Memory Monday- Welcome Jen! She's our Guest!!

About me: 

I work in a public library as a Children’s Programmer and Sr. Library Assistant. I’m a mom of one wonderful 10 year old boy and married to an amazing man who is also my very best friend.

I’ve been blogging for nearly 8 months, at Lost in the Library, and I love it. It’s become a way for me to share what I’m passionate about with others and I’ve been so fortunate to meet some fabulous people while doing it. You can also find me on Twitter, @librarygalreads or email me at librarygal [at] hotmail [dot] ca

Post:
As a tween, reading was my most favourite activity. I went to the library every week-sometimes twice and would check out a huge stack and just read and read and read. I went through a few different genre phases during this time-

There was my classics phase where I devoured anything by Dickens, Bronte or Austen.

I had a Lurlene McDaniel phase, where every book I read had someone with cancer or someone dying as a result of a horrible accident.

My science fiction phase -that I never really outgrew

I also had a “books that scare me to death” phase and that is where the author Joan Lowery Nixon came in.

Joan is skilled at writing thrillers that have you holding your breath until you turn the page (especially if you’re 11 or 12). The Other Side of the Dark was one that I read over and over again. It was first published in 1986 by Laurel-Leaf Publications.

original cover (this is the copy I have)

New-more contemporary cover

Summary from GoodReads

Stacy wakes up in a room that's not hers, in a body she doesn't recognize, to discover she's been in a coma for four years. Her mother is dead--—murdered--—and Stacy, recovering from a gunshot wound, is the only eyewitness to her mother's murder.

She can recall only a shadowy face, so far. But the killer is not about to let her reveal his identity...

This was a plot driven book that kept me on the edge of my seat and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. I did not predict the ending at all, although that might have been different if I were to read it now. One scene which has completely stuck with me is a part in the story where Stacy and her best friend are getting ready for a party. She does her hair and makeup and picks out her outfit which is a red silk blouse and jeans (which she first shrinks in the dryer) and then she struggles for 10 minutes just to get into them.

At 12, I thought this would be a fantastic outfit and had my mom buy me new jeans (which I shrank) and a lovely red blouse (though as I recall it was closer to orange) and it was silk of course. I am very glad that there are no pictures to document this glamourous fashion statement, though it is burned into my mind. (at least no one else can see)

I haven’t re-read the book since my teen years and though it’s sitting on my bookshelf downstairs as I write, I’m not sure if I’ll ever read it again. I’d really like to preserve the memory of how I feel about it through those ‘tween’ eyes.

Thank you so much Jennifer! I definitely went through a Joan Lowry Nixon phase, so this brings back all kinds of memories! 


If any of you would like to be a Memory Monday guest poster, follow the link or shoot me an email! I'd love to have you!

Writer's Workshop/A Call to Arms

06As I'm sure most of you know, Misty at The Book Rat and I are gearing up for Fairy Tale Fortnight, and doing all we can to make this event as awesome for you as possible. We've gotten in touch with authors, bloggers, publiscists etc to try and make this event rock. And the participation we have received and the support has been amazing. I'm completely stunned by how many great authors are willing to contribute, and I've worn out my happy dance from the number of times I've checked my email to see even more participation.

One of the authors who has agreed to contribute to the event is Donna Jo Napoli, who has written many, many great fairy tale retellings. Stay tuned, both Misty and I will have some reviews go up for you. She's been great to talk with, and had been very generous with her giveaway offerings. (Just saying here, I wish I was you... Great giveaway!)

She emailed me the other day, asking for my help. And, because she's been so great to work with already, and I definitely support her cause, I was more than happy to agree.

This summer, Donna will be going to Italy to teach a writing workshop for the Siena School of Liberal Arts, which is a non-profit organization that provides significant outreach to the elderly, immigrants, and the deaf community. But, as is the case with, I believe many non-profits right now, the school is struggling financially. Donna has agreed to teach this workshop without pay because she truly supports their cause and wants to assist them in anyway possible.

I've left links all over the place in this post, and you can click on any of them for more information.

Donna is hoping that this post will do three things, in part or in full. She is hoping to raise awareness of both the workshop and the organization. She also wants this workshop to be a success. But for it to really be successful, it needs participants. The workshop will be in Siena, Italy this May and is suitable for writers just beginning their career, or those who have already been published. If this is something you are interested in, or think would be beneficial and would work for you time/money wise I strongly recommend looking into this workshop. It looks pretty great, and I know I'd love to work with Donna in person! And really, it's in Italy. If I had the money and time for it, I'd totally go just as an excuse to go to Italy!

