YA Highway

Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?

His son, that's who.

Ever since his father's arrest for the murder of Little Red Riding Hood, teen wolf Henry Whelp has kept a low profile in a Home for Wayward Wolves . . . until a murder at the Home leads Henry to believe his father may have been framed.

Now, with the help of his kleptomaniac roommate, Jack, and a daring she-wolf named Fiona, Henry will have to venture deep into the heart of Dust City: a rundown, gritty metropolis where fairydust is craved by everyone and controlled by a dangerous mob of Water Nixies and their crime boss leader, Skinner.

Can Henry solve the mystery of his family's sinister past? Or, like his father before him, is he destined for life as a big bad wolf?


If that synopsis doesn't make you want to buy this book RIGHT NOW, there is probably something wrong with you. Seriously? Who wouldn't want to read a book that is essentially the mutant offspring of every kids' fairytale known to man? Weston twists classic stories like Snow White, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, and plenty of others - but he does it so subtly that you may have to re-read a passage before you realize exactly which Disney princess just made an appearance in Dust City.

This was probably my favorite part of Weston's new novel - the richly developed storyworld that managed to incorporate so many fairytales and classic fantasy elements. The world-building was nearly flawless and completely engaging.

But this is not your kid sister's Cinderella retelling. This book has the fairytale version of heroin addicts, drug runners, genocide, caste systems, and genetic experimentation. It is hardcore; it is badass; and it is dark, dark dark. Kudos to Weston for finally writing a story worthy of the Brother's Grimm fables he satirizes.

I only had two real nitpicks with DUST CITY. One was probably unavoidable; the characters, in my opinion, were somewhat unrelateable - but since they weren't human, there's probably a very good reason for this. Henry and Fiona and pretty much all of the characters in this book are animals - talking, walking animals just like in Little Red Riding Hood. Which is completely awesome, but also kind of weird; because a makeout scene between two wolves, complete with tail-wagging and nuzzling, is never going to be particularly steamy for humans.

The second nitpick deals with the ending. I felt like Weston tried to pack a whole lot of revelatory information into a few very short chapters, and it sort of hurt my brain. There definitely weren't any loose threads, but once every plot thread was tied up, I was looking at a very large, very complex tapestry that was somewhat difficult to focus on.

That metaphor made sense when it was still inside my head.

Overall, DUST CITY gets 4 out of 5 stars and a hearty recommendation from this hardcore Brother's Grimm geek.


DUST CITY will be released by Razorbill/Penguin on September 30, 2010.

Book review: DUST CITY by Robert Paul Weston

Ah, The Princess Bride. It has everything. Daring swordfights! Dastardly villains! True love! MIRACLES!

Could there be a better guide for the dreaded query process? I think not! After all, successfully navigating the realm of query letters can make the Fire Swamp look like a nice spot for a summer home.

Ready to embark on a query adventure? Here are six timeless Princess Bride moments you can use to guide you on the road to happily ever after.


Grandson: Has it got any sports in it?
Grandpa: Are you kidding? Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles...
Grandson: Doesn't sound too bad. I'll try to stay awake.

Like the grandson, an agent will try to stay awake but ONLY if your query gives them a reason to do so. Grandpa’s only mistake? He included a laundry list of features and showed rather than told. Still, “A” for effort.


Vizzini: HE DIDN'T FALL? INCONCEIVABLE.
Inigo Montoya: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Do your homework. Know what genre you’re writing in and what the typical word counts are. Don’t call your literary masterpiece a YA just because there are three chapters where the MC flashes back to when he was seventeen and enamoured with Holden Caulfield.



Inigo Montoya: I just work for Vizzini to pay the bills. There's not a lot of money in revenge.

Unless you are very, very lucky, your query letter will not be your golden ticket out of your day job. Sorry.


Buttercup: You mock my pain!
Man in Black: Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.

The publishing process is long and gruelling. Anyone promising to make things easy is someone you should probably back away from. Slowly. Right now.


Inigo Montoya: Let me 'splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

Keep your query short and spectacular. You don’t have to include every detail. Just like Inigo, include only what’s relevant.


