I had planned to post for YA Highway's Road Trip Wednesday, but I could spend hours with today's task: Write a dialogue between two of your favorite YA characters. As I considered it, I couldn't get Eldric from Chime out of my mind. (I envisioned a lively conversation between Eldric and Will from The Infernal Devices that ended in a boxing match and tears.)

But instead of trying to write these characters' voices, which their creators have already perfected, I decided to just review Chime instead.

The summary, adapted from Goodreads:

Before Briony's stepmother died, she made sure Briony blamed herself for all the family's hardships. She often escapes to the swamp, where she tells stories to the Old Ones, the spirits who haunt the marshes. But only witches can see the Old Ones, and in her village, witches are sentenced to death. Briony lives in fear her secret will be found out. Then Eldric comes along with his golden lion eyes, and everything starts to change. As many secrets as Briony has been holding, there are secrets even she doesn't know.

I have a confusing relationship with this book. Around 100 pages in, I decided that this was one of those books that I respect, because I recognize how well-written and unique it is. It is a wonderful book, and I would recommend it. But I wasn't in love with it. (I'm a love-at-first-sight kind of girl; I usually know in the first thirty pages.)

Chime took me almost a week to finish. And then suddenly, at the end, it tugged on my heartstrings. The reason? Eldric. Eldric is complex but consistent. He's one of the most well-crafted characters I can think of whose story comes through a first person narration by the main character. So, as it turns out, Chime is like an acquaintance I didn't think I'd ever be close to, and we ended up the best of friends.

If you'd like to find out more about Chime, by Franny Billingsley, click here.

Music for today: Turn Off This Song And Go Outside by The Lonely Forest

Just a quick Sunday night post... I took a few days off from the web to spend a fun weekend with my family. (I can't say technology, because of course I had my phone, my camera, and my nook.) The weather was beautiful, and we had a lovely time together. I'm glad we were all able to focus on each other.

Just in the past hour, though, I found some things I missed by stepping away from the social network. My sweet little niece took her first steps. My friend's son made a Tardis inspired derby car. Writing contests and giveaways have been going on all weekend and are ending at midnight. I can't help but wonder, what did I miss during the other 72 hours? Several of my blogging buddies talked about the goal of achieving balance in 2012, and I hope to do the same. I hope to find the perfect balance of devoted family time, writing time, and time to connect with friends, both online and in real life.

One of the things I found on my weekend twitter update was a link to several reasonably priced ebook titles. If you like romance, check out Deborah Camp and Lorena Dureau.

Welcome to my first book review of 2012!

Back in December I was lucky enough to win an advanced copy of the YA contemporary Awkward by Marni Bates. (Many thanks to Kate Scott over at Kate Scott Writes for hosting the giveaway. Click on the link to check out her blog!)

Mackenzie Wellesley is happy to bide her time at Smith High School by studying and blending in to the background. But when a classmate posts one of her awkward moments on Youtube, she becomes an overnight Internet sensation. Chased by paparazzi , befriended by rock stars, and confused by an unexpected romance, Mackenzie struggles to survive the spotlight while staying true to herself.

Obviously, I love the title Awkward. (Glance up at the name of my blog.) But what I loved most about this book was the authentic teenage voice. Within the first few pages, the narrative whisked me back to high school. I connected with Mackenzie immediately, and the reader learns about her through her relationships with her friends, her family, and of course, her love interest Logan. The romance develops naturally, and the author does a wonderful job of keeping the story realistic, while also letting the reader live the fantasy of fifteen minutes of fame.

One of my favorite supporting characters was Kenzie’s best friend Jane. I would have loved to see more of her, so of course I was thrilled when I read that the follow up Invisible will be Jane’s story.

I really enjoyed Awkward, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes contemporary YA. I feel so lucky to have read this book before it was released and to have connected with the delightful Marni Bates on her blog and on twitter. Click on the link here or on the book cover to check out Marni’s site, where she has a trailer for the book and plenty of other neat stories.

Music for today: My pick today reminds me of the band ReadySet from the book – Helena Beat by Foster the People

How is it possible that this is my first post of 2012? Is it just me, or is this year already flying by? I don't want to talk about reflection on the past year (been there, done that) or resolutions for the new one (already broken). Instead my first post of the year is about watching the world change before your eyes.

I think quite a bit about how the world will be different when my children are adults. I just finished reading Ally Condie's Matched, which I highly recommend, and I hope that my boys don't live to see those changes in our society. We have many close friends who have moved away or will be moving away soon. When I was young, these kinds of goodbyes were final; it would take some kind of serendipity to meet up at thirty years old with someone you knew for a year in first grade. Of course now, if you remember that friend's last name, you can look her up and try to reconnect.

Though my boys are young, before I know it they will have mobile phones and facebook and twitter accounts. They won't have to reconnect with old friends. They will always have these connections, if they want them, at their fingertips. I've enjoyed getting to know the kids in my younger son's kindergarten class. (If you want to see what a day with them is like, watch the 1990 classic Kindergarten Cop.) And just think, in a few years when I say, remember that cute little girl in your class who loved to do cartwheels? He'll say, sure, she lives in Orlando and she's an Olympic gymnast. I chatted with her yesterday.

Isn't it amazing how the world is growing larger and smaller all at the same time? Instead of a resolution, I'll end this post with a hope for 2012. I hope that this year, I will take advantage of opportunities to meet and learn from like-minded people, and that I will nourish relationships with all the people whose paths have thankfully crossed with mine.

