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Twitterview: Kirsten Hubbard

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This month’s Twitterview victim — err, participant — is Kirsten Hubbard, author of Like Mandarin and Wanderlove, which comes out March 13. She’s also one of the forces behind YA Highway and she maintains a great blog herself that is worth reading not only if writing interests you, but if you love traveling. To celebrate the release of Wanderlove, she’s created a fun travelogue-esque Tumblr that’s worth checking out (you’ll get your wanderlust satisfaction for the day with those images, I promise). She’s here to talk about the inspirations behind Wanderlove, incorporating her own art into the story, and how she tackles relationships in her writing. There’s also a giveaway of Wanderlove.

Pitch Wanderlove in 140 characters.

Brokenhearted girl discovers self, art & jungle beasties on backpacking trip through Central America – with help from hot dive instructor.
What inspired Wanderlove?
My triplicate obsessions with writing, travel and art.
What should readers walk away with from Wanderlove?
An affliction with Wanderlove. 
Wanderlove makes setting — Central America — an integral part of the story. Like Mandarin made Wyoming sing. Why is setting so important?
Setting makes scenes cinematic. It can step out of the backdrop & interact with characters in surprising ways – & become its own character.
What was your favorite place to write about in Wanderlove?
In particular, I loved bringing Laughingbird Caye to life. It’s where Bria finally finds herself, and she & Rowan find each other.
Wanderlove incorporates some of your own sketches. What was it like adding your art to your text?
Exhilarating, intimidating & time-consuming (I watched the whole Buffy series as I drew). But truly, a childhood dream come true.
Both of your stories avoid “traditional” romance plots, despite the emotions being there for romance to emerge. Care to talk about that?
In romances, I’m all about restraint and slow build. When characters finally kiss, I want readers to cheer.

Who or what do you write for?
I definitely write books I’d love to read, with characters & places I adore, & bits I find funny myself. But also, always, the general You.

What was your most influential read as a teenager?
Watership Down. Still determining how it figured into my books.

You’re a traveler. Where was your favorite destination? Why?
I love so many places, but my heart belongs to Black Rock City, Nevada. A shame it only exists one week per year. 

Who are your top three writing influences?

Vladimir Nabokov. Louis Sachar. Melina Marchetta. Not that I’ll ever write like them. But I strive not to embarrass them.
Who do you believe is breaking ground in YA right now?
John Green, who proves brilliant books can be bestsellers. M.T. Anderson, who is a genius. Melina Marchetta, for obvious reasons.
What’s the best writing advice you ever received?
Give them what they want – not what they expect.
What’s your best writing advice to give?
Write another book. 
What is your writing routine?
Sit, stare, click away, Twitter, Facebook, stare, Gmail, Goodreads, stare, put on pants, walk to coffee shop, maybe get actual work done.
What gets you jazzed to write?
My writing soundtrack.

Do you have a writing soundtrack? Care to share a bit?

Yep! Top songs for WL: “Let Go” ~ Frou Frou, “The Con” ~ Tegan & Sara, “World Sick” ~ Broken Social Scene”, & “Moth’s Wings” ~ Passion Pit.
Favorite ice cream?
Maurecia. It’s very rare.

