Suggest Songs for Our March Playlist

Hey rgz!

We are building the playlist for March. Our theme is Risk-Taking. Give me your suggestions in the comments below, and I'll create our mix through Project Playlist.

Suggestions so far:
Dare You to Move by Switchfoot
Go For It by Girlfriend
A Praise Chorus by Jimmy Eat World
Declaration by David Cook

Little Willow on 90210!

Did you catch 90210 this week? Our own Little Willow was in the episode with one awesome line! Watch the below youtube. At 4 minutes is our postergirl!



Congrats, LW! We are so proud of you. Awesome possum glasses, btw. :~)

Win THE THIEF by Megan Whalen Turner!

Megan Whalen Turner shared her thoughts on the difficulties of Loyalty on Monday, and today she's generously offered to give away 20 -- yes, twenty -- copies of her first book in the featured series, The Thief, to 20 lucky readergirlz!

Here's how it works: Send an e-mail to Megan at meganwhalenturner AT harpercollins DOT com including your mailing address and a description of how you will share the book if you receive a copy (through a blog or by sharing with a friend or librarian or anyone!).

The first 20 emailers will receive a paperback copy of The Thief with the understanding that they will somehow pass it on to a new reader after they've read it.

Sound good? Good! Now get to emailing Megan, readergirlz!

****UPDATE: Megan has well over 20 entrants now, so the winners are chosen! (But if you just want to say hi and tell her you love her books, I'm sure she's still open for that.)****

First Book Love!

You know we loved partnering with First Book for A Novel Gift last December, and we are just getting the engine running again for our next project. We'll have more soon, but watch this video for the origins of the organization. Shout out to our own Mitali!


The Story of First Book from First Book on Vimeo.

Featured Title: A CONSPIRACY OF KINGS, by Megan Whalen Turner

Hello, readergirlz, and welcome to our first official Featured Title of February! This month's theme is Loyalty, and our trusty postergirlz have done an amazing job, as always, of selecting books that perfectly embody that theme!


Today I'm so happy to shine our spotlight on A CONSPIRACY OF KINGS, by Megan Whalen Turner. 

"Teenaged Sophos is his uncle's heir, but his love of poetry and lack of interest in ruling have caused his father to send him to a remote villa. When it is attacked by the king's enemies, Sophos is sold into slavery, where he begins to mature and develop both physically, from the hard manual labor, and emotionally. He makes the decision to escape slavery and try to resume his place as heir and eventually king of Sounis, traveling to Attolia to try to recruit support from its queen and king, Sophos's friend, Eugenides, the protagonist of The Thief and The King of Attolia. Layers of intrigue follow Sophos as he tries to protect Sounis from various groups of enemies, leading to a surprising twist at the conclusion."
--School Library Journal


Here's what Megan Whalen Turner has to say to us about Loyalty: 

When I was younger, I had an idea that virtues like patience, honesty and loyalty were pretty simple and always for the good. (That’s what it meant to be a virtue. Duh.) They might not be easy to practice, but the concepts involved didn’t seem particularly convoluted. That lasted right up until I had two friends who got into a huge fight and stopped speaking to each other. Divided loyalties are not only complicated, they are almost inevitable. We have loyalty to our families, loyalties to our friends, loyalties to our jobs or our co-workers, or our communities. In that tangle there are bound to be conflicts somewhere. Sometimes, it’s hard to see what the virtuous options are. Is honesty always the best policy?  Is patience always the best course of action? Should you stand by your man? Really?

Almost all of my stories are Fantasy, set in made up worlds with supernatural elements, but that’s not because they have nothing to do with real life. My main character in A Conspiracy of Kings is Sophos.  He is the heir to the King of Sounis and would do almost anything to avoid inheriting a kingdom when his uncle dies. He thinks he wouldn’t make a good king, and by avoiding the responsibility he is being virtuous. Real virtue turns out to be more complicated than he thought.

