Tag Archives: YA literature

Word Association Book Survey

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Almost a year ago, I made a valiant attempt at writing fan fiction.  I used an already-created set of 50 words as one-sentence prompts.  Today, I’m going to use those same 50 words as the framework for a word association book survey.  Join me and post your own!

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What book(s) do the following words make you think of?

#01 – Comfort

The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay
When kids act like grown-ups …

#02 – Kiss

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Oh, Jonah Griggs.

#03 – Soft

Ordinary People by Judith Guest
“He mimicked her soft soprano.”

#04 – Pain

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Just read it.

#05 – Potatoes

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
One more thing to steal.  Oh Arthur Berg.

#06 – Rain

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
Joe Fontaine. Rain. Kiss. Yes.

#07 – Chocolate

Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Professor Lupin was breaking an enormous slab of chocolate into pieces. “Here,” he said to Harry, handing him a particularly large piece. “Eat it. It’ll help.”

#08 – Happiness

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Mixed candy.

#09 – Telephone

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
“Seamus told me that Dean told him that Parvati …”

#10 – Ears

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
When Adam’s ears turned pink and Blue noticed!

#11 – Name

The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
I can’t not think of it with a prompt like “name.”

#12 – Sensual

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
When Perry is teaching Aria about poisonous berries … gosh.

#13 – Death

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Death is, after all, the narrator of this book.

#14 – Sex

Froi of the Exiles
Am I right, or am I right?

#15 – Touch

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
The main character’s touch is lethal.

#16 – Weakness

This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

#17 – Tears

The Shatter Me series
Does it feel like Juliette is always crying?

#18 – Speed

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

#19 – Wind

Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
Sailboat!

#20 – Freedom

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
Out in the Death Shop!

#21 – Life

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

#22 – Jealousy

The Piper’s Son by Melina Marchetta
Oh Tom.

#23 – Hands

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
“Holding Eleanor’s hand was like holding a butterfly. Or a heartbeat. Like holding something complete, and completely alive.”

#24 – Taste

Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta
Dirty girl, Jackie Lea!

#25 – Devotion

The Piper’s Son by Melina Marchetta
Will Trombal’s tatt.  Enough said.

#26 – Forever

The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis
Fo. Sho.

#27 – Blood

Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
Not why you’d expect.

#28 – Sickness

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
The kiddos meet in cancer support group.

#29 – Melody

Quintana of Charyn by Melina Marchetta
Blood sings to blood.

#30 – Star

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
Coriakin. Ramandu.

#31 – Home

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Mmm.

#32 – Confusion

The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay
Giant HUH moment.

#33 – Fear

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
Earth’s rotation is slowing …

#34 – Lightning/Thunder

#35 – Bonds

Quintana of Charyn by Melina Marchetta
Another tatt.

#36 – Market

The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis
Chippingfoot.

#37 – Technology

The Chaos Walking trilogy!

#38 – Gift

Everyday by David Levithan
Just read it.  You’ll see what I mean.

#39 – Smile

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
I have never read a more walloping description of a smile.

#40 – Innocence

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montegomery

#41 – Completion

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Duh.

#42 – Clouds

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
The cover. 🙂

#43 – Sky

Under the Never Sky series
Aether.

#44 – Heaven

The Mortal Instruments series
It’s about angels, yo!

#45 – Hell

The Mortal Instruments series
It’s about demons, yo!

#46 – Sun

This is Shyness by Leanne Hall
The sun doesn’t rise in Shyness.

#47 – Moon

Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
“All night, Aslan and the moon stared at one another with unblinking eyes.” (Or something like that.)

#48 – Waves

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

#49 – Hair

The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney
I always think of that line: “The kiss was serious.  Serious like my hair, thought Janie.” 🙂

&

Fire by Kristin Cashore
Oh, that hair!

#50 – Supernova

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Because Augustus is amazing. 🙂

What book did these words make YOU think of?  

Bookish Superlatives!

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Jamie at the Perpetual Page-Turner is at it again!  I love her fun bookish surveys.  You should do one too.

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Characters

Most Likely To Change The World

Aslan from Narnia
(Is that cheating? :-))

Cutest Couple

Will Trombal and Francesca Spinelli from Saving Francesca and The Piper’s Son

“Come here,” she says.
“No, you come here.”
“I said it first.”
“Rock paper scissors.”
“No. Because you’ll do nerdy calculations and work out what I chose the last six times and then you’ll win.”
Will pushes away from the table and his hand snakes out and he pulls her toward him and Tom figures that Will was always going to go to her first.

However, Eleanor and Park sure applied the pressure.

Class Clown

Jace from The Mortal Instruments series

Most Likely To Become Famous For Their Athletic/Musical/Artistic Abilities

Athlete: Rudy Steiner from The Book Thief
(Go, Jesse Owens!)

Musician: Joe Fontaine from The Sky is Everywhere
(“This is what happens when Joe Fontaine has his debut trumpet solo in band practice: I’m the first to go, swooning into Rachel, who topples into Cassidy Rosenthal, who tumbles into Zachary Quittner, who collapse into Sarah, who reels into Luke…”)

All Around Good Person

Webb from Jellicoe Road

Biggest Flirt

Joe Fontaine from The Sky is Everywhere

Most Likely To Be Fought Over

Joe Fontaine from The Sky is Everywhere

Mostly Likely To Be Friends Forever

Chaz and Raffy from Jellicoe Road
Frankie and Justine from Saving Francesca and The Piper’s Son

Most Likely To Have Their Own Reality Show

Conner and Risa from Unwind.  It would be called “Inside the Graveyard.”

Most Unique

Stargirl Carraway from Stargirl and Love, Stargirl

Most Likely To Survive An Apocalypse

Katsa and Po from Graceling

Most Likely To Be A Villain

Tom Riddle from Harry Potter
(or Dolores Umbridge!)

Biggest Wallflower

Conrad from Ordinary People

Most Likely To Break Your Heart

Augustus Waters from The Fault in Our Stars

Most Changed

Froi from The Lumatere Chronicles

Most Likely To Get Arrested

Jonah Griggs from Jellicoe Road

Self Proclaimed God/Goddess

Jace from the Mortal Instruments series

Best Person To Bring Home To Mom & Dad

Will Trombal from Saving Francesca and The Piper’s Son

Books

Most Likely To Make You Cry

Duh.  The Fault in Our Stars.

Dares To Be Different (in world, plot, storytelling, etc.)

Everyday by David Levithan (fascinating, gender-bending premise!)

Best Dressed (pretty cover!)

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Most Likely To Make You Swoon

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Loveliest Prose

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
tied with
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
tied with
The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle
tied with
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

Most Likely To Be A Favorite Of 2013

(Very much anticipating the following:)
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider
Aimless Love by Billy Collins

Most Likely To Change The World (or change your life)

The Fault in Our Stars really *did* change my life because it showed me that I wanted to write YA fiction!

Book You Are Most Likely To Keep Putting Off

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Most Likely To End Up As Christmas Gifts For Everyone You Know

Jellicoe Road for everyone!

Most Likely To Be Thrown

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Most Likely To Be Reread More Than Once
(I’m an avid re-reader!) (No, really.)

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle
Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Most Likely To Make You Read Through An Earthquake Because It’s THAT Engrossing

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Most Likely To Be Passed On To Your Children

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Most Likely To Break Your Heart Into A Million Pieces

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Most Likely To Brighten Up Your Day

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
(There has to be a reason I’ve read it six times in the last six weeks, right?)

Review: Golden by Jessi Kirby

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tbr5Reading contemporary YA books can be a struggle for me, since that’s my genre– it’s my favorite, but I compare it to my own writing so much that sometimes it’s actually hard to read.  (Hence why I cried for two reasons while reading The Fault in Our Stars.)  

Golden is the story of Parker Frost, a high school senior who never takes chances.  Everything she does is dictated by what her mother wants and what people expect of her.  But when a decade-old journal falls into her hands which sheds light on a town mystery (the mysterious car crash of Julianna and Shane, the town’s former golden couple), Parker might need to step out of her shell.

