I've always been drawn to stories with talented characters, be they musically or artistically inclined or gifted with superpowers or unique abilities. The characters in Savvy are each talented in his or her own way, and debut author Ingrid Law's writing talent is evident from the beginning of the book. (Read my full-length book review.) Interviewing Ingrid was a special treat.

What happened on your thirteenth birthday?

Well, there certainly wasn't a big electric storm or a hurricane, but with a May 1st birthday, it rains nearly every year without fail. I don't remember too many details about turning thirteen except that I asked for a radio, got one, and felt much more like a teenager because of it. Music has always been important to me and has triggered make-believe and story building since I was very little. I've often thought that life should have a soundtrack.

( Read more... )

Zap yourself over to Ingrid's website.

What to learn more about Savvy? Read my review of the book, then visit Penguin Books and Walden Media.

This particular books to read list features forthcoming young adult and juvenile titles. If I read and review an advanced copy, I link the title to my review. At the close of every month, I move that month's remaining titles from this list to my backlist of books to read.

May 2008
Airhead by Meg Cabot (read)
Alive and Well in Prague, New York by Daphne Grab
Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman
Death By Bikini by Linda Gerber
The Debutante by Kathryn Williams
Ever by Gail Carson Levine
Fact of Life #31 by Denise Vega (read, review to come)
Geek Magnet by Kieran Scott (read, review to come)
Generation Dead by Daniel Waters
Hershey Herself by Cecilia Galante
How I Found the Perfect Dress by Maryrose Wood (sequel to Why I Let My Hair Grow Out)
How to Be Bad by E. Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski, and Lauren Myracle
How to Build a House by Dana Reinhardt (read, review to come)
A Kiss Before the Apocalypse by Thomas E. Sniegoski
A Likely Story by David Van Etten (Chris Van Etten, David Ozanich, and David Levithan)
Love in the Corner Pocket by Marlene Perez (read)
Madapple by Christina Meldrum (read)
Maggie Bean Stays Afloat by Tricia Rayburn
Mind the Gap: A Novel of the Hidden Cities by Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon
Moon & Sun: Ruby Key by Holly Lisle
Oh. My. Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs (read, review and interview to come)
Penelope by Megan Shull
Picture Perfect by Catherine Clark
Pretty Little Liars #4: Unbelievable by Sara Shepard
Princess Ben by Catherine Murdock
Savvy by Ingrid Law
Shelter Stories: Love. Guaranteed. by Patrick McDonnell
Shift by Jennifer Bradbury (read, interview to come)
Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott
Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson
Take Me There by Susane Colasanti (read, interview to come)
The Temptress Four by Gaby Triana
Twice Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris
What Happens Here by Tara Altebrando

( Read more... )

There are many, many stories for kids and teens told in diary entries or otherwise involving personal journals, notebooks, sketchbooks, or blogs. This style reveals the innermost thoughts of the main characters. Here are a few of those private (or not-so-private) diaries.

Picture Books
Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French, illustrated by Bruce Whatley

Series for Kids
(shelved alphabetically by series title in the juvenile series section)

The Amazing Days of Abby Hayes series by Anne Mazer
- First book: Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining
-- Full list of titles

The Amelia books by Marissa Moss
- First book: Amelia's Notebook
-- Full list of titles (first book at the bottom, newest the top)
* Also look for this series in the American Girls section

The California Diaries by Ann M. Martin
- First book: Dawn
-- Full list of titles

Dear America series by various authors

From the Files of Madison Finn series by Laura Dower
- First book: Only the Lonely
-- Full list of titles

The Royal Ballet School Diaries by Alexandra Moss
- First book: Ellie's Chance to Dance

The Royal Diaries series by various authors

Series for Kids
(shelved alphabetically by author in general juvenile fiction)

Harriet the Spy stories by Louise Fitzhugh
- Harriet the Spy
- The Long Secret
- Sport
(I have yet to read the Harriet books written by Helen Ericson)

Lucy Rose series by Katy Kelly
- Here's the Thing About Me
- Big on Plans
- Busy Like You Can t Believe
- Working Myself to Pieces & Bits

Lily B. books by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
- Lily B. on the Brink of Cool
- Lily B. on the Brink of Love
- Lily B. on the Brink of Paris

