You are currently browsing the monthly archive for July 2009.
The look is kinda old-school. Not that I’m against that. Label me cautiously optimistic.
Huzzah to the brave souls who boldly assembled their debut YA book covers (click here to give it a try). Below is a gallery of the sometimes outstanding, sometimes outstandingly unfortunate results.
Break @ Words on Words by Maggie Stiefvater (author of the recently released Shiver)
Strum @ Pop Candy.
Signal @ princessdeia.
Bluster @ Divinest Sense.
Click @ It Came From Outer Space.
Overdressing @ Bellas Novella.
Believe @ Reading at the Beach.
Time and Promise @ The Queen Bees Book Club.
Find @ Willing to See Less.
Bow @ Cosy Catastrophe.
Name @ willmetz.
Untwisted @ Penryn’s Dreams.
Air and Afraid @ Throwing Away Breadcrumbs.
Jog @ Bookatopia.
End @ Paperback Pirate.
Gauge @ Libbie on the Label.
Focus @ Booth & Dimock Teen Spot.
Barrage @ Nothing Rhymes with Rachel.
Stump @ A Fuse #8 Production. Eco-themed YA coming up.
Unwrap @ Libri Dilectio.
Badmouth @ Bleatbox.
Rub @ Today’s Adventure.
Peep @ Sunshine Edition.
Lure and Loiter @ Hey! Teenager of the Year.
Enlighten, Vomit, Stand, and Spot @ In the Booley House.
Enlighten and Haul @ Morike of the Chair.
Reward @ transientme.
Betray @ Teacherninja.
Vault @ The YA YA YAs.
Beat @ Half Asleep in Paisley Pajamas.
Elevate @ Lady Lazarus.
Sigh, Humour, and Reach @ Gignacery.
Return @ Calliope and Thalia’s Modern Day Musings.
Shelter and Wrangle @ Alien Onion.
Bathe @ Moored at Sea.
Drape @ The Zen Leaf.
Crumple @ BookEnds.
Sober @ The Infinite Shelf.
Slump @ The Summer.
Embrace (two versions) @ Oops…Wrong Cookie. Man, I couldn’t just see these possibly being on shelves – they should be.
Vote @ bookbrig.
Thrash @ Blog Was Star.
Slide @ Mt. Lebanon Public Library.
Slumber @ Mt. Lebanon Public Library.
Dissemble @ Romantoes.
Conspire @ C.K. Kelly Martin.
Mollycoddle @ Layers of Thought.
Jumble @ Nan’s Corner of the World.
Pitch @ The Vintage Reader.
Adore @ Life on the Bookshelf.
Cartwheel @ Life on the Bookshelf.
Express @ Linz.
Surprise @ this cat! it is not a cheesecake!
Conclude @ Mrs. McGrew’s Blog.
Manipulate @ Bookworm Buddies.
Flip @ I Read, I Write, I Shelve Things.
Stray and Frozen @ I Read, I Write, I Shelve Things.
Liar @ LibrariYAn. Alicia took the recently controversial-for-it’s-cover YA novel Liar and put it through the Create Your Debut YA Cover steps. A vastly different result.
Sip @ LibrariYAn.
Keep @ Stray Kitten. This one’s pretty smooth. The first of a few of these that I could see actually working in the real world.
Yank @ Diana Peterfreund. Another one that I could envision on shelves. Where is the third hand coming from? Someone write a story for this ASAP.
Reminisce @ Diana Peterfreund. This character is sad. An kind of mad about it.
Huff @ Underage Reading. I think I saw this one on shelves back in the 80s.
Pluck @ Tanita S. Davis blog. Aww, yeah. I was just thinking the other day that eyebrow plucking has not been the basis for enough books. This one fills a much needed gap.
Tense @ YABOOKNERD. A YA book about rock wall climbing ? Belay on!
Centre @ Wish I Were Baking. “Look, look – I know the cover isn’t jumping out at you, but you just have to read it, man. So good.”
Kick! @ Book Nut. I think I know about 53 cheerleaders in the making who would grab this as soon as it hit the shelves.
