How to use this Page

You Charles Benoit

You're a largely misunderstood kid that everyone thinks is a troublemaker. You know better but they don't, so sometimes you just go with it. It's what they expect of you anyway. It starts with the blood, something gone horribly wrong. It ends there, too. The in-between is the girl you like. The in-between is the new kid who likes you for some reason. You like him too, until it's all gone wrong. So very wrong.

Overall, it's an enjoyable read. The quick pace of the plot and the second-person narration help drive the reader to turn the pages quickly and draw you in. I liked it but didn't think it was anything special. And then someone pointed out that's a retelling of Othello and my mind exploded. Because it totally is. It's a Shakespeare retelling that will appeal to struggling and reluctant readers-- a fun read with some source material that's really subtly woven in (and then once it's pointed out to you, all you can do is shout OMG DUH and feel stupid for missing it.)

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

A bookstore cat

Let’s be honest. The bookstore cat is cliché.  Don’t get me wrong. I love cats, and I love cats in bookstores. There’s a reason why they are cliché. Bookstore cats are well-behaved (mostly) and safe (again, mostly) in exactly the way that a bookstore mongoose or bookstore badger is not. Still, I pine for variety now and again. And that brings us to my favorite local children’s bookstore, Wild Rumpus.

Wild Rumpus is nestled in Linden Hills. Linden Hills is nestled in Minneapolis. And within Wild Rumpus is nestled… other things. There’s a whole lot of nestling going on. It’s like a Russian doll thing, in indie bookstore form. Those other things include Mo the Dove, Amelia and Skeeter (a pair of chinchillas), Spike the Wise Lizard (which sounds like a Toad the Wet Sprocket cover band if you ask me), parakeets, chickens (that roam the store freely), and yes, even a cat or two (of the stylish Manx variety).

A chicken climbs a display for PERFECT SQUARE and MY HEART IS LIKE A ZOO, both by local author/illustrator Michael Hall

In addition to housing this menagerie, Wild Rumpus sells books. Really good books. I get the majority of my children’s and YA books from my excellent local library system. But when I absolutely positively can’t wait for my hold to come in, I go to Wild Rumpus. When I do, I also have to watch my wallet because of the temptation to bring the entire contents of their shelves home with me.

Wild Rumpus offers a weekly story time on Mondays and book clubs for all ages. Their ARRG! (that’s Advanced Reader Review Group) recently read YOU by Charles Benoit, one of my favorite books of 2010. I’m a librarian by training and inclination, so I sometimes get nervous when bookstores offer traditional library programs like book clubs and story times. But when the bookstore staff loves children’s literature–as the Wild Rumpus’ staff so clearly does–it’s hard to take offense. Hungry readers benefit libraries and booksellers alike.

I know I’m preaching to the choir when it comes to you Twin Cities readers, so this is for the rest of you. If your travels take you to Minneapolis, let your wild rumpus begin!

~Tony

p.s. Katherine Hannigan, author of TRUE (…SORT OF) and

Charles Benoit's Young Adult debut, You, earned this praise from Publisher's Weekly: "Disturbing content blends with skillful, fast-paced writing, adding a thriller spin to the novel's vicious realism." Count me in! And that cover? Shattering. Here's Charles to tell the tale of how it came about:

"I didn’t think about a cover until after the book was done because frankly I didn’t think I’d see it published. It’s dark, which is a good thing, but it’s told in second-person and every author knows that that is simply not done. It was only when Harper Teen bought the rights that I allowed myself to imagine a cover. The first idea I had was along the lines of the cover for Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (below) – clean, white, in a lower case Helvetica-esque font. But the more I thought about the book, the darker my imaginary cover became until it was all black with a white typeface font.

"In addition to writing novels, I work as a Senior Copywriter and Producer for Dixon Schwabl, an ad agency in Rochester, NY. Every day I participate in brainstorming sessions as the art directors work to come up with visuals for the various campaigns. I’m smart enough to restrict myself to high level suggestions and let the visual experts take the lead. I did the same with my cover ideas for You. I told them I saw something dark and text-driven – no cover image, just a few simple words to mirror the simplicity of the title..."

Read the rest of Charles's Cover Story at bn.com's Unabashedly Bookish.