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Here's a great entry from our Seattle HOST, Stephanie Guerra! Her debut young adult novel, TORN, will be published by Marshall Cavendish in spring of 2012.
Hi girlz!
I recently went to see Alexa Martin (Girl Wonder) and Amber Kizer (7 Kinds of Ordinary Catastrophes, Gert Garibaldi’s Rants and Raves: One Butt Cheek at a Time, Meridian, Wildcat Fireflies) promote their new books at Third Place in Seattle. It was a fun, intimate evening, with lots of great information from the authors about their inspirations, vices, and writing processes. Here are some fun facts:
Alexa’s vice is Louisiana style coffee, which is mostly cream and sugar. Amber says hers is “food, and I’m not a vegetarian. Baked goods.” I loved hearing that! I’m always comforted by women who like caffeine and pastries as much as I do.
Alexa shared a fascinating story about her formative writing experiences. She was diagnosed early with a learning disability, and went through school feeling “less intelligent” than the other kids. Special education helped her achieve success in literacy, and in fact, she began to overcompensate for her disability, producing “very clean copy.” I can attest to that. Her writing is crisp and clear, with her verbs doing most of the work. When she uses an adjective, it’s the perfect one. What an amazing example for anyone struggling with a learning disability.
Amber told us about her inspiration for one of the settings in Wildcat Fireflies.Helios is a restaurant she visited many times with her family, and over the years, she formed a bond with the owner. When this woman was fighting cancer, Amber told her that Wildcat Fireflies would be “her” book. The owner then revealed that she’d made a bucket list, and one of her dreams was to leave something lasting. With Amber’s book dedication, she felt she could check off this dream.
It was also inspiring to hear about writing process from these two very different authors. Amber aims to produce ten new pages of work each day, while Alexa works more slowly, piecing
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By: Kate,
on 5/11/2011
Blog: I Just Wanna Sit Here And Read! (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Review, Blog Tour, Alexa Martin, Girl Wonder, Add a tag
ARC: 292 Pages
Genre: YA Contemporary
Alexa Martin's Website
From Goodreads. As if transferring senior year weren't hard enough, Charlotte Locke has been bumped to lower level classes at her new school. With no friends, a terrible math SAT score, and looming college application deadlines, the future is starting to seem like an oncoming train for which she has no ticket.
Then Amanda enters her orbit like a hot-pink meteor, offering Charlotte a ticket to something else: popularity. Amanda is fearless, beautiful, brilliant, and rich. As her new side kick, Charlotte is brought into the elite clique of the debate team—and closer to Neal, Amanda's equally brilliant friend and the most perfect boy Charlotte has ever seen.
But just when senior year is looking up, Charlotte’s life starts to crumble. The more things heat up between Charlotte and Neal, the more Neal wants to hide their relationship. Is he ashamed? Meanwhile, Amanda is starting to act strangely competitive, and she's keeping a secret Charlotte doesn't want to know.
Review by Kate
GIRL WONDER, by Alexa Martin, is a very real portrayal of a teen girl who finds herself mixed up with the wrong people. In the beginning, I had trouble relating to Charlotte because she came off being a bit whiny about her current lot in life, but eventually my heart broke for her when she reached her lowest point.
I would say this YA book is geared toward a more mature teen audience. Martin made Charlotte face a lot of issues that are not unlike those faced by teens today (drugs, sex, peer pressure, etc.). There were times I related to Charlotte so well it was scary. She wanted to fit in (who doesn't?) and chose probably the worst person to fit in with. As an adult I could see the destructive behaviors of Amanda but I could also see that as a teenager, Charlotte would find Amanda's confidence something she would want to emulate.
Overall, Martin expressed some pretty deep and 'real' issues that I think so many teens can relate to. She truly tortured her MC and nailed the desired effect of the reader wanting Charlotte to succeed in the end. If you like realistic YA books, you don't have to look any farther.
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