Redheads Rule!

Redheads get a lot of crap. Whether in reality or in fictional settings, our red headed brethren get the short shrift. Ginger, ranga (Aussie slang short for orangutan) or Big Red are all common means of lumping all those with red variant hair into one group. If they are in a bad mood it is instantly assumed to be a personality trait!  Some redheads, most, are unfortunate enough to have pale skin also and all that accompanies that - blushing, freckles and an increased chance of skin cancer. I think we can all agree that that is plenty to deal with without the name calling and the assumptions.

When Joelle Anthony published her thoughts on overused elements of MG/YA fiction, the red headed best friend came in second.  This post was first published in 2007 (and has since been updated) but I would argue that in my experience it isn't that common.  In fact, I believe slutty best friend trumps redhead best friend in spades.

After my discussion on negative versus critical reviews yesterday, I wanted to shine some positivity on a deserving group.  While issues of eating disorders, racism and sexual identity are all issues that are getting some attention - what about the red head minority? They are one of the unsung troopers of the YA world.  They need all the positivity they can get!

Ron Weasley (Harry Potter series - JK Rowling)

I am declaring him the unofficial public face of the YA redhead plight.  Not only is he ginger haired but he's from a long line of similarly afflicted wizards.  Genetics deemed that there was no escape in the Weasley household.

Never was there a better character to fly the flag for red hair tolerance than Ron.  Brave, foolhardy, loyal and in love with a girl with brains - what more can we ask for?


James (Audrey, Wait by Robin Benway)

Alas there is no picture for this understanding cutie pie.  James answers the question - who said a romantic interest can't be adorned with a red crown of glory?  Well...no one actually asked that question but this dude is amongst the best representations of a nice guy who is interesting.  It is like he's an Abominable Snowman or Bigfoot - a complete anomaly (nice and interesting, red haired romantic interest).  Brave to Benway for achieving the impossible and pushing forward the red haired dude's right to win the protagonist's heart!

Fire (Fire by Kristin Cashore)

We have to put some chicks into the mix.  Fire sports a particularly awesome shade of red as she's part monster.  Lucky she was raised in a fantastical medieval world as high school would have been a special type of hell for her.  Fire's strong, determined and a brilliant representative of her kind (whether that be monster, female or redhead - you decide.)

Plus...I really want her tresses.

Clary (Mortal Instruments series - Cassandra Clare)

When Cassandra Clare's lead isn't fielding kisses from her assumed brother, her actual brother or her geeky vamp best mate she is mixing it up with the bad guys.  A proactive, decisive, empowered character who breaks the best friend mold to be a fantastic fantasy protagonist!

There will be fisticuffs if the movie casting goes in another hair colour direction for casting.


...I can hear you screaming, I am getting to her...

Apologies for quality but this is
from a 1926 edition that I own.

Anne Shirley (Anne of Green Gables etc - LM Montgomery)

While her carrot plaits might have started off in MG territory she cruised on through to YA.  Have pity on Anne, she hated her hair more than anyone else could have (she even tried to dye it to ill affect).  But she gained an education and won Gilbert's heard...enough said.

She (and Montgomery) also introduced me to the Lady of Shallot for which I shall be forever grateful.

Alanna of Trebond/Olau/etc (Song of the Lioness series - Tamora Pierce)

Is anyone else noticing a pattern here?  Strong, kick ass heroines from fantasy YA titles seem to be leading the redhead charge.  Alanna preceded all mentioned so far and rightly so.  She's is the grandmother of all awesomely empowered female protagonists regardless of their hair's hue.  At the age of ten she swaps identities with her twin brother and in disguise goes through years of knight training.  How unbelievably awesome is that?  How unbelievably awkward does that get as the years go by?  Hair colour was never a concern for Alanna, she had more things to worry about eg poisoning, invasion, conspiracies.

