ILLUSIONS by Aprilynne Pike

Published 5/3/11

Illusions | Aprilynne Pike

Series: Wings, #3

HarperTeen

Hardcover | 375 pp.

Laurel hasn't seen Tamani since she begged him to let her go last year. Though her heart still aches, Laurel is confident that David was the right choice.

But just as life is returning to normal, Laurel discovers that a hidden enemy lies in wait. Once again, Laurel must turn to Tamani to protect and guide her, for the danger that now threatens Avalon is one that no faerie thought would ever be possible. And for the first time, Laurel cannot be sure that her side will prevail.

Brent’s opinion of the novel:
Way back before Naughty Kitties was a twinkle in my eye, before I even thought about starting up a book blog, I loved Aprilynne Pike’s WINGS series. I remember picking it up at the bookstore and wondering whether or not to get it, whether or not it was just another one of those faerie books. I ended up buying it (I’ll admit, the blurb from Stephenie Meyer won me over), and %^#$ING DEVOURING IT.

I was so so so so so pumped to get my hands on ILLUSIONS, the third book in the WINGS series! The last book left me breathless and eager to see where Laurel’s journeys through love and war would end up. Tamani or David. Faerie life or human life. That seems to be the question Laurel is trying so hard to answer throughout the entire series.

ILLUSIONS picks up at the start of Laurel’s senior year. She just got back from spending the entire summer in Avalon, and is ready to return to her normal, teenage life (if she even has one…) Laurel is eager to spend what is supposed to be the best year of high school with her boyfriend, David.

Until Tamani, her sorta-ex-hot-faerie-boyfriend shows up. With Tamani also comes bad news about Avalon and the war with trolls about to take place, and complications with her relationship with David. Oh, being a teenager is SO HARD.

In the first two books, I was split between David and Tamani. I thought both were equally fit for Laurel. But in ILLUSIONS, I found myself slowly drifting towards Team Tamani. With each chapter it seemed like he got more handsome, more sweet, more caring, and more passionate about Laurel. In other words: TEAM TAMANI, SUCKAS.

ILLUSIONS, just like the two previous books in the series, was perfectly paced. Aprilynne Pike has this way of slowly dragging you into her stories. She’ll hook you with a pretty description, and then you’ll be hung up on her writing by the time she gets to the fast-paced action and tension scenes. ILLUSIONS is a book that colors your face with both smiles and worry lines.

If you haven’t already, I highly recommend you read this series! Aprilynne Pike writes these crazy addictive novels with a fresh take on faerie folklore, and you’ll be some impressed with the world she’s built. (And if you do, be sure and come back here and comment, telling me who you’re rooting for: David or Tamani!) (Team Tamani, FTW!) (David’s a loser.) (Okay, that was mean. He’s not really a loser. Just not as hot as Tamani.) (Yeah. HOT TAMANI WHO MAY OR MAY NOT SPARKLE.)

4Qs for Veronica Roth

Veronica Roth, the author of the mind-blowingly awesome DIVERGENT, is here today answering 4 of my Qs. If you haven’t already, be sure and pre-order DIVERGENT now—it’s one hell of a book.

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Veronica Roth is only 22, so her bio will be short. She’s from a Chicago suburb. She studied creative writing at Northwestern University, and wrote DIVERGENT, her YA dystopian thriller (Katherine Tegen Books, May 2011!), while she was supposed to be doing homework. This was a decidedly good choice that will unfortunately make it difficult for her to someday lecture her future children on how important it is to get your homework done.

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1) Why Chicago as the setting for DIVERGENT? Is there any significance to this?
There are so many reasons I chose Chicago. For one, I’ve lived in the Chicago suburbs most of my life, so it’s a place that’s both familiar to me and unfamiliar to me at the same time.

As I worked more and more of the city into the manuscript, I got the chance to rediscover
my home, which was wonderful—there’s so much I don’t know about it! Also, I wrote about the Dauntless riding the trains before I realized that the only place I have ever been where trains are above ground and in constant motion is Chicago—that I had been writing about my favorite city without even knowing it. But my personal connections with the place aside, I also found it interesting to turn such a clean and organized place upside down.

2) In your dystopian world, 16-year-olds have to choose a faction to join. If you had
to choose, which faction would you join? Would you be scared to diverge from your
family's usual choice?
It’s hard to say, because I’m not sure I would be brave enough to actually go through with
it, but I believe I would choose Dauntless. Not because of a thirst for freedom, although
that’s certainly appealing, but because I think courage is so important. I would be compelled
to choose them not by aptitude, necessarily, but by ideology. For the record, though, my
favorite faction is Abnegation, so I might pick them if I was too afraid to choose Dauntless. I
make different choices than my family members all the time (and they do the same), so I’m
not sure how much they would factor into my decision. Mostly because I would break all the
rules to see them again if I chose to leave them.

3) You graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in creative writing.
What would you say it the most important thing you learned there that had the
biggest impact on your writing?
I learned so many things, it’s hard to pick just one, so I’ll list a few: Writing a story is like
mountain-climbing with a heavy backpack—pack only the things you need to get to the top,
the rest is just weighing you down. Turn off the internal editor. People rarely argue about
exactly what they’re angry about—they argue about silly things instead. “Said” is really the
only dialogue tag you should use, because it doesn’t call attention to itself. No one is either
completely good or completely bad. Revise, revise, revise. The list goes on.

4) Do you see yourself writing in any other genres as you get deeper into your writing
career?

I don’t think about it much, because I don’t want to impose limits on myself. I will say
that I feel particularly connected to the YA genre and would be hesitant to leave it. But if
the right idea comes along, I’m not going to ignore it just because it’s not YA.

May 3rd, 2011
In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.
Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.

French Boys: Amy Plum Reveals All

The fabulous Amy Plum, author of DIE FOR ME, is guest posting today on FRENCH BOYS. Go figure, right? What else is a girl to blog about on the Naughty Kitties?

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AMY PLUM
DIE FOR ME

Amy Plum grew up in Birmingham, Alabama before venturing further afield to Chicago, Paris, London and New York. An art historian by training, she finally traded a tiny apartment in Brooklyn for a rambling farmhouse in a village of 1300 people in the French countryside. She lives there with her French husband, two young children and big red dog Ella, and spends her time writing in a tiny ancient stone house in her garden.

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Oh man. Where do I start?

Okay, first of all, it would be easy to throw a lot of stereotypes out there. But if I did the reverse—explained American boys to the French by talking about “jocks” or “nerds” or those Williamsburg hipster types with beards, glasses and tight jeans—that wouldn’t even start to cover half of the American guys I know. So...I decided to give you some stories instead.

French Boy Story #1
I was living in Paris, and had just broken up with a British guy I was seeing. I met this French guy named Sebastien—a friend of a friend—who was an artist. He was tall and lanky with disheveled dark hair...totally my type. He would drive me around Paris on his old dilapidated Vespa to art exhibitions, or to a pile of old stones that he had read were part of a Roman wall, or to an out-of-the-way park for a picnic. I liked him, but wasn’t ready to jump into another relationship after English Guy.

Soon afterward, another French guy named Laurent—who I had had a crush on for about two years, while we were both dating other people—began asking me out. He dropped by my apartment one afternoon, and saw the flowers and bottle of wine that Sebastien had brought the night before when he had come over for a movie. Laurent asked who they were from, and I told him, “a friend," using the masculine word “un ami."

The next night Laurent showed up with a much bigger bouquet of flowers and a bottle of champagne. And as we left my house to go for a walk down by the river, he took my hand and held it firmly—a little bit possessively. I had kind of been avoiding that because, again...I wasn’t sure if I was ready to date someone again, but he reached down and appropriated my hand. That’s the best word for it.

He never asked me any questions about Sebastien. The topic of the “other guy” was never broached. But he silently decided to try to beat his competitor.

French Boy Quality #1:  an understated, quiet confidence that I find totally sexy.
(Oh, and...by the way...I married Laurent a couple years later.)