This book had so many great elements to it– a story within a story, plenty of poetry, a cute boy, a mystery.  And yet it fell a little flat for me.  I liked it, but I didn’t love it.  I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.  I found myself frustrated with how pokey Parker was (and that is coming from me, who is definitely a goody-two-shoes), and I felt confused over Parker’s relationship with her best friend Kat.  I guess, ultimately, the problem for me was that I didn’t feel that I truly got to know the characters, and characters are probably the #1 most important part of a story (for me).

Should you read it?  If you’re into contemp, then yes, go for it.  It’s a quick read, and I’m glad I read it.  It’s given me lots of ideas for my WIP.  If it’s not your genre, skip it.  

I need more contemporary YA to read.  Any suggestions?

Best New-to-Me Books of 2013 (so far!)

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme over at The Broke and the Bookish.  Today’s topic is

TOP TEN BOOKS I’VE READ SO FAR THIS YEAR.

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10. Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach | The voice in this one is so great, and it’s not super often I read YA aimed at male readers, and I can appreciate that.  It’s about Felton Reinstein the summer he went “from a joke to a jock,” but it’s really about a family falling apart and about friendship in unlikely places and about keeping things together when everything is falling apart.

9. Dr. Bird’s Advice for Sad Poets by Evan Roskos | This was a brilliant debut book by Roskos, and again, great voice!  The main character is an ultra-self-aware high schooler who understands that he is depressed and needs help, only his parents aren’t willing to get him that help.  This is his story of stumbling toward something like healing.

8. Shatter Me by Taheri Mafi | Although I didn’t love the sequel to this book, the first one was riveting.  Juliette’s touch is lethal– to most people, that is.

7. Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi | While I didn’t adore the superfastcramthingsin ending, I was very much drawn to this story about Aria, who lives in a biosphere, and what happens to her outside of it in the “Death Shop.”  I mean, come on.  How can you not want to read a book that has a “Death Shop” in it?  (The sequel– Through the Ever Night— is waiting impatiently on my bedroom floor to be my next read.)

6. The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker | What happens when the rotation of the earth begins to slow?  Beautiful writing.

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5. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell | I think Rainbow Rowell is my best author find of the year so far.  She has the funniest, cleverest voice I’ve read in a long while.  I really liked Attachments, which is about a computer IT man who falls in love with a woman through secretly reading her emails to her friend.  Awkward.

4. Every Day by David Levithan | Gender-bender!  “A” inhabits a different body every day– but loves the same girl every day.

3. Fire by Kristin Cashore | This is the companion book to Graceling, but I actually liked the characters even more than the first book (I liked them too!).  Gosh, how to describe this book?  Fire is a “monster” with red-orange-pink-gold hair, and she can control most people’s minds– but not Prince Brigan’s.  Swoon-worthy.

2. The Knife of Never Letting Go & The Ask and the Answer, both by Patrick Ness | Okay, so I am loving the Chaos Walking trilogy (I’m on the third book right now, so be prepared for a big review!), which takes places on another planet– “New Earth”– where you can hear men’s thoughts– their noise.  Book one was great– book two was incredible.  

1. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell | This book was brilliant.  I love so much about it– the characters and the writing.  Oh my gosh, the writing is unreal.  I am a total sucker for any YA writer whose words are like lyrics.  This book is about two teenagers who are young enough to know that first love almost never lasts … but willing to try anyway.  I am so excited for her next novel (Fangirl) to be released later this year!

