Awesome T-Shirt

Hey guys! Just in case you haven't heard of it yet, author Maureen Johnson is pimpin' a YA Saves t-shirt. There are numerous reasons you should buy this shirt:

1) It is, in fact, a very cute shirt. Dark blue, it will complement most skin tones. & with its' snappy font, you are sure to feel and look sophisticated and elegant as you stroll down the street.*

2) 100% of the proceeds from sale of this shirt are being donated to Reading Is Fundamental. Thus, you are doing your good deed for the day & supporting literacy. This particular charity also seems fitting this week, as it is Banned Books Week.

3) If you fail to purchase the aforementioned t-shirt, I make no promises that Ms. Johnson will not throw a rabid badger down your shirt front, thus ruining the shirt you are wearing now, and making a t-shirt purchase seem even more reasonable than it already does.

4) A t-shirt and jeans are good, all-American lazy fashion sense. Don't you love America?

5) This t-shirt is so cute, you should probably purchase TWO or THREE. One for yourself, one for back-up, and one for a gift. (*cough, cough* My birthday might be coming up in a few weeks *cough*)

Feel free to list EVEN MORE reasons why a purchase of the aforementioned shirt is necessary in the comments below...**

*Sometimes, I talk like a 60-year-old woman. Deal.

**Should you succeed in making me laugh, I will bake you virtual brownies.

On Borrowing Things

Rebecca Makkai's novel The Borrower comes out in June of this year, and my opinion of this book can be summed up in two words: Buy it.

The tale of a highly intelligent librarian in her mid-twenties, who, though not exactly possessing the degrees requisite to do her job does it far more competently than anyone else there, "borrows" a ten-year-old boy. Technically, narrator Lucy Hull commits kidnapping that crosses several state lines for reasons that are somewhat idealistic.

I love, love, loved the narrator. She was witty, and based on the reactions of several other characters to her, very pretty, but completely misguided. As the reader, I felt as though Lucy could have or do whatever she wanted - but she didn't know what she wanted. & she didn't particularly care that she didn't know what she wanted, or that she wasn't entirely sure of what she was doing. As someone in her mid-twenties whose life goals seem to change somewhat everyday, and who, at times, wishes she was pretty, slutty, & enough of an actress to act stupid enough to become an object of infatuation for Hugh Hefner, I have to say - I could identify with many aspects of Miss Hull's life.

I also loved the young boy whom she took on an unplanned road trip. (Kidnapping is a somewhat harsh term to describe the situation that occupies the majority of the narrative of this book.) An adorable boy named Ian who is a voracious reader and seems inclined towards a sexuality different from heterosexuality, he is the child of two very strict parents who take him to weekly anti-gay classes with a man who claims to have formerly been homosexual and now saved.

It is interesting to see the narrative from the side of the villain - which is how Miss Hull describes herself in the beginning of the narrative. I particularly like that this is one villain you don't want to get caught. I didn't necessarily agree with everything she believed - I just didn't want her to get caught. At the end of the narrative, I wasn't sure that I even agreed with Miss Hull's assessment of herself as a villain.

All-in-all, an extremely entertaining & intelligent read that explores many aspects of the concept of "borrowing." Seriously, buy it. Here's a link so you can pre-order it now.

Who the hell cares about vampires anymore? Give me werewolves...

Today, I am going to be looking at a young adult book entitled Nightshade. I was lucky enough to receive an advance uncorrected galley, but the book itself will be released in October of this year, 2010.*

Nightshade was written by Andrea Cremer, a history professor who lives in Minneapolis, home of the Mall of America.**

To summarize, Nightshade is the story of Calla, a "guardian"*** who is very beautiful, has a pack of friends (also werewolves) over whom she presides, has been engaged to a very hot, very popular boy named Ren her entire life, and is fine with her life of glorified slavery until...

...she meets another cute boy named Shay.

I loved this book. I honestly wasn't expecting to like it very much, but I read it in its' entirety in two days.****

Andrea Cremer did a wonderful job of writing teenagers who are teenagers, rather than precocious pseudo-adults or annoying twats who learn all of their SAT vocabulary from bloated novels about sparkling vampires. Her teenagers seem like teenagers who are still interesting to those of us who aren't teenagers anymore.

At the same time, Mrs. Cremer writes about so much more than a group of teenagers and how they interact, entertaining as such subject matter is on its' own merit. In her writing, and the pact society she has created, Mrs. Cremer writes about feminism, and the importance of freedom as opposed to the easiness of tradition.

The complexity of this novel, paired with the wonderful characters whom the reader comes to know and care deeply about, make Nightshade a must-read.

So make sure you read it.

*Unlike L.J. Smith's Strange Fate, which I am STILL waiting on. I'm beginning to think her publishers just hate me.

**This is probably weird, but that is seriously the only thing I ever remember about Minneapolis, Minnesota.

***werewolf

****which, considering that it was in the middle of the work week, is quicker than it sounds