Really, everything is more complicated than he thought. Sophos wants to trust his friend Gen not only with his life, but with the kingdom of Sounis. He’s more than a little surprised when his friend dumps that loyalty back into Sophos’s lap with a big “No, thank you.”

Sophos has to figure out for himself just what friendship and loyalty mean when you are responsible for an entire country. Then he has to convince Gen to see things his way. Even if it means dumping Gen on his ass to do it.  

So true - loyalty may seem like one of those "easy" dictates of virtue, but often, real life is way more complicated. Have you read this book yet? Has Sophos inspired you to rethink your own definition of loyalty? What about someone else in your life - real OR literary? 

Cover Stories: A Little Wanting Song by Cath Crowley

Cath Crowley's A Little Wanting Song needed a cover that conveyed music, friendship and romance, a tall order for any designer. Here's Cath to tell us how her final cover came to be:

"I don’t usually write with a cover in mind. I know what my characters look like and I write with the image of their landscape in my head. While I was working on A Little Wanting Song I saw an image of Charlie, a girl with long dark hair, playing guitar on the back porch. I saw Rose, restless and angry, sitting on a hill overlooking a highway.

"Mostly when I write I hear the character’s voices. So it’s the soundtrack of the novel that I’ve got playing in my head – the dialogue and in the case of this book, Charlie’s songs.

"The cover for the book is so much more evocative than any of the images I had in my head. The designer has captured how I feel when I’m writing. To me the cover and the pages have sound escaping from them – and this is similar to my writing process.

"My editor showed me both covers after they were finished and we talked about what we loved about them. I didn’t give any input before the art department started working because I think more in terms of sound than visuals. Also, I’d heard that the designer had read my book and loved it – and I think writing the book is my input. I trusted her to see what I’d written..."

Read the Cath's full Cover Story at Unabashedly Bookish on bn.com.

rgz Seattle HOST: Deborah Reber! (With Giveaway!)

Hello, Readergirlz!

It's been a while since I've done one of my favorite things - going to book events and telling you about them. That's changing now, though, because it's an exciting time for book releases in Seattle!

On Wednesday night, I got to gather with other local YA writers and friends (including divas Holly and Martha!) to celebrate the release of Deborah Reber's first novel!

You've seen Debbie around here before. She's also the author of a bunch of non-fiction books that we here at readergirlz highly recommend, plus she runs an amazing blog called Smart Girls Know.

Love, Love, Love is actually two books in one: Debbie's Language of Love, plus Cupidity by Caroline Goode. If you're a fan of the Simon Pulse series of romantic comedies, I can guarantee you'll love both!

Here's what Language of Love is all about, from the back cover:

Janna is quickly adapting to life in Seattle as a high school exchange student from Hungary. Or at least Julian, the cute boy she met in a coffee shop, thinks she is. The truth is, he overheard Janna using a phony accent, and now she's stuck playing the part ... Will Julian want to be with the real Janna? Or will she discover that lies don't always translate to love?

To celebrate, Debbie hosted a super-fun party at Secret Garden Books. There were hot-pink cupcakes and Valentine's Day Peeps! She also put together a quiz about other love stories set in Seattle. Guess what? I won the quiz! Which means I have a copy of Love, Love, Love to give away!

Leave a comment on this post and I'll choose a random winner (US only)! Plus, I also won a raffle prize that I'll throw in! It's a copy of Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, which Debbie worked on. You've got from now 'til next Saturday, the 12th, at noon pst to comment and win both! Please leave an email address in your comment so I can let you know if you won.

Me, Debbie, Peeps and the giveaway books

Now, I'm off to get in a Valentiney mood with Love, Love, Love!

Little Willow's Book Bag

This Week's Picks
The Big Crunch by Pete Hautman
Red Glove by Holly Black (the second in the Curse Workers series)

100 Young Adult Books for the Feminist Reader

Jackie Parker, one of our awesome postergirlz, alerted us to this list of 100 Young Adult Books for the Feminist Reader.