Millie trilogy by Lisa Yee
- Millicent Min, Girl Genius
- Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time
- So Totally Emily Ebers

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid
- Rodrick Rules

Additional Titles for Kids
Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf by Jennifer L. Holm and Elicia Castaldi with additional art by Matthew Holm
Pieces of Georgia by Jen Bryant
Strider by Beverly Cleary (This is the sequel to Dear Mr. Henshaw, which is told in a series of letters)
How My Private, Personal Journal Became a Bestseller by Julia DeVillers (made into the TV movie Read It and Weep)
Diary of a Would-Be Princess: The Journal of Jillian James, 5B by Jessica Green
Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance by Marthe Jocelyn
What I Believe by Norma Fox Mazer
Swan Town: The Secret Journal of Susanna Shakespeare by Michael J. Ortiz
The Book of One Hundred Truths by Julie Schumacher
Tru Confessions by Janet Tashjian
Runaway by Wendelin Van Draanen

Series for Teens
(alphabetical by author, as they are shelved)

The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
- First book: The Princess Diaries
-- Full list of titles
-- There have been two movies based on the books.

True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet by Lola Douglas
- True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet
- More True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet
-- Related Booklist: But I DO Want to Be Famous!

Alice MacLeod books by Susan Juby
- Alice, I Think
- Miss Smithers
- Alice MacLeod: Realist at Last
-- The books were made into a Canadian TV show.

The Confessions of Georgia Nicholson by Louise Rennison (which is being made into a movie)
- First book: Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging
-- Full list of titles
-- A movie based on the books is in production.

Additional Titles for Teens
Evolution, Me, and Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande
Banana Splitsville by Catherine Clark (original title: Truth or Dairy)
- Sequel: Rocky Road Trip (original title: Wurst Case Scenario)
Storky: How I Lost My Nickname and Won the Girl by D. L. Garfinkle
Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
I Am the Wallpaper by Mark Peter Hughes
- Spinoff: Lemonade Mouth by Mark Peter Hughes
Returnable Girl by Pamela Lowell
Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar
My Life Starring Mum by Chloë Rayban
Deep and Meaningful Diaries from Planet Janet by Dyan Sheldon (originally published as two separate books: Planet Janet and Planet Janet in Love)
The Actual Real Reality of Jennifer James by Gillian Shields
Various titles edited by Beatrice Sparks
Heart on My Sleeve by Ellen Wittlinger

Related Booklist: Comedies for Tweens and Teens

While working as a litigator, Christina Meldrum started to make court scenes of her own - on the page, that is. Those drafts turned into her debut novel, Madapple, a mystery with many layers. Let's peel them back, question by question...

What or who planted the seed for the story that became Madapple?

When I was an undergraduate studying comparative religion, I was fascinated by the many parallel mythologies that cross religions and cultures. ( Read more... )

Gaby Triana is a mother, an author, a teacher, a baker, but not a candlestick maker. She's also my interview subject today, willing to ponder my questions while celebrating the release of her most recent book for teens, The Temptress Four.

What led you to teaching?

I used to say it was because I had teachers in my family, but the more I live and breathe, the more I realize it was because I didn't know what else to do at the time. I wish I would have known myself better when I was in high school so I could have made a better career decision. I might have studied film, journalism, pastry arts.any of these would have put me on a path to the things I truly enjoy a little sooner, and I wouldn't have had to make a career change later on. But I've always been a late bloomer when it comes to realizing potential.

What then led you to writing?

I've always written short stories. I just didn't have my eyes open wide enough to realize it's what I should've been doing all along (see above). I might have 20+ books under my belt by now had I started in college. But because I was teaching, I finally got around to writing a middle grade novel one summer, saw how awesome it felt to finish writing a book, and have been writing ever since.

( Read more... )

Visit Gaby's website and LiveJournal.

Look at my calendar and you'll see something written on every day, something I will be doing. Look at Christopher Golden and you'll see him writing every day, something I should be doing.

Here's a quick Q&A with the Golden boy, the first part of what we've deemed a serial interview. (I nearly wrote, "It's a killer." Then I thought against it. Then I wrote it anyway. Get it? Serial interview? I know it's Monday morning, but...)