But, because it's definitely not something that everyone is going to be able to participate in, there is also the option to donate something to their cause. They are a non-profit organization, which means they exist on Government assistance and donations from others who appreciate what they stand for. I have never asked my readers for any kind of donations or contributions before, and definitely don't plan to make a habit of this, but this is something I think is worth talking about. If you are at all interested in, willing or able to contribute in any way to this organization, I strongly recommend looking into it! Feel free to follow any of the links within this post for more information, or you can email Donna or myself and we can try to answer any questions.

Although this post is specifically about the Siena School for the Liberal Arts and their writing workshop, I'd like to broaden this up to say donate anything you can (time, money, books, information) to any of the non-profit organizations you support. There are so many groups out there (including your local library!) who support and improve literacy and who are trying to make improvements to your communities. They can only survive if people are willing to support them, so go for it! If at all possible, give a little of yourself and your talents to help support these great programs!

Let's help these great organizations stay alive!

Also, welcome to the hoppers! I posted this today on purpose, in the hopes that more people would see it, with the additional 'hop' traffic to the blog! But, I also welcome you and would love to have you stick around and chat! :)

Review: Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard

 Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard is the perfect reminder of why I love, and prefer, contemporary fiction to almost any other genre, except maybe a fairy tale retelling. :)

Grace was initially a hard character for me to like. She was hard for me to relate to because she is very much a wallflower, going out of her way to not be noticed and she doesn't stick up for herself. She lets people walk on her and take advantage of her. And if there is anything I've ever consistently been, it's outspoken and very vocal about my 'rights' and interpretations on life. I always have a harder time relating to these character types though, but what really made it the hardest to relate to Grace was her fascination with Mandarin that bordered on, and sometimes crossed into, stalker-ish obsession. Things like, walking by her house, hoping to get a glimpse of her. Memorizing her school schedule before classes start and taking a lower lever class, just to be close to Mandarin. I have never organized my life around another person this way, and can't understand why you would. It doesn't seem healthy to me.

When they are paired up, at Mandarin's request, for a school project, Grace is in shock and cannot believe her good fortune. Pieces of Mandarin begin to filter into Grace's personality, and she embraces them fully. She believes that everyone watches her now, as they do Mandarin, wishing they could be in her place. She lets Mandarin run everything, being careful what she says around Mandarin so as not to offend her, or to tip the precarious balance of their new friendship.

For the entire beginning section of this story, Grace is completely in awe of Mandarin and there is definitely a bit of hero worship going on. But the real strength in both Grace and the story comes as Grace begins to notice the cracks in Mandarin's image where reality doesn't quite line up with expectation. Grace ignores these for as long as she can, but eventually, the cracks are so wide they are impossible to ignore and Grace must accept that Mandarin is not as together, confident, or in control she seems.

It is always hard to acknowledge flaws within your idol. This is a natural post of most adolescent's lives, when they begin to realize that their parents, who have always been 'perfect' are, in fact, merely human, which makes them fallible. Grace realizes this about her mother far earlier than most kids do, and she is very unforgiving of it, but it takes her quite a while to notice it in Mandarin.

Perhaps Grace 'broke' when she realized at such a young age that her mother wasn't perfect, that she was flawed. This might be why, when Grace notices Mandarin at the exact moment she realizes her mother's flaws and imperfections, she becomes fixated on her, almost as a substitute for where her mother falls short. Grace is obsessed with Mandarin, in awe of her, and believes that everyone else must be as well. It nearly consumes her. It isn't until Mandarin's faults become impossible to ignore and Grace begins to understand the real Mandarin beneath the flippant attitude, that she finds the pieces of herself realigning, coming back together. It is painful, it hurts, but it allows the healing to begin.

Like Mandarin is a powerful novel about growing up full of real characters, intense emotions and lessons about life. It's a novel I can easily see myself reading again in the future, and I will most definitely be watching for Hubbard's upcoming releases.

Oh ya, and can I also just mention how nice and refreshing it was to read a YA book that wasn't completely dependent and focus on the love interest?! Romance has it's place, but lately it feels like it's place is everywhere. It's nice to read a story without the boy drama.

*Disclaimer: I received this book as part of Banned Book Tours.

