Adele's Three Challenges of YA Blogging

As a newbie to YA blogger-world I have decided to jump in with both feet and sign up for some challenges. As this is my pioneer attempt, I have decided to sign up for only three challenges and keep it achievable.

CHALLENGE 1

I have already started the first, initiated by Steph (aka Reviewer X) and Taren (The Chick Manifesto ) . Their 2009 challenge was to read eleven VC Andrews titles before the end of the year. Having just started My Sweet Audrina, I realise that I hadn't fully comprehended how difficult this task might be. I was a voracious fan when I was younger, but like Audrina, obviously blocked out the trauma of it all. I can't wait to report back on my trek into the twisted mind of Miss Virginia Andrews.

CHALLENGE 2

The second, I signed up for today over at The Story Siren. Having been in my own little bubble here in Oz I realised I wasn't getting reading as many debut authors as I would like. I have kept my goal pretty darned small, twelve books over the year. My own personal spin is to try and ensure that half of these are written by my fellow countrymen (or women).

CHALLENGE 3

I haven't signed up for a third yet. I want to get the lay of the land, so to speak. If you have any suggestions make sure you leave a comment.

Kiss My Book / Jamie Michaels

Summary - Ruby Crane is a rising star. At 15, she sold her first book, got a movie deal, scored the hottest guy in school, and became the most popular student at Frasier High. Now, as a soon-to-be junior and published author, she's ready to make waves in New York's literary world. But every star falls back to earth one day.

Ruby's accused of plagiarism - on national television. And the worst part is that the proof of her literary lies is indisputable.Her friends won't return her phone calls. Her boyfriend's gone AWOL. The media vultures are flying low, and they want answers. So Ruby does what any self-respecting headline would do. She disappears. And that's when her story really begins.

Review - You know how sometimes someone can be speechless because they are so overwhelmed by the artistry of a painting or an author's words? This isn't the case with this book. I am speechless because I am very unsure as to how this got published in the first place.

This novel features a storyline about a girl who gets caught out having plagarised another author's work. I was never going to feel sorry for this protagonist. I feel that plagarism might have been a better option than this "original" dreck. If this book were a movie, it would feature a green screen with paper dolls before it. That's the amount of character development and detail you get.

Anything positive? I somehow managed to finish reading it and you can all benefit from my advice to avoid it like the plague.

And I am done.






Published: 2007
Format: Paperback , 288 pages
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Younger Readers
Origin: USA

Introducing ... Persnickety Snark

Persnickety Snark ... meaning snobbish and snide

Well that's not my actual intent with this site - although my favourite word is persnickety and I have my fair share of snark in my vocabulary. This is meant to be a place to read reviews on YA novels. As I am Australian, I am hoping to bring more Australian YA authors to the notice of others. This site will post reviews of new and classic YA books, reader profiles, live chats and (hopefully) an author interview or two.

Most of you would know me from my responses to Sarah Dessen's novels over at The Sarah Dessen Diarist - whether the site or the podcast. This is my attempt to separate my love of YA books with my particular fascination with Sarah Dessen's works.

As some of you know, I am a teacher. The school year hasn't started Down Under yet but I am hoping to persuade some of my students to contribute reviews, thoughts and artwork on books that impact them. If you would like to contribute a review or artwork, then send it into me at p.snark[AT] gmail.com.

I hope this is the start of an uber-cool journey together.