My advance bound copy of STAINED just arrived (it doesn’t release until Oct 1st)–and it is gorgeous! Absolutely beautiful. It felt so good to get in the mail today! (In STAINED, Sarah, a teen with a port-wine stain and body image issues, is abducted, and must find a way to rescue herself.)
There is so much excitement and joy in seeing (in person) the book you wrote–the finished copy–for the very first time. I admit that I was so excited to get STAINED that I ran and showed five different neighbors, and then a friendly teller at the bank who always loves to hear about my writing, and my hairdresser, and the clerk at the grocery store who’s always friendly with me. (Laughing) And they were all lovely about it, joining in with my excitement and enthusiasm.
And there is also SO much good feeling in holding your finished book in your hands for the first time. In running your hands over the cover, feeling the texture (or smoothness), breathing in the scent of the book, seeing your name on the cover, seeing the way your manuscript became an actual, finished book. Taking in the effect of the cover, the weight of the book, the color of the pages, the fonts used. Feeling proud of your hard work, your dream–and of the publishing team who helped you. My editor, Karen Grove, was fantastic, helping me make STAINED a stronger book, and everyone I worked with at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt was lovely.
I think the book designer Liz Tardiff did an absolutely beautiful job. I love the purple dripping from the title on the cover–so fitting when Sarah has a purple port-wine stain on her cheek, and she feels stained by it and the way people judge her, as well as by the abduction and rape. I also love how easy it is to read the one-liner and my name on the cover. I really love the cover–it reminds me of Ellen Hopkins’ books–but I’d already seen the cover (in digital form). What I hadn’t seen and realized was how gorgeous the paper for the dust jacket is. It’s a lovely matte finish with a wonderful, almost grainy texture–a surprise and a delight to hold!
And then the end papers are a deep, rich purple–tying perfectly into the title (and into the port wine stain on Sarah’s cheek), and also the first line description on the inside flap, and my name and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s info on the back flap.
And then a nice surprise, to me, was to take off the dust jacket and see the title in that vivid, shiny purple, overlaid on top of black, along the spine.
I am so lucky to have a cover and a book design I love. I’m so happy! I had a lot of fun with the photos and STAINED; I hope you can tell. (grinning)
Here’s one of me reading STAINED. I know that books can save lives. Books helped save mine, and I still get reader letters every week from teens (and adults) telling me how SCARS helped save them. I hope that STAINED will also be a book that will save lives.
I didn’t used to be able to say or even feel that I was proud of myself…but I am, now. I know my books reach people who need it. I know I write emotional truths, break silences, and talk about abuse and trauma and healing, queer characters and strong girls and things that I care about deeply. I know I’m writing the books I needed as a teen and couldn’t find. So today–with the arrival of STAINED (out Oct 1st!) I feel proud.
Thank you for allowing me to share my excitement and happiness with you over STAINED. (smiling)
And (ahem) if you noticed the blue and orange fabric in the corner of my photos, that is a pair of Petal’s (my little dog’s) pjs. heh.
Star Crossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce
This is Elizabeth Bunce’s second novel and the first in a new series. I loved her first book, A Curse Dark As Gold, an intriguing interpretation of the Rumplestiltskin folktale, and I eagerly looked forward to her next book. A genre, fantasy series, usually less favored by me, Star Crossed nevertheless delivers on many of the same levels: a strong, resourceful, true-hearted heroine; a diverse cast of interesting characters; vivid description; and the entertainment of life’s deeper questions.
Set in a fantasy world that atmospherically parallels eastern Europe in the late middle ages, this tale is narrated by a girl who has had to make her way into a hostile world at a very young age. She is on a singular mission—to stay alive. She becomes a very good thief, forger, and spy. But a near brush with death from a failed caper at the beginning of the story propels her into a mountain castle. Here she will sit out a snowbound winter with a cast of characters at the center of a budding rebellion.
Celyn, as she calls herself, is afraid of nothing. She uses her talents to find out everything there is to know about the castle and its inhabitants, slowly flushing all mysteries into the light. The reader comes along on her journey, flinching at her every daring move, as each of the characters slowly but inevitably reveals the clarity of their position in the central conflict.
Celyn is tough, resilient, and clever; she knows and protects good whenever she sees it. Readers of all ages who have enjoyed the Bloody Jack books will also like this book. The plot is tightly wovern and requires the reader to pay attention and work things out, but there is nothing inappropriate for the youngest of accomplished readers.