Crow @ Anna Jarzab. Wow – ghost child makes for YA gold.
Claim @ NBPL Teen Book Blog. Final line: “Just go out there and claim your life, dude.”
Guzzle @ Shalan. Ha -
Scorn @ ALD Youth Services Interest Group. I dare you to pick this one up.
Whisk @ Abby (the) Librarian. This could go the happy/funny route or veer toward the quirky/dark end of the spectrum.
Wonder @ Emily’s Reading Room. I would venture to say that this one might work in real life.
Sabotage! @ One Librarian’s Book Reviews. Bringin’ the gunplay that youngsters can’t get enough of.
Elude @ Holly’s Red Bike. A good ol’ fashioned chase story.
Stuff @ The Reading Zone. Pushing the envelope.
Still @ CMIS.
Cleave @ Finding Wonderland.
Plunge @ Maples and Fiddleheads.
Bend @ Spinning Jennie.
Showcase @ The Further Adventures of Seagull Boy.
Arch @ Under the Covers.
Pluck @ The Magic of Ink.
Yawn. This one’s mine.
*Update* Click here to watch the trailer
I heard a while back that filmmaker Wes Anderson (Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums) was working on bringing Roald Dahl’s The Fantastic Mr. Fox to the silver screen. I did not realize that the film would employ the almost always awesome technique of stop-motion animation. Considering the director’s previous work, the voice talent (George Clooney, Bill Murray, Meryl Streep, Owen Wilson), and the images below, consider my hopes now high. In theaters November 13.
Click here to head over to The DHR Room to see more photos.
*Update* Click here to view the Create Your Debut YA Cover gallery.
Usually I don’t do YA, but…
A few months back I posted the steps to Create Your Debut Fantasy Novel Cover. Now it’s time to do something for the Teens. Above is my debut YA cover. I had to modify the rules for this sort of cover to ensure the appropriate YA clichés were represented:
What will yours look like?
CREATE YOUR DEBUT YA COVER
1 – Go to “Fake Name Generator” or click http://www.fakenamegenerator.com/
The name that appears is your author name.
2 – Go to “Random Word Generator” or click http://www.websitestyle.com/parser/randomword.shtml
The word listed under “Random Verb” is your title.
3 – Go to “FlickrCC” or click http://flickrcc.bluemountains.net/index.php
Type your title into the search box. The first photo that contains a person is your cover.
4 – Use Photoshop, Picnik, or similar to put it all together. Be sure to crop and/or zoom in.
5 – Post it to your site along with this text.
Coming-of-age will never get old. Well, sometimes it seems like this type of story shows it’s age when another heavy-handed, contrived, or otherwise inauthentic attempt hits shelves. The fact that the coming-of-age tale is possibly the most common in all of children’s/YA lit, means that only a truly impressive work will stand out – The Evolution of Calpernia Tate is this sort of book. Vivid description, memorable characters, humor, and history all channeled through the crystal clear voice of a girl who is just beginning to learn what the future holds. An impressively confident and satisfying first novel by Jacqueline Kelly.
The setting is as complete and vibrant as you could ask for. A pecan farm in the small Texas town of Fentress on the cusp of the 20th century. Indeed this threshold in time lays the foundation for the overarching theme of the book – the role of women (and, specifically, our heroine) as progress continues it’s relentless march.
Calpurnia Virginia Tate is squarely in the middle of a large, chaotic family. With six brothers (three older and three younger) Callie Vee is an island, the lone girl. When her questions about the natural world lead to a relationship with her grandfather, it appears that through science, Calpernia has found her place in the world. The two even find what they believe to be a new species of plant. This perfect union soon becomes strained, however, as Callie’s mother, nonplussed with her daughter’s naturalist tendencies, sets her mind to teaching the youngster the more feminine skills of the day: cooking and sewing. Calpurnia struggles with what lies ahead, as her love of scientific endeavors conflicts with what is expected of her.
It’s almost worth the price of admission just to witness the authentic voice of Calpurnia. Her interactions and thoughts are always believable, full of wit, and give the reader a glimpse of what life is like for an 11 year old girl who often disagrees with the customs and conventions of this period of history.
