Review: Far Far Away

By Tom McNeal
Available now from Knopf BFYR (Penguin Random House)
Review copy

At KidLitCon, I briefly spoke with Leila Roy of Bookshelves of Doom about the fact that I was struggling with my review of this book.  That led me to look up her review, which is brilliant.  You should read it after reading mine, so that mine won't pale so much in comparison.

I was wary of reading FAR FAR AWAY because the narrative conceit seemed so strange, almost arbitrary.  It is told by the ghost of Jacob Grimm, who can only be heard by a boy named Jeremy Johnson Johnson.  But it works.  Jacob is a part of the story, which is both like and unlike the fairytales he collected.  He is the one able to take action at the end of the story, the one who makes the plot work.  It's an odd technique, yes, but one that makes the book better.

I have made it clear in my reviews of the Raven Cycle books by Maggie Stiefvater that I love an atmosphere of doom.  FAR FAR AWAY has that in spades.  Nothing really bad happens to Jeremy for a long time.  I mean, he becomes an outcast and is in danger of losing his home, but nothing that it doesn't seem like your average protagonist can't escape.  And then that doom so long promised is brought, by the Finder of Occasions that Jacob set out to thwart.  FAR FAR AWAY is dark.

Another KidLitCon discussion was where to draw the line between middle grade and young adult.  I brought up this book, because there is no sex and the violence isn't of the punching, bullets flying sort.  But when FAR FAR AWAY gets intense, it is drawn out, scary, and leaves innocents helpless before a monster.  For the average reader, 14 and up is the best bet for age appropriateness.

For the readers who are up for a truly scary read, FAR FAR AWAY is a hugely rewarding read.  It draws disparate elements together in an interesting way, contains several satisfying emotional journeys, and is populated by characters that will grab your heart.  I very much understand why it's in the running for the National Book Award.

Mini-review and Haiku-off: My Sort of Fairy Tale Ending

Final book in the My Very UnFairy Tale Life
By Anna Staniszewski
Available now from Sourcebooks
Review copy

Jenny the Adventurer travels to Fairy Land to rescue her parents, but discovers that things are going very wrong.  The population's magic is rationed, the laws are arbitrary, and travelers aren't allowed to leave.

I thought MY SORT OF FAIRY TALE ENDING was a fun, quick read for younger fantasy fans.  I thought it played well with various familiar fairy tale tropes, and loved that Jenny didn't have a love interest.  It's nothing overly different or edgy, but perfectly likeable.  It will, of course, have the most impact if you've read the first two books.  However, I haven't and thought it was still easy to follow along.

Today I'm happy to share a guest blog and challenge from author Anna Staniszewki:

One of the things I love about fairy tales is how easily they adapt to any format. No wonder we keep telling and retelling familiar tales when we can play with character, setting, and even format. So today, I thought we’d embrace this idea and have some fun with a fairy tale haiku-off.

What on earth is a fairy tale haiku-off and how does it work? It’s easy. Just think of your favorite tale, start counting syllables (the usual format is 5-7-5), and get haiku-ing!

Here’s my attempt:

First foot doesn’t fit.
Second foot, even tighter.
Third foot—smooth as glass.

It’s not likely to win any awards, but hey, I had fun. Now it’s your turn. Ready? Set. Haiku!

Bio:
Born in Poland and raised in the United States, Anna Staniszewski grew up loving stories in both Polish and English. When she’s not writing, Anna spends her time teaching, reading, and challenging unicorns to games of hopscotch. She is the author of My Very UnFairy Tale Life and its sequels, My Epic Fairy Tale Fail and My Sort Of Fairy Tale Ending, all published by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky. Look for the first book in Anna’s next tween series, The Dirt Diary, in January 2014, and visit her at www.annastan.com.

Interview with Regina Brooks

I posted a little over a month ago about the YA Novel Discovery Contest.  There are a few more days to enter, so get cracking if you've written a YA novel!  I interviewed literary agent Regina Brooks of the Serendipity Literary Agency about the contest, her job, and the importance of diversity in YA.

--

1.    Since some of my readers might not know, what does a literary agent do?

An agent is a person who is essentially a manager for an author. They negotiate contracts, help authors understand trends, shop the book and prepare the project to entice editors or publishers. They are also responsible for ensuring you get royalty statements and mediating issues between the author and publisher such as during cover art disputes.

2.    Everyone I know in publishing has at least one book they love that never found its audience. What are some underrated gems from your career?

The Making of Dr. Truelove by Derrick Barnes. His book came out well before publishers, librarians, and teachers accepted edgy YA.

3.    A contest on the scale of the YA Novel Discovery Contest clearly takes a lot of time and effort to run.  Why did the Serendipity Literary Agency decide to start this contest?  What are some of the benefits of running the contest?

One huge benefit is that it’s a service to the YA author community.  Authors typically get really nervous about pitching whether it’s at a conference or through an online query letter. This contest allows an author’s idea to get in front of an agent without having to pitch.

The reason we only want to see the fist 250 words is because an author should be able to get an agents attention quickly and most agents who have been editing or ageing for years can tell very quickly whether it’s a project that so would be of interest.  Serendipity Literary Agency LLC., since its inception, has always been a place for the YA author to feel at home and it a great way to let more people know about our mission.

4. What are some of the other ways you find new writers to represent?

Besides queries, I find new authors at conferences, by referrals from other authors, through Twitter, and in classes that I teach.

