Merry Wanderer of the Night:
Contemporary

I was so excited for Don't Say a Word by Holly Cupala because I absolutely loved Tell Me a Secret. And for the most part it SO delivered. Almost the whole way through Don't Say a Word, I was convinced it was going to be a new favorite, a five star rating, Basically Amazing. Everything about it was like Tell Me a Secret, only more. The cover is better, the emotions more intense, the danger more real etc. But, unfortunately, everything was more, which also means that the complaints I had about the ending of Tell Me were more in Don't Breathe as well, and I was left disappointed by the end.

In Don't Breathe a Word, Joy, so desperate to get away from the problems in her home life, fakes her own kidnapping and runs away, determined to find the homeless boy in Seattle who once offered her help. The pieces to why Joy is so desperate to get away, and why it's necessary that it not seem like a voluntary absence, are slowly revealed as the story unfolds. You know there is something sinister about her boyfriend, Asher, but we don't know the extent of it until much later in the story, but still, my heart just ached for Joy as I thought about all that she must have gone through, all that rested on her shoulders. But, then, she escapes and she finds Creed, who welcomes her into his 'family'.

Joy (now called Triste) knew that being homeless would be hard. But she thought more about the physical hardships — no shelter, little food, no money etc and less about the dangers from other people. Before she finds Creed, she has close encounters with several dangerous persons and in one encounter, loses her backpack with all her money, but more importantly, her asthma inhalers, which she needs to live. She's been hospitalized numerous times because of near fatal asthma attacks, and it's one more reasons Joy felt completely smothered at home. This is something that saddened me, because her parents don't realize what her life is like. She tries so hard to be a help, not a burden to her parents that she doesn't tell them about what's going on with her and they either don't notice, or they choose not to. Everyone is constantly afraid she will have an asthma attack so her freedoms are nonexistent and her boyfriend is controlling, manipulative and creepy. And her parents have no idea, instead pushing her closer to Asher, because he takes care of her and can protect her. Broke my heart. It's something that I'm genuinely afraid of — having a child going through something so horrible and not having a clue about it.

This book, this story was intense. Living on the streets is not a picnic, not something easy, and a decision to leave your home to live on the streets is not something that should be easily reached. Joy thought she was prepared for what was waiting, but she wasn't even close. I was constantly afraid for Joy and I was so happy when she found a group of people who accepted her and helped her. She really connected with the people who made up her new family; Creed, the leader who found her and was the first to welcome her, Santos, who keeps his dark secrets close but finds Triste the asthma medicine she needs, and May, initially wary of Triste and unwilling to welcome her, but they soon reach a friendly understanding and May even gives Triste a better (much better) haircut. But, life on the streets cannot remain happy for very long and the four are faced with regular challenges and dangers, some that they cannot escape from.

And it's told beautifully. I mean it. Guys, I was always so caught up in this story, so moved, so worried for these characters. I felt so much of this story, so strongly. Cupala writes hard and painful emotions perfectly.

But as I mentioned earlier, I didn't feel the novel as a whole maintained that level of emotion. For such a powerfully intense and gritty story, the ending was far too tidy. The story was so realistic, so believable and so hard to read because of it. But then the ending took all that away from me. Real life does not hand you packages wrapped with bows, which is what I got from this book. If I want bows on my endings, I read light-hearted Contemporary, maybe some fantasy, or some middle grade. If I want realistic and honest endings, I read Contemporary YA. And this book delivered all that I desire in an emotional Contemporary read, right up until that ending. And the ending that was delivered here cheapened not only the experiences of every single character, but the people and teens who have to live through something like this in real life too.

I'm a firm believer in the power of endings. Ofttimes for me, they can make or break a book completely. I still loved this book, I really did. The writing is too honest and powerful to ignore but the ending significantly lessened the impact of the story for me.

But even with my disappointment in the ending, this is still a book that I'm going to highly recommend reading. Cupala is a gifted writer and I plan to read her for as long as she writes (although, not gonna lie, I am hoping that her endings get a little more... authentic with future books).

Today's Topic post is about what I'd like to see more of in Contemporary YA. And, to be perfectly honest, my answer to that question is simply — More. I'd like to see more of all of it. But even if Contemporary doesn't get as much publicity as some of the other genres right now, there is still a lot of it being written, and a lot of it being published. So rather than talking about what I'd like to see writers do that they aren't doing (because they are) or what publishers should be doing (because they try) I'm going to talk a little about what I want to see readers doing. But more than that — I'm going to put my metaphorical money where my mouth is and do something about it. But, I am only one person, so I need your help!

What I really want to see more of in regards to Contemporary YA is readers well, reading it. I've been amazed and gladdened and thrilled by the response to Just Contemporary month. It's blown my mind. So many bloggers and authors and readers have gotten behind this event and participated and it's fabulous. But there are still people that I see saying, I don't think Contemporary is for me, or I've tried reading a Contemporary and couldn't get into it, or (I see this a lot) I read to escape, why would I want to read about real life?! But to be honest, I think there is something within the Contemporary genre for everyone.

SO — I am hosting a reading challenge to encourage and promote Contemporary/Realistic YA!

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Rules/Guidelines/Important Info:

This is a challenge to get people reading more Contemporary/Realistic Fiction.

There are two possible ways to participate:

The first is simple — Read Contemporary YA. Every single Contemporary counts. Challenge yourself to read more Contemporary YA than normal. If you never read it, add a few next year. If you are new to it, try for one a month. Or two a month. Or even more!

The second is the same basic idea (read more) but it adds variety to what you pick. Instead of reading any Contemporary, this gets you to mix-it up. There are so many sub-genres within Contemporary that I want to encourage people to try more of them. This is a good place for those who already read a lot of Contemporary.

If you want to participate in option 2, you can make it as strict or as flexible as you'd like. If you only read YA Romantic Comedies, reading one book about grief or even a romantic drama can qualify you for the second group. Reading to me is very personal, and Contemporary more so, IMO, than any other genre, so I'm letting that carry over into how you set your goals for this challenge.

There will be monthly updates and mini-challenges and giveaways going up around the first of each month. Each month will be something different and (hopefully) fun. Participation in mini-challenges is optional. Some of the monthly challenges and 'games' will be the same between challenge group 1 & 2 and other months they will be different.

Books must be read between January 1, 2012 and December 31st 2012.

Any Contemporary YA book will count toward this challenge regardless of publication date.

There will be a weekly link up for reviews. Reviews are not mandatory, but are strongly encouraged (spread the word!!) and extra entries into all relevant giveaways will be given for each review.
Reviews can be posted to a blog, goodreads or, for those who don't use either, guest review options will be available as well.

Extra entries for giveaways during any future Contemporary Event will also be awarded to participants of the challenge.

You do not need to be a blogger to participate. International participants are completely welcome and although every giveaway will not be available to you, I will make sure that there are some open to you too.

To sign up use the Linky below and tell me which of the two options you are signing up for and how many Contemporary books you would like to read next year. (So I would sign up as — Basically Amazing Ashley — 2; 52)

And please share in more detail! I would absolutely love to see sign up posts where you declare your goals for the Challenge and let others know why you are participating, or leave me a comment with what you think of the challenge and what you hope to see from it! And, as always, if you need or want any Contemporary YA recommendations in any category or sub-category, let me know! If I can't find the perfect book for you, odds are pretty good I know someone else who might!

Thou Shalt Not Road Trip by Antony John is one of the books I was most looking forward to in 2012. So when I invited Antony to take part in Just Contemporary and he sent me an ARC, to say I was ecstatic is an understatement.

I am going to warn you in advance that this review is all over the place and it's long. Although my feeling are overall positive, they range from surprised to shocked to disappointed to confused to annoyed to thrilled to amazed to Seriously? to pleased and pretty much everywhere in between. So.

To be perfectly honest, a part of me is devastated that I didn't love this book the way that I absolutely adored Five Flavors of Dumb. This doesn't mean I didn't like it, but this book lacked a certain authenticity in everything except the religion talk. Which makes that a great place to start.

I was surprised when I started reading this book to realize just how much religion plays a part in the story. I don't know how I missed it, because the title includes the words 'thou' and 'shalt' and the main character is on a book tour for the book he wrote called Hallelujah. So, I was instantly wary. Because, for a lot of reasons, that I'm pretty sure I don't need to numerate, books with really strong religious themes are not always my favorite and, in my experience, they aren't always done very well. But for me, this was actually the best part of the book. Rather than being a book about RELIGION it is more a book about a boy who happens to be religious. He believes in God, says his prayers, wants to see other people happy and he also questions his faith and beliefs. As someone who has been religious my whole life, this was incredibly refreshing to me. Here we have a mostly normal teenage boy, who is religious and it isn't this huge thing or problem or issue or whatever. It just was.

And Antony gets the full Ashley stamp of brilliance, because he managed to talk about religion a lot (Luke is on a book tour through Christian book stores) but he never, not once, came across as preachy to me. There were morals to the story, and life lessons learned but none of them were strictly brought about because of a religious lesson. They were normal. And it was amazing. Here is a book with religion in the summary that didn't turn into either an excuse to hate on religion and demonstrate its utter evil OR a 300+page Sunday School lesson. There are a lot of people and a lot of teens who go to church every Sunday. It an important but normal part of their lives. It's nice to have a book that gives us a religious character and handles it well. So, serious awesome points to Antony for that. Seriously.

However, I had a really hard time with just about every character in this story. Luke is supposed to be on tour for his book and his older brother, Matt, is brought along to act as his chauffeur. But Matt decides to bring along his girlfriend, Alex, and her little sister, Fran, who happens to be Luke's ex-best friend and major crush. Awkward. Fran has changed physically a lot in the past year, and Luke interprets this to mean that everything he knows about Fran has changed. And since she is a large part of the reason he's questioning a lot of his decisions (including his faith) and feeling disconnected from his life. So the author of this inspirational best-selling Christian self-help novel finds himself feeling... less than charitable as their road trip advances.

