LAMENT by Maggie Stiefvater

Lament by Maggie Stiefvater (like Steve-otter)

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Flux; 1 edition (October 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738713708
• ISBN-13: 978-0738713700

Sixteen year old, Deirdre Monaghan, is a gifted harpist. Dee thinks she's nothing but ordinary. Just when she starts to like ordinary, she meets an exceptional boy, Luke Dillon, who shows her how very extraordinary she really is. Dee is a cloverhand, one who can see faeries! And the fey love to play, but unfortunately for Dee, they don't always play nice.

This book is beautiful and enchanting. It mixes old-world legend and faerie lure with the modern life of a teenaged girl. Its a beautiful, poetic story of love, adventure and magic that is sure to entertain. I'm not a big fan of faeries, I much prefer werewolves (like Maggie's other wonderful book, SHIVER) or Vampires, but I was very impressed and enthralled by the fey in LAMENT. I am now a fan and can't wait to get started reading the sequel, BALLAD, tonight!

Little Bird of Heaven

Little Bird of Heaven by Joyce Carol Oates

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Ecco (September 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061829838
• ISBN-13: 978-0061829833

When the glamorous cocktail waitress Zoe Kruller is found brutally murdered in her bed, her estanged husband, Delray Kruller, and her lover, Eddy Deihl, become prime suspects in the case.

Little Bird of Heaven is the told by two very different characters, Krista Deihl and Arron Kruller, each of them believing the other's father is guilty of Zoe's murder.

Set in the city of Sparta New York, Oates weaves a beautifully sad story of love, loss, yearning and archaic desire in a world of poverty and pain.

Throughout the novel, the reader is left cheering for both Krista and Aaron, hoping that somehow they'll come to terms with Zoe's death, forgive and fall in love. Definitely worth a read.

This book is adult and I do not recommend it for teen readers.

Playlist for my Book

Created a playlist to go along with my novel. Each song somehow relates to either a scene or a character, or both. It doesn't encompass the entire book and I'm sure I'll be updating it with new music as it comes to me. Enjoy :)

1. My Immortal - Evanescence (opening scene, capture)
2. Cemeteries of London - Coldplay
3. Just a Man - Faith No More (Reminds me of my Vampire)
4. Through the Dark - KT Tunstall
5. Never think - Rob Pattinson (first awkward hand holding, awww)
6. Universe and You - KT Tunstall (reminds me of the protagonist's brother)
7. 3 Libras - a Perfect Circle (Vampire again)
8. When You Say Nothing At All - Allison Krauss
9. I'll Be Your Lover Too- Rob Pattinson (Nookie scene 1)
10. Full Moon - The Black Ghosts (werewolf, of course)
11. Bring Me To Life - Evanescence (next to last scene/fight scene)

Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater contest!

Ballad is the story of James, and the awesome sequel to Lament. There's homicidal faerie action, nookie, teen angst! Oy! I snagged an advanced readers copy at the Book Expo. This book is awesome (as is anything that comes from Maggie Stiefvater)!

Winner will receive:

) One advanced review copy of BALLAD, mailed immediately upon end of contest
2) One finished copy of BALLAD, mailed in September
3) One OTHER finished copy of BALLAD, mailed when [the author] gets [her] copies
4) A frame of the winner's choice from the video

-Rules from Maggie's Blog-

To be eligible for the lovely prizes, you must post the trailer on your blog or Facebook or twitter. Obviously I'm happier if you embed the video (code below) on your blog or FB rather than just link it, but obviously on Twitter you have to just link. Every place you link it to is an additional entry. Places I'll accept as valid entries: Facebook, livejournal blog, blogger blog, wordpress blog, Twitter, Myspace (if anyone still uses the devil's playground that is Myspace). You can post it anywhere else (please do!) but those are the only ones I'm counting.

Love this song.

My wonderful, amazing, totally awesome friend, A.J. Spindle, turned me on to this song. It's on my playlist for my book and I have listened to it over and over again. It's a Van Morrison covered by Robert Pattinson.

Nookie, or no nookie?

I want to add a sex scene in my teen vampire novel, but I'm not sure if I should. As far as rules about sex in teens books, it's pretty much anything goes. Me personally, I will skip the details. Teens, love ya, but you don't need details.

So what do you think? Wanna see a lil vampire lovin'?

Calling all Midwest Kids/Teens!

Calling all kids from the Midwest!

Are you from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Misssouri, Ohio, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, or Wisconsin?

FACES Magazine, an educational children's magazine is seeking kids ages 9 to 17 to participate in our issue all about your region of the United States.

We want your opinion about where you live. So write us a sentence completing this:

The best thing about the Midwest is....

Send us your sentence and a high resolution digital or print photo of yourself by August 30th to either:
plopatafacesmag@yahoo.com

or

Peg Lopata
FACES
Cobblestone Publishing
30 Grove St.
Peterborough, NH 03458

Make sure you send us your complete name, age, and street address. We also need the complete name and address of a parent or guardian.

And check us out at: www.cobblestonepub.com and www.cricketmag.com

I got this information from the SCBWI.org web master. It is legit, I assure you.