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Welcome back to Upcoming Titles, our monthly feature where we highlight books releasing this month. As always, this is by no means a comprehensive list of forthcoming releases, just a compilation of titles we think our readers (and our contributors!) would enjoy.
Summer is in full swing and two of our PubCrawl contributors have books coming out this month, including our very own Jodi Meadows and Julie Eshbaugh! Julie’s debut will be coming out this month and we are so, so, so excited for her book to finally be out in the world!
This post is part of a series on the blog where I share some of the nuggets of wisdom and inspiration — related to writing and/or life — that I find steeped in the pages of novels that I’ve read.
This book centers on a character who does production design for films. Since I’ve read this book, every time I watch a movie, I take extra care looking at a set design. I think about all the care that was put into a setting or room that may only be on the screen for a few minutes. Amazing how a book can stay with you long after you’ve read it.
I’m in the middle of revisions. Maybe I should say re-vision. I have 4 parts to my novel and I’ve finished the Part 1 but Part 2 is gonna be interesting. Several plot holes and snags to think about. But gotta keep going. Which brings me to this quote that I remember from this book.
“This is how it works. You bust your ass. Not everything goes your way, and then, after a while, you get to that point. You get to make your own decisions and people look to you for approval on their work.”
0 Comments on Novel Wisdom (26) as of 3/25/2015 9:49:00 PM
So read, read Y.A., read adult literature, read blog posts, read magazines, read your box of Cheerios in the morning. Read all you can and want to read, acknowledging the easy and unchallenging and the difficult and complicated, and form your own opinions, trying to add a little room for nuance and understanding and openness in all that you do. That’s the best you can do as a reader, a writer, and a human.
And how honored am I to have Going Over included among works by Markus Zusak, Nina LaCour, Andrew Smith, Cammie McGovern, Laurie Halse Anderson, Sherman Alexie, Aaron Hartzler, E. Lockhart, and Matthew Quick on Jen's "10 Contemporary Y.A. Books That Made Me Think (and That I Loved)."
0 Comments on Jen Doll Responds to the Read YA Controversy with Thoughts About Nuance— as of 6/10/2014 7:45:00 AM
In San Antonio, on the TAYSHAS panel, Susan Schilling asked what we do when we are not writing.
We are, in our own ways, living.
Nina LaCour remakes whole rooms, top to bottom. Dana Reinhardt pursues the immediate results—the appreciable outcomes—of cooking. Andrew Smith has not, in fifteen years, missed a day of running—wherever he is, wherever he goes, he heads out into the weather. Blake Nelson learns as much as he can (in sometimes funny ways) about people.
When I am not writing (and most of the time, I am not writing), I do many things that I am not particularly good at. Building objects out of clay. Raising seedlings into buds. Dancing the tango with my husband. And, also, sometimes all-consumingly, turning my nearly 100-year-old house into a home.
This past November, I began a quest to refinish my kitchen. To replace the broken things. To up the ante on the colors. To generate new light and life. It was a fraught proposition from the get-go—famously horrific weather, disappointing contractors, a leaking roof, delays, unforeseen expenses.
This morning she stands. Whole at last, complete.
I am, when I am not writing, living.
0 Comments on when we are not writing we are living: the kitchen, five months later, is done as of 4/12/2014 10:37:00 AM
They talk about him. They say, He's one of the smartest guys in the room. They say, He's one of the most charming. They say, Have you read? You've got to read. Here, they say. Is Grasshopper Jungle.
My friends, I've now had the privilege of reading this bright lime green marvel of a book, too. Plot synopsis, as provided by the flap copy:
In the small town of Ealing, Iowa, Austin and his best friend, Robby, have accidentally unleashed an unstoppable army. An army of horny, hungry, six-foot-tall praying mantises that only want to do two things.
This is the truth. This is history.
It's the end of the world. And nobody knows anything about it.
You know what I mean.
There, in those lines, is the confident craziness of the scheme, the rhythm of the tale, the sounds-convincingly-like-a-teen-but-is-written-by-a-guy-who-studied-Political-Science,-Journalism,-and-Literature-at-college-ness. This book is big, jammed with the promised promiscuity, the necessary confusions, and the wild what if's of a world that has turned terrible toxins on itself. One reads to see what will happen next, what can happen next, what these likable, mixed-up, also truly human characters are going to fumble upon next. It's sci fi. It's something else. It's Drew Smith.
