Real brilliant

VIA «Symbol of illusory love»

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.

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.

With us today we have the lovely Elizabeth C. Bunce, author of A Curse Dark as Gold, a fantastic retelling of Rumplestiltskin (set in the Industrial Revolution! Brilliant!) and the "Thief Errant" series, which is about Digger, a spy and thief who unwittingly finds herself at the center of a magical rebellion. The first book, StarCrossed, is out now, and the second, Liar's Moon, comes out in November!
Make sure to stick around till the end of the interview for a chance to win your own copy of StarCrossed!
Without further ado, I give you: Elizabeth C. Bunce!

~What inspired you to set the tale of Rumplestiltskin in the Industrial Revolution?
A couple of things, actually. First, I wanted to set the novel in the time and place of fairy tales—that imaginary Fairy Tale Country—and thanks to classic artwork by Dulac, Dore, and others, for me that's the 18th century. Second, it was a natural extension of the decision to set the story in an ailing textile mill, because the social and economic changes of the Industrial Revolution presented an existing set of realistic obstacles and conflict for the plot. And, to be perfectly honest, I was in love with the clothes of the era, and just couldn't imagine Uncle Wheeler dressed any other way!

~What was the research process like for the story, both on the fairy tale front and the historical front?
On the fairy tale front, I read as many traditional versions of Name of the Helper tales as I could—not just early "Rumpelstiltskins," but also pieces like England's "Tom Tit Tot" and Scotland's "Whuppity Stoorie." But my goal was always to focus on the story of the girl who bargains away her infant son, so I did stick pretty close to the "Rumpelstiltskin" framework. The rest of the research—oh, mercy! I dug into everything from everyday life in the 18th century, to traditional folk magic and ghost stories, and, of course, a huge amount of research (both book learnin' and the hands-on kind) into the woolen textile industry. I have monographs on wigmaking, esoteric economic histories of individual mill towns, even the journals of period woolworkers. For me, research uncovers not just the things you know you're looking for—but almost more importantly, the things you had no idea you needed.

~Will we ever see more stories set in Charlotte’s world?
Yes! I have one published now, a ghost story called "In for a Penny" in the Scholastic anthology Bones, edited by Lois Metzger (July 2011). And I have a few more ideas—including more retellings—up my sleeve, as well.

~Why fairy tales? What is it that calls to you, personally,as a writer, and why do you think readers connect to them the way they do?
As a reader, I'm even a bigger fan of retellings than I am of the original tales. I am fascinated by the ways authors expand and adapt the source material while keeping the stories fresh and accessible to today's readers. There's so much potential in the fairy tales, and I find it really comes to life in a brilliant retelling. I'm particularly drawn to the fairy tale landscape—the dark woods, the impenetrable briar hedge, the castles. But as a writer, I like the challenge of re-imagining those classic settings; expanding the borders of Fairy Tale Country, as it were!

~StarCrossed seems pretty different from Curse; did you feel it was a departure for you? How does StarCrossed’s Digger compare to Curse’s Charlotte?
I like to say that Curse was written for my adult literary and fairy-tale scholar self, while StarCrossed and Liar's Moon were written for my inner 16-year-old fantasy fan. So in that way, I can't say the series is a departure, although it did feel very different to write Digger's story than Charlotte's. As characters, Digger is a complete 180 from Charlotte. Charlotte thinks over everything before she makes any move, and Digger is very much more a Shoot First, Ask Questions Later kind of girl. Oddly enough, their goals end up being the same (saving the people they care about), but their methods are a little different. I have a feeling Digger would have taken one look at Shearing and Stirwaters, said, "To hells with this," grabbed everyone, and lit out of there.

~StarCrossed is a series, so I know you’re in the middle of that, but are there any plans to tell more straightforward fairy tale retellings in the future?
Definitely! The first novel I ever wrote was a retelling, I have a collection of short retellings that's been in the works for a while, and I've just started collecting research materials for a Victorian-era fairy tale project I'm excited about.

~What’s your favorite scene you’ve ever written?
I don't know! What a great question. Since we're talking about Curse, let's narrow it down some. I still think that book has some great scenes (I especially love the conjuring of Jack Spinner, the introduction of Biddy Tom, the crossroads, and the denouement)... but today I'm feeling romantic, so I'm going to say Randall's gift of the watch. There's something magical about those rare moments where you can capture everything about a story in just a few lines, and I think this scene between Randall and Charlotte tells us so much about both characters.

Lightning Round!

~Rapunzel is named after lettuce; what odd thing would you be named after if you were in a fairy tale?
Hopefully I'd get a name! But it would probably be something like Donkeyskin or Aschenputtel. Maybe Doghair. Hundehaare. That sounds about right.

~ Using that name, give us 1 line from your life as a fairy tale:
Hard by a great prairie, in a cottage surrounded by mud in all seasons, guarded by a pack of hounds, lived a woman known as Hundehaare, whose back was permanently bent from bending over her books, her fingers gnarled and pricked from the needle. But from her muddy cottage, Hundehaare crafted things of great wonder, and her work was sought by folk from distant lands.
(Ok, that's two lines!)
[The judges confer... Two lines is acceptable, since they are such good lines.:) ]

~Best fairy tale villain and why?
Well, see, I tend to take a longer, more sympathetic view of my fairy tale villains, so it's difficult to come up with a list of inexcusable baddies. The thirteenth fairy in "Sleeping Beauty" is awfully petty, but, then, who hasn't felt wounded at being excluded from a party? And for mismatched dishes? But after giving this some deep thought, I'm going to have to go with The Pea.

~Favorite tale from childhood? Favorite tale as an adult? Least favorites?
My favorite always was and will probably always be "Beauty and the Beast." The least favorite one is hard to answer; it used to be "Rumpelstiltskin," hands down—but I feel kind of bad about saying that now, since the story has actually been very good to me!

~If you could be any fairy tale character, or live through any fairy tale "happening," who/what would it be?
Although it directly contradicts another answer below, I'm going to say I'd like to accompany the soldier as he follows the dancing princesses to Faerie.

~Would you rather:
- — eat magic beans or golden eggs?
Eggs

- — live under a bridge with a troll, or all alone in a high tower?
Tower

- — be forced to spin straw into gold for hours on end, or dance every night until your shoes are worn through?
Spin. Was there ever any doubt?