Review: Fall for Anything by Courtney Summers

Fall for Anything by Courtney Summers is the kind of book I've always loved, but haven't read much of lately- contemporary fiction, with a protagonist full of painful somethings, struggling to add balance back into their world. (How's that for vague? ;) )

Eddie is reeling from the suicide of her father, struggling to understand why he could do something like this. His suicide note was vague and Eddie is left needing to know why her father felt the need to end his own life. Her mother hasn't gotten dressed in anything except his bathrobe since he died, let alone remember to go grocery shopping or take care of Eddie, so Beth, her mom's best friend, moves in temporarily to try and help out. But, although she means well, I seriously wanted to slap her. She isn't helpful. Almost everything she says/does makes things harder on Eddie, and increases the weight pressing against her shoulders. Eddie is already in a pretty black place. She doesn't need the judgements of her mom's best friend making things worse.

Her best friend, Milo, wants to help her, but she is keeping part of herself back right now, and she also knows that Milo is keeping something from her about the night her father died, information Eddie feels is necessary for her to begin understanding why her father did what he did.

Then, Eddie meets Cullen. He was a photography student of her father's and they sort of share grief. Eddie is desperate for someone she can relate to, who also feels a gaping loss and needs to know why, so she latches on to Cullen and makes some pretty reckless decisions.

Milo is awesome. He is just a rock solid best friend, trying to be there for Eddie when she needs him while he is also struggling through some changing emotions. He's not sure how to help Eddie, and you can definitely sense the pain he's in, because he doesn't know how to help. Cullen was a strange character, right from the start, and he's one I was never quite sure how I was supposed to feel about. Initially, I liked him because he seemed to be someone for Eddie to share pain with as a way to heal. But then, I honestly believe that Cullen became toxic. Thinking about him now makes me shudder. And yet, he isn't necessarily a bad person, just seriously misguided and maybe a little deranged.

The pain in this book was so real it's palpable. I loved that photography was such an integral part of this story, because, to me, reading this book was like looking at a particularly powerful photograph. It's so real you can almost reach out and touch it, but it's also one of the more distant art forms, because no matter how intimate the shot, the photographer is removed from the subject and only has contact with the lens. I don't know if that makes as much sense to you as it does to me, but I definitely felt like it could not have been done better.

I hadn't read anything by Courtney Summers before picking this up, but I ended up buying a copy of Cracked Up to Be a few days after finishing this one because I was so amazed and wowed by the story. It's a heartbreaking story made powerful by the writing and a couple weeks later, the story still leaves me reeling every time I think about it.

The ending was just as powerful as the rest of the story, and I was left with a feeling of rightness. Not everything was completely resolved and it isn't even a particularly happy ending. But, that's life. Real life doesn't come with wrapping paper and bows for our struggles, so books about pain shouldn't either.

If you haven't read this book yet and you enjoy contemporary YA I think you are seriously missing out. It's raw, emotional and powerful. It's going to make you uncomfortable. It will make you wonder, and it kind of blurs a few lines between right and wrong, but it makes you think and it makes you feel, and I don't know what else you can ask from a book.

*Disclaimer: This book was received through Around the World Tours.

Memory Monday- Lois Duncan

I don't remember how I discovered Lois Duncan, but I remember reading her books. A large part of my jr. high years revolve around her books. I read them all. Every single book I could get my hands on. And some of them completely blew my mind. Let me share.

One of my most favorite Duncan books is Daughters of Eve. It starts out with young girls growing into feminism to rise again the town full of complete chauvenistic pigs in which they live, and quickly degenerates into a dangerous, out of control, vendetta pushed and encouraged by the slightly deranged and very bitter advisor who planted the seeds of feminism in the first place. Let me tell you, reading this took me from, "Yes!! Feminists rock!" to "Wow! That is some crazy-a** s**t". Freaky. Seriously gives me chills, even now. 

Gallows Hill is also creepy but a huge favorite. A small town in Missouri is the reincarnation of Salem Village during the witch trials and new-girl Sarah doesn't know what she's getting herself into.

Ransom is about 5 high school students who are kidnapped by their substitute bus driver and taken to a remote cabin in the mountains. This book convinced me that I needed to be prepared and knowledgable about how to react in the event of an abduction, because, you know, they are going to steal my bus. And, it made me want to learn to read in French. Again, definitely a favorite.

Another favorite of mine was The Third Eye which is about a young girl who begins to have psychic flashes, helping her find missing children. 

Killing Mr. Griffin, which was one of my first experiences reading about a sociopath and They Never Came Home explores that concept a little bit also (although not quite as well).

I decided that I needed to learn to play tennis because a strong backhand comes in seriously handy for our main character in Don't Look Behind You as their family is on the run from a contracted hit man, Down a Dark Hall is one of the (I assume) original magical/supernatural boarding school books, and Locked in Time makes me happy that I will always be growing older, even if sometimes we think it sucks. 

