Teen Writers Bloc

Nevadan author Heidi Ayarbe, who lives in Columbia and is mom to two sweet girls, has another gritty and heartbreaking YA novel Wanted coming out on May 1st.

In the mood to explore the gritty underbelly of a Nevadan town? To place a bet?

The plot line from our friends at Barnes and Noble and Amazon:

Sanctuary.

A one-word text message: That’s all Michal “Mike” Garcia needs to gather a crowd. Mike is a seventeen-year-old bookie, and Sanctuary is where she takes bets for anyone at Carson City High with enough cash. Her only rule: Never participate, never place a bet for herself.

Then Josh Ellison moves to town. He pushes Mike to live her life, to feel a rush of something — play the game, he urges, stop being a spectator.

So Mike breaks her one rule. She places a bet, feels the rush.

And loses.

In an act of desperation, she and Josh — who has a sordid past of his own —concoct a plan: The pair will steal from Carson City’s elite to pay back Mike’s debt. Then they’ll give the rest of their haul to those who need it most. How can burglary be wrong if they are making things right?

Wanted will thrust readers into the gritty underbelly of Carson City, where worth is determined by a score, power is derived from threat, and the greatest feat is surviving it all.

Check out the trailer:

GIVEAWAY! Want to win your own signed or unsigned copy (choose your own adventure here)?

Enter to win!

To enter: Click on the link below and enter to win!

Popularity: 11%

Today we’re proud to announce Teen Writers Bloc’s first ever giveaway EVENT!

I just received my copies of my first novel, Wuftoom, from the UPS man, and I can’t wait to share it with the world. In fact, when I got my box of books, I was so excited about sharing it that I had to take a picture and immediately post it on Facebook. Then I had to mail off copies to my parents and my best friend. Then I had to take a copy of the book with me to peer group to show it to my awesome classmates. I still have the book in my backpack, just in case the slightest opportunity to bust it out arises. I’ll probably carry it around for the next year until my second book comes out. And then I’ll be carrying two books around everywhere. Twenty years from now, if all goes well, I’m going to be dragging around a cart.

But my friends and family aren’t the only people I want to share the book with. So … I’m giving away one brand new, signed, hardcover, hot-off-the-presses copy of Wuftoom. The book won’t be officially released until May 8, so the winner of the contest will see it before it’s available in stores!

Here is the summary from the front cover:

Everyone thinks Evan is sick … Everyone thinks science will find a cure. But Evan knows he is not sick, he is transforming. Evan’s metamorphosis has him confined to his bed, constantly terrified, and completely alone. Alone, except for his visits from the Wuftoom, a wormlike creature that tells him he is becoming one of them.

Clinging to his humanity and desperate to help his overworked single mother, Evan makes a bargain with the Vitflys, the sworn enemies of the Wuftoom. But when the bargain becomes blackmail and the Vitflys prepare for war, whom can Evan trust? Is saving his humanity worth destroying an entire species, and the only family he has left?

Want to win your own, signed, hot-off-the-presses copy of Wuftoom? To enter: Leave a comment on this post, and make sure you include your email address in the appropriate field (don’t worry, we will NOT make your email address public).

Rules:

*Ends April 18, 2012, 11:59 p.m. EDT.

*You must be 13 or older to participate.

*You must have a US mailing address.

*Winner will be chosen at random from those who commented and notified by email.

Photo courtesy Clarion

Popularity: 15%

I have a writers crush on JK Rowling. If life was Hogwarts, JK Rowling would be the Cho Chang to my Harry Potter, (circa books 4 & 5), the Hermione to my Ron, the Harry Potter to my obsessed Rita Skeeter, the Fleur Delacuer to, well, every Hogwarts male with a pulse.

Sure, she’s old enough to be my mom, but if it wasn’t for her, I never would have had the incredible pleasure of tasting the intoxicating Butterbeer I had when I was at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure in Florida last month.

Okay, that’s not the only reason why I love JK Rowling. I will go on record, right here and now, and say that JK Rowling is one of the most prolific, skilled contemporary writers of our generation. Her prose is flawless; it has a flow to it that her contemporaries only dream of having in their writing.

Oh, and then there’s the world-building. The wizarding world, Hogwarts, and everything else about the Harry Potter series is so well thought out, so intricate, so tightly woven that it makes me curse the heavens that I wasn’t blessed with the idea (and the talent) to write the Harry Potter series (which means I would’ve been 12-years-old when Sorcerer’s Stone was released had I written it. Whatever, I’d be famous). To think that she is often mentioned in the same breath as Stephenie Meyer and Suzanne Collins is laughable (don’t get me wrong, I also have a writer’s boner for The Hunger Games, but that’s for an entirely different reason). Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight is one of the most poorly written book series I’ve ever had the displeasure of trying to read.

But I won’t be negative. Anymore. Starting … now!

Let’s get back to the world-building. She built that series with such care that each chapter in each book fits into each other, and in the end, it all comes together making sense as a whole piece. I can only dream of constructing such a world, a set of characters, a piece of writing. One of my favorite pieces by her is from The Tales of Beedle the Bard called “The Tale of the Three Brothers,” originally featured in the last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. JK Rowling was able to construct her own fairytale in the vein of the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Anderson, which is both entertaining and teaches its readers morals like humility and greed. It is prose poetry in the truest, most sincere form; simply breath-taking.

JK Rowling is an unending source of inspiration for me, not only within her actual writing, but as a writer in general. When Harry Potter was rejected by agents and editors (I bet you’re kicking yourselves now, eh?), she never gave up. She pressed on and became one of the best selling authors of all time. She’s a class act, a remarkable woman, and one helluva talented writer.

Since March is Women’s History Month, I wanted to take a moment to honor JK Rowling because, for this man, JK Rowling is a woman to aspire to.

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It’s always hard picking favorites. But not for me, especially when it comes to women authors. I’ve said it before on this blog and I’ll say it over and over again. I love Paro Anand. She is hands-down my favorite groundbreaking female author writing today.

This doesn’t mean that I haven’t been inspired by other wonderful and talented women authors like Judy Blume, Enid Blyton, Agatha Christie, Jhumpha Lahiri, Alice Walker, Coe Booth, Gertrude Stein, Laurie Halse Anderson and Cornelia Funke. But here’s a few reasons why Paro Anand makes it to the top of my list:

1. Her stories are set in India, but reflect the voices of children who could be from anywhere in the world. She captures the voice of a child beautifully, whether it’s a kid whose parents are going through a messy divorce or someone who is cheating at a test. She’s very versatile in her writing — as boys and girls and even animals and angels, of all ages and sizes. She even has a book called Elephants Don’t Diet, about Gol Matolu, an elephant that thinks she is too fat.

2. She’s funny. That’s a superpower in itself. Her book Wingless, about Chutki, an angel who is banished from heaven because she is born without wings, is my go-to book for whenever I’m feeling down. It always manages to get a laugh out of me. Especially, the line “That perhaps, this was the shape of wings to come.”

3. She’s serious where seriousness is called for. Her books Weed and No Guns At My Son’s Funeral are set in the region of war-torn Kashmir. The protagonists of both of these novels are young boys dealing with terrorism at a dangerously close range. She makes it all very real, the loss of innocence, the threat of militancy, the loss of life, themes such as these are handled sensitively and I would recommend this text to a classroom of students.

4. She literally can’t stop writing. She has authored more than 18 books for children and young adults, including plays, short stories, novellas and novels. She is published in several anthologies and has written extensively on children’s literature in India. She headed the National Centre for Children’s Literature, The National Book Trust, India, the apex body for children’s literature in India. She has been instrumental in setting up libraries and Readers’ Clubs in rural India and conducting training programs on the use of literature. She’s also a World Record Holder, for helping over 3000 children make the World’s Longest Newspaper (850 meters long) in 11 Indian states in 13 languages. The concept behind the project was to give a voice to those children who do not have a platform and to empower young people to create their own literature.

