John Green - Dreams & Librarian Scrums

Recently someone asked me about my John Green dream.When they mentioned it...I honestly had a blank moment. It took me a few seconds to realise what they were talking about and to mentally note that they must really know their way around Persnickety Snark (this was a post in the early, no one was reading days).

And then I remembered.

For those of you unaware this is my recollection at the time -

Last night I dreamed that John Green swung by this blog and commented about it at Sparks Fly Up.

Awesome huh? Not so much.

Turns out my inability to detect typos came into play. Dream John read one of my posts and quoted it on his blog to ridicule my poor grammar. Dream John humiliated me...and my poor typing ability. (Dream analysis might say that my role as a teacher, my marking of my students and my admiration for the real JG manifested itself in me taking the student role and JG the teacher. Or I might be mental. You choose.)

Sigh. Dream John, I thought you were better than that!

Now to put this in perspective...this was my first month blogging. I had only just realised who John Green was (completely slow on the uptake I know) and had fallen into (what I like to call) a lit crush. I define a lit crush as equal parts admiration and desperation...on my part.

Despite my lit crush, I had taken to calling John Green 'The Grammar Nazi'. I know it was a dream but it was pretty darned convincing.

Two days later he somehow found the blog (probably Google alerts - can you imagine the length of that daily email alert?) and commented. JOHN GREEN COMMENTED ON MY BLOG.

He contributed this:

At no time in a million years would I ever do such a thing! (My grammar-and-spelling house is made of too much glass for me to be throwing stones.)

Glad I could popped up in your dreamscape. Next time, I'll try to be nicer! -John

I had been blogging approximately twenty days at that point. You would have thought I'd be happy.

No.

I was mortified.

You would have thought that it would have ended there.

Oh - - how I wish it had.

Six months later I was attending the Reader Matters conference in Melbourne. There was a plethora of Australian and international authors in attendance...including John Green. At this point I had read all his work and was pretty well versed on John Green - The Author, The Nerdfigher, The Geek.

I was attending the friendly drinks portion of the first night, meeting many authors for the first time and some of the publicists I have been emailing for months. The Random House ladies were particularly nice, folding me under their awesome wings and allowing me to feel less like a loser. It took an hour and two ladies (YA author Sue Lawson and Kristen Young) to convince me to approach the scrum that had surrounded John Green and perhaps exchange some words.

I was not confident. Reading Matters is largely attended by librarians and if I had a JG lit crush, then they were at Stage 5 of whatever is the next step up. I stood in the circle that he was a part of (I had a fleeting thought that someone might break into the worm in its centre but then I realised librarians probably don't have those kind of moves) and waited. I said nothing for awhile. Those of you who know me in real life would be shocked.

I wasn't in awe (though the man is impressive, or was impressively struck with jet lag), just biding my time. The bright moment was Judith Ridge, who was also into the mix. I do believe that she allowed me the opening to introduce myself or she introduced me to him...it's a bit fuzzy. All I know is that Judith was a book-godsend, as she always is.

I finally had worked my way next to him and had my moment. What is the first thing I say?

You guessed it.

"I had a dream about you once."

I am blushing just thinking about it now. I sounded like a freaking obsessed stalker who probably wanted to sniff him and grab a sample of his hair.

Of course he didn't remember. I hadn't expected him to. I managed to regroup and we had a short conversation about Maureen Johnson's 13 Little Blue Envelopes (my thoughts here, I was honest) and YouTube. John was excited because he was soon going to met Natalie from the Community Channel. I knew who she was and we were able to talk about the very cool material Natalie puts out into the Internets.

But then a lady approached.

To say 'approached' would be kind. There was an aggressiveness to her approach and she did stand in between John and myself. I had probably been monopolising him so I don't blame her for this at all. John and I were still talking and she interrupted to ask something along the lines of - what's YouTube?

All the mortification that I have suffered was immediately gone when John Green and I shared a glance after this statement. Someone had humiliated themselves more in his presence than I had - the world had righted itself :)

The next day he was on stage with the fantastic James Roy and their hour long discussion of Twilight, Hunting Elephants and John's various works was fantastic. Not only that but I got to ask a question where James made a little to-do about me being the blogger behind Persnickety Snark (which no one knew about) and they kept repeating the title of the blog between them for fun. I have never been so happy to have named my blog Persnickety Snark.

