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By: Little Willow,
on 4/30/2013
I've recommended five fantastic stories by Christopher Golden (Prowlers), Thomas E. Sniegoski (Fallen), Scott Westerfeld (Uglies), Justine Larbalestier (How to Ditch Your Fairy), and Holly Black (The Curse Workers). These books include angels, shapeshifters, surgeries, good luck, and bad luck, among other things. 
By: Ella Press,
on 7/5/2012
Authors Justine Larbalestier (Liar) and Sarah Rees Brennan (The Demon's Lexicon) recently joined forces to write Team Human. Through emails and iChats, the two writers worked together to write this very funny novel about Mel Duan, a whip-smart high-schooler trying desperately to keep her best friend from falling in love with the wrong guy--a guy who just happens to be a vampire.On July 8 at 8:00 pm, the authors are coming to Figment to discuss the tricky task of collaboration. How do two people create one cohesive voice? How do you find the right writing partner? And who gets credit for the best lines?Joining them as host of this rousing live web chat is none other than Add a CommentBy: Betsy Bird, on 3/8/2011
Blog: A Fuse #8 Production (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Reading Rainbow, Uncategorized, Yuyi Morales, Justine Larbalestier, bookshelves, Roald Dahl, Cassandra Clare, Matilda, Raul Colon, David Diaz, James Preller, Aaron Renier, Levar Burton, Fusenews, Weird Al, critical reviews, Thomas Newkirk, Elizabeth Fama, Twila Liggett, Add a tag
After posting a video from the episode of Community where Troy meets his hero LeVar Burton I got a penchant for a little Reading Rainbow. The universe, it appears, was happy to oblige. First off you have a woman that I would love to meet one day. If the name Twila Liggett fails to ring any bells, know only that amongst her many accomplishments she was the founder and executive producer of Reading Rainbow back in the day. In the article Just Read Anything! she writes a message to parents and teachers that’s pretty self-explanatory. If you can’t think of Reading Rainbow without the aforementioned LeVar, however, the same website Happy Reading has a lovely interview with the man. I’d love to meet LeVar myself, but I think my reaction would be a shade too similar to Troy’s.
- Mmm. Critical reviews. They’re important. I don’t do as many of them these days as I used to, but I try to work in at least a couple per year. Some bloggers don’t do them at all, and while I understand that I think it’s important to have a critical dialogue in the children’s literary blogosphere. That nice Justine Larbalestier author recently wrote a post called I Love Bad Reviews that covers this. She’s a gutsy gal, that one. I hope she writes a middle grade book one of these days (How to Ditch Your Fairy came close but wasn’t quite there). And if the research author Elizabeth Fama found in the Sept/Oct 2010 issue of Marketing Science is true, then “negative reviews of books of relatively unknown authors raised sales 45%.” So there you go, oh first time authors. It’s win-win!
- Along similar lines is this other snarky link. Personally I’ve nothing against Cassandra Clare. She was a lovely person that I got to meet at a Simon & Schuster preview once. Of course, I’ve never read a one of her books (she’s a YA writer) but bookshelves of doom gave a positive review to her City of Bones and I trust Leila. That said, I enjoyed Part One of the podcast Read It and Weep’s series on that same book (Part Two isn’t out as of this posting). Read It and Weep is a couple dudes and their guest host talking about books and various pop culture icons they dislike. I wouldn’t recommend the podcast for fans of the series, but if you’re curious about the book it can be amusing. Particularly since they will mention things they enjoyed, like the cat-related paging system. I think I’ll have to seek out their thoughts on Percy Jackson soon. Not Twilight, though. It’s been done.
- Everyone and their mother emailed me the amazing Aaron Renier
5 Comments on Fusenews: Hunting the snark, last added: 3/9/2011Display Comments Add a CommentBy: Sue Bursztynski, on 6/27/2010
Blog: The Great Raven (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Rachel Klein, Carmilla, The Moth Diaries review, Justine Larbalestier, Add a tag
This book was published a long time ago. I'm guessing that it has been sent for review again because there are plans afoot to make a movie based on it. From what I have read, it will be a horror movie, which may or may not be able to show the questions raised by the book.
It’s an interesting read – and a long way from the vampire romances coming out so regularly now.
Set in a boarding school for girls, some time in the 1970s, this very Gothic novel reads like a cross between Carmilla and The Turn Of The Screw. The narrator writes a foreword and afterword thirty years down the track, saying that her psychiatrist has suggested publishing the diary she kept at school, which he has had since treating her. Names will be changed “to protect the innocent”, but we never learn hers at all.
The narrator resents new girl Ernessa, who has taken over her friendship with Lucy Blake, the golden-haired airhead who, nevertheless, helped the diarist settle into the boarding school where she was sent after her father committed suicide (or did he? Was it suicide or murder?). She becomes convinced that Ernessa is a vampire. Ernessa never seems to eat. Her bed seems to be unslept-in. There is a bad smell coming from her room, though only the diarist seems to notice it. Lucy is gradually becoming weaker and weaker. There is, of course, an irony in the name Lucy - the same as Dracula’s victim - although at one point in the novel the diarist sneers at a teacher who suggests she might enjoy Stoker’s book.
The thing is, the narrator is unreliable, much like the one in Justine Larbalestier’s Liar. There are hints throughout the book that she is not quite right in her mind, that, as with the governess in The Turn of The Screw, it might all be in her head. She does seem to find evidence for her beliefs – very compelling evidence – but is she telling the truth, even in her diary? I was expecting a twist at the end – and there was, so make sure you read it all the way to the end, including the “Afterword”. And, to give the author credit, there are clues throughout the novel. She isn’t unfair to her readers.
