Teenreads.com Blog

Talking with Melissa de la Cruz

2009-11-20T09:00:00.000-05:00

Today's guest blogger is 15-year-old Mary Sturgis from Chicago, IL. Last month, she attended a book signing for Melissa de la Cruz's THE VAN ALEN LEGACY, and was able to catch up with the author afterwards for an interview, which she was kind enough to share with Teenreads.com. Over some sushi, they discussed inspiration behind the series, favorite characters, fictional love interests, and what lies ahead for Schuyler and the Blue Bloods gang. You can read the original interview on Mary's YA book blog, http://officiallymrs.blogspot.com/. And be sure to check out Mary's previous post about meeting Ally Carter, here.

Recently, I was fortunate enough to attend a book signing with Melissa De La Cruz for the latest installment of her Blue Bloods series, THE VAN ALEN LEGACY. Walking in, I was surprised to see that it wasn't very crowded, but with an audience that size, it was really nice to sit around and chat with other fans beforehand --- some were in costume, some had traveled from a high school in Indiana, and some were just random people who were as excited to meet the author as I was. Melissa showed up wearing a gorgeous pair of shoes that was definitely not made for walking, and we all got the chance to discuss her books. Afterwards, we all had our copies signed and everyone went on their merry way. I, however, stayed behind to interview her!

Before you start reading this, you may want to read my review of the Blue Bloods series and the ten things that I loved about Melissa's newest book, THE VAN ALEN LEGACY. Also, if you have not read it yet, this interview does contain spoilers!

Which one of your characters do you relate to the most?

I like all of them because they are all a part of my personality. Schuyler definitely has a lot of my alienation and feelings of isolation when I was that age. Just the whole scene with her going to a dance with Oliver and everyone is holding a long-stemmed rose, but she has a corsage --- I'd always felt like I went to this school with all of these social events, but I would be so out of it! I would be doing or wearing all the the wrong things. When I went to prom, I thought everyone would be wearing big satin ball gowns, so I wore one. But, I went to this big private school and everyone thought that prom was this ridiculous notion, so all the cool girls were wearing sweaters and skirts! And you know, once again, fail! So I definitely wanted to write a character with that kind of experience.

I think a lot of people feel like that. My school definitely had a lot of cliques, and it was an all-girls school with only 39 students in my class --- half of them were all good friends and they all came from families that had known each other forever. It just seemed like they were a part of this club I was just didn't belong to. I thought that Schuyler could be that kind of a character, who went to that kind of school. It is supposed to be a great experience going to these schools, but when your not a part of this club, it is very difficult.

Mimi is the one I enjoy the most because she is so fun and bitchy. I have always loved those kinds of characters. She is probably most like me when I was in college. People used to call me The Queen, which stood for "The Queen Bee." I always thought that was funny! People said I was always so bossy and that I always told people what to do and I was like, Oh, no! So there is a lot of me that is always Mimi. And I sympathize with her because Schuyler is the rebel who is going to shake up all the Blue Bloods and Mimi is kind of the one who is trying to keep them together.

Bliss has grown on me. She has the hardest story line to deal with, being the devil's child and all. Bliss is getting her own series, with the werewolves, so that will be fun.

What is up next for Schuyler and the gang?

Schuyler and Jack are kind of together, but there are new obstacles in what they find. Are they finding safety and shelter, or did they just walk into some kind of dangerous situation at the end of the book? Mimi is trying to keep it together. Oliver is still around so they all kind of have to work together, and there will be new characters and new dangers. And then we are going to find out about Allegra and what she was like as a teen. A lot of the story takes place in the 1590s so part of it is more of a historical Renaissance novel, which I am scared to write.

If you could pick one character from the Blue Bloods series to be real, who would it be?

Just one!?! They are all so great! That’s really hard. I think I'd pick Schuyler, because it would be really cool to hang out with her. Go to a goth club and stuff!

If you could be one character from Blue Bloods, who would it be?

I don’t want to be any of them because all of their lives are so difficult and fraught with danger. And drama. I would rather be a cool socialite who didn’t know what was happening --- I don’t want to save the world.

The vampires in your book have a completely different spin! How did you come up with the idea for the books? Why did you choose to have them be wealthy NY socialites?

I wanted to combine things that I knew firsthand. I covered that kind of world when I worked as a reporter. I once wrote an article on private jets and I asked things like, How do you use your private jet? and, What do you put on your private jet? I was fascinated by that kind of world and wanted to use all of this material I had.

Were there any particular books that the Blue Bloods series was either based on or influenced by?

I think of the Blue Bloods books as Harry Potter mixed with Sex and the City. The Harry Potter books brought back the pleasure of reading, and New York was such a big influence. So, I see the series as a sexier, hotter Harry Potter.

In THE VAN ALEN LEGACY, Schuyler and the gang travel all around the world. How many of these countries/cities have you been to?

I've been to all of them, actually! I have a friend in Buenos Aires and we went to Rio for a weekend. I've also been to Venice, and Paris is just awesome. I don't get to go there often enough. It's fun, because when I write my books, I want to not only talk about the places I have have been, but also also give myself an excuse to go to somewhere new. I want to go to Shanghai and put that in one of the books. I want to do a city in Asia.

One of my favorite parts about THE VAN ALEN LEGACY and the Blue Bloods books it the fact that you fit your stories into history, particularly American history, and Biblical stories. How did you come up with this idea?

One of my most vivid memories is of my high school history teacher, who was great. World History and Roman history was one of her specialties and she really brought that world to life. As an immigrant, you don’t take American History for granted too much. And I always loved the stories from Christian mythology --- the angels and stuff.

Romance is a huge part of the Blue Bloods books, and therefore, it is littered with steamy and/or spicy guys. If you could pick one guy in the book for yourself, who would it be?

It's funny, because Oliver and Jack are both similar to my husband. I kind of split his personality in two. That’s why I can’t chose! But they are both their own person. Oliver is a little bit based on my best friend from college, and Jack is based on the hot, unattainable guy that you always wanted.

At this point in the interview, we whipped out the sushi. Yum!

Another thing I really enjoyed, about THE VAN ALEN LEGACY especially, is that even though these characters have lived before, there is still a level of teen angst. How do you find this balance?

I wanted them to be modern teenagers with all the relateable problems and the stuff that I went through; but, I also wanted to give them this layer of having lived for centuries and knowing more than there is. It’s like when you say someone is an “old soul,” they have more maturity. I just thought it would be cool that while they are growing into adolescence, they also have this other thing, changing from human to vampire with all of those memories. It was fun because it gave them more depth. With Mimi, you think she is just some stupid socialite, but they it turns out that she is a *butt*-kicking warrior.

How do you get the ideas for your characters? Are any of them based on people you know?

Some of them are. Oliver and Jack, as I said before, are my husband and my friends from college. Bliss is somewhat based on of one of my guy friends from Texas --- I just turned him into a girl. He has a big personality and all of these fun stories about him growing up in Huston and driving his dad’s Cadillac. I am fascinated by all of these people who were popular in high school because I wasn’t, and I wanted to find out what that was like. As a writer I think that I am fascinated by people and their stories.

Then we had a random tangent about goth clubs. It was entertaining. And my dad showed up. It was mortifying.

How did your first book get published? What are some things that surprised you about the publishing and editing process?

My first book was published when I was 27, THE CAT'S MEOW. I had been trying to get published for six years. I was writing a column with the same name about socialites. When I turned in my first draft, they said that it had no plot, and I had to rewrite it. I quit my job, worked on it for three months and pulled it together. In the beginning I was very naive about sales. I just thought that if you had written a good book, it deserved to be published. But the longer I am in the industry, I realize that you have to write stuff people want to read!

What is your full name?
Melissa Anne De La Cruz

Where did you grow up?
Manila, until I was thirteen, and then we moved to San Fransisco. Then I went to Columbia for college, and I lived in New York City for 15 years. And then we moved back to LA, but I still think of myself as a New Yorker.

Do you have any siblings?
Yup, I have two siblings.

What are some of your favorite books/ authors of the moment?
I didn’t read a lot of YA. I actually just started reading it again, and I just read KING DORK and books by Sara Zarr. I have to read books that are very different from mine so that they take me to a different place. I also read a lot of Julian Fellowes, and anything by Lionel Shriver or Kate Christensen.

What was your favorite and least favorite part about being a teenager?

My favorite part was not having to worry about bills. Having all this time for my art. I just remember having no responsibilities and having all this time. My least favorite part was not having a whole lot of confidence. I think you kind of grow into yourself. Some people are very confident, but a lot of us are figuring out who we are and if we like who we are. I love being thirty. I think 13 Going on 30 had it right on.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

I like LA. We live between LA and NYC, so we really like where we are.

What is your favorite color?

Fuchsia! I have always like Fuchsia since I was a teen. I like the way it is spelled. I like the F. I like the hot pink. I used to have a lot of Fuchsia outfits. Kinda frightening….

If you were trapped on an island and you could only bring one person and three items with you, who and what would they be?

I would like to bring my husband and my daughter. I can't bring one without the other. 1) A lot books. So maybe a kindle. 2) Something to eat. Asian food. It would have to be sushi or Ramen noodles. 3) A toy for Maddy, my three year old.

Edward of Jacob?
Edward.

Gale or Peeta?
I can’t decide!! I would say Peeta but then I feel bad for Gale! I guess when it comes down to it, Peeta.

What is your favorite movie/tv show/ music of the moment?

I watched Mulan Rouge five times in the theatre. I love "Battlestar Galactica." I love '80s music. The Adventureland soundtrack is pretty much my ipod. I really like dance music. Techno and remixes.

And probably my favorite question of the evening: If the world were being invaded by aliens and you just won five million dollars in the lottery, what would you do with it?

Oh, so we are going to die?

It’s a distinct possibility at this point.

How long do we have?

Um.. Let’s say a week.

(In a very cheerful voice, considering we are talking about our own impending doom) Oh, Okay. Well, I would probably go on a big shopping trip in Paris. A lot of couture. Go to all of the wonderful restaurants. Stay at the Ritz. One million a day! Throw a lot of parties.

Thank you so much for doing this interview with me, Melissa!! I had such a fun time with you! You can learn more about Melissa and her books by looking at her website, following her on twitter, or reading my review of THE VAN ALEN LEGACY and the Blue Bloods books.

-- Mary Sturgis

CROCODILE TEARS Book Trailer

2009-11-18T09:00:00.001-05:00

For all you Alex Rider fans out there, good news! CROCODILE TEARS, the eighth book in Anthony Horowitz's bestselling series about a gifted 14-year-old boy unwillingly recruited to the MI6, hits stores this week! This latest installment finds Alex up against a seemingly unstoppable villain looking to reap the financial benefits of an epic "natural disaster" strong enough to wipe out an entire East African country.

Check out the video below, as the author himself brings you up to speed with all of Alex's adventures leading up to the most exciting book of the series!

This Week's New Releases

2009-11-16T09:00:00.001-05:00

It's a quiet week for new YA releases, but for fans of thrillers of the fantasy or espionage variety, the latest installments of the Strange Angels and the Alex Rider series may be all that you need.

New Releases for November 17th

Hardcover

CROCODILE TEARS: Alex Rider, Book Eight by Anthony Horowitz (Philomel)
It's just another day in the life of an average kid. If you're Alex Rider, that is. A con artist has realized there is big money in charity --- the bigger the disaster, the greater the money flow! So that is what he will produce: the biggest disaster known to man, all thanks to genetically modified wheat that can release a virus so potent it can knock out an entire country in one windy day. But Alex Rider will face whatever it takes--gunfire, explosions, hand-to-hand combat with mercenaries-- to bring down his most dangerous adversary yet.

Often imitated, never equaled, the series that triggered a reading phenomenon is back, exhilarating and addictive as ever.

Paperback

BETRAYALS: A Strange Angels Novel, by Lili St. Crow (Razorbill/Penguin Young Readers Group)
She’s no angel…
Poor Dru Anderson. Her parents are long gone, her best friend is a werewolf and she’s just learned that the blood flowing through her veins isn’t entirely human. (So what else is new?)
Now Dru is stuck at a secret New England School for other teens like her, and there’s a big problem --- she’s the only girl in the place. A school full of cute boys wouldn’t be so bad, but Dru’s killer instinct says that one of them wants her dead. And with all eyes on her, discovering a traitor within the Order could mean a lot more than social suicide…

Can Dru survive long enough to find out who has betrayed her trust --- and maybe even her heart?

Wendy Corsi Staub On Writing For Teens, Then and Now

2009-11-13T09:00:00.001-05:00

Today's guest blogger is Wendy Corsi Staub, the bestselling author of over seventy novels, including LILY DALE: DISCOVERING --- the latest addition to her paranormal series for young adults. Below, she retraces her career as an author and reflects on how much --- and how little --- has changed since she began writing more than fifteen years ago.

