Book Club: Scorpio Races

This month’s pick for the Fall Book Club is Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. I read the book a while ago when I snatched up the ARC at BEA so this review is going to be briefer than most of my book club reviews. I look forward to hearing what others think about this new novel from the Wolves of Mercy Falls author.

Overall, I’m torn about this novel. It’s so different than the Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy, which I adored. This novel is older, darker. And based on sales numbers, lots of readers are confused about this novel, too. During a brief conversation at Harper many editors didn’t know if this was teen or tween—you know you’re in trouble when publishing professionals don’t even know the basic details about a book!

The strength in this novel is the language. Stiefvater builds a beautifully cold and isolated world using a few words as possible. And the sparse dialog, especially between Puck and Sean, really proves that Maggie Stiefvater is a talented writer.

It’s Puck and Sean’s relationship, though, that caused me to pause the most while reading the novel. Their relationship isn’t the sigh-and-swoon type of Sam and Grace. I never actually felt connected to them. I cared more about Sean’s water horse than Sean himself. The characters seemed like a excuse to use the language rather than being the driving factor for the story.

In the end, I’m glad that this is a one-off and not the beginning of a series. Although the writing was compelling I doubt I’d pick up a sequel. And the cover art isn’t doing the book any favors, either. It’s dull—almost appropriate for non-fiction. Check out the UK art, it’s world’s better!

What do you think; are water horses going to be the next trend in paranormal?

Back to School

Today’s RTW Question from YA Highway: If you had the power to change school curriculums, which books would you be sure high school students were required to read?

I love this question because it’s one I’ve thought about a lot; I had a great English teacher for AP English both junior and senior years who introduced me to the classics and I loved (most of) them. But I was that type of student. But for so many teens it’s more important to get them reading a book they’ll find interesting—and find a way to include a bit of a lesson, too. As disappointing as I find it, Shakespeare and Austen just aren’t everyone’s cup of tea!

Here are my suggestions—and yes, I couldn’t help but include a few classics!

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

This pairing is so important that both my high school teacher and a college professor taught it. And although I don’t love Wide Sargasso Sea reading the two books side-by-side is a great study in retellings, feminism, racism, and all sorts of possibilities.

You by Charles Benoit

Ever since I read Charles’ debut teen novel I’ve wanted to send it to my high school with a big “USE THIS” note. This is the perfect book for students—especially boys—on in a non-AP English track; it’s compelling, gripping, and gritty. And it’s written entirely in second person, which is a great way for classes to discuss point of view.

Go Ask Alice

Or a more contemporary story about teen issues like drug use, suicide, pressures to be perfect. Perhaps Thirteen Reasons Why, or novels by Ellen Hopkins and Amy Reed. Great classroom discussions!

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

We read a lot of Holocaust literature in my middle and high schools—The Diary of Anne Frank, Maus by Art Spiegelman, Night, Dawn, and Day by Elie Wiesel. By the end of each Holocaust unit I felt desensitized because the discussions were so repetitive. The Book Thief, though, adds a really interesting and new perspective to this literature.

And, in addition to Jane Eyre you’d have to keep some Shakespeare, at least one Dickens, one Austen, The Canterbury Tales, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, a poetry unit, and I’m sure there are other classic curriculum choices I’m forgetting!

Legendary

Yesterday I got to meet one of my idols—fantasy author Tamora Pierce. She was appearing on a panel at the wonderful store Books of Wonder along with six other talented authors (including Rae Carson whose The Girl of Fire and Thorns is excellent and perfect for Tamora fans). I cannot begin to explain how honored I was to finally meet Tamora. I might have gotten a bit fangirl on her—but I’ve been waiting since I was ten to meet her! Alanna: The First Adventure introduced me to fantasy when it was part of the sixth grade curriculum. When my peers read the first for weeks in class I rushed to the library and read the entire series at home. I was hooked. And ever since then my writing has been informed by Tamora’s works. Her novels are still the closest comparative titles to my work in progress. So, to say the least, she—and her books—are pretty important to me. Meeting her in person did not disappoint, either, as is so often the case when you meet an idol. She spoke so wisely on the genre and on writing. And despite the fact that the line to get books signed by her was ridiculously long and meant she had to stay long past when the event was due to end, she kindly signed each and every book fans brought and had a brief conversation. It was wonderful. And the way she signed my copy of Mastiff, her latest book? “Be legendary.” I’m working on it, Tamora, I’m working on it!

Super-Writer

Today’s RTW Question from YA Highway: What are your writing and publishing superpowers? And what’s your kryptonite?

What a great question—and I love seeing how writers have so many different strengths and weaknesses. Something I struggle with might be someone elses strongpoint…and something that is a piece of cake for me might be what a well-respected published author really has trouble with. A conversation like this is a great way to put everything in perspective.

My superpowers:

World-Building: I love creating worlds. I played pretend in my backyard or with barbies in the basement until I was way too old, because it was a way for me to create landscapes and rules and wonderfully rich worlds. When I started writing instead of playing dress up my desire to create worlds was a driving factor. And I know the world of my WIPs so well—I have street maps of the capital city of Coracus and can tell you the best way to travel through the crooked streets from the herbalist’s to the main square; I have demographic maps of the kingdom of Harren; I have physical maps of the entire continent; I have family trees that go back ten generations for the royal family, the Cymberlys. All these documents help inform the world when I’m writing so that it becomes rich, lush, and real. Having consistent rules for your world is one of the most important factors in making that world seem real and these documents help me make sure everything is aligned.