How's life?

Life is craaazy. Good stuff, mostly. But I desperately need a vacation. I'm directing a play at my kids' school for the second year in a row and I love it, but I should NOT be doing it. My eldest is going to be in high school in the fall, which seems impossible. My brother and his fiancee had a baby in August, and that makes me very happy. And I'm totally stoked to go to England this fall for British Fantasycon, where I'll be a guest of honor (oh, all right, "honour," since it's in the UK). I haven't been over there for several years and I've missed it horribly.

Read any good books lately?

Yes! I spent three or four months reading very little for pleasure, just research on (alternately) Japan and New Orleans, and re-reading a ton of Neil Gaiman for PRINCE OF STORIES: THE MANY WORLDS OF NEIL GAIMAN, which I wrote with Hank Wagner and Steve Bissette. But yep, I've read Neil's upcoming THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, which is sheer genius and may be my favorite novel he's written.. I also recently read CROOKED LITTLE VEIN by Warren Ellis, which is sick, mad genius, PROMISES TO KEEP by Charles de Lint, who is one of my favorite writers, and DUMA KEY, which is the best thing Stephen King has written in a very, very long time. Absolutely loved it.

How does your reading affect your writing, and vice-versa?

You'd have to monitor me and decide for yourself. I'd like to think that when I'm reading someone good, my writing improves, and when I'm reading crap for fun...my writing doesn't suffer. Heh. But that doesn't seem very logical, does it? So hopefully reading doesn't affect my writing one way or the other. Writing only affects my reading in the sense that I'll usually try to avoid anything that's at all similar to whatever it is I'm working on at any given time. For instance, I'm starting a new book for Bantam that concerns supernatural events on an ocean setting, and I've got a novella by Lee Thomas that I've been wanting to read, but I've purposely NOT read it and won't until I've finished this novel.

What's your writing routine?

If you're a Wallace and Gromit fan, you'll understand what I mean when I say it's a bit like being dumped into the "wrong trousers" every morning. For those unfamiliar with that bit of genius, I'll just refer you to the runaway mine car scene in INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM. I get up, I answer e-mail, I try to take care of things people have been waiting too long for, and then I work for as long as I can on whatever I'm writing at the moment until my wife sends our daughter up to drag me downstairs for dinner. All too often this includes weekends, and all too often I come back upstairs after dinner. The past six months have been the busiest of my life, and I'm now working toward the time, a few months hence, I suspect, when I'll be able to have my nights and weekends back. I only hope my children will recognize me, and my wife will remember my name.

Happy Mother's Day to Christopher's awesome wife!

Look for part two of the serial interview with Christopher Golden next Monday, May 19th. Until then, read stuff.

When :01 First Second asked me to join their vampiric litblog tour, I immediately knew what I'd talk about: Christopher Golden's The Shadow Saga, as well as his works connecting to the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.

I can thank Buffy the Vampire Slayer for getting me in touch with Christopher Golden, who is one of my closest friends and biggest supporters.

In 1997, Pocket Books decided to launch a line of BtVS books, starting with Richie Tankersley Cusick's novelization of the premiere episode. (Cusick had also written the novelization of the film five years earlier.) It was followed by Halloween Rain, the first-ever original BtVS novel, written by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder. Because I watched and enjoyed the show, I naturally wanted to sink my teeth into the new books as well.

After reading Golden's Slayer stories, I looked him up at the bookstore and at the library to see if he had written anything else. He had. His first novel, Of Saints and Shadows, had been released just a few years earlier. It too was about vampires. In fact, it was the first volume in trilogy.* Intrigued, I drifted into Shadows and didn't emerge until I was finished.

*Years later, he wrote and released a fourth Octavian book, The Gathering Dark. Though it's definitely a continuation of the trilogy, I feel as though it can also be read independently of the series. The Gathering Dark is actually my favorite book in The Shadow Saga. I swear it has nothing to do with the fact that I'm in it.

As I stated in an earlier post, The Shadow Saga contains what Buffy Summers would describe as "violence, strong language, adult content." These books are intense, frightening, and, let me say it again, dark. They discuss vampirism, life, death, immortality, magick, and religion. They are not for children. They are for anyone who likes vampire tales.