I launched my career writing novels for teenagers back in the early nineties, when the YA market was booming. At the time, I was a mere half-decade or so beyond my own teenaged era --- roughly the same number of years, in fact, that now separate me from a certain milestone birthday I’d rather not reveal. (I’m sure some of you left-brainers can use the clues above to create some kind of algebraic equation and figure out my age --- i.e., A x B – C = O+L+D. Personally, math was never my strong subject.)

When my first novel won the RWA Rita Award for Best Young Adult Novel of 1993, I figured --- ah, optimistic youth --- that I was set for life. Selling almost a dozen more books in the next few years didn’t exactly dissuade me. Then, out of nowhere, the YA market hit the skids.

My editor suggested that I try writing for adults. I did, with great reluctance. I mean, I aspired to be the next Judy Blume, and everyone knows SUMMER SISTERS was no ARE YOU THERE GOD, IT’S ME MARGARET.

Surprisingly, however, my first adult novel did well. The next did even better, and wouldn’t you know I hit the New York Times Bestseller list a few titles later? A career was born.

Flash forward about a decade. Now that I’m an almost middle-aged (somehow, my definition of middle age moves just beyond my reach with every birthday) adult novelist with a string of bestsellers, the YA market has heated up again. Thus, I’ve created a paranormal series of books for teens and tweens, set in Lily Dale, New York, the real-life town filled with mediums who communicate with the dead.

I quickly discovered that a lot has changed since I started writing YA in the early 1990s --- let alone since I was a teen in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Kids today live in a world of instantaneous gratification, thanks to the Internet. According to my editor, they don’t have the patience to read narrative, or long chapters, or pages without a lot of “white space.” I had to change my writing style accordingly. And I had to get to know a whole new generation.

These days, kids listen to Kanye and Jay-Z and wear Uggs and hoodies. We listened to Cheap Trick and the Eagles and wore clogs and cords.

Ah, cords. Made by Levis or Lee, they were all the rage the fall I entered high school. Straight-leg cords, worn, of course, with wooden-soled clogs. Levis were the coolest, but the hip tag advertised your size, while the Lees only said LEE. I had a pair of Levis. With my fingernail, I scratched at the tag enough to obliterate the size. (I clearly remember my size --- 28X36 --- which doesn’t seem so horrible now.)

But I usually wore Lees. My favorites were skin tight and dark green, and I wore them with a cream-colored velour top that was the height of fashion in 1980.

In the back pocket of your cords, you would carry a big comb --- or, if you had enough hair, a pick --- that you would frequently remove to style back your feathered hair. These days, this hairdo is known as the mullet, and no kid would be caught dead in it.

Not everything has changed, of course.

My own kids, who now happen to be a tween and a teen, run a familiar daily gamut of angsty emotion. They are frequently --- and often simultaneously --- grossed out, insecure, indignant, ravenous, mortified, sullen, and in urgent need of some item that can only be obtained if I A) drive through the rain at night to a store that’s about to close; B) lay out a tremendous amount of cash or C) Get so worn down by nagging and/or whining that I cave and agree to do both of the above.

Every day, I hear myself repeating things my own parents said:
“Shut the door/the fridge/your mouth.”
“Turn off the light/the TV/the music.”
“Who took the scissors/tape/notepad out of the drawer and didn’t put it back?”
“Put that cup/bowl/plate in the dishwasher when you’re done.”
“Who ate the last Popsicle/Twinkie/Donut and put the empty box back into the cupboard?”

Yes, I’ve learned that many things, for better or worse, never change.

My favorite enduring quality? Most kids still enjoy a good book --- narrative, long chapters, non-white-space, and all.

-- Wendy Corsi Staub

Rachel Caine on Life Lessons and Unlikely Motivations

2009-11-11T09:00:00.002-05:00

Rachel Caine is the bestselling author of over twenty novels for adults, but is widely known to teen audiences for her popular Morganville Vampires books. In today's guest blog, she shares a touching story about how the series may not have existed at all without the help of a very good friend.

The first thing you need to know about me is that I can be completely wrong about things. For instance: I almost said no to writing the Morganville Vampires series.

Wait, I'm wrong: I actually did say no.

I was on about the fourth book of the other series I was writing, the Weather Warden series, when the publisher approached me and said, "We're starting up a new line of books for young adults. Would you be interested in writing a series for us? We were thinking about a vampire series." (This was pretty farsighted on their part, considering that TWILIGHT had come out, but wasn't the monster hit it would become later.)

Now, I had written about vampires already. A lot. My first original novel, in fact, was called THE UNDEAD, and featured a Dallas surgeon who became a vampire (I also wrote a sequel to it, COLD KISS). I wrote short vampire fiction (most notably the Nebula-nominated "Faith Like Wine"). So I wasn't new to the idea, but that was the problem: I'd already written a lot of words about vampires. And I wasn't sure I had anything new to add.

So after thinking it over for not nearly long enough, I said no. Then I got worried, because as a writer, you really don't say no when someone offers you a chance like that, not without a whole lot of thinking.

I got on the phone during my drive home from work to talk to my good friend, Ter Matthies. Ter read extensively in young adult books; she also knew my writing style. So I said, "Ter, they offered me this chance, and I said no, because I really don't have anything to say about vampires right now, and also, I don't write young adult."

Ter was quiet for a moment, then said, "You can write young adult. Trust me."

Well, that was one problem down. "But I don't have any good ideas!" And Ter, bless her, laughed.

"You will," she said. "Before I hang up the phone, you'll think of something."

And I did. On the drive home, I talked about Morganville (although it wasn't named that at the time). About all the things that suddenly started putting themselves together in my head. About Claire, and Shane, and Michael, and Eve. And Ter asked me questions, prodded me, pushed me, and encouraged me. And by the time I pulled into my driveway, I had the basics of the series.

And Ter said, "Get off the phone with me, call your agent, and make the deal."

And I did.

This is especially important to me because about a year later, Ter became ill, and after long months, she was finally diagnosed with cancer. After a year of battling it, we lost her in 2008. She was a fantastic friend, and without her, Morganville would quite simply not exist. Her instincts were right, mine were wrong, and I have learned the best lesson of all from her:

Anything is possible.

All you need is imagination, and a friend like Ter to tell you when you're being an idiot. And I think I carried that on into Morganville, which is, to my mind, a living memorial to Ter, and friendship. With love, from me.

-- Rachel Caine

This Week's New Releases

2009-11-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

Whether you're in the mood for gripping historical fiction, heart-racing thrillers, quirky comedies or mind-bending fantasies, we're sure you'll find something to satisfy your literary cravings in this week's New Releases Roundup, which includes two installments in Laurie Faria Stolarz's paranormal Touch series; David Almond's heartbreaking tale of survival, RAVEN SUMMER; HAZEL, Julie Hearn's anticipated follow up to last year's IVY; and Margaret Peterson Haddix's latest suspense novel about a young Hollywood starlet, CLAIM TO FAME.

New Releases for November 10th

Hardcover

ANGEL IN VEGAS: The Chronicles of Noah Sark, by Norma Howe (Candlewick Press)
Who is Noah Sark, really? And what is he doing in the men’s room at Angelo’s Donut Shop in Las Vegas, Nevada? No use asking him; he doesn’t know. But he’s gambling that an assignment from above will shed some light --- after all, a life depends on it! Only master satirist Norma Howe could craft a provocative meditation on free will from blending one (or maybe two) budding teen romances, a psychic fair, a dead frog, a headful of blond curls, and Las Vegas in all its glitz and kitsch (hello, Elvis!) with the dramatic backstory of Princess Diana in Paris. The jackpot? A wild and witty portrait of an unlikely guardian angel on a desperate mission to save a certain unknown girl from a certain unknown disaster.

THE BROTHERS STORY by Katherine Sturtevant (Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers)
Teenage twins Kit and Christy have grown up amid grinding poverty in their Essex village. As Christy has been “simple” from birth, Kit is literally his brother’s keeper. But the latest hardships visited upon their country home by the Great Frost of 1683–84 bring Kit to frustration and despair, and he abandons Christy to make his way to London, seeking to better himself. There he finds work as an apprentice to a struggling artist and much else to take his mind off what he has left behind. But the time comes when he can no longer ignore the problem of his brother.

A fascinating portrait of a young person struggling to balance family and freedom, The Brothers Story is also a frank depiction of Restoration London in its bawdy, raucous glory.

CLAIM TO FAME by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing)
I have to tell you my secret. I can't go on...without revealing it. I had a pretty good run, hiding from everyone for five years. For five years I was safe. But now...

It was a talent that came out of nowhere. One day Lindsay Scott was on the top of the world, the star of a hit TV show. The next day her fame had turned into torture. Every time anyone said anything about her, she heard it. And everyone was talking about Lindsay: fans, friends, enemies, enemies who pretended to be friends....

Lindsay had what looked like a nervous breakdown and vanished from the public eye. But now she's sixteen and back in the news: A tabloid newspaper claims that Lindsay is being held hostage by her father.

The truth? Lindsay has been hiding out in a small Illinois town, living in a house that somehow provides relief from the stream of voices in her head. But when two local teenagers try to "rescue" Lindsay by kidnapping her, Lindsay is forced to confront everything she's hiding from. And that's when she discovers there may be others who share her strange power. Lindsay is desperate to learn more, but what is she willing to risk to find the truth?

THE MAGICIAN OF HOAD by Margaret Mahy (Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster)
Heriot Tarbas was born with a gift. Visions wake him in the middle of the night, and others' thoughts invade his head. Heriot's mind already feels torn apart when the King of Hoad decides to tear him away from his family.

Heriot quickly discovers that life in the royal court is much more difficult and complex than life on the farm. Being at the beck and call of a King who expects him to read friends' and foes' minds alike is no small challenge, but neither is being caught in a power struggle among three princes and an intimidating Hero of Hoad.

As Heriot hones his skills and grows into the role of the Magician of Hoad, the number of people he can trust becomes smaller. Loneliness threatens to engulf him until a chance encounter brings a street urchin named Cayley into his life. Heriot feels inexplicably drawn to Cayley, someone he sees so much of himself in, yet at times feels like he does not understand at all. But even amidst the turmoil, Heriot is certain that his ever-developing power is the key to his destiny...if only he could figure out exactly what that destiny is supposed to be.

Award-winning author Margaret Mahy conjures a faraway, majestic land where truth is an illusion, freedom is a battle, and pure magic may be the only saving grace.

RAVEN SUMMER by David Almond (Delacorte Books for Young Readers)
Liam and his friend Max are playing in their neighborhood when the call of a bird leads them out into a field beyond their town. There, they find a baby lying alone atop a pile of stones --- with a note pinned to her clothing. Mystified, Liam brings the baby home to his parents. They agree to take her in, but police searches turn up no sign of the baby’s parents. Finally they must surrender the baby to a foster family, who name her Allison. Visiting her in Northumberland, Liam meets Oliver, a foster son from Liberia who claims to be a refugee from the war there, and Crystal, a foster daughter. When Liam’s parents decide to adopt Allison, Crystal and Oliver are invited to her christening. There, Oliver tells Liam about how he will be slaughtered if he is sent back to Liberia. The next time Liam sees Crystal, it is when she and Oliver have run away from their foster homes, desperate to keep Oliver from being sent back to Liberia. In a cave where the two are hiding, Liam learns the truth behind Oliver’s dark past --- and is forced to ponder what all children are capable of.

WINTER’S END by Jean-Claude Mourlevat (Candlewick Press)
In a gripping dystopian novel, four teenagers risk impossible odds to fight against tyranny in a world of dangerous choices --- and reemerging hope.

Escape. Milena, Bartolomeo, Helen, and Milos have left their prison-like boarding schools far behind, but their futures remain in peril. Fleeing across icy mountains from a terrifying pack of dog-men sent to hunt them down, they are determined to take up the fight against the despotic government that murdered their parents years before. Only three will make it safely to the secret headquarters of the resistance movement. The fourth is captured and forced to participate in a barbaric game for the amusement of the masses --- further proof of the government’s horrible brutality. Will the power of one voice be enough to rouse a people against a generation of cruelty? Translated from the French, this suspenseful story of courage, individualism, and freedom has resonated with young readers across the globe.

DEADLY LITTLE LIES: A Touch Novel, by Laurie Faria Stolarz (Disney-Hyperion)
Last fall, sixteen-year-old Camelia fell for Ben, the mysterious new boy at school who turned out to have a very mysterious gift --- pyschometry, the ability to sense the future through touch. But just as Camelia and Ben's romance began to heat up, he abruptly left town. Brokenhearted, Camelia has spent the last few months studying everything she can about psychometry, and experiencing her own strange brushes with premonition. Camelia wonders if Ben's abilities have somehow rubbed off on her. Can the power of psychometry be transferred?
Even once Ben returns to school, Camelia can't get close enough to share her secret with him. Despite the romantic tension between them, Ben remains aloof, avoiding contact. Then when an unexpected kiss leads to a frightening argument, Camelia makes the painful decision to let Ben go and move on. Adam, the hot new guy at work, seems good for her in ways Ben wasn't. Adam is easygoing, and seems to really care about her.