Usually I quote from the pages of the stories themselves. But I just read the final final words, which happen to sit in the acknowledgments. There's a paragraph I really like, I really get, I really jive with. There's a paragraph that reminds all writers everywhere of how so much of our lives is predicated on finding just the right reader at the right time. Drew Smith now has a world full of readers. But this book all began with an agent who cared.
About two years ago, I decided to stop writing. Well, to be honest, not the verb writing, but I decided to get out of the business aspect of it, for which I have absolutely no backbone. I never felt so free as when I wrote things that I believed nobody would ever see. Grasshopper Jungle was one of those things. It was more-or-less fortune, then, that I happened to show the first portion of the novel to my friend Michael Bourret. He talked me into not quitting.
I'll be joining Drew Smith as well as Nina LaCour, Black Nelson, and Dana Reinhardt on the Tayshas Reading List and Authors next Thursday in San Antonio, TX. I can't wait to meet all the panelists and our moderator. Maybe we'll see you there.
0 Comments on Grasshopper Jungle/Andrew Smith: Reflections as of 4/4/2014 6:11:00 PM
I love when this sort of thing pops up on Facebook. Me and the Real Writers. Headed to Texas. Here's the caption, in case you are going to be near:
Join Nina LaCour, Andrew Smith, Blake Nelson, Dana Reinhardt, and Beth Kephart for Tayshas Reading List & Authors on Thurs, April 10th, 10am in 103 AB, Street Level at #txla14
I'll be at other events as well, in dear San Antonio with dear Chronicle. My schedule:
April 9: 3:00pm Going Over Book Signing
April 10:
9:30am
Texas Teens 4 Libraries (TT4L) ARC signing
Grand Hyatt Hotel
10:00am
PANEL: “Tayshas Reading List and Authors”
Moderator Susan Schilling, Chair, Tayshas Committee 2012-2013
12:00pm
Texas Tea with YA Authors
Good Glory. I'm going to also make some time for some barbeque, even if that occurs at 4 AM in the morning. All thanks to Tayshas, Texas Teens 4 Libraries, Texas Tea, and Chronicle Books!
0 Comments on oh, my! headed to Texas to do time with Nina LaCour, Andrew Smith, Blake Nelson, Dana Reinhardt, and the Good TAYSHAS and Texas Teens and Texas Tea Folks as of 3/28/2014 10:01:00 AM
After graduation, Colby’s going on tour with Bev’s band, and then Colby and Bev are going to bum around Europe for a year. They’ve been planning this trip for years. But half-way through the tour, Bev drops the bomb that she’s going to college, not Europe, and Colby’s realizing that he doesn’t know his best friend at all.
Man, did I love this book. I loved Colby and his voice. I loved that Bev’s band was really, really bad. I loved their complicated and changing relationship, and that they’ve known each other forever and how that colors everything. I loved the other girls in Bev’s band (and man, I wished Colby would have woken up and realized that Meg was clearly awesome.) I loved the relationship between Meg and her sister Alexa (both in the band). I loved how it was about art and friendship and family.
AND JASPER. I loved Colby for thinking of Jasper-- this random character from early in the book. How Colby treats Jasper makes him my favorite. I loved Jasper.
So, yeah, I loved this book.
Book Provided by... my local library
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0 Comments on Disenchantments as of 2/28/2014 12:59:00 AM
A few months ago, Vicki Browne, the teen librarian with the Ann Arbor District Library, wrote to ask whether I might participate in the "It's All Write!" Short Story Contest, a project her library has, together with the Ann Arbor Book Festival, sponsored for the last 20 years. According to the web site, more than 1,500 entries from young writers all around the world have been received for the contest over the years. This year, 350 stories arrived.
Winners of "It's All Write!" are compensated handsomely—with cash rewards, with publication in a booklet, and with an awards program that will be held, this year, on May 12th. But perhaps most importantly of all, the winners know that they have been carefully read by judges who have invested their own lives in stories and words. This year I join a remarkable slate of individuals in the judging process, and I am honored. It is my hope that those young writers who read this blog will pay close attention to this program and start thinking about possibilities for next year's contest.
