Merry Wanderer of the Night:
Just Contemporary

Today is the last day of November, which means it is the last day of Just Contemporary Month. This has been an amazing experience for me and I have loved everything about this event. The participation and response has been truly awesome and to wrap up this event, I want to say a few thank you's-

First, I need to thank Shanyn for agreeing to be my co-host for this event with me and being so awesome.

Next, I want to thank all of the authors who contributed. Thank you for the time, the energy, the words and the generous giveaways. To all the authors who participated, on mine and Shanyn's blog — Thank you. You are amazing.

And finally, a thank you to all the bloggers and readers out there who participated on your own blogs. Whether it was writing a guest post for me or for the post swap, writing a review of a Contemporary YA novel on your own blog or even just reading/commenting on the JC posts, thank you. Without readers, an event wouldn't be much success, so thank you! You have all been wonderful! I love you all, but I want to send a special shout-out to Candace from Candace's Book Blog who spent almost as much time on Contemporary YA as I did. She was amazing and had so much Contemporary YA goodness on her site!

Just Contemporary was also a great choice for me — a step in the right direction, if you will. Contemporary is my favorite genre, and it is what I read the most of. (So far this year, I have read 215 books, and 214 of those have been Contemporary) but I haven't really felt that my blog reflects that love of Contemporary. And although I do read a lot of different genres and have favorites in every single one of them, I want my blog to better reflect my actual reading tastes and Just Contemporary has been the first stage of taking my blog in that direction. I still plan to review from every genre that I read in, and I'll definitely still talk your ear off about books I love, but I'm planning to have many more Contemporary events.

I have the Just Contemporary Reading Challenge (sign ups are open! :) ) and next year, Just Contemporary will be back in November and there will be a special Contemp Event in May (details coming soon) not to mention a whole bunch of other amazing things coming to you in 2012 (including my first ever read-a-thon!).

So thank you all for being a part of this event. It has meant a lot to me and the amount of participation I've seen has blown my mind. Thank you and I hope to see you again next November and the months leading up to it!

I am so excited to have a guest post today with Sarah Ockler! She has a really fun post today, in the spirit of love for all genres, which I totally adored and even though Contemporary is my favorite, I do read and love many other genres and I love this post talking about the common threads between all genres.

Contemporary Realism vs. Paranormal & Fantasy: Smackdown or Lovefest?

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As an author of contemporary realistic teen fiction, I'm often asked about the imbalance in the bookstores between contemporary titles and paranormals — yes, those sparkly black covers of awesome. Some have asked me why I write contemporary instead of chasing the fantasy "trend." Others want me to convince them to read one over the other, or defend my own favorites, or talk about why contemporary is so much better.

Some of this is in jest, of course. All in good fun. But sometimes it does feel like there's a bit of rivalry going on, doesn't it?

I'm not sure why. To me, fantasy isn't a "trend" anymore than realism *isn't*, and the only thing that's "so much better" is that teens and adults are reading tons of YA — way more than we used to. A big part of that is availability and choice. Even as recently as ten years ago, bookstores might've only had one YA shelf, or the teen fiction might've been mixed in with the younger children's stuff. Now, it's so popular that it usually has it's own section, and that section includes rows of ever-expanding shelves — plenty of room for magic *and* reality.

My favorite local indie, the Tattered Cover, just expanded its YA section, and they host young adult and middle grade authors almost every month — contemporary, fantasy, scifi, dystopian, romance, mystery — we're all represented, and we're all awesome.: -) Walking down those long shelves stuffed with sparkly black covers, pink ones, white ones, scenic ones, close up kissing ones, monster ones… it just makes me insanely happy to have so many choices for my ever-growing TBR list.

So what about the original question? Smackdown or lovefest?

I say lovefest. I love contemporary realism. I love fantasy, paranormal, and scifi. I love it all. Because in young adult fiction, contemporary realism and paranormal / fantasy are just two sides of the same coin. The difference is in the execution. Maybe your boyfriend broke up with you because the scent of your blood makes him want to tear you apart with his pointy little fangs. Or maybe he just likes another girl. Maybe your parents are getting divorced because Mom discovered that dad is a dark elf plotting to take over the world. Or maybe he just leaves the toilet seat up. These are silly examples, but the point is, the underlying emotional strife is the same. Both types of story explore complex emotions and issues like changing friendships, death, sexuality, sex, heartbreak, addiction, family problems, physical challenges, violence, and economic hardship, to name a few. Both feature multi-layered characters forced by difficult — sometimes life-threatening — external situations to dig deep to uncover their own hidden strengths. Both have the twists and turns and surprises that often come when teens experience new situations for the first time. And let's not overlook the best part — all the kissing. Sexy vampires, beautiful witches, six-pack-ab-rockin' shapeshifters, and plain old regular humans… there's plenty of romance to swoon over in most young adult fiction. Team Kissing, are you with me? Yes!

So whether you're typically into contemporary realism or paranormal, whether you like your boys human or bloodsucking, whether you go gaga for girls with wings or wands or just plain old pom poms, whether you're reading about transgender issues or trans-species ones, whether you like escaping to the beaches of California or the halls of Hogwarts, I encourage you to read a bit more of… well… everything. This is a lovefest, after all. Let's show some love!

Need a few recommendations? Check out the newly posted Best Teen Books of 2011 over at Kirkus. Editor Vicky Smith says, "With shelves fairly groaning under the weight of paranormal love triangles, it may be easy to think that books for teens are all the same these days. Not so, we are delighted to report. In sifting through the piles of great books published for teens this year, I was happy to discover soulful romance of the utterly normal kind, deliciously frothy historical novels, piercingly intelligent nonfiction, thrillingly inventive fantasy and science fiction and some great kickass horror, as well as some books that may leave you weeping with laughter."

Some of my faves from the list are Misfit, Winter Town, Virtuosity, Anna Dressed in Blood, and Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and many more are on my TBR list. There's something for everyone over there. Happy reading!
~ Sarah Ockler

Author of Twenty Boy Summer, Fixing Delilah, and the upcoming Bittersweet (which features the special magic of cupcakes and hockey boys… mmmmm...)

Thank you again Sarah, so very much! I love it!:)

And for all my awesome readers, Sarah has been generous enough to donate a signed paperback of Fixing Delilah to one luck winner! This is a phenomenal book, absolutely amazing, and I'm already excited for whoever wins this one!

Enter Below. Like all Just Contemporary Giveaways, it will end Dec 10th. This is also only open to US/CN.

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

My guest poster today is Jacinda, one of the sisters that runs the blog The Reading Housewives of Indiana. Jacinda is such a fun blogger to chat with and she's amazing. Seriously. She's pretty much amazing! I'm thrilled that she wanted to share a guest post, so here she is — talking about her favorite Contemporary novels EVER!

Picking my favorite contemporary novels of all time…that’s a difficult task. I decided to go with my
favorite contemporary novels I think aren’t as popular, at least at the moment…which pretty much
means I had to leave off Lola and Anna…I almost cried! Many of these might have been popular when
they were published, but they are somewhat new to me and aren’t talked about so much right now. Or
maybe I’m the only one who has one of these on my favorites list..I’m okay with that!
My Favorite Young Adult Contemporary Novels Which Need More Loving in 2011 and
Beyond!

Sea by Heidi R. Kling

I’d been wanting to
read this book for the longest time. My library didn’t have it and for some reason I’d never bought it.
As soon as someone offered this book up to me for trade I jumped at it! I’m so glad I did! As you can
tell it has become one of my favorites! I felt so many different emotions about this one! I love being
able to travel to foreign lands in books and Sea has that. I’m looking forward to reading anything Heidi
writes! I’m reviewing Sea sometime during Just Contemporary! I’ve been sitting on this review for a few months!

I Now
Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahan
This is a contemporary book I don’t think has gotten enough buzz. I read this before I started reviewing
and before I started my blog. I wish I would have read it afterwards to push it at people! It’s been a very
long time since I’ve read it, but I remember wanting to hug this book after I read it! Just thinking about it
has me wanting to re-read it!

Summer Sisters by Judy
Blume
Summer Sisters was one of the first contemporary books I’ve ever read. It was a book club pick and I was
pleasantly surprised by it! I HATED a few different characters in this one. I was screaming at them on the
inside that they were acting stupid and being totally selfish. I loved following these characters through
numerous years because you get to see so much growth and change.
You should also check out Forever by Judy Blume

Sign Language by Amy Ackley

This book set a record for me. I cried the most during Sign Language than any other book I’ve ever
read. Prior to this one, The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa held that title because of the brutal ending to
the story that had me crying for about the last ten percent. Sign Language had me using tissues during
the entire first half. It was a horrible feeling having to cry that often while reading it, but it shows how
well the author told the story. I normally shy away from stories having main characters in the 12-15
year-old range, but I’m so happy I didn’t pass this one up! Sign Language has a certain quote/life lesson
that will always stick with me and it is one of only a few books I can remember quotes from.

Rich and Mad by William
Nicholson
I think many people didn’t like this one. I completely fell in love with it! I want to re-read it one of these
days to see if my love for it is still there and I really hope it is! I will probably cry if I feel different about it
the second time. It’s a story about a guy and girl chasing and looking for the wrong person to fall in love
with. I don’t remember exactly what had me falling all over this one, I just know I felt wonderful while
reading it. There is a point/part in this book people hated, I seemed to not care or I overlooked it, either
way, I loved this one! For some reason, I see myself constantly defending my love for this one…maybe
that’s because I’ve seen a couple of people tear it apart. Oh well, I loved it!

Sixteenth Summer by
Michelle Dalton

Sixteenth Summer is the cutest and most adorable book I’ve ever read! I catch myself thinking about
it on occasion! This book had me craving ice cream and sweet tea! If you need a book to put you in a
good mood or to read in the summertime, Sixteenth Summer is the book for you! It will give you warm
fuzzies!

My Ridiculous, Romantic Obsesessions by Becca Wilhite
Ever have a perfect book come to you at the perfect time?! My Ridiculous, Romantic Obsessions
was that book for me. I remember feeling down about everything, but after reading this, I felt 100%
better…even though I cried a bit. The protagonist is college-aged which I love in young adult! She’s
obsessed with romance novels and refers to them in every aspect of her life. Such a great fast read
which will always be a favorite of mine!

The North of Beautiful
by Justina Chen Headley
The theme for many favorites of mine is my lack for reasons as to why I love them…my memory is
horrible! North of Beautiful is one of those books! It’s a book teaching us to look inside of ourselves for
beauty because beauty isn’t on the outside. I just remember enjoying the struggle the main character
has with herself and the general theme of the book is unique and it stands out.

The Disreputable History of Frankie
Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
I’m thankful for the Award Winning Reads Challenge Ashley hosted with me because I might not
have picked this one up! Frankie was so strong! I loved her! It was a book based not on romance, but
Frankie’s struggle with wanting to be accepted in something she feels like she has a right to be a part
of and challenging it. I love romance in my books and this one has a bit, but I found myself not
caring if the romance was there or not…that means this book is fantastic coming from me!

The Chosen One by Carol
Lynch Williams
This is one of those “tough issues” books. Kyra is one of 21 children of her father’s from his three wives.
Kyra lives in a very religious community. She decides after she is to be wed to her uncle that she needs
to get away. I loved getting a glimpse, even if fictional, into a community like this especially from a 13
year-olds point of view. The ending of this one is very fitting for the story.

I’m a 26 year-old Hoosier. Currently I’m a SAHM to a 4 year-old boy
and a 3 year-old girl. I’ve been married to my hubby, Seth, for 6 years and I’ve known him since I was
senior in high school. I have two dogs and a cat which I love dearly even though they can make my
life more hectic than it needs to be. Besides my love of reading which is obvious, I love my Keurig,
crafting, and football. I’m afraid of heights to the point where I will not stay in a hotel

room above the 7^{th floor or drive in mountains unless it’s at night. I dislike milk and anything banana or coconut
flavored, so I’m limited on my cocktail choices. I’m a big young adult reader, but I do read an occasional
adult book. My favorite types of books would have to be contemporary and historical fiction, but it used
to be paranormal before I became more of an avid reader.}

Shannon is another of my favorite blogging buddies. She blogs over at Books Devoured and her blog makes me happy. She has two kids and they contribute to the blog sometimes too! I love that she includes her kids! And she is also one of my very most favorite people to talk to!! She is just super awesome and amazing, and she doesn't judge Mean Ashley... :) She has put together an awesome top ten list for you today!

Top Ten Quotes:

This week topic was Top Ten Lists and I tried to think a little outside the box. Here are my top 10 favorite quotes from Contemporary Novels. Though the quotes I have chosen are from books that were not released this year, they are all ones that I have read for the first time this year. My top 3 all happen to be from Looking for Alaska by John Green!

10. “Moments, when lost, can't be found again. They're just gone.”
― Jenny Han, The Summer I Turned Pretty

9. “Is it possible for home to be a person and not a place?”
― Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

8. “Every story is part of a whole, entire life, you know? Happy and sad and tragic and whatever, but an entire life. And books let you know them.”
― Sarah Ockler, Twenty Boy Summer

7. “When people don't express themselves, they die one piece at a time.”
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

6. “I mean, really. Who sends their kid to boarding school? It's so Hogwarts. Only mine doesn't have cute boy wizards or magic candy or flying lessons.”
― Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

5. “You should never be surprised when someone treats you with respect, you should expect it.”
― Sarah Dessen, Keeping the Moon

4. “You have to know what you stand for, not just what you stand against.”
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

3. “I wanted to be one of those people who have streaks to maintain, who scorch the ground with their intensity. But for now, at least I knew such people, and they needed me, just like comets need tails.”
― John Green, Looking for Alaska

2. “Thomas Edison's last words were 'It's very beautiful over there'. I don't know where there is, but I believe it's somewhere, and I hope it's beautiful.”
― John Green, Looking for Alaska

1. “So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane.”
― John Green, Looking for Alaska

I love this post Shannon! I do wish that I paid more attention to specific quotes within books, but I totally agree that these are amazing quotes, definitely ones that I love as well!

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!

Here is another post where I attempt to gather as much of the awesome Contemporary happenings into one place! As always, I know there are going to be things that I've missed, so if you've written anything about Contemporary YA at any point in November and you think I missed it, please let me know and I will add it to the post!

REVIEWS:

Candace @ Candace's Book Blog — Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen and Boyfriends with Girlfriends by Alex Sanchez

Audrey @ Holes in My Brain — Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

The Book Faerie — Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Young Readers — The Vincent Boys by Abbi Glines

Ashley @ The Bookish Brunette — The Vincent Boys by Abbi Glines

Giselle @ Xpresso Reads — June of Rock by Elisa Ludwig

Katie's Book Blog — Past Perfect by Lelia Sales

L.L. @ The Story Girl — Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Bonnie @ A Backwards Story — Rhymes with Cupid by Anna Humphrey and North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

Jen @ Almost Grown Up — Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Racquel @ The Book Barbies — Love Story by Jennifer Echols and Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

Geianne @ We Fancy Books — Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by David Levithan & Rachel Cohn and Stolen by Lucy Christopher

Sarah @ The Hiding Spot — Saving June by Hannah Harrington,

Jenny @ The Mimosa Stimulant — Saving June by Hannah Harrington and Dancergirl by Carol Tanzman

Ginger @ Greads — Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

Hannah @ Paperback Treasures — Lie by Caroline Bock

A Life Bound By Books — Every Me, Every You by David Levithan and Overprotected by Jennifer Laurens

Amanda @ Born Bookish — Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin

Steph @ Steph: Short & Sweet — All That Matters by Youseph Tanha

Ali @ Ali's Bookshelf — Geek Girl by Cindy C. Bennett

Somer @ A Bird's Eye Review — Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard and the Perfect Chemistry Series by Simone Elkeles

Kate @ Literary Explorations — Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler, Past Perfect by Lelia Sales Stolen by Lucy Christopher and Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Lindsi @ Books, Sweets, and Other Treats — Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Laura @ The Reading Nook — If I Tell by Janet Gurtler

Jess @ Jess Hearts Books — Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Ellie @ Curiosity Killed the Bookworm — Hidden by Miriam Halahmy

Jacinda @ The Reading Housewives — Friendship on Fire — Danielle Weiler (and a giveaway!) and I'm Not Her by Janet Gurtler

Kalia @ Reading the Best of the Best — Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John, How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr, Love Story by Jennifer Echols, Secrets of My Hollywood Life (and it's sequel, On Location) by Jen Calonita

Evie @ Bookish — Playground by 50 Cent

Sarah @ Sarah's Books & Life — OyMG by Amy Fellner Dominy

A.J. @ Collections — The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour and Stolen by Lucy Christopher

Samual @ Books for All Seasons — The Education of Hailey Kendrick by Eileen Cook

The Book Muncher — Past Perfect by Lelia Sales, Tunnel Vision by Susan Shaw, Brother/Sister by Sean Olin and Going Underground by Susan Vaught

Farah & Juhina @ Maji Bookshelf — Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter (book 4 in a series) and The Vincent Boys by Abbi Glines

Emma @ Novel Minded — Dirty Little Secrets by C.J. Omololu, Every You, Every Me by David Levithan and If I Tell by Janet Gurtler

Cristina — The Princess of Story Land — How to Rock Braces and Glasses by Meg Haston

Liz @ Consumed by Books — Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Kelsey @ The Book Scout — Zitface by Emily Howse and Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Meredith and Erin @ Mint Tea and a Good Book — I'm Not Her by Janet Gurtler and Paper Towns by John Green

Jen @ I Read Banned Books — Au Revoir Crazy European Chick by Joe Schrieber

Kristen @ Strawberry Splash Reviews — Brooklyn Burning by Steve Brezenoff

Nina @ We Adore Happy Endings — Bliss by Lauren Myracle and Reality Check by Jen Calonita

Annette @ Annette's Book Spot — Untraceable by S.R. Johannes

Dustin @ Dustin Disco — The Beginning of After by Jennifer Castle and I'll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloan

AUTHORS:

Jacinda @ The Reading Housewives interviewed Danielle Weiler (with a giveaway!)

Katie @ Bookishly Yours interviewed Hannah Harrington (with a giveaway!)

Erika @ One a Day YA interviewed Miranda Kenneally

Jen @ I Read Banned Books interviewed Joe Schrieber

Alice @ Alice Marvels Interviewed Carol Tanzman

Hannah @ Paperback Treasure has a guest post from Hannah Harrington

Mary @ Anxirium has a guest post about swoon-worthy boys from Jillian Dodd

Ginger @ Greads! interviewed John Corey Whaley (with a giveaway!)

GIVEAWAYS:

Candace @ Candace's Book Blog is giving away a signed ARC of Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez

Lena @ Addicted to Novels is giving away two Romantic Contemps!

DISCUSSION:

Kristen @ Strawberry Splash Reviews talks YA Contemporary Books with Real Issues

Samual @ Books for all Seasons talks about Remembrances of Sisterhood in Contemp

Katelyn @ Katelyn's Book Blog Top 11 Swoon-worthy Boys

Jacinda @ The Reading Housewives Top 9 Swoon-worthy Boys

Mandie Baxter's Top Ten Swoon-worthy Boys

Kathy @ I Write, I Read, I Review Top Five Faves & Most Anticipated

Adam @ Roof Beam Reader Top Five Faves & Most Anticipated

Bonnie @ A Backwards Story Top Ten Anticipated Contemps

Ginger @ Greads! Top Ten Favorites

Kailia @ Reading the Best of the Best — What I Want To See More Of

Nikki @ Paper Dreams Top Ten Problem Novels

Kristen @ Strawberry Splash Reviews Top Ten Summer Contemporaries

Mary @ Anxirium Top Ten Cutest Couples

Ariel @ The Librarian's Bookshelf Top Ten Contemp I Need to Read

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.

Katelyn is for serious one of my favorite blogger/twitter friends and she's just pretty much awesome. For realz people. If you don't know her already, you really should fix that. I've loved a lot of our conversations and gotten more than a few book recommendations from her. So I'm really excited that she agreed to write a guest review for me for Just Contemporary! So here is her review:

Going Too Far is a wonderful story that has yet again, confirmed my total love for Jennifer Echols. She has this incredible ability to create deep, multi-layered characters, a story line that sucks you in, and a romance that just comes alive with every passing page. This is most definitely the case with Going Too Far!

When we first meet Meg, the main character, we can tell that she has a tough exterior. She acts like a total nutcase. She has blue hair, she rebels against all authority figures, and she has an attitude to go along with it. While it may seem like she could be a pretty easy character to hate, I in fact loved her. Meg will always hold a special place in my heart because no matter how hard she tried to be tough, you could tell that she was hurting on the inside.

While reading the story it was easy to see that she does this to keep people at a distance. No attachments means she can get out of her small town as soon as possible. The more she gets in trouble, the angrier her parents get which in turn means they will be happy to let her go. The more she hangs out with losers like Eric who only use her for booty calls means she won’t have a boyfriend to keep her tied to her small town. The more she ignores her only friend, Tiffany, the fewer goodbyes she’ll have to say when she finally leaves. Meg’s whole scheme works out perfectly until one fateful night on the railroad tracks.

One of Meg’s rebellious acts leads to a ruined spring break that she now gets to spend with Officer After. It is at this point in the story, ladies and gentleman, which my heart started to melt. John goes against everything that Meg stands for. He is straight-edge, follows the rules, and always thinks ahead. Even though their personalities couldn’t be further apart, there is a chemistry that sizzles beneath the surface every single time they are together. I flipped page after page wondering when their feelings for each other would ignite the whole book.

John and Meg are one of the greatest matches I have ever seen in a Y.A. Contemporary book. They like to push each other’s buttons. Meg says little comments that she knows will grate on John’s nerves. John does things just to tick Meg off. They do all these things to each other just to see how far they can go but at the end of the day, you could see the chemistry continually build between the two of them. John secretly loves Meg’s harsh personality and blue hair. Meg secretly loves John’s devotion to his job. Together they are an unlikely couple but they just work.

Another reason I love the two of these two, they were both devastated by something in the past and it is this similarity between the two of them that eventually becomes one of the main driving points behind the story. For Meg it is an illness that struck her years ago. This sickness affected her more than she lets on and it really controls a lot of what she does. For John, it is more complex. For most of the book he seems calm, cool, and collected but near the end you can definitely sense that something heartbreaking happened in his past. The book would have been good without this element but when you add this to the already GREAT aspects of the book, it is pure genius.

Looking back on this book there is not a whole lot of negatives to say about it. I was in love with Meg and John from the very first chapter. Their constant bickering and obvious chemistry kept me interested throughout the whole book. I turned page after page hoping they would be able to work out their differences. I hoped so desperately that they could face the ghosts of their pasts so they could finally see what needed to be done to make the other happy. As I stated earlier, this is another book that proves just how great of a writer Jennifer Echols is. It is because of this book (and all her others) that I will be a total fan-girl for the rest of my life!

Thank you so much Katelyn! This is an awesome review, one that would make even me want to run out and grab a copy, if I hadn't already read it! Thank you again!!:)

Can't let Thanksgiving pass without at least a mention of it. It's one of my favorite holidays and I think part of that is because, although the food definitely gets a lot of attention, Thanksgiving is the one holiday that truly defies the rampant commercialism of our society and retains a lot of its original meaning. It's a simple holiday, one that is about being with the people you love, sharing good food and fun memories, and reminding yourselves of all that you have to be thankful for.
I want to just take a moment to share how truly grateful I am for the whole blogging experience and the readers who have made it so wonderful. Blogging, for me, has been a truly rewarding experience and that is because of the vast community of readers it has introduced me to. You all are wonderful.
Since it is still November, I also want to express my gratitude to everyone who has participated in Just Contemporary Month. It has been a really big thing for me, and it's been amazing to see all the wonderful Contemporary posts and love and meet some new people because of it. So if you have participated in Just Contemporary in any way, I thank you, most sincerely. Whether it's writing blog posts and reviews, commenting on the reviews of others or even just hitting that retweet button on Twitter, I thank you.
And to everyone, I wish you a most happy Thanksgiving, even if you aren't from the US. There's never a bad time to remember how much there is to be grateful for.

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.

There have been so many awesome blog posts about Contemporary YA this week! I have loved reading the ones I've discovered, but just know that I had to have missed a bunch. So, if your blog post isn't listed here, please let me know!

Announcement of Contemporary Win!- A whole bunch of bloggers have gotten together to put on a John Green week this January! How awesome is that?! John Green pretty much oozes Contemporary awesomness so a week to spotlight him sounds awesome! Here is a link to one of the blogs hosting sign ups!:) Click me for John Green Week info!!!

Also, I cannot believe that I have so far forgotten to mention this — BUT — November is also Aussie Month over at Carla's blog, The Crooked Shelf. Since it's Aussie authors in general, not everything is Contemporary but there is definitely some Contemp love and seriously, who doesn't love Aussie authors?! There must be something in the water over there because they Rock!
Some of the Contemporary Australian Awesome — An interview with Melina Marchetta! (Whom I absolutely adore!) Reviews of Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley; Everything Beautiful by Simmone Howell; A Straight Line to My Heart by Bill Condon; Good Oil by Laura Buzo;

REVIEW:

Alissa @ The Grammarian — Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (not entirely Contemp, but mostly)

Candace @ Candace's Book Blog — Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols (and a giveaway!), The Vinyl Princess by Yvonne Prinz, Dreamland Social Club by Tara Atebrando, Girl Wonder by Alexa Martin and Shattered Soul by Jennifer Snyder (also has an author interview and a giveaway!).

