Attack of the Laurens... and a Jess!

Sunday I had the amazing opportunity to see Lauren Oliver, Lauren Morrill, Jess Rothenberg, and Nova Ren Suma at the most recent author's salon at the Hudson Valley YA Society in Rhinebeck's Oblong Books. I go to these events as often as I can, and I am always blown away by the amazing YA authors I have the opportunity to meet and how passionate they feel about their target audience: young adults.

But what really blew me away about this particular salon was just how young they were! These young women are successful. They are published. And many, through social media, have demonstrated their pure star-struck pleasure at finding their books on the shelves of their favorite bookstores (like the Strand). When we read these books with our students or our children, I think the idea of who the author is can be lost on any reader (myself included). SO coming to an event like this can make that person real for you, and in my case, often it can also make the book better for you!

So what were my impressions of these young women? Nova Ren Suma is that deep, poetic writer who would appeal to the young women in the world who aren't quite sure where they belong. They are original, unique, and content to be so, but they are looking for something deeper and more serious from their life and their choices. Suma can deliver a means for that introspection they crave so deeply. Not to mention she was wearing FABULOUS shoes!

Lauren Morrill is a RomCom junkie. Yep, we all love our RomComs, even though we might pretend we don't when the literary and cinematic snobs of the world mock them (because let's face it, we are all still teenage girls inside our adult bodies, insecurities and all). And Morrill is unapologetic for her love of them, which I love so deeply about her! Meant to Be was so much fun, but her new book is described as "Parent Trap meets the Cutting Edge". WHAT?! Sound incredible? Yeah, I thought so!!

Then there is Jess Rothenberg, the author of The Catastrophic History of You and Me. She openly talked about her decision to write a book about a girl's heart literally breaking in half and killing her was the result of a bad break-up. She joked that it was the perfect revenge on the guy if it ever got published (Ha! And it did!). I loved that she talked about this catalyst for writing, especially since we so often keep our true emotions, especially about heartache, to ourselves. She was so honest and candid, and she is a great role model for all those girls out there. Don't get angry, don't wallow. Instead, Write About It!

And then there is Lauren Oliver. Oh, Lauren Oliver! This was the second time I had seen her at HVYAS, AND *swoon* she recognized me! While Oliver can be considered the heavy hitter here in terms of sheer amount of published books, she is still so down to earth and honest. She is hilarious to watch on these panels and unapologetic about her PR for her books ("How many of you have read the first two books in the series? Awesome! And the rest of you, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR ALREADY??!!"). Her enthusiasm is infectious, and you can't help but want to read every single thing she has written once you have heard her speak!

So why should we send our kids to author readings and panels? Because there is something so satisfying about listening to an author and realizing they are human. They are people who love RomComs, who go through bad break-ups, who are spazzy and hilarious. They MAKE their books even more exciting! So take your kids to an HVYAS event. They are awesome!

Hysteria Unraveled

If you are covered in your boyfriend's blood and his lifeless body is found in your kitchen, there is no chance you will ever be considered innocent. The courts may be persuaded to believe it was self-defense, but in the eye of the public, you are still guilty. Especially to the guy you killed. In Megan Miranda's Hysteria, one girl carries the weight of what she did on her shoulders, but no one will let her move on.

When her mom hides the knife block in the kitchen, it was the first sign Mallory's own parents didn't trust her, were possibly even scared of her. She had been found innocent, and the murder of her boyfriend Brian was considered self-defense after he broke into her house and attacked her, but she can't even remember what happened that night. After Brian's mother breaks into their house, Mallory is sent to her father's old boarding school to get away from everything... and she is convinced her parents sent her because they don't trust her.

But everything isn't perfect at Monroe. Steeped in tradition and secrets, there is more to Monroe than meets the eye, and Mallory isn't exactly accepted with open arms. She struggles to fit in, and her roommate even leaves the room when she sees Mallory there. Luckily, Mallory has Reid, the son of her father's best friend from Monroe. Reid helps Mallory feel a little less lonely, but when a boy is murdered in Mallory's bedroom and she doesn't remember anything about it, the situation feels all too familiar. 

This is a murder mystery, a psychological thriller, and a ghost story all rolled into one. It was really interesting, but sometimes the plot became difficult to get a firm grasp on. Sometimes I thought I understood what was happening only to find myself confused again. I understand that is the general slow roll-out of a plot that centers around mystery and intrigue, but it felt a little too heavy-handed at times. But on a whole, it was a very interesting story. I certainly wasn't able to unravel all of the mystery at the end ahead of time, so it was a successful mystery!

