So after hearing Lauren Oliver talk two nights ago, I thought I’d just pen my thoughts on why YA is so popular among readers right now-from the target audience of young adults all the way through the actual adults!  Keep in mind that this list is generalized about the many YA books that are set in high school in America or somewhere not too far removed.

Me with Lauren Oliver at the 2010 NCTE (before I was too pregnant to want to be photographed).

First, I loved that Lauren Oliver said she writes about characters who change significantly in terms of their thinking (I’m poorly paraphrasing Oliver’s own words, but that’s essentially it).  That idea was definitely an epiphany for me, because while I considered Oliver’s two YA novels incredibly different-in Before I Fall a realistic mean girl has to relive the day she dies 7 times to figure out how to change what’s wrong in her life and in the Delirium series a good girl has to rebel against a society that believes love is a disease-both girls need to recognize their own faults and the faults of the world around them in order to grow and mature.

So that begins the reasons that YA is popular:

#1: YA books are about  redemption, and that redemption comes while there is still time left to live out the rest of a protagonist’s life (okay so Before I Fall, not a good example).  I love the concept of redemption, and I love that our heroes/heroines have time to actually live productive lives because they have realized the errors of their ways.

#2: YA books take place in settings we know –we as readers either went to high school or are currently in high school so we understand the struggles of characters more easily than say a classic where the protagonist is a street sweeper in Victorian London or a peasant in Cold War Russia.  We have all suffered through the emotions and episodes of being teenagers in America (even if home schooled).

#3: We can live vicariously through YA lit.  I did not date in high school, the cute boy never liked me, I didn’t have much fun until I got to college-but I can have a totally transformative senior year by reading Sarah Dessen or Meg Cabot.  One of my favorite movies is She’s Out of Control with Tony Danza where his daughter goes from ugly duckling to beautiful swan.  The ability to remake oneself completely still resonates with me, and every time I pick up a YA novel, I can transform myself into that girl!

#4 YA Lit tells a good story succinctly.  I love being able to get through a great book in a few hours (or a few settings).    YA lit is great in that there is still awesome vocab (yay for my VocabGal self!), developed characters, original plots, symbolism, literary analysis to be done, etc, but the story can be read more easily and quickly than Dickens or Faulkner where you have to reread full paragraphs to understand the meaning behind each sentence.  I like being able to go fast, yet still be moved by a story!

#5 YA isn’t a genre, it’s simply the age of the protagonist.  I’m paraphrasing Andrea Cremer here (the last author I heard speak before Lauren Oliver).  I love her sentiment-YA books shouldn’t be classified as such-they are just great stories whose heroes/heroines happen to be teens.  We don’t classify Great Expectations as children’s lit, despite Pip being just a boy at the beginning of the story, or consider Jane Eyre beneath us even though she starts her tale as an adolescent.  The popularity of  The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, and other “YA” books is due to the storytelling ability of the authors -regardless of the age of the protagonist!

So for now, pick up those YA books without mockery, regardless of your age. They offer hope, inspiration, and simply a great, quick read!  My list isn’t done yet-I plan to keep adding on, but want your imput.  Why are you reading YA?

A) I had read and thoroughly enjoyed
B) I had just given away to my father for Christmas (it was autographed!!)
C) I interviewed Jack Gantos when he came to St. Louis in September promoting the book!
D) I love Jack Gantos and was thrilled that he finally got some well-deserved recognition!

So here is my metaphor for my “relationship” with Jack Gantos: He is the amazingly cool kid in high school wearing the Ramones t-shirt, skinny jeans, and Chuck Taylors who is too cool for school but loves to show his brilliance by making witty remarks in honors English. I am the dorky girl with the oversized glasses, permed hair, braces and lack of fashion sense, sitting in the corner, worshiping from afar.

As you can tell in my picture with Jack, I’m a little star-struck to be attending an awesome dinner party at NCTE 2010 where he talked to me like I was a normal person and put his arm around me for the picture!

