The Hate-Mongering Tart

Even after you’ve finished reading, GIRL PARTS is one of those books that’s hard to put down.  You turn the last page and you just wonder — it raises all these questions inside you about the characters.  About David, the spoiled rich kid, diagnosed as dissociated, and given a Companion from the Sakora company.  You wonder about Charlie, the only kid in his neighborhood who hasn’t had life handed to him on a silver platter, and who, while being supposedly dissociated as well, is not partaking in the Companion route of therapy his school counselor recommends.  And of course you wonder about Rose, the Companion given to David, who looks as real as a human girl but is in fact an android, who comes with rules and sees the entire world as new and wants only to please David.  GIRL PARTS is about high school — about how teens relate to each other in this very technology-saturated age — but also about the very human experience of trying to figure out what makes another person tick.  And about the value of the choices we can make for ourselves.  Riveting, and filled with intrigue, GIRL PARTS left me with so many questions, in fact, I had to snag author John M. Cusick for an interview:

E. Kristin Anderson: GIRL PARTS is a sci fi  novel set in a pretty average suburban town, and one of the main components of your story is artificial intelligence. What attracted you to write about super-real robots?
John M. Cusick: Rose was literally born yesterday. That’s how I felt at sixteen. Finding your place in the world, and feeling a little alien, is something most of us go through, I think. And I’m a sci-fi fan; robots are just cool. Also (I realized this a few months after finishing the book), my first crush, at age six or so, was on Vicki the Robot from Small Wonder. So there’s a subconscious inspiration there.

EKA: I love that your heroes and villains are, at times, not very recognizable as one or the other. Do you think this reflects the nature of high school?
JMC: I think it reflects the nature of life! To me, a villain is someone with humane desires making inhumane decisions. So often what appears to be a cruel act is really a cry for help- sounds corny, but it’s true! David’s rejection of Rose, perhaps the cruelest act in the book, is inspired by his conflicting desires for Rose’s love and his friends’ acceptance. “Love is the Root of All Evil” could be a good title for a book.

EKA: In GIRL PARTS a few psychologists mention the diagnosis “dissociative disorder.” Do you think this is something a lot of teens, hooked on the internet and video games and television, struggle with, or is it purely fictional?
JMC: I do think web-based socializing desensitizes us. We forget there’s a real person on the other side of the avatar; hence cyber-bullying and the awful comments on sites like YouTube. Something is lost when we cease to interact face-to-face. Sakora and Dr. Roger exploit a real condition to sell their products, just like many pharmaceutical companies.

EKA: Your story didn’t give a very clear timeline. Is GIRL PARTS set in contemporary 2010 America, or the near future – or is the ambiguity important to your story?
JMC: GIRL PARTS is contemporary (though earlier drafts were set in the future). I wanted Charlie and David’s world to feel like ours, so their pain and problems feel relevant, timely. The only “sci-fi” is Rose’s technology, though there really are robo-girlfriends for sale.

EKA: The Sakora Company and the Companions have a strict set of morals, based on their views of morality and what they think dating and boy/girl interaction should look like. What do you think of Sakora’s rules?
JMC: They’re awful! Particularly for the Companions. Rose wants to be physical with David before her programming permits, and other Companions might want to take things slower. Ultimately, the decision to have sex or be in a relationship should be up to the two people involved, not some external system. I do think friendship is important to a relationship, and that sex is not something to take lightly. In this sense, Rose really does teach David a healthier way to relate to others. But Sakora’s morality is in service of profit. It’s slapdash and mechanical.

EKA: You are a literary agent as well as an author. How do you find balance while wearing these two distinct hats?
JMC: Agenting is a great job for a writer. You learn how to work on a manuscript, make it functional, saleable. There were a few awkward moments when editors interested in GIRL PARTS called my agent (a.k.a. my boss) and got me on the phone. I don’t think any editor expects that.

EKA: What wonderful books have you picked up lately that everyone should rush to the library and check out?
JMC: I just finished THE CHILDREN’S BOOK by A.S. Byatt. If you’re interested in the history of children’s literature and a good old-fashioned Big Novel, that’s the book for you. DARK SONG by Gail Giles and THE BLENDING TIME by Michael Kinch are two upcoming young adult titles I’m very excited about.

EKA: Some might argue that GIRL PARTS is a feminist book, and some might disagree, finding certain elements anti-feminist. Did you have a feminist ideology in mind while writing?
JMC: GIRL PARTS might have anti-feminist characters, but there’s nothing anti-feminist about its author. Gender and queer issues are important to me, and while addressing what I saw as little-explored themes of adolescent male sexuality, I hoped to convey that David’s — and more dramatically Sakora’s — gender politics are positively Neanderthal.