I found myself really frustrated with these characters. Luke's disinterest in his own life, his naivete and his complete and total self-centeredness were incredibly frustrating to read. Not that he didn't grow as a character, because he did and by the end of the book I was absolutely rooting for him. But it was a struggle getting me there. Fran has made some drastic physical changes — outrageous hair, piercings, tattoos, drinking etc. All things that usually signal a cry for help. But all Luke can see is that his best friend is suddenly different and he feels so wounded. When he talks to her, even when he thinks he is being so magnanimous and gracious, he's judgmental and feels as if her problems are all about him. Again, he grows as a character but it's a bit rocky in the beginning.

Matt was probably my least favorite character (although undeveloped Alex isn't far behind.) He is supposed to be in charge of organizing Luke's schedule and getting him places on time. Instead, he regularly took long detours, made decisions about where they would stop without saying anything about it to Luke and there were a few times he outrighted lied to him. While it's very true that Luke needed to lighten up a bit, Matt's behavior drove me nuts. He ignored phone calls from Luke's publicist, used the emergency credit card too often and ignored Luke's distress without even trying to alleviate it. Pretty much every time he did anything, Matt frustrated me. You understand him and his motivations better by the end of the book too, but he still never really grew on me.

Fran was an interesting character and probably my favorite of the bunch. Aside from Luke, she has the most depth and personality and meaning, but even then, I felt her main purpose in the story was to bring balance and understanding to Luke and give him the motivation, reason and environment necessary to invite growth and change. Luke has some depth as a character (for good or bad) without Fran, but Fran had very little without Luke. She was the next best developed character overall, and I felt for her, I really did, but not enough.

The book also include excerpts from Hallelujah, Luke's books, and they are seriously laugh out loud funny. Written as Bible passages, full of 'and he spake' and 'thus sayeth' and 'art thou' they are basically stories of inspiration and hope and insight. Some are funny, some are motivating, and some are a little more tinged with despair, but each were placed perfectly throughout the book to build and move the story forward. These were a fabulous addition, one that added a lot of depth and feeling to the story that would have otherwise been missing.

I do have one other confession about this book, lest you think I was totally disappointed. I have been in a bit of a reading slump lately. And when I'm in this kind of mood, I read very slow, I start and stop books frequently, and I have to kind of force whatever book I'm reading. This has absolutely nothing to do with the book I'm reading, and everything to do with my personal mood. And even though I really and truly did enjoy this book, I am 99% positive that if I had read it when I was more in the mood to read, I would have really loved the book. It's definitely one that I'm going to reread. Maybe I'll even reread it soon, so that if my feelings change drastically, like I think they could, I can rereview the book closer to its April release date. Who knows.

What I do know, is that even not being as enamored of this book as I was of Dumb, it is definitely a book worth reading and it's one that I've already been talking about and recommending. I think this book has a lot to offer and Antony John is going to be firmly stuck on my favorite authors list for a long time. It's a story about life and love and second chances, about friendship, looking beyond the surface and being true to yourself. It's a story that makes you laugh, but one that also makes you think. And while it's not necessarily a story for everyone, it is a story that I believe is important. It's a book that is going to stick with me and even though they weren't my favorite, I have a feeling these characters aren't going to get out of my head for a long time

I read Antony's Five Flavors of Dumb earlier this year and was blown away. It is seriously amazing and I loved it. So of course I wanted to get Antony on board for Just Contemporary and he has been totally awesome to work with! He is an author that will be on my stalk watch list for the rest of forever! You can read my review of Five Flavors of Dumb here, and later today I will be posting my review of his upcoming novel, Thou Shalt Not Road Trip.

Five Flavors of Dumb is an awesome novel and the basic idea — a deaf band manager — is something unexpected. How did you get the idea for Dumb and what made you decide to make Piper deaf. (Or did you decide...)

First off, thanks for the HUGE compliment, and a big hi to all your readers. Since I often read your blog, that includes me. *waves at self*

Okay, moving on...

Before I started writing, I was heavily into music. As in, I have a Ph.D. in it. I always knew I wanted to write a YA novel about rock music, but as my agent ever-so-gently reminded me, there are quite a few of those already. So I sat down with my wife (who is much smarter than me) and asked if she had any ideas. Straight away, she suggested that if I wanted a true challenge, I should consider writing about music from a deaf teen's perspective.

I knew straight away that she was right. Still, it took another four months of research before I dared to write it!

Dumb has gotten a lot of attention and love (and least in the blogging world). How does it feel, knowing that a book you wrote has resonated so strongly with such a large and varied group of people?

It feels wonderful! And you’re right... it really is a varied group. I’ve had messages from deaf and hearing readers, young and old.

But it’s also a relief. When the book came out, I was nervous. I mean, really nervous. What if deaf teens felt misrepresented? What if just one said, “That’s not how it really is”? I knew I’d feel like I’d let them down. Realistically, no more than a handful of books featuring deaf narrators will be released each year. If mine had failed to give deaf teens a narrator they could root for, and failed to shed light on deafness for hearing teens, then it would have been worse than a flawed novel. It would have been a wasted opportunity. The first is inadvisable; the second, inexcusable.

The fact that the book resonated with readers has enabled me to sleep again at night. (So thanks, bloggers!)

I actually just realized that you had a novel come out before Dumb (saw the title in the signature of your email, actually) called Busted: Confessions of an Accidental Player. Have anything you'd like to share with us about your debut?

It’s definitely funny. And fast-paced. But Five Flavors of Dumb is better. Can we leave it at that?

Your third book, Thou Shalt Not Road Trip is coming out next year. What has been the difference in your experience waiting for each book release?

Ooh, what an interesting question...

I think with my debut novel, I wasn’t sure what to expect. There’s so much that goes on around the book (i.e. publicity, distribution, trade reviews, etc) that I felt swamped.

With #2 (Five Flavors of Dumb) I was better prepared, and I knew that the book was much stronger, so I was just excited, rather than freaked out. I was also impatient, I suppose (a common trait among writers, I've heard).

For book #3 (Thou Shalt Not Road Trip) it’s different again. Dumb is still going strong, and so I’m going to be busy answering questions about that, and doing school visits connected with it. Plus, the paperback has only just come out, so it’s certainly not an “old” book yet. At the same time, the ARC of book #4 (see below) will be coming out at the same time as Road Trip, so I’ll be dealing with that too. In other words, it’ll be a really interesting (and possibly chaotic) period. But I still can’t wait!

What inspired Road Trip?

Growing up, I spent a lot of time at church as a member of the choir. Because of that, I was privy to a lot of really interesting theological discussions, not all of which made a whole lot of sense to me.

Oh, and I adore road trips. Route 66 is a national treasure. So...

I had an idea of a smart, religious sixteen-year-old boy named Luke who writes a bestseller called Hallelujah. To capitalize on the success, his publisher sends him on a road trip along Route 66. Trouble is, his older brother is driving, and the guy has some serious baggage (no, I’m not talking about suitcases). Then Luke’s ex-crush, Fran, hitches a ride. Suddenly the road trip is veering off-course as fast as the curveball questions at his turbulent book signings.

It’s funny, slightly crazy, but also (I hope) thought-provoking.

Why Contemporary?

Contemporary YA is my first love (in terms of books, I mean). There’s such extraordinary variety, and room for everything from laugh-out-loud comedy to highly literary explorations of personal tragedy.

To be honest, it’s far too broad to be a single genre, and it benefits from that, I think.

Whereas readers of adult genres often confine themselves to their favorite sections of the bookstore, fans of contemporary YA might be surprised by a book that’s a romance, another that’s a thriller, another that’s a comedy, and so on. I reckon that exposure to multiple kinds of book has to be a healthy thing for teen readers especially.

Aside from the writing itself, what would you say has been the most challenging part of being a writer?

That would have to be staying on top of publicity. I do regular tour events, school visits, even Skype appearances with book clubs. I love it too, but almost every one requires a lot of organization, and there’s never a day when I can focus exclusively on writing. I think this is maybe the one aspect of being a published author that most writers underestimate. Again, though... I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Are you working on book 4 now? Any details you can share with us?

Yes, indeed! Book 4, titled Elemental, is almost finished, and will be released in fall 2012. It’s the first in a fantasy trilogy set on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It tells the story of a colony in which everyone is born with powers of the elements—earth, water, wind, and fire—except for one boy who is powerless... or is he? I’m so psyched about it I can barely see straight.

Thanks so much for having me along today, Ashley!

Website: http://www.antonyjohn.net
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Antony-John/124596187591570

You are so welcome Antony! Thank you so much for participating! This was such a great interview! I loved it! Also, I'm really intrigued by book 4! I'm always a little apprehensive when a favorite writer switches genres (because I'm a huge baby: P) but it sounds awesomeand I've always loved stuff that ties into the elements like that! It sounds amazing!! And now — YOU have a chance to win a copy of one of Antony's novels! He's offering a signed copy of both Dumb and Road Trip to two different winners! It's only open to US/CN and just enter below!

I'm not exactly quite about the fact that Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta is one of my absolute, all-time favorite books. I love it. I treasure it. I recommend it so often that people who know me don't even need a title to know which book I'm talking about. I love it. Seriously. There are not enough words to truly describe how much I love this book. I wanted to reread it before I review it, so that I can truly do justice to the story, but I also wanted to set up some quotes from people I know (many of whom I pushed the book on) who love Jellicoe Road as well and let you read a paragraph from each of these awesome bloggers expressing their love and affection for the masterpiece that is Jellicoe Road.

Audrey @ Holes in My Brain

I could honestly sing praises for Jellicoe Road all day and never run out of things to say, but since I don't have that type of time, we can just get to the crux of the novel and what makes it magical: the characters that Marchetta found a way to bring to life. Through masterful storytelling and absolutely flawless prose, I fell in love with Taylor and Jonah and Narnie and Jude and every single other unforgettable, beautiful, and painfully real character. And sometimes the characters are all I need to fall in love, but luckily enough, Jellicoe Road also comes with an intricate plot and the best tortured love interest in Young Adult literature. Seriously.

Katelyn @ Katelyn's Blog

I love Jellicoe Road for many reasons. The characters, each and every one of them, are extraordinary to me. The two stories told through this one book, touch a special place in my heart. I love the school, the town, and the friendships that are created. I love that this book brought happy tears to my eyes. I love that I can recommend this book to EVERYONE with the upmost confidence that once they finish it, they will love it. I love that this whole story was work. I was constantly piecing it together in my head and at the end of the book, it all came together seamlessly. Most importantly, I love it because it is the epitome of what every great Contemporary Fiction book should have: a brilliant cast of characters, a vivid setting, and a story that steals your heart.

