Book Review: After Ever After

After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick. Grades 4-8. Scholastic, February 2010. Review copy provided by publisher.

We first met Jeffrey in Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie, narrated by Jeffrey's older brother Steven. Then Jeffrey was a little kid with cancer. Now, he's a teenager in remission. That's great, right? He survived, he beat the cancer. But what he found out is that after you beat the cancer, you still have to deal with it. He's slower in school because the chemo affected his brain. He walks with a limp because the chemicals caused nerve damage in his foot. And he'll always, always be The Kid Who Had Cancer.

Which is why it's so interesting when there's a new girl from California in his class. Lindsey doesn't know him as the miracle boy who survived a horrible illness. And let me tell you, if Jeffrey could figure out how to ask her out, that would be the true miracle. If only his trusty big brother was around to help him, but Steven's escaped to Africa to join a drum circle, leaving Jeffrey to fend for himself.

Add to the mix the standardized tests that all the eighth graders have to pass in order to move on to high school. The test that Jeffrey's sure he's going to fail. Yeah, Jeffrey beat the cancer and lived happily ever after. But this book is about what goes on after ever after.

Oh, you guys. You knew I was going to love this book. I love me some Jordan Sonnenblick. Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie was a winner of the Illinois kids' choice award (the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award), after all. And of course I loved this book. It made me laugh and it made me cry, which is exactly what I have come to expect from Jordan Sonnenblick*.

In Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie, who knew that a book about cancer could actually be funny? Well, After Ever After is funny, too. And touching. And my favorite thing is that while cancer does play a prominent role in setting up the story and how things play out, the book is really just about an eighth grade kid who happens to be a cancer survivor. He faces the same difficulties that any eighth** grade boy might face. He likes a girl. He has a best friend who can be a jerk sometimes. He's facing a major test and feeling a lot of pressure.

And boy howdy, Mr. Sonnenblick's stance on standardized testing is NO SECRET in this book. That's all I shall say about it.

Let's look at the writing, shall we? Here's the passage right after Jeffrey meets the cute new girl from California:

"I was speechless. The neurologist would tell you I have "slow processing as a late effect," which is another way of saying that people can really make me look dumb if they're quick talkers. And apparently Lindsey Abraham was, like, an intercontinental talking missile. By the time my brain worked its way through her whole train of thought, I must have looked like a total goon. "Uh, it's Jeffrey. Jeffrey Alper. From New Jersey." Oh, good God, I thought. Did I really just say that?" (pp11-12 - quotes are from ARC and may appear differently in the final book!)

So, Jeffrey's voice snagged me right away. And his witty observations drew me in, too. Like this passage from a little later on:

"Remember a few years ago, when scientists announced that Pluto wasn't a planet anymore? All of a sudden, that was the main story in the news for, like, a week and a half. I remember being all worried for some reason I could never name, and I think that happened to a lot of people. It's not like the planethood status of Pluto was a major factor in anybody's conscious life before that, but when Pluto suddenly stopped being a planet, the whole world was unnerved. Like, if they can take away Pluto, what's next? What if the sun isn't - a sun? What if I'm really adopted? What if everyone in my town was secretly whisked away in the middle of the night and replaced by exact replica aliens?" (pp 36-37)

So, yes, the book made me laugh. And it had characters that I cared about and was interested in. And can I just mention that I love the way the cover (at least the ARC cover) matches perfectly with DGADP's paperback cover?

In fact, if you haven't already read DGADP, I insist that you do so. And you have a little bit of time because After Ever After is due on shelves February 1.

*Except for that Dodger and Me series. I just couldn't quite get on board with a blue chimp.
** Is it just me or is "eighth", like, the hardest word to spell? I don't think I've spelled it right on the first try one time in this entire post. Arg.

No NaNoWriMo (for me)

I have come to the decision that I am not going to do National Novel Writing Month this year. It is kind of a sad decision because I've completed a (terrible, awful) novel every November for the past five years. November is coming! It feels like it's time to ready those typing fingers! And I know I'll be sad when everyone else's word counts start coming in and I don't have one.