Natalie Bakopoulos
The Green Shore, Natalie’s debut novel is set inAthens and Paris, against the backdrop of the Greek military dictatorshipandcentered around four memorablecharacters.She received her MFAin Fiction from the University of Michigan.She was also recognized as a 2010 PEN/O. Henry Award-winningauthor.
Judith Ortiz Cofer
Critically acclaimed and widely published poet, novelist, andessayist Judith Ortiz Cofer’slatest book, If I Could Fly,tells the story of 15 year old Doris, who learns that ‘she might have to fly far distancesbefore she finds out where she belongs.Judith writes extensively about the experience of being Puerto Rican andher identity as a woman and writer in the U.S.Currently she is teaching literature and creative writing atthe University of Georgia.
Kelly Milner Halls
1 Comments on Judging Teen Stories with a Remarkable Cast for the "It's All Write" Contest, last added: 4/17/2012
Today’s post comes to us from Youth Advisory Board member Jordan who recently read “The Disenchantments,” a coming-of-age story by Nina LaCour about friendship, a road trip, music, and falling in love with your best friend, among other things.... Read the rest of this post
If you're writing teen fiction and you live in the Bay Area, you ought to check out the Write Teen classes. Seriously. Then come back here and tell me all about the classes, since I can't be there in person and need to live vicariously through you. Here's the inside scoop:
In a brand-new series of Bay Area writing classes, Kristen Tracy and Nina LaCour will teach you how to craft and publish a marketable teen novel. Together they have sold eleven novels to Simon & Schuster, Random House, Disney-Hyperion, and Penguin. They'll share their own strategies for writing and revision, and help you analyze critically and commercially successful teen novels. Nina and Kristen are both experienced teachers who have lectured and led workshops about writing throughout the country.
"We struggle and grieve, and then we pull ourselves together, and the parts of life we once took for granted we come to recognize as beautiful and important." Nina LaCour
This week's focus is on Nina LaCour's Hold Still, and Nina talked about how it was difficult to portray main character Caitlin's grief at the suicide of her best friend Ingrid without having the whole story filled with angst, which would be hard for a reader to bear.
For discussion: If you've read Hold Still, did you stay with Caitlin in her dark moments, and follow her into the times where she found light? How did you think the balance worked? Did it feel true?
And, in general, have you read other books where the narrator was grieving? How did the author do with the balance of despair and hope?
This week, our featured title is one that deals with how we move forward in the face of grief. HOLD STILL, just out in paperback, would be a beautiful, worthy pick no matter what, but we think it particularly dovetails with this month's theme of resilience.
The book has received rave reviews from trade journals and readers alike, and with good reason - steady pacing, authenticity, and wonderfully-rounded characters make for a compelling read. Don't believe me? Here's what School Library Journal had to say:
After losing her best friend, Ingrid, to suicide, Caitlin is completely immobilized. Unable to function, and refusing to visit a therapist, she begins the long journey to wellness alone. During this year of heart-wrenching, raw emotion, Caitlin finds Ingrid's journal, which not only reveals her descent into irreversible depression, but also serves as Caitlin's vehicle for renewed hope in the future. The book is written with honesty, revealing one's pain after the loss of a loved one. Caitlin learns, with the help of new friends and her parents, that there is life after Ingrid.
I'm thrilled to welcome Nina LaCour to readergirlz!
Recently I did a Q&A on my blog, and a woman named Melissa wrote in to ask if I found it difficult to write about grief. This is what I told her:
"Yes, Melissa, it was really hard. On one hand, it was difficult because I wanted Caitlin’s emotional state to be believable–I wanted her to be appropriately stunned and confused and sad–but I also had to keep in mind that people would (hopefully) be reading this, and that most readers (myself included) can only take so much angst. Angst is a good thing, but it can only take you so far."
My novel, Hold Still, is about a 16-year-old girl named Caitlin who has to face life—and high school—after her best friend’s suicide. It wasn’t easy to put myself in that situation and imagine what it would feel like to be her. But the novel isn’t as sad as you might think, and the joyful parts, when Caitlin is discovering the wonders of life again, feeling things
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Do you ever find your conversations with teens veering more toward the personal than the professional?