French Boy Story #2
One of my husband’s friends from childhood had a pretty rough life. To say he’s been a bit messed up for a long time would be putting it lightly. My husband hadn’t seen him for years. But when he passed through our region a few weeks ago, he asked if he could come spend the night. I was scrambling to finish a manuscript, but threw together a decent dinner, fixed up a bedroom, and welcomed him as best as I could while juggling kids, dinner and work.

I knew he had been an addict, and had briefly met him over a decade ago, but didn’t know what to expect when he arrived. He was emaciated. He seemed sad. But he was polite, helped with everything he could see to help with, played with the kids, and went outside to smoke without me asking him to. When he went into town the next day to “do some shopping” he asked if I needed any groceries. And when he came back, it was with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers.

A day later, I got a thank you note from him in a beautifully-written French (my translation’s not going to do it justice): “A quick weekend in Touraine (our region) with just the basics: friends, a sumptuous home, and a few glasses of wine. I couldn’t have asked for more. Lolo & Amy, congratulations on your exemplary achievements. Thank you and bravo.”

French Boy Quality #2: gallantry and poetry when you’d least expect it.

French Boy Story #3
I’m standing in the train station at the Paris airport wrangling my kids and luggage as we wait for the train to take us home after an exhausting trip to New York. I notice a man taking photos in my direction and figure he must be a railroad enthusiast or something. Until I notice him moving to the other side of me and shooting from another angle.

I wave over my husband, who’s off studying train times, and tell him I think the guy is taking pictures of me. Laurent takes a good look at me and his eyebrows shoot up. “Your dress is totally see-through in this light,” he says. “What? It’s black! I looked in the mirror, it’s fine!” “Not here in this light, it’s not,” he replies. So we move the kids and luggage and I sit down with my back to pervie camera guy.

Ten minutes later, the guy has come around and is standing in front of me, a ways away, taking photos of me again. And at the same moment I notice him, I see my husband walk up to him and they start to talk.

I don’t like tough macho guys. I especially don’t like guys that get in fights. My husband has never been in a fight in his life, and as I watched him, I was kind of surprised that he had confronted the guy. They exchanged words in a polite manner, and then the man turned and walked away, not to be seen again. As Laurent sat down next to me, I asked him what he had said. “I told him that if he took another picture of my wife I would break his camera and then break his face,” Laurent said calmly.

“What!?” I gasped.

Laurent did that cool French-guy shrug and said, “C’est normal.” (e.g. “What else would I do?”)

French Boy Quality #3: born into a culture that’s been around for thousands of years, they’ve got the whole “this is how things work” figured out.

French Boy Story #4
One of my father-in-law’s best friends is this guy named Claude, who has these enormous white moustaches that curve up on the sides. He’s old-school French, complains about the government no matter who’s in power, has all of these conspiracy theories about banks and the minorities living in France, and is mildly but annoyingly sexist in that “they’re another generation and just don’t get it” kind of way.

YET...when I was pregnant he brought over tons of clippings from his lilac trees because he knew how much I loved the smell. We had a long conversation about using apple seeds to firm up fruit jam (this was during my thinking-I-actually-fit-in-in-the-countryside phase), after which he brought me sample jars of several different types he had made that year. And he joins my father-in-law in clipping sour cherries from my FIL’s tree with scissors, gathering them in cute little baskets, and making this kick-ass moonshine-style cherry liquor from them.

French Boy Quality #4: there is a completely different view of what is masculine and feminine, and even the old guys can be seen as embracing their femininity. (Just don’t tell them that.)

