What's Up Wednesday

Dear Readers,

I have joined a Wednesday Meme!  What's up Wednesday!
 



http://www.jaime-morrow.com/
 

WHAT I'M READING:  I am not reading anything of my own personal choice this week, but I can tell you what my students are reading--The Great Gatsby.  Hmmm... If I just turn to a random page this is what I find:

There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams - not through her own fault but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything. He had thrown himself into it with a creative passion.

Chapter 5, Nick speaking about Gatsby.

By the way, I am excited about starting my "Gatsby Twitter" project with my class! Details Soon!

WHAT I'M WRITING:  Well, I have been trying to finalize a blog post regarding the structuring of fiction--a basic "Pantsers" verses "Plotters" entry with examples of the "In-Betweens."  It is taking longer than I thought it would, and I will not have it ready until Friday. I suppose I am more of "Pantser." 

 

Now on to What I Am Trying To Write When I Have Real Time--A YA focused around a rising country singer name Carolina Rose Reyes.  I have chapter one complete!  As for chapter two, I need to get things going and continue on with the running theme of "good girls pick good politics"--since love interest number one is country music royalty and known by many as the "Son of Nashville," and love interest number two is truly involved in political politics.  Hopefully I can share some real progress next week.

WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW:  Obviously, country music.  Especially Miranda Lambert's "Automatic" since at the core of my YA is the idea that music is not about politics, but rather about home.  Here are Miranda's lyrics from the final bridge section and stanza:

Let's put the windows down

Windows with the crank

Come on let's take a picture

The kind you gotta shake

Hey what ever happened to waiting your turn

Doing it all by hand, cause when everything is handed to you

It's only worth as much as the time put in

It all just seems so good the way we had it

Back before everything became automatic

Absolutely lovely writing.  :)

 WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO:  Craziness!  Reasearch Paper Madness!  I teach 6 sections of college writing to high school students, and the semester is rolling fast to a frantic ending.  Kids are freaking out by having to write and submit a 6 to 8 page paper, and they have no concept that one day (when they really leave high school) that 6 pages is peanuts compared to the potential 20 page research paper they may one day write for some professor who expects nothing less than perfection. 


We are talking thesis, claims, warrants, refutaion, body sections, rhetorical strategies, and the dreaded MLA documentation.  Ugh.  Plus, this Saterday I am offering the final Advanced Placement review for the significantly difficult English Language AP exam on Friday, May 9th.  Thank God I simply have to teach and not actually test.  My testing days have been long over.  Yes, my students love me.  I hope.


Fictionally Yours Siempre,

Minerva

The Tearings Will Tear Your World Apart

Today's Thursday Trailer!

The Tearings by VC Repetto

Released by Evernight Teen, November 2013

 

 

The guy sitting at the next table coughed. It was an ugly, wet sound that made me look up from the exam sheet in front of me.

 

Fabulous. The last thing I needed was to get sick before the swim match.

 

He sniffed and wiped his nose with his stiff, already less-than-fresh sleeve, then lowered his hand back to his pencil and paper. Too bad for the person who'd have to pick that particular sheet up.

With this, Dear Readers, The Tearings begin.

Filled with 1950's black and white imagery that bring to mind the slightly creepy fascination of medical and scientific experimentation of a bygone era, the trailer will keep you bizarrely intrigued right up to that final moment--with a final seizing of  your own fascination. 

A human arm, sinewy with veins of virus poison jutting out and the entire almost monster-like arm turning red with infection--with plague.

I Am Legend, anybody?  The Walking Dead?  A new story of a new virus for all you world-going-down-plague-style loving readers and screen enthusiasts. 

 

P.S. Of interest to many of you may be the fact that VC Repetto enjoys submerging her brain in Victorian Gothic novels.  The Tearings is only her debut novel, and if she reads dark, Gothic-y material, then you can almost be certain she will emerge with her own work of "moldy lace and gas masks," two things she enjoys in Victorian Gothics.

 

Summary from Evernight Teen:

From the moment the black vans appear to take the sick away, Maya knows there is something wrong. She seems to be the only one to question the sudden disappearances at school and the masks everyone is forced to wear to keep from catching the new disease spreading through the entire United States.