But when Camelia and Adam start dating, a surprising love triangle results. A chilling sequence of events upturns secrets from Ben's past --- and Adam's. Someone is lying, and it's up to Camelia to figure out who-before it's too late.

EVERWILD: Skinjacker Trilogy, Book Two by Neal Schusterman (Simon & Schuster)
There was the rumor of a beautiful sky witch, who soared across the heavens in a great silver balloon. And there were whispers of a terrible ogre made entirely of chocolate, who lured unsuspecting souls with that rich promising smell, only to cast them down a bottomless pit from which there was no return.

Everlost, the limbo land of dead children, is at war. Nick the "Chocolate Ogre" wants to help the children of Everlost reach the light at the end of the tunnel. Mary Hightower, self-proclaimed queen of lost children and dangerous fanatic, is determined to keep Everlost's children trapped within its limbo for all eternity. Traveling in the memory of the Hindenburg, Mary is spreading her propaganda and attracting Afterlights to her cause at a frightening speed.

Meanwhile, Allie the Outcast travels home to seek out her parents, along with Mikey, who was once the terrifying monster the McGill. Allie is tempted by the seductive thrill of skinjacking the living, until she learns a shocking secret: Those who skinjack are not actually dead.

Critically acclaimed author Neal Shusterman writes a book about life, death, and how the choices we make define ourselves in this luminous sequel to EVERLOST, which Orson Scott Card called "marvelously inventive...and magically beautiful."

HAZEL by Julie Hearn (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster)
Hazel Louise Mull-Dare has a good life, but it's so dull. With an adoring father who grants her every wish, a place in the Kensington School for the Daughters of Gentlemen, and no pressure to excel in anything whatsoever, her future looks primly predictable.

But on the day of the Epsom Derby --- June 4, 1913 --- everything changes. A woman in a dark coat steps in front of the king's horse, in protest at the injustice of denying women the vote. She dies days later, bringing further attention to the suffragist cause. Young Hazel is transfixed. And when her bold new friend Gloria convinces her to take on the cause, Hazel gets her first taste of rebellion.

But doing so leads her into greater trouble than she could have ever imagined. Such great trouble that she is banished from London, all the way to where her family fortune originates --- a sugar plantation in the Caribbean. There Hazel is forced to confront the dark secrets of her family --- secrets that have festered, and a shame that lingers on.

Paperback

DEADLY LITTLE SECRET: A Touch Novel by Laurie Faria Stolarz (Hyperion Books for Children)
Sixteen-year-old Camelia Hammond’s normal life gets turned upside down when Ben Carter transfers to her school. Rumors fly that Ben murdered his girlfriend. Then Camelia starts receiving threatening letters and phone calls. Her gut says she can trust Ben, but then who is stalking her every move? And is the stalker really capable of the threats he makes?
- Click here to read our review of DEADLY LITTLE SECRET.

WTF by Peter Lerangis (Simon Pulse)
Two parties, six alternating points of view, and three letters that says it all --- WTF!

New Releases for November 12th

Hardcover

THE BETRAYAL OF NATALIE HARGROVE by Lauren Kate (Razorbill/Penguin Young Readers Group)
A steamy Southern beauty makes one fatal mistake...

Natalie Hargrove would kill to be her high school’s Palmetto Princess. But her boyfriend Mike King doesn’t share her dream and risks losing the honor of Palmetto Prince to Natalie’s nemesis, Justin Balmer. So she convinces Mike to help play a prank on Justin. . . one that goes terribly wrong. They tie him to the front of the church after a party --- when they arrive the next morning, Justin is dead.

From blackmail to buried desire, dark secrets to darker deeds, Natalie unravels. She never should’ve messed with fate. Fate is the one thing more twisted than Natalie Hargrove.

Paperback

BEAUTIFUL AMERICANS by Lucy Silag (Razorbill)
A story of four American teens in Paris… and the scandal that leads one girl to disappear.

This sparkling novel reveals exactly how it feels to be a teen in love, in angst, in a big, gorgeous, unfamiliar city. Fall in love with the elusive model --- gorgeous PJ, on the run from a mysterious past. Or Olivia, a hardworking ballerina whose fall from grace --- both literal and figurative --- lands her in the arms of the wrong boy. Witness the melodrama of jaded but beautiful Alex, whose seductions will never fill the void left by her father. Finally, let fun-loving Zack warm your heart with his vulnerability and sweet Memphis accent.

On their own for the first time, these kids go wild in Paris. But when PJ disappears, the others must face the lies they’ve told and the secrets they’ve kept in order to help find her.

Christa Holder Ocker: Opening the Floodgates

2009-11-06T09:00:00.000-05:00

Today's guest blogger is Christa Holder Ocker, whose memoir, AUF WIEDERSEHEN, chronicles her harrowing childhood experiences in Nazi Germany during the Second World War. Below, she recalls a poignant moment shared with her ailing, elderly mother that prompted her to finally write about a past she's kept buried for decades.

What was it like growing up in Nazi Germany? I've been asked many times. With countless others of my generation, I shared the guilt of the Holocaust and evaded this question for a very long time --- the answer buried behind the floodgates of my soul. But then one day, many years later, I went to visit my aging mother.

"Oh, it's you." My mother sits at the foot of her bed as I enter her room. Her life grown fragile as the old worn shoes on her swollen feet, she waits each day for me to come by. "Where were you yesterday?" she asks, an edge of reproach in her voice.

"I told you I had a luncheon date with Debbie Panchino, remember?” A shaft of sunlight slants through the far window and touches her feet. “Why do you always wear those old shoes? You have much nicer ones.”

She ignores my question and raises her silky eyebrows a trifle. "Debbie who?"

"Debbie Panchino from New York Pictures. They're interested in doing my story, Broken Bonds."

“Oh.”

My lips touch her hollow cheek and I detect a scent, a bit musty like a moss-covered stump.

"Did you have a shower?"

"No, I don't feel good." Her eyes, set deep in a pale face, narrow as if in pain. "Maybe tomorrow…"

"I think you'll feel much better after a shower," I insist as she allows me to get her undressed. I'm always amazed at how immodest she has become in her old age. She used to be so private, private and proud.

Bent like a tree leaning away from the wind, she weighs heavily on my arm as I lead her into the bathroom. "I don't know why I can't walk anymore," she complains, holding on tight. I turn on the water and let it run over the palm of my hand until I am satisfied that it is nice and warm, but not too warm. I help her step under the spray and slide the soap gently over bumps and lumps on her body, remnants of a life ravaged by storms. I adjust the showerhead so that the warm water reaches her all over.

Wrapped in a towel and smelling like a rose in June, she continues with her litany of ills. "I don't know what's wrong with my hand." She frees a trembling right hand with utmost concentration. "I have no more strength in it."

If only she would stop moaning, I think as I help her get dressed. She never asks anymore, How are you? How are the kids? Just moan…moan…moan.

"Do you think I had a stroke?" She looks at me with something like anticipation showing in her weary eyes.

"No, Mom, I don't think so." I hold both my hands in front of her and say, "Squeeze." As she squeezes, quite firmly and evenly, the trembling subsides. "No, Mom, I don't think so," I repeat. "I think it's just weakness."

"But it wasn't like this before." She brings her right hand, steadied by her left hand, close to my eyes. "Something isn't right," she maintains, shaking her head from side to side. "See?"

And I see my mother, her hands having pushed aside the floodgates of my soul --- my mother young once again, cheekbones flushed, flashing eyes expressing a readiness to kill, a soldier’s rifle pointed at her heart, her arms extended backwards, her beautiful hands strong and steady shielding two little terrified girls.

Suddenly, I am breathing in gasps from a source that is somewhere deeper than my soul. My fingers, hardening into bone white, dig into my palms. And then I feel my mother's tremulous hand on my arm. "Are you all right?" She asks. The concern in her smile echoes in her voice, and her hand remains on my arm until I become, once more, quiet as morning mist.

As I drove home, my thoughts began to form the idea to at last answer the question of what it was like growing up in Nazi Germany. Vignettes of my life as a child danced before my eyes. As soon as I got home, I started to write. I hope that my book, AUF WIEDERSEHEN --- a story about a journey that begins toward the end of World War II, a journey that weaves through everyday life and world-changing events --- will have a broad appeal not only for adults who are curious about that period in history, but also as a lesson for our youth.

-- Christa Holder Ocker

Marlene Wallach: A Girls Guide to Feeling Great Inside & Out

2009-11-04T09:00:00.000-05:00

Aside from dispensing beauty and lifestyle advice on her website, JustAskMarlene.com, Marlene Wallach --- president and owner of the model and talent agency Wilhelmina Kids & Teens --- has also published a four-book series called The Tween Lifestyle Collection, which aims to help teens and tweens navigate the bumpy road of adolescence. In today's guest blog, she shares some great tips on creating a healthy self-image that she's learned from first-hand experience and has been passing on to her clients for the past ten years.

Terrific, terrifying, wonderful and wacky. Being a girl today is all those things and so much more. It’s great to be you, but it’s also complicated. You’re a best friend, a daughter, a student, a trendsetter and a thrill-seeker --- which is quite a lot for one girl to handle! That’s why I wrote the My Tween Lifestyle Collection of books and created the JustAskMarlene website --- so you can feel good about yourself and enjoy all of the amazing opportunities headed your way. Never before have there been so many fun activities, ideas to ponder and doors to open to your future. So let’s turn the knob and enter!

Confidence Club
Your life is an amazing adventure, with everything changing so quickly. You might like different activities than you did when you were a little kid. Maybe you’ve changed schools and even have different friends. You are certainly growing, which means your body is changing as well. All of these things are exciting, but they can be a little scary too. You need to value who you are to easily navigate through the ups and downs of this time. The amount you value yourself is your self-esteem. If you believe that you nail any activity you try and anyone who doesn’t want to be your friend is crazy, then you have high self-esteem. If you think you’re crummy in school, sports and everything in between, then your self-esteem is low. Most people fall somewhere in between these two extremes. Wherever you land on this spectrum, you can always build your self-esteem. Let’s find out how.

Give your Self-Esteem Some Steam!
Self-esteem is important because it affects everything you do. When you feel good about yourself and are appreciated by others, it’s easier to make friends, try new activities, and push yourself in school. This is different than being conceited. You don’t need to pretend you’re the greatest person in the world. That would be fake. A healthy self-image actually comes from accepting who you are --- just the way you are. Here are some ways to improve your self-esteem:

—Let lots of people into your life: Camp counselors, teachers, relatives, classmates and neighbors make up your support network. Don’t forget friends who move to another town --- pen pals are a terrific hobby. Keep the members of this network updated on what’s going on in your life. Their opinions, love and guidance will come in handy one day.

—Be helpful: Whether it’s carrying an elderly person’s groceries across the street or showing a new student around the school, helping out feels great. Making a difference in someone else’s life will definitely make one in your own.

—Try new experiences: Are you a jock? Then give drama a try. At first it might be intimidating to experiment with a new activity, but soon enough you’ll find that you’ve developed a host of new talents, skills and friends!

—Don’t try to be perfect: Everyone makes mistakes. It’s normal to worry about making them, but they are really lessons in disguise. So don’t let the fear of mistakes keep you from trying new things. When you learn how to ride a bike, every time you fall off you are teaching your body how to balance. If you keep getting back on the bike, eventually you will ride like the wind… or at least to your friend’s house.

—Believe in yourself: Have faith that you can accomplish the goals you set for yourself. Make a plan for what you want to achieve and stick to it. You might not always end up where you thought you would, but you’ll be better for the journey.

—Ask for help: There’s nothing wrong with asking for help when you need it. If you are stuck on a math problem, ask your friend the math whiz to explain it to you. You can learn from everybody in your life, not just your teachers. Your friends and family are a rich resource, so use them.

For more articles and tips like this one check out www.justaskmarlene.com and the My Tween Lifestyle Collection. And don’t forget --- you are BEAUTIFUL!

This Week's New Releases

2009-11-02T09:00:00.001-05:00

I hope you remembered to set your clocks back an hour yesterday, as the first Sunday in November marks the end of Daylight Savings Time throughout most of the country. While most of us opt to use our newly regained hour for a bit more snooze time, we're willing to bet a few of you fellow book junkies spent those extra sixty minutes with your noses buried in a great book! And for the rest of you who slept right through it, we have seven fantastic titles in this week's New Releases Roundup to help you catch up, including 2 juicy new installments to the Gossip Girl and It Girl series by Cecily von Ziegesar; FADE OUT, Rachel Caine's next book in the Morganville Vampires series; and the heart-wrenching FREAKS AND REVELATIONS by Davida Wills Hurwin.

