If You Find Me

By Kristen

Well...Let's just say...I've been lazy and not wanting to go onto my computer and well I'm doing it now so....

If You Find Me

Loved it.  So much.  Even though I think there should be another book, like a sequel, but who knows.  Maybe Emily Murdoch is writing another novel.  I would definitely read it, no questions asked.  Reaction to this: EEPPPP CARRIE AND RYANNNNN.  I wish I could tell how they met and all but then that would freaking spoil it :| cuz he's a big part of the second half of the book.  Delaney is a !#$%& but it all gets better in the end.

I mean they become friends and all...And then Carrie and her sister, Janessa (don't worry this won't give anything away) live in a camper in the middle of the woods, but that changes in the first chapter, lucky, kind of for them.

It's like living out of civilization for years and years ant then moving back to society: high school, people, shopping and other stuff like that.  So Read this Book!!!!!!!!!!





The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones comes out in August! So excited! Divergent is being filmed!!! TFiOS Is gonna be a movieeeeeeeeee!

 

 

-Kristen

Nora's BEA Book Haul

To see the post Nora wrote about BEA, click here.

1. Hereafter- Kate Brian
2. Awaken- Meg Cabot
3. Entangled- Amy Rose Capetta
4. Independent Study- Joelle Charbonneau
5. Sweet Venom- Tera Lynn Childs
6. Blaze- Laurie Boyle Compton
7. Frozen- Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston
8. Inhuman- Kat Falls
9. False Sight- Dan Krokos
10. Awoken- Timothy Miller
11. Unraveling- Elizabeth Norris
12. The Beginning of Everything- Robyn Schneider
13. Relic- Heather Terrell
14. The Burning Sky- Sherry Thomas
15. My Life After Now- Jessica Verdi
16. Twinmaker- Sean Williams

BEA 2013! (With a butt-load of GIFs and Pictures)

By Nora

Honestly, two years ago, I wouldn't have imagined myself going to Book Expo America, let alone wanting to go. I guess that all changed. My mom took me to BEA this year (for my birthday, which was in February, so this was highly anticipated) for Power Reader's Day on June 1st. It was AMAZINGLY FANTABULOUS. This was pretty much me, the whole time:


I won't give you the full play-by-play, but here was the day:

• Woke up at five to catch the bus to New York City. Surprisingly, I wasn't very affected by that. I just kind of...didn't care. I guess it was just the excitement.
• Took the taxi to the Javits Center.
• Ate breakfast, charged phone. Breakfast was meh. Not the best, but whatever. As we were eating, there was a guy a few tables away from us who looked exactly like John Green. From behind. I looked over and had a mini heart attack before he turned around. And he was wearing a suit. John Green would probably have looked like this: (aha just kidding)
• Noticed blisters from shoes before the floor even opened to the public. That was fun.
• Checked out the Penguin Book Truck. Seriously, this truck is too cool. I want it.
• Saw the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Truck. And did I mention that Jeff Kinney is probably opening a bookstore in a town near us? Like, how cool is that? Hey, Jeff Kinney. I know you want to hire me. *nudge nudge*
• Floor opened.
• Met Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston. Authors of Frozen.
• Met Dan Krokos. Author of False Sight.
• Met Elizabeth Norris. Author of Unraveling.
• Met Kate Brian. Author of Hereafter.
• Met my mom's boss. 
• Met Heather Terrell. Author of Relic.
• SAW TAHEREH MAFI. I'M NOT KIDDING. She wasn't even signing or anything. Okay, there's actually a funny story behind this. So, a few weeks prior to BEA, I told my mom that Ransom Riggs (author of Miss. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children) was going to be there, and I told her that I bet Tahereh Mafi would be there with him. She, of course, shot me down. THEN I SAW HER. OH MY GOD. So, while I was freaking out, my mom decides to tell Tahereh Mafi that I was stalking her.

  Me  

  

 Her

• Met Sean Williams. Author of Twinmaker.
• Met the girls from Tea Time, a weekly video show from Epic Reads (Harper Collins). Spun a wheel (woo!) and got a *book shimmy* shirt.
• Met Laurie Boyle Crompton. Author of Blaze.
• Watched about five seconds of Star Wars Shakespeare. What?! Yes, Star Wars characters reciting Shakespeare. But we could barely hear them, so we left.
• Met Jessica Verdi. Author of My Life After Now.
• Feet killing, tote bags digging into shoulders, we left BEA. Fell asleep on the bus. It was a long day.