Asheley @ Into the Hall of Books

I love an excellent story that is driven by incredible characters, and that is exactly what Jellicoe Road is. It is so beautifully well-written that when I finished the book, I felt like I had been inside of the book, living and breathing the story on its pages. There are very few times in my life that I have been so wrecked by the lives of a group of characters, and this is one example that will stay with me probably forever. It is truly one of the best books I've ever read.

Jacinda @ The Reading Housewives

Melina Marchetta has a way of turning a young adult novel about a character into being more than just about that one character, but about many. She brings adult characters into the storyline who still need to grow, change, and learn. They aren’t just someone’s parents or disciplinarians or elders in her books, but people with problems. Jellicoe Road is so in-depth many people, including myself, are totally confused for the first 100 pages, but I assure you, after those pages, you will be amazed!

Misty @ The Book Rat

I think it's pretty clear to anyone who reads Jellicoe Road that it's an amazing story — the understanding of human nature and emotion, the ambiance to the book, and the way it all unfolds, the past and present fitting together like a puzzle. But what really took my breath away is how a story can deal with such tragedy that the weight of it just shatters you, and yet still be written with hope. That was the feeling I was left with, and it was beautiful.

Alexa @ Collections

I didn't even know books could take you to a whole other level, until I read Jellicoe Road. It seriously blew my mind. I actually feel hurt when someone doesn't love it because to me, it's the most amazing book in the world. I absolutely loved everything about it, and I can already see myself reading it again and again for years to come.
Aren't they all BRILLIANT?! Seriously. Thank you all, SO much for writing to tell me, and thereby sharing with everyone your love for this amazing book. And all I can say to you is yes. YES. That. All of the above. LOVE. You are brilliant ladies and I thank you.

If you haven't read Jellicoe Road, we should chat. It's amazing and beautiful and heartwrenching and soul tearing and uplifting and building and brilliant. It is about as close to perfection as any novel I've ever seen and I love it.

I have loved all of the authors I've invited to participate in Just Contemporary. They were all invited because I especially loved whichever of their books I've read. But I definitely have to admit that Melina Marchetta agreeing to participate is the icing on my awesome cake. I've never tried to hide how much I love her writing or how strongly I've connected to her books, so here is my interview with Melina Marchetta! (runs off to fangirl squee more)

You've written both Contemporary and Fantasy. What made you decide to switch genres? Which do you prefer writing? Which is more of a challenge?

When Finnikin the character came to me, I knew I couldn’t set it in the here and now. It would have been too political, so I decided to set it in a world that looked like the year 1000. But I didn't want to deal with the Crusades so the fantasy novel was born. I had always been frightened of writing fantasy because I’m a bit in awe of good fantasy writing and didn't think I was good enough.

With regards to my preference, I always prefer the novel I’m working on so if you asked that question two years ago when The Piper's Son was being written, I’d say contemporary. I’m writing the follow up to Froi at the moment, so I’m preferring fantasy. With regards to difficulty, what I actually find is that the Contemporary novels are emotionally the hardest to write and the plot driven novels (Jellicoe and the Lumatere Chronicles) are structurally the hardest. The Lumatere Chronicles require much more research and world building and I’m currently in a great state of anxiety. Do not believe for one moment that writing gets easier.

Jellicoe Road is absolutely one of my most favorite books of all time. I recommend that book to so many people, more so than any other book I've ever read and I honestly doubt that I will ever find another book that affected me the way Jellicoe Road did. So, I'm so curious — What was it like? Writing that book?

Out of all my novels, it’s been in my head and heart the longest. I started writing a version of it back in 1993 and still today I’m putting the last full stop on the film script. So Taylor’s been there for quite some time. Plot, as I said earlier, is difficult. If you get one thing wrong, the whole thing pretty much falls to pieces and every time I solved one problem, I’d discovered another. It really hurt my head trying to get it right. While writing the film script I had to find a completely different way for Taylor to piece together the clues of the past so it hurt my head a second time. In the script, there are visuals like maps and wall charts and photographs and artwork to do the job of the words in the novel. I never want to have to replot this story again.

I think the key word is patience. I would never ever criticise someone who can write a novel a year. But I can’t. Some of the magical moments come to me when I've let it simmer between drafts. Jonah Griggs was born in that simmer. He appeared as a multi-dimensional character in Taylor’s story almost ten years after I first started writing it. I’d wait those ten years again for another character like him.

On a similar note — I've talked a lot of people who feel the same, who just so fully connected to the characters and the story you created. What does it feel like, knowing that you've inspired and created such intense emotions in so many people?

Overwhelming seems a cliché, but that’s what it is. What I love best is that most readers have responded to the friendships rather than just the love story. There are many things you want as a writer. Awards, shortlists, starred reviews etc are fantastic. But I want to be read, not just referred to. So knowing that someone in the deep south of America or a reader in Russia or Korea or Sweden or Spain is relating to Taylor, well that’s pretty mindboggling for someone on the other side of the world. Twenty years ago when my first novel was released, I calculated I knew two hundred people in the world and that only 200 people would ever read my work.

You said you wrote The Piper's Son because Tom wouldn't leave your thoughts alone. Are there any other characters that have been sneaking back that we might get to see again?

If that’s a surreptitious way of asking about Jimmy Hailler, no. I don’t know where Jimmy is. I think he’s happy though because the real Jimmy is happy and I never thought he would be. I looked up the real Jimmy’s profile on facebook the other day and under interests he wrote, “ laughing at people when they fall down”. Cruel, but very Jimmy-like and it made me laugh in the same way as when I knew him as a teenager.

The problem with revisiting a character is that you don’t just have to concentrate on one. You have to work out where they all are. How can I do that without breaking a reader’s heart with life’s realities or fooling them into believing in perfect endings for everyone? What I try very hard to do is leave the ending open for the reader so they can work it out for themselves. But I promise that in my head, they get a happy ending. Jonah appears in his little brothers book, The Gorgon in the Gully and I think I’ll be writing another Danny Griggs novel next year so Jonah’s bound to make another cameo. A friend and I are also working on a 10 part TV series which may go nowhere, but we think it’s about Jessa McKenzie, four years on.

You caught me.:) Although I'm beyond delighted to hear that Jonah makes a reappearance, I was most definitely hoping we'd get to see more of Jimmy!

Jellicoe Road is one of the most complex and layered books I've ever read. There is so much, so many secrets and hidden things to learn. Did you start Jellicoe Road knowing how the story was to unfold, knowing where it would take you? Or did the story surprise you too, unfolding slowly, layer by layer as you wrote?

I think I failed for so long because I didn’t know what the story was about. I only knew who the story was about and where it was set. But plot is very important in a mystery and it wasn't until I read the novel, Holes, that I figured out I was going to have a parallel story line. There are things that did surprise me. Without giving anything away, I remember exactly when mid-writing I discovered why Jonah was on the railway platform that day when they were younger. I've said before, there are parts in this novel that make me cry every time. The Jonah on the platform incident is one of them.

As you've probably guessed, I'm not exaggerating when I say that I LOVE Jellicoe Road. Are there any secrets or unknown tidbits you can share?

Just a few film script things. We have a producer, director and a complete film script. The two major differences between the script and novel are that Sam, the kid from Taylor’s past, isn't in the film script. But I do promise that the emotional impact of those scenes is still there. The other thing is that the Hermit is now part of the present, rather than the past. I’m almost sure we’ll cast mostly complete unknowns. It will be shot in Australia and I do have a dream actress for Taylor. I don’t think we have a chance of getting her but I spent twenty years on this story so I’m not exactly one to give up on a dream

What's next from you in the Contemporary world? Will there be a Finnikinthree, or will another Contemporary be next?

Well Froi of the Exiles has a cliffhanger ending. Not a Finnikin ending, but a true cliffhanger. The third novel, Quintana of Charyn, begins three weeks after and every time I read a fantastic review of Froi, I’m elated and stressed out of my head at the same time. QoC comes out in October 2012. After that I think I’ll be concentrating on our TV series idea. We want it to be really edgy and dark, but with a great sense of hope and powerfully flawed relationships and characters. That will be keeping us very busy.

Thank you so incredibly much for participating! I loved learning a little more about the books and your writing!

And to everyone reading this, go pick up a Melina Marchetta book pronto!!Seriously. She's amazing.

Harmonic Feedback by Tara Kelly is another book I had been meaning to read for a while that became a prod from Allison to read now. And I am so glad that she pushed it so hard because OhMyGosh! This book is amazing and if you haven't read it yet you are so missing out and you need to go buy a copy right now because it shouldn't have to wait any longer and OhMyGoodness it's just so good! *deepbreath*

Drea is different. She has ADHD and a touch of Asperger's (on the Autism spectrum). But she's not that different. She processes the world differently from most people and a lot of social cues completely escape her, so it makes it harder to trust people and feel comfortable acting naturally around them. So up until now, she hasn't really had any friends. But her mom drags her to live with her grandmother (Drea is very opposed to this) but it is here that Drea meets both Naomi and Justin, people who will become very important to Drea.

Because Drea is our main character, we get to know what she is thinking and how she interprets things and it was fascinating. She's very high functioning and her diagnosis is actually for a 'touch of Asperger's'. So mostly, for Drea it translates into not understanding why people do a lot of what they do and being completely blunt. She has pretty much zero tact. She doesn't process it or understand it the way most people do. It was so refreshing to read a character who was blunt, but not cruel. Drea has a hard life. She's just this side of 'normal', so it's extra frustrating for her and those around her. It would be so hard to be put into situations again and again when you don't understand the nuances.

But the book isn't really about Drea and her Asperger's/ADHD. It's a huge part of it, obviously, because it's a huge part of Drea, but it's about so much more than that. It's about learning to love and let people in (because normal or not, pretty much all teenagers have a hard time with that) and it's about acceptance and growing up and finding yourself. And Tara Kelly has mastered that. In Drea, she has created a character that everyone can connect to and love and understand, because everyone has felt like they don't belong or don't fit in at some point. It's a part of growing up and I loved watching Drea learn that she really does have a place.