EKA: Who of your protagonists do you relate to more, Charlie or David?
JMC: In high school I drove like David and looked like Charlie. Charlie is a loner and a science nut, which doesn’t really describe me, but in terms of his internal struggle — finding a way to connect with people while maintaining an internal independence — feels familiar.

EKA: Since you’re writing about robots and artificial intelligence, I have to ask — do you ever worry that one day the machines will rise and kill us all?
JMC: Why would they kill us? We do all their work.

EKA: The end of GIRL PARTS is fairly open — will there be a sequel or companion book?
JMC: Absolutely. Charlie, Rose, and David’s story isn’t finished yet. There was originally a more dramatic cliff-hanger ending (Rose running down corridors, alarms wailing, a city street somewhere in Japan), but it was cut. I’m saving Rose’s fate for Book 2.

EKA: What are you working on now?
JMC: I’m revising a manuscript tentatively entitled CHERRY MONEY BABY, a sort of Cinderella story with surrogate pregnancy, movie stars and heavy firearms. There are three other novels I’m tinkering with, but so far they’re only a collection of index cards and loose pages.

EKA: What is the number one thing you hope readers will take from GIRL PARTS?
JMC: That people, every single person, is worth our attention, kindness, and respect.

Thanks so much to John M. Cusick!  If you’re not already rushing out to pick up your very own shiny copy of GIRL PARTS, check out the clever book trailer!

Man.  I’m not a big person for history.  Wait, that’s a lie.  I majored in CLASSICS for crying out loud.  I love history.  But sometimes reading about it can be dry.  I have yet to meet a history textbook that I could befriend.  And my high school history teacher?  Let’s just say she and I never saw eye to eye.  But that doesn’t mean I can’t get sucked in by a good historical fiction — especially a story filled with intrigue based on the lives of some really real — really spooky — sisters.

Dianne K. Salerni‘s WE HEAR THE DEAD is as riveting as it is mysterious.  If you haven’t heard of the Fox sisters, you’ll want to know everything about them by the time you’re finished with Salerni‘s story.  Maggie Fox — the narrator for most of the story — never meant for a prank to turn into a nationwide phenomenon.  When her much older sister Leah’s daughter Lizzie comes to visit, Maggie and her younger sister Kate are none too thrilled.  Lizzie is seventeen, slightly older than Maggie and Kate, and not the brightest crayon in the box.  So when Kate and Maggie insinuate that the sounds coming from the bedroom of their rental house might be ghosts, Lizzie falls for it instantly.

Before long, the Fox girls’ parents are looking around for the source of the sounds, followed by the neighbors.  Soon, Kate and Maggie are so entrenched in their prank that they can’t turn it around.  They’re making “rapping” noises to feign spirit communication and are acting as mediums.  And when Leah finds out, she tells Kate and Maggie they have a choice: do what she says and take their act to a whole new level, or be exposed.

As the girls move around the Northeast promoting Spiritualism, Maggie falls deeper and deeper into the ruse, while Kate begins to believe that she actually has “the sight.”  Sometimes the girls are met as celebrities, and sometimes chased away as witches, their notoriety building with every “spirit circle.”  Maggie worries about her sister, and constantly must reconcile her deception with the good she hopes it brings her customers.  But when she meets famed explorer, the young, charming Dr. Elisha Kane,  who believes that Maggie is better than her life as a supposed medium, and love could be her undoing.

Part mystery, part romance, part history and all drama, WE HEAR THE DEAD is a true page-turner that even the “I only read nonfiction” types won’t be able to put down.  And while it works solidly as YA, with all its 1850s charm and the strong narrative voice, I’d love to see this title cross-marketed in adult historical fiction sections.  I can’t wait to see what Dianne Salerni comes out with next!

Last week I posted about one of my favorite recent books, BAMBOO PEOPLE by Mitali Perkins, a riveting story of child soldiers on both sides of the conflict in contemporary Burma.  Mitali is a fabulous author and advocate for young people’s literature, and I was thrilled when she said “yes to doing an interview here on my blog.  I hope you enjoy her answers as much as I did!

E. Kristin Anderson: I knew very little about Burma before reading BAMBOO PEOPLE and was shocked that this is contemporary fiction.  How common are stories like the ones told in your book?  Does this represent a lot of young people?
Mitali Perkins: Definitely Tu Reh’s half represents a lot of Karenni and other refugees. And Burma has the highest rate of child soldiers in the world, so I think Chiko’s story is sadly shared by quite a few boys.

