Teen Writers Bloc

This season, there’s one book I’d definitely recommend for a teen. (Or anyone, really.)

The Hunger Games. For three reasons.

First: My boyfriend read it in three days and can’t wait to get his hands on the second installment. This probably doesn’t seem like a good reason, but this is a guy who never reads. And when he does, if the book doesn’t involve the South African rugby team, he’s not interested. So to watch him devour a teen fantasy book and then ask for more? I think a 16-year-old girl could probably enjoy the story just as much, if not more, than that.

Second: Katniss. She is a kick-ass heroine. In a story in which the protagonist is thrown into an arena with twenty-three other kids in a literal fight to the death, it’s imperative that we believe she actually has a shot. And Suzanne Collins does a great job in creating a girl who was forced to learn survival skills, thereby making her a believable opponent. She’s also clueless when it comes to romance, which I love. Shoot a squirrel through the eyes with a bow and arrow? No problem. Decipher the hidden meanings behind Peeta and Gale’s words? Not a chance.

Third: This is a fantasy book for people who don’t like fantasy. There are no magical creatures, there’s no magic at all, in fact, and no fantasy-sounding names like “Quidditch” or “hobbit” for people to roll their eyes at and snub without giving the book a chance. It’s packed with action — once Katniss gets into the arena, the book is nearly impossible to put down. And the best part? There are two more outstanding books to read after it!

Popularity: 21%

The winter holidays always make me think of family, presents, and, of course, snow! The book I would love to give to the teens I know would be The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe from the Chronicles of Narnia because it has all three themes.

Family. Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy – the Pevensie family – discover the world of Narnia and the fantastic creatures that live there. As they become involved in the battle to free Narnia from the rule of the White Witch, they discover the importance of sticking together as a family. I always get a little choked up when I get to the part where Edmund is reunited with his family.

Presents. I love the part where Father Christmas makes an appearance to give everyone their gifts. Who doesn’t love receiving presents?

And snow! There’s snow in the book… lots of it! A perfect reminder of the winter holidays.

Of course, there’s the added bonus of magic and the ultimate battle between good and evil. If you’re looking for a great book to give to your teen for the holidays, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe will be a definite pleaser. Happy holidays!

Popularity: 15%

If I could give any teen a holiday gift this year, it would have to be The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.

This is a book for:

Anyone who has ever felt like an outsider.

Anyone who has ever wanted something more.

For those of us with friends that we are afraid to leave behind.

Or those of us who are afraid to branch out and meet new people.

Or anyone who has ever gone through a rough time, like losing a loved one.

It is a book that sheds light on poverty and racism, but also gives hope that understanding and love are more powerful than judgment. Alexie gives us a balanced world, where there is plenty of good to make up for whatever bad is in protagonist Junior’s life. Junior is thrust into a whole new environment, and while he tries to hold onto his old life, he makes new friends, gets the girl, loses old insecurities, and becomes a better version of himself.

It’s a book you won’t be able to put down. Everyone, young or old, will be entertained and enlightened by this New York Times Bestseller. Guaranteed.

Popularity: 14%

As a terrified nine-year-old camper, who’d managed to misplace my vast and very colorful Speedo collection in just four weeks at Camp Eisner, I was in awe of the junior counselors (called machon), including Lisa Greenwald. So when I started to read all the books published by New School Writing for Children graduates in preparation for my first semester in the program, I started with My Life in Pink & Green by Lisa Greenwald, as an ode to this celebrity camp counselor. It wasn’t until Sweet Treats & Secret Crushes came out in November that I began to Google, and I quickly realized there is in fact only one Lisa Greenwald (at least in my world).

And yes, she is a former Longstocking! Lisa’s latest novel, Sweet Treats & Secret Crushes, was just selected by Barnes and Noble as this month’s must-read for younger readers. Add it to your wish list and then tell us what you think…

Popularity: 12%

Growing up, I refused to learn about World War II. From the little knowledge I had of life during and even after the war I was afraid, and for good reason. I buried every book my mother ever gave me on the subject in a puffy painted bucket of trolls (which terrified me in a very different way).

