Wednesday=Book Review Time

As promised no ***1/2 stars this week!

Up for this week:  North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell and Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

NORTH AND SOUTH:  

Why I bought it?  I had rented the movie through Netflix because I love all the BBC classic movies.  I absolutely loved the movie.  It became a quick favorite, and I wanted to read the original.  I couldn't find it at my BN, and so I ordered it online at Amazon.

Brief Synopsis:  This is not the North and South that tells of the US civil war.  No Patrick Swayze.  Sorry Girls!  This story is set in England and tells of an upper-class family from the south that has to relocate to an industrial city in the north because of a significant reduction in income.  Margaret Hale, the MC and daughter in this family, has to adjust to the change of climate, status, responsibilities, and prejudices (that she holds) to make her way in her new life.  The wealthy mill owner, Mr. Thornton, being a tradesman is not of her class, and yet there is something "more" in him.  

If you've seen the movie (you know, I take back my "sorry" above.  There's nothing to be sorry for with Richard Armitage as Mr. Thornton.), I'd still suggest reading the book.  There are some significant changes from the movie.  I have to say, as much as I loved the movie, the book was better (Isn't that the way it usually is?).  The Mr. Thornton in the book is much gentler than the one in the movie, but I understand that the film makers wanted to be sure that a modern audience would understand why Margaret looked down so much on Mr. Thornton, and with his harshness at the beginning of the movie it is not necessary to understand the importance of class ranking in that time period.  (Elizabeth Gaskell was a contemporary and friend of Charles Dickens, so if that helps you with the time period.)

This is one of my all-time favorite books.  I absolutely loved it.  Mr. Thornton, to me, ranks right up there with Mr. Darcy.  

Rating:  *****  

The newest aspect of the book reviews is going to be cleanness score (CS), because I have young family members that will read these reviews, and so I want them and their moms to know what they will get with the books I review, and I think that others of you out there picking books for your kids might like to know.  (Is that enough ands?)  That said--my scale is going to be from 0 to 10.  0 has absolutely nothing the least bit offensive in it and 10 is for those books that have very offensive material.  (I think I can guarantee that there will be no 10s in any of my book reviews, but it will still be on the scale for gauging purposes.) 

CS=3 for slight language, mild violence, social unrest (In a theatre it would probably be rated G or PG max.)

JUST LISTEN:  

Why I bought it?  I had read another book by Sarah Dessen and loved the way she expressed herself.   It also helped that it has a southern setting, and I like novels set in the south since I grew up there.  I saw it when I was browsing in the BN.  The cover caught my eye, I had liked the other book of hers, and so I read through the inside flap.  It intrigued me, so chaching! Sold!  

Synopsis:  Annabel Greene, the MC, is a model for the local department store and has a TV commercial running for back-to-school that features her as the girl who has it all.  Her reality is far from the fantasy of the commercial.  Her family is treading on thin ice, her self-image is damaged, and her best friend has dumped her and taken all their mutual friends with her in a scandalous scene.  She feels lost and alone and scared.  There's a mystery as to what really happened between her and her best friend.  Even her friend doesn't really know.  Enter Owen Armstrong!  The angriest kid in school who's a stickler for telling the truth and expects it from everyone around him.

Sarah Dessen is a master at this.  She unfolds the story bit by bit, building and then backing away.  Her characters are totally real and raw at times.  The text is sprinkled with nuggets of wisdom, and the honesty is compelling.  There are moments of anguish nestled together with moments of subtle humor--heck, some are laugh out loud funny.  I love this book.  It is another one of my all-time favorites.  Owen ranks right up there as one of my favorite leading men.   

Rating:  *****

CS:  6,  a bit of language throughout, but not a lot--there are a couple of F words though,  some violence, I don't want to give away important plot points, so I'll just state it as some PG-15 situations.  I haven't given it to my 14 year old yet to read, so if that gives you a gauge.  I'm pretty conservative.  I suppose some 13 year olds would think nothing of it.  It would depend on what they are exposed to everyday.  In a theatre it would probably be rated PG-13 on the edgy side.

