Review: what i wore to save the world

By Maryrose Wood
Read her guest blog and my review of HOW I FOUND THE PERFECT DRESS
Review copy provided by Penguin



This is the third in the series that began with WHY I LET MY HAIR GROW OUT. There may be spoilers for the first two books in this review, so be warned. The half-goddess Morganne, generally known as Morgan, needs to figure out what colleges she wants to apply to. It doesn't help that her grades and SAT score are mediocre, and her resume has a distinct lack of extracurriculars. But the thing to distract her from her search just came up - an e-mail from her boyfriend, desperate and needing her help in Wales.

I must admit, I enjoyed her prospective university being Oxford. It's really fun to see something about the Bodleian in writing and think, "I stayed next door." (I don't think it matters now to say that I was staying at Brasenose, if I haven't said it before. Not like anyone can track me down there now.) However, it really bothered me that people kept talking about her applying to Oxford. You don't apply to Oxford, you apply to one of the colleges that make up Oxford.

But the reason I can worry about little things like this is that the plot runs so smoothly. Morgan is worried for Colin, but at the same time worried he'll discover that faeries are real. He does remain amazingly oblivious despite being in the center of some majorly weird activity, including cheerleading unicorns. (Why would unicorns have a passion for pom poms? We do generally think of them as blonds.)

My only regret is that the end makes this Maryrose Wood's last novel about Morgan. (From her site, she is beginning both a new middle grade and YA series next year.) I suppose she could write more in the world, but she does tie everything up for now. I'll miss an enjoyable series, but be glad that Wood did not drag it out. And I must say, I think this series makes a good gift with the gorgeous covers. I know I gave a friend WHY I LET MY HAIR GROW OUT for Christmas since she's studying in Ireland this spring and summer. (I am both excited for her and jealous.)

If you liked the previous novels in this series, you'll like WHAT I WORE TO SAVE THE WORLD as well. If you haven't read the first two, it stands fine on its own but will probably have more emotional resonance if you know the characters already.

Fashion Week Day Two: Maryrose Wood

Our first Fashion Week guest author is Maryrose Wood. In addition to writing YA novels she's also written for the theatre. She's got a blog about the great summer dilemma: what to wear to the pool. (Being rather pale myself, I absolutely agree with her.)

You can find my review for HOW I FOUND THE PERFECT DRESS and enter the contest here.

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How I Found the Perfect Bathing Suit (hint: it rhymes with fettucine!)

By Maryrose Wood

Anyone who has ever had to go anywhere dressed in clothes — and this is pure wild conjecture on my part, but I’ll assume that includes most of you out there in blogland — knows the following fact about fashion: the Holy Grail of outfit shopping is not prom dress shopping (an activity which looms large in my book, HOW I FOUND THE PERFECT DRESS, and includes some comical interference from the faery realm).

Nor is it back-to-school shopping. It is not even wedding dress shopping.

It is bathing suit shopping.

I’m wearing my bathing suit right now. That’s because I’m writing this at the neighborhood pool where my son has taken up full-time residence for the summer. He swims, he eats, he plays Dungeons and Dragons. This goes on for eight hours a day, every day. I wish I had such powers of concentration.

He’s also in his bathing suit. I’m surrounded by people in bathing suits. Little girl bathing suits with built-in ballerina skirts. Big boy bathing suits with pictures of skulls and flames and various intimidating military insignia. Teen boys in baggy board shorts, teen girls in teeny bikinis, moms in Speedos, grandmas in voluminous skirted numbers.

Let’s not forget the dads. They’re here too, in their less-baggy board shorts and mirrored sunglasses. Today there are no man-Speedos on display, thank goodness. However, I notice that many of the dads are sporting tats.

What’s that all about? Did I miss the memo where all the middle-aged dads went en masse to the tattoo parlor after soccer practice and before the PTA meeting? They got their ears pierced years ago, that’s old news. Now they have shaved heads and tats.

I’m not complaining; it’s just an observation. It’s a cute look with the BabyBjörn strapped on, especially if the baby is also bald and maybe wearing a temporary Hello Kitty tattoo on its chubby little forearm.

But back to bathing suits. My bathing suit may not have a built-in ballerina skirt, but it’s a sterling example of what is possibly the most important fashion breakthrough since the death of pantyhose. People, I speak of the tankini.

Say it. Tankini. It’s fun to say. All ini words are fun to say. Ini words practically ooze with fun. Bikini. Martini. Isabella Rosselini. I defy you not to be having the time of your life in the presence of those three items.

The tankini, in case you were in the tattoo parlor when this information was revealed, is a two-piece bathing suit that looks like a one-piece. Or, viewed another way, it is a bifurcated one-piece with all the easy functionality of a two-piece.

In other words, while wearing a tankini you can go to the bathroom without stripping naked in a skeezy public restroom or strangling yourself with wet spandex. This is huge. This is like the moon-landing of bathing suit concepts.

The mere addition of “ini” turns this fearsome tank:



into an adorable Land’s End tankini:



My tankini came from a great women’s sports catalog called Athleta. When I ordered it I decided to throw caution to the winds and embrace the duality of my tankininess by getting a different color top than bottom. Radical, I know!

The outcome of my daring fashion experiment? Success! It’s so mix and match! My two-tone tankini veritably SCREAMS that it’s more than a mere one-piece. It REVELS in its lack of consistency! Like that beloved relic of Americana, separation of Church and State, this newfound separation of Top and Bottom has done wonders for my own personal constitution.

I admit it. My tankini makes me want to visit the restroom. Often. Just because I can.



A bikini is all very well on a cake, but it provides little in the way of sun protection!


Now, I know some of you are rolling your eyes and saying: Maryrose, if the restroom convenience factor is such a big deal to you, why haven’t you been buying normal two-piece bathing suits all along? To you I say – are you mad? Some of us are very, very pale. Our skin does not ever want to see the sun unless absolutely necessary, even when we’re spending an entire summer poolside in a bathing suit.

Also, some of us write books for a living, and I am here to tell you that writing books is not a terribly aerobic or tummy-toning activity. It shows, people. It shows.

A tankini is not the only golden road to happiness, of course. For someone like me, who is adverse to the sun and prefers to avoid unflattering bikinis as well as inconvenient one-piece swimwear, there is another very good option, which is to stick to nighttime skinny-dipping at after-hours nude beaches.

If someone can point me in the direction of this kind of escapade, I am so there. I’ll even apply a temporary Hello Kitty tattoo for the occasion, and only my moonlit companions will know where it lurks.

In the meanwhile, my tankini and I wish you a rollicking and abundantly sun-screened summer!

xoxo
m


MARYROSE WOOD is the author of HOW I FOUND THE PERFECT DRESS, WHY I LET MY HAIR GROW OUT, MY LIFE: THE MUSICAL and SEX KITTENS AND HORN DAWGS FALL IN LOVE. Visit her at www.maryrosewood.com.

MY LIFE: THE MUSICAL
“...it will capture your interest and probably your heart.” — Kliatt* (asterisk denotes "exceptional material")
“...[a] swiftmoving valentine to musical theater lovers..” — ALA Booklist (online)
“...Teens will enjoy the fast pace and humor in this uplifting novel.” — School Library Journal
“...Wood’s jangling, crescendo-building prose captures all the harmony of a hit Broadway number..." — Kirkus

HOW I FOUND THE PERFECT DRESS
“...I literally could not stop reading this book...I was thrilled to see the return of one of my favorite heroines...hilariously entertaining....a seriously fantastic book...." — Teen Book Review
“...full of sarcastic, witty humor, more hysterical magical beings, and meddling faeries...Wood has created an absolutely wonderful, sparkling read.” — The Compulsive Reader
“...A must for summer reading... Good luck stopping until you finish it. I know I couldn’t.” — Flamingnet, Top Choice Award
“...Morgan returns as funny as ever...This book is completely irresistible and unforgettable...There was nothing that could've made me put it down.” — Teens Read Too, Gold Star Award
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Don't forget to leave a comment on this post for an extra entry to win HOW I FOUND THE PERFECT DRESS!

Fashion Week is here!

Welcome to In Bed With Books Fashion Week! For this event, there are going to be three authors guesting on the blog.

JULY 29: Maryrose Wood

JULY 31: Jennifer Banash

AUGUST 2: Melissa Walker

All of them wrote wonderful pieces, so be sure to stop by for all three!

In addition to these special guests, there is going to be a giveaway. Three people will win either HOW I FOUND THE PERFECT DRESS, THE ELITE, or VIOLET IN PRIVATE. These giveaway copies were graciously provided by the Penguin imprint Berkley Jam.

The rules for the giveaway are:

1. To enter, leave a comment on the review of the book.
Closed: HOW I FOUND THE PERFECT DRESS, THE ELITE, and VIOLET IN PRIVATE
2. To receive another entry, leave a comment on the author's guest blog (posted the next day).
Closed: Maryrose Wood, Jennifer Banash, and Melissa Walker
3. One extra entry can be received by posting about the contest. To receive this entry, link to your post here and tell me which book you want to put the third entry towards. If you don't tell me I'll choose for you.

All three contests close midnight Sunday, August 3rd. Winners will be announced on the 4th.