Thanks so much for stopping by and chatting with us, Elizabeth! For those of you who haven't read A Curse Dark as Gold (was there ever a better title?), Misty and Ashley both highly recommend it! And if you haven't read StarCrossed, here's your chance!

Misty's review of A Curse Dark as Gold | Ashley's review of StarCrossed ***GIVEAWAY*** Thanks to the awesome people at Scholastic, we have a beautiful finished hardcover copy of StarCrossed to give away to 1 winner!
To enter, answer this question: If you were to retell a fairy tale, what would it be and where/when would you set it?
Then, fill out this form.
International
Ends May 5th May 8th!

So, I'm sorry guys — I know Wednesday is supposed to be my review day for the Award Winning Reads Challenge and I've got a lot on my plate right now.

So, instead, I'm just going to tell you to go forth and read!! And, since you are going to be reading, why don't you pick up a copy of Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta? It's the 2009 Printz Award winner and I tell you, it will blow your mind. It is one of the strongest, most amazing books I've ever read. In my entire life. (And I read a lot... So that's kind of a big deal.) Melina Marchetta is a writing Goddess and I find her abilities as a writer simply astounding. So do yourself a favor and read this book. Don't believe me? I come with references. (available on request) I've got people lined up who will tell you that I coerced convinced them to read Melina Marchetta and they've decided she is simply brilliant.

Not sure you are in the mood for tough stuff? Then try The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart. This has got to be one of the most wittiest, entertaining, hysterical and brilliant books of all time. I tell you what. You are going to love Frankie. She is a phenomenal character, one I would love to know in real life! She's smart and is not afraid of that. She knows she's smart and she wants to use her brain to it's full potential. I had my best friend borrow this. The one who really only reads non-fiction? Ya. She read it in one sitting. It really is most excellent. And I'd be totally gruntled if you'd give it a shot!

(Oh ya, and both of these books are on my 'special' list, which means if you read it, you are entered for a special prize!)

Don't forget to link up to your reviews!! I'd LOVE to see what you've been reading!:)

I am having a hard time believing I've been writing up Memory Monday posts since last year but have yet to share my love for Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Ephraim's Daughter Longstocking, more commonly known as Pippi.

I remember my mom handing me her childhood copies of Pippi Longstocking and Pippi in the South Seas. She didn't give me much of an intro to the books, just told me that they were books she had read and loved as a kid, and she thought I might like them. So I read them. And I devoured them. I love them, and I read these two books over and over again. In fact, I read them so many times that the covers fell off, and then the pages started coming apart.

You see, for me, reading about Pippi's adventures wasn't just about reading the adventures of some slightly crazy girl in a book. Oh no. Pippi's adventures went much farther than that for me. You see, I wanted to be Pippi. I wanted that more than I think I had ever wanted anything before.

I wanted to be cool enough to live on my own, strong enough to carry my horse up and down the porch steps, interesting enough to have a pet monkey, and confident enough to dance around my classroom singing about plutification. (Alas, I've always cared way too much about what my teachers thought of me to be any where near that disruptive.) Oh ya, and it definitely didn't hurt that Pippi is rich as Midas either. She inherited a trunk full of gold along with her Villa from her father, whom she is convince is now king of the canibals after being swept out to sea, and she's very free with her money. She's also brilliant, being able to outsmart any adult and is wholly unconcerned with what other people think of her. She is her own person, and she is perfectly happy to be exactly who she is.

Who wouldn't want to be Pippi? She's strong, in ways that go beyond just her astounding physical strength, loyal, loving, and ridiculously funny. I'm pretty sure I even tried to sleep with my feet on my pillow, and my head down below once. And let me tell you — it is not comfortable. Poor Pippi.

I tried re-reading these books a few years ago. I purchased a set of three Pippi books — Pippi Longstocking, Pippi Goes on Board, and Pippi in the South Seas, and I wanted to revisit that old delight I had felt when reading about Pippi's adventures. I'd never run into a problem with a re-read before, and I was looking forward to revisiting Pippi in all her wackiness. It about broke my heart when I started to realize that it just wasn't the same reading these books as an adult. I've since (mostly) blocked out that reading experience, so I can instead focus my memories on my old copies and how I loved them, literally, to pieces. But, that tiny part that I allow to remember I did re-read these weeps a little when I think of it.

Pippi was such a huge part of my childhood, and I refuse to forget her. I refuse to allow her to fade into the background and you had better believe I will be putting copies of this book in the hands of any daughters I have. (Sons too). It is a book meant to be read, loved, and cherished by youth and I shall do everything in my power to make sure the kids in my life love Pippi as much as I do.

Invited guests, Archbishop of Thyateira Gregorios and Great Britain, Baroness Maddock,  Lord Luce,  and Lord Turnberg were among a few of the many guests welcomed by Baroness Berridge.  Before a packed room she opened the presentation speaking about the link between religious freedoms and the destruction of cultural heritage.

Sponsor and co-coordinator Tasoula Hadjitofi presented two 12th century looted frescoes taken from the Monastery of Aspinthiotissa in the occupied area of Cyprus, Kyrenia which she repatriated on behalf of Walk of Truth. She spoke about the loss of freedom, identity and human indignity that occurs with war and destruction of cultural heritage.

Mrs. Hadjitofi stressed the importance of engaging global citizens in lending their support to create a world of Peace. From refugee to protector of cultural heritage she engaged the audience on the importance of unity in combating the mass destruction of cultural heritage taking place in Syria, Iraq and Cyprus.

Prof. Dr. Willy Bruggeman, Chairman of the Belgian Federal Police Council, and former Deputy Director of Europol spoke of the need to make destruction of cultural heritage as a crime against humanity.

Baron Serge Brammertz, Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia said, “It is imperative for international criminal tribunals to include destruction of cultural and religious heritage into their overall investigative strategies.

Professor Norman Palmer, a barrister practicing at 3 Stone Buildings, Lincoln’s Inn, London and a visiting professor of law at King’s College, spoke for the need for a sound legal approach should be complemented with diplomatic and other initiatives that help  us to restitute unlawfully removed cultural treasures.

The MP David Burrows, summarized the key points in a brilliant way and he and the Baroness will bring the findings to the House of Parliament and The House of Lords.

Author: Tasoula Hadjitofi | Source: Walk of Truth [December 17, 2014]

Emmy, Leigh, and Adriana have been friends for over a decade. Emmy was recently dumped by “the guy”, the man she thought she would marry and have children with. Leigh is a young publicist. She has the perfect job, the perfect apartment, the perfect man. Then she signs on as editor for Jesse Chapman a brilliant, yet impossible, writer. She begins to realize that the life isn’t that perfect. And finally, Adriana is the stunning daughter of a renowned supermodel. She has no qualms with flaunting and using her Brazilian charm to get any man she wants. Emmy and Adriana make a pact to put an end to their dismal lives. Emmy decides that she should expand her “knowledge” of men by traveling around the world and bedding a man from each country. Adriana resolves to pick one of many potential suitors and settle down. A year later the girls must decide just how much in their lives has changed. While I can admit that this was an engaging beach read, it reminded me a bit too much of Sex in the City. I kept envisioning Emmy, Leigh, and Adriana as Charlotte, Carrie and Miranda. The similarities between the two sets of characters are uncanny.

Bonnie from A Backwards Story is with us again today, bringing us another fantastic interview — this time with Carolyn Turgeon!

Carolyn Turgeon is the author of three novels, Rain Village, Godmother, and Mermaid. Her next novel, The Next Full Moon, is scheduled to come out in August/September 2011. Based on Te Swan Maiden, this will be Turgeon’s debut novel for young readers. Her novels tend to be twisted versions of fairy tales you’ve never seen before, such as The Little Mermaid from the princess’ perspective in addition to the mermaid’s or a version of Cinderella where the godmother is banished from the fairy realm when something goes horribly wrong... For a review of Turgeon’s work, please visit the above links. Reviews of her other titles will come to A Backwards Story later this year. Godmother and Mermaid are also featured in a FTF guest post titled FRACTURED FAIRY TALES.

1) What were your favorite fairy tales growing up? What drew you to them?
I can recall loving all kinds of stories, such as Thumbelina and The Princess and the Pea, with all their strange and wonderful images—the tiny girl floating along in an acorn, the princess with her stack of mattresses. I think my favorite fairy tales were by Oscar Wilde: The Happy Prince, The Nightingale and the Rose… but my favorite was The Selfish Giant. It’s very sad and strange and beautiful—the ghostly little boy, the lush garden, the endless snow and frost, the giant who gets struck down, covered in white blossoms… I’ve always tended to like stories that are very sad.

2) What made you decide to write alternative versions of fairytales from unique perspectives?
I didn’t really start out intending to write alternative versions of fairy tales. When I started Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story, I just wanted to tell the Cinderella story straight, with lots of wonderful, lush detail and full, fleshed-out characters and all kinds of weirdness and darkness, etc. That’s what I love about fairytales, by the way—that strange combination of beauty and darkness you find in all of them. After my first book, Rain Village, which took forever to write, I wanted to do something that I thought would be a lot of fun, something that I would really love writing. I only decided to tell the story through the perspective of the fairy godmother when I realized how limited Cinderella’s perspective was—back then I only ever wrote in first person—so I figured that if the fairy godmother was narrating she could be pretty omniscient, tell you what was going on with Cinderella and the other characters. Plus, she could tell you her own story, too, which I thought might be interesting. Later, I decided to set the book in contemporary New York City and only have the godmother remembering everything that had happened in the other world. The book is set half in New York and half in the fairy tale world (in flashbacks). I only decided to do that after joining a writing workshop and seeing that the people in the workshop didn’t seem to be responding to the straight-out fairy tale I was writing. I wanted to win them over and I thought maybe I could lure them in with a present-day story set in the city, win them over that way, and then plunge them into the fairy tale.
So the book only slowly evolved into this alternative version. Once I put the fairy tale in via flashbacks, I knew something had to have gone terribly wrong. Why else would the fairy godmother be an old woman in New York?
After writing the book, though, I felt there was something really powerful in taking a story as well known as Cinderella, a story that’s in our blood and bones, and telling the “real” story from a perspective you never think or care about.

3) Can you tell us more about your upcoming book, The Next Full Moon?
The Next Full Moon is my first children’s book, a middle-grade novel about a 12-year-old girl who’s being raised alone by her father in Pennsylvania and who starts growing feathers, which is totally mortifying and confusing for her of course. She then comes to discover that her mother, whom she thought died when she was an infant, was (and is) a swan maiden. The story’s based on the old tales in which a man steals a swan maiden’s feathered robe when she’s in her human form, takes her home, marries her and has children with her. One day she discovers the robe and flies away—there are various reasons for this, depending on the version you read. I wondered: what happens when those kids she leaves behind hit puberty? In my book, the man and woman had only one child, and now here’s the kid ten years later with feathers appearing on her arms and back, having no idea that her mother is still alive and, of course, no idea that she’s a swan maiden.
I like the idea of a 12-year-old girl, full of shame and embarrassment, slowly discovering that she’s magical and amazing.

4) What other ideas are you working on right now?
Well, I’m working on a few things right now. Because of Mermaid, I started this blog, I Am a Mermaid, where I talk to all kinds of people about mermaids. I’ve realized that there’s this whole mermaid culture out there that’s really fascinating and lovely. So I’m writing my first non-fiction (but still quite fantastical!) book. And I’m working on a new novel that has to do with Weeki Wachee and a YA novel about a drowning pool, and I have this half-done thriller that I hope to finish this year…

5) Was it hard coming up with your own lore when you began world-building? How did you bring everything together?
It was challenging for me to write about magical worlds, I think, in that I was afraid of making them too Disney-ish or corny. So with Godmother, at first I was very vague when talking about the fairy world; in fact in the first draft, the flashbacks start with the godmother meeting Cinderella and we don’t really see her in her own world at all. It was only after the book sold that my editors pushed me to make the fairy world more defined and vivid, to explain the rules of that world and the landscape of it and so on. So I added in the first couple of flashback chapters that are in the book now, and they were probably the hardest chapters for me to write, even though they’re probably the lightest ones in the whole book.
With Mermaid, I mainly had to explain the rules we see in the original Hans Christian Andersen story… like why the mermaids can only visit the human world once, on their birthdays, and so on. It was more like putting together a puzzle than anything else, trying to create the worlds in that book and make them adhere to specific points from the original story.

6) Which of the books you've written is your favorite so far? What makes it the most special to you?
Hmmm. I think that would always tend to be the latest one. Right now I’m very excited about The Next Full Moon and writing for this younger age group. I found it surprisingly easy to write as a twelve-year-old, which is possibly a little worrisome, and was able to draw on my own memories and experiences more than I have for any other book. Like the characters all go to the lake in their town, where there’s an old carousel and people sell lemonade and they can all go swimming or lie out on the beach. And I was just directly describing the lake my friends and I used to go to in East Lansing, Michigan, where I lived from when I was twelve to fourteen, and I hadn’t thought about that lake in years. We moved around a lot when I was growing up, and so I’m really distanced from some of those memories and places. It was kind of nostalgic and wonderful, writing that book and slipping into those memories and this old self. Also, I have to say, I think the trauma and awkwardness of being twelve mixes really well with the fairy tale elements in the book, and I like the idea that something magical is happening to you as you hit puberty and you just have to figure that out.

7) What are some of your favorite fairy tale inspired novels and/or authors?
I love Angela Carter and her weird, gorgeous visions. I love Alice Hoffman, Francesca Lia Block, Joanne Harris, Isabel Allende, Jeanette Winterson, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Italo Calvino... They’re not all fairy tale writers and I don’t know to what extent they’ve all been inspired by fairy tales, but they all write in that vein I think, lush and magical. I really enjoyed Erzebet Yellowboy’s Sleeping Helena. And I also, by the way, really loved the way the Pied Piper story is used in the movie The Sweet Hereafter. It’s pretty brilliant.

8) If you could live out any fairy tale, what would it be and why?
Oh, I think maybe Thumbelina. I mean, who wouldn’t want to ride around in an acorn? For the most part, I think fairy tales are not the stories I would like to live out. Though I wouldn’t mind being the little mermaid for a day, before she goes and sees the sea witch and ruins her life…

9) What's your favorite Disney rendition of a fairy tale? What makes it so special?
I’m going to have to defer to my childhood self, who loved all those movies quite passionately. As an adult, I could barely even get through The Little Mermaid, which I was totally swept away by as a teenager. Probably my favorite, though, is Snow White. The old versions of that tale are really very shockingly weird and violent, and even the Disney version is incredibly creepy, with our semi-dead heroine lying gorgeously in a glass coffin in the forest and our hot prince having a thing for dead chicks.

FUN AND CRAZY ROUND!

~Best fairy tale villain and why?
Oh, the stepmother from Snow White. She’s a gorgeous witch with a magic mirror who has her stepdaughter murdered in the forest and then eats her heart (or lungs or what have you). Even though she’s betrayed by her huntsman and actually eats a stag’s heart, she believes she’s eating Snow White’s. It’s hard to think of a more perverse female villain! And I love the image of her skulking through the forest with her cloak and her basket full of poisoned apples.

~Rapunzel is named after lettuce; what odd thing would you be named after if you were in a fairy tale?
Oh, I love Rapunzel and the lettuce that is so delicious and addictive that Rapunzel’s mother craves it above all else and even makes her husband climb into a witch’s garden to get more for her. I mean, who pines for lettuce? Now I totally want some lettuce, now that I’m thinking about it...
I’d like to be something equally un-chocolate-y, if you know what I mean, some other pedestrian, unsexy vegetable with hidden powers of seduction. Like a rutabaga or a turnip. Turnip is kind of a cute word, not too far off from the delightful “tulip.” I’d like some fairytale character to be sitting in a room wasting away from a mad desire for turnips.

~ Using that name, give us a line from your life as a fairy tale:
She stared out the window at the impossibly lush turnips growing outside just beyond reach, their leaves shooting into the air like hands, their bodies dense and purple, as round as breasts. Her mouth watered as she watched the turnip leaves undulating in the breeze. As if they were bellydancing, she thought.

Meanwhile, Turnip was enjoying a large slice of chocolate cake at Jean Georges.

~Would you rather:

- — eat magic beans or golden eggs? Golden eggs. Don’t those sound delectable? A magic bean is just wrong.

- — style 50ft long hair or polish 100 pairs of glass slippers? I think polishing the glass slippers would be much more manageable. And I love things made out of glass, especially slippers and dresses. Are you aware of Karen LaMonte’s glass dresses? Look:

- — have a fairy godmother or a Prince Charming? Oh, a fairy godmother. Who wouldn’t want an endless supply of dresses and carriages? And let’s face it: Prince Charming isn’t all he’s cracked up to be.
Come to think of it, though… if we’re talking about the fairy godmother from my own book, then I’d really have to go for the hot prince, or even one of the coachman or mice. Anyone but the godmother, please!

-----------------------------------------
Okay, okay, here’s the part you’re all waiting for: The giveaway! Carolyn has generously agreed to give away three—yes, THREE—autographed copies of Mermaid as well as some fun mermaid tattoos! You know you want to win this contest and read this fantastic book.

To enter,. In addition, please leave a comment answering this question: What would you do if you could be a mermaid for a day? Also, what would you be willing to sacrifice in order to become a mermaid?

Entries must be received by MAY 5th. May 8th This giveaway is INTERNATIONAL!
Good luck and I can’t wait to see your responses!

PS from Misty: I love this picture! ----->

Top Ten Tuesday is one of my favorite memes/features. It's hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. I don't participate all that often, but sometimes the topic just speaks to me, and I just have to participate. Getting some attention on 10 of my favorite books that I don't think enough people read isn't something I can pass up.:)

So here are my Top Ten AWESOME books that I think more people need to know about:

I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder — While I do prefer Lisa's The Day Before, it's been getting a lot of attention lately. Lisa is one of my very favorite verse writers. She's incredible, and I don't think enough people have read her.

Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert — It's not often that a writer can make a solid & life long fan of me in just one book, but this book did that and more. It's such a strong and powerful book. The book itself is marvelous, but the addition of the individual character Ballads — absolutely stunning. (My review)

Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick — I don't really know how many people are aware of this book, but I can tell you right now that it's not enough. This is one of the most phenomenally written books I've ever read. The relationship between the main character and his four year old brother just touched my heart. I love the strength of family here. I probably won't recommend this one to moms... Something about reading four year old with cancer is harder for moms with young kids (my sister avoids them like the plague) but for everyone else — This book is amazing.

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta — Well, Melina Marchetta in general actually. Her better known book, Jellicoe Road is one of my favorite books of all time. And, given that it won a Printz award, I'm surprised it's not better known. But, given that Saving Francesca isn't as well know, it's my 'official' pick for Ms. Marchetta. But really, if I could get every person on the planet to read a Marchetta book, I'm pretty sure I could die happy. She's... She's... Well, words just can't describe her. I LOVE her books. So go read it. (Here is my review if you need more convincing.)