 Elizabeth Norris

 Dan Krokos

 Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston

 Waiting in Line... (there was a whole lot of this)

 My Stash of Stuff

 Beautiful Allegiant Poster

-Nora

Marked

By Kristen

I forgot about yesterday...WHOOPS! But here I am now!


Marked

So first off, my mom said I couldn't read this.  But there was absolutely nothing wrong with it at all!  It was amazingly good and like probably made my top 10.  I started reading it in November I think and I finished it last month!  I think it was just because I thought it was a little boring in the beginning but it got better and better and better.


Some parts were funny, like the whole Heath situation, and some were cut, like when she first met Erik Night.  It's basically about a girl who's marked by he goddess, Nyx (and trust me when I say that I'm not giving much away) and has reluctant and annoying parents who don't want her to go to the House of Night.  One thing, her mark is different and causes all people to stare.


She meets a really nice person, Stevie Rae (I think that's how you spell it; I forget) and Damien and the twins, Erin and Shaunee (I cant remember how to spell anything.  Sorry) and gets off on the wrong foot with some other girl.  It's just like high school, but in a school full of vampyres.  Sooooooo I really think you should read this if you haven't already.  Now I just have to somehow get my hands on the second book!

Look at this thing I found:

I thought it was pretty funny xP

 

 

 

-Kristen

Hmmm I Must Think Here

By Kristen

I AM RUNNING OUT OF BOOKS TO REVIEW :|  For real, not even lying here.  I finished this book last week and I have been reading like crazy to try to get another one to review for Thursday.  Luckily, I finished a book on Sunday PHEW!  I want to talk about a few things...Just to talk.

I really want to save that other book for Thursday...So I'm just babbling on here.  I really should review that other book.  OMG I am so mad at Nora.  She got to go to BEA (Book Expo America) where they have a TON of freaking free books that you can get signed and I wanted to go but I had something else that day and like you have to pay to go :|

Is that the right logo?

Oh well, if it's not, whatever.

OMG do you cry over fictional characters? I do and Nora does, too. My sister calls us book geeks, which is just really annoying.
Here is a short list of fictional (NOT TO US) characters to cry over.

Augustus Waters
Noah Shaw
Alex

I cannot think of more at the moment.  But those are the like top 3.

 

NOOOOOOOOOO AUGUSTUS :'(

Well.....This wasn't really...anything.... So I'm just going to stop here because if I keep going, well, I'll just wind up talking about things that have nothing to do with anything.  If that makes any sense.

 

 

 

-Kristen

Unremembered

by Nora
(By the way, sorry about the lack of posts. We are really busy with school!)

Can I start by talking about how lovely this cover is? It's just...perfection. I love how the face in the background is blurry, just like Sera's memory. Out of focus and fuzzy. Also, the eyes! I really like that they made the eyes purple (Violet ;)) to go along with the actual description of Seraphina.

Unremembered follows sixteen-year-old Seraphina (a.k.a. Violet) as she tries to regain her memory after obtaining a serious case of amnesia when she was found at the scene of a plane wreck. Every little piece of new information made my brain want to explode.

I absolutely loved the characters. My favorite was Cody, Sera's younger foster brother. He was just hilarious and reminded me (almost too much) of my friends at school. Nerdy, sarcastic, and adorable. For once, I wasn't so attached to Zen (the romantic interest of Seraphina) that I was super upset when the book was over. I guess that's a good thing. Good for my well-being, anyway. :)

The end of the book was just...what.

what what what what what what what what
(no, this is not a Macklemore reference)

I can't really tell you why I'm like this because I would spoil a lot for you (and I hate writing posts with spoilers), so all I can say is go read the book. I don't like leaving you hanging like that, but...just read it, okay?

Help Me! I Can't Think Of What To Write About!

