Video Skills? Have I Got a Contest for You!

Last night I had the most amazing opportunity to go to a party hosted by Little, Brown Books for the release of the upcoming anthology Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd. There was food, there was bowling & there was lots of rubbing elbows with authors like Holly Black, Elizabeth Scott, Sara Zara, Barry Lyga & Scott Westerfeld. Not to mention the all the bloggers who were there and the Little, Brown peeps. So many names its hard to remember everyone, sorry!

Anywho, the point of this post isn't to gush over the party (that will come later), the point is to tell all of you about a great contest that I heard about direct from Barry Lyga's lips. If you don't know Barry Lyga then you should definately check out his webpage he's the author of several YA reads including The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl and Boy Toy. I have to admit I haven't read any of his books so can't tell you what I think but I can tell you that I think that Barry Lyga is an extremely fun person to hang out with. But I digress...

I was asked to tell you about an amazing contest that is far beyond my humble computer skills but might just be up your ally. Its a contest to come up with the official book trailer for Lyga's new book Goth Girl Rising, due out in stores from Houghton Mifflin Books for Children in October 2009. (This was a very hot book at the BEA and ARCs were almost impossible to get.) The great thing about this contest is that Barry was saying that everyone who enters will get some sort of prize & that the winning entry will be able to make the official trailer used in book promotions....how cool is that??

To enter all you have to do is create a trailer for any of Barry's currently published books, for a list click here and then let Barry know where your video is posted before 31 July. For all the official rules and details go to the Goth Girl Rising Trailer Contest post on Lyga's webpage. Good luck to all who enter. I look forward to seeing what everyone comes up with because I LOVE book trailers.

The Awakening by L.J. Smith

Publisher: Harper Paperback
Publication Year: 1991
ISBN: 006114097X (ISBN for new omnibus edition)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 320
Websites:
Vampire Diaries
L.J. Smith
L.J. Smith - blog

Place(s) Traveled to: Fells Church, Virginia (fictional town

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I first read L.J. Smith’s The Vampire Diaries series back when the books were first published 18 years ago in 1991. I was a young teen then and was so excited that the YA section finally had some stories that weren’t in the Sweet Valley High series. Don’t get me wrong I started off loving Jessica and Elizabeth but their stories were getting old, it was pretty much the same plot each book. Jessica got into trouble and needed her twin to help her out. Her twin would grumble break up (or make up) with her boyfriend and help her sister. In the end, everyone lived happily ever after….that is until the next book when Jessica did something else. So not only was L.J. Smith’s books not about happy twin teens living in Suburbia….but it also dealt with Vampires, those dark mysterious creatures that have always been so utterly and inexplicably fascinating. Needless to say I grab the books up and eagerly devoured each one as it was published. I loved the story of Elena, Stefan and Damon. I forced all my friends to read them and when one friend and I got into a minor debate about something I took the issue to the source and wrote my first fan letter…to LJ Smith herself. (Yes, I admit even back then I was a geek, rather than write gushing letters to the teen heart throbs of the day…I wrote to an author...I never made claims at being a typical teen). Anywho, I sent off my letter and not long later I received a beautiful hand written reply from L.J. Smith! I was shocked and oh boy was I thrilled. She answered all my questions and then some and there was loads of happy all around. Years passed and these books fell from my memory until a few months ago when a friend of mine picked up the new omnibus edition featuring the first two books in the series THE AWAKENING and THE STRUGGLE. There was recognition and instant memory recall and it probably won’t surprise you to learn that not long after I went out and bought the two omnibus editions myself. (Although I probably still have my original copies in a box somewhere in my parents attic.)

I didn’t get to the books right away and it wasn’t until one night on Twitter talk somehow moved to the books, I believe it was with Emily_YA and My Friend Amy and maybe a few others. I’m not sure how it all started but at one point Amy and I got the idea that we’d read all the books again (she’d read them as a teen too) then when we met up at the BookExpo America (BEA) we’d vlog about our reactions then and now. Now while the vlog never happened (we were both too busy)….in fact I only managed to finish reading one book, The Awakening, prior to the BEA I still thought that I’d do a bit of a comparison here. As I said I loved this entire series as a teen it was something different from the other books that were available. It was a story written for my age group and for once I didn’t have to look to adult books for something good to read. It was also a new take on vampires. Yes some of the old myths were still there – like needing to be invited into a home – but there were some twists….like they could go out in sunlight as long as they had a special amulet.

