rgz

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 you are my only. Show all posts
Showing posts with label you are my only. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Cover Stories: You Are My Only by Beth Kephart


Beth Kephart has shared many Cover Stories in this space--for Undercover and House of Dance, for Nothing But Ghosts and for The Heart is Not a Size. Her latest novel is high in my pile, and it should be in yours too! I dare you to read a Beth Kephart book and not sigh at the beauty of her words. She's truly a poet (check out her blog for proof).

Here's Beth talking about the cover of her new novel, You Are My Only:

"For many months I have wondered just how I would write this cover story. In some ways, I still don’t know quite what to say.

"Should I start with the title, You Are My Only, which sets the mood? And if I start with the title, then aren’t I really starting (or shouldn’t I start) by thanking my agent, Amy Rennert, and her colleague, Robyn Russell, who helped me toward knowing what the title must be during a week of grave uncertainty?

"You Are My Only, then—a title that I was helped toward. Words that struck me once, and strike me again today, as singular and brave.

"To create the image, we turned, of course, to Neil Swaab, who had designed the gorgeous cover for Dangerous Neighbors [read that Cover Story on bn.com], and who seems to get books the moment he reads them—seems to settle on that symbol or scene that obsessed the writer or, in this case, kept the writer going. Both of my protagonists—Sophie and Emmy—are caught inside worlds, trapped in places they should not be. Both look out through windows on people and places just out of reach. What might symbolize that? What single image might tell the story of two young women separated by time and place and hurt?"

Read the rest of Beth's Cover Story at melissacwalker.com.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

rgz Circle of Stars: Trailer for You Are My Only

So happy to share our former rgz Author in Residence Beth Kephart's new trailer for her next novel. My review for You Are My Only ran here. Don't miss this book when it releases at the end of the month. Don't-miss-it. 



LorieAnncard2010small.jpg image by readergirlz

Friday, September 23, 2011

Diva Delight: You Are My Only, Beth Kephart

You Are My Only

Can we take a moment to thank Egmont for publishing another Beth Kephart exquisite novel? Thank you, Egmont!

You Are My Only will be released October 25th, and I encourage you then to find Beth's newest book. In this realistic fiction novel, you'll breath despair along with several suppressed characters. You'll turn pages and yearn for them each to find hope. One story tells of a young mother's loss of her baby, while the second winds a tale of a teen sequestered from society. How the works intertwine is brilliant. From beginning to end, images and movements echo and resonate back and forth between the stories. At the reveal, I actually stopped reading, stunned by the moment of truth.



As always, I was mesmerized by Beth's rich writing. Even in the smallest detail:

"There is a bird making a tree branch heavy, her gray belly bottom like the high back of the sun."

"Outside the wind sneaks up under the loose skirt of the roof tiles..."

Nesting in the story are sweet truths of life that you can grapple with and then possibly hold.

"Tragedy and blessing," Miss Cloris says. "Sometimes they're the same one thing."

"What do you suppose any of us, Sophie, wish to be remembered for? For the things that tried to stop us or the ways we carried on?"

I'm still thinking over the latter. I'm challenged to find the truth that I would ultimately hold.

You Are My Only is current, relevant, and gracefully written with gripping realism. There is no shrinking back. Thank you, Beth, for staying truly dedicated to the fine art of writing.

You Are My Only
by Beth Kephart
EgmontUSA



LorieAnncard2010small.jpg image by readergirlz

Sunday, September 11, 2011

A Treasure Hunt with Beth Kephart

Her latest book, You Are My Only, is on our must-read list. And you can participate in a blog treasure hunt that our illustrious first writer-in-residence Beth Kephart is doing all around the internet. Beth is writing five posts that each tell a story about the making of You Are My Only (read the Publishers Weekly review). Many posts include passages that were written but never used in the final book.  

Prizes include a signed copy of You Are My Only and a critique by Beth of the first 2000 words of a work in progress (priceless!). Go to Beth's blog to hear about the full magic of this treasure hunt!