Even when word of the new “healing centers” reaches the public, no one dares to ask what is happening. But when Maya catches the disease, the one they call The Tearings, and is taken to one of these centers along with her mother, the truth becomes all too clear. She is separated from her family and forced to work, becoming one of the more fortunate ones who is not sent to the testing wings.

Bullied by the guards to the point of death, she meets David Summers, the enigmatic young Captain who appears to loathe his position of power in the camp and who seems as drawn to Maya as she is to him.

When Maya suddenly becomes the disease’s only survivor, she must put her trust on David to find a way to escape the camp and get the truth, and the cure coursing through her veins, out to the world.

14+ for Violence and Adult Situations


Novel Excerpt from Evernight Teen:

 

My throat was raw, throbbing, and dry.

 

Panic rose immediately.

 

I was sick. I’d caught it.

 

I dug my nails into my hands and tried to get a hold of my galloping fear. Maybe I’d just slept with my mouth open during the night. That could be it, right? It didn’t need to be the worst thing imaginable. Except, I knew it was.

 

In seconds I was bolting up out of bed and running to the mirror hanging from my closet door. It hurt to open my mouth. Patches of red and fuzzy white had spread across my tongue and palates, making me wince when I touched them.

 

Sudden tears made my vision waver. Whatever this super-flu was, I had it.

 

I brushed my tears away with violence. There was no time for that right now. I had to think. My first instinct was to run into Mom’s room and tell her, but I made myself stand still for a few seconds more. Once she knew, she’d call the ambulances; there’d be no stopping her. They’d take us away to the health centers, so this might be the last few minutes I had to face this without needles poking at me.

 

As much as I tried to convince myself that allowing the ambulances to take me to the centers was a good thing, I couldn’t stop my stomach from clenching at the thought of riding in those black monsters that patrolled the streets. I wanted to stay home.

 

On impulse, I grabbed my cell off my night table and pressed one of the speed dial buttons.

Derek picked up on the fourth ring. “Maya?”

 

“Hi.”

 

“Is everything okay?”

 

I hesitated. This was it. Once I told someone, there’d be no stopping this. “I woke up with a sore throat.”

Author Website and Blog 

Book Page-Evernight Teen

VC Repetto on Twitter

VC Repetto on Goodreads

VC Repetto on Facebook

Caught in the Act of Obsession

 

 

#TBT:  The Original Post (keep reading after for my new 2014 thoughts!)

Caught in the Act by Peter Moore

 

 

YA Fiction Meets the PG-13 Version of Fatal Attraction.

That is basically what you see in Peter Moore's novel, Caught in the Act, when Ethan Lederer, a good kid with a good reputation, falls for the new girl dressed in black.

As Ethan puts it, he was doomed from the minute he first laid eyes on Lydia Krane, and it doesn’t take long for him to be captivated by her Carebears t-shirts, Goth clothing, and black dyed hair.

But more than that, Lydia understands him in a way no one else does, or so he thinks. She is also the only person who knows his whole smart guy status is a façade built on parental expectations, late night cramming, and cheating when necessary.

And then things start getting weird.

I don’t want to spoil all the bizarre, psychotic complications in the plot, but let’s just say the whole tattoo thing in the story ranks pretty high on the crazy scale.

 

You know, the story really grabs you from the start, and you find yourself rooting for Ethan and Lydia as they have all these meaningful encounters in the early chapters.

Then, the author hits you with all this drama, and I don’t just mean figuratively, as both Lydia and Ethan take the lead roles in a modern day interpretation of Macbeth in the annual school play.

By the end everything unravels for Ethan as he finally faces up to some of his choices and decisions, but not without a heavy cost.

Caught in the Act is not a psychological thriller, but it has enough twists and beyond nutty behavior to keep you turning the pages. Lydia leaves her imprint on Ethan and makes you think twice about breaking up with your current gal or guy just for somebody you think you really know. Enjoy the new YA Macbeth!