Daughter of the Flames by Zoe Marriott — This could just as easily have been The Swan Kingdom (my review) , because both are legitimately amazing novels, but I think I like Daughter just a teensy bit more. But Zoe is another of those writers that I just gush over. And guess what, she's not contemporary! Gasp, I know! She writes fantasy! The Swan Kingdom is a fairy tale retelling, but Daughter is straight up fantasy, and boy does it rock my socks off! So, you should go read it!!

Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson — Laurie is incredibly well known for her amazing novel, Speak and I feel that sometimes, her other books get lost in its wake. But if I'm being honest, I think that Twisted is even better than Speak. There is no argument on the importance of Speak and the fact that it's amazing, powerful and important. But Twisted is all of those things too, but somehow, just a little bit stronger. It is also one of the absolute best male pov characters I have ever read from a female author.

Wise Child by Monica Furlong — I don't know that I've ever talked to another person who has read this book (other than my sister, who I stole it from as a kid) but it's a great book. It's fantasy, but it's not heavy or intense like much fantasy tends to be. As I've mentioned before, I did not like fantasy when I was a kid and if I knew a book was fantasy, I usually wouldn't even start it. But I loved this book. I've read it numerous times and love it just as much every time.

The Novels of a Kingdom by Cynthia Voigt — Best known for her brilliant Tillerman Saga, Cynthia Voigt also wrote a series of novels set within the same kingdom, each about two generations apart. And again, I don't know very many people who have read them. But they are phenomenal! Strong characters, believable interactions and wonderful plot lines. There are 4 novels, Jackaroo, On Fortune's Wheel, The Wings of a Falcon and Elske. Each is its own story, but there are subtle traces that carry over from one to the next. I loved finding each of these connections and am definitely due for a reread of these four soon.

Tenderness by Robert Cormier — This is such a strange and interesting book that left me incredibly conflicted. The bad guy here is also the main character and he is very, very bad. He rapes and murders women and his manipulation of the system made my stomach turn. But somehow, I also liked him. It shocked me immensely, but I was left very conflicted by the end. (My review)

You Don't Know Me by David Klass — This is another book I haven't heard anything from anyone else about. I bought it on impulse at the library during my internship, because it looked barely used, I didn't have hardly any of my own books with me, and it was only like 50 cents. And it's probably one of the best impulse buys ever. It's a very well written book, one that definitely touched me and one that I want to read again soon. Give this one a chance. It is so worth it.

There you have it. My top ten, today at least. I thought about, and almost included an honorable mention list for the titles I couldn't include, but when that became longer than my actual list, I figured I had to stop.

Have you read any of my ten? Link me to yours so I can come check 'em out! I'm always looking for new hidden gems to read and love!

Kara, Lost by Susan Niz is the story of 16 year old Kara, who feels that things are so bad at home she is left with no choice but to run away. Leaving in the middle of February, she heads to her sister's house, hoping that her sister, who left home a while ago will give her a place to stay. After Ian, her sister's roommate, refuses to allow Kara to stay more than a night (harboring a runaway is illegal) Kara is fairly bitter and knows, from this one encounter that Ian is just as manipulative and controlling as their father.

Kara starts to realize that perhaps she was a bit impulsive in walking out of her parent's house, and that she is going to be in serious trouble if she can't find a place to stay. She spends one night in a mall, one night in a squat with a strange and creepy guy from McDonalds (who is very possibly high) before going home with one of the counselors from a day clinic that helps troubled teens on their own. It provides means, therapy and a safe place to spend the day, but does not offer anywhere to sleep. Gwen takes Kara home, even though it is very against the rules and because Gwen has sad eyes and seems proud of her boyfriend, Kara just knows that she is still a wounded child on the inside, not quite over her childhood trauma and therefore feels that it is her mission to protect all other kids.

Kara spends the entire book making these strange assumptions, using these grandiose jumps in logic. She just knows that Ian is really her sister's boyfriend, even though they claim to be only roommates and that he is insanely controlling of her sister. But she decides this after having met him once. And I don't blame him for not wanting her to stay. It's illegal for her to stay there. It's not hard for me to believe someone would be uncomfortable with this. She made similar assumptions about Gwen, the therapist, and later on in the novel as well.

This isn't the only flaw I felt the book had. Kara was never a believable character. The book felt as if it were told in a clinical rather than emotional manner, and I'm sorry, but if you want me to be really draw into your book about a 16 year old runaway, I need to care about your main character. I need to believe that running away was the only option she had left. But I never got that. We hear — my mom is distant and my dad is incredibly controlling and they want to force me to take an anti-depressant. We hear a lot of, I know how bad home is, I've heard how awful your home life was, but nothing is ever shown, nothing is ever expounded upon. And this is true of pretty much every character and every interaction. Some characters have a complete and total personality shift, but no one ever bothers to explain how or why it happened and I find myself unable to actually believe it.

To me, the whole story felt as if it were told with a high level of detachment. It felt as if the narrator of the story was disinterested in details and the story, which of course means that I, as a reader am more detached and therefore disinterested in the story. Even the parts of the book that should have had my pulse pounding, my breathing speeding up, my heart racing, even they left me flat and a little bored.

I will say that my favorite scene in the entire book is when Kara is sitting in McDonalds and an undercover cop shows up trying to track down the same kid she is looking for (but, umm... obviously for different reasons). The way that she detaches herself from him is brilliant and seriously made my day.

Kara, Lost isn't really a bad book. The story has potential and maybe if it had been a little tighter, a little smoother, I would have liked it more. As it is, I felt that Kara was childish, selfish, naive, impulsive and none too bright. She also has an incredible level of self-superiority and there were times when it really rubbed me the wrong way. She looked down on certain characters that had given her absolutely no reason to assume superiority. What I think might have been part of the problem is an attempt by the author to foreshadow what was going to be happening later — like Kara knowing Ian is so terrible after one encounter. Then, when Ian does start to display some more controlling tendencies, we are going to just think, Oh! Well, she was right, so I can ignore the leap of logic... It just didn't work for me.