I really wish I had an audio recording of that.

Later I waited in line for my copy of An Abundance of Katherines to be signed. John remembered me - "ahhh Persnickety Snark". Not as the weird spazz who'd mentioned her dream about him but as the blogger who asked a question during the panel (even though I had been in the tiered seating very far away from stage). Not only that, he remembered the blog's name.

It made it all worth it. He wouldn't remember any of this. Accumulatively this was maybe five minutes of my life. It is just cool that I remember it!

And that is the story of my John Green dream.

Review - Audrey, Wait! / Robin Benway

California high school student Audrey Cuttler dumps self-involved Evan, the lead singer of a little band called The Do-Gooders. Evan writes, "Audrey, Wait!," a break-up song that's so good it rockets up the billboard charts. And Audrey is suddenly famous!

Now rabid fans are invading her school. People is running articles about her arm-warmers. The lead singer of the Lolitas wants her as his muse. (And the Internet is documenting her every move!) Audrey can't hang out with her best friend or get with her new crush without being mobbed by fans and paparazzi.

Take a wild ride with Audrey as she makes headlines, has outrageous amounts of fun, confronts her ex on MTV, and gets the chance to show the world who she really is. Penguin

Review - This is the debut novel from Robin Benway and I think she really hit the pool with a huge bombs-away. I loved how much life, vitality and kick-ass attitude is embedded in this book. I felt like I was chatting with a girlfriend as it was honestly, a really sparky (for lack of a better word)read.

The protagonist, Audrey, is the girl I would love to have been in high school, or even now. She is fiery, confident and a possesses a somewhat scary need to collage her bedroom walls. Unlike many protagonists, she actually has functional relationships with family and friends and is secure in herself. That is until she breaks up with her boyfriend, Evan, who then writes a stellar song about her treatment of him, which then results in the band being signed and the song becoming an international hit.

The novel shows the affect this large scale popularity, fame and celebrity status has upon your identity, the people you love and your privacy. Benway's careful to depict the perks (of which Audrey's BF is quick to seize) and the costs of such attention. It hurts to see this character, who wants nothing of the fame, to repeatedly fall victim to circumstances she has no control over. The positive and negative attention received has quite a corrosive affect on her life but throughout Benway's portrays Audrey as someone sticking to her guns and keeping a firm grip on who she wants to be, rather than the unflattering and unfair portrayal in the song. It's always great to see a strong female protagonist and this one was more likable than most. I would like her as a friend to make me awesome mixed CDs.

The supporting characters are divine. The friendship between Audrey and Victoria has the histrionics, humour and shorthand that a true camaraderie would possess. You can definitely feel the love that the author has for this BF and I was not surprised to hear that Benway based Victoria upon her own BF, Adriana.

I found that I really related to the character of James, Audrey's co-worker at Scooper Dooper and potential love interest. There is a dearth of red headed leading men in literature; I am glad that Benway has stepped into the breach and made an attempt to fix this. I liked that Audrey's interactions with him were characterised by their quietness and compatibility, rather than miscommunications and blow ups. Most of all, I liked that her parents, though a little out of the loop, weren't depicted as stereotypical, demon parents.

This novel was an exceptionally quick read for me. The pace is smooth and event filled with great characters (none of which are cliched) that you are really rooting for. The themes of love, friendship, celebrity and identity are strongly represented and Benway write with an enthusiastic sometimes bent way of seeing the world that is entertaining and a little intoxicating. I will definitely be checking out this author's sophomoric effort!

Published: April 10 2008
Format: Paperback , 320 pages
Publisher: Razorbill
Source: purchased
Origin: USA

Overlooked - Love You Hate You Miss You

I am disappointed.

I don't know Elizabeth Scott all that well. We've traded emails when we've scheduled interviews or I've been fortunate enough to win one of her competitions.

But I feel like I know her. Her author photo endeared her to me. Her blog makes me a more knowledgeable participant in the YA-world. Her vlogs make me feel like I've had a conversation with her. It's completely superficial but her books make me feel like I know her as a friend. None of this is fact, it's all feeling.

But Elizabeth Scott makes me feel good just knowing she's out there (and on the shelves.)

And bad.

She's like a writing machine...or it seems like that. By the end of this year she will have had eight titles published inside of four years. Really quite impressive when you think of it. She's often compared to Sarah Dessen, who is more widely recognised, and I don't believe it does Scott that much justice.