Looking Back and Forward, 2014

Dear Readers,

Published about a decade ago in 2005, Caught in the Act is a well-written YA with a load of intensity and an extremely intriguing storyline.  Probably a YA you missed. 

Peter Moore has served as a high school counselor, so you know he might have seen some crazy stuff.   You all have probably seen crazy stuff or done some crazy stuff yourself, like passing by a boy's house about 25 times in one week.  Well, that was back in the 1990s.  Do "stalkish" girls still do this?  Or do they just hound the guy on Twitter?

If you never read this YA, the purchase price is just a little over $4.00 on Amazon.  Seriously, how can you go wrong especially when the book features the first person narration of a teenage boy with a crazy girlfriend?  Also, I know I have ready plenty of YA where the guy is obsessed with the girl and not the other way around such as with Stay by Deb Caletti or Stolen by Lucy Christopher.

Then there is the whole Macbeth thing--the dark obsession of Macbeth mirroring the dark obsession in the relationship between Ethan and Lydia.

Just read these two gorgeous lines at the start of chapter 1:

"It was a cool day in October when Lydia Krane walked into our sophomore honors chem class. I was doomed from the minute I set eyes on her."

A writer who can write these first two lines is a writer I want to read anytime.  And, Peter Moore--don't forget this name--will soon have his most recent novel released this coming May, V is for Villian.

Summary from Amazon:  V is for Villian

Brad Baron is used to looking lame compared to his older brother, Blake. Though Brad's basically a genius, Blake is a superhero in the elite Justice Force. And Brad doesn't measure up at his high school, either, where powers like super-strength and flying are the norm. So when Brad makes friends who are more into political action than weight lifting, he's happy to join a new crew-especially since it means spending more time with Layla, a girl who may or may not have a totally illegal, totally secret super-power. And with her help, Brad begins to hone a dangerous new power of his own.

But when they're pulled into a web of nefarious criminals, high-stakes battles, and startling family secrets, Brad must choose which side he's on. And once he does, there's no turning back.



P.S. And now an obsessive love song from the fantastic Miranda Lambert... This is basically Lydia's theme song for the rest of her life.

"I cut my bangs with some rusty kitchen scissors
I screamed his name ‘til the neighbors called the cops."

Talk about obsession!  Please watch this video--it is a seriously fantastic creation!






Fictionally Yours Siempre,

Minerva

Liberty Belle

 

Back to MG!

Cover Reveal!

Liberty Belle by Emily Ungar
 

Release Date: August 12, 2014

Summary from Anaiah Press:
 

On the same day she turns twelve years old, Savannah moves away from everything she’s known in sweet, sunny Georgia to preppy Washington D.C. Not only will she miss her best friends Katie and Tessa, but Savannah will start a new school where schoolmates love to brag—about their clothes, their parents’ governmental connections, and even who has the "in" with the school authorities.
 

Unhappy and lonely, Savannah decides that if she can’t make life better, she can at least make it sound that way.

Soon she is living in the childhood home of George Washington, riding in the limo of the vice president’s daughter, and even moving into the former Luxembourg embassy.

 

All is well until she learns that her true friends from Georgia are coming for a visit. Now Savannah must create the life she’s been talking about in her letters—and fast! Will Savannah find herself or lose her friends?

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Author Bio:

Emily Ungar is a graduate of Indiana University, where she majored in journalism. After living in seven different U.S. states between grade school and college graduation, she now lives in Indianapolis, Indiana, with her husband and very curious twin toddlers. When she isn’t chasing after her twin boys, Emily loves to curl up in a chaise lounge with a book in one hand and a lemon cupcake in the other. Emily loves connecting with her readers, so she welcomes you to say hi on her blog at emilyungar.com.

 

Website: Emily Ungar

Twitter: @emilyungar

Pinterest: Emily Ungar

Goodreads: Liberty Belle 

 

Facebook: Author Emily Ungar

 

Publisher:  Anaiah Press

 

 

 

Dear Readers,

Although I usually focus on YA and the occasional adult fiction, today I am part of a cover release promotion for an upcoming MG release, Liberty Belle.

