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Sailor Boy and I have been re-watching the second season of Veronica Mars. I have long maintained that the first season of VM is my favorite season of any television show. However, I did recently watch season one of Dexter. What do these two shows have in common? (Besides being smart, witty, expertly written and crafted, with compelling characters, luminous dialogue, and amazing pacing?)
They both started out as novels.
Veronica Mars was a novel that was never written. Rob Thomas wrote several YA novels before turning to television, and VM was, at one time, “untitled girl detective story.” I think part of the reason VM struggled to find its footing after that first season is because so much of it was designed for that first season story. The first season of Dexter follows the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter. After the first season, I hear, it deviates from the rest of the novel series. (I don’t know. I haven’t seen it yet — don’t spoil it!)
It’s an interesting formula, and one I think works better with mysteries. Each episode of Dexter and VM is a mini-mystery, and the big mystery weaves through it all and occasionally interacts with the little one. So well done. I don’t think you could make an entire season of television out of the SSG books. However, I do think that novels, in general, are better suited to the TV or miniseries format than to film.
Anyway, back to Season two of VM. I do remember, when first watching it, how hard the writers were keeping us LoVe (that’s Logan and Veronica) fans on the hook. Their embittered past seemed to permeate every moment of their screentime, and it was magical! However, watching it again, I’m struck this time around and how Kristen Bell plays the love triangle. I don’t think I noticed how many of her reactions to Logan are motivated by her feelings for him. Her responses to Duncan are so incredibly tame and surface/cynical, by comparison.
It may be the reason I never bought her whole tearful “and we can never email or call each other again” act in “Donut Run.” I never, ever, ever got what she saw in Duncan. Yeah, he’s “nice” (though have we come down on the side of he slept with Kendall or not?) But I came up with a new theory last night. The reason she goes to these ridiculous, elaborate lengths to get Duncan out of town — rather than just letting him use his significant financial power to lawyer that baby right out of the Manning’s hands — is so she can have a guilt free way to get him out of her life. Duncan is a constant reminder of the “old” (pre-Lilly’s murder and life falling apart) Veronica. Until she gets rid of Duncan, and not in a way that means he’s hanging around like, oh, DUMPING him — she will not be free of her ties to her old life.
I do find it interesting that when she dreams of “what might have been” in the last episode of the season, where her father is sheriff and she’s an ‘09er and things are grand, she is dating Logan and Duncan is being a jerk. Hmmmmm…
My point is… um, point? Right. My point is that it must be really hard to show a relationship wherein the two characters are not only in social positions that require them to keep their distance (i.e., ex lovers and friends of ex lover’s current lover), but also have so much anger and bitterness toward each other, and STILL manage to give off love vibes. And considering that I love that relationship so much, and it’s a TV show, and the actors involved are fabulous, and it still took me several watchings to “get it” — wow. Can you imagine if that tried to be a book?
A.K.A. My Books And Where You’ll Find Them
 What It Is: Through the Wardrobe: Your Favorite Authors on C.S. Lewis’s the Chronicles of Narnia.
Place You’re Likely to Find It: Border’s Book Stores (Exclusively), either in the YA or children’s sections, shelved with the other Narnia books, OR under B for Herbie Brennan (who edited the collection). Alternately, your local Borders may have a special display at the front of the store for the Narnia books and tie-ins in preparation for the movie. You are unlikely to get any help from the employees, as the book is NOT listed in the system, either by title or ISBN. This has been the case at several Borders I’ve visited in various states. The Borders in Boston where I most recently saw the book had it listed as being written by C.S. Lewis. If you have trouble finding it, try to get a hold of the YA or Children’s Books specialist in the store. I don’t think you can buy it online, either.
What It’s About: A bunch of YA and fantasy authors writing essays about the Narnia series. My essay is called “King Edmund the Cute” and talks about the character of Edmund Pevensie.
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 What It Is: The paperback of Secret Society Girl, my first novel and the first book in the ongoing series.
Where You’ll Find It: Any bookstore, shelved in the literature/fiction section. The easiest way to find me is to look for the massive Jodi Picoult shelves and I’m usually right before it. I heart Jodi Picoult. Alternately, fine online retailers. And finally, I hear you can still find them in Target book sections.
What It’s About: Smart, sassy Ivy League co-ed Amy Haskel gets tapped into the previously all-male secret society Rose & Grave, and that’s just the start of her adventures.
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 What It Is: Under the Rose, my second novel and the follow up to Secret Society Girl.
Where You’ll Find It: Right next to Secret Society Girl. You’ll be more likely to find it this summer, however, than you will now. Meanwhile, your best bet is fine online retailers. I’ve also heard people had good luck at Target.