What did we talk about? The fact that his non-fiction memoir A Hole in My Life is the most stolen book from my classroom (because it deals with the time when he, as a teenager, helped sail a boat into NYC full of hash, but alas, got caught and went to jail for a year=hole in life). It definitely is a book kids want to read, but when they finish, they pass it on to their friends and not so much back to me.

Then he came to St. Louis this September and was gracious enough to grant me an interview for Vocabgal -which will be posted next Thursday, Feb 2nd! Again, he chatted with me like I was a normal human being, rather than a star-struck fan (I kept my giggling to a minimum I hope.)

What I love about Jack is that he bases much of his writing on his own personal life, and he has a fascinating, if not always warm and fuzzy, life. Dead End in Norvelt is so interesting because it is almost another memoir -he based it on the time he spent as a child in the town of Norvelt-a town named for Eleanor Rosevelt who created this awesome, pseudo-socialist community where everyone built each others’ homes and paid each other with their own goods and services. Jack’s mother had grown up in this town and, as the book opens, has moved back with her family, but Jack’s father is not as happy with the location…

Jack’s sense of humor and comedic timing describing the events of the story make the book laugh-out-loud funny, yet the poignancy of his task to help the town’s nurse write the eulogies for the last original townsfolk is rather touching (and the fact that these townsfolk start dying off rather quickly also poses a mystery to be solved).

My favorite part of the story is when Jack has to sneak inside an old woman’s house to see if she is dead, so he dresses up in his Halloween costume-which, of course-is a Grim Reaper outfit. The woman isn’t dead, but almost dies when she sees the embodiment of death itself creeping toward her.

This is what you can expect from the book that has it all-humor, excitement, love, eccentricities and Jack’s personal flair. I think the autograph he created just for this book conveys it all!

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by

Divergent by Veronica Roth
Publisher: HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Books
Publication date: May 3, 2011 

from goodreads.com: In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. 

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

my thoughts: People, I’ve been waiting on a good piece of dysopian literature ever since I screamed cried at the end of Mockingjay. Since this one has been generating a lot good buzz I can only hope that I’m not disappointed.

Stacy

Who is this awesome author that is writing my name (me!) in her book? Tina Reber! She told me recently that she is writing me as a relative of Ryan’s in her sequel!!  I just can’t believe it!  What a complete honor!!  THANK YOU!  How stinkin’ cool is this????

I don’t have any more details on the sequel, but if you haven’t read Love Unscripted, you can find my review here.  Or even buy it here.  It’s an awesome book where you fall in love with the characters and wish you were part of their group. For more information on Tina Reber go here.

Love,
STACKGirl Shannan who is now forever in PRINT (well…almost!)

Yeah, we’re slackers on announcing the winner…

AMY S. from Backseat Writer your package is in the mail!

Thanks to everyone who entered and left comments.

She is a super hip cool teen that will add a fresh and totally different perspective to our book reviews. We are excited she is taking this journey with us and can’t wait to initiate her in the world of girlsinthestacks.com. *cheering and applauding*

Cool cat Riyanna’s bio:

Currently I am a diligent “A” and “B” (mostly A’s) student. I enjoy school, most of the time, and seeing my friends. 

If I was stranded on an island I would want to have 1) an endless supply of food and water 2) friends for entertainment and human connection and 3) a magical book that gave me new stories upon my command. If all I had to do was read, sleep, and eat all day I would be perfectly happy. In other words I really love reading.

Music is also very important to me. It makes a lot of things easier; knowing you can curl up with a good book, some nice tunes and hot chocolate in front of a fire makes the day seem so much better. Unfortunately I can’t sing or play an instrument worth a dime, but that’s alright. I am merely an admirer of other people’s work.

At home my mother, brother, two weirdo dogs, cat, and fish (named Sushi) make my days entertaining. Without them I would certainly have a very boring life.

