Have I mentioned how excited I am about this book?
To celebrate the release of ZvU, I’ll be appearing at the Baltimore Book Festival alongside editors Holly black and Justine Larbalestier, and fellow anthologists Carrie Ryan, Scott Westerfeld (both team zombie — hisssss!) and Kathleen Duey (Team Unicorn!).
And a little bird told me they’d have copies of Ascendant available. That’s PRIOR to the release date, y’all.
Be there or I won’t be responsible for what the zombies OR the unicorns do to you.
Friday, September 24, 2010, 5:30-700 PM
Children’s Bookstore Stage, Baltimore Book Festival
MOUNT VERNON PLACE
600 BLOCK NORTH CHARLES STREET
BALTIMORE, MD 21201
PANEL DISCUSSION: Zombies versus Unicorns Debate with Justine Larbalestier, Scott Westerfeld, Carrie Ryan, Holly Black, Diana Peterfreund & Kathleen Duey
Zombies versus Unicorns Debate
Team Zombie takes on Team Unicorn to prove which fantastic creature is superior. Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier lead their authors in a debate inspired by their new short story collection Zombies versus Unicorns.
You can also buy the whole anthology, and I recommend it heartily for fans of Scott’s series. Not only does the author introduce each essay, but it includes also includes the short story that inspired the Twilight Zone Episode “Number 12 Looks Just Like You” that inspired Scott!
Also… please tell me you’ve read this series. I know it’s been a few months since I actively plugged it on my blog, but it’s SO GOOD. Westerfeld and Uglies started this whole recent dystopian craze in YA. Not to be missed.
Zombies vs. Unicorns Edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier, S&S/McElderry, $16.99 (432p) ISBN 978-1-4169-8953-0
In this offbeat anthology, editors Black and Larbalestier embark upon a literary throw-down to determine which is superior: zombies or unicorns. To that end, each assembled a six-person team of writers and set them loose. Each story is prefaced by editorial banter as each editor (hilariously) makes her case. Highlights include Diana Peterfreund’s Rampant tie-in, “The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn”; Libba Bray’s postapocalyptic tale of teens trying to maintain a semblance of civilization in “Prom Night”; and Maureen Johnson’s pointed take on celebrity fads in “The Children of the Revolution.” Meg Cabot’s “Princess Prettypants” skewers the image of unicorns as sparkling, rainbow-farting “symbols of pure happiness, hope, and awesomesauce,” while Carrie Ryan’s “Bougainvillea” acts as a prologue to The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Scott Westerfeld’s “Inoculata” examines what happens when the zombie hordes finally win, while the zombie in Alaya Dawn Johnson’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” isn’t nearly as far gone. Without a clunker in the bunch, this anthology more than lives up to the potential its concept suggests. Zombies or unicorns? There’s no clear winner, unless it’s readers. Ages 14–up. (Sept.)
Now, after careful consideration, I’m kind of torn on the issue. I enjoyed an equal number of unicorn and zombie stories, but it was a unicorn tale—Diana Peterfreund’s “The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn”—that I loved best. Maybe it’s because I was never allowed to have a dog and always fantasized about having a secret pet that I could hide in my closet or sock drawer.
Some of my favorite stories in the book were “Princess Prettypants” by Meg Cabot, “The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn” by Diana Peterfreund, “Prom Night” by Libba Bray…oh god, they were all good! This one book encompassed stories by so many of my favorite authors. There was tongue in cheek humor, there was chill-inducing realism, there was hope, and there was romance. This is a book that I would highly recommend to all fantasy readers. Even if you only read one or two of the stories, you would still be guaranteed a great time!
My personal favorites were written by Meg Cabot (two words: Princess Prettypants), Carrie Ryan, Diana Peterfreund, and Garth Nix. I really enjoyed the banter between Black and Larbalestier as they introduced the book, and each story. They left me laughing, and attempting to get other people to read certain passages. I also loved that Ryan and Peterfreund wrote stories that actually tied into their other stories. Of course, I love both The Killer Unicorn series, and The Forest of Hands and Teeth . So, it was nice to read different perspectives from those two universes.
Reading this book is like gaining exclusive access to a super-cool club of YA authors and personalities: Holly Black, Meg Cabot, Garth Nix, Naomi Novik, Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson, Carrie Ryan, Scott Westerfeld, Alaya Dawn, Justine Larbalestier, Kathleen Duey, Margo Lanagan and Diana Peterfreund. This is a list anyone who is ANYONE in YA wants to be included on. They are the beyond-cool kids at the party wearing t-shirts with the name of a band you’ve never heard of splashed all over the front laughing at something so urbane and witty you can’t possibly hope to understand, but you just want to be included in the joke anyway.