EKA: Where did the characters in BAMBOO PEOPLE come from?
MP: My imagination. My memory of visiting the camps. My heart.

EKA: Having traveled a lot as a young person, you must have met a lot of folks from different backgrounds.  Is there anyone that you just had to turn into a character?
MP: Only my own maternal grandfather, who appears lock, stock, and barrel in THE NOT-SO-STAR-SPANGLED LIFE OF SUNITA SEN (Little Brown). Otherwise, everybody is an invention or an amalgamation. Or a version of me.

EKA: I think of you as an advocate for kidlit, especially kidlit depicting people of color.  What do you think more YA authors should be aware of when writing characters from diverse backgrounds?
MP: This post might be helpful to your visitors: Writing Race: A Checklist for Writers

EKA: I’ve had friends and readers tell me there aren’t enough books out there featuring South Asian teens.  can you give me a  few titles I can share?
MP: My friend Pooja Makhijani has a comprehensive bibliography you can recommend to your friends and readers: http://www.poojamakhijani.com/sakidlit.html

EKA: What sort of research did you do in preparation for writing this book?
MP: I lived in Chiang Mai, Thailand for three years, visited the refugee camps, and listened to my friends who are working in Burma. I also studied news and nonfiction about the situation there.

EKA: Do you have any advice on other writers working on research-intensive projects?
MP: If you’re crossing any kind of border to write — race, religion, class — try to hold some babies on the other side of the line.

EKA: Is there anything young Americans — or anyone — can do to help those affected by the conflict in Burma?
MP: I provide some links and suggestions at bamboopeople.org.

EKA: I think BAMBOO PEOPLE will raise a lot of awareness about Burma and its child soldiers.  But for some, it will be a hard read, emotionally.  Do you have any tips for Parents and Teachers who would like to share this book with their kids?
MP: Along with the discussion guide I provide on the site , I would love to hear ideas from parents and teachers who have read the book with their kids. I can share suggestions so that others might gain from their experience.

Many thanks to Mitali Perkins!  I hope y’all are all headed to your local shops to pick up a copy of BAMBOO PEOPLE and have your eyes opened — wide!

I read THE HALF-LIFE OF PLANETS by Emily Franklin and Brendan Halpin a few months ago, and found the characters absolutely irresistible.  It’s a novel in two voices — Liana, a girl who really likes to kiss boys and is trying to quit or at least not kiss any new boys this summer, and Hank, who is cripplingly obsessed with music and the polar opposite of his gets-all-the-girls brother.  When girl meets boy in — of all places — the women’s restroom, Liana is struck by Hank’s cool demeanor and quirky style. Hank is struck by Liana’s tight t-shirt.  And while Liana remains dedicated to being kissless all summer long, spurred on by the SLUT note someone left in her locker and her summer job at an astrology lab, Hank can’t get enough of her.  Soon, they have regular dates at the local coffeeshop.  They’re connecting. But when Liana finds out that Hank’s quirky charm and passion for music is actually Asperger’s syndrome, she freaks out.  And Hank’s inability to pick up on social cues seems to be leading their relationship to disaster.

I love that this is not an “issues book” despite all the issues presented.  I love that it portrays Asperger’s Syndrome as part of Hank, not as his entire identity, and Liana’s very real reaction to discovering Hank’s secret. THE HALF-LIFE OF PLANETS is also about family and loss, with Liana’s hypochondriac dad and emotionally distant mother, and Hank’s jumbled family and unaddressed grief.  It is a book about a boy who loves music and a girl who loves science as much as it is about a failing self-image or a socially stunting disability.  It’s a book about mistakes and reparations, promises and second chances.

It’s the kind of book that I hope the ALA will pick up on this fall, when doling out accolades like the Schneider Family Book Award, which is a medal given to books for young people about disabilities.  Because THE HALF-LIFE OF PLANETS paints a picture of two kids and the summer they fell for each other — it is not just what the ALA refers to as “the disability experience,” but it is the human experience, first and foremost.

Oh, and on the cute/creepy scale PLANETS gets zero Linda Blairs and this many Hasaflavor Kittens:

In case you missed it, here’s what I posted on Monday at The YA-5:

Ohmygoodness it is a scorching 102° here in Austin, Texas. And, being the master procrastinator responsible adult that I am, I just got back from running errands. I’m a pedestrian with a rockin’ carbon footprint, which is all fine and dandy when it’s, like, May or April. But in August, I mostly want to just go jump in the ocean every time I leave my house.

Oh wait, I live in AUSTIN, TEXAS where there is no Ocean. Woe! Fortunately, I’ve noticed a new trend in YA. Watery mythologies are all up ons, and I’m so psyched to read some of them.

For example, there’s SIREN by Tricia Rayburn, a recent release from Egmont USA, sitting in the large stack on my bedside table. this book takes place in my home state of Maine so I am so so so psyched to read this one. (Maine people are like that — we cling to all things Downeast.) With a tragic series of deaths on the coast, a supernatural twist, some steamy romance and all that ocean-y goodness, what’s not to love? From Booklist: Rayburn’s modern-day, edgy spin on siren mythology combines suspense, dark drama, and romance. Vanessa is an appealing protagonist, whose detailed narrative incorporates well-drawn issues, from grief to relationship complexities…[Siren] will appeal to fans of contemporary supernatural novels, and the lingering ambiguities and loose ends will leave readers wanting more.

And then there’s REAL MERMAIDS DON’T WEAR TOERINGS by Hélène Boudreau, coming out from Sourcebooks later this year. It sounds absolutely fresh and sweet, a quirky coming of age story complete with first periods and bumbling dads. Of course there’s also that oh-crap-am-I-actually-a-mermaid? twist, which plunges me right into the cool, watery depths of summer (which will be nice, since it hits shelves in December. And I love that the heroine, Jade, isn’t your typical mermaid material. She’s a big girl, and since her mother drowned, she’s terrified of water. Since it sounds like Andersen’s THE LITTLE MERMAID meets ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT‘S ME MARGARET, I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy of this book.

SELKIE GIRL by Laurie Brooks is also sitting in my TBR pile. It takes place in an island community near Scotland, and the main character is an outcast with physical deformities she can’t understand or conceal. The grandfather character seems lovely and intriguing, encouraging our heroine to discover her heritage and find out why she’s so different. And of course we’ve got a hearty dose of romance. SELKIE GIRL sounds like a refreshing, ocean-y read, and I love the eco-angles. From Booklist: Although the flowery pink-and-turquoise cover art suggests a sweet, girly mermaid story, Brooks’ brooding, romantic tale of a shape-shifting seal-girl is drawn straight from Celtic folklore. Her mother is a selkie (a seal/human shape-shifter), her father is human, but Elin Jean belongs nowhere. Celtic mythology? Heck yes I’m on board! SELKIE GIRL is out now in hardcover from Knopf Books for Young Readers, and it hits the shelves in paperback with a new cover this fall.

Coming in October from Houghton Mifflin is THE MERMAID’S MIRROR by L.K. Madigan, and I am just itching to get my hands on this sea-rich story that appears rife with magical realism. With a character dying to surf, and a father forbidding her to do so, you know this is a novel filled with secrets and suspense. And the magic! Something is luring our protagonist to the water, and she’s seeing things that she knows can’t be real. This take on mermaid lore sounds refreshing and exciting, and I can’t wait to read it this fall while pining away for my coastal homeland.

AAAAAAAAND You couldn’t possibly think with all this mermaid love I hadn’t already started in on some seaside stories! In case you haven’t picked up your copy of FORGIVE MY FINS by Tera Lynn Childs yet, now’s the time. FORGIVE MY FINS (Katherine Tegan Books at HarperTeen) is the story of Lily, a girl from Thalassinia — the mermaid kingdom off the coast of Florida. She’s not just any girl either, she’s a princess, daughter of the king and heir to the throne. But being half-human, she’s embracing her land-lubbing side and attending high school where she falls in love with Brody, a friend from journalism class. Lily doesn’t think she’s all that pretty with her wildly frizzy blonde hair and freckled face. That hasn’t stopped obnoxious neighbor-boy Quince from harassing her for as long as she’s known him. And when Quince tries to do Lily a favor and ends up setting off a series of events that Lily considers life-ruining, the romantic drama is more than enough to drown in. FORGIVE MY FINS is irresistibly cute, with sweet romance and a fun mythology, a perfect beach read or a great book to curl up with in bed on a warm summer night.

What do you guys think about the mermaid trend? Any ocean-y books y’all are looking forward to? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Of all the books I’ve read so far this year, Alden Bell‘s THE REAPERS ARE THE ANGELS is one I keep coming back to.  I can’t stop thinking about Temple, a young girl in the barren wasteland that is America, who can’t remember a time when she wasn’t trying to outrun zombies and stay a step ahead of would-be predators.  Temple forges ahead against all odds, sometimes with only faith to keep her going, encountering character after character — a wealthy family holed up in their estate, a “dummy,” post-apocalyptic cowboys, and a man named Moses, who will follow her to the end of the earth in the name of revenge.  REAPERS is a striking novel, as creepy as THE ROAD but also as artfully written and emotionally intense.  With a fiery female protagonist, a twist around every corner, and enough monsters to keep you awake all night, Alden Bell‘s novel isn’t one you’ll soon forget either.  Mr. Bell agreed to an interview for this blog, and I am so thrilled to have him here today!  Without further ado, here’s what the author has to say:

E. Kristin Anderson: So your book THE REAPERS ARE THE ANGELS is completely creeptastic.  What inspired you to write a character like Temple in this twisted postapocalyptic world?
Alden Bell: The character herself is a classic Southern Gothic heroine.  She actually has two sources: Ree in Daniel Woodrell’s WINTER’S BONE and Evavangeline in Tom Franklin’s SMONK.  Both are amazing books, and I would recommend them highly.  There aren’t any zombies in them, but there’s still plenty of gritty horror.  I like to think that what makes Temple unique is her almost religious faith that things happen for a reason and that every creature in the world is only doing what it’s supposed to be doing.  In the same way you couldn’t be angry at a lion for eating a gazelle, you can’t be angry at a zombie for eating a human being.  This kind of attitude is what gives Temple her distinctive edge.

EKA: THE REAPERS ARE THE ANGELS has a lot of twists and turns.  As a writer, I have to ask – do you do a lot of planning when you take on a novel, or do these twisty bits come to you while you’re drafting?
AB: Sometimes I do a lot of planning.  For my last book (HUMMINGBIRDS), I had each chapter planned rather meticulously.  But for this one, which is essentially a road book, I just got on the road and trusted that it would take me somewhere interesting.  I had particular destinations in sight as I was going along, but a number of things popped up rather spontaneously along the way.  One of them was Maury.  I hadn’t thought of Temple as having a traveling companion until I was writing the very page where she encounters him.

EKA: This book is being cross-marketed as YA and adult.  Did you have a certain audience in mind when you were writing?
AB: I never really thought of it as a YA book–but I do think I would like my teenage daughter to read it if I had one.  It’s empowering to young women in the same way Buffy the Vampire Slayer was.  As for having an audience in mind: it may sound arrogant, but I only ever really write for an audience of one: me.  It seems to me that all the best writing comes from writers who are just trying to write the very book they themselves would like most to read.  If as a writer you’ve managed to please yourself, then you’ve already accomplished a great deal.  Pleasing others is the (admittedly delicious!) frosting on the cake.

EKA: Temple’s voice is fantastically one-of-a-kind.  Were there any specific challenges, as a man, writing from a fifteen-year-old girl’s perspective?
AB: Nah — fifteen-year-old girls I can understand: the emotional melodramas, the sense of smallness in an ever expanding world, the crippling self-consciousness, the raging but mystifying hormones, the fact that you constantly change to suit the circumstances of the world.  Hell, I’m practically a fifteen-year-old girl myself.  On the other hand, if you ask me to throw a football or change a carburetor or become stoic in the face of emotional disclosure — well, that’s when I’m lost.  Men are the real mystery

Our Esteemed Author

EKA: Some of your villains in REAPERS are obnoxiously sympathetic.  What makes you want to write this kind of bad guy, as opposed to the classic “I’m obviously evil” type?
AB: I always like characters who are more complex than two-dimensional.  I like protagonists who are not entirely good and antagonists who are not entirely bad.  That’s what always rings true to me.  My favorite moments in movies or books are when the good guy and the bad guy sit down and discover they’re not so different after all.  It’s that whole unity of the human race thing.  I like to think I’m not so different from either the most angelic or the most devilish poles of humanity.

EKA: REAPERS has drawn comparisons to Cormac McCarthy’s THE ROAD.  How do you feel about this?
AB: I’m honored by any comparison to Cormac McCarthy.  Though, if it were up to me, I would shift the comparison to BLOOD MERIDIAN, which is my favorite of his books.  There are overt homages to BLOOD MERIDIAN in REAPERS.  Then again, if you follow the lineage back, it goes even beyond McCarthy to William Faulkner.  Faulkner is the person who is always in the back of my mind when I’m writing.

EKA: Temple often talks about God and faith, which is striking considering the world she lives in.  Why is she such a God-fearing girl?
AB: That’s a good question — especially since I was raised as an atheist myself.  I think I really admire someone who can construct and maintain a faith in anything (including God) when all around seems to prove otherwise.  I imagine it’s easy to believe in God when you’ve been raised in a community that makes such a belief commonplace.  But Temple’s belief is stronger because it seems deeply personal and self-invented.  Ultimately, I like to think of religion as a gorgeous kind of art, right up there with painting and literature.  I admire anyone who believes so heartily in the power of human imagination.

