Veronica is a girl using her fashion sense as an employee in the local vintage thrift store. She's a girl with amazing confidence in choosing her clothing, but having been hurt in the past as an overweight child and now teen, she's doesn't have the same confidence in finding or choosing friends. Tempted to be drawn in by the "it" girls, Veronica may lose the first true friendship and romance she's ever had.
Author Erica S. Perl creates vivid characters who will pull you directly into their lives turning inside the Clothing Bonanza store The thrift shop is a character in itself. You will definitely wish you could shop there!
I raced through Vintage Veronica worrying about the protagonist's choices every step. Her strengths are admirable, her hesitations understandable, and her failures palpable. Veronica and her friends feel like your own friends by the last page. Find it, rgz. And don your own fifties skirt for the day!
Vintage Veronica
by Erica S. Perl
Knopf, 2010
The author of Vintage Veronica is here telling secrets (her character's and her own) in honor of our featured author Holly Cupala!
Here's Erica:
"A secret, huh?
"Well, let me tell you a story about my new YA novel, Vintage Veronica. It’s sort of about a secret of mine, and sort of about a secret of Veronica’s. When I first started taking notes and jotting down ideas for the book, it was 2002. Yes, that’s right – eight years before the book was published. At the time, I hadn’t published any books, although I had sold a manuscript for my first picture book, Chicken Bedtime Is Really Early. I was very excited about becoming a children’s book author. But my not-so-secret wish was to write novels, too. I really wanted to set my first YA at my favorite vintage clothing story – or rather, at a fictional store that looked a lot like it. So I worked and worked on the book. I took photos. I made sketches. I wrote chapter after chapter of the manuscript. I even set myself a deadline and met it – woo hoo! Yet the book still didn’t feel complete. Veronica’s voice was always strong, right in my ear. But I felt like she still wanted something. I just wasn’t sure what it was.
"I met with a couple of editors who were interested in the manuscript (none of these people ended up being my editor). They shared my feeling that the book needed… something. But their ideas on what it should be differed. One suggested the book should be a mystery. But I’m not really a mystery reader, much less a mystery writer, so I knew that was out. Another said there should be elements of the supernatural. But it felt forced to inject that into this story. Yet another said: romance. But there was already some romance involving side characters. Did there need to be more? Really?
"I got my answer the way I figure out a lot of things about my books: on a run. I was jogging down a street in my neighborhood when I saw a boyfriend and girlfriend on the corner, locked in a deep, epic kiss, ignoring the foot traffic around them. And in that instant, I realized: of course. Veronica. Here I was, writing a world for her to live in and not realizing that she was keeping something from me. Because by listening intently to her voice and what she was saying, I somehow ignored what she was keeping secret: what she was thinking and feeling about
Today's Ypulse Youth Advisory Board review comes from Megan Reid on Vintage Veronica by Erica S. Perl. Remember, you can communicate directly with any member of the Ypulse Youth Advisory Board by emailing them at youthadvisoryboard at ypulse.com…... Read the rest of this post
“Leave a Mark” online auction – Vintage Veronica by Erica S. Perl
The latest offering in the “Leave a Mark” auctions benefiting First Book is a marked-up copy of First Book staff member and author extraordinaire, Erica Perl’s Vintage Veronica. Bids are accepted online through 11: 59 pm EST on Tuesday, December 22nd – cast your bid today!
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Meet the staff members that make the First Book magic possible!
Name: Erica Perl
Where is your hometown? Burlington, VT
What do you do at First Book? I am the Director of the First Book Marketplace and National Book Bank. Which means I handle our relationships with our publishing partners, and I oversee our book selections to best meet the needs and interests of our recipient groups.
What are you reading now? I’m reading Joseph O’Neill’s Netherland for one book group and Andrew Clements The School Story for another. I’m also trying to get through Harry Potter book six before the movie comes out!
Tell us a fun fact about yourself. I am the author of several children’s books, including Chicken Butt!, Ninety-three In My Family and Chicken Bedtime Is Really Early. My first young adult novel, Vintage Veronica, will be published in March, 2010 by Random House. My Web site is www.ericaperl.com.
I’ll be signing copies of Chicken Butt! on Monday, July 13th at 1:00 pm in the Abrams booth #2343 at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. If you’re attending the conference or live in the area, please stop by and say hello!
What have you learned by working at First Book? I was pleased to learn that my ideal job exists! At First Book, I can wear both my lawyer suit (yes, I have a law degree) and my chicken hat (yes, I actually have two of these), although not always at the same time. I am at my happiest when I am surrounded by terrific, energetic people and wonderful children’s books… which is exactly how it is at First Book. At First Book, I learn new things every day and I am thrilled to work in a place where creativity and collaboration are valued so highly.
What’s the oddest job you’ve had? I have had several odd jobs, including driving an ice cream truck and teaching dog obedience. Combining these too jobs would have been a good idea — if ice cream is involved, my dog will do whatever is asked of her!
Do you have a favorite quote or saying you live by? I’m extremely fond of my Chicken Butt! book tour slogan: “No BUTTs about it, we love to read!”
If you could have an endless supply of any food, what food would it be? I think I could survive on a desert island if there was a theater concession stand on it: I love popcorn and red licorice.
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