Red Glove by Holly Black

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I mentioned in an earlier post how much I dug White Cat, the first book in Holly Black’s Curse Workers series. Red Glove is its follow-up, and while it’s not quite as fun as the first in the series, it’s still a worthwhile successor. Be warned, there are spoilers for White Cat in this review.
In White Cat, Cassel learned that he was a transformation worker and that his two older brothers had been using him as a hit man, then modifying his memories so he would forget about it all. H also learned that Lila, his childhood love and the girl he thought he killed, he had actually transformed into the titular white cat. Now Lila is back in human form, and his mother – ever the meddler – cursed her to “love” him. Cassel is torn between his love for Lila and his knowledge that her love for him is false. Soon, though, he has bigger problems on his plate.
Cassel’s older brother, Philip, is murdered, and the Feds try to recruit Cassel to help them solve the crime. Their only clue is a woman wearing red gloves caught on a security camera – hence the title of the book – and Cassel fears it could be a woman he knows. Not only are the Feds knocking on his door, the mob is too, and Cassel attempts to play both sides in order to stay alive.
One of the things I liked best about Red Glove is its willingness to embrace hard consequences. It seems like a lot of YA SFF books that deal with issues of violence and corruption do so in a sanitary way: the teens are negatively impacted, but they’re never really harmed and always manage to dig themselves out of holes. That’s not the way it works here. Cassel’s actions from White Cat reverberate in Red Glove in very serious ways. The body count is not small, and Cassel realizes just how big it actually is the further we move in the book. Furthermore, he begins to realize how complicit he is in the body count’s size, whether he wielded the killing blow or not.
I also liked the way Black didn’t take her characters down the predictable path. This is particularly true for Lila, who so often does the opposite of what Cassel (and the readers) want her to do. But her actions are always true to her character, which comes into much better focus here than in White Cat. (In White Cat, she was mainly someone for Cassel to feel guilty about. In Red Glove, we begin to see her as an actual person: very ambitious, clever, a little bitter at being worked, and willing to use whatever – and whoever – she needs to get what she wants.)
Like White Cat, Red Glove ends with an opening. I wouldn’t call the ending of either book a true cliffhanger. The main plot is resolved, but Black then adds a little something on to the end to make us want to pick up the next book. It’s nicely done in both books, and I’m happy to report I was able to get my hands on Black Heart to see how the trilogy finishes out. This series has been such an unexpected pleasure, I imagine the concluding volume will be a treat as well. (Although now that I actually research the title a bit, I can’t tell if it’s the concluding volume or merely the third entry in a longer series. Does anyone know?)

Cover Trend: The Almost-Kiss

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So here’s a 2012 cover trend that can be shelved beside girls hanging out under water and getting up close and personal with shoes and that’s the almost-kiss. It’s by no means a new trend, but it’s one that the more I see it, the less I can distinguish the books from one another — and some are even the same teens in the picture. For me as an adult reader (and I know I’m not the target demographic), these covers aren’t the kind I like being seen in public with. In fact, I’ll take off the dust jacket for hardcover books that have the almost-kiss on the cover. But more frustrating, I think, is not all of these books are about the romance. Some are, but not all of them are, and I think in depicting the cover image as the almost-kiss, the book is being branded as only one thing. It’ll automatically turn off many readers — the Vivian cover I linked to above? My teens really don’t like it because it makes the book look like it’s a romance when in fact, it’s a story with a lot of great feminist messages in it.

Here’s a sample of this year’s almost-kiss covers. Are there others? What are your thoughts? All descriptions are from WorldCat.

 
When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle (May 1, 2012): Seniors Rosaline Caplet and Rob Monteg, neighbors and best friends, have finally become a couple at their Southern California high school, but when Rosie’s estranged cousin Juliet moves back into town and pursues Rob in an unstable, needy, and vindictive manner, Rosie starts to worry not just about Rob’s emotions, but about his very life.
 
Something Like Normal by Trish Doller (June 19, 2012): When Travis returns home from Afghanistan, his parents are splitting up, his brother has stolen his girlfriend and car, and he has nightmares of his best friend getting killed but when he runs into Harper, a girl who has despised him since middle school, life actually starts looking up.
 
Try Not to Breathe by Jennifer R Hubbard (available now):  The summer Ryan is released from a mental hospital following his suicide attempt, he meets Nicki, who gets him to share his darkest secrets while hiding secrets of her own.
 
First Comes Love by Katie Kacvinsky (May 8, 2012): Ten months after his twin sister dies, with his family falling apart, Gray Thomas meets an unusual girl at the community college who makes him think life is interesting again.
 
The Thing About the Truth by Lauren Barnholdt (July 10, 2012): In this story told from alternating viewpoints, seventeen-year-old Kelsey seeks to redeem her formerly flawless reputation with the help of a senator’s sexy but arrogant son, who has ulterior motives.
I’m not entirely sure how fitting the covers are for the books, though some of them hint at the romance that’ll emerge in the story. It’s a bonus we get the windswept hair in one of them, too.

Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard

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Bria’s just graduated high school, and the future lies open ahead of her. Except, she doesn’t quite see it. She feels stuck. Lost, even. Everything she’s ever felt passionate about is no longer making her feel what she once felt; that excitement has faded. Then one day she runs across a brochure advertising the Global Vagabonds and decides this no strings attached adventure to Central America is exactly what she needs.

When she gets there, though, the Global Vagabonds aren’t what she expected at all. It’s guided group tours — not what Bria wants at all. Not to mention, Bria’s decades younger than anyone else on the trip. She wants what the girl she sat beside on the plane has ahead of her: a trip of backpacking, adventuring, exploring, and without set agendas. After a trip to one of Central America’s most famous market places, Bria takes up a boy on an offer to visit their camp (away from the Global Vagabonds’s reserved housing).

Turns out, throwing caution to the wind and leaving the pre-planned activities of the group was the best thing that could happen to Bria.

Wanderlove is a story about travel, but more than that, it’s a story about finding yourself. As readers, we know something’s going on with Bria to make her lose her passion in art and in the open future ahead of her, but we’re not told what happened. It’s not until she’s ditched her tour group and hooks up with Rowan (and his sister) we get to know what’s going on. Bria’s boyfriend, the one who encouraged her to apply to one of Southern California’s most renowned art schools, dumped her. And he didn’t just dump her; he left her high and dry after she was accepted to the art school and he wasn’t. Art school was his idea, and she applied so she could stay close to him. Bria explains these things to Rowan and the reader slowly, and as she does, we begin to understand why she’s lost so much of her passion. When Toby dumped her, she lost her sense of self and her plans for the future. All of the things she’d planned — all the things revolving around him because she’d given so much for him — just fell apart.

Wanderlove focuses primarily on Bria and Rowan, and both characters are private, reserved, and quite thoughtful. The thing is, those characteristics manifest so differently in each of them. Bria is afraid to make commitments, while Rowan refuses to make commitments because he’s been burned in the past. In traveling together, though, they learn to trust one another and they come to understand the baggage one another carries. There’s a real breaking down to build back up again, and it’s vital to both characters. What I liked so much was that both were hurting, and neither of them took it upon themselves to say they were hurting. They didn’t lay their problems out for one another left and right. It’s a very gradual process of learning to trust and learning to work through. Moreover, it’s also a very gradual process of learning to love themselves and learning that maybe, it’s okay to love one another, too. Yes, there’s romance and yearning in both Bria and Rowan — something you’d expect because of their isolation and their shared interest in traveling — but it’s by no means an instant chemistry. Instead, they have to work toward it, and both characters are reluctant to make any moves with one another. It’s careful and tenuous, and in being that way, I found myself rooting for them to end up together.

I think the line in the whole book that stood out to me, and one that I think will stand out to most readers is one Bria utters: “My problems might be superficial on a global scale, but they’re real to me.” In a field of contemporary YA literature with heavy issues, it was refreshing to read a story where the main character’s biggest problem is simply feeling lost and sad after a relationship she’d invested so much time into. Rowan’s baggage is a bit heavier, but this isn’t really his story. It’s Bria’s. So many readers will relate to her because she’s real and she’s having a hard time dealing with issues that face typical teen readers.

Setting is one of the defining characteristics of Wanderlove. Hubbard writes Central America with expertise, and it was easy to fall into and love the world. It’s lush and vibrant, and it’s the ideal setting to allow Bria to grow. It inspired Bria to reconnect not only with herself, but also with her art. She brought a sketchbook with her on her trip, and it’s not until she’s in the landscape that she’s able to finally pick up her pencil again and sketch. Her eyes are open to the world around her and she realizes she can grasp it with the artistic talent she has inside her — the experiences here and the art she can make belong wholly to her. At the onset of her time with Rowan, Bria is warned by Rowan’s sister that he can experience bouts of wanderlove. While this worries Bria, the truth is that she discovers she and Rowan share this sense of desire to love and appreciate the world around them.

There’s a great metaphor in the setting, as well: Bria’s breaking away from her group and the comfort and security of a planned out route is, of course, symbolic of learning how to explore. It’s important for her to have this time to figure it out on her own, and she does. Even though she spends much of the story with Rowan, she retreats to her sketch book to have this exploration. She still has something wholly her own, and when this is compromised, we get to not only see her true colors, but Rowan’s, as well. Although it could be easy for Bria to become a girl dependent on a boy — remember, the story starts because Toby breaks up with her and suddenly, her plans for the future that was once developed around him are shaken — she’s not. She’s an independent spirit, and she never strays from it. I think that’s what made the romance so satisfying. It was on her own accord the entire time.

