Suggestion Box
Feel like showering us with praise?
Want to bitch about something offer constructive criticism?
Is there a book we absolutely MUST READ IMMEDIATELY because it is so totally awesome?
Delicious cocktail recipes we should know about?
Leave us a note in the suggestion box!
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Let me just say, I heart you all! And wish this blog was a real place because I’d want to hangout there all the time.
I’ve always loved reading and recently been obsessed with YA books but felt a little embarrassed because I’m not a Y anymore (well I’m not elderly either…I just turned 24 last week). But now that I found FYA…I feel like someone just gave me the most amazing hug in the world! Thanks for existing!
Book suggestion: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa. If the movies, The Labrynith and The Neverending Story hooked up and had a book baby, it’d be this book. Plus there is a great love triangle happening and there will be two more books to follow. Warning: Reader will become addicted after Part 2 and can’t physically stop reading.
P.S. The Sweet Valley High Drinking Game…effing hilarious! Will definately be saving this site to my favorites immediately!
SO GOOD. (Also? Team Ash forever!)
If you haven’t read it yet, you’ll ah-dore the Mortal Instruments series. A little dangerous, because three books in the series (was originally going to be 3, now there will fourOMG) are all out. So get ready to spend your weekend reading them on your iPhone so no one on the subway looks at you funny.
Anyway, my ‘suggestions’ (which can hardly be called that, since I’m referencing things you already do) are:
1. I would love more of the ‘classic’ YA reviews! I really enjoyed it when you all reviewed Forever and Outsiders. I’ll post back here when if I think of some you should review.
2. More ‘so bad it’s good’ type reviews. Basically, I love those SVH reviews and this it’s especially funny when you all review things that are kind of terrible. More sacrifices in the name of humor! Maybe have someone whose never read Twilight read it and do a guest post.
Okay, that’s all I’ve got for now
PS. I had a copy/paste fail and here was what was supposed to be at the beginning of that post:
Oh! I didn’t know this suggestion box existed until I saw it just now come up in the ‘bish plz’ on the side. How does it work?? Are the suggestions moved once they’re read? Or do they stay there forever?
So, another idea I’d thought of that could go either way would be this. Even though most of these books wouldn’t be classified as “YA”, there were a ton of books ALL of us read when we really WERE YA, and by that I’m refering to all those books that always get assigned in high school english. Maybe you guys could have an HS English Class feature, where every once and a while you review one of those books we all were forced to read (To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher, Catch-22, Of Mice and Men, Lord of the Files, Gatsby, etc). Some are so good and some are such teeth pullers. It could be pretty hilarious for the readers, but it might be torture for the reviewers, so I wouldn’t be all that bummed if it doesn’t happen, lol.
Ha ha, Megan, you have READ OUR MINDS. We were just talking about doing this! (Well, okay, it started with me saying “YOU GUYS WE SHOULD REVIEW VC ANDREWS” because apparently I love to read shitty books, but it fleshed out from there to actual good books, too.
Except I REFUSE TO REREAD MOBY DICK. Not even for you guys.
Allison, anything that can be described as “like if The Labryinth and The NeverEnding Story had a baby” is MY KIND OF BOOK!
Unless there are muppets. Are there muppets?? Because I’m terrified of muppets.
Hi! So I love this blog and read it all the time especially now cause it’s exam time (college, I’m a very young FYA reader) and so since I was hoping to get updates I tried to subscribe and something weird happened (a page full of text-y stuff?)… so anyways if that got fixed it would be AWESOME because I would LOVE to subscribe!… if it helps I’m using Google Chrome, and thanks in advance!
P.S. can’t wait till summer so I can read all the books you guys have been reviewing, already have Will Grayson, Will Grayson on reserve at my library YES! I am sooo totally stoked!!!
Erin, no muppets
and I agree with the ick factor (think about it…there is a person’s hand up it’s butt making talk…it’s creepy)
However, there is a talking cat. And I am ssooo not an animal person (but definitely would be if horses really looked like My Little Ponys) and even I would want this cat as a pet.
Check out the book. I need another person to talk with about whether Puck or Ash would make a better fictional boyfriend. You can read the first three chapter here, http://www.enterthefaeryworld.com.
P.S. The faery thing threw me off at first…b/c I’m not into the whole faery world…just not my thing…but now in LOVE with this book.
@allison! i actually just finished reading “the iron king”! so you can expect our review (and the highly necessary puck vs ash debate) in the next few weeks.
