Teens Wanna Know: Extraordinary Stories

Hey, sci-fi/fantasy fans - I have another batch of book recommendations for you! Read my brand-new guest blog at Teens Wanna Know.

Today, I've recommended The Jenna Fox Chronicles by Mary E. Pearson, His Dark Materials (The Golden Compass, et al) by Philip Pullman, The Cold Awakening trilogy (aka Skinned trilogy) by Robin Wasserman, The Gemma Doyle trilogy (A Great and Terrible Beauty, et al) by Libba Bray, and The Young Wizards series by Diane Duane. These books are packed with magic, mystery, action, and romance.

Which of these series do you like best? Drop by my Extraordinary Stories post at Teens Wanna Know and leave a comment!  

Thank you, Mary E. Pearson!

Here's a big danke to the awesome Mary E. Pearson for joining us at readergirlz this month! Things we learned about Mary during our LIVE chat include:

1. She'd like to write a screenplay one day, but she didn't write one for The Adoration of Jenna Fox--Dana Stevens is writing that one!
2. Mary's favorite writing spot is outdoors.
3. She's working on two books right now (HOORAY!).

We had so much fun with all our new formats this month! Thanks for being adventurous, Mary!

PS-Breaking News: Mary's next book, coming in September, is titled THE MILES BETWEEN. Mary says, "It is about Destiny Faraday and three classmates who take off on an unauthorized road trip in search of one fair day. They all have secrets but Destiny's secret is one that she fears will bring the whole day to a horrible end. It is a larger than life type of story about chance and coincidence and how it weaves unexectedly into our lives. It is a VERY different story from JENNA!"

We're psyched!

March: Closing post for The Adoration of Jenna Fox

It's our closing post with Mary E. Pearson, everyone! *sob* It's been such a fantastic month of discussion about The Adoration of Jenna Fox. I've pasted all the links below that we've accumulated in the sidebar. Feel free to revisit them!

Thanks to Mary for her patience as we relocated our discussions and rgz LIVE! this month. Feedback from rgz is that everyone is so happy our interactions are open to all now!

Drop your own thanks and fangirl love to Mary in the comments. Mary, know you are always welcome to hang with rgz! We heart you! Thanks again for all your time. Best to you in your writing!

~Lorie Ann

March Welcome
postergirlz recommended reads for March
How far would you go to save someone?
What are you self conscious about?
Happy anniversary!
postergirlz recommended reads
Has medicine saved your life?
What superhuman ability do you want?
Does the real you reside in your brain, heart, or gut?
Do you want to live for 200 years?
How do you define yourself?
rgz LIVE! with Mary E. Pearson
The Adoration of Jenna Fox Cover
Poll
Do you give too much of yourself?
What's your final take-away from The Adoration of Jenna Fox?

March: Do You Give Too Much of Yourself?

There is a "gray page" titled Pieces where Jenna describes working so hard to give pieces of herself to others that she has nothing left for herself. Do you ever feel that way? Why?

The Adoration of Jenna Fox cover

I love the cover of The Adoration of Jenna Fox. Don't you? Not only is it eye-catching, but it fits the story - for reasons I won't disclose here, as I want to encourage those who have yet to read the book to do so and find out for themselves! :)



Upon realizing I had a little purple-and-blue plastic butterfly in my possession, I took a picture:



Mary E. Pearson joined in the fun, calling her picture of The Adoration of Rex and Spot:



In early April, I received a forwarded email filled with nature photographs. It included this beautiful image, which I promptly sent over to Mary:



Paradox posted a whole bunch of fan art book covers, including one for The Adoration of Jenna Fox. Click here to see them.

Want to recreate the cover yourself? Go for it! Put a link to your picture(s) in the comments below, and we'll showcase all of the covers in this blog post!

Things to Know About Featured Author Mary E. Pearson

In addition to being the author of our March pick, The Adoration of Jenna Fox, Mary E. Pearson is a barefoot girl. Here, we get a glimpse of her personality (read more in the March issue of Readergirlz):

On the nightstand: Chapstick and the book What I Saw and How I Lied

Pets: Brody and Hunter -- 160 pounds of slobbery, golden love.

Dream book tour: All my writer friends get to go along with me and sign their books too. And let's throw in Paris since it's a dream tour.

Stilettos or Uggs? Au naturel! Bare feet all the way!

How would you answer one ore more of these questions, readergirlz?

March: How do you define yourself?

On page 212, Jenna defines herself. If you could define yourself with just three words, what would they be?

See you all at the LIVE chat on Thursday!

Rgz Street Team: Alex reviews The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

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 reviews our March pick, The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson:

*slight spoiler alert if you haven't read the book*

Love is blind.

Everyone, at one point on their life, has heard this phrase. Our love can make us overlook faults and even make us overlook times when our love makes others suffer. In The Adoration of Jenna Fox, Jenna’s parents keep Jenna alive even though she is well past the point where she can be treated. Jenna’s parents use their money to basically build a body for Jenna and “upload” her brain into it. When Jenna finally wakes up, she doesn’t know who she is or who her parents are. Jenna was destined to die because of her extensive injuries but her parents could not let her go and they gave her a new body and a new life. They covered their actions with lies, and as with most lies, the truth could not be hidden forever. The truth about who and what Jenna was came out. To know the truth and try to make peace with it is much harder than it sounds.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox also covers the hot topic of technology and ethics. Just because we have the technology to do something does not make it ethical, and what feels good is not always ethical. As humans, we need to learn to draw boundaries between technology and our humanity. --Alex

PS-Postergirl Miss Erin recently reviewed another of Mary's books, A Room on Lorelei Street. Check out her review here.

March: Happy Anniversary, rgz!

Can you believe it, ladies? We are two years old! *confetti falls* Thanks to Mary E. Pearson for joining us in this special month!



So much to celebrate AND so much to look forward to. Thanks to every member of the team and every person who contributes and READS, REFLECTS, and REACHES OUT!

Toot your horns by leaving a comment! xox

March's Pick: The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

Identity. Where does it lie? In a face? A voice? A bundled string of events we call a lifetime? Who am I? Can anyone ever know for sure just what it takes to be who we are? We all search for our place in this world and how we fit in, but for Jenna Fox that search reaches dark new dimensions when she wakes from a coma and can't remember who she is. Worse, she doesn't remember the people who claim to be her parents. There is something curious about them, about the house they all live in -- in fact, curious describes her whole life, as she attempts to unlock the secrets of who she was, and who she has become. Mary E. Pearson's The Adoration of Jenna Fox is about Jenna's search for identity, a quest as old as history, but as startling as the future.

"Outstanding examination of identity." - Kirkus, starred review

"Gripping...seamless..." - School Library Journal, starred review

"Expert plotting." - Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Quite literally breathtaking." - Kliatt, audio starred review

Optioned by 20th Century Fox for a feature film

Come join Mary E. Pearson and the rest of the readergirlz in the forum, and let's talk Jenna!