I’d recommend this book for good readers from about sixteen up.
There are many references in it to classic supernatural fiction, but the one I would suggest handing the reader afterwards is Carmilla, which is mentioned several times and with good reason.
And please- read it BEFORE you see the movie. However good it is - we'll have to see - it may not be able to throw out the same clues.0 Comments on THE MOTH DIARIES By Rachel Klein. London: Faber, 2004 as of 1/1/1900Add a CommentBy: DGLM, on 1/26/2010
Blog: Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: opinion, covers, Justine Larbalestier, publishers, controversy, the blogosphere, Michael, retailers, Jacyln Dalmore, Add a tag
by Michael
Nothing causes author duress like the unveiling of the book cover. In my experience, it’s one of the most stressful parts of the publishing process, and there are days when I wish we could go back to the days of unjacketed books, when the only thing to get fired up about would be the font type! I’m sure Bloomsbury Children’s Books is wishing the same thing right about now.
This past summer, Bloomsbury had a big controversy on their hands when people noticed that the cover model for the book Liar by Justine Larbalestier didn’t exactly match the description of Micah, the protagonist in the book. At first, Bloomsbury tried to explain away the decision, saying that this was somehow a reflection of the character’s compulsive lying. They eventually relented, and a new jacket was prepared in time for publication. Though there was some residual blogger anger, things simmered down.
Until Bloomsbury did the same thing again. This time with Jaclyn Dalmore’s Magic Under Glass (a great book, by the way). This time, there were no liars to blame. While the book describes the protagonist, Nimira, as “dark-skinned,” the cover depicts a fair-skinned, corseted girl. While people were upset about Liar, the reaction to this cover was scathing. Jezebel’s (linked above) headline read “The White-Washing of Young Adult Fiction Continues.” Some bloggers went so far as to call for a boycott of Bloomsbury, though they realized they’d be hurting the authors as much, if not more, than the publishing company. And there’s much more to read on the subject at Reading in Color, Bookshelves of Doom, and Chasing Ray, as well as many others (you could spend all day linking between the blogs—and I hope you do).
So why do I bring this up? I think it’s important that we’re all paying attention to the issues involved here, and by linking to these other smart people and their opinions, I hope to generate more good, healthy discussion. As Justine Larbalestier pointed out when the controversy erupted around her book, the reason this happens is that booksellers believe that books with people of color on the cover don’t sell. Yikes. I really don’t think that’s true, despite what people tell me. The publishing industry has neglected people of color in the past, claiming there was no audience for books by and for people of color. Can you imagine? They learned their lesson when authors started self-publishing and selling hundreds of thousands of copies of the books that the publishers turned down. And now those same authors do big business with New York publishers, making them millions.
I hope some progressive, enterprising publishers start to prove these booksellers wrong by designing covers that prominently feature people of color. And when one breaks out and becomes a huge bestseller, maybe we can stop being so cynical. I’m curious to hear your thoughts on this, and as always, let’s keep the conversation respectful and positive.8 Comments on Cover controversies, last added: 1/26/2010Display Comments Add a CommentBy: Carol Brendler, on 1/11/2010
Blog: JACKET KNACK (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, Nnedi Okorafor, Interviews, middle grade, Justine Larbalestier, Race, cheryl klein, Liar, Silhouettes, Add a tagRecently, the Brown Bookshelf blogged about their own Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich and her first novel which just came out this month, Eighth Grade Superzero (Scholastic, 2010) and guess what. The cover has a superhero silhouette on it.
It's cool and kid-friendly, don't you agree? I like the way the sun's been used, as if it's adding more energy to the figure in the foreground. And the sneakers hint at the humor therein.
Not long ago, Julie talked about silhouette images on covers, and a while before that we had some discussion here and here about the notion that publishers might be hesitant to choose a jacket image showing a person of color, the suspicion being that it would hurt sales somehow. So it seemed natural to find out more about this one.
I sent a quick note to Olugbemisola (Gbemi, to her friends) Rhuday-Perkovich, who seems utterly charming by the way, and this is how she replied:
OR-P on what she likes best about the cover:"I love the way that it evokes the MC's sense of strength or superpower in the ordinary world. And the colours! Just perfect."OR-P on the story behind the design:"The designer's name is Christopher Stengel, and my editor wrote a bit about the design process on her blog (her words about my cover are in the comments section)."The editor is Cheryl Klein, who also worked on Francisco X. Stork's Marcelo in the Real World. In the comments section of her post, someone asked about the silhouette, and in Ms. Klein's reply we get a little insight into what kind of thought goes into a novel's cover. Some highlights:"For SUPERZERO, we went with a French design team called LaFrench: www.lafrench.org.. . ."". . . At no point did we tell the artist "Don't put a picture of a black kid on the cover (and you can see they've used lots of POC in their past work) . . ."Her post brought to light two new things for me:I wish we were to the point where it was so common that we didn't hardly notice anymore, like with female sports reporters. And I wish I had a cool name like Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich.
- A publisher's search for the perfect cover can mean going overseas for just the right look.
- Scholastic has produced quite a few jacket covers that feature an image of a POC (Person of Color). I hadn't realized.
2 Comments on Debut Novelist: Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich's First Cover, last added: 1/11/2010Display Comments Add a CommentBy: Beth, on 12/2/2009
Blog: YALSA - Young Adult Library Services Association (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Authors, Justine Larbalestier, John Green, Maureen Johnson, Melissa Walker, Class of 2k9, Kate Messner, Youth Participation, Economy, Skype, Sarah Ockler, Class of 2k10, 31 Days of Dollars and Sense, Add a tagAdd a Comment
With budgets being frozen and cut, it can be hard to find the money to host a traditional author visit. Here are six tips to connect with authors – virtually and in person – for little to no money.