I feel bad that most of what I've had to say is negative, because Kara, Lost really isn't a bad book. But it isn't really one I'd consider good, either. It's just kind of... there. I do know that the author, Susan Niz, went through some of the same things as Kara, having been a teen runaway herself and I feel like there really might be a great story tied up in there. I just don't really feel like this was it. But, feel free to read it for yourself and be the judge. It's possible that someone else out there will simply love it.

*Disclaimer — I received a copy of this for review in exchange for a fair and honest review.

If any of you have talked to me, chances are really good that I've mentioned how much I love Lisa Schroeder. I read The Day Before first, (read my review here) and was blown away by Lisa's insane talent as a verse novelist. I decided I absolutely needed to read more. So I did.

I had heard people talk about I Heart You, You Haunt Me and I'd seen it around the online bookish world some, but I wasn't really interested in it. (I know, I know! I'm sorry!) I don't really do ghosts/paranormal and the cover made me think it was going to be something light & fluffy and silly. I'm literally cringing as I write this, because there's not much that could be farther from the truth.

This is a story of Ava, a young girl trying to accept her boyfriend's death. Neither of them are quite ready to let go, and so, they don't. Jackson comes back to Ava and lingers.

I loved the way Lisa crafted the ghosts in this story. Jackson is not the typical specter, let me come float about the house and whatevs. It's done so subtly, almost like he's just barely more than a memory come to life. His presence is near Ava when she is alone, and he can occasionally whisper into her mind. But he can't go where there are others and Ava is still alive, which means she can't spend all of her time, locked in her room with the memory of a lost love and the almost touch of his ghost.

I've never had such a short book (just over 200 pages in verse) affect me so hard. Lisa is a genius. She has this intense honesty to her writing that makes it emotional, pure and without agenda. It is truth in writing and she breathes life into these characters she puts on the page in so few words.

I find it hard to classify this book, because even though the story deals with a ghost, which to me automatically shifts the book into the paranormal realm, this is a book that feels wholly contemporary. And knowing me, and how much I love contemporary, that's pretty much the highest compliment I can think to give a book about ghosts.

I do also want to mention the verse style briefly (or as briefly as I ever get...) I love verse novels. I talk about them often, recommend them frequently and seek them out actively. But there is a very delicate balance with verse novels. A verse novel is written in sparse, spare language. Every word is important and because you have so few, every single one needs to matter significantly. When done well, it is some of the absolute most powerful writing I have ever read. But when it's not done well, it can fail... horribly.

So let me tell you this — If you are wary of verse novels, scared to try them because you think you hate poetry or because you've heard from people who didn't like some, or maybe because you didn't like a previous novel, give Lisa a try. She is, hands down, the author I recommend beginning verse novels with. (I have references for this...) The only other verse novelist that I've personally read that I believe has anywhere near such a firm and powerful grasp on verse is Ellen Hopkins and she can be intimidating for a brand new verse reader (and that's a whole different conversation).

So I challenge you to give Lisa Schroeder a try. The Day Before is my favorite of the two of her novels that I have so far read (although I plan to start Chasing Brooklyn tomorrow:) ) but I Heart You, You Haunt Me is also a stunningly brilliant book. Either of these are a phenomenal place to start and I'm willing to bet that they will open your eyes and your mind to a whole new world of books. Let Lisa take you there.

Second Hand Heart by Catherine Ryan Hyde is a complex novel and it's one that I've had a tough time really nailing down my thoughts and feelings for. Overall, this is a solidly good book. It has strongly written characters, all who are very distinct and unique and real. But some of their interactions and relationships were less real to me. And, some of their decisions made me angry. It's been weeks since I read this book and I still can't decide if I'm angry at the characters themselves for their stupid choices or at the book for going there.

I would like to say that any incoherencey in this review is to be blamed on the fact that this is how I'm working out the details of how I feel about the individual aspects of the book, so you might get to see some Aha moments.:)

The story is written as a series of journal entries from both Vida and Richard. Vida thinks her name is stupid. It's Spanish for life, and she's 19 and dying of a life long heart disease. She's at the very top of the donor list which is both a very good and very bad place to be. It's good because it means that the next matching heart is yours. It's bad, because it means you are so desperately sick, odds are pretty good that you will die before that heart donor does. It also creates some really intricate and rough emotions to deal with and I thought those were beautifully illustrated. We see it a lot in her mom also. How do you pray for a heart to become available to save the life of your child, when that available heart means that someone else has died. How do you feel like a good person when you are wishing for someone's death so that your little girl will be able to experience life. It's not bad enough that you have to watch your child suffer and wither into almost nothingness, but then you have to recognize that the only thing that could possibly save her is the loss of someone else. Ouch.

Richard is in his late 30s (I believe) and his wife, who was an organ donor and a match for Vida dies in a car accident. Vida and her mother ask/extend the invitation to Richard to meet them and he decides to go, against the advice of his mother-in-law. Richard is also putting himself into a tough position. He's just barely lost his beloved wife and now he's going to meet the young girl who had her life renewed because his wife lost hers. That would be so hard, and would definitely be made undeniably harder when the new owner of that heart declares her love for Richard, even though this is the first time they've met.

So — When reading Vida's narrative sections, I loved her. She's had such a hard life and it's definitely not easy now. But she's funny and so full of the idea of life. She's been so sick her whole life that she's had no normal social interactions and a lot of basic social skills completely escape her. Her mom doesn't know how to stop being the overprotective do-everything-for-you type, because with all Vida's health problems, she's never had that natural progression into self-sufficiency. Can you imagine the challenge? To go from dying to better almost overnight and trying to cope with the changes?! That would be hard on everyone involved and it was, it definitely was. Vida was by far my favorite character. But when Richard narrated, I didn't like her as much. She seemed awkward and weird and... kinda crazy. I have to say that this is probably brilliance on the part of Ms. Hyde, because initially, Richard does kinda write Vida off as crazy and that's easy to see in his recitation of their interactions through his journal. So while it made me sad, especially in the beginning, to realize that I didn't really like Vida when Richard was narrating, I also now recognize it as a brilliant move on Hyde's part because it pulls you more into Richard's character. If Richard doesn't like her, or views her as a bit of a lunatic, I can't do much else, even knowing how much I loved her before.