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Just finished …

Reached by Ally Condie | This is book three of the Matched trilogy (preceded by Matched and Crossed).  If you’re not familiar with the concept of these books, they are set in the future in a time when the Society rules and in order to “simplify” things, the Society has only retained 100 poems, 100 stories, 100 etc., etc. from the past.  As teenagers, couples are “matched”– and that is whom you will marry.  The first book was quite fascinating because Cassia was matched with her best friend Xander but was secretly falling in love with Ky.  The second book was much less interesting, particularly because Cassia, Xander, and Ky were all separated– I essentially skimmed Crossed.  I still wanted to know how the story ended, so I requested Reached from the library long before it was released and was relatively near the top of the waiting list (within the first 100 probably).  I started reading it, and it was more interesting than the second book, but the library book ended up being due back sooner than I could finish it, so I skimmed the rest of the book (a very thorough skim!), and I think I made the right choice.  It was good, and I liked the ending, and Condie has brilliant moments in these books, but all told, I think the third book might have been drawn out too long.  Can’t say for sure since I didn’t fully get to read it.  But I don’t think I will return to it to do just that.

Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta | I re-read this one, this time on audio, and was just as thrilled with it the second time through.  Finnikin’s country has seen half of the people in bondage inside the country’s borders and half of the people in exile outside of it.  He is on a quest to come up with a solution of some kind, and he has to take a young novice named Evanjalin with him.  This book has lovely twists and surprises, and it is such a delight.  This second time through (since I knew the ending), I would actually talk aloud to the characters in my car: “Oooooh, you’re gonna regret that later!!” and “Oh man, if you only knew what I knew!!”  I know I’m a nerd.  But it’s pretty awesome when a book can suck you in that much– especially with all its secrets already laid bare.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore | This book was recommended to me by a friend, but others warned me that I wouldn’t like the ending, so I devoured it … but nervously.  I loved the characters in this story about a land where some people are Graced– that is, they have a special skill.  Katsa’s skill is killing– or so she thinks.  She meets Po, another Graceling, and they go to another country in search of a secret.  It is fascinating, and the dialogue is incredible.  Loved this book, even though I read it nervous that I’d hate the ending.  And did I?  No.  Not exactly.  It wasn’t as disappointing as I’d been guessing from the warnings I’d been given.  Still– it is obvious that Cashore is a feminist, and she inserted her beliefs into this book decently, I thought (though I am not a feminist myself).

Fire by Kristin Cashore | This is a companion book to Graceling, although it has a new set of characters, save for one important person.  This. Book. Was. Great.  Wow!!  I think I liked it even better than Graceling— maybe since I could relate better to Fire, the protagonist, than to Katsa.  This book takes place in a kingdom east of the lands where Graceling occurs, in The Dells, a kingdom on the verge of civil war and filled with gorgeous but dangerous “monsters”– monster animals … and even a few monster humans.  Fire is a monster human, with bright orange-red-gold-pink hair that is so beautiful that many people can’t control themselves around her.  She can also read minds and influence them, although she has been careful with her power and guards herself against manipulating others.  She can read almost anyone’s mind … except for Prince Brigan, the younger brother of the king.  When the royal family asks Fire to use her powers to save the kingdom, Fire has to make some big decisions … and she is mysteriously drawn to and scared of Brigan, who looks at her with hate.  I loved these characters– so real, so flawed, so layered.  I love the conversations Cashore creates, and I love the secrets she reveals at strategic times in both this story and Graceling.  This is a must-read.  And while you can read this book without reading Graceling, it is even more fascinating if you have.

Every Day by David Levithan | I have been intending to read this book for so long, and I finally got it on audio from the library (though I purchased the hardcover months ago).  Audiobooks I seem to get through faster, since I use a lot of my free time for writing instead of reading– but you can’t write while driving! 🙂  This. Book. Was. Fascinating.  First there is A, who inhabits a new body every day.  A has done this for 16 years without questioning it too much until one perfect day A spends with Rhiannon.  After that, A wants to spend EVERY day with this girl.  This is a problem, obviously.  I have never read a more gender-bending book in my life– some days A is a girl, some days A is boy, all days A loves Rhiannon.  I just gobbled this book up, could not wait to find out what would happen next.  The ending was PERFECT and unexpected, but I can’t tell you how it made me feel because I want you to experience it for yourself.  Interestingly, the audiobook was read by a girl.  I didn’t know if that was subliminal or not … on the other hand, although A is the protagonist, since A changes bodies daily, Rhiannon’s voice is the most consistent one, so in that sense, it fits that they chose a female reader.  The book was really, really, really good– except for the moments Levithan got on his homosexual soapbox.  Those diatribes interrupted the story and felt as if Levithan were intruding out of nowhere.  The book already makes the reader ask a lot of questions; I didn’t think Levithan needed to provide his own answers.  All that said, though, this is an EXCELLENT book.  I loved it, as in, really, REALLY loved it.  Highly recommend.