The other characters in the novel and painfully complex as well. Naomi becomes Drea's first and best friend. She shows up when they are moving in and starts chatting with Drea and decides right then that she likes her and she just befriends her, no questions asked. She wasn't my favorite person. She's troubled and she's also a perfect example of why I have never had even a tiny bit of interest in drugs. And, she gets Drea into bad situations too. But no on is perfect and she does some amazing things for Drea. So while I didn't really like her, I loved her.

Justin is another awesome character and he's just a solidly good guy. He's the type of guy that is awesome, but could still be a real person. He's there for Drea and he doesn't really let her hide behind her diagnosis. He pulls her out of herself, makes her recognize that there is more to life and more to her than he thought.

There are also some journal entries included in the book, as yet another way to learn more about Drea and I loved that they were included. The last journal entry is by far my favorite and it was just... just... just so much amazing. And the music. Guys, it's another book that has a lot of music references and it was brilliant. I just loved everything about this book. Seriously. Oh, and also, how can you not just love a cover that shows a girl celebrating the rain. Love. And I feel like that girl is Drea.

This is a book that I will read and reread. I reread parts while writing this review and I just fell in love with the characters over again. This book just leaves you with this feeling of fullness, of rightness and truth. It's a beautifully written story and one of those books that makes you think, makes you feel.

Tara Kelly is the author of Harmonic Feedback (which I loved) and the just-barely-released Amplified which I have not yet read but am dying to). I knew I had to ask Tara to participate after how much I loved Harmonic Feedback so I am thrilled to have this interview with her to post for you! You can see more of Tara at her website — The Tara Tracks

Why write Contemporary? What is it about the genre that draws you?

It's funny because I grew up reading a lot of horror, but I also had a soft spot for realistic contemp books. The book that made me fall in love with reading as a child was Anne of Green Gables. I found the heroine so relatable--I loved how stubborn she was, how she didn't just fall over the minute a cute boy talked to her, how she was strong, independent, and not afraid to be herself in a time when women were expected to follow a certain path. Drea in Harmonic Feedback was inspired by her in some ways, I think. What draws me in most about the contemporary genre is relatability. I like reading about characters who could've been me or someone I knew. As a teen these books made me feel less alone. Sometimes the stories took me to a place I wished I could be. Sometimes they inspired me to try something new or be more tolerant of others. It's amazing how you end up relating to a character you never expected to connect with.

So, why do I write it? It's the genre that calls to me. I think some of the most powerful stories come out of the real world. A teen who fights their way out of a really bad situation with their own strength (no superpowers or angels in shining armor to bail them out). A tragic, but realistic event that tests real and flawed human beings to their limits. I'm all for escape and 'other' realities (hello, I'm a huge Buffy fan), but I think it's important for teens to read stories about what CAN happen too. Stories that feature other teens in similar situations.

Do you have any interest/desire/ideas for a book outside the Realistic/Contemporary genre?

Well, the book I'm working on right now falls into the psychological-thriller/horror category. It's quite a bit different than the coming-of-age stories I've written so far. But it's set in the real world... and it's something that CAN happen, which I find kind of scary. I always found thrillers that can happen the most frightening. I'm pretty excited about this book--even if it's shaping up to be the most intense/difficult story I've written yet.

You talk about it some in your author's note, but what inspired Harmonic Feedback? What made it the story you had to write?

My younger brother is on the spectrum, and due to that I've been fascinated with autism since I was quite young. I remember doing a 7th grade research project on it and presenting it to the class--I got an A+:) I also have friends on the spectrum (mostly mild AS, like Drea) Nobody on the spectrum I know is defined by their diagnosis. They aren't walking boxes of symptoms--in fact, they're all quite different from each other. My brother is talkative, social, and outgoing, for example. Not something you picture when you think of 'autism'. The one commonality they have is they've had problems with socializing. A lot of them felt different their whole lives, but never understood why. Drea popped in my head one day, and she had quite a bit to say. I think she's kind of a mix of all the people I've known, including myself, who have had trouble making friends or were judged based on a 'label'. But Harmonic Feedback wasn't just about Drea. I've known quite a few people like Naomi, and I've known a couple Justins. I wanted to see what happened when you gave three completely different people a shared passion. How would they shape and change each other?

Music plays a huge role in the lives of the main characters in both of your novels. What role has music played in your own life?

Music has had a starring role in my life since I can remember. Both of my parents are musicians--my mom is this insanely talented piano prodigy (she was playing entire songs at 2, I'm not kidding), and my dad has been playing guitar since he was quite young. I don't think a day went by where my mom didn't play piano. Sometimes they'd have jam sessions in the living room for hours. Oddly enough, I had no interest in playing an instrument until high school. In fact, my piano lessons went so poorly (I never wanted to practice) my parents were convinced I hadn't inherited the musical gene. But that wasn't actually the problem. The problem was they pushed me toward the wrong instrument. I'm first and foremost a guitarist, although these days I love to play everything. In the last five years I've developed a deep love for the piano... and I'm currently wishing I knew how to play the violin. On top of all that, I'm a huge music FAN. I simply cannot write or create art without great music.

If you could ask one thing of your readers, before or after they read your book(s), what would it be?

Who is your favorite/least favorite character and why? I'm always fascinated by how readers react to and interpret my characters.

Do you have a favorite novel? A book that you read and recommend over and over again? (or more than one?:) )

Anne of Green Gables. It's a classic and a story I don't think I'll ever grow tired of... which is saying a lot since I'm more of a dark, gritty kind of girl.

What's next from you? Anything you are working on that you can share with us?

Like I said above, I'm currently working on a thriller. Not ready to share the details yet, but I'm hoping I'll be able to share a bit more in the near future:)

Thank you so much Tara! I can't wait to see what you come up with next and will definitely be stalking the internets to see about this psychological thriller! And I agree, those are the most terrifying because they are the most real!

Today, as a guest, I have Kate from Literary Explorations. She was awesome enough to agree to writing a post when school wasn't quite so busy for her, and she read a book I also loved! See what she thinks!!

Rating: ★★★★★ Review: Tell Me a Secret by Holly Cupala was the first audiobook I'd picked up in years, and I'm so glad that I gave it a fair chance. Jenna Lamia's narration was flawless and in my mind she perfectly captured Rand's voice. Since I downloaded this to my iPod I was able to take it anywhere and found myself listening to it whenever I had a spare moment.

Rand was a great character and she definitely grew-up throughout the novel. Her pregnancy was scary and I couldn't believe how heartless her friends and family were. I also wanted to punch Kamran in the face many times because he was such a jerk to Rand. Her so-called friends weren't any better, especially Delaney who spread rumors about her, which idiot Kamran believed to be true. My favorite character was Shelly, for awesome reasons that I can't go into without spoiling the book, but just trust me, she is amazing.
Tell Me a Secret totally changed my mind about audiobooks and now I listen to them all the time. This was a wonderful contemporary read that drew me in and left me in tears once it was all over. I will now listen to anything that Jenna Lamia narrates and cannot wait to read Holly's second book, Don't Breathe a Word, that is due out in January.
Check out these fantastic reviews:

Ashley @ Basically Amazing Books
April @ Good Books and Good Wine

You see that title right there? That is a brave thing to undertake, to break down into ten specific (but not too specific) categories the types of Contemporary YA currently available. And let me tell you, this is not easy. Seriously. First I struggled to come up with ten unique categories and then I struggled to limit myself to only ten. And I'll tell you right now, a lot of these categories within Contemporary overlap and touch each other and share. So I'm going with the category that most strongly describes the book, not necessarily the only one.

Also, I feel like I need to point out that I'm not really an expert on all things Contemporary, (although I like to seem like I am sometimes) so you might disagree with the categories I've created, and might disagree with some of the categories I've combined. But whatevs. This is me talking and this is what I think. Also- This is one time that I have not read each of the books listed. The ones I haven't read are one that I am dying to read and have (for the most part) also heard good things about. * marks those I have not yet read.
(Also, forgive the slightly wonky layout on this one... I wanted to have at least one picture for each category & it's messing w/ me layout a bit.)

1. Drugs/Pain (emotional or physical)
Crank/Glass/Fallout by Ellen Hopkins, Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert, Scars by Cheryl Rainfield, Willow by Julia Hoban, Break by Hannah Moskowitz

2. Abuse(non bfgf relationship)/'Hard Life' (general tough stuff)
Identical (sexual abuse and etc) and Tricks (teenage prostitution) by Ellen Hopkins, Want to Go Private? by Sarah Darer Littman (online predators), Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (rape), Stolen by Lucy Christopher (kidnapping), *What She Left Behind by Tracy Bilen (abusive father), *Shine by Lauren Myracle (hate crime)

3. Death/Suicide
The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson, *Saving June by Hannah Harrington, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, If I Stay by Gayle Forman, My Beating Teenage Heart by C.K. Kelly Martin, Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Maston, Fall For Anything by Courtney Summers, Never Eighteen by Megan Bostic

4. Romance/Relationships (both good and bad)
Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins, Perfect Chemistry series by Simone Elkeles, the books of Sarah Dessen, books by Jennifer Echols, Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan *Stay by Deb Caletti, Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn,

5. Funny
Babe in Boyland by Jody Gehrman, Girl v. Boy by Yvonne Collins & Sandy Rideout, Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway

6. Music/Arts
I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone by Stephanie Kuehnert, Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez, Audition by Stasia Kehoe, Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley, *Amplified by Tara Kelly, When the Stars Go Blue by Caridad Ferrer, *Rival by Sara Bennett Wealer

7. Depression/Mental Illness
Saving Francesca and The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta, It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini, A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler, Harmonic Feedback by Tara Kelly, The Babysitter Murders by Janet Ruth Young, Rules by Cynthia Lord

8. Physical Illness/Disability/Body Image
Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John (also belongs in Music...) , Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, Izzy, Willy-Nilly by Cynthia Voigt, Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going,

9. Parents/Family
Moonglass by Jessi Kirby, Something, Maybe by Elizabeth Scott, Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt, Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonneblick, *We the Animals by Justin Torres, Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler, Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson, Overprotected by Jennifer Laurens (this should really probably be in Romance, but her dad is so creeptastic, I had to include it here).

