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Welcome back to Upcoming Titles, our monthly feature where we highlight books releasing this month. As always, this is by no means a comprehensive list of forthcoming releases, just a compilation of titles we think our readers (and our contributors!) would enjoy.
Summer is in full swing and two of our PubCrawl contributors have books coming out this month, including our very own Jodi Meadows and Julie Eshbaugh! Julie’s debut will be coming out this month and we are so, so, so excited for her book to finally be out in the world!
We're welcoming the super talented, multi award winning Jennifer Donnelly to the blog today to talk about the importance of never giving up. Despite her success, Jennifer's road to publishing was long and, for all us hopefuls, proof that good things come to those who wait. Enjoy!
Just Keep Writing by Jennifer Donnelly
I waited years for The Call. Ten years, in fact.
Like my first novel, The Tea Rose, the story of how I finally got The Call is a rags-to-riches tale. Got a few minutes? Good. Pull up a chair. Read more »Add a Comment
One of the questions authors are most often asked is "Where do you get your ideas from?" If you're like me, it's easier to answer where you DON'T get inspiration. Ideas shoot out at me from everywhere I go and everyone I see. Which is why I try to always have a notepad of some sort, whether paper or electrical, with me always. And my kids have made a joke of rolling their eyes and groaning every time they hear me say, "that would make a good story!"
I believe that, as writers, we have trained our minds, opened them, widened them, attuned them, to be receptive to these ideas that flutter about in the aether. Inspiration is there for one and all, but we creatives are the ones who notice and care. However, sometimes the trick is knowing which idea is fluttering by to catch our attention, and which should be released back into the wild for another writer. Not every idea I've had is my story to write. It's taken me several ears as a writer, developing and honing my voice and themes, to know which ideas to cherish and which to pat on their head and send them back on their way.
New York Times Best Selling Author Jennifer Donnelly is here with us today to share some of the ideas she captured and coaxed into a story that became her newest release in the WaterFire Sage - Dark Tide. Be sure to check it out at the end of the post. And please share in the comments how you corral all your inspirations!
The Flows of Inspiration: A Craft of Writing Post by Jennifer Donnelly
Inspiration for DARK TIDE, and the entire WaterFire Saga, comes from some pretty strange places.
As anyone who’s been to one of my readings knows, one of the biggest was the work of the designer Alexander McQueen, but another mad genius who has also been a huge source of ideas is Rene Redzepi, the chef behind NOMA in Copenhagen, one of the world’s best and most out-there restaurants.
The Plot: New York City, 1890. Josephine Montfort has the type of life that others dream about: her family is old and respected, their money is old and respected, and she has a life of privilege and ease, of being waited on, of going to balls and parties.
Jo has friends and family and her own dreams: a dream of being a writer, of being a reporter, like Nelly Bly. It's not something a proper young lady does, however.
And then her father dies. The official report is he accidently shot himself while cleaning his gun ... but Jo has her doubts.
Those doubts, and Jo's own desire for the truth, will lead her away from the proper homes of rich New York, to places dark and dangerous.
The Good: Jo is a great heroine: while These Shallow Graves begins with Jo working on a school paper, hoping for better stories than the proper way to brew tea, Jo is very much a product of her world, her class, her time. She is limited in ways she doesn't know; and one wonders how Jo's future would have gone, had her father not died.
But her father does die, and Jo grieves but she also has questions and the instincts of a reporter, and those two things drive Jo outside the safety of her home and those she knows. Questions get answers and more questions, and there are more bodies; as well as a mysterious past and tragedies.
ARGH. You can tell that because this is, at it's heart, a mystery, I don't want to get too into the details of the mystery itself. What I can say is that I appreciate the contradictions within Jo: she is smart and clever, yes, but she has been protected by her wealth and her privilege. For example, most readers will pick up earlier than Jo does when characters are talking about brothels and prostitutes. But that is purposeful, to illustrate that Jo's being "protected" work against her by creating a level of ignorance that puts her into danger. If the reader is sometimes a step or two ahead of Jo, it's because they haven't been kept isolated behind walls of wealth and sexism.
