Waiting on Wednesday: The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

Waiting on Wednesday recognizes that we as bookies pine for books. This post is about what I am impatiently waiting for right now. It was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

I have a confession. I am not a die-hard Sarah Dessen fan. There, I said it. She reminds me a lot of Nicholas Sparks in that her novels tend to have a formula that sometimes works for me & sometimes doesn't work for me. The Moon and More set for a June 4 debut seems to fall in the former category. It just looks so enticing. I adored Along for the Ride and I am hoping that this will continue that feeling. What do you think?

Luke is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun. He and Emaline have been together all through high school in Colby, the beach town where they both grew up. But now, in the summer before college, Emaline wonders if perfect is good enough.

Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo's sophisticated, exciting, and, best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby.

Emaline's mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he's convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, and sisters. Can she ignore the pull of the happily familiar world of Colby?

Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she's going?

From Goodreads

This book oozes potential & is definitely something I can relate to; although I have definitely moved beyond this stage in my life, I still remember what it was like to have two very different paths laid out in front of me with everyone expecting me to make a decision. Dessen's characters straddle a fine line between being just right & being too much/too little of something important and something just tells me that Emaline has got the right amount of it all. 

What are you waiting on this week?

January Genreflecting: Contemporary Life: The Details

Based on the Collins English Dictionary, a subgenre is "a category that is a subdivision of a larger genre." (Source) While "contemporary life" may sound like a rather boring genre, it does have a sense of flair. Just a few of the subgenres contained under the larger umbrella genre of contemporary life relate are: identity (ethnicity and race, gender and sexual identity), coming-of-age, relationships, passions, and humor.

Now any good book has elements of these incorporated in it, but for the book to be truly situated in one of these subgenres, these subjects have to play a large role in the protagonist's personal journey. Remember, the primary focus of these books is the life of the protagonist and these subgenres just provide an extra outlet for the reader to experience the character's life.

I took the liberty of visiting two of the previously mentioned author's sites to see if they had anything to say about why they write in this particular genre. Here's what I found.

Sarah Dessen "In high school, I was lucky enough to have a big group of girlfriends that have really inspired a lot of the stories in my books. I’m still close with my friends from that time, so it’s never very hard to put myself back into that place, that voice. Also it doesn’t hurt to still be living in my hometown, where it’s a given that I’ll bump into people I had homeroom with, or guys I had big crushes on, while I’m pumping gas or buying stamps. It makes it hard to leave high school behind entirely, which is a good or bad thing depending on what day you ask me." Sarah Dessen's Press Kit

I think it's safe to say that if we were placing her books in subgenres, based on this snippet, I'd say we were looking at primarily relationships and coming-of-age stories. Sarah draws on her own experiences to re-create (or completely fabricate) the situations and relationships she had in high school.

John Green"Well, it’s a lot easier than writing about, like, vampires, because I used to be an adolescent. But in truth all fiction is an attempt at empathy: When I write, I’m trying to imagine what it’s like to be someone else more than I’m trying to express what it’s like to be me. So in that sense, it’s very helpful for me to write from the perspectives of characters who are at least a little different from me. Of course, I’m a writer of limited talents, and I don’t feel that I can stray too far from myself."John Green's FAQ section

John is definitely tapping in to a whole other concept. He's not just writing from his own personal experiences, but he's also writing those of others. I would say that his books fall into several different sub-genres, including identity and passions. His characters often times feature some sort of obsession or hobby that is usually fundamental to the story's progress.

Who else can you think of that belongs in some of these subgenres? I know they can be nit-picky, but I think that they allow for reader specification that a lot of other types of books don't necessarily represent. Sound off in the comments with your recommendations of subgenre representations. Also, be sure to check back next week when I discuss the older representative of this genre, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.