EKA: Of all the places you could have set this story, you chose the American South.  Why?
AB: This was a natural — because it’s more of a Southern Gothic than a zombie novel.  I never thought twice about it.  The South is the place of eroded grandeur, crumbling aristocracy, haunted by a majestic (if troubled) past.  Seems like the perfect place to stage a post-apocalypse.

EKA: Do you think you’ll set any future novels in this world?
AB: I’m not sure.  I’ve toyed with the idea of doing a prequel focusing on Moses and his disgusting brother Abraham.  But I’ve got a couple other books that need to be written before that one.

EKA: What are you working on now?
AB: Right now I’m nearing the end of another novel I’ll be publishing under my own name (Joshua Gaylord).  It’s called Frontierland, and it takes place in Orange County, CA, in 1975.  An aging beauty queen and a 12-year-old tomboy try to escape together from suburban dread.  I’ll be more along the lines of HUMMINGBIRDS in tone and style.

EKA: For fans of  post-apocalyptic novels, what are some absolute must-reads?
AB: I’m ashamed to say I haven’t read that many!  I would reverse the question and take suggestions from you!

EKA: With “meatskins,” a revenge-seeking killer, and some seriously disturbing surprises, you’ve written one of the most jarring horrors on the shelves. What advice would you give a writer who wants to write a super-creepy story?
AB: I think the best advice for any writer is to try to make it new.  Think of all the things you’ve read about before, all the movies you’ve seen — and then when it comes to writing your own story, figure out a way to abandon all the old clichés and surprise yourself.  I frequently come to places in my writing where I’ll think, “Okay, what would Temple say here?”  And then I’ll go through five or ten different options, all of which sound right but also obvious — until I come up with something that surprises me or makes me chuckle, one that I can’t remember having heard before, and that’s the one I use.

Many thanks to Alden Bell!  If you haven’t read THE REAPERS ARE THE ANGELS yet, I highly recommend it.  Since it’s a paperback original, it’s as easy on the wallet as it is on the eyes.  (And I know a lot of you are in dystopian withdrawal this week after finishing THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy…this would be a great place to sate that hunger and check out something totally new!)  And, for the record, if you’re looking for my Linda Blair/Hasaflavor Kitten scale, REAPERS gets zero kittens and this many Linda Blairs:

Last week Boyfriend and I went to see SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD.  Holy crap, that was the best kind of sensory overload you can imagine.  I was so overstimulated, I hardly knew what to do with myself when the movie ended and I had to, like, walk outside into the dark dark world that did not have spelled-out sound effects and gravity-defying superhero brawls.

Michael Cera was perfect.  All the evil exes were well-imagined and costumed and portrayed.  I loved the geekophilia and music-nerdiness and all the classic video game references.  I think this movie is going to be a cult classic.  Or maybe just a classic.  That would be awesome.

I haven’t read the graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O’Malley yet, but I’m totally planning to.  I actually was in a Borders the other day (yes, I support Indie book stores, but I also think it’s important to keep ALL brick-and-mortar stores up and running) and saw that they had a whole display of the SCOTT PILGRIM books in their YA section.  Le sigh.  I pined rather badly while doing headmath, then decided to walk away with my wallet in tact.  I will probably look for used copies online or at a second hand bookstore.

SCOTT PILGRIM the movie, though, is so colorful and beautiful to look at.  Frame for frame it’s a work of art.  And the characters are over-the-top in a very authentic way, capturing the heart of  how we love and how we suffer and how we laugh and experience joy.  And of course, as someone from the Great White North, I loved that the movie was set in Toronto, Canada.

I’d absolutely go see this movie again.  And I might see if some of my friends in town are up for it.  Because after seeing SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD, my eyeballs will never be the same.

The purpose of this post is two-fold.  One, if you’re anything like me, you don’t have the time or the funds to travel the world.  I’ve been a few places, but I’ll never get to go everywhere I’d like to visit.  And there are so many different cultures in the world, so many people who aren’t like me, who live their lives in ways that I can’t fathom.  And that brings me to fold number two.  While I don’t read a lot of nonfiction (I try, I really do, but I just looooooove novels) I have a real passion for learning about other people and places.  And that’s one of the many many reasons I love books.

Books make the freaking world go round.  In my mind, quite literally.  When I read a book that sets me down in an unknown land, with characters living lives unlike my own, I get to see into their cultures in a very intimate way.  It’s a way of traveling and learning without having to leave home…or leaving the comfort of Fiction Land.