1. Piggyback: When you book an author, you don’t just have speaker fees. You also need to pay for travel, lodging, and other expenses. One way to cut costs is to piggy back on book tours. When Jeff Kinney came to our local Border’s, one of our elementary librarians contacted his publisher who put her in touch with his agent. She was able to schedule a school visit between his other engagements. While this visit was not exactly cheap, it was cheaper than it might have been.
2. Buy Local: Another way to avoid travel fees is to book a local author. YALSA has a wiki which lists YA authors by state. Local authors may be more willing to work with your budget constraints since it is a way for them to support their community.
3. Skype: Author Kate Messner wrote about Skype visits with authors recently for SLJ. As she points out, many authors will do a Skype visit for free as long as the participants have read the book.
4. Let Teens Ask the Questions: At my library, I have started a blog to provide a forum for teens to interview authors. Another way to facilitate interviews is via podcasts. Check out the ones by the librarians at the Mount Kisco Public Library for good examples. How do you get interview subjects? Ask them. Most author websites list their contact information. For the AuthorView blog, so far I’ve made two interview requests. One said he was too busy. Another, Sarah Ockler, gladly agreed, and you can read her interview online now.
5. Promote Author Sites: Individual authors offer opportunities for readers to connect to them via their websites. The most involved site I know of is Nerdfighters, a community started by John Green and his brother Hank. Community members chat, share pictures and videos, and blog. The content ranges far beyond Green’s work, but does have a literary focus. Other authors, such as Maureen Johnson, Melissa Walker, and Justine Larbalestier have lively blogs which encourage comments and participation from teens through contests, advice columns and more. Link to these blogs and communities on your library site.
6. Take Advantage of Author Group Offers: Authors are joining together in groups to reach out to readers, including teachers and librarians. The Class of 2K9 has a program called Authors2Go. They plan on offering the program through the end of this school year. You’ll get a signed copy of the book, plus the opportunity to interact with an author online or in person. The Class of 2K10 plans to offer a similar program in the coming year.
There are six tips to get you started. What would you add to the list?
By: Amanda, on 10/1/2009
Blog: A Patchwork of Books (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: young adult books, Justine Larbalestier, Add a tagBefore I get into my review of this book, I am just forewarning you that I'm not even touching on the cover controversy. Enough has been said...probably too much actually, so the last thing I want to do is add my opinion where enough "stuff" has already been posted about it.
Moving on...I'm still not entirely sure what to make of Justine Larbalestier's latest piece of young adult fiction, especially after reading her other, lighter book. Here's the publisher's description:
"Micah will freely admit that she's a compulsive liar, but that may be the one honest thing she'll ever tell you. Over the years she's duped her classmates, her teachers, and even her parents, and she's always managed to stay one step ahead of her lies. That is, until her boyfriend dies under brutal circumstances and her dishonesty begins to catch up with her. But is it possible to tell the truth when lying comes as naturally as breathing? Taking readers deep into the psyche of a young woman who will say just about anything to convince them - and herself - that she's finally come clean, Liar is a bone-chilling thriller that will have readers see-sawing between truths and lies right up to the end. Honestly."
How do you connect with a main character that is probably lying to you from page one? The concept of Micah being a compulsive liar was initially very intriguing, but ultimately left me confused and missing something. I wanted to like my main character...or even hate her...but I didn't even know her, which turned out to be a big problem in whether or not I liked the book.
And about halfway through the plot there is a twist. One I definitely did not see coming and kinda wish never happened. The story was flowing along just fine without it and I feel it made the whole book a lot more complicated than it already was. BUT I can't say anymore without giving you one whopper of a spoiler!
I think the whole "liar" idea will continue to intrigue people and maybe some of you will really love Larbalestier's novel. I didn't really connect with it, didn't totally understand the "why" of it all, and think the whole book was just a little too odd for my liking.
To learn more or to purchase, click on the book cover above to link to Amazon.
Thanks to Bloomsbury for the review copy :)
Liar
Justine Larbalestier
388 pages
Young Adult
Bloomsbury
9781599903057
October 20092 Comments on Liar (YA review), last added: 10/4/2009Display Comments Add a CommentBy: Trisha, Gayle, and Jolene, on 8/11/2009
Blog: The YA YA YAs (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Reviews, Fiction, justine larbalestier, liar, Add a tag
Now that Liar by Justine Larbalestier has a brand new cover (which is still not perfect, but nevertheless an improvement over the previous one), let’s talk about the story itself. Because it’s trippy, twisty, clever, and one of the most unforgettable books I’ve read so far this year.
Micah is a liar. Her father is a liar. Her entire family are liars. So is it any wonder that she is a liar, too? She’s gotten into trouble before because of her lies and earned a reputation as a liar, but that hasn’t stopped her from continuing to lie. When her classmate (and secret boyfriend?), Zach, is killed and Micah’s lies start to unravel, she swears that she will stop lying. She will tell us the truth.
Or is that a lie, too?
