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!

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

As I looked back over the books I read in 2011, most were not new releases. That narrowed my playing field a bit, so I’ve only chosen a few of the categories each day. If you'd like to learn more about the books, click on the covers to link back to the authors' websites. Here are my picks for Head of the Class, 2011! Drum roll, please…

Favorite Dystopian:

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent tops many of my categories for the year. I loved the world building, the family dynamics, and the romance. I can close my eyes months later and still imagine myself standing beside the rushing water with the members of Dauntless.

Favorite Fantasy:

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

This book has everything: gorgeous prose, strong world building, well-chosen changes in perspective, a carefully unraveled mystery, and star-crossed lovers. What else can you ask for?

Favorite Contemporary:

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

I chose this one because I loved Lola’s voice. More than any other YA book I read this year, Lola reminded me what it felt like to be a teenager.


My *extra* category, Favorite Scary Story:

Cryer’s Cross by Lisa McMann

Everything I love about Stephen King and everything I love about YA meld together perfectly in this book. McMann has a unique voice, and this is my favorite of her books to date.

I can’t wait to read everyone else’s picks and watch my to-be-read list grow each day. Please stop back by tomorrow for the Popularity Contest!

Welcome to YA Highway's 110th Road Trip Wednesday!

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. This Week's Topic:

Where do you buy most of your books?

I wasn't planning to chime in today, but this one is pretty short and sweet. Since I got my Nook Color, I have purchased several e-books. I read a comment the other day that e-books are much more about convenience than cost, and I agree with that. When I want a book immediately, without driving to a store, I download it. I also downloaded all my books for my Thanksgiving road trip. Convenience is key.

Still, around half of my fall/winter reads have been ink and paper books. I lucked out with a few blog giveaways, I bought more books for myself than I did for my kids at their school book fair, and I finally finished my last find from the fall Friends of the Library sale. I shop at Books-a-Million because it's the closest to my house, and I shop at Barnes and Noble when I'm at the mall. Most of the time I get overwhelmed at the used book store; the nearest independent book store is really far from where I live, but I've shopped there, too. I usually only buy non-fiction books from Amazon, but I couldn't tell you why that is.

So basically, I buy books anywhere I can find them.

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope your stockings are filled with beautiful words and amazing stories.

Music for today: Let it Snow

I've been a little absent from the Interwebs recently. It's easy to click and read with one hand, but more of a challenge to type comments or posts. I'll be back soon, with a slew of end-of-the-year book reviews, but I'm muddling through this post left handed to give a little personal update.

I am so blessed by my wonderful family and friends. This year I've met so many fun people in the reading and writing community, both in person and online, and I'm grateful to have you all in my life! I've been away from the keyboard because I had surgery on my right wrist two weeks ago, and my loved ones have really stepped up to take care of me. I'm doing fine; it was a minor thing that just happened at an inconvenient time.

A few things I've learned this December:

* I can eat, put in contacts, drive, text, and get dressed with my left hand.
* I cannot wash dishes with my left hand.
* Son #1 was amazingly non-whiny while he had a cast on his broken arm for ten weeks, when he was five years old.
* My husband does an amazing job taking care of our family.
* I'm still not used to Florida's 80 degree winters.
* The YA community is awesome, and not just because of the PHENOMENAL giveaways they've put on this month, but because they care about connecting with a network of brothers and sisters who will always remain teenagers at heart.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Music for today: My mom's favorite Christmas song, O Holy Night

It's time for Road Trip Wednesday!

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on our own blogs. This Week's Topic:


How far would you go to get published?

I'll be short and sweet today.

I'm willing to put in the work. I'm willing to revise and rewrite to make my story as strong as it can be. I'm willing to stay up late to get my words on the page, I'm willing to travel to conferences to hone my craft, and I'm willing to peck type this blog entry with my left hand because I had surgery on my right hand yesterday. And it's not really so much about breaking down that publishing barrier, although that will be great one day. It's about doing justice to my characters, so that other people can know them and love them like I do. It's about connecting with other readers and writers, who love a good story and beautifully chosen words and strong characters.

I have a confession to make. Sometimes when people ask me what I’m reading, I hesitate before answering. For some reason, I feel like I need to explain why I’m reading a young adult novel, when I have not, in fact, been a ‘young’ adult for many years.

And then, I feel guilty for explaining. Because most of the books I read are fabulous, and they’re YA, and those two qualities go hand in hand, and I shouldn’t need to defend those facts to anyone.

But here’s the thing about this month’s book club selection, The Scorpio Races. I. Loved. It. There isn’t a box big enough or amazing enough to hold it. Not only will I tell my YA reading friends about it, I’ll tell everyone who can read about it. And I won’t be anything but proud that I was lucky enough to recommend it.

Welcome to the Fall Book Club Selection, hosted by the lovely Tracey Neithercott at Words On Paper.

The summary, from Maggie Stiefvater’s website:

It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die.

At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.

Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

This book is amazing in so many ways. Stiefvater writes prose with stark, naked beauty and heart-clinching rhythm. I could smell the salt and fish on Gabe’s clothes, taste the November cakes melting on my tongue, and hear the waves crashing beneath the cliffs. Her descriptions sucked me right into the island, but never weighed down the pace or slowed the ticking clock.

I finish many books wishing I could know the characters in real life. But the magic of The Scorpio Races is that I put it down feeling like a member of the Connolly family. Puck is the bravest, strongest main character I’ve read since Katniss Everdeen, and I read The Hunger Games the week it debuted. My only complaint would be that I want to know Sean better, but of course, that’s part of his magic, too. He holds everything close to his blue-black jacket, and what we do learn about him is all show and no tell.

My last comment, without too many spoilers, is about the ending. Stiefvater sets her characters’ stakes against each other, meaning that however the book ends, someone has to lose. I worried about how she would pull it off, and whether I’d be left crying in my boots. But she saw the perfect ending to stay true to the tone of the story, and I put it down full of hope and no tears.

I can't wait to read everyone else's reactions!

Perfect music for this novel: Little Talks by Of Monsters and Men