Somer @ A Bird's Eye View — Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Mandie Baxter — Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Allison @ The Allure of Books — Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Mary @ Anxirium — Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John

Jacinda @ The Reading Housewives — Sea by Heidi R. Kling and The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen

The Busy Bibliophile — You Against Me by Jenny Downham

Jennifer @ The Book Barbies — Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez

Racquel @ The Book Barbies — If I Stay by Gayle Forman, Where She Went by Gayle Forman, Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski and Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez.

Magan @ Rather Be Reading — Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers and The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chboksy

Krazy Book Lady — Joint Mother/Daughter review of Geek Girl by Cindy C. Bennet

Estelle @ Rather Be Reading — Fringe Girl by Valerie Frankel

Katelyn @ Katelyn's Blog — Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Amanda @ Book Love 101 — Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Hannah @ Paperback Treasures — Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Bonnie @ A Backwards Story — Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Rachel @ Rachel Reads — The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Ginger @ Greads! — Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

Farrah @ I Eat Words — Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

Amanda @ On a Book Bender — Cut by Patricia McCormick (guest review by Amanda)

Karen @ For What It's Worth — Saving June by Hannah Harrington

A Beautiful Madness — Dancergirl by Carol Tanzman, Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter (second in a series) and Saving June by Hannah Harrington.

Ashley @ Book Labyrinth — I'm Not Her by Janet Gurtler

Laura @ The Reading Nook — Lie by Caroline Bock

Jamie @ Writers write, right? — The Boys Next Door by Jennifer Echols

Rachel @ Fiktshun — Where You Are by Tammara Webber (second book in series)

Melissa @ I Swim for Oceans — The Shattering by Karen Healy

April @ Good Books & Good Wine — Playground by 50 Cent and Sweethearts by Sara Zarr

Jamie @ The Perpetual Page Turner — Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan

Anna @ Anna Reads — Kiss It by Erin Downing and Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez

Jayme @ The Secret Life of an Avid Reader — Withering Tights by Louise Rennison

Yani @ The Secret Life of an Avid Reader — Double Clutch by Elizabeth Reinhardt

Chey @ The Hollow Cupboards — Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins and Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski

Juhina @ Maji Bookshelf — North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley, Dancergirl by Carol Tanzman and Where You Are by Tammara Webber (second book in series)

Farah @ Maji Bookshelf — The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler and Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Chelsey @ Starry Sky Books — Rhymes with Cupid by Anna Humphrey

Melissa @ This is Your Brain on Books — The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Mari @ Escape in a Good Book — All I Ever Wanted by Vikki Wakefield

Nina @ Escape in a Good Book — Dancergirl by Carol Tanzman

Sarah @ Whispering Words — Guitar Girl by Sarra Manning

Cass @ Words on Paper — Audition by Stasia Kehoe

Samual @ Books for All Seasons — Moving Day by Meg Cabot

Lena @ Addicted to Novels — Love and Leftovers by Sarah Tregay and Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Steph @ Steph Su Reads — Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Giselle @ Xpresso Reads — Fury by Shirley Marr

The Book Faery — Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday

Tee @ Dreaming Dreams — Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins, Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn, and Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday.

Lizz @ Dreaming Dreams — Want to Go Private? by Sarah Darer Littman

Annette's Book Spot — Saving June by Hannah Harrington

AUTHOR:

Mary @ Anxirium — Guest post w/ author Jennifer Castle about Being a Contemporary YA Writer

Candace @ Candace's Book Blog interviewed Tara Altebrando.

Krazy Book Lady interviewed Cindy C. Bennett

Avid Reader Yani has a guest post from Elizabeth Reinhardt about dating

Kody Keplinger interviewed Hannah Harrington

Kirsten Hubbard is giving away Wanderlove bookmarks

Hannah Harrington lists her Top Ten Road Trip Songs.

DISCUSSION:

Misty @ The Book Rat talks about her most anticipated Contemporary YA (and it's a linky! You can too!!)

Molly Jo @ Surrounded by Words — Contemporary YA: A Love/Hate Relationship
Danielle @ Alpha Reader talks about her favorite Aussie YA novels.
Samual @ Books for All Seasons talks about favorite YA/MG Contemps about friendship

Romance:
Bonnie @ A Backwards Story
Danya @ A Tapestry of Words

More of the Tough Stuff posts that I missed last week:

Candace @ Candace's Book Blog
Bonnie @ A Backwards Story
Sarah @ The Storybound Girl
Amanda @ The Fiction Fairy

Once again — If I've missed anything, Let me know!!:) I'd love to add your stuff to my link up!