Micah narrates her story in short bursts that flash from past to present and back to the past again. Despite not being told in a linear, straightforward fashion, Larbalestier has crafted (and I really think this is the best word to describe what she’s done) a novel that’s still relatively comprehensible from page one. Except where the lies are concerned. The lies that Micah tells, and has told, the ones that she admits to, are described so realistically and plausibly that it’s impossible to figure out what she otherwise lied about, and so it’s up to the reader to decide for themselves what really happened.*
The story is divided into three parts, and when the latter stages of Part 1 dragged, I did wonder where the story was going and about the rave reviews I’d read. Then came Part 2, and, in a word: wow! The experience of reading a novel with a narrator who is known to be a liar is different, I think, from reading a novel in which the narrator is revealed to be unreliable. When you know from the beginning that the narrator lies, and that the lies are not white lies of the no-really-your-hair/dress/[fill-in-the-blank]-is-nice variety but outrageous ones, you read that much more closely, trying to parse truths from untruths. And yet, at the start of Part 2, Larbalestier shocked the hell out of me with what she did, and she made it totally work. It turned Liar from a somewhat intriguing book to utterly unputdownable.
It’s the cleverness of the plot and structure that makes Liar so attractive to me. It’s dark and, once Part 2 started, I was enthralled by the story. I’m still trying to decide what I believe to be the truth about Micah, but this only makes the book more memorable to me and actually makes me like and appreciate it even more.
Liar will be published on September 29. This review is based on an ARC sent by the publisher.
* On her website, Larbalestier writes, “I deliberately wrote the book to be read in at least two different ways. You may think you know what kind of book it is and what kind of person Micah is, but you’ll find other readers will disagree with you completely. There is no one right way to read this book.”
If you leave a comment, please do not include spoilers! I will delete all comments with spoilers. Thank you.
9 Comments on Liar by Justine Larbalestier, last added: 8/19/2009Display Comments Add a CommentBy: Karen Strong, on 8/6/2009
Blog: Musings of a Novelista (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Books, Diversity, Authors, Conferences, Publishing, Justine Larbalestier, book jackets, Agents, race, Add a tag
Publisher’s Weekly broke the news the Bloomsbury has decided to change the cover for Justine Larbalestier’s novel, Liar.
Based on my previous post, Judging a Book By Its Cover, it’s interesting that Bloomsbury invested money to change this book jacket and not keep the “whitewashed” cover.
I must say that I’m surprised that they chose to go with a similar cover. I thought that they would just go with maybe an abstract cover without a cover model.
Will this cover satisfy everyone? Probably not. But it is a major improvement from the original. Plus, I really want to read this book and now I can go into the bookstore and support Justine L. and not feel like I’ve condoned the decisions behind the original cover.
Will this automatically make all the other problems in publishing concerning these types of issues go away? No. But I think we are seeing a watershed moment here. Things CAN change. And for me, that’s GREAT progress. However, this also means we must be diligent and voice our displeasure over issues such as these.
You can go over and read the PW Article, A New Look for Liar.
Justine L. has also posted her thoughts on her blog post, The New Cover.
Other Posts You Might Like:
0 Comments on What A Difference A Cover Makes as of 8/6/2009 9:59:00 PMAdd a CommentBy: Anastasia Goodstein, on 7/28/2009
Blog: Ypulse (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Books, justine larbalestier, Liar, cover controversy, whitewashing, Add a tagAdd a Comment
Today's Youth Advisory Board post is from Megan Reid who weighs in on the recent controversy sparked by the misleading cover chosen for the U.S. version of the dark YA novel Liar by Justine Larbalestier. As always, you can communicate directly with... Read the rest of this post
Blog: Musings of a Novelista (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Justine Larbalestier, race, Books, Add a tag
As many of you know who read my blog, Liar by Justine Larbalestier is on my TBR list. When I read the jacketflap, I was all over it. Micah is a pathological liar. Did she kill her boyfriend? Was he even her boyfriend? These were the questions that popped in my mind and got me interested.
So at this point, the cover art wasn’t an issue. It wasn’t until I read an excerpt off of Justine L.’s blog that the character described herself as black and having “nappy hair” that she wore close cropped and had a body like a boy.
The cover art didn’t match.
At this point, it still didn’t bother me. Could it be that the publisher put a clever clue for the readers in plain sight?
Seems like I was wrong.
This raises a LOT of questions of the choice of cover art. Questions that me and other writers of color have been asking for long time.
Justine L. has posted a response on her blog about the cover art issue. This is what struck me most in her post:
“The notion that ‘black books’ don’t sell is pervasive at every level of publishing. Yet I have found few examples of books with a person of colour on the cover that have had the full weight of a publishing house behind them. Until that happens more often we can’t know if it’s true that white people won’t buy books about people of colour. All we can say is that poorly publicised books with ‘black covers’ don’t sell. The same is usually true of poorly publicised books with ‘white covers.’
Are the big publishing houses really only in the business of selling books to white people? That’s not a very sustainable model if true. Certainly the music industry has found that to be the case. Walk into a music store, online or offline, and compare the number of black faces you see on the covers there as opposed to what you see in most book stores. Doesn’t seem to effect white people buying music. The music industry stopped insisting on white washing decades ago.”I think Justine L. makes a great point here. And she is challenging everyone who is upset by the cover art of Liar to go out and support books with black cover art.
I really commend Justine L. for writing a blog post about this issue. You should go over and read her blog post, Ain’t That A Shame.
Publisher’s Weekly also has an article about the book, Justine Larbalestier’s Cover Girl.
Other Posts You Might Like:
0 Comments on Judging a Book by Its Cover as of 1/1/1900Add a CommentBy: Camille, on 6/20/2009
Blog: Book Moot (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: justine larbalestier, Maureen Johnson, scott westerfeld, dinner with friends, Add a tag
Maureen Johnson's blog and tweets are always worthy of your time, but this account of her dinner with Justine Larbalestier and Scott Westerfeld is possibly, one of the funniest, laugh-out-loud things I have read in a long time.1 Comments on When authors dine..., last added: 6/27/2009Display Comments Add a CommentBy: Cheryl Rainfield, on 8/12/2008
Blog: Cheryl Rainfield: Avid Reader, Teen Fiction Writer, and Book-a-holic. Focus on Children & Teen Books (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Neil Gaiman, Justine Larbalestier, Holly Black, Sarah Beth Durst, Scott Westerfeld, YA author, Graham Joyce, Locus Magazine, YA fantasy fiction, Add a tag
The July issue of Locus Magazine, a magazine about SF/fantasy publishing, focused on young adult fantasy fiction. It contains essays by Neil Gaiman; Holly Black; Sarah Beth Durst; Justine Larbalestier; Scott Westerfeld; Graham Joyce; and more.
