How to use this Page

Add a Comment

Young Adult novel writers are putting their spin on historical fiction, covering historical mysteries, contemporary historical reinterpretations, steampunk, historical romances, and more.

Add a Comment

Here are some literary events to pencil in your calendar this week.

To get your event posted on our calendar, visit our Facebook Your Literary Event page. Please post your event at least one week prior to its date.

Grumpy Cat (pictured, via) will appear and take photos with fans at Barnes & Noble (Union Square branch). Meet the internet sensation on Thursday, August 7th at 5 p.m. (New York, NY)

(more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Add a Comment

Author Andrea Cremer has transitioned from a career as a historian and college professor to being a full-time writer. Her latest book, The Inventor's Secret, is the first installment of a new young adult steampunk series. Check out the highlights from our interview below… Q: Given your background as a historian and professor, what is it like re-imagining American history for this book? A: It’s a bit like sneaking into a museum after it closes and rearranging all the exhibits! Writing The Inventor's Secret proved both a delight and challenge; while I wanted to keep the narrative loosely tied to ‘real’ histories, I gave equal import to creativity. This new series truly blends historical fiction and fantasy. continued...

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Add a Comment

This is how it happens:  I write an adult book that Laura Geringer discovers and reads; she gets in touch.  For a year Laura and I talk about how ill-equipped I feel I am to write books for young adults.  A conversation in a Philadelphia restaurant changes everything; I am persuaded to try.  I write what will become several books for Laura, and in the midst of story development, copy editing, cover design, and publicity, I meet Jill Santopolo—utterly adorable, fashion savvy, super smart, wildly well-organized, and Laura's second in command at Laura Geringer Books/HarperTeen, where I will write four books, one of them (The Heart is Not a Size) being Jill's very own.  Then one day Jill calls to say that she is headed to Philomel to join a children's book empire carved out by a man named Michael Green.  I'd really like Michael, Jill says.  She hopes I'll eventually meet him.

(She is right.  And I do.  Facts made true in reverse order.)

A few years later, I see Jill again, this time at an ALA event, where she slips me a copy of Between Shades of Gray and whispers two words in my ear:  Tamra Tuller.  Jill and Tamra are, by now, colleagues at Philomel, and Tamra edits the kind of books I like to write.  Jill, looking trademark gorgeous, encourages me to read Ruta Sepetys' international bestseller of a debut novel as proof.  I do.  Again, I am persuaded.  Not long afterwards, I have the great privilege of joining the Philomel family when Tamra reads a book I've been working on for ten years and believes that it has merit. Jill has opened her new home to me, and I am grateful.

What happens next is that Tamra moves to Chronicle and I, with a book dedicated to her because I do love her that much, move to Chronicle, too.  What happens next is Jill and I remain friends (Jill and I and Michael and Jessica, too (not to mention Laura)).  Which is all a very long way of saying how happy I was to receive two of Jill's newest creations just a few weeks ago.  Last night and early this morning I read the first of them.  It's called Invisibility, it's due out in May, and it is co-authored by Jill's fabulously successful Philomel author, Andrea Cremer (The Nightshade Series) and the big-hearted author/editor/sensation/Lover's Dictionary Guru David Levithan.

I hear David Levithan—his soulfulness, his tenderness, his yearning, his love—when I read this book. I hear Andrea Cremer—her careful and credible world building, her necessary specificity, her other-worldly imagination.  It's a potent combination in a story about a Manhattan boy whom no one in the world can see.  No one, that is, except for the girl who has moved in down the hall—a girl who has escaped Minnesota with a brother she deeply loves and a mother who cares for them both, but must work long hours to keep her transplanted family afloat.  Cremer and Levithan's Manhattan is tactile, navigable, stewing with smells and scenes.  Their fantasy world—spellcraft, curses, witches, magic—is equally cinematic and engaging.  The love between the invisible boy and the seeing (and, as it turns out, magically gifted) girl feels enduring, and then there's that other kind of love—between Elizabeth and her brother—that gives this story even greater depth and meaning.  The parents aren't nearly bad either (not at all).

