Book Love: Where She Went

WHERE SHE WENT
Gayle Forman
Dutton

If I Stay was an amazing novel. It was intense, emotional, and gripping. It was an entirely new take on the theme of grief in YA (at least for me) and it handled everything so well. Obviously the sequel, Where She Went, has a lot to live up to - not only because of how great the first book was but also because If I Stay is not a novel that demands a sequel. It told a complete story that ended, not with a cliff-hanger, but with various threads that didn't really need to be sewn up. I didn't finish If I Stay hoping for a sequel; I finished it thrilled at what a great story it was and how much I was drawn in and wrapped up in Mia's life-or-death struggle.

So while I knew that Gayle Forman is a talented storyteller, I wasn't quite sure what Where She Went would be like. Told from Adam's viewpoint and picking up three years after Mia's accident, it somehow manages to do the impossible. Not only is it just as emotional and gripping as its predecessor, but it also takes a story that is complete and made it even better, delving deeper into what happened when Mia went into her coma. It made a sequel to If I Stay seem not necessary, but inevitable... all while telling a completely different story from a different character, in a different place, and a different time.

I picked up Where She Went one afternoon and didn't put it down until I had read the entire thing. I didn't close the book, check the clock, or reach for a bookmark even once. I just kept turning the pages, holding my breath and crossing my fingers right along with Adam.

I love this book. I hesitate to say it's better than the first, because opinions will vary on that, but it's definitely a worthy sequel as well as being absolutely brilliant in its own right. It's amazing, incredible, and absolutely stunning. 

Topics of the YA Mafia

I came home from school today and opened Twitter to find a plethora of tweets about the YA mafia, a topic that both Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier had discussed on their blogs. I've spent most of this afternoon reading all the blog posts and comments about the YA mafia, as well as a bunch of related, older posts.

I have so much to say. There's so much here to discuss.

First, what is the YA mafia?

It's the idea of a tightly-knit group of YA authors who blurb, promote, and review each others' books who can also ruin your (possibly non-existent) career if you insult them or give them a bad review. It's a concern primarily for those who are both book bloggers/reviewers and aspiring authors.

It's also not real. But the issue is a bit more complex than that. There are a couple of facets at play here and some of them are legitimate concerns that I'd like to talk about.

1. The idea that there is a clique of YA authors who blurb and promote each other's books because they are friends.
2. Negative reviews harming the possible writing career of the reviewer.

CLIQUES IN YA

I may be in the minority of readers/aspiring authors here, but I don't care if YA authors are cliquey. Do I think they are? No. I think that authors who are, after all, colleagues, have every right to be friends with each other, read each others work, enjoy each others books and blurb and promote them. The idea that a blurb on a book cover should be accompanied by a disclaimer that the two authors are friends strikes me as ridiculous. 

Authors are allowed to be friends. As a reader, writer, aspiring author, I'm glad they're friends. Writing is lonely. Having somebody understand how difficult it is, sympathize, talk you off the ledge and discuss books in your genre with is great. If an author likes a friend's book better than another author's book, maybe they honestly think their friend's book is better. Everyone has a bias. Knowing the person behind the book often does help you appreciate the book more. That's not a bad thing. To me, there's nothing ethically wrong about authors sticking together and cheering each other on.

NEGATIVE REVIEWS ARE BAD FOR THE ASPIRING AUTHOR

I don't know if this is true, but I don't know it's not. Many authors that I hugely respect and admire, including Maureen Johnson and Justine Larbalestier, say that authors don't have the power to make sure that their agent or editor doesn't take on a blogger, even one that gave them a scathing review. But by the same token I've been told (me, personally) by agents that they won't take on a client whose publicly spoken against another client's book. I've also been told by an author that she'd be offended if her agent took on a blogger who hated her books. 

