Happy Birthday, readergirlz!

Well, it's March, rgz, and do you know that means it's our 4th birthday? Woohoo! Raise a book and drop a comment in celebration. Share your love!

Looking over the past 4 years, I recall our launch, March 1st, 2007, in honor of Women's History Month. How about our migration from MySpace to Facebook and Blogger and Twitter? I think of great chats like the midnight worldwide extravaganza with Stephenie Meyer, Halloween, 2007. I think of 31 Flavorites where we hosted a different author everyday. I think of celebrations for Teen Read Week, donations of 30,000 books to underserved teens through Operation Teen Book Drop with YALSA and Guys Lit Wire, and the recent A Novel Gift with First Book, driving hundreds to register for 125,000 books. I think of winning the National Book Award for Innovations in Reading and the James Patterson Grant. 

I think of great dialog, passionate teens, and those who work to serve them. I think of an amazing crew of ladies who has donated their time to sustain this site.  

Here's to YA literature. Here's to you, rgz! Happy 4th birthday!

Cover Stories: Beastly by Alex Flinn

Alex Flinn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beastly (you may have heard of a little movie based upon this book, no?) is here to talk about the evolution of her cover. Take it away, Alex!

"I'm not a very visual person, and I knew the art department would do their thing. I've generally been pleased with my covers.

"I didn't give much input for Beastly. We may have discussed a rose. I have given more input in the past, but they've really always come up with something completely different than what was discussed, so I don't think I really said anything.

"Regarding the original cover, above, I was happy with it. I was a bit concerned about whether the rose would be a turn-off to my usual boy audience, but the black cover seems to make it less feminine. At least, plenty of boys read the book...."

Read the rest of Alex's Cover Story on melissacwalker.com, and read a full interview with Alex about the book-to-movie process (and what she thinks of the casting) on I Heart Daily.

March Discussion: What's So Risky About YA?

Hi, readergirlz, and welcome to March on the blog! Today kicks off our first feature for our theme of Risk-taking, but we're actually doing things a bit differently this week. Our featured author will be Cory Doctorow, who wrote the excellent For the Win, but we thought just this once, we'd kick the discussion off with you!

On Wednesday, we'll hear more from Cory about writing for young adult audiences, but in the meantime, let's talk - as a reader, do you think there's more risk involved in writing for a younger audience? How so? Do you think young adult readers are more open to riskier work?

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

Cover Stories: The Secret Journeys Of Jack London by Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon, Illustrated by Greg Ruth

In a special treat of a Cover Story, there are three people weighing in today. Here are Tim Lebbon (TL) and Christopher Golden (CG), the authors, and Greg Ruth (GR), the illustrator who did the cover (actually, editor Jordan Brown weighs in too, so it's the first ever four-person Cover Story!).

Did you have an idea in mind for your cover as you were writing the book?
TL: I think I always imagined the cover featuring Jack himself, probably in an action scene, although I'm always concerned at what a character might look in cases like this. Greg's final product exceeded my wildest expectation - there's so much power in that image, so much Wild, that it just took my breath away.

CG: I had been thinking of something almost antique and old-fashioned looking to go along with the Jack London era adventure tone. Greg managed to come up with something that served that desire while being totally contemporary and beautiful. We're lucky to have him on this. Despite warnings to the contrary, people often do judge books by their covers, and this one is a home run.

GR: I think the notion going in was to thread the needle between making a cover that was distinctly Jack London, but without actually showing Jack's face... which was of course the hard trick to manage. I needed then to make everything about the image a contributor to his character, and to that I did a number of initial sketches of him atop some snow ridge, either with his back to us, or facing us, but his face obscured by snow and light. We quickly settled on the former and worked it towards fulfilling the initial goal along those lines.

[Below, see two of Greg's eight intial sketches for the cover, at left, all very different ideas, these are the two to which we most gravitated. They loved the scale and the weight of the one with Jack looking out from the precipice, and also the intricate detail of the more close-up image of Jack's back. They asked if Greg could combine them a bit in a more refined sketch, and that one is on the far right:]

Did your publisher ask for your input before the art dept started working?
TL: We talked generalities about book design, the feel we wanted for it. But we didn't impose any restrictions, because we all had faith that Greg would come up with something wonderful..."

Read the rest of this epic Cover Story (and see more initial designs) at melissacwalker.com.

PS-The full post is part of a huge blog tour, so here's the full schedule in case you want to learn more!

Monday, February 28th
Little Willow at Bildungsroman

Tuesday, March 1st

Kiba Rika (Kimberly Hirsh) of Lectitans

Wednesday, March 2nd
Kim Baccellia from Si, Se Puede! and Young Adults Book Central

Thursday, March 3rd
Melissa Walker's blog

Friday, March 4th
Justin from Little Shop of Stories

Monday, March 7th
Rebecca's Book Blog

Tuesday, March 8th
Martha Brockenbrough, author of Things That Make Us [Sic]

Download the electronic press kit for THE SECRET JOURNEYS OF JACK LONDON.