Are books on sex, drugs, abuse or depression constantly going missing from your shelves?
Have you ever found yourself thinking, “I’m a librarian, not a therapist!” (…or a social worker, or a nurse, or a police officer?)
Would you like to hear how some of the hottest YA authors incorporate tough subject matter into their books–and their interactions with teens?
If you answered yes to any of the above, YALSA’s full-day preconference on June 25 is for you!
It’s Perfectly Normal: Dealing with “Sensitive” Topics in Teen Services will take an in-depth look at topics like sexuality, abuse, privacy and others that can be tough for young adult librarians to tackle with teens (and the adults in their lives). We’ll hear from experts in the field of adolescent development, along with authors and librarians, about how to successfully maneuver these conversations and the services and programs that come with them, along with collection development strategies geared toward “sensitive” topics.
Authors Ben Saenz, Laurie Halse Anderson, Nina LaCour, David Levithan, and Ellen Hopkins will all be participating.
You don’t need to register for ALA Annual to attend the preconference. If you’ve already registered and would like to add a preconference or special event, you have two options: (1) By phone: Call ALA Registration at 1-800-974-3084 and ask to add a workshop to your existing registration, or (2) Online: Add an event to your existing registration by clicking on this link. Use your log in and password to access your existing Annual registration and add events in the “Your Events” section (screen 6). Then simply check out and pay for the events you’ve added.
The Morris Award Committee on Hold Still: “After Caitlin’s best friend Ingrid commits suicide, Caitlin has a hard time making sense of the loss. She finds Ingrid’s journal and slowly allows herself to read it and learn about why Ingrid felt the need to end her life. Caitlin also grapples with allowing herself to find another friend, to let in a boyfriend, and to understand why her favorite teacher is ignoring her. It is the haunting story of dealing with loss, moving on, and finding peace and hope.”
YALSA Blog: Congratulations on Hold Still being on the Morris Award shortlist! Where were you when you found out you’d been shortlisted for the Morris Award? And who was the first person you told?
Nina LaCour: Thank you so much! It’s such an honor to be recognized with these five incredible authors. I was in my apartment when I got the call from Penguin. I was completely shocked and so excited. The first person I called was my wife, Kristyn, who was on her way home from work and sounded even more excited than I felt, if that’s even possible. Later that night I went to a pub for trivia night with Kristyn and my cousin and a couple friends, and the only answer I knew the whole night was the title of a 90s hip-hop song, but I didn’t mind because I was so elated over being shortlisted.
YALSA Blog: Caitlin’s recovery from the loss of Ingrid takes a long time. I hesitate to even say “recovery”; instead, it’s her adjustment to life without Ingrid. It’s not quick, it’s not simple, it’s not easy. Did you do a lot of research into grief, and recovering from loss?
Nina LaCour: I did some research into grief and recovery, yes. But I didn’t really find what I was looking for. I’m sure that some of it nestled in my brain somewhere, but in the end what I relied on more than the collection of statistics and psychological studies was just a lot of thinking. It was the worst kind of daydreaming; I was always wondering how I would feel if I had lost my best friend.
YALSA Blog: A tree house!?! I was surprised at Caitlin’s decision to make a tree house and how big and elaborate it ended up being. Why a tree house? And do you have one?
Nina LaCour: I wish! I grew up in apartments. I’ve never even had a backyard.
What happened is that a woman I knew in grad school had a coffee table book about tree houses. One evening I started looking through the book and was immediately captivated. Then, a year or so later, when I was searching for a way for Caitlin to channel her grief in an active way, I remembered them. The last thing I wanted was to write a book about a girl who sits around and cries. Caitlin does a bit of
The William C. Morris YA Debut Award "honors a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature." The Morris Award Committee announces the shortlist in December; which means we know the five finalists, so have plenty of time to read them all prior to the announcement of the winner on January 18 at the Youth Media Awards press conference.
This is the second year for the Morris Award; last year's winner was A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce.