Miracle Max: You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles.

You spent how long writing that book? Slow down and invest some time in your query letter. And don’t be afraid to have other people critique it. They may spot things you miss.

---
Quotes from The Princess Bride, 1987, released by 20th Century Fox, written by William Goldman (based on his novel of the same name)


~ Kathleen Peacock

Guest Post: Kathleen Peacock Takes You On A Query Adventure

When revising a manuscript that reaches forty, sixty, or even a hundred thousand words, a single sentence looks like nothing more than a speck of dust in a pile of characters and plot. But that one small sentence can tell a reader, and an agent, quite a lot about your writing. Chances are if we make a mistake in one sentence, we make it several times throughout.


Over the next few Saturdays, I'll share what I've learned--and am still learning--from various writing books and blogs that have made a tremendous difference in my manuscripts by strengthening and simplifying my sentences. Not only how to spot weaknesses, but how to fix them as well. What's up this week? We'll start with one of the easiest mistakes to spot:

 If the moose is running, we assume it's going to be quick. But if the verb 'ran' isn't giving the sentence the right amount of oomph, simply look for a stronger verb.

*The moose raced across the field.
*The moose galloped (do moose gallop?)across the field.

By removing the adverb, the sentence already reads tighter, and by replacing the verb with a stronger one it gives the sense of immediacy we were looking for.

Another option is to use a metaphor or simile.

The moose ran across the field like a . . .(insert clever metaphor).

But again, carefully and selectively. Too many metaphors will drag a scene down.


Adjectives


Example:

She stepped out into the dark, cold, rainy night. 


As writers, it's our job to set the mood for scenes. But this many adjectives all at once actually makes the sentence have less impact and is telling too much, rather than showing.

First off, eliminate unnecessary adjectives. It's night, so do we really need to tell the reader it's dark? Unless your story is set during the solstice in Alaska, we're going to assume night=dark.

Now we have cold, rainy night. While technically there's nothing wrong with this sentence, we could still find better ways to show the reader the setting. Ask yourself which adjective is the most important. Is the character going for a routine trip to the grocery store? Or is she going to meet the man who's been blackmailing her for weeks? Select the adjective that will best set the atmosphere you're aiming for. You can always convey the cold by showing and not telling.

She stepped out into the rainy night. A frigid breeze tore at her jacket . . .


Spotting and cleaning up an abundance of adverbs and adjectives is an easy and quick fix. It will make for a tighter story and cleaner writing.

Sentence Strengthening Saturday

• Alice Pope has a roundup of big release parties.
• Follow agent Suzie Townsend through her debut day-- and check her and assistant Mer Barnes out in NY Magazine's "Obsessed Mockingjay Fans" feature!
• Forever Young Adult is not messing around with their "Mockingjay Talegate"-- and if you missed the fun, you can always play along with their Hunger Games drinking game!

source

"...even if the stars align and you’re able to help each other beautifully—and indeed it has happened among me and my writing friends—you still have to go through that gate one at a time. Some people have to hang back and watch their friends precede them into the land of the published and that hurts."

Field Trip Friday: August 27

From the ARC's back cover:

Every night Ellie is haunted by terrifying dreams of monstrous creatures hunting her, killing her. But when Ellie meets Will, she feels on the verge of remembering something just beyond her grasp. His attention is intense and romantic, and Ellie feels like her soul has known him for centuries. On her seventeenth birthday, on a dark street at midnight, Will awakens Ellie's power, and she knows that she can fight the creatures that stalk her in the grim darkness.

Ellie's role is to hunt and kill the reapers that prey on human souls. But in order to survive the dangerous and ancient battle of the angels and the Fallen, she must also hunt for the secrets of her past lives, and for truths that may be too frightening to remember. 

I've read this book twice now, and enjoyed it just as much--or maybe even more--the second time. Going into it at first, I have to admit I was nervous. It's no secret that this is a very full genre right now, and I so badly wanted to enjoy this one. Fortunately, I did. Courtney took angels and demons and gave them her own fresh twist, and the world building was fantastic and believable.

