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Review: THE SYMPTOMS OF MY INSANITY by Mindy Raf

May 14, 2013 3 Comments ~ Written by E. Kristin Anderson
Review: THE SYMPTOMS OF MY INSANITY by Mindy Raf

I found myself describing this book to friends while I was reading it. Conversations went like this:

Me: I’m reading this super fun book!
Friend: Oooooh!
Me: It’s this book about this girl who is an artist and there’s a boy she likes and he seems too good to be true and then there’s the fact that she has pretty intense hypochondria and her mom has this really weird cancer and –
Friend: I thought you said it was fun?
Me: Oh, yeah, I know all this serious stuff is, like, tragic, but, I swear, it’s HILARIOUS.

So that’s the lowdown. THE SYMPTOMS OF MY INSANITY by Mindy Raf is sneaky. With all the awful stuff going on in the protagonist, Izzy’s, life, she has this fantastic, snarky attitude that manages to find these sweet silver linings.

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What I’ve been up to: Epic Recap — TLA, Camp NaNoWriMo, and Austin Mini Maker Faire!

May 07, 2013 1 Comment ~ Written by E. Kristin Anderson
What I’ve been up to: Epic Recap — TLA, Camp NaNoWriMo, and Austin Mini Maker Faire!

I love the Texas Library Association Annual Conference. Love. It. TLA is one of my favorite events of the year. Sometimes I describe it as Christmas for book lovers. What’s not to love? Signings! Advance copies of your favorite authors’ books! Plus, as an author, meeting your readers and librarians and teachers is absolutely a highlight. I didn’t take TOO many pictures, but I’ve scavanged quite a few from Facebook and Twitter that I’d love to share with you here.

I rode up to Fort Worth from Austin with P.J. Hoover, K.A. Holt, and Jessica Lee Anderson. It was a long but fun trip, in which I totally got in trouble for cracking open Slim Jims. Hey, it’s perfect road trip food, right?!

That evening, after a fantastic party hosted by Guys Read, John Scieszka and various publishers, K.A. Holt, Jo Whittemore, and I headed out to fill our bellies. And, you know, generally get into trouble. I’m pretty sure our waiter only hated us a little.

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Posted in books, career, catching up, community, nanowrimo, poetry, publishing, reading, Uncategorized, writing, YA - Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

National Poetry Month: Karen Finneyfrock: Spoken Word Poetry & Young Adult Fiction

Apr 16, 2013 Leave a Comment ~ Written by Guest Blogger
National Poetry Month: Karen Finneyfrock: Spoken Word Poetry & Young Adult Fiction

was a spoken word artist long before I imagined the first line for my young adult novel, THE SWEET REVENGE OF CELIA DOOR. “At fourteen I turned Dark. Now I’m Celia the Dark.”

For ten years before writing fiction, I wrote and performed poetry and was deeply involved in Poetry Slam, both as an organizer and poet. I competed on multiple slam teams, published two books of poetry, and toured both nationally and internationally. So, it makes sense that my first novel would feature an outsider, teen poet, who writes poems to deal with and understand her world. In the course of the story, Celia tells us, “I’ve been writing a lot of poetry since I turned Dark.”

I learned some lessons from writing and performing poetry that have helped me immensely in publishing fiction.

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Posted in books, community, guest post, literature, national poetry month, poetry, reading, writing, YA - Tagged , ,

National Poetry Month: Irene Latham: Poetry is a Cat

Apr 08, 2013 1 Comment ~ Written by E. Kristin Anderson
National Poetry Month: Irene Latham: Poetry is a Cat

In this era of author branding, what’s a writer to do when she loves writing both poetry and prose? While it might be smarter from a marketing perspective to choose one or the other, I can’t choose, won’t choose. I find great joy in both and fully intend to continue writing both.

Here’s what it’s like for me: Poetry is a cat, and Prose is a dog. Poetry is all independence and mystery. She may disappear for a while, but then, when you least expect it, she crawls into your lap and starts purring. Prose, on the other hand, is always grinning at you and nudging your hand, her tail swishing knick-knacks off the coffee table. She needs more constant attention—feeding, watering, walking. She stays close always.

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Review: THE DIFFERENT GIRL by Gordon Dahlquist

Mar 25, 2013 Leave a Comment ~ Written by E. Kristin Anderson
Review: THE DIFFERENT GIRL by Gordon Dahlquist

The first thing I noticed about THE DIFFERENT GIRL by Gordon Dahlquist is the distinctive voice of the narrator, Veronika. She views the word both with a simplicity that can only come from the way she’s been brought up (and the precise kind of individual she is) and also with a certain sense of wonder. Veronika lives with three other girls, whom she distinguishes from her by their hair colors, and two adults — a man and a woman — who both raise and teach the girls. The girls’ lessons mostly consist of observing nature on the island where, according to the adults, they came after their plane crashed nearby. (This is the same crash that killed their parents).

Veronika and the girls’ lives are fairly simple until they observe something new. A new girl shows up. A girl with too many questions and too much information about the world outside of the island.