If she had to worry about her hair, I would find the male styling to be a greater issue :)

Amy (I Love You I Hate You I Miss You - Elizabeth Scott)

We needed a redheaded train wreck and here we have one!  She drinks excessively.  She sleeps around.  She thinks of herself as nothing.  And her best friend just died.  Amy's one ball full of pain, anger and grief.  She also happens to be incredibly raw and real.    Poor Amy doesn't seem to have acclimatised to being a redhead ball of awesome as she describes her hair as "...the color red leaves are right before they rot."  She needs some love, people!

Other suggestions (via twitter)

• Alan from Sarah Rees Brennan's The Demon's Lexicon
• Eliza from Shirley Marr's Fury
• Gemma from Libba Bray's A Great and Terrible Beauty etc

Are redheads underrepresented in YA?  Are they over-represented as best friends?  Should we be waving our red head flag?  Who have I blindly left off the list?

Thoughts on Negative v. Critical Reviews

There is a whole heap of brouhaha about negative reviews throughout the blogosphere at the moment. While the Jawas Read, Too blog fiasco with Andrew Smith and Michael Grant sickened me after eight comments, I wanted to turn my attention to something more concerning. The confusion regarding negative reviews.

I believe there is a difference between negative and critical reviews and find it unfortunate that they are lumped together. In most cases, less knowledgeable (or dare I say, lacking common sense) individuals tar them both with the 'mean' brush. I am biased in this scenario. I have often been branded harsh or mean because I choose to post reviews on titles that I find underwhelming on a critical level. While in some cases harsh (but truthful) might be applicable, mean is not.

And here's where I stand upon the soapbox. Reviewing is subjective ("...particular to a given person; persona") and as such won't please all readers. Rubbishing a novel based purely on one's emotions without evidence isn't critical and therefore isn't a worthwhile review. It is baseless. My choice to criticise a title on poor craftsmanship or lack of emotional heft and connectivity isn't baseless. It isn't negative for negativity’s sake.

Many bloggers declare they won't post negative reviews. I understand and respect that...if you review critically (introspection about what elements worked well.) I have chosen a different route. Though I receive review copies I do not feel obliged, nor wish, to represent all my reading material in a positive light when my feelings are to the contrary.  Some titles just aren't that well written. Sometimes that is due to a premise heavy/ writing light approach. Sometimes it's due to the book being poorly constructed. Sometimes it is a heavy or light editing hand. Regardless, not all books are created equal and perfect.

To review something is "...1. To look over, study, or examine again. 2. To consider retrospectively; look back on. 3. To examine with an eye to criticism or correction." There is nothing there about publisher or author responsibility. Receiving a book for review, buying a title, doesn't not automatically equate to finding the positives. Sometimes they are there, sometimes you'll find yourself looking aimlessly for eternity. Having a book blogger, reviewing titles, means that you need to be reading critically. Whether you interpret that as identifying just the positives (or negatives) in a title is up to you. If you are wise, you'll try to portray both doing a service to those who put time and money into the book.

What angers me is when a review blogger writes a baseless review (positive or negative) based solely on their emotions. "It was awesome because the guy is soooooo hawt" or "I plan on using the pages of this title to wipe my butt the next time I visit the lavatory" - neither of these show critical thought. They are baseless. Neither do our community justice. Neither do the authors or publishers, editors or publicists, any favours. They reflect poorly on the blogger and their ability to read and write with thought. To review is to examine.

Conversation has turned on bloggers that review negatively e.g. those that review without critical thought to bash. Yes, they are awful. Yes, they do our community a disservice. But so do the baseless one paragraph glowing reviews that contain no examination at all outside of the hotness of a fictional character.  If find both to be offensive.