 

This is one I would definitely be promoting to my daughter is she was still in 5th or even 6th grade.  The cover reminds me of one of those American Girl dolls that my daughter, sadly, received a little too late at the end of her 5th grade year. 

 

By the end of 6th grade the doll and the accessories were placed simply on display. 

 

What I am trying to say is that Liberty Belle is straight up middle grade fiction and any girl between the ages of 3rd through 6th grade would love to read this.  And what I really love about Liberty Belle is that the novel is a perfect transition book since the plot is moving towards the issues that our young girls begin facing as they grow older, but at the same time Liberty Belle does not contain any of the edgy elements of mainstream, full-out YA. 

The storyline in Liberty Belle is one many young girls will find relatable to their lives--fitting in and trying to keep up appearances.  We all know that feeling out of place can come at any moment and in any place.  It does not require moving to an entirely new state. 

 

This happens to many young people at the start of a brand new school year, and it especially happens when entering middle school.  My daughter had her first taste of "not fitting in" pre-teenage reality at the beginning of 6th grade.  Also, I remember that when I was in 6th grade that was the year I was going to make things seem better for myself even though this wasn't true. 

 

Being untruthful starts with being untruthful with yourself.  And are we ever really truthful with ourselves?  Then there is the aspect of not being truthful to others in our lives. 

No one wants to be singled out in middle school for being different--we all want to fit in.  If I were Savannah I might have lied to my friends at home as well.  I would not want them to know the girls up here in preppy D.C. were a different breed I could not completely connect with immediately.

P.S.  This is for my lovely Celeste, soon to be a high school freshman, but always in my heart that little gal' who didn't know people can hear someone humming a tune while finishing classwork.  Really, she revealed this to me about a year ago.  That she would hear humming and stop to listen and try and figure out who it was.  It turns out she was humming.

 

 

Fictionally Yours Siempre,

 

Minerva

Just Sing and Never Stop


Manic Monday Post!

Just Sing by Rene Gilley

Release Date: June 5 2014 (in eBook and Paperback)

Summary from Goodreads:

Sixteen-year-old Lily has always dreamt of singing professionally and being the first person in her family to attend college. Two years into her four-year plan, she’s on track for acceptance into her dream prestigious music program at Berkeley.

 

That is until the school board holds an emergency budget meeting and cuts her high school’s award-winning vocal program. So, Lily now has the summer before her junior year to formulate a new strategy, or she can kiss her hopes of getting into Berkeley goodbye.

 

Then there is Aiden--he’s broken and beautiful, and they become reluctant friends in the summer  when her family is on the verge of losing a generations-old family estate and ranch.

 

Suddenly her plan of attending Berkeley and her dream of being a star singer all seem irrelevant and selfish. All that matters is saving her family’s home. Lily must now realize that stepping out of her comfort zone and taking a risk may just be the key to save the home she loves. 

 

About the Author:

A true California girl, René Gilley is a young adult and new adult author whose home state is often the backdrop for her books.  A mom, a wife, and a breast cancer survivor--these three roles shape her writing identity and reveal what is most important in her life.   René always uses a portion of her book profits to support breast cancer awareness, research, and patient care. 

 

Her visual inspiration for Just Sing can be found on Pinterest.

Website: Listen to Your Gut. Trust Your Heart.

Twitter: @ReneGilley

Facebook: Rene Gilley

Goodreads: Author Page

The Writer's Coffee Shop

 

 

Dear Readers,

 

With the popularity of shows like American Idol and The Voice, Gilley's Just Sing promises to bring high engagement to any YA reader who dreams of the stage, lives the stage, or enjoys the stage as a spectator. 

 

But really, Just Sing will engage any reader who has high aspirations and goals set for after high school graduation.  Lily, it seems, is ahead of the game, having fulfilled two years of her four year plan. She is doing everything she needs to do in school and in her academic life to get what she wants--enrollment at one of the most prestigious music programs in the nation, Berkeley.

 

As life would have it, though, unforeseen circumstances come to interrupt.  From the loss of the vocal music program at her high school to the impending loss of a family estate, it seems to Lily that all may not turn out as she dreams. 

