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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!

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

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

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

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

Holly asks, "Have you ever felt like you were living in the shadow of a sibling? Why or how so?"

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.

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: