I feel like I always start these posts with some surprised exclamation like, OMG, how is it MARCH ALREADY?!
But we’ll move past that and get to the good stuff! First… book mail. I got so many books this month from participation in Irish Banana Blog Tours, a Disney blog tour, Children’s Literature, and directly from Bloomsbury. It was like Christmas all over again! (And if you know my family, you know we just finished celebrating Christmas like four weeks ago, so it’s like the magic continues…)
So here’s my book stash for February 2017:
Have you entered the giveaway for a chance to win TWENTY books?
Also– here’s something you do NOT want to miss. To celebrate the release of Beauty & the Beast: Lost in a Book, I’m hosting a giveaway for an incredible prize pack. One winner will receive TWENTY books, y’all. Here’s the prize pack.
Click the image to visit my blog post and scroll down to find the entry form. So far, there aren’t a lot of entries, so your chances of winning are pretty good.
February 2017 Reviews Revisited
In terms of reviews, here’s what you may have missed…
I’m a huge fan of fairytale characters re-imagined, so this story about Robin Hood’s daughter was a pretty sure bet for me. I loved the way the tales got a bit twisted as the story went on. Fun! Great pick for Ever After High or School of Good and Evil fans.
Really fascinating fantasy tale. This is book two in the series, so I’d recommend starting with book one. I had a hard time following some of the events and wonder how much of that was because I was missing the backstory from the earlier book.
I almost fell out of my chair when I learned there was going to be more to Ollie and Moritz’s story which began with Because You’ll Never Meet Me. SO. GOOD. I forgot how much I love those boys.
This is one of my recent favorites. I LOVED Jade and the window into her art, her family, and her struggles in her community. Well done. Check out the post where Renee Watson shared her list of favorite poems about loving life, too.
I snagged a review copy of this book after hearing Lance Rubin speak on a panel at YALLFest in Charleston last November. He’s hilarious, but also shared a lot about what it’s like to write about best friends. The book is also super funny, and definitely a great testament to friendship.
This one pretty much had me at its description of an often overlooked moment in US history. I wasn’t crazy about the POV chosen for the historical parts of the story, but overall– it’s powerfully told. A great read if you’re looking for something that explores history and race relations or if you’re looking for an unusual mystery tale.
This is the story of an adopted girl now in college who decides to find her birth mother. It’s inspired by the author’s own journey. I loved the poetry and the relationships between Liz and her siblings.
The Fearless Traveler’s Guide to Wicked Places by Peter Begler
If you like wacky, otherworldly adventures, this is a must-read. I loved the main character, Nell, and the commentary from her little brother made me laugh out loud.
Book Burners by Max Gladstone, Margaret Dunlap, Mur Lafferty, and Brian Francis Slattery
So I got mixed up– this isn’t YA, it’s adult fiction, which I didn’t realize when I agreed to review it. Nonetheless, I found the story really kept me turning pages. It’s told in short episodes (each one is like 50 pages) which can be purchased individually or as a whopping nearly 800 page paperback. You can read the first episode free here.
I picked up this non-fiction title because my daughter is nearing the age where she’ll leap into the social media frenzy. I wanted some guidelines and wisdom as a parent and also a resource for her on how to behave in a godly, responsible way in the wilds of cyberspace. This book is exactly what I needed.
Beauty and the Beast: Lost in a Book by Jennifer Donnelly
This one had me at Jennifer Donnelly, one of my favorite authors. It reads like a deleted scene from the movie (okay, more than a scene, because obviously there’s a whole book plot that happens) which begins after the Beast gives Belle the library and ends in the library again, ready to resume the familiar story. Great stuff. Also– you can win a copy of this plus NINETEEN other books if you enter the giveaway on my post before 3/10/17.
When a skull-shaped cloud kidnaps Nell’s mother and turns her into a bird, she and her brothers vow to get their mother back. To do this, they must find a powerful Fearless Traveler and persuade him to take them to a land of nightmares. Once there, they will have to make the dangerous journey to see Ravenhead, the only Dreamer who can undo the curse and return Nell’s mother to her real form. Along the way, Nell and her brother battle nightmares both outside and inside themselves. The only weapons they possess are the wisdom in the Fearless Traveler’s handbook and the truths they learn about themselves.