It's just that I feel like I'm already so busy that I can't get everything done that I want to do. I debated with myself over whether it's better to attempt and fail or not attempt at all. And I think it will stress me out, so I'm going to skip this year.

Maybe next year I'll be back with some great ideas* and more time-management strategies. ;)

To all who are doing NaNo, best of luck! I will be rooting for you on the sidelines.

ETA (Oct. 9): Hah. My resolve lasted all of one day. Yes, I did come up with an awesome idea and yes I signed up for NaNoWriMo again this year. Sigh. I can sleep in December, right?

*And I did have an idea for this year. I reserve the right to change my mind and sign up at the last minute if an outline pops into my head. But I probably won't.

I cannot take credit for this

I wish I could take credit for this super cool Banned Books Week display, but I came upon this display at the Oldham County Public Library in LaGrange, KY. (And yes, I know Banned Books Week was last week, but keep this in your file for next year OR bring it out at a random time to help those books that are awesome but just won't circ without some help.)

I didn't have my camera with me at the library, but picture a large bookshelf full of these:

Yup, they had taken books that had been challenged or banned and their teen advisory group wrapped them in paper so you couldn't tell what book was in there. They have the bar code and a genre written on the outside (like "Teen Fiction" or "Children's Realistic Fiction" or "Adult Sci-Fi"). The result was really eye-catching and symbolic. They posted a sign on the display urging patrons to check out a wrapped book to celebrate our freedom to read.

Of course, I checked one out.

Here I am unwrapping:

What a fun thing! Like a present! And maybe the book inside is not one you're interested in, but maybe it is something you never would have picked up and now you'll give it a try!

I think I know what it is:

And it's...

The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler! I have read this one already and I love it. If I wasn't up to my neck in Cybils reading, I'd totally reread it.

Good job, Oldham County Public Library! It's things like this that make it worth the trek to visit this small, but very nice (and new!) library. And I am totally stealing this idea, BTW.

Book Review: Also Known As Harper

Also Known As Harper by Ann Haywood Leal. Grades 4-7. Henry Holt, 2009. Copy provided by my local library. Because libraries rule and where would we be without them?

(This is a 2009 Cybils nominee and this review reflects only my personal opinion of the book, not necessarily the opinion of the panel!)

Harper Lee Morgan loves words. It's a love she inherited from her mama, a lady so in love with To Kill a Mockingbird that she's read it at least 36 times and named her firstborn child after its author. Yes, Harper loves words, and she's certain that she's going to win her school's poetry contest. The only problem is that she and her mama and her little brother Hemingway have been evicted from their house, so getting to school has become a problem. But Harper's determined to get to school for the poetry reading, just as determined as she is to rid herself of any memory of her whiskey-soaked daddy who told her that her words weren't worth anything.

This book opened my eyes. Maybe it's because I've recently relocated to a community where homelessness, unemployment, and underdevelopment are staring me right in the face. Maybe it's because Harper was a character that leaped off the page with her poetry notebook and her frank observations of the world around her.

You're sitting at a computer right now, reading these words. Imagine if you not only didn't have a computer, but didn't have a home or an office in which to sit. Now, imagine you're a child that doesn't have a home. You might be transient because you're traveling to stay with various family members. You might be avoiding social services for fear that they will break up your family. You might be expected to stay out of school to watch younger siblings.

How would you ever get to school and get the education to get yourself a decent job and a stable home? To me, it seems insurmountable. Even Harper Lee Morgan, a child so passionate about getting to school that she tries to hop on the first school bus she sees, can't seem to manage it.

So, that's what I loved about this book: it brings the issue of homelessness to light. It's certainly a conversation-starter. And it's a good read, too. I loved all the different characters. I normally find it somewhat annoying when a book character is a writer and includes their own poetry or stories, but it worked for me in this book.

I'd hand this to any kid who likes books like Waiting for Normal, Home and Other Big Fat Lies, and others in that ilk. (In fact, I know one of my staff members would love this book and I'm going to hand it to her as soon as I can remember to bring it to work with me.)