@katherine, i’m not sure what the issue is? i checked our feed in google chrome and it appears to work fine (for me). maybe try deleting the subscription and adding it again? let me know if that doesn’t work…
@megan, the suggestion box is v. new, and i’m not sure how it’s gonna work either!!! i’m probably going to tweak it a bit so it’s easier to follow different threads of conversation.
but for now, we appreciate all of these awesome suggestions!! and of course COMPLIMENTS. aw, y’all are making us blush!!!
I think the biggest thing this site is missing is a really good search function or table of contents. I really want to be able to get a list of all the books y’all review without having to open every review post to find out what the title of the book is and who the author is. I also was looking for your hunger games book report and it wasn’t listed under book reports? Huh? I finally found it by clicking on the “hunger games” link in the “on the brain” section and going backwards until I got to it.
But anyway, you guys are so awesome that that’s my only complaint.
Oh yeah – and I’d love if we could get email notifications of new posts. For some darn reason I am NOT caught up with the blogfeed/subscription thing.
kristina, this is v. v. helpful feedback. i thought our search function worked pretty well, if you just look up the title of the book (and the author if you know it). occasionally we mess up an entry’s categorization (hunger games being an example– we filed it under required reading but neglected to also include it in book reports. that has been fixed, thanks to you!).
i’ll look into email subscriptions for sure!
hey kristina, i just installed an email update option! because i want you to keep liking us! you can see it now under “stalking options.” please let me know if you encounter any bugs…
YAY! Now officially stalking.
Just a small navigation thing…….could you have a list of all the Book Reports by book title? The tagline/headlines are super funny, but I was looking for a book my little sister said was on the site, and almost couldn’t find it.
Love the snark! The SVH books had me laughing so hard at work that I was snorting!
hey kelsey, this is a great suggestion and one we’ve heard before, so i’ll start looking into how we can make a book report list happen. for now, if you put the title and author in the search field, our report (if we’ve reviewed the book, obvs) should come up!
now please return to yr regularly scheduled snark enjoyment.
yes I third the book report list. you can easily search if you have a title or author, but sometimes I just want to see a list of everything you’ve reviewed, which is much more complicated. I mean, you guys are so funny, that sometimes I just want to do the equivalent of “previous 5 entries” and read everything you have ever posted, and it’s really hard to do that
Summer, if you click on “book report” in the categories list, it should bring up all our reports. Is that what you’re looking for?
oh that is helpful! although then, unless I’ve memorized the covers, I can’t tell what book it is straight off. I mean, this isn’t really a problem for me, since I subscribe in reader, so i see the snippet of text (where the titles are), plus I can go back as far as I want in time… but I’m just thinking for the less reader savvy peeps.
yeah, still working on this one. y’all i like to pretend like i’m all jonny lee miller in hackers but i’m not (plus i can’t rollerblade to save my life). so it’s gonna take me a while. but IT WILL BE DONE.
since yesterday I am addicted to your blog , I heart swooning …I grew up reading Sarra Manning, have you heard of her?
is there any way I can check a list with books that you rated as best?
hey emily, we’re always happy to serve as yr drug of choice! although we do also recommend alcohol.
thanks to you and several other folks, i’m gonna start building a simple list of book reports, ranked by relationship status. and since that’s not really something you can easily quantify, it may take a while. but we’ll let y’all know when it’s ready for consumption!
Thanks Posh yeah alcohol is also an option just not so early in the afternoon
… not even in Dublin….
OKAY SERIOUSLY, first I posted non suggestions here and now it won’t let me post real suggestions LOL. I AM BAD AT THIS. Here goes, I’ma try again:
Now that you guys seem to have a legion of stalkery commenters (like me!) maybe once every so often you should do a book cluby thing. Where either you guys pick or people vote and we give everyone a couple of reads to read it before one of you posts a review. Could be fun
YES YES YES, it worked!!! Now to try re-writing my other suggestion so the site stops wiggin’ out on me.
Okay, here’s my other old suggestions: I was thinking, that if any of you all like graphic novels, there are some pretty good young adult graphic novels (or, if you’re my library, you put ALL the graphic novels in the YA section, lol.) Some good ones I’ve liked are American Born Chinese, Skim and Blankets (<— this one being awesome, imho). That said, someone should probably take one for the team and read that new Twilight graphic novel asap because it looks TERRIFYING.
Though I do see that you all are going to the Graphic Novels things at the BEA. Cool!
GREAT IDEAS, Megan!