By Kristen


Do you ever get those days where you want to write a story but you just can't think of an idea?  Ever get WRITER'S BLOCK?!  IT'S A TERRIBLE DISEASE FOR AUTHORS AND PEOPLE WHO ENJOY WRITING LIKE ME.  But Don't worry because.This. Is. Normal.  So don't freak out if you are having trouble with this.  Because everyone does every once in a while :)


Here are some things you can do to fix that:

1. It's called Google.com.  No, no I'm just kidding.  This is something I do sometimes:  I pick an object, it doesn't matter what it is, just pick something.  I use that as encouragement (Omg, like in TFiOS, which Nora reviewed a while before).  I then give the object, say, an important role.  For example, a pen.  Maybe it has some magical factor to it.  Maybe it can be the key to something.  Or a letter.  It can lead a mystery, trace the person who disappeared or ran away for unknown reasons.  Then, form a story around it.

2. How about start with a main character (MC).  Think of a name.  If that's causing a problem for you because it does for me; coming up with character's names is about the hardest thing for me when it comes to writing, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.  What else can you do?  OhOHOH! I know! Make a graphic organizer.  Write a description about your character: physical appearance, attitude, hobbies, etc.

3.  Pick a place you like to go to like a vacation spot.  Pick a place you don't like going to.  Think of different traits you could give a place.  Maybe you can turn it into a wasteland and make that where your story takes place.  Or maybe you can just leave it as is and turn it into a Dystopian society!  Like in Divergent or Delirium or Matched.


Those are just some of many things you can do to help you come up with an idea if you have this really terrible bad terrible horrible life threatening disease aka writer's block.

-Kristen

Send Me a Sign

By Nora

Cancer, cancer, cancer. I just can't seem to get enough of it, what with this and The Fault in Our Stars. I had, actually read this before The Fault in Our Stars. Anyway, after hearing Tiffany Schmidt read a short passage from Send Me a Sign at the New York City Teen Author Festival, I knew I was hooked. I just needed to get it.

Send Me a Sign is beautiful. It is surprising. It is just...amazing. The main character, Mia, and her best friend, Gyver, grabbed my attention from the start. I'm not sure why, perhaps how close they are to each other. BUT THE END. I DIDN'T EVEN...WHAT??? HOW DID I NOT NOTICE THAT??? HDGAHSDKFJHASLDKFHLAKJSDF (Yes, Mom. That means I'm freaking out, not that my keyboard broke)

When Mia is diagnosed with leukemia, she decides to keep it a secret from her friends. I mean, I see why she tried to hide it, but if I were Mia (which I'm not. I'm really, really not. She's completely different from me), I would have told my friends first thing. Meh. But I still loved the book.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to reading more Tiffany Schmidt in the future. She has gotten my attention. I'll be waiting.

-Nora

Requiem

By Kristen

**HUGE SPOILERS FOR PANDEMONIUM AND, BASICALLY, THE FIRST TWO BOOKS**

MY STRIKE IS OVER!!!!!!!!!  I'm wondering how Nora's three posts were.  I should explain why I was striking sooo here it goes: Nora was "busy" like three weeks ago and did no posting when she was supposed to :P So I promised her that I would not post until she did the three she owed me.  And she did, eventually, x) so every thing's all good now.

Requiem

 

 

 

Ohmigod, Lena.  Honestly, I wish Lauren Oliver continued from where she left off in Pandemonium, but as I read, I decided against that.  BECAUSE IN PANDEMONIUM, AT THE END LENA FINDS OUT THAT ALEX IS NOT DEAD AT ALL.  And then she's all caught up with Julian (I mean, I don't hate him, but still.  Lena and Alex are so perfect together and I'm dying to see the show!  And that had NOTHING to do with Lena and Alex being the perfect couple.)

 

But then there's like so much tension between Lena and Alex and Alex and Julian and Oh My Goshness.  It so sad when Lena goes up and scare a bear away and Alex is all like "Oh, the Lena I know would be scared" and then he . Just.Walks.Away.From.Her.  And then there's Coral and something she says to Lena about Alex (Don't worry, it's not a bad thing!)  And then now, moving on so...

 

I read this book like a month before it came out (thanks to Nora getting the ARE, Advanced Reader's Edition, which is not fair to some people but her mom works for Random House).  I heard that they were changing the ending and I think Nora said the only thing they changed is Julian is shirtless or something like that...  BUT THE ENDING.  I WAS SO happy on page 248 (I'm pretty sure, and yes, I am aware that I remembered the page number) because I can't say so asdghjkawdgnkihl that's as close as it's going to get! #TEAMALEX

 

 

-Kristen

 

Eleanor & Park

By Nora

Eleanor & Park was amazing. Like, finish in three days, amazing. At first, I was kind of annoyed by Eleanor.

"I'm so fat and life is awful and blah blah blah"

But as the story moved along, I began to love her. The unfortunate situation with her family made me sympathize for her like crazy. And then there was Park. When I brought Eleanor & Park to
school, two of my K-Pop-obsessed friends wondered if there was any reference to J-Park (a K-Pop star that they love). I told them no, except that he was half Korean. Besides, the book is set in the 80's. Where am I going with this? Blah.

Anyway, the two really captured my heart and I couldn't put the book down. The perfect ratio of sadness and humor was quite astonishing and the music references were just splendid (Did I just say 'splendid'?).

Why do all stand-alone books have to have sad endings? I mean, come on! After reading The Fault in Our Stars (which was too depressing to even think about before bursting into tears), I was really hoping that this would be a happy, cheerful book. I guess I was wrong.

I may have mentioned (I think I did...maybe not...), an author at the NYC Teen Author Festival came up to me and told me she would mug me for my copy of Eleanor & Park. They had sold out. But now I see why. I'd probably do that, too. :)

-Nora

The Fault in Our Stars

by Nora

Well. I need to fully compose myself before writing this post or else I will cry. Again.


Honestly, going in I had no idea that The Fault in Our Stars was (I'm not going to call it a cancer book, because of something mentioned in the book itself) a book with a cancer component. Prior to reading The Fault in Our Stars, I read Send Me a Sign, another book with cancer (What? A book with cancer? No. A book about cancer. -.-) and I was just about done with cancer by then. And now I'm saying cancer way too much. I'm sorry. This book made me a mess.

John Green is evil. He is 100% evil, and I'm pretty sure that if you read this book, you would agree with me. Okay? Okay. ;) It was pretty funny, actually, because Hazel and Augustus (the two main characters) were brought together by a book, written by whom I consider their favorite author. I was actually reading this as I was about to meet one of my favorite authors, Lauren Oliver (what? I know! Post to come).

So, if you would like a good cry, read this book. If not, read it anyway. It is extremely worth it. Just don't read it in public. You will cry. It is beautifully written and I'm so upset that it is not in a series. I am looking forward to reading more of John Green in the future.

-Nora

World Book Night 2013

By Kristen

Happy Belated Birthday Shakespeare!

As you might have noticed right up there ^^ you can tell that recently, Shakespeare's birthday passed :) And it was yesterday! Which may or may not have been a coincidence because yesterday was also World Book Night!

This is why there wasn't a post yesterday: tons of setting up, working on our groovy 1970s room, eating pizza, meeting authors, being interviewed about the books we had to read during a panel interview...

We had quite a few rooms and this year, there were many more people than last year which was very exciting.  So in our first grade wing we had Caldecott Award-Winning Authors "Book Talks."  Nora and I really only know about the rooms but not what goes on in them because we were at our 70s room yelling, "Hello people, come to our 70s room, where you can boogie and jive!" But I'll get to that in a bit :)

Then, in the second grade,  there was a Reader's Theater and poetry readings and displays on the bulletin boards.  I was able to get a peek in the room, I saw parents looking at the books displayed on the tables and children looking around, which was a good sign.Then, in the third grade, there were "Poetry Tellers" and book recommendations and poetry comic displays on the bulletin boards.  Which reminds me...in the hallway to the lower school, there were cute poems hanging on the wall and one in particular which I can't really recall, but I wish I did because it was funny!

The fourth grade had the "Poetry Jam Cafe" which I'm pretty sure they read poems out loud (and I don't know much about the other rooms, I was in ours the whole time!)  The fifth and sixth grade volunteers served as tour guides for the guests and they dressed up like the Olympians from Percy Jackson! And it related because one of the books was The Lightning Thief this year.




Us wearing our awesome sunglasses! (That make our faces look fat)



I'll skip the seventh and eighth grade for now and move onto grades 9-12...So for them, they had something to do with digital apps (the Digital Literacy elective) and Spanish Art Installations.  And here's the seventh-eighth grade now...*drum roll please*


          The 1970s Room!!!!!!!