Reading these books 18 years after the first time I wasn’t sure what to expect. This time around I did find them a little dated in some ways. Back in 1991 the internet wasn’t all that well known and very few people had cell phones. These are both such intrical parts of life in 2009…so when a few of the characters went out searching for another it seemed odd that they wouldn’t call her on her cell phone. That someone needed to stay behind in case she came back. These are small details and ones that I can understand why things don’t seem to mesh with today’s modern world. But I’m not sure that teens of today, reading these books would understand these differences from what they are so familiar with. The main character Elena writes in an actual diary….many teens today would start up a blog or an electronic diary on their computers….that is of course if they paused long enough to write about their day! Other then these small little details I really enjoyed reading these books again. I liked being brought back to a simpler time when life didn’t seem so crazy and hectic as it does now. It was great revisiting the fictional town of Fell’s Church, VA and I look forward to when I can find time to read the rest of these books…and to tackle the brand new book in the series The Return:Nightfall which kicks off a new trilogy – for I remember even after Dark Reunion was over I still wanted more of Elena, Damon and Stefan….and now 18 years later I've gotten my wish and there is more. *squee*

Upcoming Reviews

Yikes....I'm horribly behind on my blog. Please forgive me for not posting reviews in a timely manner...I've been reading! Although that isn't the best excuse is it. I really need to sit myself down, take away my books and get caught up because at the rate I'm going I never will...and I hate to be so far behind. How did I let this happen? Anywho, here is a list of reviews that I need to write.

1. Secrets of a Summer Night by Lisa Kleypas
2. Sucks to be Me by Kimberly Pauley
3. The Titans Curse by Rick Riordan
4. Enthusiasm by PollyShulman
5. Turn Coat by Jim Butcher
6. Bliss by Lauren Myracle
7. Willow by Julia Hoban
8. Red-Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells
9. The Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys
10. The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
11. Carpe Diem by Autumn Cornwell
12. Cracked up to Be by Courtney Summers
13. Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas
14. The Accidental Demon Slayer by Angie Fox
15. Prom by Laurie Halse Anderson
16. Shadowland by Meg Cabot
17. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
18. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

So you see there is a lot to come. Not to mention just some overdue blog maintenance. Like posting about my completed challenges and updating my Top books list. I've been a bad blogger and I hope that you forgive me I'll try to do better. Maybe I'll get through some of the above list on my train ride to NYC in 2 weeks for the BEA. Its either that or I read for those 3 hours...and if I read I'll get even further behind....and I really don't want to hit the 20+ range!

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication Year: 2008
ISBN: 0439023483
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 384
Websites:
Suzanne Collins

Place(s) Traveled to: Panem

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Sometime in the distant future what we know as America is no more. In its place is a country called Panem which is made up of The Capital surrounded by 12 Districts. Each district is kept separate from each other. This is because 74 years ago the Districts rose up against the Capital....they lost and the Capital hasn't let them ever forget. As a constant reminder of the power of the Capital each district must send 2 children, one boy and one girl, to participate in an event known as the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is a televised event and is a fight to the death, one only child can survive....but that one survivor is then set for life never having to want for food or money again. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is told from the point of view of 16 year old Katniss Everdeen. She is to be the female tribute from District 12 along with the bakers son, Peeta.

I had heard a lot about The Hunger Games before I actually picked it up and so had mized feelings about it. I hate when books get a ton of hype as they so rarely live up to that expecation. So I was very happy to learn that Hunger Games didn't just live up to the hype it exceeded it. This isn't a new story, people trapped in a closed environment for the entertainment of others has been told before....but I think that this is the first time in which children have been used as the players and that just adds a whole new level of intensity to the story. But despite its premise this isn't a sad novel. There is a lot of hope buried in these pages and I found that once I started it I couldn't put it down. This is one of those must read novels its a message that everyone needs to read about. Its also a book that I could gush about all day but there isn't much more that I can add to all the great things that have already been said. One thing I might suggest is that you wait until its sequel Catching Fire is out in September because you won't want this story to end.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Publisher: Hyperion Books
Publication Year: 2008
ISBN: 0786838183
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 352
Websites:
E. Lockhart

Place(s) Traveled to: New York & Massachusetts

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Book Synopsis: Frankie Landau-Banks at age 14: Debate Club. Her father's "bunny rabbit." A mildly geeky girl attending a highly competitive boarding school. Frankie Landau-Banks at age 15: A knockout figure. A sharp tongue. A chip on her shoulder. And a gorgeous new senior boyfriend: the supremely goofy, word-obsessed Matthew Livingston. Frankie Landau-Banks. No longer the kind of girl to take "no" for an answer. Especially when "no" means she's excluded from her boyfriend's all-male secret society. Not when her ex-boyfriend shows up in the strangest of places. Not when she knows she's smarter than any of them. When she knows Matthew's lying to her. And when there are so many, many pranks to be done. Frankie Landau-Banks, at age 16: Possibly a criminal mastermind. This is the story of how she got that way.