Okay, this is hilarious. I have NEVER been the cool girl at the club. Fun!
This is one of the better anthologies I’ve read in a while, although I would warn that much of it is grim and gory and there are only a couple of light stories. I tried to decide which were my favorites and really had a hard time. I finally settled on Meg Cabot’s for my favorite light story, Margo Lanagan’s for my favorite dark (and disturbing), and Diana Peterfreund’s for something in between. Uh oh, all unicorn tales… let the hate mail from Team Zombie begin.
I have never dealt with the question of “riding” unicorns in my novels, though it’s something the art department was curious about at first. I think it’s because a lot of the people who love unicorns are the kind of people who were also really into horses as a child. (I certainly see folks online who say they can’t imagine reading my book because it’s about killing unicorns and unicorns are fluffy and sparkly and besides they loved horses as a child. Um, huh? Actually, my books are about killer unicorns who are nothing whatsoever like horses. Only one of the unicorns in my book has ever been ridden and well, he’s still a little bitter about it, three thousand years later.)
And as for the “eating” unicorns bit, well, I do bring it up a few times in “Errant” and Ascendant. Suffice to say: not the best idea.
In other news, my second anthology comes out in a little over a month, and the bloggers have jumped on the ZvU bandwagon. It’s been interesting to watch these reviews come in, as almost every one is colored by the bloggers’ preconceived place on the zombies vs. unicorns spectrum. They come out of the gate saying “I’m so Team Unicorn” or “I’m all Unicorned out” and go from there. It makes me wonder how many readers of the antho will pick and choose among their monsters of choice.
Despite the fact that I am somehow made a general in this battle, I actually like zombies. so I read all the stories in the anthology. (Well, almost all of them — my neighbor stole my ARC and took it to California before I could read Cassie, Kathleen, or Libba’s stories.)
Here are some recent online reactions to this book:
“‘The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn’ by Diana Peterfreund (5/5 stars)
Loved this story. Those of your who haven’t read her book Rampant should because it is awesome. This story takes place in the same world and involves a young woman learning how to take care of a killer baby unicorn. Very well done, lots of fun, and a great story.” — Karissa’s Reading Review
“I am happy to report that Diana Peterfreund once again delivers. “The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn” might sound like a playful, lighthearted title, this is a surprisingly moving story about a girl struggling with her terrifying new-found abilities, her family expectations, her relationships, and, of course, a baby killer unicorn. One of the longer stories in the bunch, “Baby Killer Unicorn” actually feels like more of a novella than a short story. I love that protagonist Wen is markedly different from the other female leads in this collection, and in fact from Ms. Peterfreund to date – she’s not as rough as Astrid (of Rampant) or as assured as Amy (of the Secret Society Girl books). Wen is quieter, religious (which stands out in a sea of usually agnostic/atheistic or religion-free genre stories), and confused – but when she does stand up for herself, it’s an awesome, empowering feeling.” — Thea of The Booksmugglers
(Please note: The Booksmugglers are giving away two copies of this book this week, so click through and enter!)
“This is a marvelous story! My heart raced when I read it! Wen experiences a deep struggle with her choice to save little “Flower”. She struggles with what her faith and her parents would expect her to do vs what her heart is asking of her. Beautifully written. It has made me RUSH to read Diana’s book Rampant.” — Fiction State of Mind
“”Love Will Tear Us Apart” by Alaya Dawn Johnson seems to be a Team Zombie favorite, while Diana Peterfreund’s “The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn” – a spin-off of her Rampant series – is raking in the praise from Team Unicorn. When I said that Holly and Justine had used the creme de la creme for this anthology, I wasn’t kidding.” — Maria Meeps
Today, I’m guest blogging over at the Booksmugglers with pal and fellow anthologist Carrie Ryan as part of their YA Appreciation Week. We’re attempting ot get the zombies and the unicorns to sit down at a table and talk out their differences…
YA author Diana Peterfreund will be our featured guest in the TKA chat room this month to discuss her upcoming release, ASCENDANT (HarperTeen, September 2010), on Thursday August 19th @ 9pm ET.
Diana will be talking about writing for the YA audience, her upcoming projects, including a foray into the popular post-apocalyptic novel, and any other questions you can possibly think of! Of course, will will also be giving away plenty of shiny new books to add to your library.
Why do I write so many strong female characters? When I was a kid, 7-8 books out of all books written for kids through teens had boy heroes. Those that had girl heroes showed them at “feminine” pursuits, or if they were a little feisty, a male hero had to bail them out by book’s end. Only the historical novels had strong girls; most of them “settled down” by the end. I was reading “boy books”: TREASURE ISLAND, TOM SAWYER, THE THREE MUSKETEERS, Robin Hood, King Arthur, and Edgar Rice Burroughs. When I encountered fantasy, I had the same problem: virtually no girl heroes. The ones I found, adult women all, settled down, hated other women, or died. I didn’t understand why there were no girls (or those that existed were severely compromised) in the adventure books, so I began to write what I wanted to read: adventure books with girl heroes. As a published YA writer I came along at a time when that was what booksellers, parents, and librarians were looking for, and along with some other writers, I found my place in publishing.
Pierce’s work is what laid the groundwork for books like mine. If her Alanna books weren’t still sitting on the shelf in every bookstore almost three decades later, no publisher would take a chance on Astrid, or Katsa, or other female heroes of teen fantasy. I write the books I do because I could never find enough of them growing up. I read and re-read Greek myths and fantasies like The Horse and His Boy because Aravis Tarkheena was a warrior woman, and they were few and far between. (It was much later in life, sadly, when I discovered Tamora Pierce and other writers like her.) We have been enjoying (for the last four or five years) a wonderful influx of these kind of books. The current discussion of whether or not boy readers are getting the shaft is… not entirely accurate. I didn’t see “but what about the girls?” whines when it was all Harry Potter all the time. Girl readers were expected to love Harry, or make do with Hermione (who is awesome, it’s true), but people seem to accept that girls will read “boy books” and not vice versa. (I think sometimes you can sneak ‘em in, especially if the writer is a boy, like Scott Westerfeld’s Tally Youngblood in the UGLIES series). I have very few boy readers. My dad, however, adores my books, but he’s in large part responsible for my love of warrior women, so there’s that.
The whole essay is worth a careful read, because Pierce also discusses the way you can get a boy interested in reading a so-called “girl book” (hint: talk about the decapitations, not the girl finding love), and since she’s been in the biz for a while, she knows this conversation pops up every few years. For myself, I think it’s obvious from all my published books, action fantasy and chick lit, that I’m interested in exploring the way young women interact with society, so women’s issues do find a way to worm themselves into my books. I am doing it purposefully, but it is purposefully for ME — it’s what I find myself drawn to writing. (I am finding that is less explicitly the case in the book I’m writing, though that’s a bit of a one-off.)
I hear, over and over again, authors and editors and agents urging writers to “Write what they love.” But I’d argue this is not necessarily the best advice for everyone. While some of you may love to read the genres you’re equally talented at writing in, some of you may find your writing strengths lie elsewhere.
And if so, my advice is to not fight it.
For me, I’m best at comedy. I can easily whip up quirky characters and odd situations and pop culture references galore. And when I’m writing comedy my hands fly on the keyboard and sometimes, I admittedly even make myself laugh out loud, wondering where on Earth my brain conjured up that particular joke.
But for many years, I fought against my natural light style. I tried to write bigger, deeper, more epic novels with dark themes and alternative dimensions. I wanted to be that author with the kick-ass cover of a woman in leather, wielding a sword in a dark, twisted world. Because that’s the kind of book I’d pick up in the bookstore, over the one with a silly cartoon cover and a quirky title. But I’m just not that author. I’m the cartoon cover kind.
A couple of things: you could have bowled me over with a feather when I first read this essay, since I would never have categorized Marianne that way at all. She’s one of the most versatile writers I know. Everything she does, indeed, has that signature snark and pop-culture touches, but she can do light contemporary romance (such as her excellent GAMER GIRL) as well as post-apocalyptica (my other favorite book of hers, RAZOR GIRL). That they both have the word “girl” in the title is pure coincidence, because they are very different books.
Also, who doesn’t love zombies with a touch of fun? I do! (Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland, and I’m salivating for the upcoming Jesse Petersen series.)
So aside from thinking that Marianne is wrong in her estimation of her own talents, I think she has a very good point, here:
Now that’s not to say you can’t include certain beloved themes in your book. You just have to give the story your own voice and twist. For example, I knew I wouldn’t be great at writing a straight medieval. So instead I decided to bring a teen King Arthur to the 21st century in my upcoming novel “The Camelot Code.” He Googles himself and learns his true destiny and decides to join the football team rather than go home and pull the sword from the stone. So, in this way, I was able to incorporate something I love–medieval fantasy novels–with something I’m better at writing–light, humorous young adult fiction. And in doing so I was able to create my own sort of genre mash-up. (After all, where else are you going to find Morgan La Fay accidentally agreeing to a Brazilian wax…)
Sometimes we have to figure out how to write what we love, or, as my other pal Julie Leto might put it, how to incorporate the book our voice into the books of our heart. RAZOR GIRL, for instance, works for me because it utilizes Marianne’s familiarity with genre conventions (the titular Razor Girl is actually a genetically-enhanced warrior created by her father, who was obsessed with William Gibson and cyperpunk stories — Gibson wrote about the “original” razorgirl Molly MIllions), and light teen voice allowed her to tell a post-apocalyptic story using her strengths as a writer. She poignantly juxtaposes scenes of a zombie-infested wasteland with scenes from the before time, when the main characters Molly and Chase were very different people.
I am often asked in interviews why I am still so active in RWA, given that I don’t write romance novels. For years, I tried to write romance novels (I have four of them sitting under my bed), and though my rejection letters would praise my voice/prose/characters, the romance wasn’t quite clicking for them. But then I wrote Secret Society Girl, which, while not a romance novel, ended up being a hit with its readers because of the romance within its pages. Lesson learned: it’s not that I can’t tell a love story, it’s that I’m better when it’s a subplot, and when the book exists out of the genre conventions of the romance novel.
But, like Marianne, I still love romance novels, especially historical romances! But I regularly write with a published historical romance novelist, and the work I see her doing to make sure every word in her book is historically accurate — yikes! Makes me glad I write books set in the 21st century.
I recently came out with my first historical short story, and I had to do a ton of research — about clothing, about inheritance law, about marriage law — to be able to work my way around what was actually a pretty straightforward plot. I specifically chose to set the story in a country where they don’t speak English so that any non-standard word usage could be chalked up to “translation” rather than “but the OED says they weren’t using that word then!” (Quoth my historical writing friend: “Cheater.”)
My love of historicals, romance, and post-apocalyptica combine in my current work in progress, the much-teased post-apocalyptic retelling of Persuasion. But it took years before I figured out exactly how to tell such an unusual story in a voice that worked for me and for what I do. Sometimes it takes getting creative, as Marianne did with her upcoming Camelot Code, another book that was a bit in the making.
I truly believe you can write what you love if you make it your own — and that, as Tamora Pierce says, you should write what you love, because it always is your own.
“Why did I not read this last year? The only good thing about reading it now is that I then immediately read the sequel, Ascendant (September 2010).”
Also:
“To reference Buffy one more time – Rampant is what Buffy Season Seven should have been. Different girls of widely different backgrounds, interests, living together, training together, trying to figure out their roles when there are very little rules. I loved it! Forget vampires, the CW should sign this up as the next teen series.
“What else? Peterfreund has created an entire mythology and manages to convey it all the reader without any info-dumps. It’s all woven into the story, helped by the fact that Astrid and her friends are also all discovering this anew. There are lots of real world concerns, like funding the whole boarding-school-for-unicorn-hunters, as well as people trying to figure out, hm, if unicorns are real, what else is real? Turns out there is also a mysterious “Remedy,” somehow made from unicorns, that can cure anything. The story in Rampant is so new, so fresh, so fun, so scary, I just want to keep sharing with you all the awesomeness “and there are five types of unicorns! And the einhorn! And…and…and.”
“And the battles! If part of you is thinking of My Pretty Unicorns and giggling at the thought of those pretty princess rainbow unicorns doing any damage, think again. There is blood and gore and death, and exhaustion and scars and recovery.”
And:
“So in one book: intricate mythology without any distracting dumps of information; scary adventure; family, friendship, love; and killer unicorns. What’s not to love?”
So that floated me through my first day at RWA. Soon after, I discovered this review of RAMPANT at Nymfaux’s blog:
“But if you’re looking for a bad unicorn story, Rampant is definitely your book. Um, wait, that didn’t come out right. What I meant to say was if you’re looking for a kick-ass story about unicorns gone bad…You’ve come to the right place.”
And
“This was definitely one my favorite new reads(I read it in one sitting)(sleep is moderately overrated), and I am eagerly awaiting its sequel, Ascendant. Why are you so far away September? Why???? Diana Peterfreund is definitely on my watch list!!! My watch, stalk-obsessively, find out any information possible at all costs, list.”
W00T!
Melissa Silva has had a chance to read Ascendant. Here’s her verdict:
“This book was extremely enjoyable. The continuation of Astrid’s story draws you in and takes you on the journey for discovery with her. I do wish that the book had more of Bucephalus because I enjoyed him in the first book, but the action, adventure and twists in this book made me forget all about wanting the elephant-sized unicorn. I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys adventure, Diana Peterfreund did a fantastic job with this second book, and it left me wanting more.”
And so did Jessica Miller, young adult librarian and blogger at I Read to Relax:
“Astrid is achingly real in this book. She’s torn between wanting to be safe and feeling as if she must do her duty as a hunter. She never gives up trying to do the right thing, ever. Astrid is what I consider a true heroine and has officially sealed her position as one of my top favorite characters of all time. An astounding continuation in the series.”
Ain’t that sweet? And last, but certainly, certainly, certainly not least…. guys, I wrote something that the good folks at Kirkus actually liked. Behold, their August 1st review of Zombies vs. Unicorns (bolding mine):
“Forget vampires vs. werewolves: the hottest feud is between fans of the fiercely magical horses and the shambling, brain-eating undead. Adopting tones from humorous to haunting, tender to terrifying, and settings from the fairy-tale past to modern suburbia to dystopian day-after-tomorrow, twelve YA authors (both up and coming and superstar) explore the mythic potential of each otherworldly creature. Team Zombie offers up both sweetly creepy romances between the living and not-quite-dead and chilling examinations of adolescence after the Zombie Apocalypse. Standouts for Team Unicorn include an inspirational tale of the reluctant heroine born to slay monsters and the baby maneater she loves and a poignant, piercing analysis of the corrosive price demanded by the power to heal. A healthy does of graphic gore and plenty of love and lust (including same-sex and different-species pairings) push this collection into the older teen range. the editors chime in with wonderfully snarky cheerleading and a bit of insightful commentary along the way. Who is the victor in this epic smackdown? Readers, of course! (Fantasy/horror/short stories, 14 & up)“
Still a little giddy about that one. As I’ve mentioned before, this was my first short story written for professional publication. And I wrote it with a specific audience in mind — a cousin of mine that was a tad too young for Rampant when it came out last year, and is, like Wen (the heroine of “The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn”) a young woman of strong faith. It was very cool to see it called “inspirational” in the pages of Kirkus!
Home from RWA 2010. What a fun, invigorating National Conference! I haven’t been to Nationals since 2006 (otherwise known as “my pink ribbon year”) so this was a very different experience. My career has changed so much since those days — I now write for several publishers in several genres, I have a bunch of books under my belt, I know so many other writers.
I was discussing this with my fantabulous roommate Erica Ridley, who was signing at her first ever RWA Literacy signing:
Like me, Erica had no books at her first ever literacy signing. I had a bunch of copies of RAMPANT to sign at this signing, and was so pleased by all the fans that dropped by!
I did manage to attend a few workshops at RWA, and they were great! My favorites were “Mending a Broken Scene” with the brilliant and awe-inspiring Roxanne St. Claire (a workshop you should take if you ever get a chance — and one of hte few workshops taht truly works for writers at any level of their careers), “Do As I Say, Not as I Did” with Mindy Klasky and Maria V. Snyder, and the chat with Meg Cabot. Speaking of Meg Cabot, I finally got a chance to meet her, and she signed my ARC of Zombies vs. Unicorns.
I also made a bunch of new friends, like Molly O’Keefe (who won a RITA this year)!
This is Maureen McGowan, Molly O’Keefe, and me. (I am currently trying to decide if I should change my name to Diana O’Peter or Diana McFreund to better match the others.)
Speaking of the RITA, pals of mine made out like bandits this year. First and foremost, a HUGE HUGE congratulations to the marvelous Simone Elkeles, for rocking out the YA Romance category with Perfect Chemistry:
Man, I was giddy when she won. I felt like *I* had won a RITA (you can see my sticky fingers on hers in the photo). I know everyone’s talking about Julia Quinn’s hat trick this week, but I feel like Simone’s win is one of the best stories from RWA — her book is a true romance for teens, and its RITA nod is a recognition by the romance genre establishment.
Here she is enjoying her golden lady:
Simone is represented by Kristin Nelson, whose whole agency made out like a bandit last night:
And last, but certainly not least, there’s Kresley Cole’s paranormal win for her #1 New York Times bestselling book, Kiss of a Demon King. Here I am trying to keep up with the beautiful blondes Kresley and Roxanne:
I guess I should be spending more time in the sun this summer. And wear more black.
And, I hung out with so many other wonderful writers! I had lunch with Team Castle-mates Ally Carter and Jennifer Barnes, as well as the aforementioned Meg and Erica:
I met historical author Victoria Janssen, journalist and young adult writer Gwenda Bond and her husband, sci-fi writer Christopher Rowe:
Gwenda was there to receive her Veritas Award. Christopher was there to support her and to get sick of people saying “a sci-fi writer? What are you doing here?” (Not true, actually, I’m sure he only got that like thirty-five times or so.) That night at the Avon party, which took place in the gorgeous wood-paneled party room of the Living Seas exhibit at EPCOT, Gwenda, Christopher, and I decided that my next project was going to be about the forbidden love between a girl and a were-ray. Behold my inspiration (as pathetically dark and blurry as it is):
We had to get this pic quickly, you see, because of that whole forbidden thing. You guys, he’s a CAPTIVE were-ray. A captive of the Disney Corp. It’s gonna be like Twilight meets Finding Nemo, with a dash of Splash! and a soupçon of Lovecraft.
So last night I went to the Printz Award ceremony at ALA — I’ve never been, and it was awesome. All the speeches were so wonderful. I especially enjoyed the one by John Barnes, a long-time science fiction author whose Printz Honor was the result of writing a true book of his heart, a semi-autobiographical novel about a teenage boy in the 1970s: TALES OF THE MADMAN UNDERGROUND.
(Ah, my book list. It grows ever longer.)
And of course, Libba’s talk was gorgeous. Have you all read GOING BOVINE? It’s not the easiest read in the world, especially if you have a weakness for hamburgers, like me. I had to put it down a few times because I’m freaking terrified of prions, y’all. Pretty much any disease of the brain give me the heebie jeebies. It’s that whole “I think, therefore I am,” stuff — I would like to be able to trust my own brain. It’s why zombies are so terrifying. And [spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler]. But GOING BOVINE is such a powerful, masterful work that I kind of had to get past that, because it is the sort of book that must be read.
I loved hearing Rick Yancey speak, because hearing him talk about crafting his gory Monstrumologist and freak himself out in the middle of the night and deal with his spouse’s take on him writing such a gory book — well, it reminded me of my own process with Rampant. I thought Monstrumologist was definitely gorier than Rampant, but I was pleased that YA had too such bloody books on the shelves at the same time last fall. Occasionally, I see us linked on “if you like this” type of features. I guess we’d fall under the “if you like creepy, coming of age fantasies with maggots, decapitations, and severed eyeballs” heading?
I haven’t read Punkzilla or Charles & Emma, but now I really want to! (See above, re: book list).
I got to sit with Ally Carter and right behind David Levithan and John Green. I caught sight, a few rows back, of Annette Curtis Klause — squee!
Afterward, at the reception, I ran into even more YA pals: Jennifer Lyn Barnes, Coe Booth, and Holly Black.
Some pictures from the evening:
Team Castle reunion! (Me, Jen, Ally, and Holly)
I bask in the glow of talent emanating from David Levithan and Coe Booth. (Do you think it’ll rub off?)
The stunning Libba Bray and her glorious Printz.
I also got to chat at length with a bunch of fabulous librarians, as well as a bunch of folks from New York.
And and AND I got my bookmarks. They are fantastic. But I don’t have a picture of them. I seem to be having some sort of problem with my photo uploader. I’ll remedy that and be back later.
Zombies vs. Unicorns
should because it is awesome. This story takes place in the same world and involves a young woman learning how to take care of a killer baby unicorn. Very well done, lots of fun, and a great story.” — 
So last night I went to the Printz Award ceremony at ALA — I’ve never been, and it was awesome. All the speeches were so wonderful. I especially enjoyed the one by John Barnes, a long-time science fiction author whose Printz Honor was the result of writing a true book of his heart, a semi-autobiographical novel about a teenage boy in the 1970s: 