What it is to be invisible.  What it is to see and be seen.  What it is to know there is evil in the world and that any strike against it will scar and (indeed) age those who take a stand.  Invisibility is a fantasy story, but it is more than that, too.  It's a growing-up story in which courage, truth-telling, sacrifice, and vulnerability figure large, and in which love of every kind makes a difference. 

Display Comments Add a Comment

Since reading Nightshade I have been desperately wanting Wolfsbane. I adored the first book and was hoping the second book was just as good. Although I have to admit I enjoyed the first book a lot more, this book is still a great sequel and left me craving the third and final book of the series.  To read more of my review, click here.

Add a Comment

Andrea Cremer shared the Cover Story for the hardcover of Nightshade last year, and since then I have eaten pizza with her and can confirm that she's as awesome as the books she writes. Seriously.

And now she has a newly redesigned paperback! Plus, the second novel in the Nightshade trilogy, Wolfsbane, was just released. Here's Andrea to talk covers:

"I didn't have a specific idea for the cover, but it always involved wolves and blood.

"When I first saw the new covers, I was thrilled. To me the new covers depict Calla perfectly. The new Nightshade cover (right) drew on the poem that inspired Calla's character. The poem is one of Margaret Atwood's and its first stanza is 'Not you I fear but that other/she who walks through flesh/queen of the two dimensions.'

"The Wolfsbane cover: First of all it's green! My favorite color! I think it continues the theme of depicting Calla's strength. The concept is that she is crouched under the moon about to shift into wolf form. I love it!

"There were some small tweaks - usually about getting the color of Calla's eyes just right..."

Read the rest of Andrea's Cover Story, and see the original series covers, at melissacwalker.com.

Add a Comment

***Contains spoilers if you have not read Nightshade***

Calla Tor never thought she'd find herself in the Searchers' lair -- her sworn enemies and supposedly vicious killers -- and she definitely never expected them to make her an offer she couldn't refuse. As Calla finally begins to accept the truth about her masters and the only world she's ever known, she's faced with a crucial choice, one that will cost precious lives, define her destiny and alter the course of the ancient Witches' War.

In Wolfsbane, Andrea Cremer introduces readers to a new facet of her rich mythology, as well as a whole host of new characters. The Searchers' magic is a perfect complement to the world that began in Nightshade, and it is thought-provoking to contrast them with the Keepers. Though they are less cruel and vicious than their counterparts, there is still something a little unsettling about the Searchers, with their vague explanations and miltaristic hierarchy.

However, it is fun to watch their family-like and much more lighthearted banter, and a huge relief to see women in power rather than brutally repressed. The world of the Searchers could not be more different from that of the Keepers, and it is fascinating to see the two halves blended into one complex, spellbinding whole. The Keepers truly bare their ugly fangs in this installment, making it even darker than its haunting predecessor. Cremer holds no punches as readers are thrown headfirst into a centuries-old war.

Several familiar faces make an appearance in Wolfsbane, including our heroine Calla. Though Calla is still a fierce alpha in battle, she seems more timid and much less self-assured in life. Her self-doubt and guilt cause her to waver back and forth, rather than being the confident, powerful leader we met in Nightshade. Though it's understandable, considering the massive shift in her worldview, it is still frustrating to see her brood over things that clearly weren't her fault. Several other characters also seem to have lost their way, making surprising and sometimes heartbreaking choices.

Shay, on the other hand, really comes into his own -- no longer the meek and weak human, but an assertive hero. If Calla can once again find her place in the world, the balance of their relationship will be perfect and enduring. Cremer really cranks up the sexual tension, and Calla's heart is wrenched in two even more forcefully now that her fate is in her own hands. However, I personally find Ren's appeal baffling. His troubling behavior from book one escalates to a crisis level in the sequel, and I'm nervous to see how Cremer ultimately resolves his plotline.