Ellie, the MC, is strong-willed and strong in general. She has a lot going on, between finding out she's actually ancient, and has died and been reincarnated bunches of times, and being the normal teen she thought she was before she found this out. She has her moments of angst, which come at times when you would imagine a normal person would feel angst. But she always pushes past it and gets on with things.

Her friends and parents felt very real. Each of her friends had their own personality, even the ones who weren't mentioned as frequently were memorable enough that I wasn't ever confused about who was who. Her parents punished her when she did things wrong, and actually noticed when she did things wrong. Her dad was an epic douche (seriously, wanted to stab him through the throat with a rusty spike) but unfortunately, some parents just are that way. There are some other supporting characters who are pretty colorful, too. My favorite is one of Will's friends, Nathaniel, who makes jokes so lame that I actually laughed at them.

Will is an ideal love interest, in my opinion. I was worried when he first showed up, because he is mildly stalking her, but it winds up not being in the creepy way that some of us imagine. All the big scary things come out at night, so he leaves Ellie to herself during the day, and stays on her roof at night--out of the way unless a problem arises. He's pretty badass (I mean, he's survived 600 years fighting some pretty nasty beings, and he has a giant sword. AND tattoos) but he's also a nice person. And the ick factor of a 600 year old potentially having a relationship with a teenager is nonexistent, because Ellie's not really a teenager.

It's a big book. The ARC is 453 pages. But it doesn't read like it's 453 pages; I got through it in a couple of days, despite having tons of other things to do. The fight scenes are well-described without being boring. Fight scenes aren't my thing personally, but I read them without skimming, so that says something.

There is a lot more I could say about this book. I could go on for pages, but I'll leave it here. It's not out until February, but if you are into fantasy of any sort, keep this one in mind. You'll be missing out big time if you don't!

Review: Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

Welcome to our 42nd Road Trip Wednesday!

Road Trip Wednesday is a "Blog Carnival," where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link in the comments - or, if you prefer, you can include your answer in the comments.


Amanda: "If put into a life or death situation I would lose all ability to be clever or quick-thinking, and probably control over my bladder."

Kate:  "...it might strike fear into the hearts of my enemies, but probably not in the way I'm hoping."

Road Trip Wednesday #42: How Would You Impress the Hunger Game Judges?

Today we are happy to feature a guest post from the authors of THE FAMILIARS, a middle grade novel arriving in bookstores September 7th. THE FAMILIARS is a rollicking story set in a richly detailed world, full of danger and courage, excellent characterization, and moments that made me laugh out loud. I liked each of the three familiars for their unique personalities, struggles and triumphs and look forward to the next installment in the series. Be sure to check out the book trailer at the end of the post, as well as the hilarious author video that follows.
One of the questions we most frequently get asked since becoming authors (after 10 years of screenwriting) is, “What’s the difference between writing books and writing for film?” Our answer: the chandelier. As screenwriters you learn that economy is key. It’s telling a story with a minimum amount of words. Writing a blueprint that will become richer once it’s brought to screen. When writing about an interior location, if you ever find yourself describing the chandelier, you’re in trouble. Because unless that chandelier is crashing down to the floor, you’re writing too much. That’s a production designer’s job – deciding if it should be metal or crystal, electrical or candlelit. But in a book, it’s all chandelier. That’s your job. Being the costume designer, production designer, hair, make-up, the actors, and the director. No description is too elaborate.

Another major difference between being an author and a screenwriter is that as a screenwriter you are far more disposable. A studio can hire you on for a project and then move on to other writers when you’re done, even if you did a great job. We’ve been on both sides of that equation, rewriting others and being rewritten ourselves. The film business views writers as cogs in a much bigger machine, which they are. In books, the author is as much the product as the books themselves. You may read every book by a favorite author just because their name is on the title. But an author is treated with – dare we say it – respect! Now what’s interesting is that in adapting our book to the screen, the film studio (Sony Animation) has been treating us more like authors than screenwriters. They have been hugely respectful of us, like no other film project we’ve worked on previously.

