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We want to take a minute to post about the Class of 2k7. If it weren't for them we certainly wouldn't be here, doing this insane thing as a group. It was their crazy idea that got this ball rolling.

Thanks guys!

We'll never know how much the "class" concept helped, but it's astounding what these authors accomplished last year. We should only be so lucky...

Sara Zarr was nominated for a National Book Award!

AND

Melissa Marr hit the NYTimes list!

And that's just a few!

But that brings us to the point of today's post... which is that some of the members of the Class of 2k7 might not be books you've heard about.

One thing we want to mention, going into 2k8, is that we're aware that we won't all debut on the NYTimes list. And of course we realize that all 28 of us also can't be nominated for the Newberry or the National Book Award.

This makes things tricky, because of course we'd all love to "win" and we all admire and respect each other, and feel that we all deserve to "win".

And it can be hard when someone shoots into the stratosphere, because success begets success. So if Class member X gets a Printz nod, they'll be much more likely to get MORE attention, and MORE awards. Leaving those of us with "quieter" books to pat each other on the back, and dream of the kids out there who love our poor awardless books.

With that in mind, we're all going to do our best to support each other. But as a few of our books take off (and we hope they will) we're going to do everything we can to share the glory around a little. To remember that although we might not all be famous, we're all authors, and classmates... and by the end of the year we really hope to be friends.

We thought it might be of interest to readers of this blog to imagine this odd aspect of the Class of 2k8. That by definition, some of us will sell more books, get better reviews. And so that means that, by definition, some of us will get less.

And now... today... before that happens, we want to say this out loud...

THESE BOOKS ARE ALL GREAT! Whether they make the front page or not... Read the rest of this post

This morning, I finished a book. It turned out to be exactly the book I needed. I finished it with tears running down my face. I actually was late to work because of it. And then I tossed it at my daughter - who was still in bed - and said, "Hey, you need to read this. This is the best book ever." Something I never thought I would do.

See, the book is LJer's Sara Zarr's Story of a Girl. When I first heard about it, I was reading adult books in my limited "me" time, and picking YA books I could read outloud to my kid. She was 11 then; she's 12 now. And a book about a girl still trying to live down how her dad caught her having sex when she was 13? That didn't seem like the kind of book my kid would be ready for.

But you know what? The sex is implied, not detailed, although Sara does remind you of those feelings you used to have, the feelings of being wanted, and of wanting, and of the danger and excitement in having someone else's body so close. It's about growing up in a dead-end town (like I did), in a dead-end family (which I didn't), and about learning to respect and love yourself. Perfect for anyone! Anyway it's a great book. I'm probably the last LJer to read it. But if you haven't, run out right now before it wins the National Book Award. Or the movie comes out - you definitely want to read it before that.

[Full disclosure: and I'm not just saying this because the sweetest character in the book is named April.]

Today, I’m pleased to have the lovely and talented Sara Zarr () here for an interview. Sara is one of the members of the Class of 2K7, and her debut novel, Story of a Girl, was released in January, and is still in stores (at least here in New Jersey) now. You can check out my review of Story of a Girl from the merry merry month of May (hint: I loved it!).

1. One of the dominant issues in the book is Deanna's wish for a meaningful connection with her father, and she reminisces about her early childhood and how things were then. Was her working through the situation inspired by your issues with your own father, or was it simply the logical fallout from Deanna's situation?

I definitely tapped into some of my own family history to form Deanna's story, even though the particular issues were different. Deanna's dad is actually far more present than mine was, but I think even the best father/daughter relationships can be difficult during adolescence. I do think girls need fathers (or some kind of positive male adult influence) in a very particular way, and if that's missing, it can create a situation where they're more susceptible to fall for the Tommy Webbers of the world. But yeah, part of it was the logical fallout. I don't think very many fathers would know how to handle what happened with Deanna, and her father in particular just wasn't equipped. I do have compassion for him. I don't see him as a failure or a bad guy, just a beleaguered parent whose best effort at handling a difficult situation fell short, as all of our best efforts so often do.

2. I was particularly impressed that Deanna didn't see herself as a victim. Was that a conscious decision on your part, or is that just how she showed up?

It's been a long time since the initial story formed, but I'm pretty sure she just showed up that way. I never wanted her situation to be about coercion or being "done to" so much as about choices and aftermath. That's far more interesting to me, since that's so much of what life adds up to.

3. From an interview you did with Cynthia Leitich Smith, I learned that Deanna initially came to you as a side character in another story. Is the other story going to see the light of day, do you think? If not, care to share what Deanna was doing there?
I doubt that story will ever be publishable. There are some things I really like about it---some scenes with Darren and Deanna and Stacy that helped make them so real to me before I even started Story of a Girl — but I think that book served its purpose. That story was about Lee and her arrival at a new school, and her search for her father (hm, I'm sensing a recurring theme...). Deanna was there as a girl with a tough exterior who pursues Lee's friendship for reasons Lee can't understand at first. Deanna was always one of those characters who really walked onto the page fully formed. I got lucky.