Though the narrative drive is less clear than the march toward Samhain in Nightshade, there is plenty of action in this second installment, as well as a lot of crucial history. The thought and care that Cremer put into the backstory of the Witches' War is what makes this series so compelling. The Searchers' cryptic comments and drawn-out explanations are exasperating for the first half of the novel, but when the intricate history finally falls into place it is stunning. Still, Cremer leaves readers with more than a few questions. It is clear that a vast universe of history and lies, magic and secrets lies at the heart of these novels, and its many mysteriou

Display Comments Add a Comment

Publisher: Philomel (July 26, 2011)
ARC: 390 Pages
Series: Nightshade #2
Genre: YA Fantasy/Supernatural (shifters)
Andrea Cremer's Website | Blog | Twitter

From Goodreads. This thrilling sequel to the much-talked-about Nightshade begins just where it ended-Calla Tor wakes up in the lair of the Searchers, her sworn enemy, and she's certain her days are numbered. But then the Searchers make her an offer-one that gives her the chance to destroy her former masters and save the pack-and the man-she left behind. Is Ren worth the price of her freedom? And will Shay stand by her side no matter what? Now in control of her own destiny, Calla must decide which battles are worth fighting and how many trials true love can endure and still survive.

Review by Kate
WOLFSBANE, by Andrea Cremer, is the sequel to Nightshade that picks up right where we left off with Calla and Shay taken in by the Searchers. I really wanted to love this book just as much as Nightshade but honestly I didn't, which saddens me. There was so much action and love-triangle angst in the first book and the second felt like an information overload about the background of the Guardians, Keepers, and Searchers.

The hot and cold feelings that Calla had for Shay and her absent alpha, Ren, got to be a bit irritating at times. Shay's whining got on my nerves most of the time and his constant insistence of keeping Calla save was condescending to her nature. Also, the constant bickering and teasing among the Searchers got old very fast. I mean seriously, I get it that they are a close family who does that but most of the dialogue between them didn't have much relevance to the story.

On the other hand, the parts of this book I did like was learning about the Searchers and Keepers past. At times it felt like a background dump but most of it was interesting and relevant to Calla and Shay. I did like the many rescue attempts to get the members of the pack away from the Keepers. I felt those scenes were part of what I loved about Nightshade and rekindled my love for the series.

I still don't like the Calla/Shay relationship as much as I love the Calla/Ren relationship so I was a bit disappointed there, but I where the book left off I am really anxious to see if these two alphas can't make it right together in the end.

I probably sound like I hated this book but that is not the case. To me it fell a bit flat against the awesome debut, Nightshade. I still love the series and characters, but personally it didn't hold my attention that well until I was 3/4 in the book. But I am still very excited to read Bloodrose, the next book in the series.

Add a Comment

I'm doing the 100 Books in a Year Challenge, from both Goodreads and Book Chick City.

Goodreads says I'm 19 books behind. So, there's no way I'm gonna read 9+ books this weekend, but I do want to finish the five I'm reading:

1. Inside Out, by Maria V. Snyder.
2. Blood Witch, by Cate Tiernan.
3. Dark Lover, by J. R. Ward.
4. Nightshade, by Andrea Cremer.
5. and Eragon, by Christopher Paolini.

I know I can finish the first four, but I barely started Eragon, so I might not finish it by Monday. We'll see.

xo,
Ella

Add a Comment

Add a Comment

Authors are Rocking the Drop around their areas RIGHT NOW! Here's who's tweeting so far.... use the #rockthedrop tag and join in with readergirlz and Figment to ROCK THE DROP!

Add a Comment

Wolfsbane (Nightshade #2) by Andrea Cremer

Thanks SO much to Penguin!

Coming July 26, 2011!

This thrilling sequel to the much-talked-about Nightshade begins just where it ended.Calla Tor wakes up in the lair of the Searchers, her sworn enemy, and she's certain her days are numbered.

But then the Searchers make her an offer,one that gives her the chance to destroy her former masters and save the pack and the man she left behind. Is Ren worth the price of her freedom? And will Shay stand by her side no matter what? Now in control of her own destiny, Calla must decide which battles are worth fighting and how many trials true love can endure and still survive.

The Girl Who Was on Fire edited by Leah Wilson 10 Comments on In My Mailbox: April 4 - 10, 2011, last added: 4/12/2011