5. There's a growing call online for diversity in literature.  You've represented Coretta Scott King, Stonewall, and LAMBDA award winners.  What makes diversity important to you?

Everyone should have a voice and whatever I can do to help bring as many voices into the marketplace as possible I’m excited to be able to do that. While diversity among young adult authors is growing, there still remains a critical need for more, especially given the changing demographics in the US. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with stories that challenge and inspire an interest in diversity.

Review: Broken

By CJ Lyons
Available now from Sourcebooks Fire
Review copy
Read my interviews (old) and (new) with CJ and my review of Lifelines

Sheltered Scarlet Killian wants a chance at the life of a normal high-school girl.  But she's barely convinced her overprotective parents that she'll be alright, especially her nurse stepmom.  But Scarlet has spent her life in the hospital due to a rare heart disease, and she wants to live.


I loved the depiction of Scarlet's high-school life.  It was a nice balance of the better parts of high school and the bad parts.  She gets bullied by some jocks due to her portable defibrillator, which she carries in a wheelie backpack, and her mother frequently popping in to make sure she's taking her vitamins.  (Did I mention her mom is the school nurse?)  At the same time, she makes some friends in her support group and biology class.  Two of them are cute boys, of course.  But Scarlet talks about her attractions to a friend and decides to pursue only one of the boys.

My main complaint is that the thriller elements take a bit too long to come into play.  It makes since on a character level, since Scarlet is quite naive.  But when the tension ratchets up in the last quarter, any less naive reader already has a good idea about what's going on.  Most of the actual suspense comes from whether Scarlet will reach the police in time.

I enjoyed BROKEN quite a bit, and didn't mind the shift in tone to a thriller too much because I knew it was coming.  Just go into the book aware that much of it reads like a straight contemporary.  And that's fine, because Scarlet's journey to independence is a good story.

Interview with CJ Lyons

I'd like to welcome author CJ Lyons back to the blog!  This New York Times bestselling author is making her YA debut with BROKEN, about a young girl with a heart condition beginning to attend high school after years in hospitals.  Stay tuned for my review later today.

--

1. Hi CJ!  You were the first author I interviewed for my blog, about your first book.  What has changed for you as an author since then?

CJ: I remember, hi again! LIFELINES was such a fun book to chat about. Hmm…what’s changed since that first book? I’ve written over twenty more (in fact, book #21, AFTER SHOCK, is being released January 7th), won a bunch of awards, hit #2 on the NYT Bestseller list, and am having the time of my life!

Perhaps most importantly was finding my YA voice—so much fun! I’m so looking forward to adding YA to my repertoire of Thrillers with Heart.

2. BROKEN is your first YA novel.  Did you know you were writing for a YA audience when you started writing, in the middle, or after you finished?

CJ: I’ve always loved reading YA and everyone kept telling me that as a pediatrician, I should write it. But honestly, I never found a story that I thought was worthy of my kids—my patients—until BROKEN, so I knew it was YA as soon as I began.


Writing for kids is tons tougher than writing for adults. Most grownups read for entertainment, but kids read for so much more. They want to vicariously experience the world and the choices they’ll be expected to make as adults as well as learn who they are and how they can fit into that larger universe once they’re the ones in charge.

3. Do you think you'll write more YA novels now that you've dipped your toes in the pool?

CJ: I just turned in my second YA Thriller and this one was so hard to write! It deals with two kids, Jesse and Miranda, being black mailed by a cyber-predator using capping (screen capture images) and how they find the courage to stand up to him (with the help of their parents). They go through hell and some of the things that happen to them were so painful to write that I was weeping as I typed—but then I was crying again when I wrote the ending as they rose above it all and triumphed.

Despite how difficult that book was to write, I loved it! Unlike my adult thrillers, I actually find that I can go deeper and darker emotionally with YA, which is a lot of fun—just goes to show that you can still have the thriller pacing and adrenalin rush without it all being car chases and explosions.

4. You have personal experience with Scarlet's rare disease, Long QT, through your niece.  Was it more difficult to write about a tough subject you're so close to?

CJ: Not the medical aspects, no. But waiting for my niece’s seal of approval before sending it to my editor—that was murder! Thankfully, she loved the book and really felt I’d nailed that whole first week of a new school vibe. Of course, she made me promise to tell everyone that she’s nothing like Scarlet, the main character of BROKEN. Scarlet is very sheltered and naïve, while the best adjectives to describe my niece are “fiercely independent.”

5. Now that you have a number of books available, do you have a favorite?

CJ: Actually, it’s DAMAGED, the second YA I mentioned above.  It’s honestly the best book I’ve ever written and as a pediatrician, the one I’m most proud of as I think it might actually save lives.

I thought it would be a stand alone, but after I finished it I realized there aren’t many books out there that tell you the rest of the story, the price to be paid for defeating the bad guys, so I’d love to tackle another book with Jesse and Miranda and show how their courage, strength, and relationship continue to evolve.

About CJ:
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of twenty-one novels, former pediatric ER doctor CJ Lyons has lived the life she writes about in her cutting edge Thrillers with Heart.

Winner of the International Thriller Writers’ coveted Thriller Award, CJ has been called a "master within the genre" (Pittsburgh Magazine) and her work has been praised as "breathtakingly fast-paced" and "riveting" (Publishers Weekly) with "characters with beating hearts and three dimensions" (Newsday).

Learn more about CJ's Thrillers with Heart at www.CJLyons.net.




--


I don't know about ya'll, but I'm already excited about DAMAGED and its sequel!  I love books that explore consequences.