The characters were many-layered and interesting. Mallory is, of course, intriguing, but so were Reid and her friend Colleen, not to mention the other Monroe kids. The layer of tradition and secrets kept you wondering about these fancy prep schools and how this stuff can persist. I wonder about the kind of kids who come out of these prep schools with their lack of sensitivity to manipulation and deceit. That has got to carry over into their adult lives! This is a good book for any kid who needs a good mystery but has trouble figuring things out because the murder is out in the open, but there is still layer after layer of mystery to unravel. It makes this novel a good combination of obvious and not-so-obvious. 

Dance of Mediocre Shadows

Dancing, like music, can be a spiritual thing, but when the people surrounding get too caught up in it, it can get dangerous. In Yelena Black's Dance of Shadows, Vanessa already knows how dangerous the New York Ballet Academy can be, but she doesn't care. She cares about finding her missing sister.

Vanessa has been accepted to the prestigious New York Ballet Academy, but her parents are obviously nervous about her actually attending since her sister disappeared from the same Academy years ago. Still, they let her go, and she is determined to attend. For Vanessa, ballet is addictive, almost a drug, but there is something even more important at the Academy than dance: answers about her sister's disappearance. 

When she gets there, she realizes there are many dark secrets to the Academy. The lead choreographer, Josef, is ruthless in his control of all the dancers, and it turns out Vanessa's sister isn't the only lead ballerina to disappear. In fact, every girl who was made lead in the Firebird has disappeared, along with some others. But it seems anyone who digs too deep goes missing as well. And when Vanessa is made lead in Firebird as a freshman, she starts to get close to the truth. When a friend of hers goes missing suddenly, the shadows around the studio become all too apparent. Vanessa will not give up on her sister and the other girls, but she may be playing with fire...

Sadly for me, I didn't think this was a stellar story. I was very interested in the ballet angle, the missing girls, etc., but where this story went was particularly odd. But that wasn't the only thing I struggled with. First, the characters weren't well-developed, including Vanessa. They were all very flat for me, and even the love triangle with Zeppelin and Justin was so dry I just didn't particularly care who she ended up with. 

**SPOILERS AHEAD** And even worse for me was the supernatural element. I think the mystery of the missing girls was a great angle, but wouldn't a school be shut down if it lost 13 girls in 20 years, especially with so few kids accepted into the school?? How does that go unnoticed? But even so, the supernatural element was odd. It wasn't particularly interesting for me, and I love supernatural books. Also, the "mystery" was relatively predictable and seriously?? A necrodancer? Oh, boy. That was a stretch. Worse yet is that this is supposed to be a trilogy. As if one demon of the dance wasn't bad enough, now we plan to track down all the evil ballet demon summoners? *END SPOILER*

So, sadly I will most likely not be reading the next book in the trilogy. If I do, it will most likely be a moment of weakness to see where the story leads. I wasn't particularly thrilled with this book and I wish the story was as flawless as the beautiful cover. 

Bitterblue is Our Queen

In a world where people are Graced with special abilities and a man controlled his kingdom in a thirty-five year reign of terror, how is an average eighteen year old girl supposed to run her kingdom? And how can she and the rest of the kingdom ever recover from the terror her father imposed on so many people? In Bitterblue by Kristen Cashore, we get to see how the main character, Bitterblue, is fairing eight years after that fateful day Katsa and Po saved her from her psychotic father in Graceling.


Bitterblue became queen at the age of ten, so she has spent her adolescence relying upon the help of her advisors to run the kingdom. Now that she is older, she feels like something is missing. She trusts the men who advise her, but at the same time she thinks they are keeping things from her to protect their young queen. Not one to sit idly by, she decides to take matters into her own hands and explore the city. Dressed in disguise as a young boy, Bitterblue hits the streets where she encounters a pair of young men, one of whom is Graced. The Graceling, Saf, is a bit cantankerous, but his friend Teddy is delightful and trusting. Through the unlikely pair, who don't know Bitterblue's true identity and refer to her as Sparks, Bitterblue learns more about her own kingdom in a few short meetings than she has in years in the castle. 


When Katsa and Po return from their mischief and mayhem in the world at large (actually overthrowing tyrannical kings, but they like to think of it as mischief), they find Bitterblue in a state of confusion. It is clear people have been lying to her, and there are things going on in her own city, let alone the entire kingdom, that she won't accept, but she doesn't know where to seek the truth. Bitterblue knows her father's 35 year reign will unlock the keys to everything that is happening in her kingdom, but no one wants to talk to her about the atrocities her father made them commit with his mind control. Slowly, Bitterblue uncovers the truths everyone has worked so hard to hide, but that doesn't necessarily mean she will want or need to know those truths to be the queen her kingdom needs.