 

Currently reading …

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern | Got this on audio for Christmas and so am re-reading this one.  Jim Dale is the narrator!!!

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore | The sequel to Graceling … I AM LOVING IT!!!  Almost done … review to come.

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta | Just as brilliant the second time around.

 

Up next …

Son by Lois Lowry | The brand-new fourth book in The Giver series!

Divergent by Veronica Roth | It’s about time, right? 🙂

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books books books

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Just finished …

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling |We’re not in Hogwarts anymore, Toto.  This is Rowling’s first book after the Harry Potter series, and it is absolutely nothing like them, which I’m sure was her point.  I mean, how do you compete with one of the most popular children’s series ever?  You avoid the competition and write an adult novel instead, I guess.  The Casual Vacancy was hard for me to get into at first– I felt that Rowling was trying to shock me just because she could.  Also, I couldn’t tell what the story was about for quite a while.  It is a book about smalltown politics– both literal politics and also the inner workings of a town that is all interconnected and where people often say and do things that are different from what they think or believe.  The book is very well-written, but very raw, real, gritty, and sad.  Very, very sad.  While I will re-read the Potter series for the rest of my life, I think one time through of this book will be enough for me, period.

Map of Time by Felix J. Palma | I had heard this book likened to The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, one of my favorite books I read this whole year.  But it just wasn’t true, and I’m not sure at all where the comparison came from.  Map of Time started off fascinating– telling the story of a man in love with one of the Whitechapel prostitutes in the time of Jack the Ripper.  (I have researched Jack the Ripper in both high school and college, so this was particularly interesting to me to hear about the incidents from the other angle!)  The premise seemed interesting, and I was starting to care about the characters … and then suddenly, I felt duped and we were onto the second story of three in the book, and the person I thought had been the protagonist had to climb down off the stage.  It was just such a strange format, and it didn’t work for me.  In the end, the book was too shallow for me, and I never felt like I really got to know the characters.  Palma tries to trick his readers multiple times throughout the book, and I’m not sure how I feel about that.  In most books, I am thrilled when I discover a twist, but Palma’s just disappointed me.

Gorgon in the Gully by Melina Marchetta | As I just posted recently, I think everyone should read Marchetta’s books.  Unlike her usual writing for teens, this book is for younger readers.  It still appealed to me because 1) Everything she writes is marvelous and 2) It is about Danny, the younger brother of Jonah Griggs (of Jellicoe Road).  It is a delightful little story about pulling together a group of friends from various groups.  I think it would be the perfect read for a middle schooler!  It inspired me to re-read

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta | Masterful.  Just masterful.  And so absolutely original.  A book centered around the territory wars between the boarding school kids, the town kids, and the cadets in the visiting military school– but really, that’s just the venue for the story.  The real story is one of love and friendship and generations.  This is such an incredible book, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.  If you read it, you will fall in love.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni | So, this is obviously not the usual type of book I review on my blog, but it was quite fascinating.  It is a “leadership fable” about a team that needs to work together better and how the CEO makes it happen.  I read it in two days!  The majority of the book is a story about this fictional company/team, but then the last part of the book goes into non-fiction details of how to put this into effect at your workplace.

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis | Yes, the whole series.  Yes, again.  Yes, just as incredible as the last time through.

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson | This was only my second time reading this story, and somehow I forgot how magnificent it was.  The writing is absolutely stunning, which is not surprising, since the author has two MFAs– one in poetry and one in writing for children and young adults.  It is the story of Lenny Walker, whose older sister/best friend Bailey died suddenly about a month before the book starts.  She is trying to navigate her grief all while falling in love for the first time, and it is just so good and sad and good.  If you have a sister, you’ll probably shed a couple tears.  This book will break your heart.