How did I miss this? Well, I don’t frequent magazine stores. Still, this is exciting. I wonder if I can still get my hands on a copy. Maybe eBay? How about you–have you checked it out?
I just discovered this through Sarah Beth Durst’s blog which I discovered through Bookshelves of Doom
0 Comments on July issue of Locust focuses on YA fantasy writers as of 8/12/2008 8:01:00 AMAdd a CommentBy: Justine Larbalestier, on 1/30/2008
Blog: Justine Larbalestier (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Viewing, Praising, Sydney/Australia, photos, love, Travelling, Justine Larbalestier, New York City/USA, scott westerfeld, happpiness, Add a tag
Thanks to everyone for all the photos. You are all the bestest and most wondrous people EVER! As Jeff Fenech would say, “I love youse all!”
It was kind of weird to see how many photos there are of me and Scott I never knew existed. Eerie even . . .
I would like to take this opportunity to publicly apologise to my sister, Niki Bern, as well as my good friend, Cat Sparks. I’m sorry I’m always so recalcitrant about having my photo taken. You were both right that some day I would be happy you both insist on documenting everything.
That said, I now no longer need to have my photo taken ever again. Hallelujah! I shall keep intact what tiny bit of my soul is left.
Because some of you have expressed curiosity here is one photo for every year Scott and me have been together. Enjoy! We certainly have.
2001: Our wedding day. Upstate New York. (Photo by Phyllis Bobb.)
2002: On the Woomera Prohibited zone in South Australia to see a total eclipse. (Photo by Sean Williams.)
2003: Goofing around with Adrian Hobbs in Newtown back home in Sydney. (Photo by Olivia Rousset.)
2004: At the SFWA drinks night. (Thanks Liza Trombi and Locus for sending the photo.)
2005: With Andrew Woffinden and Lauren McLaughlin in London. (Photo by Niki Bern.)
2006: At the Lake Hills Library in Bellevue, Washington. (Photo by Shelly Clift. Thanks!)
2007: On our way to the National Book Awards.2 Comments on Documenting Our Lurve, last added: 1/30/2008Display Comments Add a CommentBy: Kelly Herold, on 6/21/2007
Blog: Crossover (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Justine Larbalestier, SBBT, Add a tag
Good morning and a Happy Thursday to you all! This morning Justine Larbalestier stops by. Larbalestier is the author of the stunning and brilliant Magic or Madness trilogy (you can read my review of Magic or Madness, Magic Lessons, and Magic's Child here), a trio of books that wowed me. Justine has more in the works (check out the last question) and writes a smart, entertaining blog here.
There are spoilers in the Book Questions portion of this interview. I apologize for that, but I was still too engaged in the series when I wrote the interview questions.
Now onto the interview...
Kelly: Tell us a little bit about Justine Larbalestier. How do you spend your days? How do you pronounce your last name?
Justine: I spend my days avoiding doing work. So I'm online a lot. Or eating yummy food. Or planning my next meal.
There are three basic variations: Lar-bal-est-ee-er, Lar-bal-est-ee-ay, and Lar-bal-est-ee-air.
Kelly: Beer, wine, or a soft drink?
Justine: Wine. Definitely good wine.
Kelly: Who is your favorite writer?
Justine: Right this minute it's probably Dorothy Dunnett. But if you ask me again later it will be someone different. I'm pretty besotted by E. Lockhart's Dramarama and Coe Booth's Tyrell.
Kelly: Beach, city, or forest?
Justine: All of the above. Sydney is a city that's got tonnes of great beaches and many wonderful national forests in and around it. I get the best of all three just by living in my favourite city.
Kelly: What draws you to Young Adult literature in particular? What I mean is, why teen fiction and not, say, mystery, chick lit, or "literary fiction"?
Justine: Because when I write YA I can write any of those: mystery, chick lit, "lit fic" (whatever that is). I can write whatever genre I want and all my books will be shelved side by side in the YA section. It's very liberating.
Kelly: Coffee, tea, or a triple skinny latte?
Justine: None of the above. I hate coffee. And will only drink tea if I'm dying of thirst and there's no water around. I love water.
Kelly: You've written and edited scholarly works in addition to fiction. (I LOVED the Habermas/Foucault joke in Magic Lessons, by the way)* Do you plan to continue scholarly work on science fiction and fantasy?
Justine: No. Too much hard work. Writing fiction is way more fun. I'm glad you enjoyed the Habermas and Foucault jokes. They were aimed at making my parents giggle. (As are many of the things I write.) They're anthropologists. I grew up in a house whose shelves groaned under the weight of tomes by those two gentlemen and many others. As a kid I thought they had the funniest names in the world. Still do.
Kelly: Movie, Theater, or a Concert?
Justine: Hmmm. Depends on what's on offer. I'm hopeless at these types of choices. I'm all about both/and rather than either/or. I want it all!
Kelly: If you had an entire week and unlimited resources to do whatever you'd like, what would you do and why?