New Releases for November 1st

Hardcover

FREAKS AND REVELATIONS by Davida Wills Hurwin (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
This raw, moving novel follows two teenagers --- one, a Mohawk-wearing 17-year-old violent misfit; the other, a gay 13-year-old cast out by his family, hustling on the streets and trying to survive. Acclaimed author Davida Wills Hurwin creates a riveting narrative told in alternating perspectives of their lives before and after the violent hate crime that changed both their futures. This tragic but ultimately inspirational journey of two polarized teens, their violent first meeting, and their peaceful reunion years later is an unforgettable story of survival and forgiveness.

This story is inspired by the real lives of Matthew Boger and Timothy Zaal, who have shared their story on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and NPR.

DEVIOUS: An It Girl Novel, created by Cecily von Ziegesar (Poppy/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Popular Gossip Girl character Jenny Humphrey never goes looking for trouble; but trouble always seems to find her. What Waverly Academy mischief will Jenny, Tinsley, and Callie stir up now?

It's January, and a new semester at Waverly Academy means one thing: new students. Make that hot new students. A gorgeous brother-sister pair is taking Waverly by storm, and the campus is abuzz with fresh gossip and even fresher crushes. But while all the girls are busy drooling over the new it-guy, they'd better watch their backs --- because his sister is going to give them all a run for their money. After all, there can only be one It Girl...

STRUTS & FRETS by Jon Skovron (Amulet Books)
Told in a voice that’s honest, urgent, and hilarious, STRUTS & FRETS will resonate not only with teenage musicians but with anyone who ever sat up all night listening to a favorite album, wondering if they’d ever find their place in the world.

Music is in Sammy’s blood. His grandfather was a jazz musician, and Sammy’s indie rock band could be huge one day --- if they don’t self-destruct first. Winning the upcoming Battle of the Bands would justify all the band’s compromises and reassure Sammy that his life’s dream could become a reality. But practices are hard to schedule when Sammy’s grandfather is sick and getting worse, his mother is too busy to help either of them, and his best friend may want to be his girlfriend.

When everything in Sammy’s life seems to be headed for major catastrophe, will his music be enough to keep him together?

Paperback
BREAKFAST AT BLOOMINGDALES by Kristen Kemp (Scholastic)
Kat's come to New York City with a dream: to be a big fashion designer and to see her name on a label in Bloomingdale's. Back in upstate New York, she imagined a city paved in Prada . . . but the reality isn't quite so fashionable. Still, there are friends to be made, boys to be flirted with, and amazements to be found . . . sometimes when she least expects it. Even when her lame boyfriend from back home comes to the city to try to reclaim her, Kat knows she's found her place . . . now all she has to do is have NYC find her back!

New Releases for November 3rd

Hardcover

MILLION-DOLLAR THROW by Michael (Philomel Books)
What would you do with a million dollars, if you were 13?

Nate Brodie is nicknamed “Brady” not only for his arm, but also because he’s the biggest Tom Brady fan. He’s even saved up to buy an autographed football. And when he does, he wins the chance for something he’s never dreamed of --- to throw a pass through a target at a Patriots game for one million dollars.

Nate should be excited. But things have been tough lately. His dad lost his job and his family is losing their home. It’s no secret that a million dollars would go a long way. So all Nate feels is pressure, and just when he needs it most, his golden arm begins to fail him. Even worse, his best friend Abby is going blind, slowly losing her ability to do the one thing she loves most --- paint. Yet Abby never complains, and she is Nate’s inspiration. He knows she’ll be there when he makes the throw of a lifetime.

Mike Lupica’s latest sports novel is also his most heartwarming.

I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU: A Gossip Girl Novel, created by Cecily von Ziegesar (Poppy/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Blair, Serena, Nate, Dan, and Vanessa went off to live their lives.

Now they're coming home for the holidays.

A lot can change in a few months . . . but some things never do.

It finally happened: we went to college. We started over. No one knows who we've coveted, what we scored on the SATs,where our parents live, or when we became debaucherous. We've learned new things, made new friends, and maybe even met the loves of our lives. We've changed.

Or at least, some of us have. But old habits are hard to break -- -especially when faced with your former besties and former flames. With everyone back in the city for the holidays, this break is guaranteed to be filled with makeups, breakups, and shakeups.

Lucky for you, I'm here to report all the scandal as it happens. Let the games begin!

You know you love me,
xoxo Gossip Girl

FADE OUT: The Morganville Vampires, Book Four by Rachel Caine (Berkley)
Without the evil vampire Bishop ruling over the town of Morganville, the resident vampires have made major concessions to the human population. With their newfound freedom, Claire Danvers and her friends are almost starting to feel comfortable again...Now Claire can actually concentrate on her studies, and her friend Eve joins the local theatre company. But when one of Eve's castmates goes missing after starting work on a short documentary, Eve suspects the worst. Claire and Eve soon realise that this film project, whose subject is the vampires themselves, is a whole lot bigger --- and way more dangerous --- than anyone suspected.

Carrie Jones: Random Facts About Me

2009-10-30T09:00:00.003-04:00

Today's guest blogger is Carrie Jones, author of the fantasy novel, NEED, and its upcoming sequel, CAPTIVATE (due out in January). Below, she shares of list of fun facts you may have wanted to know about her --- and perhaps a few things you didn't!

1. I do not base my characters on me, because I want them to have less embarrassing lives than my life.

2. I am nice that way.

3. For instance, while I have stood outside a New York city hotel (that was super ritzy) with two huge bags of books in my hands and had my skirt fall ALL THE WAY DOWN right in front of the taxi line and a seven-year-old boy and his dad, I would never do that to Zara, the main character in NEED and CAPTIVATE.

4. Really, I am too nice to do that.

5. Similarly, even though I was talking to a book publisher’s publicity person at the Bar Harbor Book Festival and suddenly felt something fall out of my skirt and I just kept talking, only to step backwards and see a man’s sock on the floor, I would never do that to Issie --- also in NEED and CAPTIVATE --- because I know she would just die of humiliation.

6. I almost die of humiliation a lot, but I somehow survive. I have no idea why. I’m not sure it’s fair.

7. One of the worst, most embarrassing things that ever happened to me was in high school when I was talking to a guy I was 100 percent crushing on, and a tampon fell out of my locker right in between us. I stepped on it. No, I stomped on it really, and gasped.

8. Note: If you step on a feminine hygiene product in front of a guy you like, do not gasp and then kick it backwards so that it skitters down the hall because unless he is really super unaware, he will notice and start laughing so hard that he’ll fall over, clutching his stomach and someone will call the principal because of the commotion and then you will have to explain to the principal what happened.

9. I truly believe there are certain things a person shouldn’t have to endure.

10. Public humiliation is one of them.

11. Yes, Zara does have to deal with horrible things --- evil pixies, dead dad, stalking, nasty girls who rank on her choice of classic rock bands and love of Amnesty International --- I, as the author, solemnly swear not to ever make her skirt fall down, nor make a sock fall out of her skirt, nor make her have an embarrassing incident like the one mentioned at #7 and #8 above.

12. Maybe. ;)

-- Carrie Jones

J. Adams Oaks: Talking To a Stranger on a Bus

2009-10-28T09:00:00.000-04:00

J. Adams Oaks's gritty debut novel, WHY I FIGHT, straddles the line between YA and adult fiction, as he tells the story of a 12 year old on the run from his dark, violent, and unstable past. In today's guest blog, he recalls his struggles in trying to find the right audience for his book, and shares his surprise over the unexpected response he received from an unlikely group of readers.

Okay, so I’m pretty stumped. My very first novel, WHY I FIGHT, just came out this past spring and the target audience, according to the publishing company and all the media, was supposed to be 14 to 20 year olds. The book has sold over 10,000 copies (which is awesome), yet I haven’t met one single young adult who’s read it. I’ve had readings and book signings, and I’ve gotten emails from people who liked it or had questions, but every single one of them has been an adult. What’s up with that?

It’s kind of ironic really, because when I wrote the first draft of WHY I FIGHT, I really had no idea who the audience was. Oh, sure, I could talk a good game about Wyatt's --- the main character’s --- voice, but I had no idea who would read my book. So when Richard Jackson, my amazing editor at Simon and Schuster, bought the book back in 2005, he told me it’d be published as Young Adult fiction. Then he asked me one seemingly simple question:

“Who is Wyatt telling his story to?”

That means ‘who is the audience?’ and, man on man, now I was caught. I couldn’t avoid answering this question any longer. Plus, what I really wanted to say was, "I just want people to read my book! Everybody! Anybody!"

But instead I said, “Well, I always imagined Wyatt on a bus talking to a stranger.” Usually, that answer got people off my back, even though there was no stranger in the book and there was no bus.

“Well,” Dick said to me, “if that is what you intended to do, then you haven’t written that novel.”

And so the rewriting began, imagining the reader, through numerous drafts. Remembering someone was sitting there, listening, and making sure the story was being told to them.

Once the book came out this past spring, with the publishing company focusing on fourteen to twenty year olds, and the bookstores and libraries shelving it in the YA section, it surprised the heck out of me that the people showing up my readings and the people getting in touch were all adults.

The audiences I get all seem to be moms and dads who are worried about Wyatt and feel bad for him. Sure, they ask some good intelligent questions. And, man, I’m just glad people are interested. But some people freak out that Wyatt kills a fish and bird and that he fights and, truthfully, I think they’ve either forgotten what it’s like (or never experience what it’s like) to be a kid, much less a boy becoming a man.

Kids kill stuff. They wreck stuff and mess up. They do things that they don’t think is right because someone tells them to. And still, look at how many of them out there turn out to be perfectly awesome human beings. That is what I hope for Wyatt in the end. And it’s what I hope for the young readers who connect with him, that maybe they understand that life moves on and things ain’t so bad. It’s simple, I know, but important.

Anyway, if you read the book and you are younger, I’d love to hear from you. I’m always up to a chat.

-- J. Adams Oaks

This Week's New Releases

2009-10-26T09:00:00.000-04:00

We have nine exciting and highly anticipated new releases to share with you this week, including Kristina Springer's debut THE ESPRESSOLOGIST, about a match-making barista; Alexander Gordon Smith's jailbreak novel, LOCKDOWN; SPLENDOR, the final chapter in the Luxe series by Anna Godbersen; Lisi Harrison's Clique prequel, CHARMED AND DANGEROUS; and TEMPTED, the latest installment the mother-daughter duo P. C. and Kristin Cast's House of Night series.

New Releases for October 27th

Hardcover

THE ESPRESSOLOGIST by Kristina Springer (Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers)
What’s your drink of choice? Is it a small pumpkin spice latte? Then you’re lots of fun and a bit sassy. Or a medium americano? You prefer simplicity in life. Or perhaps it’s a small decaf soy sugar-free hazelnut caffe latte? Some might call you a yuppie. Seventeen-year-old barista Jane Turner has this theory that you can tell a lot about a person by their regular coffee drink. She scribbles it all down in a notebook and calls it Espressology. So it’s not a totally crazy idea when Jane starts hooking up some of her friends based on their coffee orders. Like her best friend, Em, a medium hot chocolate, and Cam, a toffee nut latte. But when her boss, Derek, gets wind of Jane’s Espressology, he makes it an in-store holiday promotion, promising customers their perfect matches for the price of their favorite coffee. Things are going better than Derek could ever have hoped, so why is Jane so freaked out? Does it have anything to do with Em dating Cam? She’s the one who set them up! She should be happy for them, right?

With overtones of Jane Austen’s EMMA and brimming with humor and heart, this sweet, frothy debut will be savored by readers.

LOCKDOWN: Escape from the Furnace, by Alexander Gordon Smith (Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers)
Furnace Penitentiary: the world’s most secure prison for young offenders, buried a mile beneath the earth’s surface. Convicted of a murder he didn’t commit, sentenced to life without parole, “new fish” Alex Sawyer knows he has two choices: find a way out, or resign himself to a death behind bars, in the darkness at the bottom of the world. Except in Furnace, death is the least of his worries. Soon Alex discovers that the prison is a place of pure evil, where inhuman creatures in gas masks stalk the corridors at night, where giants in black suits drag screaming inmates into the shadows, where deformed beasts can be heard howling from the blood-drenched tunnels below. And behind everything is the mysterious, all-powerful warden, a man as cruel and dangerous as the devil himself, whose unthinkable acts have consequences that stretch far beyond the walls of the prison.

Together with a bunch of inmates --- some innocent kids who have been framed, others cold-blooded killers --- Alex plans an escape. But as he starts to uncover the truth about Furnace’s deeper, darker purpose, Alex’s actions grow ever more dangerous, and he must risk everything to expose this nightmare that’s hidden from the eyes of the world.

