Holly says, "Many characters in TELL ME A SECRET have devastating secrets. What kind of secret would be most terrifying for you?"
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Blog: readergirlz (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Holly Cupala, Tell Me a Secret, august 2010, Add a tag
Holly says, "Many characters in TELL ME A SECRET have devastating secrets. What kind of secret would be most terrifying for you?"
Blog: readergirlz (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Holly Cupala, Tell Me a Secret, august 2010, Add a tag
Holly says, "How did you feel about the ending? Do you think you would have given Kamran a second chance?"
Follow up: Have you ever given someone a second chance?
Blog: readergirlz (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Holly Cupala, Tell Me a Secret, august 2010, Add a tag
Holly says, "How do you think you might have handled Miranda's situation? Do you think she handled it well or badly?"
Blog: readergirlz (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Tell Me a Secret, august 2010, Holly Cupala, Add a tag
Featured Author Holly Cupala hand-picked songs for the playlist that accompanies Tell Me a Secret this month (and how cool is that peek at the mix, left?). Listen to the full soundtrack with the player in the right-hand sidebar or in the August issue!
Blog: readergirlz (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Tell Me a Secret, august 2010, Holly Cupala, Add a tag
Holly says, "'We don't always know why things happen until down the road,' says Nik. What do you think about that?"
Blog: readergirlz (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Holly Cupala, Tell Me a Secret, august 2010, Add a tag
Fiction
Jumping Off Swings by Jo Knowles
For Keeps by Natasha Friend
The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
Borrowed Light by Anna Fienberg
The Year My Sister Got Lucky by Aimee Friedman
The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard
Non-Fiction
S.E.X: The All-You-Need-To-Know Progressive Sexuality Guide to Get
Blog: readergirlz (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Holly Cupala, Tell Me a Secret, august 2010, Add a tag
Holly says, "After her secret is revealed, Miranda feels like an outcast. Have you ever felt like an outcast?"
Blog: readergirlz (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Holly Cupala, Tell Me a Secret, august 2010, Add a tag
Blog: readergirlz (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Holly Cupala, Tell Me a Secret, august 2010, Add a tag
Holly says, "Eventually, Miranda makes friends with a group online. Have you made online friends, and do you think those friendships are as strong as the people you know in person?"
Blog: readergirlz (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Holly Cupala, Tell Me a Secret, august 2010, Add a tag
Holly says, "Miranda's parents have locked themselves behind symbolic doors and left Miranda to figure things out on her own. Do you have someone you can turn to in times of trouble?"
Blog: readergirlz (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Holly Cupala, Tell Me a Secret, august 2010, Add a tag
Holly says, "Miranda is an artist who draws labyrinths to make sense of her past and present. What's your creative outlet?"
Blog: readergirlz (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Jennifer Hubbard, august 2010, jennifer r. hubbard, postergirlz recommended reads, Add a tag
One of our postergirlz recommended reads for August is The Secret Year by Jennifer R. Hubbard. After reading Holly Cupala's statement about World Vision and connectivity, Jennifer had this to say:
About her book (featured on readergirlz this month) and its outreach connection to World Vision’s Hope for Sexually Exploited Girls, Holly Cupala says, "Even though TELL ME A SECRET is not about sexual exploitation, it is about women and secrets and dealing with shame, so I felt there was a connection there.”
The connection between sex and secrecy and shame is especially powerful for girls, but it is everywhere in our society. Sex is about vulnerability and about emotional and physical risk. We build cultural and religious rules and expectations around it. We approach it with contradictions that could make anyone’s head spin: we set up taboos at the same time we use it to sell everything from soap to liquor. We sell cosmetics for “kissable lips” and then warn about where kissing might lead. We bury sex in a mound of whispers and jokes, slang and euphemisms.
I think most writers who include sexually active characters in their YA books want to lift that veil of secrecy and shame a little, to confront some basic truths of human nature and cut through the myths and mysteries. I know that was one of my goals in THE SECRET YEAR, which, like Holly Cupala’s book, has a plot that revolves around secrecy. In my own schooldays, adults did a fair job of giving me biological information and telling me about my right to say no, of warning me about pregnancy and STDs. But the gaping void in my education revolved around the emotional consequences of physical intimacy. What do we gain, and what do we give, when we enter into such a relationship? What are the emotional risks? What does sex do to our own concept of self-worth, and to our interactions with others?
In THE SECRET YEAR, the characters Colt and Julia believe at first that they can have a physical relationship with no strings attached. At one point, however, Colt concludes: “I should’ve known there are always strings. They’d slipped around my wrists and knotted up before I’d even noticed.” In fact, for these characters, secrecy itself is as potent a force as sex; they find any and every excuse to maintain the walls of secrecy that surround them. The biggest threat to their relationship is always openness, a full and honest commitment. And can any relationship survive behind walls?
Eventually, Colt and Julia run out of ways to hide; they have to face the limits of their secret world. Neither of them is immune to the laws of cause and effect. Their relationship changes them in ways they never expected or intended.
- Jennifer R. Hubbard
Blog: Young Adult (& Kid's) Books Central (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Robert Muchamore, Cherub, Darren Shan, August 2010, Justin Bieber, Marc Shapiro, Crossed Out, The Recruit, The Thin Executioner, Giveaway News, contests, kim baccellia, Add a tag
Click on the book cover to enter to win your very own copy!