Currently reading …

Reached by Ally Condie | The third book of the Matched series, and again … my opinion is still out.  I liked Matched but was not very into Crossed.  We’ll see if Reached can win me back!

I did just get Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta on audiobook, and I am so pumped to listen/re-read that one!!  I have so many books that I want to read, and I just keep amassing books (I just bought a new bookcase that is back in my apartment waiting to be assembled after my writing retreat) and am not able to get through them as fast as I’d like (especially since I spend a lot of time re-reading favorites, which I know some people can’t understand).  I guess that’s the problem when you love reading but you LOVE writing.

Questions for today: what are you reading right now?  Do you like to re-read?  If you’re a writer, do you, like me, find a hard time balancing reading and writing?

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audience, revisited

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I know that I’ve blogged recently about whom I write for, but I was thinking about that more this past weekend, as I was reading Alan Jacobs’s book The Narnian, a biography of C.S. Lewis’s creative life, and I had additional thoughts … or maybe questions.

If they won’t write the kind of books we want to read, we shall have to write them ourselves; but it is very laborious.  C.S. Lewis to J.R.R. Tolkien

Now, I am certainly not saying that there are no books being written that I want to read (hello, I am practically panting for Marchetta’s new book to arrive in the mail!), but this does bring up the question for me of whether it is okay to write for oneself or if it is more noble to write for others.

What I am trying to do right now with Truest is to write the kind of story that I would like to read.  Is that a selfish way to write?  Is that even a smart way to write?  It’s not that I am not taking any criticism … I just keep my list of whom to please in my mind (#1 God, #2 me, #3 John Green).  (Man, it makes me laugh every time I post that list … John Green.  Oh gosh.  I wonder if he will ever know how influencial he has been on the writing of Truest.)

“Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.” —Cyril Connolly

Anyway, blog world, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

 

 

books books books

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Just finished …

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead | Brilliant!  This is a children’s book, meant for younger ages than the books I usually read, but it was absolutely incredible.  This is the story about Miranda, a young girl in New York City, who starts receiving mysterious notes from an unknown sender, asking her to “write out the whole story, from beginning to end.”  She is, of course, confused, but after a cast of wonderful characters are introduced, everything begins to fall into place.  I actually shouted aloud the moment that everything finally clicked into place for me– I was that excited.  Absolutely loved it.

Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley | Another Printz winner, so I had high expectations.  The writing was good, and it had two storylines that merge into one (a device I am rather fond of).  It also was very interesting, especially all the writing about the Book of Enoch, but in the end, the book didn’t wholly touch me.  Whaley didn’t make me love the characters quite enough to care enough.  I wanted to love this one; I really did.  One story is about Cullen Witter, his small town that is going crazy over an extinct woodpecker who has supposedly been seen again in their community, and the disappearance of his younger brother Gabriel.  The other story begins with a young missionary on his first mission.  Seems right up my alley, doesn’t it?  I didn’t hate this book, but it just didn’t go far enough to truly capture me.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness | Oh man.  So good.  I wept.  This is a fascinating story about Conor, whose mother is dying of cancer, and about the yew tree in the churchyard out of their window.  In the evenings, the tree walks and talks to Conor, telling him stories and demanding one from him, all as he deals with the emotions of his mother’s slow fade.  So real, so raw, so dark, so clever.  A must-read.

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine | I found myself easily sucked into this re-telling of Cinderella, even though I think that Levine needed a couple more drafts of the manuscript (how pretentious am *I*?  wow.).  Still, a sweet story for children.  Ella was blessed/cursed at birth with the need to obey all orders … as she grows up and falls in love, she seeks a way to end the spell that binds her, and this is the story of what happens.  I honestly did find myself rather heartbroken as I read this story … I applaud Levine for that!

