Teaser Tuesday (August 31, 2010)

I'm such a tease! I tease the readers of my blog just like I tease those boys! Who want their s's d'd, who's s's I want to d, but I'm way too classy to do that, so I just tease! Hahahha, wait, this is a book blog. A YA book blog! Forget I said that part about teasing boys!! Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading.


Zombies Vs. Unicorns, edited by Justine Larbalestier and Holly Black


Teaser:
Holly: Unicorns exist in pop culture as bubble colored, riding over rainbows, full of sparkles and stars.

Justine: Once again, Team Unicorn cannot hide its shame. Little known fact: Meg Cabot is a zombie lover and would have much preferred to be on Team Zombie, but Holly was getting desperate for team Unicorn members so Meg succumbed to pleading and bribery and joined Team Wrong, er, I mean, Team Unicorn.

You Go, Girl! Catch That MoFo!

Released: August 31, 2010

Title: Radiance

Author: Alyson Noel

Publisher: Square Fish

Paperback: 192 pages

Synopsis:
Riley Bloom left her sister, Ever, in the world of the living and crossed the bridge into the afterlife—a place called Here, where time is always Now. Riley and her dog, Buttercup, have been reunited with her parents and are just settling into a nice, relaxing death when she's summoned before The Council. They let her in on a secret—the afterlife isn't just an eternity of leisure; Riley has to work. She's been assigned a job, Soul Catcher, and a teacher, Bodhi, a curious boy she can't quite figure out.
Riley, Bodhi, and Buttercup return to earth for her first assignment, a Radiant Boy who's been haunting a castle in England for centuries. Many Soul Catchers have tried to get him to cross the bridge and failed. But he's never met Riley...

Brent’s opinion of the novel:
     I’m a big fan of Alyson Noel. Her stories always awe me. The way they’re so fluid and tangible. Alyson had me hooked with her contemporary novel, Cruel Summer, then grabbed me by the neck with her Immortals Series. And, if you follow her on Facebook or Twitter, you always see she has wise words to share. I just love her, and her writing.
     When I first heard that Alyson was writing a spin-off from her Immortals Series, I freakin’ jumped off the walls. Riley Bloom always intrigued me, and she was funny-as-fuck! But then I heard that the spin-off would be Middle-Grade… and I was turned off. Like, I’m fifteen, get real. I don’t wanna read something for my little sister! I was apprehensive, but then decided I’d go ahead and try Radiance out. I’m so glad I did. (Never judge a book by it’s age group!)
      When Riley Bloom, Ever’s younger sister, decided to make the leap into the Afterlife, we were crushed. Admit it, you cried just as much as I did. I didn’t want Riley to go! I’d miss her too damn much. I thought we’d seen the last of her, but no. She has a new series, all to herself! And in it, Riley is in a whole different world: the Here and Now. But, the Here and Now isn’t all it’s cut out to be. You’d think it’d be puppies and unicorns and angels and rainbows. Except for not really. Riley has to go to school, follow rules, blah blah blah. It gets even more shitty when the Council assigns Riley as The Soul Catcher, whose job is to retrieve ghosts who’ve been wandering the Earth plane for far too long. Easy enough. Except for not really. These ghosts can get pretty bitchy.
        Riley is like, my favorite eleven-year-old. Ever. She’s funny, sweet, sincere, sometimes catty. Riley is just like me when I was eleven! Yes, I was a diva, even back then. She continued to be funny/sweet/sincere/catty in Radiance, which is great! But she also developed a little more in Radiance. She’s more spunky and daring. Riley ain’t scared! …most of the time. Hahaha.
         Radiance definitely didn’t amaze me like the Immortals Series did. But what it did do was provide me with a few hours of a cute, moralized, fun story. I really, really enjoyed Radiance. Both my fifteen-year-old friends and eleven-year-old sister would enjoy it as much as I did. One thing Ms. Noel taught me this time: Never, ever judge a book by it’s age-group!

In My Mailbox + Week In Links (August 29, 2010)

In May Mailbox is hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren. Week In Links is hosted by ME! It’s where you post about interesting and cool stuff from other bloggers! Share the love. (And your ass better quote me on that shit!)

For Review:



Elixir by Hilary Duff (Thanks, Paul from S&S!)

Spin by Robert Rave  (Thanks, whoever in the hell sent me this!)

Bought:



Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (O-M-GEEE!)

Great books, no?


Week In Links:


I interviewed Nick Burd for Lambda Literary!


I wrote about my top ten most memorable LGBT teen characters for Lambda Literary!



Salon writes about children and gender identity!


Jami from YA Addict shares some pretty awesome Personal Demons covers!


Eleni from LaFemme Readers got me uber excited for Nevermore by Kelly Creagh!

You know you love me,

Brent

'Ats Some of Mah Main Gays

Hey doll,

So, I recently became a contributor (the youngest!) to the uber-fabulous  Lambda Literary Foundation. They’re an elite online publication dedicated to bringing LGBT Lit to attention. They’re great, and I’m so glad to be writing shit for them. :)

My first post went up this Tuesday. I wrote about my top ten gay teen characters. You can see it here: http://bit.ly/aT0VFC.


I also had an essay published in School Library Journal! I was in the issue with Libba Bray.  Which I’m super pumped about!



Cool, right?

Oh, and here’s the song of the day! Enjoy.

Xoxo
Brent

Guest Vlog: James of Book Chic!

Hey readers!

Today I have James of Book Chic here to do a guest vlog. He’s going to talk about books and porn hehe!

Thanks, James, for stopping by! And for not getting too nasty with those books. ;)

If you guys don’t follow James, you totally should. His reviews are a delight to read and he always has some kick-ass giveaways.  Visit him: http://bookchicclub.blogspot.com/

Damn, It Sure Does Suck to be a Character

Released: September 1, 2010

Title: I’ll Get There. It Better Be Worth The Trip.

Author: John Donovan

Publisher: Flux (I freakin’ love Flux!)

Paperback: 216 pages

Synopsis:
The 40th anniversary edition of a groundbreaking teen classic. When the grandmother who raised him dies, Davy Ross, a lonely thirteen-year-old boy, must move to Manhattan to live with his estranged mother. Between alcohol-infused lectures about her self-sacrifice and awkward visits with his distant father, Davy’s only comfort is his beloved dachshund Fred. Things start to look up when he and a boy from school become friends. But when their relationship takes an unexpected turn, Davy struggles to understand what happened and what it might mean.

