Colorado Teen Literature Conference

I facilitated the Blue Spruce workshop at the Colorado Teen Literature Conference last Saturday and as always had a wonderful time and got new ideas for future reads.  The keynote speakers were Gail Carriger and Greg Neri and I also attended a "Happily Ever After" workshop with Entangled Teen Crush writer Lisa Brown Roberts.  Gail Carriger is probably best known for her steampunk series called The Finishing School.  Greg Neri refers to himself as a "mashup DJ of a writer" who likes to sample real life and remix it into a story.  Although best known for Tru and Nellie, his re-imagining of the childhood friendship between Truman Capote and Harper Lee, he spent the majority of his talk on Ghetto Cowboy, a book about urban cowboys in Philadelphia. Lisa Brown Roberts did a workshop with fellow romance writer Jenna Lincoln, examining trope driven novels that lead to happy endings. Her latest book Resisting the Rebel is a bad boy/good girl story wrapped around  the fake girlfriend/boyfriend trope.

Gail Carriger's keynote speech was very brief, outlining how she transitioned from archaeologist to YA author. Then she spent the rest of the time eloquently fielding questions from teens in the audience.  I was struck by the fact that when asked what "Harry Potter House" she identifies with, she had a detailed answer.  Investigating further I found quizzes online that place one in the proper house. (She and I are both Ravensclaw)  I wondered if she had been asked that before.  When asked about her favorite character in her own books, she said "Vieve" and talked a bit about her Finishing School series, which begins with Etiquette and Espionage.  Like her adult series the Parasol Protectorate, this series is set in an alternate history version of Victorian era Britain, where supernatural creatures such as werewolves and vampires are part of society.  The first book introduces the headstrong, calamity seeking 14-year-old Sophronia, who is sent by her mother to Mademoiselle Geraldines' Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.  What her mother doesn't know is in addition to dance, fashion and manners, the girls also are trained in the "fine arts of death, diversion and the modern weaponries." The school is set on a chain of dirigibles  and is manned by mechanical servants as well as "sooties" who work in the boiler room. Sophronia's friend Vieve is a cross dressing lesbian whose aunt is one of the teachers.  She invents many useful devices, such as one that interferes with mechanicals long enough for the students to evade their watchful eyes.  In Etiquette and Espionage the girls are tasked with finding a prototype essential to communications which is sought after by flywaymen who are determined to have it. This spy-school romp includes subtle commentary on race, class and gender identity. Kids will love Sophronia and her band of misfits in this madcap espionage/adventure mashup.  Additional novels in the series include Curtsies and Conspiracies, Waistcoats and Weaponry and Manners and Mutiny.

Greg Neri, (pen-name g.neri) the 2011 Coretta Scott King Author Award winner, was inspired to write Ghetto Cowboy by the real-life inner-city horsemen of Philadelphia and Brooklyn,  The story begins when Cole's mom takes him to live with the dad he's never met in the mean streets of Philadelphia.  The last thing he expects to see there is a stable full of horses complete with black cowboys.  He changes his slacker behavior of skipping school and goofing off, and is soon hard at work in the stables. Then the city threatens to shut down the stable and take away the horse Cole has come to love.  He decides that it's time to fight back and stand up for what is right.  School Library Journal's review says,"Cole's spot-on emotional insight is conveyed through believable dialogue and the well-paced plot offers information about a little-known aspect of African-American history, as well as a portrait of contemporary urban stable life." Neri also has written novels-in-verse, including Chess Rumble and Hello, I'm Johnny Cash, and is soon to release Paulie and Artie, a book about Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel's childhood friendship.