We loved Graceling because of Katsa and Po and their amazing graces and incredible world. We loved Fire because of Fire herself and the fascinating and morbid lives of the monsters in the Dells. Now we love Bitterblue for an entirely different reason. While the world and the graces are still there, this is a very different kind of story. It is the story of a young girl who has the weight of responsibility crushing her and she doesn't know how to survive it. She knows her father was to blame for all the evils in her kingdom, but she can't handle the fact that atrocities are still being committed in his name even after his death. The beauty of Bitterblue is that she wants to be a good queen. She wants her people to be well fed and well educated, and most important, she wants them to heal. I love how caring and determined she is and I just wanted everything to work out for her... in particular, where Saf is concerned. This young girl has a lot of horrible circumstances to deal with, but she isn't going to lose herself in them. And that is what makes me love Bitterblue. She is a great female character for all our young girls to read about.


I have heard people scoff at the relationships Cashore portrays in her novels, saying they are too mature for YA audiences, but I totally disagree. She has men loving men, women loving women, and men and women having caring relationships without marriage. To be honest, to Cashore, the emotion of love transcends an official "marriage" and focuses on something deeper and more pure. I love how tactfully she does this and think those nay-sayers should pipe down and appreciate the strong, caring, multi-dimensional relationships Cashore has created. I appreciate this diversity! I also appreciate the understanding that students are surrounded by relationships beyond the typical "man/woman/marriage" and should see such reality reflected in the books they read.


But mostly I just love this series. This is certainly a more realistic and less fantastic story, although the fantasy is still there, around the edges. You may be surprised by the differences in this story vs. the first two books, but I suspect you will be pleasantly surprised. I also had the privilege of meeting Kristen Cashore last week at our local indie bookstore and was absolutely blown away by her! She was so honest and humble about her writing process, and meeting her made me love her stories even more than I had before! So if you haven't started this series yet, good god(desses), what are you waiting for! But be sure you have some time to devote to the series because once you start, you won't be able to stop!

A World Without Pain... Or Love

A world without pain can't be bad, right? But if you don't feel any pain, grief, or loss, how can you truly understand love, passion, or desire? In Lauren Oliver's new trilogy, Delirium, you become a witness to a world where a mandatory surgery "fixes" people to prevent them from contracting a dreaded disease: love.


Lena (short for Magdalena) was named for the first woman to ever be cured of love, mary Magdalene. She suffered all her life because of love and started the movement that create a society free of the disease that will cause you to act impulsively, make you crazy, and will undoubtedly end in death if you contract it. Lena's surgery is only a few short months away, but she is desperate for the big day to be here so she doesn't have to live in fear of the dreaded disease. When she goes for her evaluation, something goes horribly awry and the Invalids (people who aren't cured and live outside the protected communities) or their sympathizers stage a demonstration that sends cows through the evaluation building and ends her interview. Since she found herself answering the questions in a way that would surely cause her to fail, she is almost grateful for the interruption. She saw a boy during the cow stampede and now she can't stop thinking about him. Hopefully she hasn't already caught the disease...


Lena's friend Hana has been toying with the boundaries of what is allowed and what will get you branded a sympathizer. Lena tries to get her friend to stop this dangerous behavior, but still she feels compelled to follow her to a party at an abandoned farm. There Lena experiences more emotion and overwhelming stimulation than she has ever experienced, and she flees almost as soon as she gets there. On her way out, she bumps into the same boy from the evaluation, Alex. As the days pass, she keeps bumping into Alex until she starts spending time with him. After all, he is cured, so it is both legal and safe for her to spend time with him. But when Alex admits to her that he isn't cured and is actually an Invalid, Lena can't believe her ears. She can't ignore her heart, either, and finds herself drawn to Alex and happily suffering from the very disease she was so afraid of just a few short weeks ago. What she doesn't expect is how quick her surgery date is approaching and how far everyone will go to "cure" her of the best feeling she has every experienced in her life: love. But is love enough to keep Lena and Alex together?


In the wide world of dystopias, there are the soft dystopian worlds like in Matched or The Giver where you can see how the world went to hell on a road paved with good intentions. Then there are the hard dystopias like Birthmarked and Forest of Hands and Teeth where the world was corrupted by greed and power. This world is more like the first category, giving the world an almost acceptable premise, but we still realize how it has been twisted and warped to create a society that has taken the protection of its citizens too far. You read the book and can't imagine how the people don't see where everything went wrong, but then you think about everything people get used to and can see how people would hold onto this broken world so fiercely- it is all they know. The idea of cutting out love is so hard to imagine, but what about the elimination of pain or grief. To anyone who has lost a loved one or watched a great love end, it doesn't sound like a bad option, does it?!