Brent’s opinion of the novel:
     I’ll Get There… is supposedly the gay teen lit book. It’s famous for being the first YA book to address homosexuality. And it was first published in 1969, a time when homosexuality was still considered a mental illness. Pretty groundbreaking, if you  ask me. Before even starting I’ll Get There…, I had an immense amount of respect for the author, John Donovan. I mean, HE FREAKIN’ PUBLISHED THE FIRST GAY TEEN BOOK EVEN THOUGH GAY WAS LIKE STILL CONSIDERED A MENTAL DISEASE! I’ma be honest: I wouldn’t  have been able to do it. I would’ve been terrified. But no, John was able to do it, and he did. He’s the reason the genre I love the most—gay teen lit—exists. And I’m so glad that—after a disappearance for two decades—Flux is reissuing this wonderful book.  I have nothing but praise for it.
       Davy is the expected thirteen-year-old boy, rough-housing with his dog, messing up the house, sleeping in late. He’s very fond of the life he lives with his grandmother, in their  Boston home.  But, as he realizes, growing too fond of something can only lead to that something’s downfall. His life in Boston is over once his  grandmother dies one night. Davy, now forced to live with his alcoholic mother, is more closed-off and distanced than ever. Other than the companionship he has with his dog, Fred, he knows nothing else of love and company. Grin and Bear It, is how the saying goes. But then Davy meets a boy. And his life gets even more complicated when their friendship buds into something deeper.
      I loved Davy. So Much. He’s somewhere in that in-between. The There and the Now. While he has the innocence of a child, he’s more mature and relatable. He’s definitely not playing with Legos, but he’s not hormonal and sex-crazed like us (haha,  you know we are. Don’t front.) Davy had a depth to him. He kind of had to. His grandmother died, and his mother was an alcoholic, get real. Of course he’s not all Legos and cupcakes! John Donovan seriously made a character that was relatable to for everyone. In his hurt from losing his grandmother; in his loneliness; in his want for companionship; in his disappointment. You’d think, “Damn, depressed gay kid.” But that’s totally not the case. I’ve read books where it’s like, “Wtf.  A depressed gay kid who’s a whiny bitch.” But Davy is like, not a whiny bitch. So we’re good. Hahah. :)
       The relationship John Donovan wrote between Davy and Altschuler was beautiful. You have two boys, they’re lost. With no maps. No compass.  No sense of  where’s right and what’s wrong. They’re tumbling down adolescence with closed eyes. And then they meet. And somewhere amid all that confusion, they kiss. And kiss again. Is the confusion gone? No. But is it more tolerable? Yes. It’s probably one of the most complex relationships I’ve ever read about.
      I’ll Get There. It Better Be Worth The Trip. is probably one of my new favorite books. It’s one of those books where you have to read the full thing to get the beauty of the story out of it. I’ve read reviews where people say it was dull to read. And I’ll be honest, at times, it was dull. But I think  in order to craft such a story as John Donovan did, you have to be dull sometimes.  You just can’t meet a mid-way.
      I love the symbolism of the title. “I’ll Get There. It Better Be Worth The Trip.” I think the “There” is being comfortable and accepted. When I finished this book, I thought to myself, “Have I got There? Will it be Worth The Trip?” And no, I haven’t got There. I’m no where near There. But I think if I keep reading such great books as this, when I do get There,  it’ll definitely be worth the trip.  From 1969 to now there’s already been such progress.  And it can only get better.

Cover: Five Stars!
Characters: Five Stars!
Plot: Five Stars!
Ending: Five Stars!
Originality: Five Stars!

Teaser Tuesday (August 24, 2010)

     I'm such a tease! I tease the readers of my blog just like I tease those boys! Who want their s's d'd, who's s's I want to d, but I'm way too classy to do that, so I just tease! Hahahha, wait, this is a book blog. A YA book blog! Forget I said that part about teasing boys!! Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading.


Radiance by Alyson Noel

Teaser:
Most people think that death is the end. The end of life—of good times—the end of, well, pretty much everything. But those people are wrong. Dead wrong. And I should know. I died almost a year ago.

Giveaway: Firelight by Sophie Jordan!

Hey doll,

So, today I’m giving away my galley copy of Sophie Jordan’s Firelight! This book is ah-mazing, and I’m on a blog tour in September for this one, so I’m going ahead and doing a giveaway! good luck, hon’.

Personal Demons Is My Personal Hooker

Released: September 14, 2010

Title: Personal Demons

Author: Lisa Desrochers

Publisher: Tor

Hardcover: 364 pages

Synopsis from GoodReads:
Frannie Cavanaugh is a good Catholic girl with a bit of a wicked streak. She's spent years keeping everyone at a distance—even her closest friends—and it seems her senior year will be more of the same...until Luc Cain enrolls in her class. No one knows where he came from, but Frannie can't seem to stay away from him. What she doesn't know is that Luc works in Acquisitions—for Hell—and she possesses a unique skill set that has the King of Hell tingling with anticipation. All Luc has to do is get her to sin, and he’s as tempting as they come. Frannie doesn’t stand a chance.
Unfortunately for Luc, Heaven has other plans, and the angel, Gabe, is going to do whatever it takes to make sure that Luc doesn’t get what he came for. And it isn't long before they find themselves fighting for more than just her soul.
But if Luc fails, there will be Hell to pay…for all of them.

Brent’s opinion of the novel:
        Let me start of this review by saying that Lisa Desrochers is one cool as fuck person. After a few email exchanges, I immediately thought “Damn. This is my kinda writer person.”  She threatened to unfollow me on Twitter!! … and confessed her psycho-ness to me.  So, I had pretty much already decided Lisa was one of my most favorite writers!!!
       Frannie Cavanaugh, the sweet Catholic girl having doubts about her faith, doesn’t know what in the hell to do with herself when she starts catching an eye for the two new boys in town. There’s Luc, who works in the acquisitions department of Hell, tagging souls to be sent to Hades. Both Luc and the King of Hell want her bad… but so do the Angels, and they’ve sent one of their best to get her. Gabe. But does Frannie know any of this shit?! No. All she thinks is, “Damn, Luc’s pretty dark and sexy, but Gabe’s gotta nice ass.”
      Frannie is one lucky mofo. Two hot guys at the same time?! I mean, get real! There’s no way that happens without luck! (Unless you wear a lot of eyeliner… but that’s another story altogether.) I’ma be honest with cha: I was jealous of Frannie, at some points. Even though she has been through some rough stuff, she had a pretty cool family and  amazing friends and TWO HOT GUYS. I mean, damn. Send one over to me. Frannie be rollin’ all up in ‘at hot-boy-dough. But really, I’m not saying her life was perfect! Just that she had a lot of stuff that should’ve been appreciated more. I loved Frannie, I really did. (Is the word “really” experiencing a renaissance in my vocabulary? I think so…) She’s a character easy to relate with. She’s not  perfect, she makes mistakes, just like us. Lisa Dez crafted Frannie perfectly. ;)
       Luc! Gurah! Omg. Hot. Sexy. Bitchy. Sarcastic. Bad to thah bone. Hot. Hot. Sexy. Hot. YES! Luc! He has got to be one of my favorite men of 2010 YA Lit. And I don’t even know why! In real life, I go for really hot, sweet boys. And that’s usually what appeals to me in books, as well! I seriously hate bitchy sarcastic dudes. But I loved Luc. Even though he was all “I’m so cool and hot, Mr. Acquisitions of Hell.   Everyone wants me” I could tell he had a soft side. And, as he grew closer to Frannie, that soft side came out.  Yes, I think Gabe is equally alluring, but I AM SO TEAM LUC! Suck it, Gabe.
       I loved the use of humor in Personal Demons. It kind of keeps it from being melodramatic, while still upholding the high tension levels. Lisa Dez did that perfect, as well. She added new elements to an old storyline, Heaven vs. Hell. Good vs. Bad. Which is eaxactly what writers are supposed to do. Each story has already been told, so writers tell these stories with a new spin and original voice.  Lisa is definitely an author I’ll be following. :)   
     I know this sounds corny, but I loved every page of Personal Demons. (Please don’t call me a YA blogging hooker! I try not to sound corny, but sometimes I’m unable to!) The characters were real and funny, the plot was “Damn, girl,” and the ending was like “Fuck, now I gotta go hooker myself out to the publisher  so I can  get the sequel SOON!”