There were a couple plot points that I wish had been dealt with more thoroughly. The abrupt departure of Harry’s (Calpurnia’s oldest brother) love interest after a private conversation with Grandpa, and the mysterious trading of the Thanksgiving turkeys fall into this category.
I’ve heard many people mention Richard Peck when discussing this book, and in terms of mood and approach, that comparison is entirely appropriate. The humor (which often arises from the clash of “proper society etiquette” and, well, the opposite) will surely invoke Peck’s most acclaimed works, A Year Down Yonder and A Long Way From Chicago.
All things considered, you’ll be hard pressed to find a warmer, more charming title this year. Sure to be among the best of ’09.
Also reviewed by Bookends, A Fuse #8 Production, Literate Lives, Jen Robinson’s Book Page, Kids Lit.
Find this book at your local library with WorldCat.
Sometimes I like to see which books the general population is laying down their hard-earned clams for (attention: you may have just witnessed the first ever internet use of the word “clams” as slang for money). You interested? Let’s take a look.
(Click here to read the entire New York Times Bestseller lists at Reading Radar)
What can you say? Princesses sell. Gallop! and Listen to the Wind round out the non-princess portion of the top 5.
When I saw that reality star Lauren Conrad was putting out a book, I supposed that it would be pretty popular. Turns out that I underestimated things, as L.A. Candy is currently residing in the #1 spot. Hunger Games has maintained it’s top 5 resurgence (as the release of sequel Catching Fire draws closer) , and always good to see The Graveyard Book on this exclusive list.
(Top Image: ‘Walden Neon‘
www.flickr.com/photos/51035555243@N01/479832686)
Hey, I guessed the color!
Now all that’s left to do is wait until until October 12, when this sucker will hit shelves.
Click here to watch an interview with author Jeff Kinney about Dog Days.
Fans of 30 Rock (and the vastly underrated Blades of Glory) will recognize Will Arnett. Little known fact – the actor’s deep voice has paved the way for voice-over work in a host of animated films and commercials.
Appearing recently on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Arnett uses his vocal talents in a very children’s lit way – by reading an excerpt from Judy Blume’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. They picked a good excerpt. Click the image below to head over to pop-culture website BuzzFeed and watch.
(Thanks to BuzzFeed for the link)
Tomorrow (Thursday, July 23) the title, color, and cover artwork of the latest Diary of a Wimpy Kid title will be revealed. Based on my extensive knowledge of the color wheel, I am going to go ahead and make one bold prediction: the cover will be yellow.
Am I right? I’ve gotta be right on this. Click here on Thursday, July 23 to find out.
The following is a work of fiction.
In a shocking move that is sure to make waves for some time to come, the Children’s Literature Commissioner announced today that all newly published books must be part of a series.
Explaining his decision by asserting, “The more, the merrier”, and “Godfather III is totally underrated”, the commissioner was resolute in his decision.
“Look at the most talked about books these days.” said the increasingly erratic commissioner, “Catching Fire – sequel. The Last Olympian – sequel. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t love to see Where the Wild Things Are Too – Gettin’ Wilder.”
In an effort to ease the blow of this unexpected news, the commissioner explained, “Probably 72% of new books are series titles anyway. Look, this is the way things were going, I just want us to be ahead of the curve.”
The commissioner also announced that this so called “sequelification” would be retroactive dating back one year, leaving children’s lit authors and publishers scrambling to come up with follow-ups to books that were once considered stand-alone stories.
The release of some of these titles, including The Graveyard Book II – What if it was All a Dream?, and We Are the Ship: Still Floatin’ have already been announced.
In an effort to ease the burdon, the commissioner added, “#1 Stickers will be available for purchase to place on the spines of your books. Look at it this way – now a good story will never have to end.”
Click the links below to read previous Children’s Lit Commish posts:
Children’s Lit Commish: ‘All Books Will Actually Just Be Videos By 2012′
Children’s Lit Commish: ‘No Blogging Allowed at Blog Conference’