Jac says: "This is possibly one of the coolest lists ever compiled. I wanted to highlight just a few of my favorites that made the list, but those few quickly became DOZENS. Dozens, I tell you." She posted the full list at her blog, meme-style, putting the titles she's read in bold. She's read 45 of the 100 titles so far.

Which ones have you read? Leave a comment and let us know!

Cover Stories: The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney

Karen Mahoney is here to tell the tale behind her amazingly gorgeous new cover. The Iron Witch is out this month!

"My publisher asked for my input on the cover, which was awesome! (And unexpected.) I'm lucky that Flux are open to author input - although obviously there's no guarantee that what you say will be in any way 'followed' or slavishly adhered to. All I really wanted was to make sure that we didn't actually see Donna's face (I'm not so keen on that with covers, though there are always exceptions that I fall in love with), and that we get to see her iron tattoos. Other than that, I just left it up to the art department.

"Truly, the very first time I saw the initial cover concept I fell in love. I can honestly say that the cover for The Iron Witch is perfect - every single part of it. I can't believe I was so lucky with my first ever book! I didn't have any need to ask for changes (even if they would have been considered) because there was simply nothing I wanted to change. I couldn't believe how well all the elements came together: Donna's pose shows how conflicted she is, and how angst-filled the decision she has to make; her tattoos are gorgeous and exactly how I imagined them; and she's even holding a vial of the Elixir of Life (which plays a big part in the story). The vial is beautiful, and Lisa Novak - the amazing designer - made the liquid inside it red, which is accurate to the story. I couldn't possibly ask for more.

"I'll now pass you over to Lisa Novak from Flux to tell you more about how she actually put the cover together. It's so interesting to hear Lisa talk about the cover in this way. Everything she says about the presentation of the main character (Donna Underwood) and the general atmosphere of the cover - and, therefore, of the book - is just perfect:

Lisa: "The image of the girl is stock photography. I don't know anything about what prompted the photographer to take the photo the way he did but I can tell you that it is titled 'Grief.'

The only part of the photo that had color in it when I found it was the girl's hair, the photographer had desaturated the rest of the photo to focus the viewer's eye on the hair, the highlights, the way it fell. Because that sort of photo treatment wouldn't work for our book I added the color back into her skin before adding the 'iron tattoo' (right).

"When I'm putting together a cover like The Iron Witch I start by searching for the main element, which in this case was the girl. There are about half a dozen stock photo sites that I typically use and after entering some basic search words I end up sifting through hundreds of photos to find the one that speaks most strongly to the book. Sometimes this search can be over in an hour, other times it might take days. I think this one came to me somewhere around the 6 - 8 hour mark of scanning images..."

Hear the rest of the Cover Story from Kaz and Lisa, and see some early cover drafts, on melissacwalker.com.

Story Secrets: A GIRL NAMED MISTER by Nikki Grimes + giveaway!

I have so much admiration for Nikki Grimes, poet and author, for our final Story Secrets guest. (In fact, one of the characters in Tell Me a Secret was a little bit inspired by my experience of her when I went to a writing conference several years ago - can you guess which one?).

So I am very pleased to chat with her today to find out some of the secrets behind A GIRL NAMED MISTER, her latest verse novel. And her publisher is generously giving away two copies! You can win one by posting a comment here and on my blog.

Welcome, Nikki!

*****

A GIRL NAMED MISTER is a book about a girl wrestling with her faith, her sexuality, and the point at which both intersect. It is also a story about choices and the consequences they may lead to.