This story reminded me a little bit of The Thickety books by J. A. White in its lyrical prose and scary-whimsical storytelling. I liked the voices of each character—Nell and her brother George especially. George cracked me up with his snarky, arrogant-but-cute commentary. I loved the message about mothers and their connection to their children. Nell is told over and over that even if she’s able to transform her mother back to her human form, she’ll have no memory of Nell or her brothers. Nell refuses to believe this. She clings to her mom’s earlier words that a mother cannot forget her children, and that her body becomes the memory of them. The whole story has themes like this—where belief in things that are true trumps fears we hold. I liked that message.
One of the things I struggled with a little bit is the fact that for much of the journey, Nell and her brothers depend on an adult to fight their battles and help them through some obstacles. Especially in a story with a female lead, to have a male adult character taking the hero’s role sort of grates on me a bit. It feels like a statement that says she couldn’t do this on her own. I don’t think the author was trying to say that, but the story came close to feeling that way to me.
However, by about the halfway mark, Nell leaves her adult mentor behind and begins a journey alone. Soon she’s joined by a male friend who takes on a bit of a leading role as far as the fighting goes. Again, I’m not sure if this was deliberate, but I felt like Nell deserved a little more of the spotlight instead of being pushed into more of a support role yet again. I also kept waiting for the song shared between Nell and her mom to become a significant element. At several points it was clear that Nell and her mother’s relationship was special and it seemed like a song was part of their special bond, but that didn’t end up becoming a part of the story’s resolution. Maybe something saved for book two?
Overall, I really enjoyed the writing in this book and the truly unique story-world. I thought the characters were really fun and I couldn’t help investing in them and hoping they won the day. If you liked A Path Begins by J. A. White or Grayling’s Song by Karen Cushman, you should definitely pick up this book.
Recommended for Ages 8 up.
Cultural Elements
Nell and her brothers are white. The witches come from Iceland.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.
Romance/Sexual Content None.
Spiritual Content Nell sees things on the people around her. Sometimes their faces change to that of an animal. She refers to this as seeing their “inner animal” and can dispel the vision by saying her name out loud.
Evil witches capture human mothers and intend to kill them as part of a ritual. Sometimes the witches are referred to as demons or in one instance a succubus.
Nell and her brothers cross over to another realm controlled by Dreamers who possess powerful magic. One of the battles they fight is one of transformation. Nell and her brothers transform into animals (their dream selves) at random and inconvenient times. Nell’s dream self is a fox who desperately wants to devour the yellow bird Nell must protect. Nell and the boys learn to combat the change by forcing themselves to remember who they really are. The story places a lot of emphasis on this idea—that there is power in clinging to truths like this or the Fearless Traveler’s motto.
Violent Content A frightening cloud which sometimes looks like wolves and other times looks like a skull seems to be kidnapping women from Nell’s town. Nell fights a creepy octopus/wolf-like critter and takes on a team of creepy witches. Battle lines form between Nell and the Dreamers and the Witches and their allies, including some scary clowns.
Drug Content
None.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Jade believes the only way she’ll find success is to get out of her neighborhood. That’s why she accepts a scholarship to a privileged, mostly white school. It’s why she puts her studies first—no time for boys, no time for goofing around. As a girl from a poor neighborhood, Jade knows she must appreciate the opportunities that come her way, even those that treat her as less-than. When she joins a mentorship program meant to help “at-risk” (read: black) girls, Jade’s frustration mounts. How is her so-called mentor supposed to teach her anything when she doesn’t have her own life together? How are the group’s pointless activities supposed to change anything for her?
My Review
As Jade wrestles with the injustices in her life, she begins to realize the only way things will change is for her to find her own voice, to speak up, and challenge the people around her. Her courage and vulnerability make her story deeply moving and accessible. When she shares her experiences with racism with a white friend, at one point her friend sort of shrugs and says, “I don’t know what you want me to say.” Jade’s ability to articulate this response—support me, believe me, she tells her friend—opens conversation and dialogue about race relations issues.
Overall, this is a rich story. It’s easy to connect with Jade through her experiences, to love her, and to understand how she feels and why. It’s easy to cheer for her victories, as a young woman and an artist. I loved that she’s a collagist, and I loved the way her art was a key component of the story. I loved the way history (the story relates some information about York, an African American man who traveled with Lewis and Clark) and poetry played a key role in the story as well.
I definitely recommend this book to readers who enjoy contemporary fiction or novels about art and friendship.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 12 up.
Cultural Elements
Jade, her family, and her best friend Lee Lee are African American. Her mentor comes from a wealthy African American family. Her friend Sam is a white girl being raised by her grandparents. Jade is studying Spanish hoping for an opportunity to travel in an educational program. Each chapter begins with a Spanish word translated to English.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.
Romance/Sexual Content Jade attends a meeting with her mentorship group that focuses on dating and relationships. She’s not interested in either one, and the conversation stays pretty vague.
Spiritual Content Jade comes home to her mom listening to gospel music and cleaning. Following a terrible event, Jade asks her uncle to say a prayer. He calls prayer a “poor man’s drug,” and tells Jade the person she needs to be talking to isn’t God but politicians who can make changes. Jade prays anyway.
Violent Content Four police officers beat up an unarmed fifteen-year-old black girl when they break up a party. Jade and her friend hear about it on the news, but feel shaken up.
Drug Content
None.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links which do not cost you anything to use but which help support this blog.
When I was a child, I wrote poems in a journal and often created hand-made birthday or holiday cards for family and friends with my own poem penned on the inside written especially for my loved one. On Valentine’s Day, more than chocolate—I wanted a poem. I enjoyed the exchange of Valentines with my schoolmates, how we showed care for each other and took one day of the year to make sure each person in our class felt special. By high school, Valentine’s Day was no longer about friendship but more about relationships— was dating, who wasn’t. All of a sudden love was only about romance.
I’m all for romance but I also think it’s important to practice loving myself, to remember that I have much to be grateful for. I hope that everyday—not just on Valentine’s Day—I show people how much I care about them and that I focus not only on grand gestures but simple, daily offerings of appreciation.
This Valentines Day I am celebrating the publication of Piecing Me Together. I am thinking about the character Jade and the many people, places, and things she loves. Jade loves her mom even though her mom is struggling. She loves her neighborhood, even though some of its buildings could use some TLC. She cares deeply about her friends and more and more she is connecting to her roots, her history, and falling in love with herself.
Jade is a visual artist and her best friend, Lee Lee, is a poet. I think the two of them would spend Valentine’s Day making cards and choosing poems for their family and friends. They might even host an open mic and ask people to bring a poem that isn’t the typical love poem but poem that celebrate and honor all the there is to love about life. I am sure these are a few that they’d have on the list.
Valentine’s Day Alternative Reading List: not your typical love poems
1. Poetry Should Ride the Bus by Ruth Foreman: A poem about loving the simple things, about finding beauty in ordinary places. In this poem poetry plays “hopscotch in a polka dot dress” and sings“red revolution love songs.” Poetry is for everyday people doing everyday things and just like Jade, it finds the beauty in what others may discard.
2. Congregation by Parneshia Jones. A poem about loving and honoring tradition. This is an homage to family, to cooking together, and breaking bread with one another. It is about what is passed down from one generation to the next. It is having a belly full of food, a heart full of joy. Jade loves her mother’s cooking and the kitchen is a place where they share what is going on in their lives, where they heal and laugh, and bond.
3. Raised by Women by Kelly Norman Ellis. A poem about loving the people who raised us. I recognize each of the women in this poem—the scholar, the debutante, the artist. The dancing, finger-popping, tell-it-like-it-is women who have something to say. Jade knows these women, too. She is being raised by determined women, by flawed women, and by women who have a fierce love for her.
4. For My People by Margaret Walker. A poem about loving where you come from. This is an ode poem, a poem of praise that specifically honors the plight of African Americans in the United States of America. Jade is discovering the legacy she is a part of and finding strength in learning about African American men and women who came before her as activists and artists. In many ways Jade feels invisible and this is a poem that says, I see you… I am bearing witness to your experience.
