Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Moving
Sorry, but we aren't going to continue with this blog, it will be deleted once we have a new blog. We will alert you once the new one is completed.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
New Books! Yippee!
I have made a change on this blog. From now on, we are going to be doing several posts a day to make up for next days and then we can do more posts once those are up. Thanks for all the reading you are doing! We hope our new system is going to work. Toodaloo! Oh yeah, New Books! Yippee! OK, I have never posted anything on this blog so I have found a lot of good books.
Good Reads.com has recently done a vote on Best Teen Girl Books. Thousands of girls have voted on Twilight by Stephenie Meyer as number 1 (of course). So, I am gonna post a few of these top-voted books.
1, 2, 3, and 4 are the entire Twilight Saga
Number 5 Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
'Last year, Annabel was "the girl who has everything; at least that's the part she played in the television commercial for Kopf 's Department Store. This year, she's the girl who has nothing: no best friend because mean-but-exciting Sophie dropped her, no peace at home since her older sister became anorexic, and no one to sit with at lunch. Until she meets Owen Armstrong. Tall, dark, and music-obsessed, Owen is a reformed bad boy with a commitment to truth-telling. With Owen's help, maybe Annabel can face what happened the night she and Sophie stopped being friends.
In this multi-layered, impossible-to-put-down book, Sarah Dessen tells the story of a year in the life of a family coming to terms with the imperfections beneath its perfect facade.'
Number 15 Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Good Reads.com has recently done a vote on Best Teen Girl Books. Thousands of girls have voted on Twilight by Stephenie Meyer as number 1 (of course). So, I am gonna post a few of these top-voted books.
1, 2, 3, and 4 are the entire Twilight Saga
Number 5 Just Listen by Sarah Dessen'Last year, Annabel was "the girl who has everything; at least that's the part she played in the television commercial for Kopf 's Department Store. This year, she's the girl who has nothing: no best friend because mean-but-exciting Sophie dropped her, no peace at home since her older sister became anorexic, and no one to sit with at lunch. Until she meets Owen Armstrong. Tall, dark, and music-obsessed, Owen is a reformed bad boy with a commitment to truth-telling. With Owen's help, maybe Annabel can face what happened the night she and Sophie stopped being friends.
In this multi-layered, impossible-to-put-down book, Sarah Dessen tells the story of a year in the life of a family coming to terms with the imperfections beneath its perfect facade.'
Number 15 Uglies by Scott Westerfeld Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.
But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world -- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.
And many more...
Friday, January 15, 2010
It's Been A While
Sorry it's been so long since we last updated you. We are not doing our library due to technical problems but the rest is still the same here! We would like to post the book ICE by Sarah Beth Durst.a>
Sarah Says:
"ICE is a YA fantasy novel set in the present-day Arctic. It's about a polar bear, true love, and one girl's impossible quest across the frozen North.
I wrote this book as a love letter to my husband. It's about true love... the kind of love where you'd go east of the sun and west of the moon for each other. So this novel is very closed to my heart.
It's also about polar bears, one of the coolest animals ever. No pun intended."
A story that is opposite of a prince saving his princess as a girl goes out to save her true love.
Such a good read and it really should get onto one of the top 'Gotta read this' list.
Sarah Says:
"ICE is a YA fantasy novel set in the present-day Arctic. It's about a polar bear, true love, and one girl's impossible quest across the frozen North.
I wrote this book as a love letter to my husband. It's about true love... the kind of love where you'd go east of the sun and west of the moon for each other. So this novel is very closed to my heart.
It's also about polar bears, one of the coolest animals ever. No pun intended."
Friday, January 8, 2010
Live Journal
We have created a Live Journal account. See it here! No book posts today unless Madison or one of the other authors posts. BYE!
-EMMA
-EMMA
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Most Literate City...Seattle!
Seattle Times Book Editor, Mary Ann Gwinn, reported Seattle's title as Most Literate City of 2009! The survey by Central Connecticut State University put Washington D.C number 2 on this list along with others.
Seattle was also first at # of bookstores per 10,000 people
This city is giant! No wonder this came to be!! Anyway, this has been
Bye Readers!Maggie Stiefvater...MORE
These books are a must-see and so is Maggie's website!