Do check out other reviews over at Shelf Elf, A Patchwork of Books, Literate Lives, Becky's Book Reviews and A Year of Reading. And you might be interested in Ann Haywood Leal's blog, her guest post at Harmony Book Reviews about untangling her mind, and an interview with her over at Wagging Tales.

Also Known As Harper is on shelves now, so go check it out!

Out Now: Leviathan

Here's a reminder that Scott Westerfeld's wildly imaginative and downright awesome book Leviathan hits shelves today. Read my review and then procure a copy because you're gonna want to read this one!

Steam punk is in, my friends!

Anderson's 6th Annual YA Lit Conference

On Saturday, September 26 I ventured back up to Chicagoland to attend the 6th annual Anderson's Bookshop YA Literature Conference. This is a really fun event featuring some of the hottest YA authors and I love it because it is small enough to feel like an intimate experience and big enough to attract some really fun authors.

This year's conference featured Judy Blundell, Ellen Hopkins, James A. Owen, Gennifer Choldenko, and Libba Bray and those are just the keynote speakers!

The day started out with breakfast in the ballroom of the fabulous Arista Hotel and then Judy Blundell was up. Interesting fact: did you know that Judy Blundell has written tons of Star Wars books (and one of the 39 Clues books) under the pseudonym Jude Watson? She'd been a writer for hire for some time when her friend David Levithan encouraged her to write the story she wanted to write. And she wrote What I Saw and How I Lied. Though she was convinced that her book would disappear amidst all the press The Hunger Games was getting, What I Saw went on to win the National Book Award last year.

Next up was Ellen Hopkins (who is really funny!) and this was a very interesting talk because the day of the conference was the first day of Banned Books Week*. And Ellen has very recently faced a challenge to her books in an Oklahoma middle school. So you can imagine that she had something to say!

I found out that the books Crank and Glass are loosely based on Ellen's daughter's experience with addiction. And if you think that there's no reason to give kids access to books that deal with drugs or the other issues Ellen's characters face, well, Ellen's got a boxful of letters that say otherwise. She read several letters she had gotten from readers telling her how much the stories meant to them and how the books helped them deal with situations in their own lives.

After Ellen's talk, we broke out into our first small sessions. For the breakout sessions, authors were organized into panels. I first attended the Local Treasures panel, featuring authors located in the Chicago area. The authors on this panel were Susan Fine, Daniel Kraus, Cynthea Liu, and Claire Zulkey. Later, I stalked Cynthea who was Pretty in Purple (and perfectly matching her book cover!) for this picture:

Then I attended the Fantasy Panel, featuring James A. Owen, Kaza Kingsley, Libba Bray, and Michelle Zink.

I love the panels because they give you a chance to sit in a smaller crowd with the authors and ask questions, but I will say that I liked the way last year's panels were organized around specific subjects (such as researching historical fiction or debut authors). It seemed to me like the authors probably were asked the same questions over and over as each new group came in and it would have been more interesting (to me) if the panels had been structured to give them some guidance on what to talk about. There was a lot of "Where do you get your ideas?" and "Do you try to write for a certain age group or do you let your publisher figure that out?" and so forth.

After the first round of panels, we had some bookstore and signing time and I purchased the following books:
Paris Pan Takes the Dare by Cynthea Liu (Putnam Juvenile, June 2009).

Initiation by Susan Fine (Flux, May 2009).

An Off Year by Claire Zulkey (Dutton Juvenile, September 2009).

Bobby Versus Girls (Accidentally) by Lisa Yee (Arthur A. Levine Books, September 2009).

After lunch, we heard James A. Owen speak about his path to writing the Imaginarium Geographica series. It was a very twisty path that included having his drawing hand crushed in a car accident right while he was trying to get his start in creating comic books. His memorable quote of the day was "If you really want to do something, no one can stop you. If you really don't want to do something, no one can help you." It was about this time that I realized I had better start taking some pictures or my post was going to be really boring. ;)

And then we had two more breakout sessions. I attended Historical Writing, featuring Kerry Madden, Gennifer Choldenko, Judy Blundell, and Lisa Sandell. Here's the historical panel (left to right - Blundell, Sandell, Madden, and Choldenko):

And then Contemporary Writing with Ellen Hopkins, Jill Wolfson, and Lisa Yee. Here's the contemporary panel (left to right - Wolfson, Yee, and Hopkins):

Next up were talks by Gennifer Choldenko and Libba Bray, both of whom are fabulous. I had previously underappreciated Al Capone Does My Shirts (although I still want to call it Al Capone Does My Shorts) until I "reread" it on CD on the way up to the conference. I think I wanted it to be funny and it wasn't particularly funny. Anyway, this time around I really enjoyed the book and I was excited to hear her talk.