 

And with her world seemingly turned upside down, there is no more room for any other mishap, much less a boy who at times gives mixed signals. 

 

By the end, Lily and readers will understand that the best life is often the unexpected life.  A life wherein you still meet your dreams but in a way you had not expected.  The passion for singing, for writing, for dancing, for studying organic compounds, for whatever, never really leaves.  The dream may change, the dream may have more than one avenue, the dream may seem to leave for a season, but in the end, whatever real dream is achieved may be better than the initial dream.  For Lily, this means Just Sing.

 

P.S. This one is for my daughter!  And her love of music and singing.  I still remember her first talent show at F.D. Roosevelt when she begged to audition and was determined to prove to the world that a pint-sized kinder girl could memorize and sing a lengthy instrumental track for a favorite Christian song.  Now 14, she is still singing the heck out of songs and waiting for that day when she too will Just Sing to thousands on the stage.  She has done it here in our hometown and all over Youtube, but one day...

 

 

Fictionally Yours Siempre,

 

 

Minerva

 

Princess of the Light Finds Her Purpose

 

Thursday Trailer

 

Princess of the Light by N.N. Light

 

Release Date: August 26, 2014

 

And the best part of all this?  Enter to win a book poster signed by the author!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Summary from Publisher:

Miriam Miller likes the simple things in life: a good book, close friends, and a healthy relationship with God. But, destiny comes calling, and her neat, little life turns upside down.

Ethanial, an angel of God, has been sent to reveal Miriam's true calling -– she is the Princess of the Light, the woman chosen by God Himself to vanquish the demons intent on infusing the world with evil. And her first assignment: restore the soul of a homeless man known only as The Walking Man.

Enter Joe Deacons, a man intent on stealing her heart. But as Miriam embarks on her journey to save the Walking Man and fulfill her calling, it becomes clear that Joe isn’t what he appears to be. Miriam must decide: Is she willing to risk her soul to save those she loves

Author Bio:

N.N. Light was born in Minnesota and later lived in Southern California only to eventually move to chilly Ontario, Canada where she married her beloved husband, Mr. N.

She is blissfully happy and loves all things chocolate and bookish.  She is also an avid enthusiast of music, movies, art, sports, and baking.
 

Webpage: Princess of the Light

Blog: Princess of the Light @ Wordpress

Twitter: @NNP_W_Light

Pinterest: NNLight

Goodreads: Princess of the Light @ Goodreads

 

http://anaiahpress.com/

 

 

Dear Readers,

Truly amazing how media kits from publishers can make the entire world of YA blogging as simple as copy/paste. But I am not content with just doing this--I must write something or then this is not a personal blog, right?

Though I have not read Princess of the Light, I can tell you I judge whether or not I will promote a work of fiction by the level of professionalism presented by either the author or publisher (but mainly the publisher)--meaning the effort they have placed in creating a top-notch product, in reaching out to the ordinary blogger like myself, and in utilizing social media.

Second is whether or not I like the cover art, the premise of the work, and the writing itself--all of which basically points back to the professional quality of the entire package.

As for Anaiah Press, I also like that I favorited a tweet by one of the agents and that this person actually DM-ed me about submitting my manuscript if ever I should have one ready that fits what they are looking for:)

This press is active, this press is in the now, and this press cares about their own authors and all of the potential authors, and the regular bloggers of the world.

As for the book, yes, it has a highly Christian theme, but it sometimes seems to me that YA needs the diversity of Christianity on its shelves.

I mean, pretty much every single teen in my classroom usually includes religious beliefs whenever I assign a journal topic such as "personal autobiography" or "what do humans need." Ok, it may be that because I live in a region with a high Catholic following that many of my students write about church or about needing to have faith in God--not that any of them do not question their faith or never find themselves doubting their faith--because in their journal writing a good number of them will bring some of these ideas out.

Either way, the best YA makes a connection with the YA readership, so if the readership in my classroom is largely Catholic, then wouldn't some of these students probably have interest in reading novels with a protagonist who views the world in terms of Christian spirituality on some levels?