What It’s About: From Publisher’s Weekly: “Picking up where last year’s Secret Society Girl left off, the novel follows the misadventures of Amy Haskel, who, having endured the initiation only to unravel a misogynistic plot set on destroying the first class of Diggers to include women, is looking forward to putting her troubles behind her. But things begin to sour when all the Diggirls receive a mysterious letter warning them of the society’s impending implosion. To make matters worse, Amy’s ex-boyfriend has a hot new girlfriend; her roommate starts dating a society member with commitment problems; another society member is dying to get under Amy’s ceremonial robe; and Amy’s senior thesis looms. When the Diggers realize they have a mole, Amy is intent on finding the culprit.”
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 What it Is: The World of the Golden Compass, edited by Scott Westerfeld
Where You’ll Find It: In the YA or Children’s section of your local Borders (exclusively), with the Philip Pullman books. Alternately, in the YA section with the Scott Westerfeld books. Like the Narnia book, this book is not listed in the computer system in the store, so it is unlikely employees will be able to help. You used to be able to order it online, but the link appears to be broken now. (Seriously, this is the best picture I can find of it now!)
What It’s About: Another essay anthology. Mine is called “Ghost in the Machine” and is about the concept of daemons and why I named my laptop Pantalaimon.
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 What It Is: Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume, edited by Jennifer O’Connell.
Where You’ll Find It: I know nothing about a paperback release for this book, so your best bet is fine online retailers. Or, you may get lucky in a store.
What It’s About: An essay anthology by women’s fiction writers (including Megan McCafferty and Meg Cabot) about what Judy Blume meant to us growing up. My essay is called “Brave New Kid” and it’s about how I identified with Sally J. Freedman.
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And, coming up:
 What It Is: Rites of Spring (Break), the third book in the Secret Society Girl series.
Where You’ll Find It: Starting on June 24, 2008, you’ll find it in bookstores all over. Check the new release tables, and if that doesn’t work, check next to Jodi Picoult. You can also pre-order it now — today! — online at these fine online retailers and have a book delivered to your door the day it’s out!
What It’s About: For Amy, a week of R&R on her secret society’s private island should be all fun in the sun—and an escape from an on-campus feud with a rival society that’s turned disturbingly personal. But along with her SPF 30 and a bikini, Amy is bringing a suitcase full of issues to remote Cavador Key. Graduation from Eli University looms, not to mention buckets of unfinished business with a former flame and—most pressing of all—the sudden, startling transformation of a mysterious Rose & Grave patriarch from sheerly evil to utterly…appealing? Just when Amy thinks Spring Break can’t get any less relaxing, a wacky “accident” puts everyone on edge. And that’s only the beginning, as Amy starts to suspect that someone has infiltrated the island. With some major Rose & Grave secrets to be exposed, and the potential fallout enough to take down one of America’s most loathsome figureheads, what she can’t know is that the party crasher is deadly serious about making sure “Bugaboo” doesn’t get back to Eli alive….
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And, in 2009, at bookstores everywhere:
June: RAMPANT, a tale of killer unicorns
July: The fourth book in the Secret Society Girl series
Yesterday, Louisa Edwards asked for a list of YA books I recommend. This is far from exhaustive, but here’s a start. It’s not arranged in any order, other than the fact that the first few I thought of are all fantasies, since I write YA fantasy. Then I realized there was a lot of really dark, dark, dark books on the list, so I grouped a bunch of light ones together at the bottom for the people who needed a break from doom and gloom.
Browse at will!
The Midnighter’s Books: The Secret Hour, Touching Darkness, and Blue Noon, by Scott Westerfeld. These are my favorite Westerfeld books, and they’ve just been rereleased in snazzy new versions by Harper Collins. The premise is that the world freezes for an hour at midnight — everything, rain freezes in the act of falling from the sky, etc. — and monsters come out. Only children born at the stroke of midnight have access to this secret midnight hour world, and they all have special powers. It’s thrilling, romantic, magical, and there’s a lot of very, very cool math.
The Uglies Books: Uglies, Pretties, Specials, and Extras, by Scott Westerfeld. I blame Uglies for jump-starting my obsession with YA books. The books are set in a futuristic society where everyone gets plastic surgery to make them “beautiful” at age sixteen. There’s dystopia, body image questions, and lots of cool hoverboard chases.
Peeps and The Last Days, by Scott Westerfeld. I know, I know, but Westerfeld is really incredible. The best thing about his books is that, unlike a lot of YA, it crosses genre lines. These books are companion novels, set in New York City on the brink of apocalypse by a vampire-like parasitic plague. The first one is about a vampire hunter. The second one is about a band.