Little Willow's Book Bag

This Week's Picks
The Secret Journeys of Jack London: The Wild by Christopher Golden & Tim Lebbon (Psst... Both Little Willow and Melissa Walker participated in the blog tour for this book. Check it out!)
The Ruby Notebook by Laura Resau

Rgz Street Team: Sarah Reviews Delirum by Lauren Oliver

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, Sarah reviews Delirum by Lauren Oliver:

"Delirium reminded me of several dystopian books that I loved, such as The Hunger Games, Uglies, and Matched. The fact that love is looked at as a disease makes it seem even more daunting and important, because people hate it and it is forbidden. I can't imagine not being able to show that I care for my family, friends, and many other people in my life. I can't imagine someone wanting to get rid of the most amazing emotion possible. The premise of this story was just so amazing.

"Lena was a pretty sweet character that was trying to follow society, that is until she meets Alex. I really liked Alex, he was sweet, strong, and motivated..." --Sarah

See Sarah's full review of this book on Sarah's Random Musings.

Cover Stories: Everlasting by Alyson Noel

The super-amazing Alyson Noel is here to share her thoughts on the final cover in the Immortals series (can't believe it's ending!).

Now, here's Alyson:

"After writing 16 books (14 published - 2 in production), I still don't give much thought to cover concepts until I'm asked by my publisher to share my thoughts on cover concepts--despite the fact that I imagine the characters so vividly I often feel like I'm transcribing the movie that plays in my head. But when it comes to envisioning a single image meant to both convey the story within and entice potential readers to grab it off the shelf... well, I'm more than happy to leave that to the professionals. So it's a good thing I have the wildly talented, Angela Goddard, the St. Martin's cover designer, to rely on.

"As the sixth and final installment in The Immortals series, I'd been thinking about the EVERLASTING cover pretty much since the start. And when asked for my input, I mentioned something about the lotus flower serving as an important symbol, and... well... that's about it. I was eager to see it, had really high hopes for it, but I just didn't have a defined idea for how it should look..."

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

Independent Dames: Are women's contributions still marginalized?

This week's featured title is INDEPENDENT DAMES: What You Never Knew About the Women and Girls of the American Revolution by Laurie Halse Anderson. It tells the stories of the women who fought behind the scenes in all sorts of fierce ways, women who are finally getting a spotlight. Cool!

Certainly in Revolutionary times, women's roles were marginalized. Do you think women are still kept out of the light at all? Do they get their due in terms of the ways they help shape today's world?

March Playlist

This month's theme is Risk-Taking -- and here are this month's theme songs.

Let's Get Movin' Into Action by Tim Armstrong and Skye Sweetnam
Go For It by Girlfriend
Wide Open Spaces by The Dixie Chicks
A Praise Chorus by Jimmy Eat World
Declaration by David Cook
Fall In Love Tonight by The Whomping Willows
Dare You to Move by Switchfoot

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

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!

Featured Title: INDEPENDENT DAMES, by Laurie Halse Anderson

Hello readergirlz!
Today's Featured Title is the very last of February, and our theme of Loyalty. I'm so happy to be going out with a bang via one of my all-time writer heroines, Laurie Halse Anderson, and her book, INDEPENDENT DAMES: What You Never Knew About the Women and Girls of the American Revolution. 

Listen up! You've all heard about the great men who led and fought during the American Revolution; but did you know that the guys only make up part of the story? What about the women? The girls? The dames? Didn't they play a part?
Of course they did. 


Here's what Laurie has to say: 

Remember the Ladies Or Else!

Too often our understanding of the American Revolution comes bowdlerized by Victorian-era sentiments. This is why we’ve misunderstood the role of women during the Revolution for so many generations.

Women were a vital part of the founding of the United States. Their participation ran the gamut: from taking over businesses and farms, to organizing and participating in boycotts, raising money, spying, smuggling, fighting, healing, feeding, and weaving a ocean’s worth of home-spun fabric. And they did it wearing long skirts that usually had a few kids clinging to them!

Staying home to knit? Not so much.

My favorite dame in the book is 9-year-old Susan Boudinot, who, when served tea at the mansion of the royal governor of New Jersey, tossed the foul beverage out the window. And then there was Elizabeth Burgin, who helped 200 POWs escape from their prison ships in the dead of winter. Gumption!

Juggling the layers of storytelling in DAMES; the narrative, the speech bubbles, the mini-bios, the time line, and the back matter sometimes made it feel like I was writing an epic novel instead of a picture book. But when I saw Matt Faulkner’s sketches of my clever and stubborn dames, everything fell into place.

When you pick up DAMES, be sure to check out the acknowledgements page. There you’ll find the names of 22 women – all of them grandmother of mine -  who lived during the Revolution. Being able to share the stories of their world with today’s readers gives me goosebumps!

Ooh, I've got goosebumps now, too! Here's a pic of Laurie at a Valley Forge reenactment. Love her commitment to research (it also looks like she's having a darn good time)!