January Genreflecting: Contemporary Life: The Basics

I wanted to do a reading challenge for the subject of Genreflecting, but I didn't get much feedback (maybe because it asked you to read 2 books for each genre and discuss them or because it's not really a "reading challenge" per se, but more an educational experiment), so I've turned it into a monthly feature! For each month of 2013, there will be a specific genre that will be analyzed. I'm planning to have author input and at least 2 reviews of books in the genre as well.

January's genre is contemporary life. Contemporary life books are real-life or reality based books. These books are placed in a contemporary setting that readers can relate to in real time. Usually the reader is following a teen protagonist as they work through their daily lives. While there can be a science-fiction (or other) slight twist in the story, that is not the primary focus. The primary focus of these books is the life of the protagonist and his/her cohorts, not necessarily the issues that they face in that life. (paraphrased from Teen Genreflecting 3, 2010)

Just a few authors you may recognize who often write in this genre are:
Sarah Dessen (Along for the Ride)
John Green (Paper Towns)
Deb Caletti (Stay)
Jennifer Echols (Going Too Far)

While there are many more, these are some of my favorites. I'm excited to say that I've chosen my two books, one older and one newer, to read for this challenge. The older book is The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (originally published in 1999) and I'll have a review and analysis up on Friday, January 18th. The newer book is The Brothers Torres by Coert Voorhees (originally published in 2008) and I'll have a review and analysis up on Friday, January 25th. I'll also be hosting a giveaway, so stay tuned!

Be sure to check back each week for the next installment in this exciting and fun new feature!

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry review

--"I won't tell anyone, Echo. I promise." Noah tucked a curl behind my ear. It had been so long since someone touched me like he did. Why did it have to be Noah Hutchins? His dark brown eyes shifted to my covered arms. "You didn't do that-did you? It was done to you?" No one ever asked that question. They stared. They whispered. They laughed. But they never asked.--

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.

But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

From Goodreads

Echo used to be as vibrant as her red hair is wild, until that fateful night. Now, almost two years later, she still can't remember what happened or why she is covered in hideous scars. What scares her more though is that she knows it involves her imbalanced mother & Echo is afraid she is becoming just like the woman she fears. Add on top of that her social outcast status & you've got a recipe for a miserable senior year of high school.

That is until the new social worker/counselor at school assigns her to tutor another student struggling with personal issues. Noah is the strong & silent type for the most part. After losing his parents, he also lost his little brothers to the same system that swallowed him up. With a string of nasty foster homes in his recent past Noah is determined to put his family back together by gaining custody of his brothers. In order to do that he needs to resemble a responsible adult, so excelling in school is on his to-do list.

The pair reluctantly circle one another & through several attempts and hits & misses they finally come together, but not at all how either of them pictured it.

This book absolutely stole my breath away. I found myself tearing through page after page in this story because I couldn't get enough of the characters. Katie McGarry has created such wonderful people & such a realistic world that I truly felt like I was living out the book myself. The humor was right on & the dialogue was very engaging. This was definitely a laugh out loud & cry alongside the characters kind of book.

While the basic plot isn't much new (you can't really create much new when you strip these things down to their bare bones) the layers of story that she creates around it are what make the book well worth reading. Echo & Noah are so dynamic & multifaceted that they continued to surprise me with their actions & motivations. You don't go into this story knowing everything. You have to earn your stripes for the appropriate knowledge right alongside each character. Even more entrancing was the situations in which we find the characters. Love & loss are two intertwined emotions in this book & both Echo & Noah do a fabulous job working their way through them.

Wit, humor & humility are such wonderful components of this story that I cannot convey through words. Even better though, these two main characters (along with their supporting cast) give a face to the difficult decisions that many people face. Some of these are mega decisions & some of them are more passive decisions, but all of them affect how the character is shaped.

Easily one of the best books of 2012, I strongly recommend you read Pushing the Limits. Simone Elkeles, Jennifer Echols & even Sarah Dessen fans can totally relate to this book & I hope you all enjoy it as much as  I did. I leave you with 2 quotes from the book.