I AM FULL OF SUGGESTIONS, I CANNOT BE STOPPED. Man, I love this blog so much.
this is a FABULOUS idea, megan! we’ve briefly considered it in the past but were too busy (HA HA JUST KIDDING. i mean lazy) to think about how to put it together. but how hard can it be? we will get on this like white on rice.
that comment was in response to the book club idea. but i also love the graphic novel suggestion and UM YEAH WHY HAVE WE NOT REVIEWED “BLANKETS” ON THIS SITE YET?!! i nominate erin for the privilege of reviewing the twilight comic…
Okay, but only if I get to burn it at the end!
Yaaaaay! Too often I haven’t read the books you all review before you review them. It always makes the reviews more fun when you’ve read it and can be all “OMG YES, SO TRUE” as you go along.
The only book club I’ve ever been invited to was by this pretentious asshole college friend who I HAAAATED (no I will NOT read Michael Chabon with you and your friends BECAUSE YOU WILL RUIN HIM FOR ME) A virtual one with the FYA folks sounds totally FUNTASTIC!
megan, i LOVE the idea of the book club. let me put my mad (non-old-lady) librarian skillz to work on it!
and graphic novels! i love american born chinese. that book was AWESOME.
Just found this site last night and I am in lurve with y’all! I’ve been describing my fave genre as “YA dystopian” for years and getting strange reactions.
Must reads:
House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
Uglies series by Scott Westerfield
Shade’s Children by Garth Nix (okay, not a must, but a thoroughly enjoyable quick read)
Love to hear y’all’s thoughts on:
Blue Bloods series by Melissa de la Cruz
Airhead books by Meg Cabot (thoughts on Meg Cabot generally–my personal guilty pleasure)
Robin McKinley
Margaret Peterson Haddix (Among the Hidden series had me hooked for the first two or three… then I kind of stopped. And it seems like M. Night Shyamalan totally ripped off one of her books to make The Village)
Gail Carson Levine
I’m a-gonna spend some more time with the search box and sign up for the e-mail list. And I’d totally join a book club if y’all get one started!
Oh, reading Blue Bloods posts now. (Must remember to search thoroughly prior to posting!)
hi amanda! meg cabot is SO not a guilty pleasure — she’s an essential one!! totally agree with you on the airhead series. have fun with the search box — we’ve reviewed some of your suggestions, but not all (and house of the scorpion has been on my to-read list forEVER).
Nice to be in a space where I can drop the “guilty” in reference to Ms. Cabot!
Go purchase House of the Scorpion NOW and read it on the plane to BEA.
Sweet Niblets! Robin McKinley is FANTASTIC. Those are my thoughts.
Okay, just found your site and it’s my new crack. Thanks! No really, I mean that – it’s nice to know I’m not alone in my love of YA books.
If you need classic YA recs (and since I’m an old fart of 37, I knows my classics, yo), how about the Seniors series by Eileen Goudge. I remember my classmates were SCANDALIZED by these books, as they contained actual sex. Quel horror!
Hi
Loverly site.
I am a pesky librarian who thinks that the world would be a vastly different place if Young Adults in South Africa (where I live) would just read books. Specifically YA books.
That said.
I have recommendation for you
Kate Cann – Moving Out (or also known as Hard Cash)
Its been a fave of mine, and the borrowers who’ve taken it out have all come back with a positive response, even the guys.
So please give it a go, and let me (and your readers) know what you think.
rudi, we welcome any and all pesky librarians! thanks for the rec– i haven’t even heard of kate cann, so i’m excited to check her out.
also… SOUTH AFRICA!!!
Glad I could help.
Will send some more recommends soonish.
i would just like to say that i found your site the other day and LOVE IT!! i’m turning twenty soon and i had it in my head that it meant that i would now have to switch to adult books and be all scholarly and read bigger books with more serious covers. but now that i found this site i realize that you are never to old to read and love YA books!
now i would like to reccomend the angus, thongs and full frontal snogging books by louise rennison. They really are hilarious and they certainly made me laugh all throughout high school. granted it is british so they are a little different than other more american books but im a bit of an anglophile so that made them that much better.
i would just like to say i love all your reviews and especially love those great SVH ones.. HIGH larious!
oh also the book the year of secret assignments ny jaclyn moriarity is crazy good too. Loved it!
I second ANYTHING by Jaclyn Moriarty. Her new one, Ghosts of Ashbury High, is fantastic!
No suggestions, just a question:
Who are the hot guys you have displayed for the “Peeta vs. Gale” debate page?
Emily
Emily, this is a VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION!!
Gale is Ethan Peck, grandson of Gregory Peck, owner of the hottest voice ever, and on 10 Things I Hate About You, which sadly has been cancelled.
Peeta is Alex Pettyfer, who besides being HOT also has a smokin’ British accent.