THE SHADOW DRAGONS: The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica, Book Four, written and illustrated by James A. Owen (Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing)
World War II has been raging for three years, but a more terrible evil is just over the horizon. The last stones are falling from the Keep of Time, and the Imperial Cartological Society, led by Richard Burton, has collected doors and is building a new tower at the request of an old enemy: the Winter King's shadow. He has a terrible weapon --- the Spear of Destiny --- that can be used to command the shadows of anyone it touches.

The Shadow King uses the Spear of Destiny to enlist an unstoppable army of Dragon shadows. And after the Archipelago falls, the Shadow King intends to use the turmoil of World War II to take over both worlds.

All the legendary Caretakers, past and present, come together to save two worlds, and their only hope lies with a small group of companions who are on the quest for the broken sword Caliburn; the Grail Child, Rose Dyson; her clockwork companion, the owl Archie; a dead professor of ancient literature; and the mythical knight Don Quixote.

SPLENDOR: A Luxe Novel, by Anna Godbersen (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
New beginnings.

Shocking revelations.

Unexpected endings.

A spring turns into summer, Elizabeth relishes her new role as a young wife, while her sister, Diana, searches for adventure abroad. But when a surprising clue about their father's death comes to light, the Holland girls wonder at what cost a life of splendor comes.

Carolina Broad, society's newest darling, fans a flame from her past, oblivious to how it might burn her future. Penelope Schoonmaker is finally Manhattan royalty --- but when a real prince visits the city, she covets a title that comes with a crown. Her husband, Henry, bravely went to war, only to discover that his father's rule extends well beyond New York's shores and that fighting for love may prove a losing battle.

In the dramatic conclusion to the bestselling Luxe series, New York's most dazzling socialites chase dreams, cling to promises, and tempt fate. As society watches what will become of the city's oldest families and newest fortunes, one question remains: Will its stars fade away or will they shine ever brighter?

DESTINY’S PATH: Warrior Princess, Book Two by Frewin Jones (HarperTeen)
Her destiny must be fulfilled . . .

Ranwen refuses to take orders from anyone --- even the Shining Ones, the ancient gods whose power is feared throughout the land. They want her as their Chosen One, destined to save her country from the Saxons. But Branwen doubts she's truly ready to be a leader.

Then a messenger from the skies shows her a vision of a bleak and violent future --- a future in which Branwen has abandoned her destiny, and those most dear to her suffer unspeakable horrors. There's a blurry line between good and evil, and those Branwen trusts the most are capable of the greatest betrayal. The Shining Ones have spoken. Will Branwen answer their call?

CHARMED AND DANGEROUS: The Rise of the Pretty Committee, by Lisi Harrison (Poppy/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Happy New Clique!

Once upon a time, in Westchester and Orlando, there were four betas just waiting for their alpha. It took a miracle to bring the Pretty Committee together --- or rather, a New Year's Yves party. Because sometimes when you meet someone, it just cliques.

Massie Block: Is destined to lead, but trapped as a beta in the Ahnabees, the top clique at PMS (Presbyterian Middle School). She has ah-mazing ideas --- Friday night sleepovers, Gossip Points, and atching charm bracelets. When will it be her time to rule?

Alicia River: Is dying to lead the Body Alive Dance Studio Squad. With the captain on vacation, BADSS’s live performance on Merri Lee Marvil’s New Year’s Yves show is her chance to shine. Will she prove herself alpha-worthy --- or will she need to find a whole new clique?

Dylan Marvil: Is done, done, and done with people kissing her teeny-tiny butt just because her mom is famous. But who would be brave enough to stand up to someone so Marvilous?

Kristen Gregory: Has made a New Year’s resolution to make friends and get a life. Escape from Planet Loser starts… now!

Claire Lyons: Is psyched times ten to win a last-minute invitation to the New Year’s Yves satellite party in Orlando. But first she needs to sneak out of the house. And the countdown to midnight begins in ten… nine… eight…

The Clique… the only thing harder than getting in is staying in.

TEMPTED: House of Night, Book Six by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast (St. Martin’s Griffin)
So… you’d think after banishing an immortal being and a fallen High Priestess, saving Stark’s life, biting Heath, getting a headache from Erik, and almost dying, Zoey Redbird would catch a break. Sadly, a break is not in the House of Night school forecast for the High Priestess in training and her gang. Juggling three guys is anything but a stress reliever, especially when one of them is a sexy Warrior who is so into protecting Zoey that he can sense her emotions. Speaking of stress, the dark force lurking in the tunnels under the Tulsa Depot is spreading, and Zoey is beginning to believe Stevie Rae could be responsible for a lot more than a group of misfit red fledglings. Aphrodite’s visions warn Zoey to stay away from Kalona and his dark allure, but they also show that it is Zoey who has the power to stop the evil immortal. Soon it becomes obvious that Zoey has no choice: if she doesn’t go to Kalona he will exact a fiery vengeance on those closest to her. Will Zoey have the courage to chance losing her life, her heart, and her soul? Find out in the next spectacular installment in the House of Night Series, TEMPTED.

Paperback

THE PATRON SAINT OF BUTTERFLIES by Cecilia Galante (Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books)
Agnes and Honey have been best friends for as long as they can remember. But everything is about to change, from their friendship to the only home they’ve ever known: a religious commune called Mount Blessing. Agnes loves being a believer and following the rules of the commune, but Honey has started to rebel. Then, when Agnes and Honey experience the outside world (on the run, no less), their friendship is tested further. After all, when everything you’ve ever known turns out to be a lie, how do you find the truth? A powerful story of faith, doubt, abuse, and above all, friendship.
- Click here to read our review of THE PATRON SAINT OF BUTTERFLIES.

PERFECT MISTAKE by Kate Brian (Priviledge)
MAKE NEW FRIENDS AND KILL THE OLD....

Ariana Osgood has everything she's ever wanted. A place at elite Atherton-Pryce boarding school. Fabulous friends. A new crush. And most importantly, a new identity. Now that she's officially become Briana Leigh Covington, Ariana's troubled past is dead and buried.

Or is it?

When the one person who knows her secret arrives on campus, Ariana decides it's time to say good-bye to her ex-best friend --- forever. From the author of the bestselling Private novels comes a series about the dark world of wealth, secrets, and PRIVILEGE.

New Releases for October 29th

Paperback

DRAGONHAVEN by Robin McKinley (Speak)
Jake lives at the Makepeace Institute of Integrated Dragon Studies in Smokehill National Park. There are five million acres of the Smokehill wilderness, and the endangered dragons rarely show themselves. Jake’s never seen one except at a distance. But then, on his first overnight solo in the park, he meets a dragon—and she is dying. More than that, she has just given birth, and one of the babies is still alive. . . .
- Click here to read our review of DRAGONHAVEN.

Book Trailer and Excerpt for THE BOOK OF SAMUEL

2009-10-23T18:29:00.011-04:00

Erik Raschke's debut novel, THE BOOK OF SAMUEL, follows a teenage boy whose world gets turned upside down the day his father leaves his family. From that moment on, poor Samuel seems to have one trying situation after another thrown in his direction, making him seem more like a tragic biblical figure than an ordinary kid growing up in the '80s, just trying to make sense of the complex world around him.

We'll be reviewing THE BOOK OF SAMUEL next month, so check back soon! In the meantime, take a look at the trailer below, and download an excerpt here. And if you haven't read Erik's guest blog, you can do so here. Don't forget to let us know what you think in the comments below!

Erik Raschke: Clothe The Naked

2009-10-23T09:00:00.001-04:00

Erik Raschke is the author of numerous short stories, as well as the debut novel, THE BOOK OF SAMUEL --- a coming-of-age tale about a boy's struggles with family, love, faith, and changing surroundings. Aside from penning fiction, he also teaches it to high school students, who serve as the inspiration behind today's guest blog. Below, he discusses the personal significance of a Dorothy Parker short story to both himself as well as two very disparate groups of his students, and reflects on just how powerful the art of telling a story can be.

On the two separate occasions that I read “Clothe the Naked” by Dorothy Parker to my high school classes, it rained. For me, rain has always whispered, “read,” gently encouraging me to engage with a slower, more thoughtful world, a world that is rarely brought fully and satisfyingly to life in a sterile classroom. But sometimes, a good story or just perhaps the right story, at the right time, can flutter around a classroom, connecting each and every student’s brain via an electric current, as if the entire class has suddenly and simultaneously clambered onto Tesla plasma lamp.

The first time I read "Clothe the Naked" was to my students who were from one of the poorest parts of New York City, and the second time was to my students at a private school in one of the wealthiest parts of Holland. But on both days, I could sense almost every student transcend my nasal, almost whiney voice and grab hold to Dorothy Parker’s magnificently constructed sentences, not because they admired the foreshadowing, metaphor, point of view, blah, blah, blah, but because they were lost in the sounds, the character’s emotions, the ignorant bliss of a mute child. With every paragraph, they were drawn deeper and deeper into the narrative until I, the reader, was the farthest from their minds.

As I paced the room, reading the story with as much passion as a teacher and a non-actor can, I remember looking out over my class and discovering that many students had simply pushed the copied pages to the edge of their desk and lowered their heads. Others stared at me as if I were telling them something deeply personal. And the rest, who followed along with me, word-for-word, while I read, didn’t look up until long after I had finished the last sentence.

When I think of “Clothe the Naked” and how a story composed by a white female writer, about a blind African-American boy, brought two very distinct groups of students, Dutch and Dominican, into a awkwardly real world of ignorance and cruelty, but yet, in the end, gently delivered us all into meditative contemplation, I think, “this is why I teach fiction.” To do what Dorothy Parker does: telling a story that reaches across all groups and speaks to us intimately, pulling something grand and magnanimous from each of our souls, something we always suspected was there, but had struggled to articulate. To create the kind of story that needles us all, individually, to make certain changes in our own lives and warns us of the consequences if we don’t. To write the kind of story that has the ability to pacify thirty boys and girls, all preoccupied with love and conflicts with friends, family, and teachers (or in the case of my Dominican students, drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs, eviction) and quietly bring us face-to-face with issues connected to the core of our collective humanity.

After ten years of teaching, I have held on to one conviction, and that is there are certain stories that should be enjoyed, relished, savored, and left unmolested by us teachers. At least once a month, I read a single short story (or a chapter), one that is no longer than half-hour to forty-five minutes. I promise my students I will not ask any “discussion questions” afterward as long as they promise to listen quietly. Some of the stories work. Many of my favorite, unfortunately, don’t. But in the case of Dorothy Parker’s “Clothe the Naked,” we were all on the same page.

Click here to read Dorothy Parker's "Clothe the Naked."

-- Erik Raschke

Linda W. Braun: YALSA Teen Read Week --- Reading Beyond Reality

2009-10-22T09:00:00.003-04:00

Today's very special guest blogger is Linda W. Braun, the president of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). Below, she shares details about this year's Teen Read Week program, discusses the benefits of reading for pleasure, and even recommends some exciting titles that'll allow us to "read beyond reality."

Each October, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) --- a Division of the American Library Association (ALA) --- sponsors Teen Read Week, a program that encourages teens to read for pleasure. This year, Teen Read Week takes place October 18 through 24 and has the theme, “Read Beyond Reality.”

What does reading beyond reality mean for teens? For some, it means reading science fiction and fantasy books with imaginary characters such as those in the manga DEATH NOTE by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. Or, it might mean reading about extraordinary events as in Cory Doctorow’s LITTLE BROTHER.

For other teens, reading beyond reality means reading materials set in the present real world, but a world very different than theirs. For example, a teen who has never been to New York City may read beyond reality when picking up Cheryl Diamond’s autobiography MODEL, which tells of Diamond’s life in New York as a teen model. Or, a teen in a public school might read beyond reality with E. Lockhart’s THE DISREPUTABLE HISTORY OF FRANKIE LANDAU BANKS, which takes place in a private boarding school.

Teen Read Week also promotes the idea that reading for pleasure doesn’t happen just with books. Reading magazines, graphic novels, blog posts, sports websites, etc. are ways in which teens can enjoy content. When one is engrossed in words, story, and/or information, in whatever format it might be presented, that is an example of reading for pleasure.

Why is it important to promote teen pleasure reading? Because different types of reading bring different types of experiences, different types of understanding, and different ways of acquiring literacy skills. For example, when a teen reads an article for a class assignment, he is certainly reading and acquiring knowledge. But, while the physical act of reading that article for that purpose is the same as the physical act of reading an article in a sports magazine, personal interest in the content can help to make the reading more pleasurable and, as a result, give a teen a stronger sense of their own reading skills and help them to think of themselves as a reader and even a lover of reading.

Around the country this week, libraries are celebrating teen pleasure reading with a variety of related activities and programs. You can read more about the week and what’s going on in libraries on the Teen Read Week web site, here.