There were some of her books that weren't my favorites, and some of those that I have only read once. But, most of them were books that I read over and over again. They were deliciously creepy without being gross or full of the cheap thrillish horror, like R.L. Stine was (although, seriously- I loved him in grade school. He will be the subject of an upcoming post!) I don't know how good these books would be if I were reading them for the first time now that I'm older. I have a feeling that I'd be more likely to notice inconsistencies and some of the stories might have a harder time convincing me to suspend my disbelief, but they were absolutely perfect for me in jr. high, and I love them still. I want to own most, if not all of Duncan's books eventually, because I have so many fond memories of reading these books, and think they'd still be fun to revisit sometime down the road. 

Do any of you remember reading Lois Duncan?

Don't forget to fill out the form, if you'd like to be a guest poster for Memory Monday! I'd love to have you!!

Hey Hoppers!

Hey everyone, and welcome to my blog! I'm excited to have you here! I have a lot of great stuff happening right now, and would love to have you stick around and check it out! You can also follow me on Twitter! I only started tweeting last month, but already think it's fun and love chatting with bloggers over there! I'd love to see you!

If you are new to my blog, or if you aren't new, but want me to head over to your blog, leave me a comment and I promise that I will return the visit and check out your blogs. Although, my internet is going to be pretty spotty this weekend, so it will probably be my Monday project. :)

So, the most exciting thing I have going on my blog right now is an event that won't start until April. Misty from The Book Rat and I are hosting Fairy Tale Fortnight, which will run from April 17th through April 30th. What is it you ask? It is 14 days of nothing but fairy tale goodness! We will have reviews, guest bloggers, author interviews, giveaways, and some surprise content thrown in there as well. Basically, it's going to be AMAZING! If you have any interest in fairy tales at all you are not going to want to miss this!

So, other than reading the awesomeness that will be posted each day, what else can you do? Well, if you click this link RIGHT HERE, it will take you to my introductory post, where you can find buttons to include on your blog, and a google doc you can fill out with your favorite fairy tale information, and you can offer us a guest post,  if that's something you think you would like to do, and really, we would love to have you! The more interaction the better!

As I mentioned, we also have authors who have agreed to answer some interview questions, among other things, and if you click THIS LINK HERE, it will take you to the initial author introduction page, which includes that authors that have already committed to an interview. If you have a question you would like to ask the authors in general or a specific author, leave us a comment, and we will get it answered for you! Again, the more participation the better!!

Then, as part of my Memory Monday guest feature, Alexa from Pages of Forbidden Love is hosting a giveaway of her Memory! Click here for a chance to win Battle Dress by Amy Efaw.

There's more coming up soon, so I'd love to have you stay, take a look around, and check back in! :)

Jennifer @ Crazy for Books asked what books we'd like to see made into movies. My response- NONE! I do not do well with book to movie adaptations at all. Out of all the movies I've watched, I can only think of three adaptations I enjoyed if I had read the book first, Holes, because Louis Sachar wrote the screenplay, A Series of Unfortunate Events because I did not like those books, at all so the movie was an improvement and sort of cute, and To Kill a Mockingbird because it's hard not to love Gregory Peck. I kind of feel like a little piece of the book dies every time a movie is made from it. So, I vote for no more!

As to Parajnkee's question, I don't/haven't read a lot of Science Fiction, but I have quite a bit that I plan to read, to try and learn more about the genre. But, out of what I have read, I would say my favorite adult SF would be The Practice Effect by David Brin, and YA would probably be Enchantress from the Stars by Sylvia Engdahl. Both are great stories that I feel like I could read again and again.

Review: Sudden Moves by Kelli Sue Landon

Sudden Moves by Kelli Sue Landon is about the sudden disappearance of Michelle's classmate, Katie. When Katie and her family don't return from a spring break trip to Florida, Michelle panics, because she let Katie borrow a treasured family heirloom before leaving, and now she's unsure about whether or not she will get it back. She begins to investigate with the help of her, like, best friend? Tami, and Katie's almost, but not quite boyfriend, Brad, who Michelle has a serious crush on.

I feel bad writing this review, because I had hoped to like this book. But, I struggled with it from the very beginning. I didn't feel like the writing was very approachable. It felt very... mechanical, like someone trying to write teenagers who has had very limited contact with them since their own high school days. I felt like the characters were unbelievable, especially the adults. Every adult in the story was easily duped by these kids. The dialogue was wooden and forced, and the character interactions were awkward overall.