Yes, Scott writes lovely little contemporary romance driven YA like Bloom, Something, Maybe, The Unwritten Rule or Perfect You. But she's more than that. Living Dead Girl and the upcoming Grace are indications of that - she's not afraid to tackle raw, challenging and frankly troubling subject matter.

But I am not going to speak about any of those titles. Though I am very curious to read Grace which comes out later this year.

I want to talk about Love You Hate You Miss You that was published last year (as is out in paperback now). Released only two months after Something, Maybe it didn't make the splash that it deserved in the YA blogosphere or in the general reading community. I figure the combination of close release dates might have impacted the attention that was swung in this books direction - though I am positive not one Scott-fan had a problem with two titles appearing in such a small time frame. Love You Hate You Miss You is my favourite Scott novel and it seemingly melted away into the ether. I have no facts or figures to back this up, only my feelings.

It disappointed me greatly.

Scott isn't afraid to try new things. She reminds me of Melina Marchetta in the way she challenges herself to flit from genre to genre, tone to tone, and doing all with great success. Even better (with the exception to Living Dead Girl) they all incorporate humour in a way that remains true to the protagonist, the reader and the teen experience.

I am not going to go on and on about Love You Hate You Miss You. I could relate it somewhat to Courtney Summers work but that wouldn't be fair to either of them - comparisons only get a reader so far. We've seen many a mean girl in YA of late but the experience of LYHYMY's mean girl is unique. The parental situation alone in this book is startlingly different. They make an impact immediately. There's the extremely realistic teen boy who speaks very little...you know, like every guy you've known at school? And yet, Scott managed to make a relationship develop authentically without springing a personality shift on the kid. The protagonist is also a red head, that's something I can get behind :) More than anything it depicts teens as fallible creatures that make mistakes time and time again. It's cynical and raw and brittle - it was my kind of read. You can read my review here for more of my thoughts but I hope I have intrigued you enough as it is.

Love You Hate You Miss You made my top ten reads of 2009. At the time I called it:

Elizabeth Scott is fantastic at the warm, amusing romantic reads but LYHYMY has bite. Amy is a brittle and hurt young woman who's best friend died tragically. It's in working through her grief, guilt and anger that she is able to grow. One of the most interesting depictions of parents in recent years.

So I ask...have you read Love You Hate You Miss You?

Book Depository
Amazon
IndieBound

Review - Finnikin of the Rock / Melina Marchetta

Finnikin of the Rock and his guardian, Sir Topher, have not been home to their beloved Lumatere for ten years. Not since the dark days when the royal family was murdered and the kingdom put under a terrible curse. But then Finnikin is summoned to meet Evanjalin, a young woman with an incredible claim: the heir to the throne of Lumatere, Prince Balthazar, is alive.

Evanjalin is determined to return home and she is the only one who can lead them to the heir. As they journey together, Finnikin is affected by her arrogance . . . and her hope. He begins to believe he will see his childhood friend, Prince Balthazar, again. And that their cursed people will be able to enter Lumatere and be reunited with those trapped inside. He even believes he will find his imprisoned father.

But Evanjalin is not what see seems. And the truth will test not only Finnikin's faith in her . . . but in himself. Penguin

Review - I am an ardent Melina Marchetta worshipper for many years. Actually I have been since her debut novel, Looking for Alibrandi, was published in 1992 - I know I am revealing my age but oh phooey! Despite my love, I was immeditately wary when I saw that this novel fell within the fantasy genre. Now I don't want to be a book snob but the only fantasy I have really enjoyed are authored by Tamora Pierce (I am very willing to be proven wrong - make your recommendations).

Melina is gifted in her characterisation and as such, I was quickly sucked into the world of Skuldendore and the royal family of Lumatere. Typically the invented lands and weird names of the fantasy genre, similtaneously scare and baffle me but this wasn't the case in this novel. In fact, I rarely found myself referring to the map or even puzzling over which kind of landscape they were trudging over now. Why? The characters were too involving, the relationships and dialogue too rich and the politics of the lands too interesting to wallow over those things.

There is magic but it's grounded, so as not to lose the reader. Dream walking and magical geographical boundaries are the worst of it. It's here where the novel really gets interesting -the royal family was slaughtered ten years prior, quickly followed by the torturous murders of countless citizens in retribution. These events are refered to as the Five Days of the Unspeakable. Parallels to Dafur cannot be lost, as can't the affect fear has on people. Those who flee Lumatere's limits, Finnikin and other refugees, are separated from their loved ones by a magical barrier that makes communication impossible. The aim is to bring the scattered Lumaterians together, if not in Lumatere then a piece of land gifted from their neighbouring countries.

All Marchetta's previous works have featured female protagonists with strong familial themes, Finnikin is male but the theme of family is just as present. Finnikin was a character that I warmed up to slowly, he's someone that makes no ties to land nor people in recent years, traveling his fictional land with his mentor, Sir Topher.It is upon the introduction of Evanjalin, that Finnikin embarks on the biggest journey of all. Her presence stretches him to his limits (and past them) and the dialogue between them is sparky. The give and take of this relationship is what really makes this a page turner. I loved Evanjalin but I was equally frustrated with her most of the time too. It's these wonderfully crafted characters that really make you see them succeed.

I feel that this a great departure for Marchetta, she really challenges herself which should be congratulated. That being said, I did guess correctly the mystery early on but it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the journey. I find myself wondering, is there anything Melina can't do?

Published: 9 September 2008 (AUST)
Format: Paperback , 416 pages
Imprint: Viking
Publisher: Penguin Aus.
Origin: Australia

Review - Looking for Alaska / John Green

Sixteen-year-old Miles Halter's adolescence has been one long nonevent - no challenge, no girls, no mischief, and no real friends. Seeking what Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps," he leaves Florida for a boarding school in Birmingham, AL.

His roommate, Chip, is a dirt-poor genius scholarship student with a Napoleon complex who lives to one-up the school's rich preppies. Chip's best friend is Alaska Young, with whom Miles and every other male in her orbit falls instantly in love. She is literate, articulate, and beautiful, and she exhibits a reckless combination of adventurous and self-destructive behavior. She and Chip teach Miles to drink, smoke, and plot elaborate pranks. Alaska's story unfolds in all-night bull sessions, and the depth of her unhappiness becomes obvious.

Review - I started reading this book thinking I was getting a fun-filled, jolly good times story of hijinks and tomfoolery and got another experience all together. It's for that reason that I absolutely fell in love with Looking for Alaska.

I can be a little oblivious at times so it took me awhile to notice that the book was divided into before and after sections. That added a sense of foreboding over the lighthearted beginning and made the reveal feel like a punch to the gut.

Miles is one of the most unextraordinary characters I have seen in literature and yet he makes the most interesting set of eyes for this world. His life really doesn't begin until he meets The Colonel in all his burly, vertically challenged, highly intelligent brilliance. This then propels him into friendships with the intriguing and fantastical Alaska, the almost invisible Takumi and the accented beauty Lara. It's the fantastically composed narrative that propels you on the journey with Miles - loneliness, fear, arousal, self-deprication and jealously are all prevalent, depicting a fully formed and relatable protagonist.

John Green did a great job at depicting the debilitating boring routine of boarding life and the stupid pranks teens will organise just to keep themselves entertained. (I was one of those kids sent to boarding school and let me tell you Green underplayed how heinous existance is in those places sans air conditioning.) Miles learns to be a kid with his new mates, he falls in love, finds out how not to maintain a relationship and learns that (like jail) cigarettes are the way to your roommates heart. I loved each of the characters with all of my heart. They are so deftly portrayed that I felt that they were real. After the event, I felt their loss like my own.

Green's voice really appealed to me, as I think he will to many readers. Themes of love, friendship, loyalty, regret, grief and the philosophical nature of like pepper the pages enrich this story and I can't recommend this tale enough.

Published: 2005
Format: Paperback , 262 pages
Publisher: Dutton Juvenille / HarperCollins
Source: purchased
Origin: USA

In My Mailbox - 2 May

In My Mailbox is a meme co-created by Kristi of The Story Siren and Alea of Pop Culture Junkie. The blurbs below are sourced from the publisher and GoodReads. Click on the book title to find these sources.

I have had a big shipment of books arrive from Book Depository this week as well as a surprise delivery from the Australian publisher, Black Dog Books.