Add to things I didn't know: Gennifer has a sister with autism. She (Gennifer) worked on Alcatraz to get a feel for the setting. And the Al Capone books will be a trilogy and the current working title for the third book is Al Capone is My Librarian (I hope it keeps that title!!!).

Libba Bray is, quite frankly, one of the funniest people I've ever seen. She's very theatrical and wonderfully quirky and I guess I finally understand how she could have written Going Bovine. She talked about being misunderstood when she told fellow parents she was writing a young adult novel (as in, they thought she was writing a young adult novel... as in... porn). And how people reacted when she told them the truth. And how it was more acceptable for her to have been writing porn than for her to write YA novels. And she spoke about why YA lit matters - because we never stop coming of age.

So, after Libba Bray, they wound things down. I won a door prize for the second year in a row (a signed copy of TTYL that is going to my YA librarian for her teens). In general, it was quite an awesome time and I'm already looking forward to next year (and maaaybe the Children's Literature Breakfast depending on who the authors are...).

I was not the only blogger there (though next time I swear I'm wearing some kind of fancy headgear so that y'all can recognize me). Do go over and check out Becky's post about the conference and Kelly's post about the conference. If you get a chance to attend next year, I highly recommend it!

*(Speaking of censorship, librarians, you might want to read this Wall Street Journal article that comes out against the ALA fighting censorship. Oy.)

In My Mailbox #8

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. Here's what was in my mailbox this week:

I only got one package in the mail this week and it came in the cutest pink mailer from Kelly at Stacked from a giveaway I won. Inside were

Ripley's Believe It Or Not: Seeing is Believing (Ripley Publishing, August 2009), which is going straight on my library's shelves. We don't have many of these types of titles and I know my kids are going to love it.

And How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity (HarperTeen, October 2009), an ARC that Becky picked out for me. With stories by David Levithan, Jennifer Finney Boylan (have you read She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders? I loved it!), I'm sure this is one I'm gonna love.

Thanks, Becky!

(Oh, and I did buy some books at Anderson's last week, but they were never in my mailbox, so I'll include those with the post about YALitCon that is COMING SOON I PROMISE.)

Happy reading, everyone! What was in YOUR mailbox this week?

Cybils! *squee!*

Yup, I'm happy to announce that I'll be serving on the Middle Grade Fiction nominating panel for the 2009 Cybils Awards!

I'm working with a great group of bloggers, some of whom I'm familiar with and some of whom I'm not (yet!). Check 'em out:

Panel Organizer: Kerry Millar, Shelf Elf

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Sherry Early, Semicolon
Melissa Fox, Book Nut
Abby Johnson, Abby the Librarian (me!!!)
Kyle Kimmal, The Boy Reader
Becky Laney, Becky's Book Reviews
Sarah Mulhern, The Reading Zone
Sandra Stiles, Musings of a Book Addict

Round II Judges:

Kimberly Baker, Wagging Tales
Stacy Dillon, Welcome to my Tweendom
Monica Edinger, Educating Alice
David Elzey, Excelsior File
Kerry Millar (see panel organizer)

There were lots of great middle grade novels published this year, so make sure you nominate your favorite!

And say you're on a Cybils panel for the first time. You might be wondering just what you've gotten yourself into. Last year I was on the YA Fiction panel, so I have a few tips for Cybils newbies:

1. Start reading now. Yes, I know the final nomination lists won't be out until mid-October, but you will appreciate it later if you start reading right now. You probably have some idea of the titles in your category that have been getting buzz, so seek them out and get started!