One more element worth mentioning is that this book also includes sketches. Bria’s got her sketchbook, but we actually get to see it. Hubbard provides not only the story in the book, but also the illustrations. There aren’t a lot, so it’s hardly a graphic novel, but the illustrations gave the setting and the story that much more impact. I feel like I got to know Bria even better because of the sketches. It was like peeking right into her private thoughts.

Wanderlove will appeal to readers who love travel stories, as well as those who appreciate contemporary ya stories but don’t necessarily want to read one dealing with heavy issues. Bria is an average girl, and never once is that a bad thing. Readers who like character-driven stories will find Bria’s one worth watching. Kirsten Hubbard impressed me with her debut novel, Like Mandarin, and I have to say she impressed me just as much with Wanderlove. She’s one to keep an eye on, as her writing and her story telling are compelling, engaging, and easy to relate to, both as a teen and as a female. Will this story work for male readers? Some, maybe. But I don’t think there’s anything wrong in saying Hubbard has a knack for tapping into the female mind and tinkering with some of the issues girls feel they’re alone in having. She does it well.

Review copy received from the publisher. Wanderlove will be available March 13.

So You Want to Read YA?: Kelly’s Picks

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One of the reasons I wanted to start a blog — and one of the reasons I wanted to make it a group blog — was not just because I love talking about books, but because I like learning about new books from other readers. And I think anyone who has spent a little time here knows that Kim, Jen, and I have some similarities in our reading preferences, but we also have a lot of differences. I’m able to be a better reader and a better librarian because of them and because of the other great bloggers who dedicate time and effort into talking about books.

Over the course of blogging and being a librarian, one of the questions that I think about and one of the questions I get asked a lot is the question that prompted this series: where do you start when you want to start reading young adult fiction? It sounds like a daunting question, but for the most part, I feel my librarian background has helped me think about how to best answer it. You ask the person asking what sorts of books they like reading, and from there, you can figure out whether they’re genre readers or they want contemporary reads or if they just want a good book, regardless of category.

I feel like I’ve talked at length about books I really like and about books I recommend, especially when it comes to contemporary ya fiction. As I thought about this question, I thought about how I could answer it a little bit differently.

So I focused in on the last group of new-to-ya fiction readers. The ones who just want a good book. But rather than give a list of “good books,” I’m breaking it down by specific writing or story elements which make the book stand out, and I’m keeping my list fairly short. You’re getting eight titles in four categories.

And not only will some of these authors be sharing their answers to this question over the course of this series, but I will also be giving away a half of these titles at the end of this post.

I’m hoping some of these might be off-the-beaten-path answers.

Knock-out voice:

The biggest, most powerful element of a good YA story for me is voice. You hear the character and you feel the character through it. It’s a distinct style and manner of writing, and when it’s good, you just know it is good. A book with voice sticks with you well after you finish the story, and you think more about that character than the story itself. I’ve got two memorable titles for this category that I think are must-reads for anyone looking to see an example of true voice in a YA novel. 

The Sky Always Hears Me (And The Hills Don’t Mind) by Kirstin Cronn-Mills: I’ve talked about how much Morgan’s voice stands out in my review from earlier this year. Even months after reading this one, I’m impressed with how much I remember of the story, of the emotional tug inside of it, simply because I can hear Morgan’s voice in my head.

Split by Swati Avasthi: There’s a reason this book made the Cybils short list, and there’s a reason it wont the Cybils last year, and that reason is that Jace has an amazing voice. It’s raw and wry, and it’s honest. He’s in a desperate and painful situation, and while the story is about this pain, it’s Jace’s voice that makes it palpable and searing.

Classics still holding strong:

We all know YA fiction has changed a lot over the last few years and the last few decades. But there are classics that still hit all the right notes.


Celine by Brock Cole: Barring the cover, this book is nothing short of what a YA book should be and it’s one that stands the test of time. First, this book could have fallen right into my great voice category because 16-year-old Celine has a memorable one. More than that, though, this is the story of a girl who wants to become an artist, and through her art she discovers who she is. Her family’s not the most stable, and she’s unsure of the relationship she’s in — but the thing that trumps all that is a friendship she forges with a boy in her apartment complex. Celine is snarky and funny without being too smart or too self-aware and even twenty-some years after being published, it is still a must-read and relevant.