While reading it, I felt like Landon couldn't quite make up her mind about how she wanted her characters to be, and what direction to take them. As a result, there were a lot of inconsistencies as well as moments that just didn't fit in with the rest of the story. A lot of it just didn't make sense, and the details didn't add up. There were more than a few scenes I personally felt were unnecessary, and they seemed to have been added in just for the drama, because everyone knows you can't be a teen without the major drama, but none of these dramatic scenes added anything to the story. Like Michelle and Brad going to the under 21, soda only club (on a dateNotDate) and having Michelle getting into a screaming-shoving match with the 'queen bee' because she made a snide comment.

I never felt the drama of the situation, and I never felt a connection with the characters. Landon does have potential as a writer, and her story idea was good. I feel like a little more research and more direction within the writing would have been great additions to the story. Pick your 'angst', don't try to include it all. Having a book with a disappearance, main character trying to solve said disappearance, drama with a demanding, controlling and sometimes drunken mother, absentee dad who is always on the road as a trucker and may or may not be happy to be home with mom when he does stop, best friend drama in all ways, stereotypical high school mean girls with several almost cat-fights and then tossing in a love interest who is actually pining away for the missing girl just gets to be too much. Cutting out about half of the drama would have made the story better.

It wasn't a horrible book, but it wasn't one that really drew me in either. It's not one I'll ever read again, and I doubt I'll remember much about it in the future.

*Disclaimer: I received this book from the author for an honest review.

Review: The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta

Last week, I posted my review of Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta. (Click the link if you missed it). I had read it earlier last year, but hadn't gotten around to reviewing it, mostly because I was afraid all that would come out was a big LOVE! But then, I saw some news that made me spaz out a little bit... She wrote a sequel. That happens five years later, and is told by Tom, who was my favorite of the male characters in Francesca's story. Seriously... I did myself a little squeal and dance and started breathing funny. So when I had the chance to sign up for an ARC tour, of the sequel, I took it. Which meant I had to quickly review the first. So I did. Then I read this book. And, sigh. Here I go again with that great big LOVE!

The Piper's Son is Tom Mackee's story, and the years between now and the end of Francesca's story have not been kind to him. His family is disintegrating, Tom is unraveling, he has no idea how to stop it, and he's basically given up on everything. Two years ago, Tom's favorite Uncle moved to London to teach, and was killed by a bomber on the train. And everything has completely fallen apart since then.

As I mentioned above, Tom was my favorite of the guys we met in Saving Francesca. I was so excited to learn that this would be his story, but just reading the blurb broke my heart a little, because I knew Tom was going to be really suffering throughout the whole book. In Saving Francesca, it's clear that there is a lot more depth to Tom than Francesca and the others believe. He has a huge capacity for love, which means there is also a lot of space for pain. And in the last two years, all that love is drowning in the pain Tom can't escape from. So he ignores it. He spends him time lazing around, mostly stoned out of him mind. He has no liking or respect for the people he lives with, but they have cheap beer and access to drugs, so whatever.

After a chain of events where even Tom begins to realize that he's let things get out of control for too long, things start to change. He gets a job, starts (sort of) talking to Francesca and Justine again, and after a time starts sending Tara emails. She's living in another country at this point, and given their history, he's pretty sure she doesn't actually want to hear from him. But these emails to her become cathartic and he can't seem to stop sending them. He's able to tell her things in an email that he can't hardly face yet, and it begins to slowly heal him, as do the interactions with his former friends, and moving in with his aunt.

The family scenes were the hardest to read. Marchetta is such a gifted writer that it doesn't take much for the pain to start pouring off the pages. There is so much anger, grief and betrayal floating around that family that it is hard to see how they've stuck together for so long. But, there is undeniably also a lot of love, and that is what holds them together past all the hurts. It's almost palpable.

The only complaint I have with this story is the absence of Jimmy. He was such a fun character to read about before, and he is kind of who brought the group together. Things would not have been the same without Jimmy, and I definitely felt his absence. I understood that he was working on his own issues, but I missed him! Maybe Marchetta will write his story next. (Ahem... Please. Thank you)

Marchetta has definitely earned herself a place on my favorites list. She is a stunningly brilliant writer. Her characters are real and they are raw. They all have their faults, their inconsistencies within themselves, but they also each contain good qualities. There is never any doubt in my mind that these people whose lives I am reading about are real. They exist, they, hurt, they laugh, they cry, they bleed. And I will love them always.

*Disclaimer: This book was received as part of Banned Book Tours.

Memory Monday: Welcome Alexa! And, she's got a GIVEAWAY!