Mister was not an entirely planned book, nor was it entirely organic. I’ll explain. I’d considered, at some point, tackling the subject of teen pregnancy. However, I had no specific idea of when or how I might approach it. Then, one summer, while at a conference, Ann Martin (A Corner of the Universe) and I started tossing around the idea of collaborating on a book. It was an intriguing notion for me, not being in the habit of working with another author in that way. Later, in my hotel room, I jotted down some possible ideas that I thought might work for both of us. I love doing multiple voices, and especially like creating parallel stories that wed the biblical with the contemporary. The next morning, I suggested that we create a book called Mary, Mary, written from the P.O.V. of Mary, mother of Jesus, and a contemporary teen named Mary. I thought Ann might take on the contemporary teen, while I tackled the biblical character. Ann found the idea interesting, but ultimately felt it wasn’t right for her, so I set it aside, and worked up a second possible theme.

As it happens, I never quite got around to developing that second idea, because I was unable to shake the first one. Mister introduced herself to me and, once she started talking, she would simply not shut up. I eventually committed to telling her story because she wouldn’t let me go until I did!

The final shape of the book was a surprise to me. I originally structured it as a straight parallel story, similar to the format I used in Dark Sons. However, the early drafts of MISTER were not working in that format, so I was forced to rethink how best to balance Mary’s story with Mister’s. Donna Bray, my editor at that time, suggested that I find a way to fold Mary’s story into Mister’s, and the solution I came up with was to have Mary’s story be a book which Mister read during the course of her own journey.

This was an extremely challenging book to write. I constructed, deconstructed, and reconstructed the manuscript more times than I can count. To make matters worse, I underwent two changes of editor, and one change of publisher from the time I began this work until the time it was finally published. I would finish the manuscript for one editor, only to have the next one come in and require additional changes, rewrites, etc., then have a third come in and do likewise. I honestly began to wonder if this story would ever see the light of day.

I had useful critique from Montage, my arts group with whom I share all of my works-in-progress. I also benefited from the help of a wonderful reader, Amy Malskeit, throughout. She gave me thoughtful feedback on each major draft, as did my agent, Elizabeth Harding. My work with Amy was very symbiotic because, as she was helping me with my book, I was helping her with her own. She also kept me encouraged on those days when I was close to tossing every single draft of the manuscript into the trash bin! I also got a major boost from a young reader who was, at the time, the same age as Mister. She felt the story empowered her to make good choices for her own life! The book took roughly two and half years from start to finish.

I brought quite a bit of personal experience to bear on this project. I had a child when I was young, though not as young as Mister. (I was nineteen.) I struggled with some of the same questions she and Mary had to wrestle with. I certainly remember the awkwardness and discomfort of being pregnant, the fear of the delivery room, and all that went with it. I remember the emotional isolation of being cut off from the baby’s father—the fear of that, of being all alone with the crushing responsibility of having a child. It was not a stretch for me to climb into the skins of Mister and Mary to explore their emotional journey. As for the spiritual component of the story, I interviewed a few young women raised in the church who experienced teen pregnancy, then struggled with the same guilt, doubts, and questions Mister faced regarding her faith, and her place in God’s heart after breaking his law.

I hope readers will come away from the book understanding what a huge decision it is become sexually active; how life altering it is to have a baby; how important it is to think through your choices. I hope the reader will begin to calculate the potential cost of giving in to pressure to have sex before you are ready, before you are prepared—not just physically, but emotionally.

Next up is a middle grade novel from Bloomsbury called Planet Middle School. After MISTER, I was ready for something a little lighter, something with humor at its base. Planet Middle School comes out next fall.

*****

Thank you, Nikki! Readers, take a look at this moving trailer:





THE GIVEAWAY: TWO COPIES OF A GIRL NAMED MISTER

You have until midnight on Monday to leave a meaningful comment about the book, Nikki's interview, or your own personal struggles with difficult circumstances or faith. I look forward to hearing what you have to say.

January: Roundup of Hot Topics

Hey rgz! February is here, but did you catch all the chatter in January? If not, check out what we talked about! It was all about Hope:

The Chosen One with Carol Lynch Williams

The Chosen One: How do you generate hope?

