Has anyone else seen the trailer for Because of Winn-Dixie? May I just say that I HATE movies where they digitally shift animal's faces? -- their expressions always look so completely stupid and anthropomorphic... Anyway, somewhere, Kate DiCamillo ought to be wincing because the movie people totally RUINED her book. The trailer emphasizes all this slapstick and goofiness out of what was really a very quiet, very sweet little book with a sneaky humor that didn't bash you over the head. That's what made it a good read. Why is it that we authors let movie people absolutely wreck our books? Ditto for last fall's Ella Enchanted and I just can't wait to see the whole Traveling Pants thing -- (although I just didn't really like the book either, so maybe that will make a difference?) -- who are they going to get to play the ethnic-chick-with-big-butt the book talked about so much???
Yeah, I know, I know, I sound like an over sensitive movie purist, but really -- sometimes it gets to the point where the character has differently colored HAIR than she did in the book. You know, the last really good book-into-movie morph I saw was To Kill a Mockingbird with Gregory Peck. (And no, I didn't like the whole Lord of the Rings thing, either. And did anyone see the Lemony Snickett flick? I haven't yet... Should I bother? Is it ANYTHING like the books?!)
People, people, people! As I see it, we've got TWO jobs before us. One, write books, get published, get rich and famous, and two, retain some kind of artistic control over our famously published works.
Okay, rant over. You may now go back to your keyboards.
February 28, 2005
My Pick of Peck's
Past Present, Perfect Tense by Richard Peck
Okay, so everyone in my writing group knows that I am hopelessly in love with this grand old man, so they know that I believe that he basically cannot, in the last ten years, anyway, write a dud. Now I'm sure of it.
This is a book of short stories which has introductions and writerly ruminations about the art. Peck has some of his brilliant and witty sayings here, such as, "Nobody but a reader ever became a writer," and "You have to read a thousand stories before you can write one;" and "The only writing is rewriting, and I write each of my...stories six times because I can't get them well-wrapped in the first five tries." His tone is his usual precise crankiness, but it's so loving and non-condescending that you truly believe that you, too, can write.
This is supposed to be a book for middle grade - to young adult kids, but I found it to be a valuable read for adults-masquerading-as-writers,too, and mean to make it a part of my home library. Peck's stories are funny and strange, deal with the supernatural, bullies, girls and guys, and are just amazing. Each of the thirteen shorts are preceded with a paragraph about them, and we see some of the plots of his early and later works in these short stories. At the end of the book he has what he calls "Five Helpful Hints," which tell it like it is, in his usual straightforward way. We would all do well to take a gander through the pages of his insights, because he really has gold in here for writers, not only teen writers, either.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The River Between Us, by Richard Peck
Normally I loathe Civil War stories, because historical fiction writers at times take some horrific forays into the fiction and leave out history altogether; there are simply too many tales of the vapors and Southern women's beautiful and fragile strength, but this story about Southern women is a truer tale, and is both a newer direction, and an old direction for Richard Peck, whose historical fiction in his later years are gaining him an impressive award-winning body of work.
The story opens in 1916, with the voice of fifteen year old Howard Hutchings, on a driving trip with his father to visit his father's family, and then flashes back for the lion's share of the book to another fifteen year old, Howard's grandmother, Tilly Pruitt.
Tilly is poor and plain, tough and resourceful - as she has been taught. Fragility has nothing to do with womanhood, to her. She rescues her injured brother from a Civil War field hospital, and nurses him back to health. She finds out that a woman whom she has befriended is not who she thought she was -- but she survives it. And later, Howard survives finding out something else about his father, and himself. No spoilers here, you've got to READ IT to figure out what I'm getting at.
It's not a lighthearted book -- darned if the Civil War was not an amusing time -- but there are moments of pure Peck mischief, including talk of corsets, and more. This is well worth picking up.
Okay, so everyone in my writing group knows that I am hopelessly in love with this grand old man, so they know that I believe that he basically cannot, in the last ten years, anyway, write a dud. Now I'm sure of it.