We all should be aiming to be critical. While many people are lumping critical in with mean or negative, they are wrong. Critical reviewing means you are reviewing well. Critical means you are identifying the positive and/or negative aspects of a title. Critical means you are examining a book based on more than your gut or your need to please an author. Critical is “…involving skilful judgment as to truth, merit, etc.” In can also mean to judge something too severely (of which I can be accused). If you give reasoning, justify your opinion with solid evidence you aren't on the same level as a slap dash, hate reviewer.  It is a line I have found hard to tread, sometimes losing my balance but something I've improved on with practise.

Lastly I would like to state that disliking a book, providing a well-constructed review on the reasons why, isn’t being "mean". The author might take it personally, it’s their baby after all, but the intent isn’t (generally) to wound the person behind it. The intent is to critical reflect thought on the effectiveness of the storytelling. Reading is subjective. Not everyone will like the book that you love but that doesn’t mean that they are mean.

If there is anything I wished to achieve by writing this post, it was to ask people to be more careful in assessment of critical bloggers as mean or negative. A negative review isn’t the same as a critical one. While they might both see the same book as lacking, their approach is very different. Also, critical does not automatically imply that the review is seeing a title as lacking. Writing a critical review of a book you adore is one of the hardest things to write as a reviewer. It is something I admire heartily in bloggers that choose to only review books that have experienced positively. It’s hard…but I am glad they keep pushing on.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. Like everything we post on our blogs it is subjective, drawn from my own experiences so feel free to disagree.

Review - Fixing Delilah / Sarah Ockler

Things in Delilah Hannaford's life have a tendency to fall apart. She used to be a good student, but she can't seem to keep it together anymore. Her "boyfriend" isn't much of a boyfriend. And her mother refuses to discuss the fight that divided their family eight years ago. Falling apart, it seems, is a Hannaford tradition.

Over a summer of new friendships, unexpected romance, and moments that test the complex bonds between mothers and daughters, Delilah must face her family's painful past. Can even her most shattered relationships be pieced together again?

Review - Fixing Deliliah arrived on my doorstep unannounced today.  I didn't know it was coming or why it was there but I dove in nevertheless.  It was a gift that kept on giving.

What is impressive about Ockler's sophomoric effort is her willingness to explore the darker emotional aspects of life - grief, desertion and helplessness - but still keeping a firm hold on the light and hope.  In depicting the conflicted and very real teen experience, Ocker leaves nerves bare.  They are rubbed raw and let loose on the characters that colour the Hannafod family's chosen existence of denial and silence.  The barren nature of this family's communication is as frustrating and infuriating for the reader as it is for Delilah.  The connection between the five Hannaford women is strong regardless of their status in live or death.  All the women are shaded wonderfully with flaws, quirks and definite perspectives on life.  Ocklet skirted sometimes problematic issues of melodrama and heavy handed expositions to present a broken, yet strong familial unit.  For all the fiery aspects of Delilah's nature, the family dynamics are strong and highly emotive while also quiet and complex.  That is not to say that there aren't some heightened situations but the author links it strongly to the reader's empathy so that the reality plays instead of the drama.  Ockler has presented a complex, real and damaged group of characters that are familiar, yet distinct, and it is the strength of this title.

The romance aspect plays well and will definitely strike a chord (pun intended) with the audience.  At times Ockler leans too heavily on childhood connection and sexual chemistry to make Delilah and Patrick's relationship authentic.  So much of the connection portrayed was implied rather than experienced which was disappointing.  While his ambitions and passions were depicted clearly, the real sense of the guy was clouded by the idea of him (the archetype, if you will) versus what Ockler actually presented.  Additionally, the character of Emily became a 'tell' device in the romance but it remained relatively unobtrusive.  The romance plays too lightly in contrast to the depth and complexity of the family storyline. So well constructed is the family aspect that this reader found themselves wanting to be back in the silent and pained depths of the Hannaford family, the real meat of the story.  Poor Patrick seemed almost superfluous.