Please help me welcome Alexa to the blog today! She is our third Memory Monday guest! And, because she loves the book she's talking to us about so much, she is going to be giving a copy away!!

Hi Everyone!
I'm Alexa, I'm a 20 year old college student studying to get a Bachelors Degree in Nuclear Medicine. I normally get blank looks when I say nuclear medicine so basically it is just a fancy title for the techs that take MRI, CT and PET scans. I love to read YA books and Adult Romance so I started a blog to share my opinions with others out there who love to read. I started my blog, Pages of Forbidden Love, back in August and I'm amazed and how many great people I have already met through my blog. The blogging community is full of great people with new things going on all the time. My book wish list is now miles longer since I now read so many great reviews for all sorts of books that I would have never even thought of reading before.

As part of Memory Monday I would like to share one of my childhood memories with you, I promise it has to do with books. When I was little, try first and second grade I really didn't like reading. I've always been a math and science person but I hated reading. Obviously this is a huge problem because when you are in first and second grade you need to learn how to read and it is a big part of your education. It was so bad that I had to stay after school with my teacher for her to spend extra time teaching me how to read.

Through the extra time spent with my teacher I learned how to read but I still didn't like it all that much. All of a sudden between 8th and 9th grade I started to go to the library to check out books from them and slowly I started to find books that were great for me. I feel that every person can be a reader, they just have to sometimes get through some genres that aren't for them before they find ones that they really enjoy.

One of the first books that I became hooked on was Battle Dress by Amy Efaw. The story is about a girl named Andi who wants to escape her family live so badly that she wants to go to West Point Academy to join the military. The story has a great group of male characters that in a weird way accept Andi even though she is one of the few girls in their Platoon. This story is a great story about a girl making it in a "man's" world. I personally love this book and I have read it at least 4 times. However, this book sadly seems to go unnoticed in the book world. Even though I am not a huge fan of the military I think this is a book anyone could read and love, who doesn't love a strong female who could be a good role model for younger girls. This book is about so much more than just West Point or the military, I hope that more people will read this book, give it a chance, what do you have to lose?

Giveaway:
In order to try to get more buzz going about one of my favorite books I'm going to be giving away a copy of Battle Dress by Amy Efaw. I will be giving away the newest reprint which is the black cover featuring Andi that I posted above.

Rules:
This giveaway is open to US Residents only. The giveaway will run from today, Feb 14th until Feb 28th at 11:59 PM.
The winner will be announced within one week of the giveaway's end date.

How to Enter:
~ Leave a comment on this post with your email address

Extra Entries:
+1 Follow Ashley's blog (Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing!)
+1 Follow my blog Pages of Forbidden Love
A huge thank you to Ashley for letting me be a guest on her blog.

Thanks again for being with us today Alexa! This is a book that's definitely going onto my wishlist!

If you would like a chance to be a guest blogger for Memory Monday, fill out this form, or send me an email!

I'm just SO excited, I can't even handle it!

About a month ago, I wrote up a post discussing the upcoming Fairy Tale Fortnight event that Misty from The Book Rat and I are hosting. I've been really excited for this event since I signed on with Misty to co-host. But, if you follow me on Twitter, you know that I've been talking about almost nothing else... Why is that you say? Because it seems like every single time I open my email or check my Twitter feed, some new fairy tale awesomeness awaits me!

So, this post has two purposes- to give you a teasingly small glimpse into the greatness that is headed your way in April, so you can experience so of this excitement that has me squealing most unattractively at odd moments and doing strange dance moves up and down the stairs... But, it's also to get YOU involved. If you click on the pretty button, or anytime Fairy Tale Fortnight appears in this post, you will be directed to the initial introductory post, where there is a place to mention your favorite fairy tale, both original and retold, as well as volunteer to guest post. (You know you want to!) We would LOVE to have you involved.

We know that's more than some people can contribute, but we have something else for you!! Below you will find a list of the current authors who have committed to an interview as part of Fairy Tale Fortnight. Misty and I want YOU to tell us what you would most like to hear from these wonderful authors, and we can tailor their interviews to you! Your questions can be general questions directed at each or several of the authors, or you can ask a specific author a specific question.

So, who will be stopping by?! Well, let me tell you!

Elizabeth C. Bunce, author of A Curse Dark as Gold and Starcrossed. 
        

Jessica Day George, author of Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, Princess of the Midnight Ball, Princess of Glass, and etc.
               

Donna Jo Napoli, author of many retellings, including Zel, Crazy Jack, Sirena, Spinners, Breath and etc.
                 

