Review: Linger

By Maggie Stiefvater
Available now from Scholastic
Read my reviews of SHIVER, LAMENT, and BALLAD
Read Maggie Stiefvater's guest blog



This review took me longer to write than I thought it would. I kept producing a disjointed mess. I finally produced something I am happy with, but be warned. THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF SHIVER.

SHIVER and LINGER are obviously lovely books. They have a distinctive, monochromatic papercut look. With SHIVER, I didn't think of it as much more than nice packaging. Reading LINGER with SHIVER in mind, I realized how thematically tight the Wolves of Mercy Falls books are.

SHIVER is the winter book. Yes, it takes place toward the end of autumn, but it's all about winter coming. Thus, the blue. LINGER is the spring book, even though it takes place at the end of winter. As Cole says in his first appearance, "[S]pring had come too soon."

Spring frequently represents rebirth, or new life. Sam has been cured. Cole has been infected. Isabel must move forward without her brother, who she helped die. Grace must move forward with Sam, who gave up something she wished for desperately in order to be with her. Grace's parents must face the fact that their neglect has turned her into an autonomous being. 

None of them are prepared to deal.  Sam wants to remain a kid, not responsible for protecting the pack.  Cole wants to remain a wolf, ignoring the pressures of human thought.  Isabel doesn't want to acknowledge what she wants.  Grace wants to pretend she has everything she wants.  Grace's parents want to continue to pretend she's a well-behaved little girl.

Chick Lit Teens quoted Maggie as saying Grace's parents felt like they could safely ignore her since "she's yet to set anything on fire." But now she has set something on fire. She's sleeping with a boy, and that gets their goat. They know parents shouldn't let their child sleep with a boy. Yet it's still a transparently false attempt at parenting. They still barely police her. They also ignore the fact that Grace is clearly sick. For all the good parts of spring, there's still spring fever.

And oh, are there good parts of spring.  Sam and Grace's relationship is incredibly sweet.  They're just so into each other.  I do maintain what I said in my review of SHIVER - they have lives outside of each other.  Sam once more works at the bookshop.  He gets into arguments with Cole.  Grace hangs out and bakes with Rachel.  She explores the woods with Isabel.  The bits narrated when they're apart do help to show off just how adorkable they act together.  Sam makes Grace a little less guarded and she makes him a little less earnest (to use Cole's word).

As for Cole and Isabel, they make wonderful foils to Sam and Grace.  They are sarcastic and lustful and definitely not optimists.  I'd already gotten to like Isabel in SHIVER, but it took me awhile to warm up to Cole.  I think I did because in his own way, he's as earnest as Sam.  He's so definitive about what he likes and doesn't like in addition to being a sharp observer of people.  But Cole tries to blunt himself because he isn't one to take the truth lying down.

I am so curious as to what FOREVER will mean for these characters.  And you can trust Maggie Stiefvater to make a book about kissing and wolves meaningful.

Maggie Stiefvater Signing Report

Today, I went to see Maggie Stiefvater at BookPeople. Other bloggers in attendance, based on bookmarks or business cards I received, include the ladies of Girls in the Stacks, Mystical Lit Lounge, Windowpane Memoirs, and Project 52.

Maggie started off with a few anecdotes about the most common questions she receives about LINGER: "Did you do any research, like reading werewolf books?" and "Why werewolves?"

She said that she did quite a bit of medical research as well as research on dead German poets (for Sam's point of view), but didn't read any werewolf books. After all, she knew what werewolves were. Long anecdote short, she chose werewolves because of childhood phobias and Teen Wolf.

Then came a short reading, of Cole's first narration. Maggie wrote an earlier scene first and didn't like Cole's personality and had plans to cut him from the book. Then she wrote the first chronological Cole scene and couldn't abandon him. Answering a later question, she admitted to having trouble with Cole's snark as well as Isabel's tendency to not say what she means.

During the Q&A, Maggie was canny about some of her answers - she wouldn't discuss happy endings or hook-ups. The secret novel comes out in Spring 2012 and contains both beaches and kissing. She's seen the cover of FOREVER, but won't reveal the color yet. (I'm hoping for yellow with goldenrod text.)

Other questions she elaborated more, sometimes with her trademarked anecdotes. Kraken are the New Vampires goes viral more than anything else, although apparently the story of her hearing about being #1 on the NYT Bestseller list is being oft repeated, with embellishments in the case of the Hungarians. Also, there is a third Book of Faerie, titled REQUIEM, and is told through the point of view of an already introduced character and finishes Dee's story. It got pushed to the back of the line and may get pushed back again. SHIVER has been optioned; the screenplay is written (not by Maggie) and is currently undergoing rewrites. Maggie has a small consultation role, but no real power over the movie.