Going Bovine by Libba Bray | This book started out INCREDIBLE and hilarious and interesting– Cameron, a teenaged slacker, is diagnosed with the human equivalent of mad cow disease, which essentially eats holes in your brain, making it like a sponge.  The descriptions were fantastic and dead-on and intense.  And then Cameron starts drifting out of reality and in his unconscious state, he goes on this completely bizarre roadtrip with a dwarf and a yard gnome, guided by a punk angel in torn fishnets.  In a lot of ways, I suppose I have to give Libba Bray credit, since it did seem very dream-like.  The problem was that I was just not incredibly interested– and it went on far too long.  Outside of Narnia, I’m not a huge fan of big quests in books.  This just got too wacky and too long for me.  I finished it though because I was so won over in the first part of the book by Bray’s phenomenal writing.

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare | Okay, so this is book #5 of the Mortal Instruments series, and it’s (obviously) safe to say I’m hooked.  I am writing this mini-review at 1:25am, having just finished it.  I don’t know how Cassie Clare keeps doing it, but she just introduces such heartbreaking plot elements in every novel.  I feel like I can’t truly review this book without any spoilers, since there are four other books before it, all filled with twists and turns and secrets revealed.  I will say that I am PUMPED for the sixth and final book of this series … which I just looked up and discovered is not coming out until March 2014.  Two-thousand-freakin’-fourteen.  You have got to be kidding me.  Speechless.  (I don’t know how Potter fans did it … I didn’t start the series till Hallows was released.)  Well, I guess it’s time for bed.

Currently reading …
The Narnian by Alan Jacobs, all about the life and creativity of C.S. Lewis, my favorite

En route to my mailbox …
The Casual Vacancy by Jo Rowling
Quintana of Charyn by Melina Marchetta

So. Freakin’. Pumped.

Damned if I do; damned if I don’t.

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What happens if you write a book that is too Christian for a secular publisher and too secular for a Christian publisher?

God, I want to write a book that honors You, boldly declares Your Name, is NOT preachy, but is CLEAR on the gospel.  And also is realistic and full of grotesque life.  I feel burdened tonight, but I KNOW that YOU will find a place for it if YOU want to.  I just want to write the book that You want me to write.  Point me to YOUR edits above all others’.  I just want to please everyone, and I need to QUIT THAT.  I need to return to my list.  #1 You, #2 me, #3 JG.  Remind me of this list.  This is the list I should have in the back of my mind as I make edits, as I rewrite.
God, I feel emotionally drained by West and Silas and Laurel.  But it feels GOOD, in a way.  Good, if I can point to You in dark times.  Why would I want to write a story that didn’t point to You?  Please help me, Jesus.  Will You please make the road rise up before me?
I love You.  I need Your help in EVERYTHING.  Amen.
And so I am just trying to write the very best book I can and to trust God to divinely intervene all he wants. 

why I love Silas Hart

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Silas Hart is the 17-year-old character in the YA novel I am writing.  Here are a couple scenes to show why I love him so much.

1) He is ridiculous.

“So this is why you need a summer job,” I said to Silas as I surveyed his garage sale finds, which were laid out across his bed one afternoon like cheap museum displays: a dollar sign ice cube tray, a box of old eight-tracks, and a “D-Bag Poet”-themed Magnetic Poetry set.  I held up the magnet collection.  “Really?” I asked.

“It’s missing fo sho and dayam,” he said, trying not to crack a smile, “so I won’t be able to write a poem about you, sorry.”

I burst out laughing.  I loved Silas like this—strange and quirky and hilarious.  “What are you going to do with a box of eight-tracks, kid?”

He shrugged.  “Dunno, but aren’t they great?”

“You … are so …”

“Enchanting?  Delectable?  Ambrosial?”

“Weird.”  We grinned at each other.

I marveled at the fact that Silas lived in this pristine palace and yet loved to scrounge around other people’s junk, amassing a variety of worthless treasures to add to the collection in his bedroom.  Well, they weren’t worthless to him—in fact, he’d found a ridiculous t-shirt featuring a unicorn rearing before an American flag, and you’d have thought he’d discovered the pearl of greatest price.

“I saved the best for last,” he insisted, and I realized that he was hiding something

behind his back.

“Don’t tell me,” I said.  “Macaroni art of Steve Buscemi?”