On a side note, this week I read a YA with several of the characters seriously angry at God and with one finding a small sense of peace on the steps of a mosque. One may argue well that the diversity in this un-named YA is that the novel is exposing readers to other major world religions. This is true--this is adding diversity--but on the other had, where are the books where teens find peace at the steps of a Baptist church? 

P.S. What sounds better than a book where good battles against evil? This is one archetypical pattern that never gets old. This is what Princess of the Light promises to bring--so that there is enough for me to want to read it.



Fictionally Yours Siempre,

Minerva

 

 

Teens' Choice Award and TFIOS

Voting starts today for the 2014 Children’s Choice Book Awards and the 2014 Teens’ Choice Book Award.  Vote here:  http://www.ccbookawards.com/!

Nominees for Teen Book of the Year:

Allegiant by Veronica Roth (Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins)
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (St. Martin’s Press)
Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices) by Cassandra Clare (Margaret K. McElderry/S&S)
Smoke by Ellen Hopkins (Margaret K. McElderry/S&S)
The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey (Putnam)

Dear Readers,

 

Please show your support for these fine authors any day and any time between today, March 25, through May 12.   

 

Finalists are determined with the help of Teenreads.com with over 7000 teens voting.  The five titles with the highest number of votes are then up for the title of Teen Book of the Year.

The voting, sponsored by the Children’s Book Council, reported over 1 million children and teens participating in the online selection for their favorites last year.  Of course, the winner for the 2013 Teen Book of the Year is The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.  If you ask me, TFIOS could have been nominated again this year and could have won again!

In honor of last year’s winner here is my original, brief review of the TFIOS from a previous post (with a few changes):

I am in love with the authentic YA voice, and that coupled with some of the best writing YA has to offer (ala the greatness of all that is John Green) is what brilliant and contemporary YA is all about. It's YA with heartbreak, with happy and tragic, with awful and beautiful. Not to mention, the obvious allusions to so many things Shakespeare scattered perfectly throughout the novel, with best allusion being the title itself:  "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars/ But in ourselves" from The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.

We English teachers just can not get away from a yearly dose of Shakespeare. I mean, I got this allusion on the first glimpse of the title, The Fault in Our Stars, way back when it came out about a two years ago or more. But you know, the title and all its implications bring to mind another Shakespearean tragedy instead. You know, the one about star crossed lovers... I guess it's in the word stars.

I feel sad already :(

I know many, many of you have already read this novel, so I am too many months/ years late for a review, but here is a brief summary from Goodreads. com If by chance you have not yet read it, then you are missing out. It's like me asking "And you, Reader?" (Just like "Et tu, Brute?" from Julius Caesar, meaning that you are betraying the YA genre by not having read The Fault in Our Stars.)

"Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now.

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind."

And don’t forget the movie!

And if I were a teenager eligible of voting, my vote would go to the closest equivilant of TFIOS on this year's list--Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. 

P.S. I dedicate this entire post to one of the biggest John Green fans--Anissa Lopez, a beautiful, smart, courageous survivor of the big C and high school life in general.  You are absolutely awesome!  Go class of 2015! Go Bears!

Fictionally Yours Siempre,

Minerva

Perfect Chemistry When Opposites Attract

 

 

 

#TBT and Thursday Trailer: Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Original post from 2010 on my first blog:

So, here is a very fun book trailer for one of the many books I've been reading lately--Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles. I haven't gotten very far yet, but so far I enjoy the alternating points of view in the chapters and I like the Spanish phrases and lingo. It's about time Latino culture is part of a mainstream book.

 

I especially love the book cover, don't you?

Summary (from author's webpage):

A modern tale of star-crossed lovers with a fresh urban twist.

 

At Fairfield High School, on the outskirts of Chicago , everyone knows that south-siders mixing with north-siders can be explosive. So when Brittany Ellis and Alejandro “Alex” Fuentes are forced to be lab partners in chemistry class, this human experiment leads to unexpected revelations – that Brittany's flawless reputation is a cover for her troubled home life, that Alex’s bad-boy persona hides his desire to break free from gang ties, and that when they’re together, life somehow makes more sense. Breaking through the stereotypes and expectations that threaten to keep Brittany and Alex apart, Perfect Chemistry takes readers to both sides of the tracks in a passionate love story about looking beneath the surface.
 