The truth is, we wouldn’t give up either hat – screenwriter or author. It’s like an athlete that plays two sports. You might use different muscles, but each makes you sharper. What sounds better: screenwriter/author, or author/screenwriter? You tell us.

Learn more about “The Familiars” at www.thefamiliars.com.

Guest Post: Adam and Andrew and THE FAMILIARS

Jack and Jill's sibling rivalry started early.

The following story is one that has been passed down in my family for generations. It's a pretty awesome tale. Listen carefully, and behold the wonder!

At the dawn of time, nice sister Jill walked up a hill. Then, mean brother Jack pushed her down and laughed. The end.

... Okay, forget the generations of wonder thing. This story sucks. I mean, if you look at it part-by-part, it's not that bad - among other features, it's got a cool setting (the dawn of time), a difficult journey (Jill trekking a hill), and familial betrayal (Jack knows a good villain always laughs).

But it's lacking oomph. In a world of candy, this story is bran cereal. It doesn't even provide you with an extra serving of fiber - and you NEED your fiber. You know what it's really missing?

Character motivation. Yeah, baby!

Stick with me here. Why is Jill going up that hill? More pressingly, why does Jack feel the need to push his sister down?

Some may say the answers are implied. We all know nice girls like Jill - always going up that hill to fetch a bucket of water. And we all know mean brothers like Jack. They're twisted, they most likely torture animals, and they find joy in harassing their innocent sisters.

The thing is, although that implication could fit the story, it's most likely a trick. Worst of all, it's lazy writing. (Did you hear that, whoever wrote it? Muah hah! Oh, wait.)

Let's consider the possibilities.

POSSIBILITY A. Jill really is just a nice girl, looking to fetch some water for her mom, who's super busy. And Jack really is just an a-hole - all the love he's received over his teenage lifetime has gone to his head, and the sight of his sister annoys him. SMACKDOWN. I mean, pushdown. Sorry, Jill.
EPICITY LEVEL: Bo-ring. Unless Jack knows kung fu. That would make it more fun. (Sorry, Jill!)

There you have it - the basic-level motivation for each character. But pretty much any buster could point out that things are almost never that simple. Are you a buster? I think you are.

POSSIBILITY B. Jill's still fetching water to help her mom. But Jack's tired of his nice sister always having the glory. All his life, he's been pushed aside in favor of Jilly McNicerkins - Mom didn't even ask him if he wanted to fetch the water. Sure, he knows he'd probably have ended up screwing around in the well, but people could at least give him some expectations to live up to! In his emotional frustration, Jack decides to get back at Jill by pushing her down. ANGST.
EPICITY LEVEL: Better! We've got the reasoning, the core of Jack's character. Jack even admits to screwing around, but he still yearns for someone to expect more of him. Oh, man. Poor Jack. I bet Jack is hot. Doesn't Jack sound hot to you?

All right, all right, sorry about the hormones. So this is better, but we still need more - more oomph, more fiber. At this point, compared to Jack, Jill's motivation might as well be constructed from cardboard. We're talking poly-grade cardboard, the kind my dog likes to chew on. Why, oh why is sister Jill helping her mom, when she knows mean brother Jack will probably end up pushing her down?

It's time to find out.

POSSIBILITY C. Jilly McNicerkins. That's the only way her brother - heck, her whole family - sees her. Not Jilly McWantstoDesignClothes. Or Jilly McHasARagingCrushonToddBenson. So Jill agrees to get the water - because if she refused, her mom would laugh like it was a joke. Part of Jill loves being relied on, and that means people must always expect her to be the nice girl. But once, just once, couldn't they quit it with the expectations and let her be human? And now Jack has pushed her down for no reason. Sah-weet.
EPICITY LEVEL: Houston, we've oomphed the fiber. Turns out Jack and Jill have parallel conflicts: one would give anything for some outside expectations, while the other would give anything to shed them. And neither has any insight into the other's crazy head. Suddenly, this scene becomes a possibly overwrought, but hopefully intriguing, study of sibling dynamics. Also, sparkly violence!

