Thursday Links

Look no further for all of this week's YA news! Okay, maybe you could look further, because I’m not on top of everything. But here’s some of the newsworthy stuff I found:

An article in PW last week by Wendy Werris reported on the fall meeting of the California Independent Booksellers Organization. Very interesting stuff being said about the teen market, including some stats telling us that 75 percent of teens read for fun every day, on average 43 minutes a day. So good news! Too much interesting stuff to report here, so check out the article for yourself.

On a related note, Tess Gerritsen shares her reader demographics on the Murderati blog. One interesting fact: she has a following with readers under 18. This brings me back to last week’s article in PW, reporting on teen reading habits. Yes, 61 percent love mystery/thriller books, but 89 percent of teens venture into the adult section for their books. Not that this is a bad thing, but I’ll bet good money that it’s those mystery readers that get their books on the adult side of the bookstore. I’ve said it before: let there be more YA mystery/thrillers!

And off my soapbox now…

I found Harper Teen’s (new?) website Pitch Black, which gets major points for creativity. It’s a bummer it’s all about books with fangs, at least to me, but if you’re into vampire YA, check it out. Kudos for the creativity, Harper Teen people.

Another publisher promoting teen books: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's (now there’s a mouthful) did a live webcast on 60 of their new YA releases for teen read week, which I only read about until this week. But happily, you can still check out the archive of that webcast here.

Penguin is giving away money to charity to promote Mike Lupica’s novel Million Dollar Throw, which just came out this week. Props for thinking outside the box, I say. Read all about it in this PW article.

Want more bloggery? Check out School Library Journal’s article by Elizabeth Bird on blogs about children’s books (you have to read to the bottom of the article to get her top 10). Or try KidLitosphere (thanks to Olgy Gary for referring to this!)—there are a scary amount of blog links there.

On a bit of an off-topic and serious note: this month is Youth Homelessness Awareness Month, as reported on YPulse. Apparently more than 75 percent of homelessness cases go unreported, and these are kids who should be worrying about their grades and their hair, not where they’ll be sleeping that night. Very gripping stuff. Causecast tells you how you can help this growing group—talk about a great way to celebrate Thanksgiving.

GalleyCat’s Jason Boog reports on Jericho Brown’s advice for young poets: "Think about the whole of things, as opposed to thinking about right now (..)” Seems like good advice all the way around.

And as a final note for all us writers who think we know what craft means, check out this photo. Now that’s impressive.

Review: Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

Living Dead Girl tells us about everyone’s nightmare: a girl (unnamed) is abducted when she’s ten, taken to be her captor’s object of cruelty. He calls her Alice.

We get tossed into her living hell of a life when Alice is fifteen. Her captor, Ray, starves Alice to keep her from growing, but Alice knows her time is up. Ray’s previous Alice washed up in a river when she turned 15, something he likes to remind our Alice of.

We follow every cruel detail of Alice’s captivity: the sexual abuse, the mental abuse, the starvation that makes Alice slow and tired. We get to see how everyone looks the other way, how Ray keeps the upper hand, and how Alice gives in to her situation.

Until it’s time to find a new girl for Ray, a young victim Alice picks out at her local park. Alice meets the young girl’s brother, who’s confused and damaged himself, and allows her to break out of her pattern of submission.

This book was so dark, I was afraid to put it down. The writing is sparse and poignant, just like I like it, but raw, in a way that made me cringe. Think Joyce Carol Oats’ darkness, and multiply by a hundred. Living Dead Girl was such a deep dive into desperation and evil, I was afraid I was never coming out.

Although this was not a mystery, it’s crime fiction with a capital C. And the writing is probably among the best I’ve seen, so it gets a 5.

I have to confess though: after I finished this book, I read Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (also a 5, and most recommended by me, but not a mystery) just to cheer myself up. That’s how dark Living Dead Girl was. So come prepared.

On Skinny Spines and Reluctant Readers

I’m a bit of an impatient reader, if you want to know the truth. When I browse my bookstore, I look at the spine. And if it’s really fat, I sigh. Do I want to commit to this book? It had better be really recommended someplace.

Yes, I’m one of those readers who skips past lengthy narrative passages until I reach a line of dialogue. Because that’s where stuff is actually happening. We all know this.

It’s not that I don’t have respect for the language, the beautiful descriptive passage, the profound introspection of characters. I’m sure the author worked really hard on it. And some authors, like Sarah Dessen for one, write some really beautiful books this way.

But if I’m honest, I look for the skinny spines. Because to tell a story with fewer words, now that takes some writerly muscle. Walter Dean Myers, Gary Paulsen, Rita Williams-Garcia—I could go on a while. These authors could take a few dozen pages to tell you all about a character’s inner life. But instead, they show you with a line of dialogue, the way they say something. Take Stephen King: he writes some real tombs, ones that are a bit much for me, but ones that readers love. But if you want to read his best work, pick up one of his short story collections. Now that’s some good writing.

I used to apologize sheepishly for my impatience. I would sigh when my work was rejected outright, without a second glance, because it was too short to make the cut. It must be my flaw, I thought. Everyone else seems to need at least 300 pages to feel a story.

But the more I felt that way, the more books I found with skinny spines. Good books. Short story collections that still have me thinking about the characters for days, like Levithan’s How They Met. And I found there’s a name for readers like me: reluctant readers. We’re impatient. Need skinny spines, so we don’t get overwhelmed some say. And we’re mostly boys, apparently.

So I’m a reluctant reader, I guess. And you know what? It’s a really great place to be. Because some of the best writing is behind those skinny spines—you just have to pay attention. I feel sorry for those of you who dismiss books that don’t make a certain page or word count, because you’re missing out on the greatest show-don’t-tell stuff that’s out there. Brevity is a virtue much underrated.

Here’s a thought: maybe reluctant readers are really just the sharpest ones.

Thursday Links

This week in YA:

Teen Read Week is over… But that doesn’t mean we stop reading YA, right? Right. Like you needed an excuse to read a good book.

Most links from this week relate back to last week’s bookfrenzie. For author interviews, go to Readergirlz and the YA Authors Cafe. Just be ready for your to-read pile to take on Jenga-esque proportions.

Publishers Weekly reports on teen reading habits, based on research done by Teenreads.com. Very interesting, so take a look for yourself, but here are some numbers that jumped out at me:

1. By 2013, sales to teens are expected to rise more than 30 percent
2. And this is a biggie: 61 PERCENT OF TEENS READ MYSTERY/SUSPENSE/THRILLER!!!

Let there be more books in this category! Exclamation mark! Books like this one, maybe? And more books to get boys excited about reading, because the survey shows that 96 percent of responders were female… And that just ain’t right.

Speaking of which, check out GUYS READ, a website all about books for guys (but I’m guessing you may have figured that already). I found this one at YPulse, where this article reviews the website. Apparently, GUYS READ is the brainchild of author Jon Scieszka; check out this great list of books great for guys of all ages.

Onward to the Great Stories CLUB, an ALA grant-sponsored book club for underprivileged teens. Applications for grants are being taken until November 2, so if you want in, hurry. Seems like a cool program.

Also at YALSA, find out which books 11,000 teens voted for this year’s top 10. I was glad to see John Green’s Paper Towns at the top, and added a few new titles to my list. So many books, so little time…

My very own Pikes Peak Library District has a list of 20 YA mysteries, in case you want more to read.

At Shelftalker, children’s bookseller Josie Leavitt makes her predictions on which books will get Newbery, Caldecott and Printz awards, and asks everyone to chime in. I’m staying out of this one, but will be interested to see if she’s right.

And finally, delightfully off-topic, check out Becky Clark’s collection of Halloween pet costumes. Happy Halloween, everyone!

P.S. Links come on Thursday now, since that works out better for me.

Review: Desert Blood by Ronald Cree

Before I start the review of Desert Blood, I should say that the author Ronald Cree is part of my local writers group. We’ve met at local events—but I didn’t realize he’d written a YA mystery until he pointed the fact out to me. It appears that sometimes in the hunt for a good mystery, I could stand to look in my own backyard.

Desert Blood is the story of Gus Gonzalez, an orphan adopted by TV star Nicholas Hernandez. The two live near Los Angeles, and they do their best to avoid the press when possible. But when Gus comes home to catch an intruder in the house, and he narrowly escapes, tabloid stories are the least of their worries.

Gus soon finds out from his adoptive father Nick that there have been threatening letters, and that Gus himself is being targeted. When his best friend Lalo is kidnapped, Gus is determined to expose the culprit, to eventually expose all the mysteries surrounding his father, the adoption, and the stalker who’s out to get him.

The hardest thing for me as a reader was to buy into the whole celebrity father, and Hollywood glitz that’s the backdrop to Desert Blood. But our lead Gus and his best friend Lalo immediately pulled me into the story—and I especially loved the Hispanic flavor of the story, something you rarely see in YA.

The pacing was a little slow at times (for YA), but the narrative was strong, and the suspense and mystery surrounding Gus’ adoptive father and his past was very compelling. The threat to Gus felt real and palpable, and the mystery was well-paced. I also liked that Gus wasn’t afraid to act—too often in YA, the lead laments over what happens, but doesn’t do anything but navel-gaze. In this book, there was no doubt who the hero was.

Although there was some forceful plotting that needed a good amount of explaining at the end, I’m glad to say that this was, in fact, a YA mystery. With a lead who solved it. So Desert Blood is going on the list, with a solid 4 rating.

Early Links

Friday Links come early, as I’m vowing to get crackin’ on plotting a new novel. There isn’t much to report in the YA department—aside from the myriad of author interviews and chats in light of YALSA’s Teen Read Week—but lots of stirring in the publishing pot, for those of you interested:

I thought this first column by Cory Doctorow (he wrote Little Brother, for you YA fans) was really interesting; basically, he’ll be running an experiment, to see how giving away free e-books will boost sales (among other things). He’ll be blogging about this monthly at Publishers Weekly, and I’ll keep you posted on this, since I find this stuff fascinating.

J.A. Konrath explains how e-books put the power with the writer, and squash Lady Luck’s hold on our sales. Food for thought. GalleyCat wonders if sharing e-books is okay, or if this leads to e-piracy—interesting stuff being said in the comments.

M.J. Rose links back to an indie bookseller in Boulder, who talks (tongue-in-cheek?) about why the book price war isn’t such a bad thing. And Pimp My Novel’s Eric looks at all the angles of the price war, and why publishers are worried.

At Kidlit, agent Mary Kole talks about writing in multiple genres, and things to consider as writer. She also explains where series stack up in today’s market. Very informative.

For more writing craft stuff, Women on Writing covers what makes a good children’s short story for Highlights Magazine. And Type M for Murder reports on agent Donald Maass’ seminar at Bouchercon for SinC, and tells us what makes a great villain, in case you need help with that.

And if you haven’t already, you must check out Readergirlz; they’re really rocking Teen Read Week.

Happy early weekend, all!

Review: Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

I’m not a big fan of issue books, so when Penguin announced their new Point of View program with books on ‘difficult topics,’ I cringed a little. My inner rebel (okay, so she’s not so inner) smelled an after-school special. But some of my favorite writers were featured in Point of View, so when I saw the little display at my bookstore, I picked up a copy of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Wintergirls, along with a snazzy discussion guide.

This book is dark and painful and beautiful. We dive into Lia’s world of self-torture, right after Lia’s best friend Cassie kills herself in a nearby motel room. Lia tries to assure her father, step-mother, and mom that she’s just fine, but inside she’s really unraveling like one of her knitting projects. Lia is anorexic, and cuts herself.

The book has a brutal insight into Lia’s mental deterioration as she starves herself to be clean inside, dropping pounds every day: “At 099.00 I think clearer, look better, feel stronger.” Even more gripping is watching the adults around her struggle to make her stop and get her to eat, and watching the effect Lia’s anorexia has on her stepsister Emma.

As Lia’s struggle continues, she tries to come to grips with her best friend Cassie’s death—Cassie, whose ghost haunts Lia, taunting her to win their contest to be the thinnest.

The writing is true Laurie Halse Anderson: direct, beautiful, painful, and gripping. It hurt to read this book, hurt to watch Lia’s descent into anorexia, and how she unwittingly dragged everyone down with her, including her little stepsister. My only minor gripe is that the ghost aspect seemed a little forced at times—but this was a mini objection in a powerful book.

I watched a lot of hidden anorexia in my high school, growing up. And I imagine this hasn’t changed much. A girl in my high school, like Cassie in Wintergirls, even killed herself over her struggle with bulimia—and that’s something that haunts all of those who knew her forever. Could we have done something?

So I’m coming back from my no-issues-in-books stance. Maybe we need books like Wintergirls to expose things like anorexia, even if it’s hard. Maybe because it’s hard.