Thanks! I’m enamored with that pic of Ethan Peck!
I completely think you guys should review the American-Girl series by Meg Cabot. The first is good, and the sequel is a perfect follow-up and is full of more character developments. Plus, the sequel’s pretty much just about sex, which I think reading about in one of your book reports would have me lolgasming.
brady, we are ON IT. erin actually already called those reviews a month ago (sometimes we fight over who gets to write about certain books. because we are blogging professionals) so expect them soon!
Yep, and when unpacking this weekend, I realized SOMEONE HAD BORROWED/STOLEN All-American Girl. Obvs this tyranny will not stand, so I went out IMMEDIATELY and repurchased it.
Reviews coming soon, probably next week!
Hmmm.. blogging professionals. Girl, you are a blogging goddess! Keep up the great work!
I heartily recommend the Tiffany Aching series by Terry Pratchett. No dating, drugs or sex, but great writing, TFF humor and a main character who is smart, adventurous and wicked talented. Books are “The Wee Free Men” … “A Hat Full of Sky”… and “Wintersmith”
Wee free men is astoundingly brilliant. Hat full of sky brilliant. Wintersmith not so much.
these books have been on my to-read list for AGES. thanks for the reminder!
Make up songs about the Nac Mac Feegles every week! Wintersmith wasn’t great, but I still love Pratchett! Anyone who can envision the Feegles must rule the literary universe. Have you read any other Terry Pratchett?
awesome site – where has it been all my life! i’m almost 30, but hell if i’m gonna give up trolling the ya section in the bookstore and library. has anyone read “crown duel” (previously “crown duel” and “court duel”) by LJ Smith? it’s one of my faves – i’d be interested to see what ppl think of it.
Hey christine! As a crazy obsessed LJS fan, I got v. v. excited thinking that there was a new book I HADN’T READ YET!!! But alas, it’s Sherwood Smith you are thinking of, or at least, Amazon says so…
http://www.amazon.com/Crown-Duel-Court/dp/0142301515
omg i can’t believe i did that! my bad! yes, i totally meant sherwood smith. derrrrrrrrr….
How about Tamora Pierce?
Trickster’s Choice & Trickster’s Queen
or the Beka Cooper books, Terrier and Bloodhound.
Expect kickass females and swoon worthy men/crows. These are more YA in feel than the Song of the Lioness/Protector of the Small series, longer and more in depth. Plus, I’d like to see who you’d cast as Rosto or Nawat.
Yay yay yay! I just finished the Alanna four-book series and I was SO HOOKED. Even though they’re only a kids books, there is serious amounts of s-e-x. Totally swoonworthy. Um, hello, George Cooper! *swoon*
I’m trying to read them in order. What should I read next?
Both!
Which one to start with might depend on whether you like espionage and political rebellion (Trickster) more than solving murders, criminal love interests and pigeons (Beka)…
Timeline wise, the Beka Cooper trilogy is pre-Alanna, back when girls could be knights, or guards. Terrier is Beka’s first year as a ‘dog’, the equivalent of police in Tortall, and Bloodhound is her second year. The third book isn’t out yet, so you can always go for the Trickster books, there’s only the 2 and both are out so no painful waiting for the conclusion.
Trickster is post-Alanna, though both Alanna and George show up.
i say read the Immortals and Protector of the Small quartets, as well. i have ‘em all! Bloodhound just came out in paperback (or will soon?) and i’m excited.. been waiting so long!
I’m so glad that I found Tamora Pierce. I swear, when I finished reading everything Robin McKinley had ever written, I was heartbroken. I thought I’d never love again. But then I found Alanna!!! And it’s so similar to Robin McKinley that I finally feel like I can breathe again. I’ve got at least 30 books to get through before I’m done
And by then, Pegasus, by Robin McKinley should be out in hard cover 
So we (not the royal we, there are three of us) are sitting here late at night poring over your AWESOME blog. We do have a few suggestions:
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
This book Abby and Marielle’s lives. We wanted to be Stargirl because she was so funky and cool and weird and she COLLECTED PORCUPINE TIES. Spunky, right? So, y’all should read Stargirl.
Everything ever written by Francesca Lia Block. The surreal and uber-glamorous LA world captivated us Midwestern girls. Real life LA was a big let down.
Kissing the Witch by Emma Donaghue. Fairy tales re-imagined! So awesome!
Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause. Let us put it to you this way: teenage werewolves done right.
I’ve read Stargirl! And the followup! They are books I’ve been meaning to review for pretty much ever.
