Happy Teen Read Week, rgz!

 

What's new with Holly Cupala

Hello, dear readergirlz, and Happy Anniversary! It's pretty exciting to see the fruition of all of the ideas and hard work of the co-founders--Justina Chen, Dia Calhoun, Janet Lee Carey, and Lorie Ann Grover--and all of the helpers along the way! I'm honored to have been a part of it.

What's new with me? After readergirlz featured TELL ME A SECRET, my second YA novel, DON'T BREATHE A WORD, came out in January 2012 from HarperCollins. Since then, I've been working hard on a third YA (in the home stretch, hopefully!) with secrets...still so many secret stories to tell!

There have been big changes for me personally, too--family up by one, a crazy move to the country, wild forages for ideas and edibles, lots of DIY projects, and...three? four?...novels brewing.

I'm inspired by all of you, readergirlz! Keep up the wonderful work.

 

7 Things You Don't Know About Micol Ostow

7 Things You Don't Know about readergirlz diva Micol Ostow
1. I've been an avid horror reader my whole life, but it took 30 books under my belt (including ghostwriting gigs) before I was ready to try a scary story of my own. That book, Amity, releases this August! (Pre-order your copy now!)

2. I have a French Bulldog named Bridget Jones -- after the book, not the movie! You'd be surprised how many people totally forget that the book came first! Grr.

3. I can sing along to all of the songs from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical episode. By heart. No judgements, thanks.

4. I got my start in kidlit writing as an editor. The very first book I edited on my own was celebrity bio of Jim Carrey.

5. I recently sold a chapter book series called LOUISE TRAPEZE to Random House. The only thing more terrifying than writing horror will be trying to conquer the 5-7 year-old market!

6. The house I live in in Brooklyn is over 100 years old and thus the floors are all slanted. My daughter will grow up with no true concept of physics or gravity.

7. I ran the NYC marathon in 2003 (26.2 miles). These days, a typical run for me is 3 miles or so. And when I'm not running, I am the most sedentary creature around. Just one of the reasons I love reading so much!

7 Things You Don't Know About Janet Lee Carey

With love from author and rgz co-founder Janet Lee Carey:

Happy 7^th Anniversary, readergirlz!

It was an amazing privilege launching readergirlz with the dream-genius Justina Chen, the inter-dimensionally talented Lorie Ann Grover, and the multi-magical Dia Calhoun back in 2007. The founding divas hit the road in the inaugural year visiting schools and conferences, and created a unique convergent social media home reader/author connection. More talent joined the dynamic readergirlz team after the writer's siren call drew me away 2008. 

7 Things You Don’t Know About Me
1. I lived in Sweden for a year when I was four and learned to ice-skate on the Baltic Sea.
2. Spiders terrify me. I used to make my brothers suck them up with the vacuum cleaner – this made me fear vacuuming. What if the spiders crawled back out to take revenge?
3. I’m often writing in my head even while I’m shopping. This leads to small disasters like discovering I started loading someone else’s cart when I’m halfway through the store.
4. One of my books, Wenny Has Wings, became a feature film in Japan in 2008.
5. I dream of being a mermaid.
6. I try to climb a tree on my birthday each year and remember all the important things in my life starting with my first memory.
7. My cat is a dragon in disguise.

Keep updated on my books and exploits at my website or on Facebook or Goodreads.

What's New with Dia Calhoun

So much has changed since my last readergirlz update! The theme of that change? Follow the creative river of life instead of forcing it into what I think it should be. This began with a return to my true love - writing middle grade fiction - in my books After the River the Sun (2013 Atheneum) and Eva of the Farm (2012 Atheneum). Following are three more examples of following life’s river.

One:  On a solo trip to Italy, I abandoned forever my futile attempts to keep a perfect writer’s journal. (You know--those perfect journals with things pasted in them, immaculate, designed.)

Instead I began keeping a “Word Mess” - a notebook where I scrawl images, rough dashes of poems, bursts of emotions and wisps of thought. The Word Mess is full of cross-outs, arrows, and smudged erasures. A perfect swamp of disorder. What liberation! I fell in love with that most basic of writer’s tools - the pencil.

Two:  I started a blog series called 7:30 BELLS. Every Tuesday I post about what made me feel alive that week--what makes the bells ring. The discipline of have a regular “column” keeps my eyes open.  Follow the series.

Three:  On a hike with my husband, I picked up a stick dabbed with moss. “Look,” I said, “It’s a fairy wand.” He asked, “Are you really going to carry that for the entire hike?” I said, “Yes! ” Now I am making fantastic sculptures out of wood, stone, and moss. (I can use a drill press! I have a toolbox full of tools I love - chisels, gouges, rasps. Maybe one day I will sell these sculptures. Maybe not. That doesn’t matter.