These Shallow Graves is also very much a feminist book, looking at the options, and lack of options, of women in the late nineteenth century. There are mothers who seem to be coldly calculating as they arrange and plot suitable marriages, until one steps back and sees what happens to those women who aren't protected by money and family connections. Or, rather, what these women fear will happen to their daughters. It becomes clear early on just how narrow Jo's world is, and how that narrowness comes from fear and how that is it's own "grave", burying her dreams and hopes and desires deep.
That women do have choices, even if those choices are tough ones, is shown: yes, there are pickpockets and prostitutes and homeless women; there are people whose poverty destroy them. But there's also a mention of Edith Wharton and a young woman going to medical school. Yet it's clear that freedom, for women, is not easy or simple.
There is a bit of a love triangle, between the suitable young man that everyone, including Jo, thinks of as her future husband because, well, everyone assumes it. Such a good match, such good families, and they are friends so why not? And then there is the driven reporter, who latches onto the story of Jo's father as his ticket to a better job. Can he be trusted? And can Jo trust her feelings about him? Yes, a triangle.... but the two young men also represent the two choices Jo has: do what is safe, or do what she wants. What will make her family happy, or what will make her happy.
One last bit: without getting spoilery, I liked that many people rose to the occasion when the situation warranted. While there are some expected and unexpected betrayals, there are also people who prove themselves worthy of Jo's trust and friendship. People aren't black and white, for or against Jo. They are not shallow; they have as much depth as Jo -- it's just they are sometimes in a world that doesn't allow that depth.
These Shallow Graves are the secrets of the past; the places bodies have been buried; and also the world of Jo and her friends and families, limited by society, sexism, and prejudice.
A Favorite Book of 2015, because of the complexity of Jo. And I both want a sequel -- this could easily be the start of historical mystery series -- and a companion book, because Fay, well. Fay. Once you've read this, I think you'll agree: FAY.
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In 1890's New York City, Josephine Montfort has everything: she's young, she's rich, her parents adore her, she has good friends. Soon, she'll be engaged to the handsome and rich young man who has been a good friend since childhood. She wants to be a reporter, like Nelly Bly, and puts together the school paper.
All that changes when her father is found dead in his locked study, a gun in his hand. An accident.
Jo can't understand how the accident happened....she does what a proper young lady should not do.
She asks questions. Searching for answers leads her out of her protected, cossetted world, into the rough and tumble streets of New York, the world she's been protected from. A world of shallow graves.
Yes, put this on your radar -- it's a great mystery, but it's also a great look at female roles and expectations, and sexism, and how people can be too protected.
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The free digital Publishers Lunch Buzz Books have proven themselves accurate predictors of bestseller and best-of-the-year titles, before they are published. This season Publishers Lunch has gathered substantial excerpts from 54 of the most buzzed-about books scheduled for publication this fall and winter in two exclusive, free new ebooks, BUZZ BOOKS 2015: Fall/Winter and BUZZ BOOKS 2015: Young Adult Fall/Winter, offered in consumer and trade editions.
Book lovers get an early first look at new books from New York Times bestselling authors Mitch Albom, Geraldine Brooks, Alice Hoffman, and Adriana Trigiani, and popular and critically acclaimed writers Lauren Groff, Janice Y.K. Lee, Elizabeth McKenzie, and Belinda McKeon; columnist and television host Jason Gay’s first book, the \"whip-smart\" fiction debut of Academy Award-nominated actor Jesse Eisenberg; an unprecedented look at feminist and legal pioneer Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg in Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik’s Notorious RBG; Dick Van Dyke’s memoir Keep Moving; Jesse Itzler on living with a Navy SEAL; and the first novels from essayist Sloane Crosley and award-winning short story writer Claire Vaye Watkins.
