readergirlz is a literacy and social media project for teens, awarded the National Book Foundation's Innovations in Reading Prize. The rgz blog serves as a depot for news and YA reviews from industry professionals and teens. As volunteers return full force to their own YA writing, the organization continues to hold one initiative a year to impact teen literacy. All are welcome to "like" us on Facebook!
Showing posts with label North of Beautiful. Show all posts
Showing posts with label North of Beautiful. Show all posts
Today, readergirlz diva and fantabulous author Justina Chen'sNorth of Beautiful comes out in paperback! Yay! And the cover is the same as the hardcover, because if it ain't broke....
Here's Justina:
"My book has a twin: Alyson Noel's Evermore. The funny thing is, North of Beautiful and Evermore don't just share the cover girl. They were also published on virtually the same day in 2009. Twins separated at birth!
"A bunch of people have asked me whether it's been a problem sharing the same cover girl. I don't think so. If anything, that anomaly has raised the profile of our books. Publishers Weekly even did a story about it. Plus, the treatment of the cover girl is so different I didn't even realize it was the same girl until a blogger pointed it out to me.
"I've hit the jackpot with all my book covers, thanks to my art director, Gail Doobinin who designed my first two books--Girl Overboard and Nothing but the Truth (and a few white lies). And my new book designer, Saho Fujii who created North of Beautiful. I know I'm lucky to love all my covers and to have a publisher who honors my opinion.
"For North of Beautiful, Saho played around with a bunch of different concepts--and obviously had read my book. One of her initial ideas was to collage the cover just the way Terra herself may have created. But then Saho found the perfect photo representation for Terra: hair draped over her cheek, downcast eyes. It was precisely how I imagined Terra holding herself in public.
"Then, the brilliance that is Saho found a fabulous old-fashioned compass rose that she used to separate the three parts of the story. My one and only request was that she somehow integrate that compass image on the front cover. Her treatment of the compass--placing it as a watermark over Terra's cheek--was inspired! It is a truly and exceptionally beautiful cover."
I agree--it looks so different on each cover that I can totally see it as both Terra and Ever--separate girls in two fantastic books. I also love how Justina's three books are blue, pink and yellow in overall color palette--gorgeous! What do you guys think?
YALSA posted their awesome list of nominations for Best Books for Young Adults. Special congrats to diva Justina Chen for North of Beautiful being in the roundup!
Thank you to each librarian who has been reading voraciously!
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, Miss Erin reviews North of Beautiful by our own Diva Justina Chen Headley!
Trying to describe all that this book is about is difficult... it encompasses so much. It's about a girl named Terra and the birthmark on her face that has made her life so ugly. It's about a girl longing to be free, and wishing for someone to give her permission to be so. It's about relationships - the one you have with yourself, and the ones you have with others. It's about what the word "beauty" really means . . . and how that's not such a simple term to define. Justina Chen Headley has crafted a truly stellar novel in North of Beautiful. She managed meticulously the delicate balance of mixing dark with light in her story. Her talent for weaving various themes and imagery throughout a book is brilliant. It's a story that overwhelms you with truth; both characters and story ring with a painful, sweet honesty. The book made me cry...
To read the rest of Miss Erin's review, click here.
If you missed Part 1 of this Behind the Scenes Operation TBD Trailer tutorial, check it out here.
For the Operation TBD trailer, I wanted to create a Wizard of Oz kind of feeling, going from last year's event in sepia and switching to color for the upcoming event (besides, Andrea's music makes me think of old movies). I wanted the books in the video to simulate Rocking the Drop - teens and authors and publishers dropping thousands of books across the country - and used a few book covers from each of the publisher donors. Even better, and totally coincidentally, the first book to pop up is a Wizard of Oz graphic novel!
Ok, once you have your music and an idea rattling around in your head, it's time to create the images. There are basically three ways to do this: use video footage, use still images, or create titles within your moviemaking program.
The TBD trailer is compiled of still images (made in PhotoShop) and title effects (more on this later). For the rgz/GuysLitWire/YALSA/ publishers/tons of dropping books section, I made over 70 images to layer one after the other. Here are just a few:
Here's the part where the Mac people will want to throw fruit at me, because I use Windows Movie Maker (even worse...I run Vista on my MacBook Air). So I know there has to be a free moviemaking program for Mac OS X (iMovie?), but it's probably so user-friendly that you don't even need this tutorial (uh, unless you happen to be running Vista on your Mac).
In Movie Maker, everything is pretty drag-and-drop. The import bar is on the left, and you can import videos, pictures, and audio files. Once you have imported all of your components, you basically just drag and drop them onto the appropriate slot on the timeline bar at the bottom. To add titles (all of the text zooming in and out), just go to Tools -> Titles and Credits, and follow the instructions.
To create effects, like old film grain, fading in and out, sepia, or the cool warp that made Ellen Hopkins' books look like they were marching across the screen, go to Tools -> Effects. A bunch of options will present themselves. You can test them on the upper right screen and then drag and drop them directly onto each slide.
You can synch your images and titles by using the zoom tool above the timeline bar and adjusting the length of time that image is in the movie down to fractions of a second - for instance, I tried (very hard!) to hit the beats on Andrea's song when transitioning to another image for greater impact. If you are using video footage, you may want to tinker with the music and sound so that you don't lose the audio.
