Banned Books Week: Debs Speak Loudly

Posted on September 27, 2010 by Megan

Graphics from ALA

Last week I blogged about Wesley Scroggins editorial in which he called for the removal of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, “a book called Slaughterhouse Five” (’cause, yanno, you might not have heard of this Kurt Vonnegut guy) and Sarah Ockler’s Twenty Boy Summer from the schools and curriculum in his local schools. An editor’s note reported that superintendent of the Republic said that Twenty Boy Summer was under review, while Slaughterhouse Five had been removed from the curriculum.

I explained in my previous post why I think Ockler’s book is so amazing. Scroggins at best grossly misinterpreted it and, at worst, is purposefully misrepresenting it. Either way, we fellow Debs took this attack personally. But, organized by Saundra Mitchell, we are taking the high ground and we’re giving readers a chance to decide for themselves what they think about Sarah’s book. Debs Speak Loudly is a chance for you to win one of 100 copies of Twenty Boy Summer donated by us and Sarah’s publisher, Little Brown. So head over to the post and leave a comment — it’s as easy as that to enter!

Stacey Jay is Awesome

Posted on April 12, 2010 by Megan

And she is releasing more zombies on the world! In her latest, My So-Called Death, is the story of freshman Karen Vera. One second, Karen’s on top of the most fabulous cheer pyramid ever. The next, she’s lying on the pavement with seriously unflattering cranial damage. Freakishly alive without a pulse, Karen learns that she’s a genetically undead zombie. Suddenly, Karen’s non-life is an epic disaster. She’s forced to attend a boarding school for the “death-challenged,” her roommate is a hateful wannabe-Goth weirdo, and she’s chowing down on animal brains every day to prevent rot (um, ew?). Even worse, someone is attacking students and harvesting their brains for a forbidden dark ritual. And it might be the hottest guy at DEAD High, the one who makes Karen’s non-beating heart flutter! Armed with a perky smile and killer fashion sense, it’s up to Karen to track down the brain snatcher and save her fellow students from certain zombie death.

To get to know more about what inspires her and and her characters, I asked what her main character’s theme song would be. Here’s what Stacey had to say:

Karen Vera’s theme song would probably be something like “Because I’m Awesome” by the Dollyrots. Karen has a very high opinion of her talents and abilities, but is also able to poke fun at herself, which I think makes her a character who’s fun to laugh “at” and “with”.

You can get My So-Called Death from Amazon, your local indie book store (Stacey recommends Lemuria Books in Jackson, Mississippi), or your library.

ALA Midwinter in Boston

Posted on January 19, 2010 by Megan

One of the cool things about being an author and a librarian is that when ALA has conventions, I get to see my library peeps and my author peeps. And my current peeps introduce me to new peeps. (All this talk of peeps and libraries reminds me of one of my favorite sites.)

On Friday, I did a workshop about standards for school library media programs that was awesome. It was led by Pam Berger, who was just fantastic. Then I went to the author panel with Eric Van Lustbader, Chuck Hogan, Tracy Chevalier, and Julie Powell. Ostensibly it was about books into movies, but they talked about all sorts of things. As a new author, I found it fascinating and reassuring when they talked about reviews. Except for Lustbader, who insisted he didn’t read his I should have taken notes and written down quotes because they were interesting. Chevalier talked about how the reviews balanced her, since most people who write to her or come to her events like the books. Both she and Hogan mentioned that they wished they could learn something from them, which is one of the fallacies of book reviewing, I think, that the author will read it, incorporate it, and somehow improve their work.

Continue reading →

Debs Pageant: Mandy Hubbard

Posted on June 30, 2009 by Megan

In Secrets of Truth & Beauty, Dara is a former child pageant star. So, in order to introduce you to the wonderful authors and characters of the 2009 Debutantes, I am hosting a Debs Pageant on my blog.

Today’s pageant contestant is Callie from Mandy Hubbard’s Prada & Prejudice. Interesting bit of trivia: Mandy has actually been in a pageant. So, with an expert in our midst, let’s begin today’s pageant!

Character name: Callie Montgomery
Age:15
Biography: I’m a sophomore in high school. I’m super smart (science and math are a total breeze).

What is your talent? I play “Chopsticks” on the piano.

What will you wear for the evening dress competition? A period gown from 1815. It’s emergald green satin.

Who is your escort? Alexander Thornton-Hawke, the Duke of Harksbury. He looks killer in a tux.

