Awesome reader review for Life as a Rhombus

Reader Elaina from Rhombus home-state South Carolina is taking The Shady Glade YA Lit Challenge* and just polished off Varian Johnson's My Life as a Rhombus. She wrote a very nice review.

"Rhonda's character was funny and witty, there are many parts when I literally laughed out loud. There were also a few parts that brought tears to my eyes. Varian Johnson did a fantastic job with this book and I plan on passing it on to my friends and family."

*Lots of blogs throw down the gauntlet with various "challenges." YA fiends seem to be particularly enamoured of this kind of thing.

Technical issues

Authors who are linking to cover photos on the Flux site are probably noticing some broken links this morning. We changed some things behind the scenes on the web site and this unfortunately means you'll have to relink to any photos on Fluxnow.com.

Congratulations Simone Elkeles!

The Romance Writers of America has named Simone's Leaving Paradise as a finalist for its RITA awards in the young adult category. Congratulations, Simone!

More praise for The Shape of Water

Reading Rants, the review blog associated with Finding Wonderland recently reviewed Anne Spollen's The Shape of Water. And they liked it.

"A dark, quiet descent into one girl's private watery grave, The Shape of Water, takes a collage of losses and everyday aggravation and turns them into a surprising poignant hope that eventually, even the darkest water clears, and those who drown in the sea of grief can also remember how to swim and find their way back to solid land."

And, if you're familiar with VerlaKay.com, you might want to check out the little rejection story Anne posted. It must be rather sweet in light of the recent glowing reviews.

Two from Barbara Shoup

We're releasing two books by one author April and May, and I've got them both here on my shelf.

In April, we're releasing Barbara Shoup's latest YA novel, Everything You Want, which Barbara wrote on her PEN/Phyllis Nayolor Working Writer's Fellowship. It's a tremendously good YA about exactly how much happiness money can buy (and it will be of particular interest to those involved in the various college YA discussions presently going on around the interwebs).

The next book is remarkable for two reasons. 1) It's the first paperback edition of Shoup's acclaimed YA Wish You Were Here, which was voted the book teachers, librarians, and readers wanted to see back in print in a CBC/ALA poll. 2) It's far and away the orangest book we've ever published. Really. Line a bunch of 'em up in parallel lines on a football field and watch out for the 737s.

Check them both out.

Is nothing sacred?

Tell the bastards to leave my adolesence alone! Converse is releasing a limited number of Kurt Cobain shoes, complete with lyrics and drawings from his journals punkishly "scrawled" on Chuck Taylors, Jack Purcells, and One Stars. It's part of their 100th anniversary who-ha.

More details at AdAge and Gawker.

The New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age

For 79 years the New York Public Library has been publishing a list of "Books for the Teen Age." It's a list so old and venerable that it predates the radical fusion of "teen" and "age" into a single word (I have a sinking suspicion I made this joke last year). Actually, the published product is really cool and worth seeking out (they send a copy to every library in the country). From the NYPL's release:

"This year's edition features spicy teen book reviews, snappy author interviews with questions submitted by teens, and of course, cover art by a local teen inspired by technology of the moment."

Anyway, Flux is very proud to have three titles included this year:

Starcrossed by Mark Schreiber

The Second Virginity of Suzy Green by Sara Hantz

Hoops of Steel by John Foley

Congratulations one and all!