This is a book of short stories which has introductions and writerly ruminations about the art. Peck has some of his brilliant and witty sayings here, such as, "Nobody but a reader ever became a writer," and "You have to read a thousand stories before you can write one;" and "The only writing is rewriting, and I write each of my...stories six times because I can't get them well-wrapped in the first five tries." His tone is his usual precise crankiness, but it's so loving and non-condescending that you truly believe that you, too, can write.
This is supposed to be a book for middle grade - to young adult kids, but I found it to be a valuable read for adults-masquerading-as-writers,too, and mean to make it a part of my home library. Peck's stories are funny and strange, deal with the supernatural, bullies, girls and guys, and are just amazing. Each of the thirteen shorts are preceded with a paragraph about them, and we see some of the plots of his early and later works in these short stories. At the end of the book he has what he calls "Five Helpful Hints," which tell it like it is, in his usual straightforward way. We would all do well to take a gander through the pages of his insights, because he really has gold in here for writers, not only teen writers, either.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The River Between Us, by Richard Peck
Normally I loathe Civil War stories, because historical fiction writers at times take some horrific forays into the fiction and leave out history altogether; there are simply too many tales of the vapors and Southern women's beautiful and fragile strength, but this story about Southern women is a truer tale, and is both a newer direction, and an old direction for Richard Peck, whose historical fiction in his later years are gaining him an impressive award-winning body of work.
The story opens in 1916, with the voice of fifteen year old Howard Hutchings, on a driving trip with his father to visit his father's family, and then flashes back for the lion's share of the book to another fifteen year old, Howard's grandmother, Tilly Pruitt.
Tilly is poor and plain, tough and resourceful - as she has been taught. Fragility has nothing to do with womanhood, to her. She rescues her injured brother from a Civil War field hospital, and nurses him back to health. She finds out that a woman whom she has befriended is not who she thought she was -- but she survives it. And later, Howard survives finding out something else about his father, and himself. No spoilers here, you've got to READ IT to figure out what I'm getting at.
It's not a lighthearted book -- darned if the Civil War was not an amusing time -- but there are moments of pure Peck mischief, including talk of corsets, and more. This is well worth picking up.
Boy Meets Boy, by David Levithan
Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan
There is a word that came to my mind when I read this book: Innocence. This is a book about innocence. And expectation, and hope, and high school, which also means it was about disappointment and pain and snarkiness and betrayals. But it was mostly about innocence.
The tone of the book may be difficult to judge. Is it a satire? A fantasy? The book is really about people too good to be true in a town too pastel to be realistic - too accepting, too loving, too narrow, too harsh, too campy. One could try and criticize the book for being more black-and-white than real life tends to be, but just when the characters are being complete stereotypes, a glimmer of something else comes through....
I loved this book, and was really surprised by that, and had a really hard time coming up with something to say about it that wasn't gushing. In truth, my main criticism would be that the one Asian character portrayed was the head of a committee, and very officious and efficient -- a major stereotype. Second, there were no characters of any other racial minority. My third criticism is that Christian characters get short shrift - they're portrayed as narrow and mildly psychotic. Of course, I've already said that the world portrayed in this book is fairly unreal, so all this goes with a grain of salt...
The voice in this book is clear and self-confident and consistent. Funny and sweet, at times hilarious, and by turns heartbreaking, boy meets boy is written with an emotional surety that almost belies the fact that the narrator is supposed to be a sophomore in high school. The characters - gay, straight, transgender, 'ambisexual' - are less concerned with preferences than they are with survival. Though the book portrays something of a 'Gaytopia,' adolescence still has its difficulties, which comes through.
This book may do for GLTB, etc. teens what Blume's Forever did for many other teens - to aggressively normalize the preferences, choices and decisions with which these teens are faced. Unlike Blume's manifesto, however, there is a charming wistfulness to the whimsical portrayal of this town. One wishes it actually existed. Truly, it would be the second best thing to heaven, for there no one is doing any scheming, hurtful thing on purpose. They're just trying to live life the best way they can. The best I can offer you is to read this book. It's difficult to asses it.