And now for the interview portion . . .Callie, you’ve had the chance to live in two worlds — our own and 1815. If you could change one thing about the world of 1815, what would it be? In 1815, girls don’t have a voice– not even when its about who they’ll marry! My friend Emily is being forced to marry a fifty year old Baron. EWW! So now its up to me to show people that she should be able to marry the guy she loves, whether her dad likes him or not.

Thank you Callie and Mandy!

Visit Mandy at her website. You can order Prada & Prejudice on Amazon, or buy it from your local independent bookstore.

Debs Pageant: Cyn Balog

Posted on June 24, 2009 by Megan

Just yesterday Cyn Balog’s Fairy Tale was released, and today we get to meet Cam Brown (yay! a boy!)

fairytale Character name: Cam Browne
Age: 16
Biography: Grew up a regular guy, voted most popular, Junior Varsity quarterback, recently became King of Otherworld.

What is your talent? Making things materialize out of thin air.

What will you wear for the evening dress competition? Gold lame hotpants. Um, actually, probably a tuxedo.

Who is your escort? Dawn, since I can’t seem to shake her.

And now for the interview portion . . . If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be? I’d make 8:55 am HEAD NOOGY TIME, so that at that minute of the day, everyone must stop what they’re doing and just give whoever they’re with a Head Noogy.

Thank you Cam and Cyn!

If you want to find out more about Cyn or Fairy Tale, please visit her website.

You can order Fairy Tale through Amazon, but why not support your local independent bookstore? Cyn recommends Harleysville Books, Harleysville PA!

Debs Pageant: Cynthea Liu

Posted on June 19, 2009 by Megan

Avery from Dull Boy totally ditched the pageant to save the world or something, but luckily we have another contestant lined up for this week: Paris Pan from Cynthea Liu’s Paris Pan Takes the Dare.

Character name: Paris Pan
Age: 12
Biography: Awkward, but extremely bright, smart-mouthed 12-year-old yearning to be free.

What is your talent?
I am excellent at drawing bad facsimiles of horses.

What will you wear for the evening dress competition?
Hopefully nothing as tasteless as my sister Verona would wear. But most-likely a second-hand outfit from her closet anyway.

Who is your escort?
Why, Tom, of course.

And now for the interview portion . . . what’s the biggest challenge facing today’s youth?
People my age spend way too much time torturing each other versus enjoying each other’s company. We could also make the world a better place by removing the words Freak, Stupid, and Brain-Damaged from our vocabulary. Thank you.

Thank you Paris and Cynthea!

Paris has a big heart, and so does her creator. Cynthea is hosting an online launch party at her website: Take the Dare, Show you Care! She is raising money for a Title I school in her home state of Oklahoma: Tulakes Elementary. So head on over and enjoy the party while supporting a great cause.

Debs Pageant: Sarah Cross

Posted on June 17, 2009 by Megan

dullboy Today we have Avery from Sarah Cross’s Dull Boy.

First a bit of background . . .

About Dull Boy

Superpowers are awesome — unless you actually have them, like Avery does. There’s only so much he can pass off as “adrenaline” before people start to get suspicious. Probably it’s best to lie low, so guys in white lab coats don’t come to carry him away, to find out what makes his freakish body tick. Who wants to be vivisected? But flying under the radar becomes a whole lot harder when you can actually fly. It’s dangerous to be different, so for now he’ll pretend to be normal, unremarkable Avery — a dull boy — anything to keep his secret safe.

What he doesn’t expect is the horrifying truth about where his powers came from, who else might have them, and the madness of one villain’s plan to turn this superpowered dull boy into something even more powerful and amazing.

About Sarah Cross

Sarah Cross has saved the world, like, five times since fifth grade — and you didn’t even notice. Learn her secrets at www.sarahcross.com.

And now for Avery!

Avery? Avery?

Hmm, well, it seems that Avery was called away on an unexpected emergency. Hopefully we’ll be hearing from him soon!

In the meantime, stay tuned for Paris Pan in the pageant on Friday.

Debs Pageant: Sarah Ockler

Posted on June 13, 2009 by Megan

20boy Today I am very excited to introduce you to a character from Sarah Ockler’s 20 Boy Summer. Not only is she a fantastic author who is rightfully drawing comparisons to Sarah Dessen, but also she is the one who organized this whole Debs Blog Tour.

Character name: Frankie Perino
Age: 16
Biography: I’m main character Anna’s best friend. Since my brother Matt died last year, things have been really tough on everyone, and kind of weird between Anna and me. I’m really hoping our trip this summer will help her forget stuff and bring us closer again.

What is your talent? Definitely fashion and makeup. At least, those are the things that come easy for me, and that people expect me to be good at. I would love to sing, though no one has ever heard me. Well, just Matt, but he’s not here anymore.

What will you wear for the evening dress competition? Something tight and silver, long, flashy but not trashy, you know? I definitely need to look hot in this thing, but I don’t want to look, like, overdone.

Who is your escort? Can I pick my BFF Anna? Honestly I’m so tired of guys right now that I’d rather spend the night hanging out with my best girlfriend, even if I am in the hottest dress of the season.

And now for the interview portion . . . What’s the biggest challenge facing today’s youth?
The biggest challenge facing today’s youth is finding a way to be ourselves without fear of judgment. After my brother died, most of my friendships died, too. Everyone thought I didn’t want to talk about Matt, so they stopped asking about him, and the more I tried to find meaning in my life, the more unconnected – I mean, disconnected – I felt. It’s really hard to figure out how to be a “normal teen” when the meaning of “normal” keeps changing, and then when something crazy happens in your life, everyone seems to judge without asking. So it gets easier to live up to those judgments and bury the real you somewhere deep inside. I don’t mean to make this all about me. I see the same thing going on with all of my former friends. They’re all acting out these roles, like ways they think people want them to act, but I can see the truth in their eyes. I know how to look for it now — that look, I mean — because it’s the same one staring back at me every morning in the mirror. We’ve all got a long way to go before we can figure out how to be ourselves. Ugh. Listen to me going off. Anyway, how is this dress working out? Anna and I really know how to rock metallics, right?!

Thanks Frankie and Sarah!

If you want to find out more about Sarah, please visit her website.

To purchase her book, you can order it from Barnes & Noble, or go to your local bookstore. I asked Sarah for a bookstore recommendation, and here’s what she said:

If you’re in the Buffalo area, check out B is for Books in Orchard Park, NY. It’s an indie specializing in books for teens and kids, and Jane (the owner) is wonderful. We’re doing a Twenty Boy Summer Girls Day at the store on June 25, and I can’t wait! We’re going to make sea glass jewelry and drink lemonade and talk about books — yay! B is for Books is truly a great shop!

So shuffle off to Buffalo everyone!

Debs Pageant: J.E. MacLeod

Posted on May 23, 2009 by Megan

It’s a busy week for the Debs Pageant, but today we have something extra exciting . . . it’s a boy! Zack from J.E. MacLeod’s debut Waiting to Score to be exact.

Character name: Zachary Chase. aka- Zack or Zack Attack.
Age: 15 1/2
Biography: Zack is a guy with mad hockey skills. His mom wants him to play professionally, but he’s conflicted by the fact that his dad was a professional hockey player who died on the road with a car full of groupies. He doesn’t want to turn out like that. Zack is searching for who HE is and sometimes the answer scares him.

What is your talent?
Most people would say it’s hockey. But I play a mean guitar, and I sing.

What will you wear for the evening dress competition?
Dude. I will not be wearing a dress that’s for sure.
I have a suit my Mom bought for me. It’s cool. I’d wear that.

Who is your escort?
Jane. Though getting her in a dress is not going to happen. Trust me.

And now for the interview portion . . .What’s the biggest challenge facing today’s youth?
Owning up to who we are. Everyone wants us to be someone, our parents, our teachers. We have to figure out who we really are and roll with that.

Thanks J.E. and Zack!

For more about J.E. MacLeod, please visit her website. You can buy Waiting to Score from Amazon or your local independent book store.

Debs Pageant: Leigh Brescia

Posted on May 21, 2009 by Megan

onewish Today’s contestant comes from Leigh Brescia’s One Wish.

Character name: Wrenn Scott
Age: 16
Biography: I’m your average (fairly neurotic) 16-year old who decided to step out of the shadows and into the spotlight when I tried out for the high school musical. I live at home with my mom and sister (who is more popular than I will ever be). Every now and then (okay, more often than I’d like) Phil stops by. Phil is the balding, air-time selling, antique lunch box collector my mom happens to adore. As it is, I’m happy where I am and taking things a day at a time.

What is your talent? Singing

What will you wear for the evening dress competition? A little black dress

Who is your escort? This would be considered a *spoiler* . . . and I’m still working on him.

And now for the interview portion . . . What’s the biggest challenge facing today’s youth?
For girls, especially, it’s our body image and general acceptance of ourselves. We have to compete with models and actresses with perfect bodies . . . and that ideal isn’t always attainable. We should be happy in the skin we are in and love everyone for who they are.

Thanks Leigh and Wrenn!

To find out more about Leigh, visit her website.

If you want to get your hands on One Wish, and you know you do, you can order it from Amazon, or go to your local independent bookstore.

Megan Frazer Blakemore

Tag Archives: Debs