Plotting: I can come up with a plausible basic plot so quickly and it’s easy for me to outline the major events of my novel. The sub-plots and sub-sub-plots that add layers to my stories, not so much…

Reading and Critiquing: I sure hope I’m good at this, because it’s my job working in the editorial department! Reading multiple manuscripts a week I’ve learned to quickly tell what the strengths of the work is, what needs improvement, and offer feedback on the best way to make it the best book it can be.

Industry Awareness: Again, working in the publishing industry helps me keep on top of trends and frequently networking with the best agents and editors out there. This comes in handy during both the writing process, but even more so, querying and beyond.

My Kryptonite:

Characters: The characters I write are so vivid in my head—they’re alive, strong, flawed—but I’ve yet to learn how to make that come out on paper. This is my biggest weakness since most YA novels nowadays are character-driven, and if the agent/editor/reader doesn’t relate to the character they’re likely not to read, or like, the novel.

Romance: This relates to the first point; if I can’t make my characters come alive, it’s really difficult to build a relationship full of longing, steamy scenes, and heartbreak. Again, 99% of YA has to have a compelling romance, so this is a really important point I’m working on.

Sub-plots: Like I said before, the bare bones plot comes to me easily, but when it comes to adding depth to the novel I really have to push it. Each major revision I’ve done to my WIP The Rose of Coracus has included adding another layer to the plot for more depth and richness.

Spelling and grammar: You would think that someone who was a Creative Writing major and works in the editorial department at a publishing house could spell. And would know proper grammar. But that’s what spell check and copyeditors are for! I couldn’t do without them!

What are your writing superpowers? What’s your downfall?

My Attention Span is Less than a Middle Schooler’s…

…Or I’m too old to fully get into tween novels. This is a problem that’s been plaguing me for a while now: whenever I read a middle grade novel on the subway I get so distracted by stops and people getting off the subway and a girl’s pretty shoes that all of a sudden I’m three pages into Chapter 5 and can’t remember what happened during Chapter 4! For some reason I just can’t concentrate fully on the text of tween novels when other things are going on. Has my attention span failed me? Am I too old to relate to the text? Are middle grade novels written poorly? To the last point—of course not! I love tween books: Savvy, When You Reach Me, The Benedict Society are all some of my all time favorite books. Not to mention classics like Anne of Green Gables and Little House on the Prairie. And yet, I don’t have a similar problem reading teen books on the subway. I get so lost in the world and characters that, at times, I’ve almost missed my stop! So what is it about middle grade novels? I don’t have an answer—does anyone have the same problem as I do? A theory? Or, best yet, a solution? I need to reclaim my reading time!

Reading Roundup

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

To put it simply, I adored this book. It’s the second by contemporary romance author Stephanie Perkins and it’s even better than Anna and the French Kiss. She completely nailed the quirky main character, Lola, and her love interest is so swoony. What girl doesn’t want to fall in love with her next door neighbor? I actually loved Lola and the San Francisco world Perkins created so much that I missed when Anna and St. Clair from the previous book first made an appearance, and that’s saying something since I loved the first book, too. But what I look away from Anna and the French Kiss was a desire to return to Paris, Lola and the Boy Next Door made me want to be Lola. And my goodness—her clothes! A highly recommended read; actually, it's my favorite for the whole month!

Our Own May Amelia by Jennifer Holm

This book continues my goal to read a Harper award-winning backlist title a month. And I was pleased with this selection; not only is it my beloved historical fiction, but it also takes place in nascent Washington state, an area I’m becoming increasingly interested in. May Amelia was a strong but relatable heroine and I loved the refrain “our only May Amelia” that her family would say both when they were proud of her and exasperated with her! This tween novel, published in 2001, felt old to me, though. The writing style, the episodic nature, the little lessons along the way. I don’t mean to imply that it isn’t a good book—it was a Newbery Honor book, for Pete’s sake!—but I had a hard time loving it compared to many more commercial contemporary middle grade. (Historical Book Challenge #7)

The Cabinet of Earths (ARC 1/3/12) by Anne Nesbet        

This interesting book starts when the main character moves to France—and quickly is intriguing by a man who has purple eyes and lives in a house with a salamander door handle—and things get quirkier from there as Maya unravels her family’s secrets. This is a quieter tween novel—but there are delightful hints of action, romance, and lovely family dynamics.

The Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

I posted a much longer review of this book, but to sum up quickly: this is a magical and beautifully written fantasy novel. Although I would have liked it to be set up a little different as I found the beginning to be mostly set up and the end to be mostly back story, the characters and world are so rich I just want to know more about them!

Plus, quite a few picture books. (The delightful things you get to do while waiting at a bookstore for an hour!)

Ladybug Girl by Jacky Davis, illustrated by David Soman

Olivia by Ian Falconer

Silverlicious by Victoria Kann

Grandpa Green by Lane Smith

A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead, illustrated by Erin Stead

YOU WILL BE MY FRIEND! by Peter Brown

Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

Full Manuscripts: 5

To-Do Lists

Today’s Question from YA Highway: In honor of NaNoWriMo: What kind of writing coach do you need? When you have to coach friends, what kind of coach are you?

The kind of coach I need and the kind of coach I am are the same thing and boils down to one word: deadlines. I often write to-do lists and if something is on the list and has to get done by a certain date IT WILL GET DONE. That’s just how I work. So, if my “writing coach” tells me to write 1,000 words by Tuesday, I’ll write it on my to-do list and get it done by the deadline. Maybe even earlier! And now, as I’m writing this post I’m realizing that I should write everything down on a to-do list. It always feels great to cross it off: “complete!”

Good luck with everyone doing NaNoWriMo. I did it for about half the month last year, with some success (talk about having a deadline!), and I’m sure I’ll try it again in the future.