"Noah had muscles, looks and trouble stalking him. Somehow, he made jeans and a T-shirt look dangerous."

"Luke used to give me butterflies. Noah spawned mutant Pterodactyls."

-Both quotes are from the ARC which was graciously provided by Around the World Tours

What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

Mclean Sweet isn't who she thinks she is. Or rather, she doesn't know who to believe she is. While growing up in the back of a restaurant with a die-hard basketball-loving dad & a beach-tripping manager mother, she knew that she was Mclean Sweet, daughter of college sweethearts & an all-around fun-loving girl. After a bitter and very public divorce, Mclean hits the road with her dad chasing jobs rehabbing restaurants. In the 2 years since the meltdown, Mclean & her dad have moved 4 times allowing 4 alter-egos to crop up.

In each of the 4 towns they lived in, Mclean was always responsible for setting up home & managing a fine balance of cut-and-run technique. Each town gave birth to a new girl & a persona to go with it. She's been a cheerleader, a drama queen & a joiner, but the last thing she expected to become in this new town was herself. With the help of a stellar cast of friends, Mclean Sweet might just rediscover the part of her that never really left.

This was different...and I'm not sure how I really feel about it. I am definitely sure that I've liked her other stuff better, but this wasn't a bad book. Mclean really pulls at that part of everyone who (at least once in their life) wants to pack up & become someone new. Unfortunately I couldn't really relate to that part of her or the fact that she hid it from her family. Her secrecy felt very deceitful & selfish in a way that my brain just couldn't keep up with. Each girl was so radically different.

The new friends she makes & what she discovers about herself as a result are what make the book a really great read. Dave is such a mysterious & quirky guy that you can't help but love. The other teens are all over the place allowing for a real breadth as well as depth to the group dynamics. The most entertaining part though was the kitchen staff at the new restaurant. They were by far the life & light of the story. I could almost see each teen becoming one of the staff members in a way that allowed for fascinating dynamics.

If you're in the mood for a relatively light read, go ahead & pick this one up. I will have to warn you though, if you have issues with improper grammar & errors in a finished book, then this is dangerous territory. I think the editing step was rushed because there are far too many noticeable errors. Other than that it was peachy!

Are you planning on reading it? If you've already read it, how do you react to it? Let's hear your thoughts!

Waiting on Wednesday: What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

Waiting on Wednesday recognizes that we as bookies pine for books. This post is about what I am impatiently waiting for right now. It was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week I am anxiously awaiting the newest novel by Sarah Dessen: What Happened to Goodbye. It is scheduled for release in just 2 short weeks on May 10! The synopsis is rather mysterious.

Another town. Another school. Another Mclean. Ever since her parents' bitter divorce, Mclean and her father have been fleeing their unhappy past. And Mclean's become a pro at reinventing herself with each move. But in Lakeview, Mclean finds herself putting down roots and making friends—in part, thanks to Dave, the most real person Mclean's ever met. Dave just may be falling in love with her, but can he see the person she really is? Does Mclean herself know?

From Goodreads

I have to admit that not long ago, I was an anti-Sarah Dessen reader. Her books sounded very flippant & far too romantic for my tastes. I am obviously proof that our reading habits change. The first novel of Sarah's I ever read is still by far one of my favorites. Along for the Ride was deeper than I thought it would be & so much more than I expected! This newest book seems to have some of the same qualities. Mclean sounds like a very self-sufficient kind of gal with a "let's make this work" attitude. I'm quite anxious to see it live up to my hopes!

What are you waiting on this week?

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

Ruby can take care of herself. At least that was the ruse she kept up for a few months after her mother disappeared, again. Only this time her mother was gone longer than usual. So Ruby decided that she would continue her existence as if nothing was wrong. Well, that only lasted so long. Now she finds herself being forced to live with her older sister Cora that Ruby had pretty much forgotten all about.