Perhaps if I had started with Judy Blundell’s What I Saw and How I Lied instead of The Devil’s Arithmetic, I would have have been more open to learning about life during this historical time period.

This holiday season, I am giving the gift of Judy Blundell’s What I Saw and How I Lied and you should too. Add this National Book Award winner, School Library Best Book of the Year and ALA Best Book for Young Adults to your Christmas list if you (or the teen you’re buying for) is interested in historical fiction or loves mystery. Blundell’s book keeps the reader wondering long after the last page.

Set in post-World War II Palm Beach, Evie’s father has returned from the war with a small fortune –  among many other secrets. During their extended Floridian escapade, Evie falls for a handsome GI from her father’s company named Peter Coleridge, who shows up at their hotel unannounced. When tragedy hits, Evie is forced to chose between her family and the mysterious man she loves.

Blundell creates a beautiful world filled with old music, movies and fashion. Through her careful writing, she allows the reader to slip into the past while still holding the attention of young readers with a modern sense of suspense.

Popularity: 19%

Recently, we’ve been hearing a lot about the future of the book. Will ebooks destroy publishing? Will children’s books morph into video games? A couple days ago, our professor David Levithan was quoted on NPR’s Morning Edition, talking about the interactive nature of one of Scholastic’s most popular series. Are books that are more than just paper and ink harbingers of the dystopian future-without-reading in M.T. Anderson’s Feed, or can books actually be made better?

I am a firm believer in innovation. Most people who’ve had a conversation with me in the last few years have had to endure my proselytizing about how much I love ebooks. But even I have to admit that to get the convenience of carrying my library in one hand, I have to give up the great things I love about paper. (Like the smell. Mmmm!) Can you add value without taking any away? I say, absolutely. It’s been done for years with audio books, and they’re at their very best in the teen genre.

I love so many teen audio books that it was hard to whittle it down, but here are the three I’ve heard that use the format best:

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

Fairest is a fairy tale set in a kingdom where music is a way of life. In the printed book, the lyrics just sit on the page. In the audio book, the characters sing! The main character, Aza, is defined by her beautiful singing voice and special vocal abilities. Listening to the music along with the heartfelt narration, we feel along with the character and believe in the spirit of her community. I can’t imagine a better way to experience this imaginative, engrossing book.

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel

Airborn is a fantastic alternate-universe adventure about a boy who lives to sail on an airship. It has strange creatures, pirates, danger and romance. Narrator David Kelly is wonderful, but what really makes the audio version so great is the full cast from Full Cast Audio. Teen books, especially adventure stories, are perfect for full cast performances. The excitement and wonder of the characters and the adventure really come through.

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

The Golden Compass is such a bestseller that everyone reading this has probably already read it, but if you haven’t heard the audio version, I highly suggest you try it this way! Like Airborn, this is done with a full cast—but with the main text read by the author. All the characters are so alive that you feel like you’re right there in the room with them. Everyone from Lyra to the armored bear to all the minor characters are perfectly cast. No single narrator could have pulled off anything this engrossing.

I don’t think audio books are less valuable or “literary” by virtue of being accessible even to people who can’t physically read—the special format makes them accessible to far more people than printed books. Maybe “enhanced” and “interactive” books will make reading accessible to (and more enjoyable for) people our works wouldn’t otherwise reach. And having many different formats means that we authors will have more ways to express ourselves. Reading is not about putting your eyeballs in front of a printed page—it’s about the intellectual and emotional experience. I think there may be many ways for people to get everything we already love out of it—and more.

Popularity: 17%

I didn’t even have to think about my choice for best holiday gift.

In Keturah and Lord Death, Martine Leavitt seamlessly weaves a living, feeling grim reaper into an engrossing historical landscape. Keturah is an ordinary girl of her time, dreaming of love and a family of her own. But Death stalks her village, both metaphorically and physically. Leavitt brings to life a world much harsher than ours — where death is far more than an abstract future. More aware of this than others, Keturah still searches for the joy of life. This is no ordinary love story and also no ordinary fantasy. Readers of all ages will be touched by Keturah’s story — and will never think the same way about Death.

Popularity: 12%

After reading an article about mixed race or biracial characters in children’s and teen fiction, it made me reconsider or rethink my own project. I am writing a middle grade historical steampunk novel with a biracial main protagonist. Questions swirled in my head: Why did I choose a biracial identity for the main character? What did I gain by doing that? Or what could my future gains be?

The author of the article was reviewing two picture books that profile biracial children, Mixed: Portraits of Multiracial Kids and Spork. Kip Fulbeck’s Mixed book reminds me of a coffee table book full of pictures of happy biracial children. The second book, Kyo Maclear’s Spork, shows the offspring of a fork and a spoon and symbolizes an interracial union. These picture books made me think about multiracial or biracial teens and tweens in teen and middle grade fiction. Would my protagonist be lonesome? Or a perfect intersection of cultures to boost sales? Not too brown to impede sales?

There has been little press devoted to the fact that the main characters in Rick Riordian’s The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles) are, in fact, biracial. Sadie and Carter are the children of a dead white woman and a black Egyptologist father. Sadie looks white and has been living with her mother’s parents in London, only getting the opportunity to see her father and brother a couple times a year. Carter looks more like his father and lives with him, traveling all over the world. Their racial identity doesn’t inform the text or become a thematic element, but there is a scene where Carter’s father has a serious conversation with him about being African-American. Here is a snippet:

“Carter, you’re getting older. You’re an African American man. People will judge you more harshly, and so you must always look impeccable.”

“That’s not fair!” I insisted.

“Fairness does not mean everyone gets the same,” Dad said. “Fairness means everyone gets what they need. And the only way to get what you need is to make it happen yourself. “  (67)

Last month, at an event at New York City’s Books of Wonder featuring the National Book Award Nominees Walter Dean Myers, Rita Williams-Gracia, Katherine Erskine, and Paolo Bacigalupi, I polled the illustrious panel of authors with the following question: Do books with brown faces on them sell?

Rita Williams-Garcia and Walter Dean Myers both answered that it has been hard, but you must persevere and write the book in your heart. The owner of Books of Wonder, Peter Glassman, said that he has often found that white parents don’t buy books with brown faces on them for their kids — and that it is an unfortunate fact. Rita reminded the audience of the publishing hoopla caused by the cover of Justine Labarastier’s book Liar, and how the first cover featured a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl when the main protagonist was in fact a black female.

Paolo Bacigalupi commented that the main protagonist in his futuristic novel Shipbreaker is mixed race and based on his own child’s ethnicity. He said that his publishers didn’t put his face on the cover and that could say something, but that it is a fact often overlooked when the novel is reviewed. When reviewers neglect to mention the ethnic and/or racial identity of main characters in successful books, does it add to the feeling that biracial characters are invisible in the teen market? Are they doing the book a disservice, even if it isn’t central to the plot?

My historical steampunk novel would be complicated by the race relations of the late 1800s if I made my character full-blood African-American, so I chose to give myself some freedom by making her only half. Additionally, I think that it enhances the tension in the novel to have her be able to pass for white, but also be confronted with the racism her mother faces. The novel is not about race and it’s not a sub-plot or part of the thematic content of the novel. But it is mentioned to add another layer of isolation and tension to the main character’s journey and how she came about. I do worry about whether this decision will effect the book’s marketability and whether my main character’s biraciality will be swept under the rug in reviews and marketing. And sadly, I can’t help but wonder, is that for the best? Peter Glassman’s words haunt my subconscious.

Even though this book hasn’t been sold yet, I find myself already thinking about its racial implications. What is gained by making a character biracial? What is lost? Will my heroine still be considered a multicultural heroine? Will she speak to the child I was? Will all middle-grade girls find a connection with her?

Does anyone know of other middle grade and teen texts with biracial main characters where the novel is not about race? I’d love hear about them.

Popularity: 37%

Last Monday I got the opportunity to tag along with my good friend and published author J.A. Yang, writer of Exclusively Chloe, to Books of Wonder‘s private holiday party.