For Review -
Merrow by Ananda Braxton-Smith

The people of Carrick have been whispering behind Neen's back for most of her life; ever since her father drowned and her mother disappeared.
The townspeople say her mother was a merrow who has returned to her real home in the ocean. Neen wonders if perhaps the villagers are right. But if her mother is a merrow then what does this make Neen?
This pitiless summer all the talk will end in trouble.
All Neen wants is the truth.

BEST. COVER. YET. I adore it. Simply fell in love on first sight. Merrow will also be my first foray into the mermaid YA world. Love that it has a historical approach too. Really excited to see what Braxton-Smith does with this premise.

*Correction - I said Amanda instead of Ananda in the blog. I wasn't wearing my glasses.

Fury by Shirley Marr

Let me tell you my story.
Not just the facts I know you want to hear.
If I’m going to tell you my story,
I’m telling it my way.
Strap yourself in...

Eliza Boans has everything.
A big house.
A great education.
A bright future.
So why is she sitting in a police station confessing to murder?

This blurb really doesn't tell a person too much. From looking at the cover you could almost imagine a baroque-world and some vampiric edge but perhaps not... I do love the blood spatter on the hand, sublte but effective. BEautiful cover.

Purchased -
Girl, Aloud: The Teensy Talent of a Reluctant Rock Chick by Emily Gale

Kass Kennedy is in the spotlight, thanks to her Dad. He plans on selling her soul to the Devil - or at any rate to Simon Cowell when she finds herself pushed into an X-Factor audition. Kass could just say no, but her dad's manic-depressive mood swings are a constant worry and he has her in an emotional half-Nelson. Just when things couldn't get worse, Kass falls for a gorgeous older boy, also named Cass. She's amazed when he appears to like her, but it turns out this boy, is her best friend's long-term crush. What's a girl to do? Everything Kass thought she understood starts to fall apart and the only person she can turn to ...grumpy Simon Cowell (literally in her dreams). She might not be able to sing her way out of a paper bag, but Kass discovers that she isn't a choker when it comes to sorting out real life.

Emily is an amazingly generous and cool chick so I am really excited to see her take on contemporary YA with some reality television thrown in. It's like my two favourite things getting together and having an awesome baby :)

Vinyl Princess by Yvonne Prinz

With a summer job at Bob & Bob Records in Berkeley, California, teen music junkie Allie is ready for anything. She’s poised to fall in love, catch a thief, and make a mix that’ll break your heart. And when she blogs as The Vinyl Princess, Allie is the sort of mystery girl you can’t resist tuning into. Get ready for the vinyl revolution!

I love reading about characters that have significantly cooler music tastes than my own. (That pretty much incorporates every character ever written). But I like the idea of blogging, the creation of a zine and music adoration all being in the mix. Sounds like my kind of book.

Also, I found this book while following Gayle Forman's cross-country book tour when she hung out with Yvonne.

The Summer That I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer -- they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

Heard so much. Expect a lot.

Playing with the Boys by Liz Tigelaar

New girl Lucy is desperate for friends. She tries out for Beachwood High soccer, but despite her amazingly accurate kick, fails to make the team. When the Coach points out that varsity football is looking for a new kicker, Lucy is skeptical. Football? Isn't that a boys' game?

But on the gridiron Lucy discovers that she feels strong—in control for the first time since her mother died. She loves football. She actually wants to play! (She also wants to hang out with super-cute quarterback Ryan Conner. But that's just icing on the cake.)

Too bad no one else wants her on the team. Not the boys' coach, not her teammates, and especially not her overprotective dad. Will Lucy cave in to the pressure? Or will she prove she's pretty tough after all?

I've read this one and will be reviewing soon. Definitely younger YA but has a great message combined with a great bunch of athletic girls who work hard.

PrettyTOUGH by Liz Tigelaar

Bubbly, blond Krista Brown is pretty and popular. Her sister, Charlie, is more interested in braving the Malibu waves than the halls of the school that Krista rules. but when Krista and Charlie are both recruited to the school's soccer team, they are forced to face their differences. Can these two sisters become teammates, and friends, in time to make it to the championships?

I probably should have read this title before the other but I am looking forward to reading from Charlie's perpective. Love the sporty girls angle as well as an exploration of sisters.

Reminder that I will be guesting on A Book and A Chat podcast today (Sunday) at 7pm EST. Would love to have a chat with you! You can call in on (347) 237-5398.