My friends and I are what you would call “strange”, but it is definitely something we take in stride. We are loud and obnoxious teenagers whose inner children are very much alive. We enjoy pretending to be ninjas, spies, and cool among other things. Needless to say, we are very comfortable with each other and ourselves.

I hope to make finding a genuinely good book for yourself or someone else easier. 

Riyanna

I  <3 Glee. Call me a gleek, because I’m drinking that kool-aid. From Will Schuester’s hair to Rachel’s aspirations to Puck’s antics with love, not to mention all signing and dancing, I just can’t get enough.

I LOVE books, duh. I just read and highly enjoyed I AM NUMBER FOUR by Pittacus Lore. Now, I’m not saying it was the best book ever, but it was highly entertaining. All I will say is by the ending I truly enjoyed the story, and am looking forward to book two.

Movies, *sigh*. Going to the movies is one of my all time favorite things. It’s not only watching the movie, but the experience as a whole. You know, buying your ticket, getting the outrageously priced coke and popcorn and sitting with friends and family for 2 hours in a dark theater watching larger than life movies. I love the feeling every time.

So, how are all three of my loves connected??

Dianna Agron, who plays Quinn Fabray on Glee, is playing the role of Sarah Hart in the I AM NUMBER FOUR movie…which is currently in post-production and will be released February 11, 2011.

Can I get a whoop, whoop??

As much as I would love to go swimming at the moment and enjoy some tasty meat from the grill, that is not how I have planned my day. What you ask then, will I be doing? Well, since you asked…

1. Work out at the gym! Okay, so I have already done this. I met a friend at the gym and we did a STIRKE class then saw my neighbor after the class and she talked us into a ZUMBA class. Can anyone say white girl can’t dance?? I made Elaine’s dancing on Seinfeld look good.

2. LAUNDRY! I will be washing and folding all day. That also means the TV will replace me today as the official babysitter.

3. Buying groceries. I will be entering the sunken pit hell known as Central Market. Normally, this is a hip place to shop, but not on weekends or holidays. It is shoulder-to-shoulder madness…and I will be taking my kids. Someone just shoot me now.

4. More laundry, because sadly I have that much to do.

5. Least you think my day may be bookless, I do plan to read. Which coincidently will be the best part of my day. At the moment it is a toss up between Paranormalcy by Kiersten White or Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin.

So, as you can see exciting times here at the casa. How about you, what are your plans?

HAPPY LABOR DAY EVERYONE!!  

Shannan, Nancy and I are anxiously awaiting Mockingjay tomorrow. I am having a hard time concentrating, and Shannan and Nancy were jumping up and down today after we dropped off the kids at school. Yea, people were looking at as funny, but who cares. We will finally have Mockingjay in our hands…YAY!!!!

For us tomorrow is almost like the anticipation of Christmas. All excited, and jumpy and eager to please. You know it’s that feeling you get right before you go to bed, knowing what the next day brings. Things like joyfulness, delightfulness, happiness and fun (hopefully no tears though) and you have to WILL yourself to sleep. Well, it’s like that. For us anyway.

So, tell us. Are you excited?

How is this book related? Well…

Simon & Schuster (Simon Pulse) has recently released Jay’s Journal in trade paperback. As you may know this is a companion novel of sorts to Go Ask Alice, both which are written by anonymous authors and edited by Beatrice Sparks. 

I’ve never read Jay’s Journal, but I did read Go Ask Alice several years ago. I found it to be gripping, intense and utterly sad. Mounting evidence suggests that Beatrice Sparks partially or (most likely) wholly wrote these books, and that she intended them as cautionary tales.

I’m okay with that.

The purpose of cautionary tales (a.k.a. urban legends) is to warn the readers of taboo situations and circumstances so they learn from them and don’t make the same mistakes. What better way to engage readers of the demise of teen substance abuse, sex, gangs, suicide etc. then to present the books as “real diaries.”

So, the point of this post is to say that urban legends scared the pants off me when I was a kid (okay they still do) and that Jay’s Journal and Go Ask Alice, which have nothing to do with ghosts or mad serial killers, are equally scary even if they aren’t necessarily true.