5. Still I Rise by Maya Angelou. A poem about loving yourself. This poem is a powerful declaration that no matter what tries to pull us down, we can rise. Jade is pulled down by low expectations, stereotypes, and assumptions. She finds strength from within to rise and learns how to advocate for herself and use her voice to speak up for what she wants, and what she deserves.
6. won’t you celebrate with me by Lucille Clifton. A poem about loving the journey. This is one of my favorite poems by my absolute favorite poet. I think it connects to Jade’s story because like the speaker in the poem, Jade was “born nonwhite and woman” and has no model of how to go about achieving the goals she has. Like so many girls I know, piece by piece she is making something of her life and everyday something has tried to kill her dream, her passion, her self esteem and has failed. There has been a lot of pain for Jade, yes. But there is much joy and so much about her life to celebrate, to love.
Renée Watson is the author of the children’s picture book, A Place Where Hurricanes Happen (Random House, June 2010), which was featured on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. Her middle grade novel, What Momma Left Me debuted as the New Voice for 2010 in middle grade fiction by The Independent Children’s Booksellers Association.
Renée’s one woman show, Roses are Red, Women are Blue, debuted at New York City’s Lincoln Center at a showcase for emerging artists. Her poetry and articles have been published in Rethinking Schools, Theatre of the Mind and With Hearts Ablaze.
When Renée is not writing and performing, she is teaching. Renée has worked in public schools and community organizations as an artist in residence for several years, teaching poetry, fiction, and theater in Oregon, Louisiana, and New York City. She also facilitates professional development workshops for teachers and artists.
One of Renée’s passions is using the arts to help youth cope with trauma. She has facilitated poetry and theatre workshops with young girls coping with sexual and physical abuse, children who have witnessed violence, children coping with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and children who relocated to New York City after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Renée graduated from The New School, where she studied Creative Writing and earned a certificate in Drama Therapy.
Jade believes she must get out of her neighborhood if she’s ever going to succeed. Her mother says she has to take every opportunity. She has. She accepted a scholarship to a mostly-white private school and even Saturday morning test prep opportunities. But some opportunities feel more demeaning than helpful. Like an invitation to join Women to Women, a mentorship program for “at-risk” girls. Except really, it’s for black girls. From “bad” neighborhoods.
But Jade doesn’t need support. And just because her mentor is black doesn’t mean she understands Jade. And maybe there are some things Jade could show these successful women about the real world and finding ways to make a real difference.
Friendships, race, privilege, identity—this compelling and thoughtful story explores the issues young women face.
Enter to Win a Hard Copy of Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson
Lina has only known life in the City of Ember, a settlement built and stocked with all the supplies its citizens might need hundreds of years earlier. Now the shelves of the storehouses grow increasingly bare, and power outages plague everyone. When Lina and her best friend Doon discover a damaged document, Lina wonders if it could be from the Builders themselves. She and Doon work to decipher the message and save Ember before the city’s power supply fails for the last time.
I picked up this book because a friend recommended it, and I’m so glad I did. Actually, I wish I’d found it sooner, because it’s definitely the kind of story my daughter and I would have enjoyed reading together when she was a little younger. City of Ember would make an excellent family read. If there’s an audiobook version, I’d recommend it for a family road trip.
Reading the chapters, I felt like I could see the city underground. The characters are confused by references to things outside their experience that are commonplace for us. This definitely gave the story that closed-in feel while letting the readers have a bit of a laugh at the joke.
I loved Lina and her family, Doon, and especially Doon’s father, who always encouraged him to think more deeply and critically about the world around him, even when it was an unpopular thing to do.
If you liked The Giver or The Diary of Anne Frank you want to check this one out. Sorry, I know those are both classics… this story definitely has the same kind of feel to me, and has won many awards as well.
Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.
Cultural Elements
There weren’t many cultural details given about the characters, but most appeared to be white.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.
Romance/Sexual Content None.
Spiritual Content Long ago, Builders built the city and left Instructions for the people to follow. Citizens still keep the instructions as sacred, but not in a worshipped sense.
Violent Content At one point, guards chase Lina and threaten her with confinement.
Today I have author Madeline Dyer here to talk about her Untamed Series, what inspired her to write such a dynamic post-apocalyptic story and what comes next.
Hi Madeline! When I think about stories, I’m always curious what inspired the author to create them. Was there a question that inspired you to write Untamed or Fragmented?
In writing Untamed, I wanted to get my readers to think about several things:
– If you could, would you choose to never feel anything negative?
– Do you need to experience negative emotions to truly be human?
– And what negative effects do you think choosing to only feel positive emotions would have on you as a person? But would you be aware of these negative effects if you could only feel positive things? If not, would that mean you were negatively effected at all—or would only others be able to see the bigger picture?
So, when I began writing the first draft, I had these questions written on the first page of my notebook. I really wanted to explore what it means to be human—and whether man’s quest to improve the human condition could do more damage than good in the end. But would we even realize the damage it’s doing?
For me, this is a fascinating topic, as quite often an individual cannot see a situation clearly and rationally if they are too involved. This is definitely evident in my novels, as the Enhanced Ones believe their lifestyle is better as they can only feel happiness and other positive emotions, but they don’t realize that they’ve sacrificed their humanity for it, and can’t see how robotic they’ve become. It’s only the Untamed who can see the full picture—yet the Enhanced are seeking out the Untamed in order to convert them, believing they’re doing the right thing by ‘saving’ them because the Untamed can’t see how they’re ‘suffering’ because of their negative emotions… and thus there’s the risk that everyone could lose their humanity.
The question that inspired me to write Fragmented, the sequel to Untamed, is a little different. I still wanted to look at the topic of human advancement and how ‘advancements’ could cause degeneration within—and the loss of—humanity, but I wanted to look at it from a different angle and focus more on the oppressed groups.
Whereas Untamed shows things from both the Enhanced Ones’ and the Untamed people’s points of view, Fragmented is much more focused on the oppressed group, and explores the lengths the Untamed have to go to in order to survive when the Enhanced are hunting them down.
Seven and Corin join the Zharat, one of the last surviving Untamed tribes, but their lifestyle comes as quite a shock. The Zharat are all about planning and sticking to rules—they have a very strict culture which they believe has allowed them to survive thus far—and their main goal is to expand their group, through reproduction, as quickly as possible, to increase their numbers.
So, I guess the questions in Fragmented are: How does an oppressed and ailing race fight back? And when your life is so focused on maintaining the survival of your people, are you really living at all?
The emotional aspects were some of my favorite parts of Untamed. I like how exploring those questions led to new questions in the sequel! Is there a scene or moment in one of your novels that really sticks with you? Can you tell us a little bit about it?
I think my favourite scene from book one is when Seven’s kidnapped at the beginning and brought back to the Enhanced Ones’ compound. Suddenly she’s bombarded by their way of life and can’t help comparing it to her own experiences as one of the oppressed Untamed. Yet, she’s also aware of the costs that the Enhanced lifestyle has on a person—on their soul, their humanity, their personality. She’s fighting to look at it all with a clear mind, yet knows that because she’s been force-fed some augmenters (artificial emotions) she can’t truly be looking at things in an objective way, no matter how much she thinks she is. And it’s this internal dilemma—and the conflict it instigates inside my main character as the novel progresses because she is unsure as to whether she can really trust that her thoughts and feelings are her own—that really fascinates me.
Definitely a fascinating concept. I love stuff like that. You also created a unique story world with some pretty intense challenges as well. What inspired the story world for Untamed and Fragmented? How did you go about creating that part of the story?
The idea for the world for my Untamed Series came to me when I was at my Nana’s house. The music channel was on TV and I looked up and saw the market scene from “La La La” by Naughty Boy, featuring Sam Smith. In this scene, what appears to be a human heart is being sold and that really stuck with me. I began thinking about what a human heart could represent—love, lust, etc—and then thought: What if someone could buy emotions, just as easily as they buy food and clothes? And thus the idea for the augmenters—the chemical, artificial emotions that the Enhanced Ones take in order to ensure they only feel positive things—was born.