Following its highly successful introduction last year, Publishers Lunch again is presenting a stand-alone volume previewing exciting and outstanding material from publishing’s powerhouse sector, young adult and middle-grade novels, in BUZZ BOOKS 2015: Young Adult Fall/Winter. This edition holds a taste of eagerly awaited books like new work from bestselling and award-winning leaders in the field including James Dashner (The Maze Runner series), Jennifer Donnelly (A Northern Light and Revolution), Patrick Ness (A Monster Calls and the Chaos Walking trilogy), and Lauren Oliver (Before I Fall, Panic); authors best-known for their adult books (Eleanor Herman and Cammie McGovern); and a good number of exciting debuts (Tessa Elwood’s Inherit the Stars, Moïra Fowley-Doyle’s The Accident Season, and Estelle Laure’s This Raging Light, among others). Aaron Hartzler, author of the critically acclaimed YA memoir Rapture Practice, makes his fiction debut with What We Saw. In what appears to becoming a YA trend, four Buzz Books entries are highly graphic or archival-looking in form via vignettes, diary entries, texts, charts, lists, illustrations and more. These include Hannah Moskowitz’s History of Glitter and Blood, a lyrical fantasy with an unusual graphic format.
Of the 24 adult books previewed and published to date in the 2015 Spring/Summer edition, 19 have made \"best of the month/year\" lists and five are New York Times bestsellers.
BUZZ BOOKS 2015: Fall/Winter and BUZZ BOOKS 2015: Young Adult Fall/Winter are available for free download now on Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, Apple’s iBookstore, the Google Play Books store, and Kobo.
I was escaping on Thursday as I made my way to the bookstore. The heat, a particular conversation, a pedigreed failure. In the summer, at bookstores, I tend to stand among those tables dedicated to middle- and high-school reading lists—looking at all that I've missed, scorning my own piecemeal education, regretting my only partially successful autodidactism. I studied the history and sociology of science at Penn. I teach memoir. I review (mostly) adult literary fiction. I have (most recently) been writing young adult fiction that is perhaps not really young adult fiction. I started out as a poet. I am currently researching the heck out of Bruce Springsteen. My triple-stacked bookshelves reflect my scattershot world. Despite the fact that I have tried, since I was a teen, to read at least three books a week (and, later in life, The New Yorker, New York Times, Newsweek, Vanity Fair, and the book review sections of The Washington Post,the Chicago Tribune, and the Philadelphia Inquirer), I have a whole lot of gaps, always, to fill. I am embarrassed, often, by my own not-knowingness. I could not pass any test that might be given.
Thursday, ignoring the criminally ignored two dozen as-yet-unread books stacked on my office floor, I bought two more—A Northern Light, which Melissa Sarno recommended, and Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. I have read all of Capote except In Cold Blood. Don't ask why; it just happened.
Yesterday, between bouts of Springsteen research, I read A Northern Light, a young adult novel written by Jennifer Donnelly, which was a Printz Honor Book when it was released ten years ago, earned numerous additional citations, and continues to be extremely well read today. Set in 1906 and featuring Mattie, a sixteen-year-old farm-bound girl who loves words, A Northern Light is, I found, an instructive book—thoroughly researched, strategically structured, seeded with the right kind of issues for young readers of historical fiction (feminism, race relations, the value of education and literature). I loved, most of all, Donnelly's Weaver, an African American adolescent. Weaver has much to say, and Donnelly, wisely, gives him room—to be smart, to be angry, to be hopeful, to be Mattie's truest friend. Boy-girl friendships that are honest and meaningful and yet not tinged with erotic desire are so rare in books, and especially rare in young adult literature, and so I was happy to spend some time on this warm weekend making this acquaintance.
6 Comments on Adding two new books to my scattershot world, including A Northern Light, last added: 8/6/2012
I can so relate to what you express here about the gaps, and yet when I look at you I am in awe of the breadth of your knowledge and the amount you read.
