My Roomie Story (and a contest!)

I really enjoyed Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando's ROOMIES.  Now I get to share my own roommate story with you and give you a chance to win a copy!  If you want a signed copy, however, you'll have to go to one of Sara and Tara's in-store events:

January 12, 2014 – New York, NY: McNally Jackson

January 15, 2014 – Salt Lake City, UT: The King's English

January 16, 2014 – Provo, UT: Provo Library

February 4, 2014 – San Francisco, CA: Books Inc, Opera Plaza

February 5, 2015 – Petaluma, CA: Copperfield's Books

Deciding on a roommate story to tell wasn't easy.  I mean, I have stories about all four of my roommates.  I decided to tell one about B, because she was my first roommate and the one who I traded emails with much like Elizabeth and Lauren in ROOMIES.  (Mostly, B and I discovered that we were scary similar and possibly the same person.)

B was a gorgeous Amazon of a girl.  She was only a couple of inches taller than me and quite athletic.  Throw in a sense of fashion and major social skills and she definitely stuck out in a good way in the Honors dorm.  One day the guy I was seriously flirting with and I took the very serious step of convincing our groups of friends to eat together in the cafeteria.  He and one of his friends got into an argument about Star Trek: The Next Generation.  It was a pretty classic geeky argument.

And then B just shut them down.  Turns out she was a Star Trek expert.

That's the fun of the roommate lottery.  You get to meet someone, try to get along fast, and then learn all sorts of weird things about them you never would've guessed.  It's sometimes trying and sometimes fun, but so worth it.  Plus, sometimes you get to see a beauty queen like B prove that she's the Queen Nerd.  It's hard to box people up even when you stuff them into a dorm room.

Contest open to US addresses only; no PO boxes.  Must be thirteen years of age or older to enter.  Prize courtesy of Little, Brown.
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Review: Roomies

By Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando
Available now from Little, Brown BFYR (Hachette)
Review copy
Read my review of The Best Night of Your (Pathetic) Life

I love that the explosion of sexy reads about twentysomethings is starting to bring about interest in books that are about life in college, or just before college, without necessarily being about an intense romantic relationship.  I wish there'd been more books about this time of life back when I was in college.

ROOMIES is about the last summer before college for the alternating narrators, EB and Laura.  EB a New Jersey girl is excited to move across the country to San Francisco and hopes to make friends with her roommate because, well, she won't know anyone else.  Laura hoped for a single because she's moving out of her house with five siblings and just wants some alone time.  EB's perky email introducing herself was not what Laura hoped for.

It's a great premise for a novel, because the roommate relationship is such a unique one and so very variable.  You could be best friends with your roommate and hate living with them.  You could hate them but think they're great to live with because they never eat your food or steal your makeup.  Or anywhere in between!  Pre-move-in email exchanges are basically the only thing you know about the person you'll be living with for a year before you make that plunge.  (Unless you decide to room with a friend when you go off to college.)  Plus, it's a situation ripe for misunderstandings.  Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando clearly had a great deal of fun playing with the idea.

I found it a little hard to warm to EB and Laura at first because they were both determined to think the worst of each other based off of some pretty ungenerous readings of each other's emails.  Then I started really getting into their stories.  Laura's is the simpler one.  She's preparing to move away from her close family, which is difficult even though it's something she really wants, and maybe starting a relationship with a coworker.  Her coworker is black, and ROOMIES does a great job of dealing with how people act like they don't notice that but do.  EB, meanwhile, is having to deal with her mom's affair with a married man, the new guy she likes despite having a boyfriend, and getting up the courage to talk to her estranged gay dad who lives in San Francisco.  It is to the book's credit that it refers to this storyline as a soap opera but doesn't let it get too overly dramatic.

I really loved how many relationships are woven into ROOMIES.  There is the girls' growing, fraught relationship, of course.  But both of their family relationships are explored, as are their relationships with boys, and their relationships with their best female friends, all of which are changing because going off to college is a huge transition.  It's very realistic, which helps keep ROOMIES moving smoothly along instead of feeling overstuffed.

I think ROOMIES will be a big hit with contemporary fans and anyone who is making their own transition to college.  It's very positive while not ignoring potential negativity, and often just sweet and funny.  Just don't be fooled by the cover: they don't make it to the dorm room until the very end.  And you'll have to read the book to find out whether EB and Laura decide to live together after all.

Be sure to visit on January 10th when I post my own Roomies story and give away a copy of ROOMIES!

Review: The Best Night of Your (Pathetic) Life

By Tara Altebrando
Available now from Dutton (Penguin)
Review copy

Oyster Point High School has a tradition.  During senior week, there is an unofficial scavenger hunt.  Parents, cops, and other authority figures try to shut it down.  Naturally, the winning team gets everlasting glory.  (Or, at least glory until a new team wins the Yeti the next year.)

Mary is determined to win since she didn't get into Georgetown and football player Barbone did.  She wants to show someone up for once.  She's got a team of also-rans with her: Winter, her best friend; Patrick, her guy best friend; and Dez, who is obviously gay and takes a lot of crap because of it.  Meanwhile, she'd like to hook up with Carson who is about to break up with Jill, but another girl might have already caught his attention.  And Patrick likes her that way, as she just found out at prom.

The first chapter or so of THE BEST NIGHT OF YOUR (PATHETIC) LIFE is hard to parse.  There are a lot of characters, motivations, and scavenger hunt items to get straight in your head.  But pretty soon it's a fast ride to long-lasting memories, questionable morals, and the definition of first world problems.  I like how Mary's perception of herself changes throughout the story.  She thinks she's invisible at the beginning.  But it turns out she's been leaving an impression all along - and that sometimes it was a bad one.

I did not like that people kept pressuring her to give Patrick a chance, but it was very realistic.  I had the same thing happen to a friend in high school. But Mary manages pretty well, in my opinion.  She may not be the most in tune with herself, but she's got some things figured out.

The characterization is better than your average high school comedy movie.  The jerk jock has his reasons for not liking Mary.  Each of the scavenger hunt members gets a chance to shine and express their point of view.  Even one of the scavenger hunt organizers gets some personality.  It adds depth to the standard plot.

I bring up movies because THE BEST NIGHT OF YOUR (PATHETIC) LIFE reminded me more of a movie version of high school than actual high school.  It works since Tara Altebrando's novel is basically the literary version of a movie.  It's that one crazy night where anything can happen, even the nerds ending up on top.