At this point, I made many notes, and I soon realized I also wanted addiction to be a big part of this world too. Making the Enhanced Ones’ augmenters highly addictive (to the point where if you took one and became Enhanced, you couldn’t ever go back to a true Untamed state, as you were constantly craving the next fix, and had also associated the augmenters with safety) opened up a whole new level to the world—even more so when the addiction causes the Enhanced to want to ‘help’ the Untamed too, and spread their addiction, converting everyone.
Sounds like a really in-depth process. I love that. So now that you’re finished with the Untamed Series, what comes next for you? Your blog mentions a new project for spring of 2017 for Lift 4 Autism. Can you share how you got involved with the project?
Yes! My gothic fairy tale retelling, “The Curse of the Winged Wight”, will release on April 1, 2017 in Ever in the After: 13 Fantasy Tales, a print and ebook anthology where 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Lift 4 Autism. I’m so excited about this as I love writing fantasy stories.
I actually found out on October 11, 2016 that I had been selected to write for this anthology, which was a great message to receive… but it also meant I had to come up with a standalone short story pretty quickly! I’ve had 17 other short stories published before, but this one was the first one where I was contracted on proposal of an idea (before I’d actually written the piece)! I’m currently finishing up revisions to my story, and I’ve had a lot of fun working on it.
That’s really exciting! Congratulations on being selected. Writing is a lot of hard work. Is there something you most hope readers take away from your novels?
If readers feel they’ve been entertained by my writing, then I’m happy. Even better if they keep thinking about my world and my characters, and questioning what they themselves would do in the situations that my protagonist, Seven, goes through!
It’s a great sign when readers have your story stuck in their heads afterward. It’s been a long time since I read Untamedand there are still moments that stick in my head, too. I’m sure you hear the same from your readers. What is one question about your novel you are often asked by readers?
It’s a close call between, “When does the next book in the Untamed Series release?” and “How long does it take you to write a book?”
In answer to the first question, I haven’t yet got an official release date for Divided (Untamed #3) yet, as I’m still working on edits before I send the manuscript my publisher, but I’m hoping for a late 2017 release, with the final book of the series releasing in 2018.
And how long does it take me to write a book? Well, I tend to write fast first drafts. I can get a 90,000 word draft done in about four-to-six weeks. After that, I leave it for a few weeks, and then spend two-to-four months editing and rewriting it. When I’ve got a draft I’m happy with, my beta-readers review it for around a month, and tell me anything that confused them or didn’t seem quite right. Following that, I typically do another round of edits and proofread it before sending to my publisher.
But that’s only the start really! Once it’s contracted, we typically spend another three months editing it together in-house, until everyone is satisfied that it’s the best it possibly can be.
Sounds great. Thanks again for taking the time to share with us, Madeline!
Madeline Dyer lives in the southwest of England, and holds a BA honours degree in English from the University of Exeter. She has a strong love for anything dystopian, ghostly, or paranormal, and can frequently be found exploring wild places. At least one notebook is known to follow her wherever she goes. Her debut novel, Untamed (Prizm Books, May 2015), examines a world in which anyone who has negative emotions is hunted down, and a culture where addiction is encouraged. Her second novel, Fragmented, hits shelves in September 2016.
As one of the last Untamed humans left in the world, Seven’s life has always been controlled by tight rules. Stay away from the Enhanced. Don’t question your leader. And, most importantly, never switch sides–because once you’re Enhanced there’s no going back. Even if you have become the perfect human being.
But after a disastrous raid on an Enhanced city, Seven soon finds herself in her enemy’s power. Realizing it’s only a matter of time before she too develops a taste for the chemical augmenters responsible for the erosion of humanity, Seven knows she must act quickly if she’s to escape and save her family from the same fate.
Fragmented (Releases late January 2017)
After the terrible battle against the Enhanced Ones, Seven and Corin find themselves on the run. With the Enhanced closing in, Seven knows they need to find other people on their side. So, when the opportunity arises to join the Zharat, one of the last surviving Untamed tribes, it seems like the perfect solution.
But the Zharat lifestyle is a far cry from what Seven’s used to. With their customs dictating that she must marry into their tribe, and her relationship with Corin breaking down, Seven knows she has to do something before it’s too late. But that’s easier said than done in a tribe where going against the rules automatically results in death.