Then came the signing! There were lots of people at the event, but the line moved quickly.  I was toward the front of the middle and this photo was taken after I got my books signed.

When I told Maggie who I was, she drew an adorable Thorn King in my copy of BALLAD. Look at his billowing cloak! It was a very fun event. Maggie's even funnier in person than she is on her blog. Tomorrow I'll post my review of LINGER.

Cool Things

Reading is Fundamental has a few campaigns that are ending soon. Now through the 31st, if you donate $3 at Macy's you get ten dollars off a fifty dollar purchase. Also, if you $5 through Give to RIF you can get 20% off Scholastic products.

JCPteen, livingsocial, and Simon & Schuster have partnered together for Loser/Queen. The first four chapters are available now. Vote through Thursday of each week to determine how the book will turn out. It's being written by Jodi Lynn Anderson of PEACHES fame.

Have you seen NPR's Summer Books series? It's just as amazing as most of what NPR does, but unfortunately isn't narrated by people with lovely voices.

Also, Jezebel has been doing summer reading lists, the latest of which can be found here. Some of the best suggestions are in the comments.

It's been a week, ya'll. But this one looks like it will be better for me.

ETA 4/29/12: Reading is Fundamental has a three-star rating from Charity Navigator.

Review: Absolute Brightness

My nerves are somewhat shot right now. My dog starting limping Wednesday night so we took him to the vet on Thursday. He didn't think it was something to worry about, probably just a strain in Pat's shoulder, and gave us some pain pills. Pat was walking better for a few days, but now it's gotten worse. He isn't putting any weight on his paw. Yet he still keeps following my mom and I around instead of just resting and letting it heal. You just don't like seeing your pet hurt.

By James Lecesne
Available now from Laura Geringer Books (Harper Collins)



I picked ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS up from the library because the summary reminded me of two of my favorite books: WHAT HAPPENED TO LANI GARVER by Carol Plum-Ucci and LUCAS by Kevin Brooks.



ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS does have quite a bit in common with those novels, although it is the only one of the three in which the crime is solved. In fact, the novel is almost too neat. No story dealing with subjects as murky and messy as gay bashing, pedophilia/ephebophila, murder, and the death penalty should be that neat. But James Lecesne seems to realize that, and at the last minute adds that needed bit of ambiguity.

The cover and summary of ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS are all about Leonard Pelkey. Leonard is thirteen and flamboyant, and he's come to live with his cousins Phoebe and Deirdre, in their house connected to their mother's hair salon. He takes to the hair salon like a duck to water. But while some people are charmed by Leonard, he's still thirteen and often annoying. Especially to Phoebe, the narrator, who doesn't want to live with the weird kid.

Phoebe's voice is well-developed. While she finds Leonard annoying, he admires her. When he disappears, she has to make a lot of choices about how she interacts with people and how she views her old and new relationships. Her emotional evolution from the beginning of the book to the ending is very compelling.

That's good, because while the plot of ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS is interesting, the focus is all on the characters. Phoebe and the rest of the cast carry the burden well. Aside from liking character driven stuff, you have to be willing to cry. Luckily, Lecesne made me cry in the middle so that I was feeling better by the bittersweet end.

Readers who like ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS will probably like WHAT HAPPENED TO LANI GARVER and LUCAS as well. Those interested by the death penalty parts will probably like Truman Capote's masterpiece IN COLD BLOOD as well.

Now I'm off to read something happy.

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Back Home Edition

This meme is hosted by Jill.

I am excited about Stephanie Perkin's ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS, originally known as ANNA AND THE BOY MASTERPIECE. The current release date is December 2, 2010.



Here's the blurb on Perkin's site:

Directly between my feet is a coppery-bronze octagon with a star. Words are engraved in the stone around it: POINT ZÉRO DES ROUTES DE FRANCE.

"Mademoiselle Oliphant. It translates to 'Point zero of the roads of France.' In other words, it's the point from which all other distances in France are measured." St. Clair clears his throat. "It's the beginning of everything."

I look back up. He's smiling.

"Welcome to Paris, Anna. I'm glad you've come . . . Now make a wish."



Anna was looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. So she's less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris — until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all . . . including a serious girlfriend.

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss? Stephanie Perkins keeps the romantic tension crackling and the attraction high in a debut guaranteed to make toes tingle and hearts melt.

Plus, the author blurbs include Maureen Johnson and Justina Chen. They know good, romantic YA.

Bonus! If you're doing the Debut Author Challenge hosted by The Story Siren, this is Perkin's debut novel.