When filling a story with characters, it's easy enough to say your villain hunts your protagonist because he's evil, or that your main character tries to be popular because popularity is good. But that ain't epic.

Epic character motivation reveals the core of that character. To that effect, character motivation and character development are one in the same. By figuring out the motivation - the real motivation - behind each of your characters' actions, those peeps come alive. And that's where the fun starts. (If 3AM conversations with people who technically exist only in your head is your idea of fun. Which is IDEAL.)

Brought to you by: My Recent Agent Revisions Were Aaaall About This Stuff. Holla! What are your thoughts on character motivation? And how could Jack's and Jill's be even better?

Epic Character Motivation with Jack and Jill

Actor Laurence Olivier used to know that he’d worked out the character he was playing when he knew how they walked. The walk was essential. Once he had it, he could get inside their head and know how they thought too.

It’s not about the walk for me. For me, it’s about the house. I don’t know a character until I know where they live. Looking at a person’s home is sometimes the closest you can get to looking straight into their life.

Here are some things to think about:

The character of the house: whether it’s old and eccentric, with unexpected rooms hiding around dark corners; or a compact apartment tucked in among dozens of identical apartments; or a suburban sprawling mansion with rooms the size of sport fields and a hungry garage.

What is the house surrounded by? Maybe it’s on a hill where storms wail round it late at night, or maybe on a busy city street. Maybe it even has one of those terrifying gardens where everything is pruned to within an inch of its life and planted in colour coordinated rows. (It probably says quite a lot about the houses I have lived in that I find tidy things scary. Ahem.)

What is your character’s relationship to their home? Is it a place they feel comfortable bringing their friends back to?  If they were to imagine their ideal house, would it be much like the one they live in? Or would it be completely different? I have one character who lives in an ultra modern designer home who’d actually rather live somewhere old and colourful and unpredictable; I have another character who completely loves her house. She lives in an ugly 70s townhouse with breeze block walls and cobwebs and not enough light, but it is full of the mountains of beloved books her family has collected over the years, stacked up in every room. She can’t imagine life without them. Which leads me to:

What is the house full of? If your character’s home is full of tidiness, whose tidiness is it? Maybe your character races home after school every day to hide her parents’ mess and vacuum the floors. Or maybe it’s her mother’s, always ready for visitors who never arrive. Or maybe your character lives in a house full of precarious piles of other people’s old stuff, televisions that don’t work and newspapers from seven years ago and cages for long dead pets. Maybe your character finds being surrounded by all these things reassuring, or maybe they make her feel like her life is out of control. Whether your character leaves much mark on the house they live in says a lot too. Some of us can live in a house almost unnoticed, while others can’t leave a room without leaving a little pile of things somewhere, coffee cups and half finished books and an abandoned hat.

What part of the house does your character spend the most time in, and why? Possibly the living room full of her little brother’s toys, mostly broken. Or a large wardrobe no one ever looks in, where she writes strange things in notebooks by torchlight. Or maybe she needs windows. Maybe she has a favourite big window she curls up next to so she can watch the world racing past.

Where do your characters live?

There's No Place Like Home

I couldn't find a single good picture for this section today.

Artist Ginger Williams and her amazing nesting dolls. Includes such works of art as The Golden Girls, Saved By The Bell, The Beatles and Steel Magnolias.

Pinup Robert Downey Jr

Selleck Waterfall Sandwich

Field Trip Friday: August 20

 From the ARC back cover:

Fifteen-year-old Katey (aka Kid) goes to school in the Game - a mall converted into a "school" run by corporate sponsors. As students play their way through the levels, they are also creating products and being used for market research by the Game's sponsors, who are watching them 24/7 on video cameras. 

Kid has a vague sense of unease but doesn't question this existence until one day she witnesses a shocking anti-corporate prank. She follows the clues to uncover the identity of the people behind it and discovers an anonymous group who call themselves the Unidentified. Intrigued by their counterculture ideas and enigmatic leader, Kid is drawn in. But when the Unidentified's pranks and even Kid's own identity are co-opted by the corporate sponsors, Kid decided to do something bigger--something that could change the Game forever.

The moment I read the cover copy for THE UNIDENTIFIED in Balzer + Bray's catalog I knew I had to read this one. I love stories that provide commentary on consumerist culture and anti-consumerism strategy. THE UNIDENTIFIED didn't disappoint. It reads like a cross between MT Anderson's FEED and Cory Doctorow's LITTLE BROTHER, with a world bathed in a frantic need-it-now trend-setting style of consumption crossed with eerie marketing-expert-overlords watching everyone at all times.

Kid is an unknown entity as the story begins, with just a couple friends and a lackluster consumer profile. And she's happy to be that way. But when she witnesses The Unidentified's prank and spreads word about it, her counter-culture ways become the trend and she's thrust unwillingly into the spotlight. Kid has a great voice: she's unaffected and unimpressed by trends and popularity even in the face of a mom who wants more and a best friend who wants even more-er. There were a few moments when I felt like she got dragged along by the plot rather than actively creating plot, but for the most part she's a dynamic character and easy to connect with.

The plot itself kept me interested until the very end. The story is well-paced and full of tension. Back-stabbing friends, vicious corporate authority, popularity contests and secret meetings with possibly dangerous elements are all in a weeks' work for Kid. I was drawn in by the tension, by Kid's voice, by a sweet and slowly-revealed romance and, especially, by the twist at the end.

THE UNIDENTIFIED is marked for ages 12 and up and I would agree that the story and writing are very accessible (some swearing) for that age group. The book comes out in hardcover on October 5, 2010.

Book Review: THE UNIDENTIFIED by Rae Mariz

Welcome to our 33rd Road Trip Wednesday!

Road Trip Wednesday is a "Blog Carnival," where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link in the comments - or, if you prefer, you can include your answer in the comments.


Emilia: "Because more than anything, Harry Potter deserved to go out with a bang . . ."

Kate: "As you can see, I like to use the Carrie Ryan theory of plotting: What's the worst that could happen?"

Kristin: "I don't expect a mind-blowing moment of growth . . ."

Road Trip Wednesday #33: About That Ending

We can all agree YA contemporary books have a vastly important place in teen readers' lives. Books like Speak, Looking for Alaska, Jellicoe Road, The Outsiders, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, everything by Sarah Dessen, Judy Blume, E. Lockhart -- contemporary YA literature offers readers another kind of escape, a slipping under the skin of characters who seem as real as we are, in situations that ring true because they're set in real life. Despite how hard we love great contemporary books, they've been eclipsed in the last couple years by other genres.

In recognition of the need for quality contemporary YA novels, and in celebration of all the fantastic contemporary teen lit already about there and about to launch, we present to you:

We're 21 authors putting real life in the spotlight, keeping readers up to date on the latest in YA contemporary fiction by blogging, tweeting, (over) sharing our own teenage experiences, and occasionally meeting up in real life. YA Highway's Kirsten Hubbard (that's me!) and Kody Keplinger are both members, along with diverse authors like Lisa Schroeder, Lindsay Leavitt, Elizabeth Scott, Courtney Summers, Michael Northrup, Melissa Walker, and others.


We're all about keeping it real, in our books and on the blog. And with 21 of us, you can bet our experiences and ideas about life are all over the place!

As part of our promise to keep things real, and to spotlight all of the differences that make contemporary fiction special, we encourage everyone -- authors and readers alike -- to join in on the discussion, to share opinions and ideas, and to speak freely for and about themselves.

That means that some of us will be a little more, um, self-disclosey than others. You might find a few naughty words thrown in (right next to some shiny clean ones). There may be stories about drugs and alcohol, church, making out, hanging out, writing and reading, parents, best friends, sex and sexuality, homework, high school bloopers, bullies, Pollyannas, parties, teachers, racism, hobbies, pop culture, or some odd and lively mashups, and we'll all have different things to say about them (especially when we break out the 80s hair and prom pics... hey, you've been warned)!