From the Morris Award webpage: "This supernatural novel retells the story of Rumpelstiltskin, setting it at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution and centering it around the life of Charlotte Miller. When the bank wants to repossess her mortgaged mill, Charlotte strikes a bargain with the mysterious Jack Spinner, (a creature who knows the art of turning straw into gold), but then discovers she must free her loved ones from a generations-old curse.
At the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, Charlotte Miller strikes a bargain with the malevolent Jack Spinner, who can transform straw into gold, to save her family’s mill. With masterly writing and vivid characterization and setting, Bunce weaves a powerfully seductive tale of triumph over evil.
“Bunce has crafted a story that superbly embodies the criteria for this award. Her work is compelling and has broad teen appeal,” said Chair Bonnie Kunzel. “Thoughtful reflection and spirited discussion characterized this outstanding committee’s work as its members selected a shortlist that honors the influence of William C. Morris on the field of young adult publishing.”"
"This retelling unfolds slowly, deliciously. It's an internal story; a story about Ash grieving the loss of her parents, shutting down from it, and eventually choosing life and love. This is a tale about recovering from grief and unbearable loss. . . . Take note, librarians and teachers looking for a great book with both literary merit and one that encourages deep discussion; you'll want this one."
3 Comments on Morris Awards Shortlist, last added: 12/9/2009
Have you ever read a book that you found so profound and mesmerizing, that the thought of explaining it to people caused you to fear not giving the story what it truly deserved? That is how I feel about Nina LaCour’s debut novel, HOLD STILL (Dutton, October 2009). When I read the description of the book and discovered that it was about teenage suicide and how a best friend deals with the tragic loss, I was very reluctant to give it a chance. But from the very first chapter, when you learn that Caitlin has discovered a journal kept by her best friend Ingrid, a journal that will hopefully provide some answers to what led Ingrid to do the unspeakable, I was hooked. Both Caitlin’s story and Ingrid’s interior journey provides one of the most emotional and thought-provoking novels about adolescence. It is a story, that although it deals with a truly devastating event, is filled with such hope and faith in the power of healing and the resilience of the human spirit.
This book is written in the most beautiful, fluid writing that captures the heart and soul of the main character, Caitlin. The connection Caitlin builds with readers is authentic and honest and real. I literally could not put it down. I was going to wait until October to run the review but I couldn’t wait. Don’t worry, I will be mentioning the release when October rolls around to remind everyone to check it out!
An arresting story about starting over after a friend’s suicide, froma breakthrough new voice in YA fiction
dear caitlin, there are so many things that i want so badly to tell you but i just can’t.
Devastating, hopeful, hopeless, playful . . . in words and illustrations, Ingrid left behind a painful farewell in her journal for Caitlin. Now Caitlin is left alone, by loss and by choice, struggling to find renewed hope in the wake of her best friend’s suicide. With the help of family and newfound friends, Caitlin will encounter first love, broaden her horizons, and start to realize that true friendship didn’t die with Ingrid. And the journal which once seemed only to chronicle Ingrid’s descent into depression, becomes the tool by which Caitlin once again reaches out to all those who loved Ingrid—and Caitlin herself.
1 Comments on Hold Still by Nina LaCour, last added: 8/17/2009
Here is BookFinds first Vlog and the subject is new YA titles that we have received for review. I’m not sure if I make it clear in the video, but we aren’t only reviewing YA titles, that was just the subject of this particular video. Enjoy!
Titles Mentioned in the Video:
The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong
Back Home by Julia Keller
Hold Still by Nina LaCour
Leaving the Bellweathers by Kristin Clark Venuti
The Dark Divine by Bree Despain
7 Comments on In Our YA Mailbox, last added: 8/20/2009
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The Morris Award Committee on Hold Still: “After Caitlin’s best friend Ingrid commits suicide, Caitlin has a hard time making sense of the loss. She finds Ingrid’s journal and slowly allows herself to read it and learn about why Ingrid felt the need to end her life. Caitlin also grapples with allowing herself to find another friend, to let in a boyfriend, and to understand why her favorite teacher is ignoring her. It is the haunting story of dealing with loss, moving on, and finding peace and hope.”.jpg?picon=107)
by Malinda Lo.
I hope you have a great time!