-- Linda W. Braun

The 2009 Kirkus Reviews Teen Book Video Awards

2009-10-21T16:00:00.001-04:00

The 2009 Kirkus Reviews Book Video Awards challenges student filmmakers to produce video trailers for three upcoming YA novels published by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books: FALLEN by Lauren Kate, VERY LeFREAK by Rachel Cohn, and THE MAZE RUNNER by James Dashner. The finalists for the 4th annual Teen Book Video Awards are Benjamin Bliss (FALLEN), Rosie Lambert (VERY LeFREAK), and Brighton Linge (THE MAZE RUNNER).

It’s safe to say that all of the videos are amazing, chilling, and highly entertaining, but only one of these promising young filmmakers can win this competition. The polls are open through Oct. 30th, so be sure to vote for your favorite video and send the link to everyone you know so they can check them out too!

To watch these enticing book trailers, vote for your favorite, and read more about the competition and each of the filmmakers, visit http://www.barnesandnoble.com/kirkusbva/. We had a lot of fun watching the videos, and can’t wait to see who wins. Which video excites you about reading a book the most? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Amber Kizer on the "Real Life Bits and Pieces" in MERIDIAN

2009-10-21T09:00:00.001-04:00

In today's guest blog, Amber Kizer --- author of ONE BUTT CHEEK AT A TIME and GERT GARIBALDI'S RANTS AND RAVES --- shares a family anecdote passed down from her grandparents that inspired elements of her latest novel, MERIDIAN.

As a reader, I’m always intrigued to learn of an author’s experiences influencing the writing of a book --- the autobiographical or “real life” bits and pieces. Everything in our lives as authors is fair game --- it all goes into the creative well, though what we pull out might not appear that way to readers. Not all ideas translate directly from life to a story, but for me this particular one worked exactly as it’s been in my family for generations. THE special code.

Meridian is a girl who shepherds souls to the afterlife and the story reflects a battle of good versus evil. I have lots of connections to parts of this book --- I quilt like Auntie. I’ve sat vigil like Meridian. It’s a story about death, but maybe more importantly, it’s about hope for the after. But it’s also a love story, and that’s what I’d like to talk about today!

Meridian is a Fenestra --- a race of angel/human beings who act as windows to the Afterlife. Tens is a Protector --- guardians for Fenestras. When possible, Fenestras and Protectors are soul mates. There’s a special code in this story that I took directly from my family’s history and tradition. 1-4-3. Think about it. Know the hidden meaning? I love you. I (1) love (4) you (3). Now, here’s where it came from.

My grandparents met while attending Texas Christian University in the 1940s. They lived in dorms directly across a large open space, so each could look out their window and see the other dorm and room windows. I’ve never seen these buildings or photographs of them, but in my mind’s eye they’re tall, boxy, brick apartment-like buildings. And the open space between them is about a football field of grassy space with paths cutting through it. Who knows what reality really is? As my grandparents became more serious in their dating, each night before going to bed they’d use a flashlight and blink it toward the other’s window. 1-4-3. Whoever was waiting would do it in return. An “I love you” before sleep. Usually my grandfather started and my grandmother responded in the same manner.

They thought they were pretty sneaky and didn’t tell anyone they were doing it. But one night, my grandfather blinked his 1-4-3 across the quad and my grandmother’s entire dorm blinked back. Every girl, in every window, had a flashlight! Imagine it --- the whole dorm flashing 1-4-3 right back to my grandfather! I can almost hear the girls giggling, then dissolving into full-out laughter from here.

I can see my grandfather walking to class the next morning and girls smiling or giggling when they saw him. Or his dorm mates ribbing him about it because they’d seen it or heard about it or were dating a girl who’d done it. I can hear my grandmother saying, “Oh, Joe, don’t be so embarrassed.”

Even fifty years later when my grandfather told the story, he’d turn red and sputter. My grandmother always insisted that she had nothing to do with it, but she was such a rabble rouser it wouldn’t surprise me if she’d helped the idea along. She did so love to make my grandfather blush with embarrassment.

They married in 1944 and were still together when my grandfather died in 2006. What they started continued with their children, and then to my generation. Cards and letters may be signed with 1-4-3.

In MERIDIAN, it’s a code that Charles and Auntie pass on to Meridian and Tens. Today, I’m passing it on to you. Make it your own!

I love to hear from readers. Feel free to email me: Amber@AmberKizer.com

Readers can find more behind the scenes information about Amber and her books by visiting www.AmberKizer.com, www.MeridianSozu.com, and www.OneButtCheek.com or on Facebook and Goodreads.

-- Amber Kizer

Book Trailer and Casting Widget for Kristin Cashore's FIRE

2009-10-20T17:00:00.002-04:00

As we shared with you in our New Releases Roundup Blog a few weeks back, Kristin Cashore recently published FIRE, the much-anticipated prequel to her debut novel, GRACELING. Though set in the same fantasy world as Cashore's previous book, FIRE takes place 30 years earlier, and introduces us to a 17-year-old heroine who will just about make you forget everything you thought you knew about "monsters."

After checking out the trailer above, use the casting widget below to play director, and build your own movie version of FIRE by selecting which actors you'd like to see play Fire, Brigan, Archer and Nash!

This Week's New Releases

2009-10-19T09:00:00.002-04:00

In case you didn't already know, October 18-24th is Teen Read Week! And what would be a more perfect way to kick off the festivities than with our latest roundup of new releases, which offers eight rich and thought-provoking titles that tackle some pretty heavy topics, like culture clashes in Katherine Patterson's THE DAY OF THE PELICAN; the difficulties of loss in Valerie O. Patterson's THE OTHER SIDE OF BLUE and HOLD STILL by Nina LaCour; coming-of-age angst in Barry Lyga's GOTH GIRL RISING, and matters of the heart in K. L. Madigan FLASH BURNOUT and Lauren Strasnick's NOTHING LIKE YOU. This week also marks the release of the last installment of the endearing Dairy Queen series, FRONT AND CENTER by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, as well as the third book in Nancy Farmer's The Sea of Trolls Trilogy, THE ISLANDS OF THE BLESSED.

New Releases for October 19th

Hardcover

THE DAY OF THE PELICAN by Katherine Paterson (Clarion Books)
Meli Lleshi is positive that her drawing of her teacher with his pelican nose started it all. The Lleshis are Albanians living in Kosovo, a country trying to fight off Serbian oppressors, and suddenly they are homeless refugees. Old and young alike, they find their courage tested by hunger, illness, the long, arduous journey, and danger on every side. Then, unexpectedly, they are brought to America by a church group and begin a new life in a small Vermont town. The events of 9/11 bring more challenges for this Muslim family --- but this country is their home now and there can be no turning back. A compassionate, powerful novel by a master storyteller.

FLASH BURNOUT by L. K. Madigan (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Fifteen-year-old Blake has a girlfriend and a friend who’s a girl. One of them loves him; the other one needs him.

When he snapped a picture of a street person for his photography homework, Blake never dreamed that the woman in the photo was his friend Marissa’s long-lost meth-addicted mom. Blake’s participation in the ensuing drama opens up a world of trouble, both for him and for Marissa. He spends the next few months trying to reconcile the conflicting roles of Boyfriend and Friend. His experiences range from the comic (surviving his dad’s birth control talk) to the tragic (a harrowing after-hours visit to the morgue).

In a tangle of life and death, love and loyalty, Blake will emerge with a more sharply defined snapshot of himself.

FRONT AND CENTER by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
After five months of sheer absolute craziness I was going back to being plain old background D.J. In photographs of course I'm always in the background...

But it turns out other folks have big plans for D.J. Like her coach. College scouts. All the town hoops fans. A certain Red Bend High School junior who's keen for romance and karaoke. Not to mention Brian Nelson, who she should not be thinking about! Who she is done with, thank you very much. But who keeps showing up anyway...

GOTH GIRL RISING by Barry Lyga (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Time is a funny thing in the hospital. In the mental ward. You lose track of it easily.

After six months in the Maryland Mental Health Unit, Kyra Sellers, a.k.a. Goth Girl, is going home. Unfortunately, she's about to find out that while she was away, she lost track of more than time. Kyra is back in black, feeling good, and ready to make up with the only person who's ever appreciated her for who she really is. But then she sees him. Fanboy. Transcended from everything he was into someone she barely recognizes. And the anger and memories come rushing back.

There's so much to do to people when you're angry. Kyra's about to get very busy.

THE OTHER SIDE OF BLUE by Valerie O. Patterson (Clarion Books)
Cyan was named after a shade of blue, her artist mother's favorite color. The color of the sea. Since her father's death last year, she’s felt just as mercurial and dark as her namesake, and the distance between Cyan and her mother has grown as wide as an ocean. Now they're returning to the island of Curaçao in the Caribbean, where her father's mysterious accident occurred, and joining them will be Kammi --- who may soon become a stepsister. Haunted by the secrets of the past, Cyan will explore all the depths of her blueness this summer, discovering the light, the darkness, and the many shades in between that are within her --- and within us all.

New Releases for October 20th

Hardcover

HOLD STILL by Nina LaCour (Dutton Juvenile)
An arresting story about starting over after a friend’s suicide, from a breakthrough new voice in YA fiction.

dear caitlin, there are so many things that i want so badly to tell you but i just can’t.

Devastating, hopeful, hopeless, playful . . . in words and illustrations, Ingrid left behind a painful farewell in her journal for Caitlin. Now Caitlin is left alone, by loss and by choice, struggling to find renewed hope in the wake of her best friend’s suicide. With the help of family and newfound friends, Caitlin will encounter first love, broaden her horizons, and start to realize that true friendship didn’t die with Ingrid. And the journal which once seemed only to chronicle Ingrid’s descent into depression, becomes the tool by which Caitlin once again reaches out to all those who loved Ingrid --- and Caitlin herself.

NOTHING LIKE YOU by Lauren Strasnick (Simon Pulse)
When Holly loses her virginity to Paul, a guy she barely knows, she assumes their encounter is a one-night stand. After all, Paul is too popular to even be speaking to Holly...and he happens to have a long-term girlfriend, Saskia. But ever since Holly's mom died six months ago, Holly has been numb to the world, and she's getting desperate to feel something, anything --- so when Paul keeps pursuing her, Holly relents. Paul's kisses are a welcome diversion...and it's nice to feel like the kind of girl that a guy like Paul would choose.

But things aren't so simple with Saskia around. Paul's real girlfriend is willowy and perfect... and nothing like Holly. To make matters worse, she and Holly are becoming friends. Suddenly the consequences of Holly's choices are all too real, and Holly stands to lose more than she ever realized she had.
- Click here to read Lauren Strasnick's guest blog about the release of NOTHING LIKE YOU.

THE ISLANDS OF THE BLESSED by Nancy Farmer (Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books)
In this much-anticipated conclusion to the Sea of Trolls trilogy, Notland is no place to seek one's true calling. Or is it?

Justine Larbalestier: How I Wrote LIAR

2009-10-16T09:00:00.002-04:00

For most authors, writing a novel is definitely a long and complicated process. Today's guest blogger, Justine Larbalestier, gives us a bit of insight into hers, explaining the nonlinear approach she took to penning her latest book, LIAR.

Writing LIAR was a big departure from my previous books. Usually, like many novelists, I start at the beginning and keep writing until I get to the end. I call that my draft zero, which I write very quickly. Draft zero is always utter, utter, utter rubbish. (Seriously, if you read one of my zero drafts you would be horrified. I frequently am.) I then have to make the draft be not utter rubbish. That takes much much longer and involves rewriting the whole novel from start to finish multiple times.

LIAR was different. Because the narrator, Micah, is, um, not what would you’d call trustworthy --- she is, in fact, a liar --- her story took lots of twists and turns, and the book did, too. Micah backtracks, forwardtracks, sidetracks. I wound up writing her story completely out of order. One of the earliest parts of the novel is now close to the end. The opening was one of the last bits I wrote.

I also didn’t write the book in chapters. Something else I’ve never done before. I wrote it in small chunks --- some as short as 45 words. (A page is typically around 250 words.) The majority were around one or two pages, and only a handful were longer than four pages.

In some ways, it was more like writing poetry than a novel. I rewrote each one multiple times before the draft was completed, thinking about every single word, worrying about its placement on the page. At the same time, I was constantly moving these chunks around as if the novel were a jigsaw puzzle. Every time I moved one to another part of the novel, I had to rewrite it so that it actually fit there. Each move led to more rewriting, so that some bits of LIAR were rewritten twenty or thirty or one hundred times or more. (I lost count.)

When I had a complete draft, it was way more polished than my usual zero draft. It was more like a fourth or fifth draft --- a miracle for me. I think my editor fainted when she read it.

Hmmm, I think I’ve made writing LIAR sound like a fiddly nightmare. But, it turns out I love writing like that. It’s made me a better writer. Having written LIAR, I now feel like I can write anything. Thus, I’m also writing my current novel out of order even though it’s way more conventionally structured than LIAR. I’m having a blast.