I found Frankie Landau-Banks to be a fun character. She was smart and witty and totally underestimated by those around her. I enjoyed reading about the pranks that she helped to mastermind in her school and felt a little bad for those boys that she manipulated. Frankie is a kid after my own heart...she's also one that I am glad is fictional because she is was real she's the sort who might just take over the world. This is is definitely a good book to share with girls. It will show them that girls can do anything that they put their mind to. Even when those around them don't think they can. Boys on the other hand might not like this book as much as Frankie does sort make fools of them all. I enjoyed this book and I hope to see more books involving Frank Landau-Banks in the future.

Shadowland by Meg Cabot (audio)

Publisher: Recorded Books (audio), HarperTeen (paperback)
Publication Year:2005 (audio), 2005 (paperback)
ISBN: 1428124705 (audio), 0671787918 (paperback)
Format: Audio
Pages: 304
Audio Length: 6 discs (~6 hrs)
Narrator: Johanna Parker

Websites:
Meg Cabot
Johanna Parker

Place(s) Traveled to: Carmel, California

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

In Shadowland by Meg Cabot, Suze isn't just the new kid in town she is also a mediator - a person born with the gift to see and speak to ghosts as well as to help them to cross over to the other side. She has recently moved to California from New York to live with her mother and new stepfamily. Suze finds that California is a lot different than New York and stuggles to adjust to those changes. She also needs to deal with the ghost who lives in her bedroom, Jesse - who isn't ready to cross over just yet. Not to mention the girl who is haunting her new high school and who isn't happy that Suze seems to be cozying up to her ex-boyfriend.

I enjoyed this book. It was a fun thing to listen to on my drive in to work each day. I like Suze and the nicknames that she had for her new stepbrothers. I also thought that she was portrayed realistically as an only child tossed into a sea of new bodies. Suze has to readjust her thinking on family. She now has brothers and all that goes along with that. Suze is also fiercy independant and she must learn to depend on her brothers as well as Father Dom. Father Dom is the principle at her new high school and also a mediator like herself. Father Dom tries to help Suze deal with the ghost that haunts the hallways but Suze refuses to listen to his advice and mediates how she thinks is best. This tends to get her into trouble and forces Jesse, her house ghost, to try and help her. My one real complaint with the book was in the narration. Suze was supposed to have have grown up in New York City and yet the voice that Johanna Parker gave her reminded more more of a girl from the South. So that tended to distract me a bit during my listening. I do look forward to reading more of this series, though I think that I might switch to the print version.

Prom by Laurie Halse Anderson (audio)

Publisher: Recorded Books, LLC (audio), Puffin (paperback)
Publication Year: 2005 (audio), 2006 (paperback)
ISBN: 1419356100 (audio), 0142405701 (paperback)
Format: Audio
Pages: 224
Audio Length: 5 discs (~6 hrs)
Narrator: Katherine Kellgren

Websites:
Laurie Halse Anderson
Katherine Kellgren

Place(s) Traveled to: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Rating: 3 out of 5 star

Prom by Laurie Halse Anderson is told in the first person by the main character, Ashley. Ashley is a normal teen living in the outskirts of Philadelphia. She doesn't come from a rich family and in fact her's is the house that is the loudest and most unkempt on her block. She isn't the best student, she doesn't have the best job or boyfriend and she is the only one in her school who doesn't care about the Senior Prom. All Ashley cares about is making it to graduation so that she can get on with her life. That is until the math teacher runs off with the funds for the prom...its not long after that that Ashley finds her self dragged into saving the dance by her best friend Nat, who just happens to be the head of the prom committee.

Prom was a cute, albeit predictable story filled with the occasional laugh and slightly more common groan when Anderson went down the more traveled path. I did like that the character of Ashley and her friends were all kids that could be considered to be 'at risk'. These are the kids who college isn't normally an option and life is just harder for them. Many teen books focus on the suburban kids who are slightly more well off in terms of money and opportunities. So it was nice to see a book that brought a different outlook on life into the homes of the kids who would be reading this book. Ashley is a gritty character and I liked her and her family but overall none of the characters seemed to have any real depth to them. Prom was a quick read...well listen...and I didn't feel that my time was wasted by it. The narrator, Katherine Kellgren, did a great job with all the voices and I look forward to other audios that she's read for. Can I recommend this book? Not really...it just lacks a bit of substance and I think that I was looking for something more from the writer of books like Speak and Wintergirls.

Rhode Island Author Night Fun!