A Northern Light is an excellent book. I especially liked that Mattie had a "word of the day" and even while working would ponder that word, coming up with all sorts of new ideas. Eventually, of course, Mattie thinks the unthinkable:
"Jezzum ... What if God was a woman? Would the pope be out of a job? Would the president be a woman, too? And the governor? And the sheriff? And when people got married, would the man have to honor and obey? Would only the women be allowed to vote? Emily Baxter's poems made my head hurt. They made me think of so many questions and possibilities" (p. 208).
Here's my review from a couple of years ago. (SPOILER: The comments say perhaps a bit too much, if you haven't read the book.)
Oh, I'm so glad you enjoyed your time with it! I found the book instructive as well. If YOU are embarrassed by your own not-knowingness I should hide in a cave of shame. So many books...so little time. :)
SUMMARY: The vast multi-generational epic that began with The Tea Rose and continued with The Winter Rose now reaches its dramatic conclusion in The Wild Rose.
London, 1914. World War I is looming on the horizon, women are fighting for the right to vote, and global explorers are pushing the limits of endurance at the Poles and in the deserts. Into this volatile time, Jennifer Donnelly places her vivid and memorable characters:
- Willa Alden, a passionate mountain climber who lost her leg while climbing Kilimanjaro with Seamus Finnegan, and who will never forgive him for saving her life.
- Seamus Finnegan, a polar explorer who tries to forget Willa as he marries a beautiful young woman back home in England.
- Max von Brandt, a handsome sophisticate who courts high society women, but who has a secret agenda as a German spy;
- and many others.
Review: Fans of Jennifer Donnelly’s previous works, The Tea Rose and The Winter Rose, are in for a treat with the latest book in this historical saga. THE WILD ROSE is a beautifully researched historical tale combined with an intense plot, well-developed characters and gorgeous prose. Because there are so many recurring characters from the first two books in the ROSE trilogy, I would recommend beginning with the The Tea Rose and continuing from there. However, THE WILD ROSE has enough excitement, suspense, love and tension to stand completely and successfully on its own. Donnelly also provides quite a bit of backstory within the first 50 pages of THE WILD ROSE to catch the readers up on the action. The Washington Post calls Donnelly “a master of pacing and plot” and I couldn’t agree more. What I love most is the way Donnelly provides the readers with so much detail into the time period that you can truly see the stories playing out right before your eyes.
0 Comments on The Wild Rose by Jennifer Donnelly as of 1/1/1900
For your reading pleasure, I present Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly.
Revolution
Revolution is an phenomenal story. I don’t use the word “phenomenal” often but, in this case, no other word would do. There are many things that make Revolution worthy of such praise: Andi, the protagonist; Paris, the setting; Virgil, the musician; just to name a few. However, I’m going to discuss Andi’s relationship with music.
On a technical level, I don’t know much about music having never learned to play an instrument. But, the thing is, Andi made me want to learn. She speaks of music with such immense passion and understanding that I wanted to feel and hear what she does.
Andi gives music dimension, history and life. Her passion for it is so great, that you, the reader, find yourself as captivated by it as she is. Beethoven and Radiohead are no longer simply names of famous musicians but geniuses of their craft.
Few novels can accomplish such a feat, and Revolution is one of them.
0 Comments on My Bookshelf: Revolution as of 1/1/1900
This is an abbreviated version of a list of books put together by Lauren Donovan from Random House Children’s Books.
TILLIE THE TERRIBLE SWEDE: How One Woman, a Sewing Needle, and a Bicycle Changed History
By Sue Stauffacher; illustrated by Sarah McMenemy
When Tillie Anderson came to America, all she had was a needle. So she got herself a job in a tailor shop and waited for a dream to find her. One day, a man sped by on a bicycle. She was told “bicycles aren’t for ladies,” but from then on, Tillie dreamed of riding—not graceful figure eights, but speedy, scorching, racy riding! And she knew that couldn’t be done in a fancy lady’s dress. . . . With arduous training and her (shocking!) new clothes, Tillie became the women’s bicycle-riding champion of the world. Sue Stauffacher’s lively text and Sarah McMenemy’s charming illustrations capture the energy of America’s bicycle craze and tell the story of one woman who wouldn’t let society’s expectations stop her from achieving her dream.