Want to learn more about DAMES? Catch the snazzy book trailer:

Thanks so much for joining us, Laurie! And thanks for being so committed to stories about strong, complicated women!

Remembering L.K. Madigan

The YA world's heart is breaking this week as we learned of the loss of Lisa Madigan, Morris Award-winning author of FLASH BURNOUT and THE MERMAID'S MIRROR. She touched so many lives through her kindness, bravery, and truthful words.

I didn't know her well, but my one meeting with her will always be significant to me. We were both at ALA this last summer and met through our mutual friends (Lisa is on the far left).

Then we went out to lunch with a group, and somehow Lisa and I ended up connecting - not on a superficial level, but on a heart level. Even in a moment, I could tell that's the kind of person Lisa was. We talked about loss and writing and the things that matter. She told me about her early battle with cancer, and her beautiful husband and son. I told her the story behind Tell Me a Secret. We both cried a little.

I won't ever forget that.

I just saw one of Lisa's best friends at an author event yesterday, reminding me of how connected we are and how much one loss affects us all. Lisa's husband has posted on her blog about the outpouring of support and will continue to keep her blog open. Also, we can show our tangible support by contributing to her son's college trust fund (details at the above link).

And we can continue to buy and read her books to remember her. Check out FLASH BURNOUT and THE MERMAID'S MIRROR to celebrate her life.

Lisa, we miss you.

Cover Stories: The Girl Who Became a Beatle by Greg Taylor

Greg Taylor's The Girl Who Became a Beatle is a novel "about the good and the bad of Hollywood, fame and rock 'n roll." It has a photographic homage for a cover, and it's striking. I had to ask him how that came about.

Here's Greg:

"I had a cover in mind as I was writing the book. It became a kind of visual mantra through the many drafts and years it took for me to complete the novel. As for what it looked like, I think I'll keep that to myself.

"My publisher did not ask for my input on the cover design. Maybe it's different for the big, bestselling authors, but I believe that's common practice, publishers not involving an author in the artwork for their book. Can't say as I blame them.

"I did describe the cover I had in mind to my publisher, however. As it turned out, they went with another idea...."

Read the rest of Greg's Cover Story on BN.com's Unabashedly Bookish blog.

Little Willow's Book Bag

This Week's Picks
All the Things You Are by Courtney Sheinmel
What's Your Status? A Top 8 Novel by Katie Finn
The Sweetness of Salt by Cecilia Galante

Rgz Street Team: Priya Reviews Enchanted Ivy by Sarah Beth Durst

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, Priya reviews Enchanted Ivy by Sarah Beth Durst (you can read the Cover Story here!):

"Lily Carter, age 16, just wants to finish high school and get into her dream college, Princeton. As everyone knows, the admissions process can be very difficult - however, her grandfather, a Princeton alumnus, has signed her up for the Legacy Test, which, if she passes, will grant her automatic admission into Princeton. Her task? To find the 'Ivy Key.' What's that? Who knows. As Lily struggles to complete the test, her magical past is revealed and she realizes that the world is nothing like she thought it was.

"Enchanted Ivy was yet another entertaining read from Sarah Beth Durst. With witty writing, a fast plot, and a cast of admirable characters, this book was so much fun to read. I appreciate how closely readers can identify with Lily - college admissions is definitely a big part of high school and it was nice to see a character who finally cared about their education and wasn't constantly off having adventures and not doing their homework.

"However, I felt like Lily was so skeptical whenever she encountered magic..."

Read the rest of this review on Priya's blog.

$10,000 Scholarships From Kohl's Cares

Every year, Kohl's recognizes and rewards young volunteers (ages 6-18) across the country for their amazing contributions to their communities. This year they are recognizing more than 2,100 kids with more than $415,000 in scholarships and prizes.

We're kind of betting that readergirlz know someone to nominate. Go ahead, do it. Deadline 3/15.

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?

Cover Stories: Where I Belong by Gwendolyn Heasley

The cover for Gwendolyn Heasley's Where I Belong (out this month) made me think of about a million things I love: Texas cowboys, green-gold fields, Louboutins... it's pretty genius. I had to ask her how it came to be:

"I wrote the book somewhat on a whim, and I never (initially) expected it to be published. After the book's sale, I definitely thought about the cover and I figured that there was a good chance it would be a photograph since that's very popular in YA right now.

"It's funny though because none of my favorite YA books growing up ever had photographic images as covers.... Sometimes, I love to reimagine what those covers would have looked like if they were photos.

"The publisher (HarperCollins) was extremely nice about listening to input. They asked for it after the first initial image (which was just a mock-up) of a girl standing on a cobblestone street. This version reflected the NYC Corrinne, but the story primarily takes place in Texas.
"I really wanted a truck on the cover since trucks (especially one named Billie Jean the Second) are important characters in my novel. I wanted the cover to be more country..."

Read the rest of Gwendolyn's Cover Story, and watch the book trailer, on melissacwalker.com.

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?