Review BREATHLESS by Jessica Warman

BREATHLESS
by Jessica Warman
Published August 18th 2009 by Walker Books for Young Readers
Hardcover, 320 pages

PLACEMENT IN THE PILE: A Bit Buried

SUMMARY:
When Katie Kitrell is shipped off to boarding school by her distant father and overbearing mother, it doesn’t take her long to become part of the It Crowd. She’s smart, she’s cute, and she’s an Olympic-bound swimmer who has a first class ticket to any Ivy League school of her choice. But what her new friends, roommate, and boyfriend don’t know is that Katie is swimming away from her past, and from her schizophrenic older brother, Will, who won’t let her go. And when he does the unthinkable, it’s all Katie can do to keep her head above water.

REVIEW:
When I read the premise of this book it intrigued me. It is not something I would normally pick up, but I thought I would give it a try. Bloomsbury lists it as semi-autobiographical. And I was very interested to see how the story played out where the girl is dealing with her brother's mental illness.

What this novel is: A good read for an ADULT. It reminds us that sometimes teenagers deal with things they shouldn't need to deal with. I enjoyed reading the story. Katie's relationship with her roommate made me laugh out loud multiple times. Her parents infuriated me for not being there for her and I really felt for this character. It is written beautifully and there is some really good stuff in there.

What the novel isn't: a book I would let my teenager read. It definitely contains a lot of things that I don't want my young daughter to be exposed to. I cringed at parts that talks about teenage drug and alcohol abuse as "Normal teenage stuff". I thought this especially strange because Katie's brother's schizophrenia is drug induced. The way it is explained, he turned to drugs because he was bullied, and that killed off brain cells and induced his illness. The juxtaposition of Katie knowing this and then using drugs and alcohol herself made no sense to me. Not to mention the heavy cigarette smoking from a supposedly regional swimming champ.

Many parts were sexually charged (including the use of the term "blow job") and the novel will reiterate society's negative view of virgins. Since I wholly believe in abstinence, this is obviously not something I want to expose my child to (she'll get enough of that without reading novels that glorify teenage sexuality).

So, I was very torn because although there is a deep underlying story of trying to make it through very trying family issues and teenage years, there was just too much that wasn't for me to give it a better rating.

Winner!

The winner of our ARC giveaway of LIAR by Justine Larbalestier is....

missy t!!!

Please e-mail me at aubreyavalon at gmail dot com with your mailing info!

Thank you to all who entered. There will be another giveaway SOON!

Giveaway Reminder!

Today is the last day to enter to win an ARC of LIAR by Justine Larbalestier. Click on the sidebar link (the contest is listed after my review) and I will be announcing the winner on Monday!

Vampire Diaries on the CW

One thing I like to do is review things that originated as books.

Last night I caught the pilot of Vampire Diaries on the CW. I have to say I was loving it. As a die hard Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan I am excited to see another vampire show on TV that will most likely make it. (There have been some that have come and gone, and let me tell you I am always sad when they go.)

Now I have to admit, amongst my pile of books the Vampire Diaries sits in the mess. I have wanted to read them for a long time because I LOVE Vampires, I have just been too busy reading other review books to get to them. So I am not the best person to say whether or not the actors and things match the books, but they certainly made me want to pick up the books again. I think they are all beautiful and I am loving this traditional vampire legend so far.

One pet peeve. While watching the show, I was reminded of something that has been greatly bothering me in YA literature lately. Why do we as adults need to write in the glamorization of having teenagers drink alcohol at parties, do drugs and have sex? Even if it happens, it should not be glorified, normalized or talked about as though teens should behave that way. If it is in a book, show the negative consequences because honestly those are many and are an important thing to show teenagers who read literature. That is my opinion. I know that my opinion will not get rid of the glorification of these bad behaviors in literature, but I still don't have to like it.

So...for those of you who HAVE read the Vampire Diaries series, I wonder what you thought of the pilot if you caught it. If you didn't, you can watch it check it out on the CW next Thursday.