I read two young adult books this summer that really tore me from my reality and set me down in contemporary Southeast Asia.  They left me with a broken heart and a new way of thinking about people I hadn’t given too much thought to before reading.  These novels are BAMBOO PEOPLE by Mitali Perkins and SEA by Heidi R. Kling.

BAMBOO PEOPLE has a unique design.  The first half of the book is about Chiko, a young Burmese teen, and son of a doctor with liberal views.  When his father is taken away by the government for alleged treason, Chiko worries about his mother, his neighbor, and his best friend and love interest, Lei.  When the government comes to force him into the military, Chiko’s life is turned inside-out.  He is an educated boy — one of few in his community who can read and write and speak English — and he always thought he would follow in his father’s footsteps.  Now forced into life as a child solider, in a regime run by cruel officers, Chiko’s only hope at survival is holding on to the memories of Lei and his father, photos of whom he carries in his uniform pocket.  Developing a friendship with fellow soldier Tai, a boy from the streets, and using his literacy to get close to one compassionate officer, Chiko might have a chance to make it out of this unthinkable situation in one piece.  But when something goes wrong and Chiko’s group of soldiers is sent into enemy territory, all hope is seemingly lost.  At this point the book shifts perspectives to that of the young man Tu Reh, a Karenni boy who has seen the Burmese destroy his people’s homes and kill his friends and neighbors.  When he goes with a small fleet of men on a mission into the forest, he finally feels like he can do something about it.  But what he doesn’t expect to encounter is a Burmese soldier, his age, on the brink of death.  Tu Reh’s peh gives him the choice: kill him now and save him the suffering, or bring him to see the medicine woman in the forest and see if he can be healed.  This story of war — a story shockingly set in today’s Burma along the Thai border — becomes a story of human compassion and survival against all odds.  This book broke my heart, and it made me want to tell everyone about the struggle in Burma.  BAMBOO PEOPLE is not only an important book, but an elegantly written story, with characters that feel completely real.  Mitali Perkins writes Chiko and Tu Reh in a way that makes them three-dimensional, and forces you to let them into your heart.  This book is a serious Newbery contender.  Read BAMBOO PEOPLE.  Please.  And keep a box of tissues by your side.

SEA is heartbreaking from the start.  Sienna is a teenage girl who has never recovered from losing her mom, who was killed in a plane crash during relief efforts overseas.  Her dad, a psychologist, can’t seem to help her with her debilitating nightmares and she’s drifted away from her best friend Bev.  And then there’s Spider to whom Sienna used to be super close (and perhaps for whom she even harbors kissy feelings).  When her sixteenth birthday rolls around, she is super psyched for a surprise her dad told her he has planned.  But she is immediately crushed by her birthday gift: a ticket to Indonesia to join her dad, his partner and — ew! — her former therapist, Vera, on a relief mission — the first since her mom’s passing.  Though Sienna’s dad has renamed the group Team Hope after her mom, she is furious that her mom has been replaced by Vera.  Not only this, but since Sienna’s mom died, she hasn’t set foot in the ocean, or on a plane.  But somehow she makes it to Indonesia, where Team Hope will be helping kids and teens at an Orphanage whose families died in the 2004 Tsunami.  At first she is miserable, but when she meets Deni, a boy the orphanage owner claims is a rabble rouser, she is instantly attracted.  His story touches her heart, and she feels alive in a way that she hasn’t since the accident.  It’s not long before she’s breaking rules and defying orders to help Deni, and when they hear that his father might be alive, there’s nothing she won’t do to find out for sure, even if the future has something in store that will rock the foundation of Sienna and Deni’s relationship.  SEA is beautifully written in elegant prose, with a voice so pure and real you can’t help but fall in love with Sienna’s story.  Heidi R. Kling handles an event as tragic as a Tsunami with artful grace.  I feel so connected to Indonesia, given this window, albeit via fiction, into a community still struggling to recover.  I won’t be surprised when Kling‘s debut novel turns up as a contender for the Printz award this year.  Go get a copy, fall head over heels, and cry your eyes out.  You can thank me later.

I love these books times a jillion.  They make the world a smaller place.  Check out your local bookstore or library, and read the crap out of them.  Seriously.  NOW.

It’s a question I ask myself every once in a while.  Mostly because I’m baffled by the amount of teens and young people who smoke, despite the fact that so many of us have watched our parents and grandparents suffer from smoking-related illnesses.  One of my grandmothers has had cancer, and the other has had two heart attacks.  I’m a non-smoker, and seeing my grandmothers sick when I was very young probably contributed to this.

