Carrie Jones! Multitasker!

Carrie Jone's first two novel got some nice recognition this week. First, VOYA had a good review of Love (and Other Uses for Duct Tape): "The book raises many hot topic issues, from teen sex and pregnancy to gay rights, but it keeps them personal and real, without any preaching or judgments. Ultimately, this is a story about Belle defining who she is and who she wants to be. It’s a journey every teen must take, and this novel should be equally universal in its appeal.”

And her Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend is a semifinalist for the Independent Publisher Book Award for YA. (Flux author Christine MacLean took this award a couple years ago for How It's Done.)

And, according to her blog, Carrie fulfilled her mommy-pledge not to take her daughter to school looking like Amy Winehouse, something we can all be thankful for.

Another good review for EVERYTHING YOU WANT

This time in VOYA. Among other nice things:

"This entertaining coming-of-age journey is also a thought-provoking look at what money can and cannot do."

And for those of you who speak VOYA-code:

4Q 4P S

More Ayn Rand (sorry Brian)

I blogged last week about the inherent YA appeal of Ayn Rand (and I think Literaticat got close to the reason in her comment). This piece from NPR's On the Media (a show everyone should listen to weekly) puts it into further perspective. It's worth the hearing the whole 13-minute bit, but the YA stuff is toward the end.

Transcript here.

Why do I think this is interesting? Because I think it's worthwhile to examine books that appeal to teens that are manifestly not YA in any sense we use the term now. I am not a secret Rand fanboy.

Things that are awesome

I saw the Penguin reissues of the Ian Fleming Bond novels on Book Design Review. Once again, Penguin knocks the packaging out of the park--shameless and stylish at once. If only they sold all of these in a boxed set with a bottle of vodka . . .

Only a tenuous YA connection in that if I ran a YA section in a library, I would totally shelve these. Reluctant readers? Oh yeah. James Patterson may have his "Pageturners" for "ages 10 to 110," but how can he beat these for pure mindcandy style?

Carrie Jones is busy

This is no surprise, of course. And of course she's also busy with interesting things. And since I'm busy and lazy, I'm simply cutting and pasting straight from her blog:

"Also, this week I'm posting at a craft blog of nine alum from Vermont College's MFA program. It's about dialogue and the first two posts are about class. I'll be talking to superstar agent Edward Necarsulmer, Editor Andrew Karre, authors Micol Ostow, Rita Williams-Garcia and Linda Urban.If you go over there and comment you will be entered into TWO contests:1. The first is mine and you will win two of my books and a secret surprise. The books are TIPS ON HAVING A GAY (ex) BOYFRIEND, and the newly released LOVE (AND OTHER USES FOR DUCT TAPE).2. The second is exclusive to the Thru the Tollbooth blog and you win a signed copy of one of Micol's great books."

Go forth.

You can't have AYN RAND without YAs?

So, this morning there was a piece on NPR about Ayn Rand studies in college. The piece itself was interesting, but what really stayed with me as I was riding in was the nagging question of why is Ayn Rand so persuasive for teenagers and undergrads? (I get why she's popular with CEOs, no problem.)

For much of high school, I self-identified as an objectivist and might have called her my favorite author. I remember breathlessly reading the infamous John Galt speech in Atlas Shrugged on a bus ride for a museum filed trip (really, who reads when you've got three unstructured hours on a bus with your friends?). I remember fervently arguing objectivist viewpoints in social studies classes.

Anyway, I don't think I was particularly weird in role as an Ayn Rand fanboy. I wasn't alone. The Ayn Rand Institute is pretty aggressive about promoting the books in schools (posters, contest, schwag for teachers, etc.). An English teacher actually gave me a copy of Anthem and said I should do the contest. When I got to college, there was an objectivist club and I wasn't the only freshman interested. (My own obsession didn't survive first term, however, and it has so far never returned.)

So, what's the appeal? Why does her way of presenting capitalism and self-interest pack such a wallop for so many young adults? Or am I imagining this?

(For what it's worth, I'm not suggesting that adolescent objectivism is necessarily a bad thing. So long as it's a temporary thing.)

A starred review for EVERYTHING YOU WANT

Barbara Shoup's new YA, Everything You Want, has earned a star in the latest issue of KLIATT.

The whole review is lovely, but here's a taste:

"Just thinking about how money would change everything is an intriguing place for a story to begin, especially in the hands of a skilled writer."

And, of course, we appreciate that little *, which "highlights exceptional books."