5. Paro still keeps in touch. I had the chance to meet her a few years ago and interviewed her. I bugged her with some questions last night, and guess what? She replied! Here’s what she said:

RP: Are you working on anything at the moment? Written anything new lately?

PA: Yes, I have just started a new novel – also about women, for groan ups and about hitting middle age. It’s in the very early stages write now. Also going to be working side by side on a non-fiction work called Literature in Action that basically covers the kind of work I’ve been doing with young people through stories all these years. My latest offering for YA is a collection of my stories from Penguin called Wild Child.

RP: Do you have a writer’s routine?

PA: I try and write at least two hours a day. It’s a goal I like to fulfill as I just love that time. It does not always work out, but I then try to make up that time on another day. I grab that time any time I can. Whether it’s sitting in the sun, amongst flowers, or sitting in a traffic jam and being driven to my destination.

RP: What are you reading these days?

PA: I’m just finishing Our Lady of Alice Bhatti by Mohammed Hanif and will then start The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. As for YA, I’m looking forward to starting The Truth About Celia Frost by Paula Rawsthrone. Ranjit Lal’s book Faces in the Water was an awesome read, as was Sidhartha Sarma’s Grasshopper’s Run. I also recently read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

RP: Who are some of your favorite authors? Do you have any go-to books that you go to when you’re feeling less inspired?

PA: I love Chimamanda Adichie and Murakami because they are so contemporary but also have a voice that is so much their own and from their roots. I love reading young adult fiction.

RP: What do you do when you feel like you can’t write anything beyond what you have written?

PA: I shudder to think of that possibility, but as you know, you can’t shut me up. I always have a lot to say. I think I find stories in everyday things and not in some mammoth saga, so I think there’s always that. I don’t want to sound grand by saying ‘life is my inspiration,’ but it actually is. There was a time last year which was the longest I wasn’t writing anything at all, and I’d give in to panic. But somewhere, I knew that there was more junk in there to get out.

RP: How do you spend your time when you’re not writing?

PA: I garden. I have a large, loving involving family. I love watching TV (I’m a great couch potato), I travel, I talk on the phone. I mean I am NEVER bored, don’t know what that’s like. I always wish I had more time. And when I want to switch off, I play Spider Solitaire on my laptop.

Photo courtesy Riddhi Parekh

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I love the months of February and March because I get to celebrate being brown in February and then celebrate being a woman in March. Two pats on the back in two months is great for me! For Women’s History Month, we at Teen Writers Bloc think it’s important to profile successful and revolutionary female authors of the past and present. Our fellow TWB member Caela Carter pointed out that the publishing market, and more specifically, The New York Times Best Seller list, is overflowing with men. So I love any and all opportunities to give women writers a shout-out!

A throwback lady: Virginia Hamilton

This prolific woman gave me stories as a child that featured people who look like me and had the same cultural sensibilities. As a child reader, I read everything and anything. But when I got a book by Virginia Hamilton, I can remember savoring every detail of it, and re-reading the book over and over again until I went with my dad to the bookstore the next week. Sometimes when I re-read her now as an adult, I can feel a little of the same childhood magic. Particularly, when I read The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales, I feel entranced by the stories as if I’m still the little pig-tailed girl stretched out underneath my grandmother’s dining-room table with the book.

I wish she were still alive and could eventually read my stories. I wish that she could see the influence she’s had on my writing. Alas, we lost a great one!

A lady I’ve got my eye on: Kekla Magoon

I’ve seen Kekla Magoon read at a couple of events, even ran into her at ALA last year. I’ve read two of her novels, The Rock and the River and Camo Girl. I am very impressed with the way she tells a story, the depth of her prose, and the topics of her books. I am excited to see more from her in the future, and to buy her latest title 37 Things I Love (in no particular order). And I believe if Virginia Hamilton were still around to read her books, she’d be proud as well.

Photo Credit: http://wwww.nierocks.areavoices.com

Popularity: 11%

Some girls learn about the desire to kiss a boy after they see a cute one in a movie or a band or a TV show or a magazine. (Am I dating myself if I give a brief shout out to JTT in Tiger Beat?) Some girls ask their parents about their new feelings, or talk to their friends, or discover the particular chest-fluttering rush of knowledge that there is something secret and delicious about a boy’s hands on your hips and face next to yours when they are in Sex Ed or playing Truth or Dare or watching Zack kiss Kelly in one of Saved by the Bell‘s racier episodes.

But for me, it was Judy Blume.

For me, in particular, it was Deenie.

There is a scene in that still sticks with me in the vague and fuzzy way a dream would. I believe Deenie and a boy kiss and touch in the school hallway, and I believe it is at that exact moment that I realized I wanted to kiss a boy. Maybe not that day, but someday soon.

Judy Blume is the definition of a groundbreaking female author. Not only were her books unbelievably popular and long-lasting in their popularity. They were also just great. Lively, honest, fun and wise. Her writing about that moment where a girl turns from a child to an adolescent is unmatched. Those books aren’t just stories, they are reference points for my friends and I, they are bibles, they are instruction manuals, they are self-help books, they are the assurance that what you are feeling is normal, they are the bit of danger that comes from learning something new about your own impending adulthood.

And they are sweet.

Deenie has all the necessary pain and angst and confusion, but with it is Blume’s special knack for loveliness and innocence. Her books promise that discovery, sexuality, and growing up will be confusing and thrilling and dangerous and maddening and heartbreaking. But they also promise that growing up will be beautiful and small and nice. Judy Blume didn’t lie to us. She didn’t tell us it would be perfect. She admitted that sometimes it would suck. But she didn’t want to scare us either. It wouldn’t always be pretty. But sometimes, maybe even often, it would be.

Photo courtesy Bradbury Press, 1973

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Happy holidays, everyone! Now that we’ve reached the end of 2011, we at Teen Writers Bloc have come together with our favorite kid lit and YA books of the year. Here they are, in alphabetical order by author:

Bronxwood by Coe Booth
Caela says: Bronxwood is a must-read for any kid who has ever had a parent in prison.  Tyrell’s struggles to love, obey, and still disagree with his father when he returns from incarceration are poignant and heart wrenching.

Crossed by Ally Condie
Jess says: Though it’s not quite as gripping as its predecessor, Matched (read the review here!), Crossed, the second book in Ally Condie’s series, is a solid “middle book,” filled with beautiful language and a compelling story — complete with a giant mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end. It is also told from Ky’s, as well as Cassia’s, point of view, so those of you who didn’t get nearly enough of Ky in the first book will be super happy to be inside his head in this one.

Circle Nine by Anne Heltzel
Jane says: I went to one of David Levithan’s book readings at the NYPL and heard an excerpt read by Circle Nine’s author Anne Heltzel. Abby wakes up outside a burning building and is pulled away by Sam, a boy she doesn’t recognize but somehow feels a connection to. She has no memories of who she is or where she came from. Abby is happy to start a new life with Sam, but events and memories bring up the need to figure out who she is and what happened the night of the fire. Read the TWB interview with Anne Heltzel here!

The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch
Jane says: I chose to read this one because I don’t know of a lot of YA books that have a male narrator. It’s about 16 year old Stephen who’s living in a post-apocalyptic future with his dad and grandfather. The family wanders the land, looking for a place to live and where they can avoid being found by gangs that find people to enslave them. Grandpa dies and Dad has an accident that results in a coma, so when Stephen looks for help, he finds Settlers Landing, a town that’s rebuilt by a group of people trying to regain civilization. Stephen becomes involved in a prank that puts Settlers Landing and lives in danger, and he has to figure out how to deal with the aftermath.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Jess says: The book starts off with our narrator and heroine, Mara, telling us that Mara Dyer is actually not her real name. Her lawyer insisted that if she is to tell her story to the world—the story of how she committed several murders—she must choose a nom de plume. So, right off the bat, we know this is not going to be a story for the faint of heart. Mara is going to kill people, and she is going to get caught. But how it all goes down is anything but predictable. If you are a sucker for dark, paranormal teen romances, trust me when I say you will love this book. Read the TWB review here!

Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby
Mary says:  Full of well-drawn characters and emotional pull, the story builds slowly and grows on you until you are right there in the frozen, claustrophobic fortress. Each person has their own motivations, feelings, and strengths. No one is idealized, and no one is simple. Kirby has done a masterful job of creating tension, intrigue, and action—even though the characters have limited space in which to move. Solveig especially is many-faceted and manages to be both relatable and awesome. Readers will enjoy exploring this world with her. Read the TWB review here!

Bumped by Megan McCafferty
Jess says: Bumped is one of the most fascinating books I’ve read in… maybe ever. Though it has a sort-of “popcorn” feel to it, filled to the brim with cheesy references, corny names, and teen celebrity lust, underneath all that, there is an extremely edgy, daring story. What would happen if everyone over the age of 18 became infertile and it was up to teenagers to continue the human species? In this day and age of Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant, it’s a question that, amazingly, doesn’t seem so far-fetched. This book is a fun, quick read, and yet, I guarantee it will really make you think.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Mary says: A Monster Calls is a great illustration of how fantasy can depict reality better than so-called “realism.” What, after all, is more real than our greatest fear? For younger children, that fear might be a monster under the bed or in the closet, but as we get older, we begin to realize that real life contains monsters that can’t be scared away by a bright light. The author’s writing is sparse but lyrical. With few characters and not a single gimmick, Ness brings us into a world of nightmares. Whether the nightmares will end depends on Conor. How will he face the monster that stalks him? Ness’s poignant answers make this book required reading for anyone, young or old, who appreciates the power of a story to reveal truth. Read the TWB review here!

Lisel & Po by Lauren Oliver
Dhonielle says: Liesl & Po has the best blend and balance of both magic and mystery, danger and safety. The tale reminds me of the books I used to stay up late to read as a kid — both classic and modern. Each character has layers and secrets, and Oliver’s flowery prose brings them alive. This book will stand up for multiple readings.

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan
Jess says: Part Lord of the Flies, part Bumped, and part Battlestar Galactica, Glow is filled with murder, deception, and nonstop action. The characters are layered and complicated, to the point where you never entirely know who to trust. Sometimes that can be frustrating, but Ryan pulls it off quite well. Read the TWB review here!

And Then Things Fall Apart by Arlaina Tibensky
Corey says: This is a beautiful contemporary YA about a Sylvia Plath-loving teen whose family is falling to pieces the same summer she has come down with an epic case of chicken pox. Left alone with her dysfunctional family, her confusing relationships, and her virginity to ponder, she spends a lot of time with an old typewriter and a well-loved copy of The Bell Jar. Narrator Keek is one of my favorite YA narrators of all time, and this creative, quirky, honest novel was a good reminder of why I became a writer and why I love writing for teens.

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When it comes to the Literati, my literature professor, James Allen, is hooked up. I’m not just saying this to try and land an A in his class, although I wouldn’t be opposed. But he is actually friends with the entire literary world, and most of them have come to our class.

When John Edgar Wideman, whose many accolades include being the only writer to have been awarded the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction twice as well as the American Book Award for Fiction, the Lannan Literary Fellowship for Fiction, and the MacArthur Award, came to speak to my literature class about his novel Cattle Crossing, I was intimidated. I hid in my little corner and tried not to make eye contact, especially when he started asking us what we were reading. He wanted US to tell HIM what was “good these days.”

Mostly people offered up obscure novels and collections of short stories that sounded very impressive, and well, depressing. When he pointed to me and asked, “What are you reading?” I almost died.

