November Resilience Roundup: Featured Books and Discussions!

In case you missed it, here's what we've discussed this month with authors and rgz. Jump in!

Resilience:
Before I Fall with Lauren Oliver

Before I Fall: Do you like the narrator?

Hold Still with Nina LaCour

Hold Still: Balancing Grief With Hope

Hate List with Jennifer Brown

Hate List: Characters Who Face Tragedy

If I Stay with Gayle Forman

If I Stay: Powerful Emotions

The River with Mary Jane Beaufrand

Some Girls Are with Courtney Summers

Some Girls Are: What did you think of Regina?

Some Girls Are: What Did You Think of Regina?

This week's focus is on Courtney Summers's Some Girls Are. Courtney writes books that embody this month's theme: Resilience. Regina is a formerly popular girl who's been ousted by her so-called best friends. The brutal immediacy of Some Girls Are is riveting, and the emotional honesty at its core makes accompanying Regina on her journey a truly moving experience.

For discussion: If you've read Some Girls Are, what did you think of Regina? Like Sam in Before I Fall, she's sometimes hard to like because of her past actions.

And, in general, what books have you read where the main character grew on you over time?

November Feature: The River by Mary Jane Beaufrand

Are you ready to wade across The River? This intriguing novel by Mary Jane Beaufrand is one of this month's recommended titles. Take a peek:

Veronica Severance feels cut off from the world. Forced to move from the city to rural Oregon with her parents, she is haunted by loneliness and by the chilling sounds of the Santiam, the river that runs through her backyard.

Through the fog of isolation, Ronnie finds herself becoming close with Karen, a young girl who she babysits. But when she discovers Karen's body on the banks of the Santiam, the victim of a supposed accident, Ronnie feels compelled to uncover the truth.

As she becomes increasingly obsessed with solving Karen's death, Ronnie is led deeper and deeper into the woods surrounding the river and to the dark secret hidden within its midst.

Mary Jane Beaufrand, the author of The River, shared this deeply personal story with us:

My sister Ann is a breast cancer survivor. She was diagnosed in 2007, has been in remission since 2008. But recently, a full two years being pronounced healthy, she had herself a good freakout.

Here’s the sitch: she wanted to swim laps at the Open Swim Hour at her local high school, and didn’t want to be seen changing in the girls’ locker room. The problem? The scars from her bilateral mastectomy. Don’t get me wrong—she had reconstructive surgery, so from five paces away she looks perfectly normal. But that scrawny hairline scar still stretches from one side of her ribcage to the other. Uber-dramatic up close. Like in a locker room.

“Girls that age just don’t understand,” she told me. “They still think you can be perfect.”

I nodded and made noises like I agreed, but five minutes after I left her, realized that she was dreading the judgment of teenage girls as much as she dreaded chemo. Huh. Something was definitely off.

I kept going back our conversation when Readergirlz asked me to blog about resilience. Believe me, I’d much rather write about things that invoke a different kind of response, like moose drool. Or donuts. (Or, as my daughter would add, moose drool *on* donuts. She gets a kick out of stuff like that.)

But it seems to me there’s a nugget in my sister’s dread that’s worth exploring. Because I think the issue of teenage judgment—both real and imagined—has more to do with resilience than it would first appear. I’m thinking of my sister’s scars, but I’m also thinking of Spirit Day this past October 20, and the glut of teen suicides in the wake of bullying. When I was listening to NPR last week, a commentator was talking about this subject and mentioned that, while some of the bullied suicides were gay, not all of them were. The common denominator was that they were perceived to be different.

It seems to me that a major component of resilience is tolerance, both in yourself and the people around you. If you’re going through an episode in your life where you have to be strong, it’s important to find someone who, if they can’t identify with what you’re going through, can at least imagine going through it. Those tolerant, understanding buddies? They may not be the ones you think.

In The River, my heroine, Veronica Severance, makes a series of mistakes along those lines. At the beginning of the book, she’s judgmental of the people around her, thinking that since she’s a transplant from the city, she’s better than her neighbors in the country. Ya-huh. You just know attitude can’t continue.
Secondly, she’s drawn to people based on the way they dress and their taste in music. And yes, in real life those things can really endear someone to you, but they don’t go deep enough to tell you about their true character. It’s no accident that, in order to see the truth about the people around her, Veronica has to be submerged in something that’s much more treacherous than it looks on the surface. Surfaces can lie.

So that’s about it. If you’re in need of resilience, I’m with you. Stay strong. Practice tolerance and seek out tolerant buddies. Veronica’s mother would also tell you that comfort food helps, and to be sure to enjoy a donut now and then.
But please, for my sake, hold the moose drool.

- Mary Jane Beaufrand

Now we want to hear from you. What did Veronica learn about truth and treachery? Have you ever heard a secret that you wish you hadn't? If you were in Veronica's shoes, would you have acted the same way she did? Leave your comments below!

If I Stay: Powerful Emotions (+ Win the Paperback!)

This week's focus is on Gayle Forman's If I Stay, and it's a near-perfect representation of this month's theme: Resilience. Mia is faced with a terrible tragedy -- her parents and little brother are gone, possibly dead, and she lies in a coma, critically injured in a hospital, weighing her options... to live, or to die.

For discussion: If you've read If I Stay, what emotions did you come away with? I laughed, I cried, I hoped, I doubted. You?

And, in general, what books have brought out the strongest emotions in you, as a reader?

3 commenters will win a copy of the new (gorgeously covered) paperback! Be sure to include your email with your comment.