Because the most powerful thing I’ve learned in the past five years is that outcome doesn’t matter- making, creating, living does. When you let go of where you think your life should lead, and follow the river instead, wonders await.

Stay tuned for what’s around the next bend. I know I am.

~ Dia

7 Things You Don't Know About Melissa Walker

Happy anniversary, readergirlz!
In honor of our seven-year anniversary, we're catching up with rgz divas and featured authors. Kicking off our anniversary series (or shall we say, anniver-series?) of posts is none other than our own Melissa Walker.

7 Things You Don't Know About Me:
1. I have kept a diary every year since third grade.
2. I have been known to sip pickle juice straight from the jar.
3. My dad passed away 10 years ago, but I can still hear his voice when I need advice.
4. I love the idea of collecting sea glass, but I'm lazy about actually doing it when I'm at the beach.
5. I find it delightful when cocktails are served in their proper glasses.
6. I sing show tunes to my two-year-old in hopes that one day she'll be my Broadway companion (my husband isn't into musicals).
7. I still think the world looks magic if someone is blowing bubbles nearby.

We'll be posting updates and tidbits from familiar faces all month long here at the readergirlz blog. Stay tuned and celebrate with us!

rgz Newsflash: The Final Web Issue!

Hey all,

We posted one last issue at the readergirlz website for now. It's a holding card for all things future. Be sure to check it out. The playlist you helped create is running, along with Things to Know About the Divas, party ideas, and community service.

Hope you like it! And dig back into the archives. They are all accessible as well.

Read, reflect, and reach out!

rgz Newsflash: Welcome Micol Ostow as a rgz diva!

You know her as our rgz NYC HOST, but we are announcing Micol Ostow as our newest rgz diva!

Micol has graciously stepped up to be our newest author liaison. It's an important role at rgz which brings all the guests to visit with you. Here's a little more about Micol:

Micol Ostow is half Puerto Rican, half Jewish, half reader, half writer, half chocolate, half peanut butter. When she is under deadline, she is often half asleep.

Micol has written over 40 published works for readers of all ages. Her novel EMILY GOLDBERG LEARNS TO SALSA was named a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, and her latest release, SO PUNK ROCK (and Other Ways to Disappoint Your Mother), was chosen as a Sydney Taylor Notable book for teens and an Independent Publishing Award silver medalist.

Micol received her MFA in Writing For Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts in January, 2009, and currently teaches a popular young adult writing workshop through Media Bistro. She lives in NYC with her husband, and a persnickety French Bulldog named Bridget Jones. Her next novel, FAMILY, is a verse novel loosely based on the Manson murders of 1969, and will be published by Egmont USA in May 2011. Micol also blogs with other writers of contemporary young adult fiction over at www.thecontemps.com

Give a warm welcome and thanks to Micol our rgz NYC HOST and diva!

Graceling Roundtable

This month's readergirlz book group pick is Graceling by Kristin Cashore. (Click here to read the September 2009 issue of readergirlz.)  The readergirlz divas and postergirlz gathered together to discuss this tale of fantasy, danger, and, dare we say, romance.

Lorie Ann Grover: As diva Justina Chen Headley said this month, "Action, adventure, love . . . all rolled up in a fiercely independent heroine who learns how to govern her gift and trust her heart. How could we not become smitten with Graceling?" It was an obvious choice for readergirlz. We send our congrats to Kristin for the Morris Award Nomination for an outstanding debut YA novel!

Little Willow: What was your basic impression of Graceling? Do you tend to reach for books in the fantasy genre?

 

Jackie: Okay, well, I'm a HUGE Tamora Pierce fan (as you, um, may already know), so this is right up my alley. Strong girl? A power that sets her apart from all others? Evil just waiting around the corner? A charming yet flawed romantic interest? Fight scenes? Yeah. That's totally my kind of thing.

Melissa: This is totally not my thing! I'm a big "real girl" reader, so I'm always a little hesitant to go fantasy. But I fell in love with Katsa from chapter 1, and really, what's a "real girl" anyway?!

Lorie Ann: I found it to be an engrossing, fast-paced fantasy. I do love fantasy, myself. And here I fell for Po. :~)

Shelf Elf: Ditto on the falling for Po, Lorie Ann. My perfect book is set in a fantasy world that is recognizably like the real world, with romance, nail-biting action, and plenty of flawed characters. Graceling checks all those boxes. Guess it's is my perfect book!
 