The Pigman by Paul Zindel: This was a book I remembered reading and loving in middle school, and I revisited it recently and it’s still one that stands up. Zindel develops two fully-realized characters in John and Lorraine and he makes use of first-person multiple points of view well. But more than that, this is a story about friendship inside and outside of high school and it cuts to the meat of what it means to have relationships. What I didn’t remember about the book that I appreciated a lot more on my recent reread? These kids make bad decisions, and these kids drink and swear and party. They have crummy home lives. John and Lorraine are also lower middle class kids, and they’re well aware they don’t always fit in because of this. This book explores self-realization, and while there is a tiny bit of dating to the story — it begins with a prank phone call in the age before caller ID — that won’t change the fact it’s a must read.

Physically-chilling stories:

I think a hallmark of really good novel is it impacts you emotionally. You can have a great action-driven novel for sure, but the reason it is great is because it’s tapped something emotionally. You find yourself caring either about the character or the story.


An element that’s begun to stand out for me more and more as a reader, though, is the physical impact of a book. I’m not talking about the tears, though that happened in both of these books for me. I’m talking about books that tear apart your insides and that make you feel like you’re going to be sick. It’s part the author’s ability to write well, and it’s part the author’s ability to tackle a situation that demands that sort of reaction, too. These stories transcend genre, but both books that left me feeling physically weak happen to be (surprise) contemporary and both happen to tackle bullying. And as much as we want to pretend it’s the extreme, these are stories teens today are living daily. As far as I’m concerned, these are must-reads for anyone who works with teens because they shed light into what’s often unseen by adults.

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers: When Regina’s knocked out of her clique, the girls she once called friends are out for revenge. And it won’t be pretty. Whenever I sell this book to someone, I tell them it’s like “Mean Girls,” but with actual mean girls. This novel is relentless and it’s brutal, and it left me sick to my stomach both times I read it. As much as I’d like to think this sort of story is just that — story — the fact is, it’s not. Knowing this happens made the pain in reading it even stronger. Bonus points to Summers for not wrapping this book up tidily, either. There’s not a firm resolution and that uncertainty adds another layer to the physical experience of the story.

Leverage by Joshua Cohen: Taking it from the male perspective is Cohen, who manages to tackle not only bullying, but hazing (which is a whole different form of bullying). This is the guy’s locker room. It’s dirty, it’s gritty, and it’s painful to read. The two main characters in the story have powerful voices, but it’s the situations into which they’re thrown that are the physically tough parts to read. This is one that requires a few breaks while reading to catch some relief and it does not shy away from depicting cruelty.

Setting as character

Something I pay attention while reading is setting. Setting can give so much insight into character and into the story, and sometimes, setting becomes a character in and of itself. There are a ton of books for me that fall into the great settings category, but in keeping with the tradition, here are two that do it very, very well.



Stolen by Lucy Christopher: When people think of this book, the first thing they tend to think about or associate with it is that it’s the book about Stockholm Syndrome. And while that’s certainly true and the bulk of the story, for me, one of the most memorable aspects of the story is the setting. It’s set in the desolate and desperate Australian desert, and that setting only further enhances the struggle in the story. I can’t see this story working as well in any setting other than the one it’s in and I don’t want to separate setting from story here, either.

Ten Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher: I gravitate to stories set in Chicago, since I’m familiar with the city and am familiar with its history and development. It’s the historical time frame coupled with the gritty, working-class Back of the Yards neighborhood in Chicago that makes this book’s setting sing. Ruby, the main character, lives with her mother and they are poor, just like the bulk of families living in the neighborhood. Her solution? To become a taxi dancer and make the money they need to live better lives. Fletcher’s story gives us not only the incredible setting of the Yards neighborhood (if you didn’t click the link above — think Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle) with the rich neighborhood where taxi dancing brings in the bucks.

There you have it — eight titles I think answer the bill of where to start in YA if you’re looking for something specific to read in the YA realm. I know I left out big names. I know I left out perennials. But I’ve got an inkling those titles will make their way into this series.

Because I want other people to experience some of these titles, I’m going to give a few of these away! Up for grabs are finished copies of The Sky Always Hears Me (And the Hills Don’t Mind), Some Girls Are, and The Pigman, as well as an advanced reader’s copy of Leverage. I like to think of it as a starter kit for the good stuff in YA lit. One person will win all four titles, and I’ll draw a winner March 25.