Justine: Other than reverse global warming and ending poverty and social inequality, you mean? You know, I think I'm already doing it. I've always wanted to make a living writing fiction and have my pyjamas be my work uniform. I've always wanted to travel and meet lots of cool people. I have the life I want. I'm unbelievably lucky.
Kelly: Halloween, New Year's, or Valentine's Day?
Justine: New Year's. But it's not really much of a choice for me because we don't really have Halloween or Valentine's Day in Australia. Or at least we didn't when I was growing up. Those days don't mean anything to me. Whereas New Year's means fireworks and the Sydney Harbour Bridge blowing up. Awesome!
BOOK QUESTIONS
Kelly: In your Magic or Madness trilogy, the costs of magic are high. Each use of magic causes pain and reduces lifespan. Do you see a real-life analogy to magic in your books? (Power, money, fame?)
Justine: What do you think? Seriously that question's more useful for readers to answer than the writer. Writers rarely have anything smart to say about their own books. We're way too close to them. I can tell you that I wasn't thinking of a real-life analogy when I wrote I was just telling a story set in a world where magic has bigtime consequences that are worse than a headache or feeling tired. (That's my one quibble with your question: there's no pain when using magic. That's part of its seductiveness. The dire consequences are long term not short. At least not until you're about to die.) I was, however, definitely thinking about the ethical choices my characters had to make. But then I believe everyone has to make ethical choices every single day of their lives. Getting out of bed is an ethical choice.
Kelly: (Spolier Alert!) As a reader, I most appreciated how completely complex some of your characters were, particularly Reason's grandmother, Esmeralda. To the end, the reader is not sure if Esmeralda is good or bad. In fact, at the very end, she's still a complex character, even though we finally see her love for Reason is true. Was it a struggle to maintain the complex nature of her character over the course of the trilogy?
Justine: Now, that I did on purpose. One of my pet peeves is the cardboard villain. All memorable villains are complex. They don't just do bad for the sake of doing bad. They have reasons. And often from their point of view what they're doing isn't bad at all. I wanted to write characters who were complex, who were neither entirely good nor entirely bad. I wanted to understand why they did what they did. Even Jason Blake, who's as close to a villain as the trilogy has, even he has reasons for his behaviour. I was hoping that some readers would feel some sympathy for him. (Didn't work for my dad. He was very disappointed that I didn't have Jason Blake die a hideous and prolonged death.)
Kelly: Magic, reason, and insanity coexist in your trilogy like a set of Booromean rings, each touching upon and sharing an element of the other. Magic shares some reason (Fibs, mathematics, shapes) and some insanity. When Sarafina tries to live in reason, she succumbs to insanity if not using magic. Why did you decide to set up your magical world in this particular way?
Justine: That's a fascinating reading of the trilogy. I hadn't thought of it like that. When I came up with the idea of magic shortening your life span so dramatically. My first thought was, "Well, why use it then?" Obviously there had to be some dire consequence that was not death. Insanity just made sense. And made the damned if you do/damned if you don't set up perfect.
It's really fascinating to me how different writing fiction is from analysing it. When I was a scholar and my job was the analysing of it, my eyes were wide open to all sorts of fascinating and complicated readings, but now that I write fiction story and character and verisimilitude are foremost in my mind as I write, not themes etc. I'm not sure why that's so. Writers are probably too close to ever really know what's going on in their works.Kelly: (Spoiler Alert!) At the end of your Magic's Child (vol. 3), we learn two things: Tom does not give up his magic and Reason's child has the magic in her. So, I have two questions:
a. Am I wrong to think that Tom may be different? Of all the characters in the Magic or Madness Trilogy, he's the most inherently good and the most interested in the people around him. Does he have a shot of living beyond 30?
b. Will we be seeing more of Magic, Reason's child?
Justine: a. I wish I knew. I would love for Tom to have a long life (for a magic wielder). But who knows how desperate he'll get when he's facing death? It could get ugly. I don't think Esmeralda ever intended to take magic from anyone and yet she did. He's definitely going to be exposed to a lot of temptation.
b. I have no immediate plans to write more in that world. Right now I have no clue what happens to any of them after the final page of Magic's Child. But who knows? I might get a cool idea that I have to write.
Kelly: Speaking of Tom, I thought the dichotomy between Tom and Danny was very interesting. Both of them have a particular talent--Tom designs clothing and Danny plays basketball. Both are not only good at what they do, but exceptional. One has magic and the other doesn't. Are you saying that Tom might be every bit as good a designer without the magic?
Justine: I think he would still be good without the magic but he wouldn't be magical. Tom would see the difference but those without magic wouldn't.
Kelly: I have to admit that I found your portrayal of teenage sex and love compassionate, sensitive, and finely drawn. Has anyone objected to the minimal sexual content present in the Magic or Madness books?
Justine: Thank you so much! That means a lot to me. I thought long and hard about how to write the sex scene and Reason's pregnancy.
There's been one objection from a lovely Texas librarian. She wrote to me about it and I explained to her what I intended and why I had written the books the way I did. She put Magic Lessons back on the shelf. I've heard that a (very) few schools in Australia decided not to take the second and third books because of the teenage pregnancy. And I've seen comments online from people who are squicked by the idea of teenagers having sex and getting pregnant. I appreciate where they're coming from--I'm certainly not advocating teenage pregnancy! However, the vast majority of people have sex for the first time when they're still teenagers and usually when they're not married. Teenagers do get pregnant. And even those teenagers who don't have sex are thinking and wondering about it. I find teen books that don't touch on sex in some way to be fundamentally dishonest to the experience of being a teenager.