I can’t say enough fabulous things about this Chelsea bookstore. I often visit it when I hate writing my current project or am re-thinking my chosen career path as a writer. I wander the aisles, running my fingers over the colorful hardcover titles. I read all of the back-flap summaries of the entire middle grade row and eventually make my way to the back of the store to gawk into the rare children’s books case. Being surrounded by only children’s and teen books fills me with a magical feeling, like I’ve lifted off in a hot air balloon to an unknown destination.

Jon and I met at the party around 6:30 pm. I timidly followed him inside, unsure of what to expect. I am usually a social butterfly, diving in head first, ready to chat. But walking into this party was different. It buzzed with dozens of authors sipping wine, nibbling on snack foods, and talking about the current market. I nervously stared and wandered around bookshelves in awe. I spent most of the night awkwardly gazing at peoples’ bellies to get a look at their name tags. Then my mind frantically tried to connect authors’ names with their books. I secretly googled people on my iPhone to pin down their titles. These people were my celebrities. They were living the dream. The life I covet: a published, working author in the casual, cozy company of other authors.

I stuffed carrots in my mouth and watched them drift by. Here were some of my sightings: Deborah Heiligman, whom I’d heard speak at Rutgers and was still in awe of from her inspiring kick-in-the-butt speech. Sheldon Fogelman of The Sheldon Fogelman Agency, whose clients are some of the top children’s book writers and illustrators, Jerry Pinkney, Mo Willems, Richard Peck, and Maurice Sendak, and not to forget my former Hollins University writing professor, Alexandria La Faye. Barry Lyga, author of one of my favorite books, The Astonishing Adventures of Fan Boy and Goth Girl. Judy Blundell, National Book Award winner and an author who had just come to my Teen Lit class with David Levithan as part of his author panel. She remembered signing my book! Dave Horowitz, a prolific picture book author and artist that my four-year-old niece adores. He has titles such as Duck, Duck Moose and Five Little Gefiltes. Courtney Sheinmel, who was the Rutgers One-On-Obe mentor of our fabulous logo designer Lisa Amowitz and the author of a powerful books titled Positively, about an HIV-positive teen. And that’s just to name a few!

There were countless others, but I couldn’t get to them all before having to rush off to Monday workshop. Needless to say, attending these types of events boosts my morale and makes the dream of being a writer seem a tangible reality that is coming closer and closer. Maybe one day soon I’ll get to attend the Books of Wonder party again, but as a published author.

Popularity: 24%

Salt did not rain from the sky! I waited. No white crystals pushed through my window, attacking my writing desk.

I wished for it. I prayed for it. Nothing helped. Sigh! I didn’t write as nearly as much as I wanted.

As predicted, the first two weeks of National Novel Writing Month were magical. I wrote for several hours a day, clocking in daily at 1,000 words. I marveled at the fresh pages and the new words. I was impressed by my effort and rewarded myself with a spa visit and several vats of ice cream. Then somewhere along the middle, I couldn’t resist the urge to revise. I negotiated with myself: “Dhonielle, if you revise one chapter, you must write a new one immediately afterward.”

This worked well momentarily, but my daily numbers dwindled, whittling away from 1,000 to 850 to 500 over the course of a few days. I couldn’t get the new chapters completely fleshed out because I kept revising the old chapters. Ugh! I couldn’t resist tampering and tweaking the first fifty pages. I cling to a warped philosophy that my book will fall apart if the first fifty pages aren’t perfect. Is there rehab for defunct writers? I need a twelve-step program to rid me of these troubling thoughts and behaviors.

So November 2010 was the Year of the Baby Slug! I wasn’t all out lazy. I wrote just about every day, including weekends, until Thanksgiving hit. Food and family wrecked havoc on my writing schedule, motivation, and mental time. I felt guilty for ignoring out of town relatives as my mind drifted to my story. I carried around my notebook as a reminder, but ultimately held it in my lap as I watched countless movies with cousins and uncles, heated up leftover turkey, and argued about Black Friday sales. I didn’t open my notebook or turn on my computer for about a week, from Tuesday before Thanksgiving to the Sunday after it. I forgot about my characters. The slug had succeeded in infiltrating my brain and body.

But my final NaNoWriMo word count wasn’t pitiful. I finished up at 19,568 words! Better luck next year.

Popularity: 8%