Like it? Hate it? Read it?
Talk about it!
There is a word that came to my mind when I read this book: Innocence. This is a book about innocence. And expectation, and hope, and high school, which also means it was about disappointment and pain and snarkiness and betrayals. But it was mostly about innocence.
The tone of the book may be difficult to judge. Is it a satire? A fantasy? The book is really about people too good to be true in a town too pastel to be realistic - too accepting, too loving, too narrow, too harsh, too campy. One could try and criticize the book for being more black-and-white than real life tends to be, but just when the characters are being complete stereotypes, a glimmer of something else comes through....
I loved this book, and was really surprised by that, and had a really hard time coming up with something to say about it that wasn't gushing. In truth, my main criticism would be that the one Asian character portrayed was the head of a committee, and very officious and efficient -- a major stereotype. Second, there were no characters of any other racial minority. My third criticism is that Christian characters get short shrift - they're portrayed as narrow and mildly psychotic. Of course, I've already said that the world portrayed in this book is fairly unreal, so all this goes with a grain of salt...
The voice in this book is clear and self-confident and consistent. Funny and sweet, at times hilarious, and by turns heartbreaking, boy meets boy is written with an emotional surety that almost belies the fact that the narrator is supposed to be a sophomore in high school. The characters - gay, straight, transgender, 'ambisexual' - are less concerned with preferences than they are with survival. Though the book portrays something of a 'Gaytopia,' adolescence still has its difficulties, which comes through.
This book may do for GLTB, etc. teens what Blume's Forever did for many other teens - to aggressively normalize the preferences, choices and decisions with which these teens are faced. Unlike Blume's manifesto, however, there is a charming wistfulness to the whimsical portrayal of this town. One wishes it actually existed. Truly, it would be the second best thing to heaven, for there no one is doing any scheming, hurtful thing on purpose. They're just trying to live life the best way they can. The best I can offer you is to read this book. It's difficult to asses it.
Like it? Hate it? Read it?
Talk about it!
Everywhere We Go... People Wanna Know...
Yeah, I guess no one who's read the latest offering from Julie Anne Peters, or David Levithan doesn't get the point that YA lit isn't what it used to be. We were stuck, for a long while, with Nancy Drew's perfectly polished world -- blonde hair, good grades, her own car -- then the 80's had us stuck in re-runs of divorce stories and high school pregnancy tales, as the media endlessly reviled poor Judy Blume for trying to portray a world in which nothing so catastrophic happened on an hourly basis. Young adult literature has evolved past these little growing pains, and now there's pretty much nothing that isn't a topic for a book. It must be really different to come of age in a world where there's a book like Julie Anne Peters' Luna, which is about a transgender teen in transformation. And The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon - a book that was really strange, and really intense, and touched on a topic to which 'normal' teens aren't expected to relate, which is people who aren't mainstream.
Did YOU like either of those books? Have you read them? What have you been reading lately? Wanna talk about it? That's the point of this site, that's who we are, and this is what we do.
Welcome, everybody. Happy Reading.
Did YOU like either of those books? Have you read them? What have you been reading lately? Wanna talk about it? That's the point of this site, that's who we are, and this is what we do.
Welcome, everybody. Happy Reading.
February 25, 2005
Finding Wonderland Review Policy
Our review policy here is fairly simple. First and foremost, we ONLY review already published YOUNG ADULT FICTION (including graphic novels), and occasionally middle-grade fiction, with a specific preference for multiculturally inclusive literature. Please, no non-fiction unless it is related to writing, no adult fiction, and absolutely no unpublished manuscripts. We are NOT a publishing firm, we're two writers who read, write, and occasionally recommend books. We will NOT read your manuscript.