Music for the day: Favorite cover of 2011, Mr. Little Jeans cover of The Suburbs

Welcome to the last day of the 2011 YA superlative blogfest, hosted by Katy Upperman, Jessica Love, Tracey Neithercott, and Alison Miller. This has been so much fun, and I've added way too many books to my to-be-read list for 2012. Today we chose Best in Show:

Favorite Cover:

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. This is really saying something, because I haven’t read this book yet, but after reading all the other blogs and seeing this beautiful cover so many times, I had to pick it. Beautiful.

Cutest Couple:

Lola and Cricket

Most Likely to Make You Miss Your Bedtime AND Breakout Novel of the Year:

Divergent. This was my first e-book, and I broke down to buy it because I started with the online sample and didn’t want to go to the store to buy it. I read the entire book in 24 hours, and that includes the time it took me to download the Kindle app and the book.

Best Repeat Performance AND Sleeper Hit:

Red Glove. Most of the books I read this year were well publicized, but I heard about White Cat through word of mouth. I picked it up and when I finished, I ran to the store to get Red Glove. I couldn't believe I'd overlooked this series before. Holly Black is a genius.

Romance Most Worthy of an Ice Bath:

Juliette and Adam from Shatter Me. Steamiest scenes I’ve read in YA in a while!

Pair Most Likely to Stay Best Friends Till They’re 80:

I’m kind of cheating with another couple, but I pick Puck and Sean from The Scorpio Races.

Best Old-Timer (Your favorite read of the year, published BEFORE 2011.)

Super tough choice, but I have to go with The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. That man is a genius.

Most Creative Use of a Love Triangle:

Clockwork Prince. I had two other books tied for this one until last night, but I made it to a certain point in Clockwork Prince last night, and I have to say, Tessa really has an impossible choice between Will and Jem. Also a runner-up for the ice-bath pick!

*My own category: Best Book written by a person I’ve met in Real Life:

After by Kristin Harmel. I've met many amazing writers online, but I feel so lucky to have met Kristin at a writing conference this year.

Wow! 2011 is almost over, and what a fun way to look back. Thanks for stopping by!

Welcome to Day 3 of the 2011 YA superlative blogfest, hosted by Katy Upperman, Jessica Love, Tracey Neithercott, and Alison Miller. (Thanks ladies!) Today the categories are Elements of Fiction. And the awards go to:

Most Envy-Inducing Plot: Divergent by Veronica Roth.

This is a tough one, because you couldn’t have the plot in Divergent without the well-built world, but it truly was the perfect pacing and the NEED to know what would happen next that kept me from putting Divergent down.

Most Wonderful World-Building: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.

She managed to create multiple worlds in one book, and they were all amazing. This was also my second runner-up for loveliest prose, but I didn’t want DoSaB to win ALL of today’s categories.

Most Formidable World: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi.

This was a hard choice, and James Dashner’s The Death Cure was my second choice.

Wanderlust-Inducing AND Loveliest Prose: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater.

It is a testament to how beautiful the prose is that Stiefvater pulls the reader in, so that she wants to go to a place most characters in the book are dying to get away from. I guess instead of wanderlust-inducing, I should say setting I feel like I already HAVE been to visit, and that would be the island of Thisby.

Best First Line: It is the first day of November, and so, today, someone will die.

Amazing. The Scorpio Races, of course.

Most Dynamic Main Character: Tris from Divergent. Another hard choice, but what made Tris real to me was her internal conflicts and strengths.

Most Jaw-Dropping Finale: The Death Cure by James Dashner.

It was funny, but it hit me for the first time 2/3 of the way through the last book in the trilogy that these books are about zombies. (Duh, I know.) But I expected a totally different ending, and I was truly dumbfounded when I put it down.

Best Performance in a Supporting Role: The Dads in Lola and the Boy Next Door.

I didn’t give them the award for parental figure, but they deserve some props! Lots of YA books have 'bad' or absent parental figures, but Lola's dads are doing things right.

Best Use of Theme: Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

War, peace, love, hate—and those are just the major ones. It worked so well because they shined through with all show and not a drop of tell.

It has been so much fun reading everyone else's posts! My TBR list is expanding daily, as I expected. Please stop back by tomorrow!

Welcome to Day 2 of the 2011 YA superlative blogfest, hosted by Katy Upperman, Jessica Love, Tracey Neithercott, and Alison Miller. (Thanks ladies!)

Today's picks are for the Popularity Contest. Without further ado...

Class Clown: Percy Jackson from Son of Neptune --An oldy but goody, Percy still keeps me entertained seven books into the series.

Most Likely to Become a Rock Star: Simon from City of Fallen Angels

Mostly Likely to Start a Riot: Lila from Red Glove

Fashion King and/or Queen: Lola and Cricket from Lola and the Boy Next Door -- Was there any doubt about this one?

Girl You’d Most Want For Your BFF: Puck from The Scorpio Races – Loyal, fierce, and witty, Puck is everything I look for in a friend.

Boy You Wish You’d Dated in High School: Cassel from Red Glove – I’m a sucker for a bad boy with a heart of gold.

Quirkiest Character: Emma from Miss Perrigrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

Villain You Love to Hate: Warner from Shatter Me

Favorite Parental Figure: Tris’s mom from Divergent

Coolest Nerd: Sam from Red Glove

These were super fun choices! I can't wait to read everyone else's picks!