Yep. Pretty much anything goes at The Contemps, and we're so not down with censorship -- not of books, not of people, not of ideas, and not of our blog discussions. All we ask of our readers and commenters is exactly what we promise in return: no matter what the topic, we all speak for ourselves, and we're always respectful, honest, and above all...

...totally real.


Follow our blog, read our weekly posts and join our conversations about real-life topics and contemporary YA. You can also follow us on Twitter (@yacontemps), and join our Facebook group.

Accept the Contemps Challenge and promise to read at least 18 of the 21 upcoming Contemps books between now and August 15, 2011. One lucky challenger will win the grand prize: ALL 21 of our books! That's like a whole bookshelf of books!

To enter:

• Participants must be at least 13 years old.
• Send an e-mail by November 15, 2010 with I ACCEPT THE CONTEMPS CHALLENGE in the subject line to: contempscontests(at)gmail(dot)com
• Start reading! Visit our Books page for the complete book list or add books to your "to read" list from our Goodreads page.
• If you have a blog, Facebook, LJ, or Web site and want to show some Contemps Challenge pride, display the Challenge badge (featured on the left)! Simply copy and past the following code into your site:

Not taking the Challenge but still want to share the love? Display the general Contemps badge on your blog to encourage your visitors to check us out. Just copy and paste the code here:

The Contemps: YA Authors Keeping It Real

• Determine your purpose. Does the cultural setting add to the work, or does it seem superfluous? Could the work succeed equally well if it used a different cultural setting?

• Don't distort or omit history. 

• Avoid stereotypes. 
• Don't use loaded words like "savage," "primitive," "lazy," etc.
• Characters and their lifestyles should be genuine and complex, not oversimplified.
• Dialogue should accurately represent oral tradition. (Anyone who has heard me rant about badly written Southern dialects knows how insane this makes me.)
• Standards of success: Characters should ultimately succeed on their own, not through the divine intervention of a protector character, and especially not a protector from a dominant group.

• Talk to people. Don't know anyone from the culture? Contact your local university's exchange student program. Participate in online forums. Read, read and read some more. Make new friends. Ask them to beta.*

Windows and Mirrors: Stories That Cross Borders

"I know what you're thinking."


Sixteen-year-old Maddie Dunn needs to learn how to use her special abilities before somebody else gets hurt. Ganzfield is a secret training facility full of people like her, but it's not exactly a nurturing place.


Every social interaction carries the threat of mind-control.


A stray thought can burn a building to the ground.


And people's nightmares don't always stay in their own heads.


But it's still better than New Jersey, especially once she meets the man of her dreams . . .

MINDER isn't a book that throws out the unbelievable, demanding you to believe without reason. Kaynak puts some serious science behind the story of G-positives--people with special mind abilities--that will entice lovers of sci-fi. But mixed in with this world of supernatural is a familiar backdrop of everyday high school existence with classes, homework, social standings, and first relationships.

Maddie is a telepath. But listening in to the minds of a bunch of teenagers isn't all it's cracked up to be. Especially when she can hear what the Charms--kids with the ability to persuade others--are thinking. Lucky for Maddie, her gift makes her immune to their powers, which is how she starts fighting back.This was a nice theme--the girl who was a victim in the first few pages, becoming somewhat of a protector. She stands up for her classmates, even if they aren't all that trusting of Maddie themselves.

When Maddie meets Trevor, a boy with the ability to move things with his mind, it's love at first sight. MINDER takes a detour here, becoming more of a love story. The two form an instant, powerful bond that would almost feel unbelievable if it weren't for the fact their abilities allowed them to bypass much of the 'getting to know one another' stage.

Toward the end, the action kicks up as Maddie begins to see just what it means to be someone with special powers. All the good she can do, and all the danger that can come of it.

Kaynak's writing is clean, and there's some beautiful imagery of how the voices Maddie hears are accompanied with colorful emotions and texture. The ending sets up nicely for the sequel, ADVERSARY due out on August 20.

MINDER Review

I hear Edward's not doing so well against Katsa...

This has nothing to do with anything else in this post.

Field Trip Friday: August 13