Whether or not reviews can harm your writing career, it is a legitimate worry. For some, there is an undercurrent of fear running through all of this. Though I gave up reviewing I second-guess nearly every. single. thing. that I say on this blog because of what happened last month during the #querychat and ensuing posts by Stacia Kane. It may be true that the only one who can ruin my (nonexistent) career is me, but it's equally true that there's a fear that I could ruin that career without even realizing it. That's the terrifying part. Not that there's a secret YA mafia out there, not that an author is going to be offended by something I say, but that somehow I'm doing something terribly and obviously wrong and there's no way to take it back. 

My personal opinion on this is that there's not actually anything wrong with aspiring authors reviewing books honestly and critically, but I have no power. And obviously as much as I see nothing wrong with it, I don't have the fortitude to stand by that and continue reviewing books myself. If I don't think I was doing anything wrong, why stop? Because honestly I have heard enough that makes me worry that I'm hurting myself and burning unbuilt bridges with those in the publishing world by reviewing. Not that there's a "blacklist" of publishing or a YA mafia, but that I would step on the wrong toes and hurt my relationships with authors who might someday be my colleagues. 

IN CONCLUSION...

I know I'm not the person to talk about this, but I wanted to toss my hat into the fray because this is an issue that's close to me and since I was mentioned in Larbalestier's post (in Phoebe North's comment), I wanted to give you my perspective on the surrounding issues. 

The Good & Bad of Not Reviewing

THE GOOD:

• I no longer feel so required to finish books I'm bored by or don't like. In the past I would often continue reading a meh sort of book, knowing that I was going to read it, after the point that it ceased to be interesting to me. Now I don't feel as obligated to keep going with these books and it's easier to put them aside earlier.
• More time. Writing reviews is time-consuming. Now I get to spend that time doing awesome stuff like watching Friday Night Lights and Cute Win Fail videos on YouTube.
• I don't have to think about how someone might respond or react to my reviews.
• I get to focus so much more on those books that I absolutely love.

THE BAD:

• I miss it; I really liked reviewing every YA book I read, in spite of the time it took.
• My blog is unfocused. This, in case you haven't noticed, is something that really bothers me. When I was reviewing I knew who my target audience was - other readers of contemporary YA and MG - but without reviews I honestly don't know if I'm blogging for readers, fellow writers, or just to hear the sound of my own keyboard click-clacking.
• Less blogging material. Just like I don't know who I'm blogging for, I'm also still trying to figure out what I'm really blogging about.

Television Wishes: Three Books

I'm a fan of television. Not only do I watch a lot of shows, but I watch them aggressively, if that's possible. While there are relatively few movies I can watch for two whole hours, I have no problem flying through a full season of a show in a couple of weeks. And I get excited about the shows; I honestly care what happens to the characters and love when something completely unexpected happens nearly as much as I love when something that's been building for a while finally happens.

I'm sure I will always love books the most, but as far as storytelling goes, television is in a unique place in that the stories get to stretch out over long periods of time and the characters grow and change as time goes on. Pam from season six of The Office is a much more mature and self-assured person than the Pam of season two was. Books, even long series, rarely have this ability.

That said, there are a few books, both stand-alones and series, that I think would be great bases for television shows.

Flirt Club

Cathleen Daly

Alright, so no offense to Hannah Montana & friends, but do you guys remember when Disney Channel used to have really good shows? (Sure, my definition of "really good" may be a bit tainted by the fact that I had a huge crush on Gordo, but whatever.) Let's turn back the clock to those days and then put Flirt Club into production because this novel about junior high drama geeks is hilarious, cute, and wonderful. I can just imagine it as an incredibly quirky and lovely "tween" show that, as an "adult" (I use that word very loosely in relation to myself) I would totally watch.

The Kid Table

Andrea Seigal

This book is pretty structured (the story is divided into five sections, each one detailing a family event at which the kid table members are present), but I think that could work really well for a television show. The book is focused on Ingrid Bell and her five cousins, a concept that I think would be awesome for a show, especially because the second I was done with The Kid Table I wanted more about Ingrid and her family. Think NBC's Parenthood meets Community with darker Dexter-esque* undertones. Yeah, I think that could be most excellent. I know I'd tune in weekly.

