Gupta, with her "big brown eyes" and skin with "honey tones", then it looks like the UK cover has been whitewashed.
He treats every human he meets as their own planet, rather than simply one of his moons. He sees people with curiosity, compassion, grace and excitement. And he’s encouraging a huge community of followers to do the same.
These and other reviews attest to the literary and educational value of the book. In contrast, no legitimate pedagogical rationale has been advanced for its removal, and it is highly doubtful that any legitimate justification could be advanced, especially for removing the book from the library, the purpose of which is to give students the opportunity to explore books on their own, according to their own interests, views and values.
After a group of students noticed the cover of David Levithan’s 2013 novel, Two Boys Kissing, parent Jessica Wilson launched a book challenge to remove it from FHS’s library. The complaint was officially filed on the grounds that the picture on the book’s cover, which features two boys kissing, violated the school’s policy of no public displays of affection. Furthermore, Wilson was concerned that the book had overt sexual content.
In that article, there's a quote from the challenger:
“The good thing about appealing is that it opens the matter up to public debate,” Wilson said. “It’s not like this isn’t a book that I wouldn’t let my kids read, but it’s the fact that it’s in a school. Books like The Scarlet Letter and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest don’t embrace sexuality. They have consequences, and it’s integral to the story. When you’re a teenager, it’s normal to question your sexuality, your faith, but the school isn’t your nanny; it isn’t up to the school to provide this guidance.”
I'm fascinated by her logic here: she says that the school "isn't your nanny" and that it isn't up to the school to "provide [this] guidance", but it seems to me that in asking for the library to only include stories in which sexual contact has "consequences", that's EXACTLY what she's asking the school to be and to do.
Ten years ago, Corinthe made a huge mistake. Since then, she’s been exiled from her sister Fates, living on Earth among the humans. To earn her way back into the good graces of the Unseen Ones and be allowed to return home, she is tasked with helping humans achieve their destinies: whether that means facilitating meet cutes, making someone late for work, preventing an accident, saving a life...or ending one.
(I couldn't post the link earlier due to the Typepad debacle.)
I hadn't read a straight-up chick-lit rom-com in ages, and I'd forgotten just how much fun they can be.
Despite the best efforts of her best friend to convince her to go to New York City with him while he interns at a teen fashion magazine, Libby Kelting is leaving Minnesota to spend the summer before her senior year in Camden Harbor, Maine, interning at the Museum of Maine and the Sea. She'll be wearing 1791-era garb, teaching young campers about the daily life of colonial Americans, and hopefully, in her off-time, spending time at the beach in one of the many (many, many, many) cute outfits that she's dragging halfway across the country with her.
Things she didn't count on: an enormously judgmental, slut-shaming roommate; a uniform for when she's not in costume; a super-hot sailor who spouts Shakespeare and looks VERY nice while chopping wood; getting roped into sharing EXTREMELY cramped quarters with a VERY irritating budding journalist who's on a ghost hunt.
Pros:
Oh, where to start? I cackled all the way through this one. For instance:
"Listen, Garrett—" "Why do you keep saying my name like it's in air quotes?" he interrupted. "What are you talking about?" I snapped. "You keep saying 'Garrett' like it's allegedly my name." "Maybe because it's not a name, but a small Parisian attic where writers live?" "Oh, as opposed to a brand of canned pumpkin owned by the Nestle corporation?" he shot back. We glared at each other.
Ahahahahahaha. Anyway, she and Garrett are very obviously well-suited to each other, and their sparring is just as entertaining as their inevitable lurrrve-falling. Also, Libby's campers are HILARIOUS.
Libby is a genuine history nerd, and as her focus is on fashion and the domestic arts, there are LOADS of interesting factual tidbits. Also, she's a wonderful example of a character who is a 'girly-girl' AND whip-smart, so yay to Strohm for that. Bonus: When it comes down to it, Libby is perfectly capable of fighting her own battles. Literally. So yay to Strohm for that, too!
Along those lines, there are some great threads about being judgemental/making assumptions about people: because Libby is interested in fashion and in boys, her roommate immediately jumps to the conclusion that Libby is an airheaded moron with red bottomosity. At the same time, Libby judges Garrett for his love of science fiction, so no-one is entirely without fault in that department—which is good, because few people are!
Cons:
Cam and most of the rest of the dudebros are totally two-dimensional stereotypes. And actually, Libby's bestie Dev is also pretty two-dimensional, but I gave him a pass because he was rad.
Nutshell:
PINK-LOVING GIRLS CAN BE SMART, TOO!, or,
Behind the scenes of Austenland, starring YA characters.
Sixteen-year-old Sophie is used to her mother's ups and downs. When she's up, she's vibrant and giddy. She's spontaneous, loves ice cream for breakfast, works tirelessly on her art, throws her cares to the wind.
When she's down, she barely speaks. She barely has the energy to move, let alone get out of bed.
Sophie has been taking care of things since she was eleven years old. Making sure her mother takes her meds, that she eats regularly, that the bills get paid, that her mother's social worker doesn't see any red flags.
One day, she comes home to find that her mother has attempted suicide. She calls 911, her mother is rushed to the hospital, and Sophie goes to live with her extended family for the duration.
Her ESTRANGED extended family.
Pros:
Everything. I'm not being lazy! I really loved it, full stop. It's a sensitive, empathetic look at how bipolar disorder can affect a family; about the realities of living with depression; about how sometimes people cause more damage by trying to protect one another than by just being honest. It's about how a lack of communication and a difficulty in asking for help can make a hard situation that much harder; about misunderstandings, isolation, and about that moment of catharsis that comes when feelings that have been hidden for far too long are finally verbalized. It's about abandonment, and about how abandonment by a friend can just as painful as abandonment by family. It's about how you can intellectually understand why a person acts the way she does, but still get frustrated and angry, and about the guilt that comes out of that.
Cons:
I've got nothing. It's a solid read across the board.
Nutshell:
It made me cry, but in a good way. If you like contemporaries that deal with meaty issues without being trite, didactic, or manipulative, here you go. I've added Sara Polsky to my list of Must Read Authors.