The order of publication is as follows:
- Of Saints and Shadows
- Angel Souls and Devil Hearts
- Of Masques and Martyrs
- The Gathering Dark

Golden has stated repeatedly that he'd like to write more books in the Saga. If and when he does, I'll be first in line to read them. The people who saw me the day The Gathering Dark came out can testify to that.

Golden wrote many, many BtVS/Angel novels and comics. The Gatekeeper Trilogy, co-authored with Nancy Holder, was an impressive undertaking. Golden detailed the dark pasts of the villains and of the Watchers Council in the historical novel Spike & Dru: Pretty Maids All in a Row. I loved the serial novel The Lost Slayer, the premise and setting of which allowed Golden free reign. There's a very special place in my heart for Monster Island, the first-ever BtVS/Angel crossover novel, which Golden wrote with Thomas E. Sniegoski.

I could go on and on, but I'll sum it up like this: Golden has proved time and time again that he not only understands but respects the worlds which others create and into which he is invited, such as the Slayerverse. Better still, when his imagination is allowed to run freely in his original stories such as The Shadow Saga, Strangewood, and The Boys are Back in Town, you never know what he'll create - but you know it's going to be good.

Learn more about Christopher Golden, The Shadow Saga, and Golden's BtVS/Angel novels.

If you've yet to read any Golden books and are looking through his backlist of 100+ releases, please allow me to suggest where to start.

Check out the serial interview with Christopher Golden.

Take a ride on the :01 First Second vampiric litblog tour.

Happy Mother's Day to all of the parents out there!

Shannon Hale is perhaps best known for her retellings of fairy tales. This month, she's hanging out with the readergirlz, as we've selected her novel Book of a Thousand Days to be this month's spotlighted book.

Shannon is one happy (and busy) mom. I was tickled that she spared a little time to talk to me about her published works and her writing process. Perhaps this interview will prompt you to read a story to the munchkins tonight - or write one of your own.

When plotting out a retelling of a fairy tale, how much leeway do you give yourself to deviate from the original?

I try to think first about what this story needs. With The Goose Girl, I wanted to stay as close to the original as made sense, because it felt like such an old, well-rounded story. With Rapunzel's Revenge, the story is knowingly in conflict with the original, which is half the fun. Book of a Thousand Days, I kept the skeleton of the tale but made whatever changes I had to in order to make it fully the maid's story. In my opinion, part of the definition of a fairy tale is a story that is retold many ways, changed for what the teller and the hearer/reader need at that time.

( Read more... )

Visit Shannon's website and blog. She recently posted a sweet list of little things she does to snazz up life for herself and her family.

Shannon Hale will be chatting live at the readergirlz forum on Thursday, May 22nd at 6 PM PST/9 PM EST. Mark your calendars and join us then!

Read the May 2008 issue of readergirlz.

Lisa Yee's first novel, Millicent Min, Girl Genius, is an absolute riot. At the tender age of eleven, Millicent completed eleventh grade. Over the summer, she plans to take college courses and (unhappily) tutor Stanford, a boy who drives her up a wall. Her mother, thinking she needs more of a social life with kids her own age, enrolls her in a summer volleyball team. There, she meets a girl who recently moved to town and does not know of Millicent's collegiate status. What's a smart girl to do?

This hilarious book reminds readers of all ages that it is okay to be smart. Millicent may feel much older than she is, mentally, but chronologically, she is still a kid. By the end of the summer, she is a little more comfortable in her own skin and proud of who she is and what she's accomplished.

Pop culture tidbit: The audio book of Millicent Min is read by Keiko Agena, best known for her role as Lane on the Gilmore Girls television series.

When I originally read and reviewed Millicent Min upon the book's release in 2003, I said, "I hope that Yee writes more tales, if not of Millicent, then of others. She has a real knack." Happily, Yee DID write more tales, two of which are connected to Millie: Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time and So Totally Emily Ebers.

Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time parallels the events of Millicent Min, Girl Genius, retelling things from Stanford's point of view. He would much rather play basketball than study, so he's super upset when he has to go to summer school instead of basketball camp. He also doesn't want to be tutored by Millicent, but he relishes the opportunity to make her look silly when she pretends that SHE is the one being tutored.