10. Life/Friendship/General Coming of Age (also includes too many categories to put in one place)
Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard, Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta, A Little Wanting Song by Cath Crowley, The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder, Past Perfect by Lelia Sales, Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr

There are, of course, smaller categories that are worth mentioning, but a little too specific for this post. Things like Road Trip Novels, Mystery/Thriller (this one really should have been listed, but I only had ten spots), Novels in Verse or Novels that take Place in only One Day/Night etc. There are lots of places to take a list like this, but I tried to do the ten broadest categories I could think of.

I also left out a lot of examples for each topic area. Seriously. These were only the ones that immediately came to mind. I could have listed so many more!

What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Recommendations for me to fill in the gaps in my own reading list? Any of my *not yet read books you think I need to push up my list?

Past Perfect by Leila Sales was such a perfectly cute book. Chelsea has worked at Essex, a Colonial Reenactment village since she was a small child, because her parents are the blacksmith and wife. Chelsea wants something different this year, but allows her best friend to talk her into working again, so that they can be together.

Chelsea was such an interesting character. She's strong and smart but she's also insecure and afraid of change. I loved listening in on her conversations as well as her thoughts, because she has such an interesting view of life and the past. The Colonial Reenactment village has been a huge part of her life and it's given her an interesting perspective on the past, an idea of living history, both figuratively (they are reenactors, after all) but also literally.

But, perhaps because she has spent so much time being IN the past, Chelsea has a hard time with change. She is still hung up on her perfect ex-boyfriend (who is maybe not so perfect), she wants to do something, anything else than work another summer at Essex, but because it's safe and familiar, she lets her best friend talk her into working again and she shies away from anything that might be changing.

But the nature of people is to change and there is a lot this summer that Chelsea has to face up to.

I've read some reviews where people just didn't like Chelsea, found her to be whiny and obnoxious, and while I can see where they are coming from, this book didn't read that way to me at all. To me, Chelsea's voice was authentic and realistically teen. She is hung up on her ex-boyfriend, makes some stupid decisions and cares too much what other people think about her. I actually loved Chelsea's voice. I cringed more than a few times watching her interact with people and my heart went out to her but watching her start to learn about her mistakes, watching her realize that things aren't always as they seem, and aren't even always as we remember them being was awesome. I love great character growth and Chelsea's was gradual and believable.

I also have to say that I absolutely loved the war between the Colonial reenactors and the Civil War reenactors across the street. Each thinks their time period is the superior time and the summer is full of pranks and jokes. And seriously. Some of the pranks that they pulled had me laughing out loud. But it does add a little extra drama to Chelsea's life. She's elected as Lieutenant of the Colonial War effort AND on their first night of meetings, the Civil War kids kidnap her. The captor left to guard her is Dan. And, he's cute. They connect. There could be something there, BUT he's Civil War, she's Colonial and that should just. not. happen.

This is the type of book that is absolutely perfect to just curl up and read for a few hours. It's lighthearted and fun and just plain enjoyable. There is just enough depth to the story that it's kept from being considered total fluff, but it's also definitely on the lighter side of Contemporary. It's a book I'd recommend to pretty much anyone, Contemporary lover or not, because the writing is such spot on and there is something in this story that pretty much everyone will be able to relate to. I'm definitely going to be checking out Sales previous novel and will be watching her for whatever comes next.

Last weeks Memory Monday post was a list of Contemporary books that I feel are a great introduction to the genre for younger readers. Today's post is a list of books for older readers that I think can make Contemporary lovers out of anyone. It's not really a memory, I suppose, but I have very fond memories/experiences with all of these, so I'm counting it.:)

Not all of these books will be for every reader. But I'm pretty confident that there is at least something among this rather large list for everyone. And I have read all of these and will personally vouch for their insane levels of awesome. Also, this is in no way a complete list. It was impossibly hard narrowing down the books I included, so if you want or need more recommendations, seriously ask away. I am more than happy to share the books that (unfortunately) didn't make this list.

Melina Marchetta. I know I'm already cheating, that Melina Marchetta is a person, not a book, but she is one of my all-time favorite authors. Her book Jellicoe Road not only won a Printz award, but it's also an absolutely stunning and amazingly brilliant book. But, I do recognize that it's not for everyone and sometimes it works for people new to Contemporary and sometimes it doesn't. But I do absolutely and always recommend Saving Francesca and The Piper's Son. They are a bit more accessible to some people but they are no less amazing. Anything by Marchetta will introduce you to people you can't help but love. And the reading experience is never easy, but it is so completely worth it.

The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder is a book that I recommend to everyone. It is, in my opinion, a perfect starter book. It's written in verse (which I adore and push/promote every chance I get) and the story that Lisa tells is so stunning, so amazing and just so beautifully brilliant that I don't know how you could not fall in love. And it's a book I've already recommended to several non verse and non Contemporary readers, and I have not talked to any of them who haven't loved it yet.

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly isn't straight Contemporary and I think it will appeal to fans of both Contemporary and Historical Fiction. While the book is set during the now, the main character, Andi, finds an old diary and becomes completely invested in the life of a young woman who lived during the French Revolution. And Andi is one of the most painful characters I've ever read. I physically hurt while reading this book because Andi's pain is so intensely real and it's one of the best books I read last year.

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick is one that I read just recently but can't seem to stop thinking about or talking about. This book is a lot of things, all of which are amazing, but more than anything else, watching the absolute love between these two brothers broke my heart and put it back together again bigger and richer than it was before. I understand that not everyone can read this book. My older sister has children around the same age as the main character and literally cannot read books that deal with children with diseases or death. But it is such a phenomenal and powerful book that I would recommend it strongly to anyone who can. An absolutely beautiful book.

Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert is a hard book to read. It's a very hard story about a girl who finds herself slipping so far into a world of drugs and alcohol and cutting that she very nearly loses herself completely. It's painfully realistic in its portrayal of the life Kara finds herself living but it is also so powerfully written that you can't deny its impact or its message. And there are stories within the story. Many of the secondary characters who are especially important to the narrator have a chance to share their own stories, in a series of personal ballads and while the whole book is brilliant, those pieces especially made this book so perfect. This was a game changing book for me. It taught me a lot about myself and about life and it's one that I think people need to be more aware of.

No list introducing readers to Contemporary YA would be complete without Sarah Dessen. She's got quite a few books under her belt and so many people absolutely love her. I put of reading anything by her for a long time because I assumed it was too romance-y for my taste (and I was sniffabove books like that) but I started reading them last year and now I own them all. She really is an amazing author. I haven't read all of her books yet, I'm only about halfway through, but my two favorites are The Truth About Forever and Just Listen. Dessen has this way of writing a story that straddles the border between light-hearted fun and serious topics. She's pretty much brilliant and a must read within the genre.

The Disreputable History of Frankie-Landau Banks by E. Lockhart is one of the wittiest, smartest books I've ever read. Frankie is one of the best main characters I have ever read. And it has the word disreputable in the title. Seriously.

Laurie Halse Anderson is another author that I think needs to be read. Her books deal with heavy subject matter but are important and powerful. Speak, Twisted and Wintergirls have all found a place on my favorites shelf.

I don't think there are enough genuinely funny books out there, so if you are looking for more light-hearted, fun, laugh your face off in public books, you should definitely try Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway about a girl whose life becomes a media circus after her ex-boyfriend writes a breakup song about her that goes viral & rockets to the top of all the charts (yay for music in books!). Babe in Boyland by Jody Gehrman is also absolutely hysterical. It has a similar plot to the movie She's the Man with Amanda Bynes except instead of soccer it's "investigative journalism" but it's seriously laugh-out-loud funny and there was more than one time that I had to stop reading because I was getting funny looks from the people sitting around me. Man its hard to breathe when you are laughing that hard! Yvonne Collins and Sandy Rideout have also written some really cute and fun books together. I've only read Girl v. Boy and Love, Inc. but both were super fun and entertaining. Definitely a fun way to spend a few hours.:)

And, of course, I can't not mention the phenomenon that is Stephanie Perkins. I can't tell you how many reviews I've seen that talk about — not being a Contemporary reader, but then I read this and!!!!!. Seriously you guys. Anna and the French Kiss is a book that has a little something in it for everyone. It's super cute, but the characters are also real people who do have issues beyond what they are going to wear that day, or whether or not super cute guy likes them. This is a book about real life without being heavy or emotionally draining. Something about Stephanie's writing makes the story reality to everyone reading. Definitely one you should check out. I can't think of anyone off hand that I would not recommend this one too. It's companion novel, Lola and the Boy Next Door is also completely full of win.

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher is another book that I think many people, Contemporary readers or not, can get caught up in reading, but more than that, I also think it is a book that more people should be reading. It's a story that makes us accountable, even if only to ourselves, about what type of person we are and makes us recognize on a deeper level that what we do really does affect other people, that our choices impact others and we have no way of knowing what they are going through right now. Teenagers especially need to read this, need to recognize and understand that life isn't only about them and that other people matter too.

This is only the tip of the iceberg. There are so many wonderfully amazing books that I had to leave off this list. Books like Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King or Harmonic Feedback by Tara Kelly, The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson, Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler, Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John, Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson and on and on. The Contemporary Genre has so much to offer readers. So very, very much. And I hope that you give it a chance, give it the opportunity to show you what it's made of, to show you what it really can do.

I like mini-reviews. I don't do them terribly often, partly because I talk/type too much to be consistent with 'mini' anything, but I also have a lot of books that I would love to spotlight during Just Contemporary, so I'm chearing and doing three.:)

These three books are completely different from each other, and have pretty much nothing in common besides being Contemporary and books that Ashley very much enjoyed and since those are the 'requirements' for posts in November, I'm totally doing it!