In My Mailbox + Week In Links

In May Mailbox is hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren. Week In Links is hosted by ME! It’s where you post about interesting and cool stuff from other bloggers! Share the love. (And your ass better quote me on that shit!)

For Review:


Pegasus by Robin McKinley (Thanks, Penguin!)

I’ll Get There… by John Donovan (Thanks, Courtney at Flux!)

Vintage by Steve Berman (Thanks, Steve.)

Personal Demons by Lisa Dez (Thanks Lisa!!)

I got some pretty amazing books, no?

Week In Links:

I guest posted over at The Story Siren.

Andrea Cremer  wrote about sex and censorship in YA.

My amazing friend Jami is hosting a Personal Demons cover re-design contest!

And now I’m bored, and you look bored too, so let’s play a song!

Mhmm, yeah. We love P!nk, do we not? Have a great day!

You know  you love me,

Brent

Andrea Cremer on Bringing Sexy Back!

Hey readers!

Today I have Andrea Cremer here to talk about sex(uality) in YA fiction! Andrea is not only an ah-mazing writer, but a really cool, funny, sweet person. If Andrea was a gay boy, I would have a writer-crush on her! Her debut, Nightshade, comes out this fall. It's one of my favorite paranormal books, and if you're not first in line on October 19th to buy it, I will *coughs* beat your ass. Just sayin'. :)


Andrea Cremer spent her childhood daydreaming while roaming the forests and lakeshores of Northern Wisconsin. She now lives in Minnesota, but she thinks of her homeland as the “Canadian Shield” rather than the Midwest.

Andrea has always loved writing and has never stopped writing, but she only recently plunged into the deep end of the pool that is professional writing. When she’s not writing, Andrea teaches history at a very nice liberal arts college in St. Paul.

In the little spare time she can find, Andrea stares up at trees, rescues infant rabbits from predatory cats, and invents names for pug puppies with her husband. She has an unfortunate tendency to spill things – white carpets beware!

Her debut novel, NIGHTSHADE, the first of a YA fantasy series, will be published in fall 2010 by Penguin (Philomel). Visit her at http://www.andreacremer.com/.

BRINGING SEXY BACK

I’m deeply flattered that Brent invited to write a guest post – and I’m taking advantage of his kindness to talk about sex. Yes – sex!

Sexuality is a hot (no pun intended) topic in the world of YA; straight, gay, or wavy if sexual or suggestive content appears in your YA novel it will be a point of discussion. So how sexy is too sexy for YA, do the rules change if the book is a ‘crossover’ novel? Where is the line? Should there be a line at all when it comes to sex in young adult literature?

While I don’t have answers to all these questions, I do have opinions – many of them. When blurbs for Nightshade first arrived, my review from Becca Fitzpatrick started off by calling Nightshade ‘sexy and thrilling;’ which I thought was fantastic, so it surprised me when a friend saw the blurb and commented “do you really want that on your book?” To which I replied: “of course I do,” and she said, “but isn’t it for kids?”

Herein lays a piece in the puzzle – audience perception. For one: I wouldn’t categorize teens as kids. Are they adults? No, but I think adults too often don’t give young people enough credit when it comes to understanding and responding to challenging issues: topics like depression, drug use, suicide, domestic violence, eating disorders, school shootings, sex and sexuality. Books offer a safe space in which to encounter trying subjects and consider them without fear of judgment (note: this remains true for readers of all ages, not just teens) – it is imperative that such spaces exist.

Some of my favorite authors, notably Laurie Halse Anderson and Ellen Hopkins, have encountered a staggering number of attempts to ban their outstanding novels. Both have responded by writing thoughtful pieces on censorship and its effect on our society. I would argue that sex and sexuality push the most buttons when it comes to censorship. Americans have an uneasy relationship with sexuality that’s been around since the 19^th century (note: despite common perceptions, it was not the Puritans who did it – it was Anthony Comstock and the Victorians). We’re much more worried about teens encountered sex in books and movies than our counterparts in Europe (they’re more worried about kids seeing violence, interesting, eh?)

I think we, both authors and readers, need to be able to deal with both. Why? Because they shape human cultures, politically and socially, and pretending such issues aren’t on the minds and in the lives of teens is not only naïve, it’s irresponsible. My academic training is as an historian and one thing I’ve learned from reading many books and spending loads of time in musty archives is that sexuality and attempts to control have always been pivotal in structuring societies (recommended reading: Judith Butler, John D’Emilio, Anna Clark). I can’t write a book that doesn’t address themes of sexuality and sexual power because I’ve spent years discovering its pivotal place in human history.

But it’s not only while wearing my teacher hat that I think having a ‘sexy’ book is a good thing. Romance and sex catch our attention, they sweep us away into a story – something that I love about reading and truly hope readers of my novel will experience. I also remember how fixated I was on thoughts of love and sex when I was a teen, and it wasn’t because I was reading too many ‘sexy’ books, it was because that was life for everyone! So I’ll keep bringing sexy back in my books without apology, and I hope my favorite authors continue to do so too. If we all end up on the banned books list together, at least I’ll be in good company.

Guest Post: Ebony McKenna, Australia-Based Writer on How Her Novel Came About and a Giveaway!