Alfred A. Knopf | January 25, 2011 | Ages 5-8 | 40 pgs
AMELIA LOST: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart
By Candace Fleming
In this stunning new biography, Candace Fleming, the acclaimed author of The Great and Only Barnum and The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look and Abraham and Mary, peels back the layers of myth surrounding the world’s most famous aviatrix Amelia Earhart and presents an honest portrait of a multi-faceted, inspirational woman. With photos, maps, and hand-written notes from Amelia herself—plus informative sidebars tackling everything from the history of flight to what Amelia liked to eat while flying (tomato soup), this unique biography is tailor-made for middle graders.
Filled with memorable moments and a winning cast of characters, Fusco’s story, set during the Great Depression, is sure to tug at the heartstrings of all who read it. Bringing topics such as the Depression and segr
For some reason when everyone was raving about this book my main thought was "probably not for me." Something about the way it was described made me believe that it was probably awesome, but... just not for me.
I can't remember what finally made me pick it up. Just so I could say I had read it? Possibly.
I loved it. I really did.
Basic plot-- Andi's family falls apart after the death of her little brother. Andi blames herself and has fallen into a very self-destructive pattern. Her father wasn't around that much before Truman died, but he's officially left town and is now with his lab assistant. Andi's mother has gone crazy.
When her father finally learns that Andi's about the fail out of school and won't graduate, he comes back to Brooklyn to drag her to Paris so she can write her senior thesis outline-- her one chance at graduation. He also checks her mother into a mental hospital.
Andi's father is in Paris to do genetic testing on a heart that may or may not belong to Louis-Charles, the youngest son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Andi's researches her thesis on the music of Amade Malherbeau and his influence on later musicians to the modern day. While Paris is the best place to research Malherbeau's life (it's where he lived and composed) it doesn't get Andi's mind off things. Louis-Charles has Truman's eyes.
And then Andi finds a diary of Alex, a street performer who was Louis-Charles's companion and caught up in the horrors of the Revolution...
I like that, even though it's two stories in one, the focus stays on Andi. I was also wondering how the two were going to come together. How they did was... unexpected, but I liked it.*
Andi is so unpleasant, but the portrait of someone torn about by grief and guilt is so well done. I loved the solace she found in music and the advice of her guitar teacher.
Also... finding solace in classical guitar? Nice choice.
OH! And I looooooooooooooooooooooooved how human Marie Antoinette was. I haven't read a lot of fictional accounts of the French Revolution, so I don't have a huge basis for comparison, BUT, in popular culture she's portrayed as such a monster. I loved seeing a portrait of her as a mother and person.
I didn't find Alex's story as gripping, but I loved how taken Andi was with it and I think that if we hadn't been able to read what Andi was reading, we would have really lost what Andi was feeling and how important Alex became to her.
I was utterly engrossed in the story, and even though it's pretty lengthy (472 pages) I couldn't put it down and read it quickly (not that it's a quick read, just that when you read it CONSTANTLY...)
I'm not sure how I feel about the epilogue... I think I needed something more immediate and less nice, BUT overall, yes, this is a wonderful book and I'll add my voice to everyone else's.
*Slight spoiler-- I totally thought that Alex would end up being Malherbeau and that Malherbeau's big mystery was that he was really a she. Glad that I was wro
Thanksgiving is a time for pie. Pie makes me think of Harold and his purple crayon. Remember that picnic on the sandy beach? “There was nothing but pie. But there were all nine kinds of pie that Harold liked best.” My daughter and I love to imagine what all the different fillings could be. Who doesn’t love freshly baked pie, the most amazingly delectable dessert that fills the home with its tantalizing aroma? It’s such a perfect vehicle for a scoop or dollop of some cool creamy topping. Kids love to help bake, especially mixing, licking their sweet, sticky fingers and rolling out pie dough.