Come to our groovy 70s room! Come and boogie and jive! Notice that random space there.....

This was the best room eva!  Here, we had mini quizzes to test people's knowledge of the 70s and also a small slip of paper: Middle School was the best/worst time of my life because___________.
I really think that the parents and kids enjoyed our room.  We had music, a word wall (that had terms and phrases used in the 70s, such as brickhouse *laughs silently...its an inside joke between me and my friends* which means a hot person, catch you on the flip side: see you later, cat: a cool person, boogie: dance and a ton more).  We had a wall of facts about the 70s also.  It was like our "Phantom Tollbooth time machine, back to middle school!"



Aj Paquette and David Kelly

And then there was the panel interview.  Look at how HUGE that crowd is.  I mean, who wouldn't be nervous about talking in front of that many people?  So basically, we went thought the whole panel (there was a lot of us too) and said our names, grades, the book we read, and the author of the book.  Mine was Glaciers by Alexis M. Smith and Nora read The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster.

We didn't have to answer every questions asked, but at least one.  Oh yeah, did I mention, we were interviewed about our books by Aj Paquette and David Kelly? Like whoa right there.  Two authors came to our school!

It was AMAZING.  The two authors both talked about how reading shaped their lives and a little bit about what they wrote about in a book they have written.  It couldn't have been any better.


And I've still got stuff to go on about! We had Lucy the R.E.A.D. Dog here.  I got to see her but I didn't get to pet her (haha) because there was a whole bunch of kids gathered around her!  I thought it was a cute thing to have for the younger kids :)

Wow, I've written so much.  I think I'll end it here, and one last thing, if you came to the FRCS World Book Night, thank you for coming!

-Kristen



Nora said the writing on her arm's a Doctor Who thing...Jonathan's just randomly there.....

I was up so late doing my homework....

There were so many free books...most of them were gone by the end...

They also had a raffle! And they were giving away a Kindle! And he  got, sorry I should say won, a book signed by Aj Paquette...Paradox...Jonathan better let me read it...

Volunteers in the event couldn't enter to win.....humph...



My (Extremely Simple) Writing Process

By Nora

Writing is fun. It lets you escape into your own world, with your own characters, and your own fictional problems. It lets you use your imagination and discover what kind of intricate little images your brain can create. In my case, these images are usually morbid and about death or destruction (my friend suggested checking into a mental institution). But, nowadays, it seems like that's common. Though I am, sadly, not a published author (yet), I am here to introduce you to my writing process.

1. I don't map anything out. Call me crazy, but I feel that planning the whole story out at once is useless to me. Though it may work for some people, I just find that it does not work for me. I usually discover my best ideas while I'm writing.
2. Sometimes I start with a small scrap of a piece. When I'm bored and don't really have any ideas, I'll just write a beginning, or I'll come up with an amazing character or setting or plot, that I just start with what I have. For example, the piece I'm writing right now started from just a simple plot idea (a story about a person who can communicate with the dead).
3. Find a place to sit, relax, and write. Sometimes get a glass of water or sugary drink, like lemonade, to refresh you as you write. If I can't find a quiet place away from my family or friends, I'll plug in headphones and listen to an instrumental music track or create a playlist that fits the mood of the piece I'm writing.

So that's pretty much it. I enjoy posting my writing on figment.com so other people can critique and read my work. I enter contests and communicate with fellow teen writers on there, as well. I highly suggest checking it out.

***

Also, this Thursday, April 18, is Operation Teen Book Drop 2013. Hide a book somewhere in your town or library! For more details, click here.

-Nora

UnEnchanted

By Kristen

I honestly thought that this was a really cute book and I loved it a lot! I like the idea a lot and how it has to do with fairy tales (because when I was younger, I loved fairy tales and I still do which might be a bit sad) and the grim reaper (is that supposed to be capitalized or not? *Unsure*)

I need inspiration to finish this post.  My dad bought it for me on my tablet and the second book too, Fairest and I sure hope there's a third because I want to know what happens with Mina and if she and Brody ever get back together because in the first book, like, they were together under a fairy tale and in the end their relationship just stops but Brody still has some sort of memory of her but not really if that made any sense...Sorry for spoiling that part ^.^ and then there's Jared and there's a whole other story behind him.....................................................He's the one that tells her about her ancestry about the whole fairy tales chasing the Grime (Really Grim) family (and I'm pretty sure that's the name)

Her mother tried protecting her from the fairy tales and there's something having to do wiht a mirror (but I can't remember if that was in UnEnchanted or Fairest. Sooooo I think I'll stop there.  I really think that you should read this and I know you'll love it!