Ebony McKenna is based in Melbourne, Australia. She attributes her love of YA fiction to an enduring case of arrested development. Her favorite overseas TV shows are United States of Tara, Community, 30 Rock, and UK programs including Peep Show, The Goodies, Being Human, Dr Who and QI.
Her favorite movie of all time is The Princess Bride. This is also her favorite book. She has lately become utterly hooked on the Hunger Games trilogy and the Gallagher Girls series. She also loves Wasted and Deathwatch by Nicola Morgan.
She is married with one real son who has a pretend dog, Russ Russ, pretend cat Russ, brother Shell and 'little sister Molly'. She once stepped on Molly by accident but it's OK, Molly made a full recovery.
Visit Ebony online at http://www.ebonymckenna.com/index.html.

How the Story of Ondine Came About.
I’ll always be a fan of walking. It was on a walk back in . . . gosh, as long ago as 2006 . . . that the first ideas for the Ondine series took shape. On this cool afternoon as I walked to pick up my son from day-care, I had an image of a teen girl wearing some kind of cloak and hood. Sort of loose fitting, a bit like one of those classic medieval travelling cloaks. It was night. There were fireflies dancing around and she was near the edge of a pond or small lake. The image was so strong, it was as if I could see through her eyes. There was something heavy on her shoulder. I even felt a weight on my shoulder as I thought about it. The thing on her shoulder became a rat - the rat jumped down to the ground and morphed into a seriously hot lad - and the lad spoke with a Scottish accent. I think he said something like, ‘get me a blanket, I’m freezing’, in a very Scottish way.
Did I mention he was naked? Rawr!
It’s the kind of image that stuck in my head!
Now, as a writer, I get weird ideas at the best of times, but this idea felt crazy and different and it made me smile.
But the rat didn’t stay a rat for long. (And the girl lost her cloak pretty quickly too. Probably because it was summer and the nights were too warm.) As I thought again about the animal on her shoulder, he changed into a ferret. Probably one of the best ideas I’ve ever had. I’ve never kept rats or ferrets and I knew nothing about them at the time. Only that a ferret had so much potential for comedy where a rat might not. And, well, rats are a bit . . . common, don’t you think?
Plus, I’d recently seen a TV show about ferrets and laughed so hard. Their personalities really shone through.
By this point, I’m still walking, but I’m walking with a HUGE smile on my face, dreaming about a naked man who changes into a ferret. More ideas flooded in. Ferrets would make great spies. They can race up drainpipes and eavesdrop on people. So many ideas began to explode in my head, each crashing in on the other.
A new scene took place. The girl was standing in an ornate hall, addressing a duke - the duke was dressed in overblown garb, a bit like Henry VIII. The girl was wearing medieval-style clothes and the ferret had wrapped himself around her neck like a scarf and was whispering to her. Telling her what to say to the duke. At that point I had no idea what the ferret was trying to say (I was avoiding a car, probably a good thing) but the imagery was so strong I knew I had to write it down. Those of you who’ve read Ondine will know this scene did make it to the book - although the clothes changed a bit to modern suits. The medieval attitudes stayed though.
More ideas came in a rush (I wish I’d been strapped to a brain scanner at the time, I would love to know what was going on in my brain at the time!)
The girl is an orphan. No she’s not, she’s got a family. They run a restaurant. No, a pub, that will be busier and a bit crazier. They live above a pub and she has two sisters. She’s the oldest and has to set a good example. No she’s not, she’s the youngest and she’s treated like the baby! Even though she’s seventeen. What’s her name. I love Sabine but it’s . . . oooh, what about Ondine? I love the sound of that. I’ll google that tonight and see if there are any famous books or movies with her name in it. What’s the ferret’s name? He’s a mess. He’s turning her life upside down. He’s a shambles. I know, Shambles! Ondine and Shambles, I love it!
And on my brain blathered. My brain regularly does things like this and I usually take a notebook with me for just such an occasion. But on this walk, I didn’t have a notebook, so I kept the ideas fresh by rolling them around and around to make sure I didn’t forget. As soon as I got home (I did remember to pick up my son, that was the point of the walk) I wrote all the ideas down.
Ondine and Shambles refused to go away, so I gave in to it. Shambles really let me have it for keeping him cooped up in my head so long!
Those of you who have read the book will know some of those original ideas made it into the book - Shambles changing into a man, the scene with her talking to the duke with Shambles around her neck, the fireflies, the pub and her family. But during the editing process, Ondine became younger and she’s now fifteen. This was my editor’s suggestion, and a brilliant one it was too! Being that bit younger made Ondine’s father’s reactions all the more believable and understandable. Plus, a younger Ondine would better fit the sweet tone of the book.
I am glad I stuck with the name Ondine. I was tempted to change it when I discovered - after I’d signed a publishing deal with Egmont UK - that Neil Jordan was bringing out a film of the same name with Colin Farrell. It’s just one of those strange coincidences that are beyond my control. I can’t even control the ideas I have.
Which is probably a good thing, because sometimes, when I let ideas run rampant in my brain, I sometimes come up with something good.
Yep, naked Scottish bloke. Best. Idea. Ever!
Better put my walking shoes on and see what happens next.

Win a copy of Ondine!! Winner announced in ONE week!

Blog Tour Book Review: Ondine by Ebony McKenna!

Available: In the UK

Title: Ondine

Author: Ebony McKenna

Publisher: EgmontUK

Paperback: 290 pages

Synopsis:
This is a brilliantly witty fairy tale with a mystery that is as surreal as it is sinister. One girl. One boy. One spell to be broken. Ondine de Groot is a normal fifteen-year-old who lives with her family in the European country of Brugel. She has a pet ferret called Shambles. But Shambles is no ordinary ferret...He's Hamish McPhee, a boy cursed by a witch. A witch who happens to be related to Ondine. When Shambles turns back into Hamish temporarily, Ondine knows that she has to help him break the spell. He is the most gorgeous boy she has ever met and her one true love! He just can't remain a ferret forever. Can he?

Brent’s opinion of the novel:
      In the birthplace of gypsy folklore, Ondine de Groot lives the life of a normal teen girl.  That is,  until she finds out the ferret she has adopted can talk. The effect of a curse a witch kin to Ondine put on the boy, turning him into a talking ferret. When Ondine sets out to break this curse, she’s discouraged. …. Maybe he was meant to spend years as a ferret.
      Ondine is such a sweet, quick, fun read. Ondine’s voice and Shamble’s behavior had me from the first chapter, and as I read on, I only grew to like them, as characters, more. I loved Shamble’s naughtiness. Shoooot, girl, I can tell why he got cursed in the first place!! You would definitely like him. He’s very outspoken. And Ondine is pretty appealing, herself. I definitely enjoyed seeing how she interacted with her various family members and their demands, as well as their family quirks.
        I like the way Ebony wrote this book… it’s fairy tale-esque with wit thrown in. And there’s footnotes! Like, little explanations on history and such in the book, which I loved reading.
        Ondine is a great debut, which can be read as a stand-alone, though, Ebony is hard at work writing a second in the series. I will definitely be following the Ondine series. :)

Teaser Tuesday (August 17, 2010)

     I'm such a tease! I tease the readers of my blog just like I tease those boys! Who want their s's d'd, who's s's I want to d, but I'm way too classy to do that, so I just tease! Hahahha, wait, this is a book blog. A YA book blog! Forget I said that part about teasing boys!! Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading.