Gaby Chapman
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, by E. Lockhart
Frankie Landau-Banks just wants to be let in. As a sophomore at a prestigious East Coast boarding school, she is very happy that a really popular senior thinks she is adorable. But he and his buddies have the camaraderie, the intellectual repartee, and the bonding that appears to be creating a potential springboard for their future lives. That’s where Frankie wants to be, but her boyfriend cannot imagine including her. Smart, philosophical, and highly creative, Frankie wants both to be arm candy and also to be, not only included, but the leader of the pack. She will have to choose, and though the going gets rough, she will choose and she will eventually be happy with her choice.
Author E. Lockhart writes books for teenage girls that helpfully explain boys to them and that also encourage girls to not become dependent on boys for their own identity. She does this in a very entertaining and light-hearted fashion–her books are page-turners. well-written, entertaining, and helpful. The Disreputable History of Franki-Landau-Banks won the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature and was a finalist for the National Book Award. It is a pleasure to recommend it for teenage girls–the content is even appropriate for middle school girls, though high school girls will probably find it more interesting.
Gaby
The Endless Steppe by Esther Hautzig
Exiled to Siberia. After several weeks on a train, “enemies” of the Russian state have been dropped off to be forgotten in this nearly empty five million square miles for four hundred years. Ten-year old Esther Rudomin’s parents and grandparents are accused of being capitalists by the occupying Russians in 1941. They are yanked from their life of luxury and privilege in Vilna, Poland one morning and thrown into cattle cars with nothing but what they can carry. They end up being “lucky” for they are Jewish and the Germans who invade soon after did not practice the art of exile.
Esther spends the next five years in Rubtsvosk, Siberia. Extreme cold, constant hunger, filth, and fear are her constant companions. Yet she can still fret, like any young adolescent, about fitting in with her peers to the point that she will sacrifice food if it means she will belong. She creates, through pure force of will, the early teen years that she desires and when it is time to leave, she experiences the separation anxiety any teen feels when they must leave the first world they have created for themselves.
This is a story of resilience, pride, and determination, an intimate portrait of one slice of a significant time in relatively recent history. Girls from about fifth grade up to early high school will appreciate this story.
Gaby
Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer
It is 1797 in London and a young girl has just been put out on the street. All of her family has died of the pestilence and she has nothing but the clothes on her back. Oh, wait! Soon she is robbed of even those by a gang of orphans in need of new clothes. The girl who has her new clothes looks back at her and says, “Well, come on then. And quit your sniveling.” The girl, who narrates this story, writes, “I snuffles and gets up.”
She weeps, she fears, she loses, but she keeps getting up throughout this highly entertaining story of a girl who disguises herself as a boy so she can become a ship’s boy, avoid being hung for thievery, and get enough to eat. I usually demand more than pure entertainment from the books I read–I want to be able to see the world in a new way or learn something thrilling–and I usually don’t like series books, but I finished this book with a single thought: I wanted the next book in the series.
The character of Mary who becomes Jacky leaps from the pages. The endless series of riotous adventurous never seem contrived. All resolutions feel perfectly apt. Danger never disappears, but evil always gets its satisfyingly just desserts.
Bloody Jack will be enjoyed by kids who liked The Unfortunate Series of Events in their younger years, middle school and younger experienced readers who will not be confused by the occasional “guttersnipe” dialect of the narrator (“prolly” for probably; me mum and me dad, etc), high school readers who need a break from fantasy, teen-age angst, and vampire genres, and adults who just like to have fun reading. Attitudes towards the innate differences between the genders are of course amply explored and the romance is tender and true and not excessively graphic. I recommend not trying to find out if the author is male or female until you have read at least one book in the series.
Gaby Chapman
A Curse As Dark As Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce
In a tight spot, in an end of the road absolutely everything will be lost tight spot, who among us would not turn to the supernatural for help, even at an extreme cost? And if it works, would we not turn to it again if misfortune pushed us again to the wall? This is such a common experience it is no wonder it is a theme of stories in many cultures over the centuries. In the story of Rumplestiltskin, a miller’s daughter must spin straw into gold or her father will die. Talk about a tight spot. But a little man appears and spins the straw into gold for her. He asks for a necklace at first but eventually it is her child he wants. She saves the child by finding out the little man’s true name.