Here follows a list of picture books—all about pie—to share with your little ones. Some simply get your mouth watering, but most are laced with a secret ingredient. There is a reminder about abundance, a lesson on humility, and a tale of perseverance. You will also find a trip around the world, a juicy alphabet primer and a cautionary tale for the literal-minded—from Amelia Bedelia, of course. A few even include a recipe so good that you won’t need to invite a very hungry moose and deserving porcupine to help you finish.
Publisher’s synopsis:In this merry, multi-species story cooked up with folksy warmth and humor, everybody gets a piece of the pie — and then some.
Grandma Cat makes a delicious apple pie, and there’s plenty for everyone — and even a piece left over. Grandma Mouse finds a piece of apple pie, and there’s plenty for everyone — and even crumbs left over. Grandma Ant spies some crumbs of apple pie, and there’s plenty for everyone. But what’s left over after cats, mice, and ants have had their fill? Little readers will eat up this scrumptious, gently math-related story that’s as sweet and satisfying as a fresh-baked dessert.
I had the great privilege of hearing Jennifer Donnelly speak this Wednesday. She is on the second week of her book tour for REVOLUTION--a story which bridges the centuries with the lives of two teenage girls.
Ms. Donnelly titled her presentaion, "The Past Is Present: Writing REVOLUTION." The story involves the French Revolution, but it also deals with the revolution inside each of us. The author said, "All the books I've written have taken me on a journey. This book's journey has been the most rewarding."
The idea for the story started with a news article in the New York Times about the heart of the last dauphin, the son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. The dauphin died at the age of 10 while still imprisoned. His demise was one of the many tragic deaths during the Revolution's upheaval.
In REVOLUTION, Ms. Donnelly wanted to explore the cruelty of a world where the deaths of innocent children were almost overlooked. The dauphin's heart is still kept on display at the Basillica of St. Denis in Paris--a sad testimony to a tumultuous time.
0 Comments on Jennifer Donnelly, Author of REVOLUTION as of 1/1/1900
I finished one book and read two more this week. I enjoyed them all for different reasons and will be sharing them with my 7h graders once school starts. I especially love how these three really meet the needs of three different kinds of readers.
First up is REVOLUTION by Jennifer Donnelly, due out in October from Delacorte. I had high expectations for this novel because I loved Donnelly's A NORTHERN LIGHT so much. I wasn't disappointed with REVOLUTION, and in fact, I think I might have liked it even better.
The book starts in Brooklyn, where gifted but troubled Andi is supposed to be writing her class project on the music of fictional French composer Amade Mahlerbeau and its influences on modern musicians. What she's doing instead is barely hanging on. The death of her younger brother has sent her mother into depression, and Andi herself is getting through the days on her guitar music and some pretty heavy medication. Her parents are divorced, but when her DNA-scientist father discovers what's going on, he takes Andi with him on a research trip to Paris, where he's doing work to determine whether an old, shriveled-up heart actually belongs to a persecuted young prince from the Revolution era.
While she's in Paris, Andi discovers the diary of a teen girl living during the time of the French Revolution, a girl who has a strong connection to the young prince Andi's father is studying. As the days go by, Andi is drawn deeper and deeper into the diary and into the life of the composer Mahlerbeau until one night, she finds herself transported from the modern-day Catacombs to the Paris underground of the late 18th century.
This book combines so many amazing themes: grief and healing, the transformative power of music, and the things we do for love. And of course, there's also the theme of revolution -- that which exists in the bigger world and that which happens in our own souls. This was a great, compelling read, and it's a title I'll be thinking about for a long, long time. I'll be handing it to some of my more advanced readers -- including a few of last year's 7th graders who loved Donnelly's A NORTHERN LIGHT.
I'd be willing to bet that a lot of my new 7th grade girls in September are going to love this book...