It is not even kind of a secret that I love Lisa Schroeder. Like, a lot. I've read all her books, I've loved all her books and I talk about her all the time. But I was a tiny bit nervous to read It's Raining Cupcakes because it's very different from her other books. Not only is it MG, but it's also written in prose, not verse. But, it was a Lisa book and I wanted to read it, so I did. And it was seriously so charming and delightful and just so much fun.
At first I thought it was just going to be a light fluffy book about cupcakes and baking, but there was quite a bit more to the story, which surprised me. Isabel want to enter a baking contest that will get the winner sent to New York. She has always dreamed about going places and this would be an absolute dream come true for her. But her best friend, Sophie, who always seems to get whatever she wants is going to enter too. And Isabel has some great ideas for recipes to send, but her mom, who has just opened up a cupcake shop wants her to submit a cupcake recipe because it would be great publicity. And Mom is heavy on the guilt trip, and Mom is (in Ashley's opinion) depressed (although it's hard to nail down exactly what she is, or how to explain it) and Isabel needs to decide where her priorities lie. And that's something that's hard for a 12 year old to learn, and in this instance, while I totally understood where the mom was coming from, I was also really upset at how selfish I felt she was.
So, this is yet another win from Lisa Schroeder. It's completely and totally different in style, feel, and tone than her other novels but it's definitely worth a read.

Overprotected by Jennifer Laurens is a book that really surprised me. I've always been pretty upfront about the fact that I don't generally read books that are very romance heavy, but I won a copy of this from the author and it just really appealed to me for some reason, so I picked it up and I just loved it! It was exactly what I was in the mood for (how great is it when that happens?!) and it just made me happy. I don't know that I would have liked it so much if I had read it at any other time, but as it stands, I seriously enjoyed it.
It's very definitely a romance novel for teens and the romance is the most important part of the story. But it didn't really bother me this time around. It was a fun book with interesting characters (even if I probably wouldn't want to know a single one of the IRL) and the 'danger' that Ashlyn's father perceives her to be in is just real enough to be believable. But I will say that Ashlyn's dad is a major creeper. He didn't really feel like an overprotective father to me. He felt more like a jealous and possessive lover/ex-boyfriend which seriously igged me out. He's obsessed with her, with keeping her close and making sure that she belongs to him. Seriously — CREEPY!
I will also say that I was initially worried about Colin and Ashlyn falling for each other, because how could you want to be with someone that is not only okay with creeper dad keeping you totally locked up, but being the one who enables the locking up. But Daddy misleads Colin and he is not aware of the full extent of his job until he gets there. He thought he was going to be more bodyguard, less prison guard, which made me feel better about their situation.
I honestly wasn't expecting to like this one as much as I did, but it was the perfect book at exactly the right moment and I had a lot of fun reading it.

Choker by Elizabeth Woods is the most different and the heaviest of these three novels. It's a Contemporary story but it is also a bit of a thriller type. (which are also Contemporary, but seem to get their own genre... Greedy, aren't they). In Choker, Cara is kind of an awkward loner. She hasn't had any really good friends since she moved away from her best friend in 5th grade (or thereabouts) and now she is either ignored or teased by the other kids at school. It's tough being that kid. There's nothing necessarily wrong with her, she's just that shy, quiet kid that no one really talks to. But then her old best friend shows up in her room. Some bad stuff was happening at home and she's run away and come to Cara for a safe haven. They don't tell Cara's parents because Zoe is very probably in some real trouble and doesn't want anyone to know where she is. And then some seriously weird and freaky stuff starts happening.

I was surprised by this book because a lot of it caught me off guard. I wasn't expecting the story to go where it did, and watching the dynamic between Cara and Zoe was very unsettling. Zoe is not a very nice person and although she's the best friend Cara ever had, even Cara is starting to get weirded out by her. Cara is a character that I think people can, at least initially, relate to. She's an outsider with a crush on one of the cutest boys in school, no one notices her and when they do finally start paying attention to her, it's to be mocking and cruel. My heart went out to her, but she definitely makes a bunch of bad decisions.

And then the ending. I kept waiting for something to happen and I thought I knew what it would be. And then, it wasn't. At all. And maybe I should have seen it coming, but I totally didn't and it was definitely one of those, like, whoa moments for me.

If you are looking for something a little out of the norm, this is one that is definitely worth looking into. It's not going to be for everyone, and I get that. But I for one was most definitely a fan.

Break by Hannah Mosowitz is a story about a boy who wants to break every bone in his body. It's a goal he is actively working on because he heard once that a broken bone grows back stronger and he needs all the strength he can get right now.

I'm really kinda torn about my feelings for this book. I want to say right now that overall I genuinely liked the book. It's one I would recommend and, for the most part, I found it to be believable with a believable and realistic main character. I really like books from the male POV and this book does a surprisingly good job.

I want to get my few grievances out of the way, before I move on to talk about the rest of the book and what I did like. My main problem with this book was the (IMO) extreme overusage of the f-word. I don't like a lot of profanity and I try not to use much, but the f-word more than any other bothers me. It's ugly sounding and I... well, I just don't like it. But Jonah uses it all the time, and it didn't feel natural. I know that teenagers swear. I promise. I get it. I've heard it, I know. But the cursing in this book didn't feel like natural swearing from a teenager. It sounded like the author intentionally put as much swearing into the book as she possibly could so that she could show the world how edgy and hardcore she is, because Look! I used the f-word. In defense of her writing, what I've seen of the author herself online gives me the same impression so it's probably more a part of her personality than her writing. But still. I didn't like it.

As for the book itself, I was almost completely a fan. There was some of the book that I wish had been more fleshed out. I felt, more than once, that there were important details that were glossed over. Like money — Jonah is constantly breaking his bones and giving himself concussions and all sorts of injuries, which means lots of medical bills. His brother is severely and deathly allergic to everything, and also spends a lot of time in the hospital, and they just had a new baby, which is not cheap. But in all the conversations about why what Jonah is doing is really bad and hurtful, they never once mention the financial strain it must be putting on his parents. Perhaps they are just ridiculously wealthy, but nothing else in the story made me believe that they were, and it would have been nice to see even one paragraph or even sentence mention that. This really is a small thing and I get that. It's why it didn't take away anything from my overall enjoyment of the story. It's just an example of details being glossed over or skipped and I wish there had been just a little more.

But the premise behind the story is very interesting and one that I found myself really captivated by. Jonah pulls stupid stunts all the time and breaking bones becomes his stress relief. Jonah's thoughts leading up to an accident (well, intentional accident) mirrored what I've seen in novels where the main character is a cutter. It's an extreme form of self harm that he has begun to use to give himself some control of his life and emotions. The kid is having a tough time. He's the older brother and he feels like it's his job to look out for and protect his brother. He has taken the weight of the world on his shoulders and it's a severe strain. Poor Jonah. My heart ached for him.

As for side characters — I thought Hannah did a great job giving these people their own personalities and their own blend of troubles. His brother, Jesse, has a really challenging life. He's so allergic to so many things that even touching some of the stuff could kill him. Jonah's best friend, Naomi, is horrid. I hated her. For the most part, she's actually a pretty great friend. But when Jonah hurts himself, she films it and laughs. I get it, at least in the beginning, you are being supportive of your friend and he's going to do it anyway, so you can drive him to the ER and etc. BUT. Later in the story Jonah starts to realize that this isn't healthy, isn't helping and isn't a good idea. So he tells her he's done. And she won't let it go! She hounds him and begs and cajoles him into realizing that he can't just stop. I wanted to punch her in the face.

There is an interesting psychology behind Jonah's reasons for hurting himself (that I'm not going to spoil) and learning more about what Jonah is thinking about was really interesting and definitely made me think. I wish there had been a little more depth and detail to some of the ending and his realizations as well, but overall, it was a strong debut, one that has definitely piqued my interest. Jonah is a strong and compelling character and the strengths of this novel outweigh any weaknesses. If it's one that has interested you at all, I strongly suggest grabbing a copy and giving it a chance.

But I Love Him by Amanda Grace is a novel that really caught my attention. It's a story about an abusive relationship, which we've been seeing a lot of lately, but the telling of the story is something completely different than what I've seen before. The story is told in reverse chronology. It starts exactly one year after the day they met, with Connor doing some serious damage to Ann and walking out of their apartment, leaving Ann beaten and bloody, trying to decide if this is the moment he's gone too far and it takes us back in time, ending with how they met.

I was really intrigued by the idea of the reverse chronology, but was unsure how it would actually work. But it does. The book is basically told in a series of individual stories, snapshots of various days in their relationship, both good and bad. We see the nice things Connor does to show Ann he loves her and then we see the problem of the day before he was making up for. And interspersed throughout these stories of the past, the present day is still happening and every so often, we get another chapter, get to see more of what is happening now. Ann is bleeding on the floor, surrounding by the pieces of her heart (literally and figuratively, since the image on the cover is completely relevant to the book) and she recognizes that she needs to make some decisions about her life.

Because of the way the story was told, I didn't connect to it the way I have to others and most of the book lacked the urgency of a novel with this subject matter. I was never afraid that Connor was going to go too far, because he already had. And I was never worried about what he might do to her, because we had already seen the after, before we got to the before. But the layout of the book was brilliance. Grace mentioned that she wrote this book because people have a tendency to judge the victims of domestic abuse — why don't you just leave? How could you put up with that? Why didn't you just walk away when he hit you? How could you not see that he's such a jerk? and she took that away from us. We can't pick the place we would have walked away if we are seeing it from the end, because we don't know what's happened yet.

I also don't know that I fully believed the actual nature of their relationship. Connor is domineering and controlling and gets really angry a lot but for some reason, I was never nervous for her physically. Which is weird, considering she starts the book completely battered. But Connor went from a single punch or slap to an all out beating and that just doesn't really seem... normal, I guess.

But, in my opinion, the strongest part of this book was the emotional state of Ann. Even when nothing else was completely believable, I felt very strongly, several times, that Ann's reflections on her life and her self were spot on. She gave us insight into what it's like to be in a situation like that, her thoughts broke my heart more than a few times as she sat on the floor of her apartment, trying to make a choice that will determine the course of the rest of her life. I don't normally use quotes in my review, but there is one line that shows how she's thinking and feeling as well as what thousands of others in her situation had to have felt when they become introspective-

It happened in pieces, tiny little turning points. I'll never figure out when it all turned, because it wasn't a single moment. It doesn't matter how many times I look back, how many times I try to figure it out. There is no before and after. Just a year of choices.

