Teens Wanna Know: Otherworldly YA Books

Looking for an awesome YA book that will take you out of this world? Love sci-fi/fantasy series? Check out my guest post at Teens Wanna Know! 

I've recommended five fantastic stories by Christopher Golden (Prowlers), Thomas E. Sniegoski (Fallen), Scott Westerfeld (Uglies), Justine Larbalestier (How to Ditch Your Fairy), and Holly Black (The Curse Workers). These books include angels, shapeshifters, surgeries, good luck, and bad luck, among other things. 

If you haven't read them yet, you should. If you have read them, let me know which one you liked the best.

Check out my Otherworldly YA post at Teens Wanna Know and leave a comment!  

Rgz HOST: Justine Larbalestier!

Hello, readergirlz! What an exciting week of chats for Teen Read Week! Be sure to check out the chat transcripts if you weren't able to be there live.

It's also an exciting night in Seattle! I just got home from Third Place Books, where I enjoyed a yummy pasta dinner at a table with my trusty laptop so I could do the TRW chat, and then scooted over to The Den to listen to Justine Larbalestier.

Here I am (New hair! It's dark! Pink streaks, too, but you can't so much see them here.) with the lovely and fabulous Justine.

Imagine her with an Australian accent.

Justine's new book, Liar, is kind of hard for her to talk about because it's full of secrets and lies, and she doesn't want to spoil the end . I can NOT wait to dig in and have my own reactions, then join the hordes of readers who have taken to the internet to beg Justine to reveal the "real ending."

I still learned a lot about the book and about Justine, though. I learned that Justine thought Liar would be funny, until she started writing it. I learned that it actually came to be a bit of a commentary on sexuality in YA literature, "language" in YA literature, and even YA literature itself (So. Cool.). I learned that the Scrivener program for Mac is integral to Justine's writing process. I learned about the alternative Australian high school where Justine got to "be" Turkey and the US, for a while, and how the kids who were Iran and Iraq eventually ended up going out, very peacefully. I also learned that, in Australia, it's totally normal to put beets on your pizza.

I have to say that the most thrilling part of the evening (aside from the pizza revelation, maybe) was that there was a hefty handful of teens in the crowd. Way to go, young readers! I hope to see more of you at future book events! It's really awesome when you can fit a reading into your super-packed lives. Seriously, come in your volleyball uniform all sweaty from the match; practice your violin in the parking lot 'til the last minute. No one will mind!

Can't wait to dig into Liar, yay!

The LIAR Cover Controversy

Author Justine Larbalestier is in the middle of a cover crisis, and I just wanted to point anyone who hasn't read about the drama with her new LIAR cover, to her blog post about it.

Basically, Justine's US publisher chose a very white-girl image for the cover, although the main character in LIAR is black. (The Australian version is a more abstract cover--see behind the controversial US cover).

The party line is that it has to do with sales and marketing, but whatever the case, it's a whitewash, and I'm so glad Justine is talking about it. That takes a brave author.

The discussion is fast and furious--page through the comments for lots of insight, and add your own thoughts. If we keep talking about this, and blogging, and spreading the word, there may be hope for a more honest paperback cover.

PS-While you're on Justine's blog, check out guest blogging Ari Miss Attitude, of Reading in Color. She rules.