Lisa Brown Roberts writes for Entangled Teen Crush publishing, which features contemporary romances between 16-18 year-olds with trope driven stories, whose "heat level" can vary from sweet to suggestive. Her latest Resisting the Rebel is a cut above when it comes to teen romance.  In the story Mandy Pennington, the high school spirit committee leader and all around extra-curricular queen, is secretly crushing on her friend, Gus.  When he takes her to a party and then hooks up with her archenemy, Mandy flees and is inexplicably rescued by Caleb Torrs, who has a loner bad boy reputation. He enlists her in a scheme to pose as fake girlfriend/boyfriend so that she can make Gus jealous and he can get his stalker ex-girlfriend to leave him alone.  One of the things that makes this book stand out is Mandy's passion for everything from the 70s.  Her mother, who recently died of cancer, has a closet full of clothes and music from the 70s and embracing the 70s makes Mandy feel closer to her mom. The book's chapters are titles from appropriate 70s songs.  Caleb predictably finds her music annoying, but secretly finds her style adorable.  Unpredictably, he is the good student who agrees to tutor her, so that she can keep her grades up and remain on the dance squad.  Their disagreement over Catcher in the Rye, a book he loves and she hates because Holden Caulfield is such a whiner, makes for hilarious, yet thought-provoking dialogue, as he struggles to help her write a paper about the book. There is no doubt that the two will end up together, but the journey to that destination is an enjoyable one.  If you are looking to recommend PG-13 rated romance for teens, Entangled Teen Crush books are a safe bet.

Colorado Teen Lit Conference recommendations: The Alex Crow, Masterminds, and Tesla's Attic

The Colorado Teen Literature Conference in April featured Andrew Smith, author of Printz Honor Book Grasshopper Jungle, as the keynote speaker.  Predictably his talk was funny and irreverent, yet revealing, in his honesty about his road to becoming a published author.  Smith, who is being called "the spiritual heir to Kurt Vonnegut," also spoke about his latest book, The Alex Crow. As with his first book, his latest is provocative and profane. The tale blends multiple story lines which include an adopted refugee, a schizophrenic bomber and 19th century explorers on a failed expedition. Other books highlighted at the conference that I would like to recommend include Gordon Korman's Masterminds, the first book in a new series about clones, and Eric Elfman and Neal Shusterman's Tesla's Attic, the first in a series about a boy who finds Nikola Tesla's last magical inventions in the attic of his new house.

The Alex Crow focuses on Ariel, a refugee from an unnamed country, who is adopted by an American family. Ariel and his adoptive brother Max are sent to the Merrie-Seymour camp for boys with technology addictions, solely because their dad works for the company and it's free. His adoptive dad works for the Alex Division which experiments with resurrecting extinct animals and creating biodrones (beings with surveillance chips in their heads).  The boys at the camp seem to be somehow involved with his research. Flashbacks chronicle Ariel's journey which includes periods of tagging along with soldiers in his war torn nation, as well as time spent among abusive teens in a refugee camp. Meanwhile, Lenny, a weird guy who hear voices which prompt him to do violent things, is transporting a truck load of bombs to the camp. Finally, chapters chronicling the story of the first scientists in the Alex division, who are exploring the Arctic in the 19th century and experimenting with "de-extinction," are interwoven.  When the story lines finally come together, they evoke an intriguing statement about society, extinction, and life itself.  This book is only recommended for mature high school readers.

Masterminds takes place in idyllic Serenity, New Mexico, population-185, where all the adults are employed, the children are well-behaved, and the community members are congenial.  However, when 13-year-old Eli and his buddy Randy try to leave town on a lark, Eli is paralyzed with pain and nausea. After Eli recuperates, he finds Randy is being sent away, the factory which employs most of the townsfolk is a sham, and their internet is sanitized, excluding anything unpleasant.Telling the tale from alternating points of view, Eli and his friends Tori, Hector, and Malik begin to investigate the sinister happenings in Serenity, unraveling a mystery that shows the whole town is a gigantic lie. The truth about the kids' parentage threatens their very lives.  Their attempted escape is action packed and lays the groundwork for the sequel.  Middle level readers will find this a real page turner.

