Thank You, Ellen Hopkins!

Here's a big gracias to the awesome Ellen Hopkins for joining us at readergirlz this month! Things we learned about Ellen during our LIVE chat include:

1. Her advice for aspiring authors? "Read, read, read... and write, write, write."
2. Ellen's favorite character of her own is Tony from Impulse. He's so sweet.
3. She likes bombardment in a LIVE! chat... which is a GOOD thing since the readergirlz chat was crazy! In an awesome way.

Having Ellen here this month has been beyond beyond amazing. Thank you, Ellen, for hanging out with readergirlz!!

April: Have you been to a survival camp?

Tony, Vanessa, and Conner go through an intense survival camp together. They each find power and strength to do what they think is right through this experience. Have you ever gone away and participated in a similar extreme challenge?

April: The IMPULSE Soundtrack

As discussed last night in our awesome LIVE! chat, Ellen Hopkins has chosen an amazing and eclectic soundtrack this month for Impulse. Here's a peek at who's on it--you can play it in the right sidebar, or hit up this month's issue for automatic listening action.

rgz LIVE! with Ellen Hopkins

The chat will open at 6:00 Pacific! Join in!

April: Impulse Party!

Throw an Impulse book party with these great suggestions from featured author Ellen Hopkins, who'll be LIVE! here on Wednesday night at 9pm EST/6pm PST! (The magazine-word poem? Inspired.)

Invite: Text-message blast. MySpace bulletin. Facebook event invite.

Food: Veggie platter; crackers and cheese; popcorn

Décor: Scatter words cut from magazines or newspapers in the center of the tables. Find words signifying hope, despair, perfection, stress, depression, mania, etc. Use for craft (below). Also votive candles in glass bowls, signifying hope.

Movies: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; King of California; A Beautiful Mind

Craft: Use words cut from magazines to create poems. Glue them on construction paper.

April: Have you ever been in a life or death situation?

Back to our guest author, Ellen Hopkins! Her live chat is next Wednesday night, April 22nd, at 6:00 Pacific, rgz!

Vanessa finds her mother overdosed on the kitchen floor but doesn't call 911. Do you understand Vanessa at this point? What do you think you might have done?

Have you ever been in a life or death situation like this?

April: Your Poetic Style

Connor, Tony and Vanessa all tell their stories with signature poetic styles. Have you ever expressed your feelings through poetry? What's your poetic style?

April: Has love surprised you?

In a surprising twist, Tony and Vanessa fall in love. Has love ever surprised you? Tell us, rgz! We are ready for some good love stories! Can't wait to hear from Ellen, also. :~)

Raw Sugar! And Other Things to Know About Featured Author Ellen Hopkins

We're loving our time with Ellen Hopkins, and here are some little-known facts about our featured author:

Favorite drink while you write: Coffee, with nonfat half and half and raw sugar.

Favorite bookstore: Sundance Bookstore, Reno

Pets: Yukon and Arson (German shepherds); Toby (cat)

Writer buddies: Susan, Suzy, Susie, Jim (they can’t ALL be Susans!)

Cure for writer's block: Exercise. The brain kicks in when the body works.

Author idol: Stephen King

Other YA Novels: Crank, Burned, Glass, Identical

Other Interviews: Powells, Publishers Weekly, The Paper Movie Project, Mrs. Magoo Reads

Find out more about Ellen in the current issue of readergirlz!

Rgz Street Team: Alex reviews Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

The rgz Street Team is a group of teens who bring YA reviews to our blog, led by Postergirl Miss Erin. Find out more.

Today, Alex skillfully reviews our featured April title, Impulse by Ellen Hopkins:

This book kept my heart and stomach in knots. It was a whirlwind of pain, humility, and sorrow. Everyone has secrets and some eat at us, slowly rotting us from the inside out. In Impulse, this was painfully obvious as three teenagers--Conner, Tony, and Vanessa--fought the demons within them that drove them to attempting suicide.

Tony used pills to fight his past of sexual abuse and abandonment.

Vanessa used knives to battle her bipolar disorder and fear of becoming her mother.

Conner used a gun to drive away his childhood sexual abuse and the lack of love from the person he wanted it the most from.

Each walked a different path in life but their roads collided when they were institutionalized.

This book emphasizes that depression is real and treatable. However, if not treated, it can lead to death--the most irreversible and final thing of all.