My life had always been blissfully, wonderfully normal. But it only took one moment to change everything.
Suddenly, my sister, Georgia, and I were orphans. We put our lives into storage and moved to Paris to live with my grandparents. And I knew my shattered heart, my shattered life, would never feel normal again. Then I met Vincent.
Mysterious, sexy, and unnervingly charming, Vincent Delacroix appeared out of nowhere and swept me off my feet. Just like that, I was in danger of losing my heart all over again. But I was ready to let it happen.
Of course, nothing is ever that easy. Because Vincent is no normal human. He has a terrifying destiny, one that puts his life at risk every day. He also has enemies . . . immortal, murderous enemies who are determined to destroy him and all of his kind.
While I'm fighting to piece together the remnants of my life, can I risk putting my heart—as well as my life and my family's—in jeopardy for a chance at love?

INVINCIBLE SUMMER by Hannah Moskowitz

Released 4/19/11

Invincible Summer | Hannah Moskowitz

Simon Pulse

Paperback | 269 pp.

Noah’s happier than I’ve seen him in months. So I’d be an awful brother to get in the way of that. It’s not like I have some relationship with Melinda. It was just a kiss. Am I going to ruin Noah’s happiness because of a kiss?
Across four sun-kissed, drama-drenched summers at his family’s beach house, Chase is falling in love, falling in lust, and trying to keep his life from falling apart. But some girls are addictive....
Not your typical beach read.

Brent’s opinion of the novel:
It is a truth universally acknowledged that girls with the last name “Moskowitz” write intense and powerful books. Whenever you see the name, expect a gritty and truthful story of  love, lust, and the complex relationships between family members. Hannah Moskowitz dominated me with her debut novel, BREAK, and again with INVINCIBLE SUMMER.

Across four summers, four family vacations, the McGills slowly starts to fall apart. Maybe it’s because there’re too many dang kids running around like chickens with their heads chopped off and making the parents contemplate putting a gun to the head. Or maybe it’s because Chase is falling in love with his older brother’s girlfriend.

Moskowitz books are THE #$%^. They grip you, tug you into the story. They’re real. They’re truthful. They’re a bittersweet mix of ugly/pretty. Hannah writes these characters that you feel like are part of your family, and that are so easy to relate to your heart gets torn out every time something bad happens. Chase was this lost boy working so hard to keep his family from falling apart, looking for love, or some other meaningful emotion . . . too bad he found it in his brother’s girlfriend.

INVINCIBLE SUMMER is not your typical beach read. Don’t pack it in your bag and take it to the pool, expecting some fluff about summer and love and paradise. It’s much more than that.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

PS – I fucking love Hannah Moskowitz.  She's my absolute best twitter friend and idol, and tweets about magic gay fish.

CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS by Cassandra Clare

Released 4/5/11

City of Fallen Angels | Cassandra Clare

Margaret K. McElderry

Hardcover | 424 pp.

City of Fallen Angels takes place two months after the events of City of Glass. In it, a mysterious someone’s killing the Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine’s Circle and displaying their bodies around New York City in a manner designed to provoke hostility between Downworlders and Shadowhunters, leaving tensions running high in the city and disrupting Clary’s plan to lead as normal a life as she can — training to be a Shadowhunter, and pursuing her relationship with Jace. As Jace and Clary delve into the issue of the murdered Shadowhunters, they discover a mystery that has deeply personal consequences for them — consequences that may strengthen their relationship, or rip it apart forever.
Meanwhile, internecine warfare among vampires is tearing the Downworld community apart, and only Simon — the Daylighter who everyone wants on their side — can decide the outcome; too bad he wants nothing to do with Downworld politics. Love, blood, betrayal and revenge: the stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels.

Brent’s opinion of the novel:
I have waited eighteen-thousand years for this book. For this moment. I have waited an eternity to be reunited with my old friends Clary, Jace, Simon, Alec, Magnus, Isabelle. Ever since the eighth grade, when I was introduced to the fast-moving world of Shadowhunters, I’ve dreamed of this (shut up, you know dream about books too)—being able to return to Clary and Jace’s story. On April 5th, I conducted a hunt for my copy. Every mail man in my neighborhood was tackled.

Cassandra Clare has this amazing ability of making everything—literally everything—sound sexy. Her setting, characters, everything. CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS takes place entirely in New York City. One of my favorite things about Cassandra Clare’s writing is how she makes the places where her books are set come alive. I was thrilled (!!!) to return to the dark alleys where the Shadowhunters lurk, looking to kick demon ass.