What’s your favorite urban legend/cautionary tale?

See you in the STACKS (with the covers pulled over my head),
Stacy

Love, STACKGirl Shannan – who will put EVERYTHING on hold to read this book!!

1. Shannan and I got to talk/podcast/laugh with Kelley Vitollo from Kelley’s Korner. Seriously, she is a kindred spirit and one of our new BFFs. She shares our same passion for reading AND talking about books. We had a hard time hanging up the phone, we just kept talking ‘book.’

2. Since both Shannan’s husband and my husband were out of town we had a slumber party! It was filled with book talk, web stuff, kid stuff and lots and lots of laughs. From her sleeping on the couch to me in Ethan’s twin bed (our boys had my bed) and staying up till 2 a.m., I can’t think of a better way to have started my weekend. LOVE ya girl!

3. Valerie!  She’s wearing one of our t-shirts…she is an official STACKGirl now!

4. Ahhh, the joys of going to grandma’s house (I’m smiling just thinking about it). My kids love their Mimi. So much so that they ignore me completely, which means I get to read! You girls know how much I like to read, so this is one of my favorite places to be on the weekend…kicked back, feet up, book in hand with Mimi entertaining my darling little children.

 
5. While at Mimi’s I finished a very fun and entreatingly cool book, Black Hole Sun by David Macinnis Gill. It’s dystopia (LOVE) with nods to Nirvana, Monty Python and Soundgarden. Hey, I am just happy I picked up on them… 

See you in the STACKS!
Stacy

I love the Sookie Stackhouse books, and I love “True Blood”, but I love them each in different ways (it’s like twice baked potatoes vs. French fries – both yummy, but different).  This season’s “True Blood” story line has started out with elements from the Club Dead book; but you know that producer Alan Ball only uses Charlaine’s books as a starting point and puts his own spin on things.  Here’s hoping he uses the plot of Dead to the World next – that’s my favorite Sookie book.  Jason, as usual, gets all the zingers that make me laugh, and he’s had a couple humdingers in the last two episodes – ones I cannot publish on our family website.  Well, guessing from the previews on HBO, Bill is going to break up with Sookie; Eric is going to sleep with Sookie; and Sookie is hanging out with hot werewolf Alcide who might get some Sookie lovin’ as well.  Busy girl – not judging, just saying!  I’m so excited about this new season I’m giddy!

“The Gates” is a new show on ABC – and it comes on right after “True Blood”.  I guess Sunday nights are going to be Mommy’s-Grown-Up-Shows-Are-On-You-Kids-Stay-Out-Of-This-Room nights.  Dear hubby gets to supervise teeth brushing and story telling Sunday nights this summer.

Anyways, as I watched the premier, I immediately recognized Rhona Mitra from “Underworld – Rise of the Lycans”.  She plays Claire, a vampire who gets a little bored with her diet of bagged blood that her husband brings home from the lab, and pounces on a contractor in the neighborhood.  Uh huh, she’s got CRAVINGS.  What really cracked me up is when her husband confronts her and she says how it’s not about the blood, it’s about the carpools, and the school committees, and the dinner parties, and the book clubs (um, that sounds like my life!).  Anyways, the show actually begins with the Monohan family as they move into the Gates.  Nick Monohan is the new sheriff for the gated community.  That this community is full of vampires, werewolves and even a succubus is something they will soon be discovering, I am sure.  Looking forward to it!

“Eclipse” is coming out Wednesday – and while I am not going to able to see it on opening day, I will certainly get my patootie to the theater as soon as possible.  I am such a geeky Twimom that I even got up early one day last week to win a radio station’s pair of tickets to the show (and sang an off-key rendition of “Total Eclipse of the Heart”- get it?).  Yah, I’m that big a fan. (see our Twilight list here)

So I’m thinking of this as the summer of vampires.  Between the television and the GREAT summer vampire novels I have been reading (Blood Oath, Insatiable, The Passage), I’m in heaven.  Vampire heaven.