Real life LA is the lamest thing ever.
we DEFINITELY need to review some francesca lia block– she’s, like, a cornerstone of YA. thanks for the reminder! and i’m adding “blood & chocolate” to my list cos i haven’t seen teen werewolves done right since, well, teen wolf.
yes! stargirl! i LOVE that book — erin, i’m so glad it’s on yr review list (esp. since i still haven’t read love, stargirl yet)
Can I just say a broad Thank You for this site? I’m a YA addict. For a long time I wasn’t proud to admit it (I got a lot of “Really, you’re reading /that/?” in college and even in high school), so it’s nice to know that a site like this even exists! A lot of the books you’ve given good reviews have just added to my addiction shopping cart.
Anyway! Book suggestions!
Any of Rosemary Clement-Moore’s books!
Jessica Day George (She does amazing retellings of Fairy Tales)
The Bloody Jack series by L.A. Meyer (his books get crowded out by Mrs. Meyers books in a lot of book stores, unfortunately.)
Sunshine by Robin McKinley
The Glass House series by Rachel Caine
The School for Dangerous Girls (Crazy girls, boarding school, crazier instructors)
Liar by Justine Larbalestier (A MUST READ! Seriously.)
sadie… don’t cut me but i HAVEN’T READ ANY OF THESE BOOKS! so thanks for the heads up. i’ve been wanting to read “liar,” esp. after all of that shady cover business!
XD
I won’t cut you! I love pimping out my favorites. Besides most of these books/series have only poped up in the last few years. And I would have heard about them if it hadn’t been for a friend of mine who works in a library.
For my fellow Nicholas Braun appreciators:
http://hollywoodcrush.mtv.com/2010/06/21/disneys-prom-cast/
nicholas braun AND aimee teegarden?! holla!!! i am pro their future success. but i am anti blatant (not to mention inferior) copies of john hughes movies. dude. disney. why don’t you just adapt an awesome YA book instead of raping my adolescence? oh, that’s right. YOU’RE DISNEY. you can’t help it.
Ok so I totally know and understand the great dislike for the twilight series ( I pretty much hate it myself so who must I go to the midnight premeir next week? I may never know.) but have any of you read the new book thing she has out, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner? its for free online until july 5th so u don’t have to buy it or anything but I would definitely recommend it. It about the girl baby vampire that gets killed in eclipse, which kinda sucks cause you know the end but otherwise its pretty good. And she is so not such a vampire loving wimp that bella is. I would say she even has spunk! bonus: hot ghetto vampire baby named diego and a character named freaky fred.
Also I would like to reccommend the den of shadows quartet by Amelia Atwater Rhodes. Actually anything by her, but those books are the epitome of vampire coolness. I actually wanted to be them in middle school… and they don’t sparkle
liz, prepare yrself, cos we’re already planning on a bree tanner review! i think it might even include… A DRINKING GAME! i know, you’re shocked.
ooooo sound like fun! I am waiting with baited breath!
Would love if you guys expanded on your review of “The Knife of Never Letting Go” to include the whole Chaos Walking trilogy. The second book, “The Ask and the Answer”, is up there for my favorite book of all time, and my friend just lent me the final book, Monsters of Men which is also amazing (she fancy-pants ordered from MoM from England, but I’m sure you guys have your ways of getting it easier!). You’ll find out more about Manchee, and there’s a couple of horses, and a spaceship, and LOTS of talky-talk (obvs!).
hey schuyler, I LOVE ME SOME PATRICK NESS. i also hate me some patrick ness cos of those g-d cliffhangers he writes.
i actually have reviewed the ask and the answer (you can do a search for it in our box) but i haven’t gotten my grabby hands on the last book yet cos i like to buy american. just kidding! the real reason is, i’m cheap. like a true american.
The Patrick Ness love/hate thing? I SO get that! Gonna read the review (yay!)–don’t know how I missed it, sorry.
My grabby hands buy American, too (erm, yeah, I’m true-American-broke also), so when my friend bought the fancy book I thought I might lose her. To, y’know, accidental death. But thankfully, she lent me said fancy book and now? I KNOW THE ENDING. I know how it ends! Yes I do! Ending? Yep, know it.
Just searched in the searchy box for the review of The Ask and the Answer , but it didn’t come up. Got Flowers in the Attic on the top of the page, scrolled all the way down, but didn’t see it. Can you tech support me, please?
if you type the title in quotes, like “the ask and the answer” and hit search, it’ll be the first one that comes up. sorry our site is being cranky this morning! i don’t think it’s had coffee yet.
re: monsters of men
http://www.bookdepository.com/
uk, us, and aus books. free worldwide shipping.
you’re welcome.
http://www.bookdepository.com/book/9781406310276/Monsters-of-Men
WAIT NOW WHAT!!!!!!! FREE SHIPPING?!!! BLESS YOU, INTERNET. BLESS YOU.