 

Dia: As a fantasy author myself, I, of course, adore fantasy. The premise of Graceling is fascinating -- a talent to kill. But it is interesting that we NEVER see Katsa kill anyone -- even in the beginning of the book when she is unredeemed. I can see the problem -- if she were shown killing someone she would no longer be a sympathetic character. And yet, for the fullest experience of her character arc, I think we needed to see her actually kill.

Little Willow: I agree, Dia - I think it would have been more effective had we seen (read) it.

 

Dia: I was hesitant at first about the fighting practice between Po and Katsa because it's hard for me to imagine hitting someone I care about. But, considering their skills, and talents, it was a way for them to bond and gain trust.

HWM: Yay for Graceling -- the strong girl, Po (the chemistry! the respect for each other's abilities!), political intrigue (though I wished there were more), good supporting characters, bad guys, action--this would make a great movie. Dia raises an interesting point. I never thought about how we never see Katsa kill anyone in the beginning. It would add to the character arc since we could see the horror and regret; however, I was fine the way the story was since she spends so much time despising her power and how other people react to her, how she hates how her uncle treats her like a dog to do his bidding. 

 

Little Willow: What did you think of Katsa, the protagonist?

 

Jackie: My only sadness is that she's not in the prequel. 

 

HWM: Oh, I agree!

Melissa: I loved her, and found her perfectly characterized for teen readers -- she's strong but stubborn, smart but impetuous, and ruled by her emotions. It's all very familiar...

Lorie Ann: I enjoyed Katsa. In my second reading, I almost found her to be acting mildly autistic at the start, as if she might have slight Aspergers. She's gifted so much that it has distracted her from learning to observe and communicate with people. An example is how she didn't realize Giddon's attraction. This adds nicely to her arc as she grows.  

 

Little Willow: Ooh. That's a very interesting take on her character, Lorie Ann.

 

Dia: I think the talent to kill, and being forced to do it by -- was it her uncle the king? -- would take anyone to dark places in their psyche. Cashore achieves the right balance between Katsa's darkness and her innate goodness.
 

 
Shelf Elf: I think it's a real achievement that Kristin created such a powerful character, physically powerful and full of complex emotion, whom readers can also see as vulnerable.

 

HWM: Loved her. The strong kick-butt girl with a conscience who battles between good and evil.

 

Little Willow: Who were your favorite supporting characters?

Melissa: Bitterblue!

Little Willow: Oh, yes, little Bitterblue!

Melissa: What a poised and lovely girl. And of course Katsa's gaggle of "just friends" boys... those are always fun.

Lorie Ann: Have to go with Po.

Shelf Elf: Again Lorie Ann, ditto with the Po. ;)
 

 

Dia: I, too, really enjoyed Bitterblue. And Po of course!
 

 

HWM: Raffin.

 

Little Willow: How does Graceling tie-in with this month's theme of Triumph at readergirlz?

Lorie Ann: Katsa triumphs over her own Grace and fears, her physical environment, and the politics of evil rulers.

Dia: Katsa triumphs over the darkness in her self that has come to her through the execution of her gift.

Shelf Elf: Katsa makes the choice to use her powers for good, not evil. There's triumph in mastering yourself, in making choices to be proud of. 

Little Willow: What are your hidden strengths? (Though I suppose if you answer this, they are no longer hidden!)
 

Dia: I wish somebody would tell me!

Shelf Elf: Dancing? I never dance publicly, but I'm great in the living room. I've got rhythm.

Little Willow: Now I'm singing and dancing to the song I've Got Rhythm! I'm a singer, dancer, and actress, but I don't hide those things. Hmmm. I think one of my hidden strengths is my resilience. I bounce back pretty well from rejection or let-down. I try to always stay optimistic and hopeful. Another would be my derring-do. When things need to be done, I get them done. It's only when others comment upon them that I realize not everyone would have done those things - that they might have thought the tasks too difficult to even attempt and stopped before they even began.
 

Lorie Ann: I hope it's perseverance. So far it is.

Little Willow: The condition of having eyes of two different colors, like Kat and the others who are Graced, is called heterochromia of the eye (heterochromia iridis or heterochromia iridum). What color are your eyes? Mine are brown.

Shelf Elf: Mine are the type of eyes that seem to change color depending on the light and my clothing. Most of the time they're greyish green. I've always sort of wished for eyes that were a real, deep, obvious color.  I'd go with seriously green, because you don't see that very often.

Melissa: Mine are green, but they sometimes look blue. I like that -- no one ever really knows which they are. Maybe I'm a Graceling! And you too, Shelf Elf!
 

 
 

Little Willow: We have Graced ones in our presence! Can you envision yourself with eyes of a different color?