Before I started CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS, I was a little worried I wouldn’t enjoy it as much since the sibling tension was gone—but no, no, no. There’s tension. Lots of it. CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS explored all of the different relationships between the characters Clary, Jace, Simon, Isabelle, and Maia. Though he has no competition in the book, I am completely and absolutely Team Jace. I loved him in the first three books that I read way, way, way long ago, and I love him now. Alec and Magnus also get a few adorable mentions and high-tension scenes.

This book blew my head out. Cassandra Clare throws in these plot twists that no one who read the series would even think about. The plot is fast-moving, but not confusing, and it had me flipping the final few pages faster than you can say, “Shitwhatthefuckjusthapppenedomigodnoooo.”

The first half of the book, I read the hard copy. The last half, I read the hard copy and listened to the audio book. I must say, it was interesting having someone else read the book to me. I haven’t really listened to that many audio books, so it was nice to give it a try and see if I liked reading via that format. And who better to try it with than Ed Westwick? His voice is effing dreamy. I’d say anyone would enjoy listening the audio book—my only complaint is that it went by a bit slow. But hey, that’s what audio books are about.

So. CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS is the best damn thing of Spring 2011.

Malinda Lo On Chinese Influences

Today Malinda Lo, author of ASH and HUNTRESS, is guest posting here at Naughty Kitties. I asked her to talk a little about the Chinese influences present in her latest novel, HUNTRESS. Enjoy!


MALINDA LO

ASH | HUNTRESS

Malinda Lo was born in China and moved to the United States as a child. Ash, her first novel, was a finalist for the William C. Morris YA Debut Award, the Andre Norton Award for YA Science Fiction and Fantasy, and the Lambda Literary Award for Children’s/Young Adult, and was a Kirkus 2009 Best Book for Children and Teens. Formerly, she was an entertainment reporter, and was awarded the 2006 Sarah Pettit Memorial Award for Excellence in LGBT Journalism by the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and has master’s degrees from Harvard and Stanford Universities. She now lives in Northern California with her partner and their dog.

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Before I became a writer, I went to graduate school and studied East Asian Studies, focusing on Chinese anthropology. Although I never ended up becoming a professor, I'm happy to say that I have finally managed to use some of that education in Huntress, because the world in this book is based in several different Asian traditions.

I think the biggest influence is Taoism, which is a Chinese philosophy that focuses on harmony and nature. It isn't a religion like Christianity, because there is no god and it does not have an official church with a hierarchy. But it is a spiritual practice that has influenced and intertwined with other Asian religions, including Buddhism.

In the past ten years I've become a student of Buddhism, so some of those practices have also made their way into Huntress, especially meditation, which is what Taisin is doing at the very beginning of the book. All the descriptions of the way she or Kaede use their breath to bring themselves into the present are basically lifted from my own experiences with Buddhist meditation.

Kaede also practices archery in several scenes, and the techniques she uses are drawn from kyudo, or Japanese archery, which has been influenced by Zen Buddhism. The weapon that the girl on the cover of Huntress is holding is actually a Japanese bow, but it's drawn head-on so it's hard to tell what it is.

The magic in Huntress is fairly closely based on the practice of qigong, which is a kind of meditative martial art, related to taichi. I've actually done qigong before (during meditation retreats), and even though I was a total beginner, I was able to feel the qi (the Chinese word for energy) moving in the air between my hands. It was pretty amazing! I don't practice qigong now, but I remembered that experience and I drew from that in describing Taisin's use of magic.

I also did some reading into Chinese medicine, particularly herbal medicine, to help me flesh out the various rituals that Taisin needs to do. It's fascinating stuff because Chinese medicine is so holistic compared to Western medicine, and that holistic quality carries through the whole book. Every part is related to the other, even if it's not immediately obvious how.

I'm often amazed by how life really is like that. Every little thing connects to something else. I never knew, when I was in grad school, that sometime in the future I'd write a novel that drew on the things I was learning then — but now I have. I think that's pretty cool.