Tesla's Attic, the first book in the Accerlerati Trilogy, introduces Nick who has moved with his younger brother and father to a Victorian house they inherited after their home burns down, killing his mother.  Wanting to move into the attic, Nick has a garage sale to get rid of all the junk stored up there.  But this is not ordinary junk. The reel-to reel player records what is said but plays back what the speaker is thinking.  The See 'n Say predicts the future and the wet-cell electrodes can reanimate dead insects.  Nick and his new friends Caitlin and Vincent investigate and discover the  objects are Nikola Tesla's last inventions that have magical properties. When mysterious men show up looking for the objects, the kids decide they have to get the objects back. The men are from a secret society of physicists, the Accerlerati, who want to stop the kids and use the objects for their own devious plans. Plausible scientific explanations for the fantastic happenings add to the fun of this gadget filled mystery. Middle level readers will look forward to the next installment of this fast paced series.

Colorado Teen Literature Conference - Tricks

The highlight of the Colorado Teen Lit Conference for me was hearing from Matt de la Pena, author of Mexican Whiteboy, and Ellen Hopkins, author of numerous novels in verse. On Friday evening I was fortunate to be invited to a dinner where I met both authors. On Saturday each author gave a keynote speech. I have always wondered what led Ellen Hopkins to the dark topics she addresses. She shared the anguish she experienced when her beloved daughter got involved with meth and ultimately ended up in jail. She said her first novel in verse, Crank, was her way of working through the turmoil she felt. She received such a positive response to the novel that she knew she had found her niche. Her latest book, Tricks, chronicles the lives of kids driven to prostitution. The story is narrated by five teens whose lives finally converge in Las Vegas. Seth, an Indiana farm boy, is kicked off his family farm when his parents find out he's gay. He follows a controlling sugar daddy to Las Vegas. In Boise, Eden's first romantic relationship leads her Pentecostal parents to declare that she is possessed by demons. They send her to Tears of Zion reform camp, where ironically she turns to prostituting herself to engineer an escape. In California Whitney, who yearns for male attention any way she can get it, ends up involved with a pimp who takes her to Las Vegas. Ginger, realizes that the rapes she's endured as a child, were arranged by her mother in exchange for cash. They all end up in Las Vegas where Cody, who has a gambling addiction he pays for with money he's earned selling his body, is attempting to deal with his grief when his stepfather dies. Hopkins does a wonderful job helping the reader understand the desperation that leads the teens to prostitution, as well as how difficult it is to extricate themselves once they've traveled down that road.
I'm off to Bali tomorrow. I have Matt de la Pena's latest novel, We Were Here, on my Kindle and plan to read it on the trip. I will share my thoughts about it with you soon.

Colorado Teen Literature Conference - Tangled

Tomorrow I am presenting at the Colorado Teen Literature conference, which is my favorite conference of the year. I am going to talk about new book bundles, which are YA novels that are grouped thematically. In addition to talking about 25 new books, I will also suggest classroom activities for each bundle. One of the bundles involves books that have multiple narrators. Caroline Mackler's Tangled is one of the books in this group. Told from the points of view of four different teens, the story chronicles the time they spend together at a Caribbean resort, as well as the four months that follow. The story is narrated in a linear fashion, beginning with Jena's story. She is a hypercritical girl, who is her own worst critic. She accompanies her mom and her mom's best friend and daughter Skye to the resort. Skye is a gorgeous young actress who doesn't seem to want to give Jena the time of day. Little does Jena know, that Skye, who narrates the next section, is struggling with emotional problems. They both meet Dakota, a boy who seems confident and sexually aggressive. He initially spends time with Jena, but dumps her when he meets Skye. He narrates the third section which takes place when he returns home. Finally, we hear from Owen, Dakota's introverted brother, who spends most of his time working on his blog "Loser with a Laptop." Jena begins following his blog and they ultimately meet in NYC. As the story progresses through the vacation, and its aftermath, the reader begins to realize that the facade these kids present to the world hides a very different person on the inside. I loved these characters and think kids will really connect with their insecurities.
Although I'm really looking forward to my presentation, I am most excited about the two visiting authors, Matt de la Pena, the author of Mexican Whiteboy, and Ellen Hopkins, the popular author, who writes cutting edge novels-in-verse. I am also profiling her latest novel, Tricks, in my novels-in-verse bundle. In my next blog I will let you know about the conference and meeting these two authors.