For those that don't know me you should know....I am a native of Rhode Island. Look at the map above. Find the star that says Bristol....that is the area that I grew up in. My childhood was spent there, only I was in the WAY WAY cooler town of Warren. If any of you have grown up in a small town then you know what its like to grow up in Rhode Island. As the smallest state there is this off little bond that holds everyone together and when something big happens (and even if its not so big) its no shocker when everyone you, your parents and you 4th cousin twice removed shows up. That is what the Rhode Island Author Night was like this evening and that is part of what made it so much fun.

I drove from my transplant home in Central MA the UBER long distance (in RI terms at least in real life only 30 min) from there to the Barnes and Noble in Smithfield, RI to meet up with Sarah MacLean who wrote the fabulous YA Regency The Season (my review). I got there a little after the event started, grabbed some starbucks and waited in line (yes she had a line!) and before I could say who I was she was all 'i know you' and stood up to give me a hug. We chatted for a bit and then she had to great some more adoring fans, who were paitently waiting in line. While she did that I visited with some of the other authors who where there...and of course ended up walking away with some books. (I know you're all shocked. Me...buying books?!?).

First up was a table where Hannah Howell, Annette Blair and Patricia Grasso were sitting. They spent a lot of time talking amond themselves but did answer some of my questions. Howell's books looked right up my friend Beth's alley and so I had her sign a copy of My Lady Captor for her. This book takes place in Scotland and involves ghosts...two of my friends faveorite things so I think I made a good choice. (side note: B she said her books might all deal with same family but that can all be read a stand alone books and so not a series series if you know what I mean). I then chatted with Annette Blair whose book covers caught my eyes and I ended up getting My Favorite Witch. Blair writes contemporary romance that have some comedy as well as cozy mysteries. Witch is a contemporary novel set in Newport, RI - I almost got The Kitchen Witch (set in Salem, MA) but decided to support my state of birth. (B: you might be interested in her The Scot, the Witch and the Wardrobe). The witch books are all part of a trilogy but Blair assured me that they weren't dependant on each other...the connection is that the 3 main characters are all friends. Patricia Grasso's books didn't really interest me and while I feel bad at not buying one I didn't feel like spending money on a book I'd never read.

I then chatted with Sarah MacLean some more and her tablemate, Donna Russo Morin. Morin recently published The Courtier's Secret which is set in 17th Century France & in her words the main character is a 'bit like a female musketeer.' I love historical fiction, enjoyed The Three Muskeeters so added it to my fast growing pile. I also have to give a big shout out to her son who dressed up in a Muskeeter outfit and greeted people as they entered the store and wandered around drumming up interest in the author event. His fee: books....Love that!

I then visited with Edward Lee, Jr, author of Ripper, Thomas D'Agostino, author of Haunted RI and Dr. Ed Iannucilli, author of Growing Up Italian. (Mt TBR sees the addition of 3 more books). D'Agostino also signed his book with a real honest to goodness quill pen! Ripper is a true crime book about a Rhode Island serial killer. The events took place in 2004 and I swear I must live under a rock sometimes because I had no clue about it! Note to self: watch the local news more.

It was a lot of fun talking with all of these authors, and to friends of Sarah MacLean that came to see her....and she had a lot of those, along with friends of her parents and family and neighbors, etc...all come to support one of Rhode Island's success stories. Many bought books and had her sign them while talking about memories from her growing up years. This is part of what makes Rhode Island special...I can't speak for other states but how often is it that your old teachers and friends of parents that you've seen maybe once in your life come to a book sign signing and buy a romance book written for teen girls? Rhode Island is all about the community and connection. There are times when it seems like one huge family. If you leave RI and visit some other far away state and run into someone else from RI...you tend to great each other like old friends. Ed Iannucilli lives in Bristol and Edward Lee grew up in Barrington (both towns that surround Warren) so we bonded briefly over that shared connection. There is just some special sort of bond that seems to exist between people in (and from RI) and I love that aspect of the state!

After MacLean sold out of her books she and I parted company....I was shocked that so much time had passed! I hadn't planned on staying for the whole thing but I don't regret the time I spent there. Sarah was loads of fun to chat with. =) After she left I did something I shouldn't...I browsed the store and ended up picking up the following: The Betrayal by Pati Nagle, The Oracle by William J Broad, Saving Zoe by Alyson Noel, The Pemberley Chronicles by Ann Collins, What Would Jane Austen Do? by Laurie Brown and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith.

And now for some pics from the night:

Sarah MacLean signs Alea's book.
(don't worry Sarah I won't tell her about 'the incident')

Alea's signed book teaser photo.

Inside cover of my book - doesn't MacLean have the best handwriting?

Photo by ericmortenson (from here) of event, I'm in black in the upper left.

Books mentioned in this post: