Another Smart Chicks Tour Post

Wednesdays are sort of anything-goes days here at the blog, so today I'm going to get into a couple of things. ^_^

First of all, thanks to our wonderful Aly, for passing on the One Lovely Blog award. I'll have a more detailed post up about it next week, but wanted to make sure I mentioned it now.

The rest of this post will be all about the Smart Chicks Kick It tour, which is coming around to Houston September 14th and 15th. On the 14th, they'll be at the Barnes and Noble in the Woodlands. Then they'll be hosted by Blue Willow Bookshop at The Refuge at 7pm on the 15th. That's the one I'll be attending, and I'm so excited.

Not only will I get to take part in this fabulous event, but I'll also be recording a group interview with all of the authors before the show! Yes, that's Kelley Armstrong, Holly Black, Melissa Marr, Alyson Noel, Sarah Rees Brennan, Cassandra Clare, and Margaret Stohl all in one podcast interview!

In honor of the tour and the interview, we've got a couple of fabulous giveaways. Please read carefully for the rules.

First up on the giveaways, I have Holly Black's newest book (signed, of course), White Cat. I also have a signed copy of Clockwork Angel, by Cassandra Clare up for grabs as well as a signed copy of Radiance, by Alyson Noel. That's a total of three separate giveaways. We will have three different winners - one person cannot win all three books. Please remember that when you enter.

For the giveaways:

1. You must be a subscriber of the blog OR a twitter follower (twitter.com/yalitreview).
2. You must comment on this post stating which book or books you're entering to win.
3. You must tweet, facebook, or blog about this contest, linking back to this blog entry.

The deadline for the giveaway books is September 18th. If you have any questions, please email me at blogger@yaliteraturereview.com. Thanks, and good luck!

~ Vilate

Author Event - Maggie Stiefvater

This past Monday (July 26th), I had a phenomenal opportunity to participate n the Maggie Stiefvater author event. Maggie was in Southern California for several book signings. Borders/Glendale (CA) had the great honor to host one of the book signings. The Glendale Borders has some great staff. Lita, Amber and Alethea had been planning for this for weeks. They had prepped by making lots and lots of paper cranes. For those of you who have read Linger, you will get the significance of the paper cranes. Janelle and I helped Alethea decorate the store with balloons and cranes. Here is Alethea with a string of cranes.



Thanks to a number of fans who arrived early, we were able to finish putting up all the cranes in time for Maggie's visit. Participants were also encouraged to bring fan art for a contest.



I was excited to have an opportunity to hang with the staff in the back while Maggie signed stock copies of Shiver and Linger. Here we all are just before Maggie went out to meet all her fans. (From left to right:Janelle, Lita, Maggie, Amber, Alethea, and me.)



Maggie did a phenomenal job entertaining everyone. She has these amazing stories, a great sense of humor and wonderful rapport with her fans. I wasn't able to figure out how to edit my video clip or I would have inserted it into this post. Imagine Maggie doing a "stand-up comedy routine." Yah, it was funnier in person. :-)

Maggie, Amber, and Lita were the judges for the fan art contest. There was art work, a film poster, edible art (cupcakes) and one fan even wrote and sang a song. She was really good (and brave to sing in front of everyone). One lucky winner won all 4 of Maggie's books. Isn't her work beautiful?!



Anyway, I had a blast at the signing. Not only did I get my books signed by Maggie, but I got a paper crane signed, and my ARC of Linger signed, too. Of course, I got to hang with new and old friends and meet one of my favorite authors. Here I am with Maggie and my friend Juli.



To celebrate the release of Linger, I am giving away my signed ARC (it has been gently read). You can read my review here.

To enter the contest please complete the entry form (<-- click here).

Rules:
1. All entrants must be 13 or older.
2. International participants are welcome to enter.
3. You will get one entry for commenting about why you want to win a copy of Linger and completing the entry form. (Note: both are required to officially enter)
4. Ways to earn additional entries (and increase your opportunity of winning): Tweet this contest, flow this blog, post it on your blog sidebar or facebook page.

Contest ends on Wednesday, August 4, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. PDT.

Good luck with the contest.
- Aly

Book Review: Chasing Brooklyn

Author: Lisa Schroeder
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (January 10, 2010)
Pages: 412
Reading Level: YA
Source: Own

Description from GoodReads:
Restless souls and empty hearts.

Brooklyn can’t sleep. Her boyfriend, Lucca died a year ago, and now their friend Gabe has died of an overdose. Every time she closes her eyes, Gabe's ghost is there, waiting for her. She has no idea what he wants or why it isn't Lucca chasing her through her dreams.