4. A writing-related question: Does keeping an office outside the house help you focus on writing better than writing at home did? Does it help you leave the writing at the office when you get home?

I'm not sure how much the office helps in terms of the actual writing---I still end up doing a lot of writing at home. (And I never "leave it at the office.") What the office gives me is a place to go when I'm tired of being at home, a reason to shower and dress, a reminder that I'm self-employed and my writing is a business, a symbol of my commitment to that business, and a place to store all my books and papers.

5. What's next?

My second book for Little, Brown is about to go into copyediting. It's called SWEETHEARTS, and it's chock full of childhood trauma, compulsive eating, social and personal reinvention, and relationship drama! It's slated for April, 2008. After that...who knows?

[Note from Kelly: Just the other day, Sara posted some wonderful news about Story of a Girl: Movie rights have been purchased by Mixed Breed Films, with producers Kyra Sedgwick and Emily Lansbury.]

6. Speed round:

Cheese or chocolate? Oh sure, start with an impossible choice! I think...cheese. No, chocolate. No, cheese. Definitely cheese.

Coffee or tea? Coffee.

Cats or dogs? Cats.

Favorite color? I don't know.

Favorite snack food? Apples in season.

Favorite ice cream? Anything described as having dough, chunks, or nuggets. But no marshmallow.

Water or soda? Water.

What's in your CD player/on iTunes right now? I'm listening to a Pandora station put together by friend and fellow YA author Tara Altebrando's husband, Nick, who is in a band called Dutch Kills.

What's the last movie you memorized lines from? I tend to retain random bits of information against my will, so I'm liable to quote anything and surprise even myself.

For more interviews with Sara, check out her interviews with Jackie at interactivereader from Monday, and with Kelly H. at Big A little a.

Other SBBT interviews today:

Eddie Campbell by SBBT mastermind Colleen at Chasing Ray
Brent Hartinger by Jackie at interactivereader
Justine Larbalestier by Kelly H. at Big A little a
Cecil Castellucci by Gwenda at Shaken & Stirred
Ysabeau Wilce by Little Willow at Bildungsroman
Jordan Sonnenblick by Jen at Jen Robinson’s Books Page
Chris Crutcher by Tanita at Finding Wonderfland
Kazu Kibuishi by Kimberly at lectitans
Mitali Perkins by Eisha & Jules at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Laura Ruby by Gayle & Trisha at The YA YA YAs

Being on a "pause" from writing, I've been reading quite a bit. One of the books I read last week was Sara Zarr's Story of a Girl, Sara's debut novel.



As the novel opens, we learn that three years ago, Deanna Lambert was caught in flagrante delicto with Tommy Weber in the back of his Buick. By her father, who has since refused to meet her eyes or speak with her, despite her numerous attempts to apologize. As she lives and attends school in the small town of Pacifica, California, everyone in her school quickly learns about the incident, with various false slants by Tommy, and hence she's considered a slut, notwithstanding that Tommy was her one and only trysting partner. And that he's been over for three years.

While the issue of reputation amongst peers is raised by the novel, the real core of the issue can be summed up with a bit of Shakespeare's take on the subject, from Othello. Frequent readers will know that I like this one so much I've got it memorized, even if I still have to look up the act and scene. (Turns out it's Act 2, Sc. 3):

&emsp Reputation is an idle and most false imposition:
&emsp Oft got without merit, and lost without deserving;
&emsp you have lost no reputation at all unless
&emsp you repute yourself such a loser.

The thing is, in her heart of hearts, Deanna reputes herself such a loser. And during the course of the book, Deanna examines why she made the choice she did in the first place -- not for love, certainly -- and why she hasn't been able to let it go. Her yearning for a return to a happy relationship with her father, who she remembers from the time before he was layed off from the job he loved (long before Tommy's Buick), permeates the book. Her yearning to feel worthy of love and respect will ring true with teen readers, even if they haven't experienced Deanna's particular losses. And that particular desire extends to her relationships with everyone else around her -- her brother and his girlfriend, who have a young child together; her friend Jason, who she introduced to her one true girlfriend, Lee, the two of whom are now dating; and even Tommy Webber, who turns out to work at the same crappy pizza joint as Deanna for the summer.

Between the chapters of the book are some journal entries from Deanna. At first, I wasn't sure what they might add, since the entire novel is first-person p.o.v. anyhow. But it quickly became clear to me that in art, as in life, journaling is a very different kind of writing. We "feel" Deanna most clearly in her journal entries, even if she's not always sure what she feels herself. We see Deanna most clearly in her ongoing narrative. But we hear her, all of her, by putting those parts together.

At the core of the novel are issues not only of reputation, but of forgiveness and acceptance, as Deanna makes new decisions, and starts to move forward into the rest of her life.