This is the great dilemma of writing for teenagers: the tension between writing to reflect teenage experience or writing to be instructive and good for teenagers. I want to write books that even while they're full of fantasy elements remain true to many teenagers' lives. I see the trilogy as a realist fantasy. At the same time, while I love the idea of my books getting people to think about the big ethical questions of responsibility and loyalty etc. I also hope they're entertaining. Story is foremost.
Kelly: What can we look forward to next from Justine Larbalestier?
Justine: My next book will be out in either September or October of 2008. It's called The Ultimate Fairy Book and will be published by Bloomsbury in North America. It's about a fourteen year old girl who has a parking fairy. She hates cars and can't drive but she has a parking fairy and is endlessly borrowed by relatives so that they can get the perfect parking spot. The novel is the story of her struggle to get rid of it. It's much lighter and funnier than the trilogy and was a great relief to write let me tell you. I can only stay in the darkness so long!
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* Here's the Habermas/Foucault passage that had me on the floor:
"Tom's father taught sociology at Sydney Uni and had lots of books with tedious titles like Archaeology of the Meaning of the City or The Idea of the Theory of Knowledge, which were written by people with names like Habermas, who Tom privately thought of as Mighty Mouse, and Foucault, who Tom thought of as...well, something pretty rude." (Magic Lessons, 198)
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Today's SBBT schedule:
Eddie Campbell at Chasing Ray
Sara Zarr at Writing and Ruminating
Brent Hartinger at Interactive Reader
Cecil Castellucci at Shaken & Stirred
Ysabeau Wilce at Bildungsroman
Jordan Sonnenblick at Jen Robinson's Book Page
Chris Crutcher at Finding Wonderland
Kazu Kibuishi at lectitans
Mitali Perkins at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Laura Ruby at The YA YA YAs3 Comments on SBBT: Justine Larbalestier, last added: 6/23/2007Display Comments Add a Comment
Blog: Crossover (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Magic or Madness, Magic Lessons, book review, Young Adult fiction, fantasy, Justine Larbalestier, Magic's Child, Add a tag
This review contains spoilers.
Justine Larbalestier's Magic or Madness trilogy reached its conclusion this spring with the March publication of Magic's Child. I've long been a fan of Justine's blog, so when the opportunity to interview her as part of Colleen Mondor's June Blog Tour Blast came up, I took it and picked up the trilogy in preparation. And, boy, am I glad I did--this is one smart trilogy for the teen (and adult) reader.
The trilogy opens with Magic or Madness, when 15-year-old Reason ends ups in Sydney with the very grandmother--Esmeralda--she'd been hiding from her entire life. Esmeralda, Reason's mother Sarafina claims, is a witch, who sacrifices small animals, eats babies, and conquers men in an attempt to maintain her powers. Sarafina describes a house of horrors, with no electricity, but with bones, teeth and other magical objects littering the place. Sarafina has also taught her daughter to be on her guard--to not trust Esmeralda and to run if she's ever caught by her grandmother.
Imagine Reason's surprise when she ends up at her grandmother's house (after Sarafina suffers a mental breakdown) and it's a virtual palace--light, clean, airy, and huge. Esmeralda herself seems perfectly normal, even kind. Reason has her own bedroom and bathroom and she's found no evidence of witchcraft. Esmeralda allows Reason to visit her mother in the mental institution, and Reason even makes a first friend--a sweet boy named Tom who lives next door, is a whiz at fashion, and who teaches Reason to explore their neighborhood without touching the ground. Life, Reason finds, is not what she expected at Esmeralda's.
Then, one day, Reason decides to follow her grandmother out the back door and she finds herself in a mysterious cold gray world complete with snow. (This desolate place turns out to be New York City.) A girl happens upon Reason shivering in her Sydney clothes and takes her home. Turns out this girl, Jay-Tee, was waiting for her. And so is Jay-Tee's benefactor, one Jason Blake--Reason's grandfather. In working against Jason Blake, Reason and Jay-Tee become friends and Reason learns the whole truth--that magic does exist, that she herself is magic as are Jay-Tee, Tom, Esmeralda, and Jason Blake, and that magic has huge costs. Namely, each time you use magic you shorten your life. But, paradoxically, if you are magic and don't it at all, you will go mad, as Reason's mother has. Finally, magic can be stolen by other magical folk--as Jason has taken, or drunk, from Jay-Tee.
When Reason learns the truth about herself and her family, she fights back. With the help of Esmeralda and Tom, who track her through the streets of New York, Reason and Jay-Tee make it back to Sydney in once piece, but with many questions.
Magic or Madness is a thought-provoking fantasy novel on many levels. First, Larbalestier's characterizations are particularly strong. Reason arrives from the Australian outback and knows very little about modern life and absolutely nothing about magic. Esmeralda remains an ambiguous character from start to finish. Jason Blake is evil, but his motivations are clear and understandable--he uses others so he can live. Second, Larbalestier's focus on the costs of magic makes this trilogy interesting from a philosophical point of view.Magic Lessons, the second in the Magic or Madness trilogy, finds Reason at home in Sydney with Esmeralda, Jay-Tee, and Tom. The teens have a million questions for Esmeralda and she agrees to instruct them all in the basics of magic. At the same time, Reason's powers of magic are growing as she begins to recognize them: always a math genius, Reason finds she's able to read the internal structure of the other magical people in her life and she finds Jay-Tee and Esmeralda have very little time left. Also, the door between Sydney and New York begins to act up--banging, and rippling, and wreaking havoc in the kitchen. Eventually a sticky yellowish substance streams under the door and enters Esmeralda, Jay-Tee, and Reason. Jay-Tee almost dies, but Esmeralda and Reason gain incredible strength and more magical power. Reason heads through the door to New York to find out why.