“Bras and Broomsticks,” I blurted, wishing I was one of those good liars, who with a straight face could say, “Sebald. I just love reading about the Holocaust,” instead of someone with verbal diarrhea.

“Is it good?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said. “Very good.” And I meant it.  I loved Sarah Mlynowski’s Magic in Manhattan series. It was the perfect distraction from a less than uplifting semester of sad, impressive literature. I mean really, what’s better than a little magic and a lot of teen drama?

Luckily, I managed to keep that last part to myself.

Photo courtesy Random House

Popularity: 18%

I’m a busy girl. Generally, between work and writing and family and more work, I can’t afford distractions.

So I steal away reading moments when I can — on the subway, at 4 a.m. when I can’t sleep and can’t write, for five minutes with my chai in the morning. Never for extended periods of time. These days, I don’t have the luxury of picking up a book and reading it from cover to cover without putting it down. And I miss that.

Sometimes, though, it’s hard to resist. And there’s occasionally a book that’s just so riveting, so enrapturing, that it just keeps calling to you, distracting you from the everyday, the mundane, the necessary. And I spent bits and pieces of my Thanksgiving weekend devouring one such book, Jandy Nelson’s delicious, engrossing The Sky Is Everywhere.

The book is truly heart-wrenching. Lennie Walker, clarinet player and awkward kid sister, sees her world shatter when her star sibling, the feisty, fiery Bailey, dies suddenly. But instead of having the expected reaction — mourning in all black silence — the band geek goes boy crazy. She finds herself falling in love for the first time with the knee-melting Joe Fontaine. And oddly, she also finds herself randomly hooking up with her newly-dead-sister’s boyfriend, Toby. Apparently, mourning does strange things to people.

Nelson’s characters are startlingly real, and the language is beautiful — casually composed poems are scattered throughout the book, little missives Lennie scribbles and tosses away on the wind, revealing her inner turmoil to no one and everyone all at once.

This book is peopled with vivid, quirky, uber-memorable characters, and drenched in such realistic emotion, it’s occasionally exhausting. But that’s also what makes it so completely un-put-downable. If you’re a fan of sister stories, gorgeous language, tortured love triangles, sweet romance or quirky characters, this is definitely a must-read.

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It’s our third semester at The New School, and it’s going slooooow. For some reason, The New School administration is forcing us all to take non-children’s literature classes, and let’s just say the books aren’t exactly what we love to read. This week I was supposed to read Naked Lunch, a book so obscene and offensive that it made me question my stance against banned books. Boy, am I in the mood for something fun! Thankfully, I’m in luck, because the third book in Gitty Daneshvari’s School of Fear series came out on October 3rd! I’ve got my order in to Amazon, and while I’m supposed to be reading some “adult” slog-fest, I’ll be eagerly devouring Daneshvari’s particular brand of goofy fun.

The original School of Fear (2009) is about four middle-schoolers who each have hilariously over-the-top phobias. Madeleine is deathly afraid of bugs, to the point where she exists in a cloud of bug spray. Garrison is afraid of water. Lulu is claustrophobic, and Theodore is afraid of dying. Think these fears sound serious? Think again! Each fear is hilariously extreme and the cause of seriously funny behavior. All of the kids’ parents have had enough and have decided to send them to the mysterious School of Fear, which consists of a weird mansion staffed only by Schmidty, a man with a ridiculously long comb-over, and Mrs. Wellington, a former beauty pageant queen with a penchant for silly wigs. Add in a dog named Macaroni, a ridiculous lawyer, a mysterious forest-dwelling former student, and a series of absurd “lessons,” and you have a recipe for much laughter and forgetting of your silly troubles.

The silliness continues without abatement in 2010’s School of Fear: Class is NOT Dismissed, in which the kids return for more fun with wigs, comb-overs, and beauty pageants. If you are looking for something to get you through your boring semester, try the School of Fear series! School of Fear: The Final Exam is out now.

Cover art courtesy Little, Brown and Company

Popularity: 21%