That is the beauty of this book. The discussion possibilities are simply endless. I went to the reading Lauren Oliver did at Oblong Books in Rhinebeck this weekend and was absolutely in love with her! She was a really normal, cool lady with lots to talk about, in particular, just how hard it is to write a book! I wish my students had more opportunities to meet the authors of the books they love because it is an experience that nothing can compare to. I would recommend this book for a wide range of students from strong middle readers through to young adults. It is a good clean, not-too-harsh dystopia that will be great for any fan of The Giver. The sequel is out and I have it staring at me right now, but I am going to wait a little while to read it. I want all the ideas from Delirium to ruminate and not be clouded by the second book! And if you get a chance to see Lauren Oliver, make sure you do! She is a cool, cool lady who will reinforce your love of her books (not that you need anything but the books themselves, but it can't hurt!).

A Compulsion of Clues

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is something we all joke about having at times, but none of us really understand the extent of its control over its victims. The need to tap, count, and pay homage to rituals can be completely debilitating, and very few people understand it completely. Kate Ellison's breakout novel The Butterfly Clues explores the life of a girl who is consumed by her compulsions until the murder of a young girl in the wrong part of town becomes her biggest obsession.


Lo (short for Penelope), taps, counts, and believes in the power of numbers, not because she chooses to, but because she has to. She survives life by just getting by and trying to blend in, not letting many people know the true nature of her needs and compulsions. When a young stripper is murdered right in front of Lo, she feels a connection to the girl and a compulsion to find the murderer. Along her path, she can't help but think of her own brother who succumbed to drugs on the very streets the stripper, Sapphire, met her grizzly end. 


As Lo gets deeper into the case, she meets a young homeless guy named Flynt who agrees to help her traverse the mean streets of Neverland. She finds herself in the crosshairs of the killer and despite the warnings and attacks on other people involved in Sapphire's life, Lo can't stop herself from finding redemption for the stripper she had never met. She knows there is more to the story than the police care to investigate, and she refuses to stop hunting until she finds the truth. What she fails to recognize, however, is that the people involved will do anything to keep the truth from coming to the surface.


I struggled with this book a little at the beginning. Vital information was withheld from the reader until a good 1/3 of the way through the book, like what was going on with her brother and her compulsions. I don't think all of it needed to be kept so secret for as long as it did since it was vital to the character development of Lo and the understanding of the purpose behind the story. That being said, once I understood this important background information, the story became really interesting. It opened up and I was able to get invested in Lo's quirky character. The intertwined story of Lo's brother and Sapphire was one that adds something unique and wonderful to the mystery. It truly is the story of a girl who nobody understands finding someone who doesn't care why she is different but loves her differences unconditionally. 


This is a mature story not for graphic sexual content (although Sapphire is a stripper and Lo goes to the strip club a few times to investigate). I think it is a mature book due to the complexity of Lo's character and how she interacts with the people in her life and the world around her. An immature reader will lose themselves in her eccentricities and not get to the heart of a girl with a disorder she cannot control. Also, the confusion at the beginning of the story might lose a weaker reader where a strong reader could barrel through it in order to get to the heart of this interesting story. I really loved Ellison's characters and look forward to seeing more from her. And don't forget, Kate Ellison and Lauren Oliver will be at Oblong Books and Music in Rhinebeck for the Hudson Valley YA Society event on March 2, 2012 at 6pm! I will be there... will you?!

When Your House Holds You Hostage

Ghost stories have been forgotten about in the world of zombies, cyborgs and other creepy creepers. But ghost stories are the ones we can't forget. Ever go into a creepy old farmhouse? A friend of mine grew up in one and I am still creeped out in that house! Why, you ask? Ghosts of course! And those people who tell you the house is just "settling" are clearly delusional. Talk about creepy! Frost by Marianna Baer delivers the quintessential ghost story with boarding school twist.

Leena knows her final year at Barcroft is going to be amazing because she and her two friends got into Frost House- the tiny dorm for four students that can finally be the home Leena hasn't had since her parents got divorced. Unfortunately, their plans of a cozy home together go awry when Celeste Lazar is moved in. She broke her leg and needed a first floor apartment, but she is weird. The other girls tolerate her presence, but Leena has to share a room with her. Fortunately, Celeste comes with a hunky brother, David, who is around the dorm a lot. But with strange Celeste comes some strange activities. Things on Celeste's side of the room are turning up broken, thrown, or destroyed. She is always cold in the room and turns up with strange bruises all over her body.