There she finds a creature--an old man--who at first terrifies her with his awful smell and appearance. But, she realizes he's a Cansino, one of her own family, and she begins to track him in order to discover what he wants and why he's still living past the lifespan of the average magician (20-40). In the meantime, she lives with Jay-Tee's brother, Danny, and finds herself falling in love with him.
Magic Lessons explores Reason's growing strength as a magician (manifested often synesthetically) and the world of magic as a whole. Reason begins to see magic as a disease, one that can be cured--an idea supported by Jay-Tee, who tells her that Jason Blake dreamed that Reason would be the one to solve magic's downsides.
At the end of Magic Lessons, old man Cansino returns to his final resting place in Sydney, but not before imbuing Reason with incredible powers. Jay-Tee, Tom, and Esmeralda also learn that that Reason is pregnant and that Esmeralda's magic boost from old man Cansino is gone.
In the final volume of Larbalestier's trilogy, Reason's powers have grown so much that, to magical people, she hardly appears human. She can reshape DNA--her own and others'--and can move herself through space. Jason Blake sets up a final showdown in an attempt to steal Reason's powers and live forever. And, he uses Sarafina in a bid to outmaneuver Reason.
Reason, Esmeralda, Tom and Jay-Tee track Sarafina in an attempt to save her. Jay-Tee nearly dies in the chase, but Reason saves her by rearranging and fixing her DNA. Jay-Tee lives, but her magic is gone. Jay-Tee, both saddened and exhilarated by her new status as a non-magical person, finds a nearly analogous magic, however, in a new romance with Tom.
In the end, Reason does save herself and others. But not by making magic safe to use over the course of a lifetime. She disables the magic in her mother, her grandmother, and in herself. She tries to save Tom as well, but he refuses--afraid he will no longer be able to make beautiful clothing without his magic. The book closes with a magical moment, but one I won't spoil for readers.
Ethical issues play an important role in the Magic trilogy. The fact that people with magic must steal it from others to stay alive means choices are difficult. Esmeralda stole magic from Tom without telling him, while Tom gave some freely to Jay-Tee when she nearly died. Esmeralda, despite her lapse, tries her best not to take from others, but Reason sees her eyes light up with greed when she sees Reason's unlimited power in Magic's Child. Sarafina chose madness over magic altogether and willingly gives up her power when Reason offers. And Reason herself must decide between a normal life and one consisting of beautiful patterns, numbers, and, most importantly, no pain.
Structurally, the Magic books are fascinating as well, with chapters told in first person by Reason, Jay-Tee, and Tom. Over the course of the trilogy we learn to know each of these characters well and understand the choices they face. Overall, the Magic trilogy gives the reader much to consider, while providing hours of entertainment.
Justine Larbalestier's Magic or Madness trilogy includes some (not overly graphic) sexuality in volumes two and three and is best suited for readers ages twelve and up.
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Michele: If you haven't read these, you really should! I think you'll like them.3 Comments on Review: Magic or Madness trilogy, last added: 6/4/2007Display Comments Add a CommentBy: Leila Roy, on 1/24/2007
Blog: Bookshelves of Doom (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Books - Fantasy, young adult books, Books - YA, Sydney, fantasy, Justine Larbalestier, New York City, Add a tag
Add a CommentReason Cansino has never lived anywhere for longer than a few months. For the last fifteen years, she and her mother have moved from one small village to the next, changing their names regularly and trusting no one but each other. Staying one step ahead of Reason's evil grandmother, Esmeralda, is their first priority. She caught up with them once, when Reason was ten, but they were able to escape.
Not this time. When Sarafina suddenly (and terrifyingly) goes mad, the government sends Reason to her nearest known relation -- Esmeralda.
Reason may not know her grandmother, but she knows plenty about her. She knows that she's evil. She knows that she's dangerous. And she knows that Esmeralda believes herself to be a witch.
Although Sarafina raised Reason on a diet of logic and mathematics, she also taught her to protect herself from Esmeralda's spells -- because even though Reason knows that none of it is real, it will be a psychological defense against Esmeralda*.
It doesn't take long for Reason to realize that not everything her mother has brought her up to believe is true.
Set in Sydney and New York City, Magic or Madness focuses on three teens -- two Australian, one American. And get this -- depending on who the focus is, the spelling and the vocabulary change. So as the reader, you really feel the shift between cities. Pretty rad, huh? That alone probably would have made me rave. But wait, there's more. There's mystery and treachery and characters that you'll care about and more mystery and a very cool magic system.
Also a hell of a cliffhanger. The last sentence made me feel all queasy and uncertain and DESPERATE for the sequel. Good pick for fans of urban fantasy, of course, but I'd also try it on Libba Bray fans.
*You know. Because Esmeralda believes in her own magic, and therefore has to believe in Reason's "magical" defenses, too. Trust me. JL describes it much more coherently.
I love photos of Karl Lagerfeld’s bookshelves. I hear he even owns the bookstore next door to where he lives!
[...] Hat tip to Bookshelf Porn, which I found via Betsy Bird’s Fuse #8. [...]
Betsy,
You know LaVar is making a special appearance at the Children’s Choice Book Awards, right? I’m currenly working on all of my introductions for the evening… Yeah. I KNOW!
=)
JJK
I hadn’t seen the Matilda strip. Loved it!
The first song my daughter ever sung was the theme to Reading Rainbow!
“Butterfly in the sky, I can fly twice as high…….”
I really miss it.
Shelley
Woah, Jarrett!! I knew you were hosting but I had no IDEA that he’d be there. Aw, man. Slip me a $300 ticket, wontcha? Failing that I’ll just do a nice little write-up on it for Monday.