This isn't the best book around an abusive relationship I've ever read, but it is incredibly unique and I feel that it is one that has a good message and intent, even if the full impact isn't quite there, I do think that it's a novel that deserves to be read. I think that this is a novel that everyone will view differently. All books are colored by our own personal experiences, but I feel like this one is very much one that will change drastically based around your life experiences. I haven't known very many people who have been through something like this so I don't know how it relates to someone who has, but even if it's not the strongest example of this story line, it is one that you should watch for. I know I'm interested to see if there will be more by the Grace nomer of Mandy Hubbard.

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson is a book that had been on my radar since its release, but one that I hadn't really put any effort into getting a copy of. But Allison and I have a thing going, where we trade book recommendations and this is one that she pushed on my pretty hard.:) So I bought a copy and a few months later I read it. And guys — Let me tell you what — This is so a book worth gushing over.

I'll admit that it's not the best book I've ever read and it's not perfect. There was quite a bit about the book that I didn't love, quite a bit that annoyed me and some that kinda igged me out. But it didn't matter, because the book was told so incredibly well and the emotional confusion, the pain and turmoil in the mind of Lennie after is sister died was so real and honest and just there. The way this book made me feel what Lennie felt made the annoyances fade into the background. I don't know that I have ever read a book that so perfectly and so completely captures inner turmoil.

Lennie and her older sister Bailey have always been incredibly close. They are that rare type of sister that has also always been friends. My older sister and I are good friends now, but when we were younger, when we lived in the same house, we did not get along at all. But just before the story begins, Bailey dies. Her heart gives out suddenly and Lennie feels completely adrift. She'd been really questioning her place in her own life for a while, and the abrupt loss of her sister sends Lennie into complete confusion. She doesn't really know who she is or how to be without her sister and she's scared and lonely and wants her sister so bad she aches with it.

And then life gets even more confusing. One minute, she and her sister's boyfriend are talking about Bailey and sharing pain and the next they are kissing like their whole souls depend on it. Lennie had never been interested in Toby, could barely see why Bailey wanted him, but when they are together now, it seems like a part of Bailey lives again and Lennie doesn't know what to do. To make it even worse, the new kid at school, Joe, is pretty much perfect for her and she finds herself falling hard and fast and is thrilled because Joe is right there with her.

The story line with Toby was my least favorite. I understand it better now, but it kinda creeped me out to be honest, and it is also one of the reasons that the book wasn't higher on my radar when it first came out. I expected it to be a lot more involved and a lot worse than it was, so I'll say that right now for anyone hesitant to read it for that reason. It didn't happen as frequently as I expected it to. And although they are kissing, it's not as sexual as I expected it to be. It's mostly the two of them so desperate for comfort and understanding from someone else who also loved Bailey that they get confused and their emotions take on inappropriate actions. And it creates problems for them too, it's not just some random side note that happens. It matters, and it helps to explain more about Lennie's emotional state.

The characterization in this book was so completely perfect it amazed me. Every character was unique and whole. There were no half filled roles or caricatures. Each character was given their own depth and reality and I believed in each of them completely. And I do mean all of them. Lennie's grandmother (who raised them) and her Uncle Big are some of the most interesting and hilarious and just plain awesome characters I've ever come across. I can't even begin to describe them, you just have to read it to get it. Even characters we never actually meet are fleshed out and given more depth than I expected. Their mother was a wanderer and left the girls with her mother when Lennie was just a baby and she'e never come back, never made contact again. It very obviously affected both girls growing up although it affected them differently.

There is one last thing that I have to mention, because I loved it so much. Lennie writes notes to and about Bailey and what's she is going through right now on random scraps of paper or garbage and leaves them just lying around. They are never really meant to be seen or read, it is simply Lennie's unique way of grieving. A ot of them are included in the book, along with a note of where they were found and I loved this. It was my favorite individual part of the story. The notes and poems that Lennie writes gives us a greater insight into how Lennie is really feeling and what she needs to heal.

Overall, this is just a wonderfully marvelous book. One of those amazing books whose flaws become irrelevant in the face of the story and I, for one, was completely in love with this book. It is so worth reading. If you have been putting it off, don't. This is Contemporary YA at its finest. There is life and pain and love and hope and it is so real and honest that I can't help but love it.

I do not think that I read enough genuinely funny books. I read Audrey, Wait! a few months ago and I seriously cannot get over how funny and awesome and just, basically, perfect this book was.

It's an almost completely unrealistic storyline — Girl has boyfriend. Boyfriend thinks he's going to be a rock star. Girl breaks up with boy. Boy writes chart topping song about girl. Girl's life becomes an absolute mess of fame and paparazzi and annoying suck because gazillions of people now care about the girl who inspired said song.

Chances are, this is never going to happen to you, or to anyone that you know. You might have all the beginning pieces. There are lots of girls with boyfriends, and even a lot who think they are gonna be rock stars. But how many people have a song written about them that makes them famous? And not even a good famous, but that annoying — all we care about is stalking you and finding out what you wear when you eat breakfast — kind of famous. Probably not gonna happen.

So, how is it then, than Benway has taken this idea that, in all likelihood, is never going to happen to anyone you've ever met and made it into this book that everyone can relate to?? Seriously — it's a legit question. Benway is brilliant. Audrey is just such an honestly written character that, even though I will never be able to relate to the actual scenario she finds herself in, the inner teenage Ashley was totally wishing that we could be friends. Audrey's voice was just so... real. I don't even know how to honestly do justice to this book. It was just so much of the awesome.

The other characters in this book were just as dimensional, and just as well written. Her best friend is initially that best friend that everyone wants, that person who totally gets you and knows what you are thinking almost before you do, that you can tell anything to, do anything with and life between you is pretty much always perfect (until that major humdinger of a fight that you think will never end but ends because you both have really great news and fighting is stupid...) . But as Audrey's fame grows, I felt that the BFF started losing sight of all of that. She's still trying to be a great friend, but she stopped being tuned into what Audrey wanted and instead pushed ahead what she thought Audrey should want, and that kinda pissed me off.

The new boy was also awesomely cute and I just loved watching their relationship start to develop. Her parents were pretty much normal parents too, which is awesome. They are active and interested in Audrey's life, but not over zealous or insane about it (although, once people start stalking her, they naturally become more so) but it is really refreshing to read about parents in a YA novel that could have been mine. And really, although I do know that there are a lot of really crappy parents out there, my experience with life has taught me that most parents really are trying to do the best they can. No parent is perfect, but most of them are awful, nasty, crazy-faces either.

Everything about this book just made me smile inside. From the constant music references (which did make me wish I was more into music than I am) to the snarky inner voice of Audrey to the ridiculous and crazy situations she found herself in over and over, I loved this book. And while the storyline itself was hilarious, the really brilliance of this book is Audrey herself. Watching her grow as a person and watching her understanding of what is truly important in life change was something I absolutely loved. Great character growth is essential for me to love a book and I thought it to be wonderfully done in this book. And not just Audrey grew as a person either. There was a lot of change and development in this story and I loved watching it.

It's a book with layers. Pulling apart those layers and discovering the deeper parts to the story is something that I loved and will definitely read this book again. Discovering depth while laughing your face off isn't something to be taken lightly and this is definitely a book I will recommend lots and lots and read again and again.

Read it. Because dude, it rocks.

Today's Memory Monday post is a bit different from the norm. Rather than taking a specific reading memory, in spirit of Just Contemporary month, I want to spotlight some Contemporary reads for kids that I think could really draw them in and introduce them to the awesomeness that is Contemporary Lit at a young age. And next week, I'm going to list some of my favorite older YA Contemps to pull in those more reluctant/hesitant older readers.:)

Many of these are books that I have mentioned before, some of them even have entire Memory Monday posts already (they are linked). But this is a reference-type list so that all these awesome Contemps for kids are in one place. (There are many more books that fully deserve to be on this list, but I had to have some limits...)

First is Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. This is an older book, and it's actually set even farther back than that. It's never specifically mentioned in a timeline, but I get the feeling that the book takes place somewhere between the 30s and 50s. So while it's not actually Contemporary, it is Realistic fiction and it's the book that changed what reading meant for me. This was the first book that really hit me and taught me that there was more to reading than just a fun story, or words on a page. I had always loved books, but this book is what really taught me what it means to read.

Willo Davis Roberts is another great writer who really appeals to kids. I devoured her books. She made me believe that I could be amazing. The young kids in her stories were always the heroes and the most frightfully amazing things happened to them. It sparked my imagination and I had wildly exciting day dreams and my barbies had the most interesting lives, partly because of these books. (My mom was also terrified that I'd manage to get myself kidnapped because I believed so strongly in these kids, and just knew that I could handle it myself). But she fanned my love of reading and I don't know any kids that don't love to hear about how much smarter kids are than adults... :)

The Babysitter's Club by Ann M. Martin is a series I inhaled. I used to check out 15-20 of these books at a time and have them all back to the library within two weeks, usually faster. They were exciting and real and I so wanted to have my own babysitters club, once I was old enough to babysit. (I started reading them in 2nd grade, so...) The girls in these stories weren't perfect. They lied, fought, made mistakes, and there were always consequences. But they learned from them within their short little stories and became better babysitters, better friends and better people because of them, and I know that some of the lessons I learned in these books helped shape the person I am.

Sharon Creech so totally deserves a place on this list as well. Her stories are about growing up, facing challenges, accepting new experiences and just learning from life. They are told with that frank honesty of a childhood with that raw emotion of true knowledge of life. I can't even begin to describe how strongly I loved Sharon Creech, and still do, actually. Hers are stories that never get old.

Although I didn't read as much of them as my peers did, Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary are both great Contemporary writers. Beverly with her Ramona series and Judy with those Fudge books speak to that younger kid and seem able to use an age appropriate writing style to justify and validate what these kids are going through before they really have the words to explain it themselves.

If the kid in your life is able to handle more mature topics in their stories, I cannot recommend Cynthia Voigt's Tillerman saga enough. I know that I have talked about these books before, but they were a hugely important part of my growing up and formative reading years. I think these books helped me to understand the difference between putting on a brave/false front and true strength. Dicey had to be strong for her siblings. She had to grow up faster than any child ever should and even though I was her age or younger when reading these books, I was so incredibly proud of her.