At first, Leena thinks Celeste is acting strange because she is mad at her for dating David. Then she learns David and Celeste's father is mentally ill, and Leena starts to think Celeste might be hurting herself. When Celeste admits to Leena she thinks the house is trying to kill her, Leena is convinced Celeste suffers from the same paranoid delusions her father does. What she hasn't considered, though, is what is happening to her in that house as well. She might not be showing up with bruises and burns out of nowhere, but the house is somehow controlling her. Can they get out of Frost house before someone gets hurt?

In terms of creepy, I would give this story a 4 out of 10. It wasn't "hide in the shower with a bat" kind of scary, but rather of the mysterious and creepy sort. That doesn't mean it wasn't interesting, though. When Leena doubts Celeste's story, you aren't sure which to believe. Celeste can certainly seem unstable, and might be hurting herself, but things in the house just don't add up. It took me a while to find out where exactly the book was going. I have to say the ending wasn't entirely satisfactory, but it wasn't unpleasant either. It felt a little rushed, especially after so much leading up to the actual finale.

The book is appropriate for strong middle school readers through high school students who might prefer to read more mild mannered stories. The mental illness angle creates plenty of room for discussion. If you check out the book and want to know more, Baer is going to be at Oblong Books in Rhinebeck, NY next month. Check out the details on Oblong's website for the Hudson Valley YA Society for the appearance with 2 other authors! There is nothing cooler than meeting the authors of your favorite books (well, not for me at least!).

Two Pleasures Struggling Readers Miss Out On

Before school began, I had the absolute pleasure of seeing Suzanne Collins at Oblong Books and Music in Millerton, NY. Oblong is an amazing little indie store, but it is off the beaten path, so I was surprised a celebrity like Ms. Collins was coming to our small town! The event was exciting with a huge line snaking around the store before the event, gift bags from Scholastic, and the anticipation of seeing the beloved author of the Hunger Games series.

When we all packed into the top floor (as many people as it could hold!), we were treated with an incredible reading. First was an excerpt from Catching Fire so we could "get used to the Futuristic Appalachian accent" Collins uses to portray Katniss Everdeen. (It was a pretty cool accent!). Then she read from the first chapter of Mockingjay. Before she started reading I was thinking about a) how uncomfortable I was squished in a lump on the hardwood floor and b) how gosh darn cool it was that Suzanne Collins has the same shoes I do! Then the book reading began and the story of Katniss, District 12, and Panem washed over me like seeing an old friend. I was sitting not 4 feet from the same woman whose books I have read multiple times (the most recent rereading was of the first two books right before the third was released)!

This was not the first time I had the opportunity to meet an author. Working in bookstores throughout college and having attended a number of author functions, I have had the opportunity to meet a number of wonderful authors- some famous, some not. But there is always something exhilarating about the experience- even when the author is nothing like what you expected form their book! This got me thinking. My students are struggling readers. They are dyslexic, and reading has always been elusive for them- this chore adults keep telling them they should like and be good at. My students struggle to get through a single book, let alone to reread it. And they seem so relieved to finish a book that meeting the author is the furthest thing from their minds. It almost seems, both comically and sadly, that they see the author as purposely torturing them with those pages.

Rereading can be such an incredible experience. The first book I reread was Ann M. Martin's 10 Kids no Pets when I was in elementary school. I LOVED this book! Since then, rereading has been comforting for me- like a visit from an old friend or a favorite aunt or uncle- something that doesn't happen often, but when you see them again, it is as though no time has passed. With Suzanne Collins' books, rereading was just as exciting as the first time I plowed through those pages. For my students, however, they are just happy to finish any book. Rarely do they have the opportunity to love a book enough to pick it up again. This realization made me so sad!

How do we get children to revisit stories they have already read? How do we get them excited to meet an author, especially to hear the author read from a book they loved? I think the most crucial part in making book lovers out of struggling readers is finding the perfect book for that student. Yesterday was my first day of classes for the school year. I discovered one of my students has the same love for dystopian and post-apocalyptic literature as I do. We barely got his homework down because we talked about doomsday stories for almost the entire period! It was beautiful! Making a connection with a student like that is the very reason I became a teacher. And throw the books into the mix and you have just made my year! Enthusiasm is contagious. When we are excited about books, our students become excited. If we know our students, know the books, and are excited about them, cultivated a love for reading just might happen, struggling reader or not!