We Remember

REVIEW: Keturah and Lord Death

REVIEW:
Keturah and Lord Death

By Martine Leavitt

Details:
November 2006 by Front Street
Hardcover, 216 pages

SUMMARY: Martine Leavitt offers a spellbinding story, interweaving elements of classic fantasy and high romance. Keturah follows a legendary hart into the king's forest, where she becomes hopelessly lost. Her strength diminishes until, finally, she realizes that death is near. Little does she know that he is a young, handsome lord, melancholy and stern. Renowned for her storytelling, Keturah is able to charm Lord Death with a story and thereby gain a reprieve -- but only for twenty-four hours. She must find her one true love within that time, or all is lost. Keturah searches desperately while the village prepares for an unexpected visit from the king, and Keturah is thrust into a prominent role as mysterious happenings alarm her friends and neighbors. Lord Death's presence hovers over all until Keturah confronts him one last time in the harrowing climax.

PLACEMENT IN PILE: Reaching New Heights

REVIEW:
This book is very beautiful, and very poignant. It is borderline "reaching new heights" and "top picks". Martine's writing is gorgeous and lyrical as the story sweeps you along into the climax and Keturah's final acts and decisions. Parts of it were hard for me to read, because of my own trials, experiences, and fears (in my life). She is coming to know Lord Death after all, and death is not always timely, pretty, and rarely is it happy. It is a very well written book, and one I highly recommend. In fact, my friend and author of THE AMARANTH ENCHANTMENT Julie Berry, has said that this is one of the most influential books on her writing and one of her favorite reads. (That is paraphrasing obviously, so correct me if I got it wrong Julie! But I that was the basic gyst of what she said.) I had the opportunity to meet Martine in June, and she is as lovely and gentle as her writing style.

As for my "rating system" I'd go with PG, just because I think some of the descriptions and elements of the story are a little too mature for a really young audience (since it deals with death). But maybe it would go right over their heads, and not be sad for them at all. Part of why it was so sad for me are my fears as a mother, and some experiences I've had with death. So maybe an innocent pre-teen with no real experiences yet with death wouldn't find it so moving and emotional as I did. You'll have to read it yourself and let me know what you think!

As always, Happy Reading!

Publishing in Film

Not only do I love reading, but I love movies. One thing that I always find interesting is current trends in movies. Whether that be a setting, or a type of character (like a prince charming, or the dying girl that doesn't want you to fall in love with her because she's dying), or a general theme -- I like to look for these things.

Lately I have seen a few movies that have been so enjoyable to me partially because of their related thematic settings -- the publishing world.

If I go back, one of the first movies I remember seeing about the writing world was Finding Neverland. I thought it was an incredibly beautiful movie that took you into the world of the famous Peter Pan playwright. It was fascinating to me the way they showed his imagination and what it was that inspired him to write. I love his comment about writing. "All great writers begin with a good leather binding and a respectable title." It made me want to put my laptop aside and try writing in a leather notebook by hand.

Then there was The Proposal. Heavily set in the publishing world the main characters work in NYC as an editor and editor's assistant. It shows the busy life of an editor and the range of the things they do for the buisness. It shows that working in the publishing world is about passion, gusto and time. People do it because they love it.

And most recently I saw Post Grad. Alexis Bledel's character's fondest dream has been to graduate and work for a publishing company set in LA. When things don't work out the way she expected her life is thrown into chaos as she doesn't know how to deal with not acheiving her dream. One of my favorite parts was when she was scoping out a new apartment for her dream life. She stood against a large blank wall and asked her friend "What do you see here?" His response: "White paint". Her response: "No, my books. Bookshelves and bookshelves of my babies. Organized by author, no genre, maybe date of publication. Hmmm." (These quotes are from memory since I couldn't find the actual text online.) It showed once again that people who strive to be in the publishing world are people who just LOVE books.

What do you think? Do you have a favorite movie that involves the publishing world? Why do you think that it is an interesting setting for a movie?

Blog Award Nominations!

Many of you know that I started my book blogging career at MyFavoriteAuthor . Due to certain events MFA could no longer continue as it was, so I branched out and started my own blog because I would miss blogging too much.

My good friend Speed Reader who started MFA informed me that MFA was nominated for Best YA Review Blog for Book Blogger Appreciation Week over at the My Friend Amy blog! I am so so thrilled for MFA and thrilled that I could have been a part of what got it it's nomination!

There are tons of awards for lots of well-known blogs so go on over to the Nominee and voting list (click on the icon below) and vote! Polls close on Saturday, September 12, 2009 at 11:59 EST. And congrats again to MFA!