Some book suggestions for my Forevs friends!
* “Life As We Knew It” by Susan Beth Pfeffer (post-apocalyptic fare; have food on hand, esp. chocolate, and a shizzload of tissues)
* Very LeFreak by Rachel Cohn (unique protag)
* Hex Hall By Rachel Hawkins (because after all the dystopian lit I’ve been reading, I needed to LAUGH ALREADY)
* I loves me some feminist fantasy, and wondered if you’d review any Tamora Pierce? Her Tortall legend books are fantastic. I sucked up to my Womens Studies prof and got her to let me write my Famous Woman project on Pierce–while other students (who aren’t as good at the suck-up yet coz they’re 18 and haven’t had to deal with middle management) got stuck with Susan B. Anthony. The Tortall books are great because Pierce started them decades ago, so there’s plenty to read and get your hands on right now. As opposed to waiting for August 24, 2010. Plus, the Feminist Factor might be a nice antidote to Katniss whining about which boyfriend she wants today.
we’ve had a ton of readers suggest tamora pierce, so don’t worry, we’re ON IT like white on rice. and i’ve heard great things about “life as we knew it” so you’ll probably see that book on le blog v. v. soon…
Hurrah!
Incarceron is awesome. I loved it.
i loved it too! you can find the review on our site (if you’re interested). also i have a copy of sapphique that i have been forcing myself not to read yet. because apparently i enjoy self-torture.
To offset Twilight a little….The Reformed Vampire Support Group…
has anybody read this one yet? Curious to know if it’s any good cause haven’t read it yet, but it’s next in the line of library books.
I read this a while back, and it was def cute. Not profound, altho it did have a Heartwarming Message of sorts…but not gaggy or anything. I read it, liked it, forgotaboutit.
Yeah, doesn’t look like life changing, but a happy little book. Thanks for the info!
I read a cool book called Werelove Dusk Conspiracy. The author’s name is Lakisha Spletzer. My friend found the book at the library after the librarian suggested it to her.
I love werewolves and this book had some interesting ones in it and other shapeshifting creatures too.
What about the Secret Society Girl series by Diana Peterfreund?
Considering the average age of people who read ya (30) I think it qualifies…I recently finished this series and I can’t stop thinking about HIM
well, i do love secret societies. even though i’ve never been invited to join one AHEM ARE YOU READING THIS ILLUMINATI DUDES?
I LOVE YOUR BLOG! Absolutely love it. I read The Hunger Games because of y’all and it CHANGED MY LIFE FOREVER. Now my mission in life is to make everyone I know read it!!
The last book I read like that is a book I want to recommend in case you haven’t read it: Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger… I don’t think I’ve seen it reviewed here and it’s one of those books that I’ve seen classified as historical fiction, YA, sports, etc. So it may be kinda different from what you normally review, but it is definitely, definitely a beautiful, hilarious, moving and – again – hilarious coming of age story and it made me laugh out loud and cry my eyes out more than any other book I’ve ever read (except for maybe the Art of Racing in the Rain which is a SUPER AMAZING DOG BOOK – it is ridiculously awesome but not for this site… unless you consider that dogs are a lot like children/young adults).
Here’s a synopsis:
Mixing nostalgia, baseball and a boy’s mostly epistolary friendship with a 1940s baseball star, this inventive but sentimental novel consists entirely of letters, fictional newspaper clippings, telegrams, war dispatches, report cards and other documentary fragments. Growing up Jewish in a tough, Italian Brooklyn neighborhood, Joey Margolis is troubled by anti-Semitic neighbors, by Hitler’s rising power, by his parents’ divorce and by his absent cad of a father. Craving a surrogate dad, Joey strikes up a correspondence with Wisconsin-born New York Giants slugger Charlie Banks. The boy’s outrageous fibs, tough-guy posturing and desperate pleas grab the reluctant attention of the superstar, whose racy vernacular guy-talk (peppered with amusing misspellings and misusages) hints at his deepening affection for Joey. Charlie is a politically enlightened proletarian ballplayer with a heart of gold. His liberal views find an echo in Joey, whose best friend, Japanese-American Craig Nakamura, gets shipped off with his family to a wartime internment camp. In a plot that swerves from Joey’s Bar Mitzvah to a White House meeting with President Roosevelt to a tearjerking climax, Kluger keeps changing the pace and piles on a slew of period references with a heavy hand. Despite these flaws, this debut novel is at its best a poignant, golden evocation of one boy’s lost innocence.
welcome, wendy! i’m glad we share the same v. important mission (well, i’m assuming yrs also includes cocktails). and thanks for the book suggestion! i’ve heard about it from a few folks so i’ll definitely add it to my list.