THE THIN EXECUTIONER by Darren Shan
CHERUB: THE RECRUIT by Robert Muchamore
JUSTIN BIEBER: THE FEVER! by Marc Shapiro
CROSSED OUT by Kim Bacciella
Good luck!
Blog: readergirlz (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Holly Cupala, Tell Me a Secret, august 2010, Add a tag
Favorite drink while you write: Tea. Earl Grey. Hot. Or lemonade.
Inspiration: Dreams, friends, books, life
Dream book tour: Book tour world cruise, of course
Writer buddies: The readergirlz, and many more!
Cure for writer's block: Candy, tea, procrastination, and a timer
Favorite outfit: My grey lacy dress - it's cute and comfy and goes with everything
Laptop or longhand? Notes in long-hand, novel in laptop
Author idol: Italo Calvino
Next up: Street Creed (tentative title) in Fall 2011, about a suburban girl who runs away from dark secrets and finds a homeless band of friends...and a gritty ro
Add a CommentBlog: readergirlz (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Holly Cupala, Tell Me a Secret, august 2010, Add a tag
Holly says, "Miranda sneaks into a party incognito and finds out more than she expected. Have you ever accidentally discovered something you didn't want to know?"
Blog: Whateverings (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Violin, illustrations, Samples, paula j. becker, Highlights for Children, Highlights magazine, August 2010, The Right Note, Add a tag
Below are samples of a spread I did for Highlights magazine a few months back for their current issue. “The Right Note”, written by David Hill, is a story about a violin student who, during a recital at her teacher’s home, is able to help her teacher locate her “lost in the house somewhere” cat when she plays a high C, which makes the cat meow. The story is much better than my short synopsis of it, of course.
So below, I have the August cover (sweetly illustrated by Melanie Hall) and the content page (showing a pull-out of one my spots):
Then, below, is the final spread. I wasn’t privy to what the background color would be, but I would make some color changes to accommodate, I believe.
And for those who like to see roughs, etc., I have the layout with my sketches inserted. For the most part the sketches were accepted, with just a change or two. A wall was added on the 3rd spot in the upper right so you get an idea of the location of the cat.
copyright (c) Highlights for Children
Blog: readergirlz (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Holly Cupala, Tell Me a Secret, august 2010, Add a tag
Holly asks, "Have you ever felt like you were living in the shadow of a sibling? Why or how so?"
Blog: readergirlz (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Holly Cupala, Tell Me a Secret, world vision, August 2010, hope for sexually exploited girls, Add a tag
This month's outreach has a direct tie-in to the book. Here's Holly Cupala to tell us more about it:
"Even though TELL ME A SECRET is not about sexual exploitation, it is about women and secrets and dealing with shame, so I felt there was a connection there.
"Ten percent of my author proceeds go toward World Vision's Hope for Sexually Exploited Girls, helping girls all over the world who have escaped from this kind of abuse - food, medical care, job training, and if possible, a loving family situation.
"Thank you for spreading the word to help support these girls!"
Learn more about World Vision, and about this specific cause.
Blog: readergirlz (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Holly Cupala, Tell Me a Secret, August 2010, Add a tag
We are overjoyed to welcome our own readergirlz Diva Holly Cupala to the featured author slot this month. Her stirring debut novel, Tell Me a Secret, is our August pick! Check out our interview with Holly, book party ideas themed around her book, and our Reach Out project idea--as well as the awesome soundtrack Holly has chosen for the book--on readergirlz.com.
Here's a little about Tell Me a Secret:
Tell me a secret, and I'll tell you one...
In the five years since her bad-girl sister Xanda's death, Miranda Mathison has wondered about the secret her sister took to the grave, and what really happened the night she died. Now, just as Miranda is on the cusp of her dreams - a best friend to unlock her sister's world, a ticket to art school, and a boyfriend to fly her away from it all - Miranda has a secret all her own.
In this powerful debut novel, stunning new talent Holly Cupala illuminates the dark struggle of a girl who must let go of her past to find a way into her future.
And the buzz...
"Will be immensely popular among teens ...[readers] will be captivated by the theme of owning your own path, the persistence of life and closure." - VOYA
"Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous and full of suspense!" - Hunger Mountain, the VCFA Journal of the Arts
"Be prepared for an excellent, emotional read." - RT Book Reviews
"Authors like Sarah Dessen, Ellen Hopkins, Laurie Halse Anderson, and Deb Caletti all have captured the teenage experience in their novels and accurately portrayed the turbulence that many teens deal with. Seattle author Holly Cupala can now add her name to that list." - Seattle Book Examiner
"Five purrs - I cannot remember the last time I was so emotionally invested in a novel." - Sharon at Sharon Loves Books and Cats
"Heartwrenchingly good ...Cupala proves herself to be a powerful writing force with this one." - Steph at Steph Su Reads
We are beyond thrilled to have the amazing Holly Cupala with us this month! Join us all month right here on the blog for discussions and mark your calendars a LIVE #rgz twitter chat on Wednesday, July 18th at 6pm PST/9pm EST.
do you know when the winners for the July contests will be posted? thanks