Secondly, unless we have a prior arrangement with you individually, we are not accepting unsolicited or random books for review. PLEASE CONTACT US FIRST before sending review copies (wndrland (at) sonic (dot) net).
We love making contact with readers and writers and getting the opportunity to review books, but this is a volunteer effort, and so we cannot promise to review every book we receive, though we make a sincere effort to write about as many as we can.
Secondly, unless we have a prior arrangement with you individually, we are not accepting unsolicited or random books for review. PLEASE CONTACT US FIRST before sending review copies (wndrland (at) sonic (dot) net).
We love making contact with readers and writers and getting the opportunity to review books, but this is a volunteer effort, and so we cannot promise to review every book we receive, though we make a sincere effort to write about as many as we can.
Who the Heck Are These People?
Where am I? Finding Wonderland, your home for news, views, advice, links, humor (and so forth) from the world of YA writing.
Who are you people? We are readers, writers, and fans of YA literature. We are members of a West-Coast-based writing group who meet online on a weekly basis to support each others' writing and share our love of YA lit.
What made you think THAT was a good idea? Because we were sharing all this great information and advice amongst ourselves and thought it would be nice to share it with others as well. As writers we already have a natural tendency to want to foist our words on the unsuspecting public, so why not start a blog?
Um, yeah, so? So, we hope you'll stick around, visit us regularly, get to know each of us and our individual quirks and interests in YA, and have a good time doing it. And don't forget to drop by our companion blog Readers Rants, featuring reviews of YA books, from old favorites to new classics-in-the-making. **Those seeking review should drop us a note containing their contact information into our most recent post, and though we can't promise anything, we will get back to you right away! Thanks for visiting! -- Ciao, baby.
Who are you people? We are readers, writers, and fans of YA literature. We are members of a West-Coast-based writing group who meet online on a weekly basis to support each others' writing and share our love of YA lit.
What made you think THAT was a good idea? Because we were sharing all this great information and advice amongst ourselves and thought it would be nice to share it with others as well. As writers we already have a natural tendency to want to foist our words on the unsuspecting public, so why not start a blog?
Um, yeah, so? So, we hope you'll stick around, visit us regularly, get to know each of us and our individual quirks and interests in YA, and have a good time doing it. And don't forget to drop by our companion blog Readers Rants, featuring reviews of YA books, from old favorites to new classics-in-the-making. **Those seeking review should drop us a note containing their contact information into our most recent post, and though we can't promise anything, we will get back to you right away! Thanks for visiting! -- Ciao, baby.
February 24, 2005
Just Who the Heck Are These People?
Where am I? Finding Wonderland, your home for news, views, advice, links, humor (and so forth) from the world of YA writing.
Who are you people? We are readers, writers, and fans of YA literature. We are members of a West-Coast-based writing group who meet online on a weekly basis to support each others' writing and share our love of YA lit.
For the love of crackers, why? Because we were sharing all this great information and advice amongst ourselves and thought it would be nice to share it with others as well. As writers we already have a natural tendency to want to foist our words on the unsuspecting public, so why not start a blog?
Um, yeah, so? So, we hope you'll stick around, visit us regularly, get to know each of us and our individual quirks and interests in YA, and have a good time doing it. And don't forget to keep an eye out for our upcoming companion blog featuring reviews of YA books, from old favorites to new classics-in-the-making. Ciao, baby.
Who are you people? We are readers, writers, and fans of YA literature. We are members of a West-Coast-based writing group who meet online on a weekly basis to support each others' writing and share our love of YA lit.
For the love of crackers, why? Because we were sharing all this great information and advice amongst ourselves and thought it would be nice to share it with others as well. As writers we already have a natural tendency to want to foist our words on the unsuspecting public, so why not start a blog?
Um, yeah, so? So, we hope you'll stick around, visit us regularly, get to know each of us and our individual quirks and interests in YA, and have a good time doing it. And don't forget to keep an eye out for our upcoming companion blog featuring reviews of YA books, from old favorites to new classics-in-the-making. Ciao, baby.
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