Released: September 16, 2010

Title: Second Hand Heart

Author: Catherine Ryan Hyde

Teaser:

Sometimes I wonder what it feels like going to bed every night figuring youll definitely wake up. Lots of people do, I guess. Every day. But I have no idea what it would feel like to be them. I only know how it feels to be me.

--From page 12 of Second Hand Heart

Psychotic Bitches Get Stoled Up in Easton Academy

Released: August 31, 2010

Title: Vanished (Private Series, #12)

Author: Kate Brian

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Paperback: 208 pages

Synopsis:
Lost and found… Against all odds, Reed Brenna re-established Billings as an underground literary society. She and the new initiates created a glamorous secret headquarters and were ready to show Easton Academy that even though Billings House is gone, the Billings Girls are stronger than ever. But before Reed had a chance to revel in her success, something horrible happened: Noelle disappeared. It’s up to Reed to save her.

Brent’s opinion of the novel:
      The Private series is one of my favorites. And it has been a favorite, ever since the first novel in the fourteen-book saga, Private, came out the summer before my eighth grade year. Wow! I've been in love with this series for two years.... *Nostalgia* I don't know what it is that's captured me. Either the killer (literally) plotlines or amazing characters. Probably a mix of the two.
      Vanished picks up where it's predecessor, Scandal, left off. Noelle, mysteriously kidnapped, and Reed, frantically trying to figure out why Noelle was kidnapped. This is her best friend we're talking about! They're pretty much sisters! <-- Foreshadowing
      And to make it worse, Noelle's kidnappers are sending Reed these tasks to complete. Reed has been given an ultimatum. Complete each task, or Noelle dies. Intense, right? I mean, it's totally not easy getting a signed excuse note from Paris, stealing a $350 necklace, and dumping your boyfriend. And when you add in her private-school workload, un-trustworthy best friends, and sense that someone's following you, you definitely have some major life-issues. Yo' ass be needin' Dr. Phil.
      The twelfth Private novel  definitely lived up to its hype. As usual, it's a fast-paced murder mystery novel with Chanel lipgloss and Gucci totes thrown in. I felt bad for poor Reed. That girl needs some chocolate. And a limitless credit card. Hell, we all do. But especially Reed. There's one thing I realized reading Vanished: people are dirty, dirty liars, and the truest truth is derived from the most smallest lie.
       Kate Brian threw in a very interesting plot twist. I was sooooo not expecting it. And the ending leaves room for  tons of possibility and even a spin-off series.  I can't wait until the next novel in the series. :)

Cover: Five Stars!
Characters: Four Stars!
Plot: Five Stars!
Originality: Five Stars!

Murder, Intrigue, Bitchiness, Chanel Lipgloss, and Omigod-Where’d-You-Get-Those-Shoes

Released: February 21, 2010

Title: Unbelievable

Author: Sara Shepard

Publisher: HarperTeen

Paperback: 352 pages

From GoodReads:
Four pretty little liars' charmed lives have turned into living nightmares. Emily's been shipped off to Iowa to live with her überconservative cousins. Aria's boyfriend is behind bars—because of her. Spencer's afraid she was involved in Ali's murder. But Hanna's fate is far worse: She's clinging to life in the hospital because she knew too much. If these girls don't start listening to me, Hanna's going to look like the lucky one.

Brent’s opinion of the novel:
       “Tell and die, Bitch.” That is why I love this series. Pretty Little Liars. Because the books tell a truth: we’re all bitches, we’re all liars. The bluntness of Sara’s writing is delicious.I don’t care if you are freakin’ Oprah—or Sarah Palin—you have told some lies, and you have stepped on a few peoples’ toes. And you never know, you may have done that shit to the wrong person.
     Just ask Hanna, Emily, Aria, and Spencer. They’ll tell you. I'm sure they definitely regret the shit they’ve done and lies they’ve told. For Spencer, cheating on a Golden Orchid essay award. For Aria, sleeping with her AP English teacher. For Emily, being careless and  getting caught in action with her lesbian partner. For Hanna,  being unaware of the danger surrounding her and getting run over by a Hummer. But what do they all regret? Getting caught up in Ali DiLaurentis life. In her secrets, trouble, and power.
      Unbelievable picks right up where Perfect left off. With Hanna in the hospital, near death. With Spencer and Aria, desperately seeking answers. And with Emily, in Bible-ville hick-town. Still getting mysterious text messages from A, who knows all of their secrets and definitely plans on broadcasting them. Oh, and then there’s the fact that Ali’s murderer is still out there. Can’t get any worse, right? No, it can. A now says the next person to tell the police about her dies next. Aria told… but is she next?
       As always, Sara Shepard’s writing has my attention and focus in it’s hands. I went to get my eyebrows did yesterday, and I didn’t wanna stop reading so I just took the book with me while the lady (I know! I was hoping Hot Gay Dude could do them!) did her magic. Usually, I don’t read in public. I mean, if I did, people would think I’m smart. And we can’t have people thinking that. I have a reputation to keep up, a Gay Natural Blonde Cheerleader reputation. Us Gay Natural Blonde Cheerleaders are only supposed to read Teen Vogue.
      I grew closer with these four characters in Unbelievable. It was the most intimate of the first four books, which I loved.  I understood Spencer’s familiarity and solidarity in perfection. I felt Emily’s hurt in not being accepted. I felt bad for Aria. And I felt Hanna’s anger. At times I was so connected I think I wanted to find out who A was than the girls.
        The Pretty Little Liars series you definitely want to bump-up on your To-Be-Read list. The perfect mix of  murder, mystery, bitchiness, Chanel lipgloss, and Omigod-Where-Did-You-Get-Those-Shoes.

FTC: I didn't blow HarperTeen for this book, I swear. I received it for free for an honest review.

In My Mailbox + Week In Links

In May Mailbox is hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren. Week In Links is hosted by ME! It’s where you post about interesting and cool stuff from other bloggers! Share the love. (And your ass better quote me on that shit!)

For Review:

Radiance by Alyson Noel (Thanks Ksenia!!)

Unbelievable by Sara Shepard (Thanks Arianna!!)

A Week In Links:

Janet from Pinched Nerves blogged about Men Lying In Bed! Uber hilarious… and yeah, the picture is sexy.

Jami from YA Addictt posted about book sightings! Such a fun post idea… and I love Jami.

Eleni from LaFemme Readers conducted an interesting interview with Adam Selzer.

My author friend, Catherine, guest posted over at Story Siren!

