NCTE/ALAN 2010, Part 2: Many Pictures

I promised pictures...so here is a very abbreviated selection of my pictures from this weekend! There are a ton of author pictures, so I've picked out just a few; you'll see others soon, I'm sure. When I post a review of a book by one of the authors whose picture I haven't added in this post, I'll show you that picture then. Enjoy!

books. lots of books.

me with Deborah Wiles, author of Countdown

me with Melissa de la Cruz

me with Lisa McMann

me with Holly Black (at which point I tried very hard to remain calm and not go all spazzy fan)

me with Lauren Oliver

me with Robin Wasserman, author of the Skinned trilogy

me and topiary Mickey Mouse

me with Carrie Ryan. One of my favorite quotes of the weekend was in her ALAN speech:
"Hello, zombies. You are strange, and I am now in your company." I was amused.

the room where ALAN occurred

me with Heather Brewer, author of the Vladimir Tod series

a very tall man named Walter picking up me and Lauren Myracle (we're both short)

Tada! A small selection of what occurred at NCTE/ALAN last weekend. :)

NCTE/ALAN 2010, Part 1

After tagging along with the Best Dad Ever to NCTE/ALAN in Orlando and a wonderful Thanksgiving with my extended family, I'm back home and ready to start blogging again! I hope all of you had a lovely holiday as well (or just a lovely week, if you're not in the US).

The NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) conference/convention/whatever-it-is (I'm not actually sure which word they prefer) was incredible. I spent most of the time hanging out in the exhibit hall, collecting free books and talking to people. I got to talk to some fabulous authors and some lovely publishing people as well. Everyone was so welcoming and friendly and willing to talk about books and publishing and even blogging. To those authors and publishers, I want to say an enormous THANK YOU! Y'all rock. :)

ALAN (Assembly of Literature for Adolescents at NCTE, I think, but don't quote me on that) was also amazing. Two days of listening to authors talk about their books, their writing, their lives, and other random stories, plus the opportunity to chat with them and get a box of free books...it was pretty spectacular. To all those authors who spoke at ALAN: you guys were awesome!

On the whole, it was a fantastic experience and I am so grateful that I got the chance to go. I could go on and on telling you all about the minute details, but I'll spare you; I'd get bored listening to me, so you all probably would as well. But I'll be back tomorrow with some pictures to share!

Happy Thanksgiving!

To those of you within the US of A, Happy Thanksgiving! (To my international readers -- hello, international readers! Y'all rock too -- happy ordinary Thursday!)

I'm spending today with family, having a grand old time with relatives I rarely see and eating lots of good food and remembering all the wonderful things I have to be thankful for. My awesome blog readers made that list easily. Thanks, guys!

Here's wishing you all a great day!

~Becky

Waiting on Wednesday: The Lucky Kind

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine.

This week I'm waiting on The Lucky Kind by Alyssa B. Sheinmel.

Description from Goodreads:
High school junior Nick Brandt is intent on getting a girlfriend, and Eden Reiss is the one that he wants. He has exactly four semesters to get the girl, but when the phone rings on an otherwise ordinary Tuesday night, life for Nick and his parents will never be the same. What had been a seemingly idyllic home life has become something else entirely. But with this shake-up comes a newfound confidence for Nick; he's become a bolder version of himself, no longer afraid to question his parents, and no longer afraid to talk to Eden.

Alyssa B. Sheinmel has written a powerfully gripping story about family secrets, falling in love, and finding luck in unexpected--and sometimes unwelcome—circumstances.

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I think The Lucky Kind looks intriguing and I want to know what that news is that Nick got! I'm already excited to read this one, and it doesn't come out until May 10, 2011.

What are you waiting on this week? Leave a link in the comments and I'll stop by to visit!

Review: Firelight

Title: Firelight
Author: Sophie Jordan
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 323
Series: Firelight #1
Rating: 4.5 stars
From the book jacket: 
A hidden truth. Mortal enemies. Doomed love.

Marked as special at an early age, Jacinda knows her every move is watched. But she longs for freedom to make her own choices. When she breaks the most sacred tenet among her kind, she nearly pays with her life. Until a beautiful stranger saves her. A stranger who was sent to hunt those like her. For Jacinda is a draki -- a descendant of dragons whose greatest defense is her secret ability to shift into human form.

Forced to flee into the mortal world with her family, Jacinda struggles to adapt to her new surroundings. The only bright light is Will. Gorgeous, elusive Will who stirs her inner draki to life. Although she is irresistibly drawn to him, Jacinda knows Will's dark secret: He and his family are hunters. She should avoid him at all costs. But her inner draki is slowly slipping away -- if it dies she will be left as a human forever. She'll do anything to prevent that. Even if it means getting closer to her most dangerous enemy.