Janette Rallison, author of My Fair Godmother, My Unfair Godmother, Just One Wish, etc.
              

Mette Ivie Harrison, author of Mira, Mirror, and and Princess and the... trilogy, including The Princess and the Hound, The Princess and the Bear, and The Princess and the Snowbird.
                            


Diane Zahler, author of The Thirteenth Princess and A True Princess.
           

Jaclyn Dolamore, author of Magic Under Glass and Between the Sea and Sky.
            

So, now that you are just as excited as we are, maybe doing a happy dance of your own, start asking questions!!

Oh, and keep your eyes peeled for more updates! Misty and I are pretty sure there is going to be an Ask the Author 2 sometime soon, because we just can't stop the awesome! :)

Have you visited CafePress?!

CafePress is the online destination to personalize a variety of gifts! 

A few weeks ago I received an email from CafePress, asking me if I would be willing to receive some of their products to review, and then giveaway on my blog. I knew I had heard of CafePress, but I wasn't sure what exactly they were, so I clicked the link in my email, took a look around the site and decided that this was definitely something that I and my readers would love!

I spent more time than I should probably admit looking through the site, looking for things I wanted to get for me, looking at things I thought my friends would love, and looking for things I wanted to include in my introductory post. Then, my best friend came over for a little while and we ended up laughing and having a great time looking at all the neat stuff they have and all the fun sayings.

They have mugs, buttons, stickers, decals, shirts, clocks, magnets, tote bags, messenger bags, even underwear! And it's all customizable! If you can't find a saying that you really like, or there's something specific you want your merchandise to say, you can do that too!

Stay tuned, because once I receive my items in the mail, I'm going to write up a post made of win, tell you what I think of everything and then offer a giveaway to one lucky reader!

Review: C.Y.A- (Covert Youth Agency) by Jason Ancona

C.Y.A.: Covert Youth Agency- The Case of Tangled Love by Jason Ancona is the story of the nerd. Most YA heroes and heroines are awesome people, who aren't from the evil 'Mean Girls' popular crowd, but are definitely well known, well liked, and just above normal. But the adorable main characters in C.Y.A are the oft overlooked crowd, and they are most definitely nerds.

That's okay though. For the most part each of them has accepted their role as nerdy, and in Peter's case, has wholly embraced it. His friends and family even call him Pi. But, he's totally in love with his childhood best friend, who happens to be a member of the popular crowd because she's dating a hot shot football player.

Feeling like students, especially the nerds, were being treated unfairly, and given no way of fighting back, Pi came up with the idea of the C.Y.A, or Covert Youth Agency and their purpose is to provide an agency for kids to contact when they need help an adult can offer. Pi is the ringleader, the motivation and basic brains behind the organization.

Then, we have the 13 years old female genius computer hacker, Delilah, who is responsible for gathering confidential information, hacking databases, and operating the hidden link within the school's website. Can I take a moment to let the feminist in me out long enough to say that I am totally in love with letting the hacker be a girl, and the youngest member of the team?! That made me so happy! Although, I do pity her the name Delilah. That just has such bad connotations.

Ben is the third and final member of the team, and he is sort of an 'everyman'. His nickname is Tollhouse, and he's overweight. He fits in well with nearly every group in school and everyone seems to like him.

This book is the story of their first case, and it involves the girl Pi has been in love with for years, wanting to know if her boyfriend cheated on her at a party. Pi is eager to accept the case, because it gives him an easy way to break them up, and become the perfect person to offer a shoulder to cry on.

I was so impressed with this book! It was incredibly funny and so worth the read. Who among us didn't want to have some awesome secret organization when we were kids, bringing down mean gym teachers, and restoring balance and justice to the halls of the school?! Okay, well maybe not that part, but seriously. Who didn't have some sort of secret club growing up?!

This book is the first in a series, and it spends a lot of time developing the characters. We learn a lot about each of our C.Y.A. members in this novel, and Ancona does a wonderful job of providing his characters with depth, and emotions. I did feel like some of the family situations were underdeveloped. Ancona brought up a lot of tense family scenes involving the parents of our three secret agents, but then took them nowhere. I'm going to assume that this is because there are plans for sequels to the story, which makes sense, because you can't put all your eggs in one basket. You have to have some where for the story to grow.

My biggest complaint with this novel is the ages of the characters. While I know that there are a lot of precocious kids out there who act older than their age, I had a really hard time believing these kids were only 13 and 14. I consistently thought of them as older, more like 16 and 17, and every time their age was mentioned, it jarred me a little, because they don't really act that young.