Elizabeth Bunce has taken the hapless miller’s daughter and made her into a real force. Strong, sensible Charlotte takes over the mill when her father dies and throws herself into the impossible challenge of overcoming adversity on every side. When all her options vanish, she turns to the mysterious little man who can spin straw into gold. But it is not only his name she must discover to save everything she holds dear; she must use all her courage to discover where her forebearers went wrong and she must make it right.
This is storytelling at its best and a wonderfully rich version of a very old tale. The spells, the magic, and the curse from the dead are skillfully woven into a warmly realistic tale of millers of cloth in the years before the Industrial transformation. As I was reading this book, I heard mysterious noises in my house differently and experienced fleeting moments where I thought I might be in the presence of spirits. No wonder I liked fairy tales so much when I was a child. They break open thin windows onto alternate worlds.
Girls from age ten to ninetly will love this book. It is an advanced read for younger girls and though fairly scarey, has nothing that would be inappropriate for younger readers.
Gaby Chapman
The Naming, by Alison Croggon
Presented as a translation of an ancient legend, The Naming is epic fantasy at its most classic. The Dark (working for what someone else forces you to do) threatens to extinguish the Light (working for what you hope for and believe in the depths of your heart) in the ancient civilization of Edil-Amarandh. Cadvan, a magically gifted Bard, believes that sixteen-year-old Maedra is the One who is Foretold to defeat the Dark. He finds her living wretchedly as a slave nine years after she survived the destruction of her home of Pellinor.
Eager to leave her life of slavery, Maedra and Cadvan embark on a long and dangerous journey during which she confronts enemies and realizes her special gifts. On this journey, Maedra finds her little brother, Hem, who she thought had been killed. They must separate at the end of The Naming, as Maedra continues her quest in The Riddle. Hem’s story is taken up again in the third book, The Crow. In the last book, The Singing, brother and sister are reunited for a final effort against the growing power of the Dark.
The edge of danger never lags in this series and the evil ones are plenty scary. The characters are complex and the line between the Light and the Dark is often blurred. Maedra is strong-willed, intelligent, kind, and brave. Because of the strength of her character, this series has been well-liked by the middle and high school girls in my classes, but boys who are avid fans of fantasy have also liked it. The protagonist is a teenager and as such there are some themes of romance and maturing development, but these are more implicit than explicit. Though this series has been compared to The Lord of the Rings, I think it is a slightly easier read and could be appreciated by younger, experienced readers also.
Gaby Chapman
Sacred Scars, by Kathleen Duey
The second book in this trilogy continues the story of wizardry and time warp begun in the first book Skin H
unger (see March 17 review). This is a woven story with the warp being told from the perspective of a girl and the weft being told from the perspective of a boy. In Skin Hunger,their stories are separated by a great span of time, but they both are under the power of the same sadistic, twisted wizard, Soumiss. Soumiss exists in both stories since he has the secret of long life. In Sacred Scars, the time span between the two stories narrows. The book ends with an implicit promise that the two strands will merge in the third book.
Mystery and the constant threat of danger propel this story along at a pleasing pace. In this second volume, the conflict between the abuse of power and the capacity for kindness solidifies. While suffering permeates almost every chapter, it is continually tempered by slivers of tenderness and loyalty. Romance exists but remains primarily on a spiritual plane.
Fans of the first book will be pleased with this one. However, being the second in a trilogy, there is a sense of inertia: the first volume developed the characters but resolution can not come to them until the final book. The anticipation set up in Skin Hunger will have to wait one more volume for satisfaction.
Gaby Chapman
Bloodhound (The Legend of Beka Cooper, Book 2)
by Tamora Pierce
Random House Books for Young Readers (April 2009)
ISBN-10: 0375814698, ISBN-13: 978-0375814693
My rating: 4/5 stars
Thursday, September 6, 247 H.E.
I should have known tonight’s watch would kiss the mule’s bum when Sergeant Ahuda stopped me after baton training. “A private word, Cooper,” she told me, and pulled me into a quiet corner of the yard. Her dark eyes were sharp on my face. We’d gotten on well since I’d finished my Puppy year and in my five months’ work as a Dog. I couldn’t think what I might have done to vex her.
“Your reports have gotten sloppy.” That was Ahuda, never one to soften her words. “You leave out detail, you skip what’s said. YOu used to write the best reports of any Puppy or first-year Dog, but not of late. Have you slacked on the memory exercises?”
I gazed at the ground. Of course I’ve been slacking. What’s the use, with partners like I’ve had?
–Bloodhound (The Legend of Beka Cooper, Book 2)
by Tamora Pierce, p. 15.