Nico can’t stop. He’s always running, trying so hard not to feel the pain of missing Lucca. But when he begins receiving messages from his dead brother, telling him to help Brooklyn, emotions come crashing to the surface.

As the nightmares escalate and the messages become relentless, Nico reaches out to Brooklyn. But neither of them can admit that they're being haunted. Until they learn to let each other in, not one soul will be able to rest.


A few months ago I read and reviewed Lisa Schroeder’s IT’S RAINING CUPCAKES. You can read my review here. I had her YA books I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME and FAR FROM YOU and CHASING BROOKLYN on my TBR list. In preparation for her book signing at Vroman’s (check out my post on her visit here), I delved into I HEART YOU and found myself completely absorbed in Ava’s story. It was my first novel in verse and I had been hesitant to read “novels in verse” before since I tend to really not like poetry. Yet Schroeder managed to capture the emotions and mood with amazing clarity and depth. I wanted to go around handing out copies of it because it was such a powerful little story.

Next I quickly picked up FAR FROM YOU and found myself just as absorbed. I kept thinking I need to go to sleep and instead I kept turning pages wanting to know what was going to happen to Ali and her family. The emotions and feelings so real but tapered with so much hope.

I saved CHASING BROOKLYN until after Lisa’s signing. I discovered from listening to her talk about how her books came about that CHASING BROOKLYN is technically a companion novel to I HEART YOU. Schroeder indicated that her editor felt that Ava from the first book was left in a good place and was there another story that could be explored. The result was Schroeder’s story of Nico and Brooklyn which became a gift for fans of I HEART YOU. Set in the same world the story further explores loss, love, grief, and healing from a slightly different angle. Without spoiling the story for anyone, Brooklyn’s boyfriend Lucca died in a car accident. As she struggles to deal with her loss, Lucca’s brother Nico reaches out to her based on what he believes is the prompting of his brother. I will stop there because anything further will spoil it for you. However, I will say, I have a new fictional crush – Nico has some wonderful qualities and he cooks.

It was fun to watch Schroeder’s growth as a writer but how throughout all 3 books you see these deep emotions that are so beautifully paired with a message of hope. I would highly recommend her books to any teen and even reluctant readers will find her stories easy to read but with powerful lessons/messages. I have also mentioned Schroeder’s books to several counselors that I know because of the topics and how I can see the books being beneficial to a reader who is dealing with loss and grief.

I am already pining for Schroeder’s next book which she hasn’t even finished writing, but until then, I just might have to re-read Chasing Brooklyn.

As a special treat to readers of our blog, I asked Lisa Schroeder to sign a copy of CHASING BROOKLYN that I could give away in a contest. You have a chance to win a signed hard cover copy of CHASING BROOKLYN, a postcard showing all three covers, and an I HEART YOU bookmark.

To Enter the Contest:
1. You must fill out the form below.
2. You must be 14 years or older to enter the contest.
3. You must submit the form prior to 11:59 p.m. PDT on Sunday, July 11, 2010
For Extra Entries:
- Leave a comment in the comment section about why you want to read Chasing Brooklyn (1 extra entry)
- Tweet it, Blog about it, or post it on your blog or Facebook page (each item will earn you 2 extra entries)
- Follow the Blog (New followers will get 1 extra entry, Current Followers will get 2 extra entries)

Click Here to Complete the Entry Form

And the winner is....

Last week, I reviewed Shannon Delany's debut novel 13 to Life. At the end, I gave everyone a chance to win a copy of her new book which will be released on Tuesday, June 22nd. After a week of comments and tweets, I selected a winner. Well actually my 9 year old niece selected the winner.

Here is how we selected a winner:
1. I assigned each person who commented on the review and tweeted about the contest a number.

2. I wrote the numbers and names on small slips of paper and placed them all in a bag.

3. After mixing, and mixing, and mixing up the numbers, my niece pulled out a winner.

And the winner of 13 to Life by Shannon Delany is Cynthia (@cynthia11).

Thank you everyone who participated. I had a lot of fun with this contest and I know Shannon is excited about how much interest there is in her book.

Congratulations! Cynthia you have till tomorrow to claim your prize and then I will be off to pop it in the mail. You may email me at alybee930@gmail.com

-aly

SPILLING INK: One Classroom's Journey In Writing

"I love this book, Spilling Ink. It makes me laugh." - Cierra, age 11

What do you get when you take one enthusiastic teacher, an involved principal, 31 sixth graders, two authors and a book about writing? A recipe for success.

At the beginning of the school year, I decided to challenge my sixth graders to read more books. My students do not come from homes where there are an abundance of books. Nor do they necessarily even have adults who model reading. Thus began my weekly book chats and read alouds in their classroom. As I shared books that I had read over the past week, I discovered how motivating it is for them to read what the principal is reading. Consequently, my office became a branch of the school library where students began checking out books from my personal collection.

One of our discoveries was Ellen Potter’s book SLOB and I shared with them my correspondence with the author herself. As I got to know Ellen and then her friend and sometime writing partner Anne Mazer (author of the Abby Hayes, Sister Magic Series and my personal fav – Salamander Room), I continued to update my students on my conversations. At the same time, I shared my students’ reactions with Ellen and Anne. I also offered to try some of the writing activities from SPILLING INK with my students.

Naturally, when Ellen and Anne sent me a couple of ARC’s of their new book SPILLING INK, I immediately shared it with my sixth graders. Despite having heard about my emails with the authors, seeing the actual book and knowing that the authors sent it to us transformed Anne and Ellen from just names on the cover of a book. Here were authors that had an interest in them and wanted to know what these students thought about their book. I discussed the possibility of trying out the activities from SPILLING INK with the classroom teacher, Mrs. Debbie, who enthusiastically embraced the challenge. Nearly overnight, the teacher had organized journals for each student. She copied the Official Writer’s Permission Slip (Ch. 1) for everyone and began to introduce lessons to the classroom.



Debbie began by having children write on all types of paper from scraps to napkins to sticky notes to illustrate the point Anne makes about not needing fancy equipment (p.2). She then had them attach the pieces of paper to their journal. In an effort to tie the writing activities into the curriculum, she helped them relate Anne’s comments about “writer’s gold” and dreams in Chapter 3 Inspirations with a lesson they were doing about Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” and then write their own dreams. She was amazed at how enthusiastically her students embraced the writing activities. According to Debbie, “My students are beginning to see that they are writers even the ones that didn’t believe that they were writers.”

For both Debbie and I, it has been exciting especially to see our English Language Learners who struggle to write finally overcome their fear of writing. SPILLING INK’s “give yourself permission to write anything” writing activities have given them the freedom to write without the fear of making mistakes or worrying about being graded. In the past, writing caused many of them to become anxious and nervous. Students worried about making mistakes or needing to write to a specific standard. Debbie indicated that they are now interested in writing and even ask when they will be doing more of the writing exercises from the book. Marissa, age 11, recently shared “When I heard my teacher say that we were going to do the activities I was mad but not anymore. Now when she tells us ‘get your journals out’ I take it out like there’s no tomorrow.”

As I have watched Debbie read portions of the book out loud to her students, I notice that there is a sense that the class has a personal connection to the writers. Anne recommends this or Ellen suggests that. Even the classroom teacher has embraced the humor and dramatic style of the book into her presentation of the lessons providing more motivation. Jeniffer, age 11, said “The most enjoyable thing was how my teacher read it. I enjoyed Spilling Ink.”

Tomorrow – An interview with the authors of SPILLING INK and their reactions to the writing workshops at our school.


The Contest
Ellen and Anne have graciously offered up a signed ARC of SPILLING INK as a giveaway. In order to win the signed copy, you need to do the following…

Try out one of the following dares listed below (you are on an honor system here) and tell us about it in the comment section.

• Dare #1 Baking Characters From Scratch – Think of six qualities for a character and write a recipe for him or her using the model above. For example, 5 cups of cocky attitude, sifted; 2 cups of loyalty to friends; 2 tablespoons of insecurity about big feet, etc. (Ch. 4, p. 23)

•Dare #2 Heart’s Desire – Make a list of all the things you want. Pick one of the items from your list and write a short scene in which you try out one of those ideas. What happens? (Ch. 4. P. 29)

•Dare #3 Descriptions: Describe the color yellow to someone who cannot see. Get creative. (Ch. 13, p.134)

Note: All Dares and page references are taken directly from the Advanced Readers' Copy of Spilling Ink by Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter.

You have until Wednesday, February 17, 2010 to enter. Please leave an email address or your twitter name so that we can notify you if you win.

Have fun and until Thursday,
Aly

Beautiful Creatures Swag Winners - Congratulations!

We are excited to announce that we have two winners in the Beautiful Creatures Swag Contest. All of the names were assigned a number and then the numbers were put into a container and two were selected. Winners were number 4 (Tiffany) and number 7 (Mitsie). Congratulations to our lucky winners. Your packages will arrive as soon as I can make it to the post office (hopefully on Monday if the snow doesn't have me stuck somewhere). Thank you for everyone who commented and waited patiently. This was our first contest so we are learning. We are hoping to have some new contests in 2010. Keep following along for more reviews and more contests.

Happy Holidays everyone!
-Aly