Looking Back, 2014

 

Dear Readers,

 

Perfect Chemistry was first published on Decemeber 23, 2008 (which happens to the exact day and year that my husband turned 35) and is indeed an enjoyable read for the weekend, but it may not be one to literally keep you glued to the page. 

 

The summary is spot on regarding plot and the ideas of "stereotypes and expectations."  The one minor criticism I have is that it relies too much on the stereotypes and almost "Disny-fies" these stereotypes. 

 

I live in a region of Texas with notorious gang activity in certain areas, and Alex Fuentes is too good of a guy to be classified as a gangbanger.  BUT I like that Alex represents something positive (although if he really looked like a true gang member and acted like one, there is no way Brittany would be with him--many gang members are usually really hard core, and they don't leave their chola girfriends).  It is true, though, that you practically have to be killed to get out of a gang as shown by Elkeles.

 

I like his guts, his bad boy-good boy image, and the Perfect Chemistry between Alex and Brittany. 

Maybe too perfect in a story all neatly wrapped up with a semi-predictable ending and with a bad boy gone good and a good girl finding someone beyond her everyday, privileged experience.

 

Just as in 2010, I still truly appreciate the fact that Simone Elkeles has made it a priority to include Latino characters and Spanish lingo for that growing spectrum of young people of Latino origin who are buying YA books. 

 

About 97% of my high school students are Mexican American.  And of the ones that are reading--well, they are reading John Green or Veronica Roth.  They are not reading enough of those authors bringing more diversity to mainstream YA. 

 

So for this, I bump up the book from 2.5 stars to 3.5 stars.  Thank you, Simone Elkeles.

 

Fictionally Yours Siempre,

 

Minerva

 

 

 

Heir to the Lamp Creates Magic

 

Manic Monday Post!

 

By Michelle Lowery Combs, Author of Heir to the Lamp

Dear Readers,

It’s a potent fantasy, one that captures the minds of many young readers and sticks with them forever. As an adult, I’m always on the lookout for everyday magic around me: a perfect sunset, the smiles of a sleeping baby, the flow of a perfect piece of prose; but I also enjoy, thanks to some favorite fairytale and fantasy stories of my youth, contemplating the possibilities of cloaks of invisibility, talking animals, and parallel universes that can open themselves up to someone simply waiting at a train station.

When I began planning Heir to the Lamp, my first young adult fantasy novel about a teenage genie, I knew that the story would include more than a little magic. I set out to research genie folklore, which would set me on new paths of discovery that paralleled, crisscrossed, and intersected one another until they would have looked like a road map if plotted out in black and white. There was so much to explore. I’d never imagined the roots of so many mythical and fairytale creatures could be traced back to the genie, or djinni as it’s called in one of the oldest traditions. Angels, demons, ghouls, sprites, faeries and leprechauns—all thought by some to be genies by another name. And then there were the magical objects associated with the versatile djinn—everything from the Arabian Nights style brass lamp to mirrors and polished scrying glasses used to imprison genies at the will of their masters.

The possibilities for Heir to the Lamp seemed endless, and I had a great deal of fun turning the idea of the genie’s lamp, a traditionally unbearably cramped prison for unfortunate djinn, on its head. In my favorite fantasies from childhood, it was most often a character’s experience with an enchanted object that lay at the heart of his or her story: The Hobbit and his ring tricked from a golem, Snow White and her stepmother’s sinister talking mirror.

In Heir to the Lamp readers will discover how a seemingly ordinary oil lamp turns out to be anything but and connects a teenage girl to a 3,000 year-old genie. I have never ceased to wonder at the countless examples of real and ordinary magic all around us as we go about our day to day lives, nor will I ever grow too old to imagine the possibilities of mermaid combs, seven league boots, or a brass oil lamp that contains an entire ocean and private island waiting to be explored. I hope you enjoy Heir to the Lamp!

Fictionally Yours Siempre,

Michelle Lowery Combs

(As posted by a guest author for Fictionally Yours Siempre)