Looking for an excellent place to use your newly acquired movie-making skills? Check out the North of Beautiful Find Beauty Challenge! Justina is giving away an iTouch, and for every video uploaded, Justina will donate $10 to Global Surgical Outreach, an amazing group that helps kids with cleft lips and palates in the third world. See the details here!
Haven't seen it yet? Well, here it is, in all its green glory:
This is my second trailer for a readergirlz project (the first being the readergirlz Night Bites trailer in honor of YALSA's2008 Teen Read Week), so I thought I'd give you a few of the behind-the-scenes deets of making a movie - especially if you plan to make an entry for Justina Chen Headley'sNorth of Beautiful Find Beauty Challenge! On Thursday I will post part 2, a short Windows moviemaking tutorial on how to put it all together.
First, you need the perfect music for your trailer - something that inspires your mind, coordinates with your images and/or video footage, and that you will love to listen to at least a hundred times before you are finished.
"Marching Orders," by lovely and talented Seattle singer/songwriter/musician Andrea Wittgens, is all that and more - edgy, catchy, and thematically right on. (Thanks to my artist friend Alice Engelhardt for suggesting her!)
Next, you need permission - because it's not OK to use someone's music without their permission any more than it's ok for someone to plagiarize your writing or art or whatever, and there are plenty of free music sites on the web for just this purpose (Google "royalty-free music" to find public domain music, or find someone you know who makes music, or be brave and send your favorite band a message on MySpace). Generally it's easier to get permission for indie music on small labels versus the big ones that want big royalties - it was rumored that Microsoft paid between $8 and $14 million for permission to use The Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up" in their Windows '95 marketing campaign - so if someone give you permission, be very very grateful. (Have I mentioned how much we love Andrea?? Check out her album at CD Baby!)
Once you have your music, you're ready for the next step: putting it all together. Stay tuned for Part 2 on Thursday!
By now, you guys have surely heard all the great buzz about Readergirlz Diva Justina Chen Headley's new novel North of Beautiful--which got starred reviews absolutely everywhere--but have you heard about the Find Beauty Challenge on Youtube?
For every video about beauty that fans upload to this channel, Justina will donate $10--up to $1,000--to help children in third-world countries born with cleft lips and palates.
To enter, create a YouTube account, upload your video, and send a link to north AT marthabee.com. It'll be added to the Find Beauty Challenge channel. Tell all your friends to vote for you!
Only two more weeks now before rgz diva and co-founder Justina Chen Headley's third novel, North of Beautiful, hits the shelves, and what better way to celebrate than a party?
If you can’t make it to the party, but still want the book, pop into your favorite bookstore or order it from www.bn.com, www.amazon.com, and www.indiebound.org. Drop Justina an email at by Feb. 14, and she’ll snail mail you an autographed bookplate.
The FIND BEAUTY CHALLENGE Tell the world what True Beauty really means! Just shoot a 90-second video describing what’s truly beautiful to you—your friends, your family, your world, your favorite book, yourself!
Load your video on YouTube and you could win great prizes, including a cool iPod Touch! PLUS, Justina will donate $10 for every uploaded video (up to $1,000) to Global Surgical Outreach to help fund facial surgeries for kids in the third world.
School visits are awesome, and Diva Dia and I recently hit two schools in Auburn, Washington: Rainier and Mt. Baker Middle Schools. We were so welcomed by both. The appearances were thanks to King County Library Systems librarian and Roller Derby queen, Rachel McDonald.
After the school visits we hit her teen book club to discuss the writing life.
And then we participated in rgz LIVE! with Ellen Emerson White online at the group forum in the Auburn Public Library's Teen Zone.
The greatest news in Divaland is that Justina Chen Headley is back in the states! After an amazing three months in China, she's home again, ready to write, and celebrate the upcoming release of North of Beautiful on February 1.
Here she is at the airport yesterday am after a 24 hour flight, looking beautiful as always. Note the gorgeous handbag!
Holly and I are so happy to have Justina home! The entire rgz team is cheering! Catch her at the forum and give her a shout out, everyone!
The rgz Street Team is a group of teens who bring YA reviews to our blog, led by Postergirl Miss Erin. Find out more.
In Movie Maker, everything is pretty drag-and-drop. The import bar is on the left, and you can import videos, pictures, and audio files. Once you have imported all of your components, you basically just drag and drop them onto the appropriate slot on the timeline bar at the bottom. To add titles (all of the text zooming in and out), just go to Tools -> Titles and Credits, and follow the instructions. 
- especially if you plan to make an entry for Justina Chen Headley's North of Beautiful Find Beauty Challenge! On Thursday I will post part 2, a short Windows moviemaking tutorial on how to put it all together.
"Marching Orders," by lovely and talented Seattle singer/songwriter/musician Andrea Wittgens, is all that and more - edgy, catchy, and thematically right on. (Thanks to my artist friend Alice Engelhardt for suggesting her!)
By now, you guys have surely heard all the great buzz about Readergirlz Diva Justina Chen Headley's new novel North of Beautiful--which got starred reviews absolutely everywhere--but have you heard about the Find Beauty Challenge on Youtube?
Today is the start of a two-week celebration of readergirlz diva Justina Chen Headley's North of Beautiful (which is already getting great buzz from tough critics!). 
After the school visits we hit her teen book club to discuss the writing life.