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Be sure and follow Malinda on her blog tour, at the following stops:

Tuesday, 4/19: Manga Maniac Cafe
Wednesday, 4/20: Mundie Moms
Thursday, 4/21: Ellz Readz
Friday, 4/22: Steph Su Reads
Monday, 4/25: Bibliophilic Book Blog
Tuesday, 4/26: Reading in Color

THEN I MET MY SISTER by Christine Hurley Deriso

Published 4/8/2011

Then I Met My Sister | Christine Hurley Deriso

Flux Books

Paperback | 246 pp.

Shannon has been the backdrop of my life since the moment I was born.
Summer Stetson lives inside a shrine to her dead sister. Eclipsed by Shannon's greatness, Summer feels like she's a constant disappointment to her controlling, Type A momzilla and her all-too-quiet dad. Her best friend Gibson believes Summer's C average has more to do with rebelliousness than smarts, but she knows she can never measure up—academically or otherwise.
On her birthday, Summer receives a secret gift from her aunt: Shannon's diary. Suddenly, the one-dimensional vision of her sister becomes all too solid. Is this love-struck, mom-bashing badass the same Shannon everyone raves about? Determined to understand her troubled sister, Summer dives headfirst down a dark rabbit hole and unearths painful family secrets. Each revelation brings Summer closer to the mysterious and liberating truth about her family—and herself.

Brent’s opinion of the novel:
I read this book because I thought the girl on the cover had pretty hair. I was tired of reading books with covers with no good hair, so my fingers were itching to crack open the pages. From the very beginning, this book sucked me into its story.

Summer and I clicked on the very first page. She’s snarky and full of angst, ready for school to be over, and ready for her life to finally start. Under the roof of her control-freak, the shadow of Summer’s dead sister is so heavy that she can’t ever get away from it.

Not even on her birthday, when her aunt gives her the journal her sister wrote in the weeks before she died. Summer is scared to open it. Summer is eager to open it. Summer is terrified of the secrets in the journal. Summer reads it. Brent needs to stop saying "Summer" now before everyone gets annoyed and leaves his blog.

Summer was a fantastic narrator, very easy to connect with. Summer's this teen girl bursting with snark and anger and sorrow because she can't ever live up to her parents' high expectations. She doesn’t come off as whiny or annoying. Her actions and the things she say are understandable, and make the reader relate with her so well. Her uneasy relationship with her parents makes the reader think deeper about being the good kid, living up to expectations, and the difference between pleasing others and doing what’s right for yourself.

THEN I MET MY SISTER is an emotional read that hooked me immediately with its authentic voice. If you liked THIRTEEN REASONS WHY, this book is for you.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Oprah Presents: The Official STICK Cover Reveal

If you follow Naughty Kitties, you know that I am a huge Andrew Smith fan, and have been pawning over his Fall 2011 release, STICK, for the longest time ever.

Today, Oprah presents you guys with a FIRST LOOK at the cover of STICK.

It’s really dark and pretty. I adore it.


Andrew Smith said the following about STICK:

I wrote on my blog that Stick is really all about how love doesn't weaken in the face of cruelty and ugliness -- it flourishes, no matter what. And I think that's the real idea behind the book. The main character, Stark McClellan, grows up in an environment where he is surrounded by ugliness and cruelty, but he still manages to see beauty and wonder in just about everything. There are lots of "snapshots" about love and relationships in the book -- and, being a kid, Stark really doesn't have the range of experiences to see the difference between the pure and the profane -- but he does learn the truth eventually.  There are gay teens in the book. I've always had an issue with people who use terms like "acting gay," because, to me, it's like saying "acting (insert stereotypical group here)." And there's no "act" about the characters in Stick.

If you look close enough, you can see a blurb from Sara Zarr. She says, “Andrew Smith is one of the most courageous and compelling authors I’ve read. Stick moved me deeply.”