All credit to Ockler for peppering a slightly formulaic concept of the guy next door with unpredictability.  The arrival of one character never eventuated as one may have predicted.  Also what is presented as a probable cliched situation is subverted.  Both play realistically and are refreshing in a contemporary YA romance.  Ockler also integrated the enticing and scary elements of Deliliah's sex life.  She refuses to judge but instead presents Delilah's choices as understandable within the sphere of a coping mechanism.

Ockler's beginning to carev a name for herself with well constructed teen stories of loss and the ties that bind.  It is curious to wonder if the audience will see a second volume involving Delilah's journey as she puts what she's learnt into action and perhaps search for the missing piece of the puzzle.  That being said, this title stands alone strong.

Truly impressive in its depth, sincerity and emotional connectivity.

Published: December 1, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 320 pages
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: gift
Origin: USA

Mt Fuji

A week or so back I posted about my visit to Mt Fuji.  I didn't think to post the video - here is its magnificence in person :)

Review - The Eternal Ones / Kirsten Miller

Haven Moore can't control her visions of a past with a boy called Ethan, and a life in New York that ended in fiery tragedy. In our present, she designs beautiful dresses for her classmates with her best friend Beau. Dressmaking keeps her sane, since she lives with her widowed and heartbroken mother in her tyrannical grandmother's house in Snope City, a tiny town in Tennessee. Then an impossible group of coincidences conspire to force her to flee to New York, to discover who she is, and who she was.

In New York, Haven meets Iain Morrow and is swept into an epic love affair that feels both deeply fated and terribly dangerous. Iain is suspected of murdering a rock star and Haven wonders, could he have murdered her in a past life? She visits the Ouroboros Society and discovers a murky world of reincarnation that stretches across millennia. Haven must discover the secrets hidden in her past lives, and loves¸ before all is lost and the cycle begins again. Goodreads.

Review - While Miller has the technical writing skills and a brilliant premise for a young adult novel, that's where my appreciation ends.  The Eternal Ones was an emotionally devoid creation piggybacking on the the young reading set's appetite for paranormal romances.

The  premise of two souls continually being reincarnated over time is splendid and oh so romantic.  Haven (horrid name) has gravitated towards New York and 'Ethan' since childhood.  This longing is the only way that Miller establishes the bond these two have for one another, that and the need to immediately have intercourse.  The lack of development between these two is astonishing and yet the pull towards this guy (Ethan/Iain) is supposed to be overriding.  He had money, prestige and good looks but that's about it.  He's not charming or truthful so I don't really see the attraction.  Additionally both characters have an appalling lack of common sense for individuals that have apparently lived many lives.  Between them they could possibly have the equivalent of Paris Hilton's IQ.  The emotional pull that is supposed to sustain the plot and motive the characters is non-existent.  Chalk is more romantic.  Sardines are sexier.  And I would sooner marry Larry King.

As for the intrigue of the Ouroboros Society and the role of many characters that fluttering around the dull duo it worked.  To a small degree.  It was overly reliant on the Haven character being spectacularly stupid and/or forgiving for it to play out as it did.  It was clunky and ricocheted poorly off the love connection.  But ultimately I was more interested in seeing them off Haven than the dull duo being reunited in the bonds of true love.

What is most concerning is the lack of emotional heart in this book.  It feels as though the author has overworked her creation to the point that it has become fragmented.  So many things slightly miss the mark that the book feels underwhelming.  So attached to the intrigue and romance is Miller that she forgets to give Haven more teenage introspection.  She has a relationship with a liar who seduces her and it is the first point that sticks in her craw.  The fact that she lost her virginity to this dubious guy is never really broached.  Instead we are constantly hearing the protagonist parroting the character she has most recently spoken to as the truth.  The character is without integrity or heart.  Or a brain.

Underwhelming.

Published: August 2010
Format: Hardcover, 416 pages
Publisher: Razorbill
Source: Penguin UK / Penguin USA
Origin: USA

** I would also like to question the author's and publishers need to continue this journey with a sequel.  Completely and utterly unnecessary.