 STACKGirl Nancy, who will be wearing my Twilight PJ’s this week – thanks kids!

Anyway, with Eclipse right around the corner we thought a “Twilight” list was  necessary. Since we are big fans of the books and movies, the list encompasses them both.

What Twilight has Taught Us

* that I should have bought more cereal and milk for my kids before I started reading these, as I did not want to put the books down to actually do any of my mom duties. Good thing we had pop tarts, yogurt, and pudding.

* don’t read The Shack after you marathoned (is that a word?) read all four books. Trust me.

* Twilight is good, but Twilight candy is not.

* Werewolves are hot.

* That no matter how meaningful it is, Renesmee is just a terrible name.  It just is. Sorry.  It really is.  No, I don’t need your hate mail.  It just is a horrible name.

* Vampires are hot.

* I still morn for the incomplete Midnight Sun.

* no matter how many times I watch Twilight I still laugh when Edward climbs a tree.

* tweens and teens scream LOUD!

* you know you’re obsessed when your children give you Twilight pajamas for your birthday.  Mine say, “wolf girl.”

* calling someone “spider monkey” is not sexy.

* you learn words like matriculate.

* all that money went into the movie, and they couldn’t do a better job with Taylor Lautner’s wig? 

* I am Team Edward/Jacob/Jasper/Emmet.

* I want Alice to be my BFF.  Not only does she throw fabulous parties, we could win big at the blackjack tables in Shreveport.

* Coffee is a lifesaver after four nights in a row of staying up past 4am reading.

* not all books give you that deep yearning feeling that these do.  So, don’t expect it and you won’t be disappointed.

* that The Shack isn’t that great no matter when you read it.

* getting married at 18 is OK when your fiancée is a vampire.

* that no matter what people say, I love the movies because I love the books.  No I will not turn them off.  No, I will not turn it down. No, I will not stop saying Edward is SOOO HOT every time I see him for the first time walking by the window from the lunchroom. 

* always double-check the bad news before trying to commit suicide by the Volturi.

* Twigirls scream when they go to the movies.  Twimoms do not.  However, Twimoms can go home from the movie and ask their husbands to whisper in their ears, “You are exactly my brand of heroin.”  Rrrrrrrow.

* while I’ve always liked shiny, sparkly things, now I realize I really LOVE shiny, sparkly things.  I never thought you could bling Rob Pattinson! 

* don’t expect to drive anywhere without bringing your book.  You know you were sneaking in two more sentences while stopping at a red light.

*don’t expect to bathe, eat, drink, sleep, answer the phone, the door, or a question until the last word is read in Breaking Dawn.  And then you just sit there and dream about Edward, wipe your tears, and decide you can’t let the feeling go, so you pick up Twilight and start reading again.

At Girls in the Stacks.com, we’re all three busy moms with kids ranging in age from 2 to 10.  So, here’s how I get my summer reading in without losing my mind. Like when your kids are fighting over whose turn it is on the Wii, or flinging watermelon from the high chair?

1. We officially give you permission *ding* (a fairy wand just bonked your head) to NOT finish any book that bores you.  I  used to be a grit-your-teeth and plow through it kind of girl, but enough is enough.  If you can’t finish War and Peace, it’s okay – buy the Cliff Notes and bluff your way through book club.  Then pull out that romance novel with the dog-eared pages you keep in the nightstand.

2. Read your kids’ books.  Not only are they shorter, some of them are just as interesting and entertaining as adult novels.  Middle grade and YA novels are a staple in my stack.  But be warned – my daughter will sometimes bring me a book and say “You GOTTA read this!”  She’s uuuusually right, except for the time she brought me Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy: The Night of the Nasty Nostril Nugget (warning – seriously gross.) As I remember, it went over really well with her brother. 