But lots of young people do smoke.  One of my good friends from West Texas told me he started when  he was eleven.  My brother picked it up in high school, but has thankfully since quit.  I have friends my age who recently kicked the habit, and friends younger than me who are trying to.  I’ve dated two smokers, one habitual and one social.  And while, yeah, it’s true that sometimes smoking can be sexy, bad skin, bad breath, bad teeth, and stinky clothes are not.

So why do I always seem to write a smoking character into my books?  I have a protag that smokes in one, and the world might be ending in this story, so I feel like she can be excused her constant lighting up.  I have a smoking love interest in another story, and he is ex-military and, with much respect to the armed forces, I hear many, many soldiers end up picking up cigarettes if only for the sake of having a cigarette break, let alone to deal with the stress.  And in one of my WIPs I have a mysterious girl-in-black who smokes.  Can I get away with this?  I’m consciously avoiding cigarettes in my current WIP, because I’m not sure why I had so many smokers in my writing to start with.  Plus, I’m not an advocate of smoking.  It’s a bad idea.

I’ve also heard that smoking is a red flag for some agents and editors.  If your book has smoking in it, rumor has it, there are some industry professionals who will write it off.  On some level, I can understand that.

So I guess I’m posing a question here — and not because I’m going to go back and edit all the cigarettes out of my books, because, honestly, the characters are who they are, and sometimes our favorite people have bad habits — but I’m wondering how you feel about smoking in YA.  Is it different from drinking?  I mean, every other YA book I pick up has alcohol in it, and I think that’s entirely about context and authenticity.  Can you think of any books where the characters smoked and it felt like it had to be that way?  Any books where a character smoked and you thought it was weird and unnecessary?  Are there certain types of characters that we stereotype as smokers (i.e. musicians, rebel boys, bitchy girls from the wrong side of town)?  TELL ME THINGS, PEOPLE OF THE INTERNETS!

Also, feel free to share with me your encounters with cigarettes.  If you’re a teen, have you/do you smoke?  If you’re a grown up, did you smoke as a teen?  I’m just curious — what makes people pick it up in an age where we are so aware of the consequences?

Here’s a repost from the YA-5, where I review one of my favorite recent reads.  And for the record, it gets this many Linda Blairs:

And not even half a Hasaflavor Kitten.  Serious.  Here’s the post:

So last week I read this book DRAW THE DARK by Ilsa J. Bick. My mind was blown.

Like, BOOM, there goes my mind. Blown.

Christian Cage lives with his uncle, the town sheriff, since his parents disappeared when he was young. He’s an outsider, picked on at school for being the weird kid. He’s socially awkward and his only release is his art. He’s an amazing artist, but he has a secret — he believes his art is responsible for some of the bad things that have happened to him and his family.

Lately Christian has been having vivid dreams, so vivid that they almost seem like visions. When he sleepwalks himself out to the town jillionaire’s barn and vandalizes it with swastikas, he has an inkling that his dreams are trying to tell him something. His town, Winter, Wisconsin, seems to have swept a lot of its history under the rug. And when Christian dreams, he becomes a boy, David, who is witness to some of Winter’s long-forgotten secrets. Secrets that may be surfacing when a mummified baby turns up in the wall of a recently-purchased house.

As Christian finds himself deeper and deeper into this mystery, he finds himself both fascinated and terrified by the prospect that his ethnically German neighbors may be descended from Nazi prisoners. He struggles to control his ability to slip back in time, while maintaining some semblance of sanity and maybe even getting closer to his only friend — and, yeah, cute girl — Sarah. He feels a responsibility to David, to tell his story, discover the origin of the baby in the wall, and find out why there are no longer any Jews in Winter. And he wonders if his new-found ability can help him find his parents in “the sideways place” where he believes they might be trapped.

With so many threads of story, DRAW THE DARK is an absolutely ambitious novel. But it is artfully woven together, piece by piece, and I’d love to see it mentioned for the 2011 Edgar Award in the Young Adult category.

DRAW THE DARK is with a smaller press, Carolrhoda Books, and for that reason, if you’re not paying attention, you could miss it. Some of the big chain book stores in your area might not have DRAW THE DARK and this makes me crazy because, whoa, mind-blowing books belong on the shelves of all the stores. ALL THE STORES!

So I hereby challenge you to go into your local bookstore — be it an indie or a Barnes or a Borders — and ask for DRAW THE DARK. Be all like, “Sup, do you have that new book by Ilsa J. Bick?” And if they say “no” you can be all like “THIS IS A TRAVESTY! Please order me a copy. I will come pick it up when it comes in. And, btw, you must read it if you like creepy awesome smart YA books.” And then when it comes in, you pick it up, and you read it, and you get your mind blown. Whoa.