Gay Marriage was legalized again in California! :) California Gays: who wants to marry me?

Giveaway: Halo by Alexandra Adornetto!

Hey, dear readers,

So, this week I read one helluva book—Halo by Alexandra Adornetto. And I LOVED it. You can see my review here: http://bit.ly/8Z6flG.
 

And because I love the readers of my blog SO MUCH, I’m giving my galley copy away! This damn book don’t come out for a good month. Be excited!!

Mason Crest Announces Series of LGBT Books For Tolerance and Acceptance

Hey, lovely readers, *fake smiles despite the fact I'm a complete bitch before my coffee*

So Mason Crest publishing  recently  e-mailed me about a new series of books they were doing. Not YA  or fiction—the focus of this blog—but I know I have librarian readers, and so I’m glad to post about it!

So these are books, non-fiction titles, whose main focus is to bring light to the subject of homosexuality. To tell young adults, “Yeah, gay is okay.”  And I’m so glad they’re publishing them. :) They have some great people on board, like Dr. James T. Sears, former Harvard professor, an international expert on gay and lesbian studies.

Here’s a bit from the press release:
“Schools are here to educate and to do that properly, we must provide comprehensive information to students,” said Sears. “Currently we are miseducating kids by providing a hetero-centric learning environment. We teach everything from a ‘straight’ perspective, fearing discussing alternative sexual details of history, literature, science, etc. will pollute the educational setting. By opening up the learning environment to include a LGBT perspective we can allow kids of all sexual and gender orientations to gain a greater acceptance for peer differences.”

Well said! So, if you’re a librarian, or if you’re friends with a librarian (ahem, *friends* as in, “fuckateacherforanA”) then tell them about these books!

*Mason  Crest asked me to write this, because they love my new, fake-ass personality.*

Angels Getting Drunk, and Angels Getting Laid; I Have Turned This Review into a Bad Rap Song

Released: August 31. 2010

Title: Halo

Author: Alexandra Adornetto

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Hardcover: 496 pages

Synopsis from GoodReads:

Nothing much happens in the sleepy town of Venus Cove. But everything changes when three angels are sent from heaven to protect the town against the gathering forces of darkness: Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, a teenage girl who is the least experienced of the trio. They work hard to conceal their true identity and, most of all, their wings. But the mission is threatened when the youngest angel, Bethany, is sent to high school and falls in love with the handsome school captain, Xavier Woods. Will she defy the laws of Heaven by loving him? Things come to a head when the angels realize they are not the only supernatural power in Venus Cove. There′s a new kid in town and he′s charming, seductive and deadly. Worst of all, he′s after Beth.

Brent's opinion of the novel:

        Let me start this review off by saying that with this book, it was love at first sight. I remember browsing through one of my favorite blogs to read, YA Addict, and I saw the cover image of HALO. I. Was. Mesmerized. I mean, look at it. Is that not that the most gorgeous, passionate cover you have ever seen? That is a photo I would consider hanging in a frame on my living room wall. I love the colors, I love the mood it puts off. And, to my delight, as I started reading HALO, I found the writing and storyline was just as flawless as the cover.  
          So there are these three angels, right? Gabriel, Ivy, and the youngest and most volatile, Bethany. They, as Agents of the Light, have been sent down to earth to undo the darkness of the world. In all of it's forms: murder, natural disasters, war. But the transition from Heaven to Earth, Angel to Human, isn't easy. And as Bethany learns, human emotions are vibrant... and the case is even truer for the most infamous human emotion, known as love. When she falls fast for Xavier, the genuine, handsome boy who has suffering in his eyes, everything she knew about being an angel is put into question.
            Bethany is a character that you immediately bond with. With her practical mentality, it's really impossible not to love Bethany. Reading  HALO is like forming a bond with your sister. I grew close to Bethany. I laughed with Bethany. I cried with Bethany. I felt her joy. And I felt her pain. I felt Bethany. I could relate to the fact that she worked so hard to please everyone. Her passion for the human life radiated off the pages.
           Oh, and then there's Xavier. Dreamy, delicious, hot, sexy, hot, sexy, hot, sexy Xavier. Did I mention hot and sexy? He's sweet, too. YES! The perfect boy! As much as I love Bethany-- really, I do-- I would fight her over Xavier. Like, a legit fight. It'd be on MTV News and everything. "Angel and Gay Boy Fight: Is This Mortal Worth It?" Yes, MTV News, Xavier is worth it. Xavier, not only a very attractive young man, is complex. He's been hurt many times, and yet he still lives every day of his life to it's extent. So YES! Mtv, Xavier is worth fighting over.
         The relationship that Alexandra has written between Xavier and Bethany is so great. I choose the word "great" because that really generallizes it. I'd like to say passionate, intriguing, perfect, impeccable, but reviewers that use those words are like the cheap hookers of the YA blogosphere. So, you'll have to settle for great.
         One of my favorite things of HALO is that while the angel-ness and story world is based heavily on Christianity-- the belief that there is a higher power, a Heaven, a Hell-- it can still be thoroughly enjoyed by readers who aren't religious or are of an opposing religion. If you're atheist, muslim, wiccan, it's whatever! You will still love this book. It's definitely not a religion book, but there's definitely some Christian elements there. Look at me, I'm a freaking gay boy with a somewhat personal faith, and I loved HALO!
         But my most favorite thing of all is Alexandra Adornetto's writing. Seriously, this writing is pure perf-ection. If you were to glance at a page, you'd think that the writing drags on and on, but it doesn't. I was too lovestruck by Alexandra's descriptive voice and airy use of similes. If it wasn't for Alexandra's author bio, I would've never known she was only seventeen. She published her first book at age fourteen. What does that tell you? I can sum up what I think of HALO in two words: Passionate; Flawless.
          


FTC: Received from Feiwel & Friends for honest review (I didn't blow them, I swear.)

Book Trailer:

Author Interview:

My playlist for HALO:

Lenah Beaudonte and I Talk The Hills, Blonde Girls, and Nose Jobs

Today I had the privilege of interviewing Lenah Beaudonte, the lovely (scary!) protagonist of Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel!