Okay, I notice you’ve never reviewed anything by Brent Hartinger, a fine author. I liked Grand a Humble, though it makes you think (like math class makes you think). PE Ryan’s also a good author, I really enjoyed Saints of Augustine. A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler is a good newbie about a girl dealing with her mother’s mental illness.
Dear Brian,
(I am being formal cause I’m drunk.)
Math class never made me think. Will Grand a Humble still make me thinl>
-erin
I find it horrifying that the “on the brain” section of the sidebar now has “TWILIGHT” in huge letters that far outshine “Hunger Games”, “Katniss”, and “Peeta”. Come now, FYAers. We can do better than this! Have we actually run out of things to discuss re: the best book ever? Oh August 24th, you are SO FAR AWAY.
hahaha, i second this! we need more hunger games posts. i know there isn’t much hunger games ‘news’ coming out but we can make stuff up!
I told my wife that the release of the new Hunger Games book had been postponed indefinitely. For a terrible moment, she believe me.
Brian, you are MEAN.
It was not cool. Not cool at all.
o no you didn’t. when combined, ‘postponed’ and ‘indefinitely’ and the two weren’t words in the english language. those two were just used on the new joss weadon movie and i almost slit my wrists. /cry
Okay, so after reading Kristina’s suggestions I’ve been thinking of some Hunger Games themed posts you all could do. Take em’ or leave em’ as you will.
1. Mockingjay Preview: So I know after Catching Fire came out you all posted your guesses as to what will happen. But now that we’re closer to the release date, we should do it again! It would be fun if all four of you wrote you wrote something, like, have two categories – what you THINK will happen vs what you WANT to happen. Or something like that. Though this might be something you’d want to do closer to the release date.
2. Mockingjay parties. You all did this for Catching Fire, but do it again! Ideas for Mockingjay release parties!
3. Mockingjay drinking game. Again, this would be right before the release, but Mockingjay should get a drinking game too. I mean, it’s hard to think about drinking BECAUSE IT will be so intense/NOT A JOKE. But we should throw some back in honor of Haymitch.
4. Movie casting. You all did some casting on the reviews but it would be fun to have a BIG casting post. Maybe one post where people submit suggestions and then another one where people can VOTE. And each entry can have pros and cons for each person. I’m lame, so I’d probably want to cast EVERY freaking character. And we could cast a director too, etc!
5. How to get someone to read HG. I think a post on how to convince people to read HG would be awesome. Either a how to, or just a post that we could link to people. Like, highlighting the best things about the series/telling people why they need to read it. It could be geared toward people who either don’t read much or don’t really read YA (these are the tricky ones who I haven’t convinced yet!!!) We’re running out of time to get people to read HG and CF before the MJ release!
Okay, yeah, that was a bit much, and those ideas aren’t really original so much as stolen from your other posts but having new places to comment on this stuff would be fuuuuun.
OH, and I don’t like thinking THIS FAR INTO THE FUTURE, but we’ll definitely need a post of what books to read to help us out of our INSANE Hunger Games withdrawal/TEABS post-Mockingjay.
megan, we’re extremely lucky that you don’t have yr own YA blog and choose instead to gift us with yr genius ideas. i love ALL of these suggestions, and we will get to work IMMEDIATELY so we can deliver more HG goodness for the internets to enjoy (and to balance out the sparkly vamps).
we were already planning to post our mockingjay predictions, so you can expect that post in the v. v. near future. as for #5, the minute i read it, i had about a hundred thoughts on how to tackle it. those non-HG readers are about to get SERVED.
Oh man, I can’t wait for more Hunger Goodness! I’m so glad you’re on board with number 5 because I feel like I’m RUNNING OUT OF TIME to convert people. Like, THEY DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW SAD THEY’LL BE IF THEY LIKE THESE POST-MOCKINGJAY and didn’t get to be part of the event! If/when you guys make a number 5 post, I WILL PLASTER THAT ALL OVER MY INTERNET (errrm by that mean probably link on facebook).
Thank you Megan (no h)! Your suggestions are v, v excellent and will do much to improve the ratio of HG to Twi-hardly discussion on this v esteemed blog.