If you like fantasy and you haven’t read Tamora Pierce, you’re missing out.
Pierce’s books have strong female characters, great world building and settings, and characters facing conflict and coming out on top. Bloodhound
is no exception.
Beka Cooper used to live in a slum area, and knows how to talk street talk and notice what’s happening around her, see pickpockets and more. She trained to be part of the Provost’s Guard (like a police officer), and now she’s a full member, a Dog–and trying to make her co-workers proud. But some don’t want to work with her, because she always wants to do what is right, and is fierce about it. There are a lot of crooked guards. But Beka persists. With her tenacity, talent, and some magic (she can hear the newly dead whose souls fly on the backs of pigeons, and can hear bits of conversations that happened close to wind) she hunts down criminals and strives to put things right–including a huge undertaking, fighting couterfieters which threaten to undermine the whole country through putting too much fake silver into the regions. Beka also discovers a new lover, and gains a new animal companion, in addition to her cat and the pigeons.
The story is written in diary form, in a strong, vivid voice. Most of the writing is compelling and fast moving, but there were places where the diary format grated on me and made me notice the convention, such as the too-frequent repetition that Beka was too tired to write any more that night, or the fact that she was writing. It sometimes got in the way of the story for me, and I wished it wasn’t there. But the rest of the time, Beka’s voice is strong and vibrant.
Pierce is an expert at making the world in her books seem real. She brings such great setting detail without giving too much, and brings in the senses–sound, smell, touch, taste, and of course sight–which helps the reader really believe in the setting. The language, too, flows beautifully, and I found myself so immersed in the book that for the few days while i was reading it, I’d find myself thinking “mayhap” and other language from the time period.
Pierce has an ability to make strong-girl characters that the reader cares about and roots for. Pierce’s characters come alive, and she uses specific details that help make them stand out–even walk on characters, such as a carter with blackened teeth. These details help make the characters believable and to feel real. You’ll come to care about the characters, especially Beka, for her bravery, her courage, her tenacity and her fiestiness, as well as her compassion and good-heartedness. For her wanting to do what is right, and help protect others. Beka is a wonderful, full character, with some self doubt, impulsiveness, and shyness to round her off, and she excels at her job as a guard.
Pierce brings a lot of good feeling with there being many good characters who revolve around or interact positively with Beka, showing her kindness, affection, or respect, or offering help, which works to balance out the negative things that happen. Pierce also uses some language specific to her worlds, as well as to the time period, likely from England. I had no trouble with the language and could easily follow along, but there is a glossary in the back for readers who need it.
There’s a nice thread of romance and some sexual tension, as Beka finds herself choosing between two possible boyfriends. I love that the strong-girl character is still desired by the male characters, and valued for her strength and her character as well as her beauty.
There were a few things that didn’t work as well for me in the book. I felt like this story was missing a bit of tension, perhaps because Beka didn’t have to prove herself to anyone any more, or when she was faced with danger, we didn’t always get to see it. It also felt like there were too many characters, at least for me; they distracted from the main or important characters, and I often couldn’t follow all of them. There IS a character reference/map at the back of the book, which I didn’t realize when i was reading–but i wouldn’t have wanted to stop reading every time i didn’t know who a character was to check (it interferes with the flow), and i don’t think a reader should have to…. But that’s me.
There were a few scenes where it felt like Pierce avoided some conflict and pain that would have made a great scene, telling us things afterwards, such as when Bekka was attacked at her house. I felt a bit cheated as a reader to have Bekka not remember things. There was also the occasional scene which felt like it should have a point or something connected to it that matters later, but didn’t, and didn’t seem to advance the story forward, such as when Bekka talks to her cousin and he realizes she really talks to pigeons. And we’re told that Bekka is upset about temporarily losing her cat, but I don’t think we saw enough affection between them or a deep enough relationship to believe it.
Beka is an engaging and likable character, as are Goodwin and Tunstall, and others. This is the second book in a series, (Terrier being the first), but you don’t need to have read the first book to enjoy this one. This was a thoroughly enjoyable read–one that captured my interest, immersed me completely in the world, and made me eager to read on right to the very end.
Highly recommended.
If you like this book, check out Pierce’s Song of the Lioness; Immortals Quartet; and Protector of the Small series for more fantastic, strong-girl reads.
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Last year many of my students loved Graceling by Kristin Cashore. The sequel, which actually is a prequel, Fire comes out on October 5. 
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Watch out playing with that book. You’ll get it stained
Congrats.
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