1.  So... you're coming from the fifteenth century, right?
Yes I was born in 1402. I was made a vampire in 1417. On a monastery in Hampstead England - just outside London.
2. How does  it feel living in 2010? Do you have an iPod? What about a Facebook?
Ipod? Facebook? Are these sites within computers? No, no. I don't have time for that right now. Wickham, where I go to school keeps me very busy. Maybe I will when I acclimate some more. 2010 in America is...well, strange. Everything is loud and hard. The streets are made of concrete, the buildings too. Cars and engines too! At the turn of the 20th century,when I was last aware of the modern world, things were quiet, horse drawn, and well they were bloodier too. I had to kill my meal if you know what I mean? 
3. Okay, so Team Edward or Team Jacob? You have read Twilight, right?
I'm Team Bella. She should dump them both and move to Paris. It's lovely there and I could introduce her to some polite shapeshifters.
4. What's your favorite (current, as in published this century) YA book? And damnit, please don't say Twilight!
Am I out of it when I say Poe? Oh, I AM behind on the times, aren't I? I do love his ravens, catacombs and beating hearts in floor boards. Is this wrong?
5. As a vampire, you must have had tons of self-confidence. But what about now, since you're a human and all? Any insecurities? Thinking about getting a nose job like Heidi Montag? Omg, another question: Do you watch The Hills?
Nose job? Heidi Montag? Are you speaking English? The Hills? I had hills in Hathersage at my home. Hundreds upon hundreds of rolling hills. Is this on the television? Television is lovely, during my hundred year hibernation, I missed out on the invention of television. What channel are these on? I want to watch the Heidi Montag show. Is she German? Montag is German.
6. What's one quality you look for in all potential lovers? Like, smartness... sexiness, coolness. Any -ness?
Fearless - I want someone who has no fear, can see beyond the scope of the superficial. But while we're on the subject, I always appreciate large biceps.
7. You seem like a sweet person... now that you're human and all. What would you say to all your haters? People that think you're some vampy, human-wannabe b*tch.
What's a wannabe?
8.  And if you had a million dollars to give to a charity, what charity would you give it to?
Rain forest conservation, anything to help preserve herbs and flowers that are on the brink of extinction. These things bring me an unimaginable amount of peace. I didn't know the world was flattening them. The last 100 years have been a shame to miss.

This interview has been lovely! Thank you. I wish I could reveal more...but I don't want to frighten you.


Infinite Days on Amazon
Infinite Days on GoodReads
Book Trailer










Rebecca Maizel graduated from Boston University and the Rhode Island College master’s program. She teaches community college in Rhode Island and is studying to receive her MFA from Vermont College.

Rebecca on Facebook
Rebecca on Twitter
Rebecca’s Blog

My Top Eight Summer Reads... In August, Yeah I Know I'm Late

Summer is ending, and I am very, very sad. No more beach, no more reading all day every day, no more excessive blogging. :'(  Instead we have to return to... school. *Flails*

I love the whole summer-romance shindig. Like, flying a kite with your lover is so sweet, and summer-esque.

Again, summer-romance. This lesbian couple is so cute. :)

 

I'm definitely gonna miss tanning with my BFFs.

I'm gonna miss the ocean. And spending all day every day with my mother...

I'm gonna miss the sense of "I have nothing to do, so why don't I just run through my grandmother's field picking flowers, dancing, reading a book, and staring at clouds."

But whenever I feel nostalgic for summer, I always read a novel that I think embodies summer and what I love about it. I've read many, many over the years, but I'm gonna narrow it down to my top eight. :) Hahha, I couldn't find a tenth one. I mean, there are only eight that I really love.

1.The Au Pairs by Melissa de la Cruz

Three girls with three agendas and the ultimate destination: the Hamptons. Summer in the city? Way overrated. Everybody who's anybody in New York City summers in the Hamptons. Mara, Eliza, and Jacqui all want a piece of the action, all for different reasons. So the girls answer a classified ad to become au pairs. How bad can it be, watching a couple of kids on the beach all day? They've got the swank address, the sweet ride, and an all-access pass to the hottest social scene on the East Coast. It's shaping up to be the summer of their lives.

2. Girl Stays In The Picture by Melissa de la Cruz

If you can’t be a mega-selling teen pop star, maybe you can join her entourage...  Devon — one name only, please — is the latest and jail-bait-est pop star to hit #1 on the Billboard chart and she’s making her big screen debut in Juicy. But after a stint in rehab, the studio isn’t so sure she’s their girl anymore. If they cut any more of her lines, she’ll be a silent film actress! Can Devon regain her star status? She needs to watch her back and make sure that flash doesn’t catch her causing a scene, and we don’t mean the kind you can yell "Cut!" after.  Livia has lost the weight and gained a reputation for attitude in the Hollywood party scene. Her dad’s an Oscar-winning producer, and with a hot Beverly Hills boyfriend on her arm as well as her photos all over the pages of Gossizzle.com, Livia looks like she has a perfect life. But looks can be perfectly deceiving...  And there’s fresh-faced Casey, who left a job bagging groceries at the Piggly Wiggly to play personal assistant to her best friend... and Devon’s biggest rival. She’s got the biggest crush on the biggest star of the film — a hot Brit known for loving and leaving them. Will Casey stay true to herself while trying to find a place in his universe? Stars. They’re just like us. But what does that mean for the rest of us? Stay tuned, people.

3. The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell

Before Carrie Bradshaw hit the big time in the City, she was a regular girl growing up in the suburbs of Connecticut. How did she turn into one of the most-read social observers of our generation? The Carrie Diaries opens up in Carrie's senior year of high school. She and her best friends -- Walt, Lali, Maggie, and the Mouse -- are inseparable, amid the sea of Jens, Jocks and Jets. And then Sebastian Kydd comes into the picture. Sebastian is a bad boy-older, intriguing, and unpredictable. Carrie falls into the relationship that she was always supposed to have in high school-until a friend's betrayal makes her question everything. With her high school days coming to a close, Carrie will realize it's finally time to go after everything she ever wanted. Rabid fans of Sex and the City will love seeing Carrie Bradshaw evolve from a regular girl into a sharp, insightful writer. They'll learn about her family background -- how she found her writing voice, and the indelible impression her early friendships and relationships left on her. We'll see what brings Carrie to her beloved New York City, where the next Carrie Diaries book will take place.

4. Along For The Ride by Sarah Dessen

It’s been so long since Auden slept at night. Ever since her parents’ divorce—or since the fighting started. Now she has the chance to spend a carefree summer with her dad and his new family in the charming beach town where they live. A job in a clothes boutique introduces Auden to the world of girls: their talk, their friendship, their crushes. She missed out on all that, too busy being the perfect daughter to her demanding mother. Then she meets Eli, an intriguing loner and a fellow insomniac who becomes her guide to the nocturnal world of the town. Together they embark on parallel quests: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she’s been denied; for Eli, to come to terms with the guilt he feels for the death of a friend.

5. The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells

After getting dumped by her boyfriend, Mia is looking forward to spending a relaxing summer in the Hamptons with her glamorous cousins. But when she arrives she find her cousins distant, moody, and caught up with a fast crowd. Mia finds herself lonelier than ever, until she meets her next-door-neighbor, Simon Ross. And from the very first time he encourages her to go skinny dipping, she's caught in a current impossible to resist.  Timeless in feel, The Summer of Skinny-Dipping is a poignant, literary coming-of-age romance that will live on long after summer has ended.