“I wish!” he teased.  “But no.”  Silas pulled from behind him a carrot-colored plastic transistor radio.  It was a little larger than his hand—an awkward size, like an old Walkman on steroids.

“What do you want that for?” I asked, raising both dubious eyebrows.

“Because it’s awesome.  Durr,” he said.  “And because we’re going to use it to listen to that radio show of yours.  Yes?”

I grinned.  “Yes.”

2) He is crazy.

Silas and I spent the rest of that week together, and I quickly determined that he was absolutely crazy—but the very best kind.  One morning he showed up at my house wearing an honest-to-goodness windbreaker suit straight out of the 90’s, purple, mint green, and what is best described as neon salmon.  I could feel the goofy grin on my face while Silas gathered our supplies from my garage.  “What?” he deadpanned.  “What are you staring at?”

I played along.  “Your windbreaker is just so …”

“Fetching?” he interjected.  “Voguish?  Swanky?”

“Hot,” I said.  “Just all out sexy.  Screw trends.  The 90’s neon just exudes sex appeal.”

“Well, I thought so myself.”

And after the sun was high in the sky and the pavement was heating up, he took off the windsuit, revealing shorts and a New Moon t-shirt beneath, Edward Cullen’s pale face dramatically screenprinted on the front.  “Vader’s competition,” he said, shrugged, and started vacuuming the floors of the Corolla left in our care.

Silas talked about the strangest things.  “Can you ever really prove anything?  How?” or “I read about this composer who said his abstract music went ‘to the brink’—that beyond it lay complete chaos.  What would that look like?  Complete chaos?” or “A group of moles is called a labor; a group of toads is called a knot.  Who comes up with this stuff?  It’s a bouquet of pheasants, a murder of crows, a storytelling of ravens, a lamentation of swans.  A lamentation of swans, West!”

We sat in the backseat of a dusty Saturn one afternoon, trading off the handheld vacuum as we talked—or rather, shouted—over its noise.  I ran the hand-vac over the back of the driver’s seat, while Silas said, “I used to think I was the only one with a crush on Emily Dickinson until a couple years ago.”

“You have a crush on Emily Dickinson?”

“Durr.”

“Did you just ‘durr’ me?  Is that like a ‘duh’?”

He nodded as I handed him the Dirt Devil.  “But then I read this Don Miller book that says it’s a rite of passage for any thinking American man.  I still wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but then I read a Collins poem called ‘Taking Off Emily Dickinson’s Clothes.’”

Just the title made me blush.

Silas, unruffled, continued, “The end of it talks about how he could hear her inhale and sigh when he undid the top fastener of her corset, ‘the way some readers sigh when they realize/that Hope has feathers,/that reason is a plank,/that life is a loaded gun/that looks right at you with a yellow eye.’”

Silas sighed unhappily.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, frowning.

“I finally made it into the backseat with a girl,” Silas cracked, looking hard at the Dirt Devil.  “This is not all I was hoping it would be.”

I slugged him in the arm while his wry smile gave way to laughter.

3) He’s brilliant.

It was a new experience to visit the library with Silas along.  Every section of the library was like its own island—one Silas had explored in the past and was now showing to me.  He started in fantasy, pointing out titles and introducing me to authors—and then we moved into young adult fiction … through the classics … memoir.  Silas indicated story after story that he had read, telling me what he loved about each one, his favorite parts, favorite lines, favorite characters.  It felt like going around a family reunion, meeting all his relatives, and sometimes discovering that we were friends with the same people.  In the poetry section, he showed me pages of Kit Kaiser and Jolie Brightman.

“Here,” he said, pulling a “Best of e.e. cummings” book off the shelf, “I’ll show you something.”  He checked the table of contents, flipped open to the right page, marked a place with his finger, and handed it to me.

I read the line aloud: “nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands.”  I looked up at Silas, and his eyes were shining.

“I still think I’ve never read anything better than that.  The morning I first read it, I went into some kind of shock,” he said.  “I hadn’t known anything could be so incredible.  It’s the line that made me want to write.”