I've known many real-life Stanfords, kids who have struggled with school and excelled in sports. I want to give this book to all of them, even if they are grown up now. Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time will hopefully encourage readers to see the value in both education and athletics.

Millie's volleyball teammate tells her own story in So Totally Emily Ebers. After her parents get divorced, Emily has to move across the country with her mom. The bulk of the book is a letter to her father, filling him in on everything that goes on that summer. She tells him all about volleyball, her new friend Millie, and her crush Stanford. She misses her dad like crazy, but she finally clicks with her mom and enjoys making a new start in their new town.

Emily is a truly nice kid. Rather than act out in an angsty, cliched way after the divorce and the move, she remains perpetually optimistic and eternally kind. Emily is charming and sweet, and her story wraps up the trilogy with the smile.

Lisa Yee has also written for American Girls. Their line of Julie Albright books written by Megan McDonald introduced Ivy, Julie's best friend. Ivy then got a book all her own called Good Luck, Ivy, and Yee got to write it.

Between regular grammar school Monday through Friday, Chinese school on Saturdays, homework, and gymnastics practice, Ivy's plenty busy. She's looking forward to an upcoming gymnastics meet, but she's worried about her routine on the balance beam, having fallen off of the apparatus in an earlier competition. When she learns a family reunion is scheduled for the same time as the meet, Ivy has to decide which event to attend . . . or figure out a way to go to both!

The book takes place in 1976, so Ivy references the 1972 Olympics and Olga Korbout's balance beam routine, which won her the gold medal. Even though the book takes place over twenty years ago, the theme of appreciating your family's culture is timeless. Readers will hopefully be moved to consider the struggles and traditions of their own families.

The vignettes at the end of the book details real-life events in the lives of Chinese immigrants. This section also includes photographs of Lisa Yee and her relatives. How cool is that?

Learn more about Ivy's best friend Julie.

To learn more about Lisa Yee, read my interview with the author or visit her website or her LiveJournal.

Author Megan McDonald and illustrator Robert Hunt have created a memorable character in Julie Albright, a smart, passionate young girl who is ready to make changes and take changes as they come. Julie reminds me a bit of Dawn from The Baby-Sisters Club by Ann M. Martin, with her California cool, her compassion, and the way she is illustrated by Hunt.

Julie Albright is one of the American Girls, books which offer realistic glimpses into America's past through the eyes of young girls. The Julie books begin in 1974, when Julie is nine years old, and end in 1976. There are six Julie books in all.

Meet Julie: After her parents get divorced, Julie moves to another part of San Francisco with her older sister Tracy and her artsy mom, who opens up a shop called Gladrags below their apartment. Although Julie gets to see her father (and her rabbit Nutmeg, and her best friend Ivy) every other weekend at her old house, things just aren't the same.

Shortly after Julie starts fourth grade at Jack London Elementary School, she learns that they don't have a basketball team for girls so she asks if she can join the boys' team. The coach initially refuses her request, but Julie sticks to her guns. She learns about Title IX and turns in a petition with 150 signatures on it. The coach still refuses to hear her out, so she works up the nerve to talk to her principal about the situation and earns a spot on the team.

By the end of the book, Julie is a little more confident and a little more content. Though still sad about the divorce, she settles nicely into a pattern with her parents, and she enjoys her new home and her school.

( Read more about all of the books in the series! )

Now I'm happily picturing a grown-up Julie working in politics or education, and wishing there were more books in this delightful series.

Julie's best friend Ivy has her own book, which I also recommend: Good Luck, Ivy by Lisa Yee.

I have included the Julie and Ivy books on the Hey There, Sports Fan! booklist.

Like the other American Girls books, each of the Julie books includes vignettes explaining and depicting real-life events that happened in that girl's time period. The vignettes in the Julie books were written and compiled by historians and writers such as Susan McAliley and Nika Korniyenko.

Author Megan McDonald also writes about contemporary girls. Check out The Sisters Club, which is also an American Girls book, and the Judy Moody series, which is illustrated by Peter Reynolds.