However, that one small grievance aside, I did really enjoy this book and I strongly encourage you to pick up a copy. I will definitely be looking forward to reading the sequel, which has a tentative release date of March of this year. You can see and read more on the author's website. Jason Ancona

I also feel like it's important that I admit I am a bit of a nerd as well. I worked out the answer to the ladybug code when I had finished the book.

*Disclaimer: I received this book from the author in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Review: Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

Saving Francesca is the second book by Melina Marchetta that I have read, and I must say- I'm reasonably certain that this woman is completely brilliant. The only reason that this book isn't 'Basically Amazing' is because I read Jellicoe Road first. And that book, well... That book simply blew my mind.

Francesca is having a really bad year. She has attended the same all girls school for years, but it is only for girls up to year 10. All of her friends are going to one school, while Francesca has to go to St. Sebastians, which used to be an all-boys school and they think that just because they gave the few girls who now attend their school their own bathroom, that makes them co-ed. If that wasn't bad enough, her mom, who has always been full of life, energy, ambition, and action no longer even gets out of bed. Her dad doesn't know how to handle it and her younger brother is scared, and Francesca is scared too, and depressed. It definitely doesn't help that she doesn't have any friends at this school, and that the few girls she recognizes from her old school are all... weird.

Tara is the loud mouthed feminist demanding equality in everything on campus. Sibhoan was Francesca's best friend in year 7 (I think), but they haven't been friends for a while, and everyone is pretty sure Sibhoan is a bit of a tramp. Justine is nice, but strange. She's a musician, and she plays the accordion. Then, there's Will. She's not quite sure how she feels about him, but he's definitely attractive, even if he can be a bit of a jerk. But, there's definitely a something there. Then, a couple boys in her year, Jimmy and Thomas (Tom) start popping up, and she can't seem to get away from anyone.

This book is awesome. Marchetta really knows how to write a book and give you amazing characters that you are rooting for. What I had previously heard about this book made it sound almost light-hearted. I knew that Francesca was in need of saving, but thought that had more to do with being one of a very few girls in what used to be an all boys school. The blurb on the book wasn't very informative, and really, I picked this one up because I so loved Jellicoe Road and wanted to see if this author was a really great writer, or if Jellicoe Road was just a one time deal. And people, it wasn't. Marchetta is awesome!

The depression was handled very well. Francesca's mom just can't do it anymore. She can't get out of bed, doesn't want to eat and is so completely unlike herself that no one knows what to do. And it really weighs on Francesca and for most of the novel, she is really depressed as well, although she is still functioning, and she puts a brave face on.

Although the story is done wonderfully, what really makes this book shine is the characters. Every single character in this book was well developed. I cannot think of a single stock character. Everyone had their own parts to their story, their personality and their role in Francesca's life, and I loved them all. Although, I am going to admit that even by the end, I wasn't completely won over by Will. He's a good guy, but I'm not yet totally convinced that he's great. Love them or hate them, each of the characters had an their own unique and important part to the story. Some of the characters add to her depression, many of them are doing what they can to lift it, and others don't even notice.

Francesca has been insecure about a lot of things for a while, in large part due to the stifling effects of her former 'best friends'. It was one of the constant points of contention between her and her mother, while her mother was still a powerhouse of whirlwind energy. The new group of friends that Francesca joins up with help pull her out of that insecure place, and I loved watching her grow into her skin, accept herself, and totally rock it. I also loved learning about their previous family dynamic, how close everyone was with each other, even when they fought, and how much Francesca loved and cared for her younger brother. It was hard watching them suffer with their current situation, and struggle to get back to where the used to be. That is something that it took the family a long time to learn. Even if mom does start getting out of bed again, things are never going to be the same as they were before. There is always going to be a difference. 

There was one scene, at the end of the novel where everything becomes too much for Francesca, and she 'overloads'. I won't give you details, because this is a critical part of her story, but my heart was racing in my chest and caught in my throat as I waited to see what she would do, and how she would handle herself. Those girls and guys that she spent the beginning of the story at a casual distance to become an extended part of her family. If everyone could have friends like these to support and care for them, and a family that, overall, really is there for them the way that Francesca's family is there for both her and her mom, I think the world would have a lot less problems, and people would be a lot less dysfunctional. 

There are really powerful messages of friendship, family, trust and love contained in these pages. I almost don't like the cover of this novel, because it, like the back excerpt, imply a light-hearted read when in reality, this book is so very much more.

Seriously people, do yourselves a favor, and read this book.