Positively with Courtney Sheinmel

Positively: Finding hope through understanding

The Beautiful Between with Alyssa Sheinmel

The Beautiful Between: Finding hope through sharing secrets

Because I Am Furniture with Thalia Chaltas

Because I Am Furniture: Writing in verse

Math Doesn't Suck with Danica McKellar

Math Doesn't Suck: Hopeful numbers

Math Doesn't Suck: Hopeful Numbers

The entire featured Math series by Danica McKellar is a huge boon for girls who thought they weren't good at math (how silly is that?).

Here are some hopeful stats from a Girls Inc. study that make it clear that girls rock the numbers:

• Among SAT takers a higher percentage of young women than young men are enrolled in honors math courses (55% vs 45%).
• Grade point averages in math and the natural sciences are higher for young women than for young men.
• Women earn 47% of bachelor’s degrees in mathematics.

Aw, yeah! Any math-readergirlz out there?

charity : water

February Community Service Spotlight

One in eight people in the world don't have access to clean drinking water. charity : water is a non-profit organization which brings clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. 100% of public donations to charity : water goes directly to funding water projects.

Their research states: "By 2050, the world's population is estimated to grow by three billion and 90% of this growth will be in the developing world. Unless sustainable water solutions are scaled fast, regions already stressed for safe water sources will be over capacity. We’re expanding our reach to meet these demands and will not stop until every person has safe water to drink."

Help hydrate the world. Learn more at http://www.charitywater.org

February Playlist

When we asked you to suggest songs about loyalty for our February playlist, the music recommendations came pouring in! This month's playlist includes:

Stand By Me by Ben E. King
Don't Leave My Mind by Azure Ray
I'll Be There by The Spinners
Just When You're Leaving by Joanna Pacitti
Lean On Me by Al Green
I'll Stand By You by The Pretenders
Mordred's Lullaby by Heather Dale
At Your Side by The Corrs
I Will by The Beatles
Touch Me by The Doors
Sway by Bic Runga
I'll Be by Edwin McCain
I'll Be There by The Jackson 5
For Good from the musical Wicked
Keep Holding On by Avril Lavigne
Stay by Lisa Loeb

Featured Series: MATH DOESN'T SUCK, by Danica McKellar

Happy Monday, readergirlz! Today, instead of a Featured Title, we've got a whole entire SERIES as our nonfiction pick for the month. And boy, do I wish these books had been around when I was in school.

It's no secret that historically, the perception was that math and science were "boy" subjects, while girls obviously gravitated to the social sciences and the arts. As a theory, it had, um, a few flaws. Sexist? Yep. Unfair? Sure. Self-fulfilling? Definitely. I can tell you from personal experience that after a few less-than-stellar experiences with math, I decided I was a hopeless case, and wrote it off. If only I'd had a role model to encourage me, and to push me to rethink my attitude toward math!

If only I'd had someone like Danica McKellar.
Here's what she has to say about her books, the MATH DOESN'T SUCK series, and her own experiences in school:

Let's get a few things straight: Acne sucks. Mean people suck. Finding out that your boyfriend kissed another girl? That would totally suck. Too much homework, broken promises, detention, divorce, insecurities: suck, suck, suck, suck, suck.
But math is actually a good thing. Here are a few reasons why: Math builds confidence, keeps you from getting ripped off, makes you better at adjusting cookie recipes, understanding sports scores, budgeting and planning parties and vacations, interpreting how good a sale really is, and spending your allowance. It makes you feel smart when you walk in a room, prepares you for better-paying jobs, and helps you to think more logically.
Most of all, working on math sharpens your brain, actually making you smarter in all areas. Intelligence is real, it's lasting, and no one can take it away from you. Ever.
And take it from me, nothing can take the place of the confidence that comes from developing your intelligence—not beauty, or fame, or anything else "superficial."