-Kristen

Abandon

By Kristen


Before I start, I would like to explain why there wasn't a post on Sunday or Tuesday.  Let's just say that Nora was being dumb :P She said "Oh yeah but I didn't have time on Sunday" and I told her "Well ya know what I'm not posting till you do." And then she said she was going to post yesterday but "Oh yeah I was packing for Florida, I didn't have time" Excuses, EXCUSES, excuses. So she's sitting in a car bored and all and I told her, "Fine, I'll post today and tomorrow and next week you will have to post THREE TIMES due to her day being Sunday, last Sunday and it's her turn to do Tuesday.  I'm mad at her.  It's her fault!

Sorry for my rant, but I had to get it out there!


 In one of the first chapters, it said that the main character, Pierce, took the written drivers' test forty something times and failed.  All forty something.  I laughed.  I loved this book so much and I'm waiting to finish a ton of other books first before I can read the second book :| You see, there are at least 10 books that I have to finish beofre the end of the school year, June 25, because ya know, they're not mine...

But back to the point: Abandon is a very good book and I've read so many books in between and I can barely remember what happened.  She died and came back.  Then, she met John (Haha! My brother's name spelled differently!) but I won't give away who he was because it would spoil like the whole book and then there's something with her grandmother... And *sigh* I want to go to the library...





Well, That's a wrap! World Book Night on the 23rd this month is at our school! Nora and I are student readers reading two different titles.  If you are in the area of Foxboro, you should come to our World Book Night starting at 6 pm at the Foxborough Regional Charter School.  This would be the second annual Book Night held at FRCS!

-Kristen

Fever

By Kristen

I've been sitting here for the past 20 minutes trying to think of a book I've read.  And I am still thinking.

--15 Minutes Later--

I'm going to look on Goodreads now...


I finally decided! Doing Fever from the Chemical Garden Trilogy :)

So this is kind of hard for me to remember...I read it what, last month?  Well there's Rhine and Gabriel and Rhine and Vaghn and Linden and Cecily and Grace and Lilac and Maddy and Rhine and Gabriel and KNHSDFJKLGHJKLSDJSDHGJKSDG so many names...

About three quaters through the book I was depressed and sad and crap and NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WHY DID VAUGHN JKGNFSDJKGHJKSGIGSDFJK stupid June Beans and crap... I really should be editing the video for my spanish project right now and I'm just coming up with excuses so I don't have to talk about this book and be depressed all over again..........

*Listening to Mirrors <3* Luv that song

NOOOOOOO RHINEEE WHAT ABOUT GABRIEL WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!?!?!??!?!??!??!?!??!!



Breathe* Deep breaths* Calm*

I am dying to read Sever.  READ IT! I said that when I did Wither...

World Book Night is on April 23rd!

-Kristen

NYC Teen Author Festival Haul!

by Nora

As you may have noticed, I recently posted about my experience at the NYC Teen Author Festival. Here's what I came out of:

All books purchased (by my grandmother) at Books of Wonder, NYC.

1. Between You and Me: Marisa Calin
2. Reunited: Hilary Weisman Graham
3. The Art of Wishing: Lindsay Ribar
4. Eleanor & Park: Rainbow Rowell
5. Send Me a Sign: Tiffany Schmidt
6. Intentions: Deborah Heiligman

Not Teen Author Fest Related:

1. Shards and Ashes: Various Authors, including Veronica Roth and Beth Revis
2. Catherine: April Lindner
3. Time Between Us: Tamara Ireland Stone
4. Incarnate: Jodi Meadows

Plus, a snazzy Monument 14 rubber bracelet! (I wish I knew what blood type I am!)

Wither

By Kristen

*CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS**

I love this book. Love the idea and everything about it and all that. There's Jenna and Rhine and Gabriel and Jenna and Vaughn (who is possessed in my opinion) and Cicily (I don't think I spelled her name right) and Rhine and jkghjkaefhgseriotuilhgf this is hard.