In this sequel to Lament, faeries follow James and Dee to Thornking-Ash, where James struggles with his feelings for Dee and for the dangerous faerie muse, Nuala. When Halloween plunges both Dee and Nuala into danger, James finds he can only save one.
AND, here are the websites Maggie S. visits!:
Sites of interest:
Verla Kay's Children's Writers & Illustrators' Board: A busy forum for children's and young adult writers—a great resource to find out more about the business of getting published and the craft of writing.
Merry Sisters of Fate: A blog featuring weekly short fiction from Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton, and Brenna Yovanoff.
FluxNow: Flux's blog.
And many more, check 'em out at her website!
Deirdre, a gifted musician, finds herself infatuated with Luke, a mysterious boy who enters her life, at the same time she discovers she's a Cloverhand—one who can see faeries. Trouble is, Luke is a faerie assassin—and Deirdre is meant to be his next mark.
AND, here are the websites Maggie S. visits!:
Sites of interest:
Verla Kay's Children's Writers & Illustrators' Board: A busy forum for children's and young adult writers—a great resource to find out more about the business of getting published and the craft of writing.
Merry Sisters of Fate: A blog featuring weekly short fiction from Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton, and Brenna Yovanoff.
FluxNow: Flux's blog.
And many more, check 'em out at her website!
WINGS by Aprilynne Pike
All places in the world have created their own gorgeus covers for WINGS:German cover- I love the green
Russian cover
UK cover
A Crooked Kind of Perfect, Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
I love A Crooked Kind of Perfect and would pick it next to others. I gave it as a gift and she agrees too. I also love the cover that is so interesting and points out what this story is about. I guess you could see I love everything about it!
I am choosing Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver as our February Cover of the Month and Linger (below Shiver) is already a 2010 favorite. Maggie talks about her covers:
"I was a professional artist before I went full-time with my writing, so I'm possibly even more opinionated about book covers than most authors. I had mocked up a few covers
for SHIVER, but nothing that I was really happy with -- I was way too close to the project. They were all before the title change (which I think is crucial to the final cover design) and so they were all less wintery and more autumnal.
"My publisher didn't ask for input, but they did give me the right to go 'OMG KILL ME NOW INSTEAD OF USING THAT COVER.'
"When I first saw the cover, I loved it. Seriously. No holds barred. It was nothing I would've come up with on my own (though I do have a painting I did when I was 15 that is eerily similar) but it was artsy, unique, and fit the book absolutely. They said, 'we want you to know you can say you hate it and we'll stop here and come up with something else.' But it was amazing. They asked again with the cover for my sequel and again, it was lovely, so I didn't have to say anything.
"The cover changed slightly, and
they let me know about each change. The wolf's head turned a little, and they closed up some of the white space at the bottom.
"The design was done in-house by the cover designer, who had actually read the book, too, which made a huge difference for both SHIVER and the sequel, LINGER (right). It let him build in a lot of nuance that I think otherwise would be missing. I'm also thrilled that it's not a stock photo. I think it looks totally different from anything else out there, and yet not so far out there that you're like 'that's some weird woo woo there.'
"I love the subtle wolf in the corner of SHIVER's cover. It's like the novel itself -- mostly about people and winter, and then the wolves are almost incidental. The werewolf addition is really subtle, and the almost invisible wolf hints at that."
for SHIVER, but nothing that I was really happy with -- I was way too close to the project. They were all before the title change (which I think is crucial to the final cover design) and so they were all less wintery and more autumnal."My publisher didn't ask for input, but they did give me the right to go 'OMG KILL ME NOW INSTEAD OF USING THAT COVER.'
"When I first saw the cover, I loved it. Seriously. No holds barred. It was nothing I would've come up with on my own (though I do have a painting I did when I was 15 that is eerily similar) but it was artsy, unique, and fit the book absolutely. They said, 'we want you to know you can say you hate it and we'll stop here and come up with something else.' But it was amazing. They asked again with the cover for my sequel and again, it was lovely, so I didn't have to say anything.
"The cover changed slightly, and
they let me know about each change. The wolf's head turned a little, and they closed up some of the white space at the bottom."The design was done in-house by the cover designer, who had actually read the book, too, which made a huge difference for both SHIVER and the sequel, LINGER (right). It let him build in a lot of nuance that I think otherwise would be missing. I'm also thrilled that it's not a stock photo. I think it looks totally different from anything else out there, and yet not so far out there that you're like 'that's some weird woo woo there.'