The focus of this novel is really in the relationship between Richard and Vida and the heart, and whether or not cellular memory can, in fact, possibly be a real thing. And this part of the novel was, almost without exception, flawlessly wonderful (there is one part, toward the resolution of the story that really didn't sit well with me, and no amount of explanation or justification will ever make me okay with that, but it's a pretty huge spoiler, so I won't go into detail). However, I did feel that much of the secondary character and story development really suffered because of how encompassing and important the heart was. It almost felt like Hyde was trying to tell two stories here — One, the story of a transplant recipient feeling the residual love and emotions of the donor and Two, the story of a girl who's never had a chance to really live being given a new chance at life, a chance to do all she had previously missed out on. You would think that those two stories would fit perfectly together, but for some reason, a lot of what happened ended up being slightly unbelievable (and not just the psychic either. I'm also talking about a boy who has had two head nods on the stairs with Vida being willing to completely uproot his life for a? ? maybe? ?). I'm choosing not to say much about these sections, because I do think the most important part of the story revolves around the heart, but if you do allow yourself a pretty hefty suspension of disbelief for how, the side stories and characters do create a novel that is so much more than it would be without.

I know I kind of circle around in that above paragraph about a few things (partly because I'm still conflicted) but overall, I did really enjoy this book and it is a book that I would actually recommend to a lot of people. It's incredibly thought provoking and one that really makes you think, makes you question, and makes you wonder about a lot of different things. There is so much to think about within this book. So much wondering, so much love and loss and life and pain and hope and strangeness that I'd say it's impossible to leave this novel without some type of food for thought. This is a book that I'd love to discuss with others because there is just so much to it.

Jabberwocky by Daniel Coleman is the story behind the well-beloved poem by Lewis Carrol of the same name. Full of nonsense words, valor and whimsy, the poem Jabberwocky tells of a boy who sets out to fight the might beast and who returns triumphant, bearing the head of the great monster. But the poem doesn't tell us anything about the boy, where he comes from or why he sets out to hunt the Jabberwock and Coleman uses this story here to fill in some of the blanks.

My family has always been involved in theater, and my family reunions often include some form of a talent show, sometimes planned and scripted, other times completely spontaneous. Often in the performances, my dad would go on-stage with my grandpa and together they would perform this poem. My grandpa would stand in front and recite the poem, while my dad stood behind, using his arms, in place of my grandpa's to act out the poem (this included lifting up my grandpa's hair piece when they reached the part of the poem where the boys slays the Jabberwock and removes his head, much to my grandpa's dismay)

So, when I heard about this book, I knew that I wanted to read it. I love that poem, partly because it is brilliant but also because it brings back a lot of wonderful memories of my family. This is a very short book, just over 100 e-pages, and it reads very quickly. However, I don't think it would read as smoothly for someone who is unfamiliar with either nonsense writing or the poem itself.

One of my favorite things about this book is also what I think will be most challenging for most readers. Coleman has taken the words of the poem like 'wabe', 'brillig' and 'mimsy'. None of these words actually means anything, but Coleman took them from the original poem, took the meaning from them that he chose and inserted them into his story and I personally think he did a phenomenal job. Partly because the writing was very smooth, and partly because I'm very familiar with the poem, I found myself without any trouble being able to guess to the meaning of each word as I went through, even if I didn't know exactly what they meant. However, Coleman does include a glossary with the book, so if you think you will have trouble picking up on what the words mean, or you find yourself confused, he does include a way to verify what each word means.

Another thing that I loved about the book was the inclusion of the poem itself. Each section of the book is prefaced by a stanza of the poem, offering some foreshadowing of what is yet to come. I thought it was the perfect way to incorporate the poem into the story without being awkward or forced.

And the story itself was wonderful. Our main character, Tjaden, is the perfect boy to seek the Jabberwock. He is brave, but smart and fiercely determined to prove himself a man. He's a little bit full of himself at times, and he takes life a little too seriously for someone so young but he is also a very likable character, one you would want on your side of life. Honorable and proud, if given the right motivation, he could face the Jabberwock alone.

Honestly, I could not have been happier with how this book turned out. I was almost worried about reading it, because I do have such fond memories of the poem, but I was beyond delighted with how the book turned out. Coleman did a fabulous job combining his own story with the tale from Lewis Carroll and it's one I can see myself reading again.

I will admit that part of why I enjoyed this book so much comes from the memories it brought to surface and the already positive tone I have toward the poem and anything tied to it. I tend to be extremely fond of anything that can bring back positive memories of my grandpa, which means I knew before I started reading that this is a book I would either love or hate.

That being said, however, the happy memories alone were not enough to make me like this book. The story and the writing were able to hold their own and they most certainly did this favored poem a great justice. I'm not always a huge fan of how other people reimagine stories already told but I thought this one was just about as perfect as it gets.

So thank you Daniel Coleman, for writing a story worthy of such a phenomenal poem.

Liesel Meminger steals books. It's hard to really classify her as a thief though, because she steals books from Nazi book-burnings-- and I could totally understand the desire to steal a book in a world where everything is censored. Liesel wants to know more about the world and what is happening, and she is experiencing the war unlike others her age because she is friends with a Jewish man who her family hides in their basement. All of these things are happening while Liesel learns how to read in The Book Thief

. Even though I know how to read, I was once again reminded how powerful books are and how important they are. After reading The Book Thief I wanted to see two things during my time in Germany. The book burning memorial in Berlin and Dachau concentration camp in Munich, the latter is strongly related to this book because Dachau is mentioned pretty frequently. Reading The Book Thief gave those things an added weight because I could imagine the characters from the book while I was looking at those sights.

The book is narrated by Death, which as you might guess makes it extremely bizarre. You actually sympathize with Death because you can tell he isn't choosing to take these people's lives, he is just doing as he is ordered. You can tell he is upset about what is happening, and he is tired from all the taking he has to do. In some ways I think this shows how people in Nazi Germany felt at the time-- like they were somehow forced to act in a way to support the Nazi party even if they didn't agree with it (possibly because they felt their lives would be taken from them).

Entrance to Dachau Concentration Camp.

I feel like this book has been widely read and discussed, but I'd like to talk about a personal experience with it. When I went to Dachau I expected to be overcome by emotion, but I wasn't. I don't know what other schools are like, but I have a difficult time remembering a year of elementary and high school where I did not learn about the Holocaust in an English or history class. Our education makes us deeply aware of what happened-- to the point where it becomes to difficult to look at the place where it happened and not be a little immune to it all. I did not feel unemotional or immune during The Book Thief. I was upset, crying, could not believe that this happened. I connected much better with this story than I did with any memorial I saw in Germany. I think that is a great testament to the power of books, which is what this book is all about. Going to the place where it happened, walking through a museum, they are important and wonderful things to do, but nothing makes me understand the Holocaust better than reading stories about it.