THE HARD KIND OF PROMISE (Clarion - June 2010) is actually a title that I think fans of THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. will appreciate quite a bit. It's similar in that it tackles the everyday struggles of middle school life, and I love the way author Gina Willner-Pardo does this -- with characters who are real and flawed and discovering themselves and with dialogue that's so wonderfully authentic it made me laugh out loud in places. At its heart, this is a book about friendship -- about the friend that Sarah had grown up with and finds herself drifting away from as middle school presents new interests and challenges. It's a sweet, funny, heartfelt book -- one that's perfect to hand to students who are tired of big flashy vampire books and just want to read something about regular kids like themselves.
And here's one that I know my reluctant readers -- boys and girls alike -- are going to love.
YUMMY: THE LAST DAYS OF A SOUTHSIDE SHORTY (Lee & Low-July 2010) is a graphic novel written by G. Neri with illustrations by Randy DuBurke. It's a quick read that packs a punch because its title character, Robert "Yummy" Sandifer was a real-life Chicago gang member who killed and
“It’s never been alright. Not since the day I walked up these stairs and walked away from you. I ‘urt you that day, I know I did, but all you lost was me. I ‘urt myself a million times worse because I lost you.”
From MY SO-CALLED LIFE’s should’ve-been-penultimate episode (damn you, “Weekend”), “The Betrayal”:
Angela: Look, I don’t care anymore, okay? So just go away.
Rayanne: You’re not the only one who got hurt. Angela: Well, forgive me if I can’t feel sorry for you, Rayanne. Rayanne: You lost nothing, Angela. You lost a lousy, selfish friend, a guy you never really had… you lost nothing! …. I lost a really good friend! I lost everything.
And then comes the part where I cry and cry. It’s better on the show than in the book.
Posted in Donnelly, Jennifer, Shades of My So-Called Life
6 Comments on Shades of MSCL: When instead of apologizing for betraying someone, you minimize their pain, and it’s supposed to be self-deprecating and romantic, last added: 10/7/2009
I love that moment. It was so sad. I felt so bad for both Angela and Rayanne. Rayanne did some screwed up things but it was hard not to love her and feel for her no matter what. I’m not sure why–she just had that quality to her.
Elizabeth said, on 10/6/2009 12:27:00 PM
Oh, totally. She’s so selfish, but you can’t hate her for it at all. At least, I can’t. She’s a tragic figure. The end of that episode ALWAYS makes me cry. Every. Damn. Time.
iloveamandabynes said, on 10/6/2009 2:10:00 PM
One reason why the show is better than that moment in the book? Because they’re not speaking with phonetic cockney (or whatever) accents!! I think you’ve discussed the use of written dialect before somewhere on this blog, and I am emphatically con.
Also, through various sneaky methods, I can confirm that THE TEA ROSE is definitely adult. Though the fact that we were both confused by it shows that the cover and package were pretty poorly done!
Elizabeth said, on 10/6/2009 2:38:00 PM
God yes, I ALWAYS hate the fake phonetic spelling. Especially when it doesn’t change the actual pronunciation! (”luv,” “shure”)
I think it was on a Wednesday Words Emily posted from The Secret Garden that I was complaining about this before.
Sadako said, on 10/6/2009 4:34:00 PM
Oh I hate phonetic spelling too! Esp. the ones in the BSC for allergies. “I don’t doe, Bary Anne…” UGH! NO!!!! WRONG!
Elizabeth said, on 10/7/2009 9:44:00 AM
Sadako, that would drive me to violence. I’m very impressed with your resilience in recapping so many BSCs.
So I mentioned that Jennifer Donnelly’s THE TEA ROSE was nearly the only YA book I brought on my vacation (it’s true! I’ve been reading adult fiction up the wazoo!), and iloveamandabynes, AKA my long lost camp roommate, said in comments that she’s been reading it and hadn’t even realized it was YA. Which made me remember that Donnelly also writes for adults, and just because the book looks like YA — the cover and, especially, the page and font size — don’t make it so. In fact, a cursory look at the quotes on the cover would’ve made it obvious that this is clearly not being sold as YA.