"I love the subtle wolf in the corner of SHIVER's cover. It's like the novel itself -- mostly about people and winter, and then the wolves are almost incidental. The werewolf addition is really subtle, and the almost invisible wolf hints at that."
There is also a UK version of SHIVER but it doesn't have that mysterious wolf in the woods! I like the colors on the UK version but I would prefer the wolf and the wintery theme in the US version.
Lisa Schroeder
We are so excited for our library that is going so great. We have around 20 teen titles put together and we started it just a day ago! We are hoping to be done soon! Alright, so, we posted below Lisa Schroeder's comments on her cover and Oh! Readergirlz has posted about Seattle so, I will post it after this!
Lisa Schroeder says:
"I'm not a very visual person, so I really don't think about cover images when I'm writing the book. I also think it's important to be open to whatever the art department comes up with. I would never want to have my mind set on something specific and then be disappointed because it's so different from what I envisioned it to be.
"My publisher hasn't ever really asked for my input, and I'm okay with that. I've had many people tell me all my covers have been fantastic, and I agree. They know what they're doing, and I trust them to know what is going to represent the book well and sell it!
"The first time I saw the new cover for the paperback version of FAR FROM YOU, I thought it was probably one of the most beautiful covers I'd ever seen. But I also freaked out a little bit because it's more of a symbolic cover than a literal one. If you look at the cover, you'll see it's a young girl lying in the snow, and she has angel wings. If people think they are going to be reading a book about a girl who turns into an angel, they will be wrong. There are angel references in it, and I love the tag line - do you believe in angels. But I do worry a little bit about what people might think if they read it expecting something it's not.
"The cover was a done deal. The sales and marketing team were very excited about it and so, the decision was made that it would be the final cover. I'm guessing it's a stock photo that they manipulated to get the look and feel they wanted.
"It's much more of a commercial look than the original hardback cover, and I think more similar in looks to the cover of I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME, which is probably a good thing for a paperback release.
"I love the cover. I really do. I just hope people remember that covers don't always depict images that show exactly what the book is about. I think people are fairly used to that idea when it comes to images of objects that are put on the front of books, so hopefully they'll realize that can be the case with images of people as well."
Lisa Schroeder says:"I'm not a very visual person, so I really don't think about cover images when I'm writing the book. I also think it's important to be open to whatever the art department comes up with. I would never want to have my mind set on something specific and then be disappointed because it's so different from what I envisioned it to be.
"My publisher hasn't ever really asked for my input, and I'm okay with that. I've had many people tell me all my covers have been fantastic, and I agree. They know what they're doing, and I trust them to know what is going to represent the book well and sell it!
"The first time I saw the new cover for the paperback version of FAR FROM YOU, I thought it was probably one of the most beautiful covers I'd ever seen. But I also freaked out a little bit because it's more of a symbolic cover than a literal one. If you look at the cover, you'll see it's a young girl lying in the snow, and she has angel wings. If people think they are going to be reading a book about a girl who turns into an angel, they will be wrong. There are angel references in it, and I love the tag line - do you believe in angels. But I do worry a little bit about what people might think if they read it expecting something it's not.
"The cover was a done deal. The sales and marketing team were very excited about it and so, the decision was made that it would be the final cover. I'm guessing it's a stock photo that they manipulated to get the look and feel they wanted.
"It's much more of a commercial look than the original hardback cover, and I think more similar in looks to the cover of I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME, which is probably a good thing for a paperback release.
"I love the cover. I really do. I just hope people remember that covers don't always depict images that show exactly what the book is about. I think people are fairly used to that idea when it comes to images of objects that are put on the front of books, so hopefully they'll realize that can be the case with images of people as well."
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Library Help
We are now looking for people with young adult book titles. If anyone has read or heard about good books, please tell us the title and author! Thanks in advance! Other than that, check out the books below:
North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley
North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley
TALENT by Zoey Dean
Monday, January 4, 2010
Welcome Our Newest EBC Authors!