House, Kutner, Conner, and Impulse

The night before last, on the popular television series House, one of the main characters, Kutner, didn't come to work. Two of his co-workers went to his home - and found his body. It was a shocking and unexpected twist. It was immediately determined that he committed suicide. House wanted to believe he was murdered, so that he could have a puzzle to figure out, but there was no evidence to support his theory. Kutner's co-workers asked each other if anyone saw any signs that he was suicidal or depressed, but no one did.

At the close of the episode ended, there was a flash of white text on the screen with the logo, URL, and phone number for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), urging people to get help if they needed it or thought a loved one did.

1-800-950-NAMI (1-800-950-6264)
http://www.nami.org

Interestingly enough, the actor who portrayed Kutner, Kal Penn, asked if he could leave the show because he was offered a job at the White House! Congratulations, Kal!

I wish that the House tribute page for Kutner had the suicide hotline and additional information. I was pleased to discover the show has an ongoing affiliation with NAMI. All net proceeds from the sales of T-shirts sold through housecharitytees.com go to NAMI.

Do you think Kutner's story parallels that of any of the characters in Impulse? What does he have in common with Conner? Tony? Vanessa?

April: Humor as a Coping Mechanism

Tony deals with his painful past through humor. How can humor be used as a coping mechanism?

April: Thoughts on Suicide

Some call suicide the ultimate act of cowardice. Do you agree? Why or why not?

April: What does perfect mean to you?

In Impulse, Conner's parents push him to be perfect. What does "perfect" mean to you?

Welcome, Ellen Hopkins!

We are thrilled to welcome Ellen Hopkins to readergirlz. Her novel in verse, IMPULSE, is our April pick! Check out the our interview with Ellen, book party ideas themed around IMPULSE, and our Reach Out project idea--as well as the awesome soundtrack Ellen's chosen for the book--over at readergirlz.com.

Here's a little about the book: "Three lives, three different paths to the same destination: Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital for those who have attempted the ultimate act - suicide. In one instant three young people decided enough was enough. Vanessa's beloved blade cut just a little deeper. Tony downed a bottle of pills with a fifth of whiskey. Conner chose the gun. But fate -- or loved ones -- intervened. Now they have a second chance, and maybe with each others' help, they can find their way to a better life. But only if they're strong and can fight the demons that brought them here in the first place."

And the buzz...

"I am personally so happy to finally feature Ellen Hopkins for a month at readergirlz! Impulse is a wonderful selection to highlight National Poetry Month and Operation Teen Book Drop '09. Ellen's raw, edgy writing is inspiring in its truth. I'm looking forward to amazing discussions this month!" - Lorie Ann Grover, readergirlz diva

"Sharp, searing free verse . . . fast, jagged, hypnotic." - Kirkus Reviews

"A riveting, fast-paced story of teenage hurt and healing." - VOYA

2008 ALA Best Book For Teens

2008 Georgia Peach Award

"Impulse saved my life. Not in a metaphorical sense, it literally saved my life." - a reader

Could we be more excited? Join us all month right here on the blog for discussions and mark your calendars a LIVE chat on Wednesday, April 22nd at 6pm PST/9pm EST.

Happy April, readergirlz!

readergirlz roundtable discussion of Impulse

The readergirlz divas were so pleased Ellen Hopkins could join us in honor of Operation Teen Book Drop 2009, and in the month of April, National Poetry Month! The verse novel Impulse is a weighty, heart-wrenching read. Join us as we chat about this raw work and our take-aways.

Lorie Ann Grover: What were your take-away impressions of Impulse?

Little Willow: Immediately after finishing it: Oh, Conner. Oh.

Dia Calhoun: My immediate impression was that I had found an immensely truthful story.

Shelf Elf: It made me think about how sheltered I was as a teen. Sure there were kids in my high school who had issues and struggled, but nothing like the characters in this book, to my knowledge. I also wondered what it might have been like for Ellen to take herself inside the heads of 3 such troubled people. That had to have been an intense writing experience.

Lorie Ann: I was exhausted basically. I encountered so many images, subjects, and ideas I've never been fully exposed to before. An entirely new world opened before me, and my sympathies were raised.

Melissa Walker: My mom worked in a state school for troubled kids while I was in high school. She was their biology teacher, and they lived there, healed there. I thought about her a lot while I was reading, and wondered how she kept her heart safe from the heartbreaking stories of her students.

Read the entire discussion at Bildungsroman.