As far as convincing people to read HG, I just leave the book at their house and say “this is the best book ever, no seriously”. And they hem and haw about reading YA lit and how they hated Twilight… blah blah. And then like 2 days later I get a text at 3am saying “OMG just finished HG and it’s the best book EVER, etc”. Then they borrow the sequel, complain about how Aug 24 is AGES away, and talk HG obsessively like all of us.
It’s as easy as pie
Oh man, if I did that I’d never see any of my HG books again, lol. I have to trick or bribe people into it. But the best is when I’m successful and then THAT person becomes an advocate and converts other. It’s like I’m patient zero of a HG STD and I love seeing where it goes!
I would love to see your take on the Zombies Vs. Unicorns debate! I’m pretty sure no matter which team you choose, WIN will be had all around.
good call, april. we may wait until the book comes out so that we can have the relevant research necessary for the most informed, highly intellectual debate possible.
here are some recommendations:
the ttyl series
anything by julia alvarez
“tyrell” by coe booth
i haven’t read the latter, but i read the first chapter in our school’s literacy lab, and i’ve heard some pretty great things about it. i’ve only read some short stories and “finding miracles” by julia alvarez, but she copes with some pretty heavy issues that revolve around the young latina/immigrant experience(s).
i’ve been meaning to check out TTYL! and thanks for the julia alvarez rec… we definitely need more color here on FYA (i mean, seriously, the four of us are the palest whities around).
I feel like I should raise my right hand as I admit…”My name is Sandy and I just read Will Grayson Will Grayson and Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks on vacation last week”. Wow. I want front row tickets to Tiny Dancer and in on the Frankie/Katniss sleepover.
ps. I might love the straight Will Grayson…sorry Brian.
I just discovered you guys recently and I want you to be my new Internet Best Friends.
Also, I do have a suggestion. I just read “A Brief History of Montmaray” by Michelle Cooper and I’d be interested in your take on it. It’s a bit like “I Capture the Castle,” if that piques your interest.
I feel like you all should review this book: http://io9.com/5591779/james-freys-teen-alien-angst-book-feels-like-a-bad-movie-novelization
Anything with that much good and bad buzz will have to be a lol-worthy review. Besides, how will I know if I should read it unless you all tell me
While at our local Target today, our little girl and I were walking down the toy aisle. Just curious if you ladies have seen the Twilight barbies. My personal fav was the Jacob and his shirtless jorty self.
i’ve heard about the barbies, but i have not yet had the opportunity to ogle, i mean, examine, i mean I CAN’T FIND A WORD THAT DOESN’T SOUND PERVY um, see? the jacob doll in person.
Heheh….now I’m sitting here thinking of all the inappropriate sounding innocent ways you could say that…
i read “barbies” as “babies” first, and i thought, “holy crap, they’re pushing the ‘marry and spawn vampire hell babies at 18′ message to TODDLERS now?? ahem.
also, if you want to laugh your pants off, check out jen lancaster’s hilarious twilight-barbie-enacted movie recaps. eclipse here: http://www.jennsylvania.com/jennsylvania/2010/06/team-edward-team-jacob-or-team-take-your-pants-off.html
ps the new moon reenactment is funnier.
Have you guys read L.J. Smith’s Nightworld series? – much better than Vampire Diaries and Twilight. There are lots of MAJOR SWOONWORTHY guys and BFF’s galore! Please read!!!
Just discovered your blog today while trying to find the perfect review to make all my friends read The Hunger Games. Suffice to say, I am changing my relationship status with FYA to Goin’ To The Chapel, for reals.
More reviews I would heart to see:
- Geektastic, by Holly Black et. al. (geeky short stories of awesome)
- Prep, by Curtis Sittenfeld (boarding school win)
- The Magicians, by Lev Grossman (technically rated 18+, but a coming-of-age-story, so I call it YA. Also the cause of the worst case of TEABS I have ever had, eclipsed only by The Hunger Games.)
- His Dark Materials, by Phillip Pullman (pleeeeeease!)
Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment.
It’s a series about these six kids of varying ages who escape from an evil lab called the School, where they were created as experiments and basically try to live on their own and oh yeah they have WINGS. (Holy run-on sentence!)
These other, half-wolf men experiments turn up one day and kidnap their youngest member, leading them all around the U.S . to rescue her and find out answers about the people who created them.
All that notwithstanding, it isn’t as good as it sounds. The little one is a Mary-Sue, especially in the later series. It’s not a book based around depth of plot or characters; it’s an action movie in book format. And depending on your tastes, the narrator’s constant sarcastic comments can be either funny or eye-gratingly annoying.