6. The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

 Seventeen-year-old Veronica "Ronnie" Miller's life was turned upside down when her parents divorced her father moved from New York City to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. Three years later, she remains angry and alienated from her parents, particularly her father ... until her mother decides it would be in everyone's best interest if she and her younger brother spent the summer with him in North Carolina.  Ronnie's father, a former concert pianist, is living a quiet life in the beach town, immersed in creating a work of art that will be the centerpiece of a local church. Resentful and rebellious, Ronnie rejects all of his attempts to reach out to her and threatens to return to New York before the summer's end. But soon Ronnie meets Will. the town's local heartthrob, and the last person she thought she'd ever be attracted to. As Ronnie slowly lets her guard down, she finds herself falling deeply in love, opening herself up to the greatest happiness-and pain-that she has ever known. An unforgettable story of love in all its myriads forms-first love, love between parents and children-THE LAST SONG demonstrates, as only a Nicholas Sparks novel can, the many ways that love can break our hearts...and heal them.

 7. The Book of Luke by Jenny O'Connel 

Emily Abbott has always been considered the Girl Most Likely to Be Nice -- but lately being nice hasn't done her any good. Her parents have decided to move the family from Chicago back to their hometown of Boston in the middle of Emily's senior year. Only Emily's first real boyfriend, Sean, is in Chicago, and so is her shot at class valedictorian and early admission to the Ivy League. What's a nice girl to do?
Then Sean dumps Emily on moving day and her father announces he's staying behind in Chicago "to tie up loose ends," and Emily decides that what a nice girl needs to do is to stop being nice.
She reconnects with her best friends in Boston, Josie and Lucy, only to discover that they too have been on the receiving end of some glaring Guy Don'ts. So when the girls have to come up with something to put in the senior class time capsule, they know exactly what to do. They'll create a not-so-nice reference guide for future generations of guys -- an instruction book that teaches them the right way to treat girls. But when her friends draft Emily to test out their tips on Luke Preston -- the hottest, most popular guy in school, who just broke up with Josie by email -- Emily soon finds that Luke is the trickiest of test subjects . . . and that even a nice girl like Emily has a few things to learn about love.

8. Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler 

According to her best friend Frankie, twenty days in is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meet one boy ever day, there's a pretty good chance Anna will find her first summer romance. Anna lightheartedly agrees to the game, but there's something she hasn't told Frankie---she's already had that kind of romance, and it was with Frankie's older brother, Matt, just before his tragic death one year ago.  Beautifully written and emotionally honest, this is a debut novel that explores what it truly means to love someone and what it means to grieve, and ultimately, how to make the most of every single moment this world has to offer.

So, my question for you is, what are you gonna miss about summer? What books are you going to read that remind you of summer? :)

Xoxo,

Brent

In My Mailbox... And WTF?! I Got Demonglass?!

Hello beautiful,

How are you today? You good? Anyways, I'm here for In My Mailbox, which is hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren.

For Review:

Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woon (Thanks to Hallie over at Hyperion!)

Finny by Justin Kramon (Thanks to Beth, from IGC!)

Where's My Wand? by Eric Poole (Thanks again to Beth, from IGC!)

And then, yesterday I got...

Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins!! Seriously, I SCREAMED when I opened the package. It's the sequel to Hex Hall, one of my favorite books of 2010. It doesn't come out until March of 2011, and I'm freakin' ecstatic that I have it. And who knows? Maybe I'll give it away in a contest sometime soon... (Thanks, Jenn & Hallie at Hyperion!)

Sarah Palin Has Done It Again... She Has Ruined the Houston Teen Book Festival

So, you all know that Ellen Hopkins is one of my favorite writers. She writes the truth, whatever calls to her. Whether that be religion, drugs, sex, or sexuality. I admire her for her courage to not care about what people (professionals, not teens) say about her controversial topic-choice. Ellen stays true to her readers.

Ellen was scheduled to speak at the 2011 Houston Teen Book Festival. Well, they dis-invited her. Because one librarian was scared for her students to even be near Ellen. And because THEY ARE REDNECK HOMOPHOBES WHO THINK WE SHOULD ALL READ THE POKY LITTLE PUPPY AND JUNIE B. JONES STUFF AND THE BIBLE. Uhm, how about no.

That's so stupid, right? So, I think that we should all not go to this stupid-as-hell-gay-hating-let's-read-Poky-Little-Puppy festival. I mean, I wasn't going anyways because I live like a couple states away but even if I did live in Houston, I wouldn't go. And if you do live in Houston, don't go. And if you don't live in Houston, tell your Houston friends not to go, and if you have a blog, tell your Houston readers not to go.



And yes, I do blame Sarah Palin for this.

A YA Blogger Sent Straight to Hades

Hello, my dear readers, in all your fabulousness,

Yes, it's true, I'm dead. Yeah, no more blog. :'(



Hahh, just kidding! I'm not dead! Though, the Hades is part is very much so true. I'm in YA Blogger Hades. Which is synonymous with "school." School, for me, starts on August the 17th. Which is like a week-and-a-half away. I have noooo clue what I'm going to do about managing school and reading and cheerleading and blogging. So, I have to prioritize. And after a lot of thinking, I've come up with this:

1. School

2. Cheerleading

3. Reading

4. Blogging

Yepp, school is first. I hate school sooooo much, but no matter what, it's always the most important. If I don't dedicate myself to school, I'll fail my classes, and won't get into a NYC  college, and then I won't be able to become a YA editor, like I hope to. So, school. Yeah. My stupid, bitch-of-a school couselor put me in all honors classes, and so my plate is going to be fulllll. I know I'll have about only an hour a night of reading time, when you add in cheerleading and friends to my schedule. Fuck, right?

What am I gonna do?! Here's what I'm gonna do:

I'm gonna dance in a forest.

I'm gonna do this hot guy reading a book in the bathroom at Starbucks.

I'm gonna use Sarah Palin's credit card to buy books about how the Republicans secretly hate America and want it, and the gays, to go down in flames.

Okay, not really. That's too much work. LOL.


Seriously, blogging is so damn fun. I love reading and telling you guys what I think, I love writing these posts, I love reading your comments, I love talking to all my cool blogging friends and readers, I love you! So, I definitely don't wanna stop. I've only been at it for four months, and I plan on making it to at least two years.

So this is what's up: throughout the entire week I will try to read as much as I can, and then on the weekends I'll schedule posts for during the week. Like, on a Sunday morning I'll sit down and write about two reviews (or however many books I read that week), maybe a Teaser Tuesday, some In My Mailbox, and my new feature, You Are the Only Exception. So yeah, I'm not following a schedule, I'm just gonna get all my blogging done on the weekends so that during the week I can focus on school or reading.

What do you think? Do you all have any tips on managing a blog and school at the same time?