Maniac Magee by Jerri Spinelli has an element of myth or fantasy to it even though nothing magical or fantastical happens. But the title character of the story has that sort of impact on people, even though he's young. There is much that a kid can learn from this story, but it is also a wonderful story, wonderfully told that will appeal to all sorts of kids, interested in all sorts of reading.

Sonya Sones writes in free verse and, if I'm remembering right, she was my first verse novelist. Her books are geared more in the tween spot, I believe, for those who are no longer children, but still not quite into their teens (11-14 or so). Because of the verse, the books read quickly but the stories lose none of their emotion or depth because of the sparsity of the writing. An easy read for those reluctant to pick up a book but still phenomenal stories.

Shiloh and Hatchet are both well written stories that appeal to younger kids, boys especially. Shiloh is about loving a dog and learning to protect creatures weaker than ourselves (and it's a dog book where the dog doesn't die!!) and Hatchet is a story of wilderness survival and strength.

Betsy Byars writes some fun MG Contemporary and she was my 10 year old brothers very favorite author for a long time (his personal favorite was The Cybil War) and both Andrew Clements and Gordon Korman write some really fun stories as well (I especially loved No Talked and No More Dead Dogs respectively).

Rules by Cynthia Lord is about a young girl whose brother is autistic and she struggles with appearances a lot throughout the novel. But it's a wonderfully sweet story that I absolutely adored. Very deserving of its Newbery Honor.

E.L. Konigsburg writes some very real characters, even if they aren't in very real situations. Like the characters in her Mixed Up Files who end up running away from home and spending the night in a museum (among other things). But her books, especially The View from Saturday were amazing reading experiences for me.

I could go on and on. There are so many wonderful books out there, so much amazing Contemporary for kids. Do you have any favorites? Books that made you love Contemporary as a kid? Contemps that kids you know love? Let me know!! Leave a comment letting me know if you've read any of the books I've listed and/or if you know of any I've missed!

I am going to admit it... Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez is a book I read because I loved the cover. The summary makes it seem like a romance that just happens to be set during a major violin competition. So I was expecting something fairly fluffy and feel good romancy.

Umm. No. Not at all. There is so much more to the story than that. SO very much more. Carmen is an intensely passionate and complex character. She's an amazingly talented violinist, but she's also a teenager, a person, even though she's never really been given the chance to be normal. She's preparing for a huge violin competition, THE big violin competition and she's the favorite to win. But there is one other person who might be able to take the prize from her, a boy from England named Jeremy and Carmen becomes almost obsessed with discovering who he is so that she can determine whether or not she needs to be nervous. And what happens when they begin to get to know each other completely changes Carmen. And not in that annoying — OMG I like, have my first, like, crush, on like, this boy, like you know, he's like, well, like hot and stuff? — way but in a way that makes her question why she's really doing what she's doing and how far is too far in pursuit of dreams.

This book was so much more than I expected it to be and I absolutely loved it. From the teaser at the beginning where Carmen is contemplating dropping her Stradivarius violin off the balcony (!!!! NOOOO!!!) to the very end when the story comes to its ambiguous resolution, I was completely and totally involved in this story and I felt the story, nearly as strongly as if I were living it.

Almost every part of this story was perfectly blended. The side characters and their stories were fully developed and contained just enough detail that I really felt like I knew them as well. I find that I am lacking sufficient eloquence to do this story justice, but believe me, it is worthy of every bit of praise it has received. One of the most complex relationships in this story is that of Carmen and her mother. I am going to be intentionally vague here, because there is much to this story that you must learn on your own, but it is one of the most toxic relationships I have ever seen. On the surface, all seems fine. They have moments were they are just quiet together, being a mother and daughter and basking in the fact that they have a strong bond. And initially, I actually cheered that a parent in a YA novel was a good influence, active and involved in her child's life. But then things start happening that make you wonder at what is going on beneath the surface and I ended the book with absolute disgust and disdain for that mother and not a small amount of hatred.

My first inclining that all was not as well as it seemed was when young 11 or 12 year old Carmen has her first bout of crippling stage fright and, rather than work through it with her, her mother immediately signs her up for anti-anxiety beta blockers, because there's no way she can cope on her own and her career can't take another performance like that one. What type of mother does that?! Has such little faith in the abilities of their child and makes that painfully clear to them?! Carmen develops a psychological dependency on these beta blockers and her mother encourages this, telling her she is no good without them and that if she needs more, to just take more and all things will be fine. And this ends up being a large part of Carmen's struggles later in the novel.

I do wish that more time had been given to Carmen's struggle with addiction, because it is a dangerous and powerful thing. It seemed too easy for Carmen to overcome her dependency, especially given how strongly her mother pushed her to get back on them and that confused me some. I wish it had played a stronger role in the novel but as it stands, it was a stepping stone of sorts to the larger issue at play, which is her relationship with her mother/agent and where that all went wrong.

For most of the novel, Carmen is torn between wanting to be with Jeremy and not feeling like she is able to trust him (there's that mom again). And my heart hurt for her. It's impossibly hard to feel like the person that you are falling for is out to sabotage you. But really, Jeremy was a great person. He's confused as well, trying to reconcile each of the parts of himself into one person and figure out what is truly important in life. Watching the two of them start to learn together was wonderful and challenging and just made my heart happy.

The climax of the novel, which includes Carmen contemplating the destruction of an irreplaceable violin made me so emotional I had a hard time even reading. I was such a mixture of fury, disbelief, pain and fear. Carmen is not in a good place at that point, and I don't blame her. It was devastating to read but so well written.

Martinez really understands how to write a book, how to fully engage the reader and how to make one care completely for the characters within. I am going to be avidly watching Martinez for whatever she comes out with next. There is no way I can use one review to adequately describe every part of this novel that was great, to talk about each of the things that I loved, that really worked for this book. So just take my word for it (and the word of lots and lots of others who have also loved this one) and go read it. This is one time when even that stunning cover isn't enough for the brilliance of the story within. So seriously guys. Read this book.

I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone by Stephanie Kuehnert was a novel I had very high hopes for. When the first novel you read by an author easily makes the top 5 books read this year, you expect a lot.

I asked Stephanie to take part in Just Contemporary month, and because she is awesome, she said yes. I knew that I wanted to read Joey Ramone to review it around the same time I posted her interview, so I did. And, in case you are wondering whether or not it lived up to my expectations, here is (and I quote) what my GR initial review was once I finished the book:

DUDE. Stephanie — THOU ART GENIUS and I am now basking in your glow.

Our main character, Emily, feels music intensely, with every part of her body. It's just her and her dad, because her mother walked out on them when Emily was 4 months old and has had no contact with any of them since then. Her father told Emily that her mom left to follow the music and that's what Emily has grown up believing. And so when the music begins to call to her as well, she embraces it, body and soul and the music gives life. She starts a band with her absolute best friend (the daughter of her mother's best friend, actually) and her friend Regan's crush, Tom. And although the road is rocky getting there, the three of them make amazing music together that the people love.

This book read a little bit like a love letter from Stephanie to Punk Music. And I loved it. I will be the first to admit that I'm not a music junky. I love music, but I don't actively seek out new songs or bands and I often go days without listening to any. (I don't even own an ipod...) . But reading this book made me desperately wish that I felt the music the way Emily does and the way that I suspect Stephanie does as well. The descriptions of the concerts and the sounds and the heightened emotions just sunk into my blood and made me wish that I had been old enough to truly appreciate the Punk revolution in the 90s. (I was in elementary school then. A bit young to be moshing).

Music was a huge part of the story, and it could have been a story on it's own, but the true complexity of the story, what makes it more than another story about kids loving music is the story of Emily and her mother, Louisa. As the book progresses, we learn more about what made Louisa leave and how it eats at her, little by little every day that she is gone. She has not led an easy life since leaving and every decision makes her feel worse and worse and less and less worthy to ever rejoin her family. My heart hurt a little for Louisa, even though I found myself to be incredibly angry at her. I have a really hard time with people who walk out on their family and I tend to be a very harsh judge. So I was quite surprised to find myself feeling compassion for Louisa instead of just disdain. (Don't worry, that was there too, but my feelings were far more complex than that). She convinced herself that she was doing what was ultimately best for her daughter and she never let them see her looking back.

Emily grew up not knowing much about her mom. It's really hard for her dad to talk about it (he still wears his wedding ring) and Emily has convinced herself that she doesn't need a mother and that she doesn't even miss her or care that she's gone. But that pain lingers. When a parent leaves you, whether you ever knew them or not, it changes you and it's pretty much always going to be a part of you. That pain and anger and confusion slips into her music and fuels a large part of her passion. And it broke my heart completely. I cry a lot in books where people die, but I don't often usually cry at other places. But this book, this one made me choke up more than a few times as Emily was struggling internally with her emotions and facing demons she wished didn't even exist.

As much as I loved this book overall, I do have to admit, I was a little (or okay, a lot) concerned by the very casual and completely destructive drug and alcohol abuse in just about every character. Almost all of the main characters have some serious substance abuse problems and aside from two scenes, it's never really portrayed as a problem. It's just what you do in Rock & Roll. Which I understand. It was a huge part of the music scene, especially that punk/grunge era. But that doesn't mean it wasn't a problem. And it was, IMO, far too easy for the characters who did realize they had a problem to just 'fix' it. Addictions aren't really that easy to kick. That's why they are addictions.

But even that wasn't enough to dampen how much I liked this book. Part of that is because I recognize that as a personal choice/preference. But either way, this is a powerful story about growing into yourself, accepting who you are, and loving music. This is another of those books that keeps going for me. I can't stop thinking about what choices each character might make next, where they might go, what they might say or do. And while the book did give you a sense of closure, the story of these characters is by no means over. There is a long way yet for them to go and I, for one, hope that getting there is smoother than their previous journey.

This book has cemented something that I had strongly suspected after reading Ballads. I will read anything, anything that Stephanie will write. She has this way with words that just seeps into your mind and soul, filling your thoughts and popping up at odd moments saying Don't forget about me. As I mentioned before, Stephanie, Thou Art Genius.