…As would’ve simply flipping open to the first sentence: “Polly Nichols, a Whitechapel whore, was profoundly grateful to gin.” Um, yeah. I know YA’s gone through some dark phases, but no.*
The thing, though? I’m still in the first five pages, but this is so written like YA. Check out this paragraph:
Not come to the river? she thought, admiring the silvery Thames as it shimmered in the August sunshine. Who could resist it? Lively waves slapped impatiently at the bottom of the Old Stairs, spraying her. She watched them inching toward her and fancied that the river wanted to touch her toes, swirl up over her ankles, draw her into its beckoning waters, and carry her along with it. Oh, if only she could go.
Seriously, adults read this stuff? …I mean, adults who don’t primarily read books for teenagers. Which, apparently, qualification needs making. **
* By the way, has anyone ever seen an authorial narrator — as opposed to a character — ever refer to anyone, in any YA book, as a “whore”? I’d be stunned but now I’m curious.
** By the way ^2, I would love to hear y’all’s thoughts on whether it’s true that more adults read YA now (it certainly feels true, but given that I’m an adult YA blogger, I kind of think my anecdotal evidence may be selective…) and if lack of plot in adult literary fiction is why. Grossman’s response to critics is here.
Posted in Donnelly, Jennifer, On Genre
3 Comments on YA? Why… not., last added: 10/4/2009
I don’t think The Tea Rose (or The Winter Rose, the sequel) were published as YA – just A Northern Light. When I look it up at BWI, where I do my library orders, the age level is “adult.” Have you read A Northern Light? I thought it was better than the Rose books – a tighter story – and the style had a different feel to me. The Rose books feel more like a fluffy saga – delicious but eye-roll-inducing – but it never occurred to me to think of them as YA.
Elizabeth said, on 10/3/2009 2:49:00 PM
Yeah, I think what’s puzzling me now is that it’s clearly meant as an adult book, but the tone is SO fluffy. It’s like fluffy historical YA for adults. Which: maybe this is a normal genre, but not one I’ve encountered before.
I absolutely adored A NORTHERN LIGHT, which is why I bought this one. It’s not gripping me at the moment (there’s a reason I’m commenting on my blog while the book is sitting right next to me…), but I am glad I’ve got it for my long series of plane trips back to Madison tomorrow.
jessmonster said, on 10/3/2009 3:28:00 PM
I enjoyed the second book more than the first – maybe because I’d given myself over to the melodrama. I found them hard to put down, kind of like a candy bar. It felt kind of like a historical soap opera – so yeah, maybe just a genre that neither of us reads too often!
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So I mentioned that Jennifer Donnelly’s THE TEA ROSE was nearly the only YA book I brought on my vacation (it’s true! I’ve been reading adult fiction up the wazoo!), and 
Well, now you've done it...another one to add to my own teetering stack.
And I think you're being much too hard on yourself re the "gaps" in your literary background :)
I can so relate to what you express here about the gaps, and yet when I look at you I am in awe of the breadth of your knowledge and the amount you read.
A Northern Light is an excellent book. I especially liked that Mattie had a "word of the day" and even while working would ponder that word, coming up with all sorts of new ideas. Eventually, of course, Mattie thinks the unthinkable:
"Jezzum ... What if God was a woman? Would the pope be out of a job? Would the president be a woman, too? And the governor? And the sheriff? And when people got married, would the man have to honor and obey? Would only the women be allowed to vote? Emily Baxter's poems made my head hurt. They made me think of so many questions and possibilities" (p. 208).
Here's my review from a couple of years ago. (SPOILER: The comments say perhaps a bit too much, if you haven't read the book.)
http://bonniesbooks.blogspot.com/2010/01/northern-light-by-jennifer-donnelly.html
Oh, I'm so glad you enjoyed your time with it! I found the book instructive as well. If YOU are embarrassed by your own not-knowingness I should hide in a cave of shame. So many books...so little time. :)
Sounds like you're having a great time.
Mattie feels like a personal friend. So glad you two have met. xo