You are not alone
Discover how Lauren Kate transformed the feeling of that one mean girl getting under her skin into her first novel, how Lauren Oliver learned to celebrate ambiguity in her classmates and in herself, and how R.L. Stine turned being the “funny guy” into the best defense against the bullies in his class.
Today’s top authors for teens come together to share their stories about bullying—as silent observers on the sidelines of high school, as victims, and as perpetrators—in a collection at turns moving and self-effacing, but always deeply personal.
Review:
Dear Bully was a fantastic and heartbreaking anthology that needs to be read by teens everywhere. Bullying is a serious issue and these stories were so personal and intense. The authors who wrote these stories have all had some experience with bullying- either as the victim or the culprit. Each and every one of these short stories touched me in some way and I had a hard time setting this down. Dear Bully sucked me in and didn't let me go until the last page. I cannot begin to explain how important this anthology is and how necessary it is for everyone to pick this up now.
Kiersten White, Lauren Kate, Ellen Hopkins, Michelle Zink.... these are just a few of the authors included in this anthology. It takes a lot of guts to open up about such bad memories and I applaud all seventy of these brave authors. They wrote their stories to make a difference and I know it will, even if Dear Bully stops just one bully, that means it has accomplished something.
It's hard to review an anthology that contained so many fabulous stories, I wish I could discuss all of them. I have never read an anthology before, but now I see that I have been missing out. It's fascinating to see so many different takes on an issue and I know I will never look at bullying the same way again.
Bullying is such a serious issue right now and this book couldn't have come out at a more opportune time. Everyone, no matter your age, needs to give this anthology a chance. It will leave an impact on every reader, as it did on me.
Overall: 5 out of 5 stars
September 1, 2011/HarperTeen/352 Pages/Young Adult
Source: Publisher (ARC)
All Chelsea wants to do this summer is hang out with her best friend, hone her talents as an ice cream connoisseur, and finally get over Ezra, the boy who broke her heart. But when Chelsea shows up for her summer job at Essex Historical Colonial Village (yes, really), it turns out Ezra’s working there too. Which makes moving on and forgetting Ezra a lot more complicated…even when Chelsea starts falling for someone new.
Maybe Chelsea should have known better than to think that a historical reenactment village could help her escape her past. But with Ezra all too present, and her new crush seeming all too off limits, all Chelsea knows is that she’s got a lot to figure out about love. Because those who don’t learn from the past are doomed to repeat it….
Top Ten Favorite Historical Figures
I’m not exactly sure who counts as a “historical figure.” I guess anyone who is dead and is famous enough to have a Wikipedia entry. That’s a lot of options.
1. Buddy Holly. My favorite musician ever, who died tragically young.
2. Audrey Hepburn. She’s so stylish!
3. Robert Catesby. I’ve been fascinated by Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot for years. I wrote my high school thesis on the Gunpowder plot, and now I throw a Guy Fawkes Day party every other year.
4. Norman Rockwell. He was a very talented and funny painter. The Norman Rockwell Museum is close to my mother’s summer home in the Berkshires, so I’ve been there many times to look at his work.
5. Isabel Briggs Myers. I was really into by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator when I was in high school. Isabel Briggs Myers was a game-changing social psychologist at a time when not many women were working in the field.
6. Oscar Wilde. He was an enormously a talented writer and humorist, yet he faced such difficulties in his personal life.
7. Eleanor Roosevelt. A strong, influential woman in politics.
8. William Shakespeare. With so many conflicting stories about his identity and so many movies and books that have re-imagined his character, and with his impact on literature being so expansive, it’s hard not to be a little fascinated by Shakespeare, or at least the idea of him.
9. John Lennon. One of the greatest songwriters of all time.
10. Dorothy Parker. One of my writing role models.
Top Ten Favorite YA Characters
In the interest of space, I’m going to have to leave out some characters whom I love. I hope they don’t mind…
1. Michael Moscovitz from The Princess Diaries, by Meg Cabot. Michael Moscovitz is my boyfriend.
2. Prince Charmont, from Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine. Char is my other boyfriend.
3. Briony from Chime, by Frannie Billingsley. Briony is so complex. I wish more YA characters had her depth.
4. Billy Bloom from Freak Show, by James St. James. Billy’s very funny, and he is unabashedly and inimitably himself.
5. Lyra from Philip Pullman’s Dark Materials trilogy. I mean, obviously. Lyra is badass.
6. Colin Singleton from An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green. I have a soft spot for precocious children.
7. Charles Wallace from A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle. See previous note regarding precocious children.
8. Liam Geller from King of the Screwups, by K. L. Going. How could you not love someone so cool, so well-intentioned, and yet so misunderstood?
9. Liv Weiss-Longo from For Keeps, by Natasha Friend. She is a true original, and a loyal friend.
10. Frankie Landau-Banks, from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, by E. Lockhart. This girl is a modern-day YA feminist.
Top Ten Favorite Films
I should preface this list by mentioning that I have terrible, trashy taste in movies, and also that I haven’t updated my “favorite movies” list since roughly 2001. Basically I like any movies about teenagers falling in love and/or listening to music.
1. Clueless
2. Bring It On!
3. Wet Hot American Summer
4. Waking Life
5. 10 Things I Hate About You
6. Empire Records
7. Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion
8. American Graffiti
9. Bottle Rocket
10. Cruel Intentions
When her parents are murdered before her eyes, sixteen year-old Helen Cartwright finds herself launched into an underground London where a mysterious organization called the Dictata controls the balance of good and evil. Helen learns that she is one of three remaining angelic descendants charged with protecting the world’s past, present, and future. Unbeknownst to her, she has been trained her whole life to accept this responsibility. Now, as she finds herself torn between the angelic brothers protecting her and the devastatingly handsome childhood friend who wants to destroy her, she must prepare to be brave, to be hunted, and above all to be strong because temptation will be hard to resist, even for an angel.
Michelle Zink masterfully weaves historical fantasy with paranormal romance to create a gripping tale of love and betrayal.
When high school junior Sara wins a coveted scholarship to study ballet, she must sacrifice everything for her new life as a professional dancer-in-training. Living in a strange city with a host family, she's deeply lonely-until she falls into the arms of Remington, a choreographer in his early twenties. At first, she loves being Rem's muse, but as she discovers a surprising passion for writing, she begins to question whether she's chosen the right path. Is Rem using her, or is it the other way around? And is dancing still her dream, or does she need something more? This debut novel in verse is as intense and romantic as it is eloquent.
Verse novels hold a special place in my heart and I think Audition was a perfect match for the verse format. Stasia Ward Kehoe’s young adult debut was inspiring and intense, and I had a hard time setting it down once I got into it. The writing style made it a very quick read and after the slow start, I was soon immersed in this poignant tale of love and ballet. Audition was more than a book about a ballet dancer- there were so many sub-plots that combined to make this a refreshing and unique story that most definitely piqued my interest in researching more about ballet.
Sara is just sixteen when she gets a scholarship to a dance school in
Sara and Rem soon develop a relationship (mainly physical) and Sara’s life changes once again. Rem was an interesting character and while I never truly understood or cared for him, I can see how he appealed to Sara. In addition to Rem, there were several other characters that impacted Sara’s life in some way. From her ballet friends, to her best friend back home, to the host family that took her in in
Even if you have never had an interest in ballet, I think this book will appeal to you. It was much more than a book about ballet, but a tale of Sara’s journey in finding herself and what she wanted with life.
In all, I enjoyed Audition quite a bit. Even though some parts dragged a little and I wished some of the secondary characters were better developed, I am glad I had the chance to read this. Audition was an original and poignant novel that opened my eyes to a world so different from my own. I am looking forward to seeing what Stasia Ward Kehoe writes next!
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars
October 13, 2011/Viking Juvenile/464 Pages/Young Adult
Source: Publisher/Author (ARC)
Wicked Girls is a fictionalized account of the Salem witch trials based on the real historical characters, told from the perspective of three young women living in Salem in 1692—Mercy Lewis, Margaret Walcott, and Ann Putnam Jr.
When Ann’s father suggests that a spate of illnesses within the village is the result of witchcraft, Ann sees an opportunity and starts manifesting the symptoms of affliction. Ann looks up to Mercy, the beautiful servant in her parents' house. She shows Mercy the power that a young girl is capable of in a time when women were completely powerless. Mercy, who suffered abuse at the hands of past masters, seizes her only chance at safety. And Ann’s cousin Margaret, anxious to win the attention of a boy in her sights, follows suit. As the accusations mount against men and women in the community, the girls start to see the deadly ramifications of their actions. Should they finally tell the truth? Or is it too late to save this small New England town?
The Salem Witch Trials are one of the most interesting, and horrifying, times in history to read about. From The Crucible to Time of the Witches I’ve read a variety of novels about the Trials and the people involved. I started this back in September and had to put it aside because I started The Crucible in English class and didn’t want to mix them up. I finally started this again recently and finished it quickly. Considering it’s written in verse it’s a relatively quick read that you can finish in a few hours. I’m glad I picked this up again because it presented a different, more personal side of the happenings in 1692.
For anyone who doesn’t know this, the gist of things was that a group of young girls got together and began to have “fits” and claimed different people in their community were witches and working for the Devil. Surprisingly, people actually believed them. And soon the accused were facing horrifying trials that usually led to death by hanging. No matter how much I have read about the Trials it still shocks me how easily the people of
Wicked Girls was told in multiple perspectives which at times got confusing and I had to flip back and see who was narrating. Ann Putnam (age 12), Mercy Lewis (age 17) and Margaret Walcott (age 17) were the three narrators, although there were many more girls that were part of their group. Anne was basically the ring leader and led many of the accusations. Their reasoning was that in order to accuse and thus be rid of the bad people in their town some innocent people had to die to or else their reasoning would be questioned. Even though I got to see things from the eyes of the girls and read about their struggles and thoughts on what they were doing I was still horrified by it and could never come to like them. These girls were letting innocent townspeople hang and laying false accusations on them.
It was interesting getting to know each of the girls and to get a look at one of the most famous times in our history in novel form. I enjoy verse novels (especially those of Lisa Schroeder and Ellen Hopkins) and Stephanie can now be added to that list. She made the emotion, tension, and pain believable and real and presented the characters in a new light.
Overall, I recommend Wicked Girls to fans of historical fiction and those looking to find out more about the Salem Witch Trials. If you’ve already read a million books about them I may not recommend this because it doesn’t offer that much more than other books in this “genre”. I did like it though and it had me quivering with anger and nerves throughout. I’m looking forward to seeing what Stephanie releases next.
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars
June 17, 2010/Balzer + Bray/336 Pages/Young Adult
Source: Publicist