The MATH series is a perfect fit for this month's theme, as McKellar gives girls everywhere hope that with a little patience, we can conquer anything, even those school subjects that seem scary and overwhelming.
And it's no surprise that McKellar makes such a poised spokesperson; some of you may know her as the teen star of the tv show,"The Wonder Years." Check out this video, where she talks about her own experiences with math!

So, what do you think, readergirlz? If you've struggled with math like I have, does this series give you hope? Or, maybe you've always been a math whiz, but this book series has inspired you to tackle something else that always seemed complicated? What subjects are you hopeful about conquering this year in school?

Can't get enough of Danica McKellar? Check out her website and her Facebook page, and be sure to read up on her series, KISS MY MATH, and her latest release: Hot X: Algebra Exposed!

Thanks to the UW Information School!

Liz Gallagher and I (Holly) got to chat about readergirlz and YA this weekend with a roomful of librarians and future librarians at the UW Information School's iYouth Conference - a fantastic event! If they sound familiar, perhaps it's because you've seen this?

The brilliant spoof came out of the very same library school, and we even got to meet some of the stars and their friends! These are definitely some cheeky librarians and information specialists, and we were honored to be there.

Bonus: we got to hear keynoter Nancy Pearl tell her meaningful stories about the importance of children's and teen librarians and meet many educators dedicated to the future of learning.

Thank you so much for inviting us, UW Information School!

Cover Stories: Head Games by Keri Mikulski

Keri Mikulski shared her Cover Story for Screwball here in 2009, and now she's back to talk about her new release, Head Games:

"As I began writing HEAD GAMES, I definitely pictured a cover that consisted of a combination of boys and basketball. But when it came to the actual moment, I was so engrossed in writing and revising the book, I didn’t even think about the cover.

"When I first saw the cover, I was in love! Natalie Sousa, the fabulous designer at Penguin, truly captured Taylor Thomas, the main character. And she did a great job implementing the different features of the first two Pretty Tough Books – PRETTY TOUGH and PLAYING WITH THE BOYS (below). The smirk, the clothes, the beach court, the basketball, the feel of the cover – perfect!"

Read the rest of Keri's Cover Story, and see the trailer, at melissacwalker.com.

Little Willow's Book Bag

This Week's Picks
Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski
Luv Ya Bunches by Lauren Myracle
Violet in Bloom by Lauren Myracle

Story Secrets: WHEN THE STARS GO BLUE by Caridad Ferrer + giveaway!

I've known of Barbara Caridad Ferrer (well-published author of teen and adult lit, known as Barb to her friends) in teenlit circles for a while now, so I was very excited when I found out she was moving Seattle - even better to meet her in person and find out she really is as saucy and generous and funny as you would expect her to be!

I'm very pleased to welcome her today to Story Secrets to spill some secrets about her latest YA novel, WHEN THE STARS GO BLUE. Plus she has promised a signed book to one US winner (see details below).

Welcome, Caridad!

*****

WHEN THE STARS GO BLUE a contemporary reimagining of Bizet's CARMEN, where a career army officer falls in love with a sultry gypsy and gives up everything for her, only to be overthrown for the flamboyant bullfighter. My version is set against the world of drum and bugle corps, where my army officer becomes a disciplined musician, my gyspy is a talented dancer and my bullfighter is a cocky soccer player from Spain. (Read an excerpt here.)


Holly Cupala: music, dancing, bullfighting...STARS has everything! How did the idea strike you?

Caridad Ferrer: One the original story has everything that makes for a great story-- drama, passion, intrigue, a love triangle, betrayals-- plus I'd always wanted to set a story against the world of competitive drum and bugle corps, since it was an activity I was extremely involved in, as an adolescent.


Holly: I've been hearing a lot about this book's unusual trip to the shelves. Will you tell us about it?

Caridad: This book had a pretty twisting journey...


Read more of Caridad's secrets and enter to win WHEN THE STARS GO BLUE here!

~Holly Cupala