I will admit that I was very nervous about how readers would respond to my strange little novel with its many teeny tiny chapters (that aren’t chapters at all) and the more poetic style. I was worried it would bog them down. Instead, people are reporting that LIAR is a page turner. Who knew that shorter chapters make for a faster read?

Other than James Patterson and Dan Brown, I mean.

-- Justine Larbalestier

Robin Brande: Why Robin Brande Is A Little Shy About FAT CAT

2009-10-14T09:00:00.002-04:00

Instead of celebrating the publication of her second novel FAT CAT, which just hit stores yesterday, Robin Brande has been keeping a low profile, opting to go hiking in the Alps --- partly doing research for her next book, but also partly hiding out in fear of her book's dreaded release date. Below, she explains why she's so anxious about this usually exciting occasion, and shares details about what she considers to be the most personal work she's ever written.

Usually when an author has a new book coming out, it’s all countdown widgets and promo bits and contest giveaways and “guess what --- almost here!”

A few author friends of mine noticed I wasn’t doing any of that. “What’s the deal? Don’t you care?”

“Oh yeah, I care --- too much. Which is why I’m going into hiding.”

Because out of all the books I’ve written, both published and as-yet unpublished, FAT CAT is the most personal one by far. It makes me feel like I’m baring my butt to the world.

Sure, the book is full of romance and comedy and cool science --- those were the easy parts to write, even though the science took a lot of research and personal experimentation. When Cat talks about making a lentil and barley loaf --- trust me, I ate that. Wild rice and pine nuts and dried cranberries? Zucchini muffins? Mmm, ate all that. I ate everything Cat eats in the book.
More important, I stopped eating all the things she stopped eating. No more processed foods. No more chocolate. No more salty snax. I even gave up (brace yourselves) coffee, which for me is like giving up air. But if Cat had to ditch her Diet Cokes, the least I could do was skip Starbucks for a while. Even though it made me want to cry.

But the fat parts of the book. Ugh. So personal and hard to write.

Because I’ve been that girl. And that woman. Off and on for years upon years, I’ve been up and down in my weight, felt the pudge pile on and then deflate again --- those of you who have had weight struggles know what I’m talking about.

And a good stretch of that fat time was during high school and college. I won’t reveal my top weight, but trust me, it was intimidating. And I kept it up there through long stretches of superfatty eating, followed by weird diets I’d find in women’s magazines, followed by losing my mind and breaking down and eating a whole box of Little Debbies in one sitting. Good times.

So when Cat talks about how she feels about her body, that comes from my heart. When she talks about her love of cookies and ice cream and all the great comfort foods --- yeah, word. And about some of the humiliations she’s suffered --- yep, I was there.

But she also gets to experience what I have, which is the gradual whittling away of the excess, until one day you’re surprised to find how strong and light and energetic you feel, how clean, how free of all those chemicals you were accidentally pumping into your body along with the box of this or bag of that. I know how great it feels to feel great, and that’s an experience I wish I could have had back in my high school and college days. In a way, I wrote FAT CAT for the girl I was. She would have been all over Cat’s experiment.

Plus, it was fun to give Cat some guy trouble, since I never had a scrap of that myself when I was younger. What good is it to be an author if you can’t insert your fantasy high school romantic situations into a novel? Come on now. Seems like a fair payoff for having to give up Starbucks for so long.

So, the book came out October 13th. In the weeks right before that, I was hiding out in the Alps, hiking from hut to hut and sleeping in bunk beds next to a bunch of German and Austrian strangers. Which, I might as well tell you, is part of the research for my next book. Being a mountain adventurer might not feel as personal to me as being a fat girl, but I’m throwing myself into the research and writing that book as much as I did into FAT CAT. I know it’s going to be a lot of fun.

And guess what? This time I’m not giving up coffee.

-- Robin Brande

This Week's New Releases

2009-10-12T09:00:00.005-04:00

This week's New Releases Roundup offers a wide range of subjects, settings and genres by both new authors as well as old favorites, giving readers the perfect excuse to do a bit of exploring of their own this Columbus Day. These 14 titles will take you around the world and through time --- from the English countryside in John Harwood's THE SÉANCE and South America in Mal Peet's EXPOSURE, to 1918 Texas in Marian Hale's THE GOODBYE SEASON, not to mention the fictional fantasy city of Fellsmarch in Cinda Williams Chima's THE DEMON KING --- as well as introduce you to some memorable characters, like a descendant of Shakespeare 's infamous Scottish king in LADY MACBETH'S DAUGHTER by Lisa Klein, steampunk alter egos of Lewis Carroll's Wonderland cast in Frank Beddor's ARCHENEMY, and a young girl with psychic powers in the latest installment of Wendy Corsi Staub's Lily Dale series.

New Releases for October 12th

Paperback

THE SÉANCE by John Harwood (Mariner Books)
Wraxford Hall, a decaying mansion in the English countryside, has a sinister reputation. Once, a family disappeared there. And now Constance Langton has inherited this dark place as well as the mysteries surrounding it.

Having grown up in a house marked by the death of her sister, Constance is no stranger to mystery, secrets, and the dark magic around us. Her father was distant. Her mother was in perpetual mourning for her lost child. In a desperate attempt to coax her mother back to health, Constance took her to a séance hoping she would find supernatural comfort. But tragic consequences followed, leaving her alone in the world --- alone with Wraxford Hall. Saddled with this questionable bequest, she must find the truth at the heart of all these disappearances, apparitions, betrayal, blackmail, and villainy, even if it costs her life.

John Harwood's second novel delivers on the great promise proven by his first with this gripping mystery set in the heart of Victorian England.

New Releases for October 13th

Hardcover

ALMOST PERFECT by Brian Katcher (Delacorte Books for Young Readers)
You only hurt the ones you love.

Logan Witherspoon recently discovered that his girlfriend of three years cheated on him. But things start to look up when a new student breezes through the halls of his small-town high school. Sage Hendricks befriends Logan at a time when he no longer trusts or believes in people. Sage has been home-schooled for a number of years and her parents have forbidden her to date anyone, but she won’t tell Logan why. One day, Logan acts on his growing feelings for Sage. Moments later, he wishes he never had. Sage finally discloses her big secret: she’s actually a boy. Enraged, frightened, and feeling betrayed, Logan lashes out at Sage and disowns her. But once Logan comes to terms with what happened, he reaches out to Sage in an attempt to understand her situation. But Logan has no idea how rocky the road back to friendship will be.

EXPOSURE by Mal Peet (Candlewick Press)
When a black South American soccer star signs on to a team in the country’s racist south, headlines blare. And when he falls for the sensual Desmerelda, a stunning white pop singer and daughter of a wealthy politician, their sudden and controversial marriage propels the pair to center stage, where they burn in the media spotlight. But celebrity attracts enemies; some very close to home. And its dazzle reaches into the city’s hidden corners, exposing a life of grit and desperation the glitterati could never imagine. When a girl is found murdered, reporter Paul Faustino is caught between worlds as he witnesses the power of the media in making --- and breaking --- lives. Inspired by Shakespeare’s OTHELLO, this modern tragedy of desire and betrayal, incisively and compassionately told, is a truly enthralling work of crossover fiction.

FAT CAT by Robin Brande (Knopf Books for Young Readers)
You are what you eat. . . .

Cat smart, sassy, and funny --- but thin, she’s not. Until her class science project. That’s when she winds up doing an experiment --- on herself. Before she knows it, Cat is living --- and eating --- like the hominids, our earliest human ancestors. True, no chips or TV is a bummer and no car is a pain, but healthful eating and walking everywhere do have their benefits.

As the pounds drop off, the guys pile on. All this newfound male attention is enough to drive a girl crazy! If only she weren’t too busy hating Matt McKinney to notice. . . .

This funny and thoughtful novel explores how girls feel about their bodies, and the ways they can best take care of their most precious resource: themselves.

GIRL IN THE ARENA by Lise Haines (Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books)
Lyn is a neo-gladiator’s daughter, through and through. Her mother has made a career out of marrying into the high-profile world of televised blood sport, and the rules of the Gladiator Sports Association are second nature to their family. Always lend ineffable confidence to the gladiator. Remind him constantly of his victories. And most importantly: Never leave the stadium when your father is dying. The rules help the family survive, but rules --- and the GSA --- can also turn against you. When a gifted young fighter kills Lyn’s seventh father, he also captures Lyn’s dowry bracelet, which means she must marry him... For fans of The Hunger Games and Fight Club, Lise Haines’s debut novel is a mesmerizing look at a world addicted to violence—a modern world that’s disturbingly easy to imagine.

THE GOODBYE SEASON by Marian Hale (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers)
Mercy Kaplan doesn’t want to be like her mother, saddled with crying kids and failing crops for the rest of her life. Mercy longs to be on her own --- until her wish comes true in the worst possible way. It is 1918 and a deadly flu epidemic ravages the country, leaving her utterly alone and penniless.

Mercy soon finds a job with Mrs. Wilder. But there’s something unsettling about the woman, whose brother died under mysterious circumstances. And then there’s Daniel, who could sweep a girl off her feet if she isn’t careful.

LADY MACBETH’S DAUGHTER by Lisa Klein (Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books)
Albia has grown up with no knowledge of her mother of her father, the powerful Macbeth. Instead she knows the dark lure of the Wychelm Wood and the moors, where she’s been raised by three strange sisters. It’s only when the ambitious Macbeth seeks out the sisters to foretell his fate that Albia’s life becomes tangled with the man who leaves nothing but bloodshed in his wake. She even falls in love with Fleance, Macbeth’s rival for the throne. Yet when Albia learns that she has the second sight, she must decide whether to ignore the terrible future she foresees --- or to change it. Will she be able to save the man she loves from her murderous father? And can she forgive her parents their wrongs, or must she destroy them to save Scotland from tyranny?

In her highly anticipated follow-up to OPHELIA, Lisa Klein delivers a powerful re-imagining of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, featuring a young woman so seamlessly drawn it seems impossible she was not part of the Bard’s original play.

SOLACE OF THE ROAD by Siobhan Dowd (David Fickling Books/Random House)
Memories of mum are the only thing that make Holly Hogan happy. She hates her foster family with their too-nice ways and their false sympathy. And she hates her life, her stupid school, and the way everyone is always on at her. Then she finds the wig, and everything changes. Wearing the long, flowing blond locks she feels transformed. She’s not Holly anymore, she’s Solace: the girl with the slinkster walk and the supersharp talk. She’s older, more confident --- the kind of girl who can walk right out of her humdrum life, hitch to Ireland, and find her mum. The kind of girl who can face the world head-on. So begins a bittersweet and sometimes hilarious journey as Solace swaggers and Holly tiptoes across England and through memory, discovering her true self and unlocking the secrets of her past.

WE WERE HERE by Matt De La Pena (Delacorte Books for Young Readers)
The story of one boy and his journey to find himself.

When it happened, Miguel was sent to Juvi. The judge gave him a year in a group home --- said he had to write in a journal so some counselor could try to figure out how he thinks. The judge had no idea that he actually did Miguel a favor. Ever since it happened, his mom can’t even look at him in the face. Any home besides his would be a better place to live.

But Miguel didn’t bet on meeting Rondell or Mong or on any of what happened after they broke out. He only thought about Mexico and getting to the border to where he could start over. Forget his mom. Forget his brother. Forget himself.

Life usually doesn’t work out how you think it will, though. And most of the time, running away is the quickest path right back to what you’re running from.

LILY DALE: DISCOVERING by Wendy Corsi Staub (Walker Books for Young Readers)
After finally learning who was behind her mother’s death, Calla still doesn’t understand why it happened. Somewhere out there, someone seems to share the powerful psychic abilities that allow Calla to see not only into the past, but to the Other Side --- someone who apparently doesn’t want to be found. Will Calla’s journey lead to the closure she's been searching for, or will it force her to accept yet another loss and forever wonder what might have been?

As new mysteries unfold and old ones are solved, this spine-tingling series continues. With an eye-catching new look, Wendy Corsi Staub’s fans will not be disappointed.

THE DEMON KING: A Seven Realms Novel, by Cinda Williams Chima (Disney-Hyperion)
Times are hard in the mountain city of Fellsmarch. Reformed thief Han Alister will do almost anything to eke out a living for himself, his mother, and his sister Mari. Ironically, the only thing of value he has is something he can't sell. For as long as Han can remember, he's worn thick silver cuffs engraved with runes. They're clearly magicked-as he grows, they grow, and he's never been able to get them off.

While out hunting one day, Han and his Clan friend, Dancer catch three young wizards setting fire to the sacred mountain of Hanalea. After a confrontation, Han takes an amulet from Micah Bayar, son of the High Wizard, to ensure the boy won't use it against them. Han soon learns that the amulet has an evil history-it once belonged to the Demon King, the wizard who nearly destroyed the world a millennium ago. With a magical piece that powerful at stake, Han knows that the Bayars will stop at nothing to get it back.

Meanwhile, Raisa ana'Helena, Princess Heir of the Fells, has her own battles to fight. She's just returned to court after three years of relative freedom with her father's family at Demonai camp --- riding, hunting, and working the famous Clan markets. Although Raisa will become eligible for marriage after her sixteenth name-day, she isn't looking forward to trading in her common sense and new skills for etiquette tutors and stuffy parties.

Raisa wants to be more than an ornament in a glittering cage. She aspires to be like Hanalea-the legendary warrior queen who killed the Demon King and saved the world. But it seems like her mother has other plans for her --- plans that include a suitor who goes against everything the Queendom stands for.

The Seven Realms will tremble when the lives of Han and Raisa collide in this stunning new page-turner from bestselling author Cinda Williams Chima.

WHITE HEAT: Book Two of the Perfect Fire Trilogy by K. M. Grant (Walker Books for Young Readers)
Picking up where BLUE FLAME left readers, Raimon has escaped the pyre and is hiding deep within the mountains of the Occitan. He longs to follow Yolanda to Paris, where she has been forced to marry Sir Hugh. However, he knows he must instead fulfill his duty of protecting the Blue Flame and save their beloved country from the advancing forces set on destroying it. In Paris, Yolanda believes Raimon is dead, she still resists her marriage, and as Sir Hugh’s war train --- backed by the French king --- heads for the Occitan, Yolanda must find new ways to fight. Weaving a satisfying, complex tale, master storyteller K. M. Grant draws readers right back into the dramatic love triangle and the chaos of war. Can Yolanda and Raimon’s love survive the ravages of a siege, her forced betrothal, and the growing divisions within their beloved homeland?

New Releases for October 15th

Hardcover

GATEWAY by Sharon Shinn (Viking Juvenile)
As a Chinese adoptee in St. Louis, teenage Daiyu often feels out of place. When an elderly Asian jewelry seller at a street fair shows her a black jade ring --- and tells her that “black jade” translates to “Daiyu” --- she buys it as a talisman of her heritage. But it’s more than that; it’s magic. It takes Daiyu through a gateway into a version of St. Louis much like 19th-century China. Almost immediately she is recruited as a spy, which means hours of training in manners and niceties and sleight of hand. It also means stealing time to be with handsome Kalen, who is in on the plan. There’s only one problem. Once her task is done, she must go back to St. Louis and leave him behind forever. . . .

THE OMNIVORE’S DILEMMA: The Secrets Behind What You Eat – Young Readers Edition, by Michael Pollan (Dial Books for Young Readers)
“What’s for dinner?” seemed like a simple question --- until journalist and supermarket detective Michael Pollan delved behind the scenes. From fast food and big organic to small farms and old-fashioned hunting and gathering, this young readers’ adaptation of Pollan’s famous food-chain exploration encourages kids to consider the personal and global health implications of their food choices. In a smart, compelling format with updated facts, plenty of photos, graphs, and visuals, as well as a new afterword and backmatter, The Omnivore’s Dilemma serves up a bold message to the generation that needs it most: It’s time to take charge of our national eating habits --- and it starts with you.

ARCHENEMY: The Looking Glass Wars, Book 3 by Frank Beddor (Dial Books for Young Readers)
Discover the fate of Wonderland --- and imagination itself --- in this riveting conclusion to the New York Times bestselling trilogy.

The Heart Crystal’s power has been depleted, and Imagination along with it. The people of Wonderland have all lost their creative drive, and most alarmingly, even Queen Alyss is without her powers. There is some comfort in the fact that the vicious Redd Heart seems to be similarly disabled. Amazingly, she is attempting to team up with her enemy, Alyss, in order to reclaim Wonderland from King Arch. Alyss might have no choice but to accept Redd’s overtures, especially when she begins to receive alarming advice from the caterpillar oracles.

Page-turning and complex, this culmination of the Wonderland saga is intensely satisfying.

Tonya Hurley: A Homecoming for HOMECOMING

2009-10-09T09:00:00.003-04:00

Today's guest blogger, Tonya Hurley, is a filmmaker, screenwriter, and director, as well as the bestselling author of GHOSTGIRL and its sequel, GHOSTGIRL: HOMECOMING. Below she discusses how a trip back home rekindled some old insecurities from her teen years, and reflects on how much --- or how little --- things have changed since.

I recently went back to my hometown of Uniontown, Pennsylvania, outside of Pittsburgh, to do a book appearance at my old high school and middle school for my latest novel, GHOSTGIRL: HOMECOMING. In the new book, ‘homecoming’ means several different things for the ghostgirl character, Charlotte Usher, and it did for me too. For one thing, it was a literal homecoming since I decided to stay with my Mom in the house I grew up in for the entire visit. Even though this wasn’t a holiday trip filled with family obligations, I still had mixed feelings about being ‘home.’

It wasn’t my first time back, but I’m not a very frequent visitor these days either so small changes in the town, the school, the neighborhood and my one-time neighbors seemed huge. On the way to the appearances, I found myself noticing things that had only barely registered before --- an overgrown front yard here, peeling paint on house shingles there, yellowing curtains in a kitchen window, the hunch in a next door neighbor’s back, the unsteady gait on a once-spry spaniel that used to chase my car down the street. All the real-life evidence of time passing. I looked over at my Mom in the passenger seat and laughed a little to myself. Now, I was driving her to school. Ironically, however, being home didn’t force me to notice or acknowledge changes in my surroundings or in others nearly so much as they did changes in myself. I was very different now.

As we pulled into the school parking lot, those mixed feelings I’d been nursing turned almost to panic. It would feel good to see a lot of the people I graduated with as well as some of the teachers that I had, and of course, my extended family whom I love dearly; but, I also felt that same twinge of nerves --- like I didn’t fit, but on a more grandiose level. I even felt a little guilty, since most of the time I’d attended school here was spent dreaming about leaving. Whether it’s the fact that I have lived in New York City so long and have made my living as a writer had a lot to do with it, but it stirred up even those old feelings of insecurity and doubt.

Out of nowhere, I recalled the day I showed up with purple hair and a fauxhawk. I felt liberated and really enjoyed all the confused faces that I left in my wake. It wasn’t easy --- I don’t want to give that impression. Quite the contrary. My stomach was in my throat. In my town, people just didn’t do this. It was almost as if I had snapped. But, it felt good. I didn’t have to try and fit in anyway and I was letting the world --- well, at least everyone at Laurel Highlands High School --- know it. Now, the outside of me was reflecting my love of music and going to see alternative and punk bands every weekend and I felt, for the first time, comfortable with myself. I even enjoyed people making fun of me. In fact, I tried to push the envelope every day with my outrageous outfits, changing my hair color as often as I changed my moods. It felt good. I suffered for so long and now, now I was myself. In my town back then, no one even thought about coloring their hair, let alone wearing the clothes that I did. It was like I was dressing for a performance every day, expressing myself any way I wanted. I will be honest, I did get ostracized and made fun of, and yes, it hurt. One thing is for sure --- I didn’t want to fit in back then, and I still don’t. I started thinking maybe I’m not all that different at all.

We approached the highschool/middle school complex and I looked it over like an old acquaintance you might see in the grocery store. Tentatively. Apart from a few architectural nips and tucks it was very much the same, except for the metal detectors standing guard at the door, a not-so-subtle reminder of even bigger changes since my days there. I passed through without incident and was greeted by a group of student leaders and faculty, many still-familiar faces, though I hadn’t seen them in years. The entourage grew as we walked down the hall to the gymnasium, stopping occasionally for hugs and handshakes, me smiling through my anxiety. I could hear the tell-tale buzz and chatter that leaked out into the hall as it always does before an assembly is about to start. I’d heard it many times before, except now it was for me.

The 600+ crowd grew silent as I was introduced, and I felt myself being looked over just as I’d scrutinized the school building. But as the applause and cheers rang out, from people I’d known forever and people I didn’t know at all, I felt such a sense of acceptance and support. Welcomed. My anxiety melted away as I saw the pride in the eyes of family and friends and teachers. I came to the microphone and started my little motivational chat about ‘believing in yourself and living your dreams’ and it suddenly had new meaning for me. The students were excited to ask questions about the ghostgirl books and my career as a writer, and I was excited to answer them. “Anything is possible,” I kept reminding the eager faces in the bleachers and it never seemed more true to me.

I’d always imagined my ambitions and dreams as an escape route, and to a great degree they were, but it turns out they were also a way back.

-- Tonya Hurley

Jon Stewart Stars in I AM A GENIUS OF UNSPEAKABLE EVIL AND I WANT TO BE YOUR CLASS PRESIDENT Book Trailer

2009-10-08T17:00:00.003-04:00

Josh Lieb’s buzzworthy new novel, I AM A GENIUS OF UNSPEAKABLE EVIL AND I WANT TO BE YOUR CLASS PRESIDENT, will be hitting stores October 13, and it’s already catching our eye with a brand new book trailer starring Jon Stewart! Lieb is the executive producer of "The Daily Show," and he’s exerting his executive powers to get the funnyman to talk about his latest work, so we just had to share this video with all of you.

In the book, everyone in Omaha thinks twelve-year-old Oliver Watson is dumb as rocks, but he is really a mad evil genius on his way to world domination, and he’s used his tremendous brain to make himself the third-richest person on earth. He decides to run for class president of his middle school, but it seems getting kids to like you is way more difficult than overthrowing foreign dictators.

It looks to be a hilariously entertaining and memorable read, so check out the book's website, not to mention the video below, and let us know what you think!

Melissa de la Cruz: A Writer is A Reader, Also, Decisiveness

2009-10-07T09:00:00.006-04:00

Pursuing a lifelong dream is never an easy task, as today's guest blogger Melissa de la Cruz --- author of the bestselling Au Pairs and Blue Bloods series --- can attest. Below, she looks back on her determined, albeit less than straightforward path to becoming a published author and reflects on some of the tough decisions she made along the way.

People often ask me if I knew when I wanted to become a writer. The answer is, I've wanted write ever since I learned to read. My parents were both voracious readers, and they read for the pleasure of it. My dad is seldom without one or two mysteries in hand (if no one's dead in his book, he's not interested in it) and my mom is a general fiction reader (when she was younger, she read all of Harold Robbins, Sidney Sheldon and Judith Krantz; now she reads Alice Sebold and Lisa See).

When I was growing up, every Sunday my parents took us to church, then to brunch at a fabulous hotel, then to the bookstore, where we were allowed to buy any and every book we wanted. I had almost all of Enid Blyton's books, and even though my mom looked doubtfully at my V. C. Andrews collection, she didn't stop me from buying or reading it.

In elementary and high school, I was always on the newspaper and yearbook clubs, and I wrote a lot of poetry and short stories, and attempted to start many a novel. In college, I took as many creative writing classes I could, and I wrote in my journal religiously (mostly mawkish poetry filled with the usual teenage angst). I didn't join the newspaper and the literary journals because I had way too much fun just living it up in New York City. But, that didn't mean that I stopped writing, or stopped dreaming of making it as a writer one day.

There was a moment my junior year when I had to decide whether to take the LSATs, the entrance examination for law school. Many of my friends were planning to go to law school, and it seemed like the law profession would be an ideal choice for me as well. I liked to do research, I could write well, and I had the grades for it. I signed up for the test-prep class and my parents sent me a check for it.

However, I remember never cashing the check. I was twenty years old, and I knew that if I started on this path --- the LSATs, the applications, law school --- I would enter a career that would never fulfill my artistic ambitions and would also be incredibly difficult to leave. My dreams of becoming a writer would fade, and I would become just another of those lawyers, with a "novel in the drawer" --- the one that never saw the light of day.

But, I didn't come from a rich family (we were rich once, but not anymore) and it was very important for me to be able to support myself financially. So, it was a very difficult decision. But I'm glad I made it, I'm glad I took the chance on myself. When I graduated, I did get a day job --- as a computer consultant, which allowed me enough headspace to do my freelance writing on the side --- and seven years after I decided not to become a lawyer, I sold my first novel.

I think you come into those forks in the road, as that Robert Frost poem says, and when you get there, you have to know yourself, your abilities, and your determination. I knew what I needed (to be able to live independently in New York), but I also knew what I wanted (to become a writer). You make your decision and you try as hard as you can to make it come true.

I don't have any regrets about my life, it's another lesson my parents taught me. Don't look back. Don't blame. Don't be wishy-washy. Make your decision and get on with it. It wasn't the easiest path --- my first novel was rejected by every publisher (it was my third written novel that became the first published one) and I went through six agents before I found the right one. The editor who bought my first novel left the publishing house in the middle of the process, and the editor who inherited it didn't "get" it in the same way. For a while there, I thought I would never sell a second book. (THE VAN ALEN LEGACY is my 16th novel).

But, I was happy. I was a writer. I was making enough to support myself in the big bad city. Everything else is gravy.

-- Melissa de la Cruz