2. Yes, you will get free review copies of some books, but you may not receive review copies of all the books. Last year we got most of them, but not all, and the economy will have an even bigger impact this year. Use your local library and see if they will ILL or purchase the titles they don't own.

3. Start reviewing those titles that you read and start sharing your thoughts with others on your panel. Letting others know which titles are your favorites will help all of you pick which titles you should prioritize. In categories with large numbers of nominations (YA Fiction, MG Fiction, and Fantasy/Sci-Fi, I'm lookin' at you), this will be really helpful.

4. Make notes as you read, particularly the books you want to recommend for the short list (or books you really don't think should be on the short list). When your group gets together to hash out the list, it's so helpful to have your reasoning thought out and written down. It makes it much easier to make a case for a particular favorite or explain why someone else's favorite isn't short-list-worthy. That said, there will be compromises. Not all the books on last year's YA fiction short list were my very favorites, but I can honestly say that they each had a case built for them. Remember that it's a group effort!

5. Being on a Cybils nominating panel is A LOT OF WORK. But it's fun work and worthwhile. The short lists you come up with will be tools for parents, kids, librarians, and teachers looking for great books. They kind of go down in history. And you'll get to know a great group of bloggers, which only strengthens the community and your place in it. (Okay, that was not a tip, but I just want you to be prepared!)

If you're a Cybils judge this year, best of luck! If you volunteered and were not selected, don't lose heart. The Cybils organizers have a huge job in fitting bloggers into panels. Keep reading, keep blogging, and maybe there will be a place for you next year. And don't forget to nominate your favorite books of 2009!

Around the Interwebs: Time Leak Edition

(Or, the How Many Links Can I Write Up in the Second Half of My Lunch Break at Work Edition.)

You guys, I don't know if you read The New Policeman, but I just recently listened to the audiobook (great - loved the Irish music) and I feel like someone needs to check and see if there's a time leak. Does it seem like time has been going particularly fast lately, or is it just me?

Of course, you all know that the 2009 Cybils Nominations are NOW OPEN. The wonderfully techy Sheila Ruth created a nomination form, so everything is way easier and more organized this year. I've been eagerly keeping my eyes on the nominations coming in.

Sarah's got the school year's first installment of Hot Books in My Middle School Classroom, so do pop over and see what books her sixth-graders are going gaga over.

Liz pointed me towards Simon & Schuster's Blogfest 2009, a very cool collaborative blog featuring S&S authors. It's wrapping up now, but head on over to see what questions teens asked and what the authors had to say.

I'm a little bit late, but over at Persnickety Snark there was an International YA Blogger Celebration featuring interviews with YA Lit Blogs from all over the globe. If your reader can handle a few more feeds, hop on over and check those out. Thanks, Leila, for the link.

If you love Adam Rex like I do, you'll definitely want to check out the path to designing the cover for Guess Again! I... well... whew, that's a lot of work. Thanks, Betsy, for the link.

Speaking of authors, Kristi's interview with Maggie Steifvater was delightful. I must pick up Lament and Ballad. They are waiting patiently for me on my TBR shelves (yes, plural).

New! Improved! Guys Read! Thanks, Betsy, for the link.

Um, and do you know about the EB White Read Aloud Awards? I didn't either. Until Jen posted about them at Booklights, that is. What a wonderful idea for an award and I'll definitely be taking a closer look at that list as soon as I get a minute (did I mention that I feel like all my time is slipping away into a faerie world?).

This is the cutest chicken craft ever. 'Nuf said.

I am not a particular fan of Septimus Heap (not a big series person, me), but many are and they might like to know that Harper Collins has launched a new interactive Septimus Heap website. I have to admit that it's a very cool website.

And my break is almost over, so I'll leave you with this video of the cover of the upcoming new Alex Rider book, Crocodile Tears. Um. Awesome. (The book's due out on November 17!)



(If anyone finds the time leak, do let me know...)

Cybils nominations are open!

And the new form is snazzy and awesome!

Go forth and nominate!

Last year my strategy was to swoop in there right away and be the first to nominate the popular awesome books we all love. This year my strategy is to wait and then nominate some of the books that have fallen through the cracks. So I can make sure all my favorites get on the list.

Although I did already nominate one. :)