The Gemma Doyle Books: A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, and The Sweet Far Thing, by Libba Bray. The first one is a debut novel. Bray was at the forefront of this new Golden Age of YA. These books are set in Victorian England, where an India-raised girl winds up in a boarding school after the death of her mother and discovers that she has the ability to unlock the entrance into a magical world called The Realms, a world that can give her amazing powers. Only problem is, everyone else wants the power, too, including a group of male mystics, and the madwoman who killed Gemma’s mother. It’s about the Victorian era, Imperialism, feminism… it’s just amazing.
Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside, by Holly Black. Ironside is a sequel to Tithe, but my favorite of these books is Valiant, which can be read independently. All the books are urban fantasy, showing incredibly dark fairies and the doing of the fairy courts as seen by teenage humans who get caught up in that world. Valiant is the story of a teen runaway who winds up living in the subway tunnels of NYC and working as a drug runner… for a troll who lives under a bridge. You will never see trolls the same way again. It’s one of the best books I read that year, a powerful story of addiction, redemption, and love.
Keturah and Lord Death, by Martine Levitt. This unusual novel was the runner up for the National Book Award in 2006. It’s a fairy-tale story about a young woman who gets lost in the woods, and tricks Death into letting her return to her village so she can save them from plague by telling him a Sheherezade type tale over a series of days.
Elsewhere, by Gabrielle Zevin. The word I most often use to describe this off-beat tale of the afterlife, in which people age backwards until they are “born” again is Capra-esque. Heartwarming and imaginative.
The Giver, by Lois Lowry. Totally cheating, because I read this many years ago, in college. In an unspecified future society, the world is stripped of all color, emotion, and memory, except for one person, known as The Giver. The story is about him training his successor. There have since been two sequels.
Magic or Madness?, Magic Lessons, and Magic’s Child, by Justine Larbalestier. The first one is a debut novel. Reason Cansino is forced to make a terrible choice: use the magic in her blood and die young, or go mad. A story about family, Australia, math, and doors that exist in Sydney and New York City.
Uninvited, by Amanda Marrone. A debut novel. A vampire book for people who are sick of vampire books. Jordan is in a deep depression after the death of her boyfriend — one that isn’t helped by the fact that he now appears at her window every night, a vampire, begging to be let in. And she just might be willing to let him… Powerful stuff.
Feed, by M.T. Anderson. Quite frankly, this book blew my mind. I was not in the least bit surprised when Anderson’s next novel won a National Book Award. But this is my favorite. Set in a future world where everyone has the internet in their brains, and dealing with one boy’s adventures after he meets an usual girl and gets “hacked.” It’s difficult to describe in brief how brilliant the writing in this book is, but Anderson perfectly captured the voice of a teen who has never, ever had to “search” for the right word.
Inexcusable, by Chris Lynch. It’s the story of a rape, told from the point of view of the rapist. Strong stuff, and controversial as well, but masterfully done.
So Yesterday, by Scott Westerfeld. Honestly, the last Westerfeld rec (until he comes out with something new). A mystery set in New York about “trend spotters,” it’s exciting, and relentlessly cool.
Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson. Another book that blew my mind. Incredibly powerful and moving story about a high school freshman who is shunned by the entire student body because she broke up a party the previous summer. Isolated from friends and ignored at home,s he slowly stops speaking. When you find out why, I dare you not to cry. The intimate, stream-of-consciousness style voice in this story is phenomenal.
How I Live Now, by Meg Rosoff. I think this is also a debut novel. A beautifully written tale of survival. An American teen goes to live with her aunt and cousins at a farm in England. Her aunt leaves the country for a conference, and the nation is taken over by unnamed terrorists. What follows is a heartbreaking account of what the children are forced to do to survive in this scary new world. I cried buckets over this one.
What Happened to Cass McBride? by Gail Giles. A psychological thriller told from several points of view: a girl who has been kidnapped and buried alive, her kidnapper, and the detecitive who is trying to find them in time. The narrative goes back and forth in time, and deals with social politics, abusive parents, suicide, and the cruelty teens can inflict on each other. Edge of your seat reading!
And, just so you don’t think it’s all doom and gloom and people burying each other alive on my bookshelf, a few lighter reads I’ve enjoyed:
Major Crush, by Jennifer Echolls. One of my favorite romances. This debut novel is about a beauty queen turned drum major clashing with her co-drum major in a small Alabama town. Echolls perfectly captures all the overwhelming feelings of first love. The “hand” scene…. oh! I love it!
The Luxe, by Anna Godbersen. This dishy read has one of the most gorgeous covers I’ve ever seen. I admit it, I was attracted to the cover, but the story inside, a sort of “Gossip Girls in the Gilded Age” is so much fun! Chock full of period details, fabulous clothes, romantic triangles, and scandal scandal scandal! I can’t wait for the next one.
Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress, by Tina Ferraro. Another debut! After spending the last of her savings on the perfect dress, Nicolette gets stood up by her dream date, when his old girlfriend moves back to town. Months later, she’s still crushing on Rascal and daydreaming about the junior prom night that never was. But soon she’s got bigger things to worry about — her parents’ broken marriage, her mom’s financial difficulties, her spot on the volleyball team, and of course, the constant pressure of the school social scene, and the rumors going on about her. Great read!
The Book of Luke, by Jenny O’Connell. When Emily gets dumped by her boyfriend, she realizes she’s tired of being a nice girl, and when her family forces her to move back to New England and the private school she left several years before, she’s going to prove it. When her old/new best friend is dumped by the school hottie, they decide to use him to experiment on why boys are such jerks, and how to bring them to heel. Naturally, it backfires.
Angel’s Choice, by Lauren Baratz-Logsted. Like Juno, but without the overly precious soundtrack and all that “too hip for our own good” nonsense. Angel is a good kid and a star student on track for Yale, when she gets pregnant. This depiction of how one intelligent girl might deal with her situation is moving and unputdownable.
Jinx, by Meg Cabot. This is my favorite Cabot book, and one of the only “I’ve got a secret” books I’ve actually enjoyed. Jinx moves to NYC under mysterious circumstances to live with her cousin and said cousin’s rich-rich-rich family. There’s country mouse in the big city, cousin rivalry, and a big heaping dash of witchcraft. So much fun!
Evolution, Me, and Other Freaks of Nature, by Robin Brande. A debut novel. Like the protagonist of Speak, Brande’s Mena starts high school with a whole group of children who hate her. And not just kids. Her whole church hates her too, which means her best friend, a lot of adults, her pastor, even her parents, are furious! To top it off, her favorite new biology teacher is the new target of her old church’s wrath, for teaching evolution. The top-notch characterization, sweet romance, and the timely topics of church and science make this book a must-read.
Girl at Sea, by Maureen Johnson. For you romance readers, this is a RITA finalist this year. Artistic Clio is forced to live with her irresponsible, treasure hunting father and his research team on a yacht in the Mediterranean. So, half dream, half nightmare. Adventure, romance, family drama, and really great settings ensue, all in Johnson’s trademark snappy prose.
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I’m pretty sure I’ll think of more the second I hit post. And I bet that others will have more recommendations in the comments as well. Enjoy!
The internets are abuzz with conversations about YA:
At Publisher’s Weekly, a panel of YA authors, booksellers, agents, etc., discuss what makes a YA a YA, and why there is such a stigma about it. National Book Award winner Sherman Alexie says:
 “I thought I’d been condescended to because I’m an Indian,” he said. “That was nothing compared to the condescension I get because I’ve written a YA novel.” He said that fellow writers have also accused him of chasing a lucrative market. “Because I’ve written a book about a 16-year-old,” he said, “that means I’m a capitalistic whore.”
At Print Magazine, there’s an article about how to package at market YA throughout the ages.
That means that any clues that the cover isn’t current, whether it’s a highly graphic rendering (so early ’80s!), an outdated star (like Courteney Cox and Lori Loughlin, who modeled for the Sweet Dreams romance covers ), or a wispy romantic typeface (so ’70s dime-store romance!), can hurt the book’s chances with prospective readers. “If someone is an unconventional beauty—or even not white—that’s usually a more contemporary novel, clearly different from the conventional homecoming queen and Ken doll boy who might be on the cover of an older book, which kids will see as out of date,” Pattee says. “But ultimately, it has more to do with what they’re wearing. If the cover looks lame, then it’s all over.”
 I didn’t know that about Courtney Cox and the Sweet Dreams books. (However, I do know that Marley Gibson, who was obsessed with SD as a child and spent all weekend talking about how much her love of those novels are to account for her current foray into YA, will be excited to hear it!)
The fashion element is an interesting one to me. One fashion-savvy writer I know was able to discern very quickly that the cover of her YA novel had a dated look. I didn’t even know what she was talking about. (She managed to get it updated to something more in the moment or timeless.)
But then again, sometimes they make inaccurate choices in cover fashions to make a point. I’ve received responses to my books where the reader was definitely judging the character based on the cover clothing. (The term “prep school girl” comes up a lot.) Amy, who never attended prep school, would never wear the outfit she wears on the cover of the first two books. She’s strictly a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl. Still, the preppy look is also a popular one at the moment, and for some strange reason, it indicates “ivy league school” to people. (The only people I ever saw dress like that at Yale were the ones channeling affectations worthy of Tom Wolfe. There was one guy who wore a straw hat and a raccoon coat, too, but it certainly wasn’t the style!)
 But since I don’t get to stand there every time someone picks up a copy of my book and explain that to them, they need an image that will capture the feeling of the novel. And they do — Amy looks strong and independent on both covers, the bright colors indicate that it’s going to be a light story, and the outfit indicates that it’s set at an elite school. Both of the foreign markets who have published the book to date have used the same image.
I was really pleased, when I saw the cover of the most recent novel, that Amy was in a bathing suit and board short combo she’d actually wear. It’s definitely my favorite cover to date!
 Back to YA: Cory Doctorow, who just released a YA novel, is discussing the phenomenon of adults not daring to venture in the YA section. Apparently, Doctorow has noticed that people wanting to buy his new book Little Brother are walking out of the bookstore empty handed, because it’s not in the adult science fiction section with the rest of his books.
I feel your pain, dude. My books are in the adult section, though they are much beloved by teens, and I am constantly hearing from writers (just writers who know me online and for some reason think my YA books are already out) who can’t find my book in the YA section. To wit: the Secret Society Girl books are adult novels. They have been published by an adult publisher and are shelved in the adult section. They are not YA novels, have never been YA novels, were not written to be YA novels. When the first book made it into the NYPL Books for the Teen Age list, it was under the sub category of “adult novels appropriate for teens.” I think teens would love them (I know a lot of teens that do), and fortunately, you’re more likely to see a teen venturing out of the YA section than an adult venturing in.
And I know why this is. It’s hard enough for an adult to bear the stigma of reading for fun (oh, the horrors!). Imagine the stigma of reading a teen book for fun! We live in a society where the prevailing attitude is that it’s okay to go see a romantic comedy, or to watch Grey’s Anatomy, but to read a romance or chick lit novel is supposedly akin to opening up your skull and pouring acid on your brain. Why entertainment is cool if it’s images on a screen but akin to treason if it’s text on a page is beyond me.
A year ago, I was in my local chain bookstore and witnessed employees ridiculing a grown woman to her face for browsing the YA shelves. Multiple employees. My sense of righteous indignation got the better of me on that occasion, I have to be honest. I’m not saying that a bookstore employee needs to love every book in a store. I am saying that they need to not dress down a customer for attempting to put money in their pockets. I am saying that the correct answer to, “Do you have XYZ YA novel?” is not
a) “What do you want with that?”
b) “Take ABC instead, they are all the same, right?” (please note that she was not looking for a packaged Gossip Girl book, but instead an award winning YA novel)
c) To roll your eyes, turn to the employee next to you and say, “Why they think I’d know anything about kids books is beyond me.” Commence snickering.
And when another book buyer approaches you, wondering why she can’t find Holly Black’s masterful VALIANT, under the author-B section, do not speak to her as if she is somehow mentally disabled, do not point out that B is between A and C, and, most of all, do not explain to her (slowly, using tiny words and short sentences) that your YA section is separated into “fantasy” and “realistic” while pointing at the supposedly “realistic” author A-C section which includes, among other things, Libba Bray’s Rebel Angels and M. T. Anderson’s Feed.
Especially not if said book buyer is me. Turns out the browsing woman was a school librarian.
To make a long story short, Doctorow posits that the most interesting stuff happening in science fiction today is happening on the YA shelves, and if you don’t go there, you’re totally missing out. John Scalzi, who is like me a huge Scott Westerfeld fan, and who also like me has a teen friendly book coming out from an adult publisher, backs Doctorow up on this position.
So, to sum up, what are the big issues facing both readers and writers today:
1) The tyranny of stigma, whether it be the stigma of genre or market.
2) The tyranny of judging books by covers.
3) The tyranny of shelving bias.
4) The tyranny of people who don’t think reading should be fun.
Fight tyranny! Go to a new section! Ignore what it says on the spine or the cover of a book! Read something for pure fun! Read YA. Read adult. Read anything! Read read read! Viva la Revolucion!
 Hey, y’all. Something came up that is keeping me from blogging as planned this week, but to entertain you. go check out this fabulous interview with my critique partner, debut author Marley Gibson! Her first two books (writing as Kate Harmon) in the Sorority 101 series will be released this week!
And, on Friday, Marley will be doing a radio interview on Blogtalk Radio. Stay tuned for more info!
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