I am having difficulty remembering this book.  I read it last summer. Rhine is innocent and she's being held captive in a mansion against her will and along with two others.  And her relationship with Rose *sigh* I liked Rose but she died and then there's Gabriel and Rhine and Gabriel and I'm just taking up space repeating words...To me this is like apocalyptic...? I don't know, everyone dies at 20 or 25 depending on gender and I think it's depressing.  But I love Gabriel's and Rhine's relationship (forbidden relationships are always a good factor in books to me) and they escape; I shouldn't have said that but I wanted to put it out there.




Wither definately made my top ten.  I suggest you read it because nhgjkasngjker it's such a good book.   READ IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

***

World Book Night's coming up soon and I should be halfway done with my book.  Nora and I are two of the student readers :) I'm only on chapter three for what I'm reading and I'm not sure about Nora.

Have a great long weekend! Good Friday tomorrow! Have a great Easter, eat some chocolate, become friemds witht the Easter Bunny, and most of all, have fun with your families!

-Kristen



New York City Teen Author Festival

By Nora

Dear authors from the NYC Teen Author Festival,
Thanks for taking a look at our blog! I really appreciated your interest at the signing. Also, thank you for your patience with my recovering voice, which I had lost on Friday. It was pretty hard to talk. :)

Looking forward to reading your books!

Nora

Last week was the NYC Teen Author Festival, featuring more than 90 authors.
What? 90 authors? That's crazy talk!
Yes. I know.
Unfortunately, I was only able to go on Saturday and Sunday because of school (school's such a buzzkill). That meant that I had to miss Michelle Hodkin, of all people. MICHELLE FREAKIN' HODKIN.

Anyway, Saturday's event was held at the New York Public Library (which is massive, I might add). A line formed outside the door and everything (we were second)! It consisted of four panels and four readings by debut authors.

Panel #1: Defying Description: Tackling the Many Facets of Identity in YA
Featuring: Marissa Calin, Aaron Hartzler, A. S. King, and Jaqueline Woodson
Moderator: David Levithan

This panel was mainly about teenage characters in YA facing difficult decisions about their sexuality and discovering who they truly are. I am extremely excited to read David Levithan's book, Two Boys Kissing (to be released on August 27) and give it to some of my friends.

My Opinion About It: The authors were discussing teens being openly gay, at their age, versus being gay in my time. Apparently, it was very difficult for them. I mean, I understand that it is still quite hard, taking bullying into consideration, however, our school is very relaxed. If you go to our school, you won't see bullying. There are at least two openly gay students in our grade alone (I don't even know the exact number) and they don't get any criticism about it. I'm proud of our school and I feel that everyone is accepted here.

Readings: New Voices Spotlight
Featuring: J. J. Howard, Kimberly Sabatini, Tiffany Schmidt, and Greg Takoudes

New Voices Spotlight was a reading from debut authors. The books included That Time I Joined the Circus, Touching the Surface, Send Me a Sign, and When We Wuz Famous. I am really excited to read Send Me a Sign. It seems like my kind of book.

Panel #3: Under Many Influences: Shaping Identity When You're a Teen Girl
Featuring: Jen Calonita, Deborah Heiligman, Hilary Weisman Graham, Kody Keplinger, Amy Spalding, Katie Sise, and Kathryn Williams
Moderator: Terra Elan McVoy

This panel was about teen girls and shaping their identity through friends, family, music, websites, teachers, and more. They talked about what could change the course of a teen girl's life (including friendship breakups).

My Opinion About It: I really hope I don't go through a friendship breakup! Being a teen girl myself, it was extremely interesting to hear what grown women had to say. Now I know what to look forward to. Sadness. Ha! Probably not, though. Hopefully. Also, you may not remember, but a few weeks ago, I posted that I really want to read Katie Sise's Boyfriend App. When I saw she was one of the panelists, I got really, really excited. You don't even know how excited I was. Unfortunately, she did not give away any ARCs. :(

Panel #4: Born This Way: Nature, Nurture, and Paranormaly
Featuring: Jessica Brody, Gina Damico, Maya Gold, Alexandra Monir, Lindsay Ribar, Jerry Smith-Ready, and Jessica Spotswood
Moderator: Adrienne Maria Vrettos

This panel discussed supernatural fiction and the paranormal. They talked about how teen characters in YA deal with these "powers."