3. It’s okay if you don’t like vampire books.  (insert GASP!) Or biographies.  Or thrillers.  Read what appeals to YOU.  Otherwise, you may end up going back to Rule #1 and bonking yourself on the head repeatedly with that fairy wand. 

4. “If it’s free, it’s for me,” is a favorite saying of one of my friends.  That’s why I looooooove my local library!  Our local public library offers story time, summer reading programs, movies, etc.  While they are happily entertained, I am usually getting my People magazine fix (because I am too cheap to subscribe).  The only thing missing is a margarita.  Sigh.

5. Two words – audio books.  My library has audio books online available for download, so I can download them to my ipod and be listening at the park, the pool, at home doing laundry!  This is much better than listening in the car or home stereo, because my kids (99.9% of the time) are in the car or home with me.  ‘Cuz let’s face it, most grown up books are a LOT inappropriate for kids.  Especially the vampire–thriller-biographies.  Just saying.  

STACKGirl Nancy – who really, really loves her kids but appreciates them more when they are in school.

I wanted to know if I am the only one who pauses the TV at the end of the credits to see the Chuck Lorre Productions vanity tag?  I think that is what they are called.  I love them!!  I love to read what Chuck has to say as he puts a little note at the end of each show just for me.  I don’t always agree with what he says, but heck, I don’t always agree with what my best friends say either.  I beg you not to tell them.  Even though I think that I am the strong, opinionated one, I really couldn’t stand up to them if the united.

BTW, am I the only one who doesn’t watch the Charlie Sheen show, Two and a Half Men?    It’s not that I haven’t seen a show or two.  Seriously, it is not good nor funny.  Maybe it is because I am a mother in her thirties?  I DO NOT understand how it is always in the top 20 of shows for the week.  Really?  UGH!  Although, I do like when the show I tape comes after it as I get to see the vanity plate at the end of that show also.  YAY!

I guess it is the small things that count.  The small, funny things.

Love, STACKGirl Shannan who is enjoying watching TV lately and hasn’t read a book in 3 days!  GASP!

Goddess of Partholon Week, May 9-15  
         

Lately I have read some really great books.  When I really empathize with the characters, I hate to see the story end and pray for series to evolve.  Thank goodness  P.C. Cast made Shannon and ClanFinton into a series.  And seriously, can people really say they would have been happy if Twilight had stayed as one book!?!  Let alone Sookie Stackhouse or the incredible Hunger Games Series.  I loved living in their worked and want to be taken back there, again and again.  While the house is all quiet, I can snuggle up, and do something I love, Read.

Love, STACKgirl Shannan who is thrilled to sneak in reading time

Stacy and I have been wondering if they even were going to make a movie, since we hadn’t heard anything about it and Eclipse is coming out soon. However, I read that BD may be directed by an Oscar nominee!!  

Here’s EW’s link…

Enjoy!

HUGS, STACKGirl Shannan

update: We (and the five other people in the theatre) saw the movie. In the first five minutes our first thought was about the music, it was so Twilight. That and RPat (Tyler) had Edward hair, fortunately those were the only Twilight similarities.

The movie was gripping, raw and so full of emotions. Overflowing with emotions. You will need your tissues, trust us, i.e. Shannan balled like a baby and my eyes teared up, but then again I could have had something in my eye. It was so unexpected, we had no clue.

Check back to see if your LOVE story made our list!!

How exciting is that? Yes, we are so in LOVE with the Red Velvet Bundt cake (shout out to Nothing Bundt Cake in Southlake) that we sent one to her. She HAD to have it! We just knew it! Why not spread the bundt cake love? It’s the chocolate chips and the fact that it melts in your mouth. I could go on and on… We are just thankful our new friend – yes, we think of Becca as a friend now - thinks of them in the same way we do. Kinda like heaven…now I am thinking of Hush, Hush…

You can find the first chapter here:

 http://www.charlaineharris.com/DITFChpt1.pdf

Happy reading…

Excited STACKGirl, Stacy

Take a sneek peek at our new logo!

Yay, to Drew for all his hard work!