The Naughty List 

Suzanne Young

Spy cheerleaders? Heck yes. This would totally satisfy my craving for another great spy show. (For some reason I just can't get interested in Chuck.) The Naughty List and its sequel, So Many Boys, follows a squad of high school cheerleaders who double as spies who catch cheating boyfriends. The book is fabulous, fun, and smart... just like the show would be. Plus, stereotype-defying is always awesome. The more I think about this one, the more I really, seriously want the tv show. UM, PLEASE.

*Okay, I've only seen a few episodes of Dexter. But it's definitely creepy and has that dark undertone and plus the main character in this book might be a psychopath.

i'm a bear, etc. (sleepwalk with me)

SLEEPWALK WITH ME
Mike Birbiglia
Simon & Schuster

Sleepwalk With Me, based on comedian Mike Birbiglia's one-man show of the same name, is a memoir of his life. More specifically: it's a memoir of awkwardness and, as the title suggests, sleepwalking. Except that Mike's sleepwalking is in a whole other category and we should really call it X-TREME SLEEPWALKING!! LIKE THE HULK!!*

To be completely upfront about it, I love Mike Birbiglia. He's my absolute favorite stand-up comedian; he manages somehow to tap into the awkwardness of life in a completely authentic way, possibly because he really is that awkward. Which is nice. Because he reminds me of myself. In his book he unearths such painful memories as his first love, the time he maybe had cancer, and those terribly personal family stories. Starting the book by explaining that his dad always told him not to tell people anything even the slightest bit personal sets the stage for Birbiglia to write down and share the most personal stories.

And it's funny, which is an understatement. This book is laugh out loud while reading funny, which is a particular hard-to-achieve brand of humor. Of course, it helps if you're familiar with Birbiglia's stand up (which is also excellent). And while being hilariously funny, the book also manages, somehow, to be incredibly sad. It's this bittersweet mix of hilarious and tear-jerking that works so perfectly and is all the more powerful just because it's so rare to find. Going into this book I expected to laugh, because Bahooski** is a funny guy. I also knew that some of the stories would be personal. I wasn't prepared, however, for just how perfectly he would capture the events, emotions, and bittersweet truths of life that he chooses to write about.

Mostly what I didn't expect was that this book would become so personal to me. I can only chalk it up to the fact that all of the unhappy truths Mike sees in himself (and then proceeds to write about, fortunately for us) are the same ones I see in myself, awkwardness being only one of many. Even if you don't often read memoirs or don't know who Mike Birbiglia is, I recommend this. Because it's awesome and amazing.

*I'M THE HULK, I'M THE HULK, I'M THE HULK! 
**This is another inside joke for anyone who's read the book or heard/seen his stand-up. The above footnote is also an inside joke, btw. So many reasons to read this book!

the first rule of flirt club has been broken*

Izzy (Cisco) and Annie (the Bean) are eighth grade drama geeks who in spite of being absolutely incredibly awesome, have no idea how to get boyfriends. Or even how to talk to boys, really. To combat this problem they start the Flirt Club, the purpose of which is to help them be less awkward around the opposite sex. Told through their notes to each other, Flirt Club tells the story of their wonderfully authentic and drama-geeky year.

And I love it - did I mention that? Not only do Cisco and the Bean remind me of me and the friends I had in middle school, not only are their problems real things that girls go through, but more than anything this story brought me right back to middle school and my own super-geeky times. Reading their notes to each other is like reading my journal, age 12, minus all the mortification that comes from knowing that actually happened to me. This book had me laughing out loud (for real) so many times and I just wanted Cisco and the Bean to be my best friends. The things that these girls are into aren't Justin Bieber or Hannah Montana, but stage productions and shows from the 60s. There are Star Trek references. The girls have secret agent numbers and that definitely has something to do with Get Smart. (You can just imagine my giddy, geeky happiness at finding this out.)

I love these girls. I love their story. I love the book. Because they're wonderfully quirky and great, because their friendship is honest and real, because there's an authentic level of geekdom here, because the whole book is hilarious, because their secret agent numbers are 88 and 66.


*The first rule of Flirt Club? Don't talk about Flirt Club, obviously.