My Opinion About It: I love the paranormal. Honestly, I find it fascinating. Also, I've met a few of these ladies previously. I've met Gina Damico once in Boston, and Jessica Spotswood three times, now. I should probably get to reading her book. XD I met her in Boston (with Gina Damico), on the Breathless Reads tour, and now here.

Panel #5: The Next Big Thing
Featuring: Jocelyn Davies, Leanna Renee Hieber, Barry Lyga, and Mayrose Wood

In which they discussed the Next Big Thing.

Ideas Brought Up: Panda Mermaids, Unicorns, something I forgot (silly me!), and, of course, bondage fiction for kids.

My Opinion About It: *facepalm*
David Levithan's Opinion About It: (I was sitting next to him) *dies of laughter*


Sunday was "Our No-Foolin' Mega-Signing" at Books of Wonder. It was considered "organized chaos" by David Levithan. In fact, it was.
There were so many authors signing, that you had to pick and choose. Sadly, I could not get to everyone. 
Here is the full list of authors present:

Jessica Brody (Unremembered)
Marisa Calin (Between You and Me)
Jen Calonita (The Grass is Always Greener)
Caela Carter (Me, Him, Them, and It)
Crissa Chappell (Narc)
Susane Colasanti (Keep Holding On)
Zoraida Cordova (The Vicious Deep)
Gina Damico (Scorch)
Jocelyn Davies (A Fractured Light)
Sarah Beth Durst (Vessel)
Gayle Forman (Just One Day)
Elizabeth Scott (Miracle)
T. M. Goeglein (Cold Fury)
Hilary Weisman Graham (Reunited) 
Alissa Grosso (Ferocity Summer)
Aaron Hartzler (Rapture Practice)
Deborah Heiligman (Intentions)
Leanna Renee Hieber (The Twisted Tragedy of Miss Natalie Stewart)
J. J. Howard (That Time I Joined the Circus)
Alaya Johnson (The Summer Prince)
Beth Kephart (Small Damages)
Kody Keplinger (A Midsummer’s Nightmare)
A.S. King (Ask the Passengers)
Emmy Laybourne (Monument 14)
David Levithan (Every Day) 
Barry Lyga (Yesterday Again)
Brian Meehl (Suck it Up and Die)
Alexandra Monir (Timekeeper)
Michael Northrop (Rotten)
Diana Peterfreund (For Darkness Shows the Stars)
Lindsay Ribar (The Art of Wishing)
Rainbow Rowell (Eleanor & Park)
Kimberly Sabatini (Touching the Surface)
Tiffany Schmidt (Send Me a Sign)
Victoria Schwab (The Archived)
Jeri Smith-Ready (Shine)
Amy Spalding (The Reece Malcolm List)
Stephanie Strohm (Pilgrims Don’t Wear Pink)
Nova Ren Suma (17 & Gone)
Greg Takoudes (When We Wuz Famous)
Mary Thompson (Wuftoom)
Jess Verdi (My Life After Now)
K.M. Walton (Empty)
Suzanne Weyn (Dr. Frankenstein’s Daughters)
Kathryn Williams (Pizza, Love, and Other Stuff That Made Me Famous) 

Here is the full list of authors I met:

Jessica Brody (Unremembered) 

Marisa Calin (Between You and Me) 
Hilary Weisman Graham (Reunited) 
Emmy Laybourne (Monument 14) 
David Levithan (Every Day) 
Lindsay Ribar (The Art of Wishing) 
Rainbow Rowell (Eleanor & Park) 
Tiffany Schmidt (Send Me a Sign)
Victoria Schwab (The Archived) 

Also, Kimberly Sabatini told me she would mug me for my copy of Eleanor & Park (the store had momentairly sold out), and Tiffany Schmidt told me she would mug me for my ARC of Siege and Storm.
Of course, my response was, "You're an author! You can do whatever you want!"


I'm so smart.

-Nora

Jessica Brody

Marissa Calin

Hilary Weisman Graham

Deborah Heiligman

David Levithan

Victoria Schwab

Tiffany Schmidt

Lindsay Ribar

Emily Laybourne

Rainbow Rowell

(Sorry about the formatting. Blogger is a jerk, sometimes.)