February Roundup: Loyalty

Here are our February discussions, just in case you missed anything!

Loyalty:

A Conspiracy of Kings with Megan Whalen Turner

The True Meaning of Cleavage with Mariah Fredericks

The True Meaning of Cleavage: Friendships betrayed

Broken Soup with Jenny Valentine

Broken Soup: Family Secrets

Independent Dames with Laurie Halse Anderson

Independent Dames: Are women's contributions still marginalized?

February Community Service: Charity:Water

February Playlist

What Loyalty Means to Me by 4 Cool Kids

February's theme at readergirlz is loyalty. When discussing loyalty, these teens thought of their friends, their families, and their pets, among other things.



If you can't see the video above, click here.

What does loyalty mean to you? Leave a comment below and let us know!

Broken Soup: Have you ever kept a family secret?

This week's featured title, Broken Soup by Jenny Valentine, shows main character Rowan taking care of her family after the death of her brother.

To "keep it all together," Rowan ends up keeping some family secrets--for better or worse.

Have you ever kept a family secret? Was it the right thing to do?

Featured Title: BROKEN SOUP, by Jenny Valentine

Happy Presidents' Day, readergirlz! We hope you're getting some good reading in over the long weekend! 


If you're looking for a recommendation, how about today's Featured Title, Broken Soup by Jenny Valentine? 

Positive.

Negative.

It's how you look at it. . . .

Someone shoves a photo negative into Rowan's hands. She is distracted but, frankly, she has larger problems to worry about. Her brother is dead. Her father has left. Her mother won't get out of bed. She has to take care of her younger sister. And keep it all together . . .

But Rowan is curious about the mysterious boy and the negative. Who is he? Why did he give it to her? The mystery only deepens when the photo is developed and the inconceivable appears.

Everything is about to change for Rowan. . . . Finally, something positive is in her life.

Award-winning author Jenny Valentine delivers a powerful and life-affirming story of grief, friendship, and healing that will resonate long after the last page.

This month's theme here at the blog is Loyalty, and Broken Soup is a complex matrix of relationships both friendly and familial alike. In the aftermath of her brother's death, Rowan finds loyalty and love from some unexpected new friends; in the end, she learns to rely on these newcomers as a sort of makeshift extended family itself. 

I won't say too much for fear of giving away the ending of this quiet, but unexpected story that Publishers Weekly calls "a solid tale of what it takes to grow up and how to ask for help." This is one you'll want to read for yourself!

In the meantime, tell us: what are some of your favorite stories of unconventional "families," and the ways that their members show each other support? 

The True Meaning of Cleavage: Friendships Betrayed

This month's theme is Loyalty, and our Featured title this week is The True Meaning of Cleavage by Mariah Fredericks. In Monday's post, Mariah shared the real story that the book is based on -- one where she and her best friend in high school parted ways, slowly losing each other as their social worlds separated.

Loyalty is a beautiful thing, but even in the truest of friendships, it is sometimes tested.

So how about you, readergirlz: Have you ever knowingly betrayed a friend? Or has a friend betrayed you? Were you (or s/he) ever able to forgive?

Featured Title: THE TRUE MEANING OF CLEAVAGE, by Mariah Fredericks

Hello, readergirlz, and happy Valentine's Day! This is the perfect day to spotlight Mariah Fredericks' wonderful friendship tale, The True Meaning of Cleavage, because I absolutely loved this one!

*A little bit of background: I was working as a very junior level editor at the publishing house that released this book, and I remember very clearly seeing the cover at an early positioning meeting. I was immediately hooked. A great cover for a fantastic book!



Sari and Jess are best friends and total opposites. They've liked each other ever since they discovered that they are the only two normal people at Eldridge Alternative. As they prepare to face the trials of ninth grade, Sari is psyched. Jess is not. How can she face the Prada Mafia, the most evil clique in school? Or Mr. McGuiness's unnervingly long nose hair? What if something really interesting happens to Sari and nothing whatsoever happens to Jess?


But not even Jess can predict the mayhem that erupts when Sari falls madly in love with David Cole. David is a senior. He's been dating Thea Melendez for forever. So he couldn't possibly be interested in Sari. Or could he? And if he is, where does that leave Jess?


Fredericks writes with confidence and authenticity about the very real complications of even the deepest friendships. I'm so excited to welcome her to the blog today! Here's what she had to say about Loyalty: 


Loyalty. That promise we make to friends and family to be on their side. To never hurt them. Never betray them. Loyalty is what makes friendship a refuge, a place in this world where you can reveal yourself without fear. (That is, until one friend spreads the other friend's business all over town.)

We get through life with allies, people we trust to be there for us. Always. And in the same way. But of course, people change. And change can threaten those connections. When I was in high school, I wanted my best friend and I to be the same. Geeks against the world. I did not want her to go and do things I knew were stupid and dumb and lame. (And which, by the way, I was far too scared to do.) I judged her for doing them; she judged me back for being gutless. And that's where we betrayed each other.

Obviously, that?s the story behind The True Meaning of Cleavage, in which two friends betray each other in different ways. Sari puts her relationship with a boy before her friendship with Jess. The things she liked to do with Jess, she now thinks are uncool. She obnoxiously asserts her own newfound coolness. Jess struggles to stick by her friend, but then she commits her own ugly act of betrayal.

"Ragged, battered, but still loyal." That's a line from Jess's beloved fantasy series, Hollow Planet. I think it describes many of my long term friendships. I've gotten more tolerant? I hope. As long as there's respect and a shared love of cheesy movies, I'm true to the end.



Well, she had me at "cheesy movies." Definitely the key to any strong, lasting friendship. Thanks for stopping by, Mariah!


So readergirlz - on Valentine's Day, tell us about some of your favorite stories (real life, or literary) of loyal friends!

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.)****

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? 

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

Suggest Songs for Our February Playlist

Hey rgz!

We are building the playlist for February. Our theme is Loyalty. Give me your suggestions in the comments below, and I'll create the playlist.

Suggestions so far:
Stand By Me by Ben E. King
Don't Leave My Mind by Azure Ray
Just When You're Leaving by Joanna Pacitti
I Will by The Beatles

Suggest Songs for Our January Playlist

Hey rgz!

We are building the playlist for January. Our theme is Hope. Give me your suggestions in the comments below, and I'll create the playlist!