Mythical powers and breathtaking romance ignite in this story of a girl who defies all expectations and whose love crosses an ancient divide.

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I shall begin by saying that I adore the cover of this book, because it is just gorgeous. But I shall move very quickly from the lovely cover into the equally lovely story within.

Dragons! There are dragons! Well, sort of. Technically they're draki, which are different from dragons. But still. Dragons make me happy. It's basically Forbidden Love, Draki Edition -- which has the potential to be boring and unoriginal, but it totally wasn't. Jacinda especially was such a relatable character. I just loved her. It was so hard watching her struggle to fit in, feeling like the outcast of her family...it was clearly fantasy, of course, but at the same time it was heartbreakingly real.

And then there's Will. I still can't decide quite what I think of him, but I think I like him. He certainly makes a good love interest for Jacinda. And Cassian and Xander are so easy to despise. I wish we had gotten to see more of Jacinda's best friends, Azure and Catherine, because they seem like great characters. We'll have to see what happens with that arc in book two!

Aaand the romance. My goodness. Mmm. Perhaps not the most realistic, but who cares? It was delightful to read about.

Firelight was not a perfect book. There were places where I just wanted Jacinda to shut up about Will and actually do something, and there were places where I was just confused. However, despite all that, I loved it, and I definitely think it's worth reading. Dragons and intrigue and danger and a literally sizzling romance...go read it now!

Links:
Sophie Jordan's website

2011 Debut Author Challenge

As 2011 rapidly approaches (and I am still trying to pretend that it is not), I've decided to participate in the 2011 Debut Author Challenge, which is hosted by The Story Siren. The goal, if I understand correctly, is to read at least twelve 2011 YA debut novels during the year 2011. You can find out all the official rules and how to participate here.

I'm sure this list will change, but the novels I plan to read for the challenge are as follows:

• Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
• Vesper: A Deviants Novel by Jeff Sampson
• Timeless by Alexandria Monir
• Across the Universe by Beth Revis
• Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton
• Rival by Sarah Bennett-Wealer
• So Shelly by Ty Roth
• Exposed by Kimberly Marcus
• Entwined by Heather Dixon
• Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton
• The Revenant by Sonia Gensler
• Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard

And that's a dozen, although from reading the list that Kristi has so graciously posted on her website, I am sure I will read way more than that. There's a lengthy list of 2011 debuts that look awesome.

I'm so excited to participate in this challenge! Thank you, Kristi, for hosting it, and to all the other participating bloggers: good luck and have fun!

Review: Countdown

Title: Countdown

Author: Deborah Wiles

Publisher: Scholastic

Pages: 377

Series: Sixties Trilogy #1

Rating: 4.5 stars

From the book jacket:

A time that changed the world. A time that changed Franny’s life.

Franny Chapman just wants some peace. But that’s hard to get when her best friend is feuding with her, her sister has disappeared, and her uncle is fighting an old war in his head. Her saintly younger brother is no help, and the cute boy across the street only complicates things. Worst of all, everyone is walking around just waiting for a bomb to fall.

It’s 1962, and it seems that the whole country is living in fear. When President Kennedy goes on television to say that Russia is sending nuclear missiles to Cuba, it only gets worse. Franny doesn’t know how to deal with what’s going on in the world – no more than she knows how to deal with what’s going on with her family and friends. But somehow she’s got to make it through.

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Countdown is a little outside the genres I usually read – it’s historical middle-grade, rather than contemporary/paranormal YA – but I loved it. Franny, who is eleven years old, is a wonderful narrator: the perfect blend of humor and seriousness, completely believable, and Deborah Wiles captured the voice of a child perfectly. The other characters are just as good: Franny’s parents, her brother and sister and crazy uncle, her friends, the boy across the street…this could very easily be a totally true story.

It gets even easier to believe when you consider the documentary part of the novel. The whole book is full of actual footage from the 1960s – photographs, quotes, ads, political cartoons, reminders to stay safe in the bomb shelters if the air raid siren goes off…it’s all there, in between chapters. Seriously the coolest way to set up a historical book that I have ever seen. The book would be worth reading just for that. But there’s more to it than that.

The story is great too. Reading about an eleven-year-old protagonist was kind of different for me, but Franny is great and the story is amazing. I think it’s easy to forget that while the Cold War was going on, life was still going on like normal – for those of us who have never lived through something like that, it’s just history book stuff. Countdown takes those events that we read about in history class and makes them real, which is really awesome. Historical events aren’t the focus of this novel; they’re the setting. The story is about Franny and how she comes to terms with what it means to be afraid and, more importantly, what it means to be a friend.

Countdown is such a sweet, fun, and interesting book. I know those aren’t particularly original adjectives, but they certainly apply. It’s also very much a stay-up-until-you-finish-it kind of book. Definitely, definitely read it if you get the chance!