A warm welcome to Cassandra D., Madison, Breanna, and Lalia to our EBC Author Team. From now on, they will be posting too! Yay! *Run around in circles until we fall down*
New Moon Review
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
Gone with the Cullens
a review by Marla Arbach
In the first act of New Moon, Bella celebrates her 18th birthday, an ominous sign that the good old days of Twilight can't last. Exit Edward, curtain up on Act Two, which has none of the sparkle of the preceding chapters--in the text as in Bella's life, the magic is gone with the Cullens--but which has a feeling of homeyness created by Jacob Black and the La Push gang, who become Bella's new family, a family where she is an equal, not a child to be patronized and protected. The third act sees Bella reunited with the Cullens and leaving Forks for some entertaining, fast-paced action that sets up the next instalment in the series, no doubt already eagerly awaited by fans.
New Moon's writing is enjoyable, though not as neat as Twilight's--as is evidenced, for example, by the ubiquitous mentions of eyes and the use on nearly every page of the adjectives "cold" and "hard". The pace is also more erratic and readers may find the story drags until the return of Alice Cullen--though again, this parallels Bella's life. While many will mourn the long absence of Bella's magical prince Edward, they will love her new best friend, Jacob Black, a very human boy who comes to need Bella in a way the superhuman Edward never did. Though the Cullens constantly struggle with their nature, neither Bella nor the reader is ever fully involved in the conflict--nor can we see the psychological changes caused by the physical ones. Through Jacob Black, the fear, regret and gradual acceptance of the change from human to something else hit home, and the psychological effects of the transformation are so well demonstrated that readers will feel deeply for him.
New Moon succeeds in opening up a story that seemed to end with Twilight. Now much more than just a tale of star-cross'd lovers or even the struggle of a few vampires to go against their nature and live without killing, it's come down to a war between vampire clans, with a pack of werewolves and some in-the-know and interested humans thrown into the mix. What's more, Bella now has a mission: the link between the Cullens and the La Push gang, she must convince the enemies to join together against an even greater threat. In many ways a transition piece from the idyllic Twilight to the certainly high-action Eclipse (scheduled for Fall 2007), New Moon nevertheless does stand on its own as a fun page-turner destined to be a number one bestseller.
Gone with the Cullens
a review by Marla Arbach
In the first act of New Moon, Bella celebrates her 18th birthday, an ominous sign that the good old days of Twilight can't last. Exit Edward, curtain up on Act Two, which has none of the sparkle of the preceding chapters--in the text as in Bella's life, the magic is gone with the Cullens--but which has a feeling of homeyness created by Jacob Black and the La Push gang, who become Bella's new family, a family where she is an equal, not a child to be patronized and protected. The third act sees Bella reunited with the Cullens and leaving Forks for some entertaining, fast-paced action that sets up the next instalment in the series, no doubt already eagerly awaited by fans.
New Moon's writing is enjoyable, though not as neat as Twilight's--as is evidenced, for example, by the ubiquitous mentions of eyes and the use on nearly every page of the adjectives "cold" and "hard". The pace is also more erratic and readers may find the story drags until the return of Alice Cullen--though again, this parallels Bella's life. While many will mourn the long absence of Bella's magical prince Edward, they will love her new best friend, Jacob Black, a very human boy who comes to need Bella in a way the superhuman Edward never did. Though the Cullens constantly struggle with their nature, neither Bella nor the reader is ever fully involved in the conflict--nor can we see the psychological changes caused by the physical ones. Through Jacob Black, the fear, regret and gradual acceptance of the change from human to something else hit home, and the psychological effects of the transformation are so well demonstrated that readers will feel deeply for him.
New Moon succeeds in opening up a story that seemed to end with Twilight. Now much more than just a tale of star-cross'd lovers or even the struggle of a few vampires to go against their nature and live without killing, it's come down to a war between vampire clans, with a pack of werewolves and some in-the-know and interested humans thrown into the mix. What's more, Bella now has a mission: the link between the Cullens and the La Push gang, she must convince the enemies to join together against an even greater threat. In many ways a transition piece from the idyllic Twilight to the certainly high-action Eclipse (scheduled for Fall 2007), New Moon nevertheless does stand on its own as a fun page-turner destined to be a number one bestseller.
Check It Out!
YA Books Central!!! Find favorite Young Adult Books for all ages here along with many, many reviews. Like I said, check it out!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
New Years and The Beginning
Welcome to my brand new blog! I am starting a new year with a new blog so I hope you have a good year!
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