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Review: THE SWEET REVENGE OF CELIA DOOR by Karen Finneyfrock

Feb 25, 2013 Leave a Comment ~ Written by E. Kristin Anderson
Review: THE SWEET REVENGE OF CELIA DOOR by Karen Finneyfrock

Books that deal with Mean Girls are always stories I want to pick up. Friendships and bullies are hot topics in YA and the reality is, high schoolers are living these stories every day. So a book like THE SWEET REVENGE OF CELIA DOOR, which approaches these tough topics with a side of humor, was at the top of my list.

As a freshman in high school, Celia Door is determined to leave middle school behind her — the labels, the bullies, the failed friendships and the incident that ruined her life. But she feels like the only way to get this is to get revenge on Sandy Firestone, the girl who put her under, well, fire.

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Review: ALL YOU NEVER WANTED by Adele Griffin

Oct 19, 2012 Leave a Comment ~ Written by E. Kristin Anderson
Review: ALL YOU NEVER WANTED by Adele Griffin

I love Adele Griffin. I love the strength of her voice, the intense and multi-dimensional characters she creates, and the landscapes she’s able to build whether working in a realistic or a magical world.

Right now I’m in love with her book ALL YOU NEVER WANTED, a “poor little rich girl(s)” story, in which two sisters have undergone not-so-subtle psychological changes after their mother married a wealthy man and they went from living hand-to-mouth with part time jobs and knock-off clothes to having way fancy cars, living in a McMansion, and going from known to notorious in school.

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Banned Books Month Guest Post from Melissa Walker: Banned Books to Love

Sep 25, 2012 Leave a Comment ~ Written by Guest Blogger
Banned Books Month Guest Post from Melissa Walker: Banned Books to Love

I love a banned book. Here are three in the YA category that should not be missed:

THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER by Stephen Chbosky. It’s a delight to be inside shy, contemplative Charlie’s head as he slowly comes out of his shell to take in more about himself and the world around him. Also: I can’t wait to see this movie (out now!). Bet no one will ban that.

THE EARTH, MY BUTT, AND OTHER BIG, ROUND THINGS by Carolyn Mackler. Any reader will love watching Ginny transform from a self-conscious girl in baggy clothes to a kickboxing queen who values herself on both the inside and outside.

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Banned Books Month Guest Post from Bette Green: Author’s Affidavit — The murder of the book The Drowning of Stephan Jones

Sep 18, 2012 Leave a Comment ~ Written by Guest Blogger
Banned Books Month Guest Post from Bette Green: Author’s Affidavit — The murder of the book The Drowning of Stephan Jones

How could it be even remotely possible that a book based on the true story of the drowning of a man would become one of the American Library Association’s Top 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000? The outrage and threats of violence directed against both me and my novel-to-be, THE DROWING OF STEPHAN JONES, began more than a year before publication. Actually, they began even before the writing was completed, even as I was still actively involved in my research.

It was the summer of 1989 and I could not have been happier as I drove into the multi-acre parking lot of this large and important seat of religious activity. The employees were leaving their squat office building complex in droves, and so my timing couldn’t have been better.

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Posted in banned books, books, community, controversy, culture, guest post, literature, publishing, reading, religion, writing, YA - Tagged , , , , ,

Review: KEEP HOLDING ON by Susane Colasanti

Jun 26, 2012 1 Comment ~ Written by E. Kristin Anderson
Review: KEEP HOLDING ON by Susane Colasanti

I was only five pages into this book when it broke my heart. This is more than a story of the underdog sticking it to the man. It’s more than overcoming poverty, more than dealing with tough parents or a broken home. It’s more than mean girls and social status and getting over it and moving on. KEEP HOLDING ON by Susane Colasanti is a book about bullying. And as much as it’s about bullying, it’s about social change.

Noelle is a kid who has had it pretty rough. And the kids at her high school aren’t making it much easier. Every single day she dodges blows — physical and verbal — from girls and guys who make it their mission to make her miserable. They make fun of her sandwiches, which due to her mother’s neglect sometimes only contain lettuce and mustard. They corner her in the hallways. Even her sort-of boyfriend won’t let her tell anyone that they make out during studyhall in their secret spot.

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EKA

E. Kristin Anderson grew up in Westbrook, Maine and is a graduate of Connecticut College. She has a fancy diploma that says “B.A. in Classics,” which makes her sound smart but has not helped her get any jobs in Ancient Rome. Ms. Anderson is the co-editor of Dear Teen Me, an anthology based on the popular website. Her poetry has been published worldwide in many magazines and she is an assistant YA and Children’s editor at Hunger Mountain. Once upon a time she worked at The New Yorker. Look out for Ms. Anderson's work in the forthcoming anthology Coin Opera II, a collection of poems about video games from Sidekick Books and Futuredaze, an anthology of YA SciFi from Underwords. She now lives in Austin, TX and blogs at EKristinAnderson.com and MetreMaids.com. She is represented by Christina Hogrebe at the Jane Rotrosen Agency.

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