"I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she didn't already know? I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race-that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant."

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

I found today's awesome essay mostly by mistake. I went to the Believer's website to get the link for a different essay I was going to talk about, but in that time I perused other full length articles and that is how I found No Shell, Just a Ghost by David Givens (apparently there is a David Givens who is some kind of football player, it's not that one). The essay is about memory, something nonfiction writers talk about with a somewhat alarming frequency. Probably because a lot of creative nonfiction is about memories. And memories are always changing, that's what is so strange about them. My memory is so different from your memory, but who is right? Is anyone right? Can there just be multiple memories of one situation. Well, I would say there can and that it's okay, but I won't go on about that because I want you to read this essay. I've read a lot about memory, but I think this essay talks about it in a way that I haven't really seen before. He relates it to film, although that isn't exactly what makes it special. It's just the way he describes memory that stands out to me.

I'm one of those people recalls things while I'm falling asleep at night. Or sitting on the couch not thinking. Sometimes when I'm alone a memory catches me, falls into my brain even though I don't want it there. I try to shout at the memory and tell it to go away, please, I'm trying to forget about you. But it comes back no matter what. I think Givens describes this phenomenon and the phenomenon of memory very well. Here is an excerpt:

It is night now and so, finding myself unable to sleep and rummaging idly in my mind, I am given to thinking about moments such as these, taking inventory, as it were, of my life in an attempt to slow it down and hold it close. It sometimes happens that when I am too full of my present, I methodically sift through the pieces of my past. On these nights I usually lie still in bed, eyes open wide, and stare at the ceiling. There I find memories, or images more precisely, and lay them out next to one another, as though they were on a table in my mind, searching them for clues to who I’ve been and who I’ve become. Comparing memories and images in this way one can sometimes arrive at intriguing connections. That blissed-out snow reverie from my childhood, in its hypnotic fascination and brilliant optical play, was not unlike the textured and sparkling surface of the Bell + Howell tripod movie screen onto which we projected home movies throughout those same childhood days. I had the same absorbed fascination when, on those rare movie nights, I stood close to it, watching the play of light, reflections undulating across its pearlescent whiteness with every gentle adjustment of my head. All this before the images would flow.

If you enjoyed that excerpt, and I really hope you did, then I would advise you to go to the Believer's website and read the whole essay online. The first two lines of this excerpt just left me breathless and the essay gets increasingly strange and fuzzy as it goes on, like a memory.

Also, I've heard from a few people that there might be some interest in turning this into a meme? If you are interested in talking about an essay you enjoyed on Saturday please let me know in either the comments section or email me at englishmajorjunkfood AT yahoo DOT com. I'd love to spread more awesome essays around the world!

VIA Kentucky Derby May 7th, 2011

Book Description:
Here at last is one Irish family's epic journey, capturing the tragedy and triumph of the Irish-American experience. In a rousing tale that echoes the myths and legends of Ireland herself, young Honora Keeley and Michael Kelly wed and start a family, inhabiting a hidden Ireland where fishermen and tenant farmers find solace in their ancient faith, songs, stories, and communal celebrations. Selling both their catch--and their crops--to survive, these people subsist on the potato crop--their only staple food. But when blight destroys the potatoes three times in four years, a callous government and uncaring landlords turn a natural disaster into The Great Starvation that will kill one million. Honora and Michael vow their children will live. The family joins two million other Irish refugees in one of the greatest rescues in human history: the Irish Emigration to America. Danger and hardship await them there. Honora and her unconventional sister Maire watch their seven sons as they transform Chicago from a frontier town to the "City of the Century", fight the Civil War, and enlist in the cause of Ireland's freedom. The Kelly clan is victorious. This heroic story sheds brilliant light on the ancestors of today's 44 million Irish Americans.

In the author's colorful and eclectic life, she has written and directed award-winning documentaries on Irish subjects, as well as the dramatic feature Proud. She's been an associate producer on Good Morning America and Saturday Night Live, written books on Martin Scorsese, World War II, and Bosnia, and a novel based on her experiences as a former nun - Special Intentions. She is a frequent contributor to Irish America Magazine and has a PhD in English and Irish literature.

Great news! Mary Pat Kelly will participate in a Blog Talk Radio interview at 11 AM ET on Tuesday, March 17. Click here for more information

Check back tomorrow for my review of Galway Bay!

Following are the other blogs participating in this tour:

http://2kidsandtiredbooks.blogspot.com
http://athomewithbooks.blogspot.com/
http://book-thirty.blogspot.com/
http://readersrespite.blogspot.com
http://www.myfriendamysblog.com
http://bermudaonion.wordpress.com
http://www.acircleofbooks.blogspot.com
http://www.corinnesbookreviews.blogspot.com
http://lorisbookden.blogspot.com/
http://www.bookthoughtsbylisa.blogspot.com
http://teddyrose.blogspot.com
http://libraryqueue.blogspot.com
http://allisonsatticblog.blogspot.com
http://cherylsbooknook.blogspot.com/
http://luanne-abookwormsworld.blogspot.com/
http://bookingmama.blogspot.com/
http://enroutetolife.blogspot.com/
http://thetometraveller.blogspot.com/
http://www.marjoleinbookblog.blogspot.com
http://peekingbetweenthepages.blogspot.com/
http://cafeofdreams.blogspot.com/
http://thebookczar.blogspot.com
http://www.writeforareader.blogspot.com
http://linussblanketcom
http://booksbytjbaff.blogspot.com/
http://www.caribousmom.com
http://hiddenplace.wordpress.com/
http://www.chikune.com/blog
http://librarygirlreads.blogspot.com
http://diaryofaneccentric.blogspot.com
http://savvyverseandwit.blogspot.com
http://www.kayespenguinposts.blogspot.com
http://writebyfaith.blogspot.com
http://www.frommipov.blogspot.com
http://booksiesblog.blogspot.com/
http://www.bookbargainsandpreviews.com/reviews/history/galwaybay.htm
http://wendisbookcorner.blogspot.com
http://www.thisbookforfree.com
http://abookbloggersdiary.blogspot.com/

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read it. Because dude, it rocks.

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.