So there you have it.  A couple of my favorite books.  A couple of my favorite leading men that not everyone is aware of.  Let me know what you think.  Happy reading!

Let a little light shine through

Thanks to all of you for the comments on what YA writing is.  I think it's also important for those of us who are writing for a YA audience that we include a bit of light in our writings.  Whatever it may be for us.  Sometimes levity is enough to lighten a book; sometimes it is hope.  I don't think moralizing does it.   Preachiness is worse than moralizing.    

In the books that I have been reading lately, I want to avoid reading the ones that seem to have little or no light in them.  That's why I have 3 half started books and one series of 6 books that I have almost finished reading since I started those others.  I just don't want to pick them up any more.  Where's the light?

What kind of things do you think bring light into a book?  

What really makes a book YA?

Since I've commented on 2 blogs already today about this issue, I felt the need to bring it up here.  There has been a lot of criticism of Stephenie Meyer and the Twilight series because of the messages that it sends to young teenage girls--especially in the realm of healthy romantic relationships.  Regardless of what you think of her writing style, I think it is important to point out that SM originally wrote the book for herself and then tried to publish it for adults.  It was not until the publishing industry got involved that she was told that the book should be classified as Young Adult.   

It obviously appeals to a lot of YA females.  It appeals to a lot of Adult females.  Where do we draw the line, though, in what is appropriate for the YA audience?  I personally think that this book got classified as YA because it had little language and no blatant immorality.   

Is it the author's responsibility to classify the book or the publishing industry's?  Is it Stephenie Meyer's decision or her agent's or her publisher's?  or should we open it up to the national movie rating system's?  If I were rating the book like a movie, I would give it a PG-13 rating.  Does that mean then that it is appropriate for 13 year olds?  I'm just asking.  I'd love to hear what you all are thinking.

Wednesday=Book Review Time

Up for this week:  Savvy by Ingrid Law and Chalice by Robin McKinley.

Savvy

Why I bought it? (This is going to be an official part of my reviews for the marketing people out there.) I was trolling for some fun books for my kids, and I saw the bright cover and picked it up.  I liked the artwork and title, so I thought I'd see what it was about.  The back was enough to hook me.  "What if your Grandpa moves mountains, one of your brothers causes hurricanes, another creates electricity, and now it's your turn?"  I didn't even open it and read inside the front cover (which I will generally always do with an unknown author and title).  I knew my daughter would love this book (as long as it delivered--these kind of supernatural things happening are right down her alley), and she did and insisted that I read it.  

It's definitely more of a MG book than YA.  The MC, Mibs, is a 12 yr. old girl turning 13.  Her father has been in an accident and is in critical condition.  The mother and oldest brother go to be with him at the hospital leaving the rest of the family behind with the grandfather.  Mibs, two of her brothers, and 2 friends hop on a pink bible delivery bus to make it to the hospital 90 miles away.  This initial premise is terribly far-fetched to me.  It seemed crazy that there would be no plans made for bringing the younger kids to see their father in the hospital, but it didn't bother my daughter.  There are some crazy antics and interesting developments as the trip progresses and as Mibs gets her "Savvy."  

It's pretty funny and a bit outlandish, but I think that is what my daughter particularly liked.  I had a harder time overlooking the parts of the story that were not realistic, and I don't mean the supernatural parts.  I mean the stupidity of many of the adults in the book.  Of course, kids do seem to like the adults being clueless in their entertainment.  Not really one I'd read again.

My rating:  3 1/2 stars

My daughter's rating:  4 1/2 stars

Chalice

Why I bought it?  Robin McKinley wrote it.   I like most of her books and love some of them, especially The Blue Sword which is one of my all time favorites.  I saw it on a display table at the B&N and snatched it right up with anticipation.