Ruby moves to Cora's house, a.k.a. mini-mansion, from the foster facility and is astonished to discover what her sister has been up to in Ruby's absence. Cora has obtained a college degree, gotten married, and is living the life that Ruby always dreamed about; but she feels out of place. So as soon as she believes the happy couple to be asleep, Ruby slips out of the house and tries to make a daring escape over the fence into the neighbor's yard. To her utter surprise though, she winds up face to face with Nate, the swimming phenomenon hottie. Now it doesn't seem like such a terrible idea to stick around.

While she begins adjusting to life in a new private school and attempting to rekindle her relationship with her sister, Ruby is constantly returning to her old habits and clinging to her independence fiercely. Over time, she learns the hard way that sometimes in order to gain that which you most desire, you have to let others help you.

A charming, captivating novel, Lock and Key is par for the course for Sarah Dessen. Ruby is tough young woman who I found very easy to relate to throughout her story. Many teens go through a stage of rebellion, especially when an authority figure is attempting to tell them what is best. I found Cora, and to an extent her husband Jamie, to be prime examples of those who really do want the very best for their loved one. Even though I found the "love story" aspect a little overdone (I seem to be reading a lot of next-door-love stories), the character of Nate was a spot-on reminder of a teen boy. This was a really great, fun read and I'm hoping to read more of her in the near future!

Sarah Dessen book signing

I was fortunate enough to meet three absolutely amazing women writers at Tuesday's signing. Marianne Gingher, Sarah Dessen, and Courtney Jones Mitchell all came to a local Barnes and Noble to discuss their new works and give advice to writers.

Marianne Gingher just edited and released a collection of short stories by 65 North Carolina authors, including Dessen and Mitchell, entitled Long Story Short. The stories range in length from a paragraph to a few pages and also run the subject gamut.

Sarah Dessen spoke about her newest novel Along for the Ride, which came out this June. Check out my thoughts about it here.

Courtney Jones Mitchell is a soon-to-be published author who just finished her first novel.

The ladies took turns explaining how they go about writing. Some prefer to outline each chapter, while others prefer to have just the skeleton laid out. All agree that the first few pages were the easiest with increased difficulty as the page count got higher. They also advised that if you really want to be a writer, then you have to do just that, every day. Make it a point to write something, anything, every single day.

Getting published the first time takes a lot of work and you receive many rejections, but these ladies encouraged the audience to continue their search because the perfect agent/publisher is out there somewhere. Also, they strongly suggested surrounding yourself with other aspiring authors; sometimes they are the only ones who truly understand what you're going through.

After they gave their wonderful advice, we all got to line up to get our books signed. I chose to have Sarah sign my copy of Along for the Ride even though I own most of her books. All in all, despite the torrential downpour, it was well worth the trip.

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Doesn't everyone know how to ride a bike? Somehow Auden managed to miss that lesson as a child. The single, insomniac off-spring of a notable professor mother and a one-book-wonder author father, she is raised in a world of school hard work, perfection, and deadlines. The summer before she goes off to college, Auden decides to take refuge from her demanding mother at her father's house. With a new, young wife, a brand new baby girl, and a book deadline, Auden's father has little to no time for her at all.

While roaming the streets for a late-night dive with good coffee, Auden stumbles upon a lone guy on a bike named Eli. They don't hit it off right from the beginning, but she can tell that there is something different about him. Over time, as they start to see each other more and more, Auden and Eli try to make up for all the things that she has missed out on. Riding bikes, dancing, bowling, and general "firsts" are being enjoyed.

Although they are spending all this time together, these two barely know anything about one another; but they are falling for one another. When the truth about Eli's past comes out, things change for everyone.

A very sweet read and one that should be considered for a perfect ending to the summer, Along for the Ride was a romantic coming of age story, but one that those of us who don't enjoy mushy-gushy can definitely enjoy. Keep an eye out for her other books as they are just as well written and definitely just as delectable!