When showed the STICK cover, Oprah was reported saying, “Wow. What delightful artwork! I think I may just have to buy a million copies for all the viewers of my show.” It feels good getting a thumbs-up from Oprah, don’t it Andrew?



Brent Taylor, when showed the cover, was reported saying, "Hey, um, Andrew . . . [coughs] you think you could get Macmillan to give me that guy's number?"

I am PUMPED to read this book. I really, really liked Andrew Smith’s THE MARBURY LENS. Andrew is such a cool guy, as you can see in this interview I did with him.

Be sure to pre-order it, mark it as to-read on Goodreads, and visit Andrew’s blog.

Happy Friday!

Your Worst Nightmare

This is the reason I wake up every night screaming.

[the above is a link. click on it.]

RED GLOVE by Holly Black

Published 4/4/2011

Red Glove | Holly Black

Margaret K. McElderry

Hardcover | 320 pp.

Curses and cons. Magic and the mob. In Cassel Sharpe's world, they go together. Cassel always thought he was an ordinary guy, until he realized his memories were being manipulated by his brothers. Now he knows the truth—he’s the most powerful curse worker around. A touch of his hand can transform anything—or anyone—into something else.
That was how Lila, the girl he loved, became a white cat. Cassel was tricked into thinking he killed her, when actually he tried to save her. Now that she's human again, he should be overjoyed. Trouble is, Lila's been cursed to love him, a little gift from his emotion worker mom. And if Lila's love is as phony as Cassel's made-up memories, then he can't believe anything she says or does.
When Cassel's oldest brother is murdered, the Feds recruit Cassel to help make sense of the only clue—crime-scene images of a woman in red gloves. But the mob is after Cassel too—they know how valuable he could be to them. Cassel is going to have to stay one step ahead of both sides just to survive. But where can he turn when he can't trust anyone—least of all, himself?
Love is a curse and the con is the only answer in a game too dangerous to lose.

Brent’s opinion of the novel:
This past summer, I got hooked on Holly Black. Her book WHITE CAT sucked me into her fantasy world of mobsters, kitties, curses, and hot mafia dudes in leather gloves. Did I mention kitties? Holly Black owns her concept in RED GLOVE, and uses her skilled writing to execute a great sequel.

At the end of WHITE CAT, Cassel Sharpe found out that he was more than just the average curse worker—he can transform anything. In RED GLOVE, he’s still trying to come to term with that. On top of that, his brother is murdered, and the Feds are trying to get him more involved in solving the case than he wants to be. To make it even better, Lila, his best friend and almost-sort-of-ex-girlfriend has become obsessed with him—an effect of being worked by Cassel’s mom, who’s fresh out of jail. So, basically, the book is about how Cassel Sharpe belongs on an episode of Maury.

Related: http://bit.ly/gICjkA.

One of my favorite things about Holly Black’s Curse Workers series is her protagonist. Cassel, an actually MALE(!!!!) mc in YA lit. Cassel’s narration is enjoyable and authentic, and it’s so refreshing to read through the eyes of a teenage boy—it’s a break from the usual teen girl narrator. Holly Black’s series would just not be the same if Cassel were a girl.

Holly Black knows how to work in themes into her novels without being preachy. You know how they say that kids want to read a story, not be taught a lesson? By reading WHITE CAT & RED GLOVE, you can see how much Holly Black seems to understand this. The characters in the Cure Workers series are going through a time when political turmoil is at its highest. Cassel and his group of friends learn through their mistakes, about loyalty and doing the right thing.

RED GLOVE is a book that makes you stay up late at night reading. It’s also a book that, when you’re finished, makes you reevaluate the things in your life that Cassel reevaluated in his. Holly Black tells a wonderful story.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Holly Schindler Vlog Interview!

Today I present you Holly Schindler, author of the two YA novels A BLUE SO DARK (May 2010) and PLAYING HURT (March 2011). Holly Schindler is a fantastic writer, and I'm so excited to be able to share an interview with you guys! Enjoy! 





~Holly Schindler on the web~

http://hollyschindler.com/

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