This is more of a YA book.  Mirasol, the MC, is a humble beekeeper and becomes the Chalice when the old Chalice and Master die unexpectedly.  The new Master has been in training to be a fire priest and is no longer quite human.  This is a problem because the Master needs to be human.  They must work together to help keep their homeland from falling apart.  It's an interesting premise and the interactions of Chalice and Master push the story forward.  I found it slow going, especially at first, and it took me a while to get into.  There was very little dialog.  In some ways, this reinforced the idea of peace coming from the Chalice, but it slowed  things way down.  The language and imagery is well done as you would expect with McKinley.  

I liked it, but I didn't love it.  I would like to read it again though to see if it improves with familiarity.  This is where being someone like Robin McKinley works for you.  I'm willing to cut her a little slack and read it again thinking that maybe I was too distracted when I read it the first time to truly appreciate it.

My rating:  3 1/2 stars with potential for a higher rating later

This is getting to be a trend.  I promise next time I won't give 3 1/2 stars even if I have to pick something I read ages ago.

Thanksgiving and traffic

Yea!  We're back!  The vacation was great, but the driving was horrendous.  What was normally about a 6 hour drive took 9 hours on the way over and about 8 and a half on the way back!  There were 2 spots with accidents both directions and on the way over we had been so delayed that we ended up in Knoxville's rush hour traffic.  

I am thankful that we weren't in any accidents.  There was so much insanity on the roads.  It amazes me how many people don't know the rules of the road, much less the common courtesies and unwritten rules of driving.  My husband never wants to drive again during the Thanksgiving holidays.  Sorry Sandy!  Next year it's your turn.

At least our time celebrating Thanksgiving was wonderful.  The cousins all had a grand time and got along extremely well.  Yea!  The food was tremendous.  I spent most of Thursday in a triptophan coma.  Mmmm!  And the family time was delicious as well.

Our Friday did get spent shopping for a while, but not at 5 am and not in any kind of frenzy.  I'm appalled and horrified at what happened in some places.  In our lines everyone was very friendly and we helped each other out.  We chatted with the lady in front of us (that we didn't know) the whole time.  She offered to let us put our stuff on her cart so we wouldn't have to hold it (there were no carts left when we came) and when she remembered something she had forgotten we held her spot while she ran to look so she wouldn't lose her place in line.  Small things, I know, but nice things.  It was all very civil and nice even if the lines did go all the way to the back of the store.  We found some incredible deals just like everyone else.

Now it's back to business as usual.  I'm going to working on splitting and reducing the fluff from my novel.  My goal weight is now 70K words.  Thanks for all the input!  Wish me luck!

To split, or not to split? That is the question!

The tree did split.  Fun one, huh?  It's from the parking lot of the school where Elizabeth does orchestra.  I got bored sitting there and had to get creative.  Should I split though?  That is the real question.  I've been trying to decide if I'm going to split the book that I've been working on.  I keep waffling.  

Here's the thing:  YA books' target length is 60K-80K words, and mine weighs in at a whopping 115K.   I've shaved and cut and that's where it stands.  In the euphoria of finishing my manuscript, I sent out some so-so queries stupidly to the wrong people (who accept YA but not what I write--now that I've seen what they particularly want online--oops!  sorry about that!  I was so naive.) and some of the right people (who weren't interested at this time, thank you very much) that I got from a book.  I looked online too, but obviously not enough. 

There is so much stuff out there once you start looking and know what you're looking for.  Now that I kind of have a clue about what I'm doing, (Thanks to Nathan Bransford and other agents' websites like his--Thanks Nathan!  I worship at your feet--well sort of, and not in any stalker-like manner) I want to start all over again.  I didn't completely strike out.  I had some interest and even a request for a full, but no takers so far.  I still have yet to hear back from 2 agents. When I hear back from them I'm starting over with a little savvy this time.  If I need to make the split this is the perfect time to do it.

Some of the things I've read lately talk about how much harder it is for anyone to take on a new author (in this economy) especially if the book is long.  It's such a big risk for the publishers, etc., etc., and I totally get that.  The agent who requested the full said that she didn't think it was commercial enough in the current market.   Is a part of it, that it is too long?  It could be.  So I think I really should split my book.  There's a natural break about half way through that with a little tweaking could be the end of the first book.  It would be right about 80K words.  Still in the ballpark. Then there's a built in sequel.

I finally make up my mind that splitting it is the best thing to do, and then I think I've lost the aforementioned mind.  There is so much great stuff going on in the second half of the book.  What if the book tanks because the best part is in the second half and no one gets to read it.  The sequel never happens because the 1st book stinks.  Waaah! 

Then I think I should just lose the first half of the book and incorporate what's necessary in the 2nd half and voila a shorter book, but the building up of the tension and characters is what makes the 2nd half of the story make sense.

Some agents say that it's the writing that counts.  Yeah, but what about all those agents who won't read something over 80K for YA?  I'm in such a quandary.  Any ideas? advice? 

How about a book review?

One of the many publishing blogs I read these days said that it is a good idea for writers to include book reviews on their blogs and so here I go.  I'd like to try posting one day of reviews a week.  That may change depending on interest, but for now that is my plan.

Just a little warning I have eclectic tastes.  I read just about anything except horror and erotica.  I especially love YA (young adult/teen) and MG (middle grade) literature, and so I read a lot of it.  I find myself continually drawn to it, and that is what I tend to write as well.  I am so amazed that it took me so many years to find the phenomenal writing that is all through so much of the "children's lit" out there.  I was such a grown-up and book snob.

I came to discover the wealth of children's lit when my oldest daughter started reading.  I was 34 with my feet firmly planted in classical and literary writing, but I wanted to read the books before she did to make sure they were appropriate for her age.  I found a rich treasure trove of stories and authors.  As she got into reading the MG lit, I found some of the books stuck with me and moved me more than the books for adults that I had read. As a result you will find a lot of YA and MG books in my reviews.  

For my first review I will present two books.  A favorite--Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse and the book I finished today--Izzy Willy-Nilly by Cynthia Voigt.  

OUT OF THE DUST  was one of the first YA/MG books I ever read and it blew me away.  It let me know with a vengeance that golden nuggets lurked in the children's section.  I would sit waiting in the pick-up line to get my kids from school and be transported to the dust bowl in Oklahoma in 1934-5--in one or two page snippets.  Written completely in verse, the terseness of the language captures the atmosphere of the novel and would leave me laughing or crying or both.  

There are so many vivid images that I had never thought of.  One that has never left me is that of the dishes set on the table upside down so they would not fill with dust before dinner was served.  Billie Jo, the main character, goes through many harrowing times through the course of the novel and discovers what she's made of.  I would and have read this over and over again.  This is the year I'm going to have my daughter read it.  I wanted her old enough to appreciate the poetry.

I highly recommend this Newberry Medal winner.  5 stars--easy!

IZZY WILLY-NILLY caught my attention because I've been wanting to read something by Cynthia Voigt that wasn't a series and my mother's name is Izzy.  So I thought it would be fun.  

Synopsis:  Izzy is a beautiful cheerleader who's pretty happy with her life.  She's a good person and has lots of friends.  When she loses a leg in a car crash on the way home from a party where her date had been drinking heavily, she has to deal with family and friends who aren't sure how to treat her anymore and her anger at the boy who never even apologizes.  An unexpected friend surfaces to help her make peace with her new self-image (well mostly) and others join in.

It was a compelling read.  I enjoyed the story quite a bit, but some references are dated--understandable since it was written in 1986.  The events and problems that Izzy face are still relevant today though.  Peer pressure, body image ideals, loss of friends, finding a place to fit in.  I probably wouldn't read it again, but I will recommend it for my daughter to read.

I give it 3 and 1/2 of 5 stars.