November Feature: The Struggle to be Strong: True Stories by Teens About Overcoming Tough Times

Our November non-fiction featured title is The Struggle to Be Strong, a compilation of true stories from teens. This book was edited by Al Desetta, M.A., of Youth Communication, and Sybil Wolin, PhD, of Project Resilience. When I got in touch with Youth Communication, I met (virtually) with Loretta Chan. When she was a teenager, Loretta wrote for New Youth Connections, one of Youth Communication's magazines. Now Loretta is the marketing director of Youth Communication, and she has something she wanted to share with you readers:

How can young women overcome tough times, media stereotypes, and even abuse? The resilient girls whose true stories appear in The Struggle to Be Strong know what it takes. Danielle stops being stuck up and learns that beauty really is more than skin deep. So does Tonya, after she gets suckered by a beauty school, which just takes her money. Artiqua stands up to people who criticize her dating a boy from another race. Tamara describes how taking long walks helps her deal with the anger and rage that she feels. Tameka learns how to stop feeling sorry for herself and succeed in college, even though she grew up in foster care and doesn’t get any care packages or other support from home. Shaniqua overcomes her shyness and her fears to perform at a poetry slam. Paula, whose mother abused and neglected her, finds it in her heart to forgive her mom as she is dying. And Terry-Ann, like all of the girls in this book, used writing to learn about herself and become more resilient.

The girls who wrote stories that appear in The Struggle to Be Strong participated in Youth Communication's intensive teen writing program, which has helped thousands of teens explore their lives and improve their writing. Notable alumni from the program include the novelist and National Book Award finalist Edwidge Danticat, Glamour editor Veronica Chambers, New York Times reporter Rachel Swarns, and "Life Hacker" author and blogger Gina Trapani.

How do our teens write their stories? Watch this short film.

- Loretta Chan

Now we want to hear from you: Which of the stories in The Struggle to be Strong reminded you of your own life? How did you relate to the real-life experiences which were shared in this book? Who is the most resilient person in your family or household? Leave your thoughts below in the comments!

November Playlist

Hey readergirlz! We asked you to suggest songs suitable for this month's theme, Resilience, and here's what you came up with:

(If you can't see the playlist above, you need Flash.)

Note: Not all of the recommended songs were available at the Project Playlist website. Here's the full list of tracks suggested by readergirlz:

Promise To Try by Madonna
Unprofessional by Katy Rose
Got Dynamite by Demi Lovato
Dark Carnival by Vanessa Carlton
Nobody by Amy Studt
Change by Taylor Swift
So What by Pink
Voldemort is Going Down from the soundtrack of A Very Potter Musical
Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson
Superwoman by Alicia Keys
Stronger by Britney Spears
Fighter by Christina Aguilera

Hold Still: Balancing Grief With Hope

This week's focus is on Nina LaCour's Hold Still, and Nina talked about how it was difficult to portray main character Caitlin's grief at the suicide of her best friend Ingrid without having the whole story filled with angst, which would be hard for a reader to bear.

For discussion: If you've read Hold Still, did you stay with Caitlin in her dark moments, and follow her into the times where she found light? How did you think the balance worked? Did it feel true?

And, in general, have you read other books where the narrator was grieving? How did the author do with the balance of despair and hope?

November Community Service Spotlight

Want to give back to the world by making a donation to a reputable charity and a good cause, but not sure where to start? Check out http://www.globalgiving.org Their mission statement:

"GlobalGiving connects you to the causes and countries you care about. You select projects you want to support, make a tax-deductible contribution, and get regular progress updates - so you can see how your gift is making a difference."

Learn more at their website: http://www.globalgiving.org

Before I Fall: The Narrator Question

This week's focus is on Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall, and while the book is beloved by many, there has been some debate about the main character, Sam. She starts out pretty unaware of her flaws, and she grows to have a wider, more empathetic view of her world.

For discussion: If you've read Before I Fall, did you love Sam instantly? Did she grow on you as the story continued? Or did you never grow to like her? How did Sam as the narrator shape your view of the book?

And, in general, have you read books where the narrator was the make-or-break aspect of the title?

Prowlers by Christopher Golden, recommended by Little Willow

After reading October's spotlighted title, Lips Touch by Laini Taylor, you'll probably want to sink your teeth into another shapeshifter story. Run, don't walk, to get the Prowlers novels by Christopher Golden, which we've named recommended reads this month.



In this thrilling four-book series, a young man named Jack has to face the shapeshifters who killed his best friend. The monsters have the ability to change at any time, which, to me, makes them more frightening and deadly than werewolves who may only change when there's a full moon. In addition to their physical strength, they are also incredibly cunning, and they are usually human in appearance. Instead of being mindless killing machines, they are incredibly layered characters who have all of the wonderful and horrible strengths and weaknesses we do when it comes to those we love or things we stand for or against, making them dynamic adversaries for the good guys.

Golden also takes a cool angle on the classic love triangle: the main character, Jack, falls for Molly, who was his best friend's girlfriend. You know, his best friend, Artie, who was killed by the Prowlers. Artie's now a ghost, but he doesn't want Jack to tell anyone that he can see him. Plus Jack's got this awesome older sister, Courtney, and then there's Bill, who...well, you have to read the books to find out!

This series should be read in order.
Prowlers
Laws of Nature
Predator and Prey
Wild Things

Read my post about Prowlers at my blog, Bildungsroman.

Learn more about the series at the author's website.

Pssst... If you're planning to watch The Walking Dead on AMC tonight, check out this St. Martin's interview with authors whose short stories appear in the zombie anthology The New Dead and see what they think about the new TV show!

Have a happy Halloween, readergirlz. Please be safe!

Suggest Songs for Our November Playlist

Hey rgz!

We are building the playlist for November. Our theme is Resilience. Give me your suggestions in the comments below, and I'll compile the list for us to rock our November reads.

Suggestions so far:
Unprofessional by Katy Rose
Got Dynamite by Demi Lovato
She Floats by Vanessa Carlton