Lorie Ann: Mine are brown, and often red. Ha! I always thought green would be nice.

Little Willow: I like the color of my eyes and my hair (also brown) and I wouldn't permanently change the color, though I wouldn't mind doing something temporary to either for the sake of a role, because that would be for her, for my character. For me, though, I like what I have, and I like what I am.  That being said, I think purple or gray (or magically silver) eyes would be pretty, because I like those colours in general.

Dia: I have gray-green eyes. When I was in high school and college I wore green-tinted contact lenses. That was fun!

Little Willow: Also consider the eye colors that are more prevalent on animals other than humans, like orange. My cats had beautiful eyes. Twinkie's were the bluest blue, truly the prettiest eyes I've ever seen - while Hollywood and Spooky had eye colors not typically seen on people, orange and gold.

 

HWM: Dark brown. Wouldn't change the color at all.

 

Little Willow: What did you think  of Kristin Cashore's writing style?

Melissa: My heart stopped when Leck appeared toward the end. I didn't see it coming, and I got very scared and upset for a moment there! I guess that means the writing worked. I just adored the tale.

 

Lorie Ann: I'm in my second read-through, but I remember wanting marriage at the conclusion. I know, I know. So opposite to what Katsa wants. But that's me. When they first left together, I didn't think I'd be able to lie next to Po night after night platonically... I did enjoy the characterization, plot, pacing, and final revelations. I admire all the fighting detail!

Dia: I love the combination of fantasy, adventure, and romance. The grand climax where Katsa confronts the king was stunning. Excellent plotting.

Shelf Elf: Gosh, she's so good at romance, and really freaky bad guys.

 

HWM: The ending was great -- the characters surprised me (the scene with Leck was great) and I remember wanting to throttle Po and Katsa. There were a few scenes I wanted to see more development, but overall, the plotting, pacing and characterization was spot on. 

 

Little Willow: What (or who) do you hope to find in Fire, Kristin Cashore's next book?

 

Jackie: I am lucky enough to have already read it, thanks to a friend, so while I already know what happens, I will say I was VERY interested in the one crossover character.

Shelf Elf: Like you Jackie, I'm lucky to have read Fire already. I was hoping that the characters would be as memorable as all those in Graceling. They are.

Lorie Ann: I'm totally up for whatever Kristin has brought from her heart.
 

 

Dia: I would like to see Katsa continue to evolve -- and more of Po of course!

 

HWM: I've also been fortunate to have read Fire. So different from Graceling, but the one character who does make himself known, Leck -- shudder.
 

Little Willow: Final thoughts?

 

Lorie Ann: Thanks so much to Kristin for bringing us a fantasy with such girl power. We rise to the top of the mountains with Katsa. I'm sure we'll continue to soar with Kristin through her long career!
 

Learn more about Graceling in the September 2009 issue of readergirlz.

Art Saves: Holly Cupala

Click the thumbnail to view the full-sized image.

Before I could write, I made stories with pictures. There have been times in my life when words were just not enough – through joy, sadness, and love – and my art has been there to convey what speaking could not. I made this painting years ago during a difficult period and kept it to remind me that there is a window of hope even through the darkest despair. We are beings meant to create, meant to express. Art is a gift to humankind.

~ rgz diva Holly Cupala

Sarah Dessen Celebration

Over at The Sarah Dessen Diarist, the lovely Adele has put together an astonishing thirty days of posts(!) from authors, bloggers, and readergirlz in the month leading up to Sarah Dessen's birthday on June 6th.

Check out this super cute movie put together by our own readergirlz diva Melissa Walker, who grew up in Chapel Hill along with Ms. Dessen herself:



Stay tuned for blogs from an amazing list of authors and bloggers, plus divas Justina Chen Headley and Holly Cupala, and a special post from the readergirlz later in the month!

 

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.

March: How far would you go to save someone?

So after a writing retreat this past weekend, ideas were hopping like the divas were in a bingo ball hopper. I'm serious.

A massive new idea formed, and we are zooming through a test run. I'll give you the overview now, and then be sure to let us know your thoughts, rgz!

Here's the dealie-do:

* We are going to load discussion questions in this BLOG! *do a little dance*
* You can drop your comments here or in our FACEBOOK NOTES!
* We are going to TWITTER related topics to jive the exchange even more. Catch those and comment on Twitter or our rgz divas' Facebook.

What do you think?

So here's your first discussion question for Mary E. Pearson's The Adoration of Jenna Fox:

On the cover of The Adoration of Jenna Fox is the question, "How far would you go to save someone you love?" Did Jenna's parents go too far? How far would you go?