STACKED

books

Eve and Adam by Katherine Applegate and Michael Grant

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Those of you around my age may not believe this, but I have never read an Animorphs book. Books about animals were so boring to me as a kid, so why would I want to read a book about kids who could turn into animals? Seemed like a recipe for a nap to me.
So let’s just say I am glad that Applegate’s and Grant’s return to collaboration does not involve a resuscitation of that series. In fact, I don’t think there’s a single animal in Eve and Adam. 
The book starts off badly for Evening Spiker, whose mother is a renowned and very wealthy scientist who runs Spiker Biopharm. Eve is hit by a car on page 1, and she’s rushed to the hospital. Her mother promptly picks her up and takes her back to Spiker Biopharm, where apparently she will receive better treatment.
As she recuperates, her mother decides to give her a project to work on: use some of the company’s educational technology to “create” a perfect boy in the lab. This aspect of the story is actually smaller than the jacket copy would have you think. For most of the story, it provides a few laughs but is of little importance.
The more important aspect involves Solo Plisskin, a teenage boy who works for Ms. Spiker. He’s got some sort of vendetta against her that he’s managed to keep hidden, but we follow his plans to eventually bring her down. He’s drawn to Eve, though, and as Eve begins to unravel some of the secrets of her mother’s company, Solo starts to see how they involve to his own secrets. 
The story is told in Eve’s and Solo’s alternating points of view. There’s a clear romantic attraction there, but since Eve is the daughter of someone Solo hates, there’s resistance, too. There’s plenty of suspense as well. Although Solo clearly knows what he has against Ms. Spiker, he’s not telling until the absolute last moment, so we can only guess.
The set up is interesting, but it seemed like Eve and Adam was more of a gimmick than a story. There was nothing outstanding about the writing – if you made all of the pronouns gender-neutral, I doubt I’d be able to tell you who was narrating at any particular point. The big revelations weren’t terribly interesting or original and I was a bit bored throughout, although I know the authors were shooting for a fast-paced sci fi thriller. And I was never engaged in either Eve’s or Solo’s problems. In fact, I found Eve’s mother to be a more engaging character than either of the two leads. There will be a sequel, but I doubt I’ll bother reading it.
All that said, there will be people who get more out of this reading experience than I did (like always). Readers a bit more invested in romance will probably enjoy it more, and those who are just dipping their toes into sci fi might find this a good place to start. It’s certainly an ephemeral book, though.

Review copy received from the publisher. Eve and Adam hits shelves October 2.

Guest Post: Two New-to-YA Publishers Worth Knowing

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Last month, I talked about how you have to put in the time and effort in order to become knowledgeable about something and I highlighted the publishers and imprints working with YA fiction. In that post, I mentioned two new-to-me publishers, Strange Chemistry (an imprint of Angry Robot) and Entangled Publishing. After posting, I had authors from both contact me to talk about what their publishers are doing, and both were eager to share a little more about that. Welcome Gwenda Bond and Amy Spalding, who will talk a bit about their publishers, the process in working with new YA publishing endeavors, and, of course, their forthcoming titles.

Gwenda Bond & Strange Chemistry

I fell into almost everything I know about publishing by loving books first. (I think this is true of most people who write and/or work in any capacity in publishing–and definitely true of most people you’d want to work with as a writer.) Anyway, I was always a writer and a reader, and then at some point I also started blogging, which in a roundabout way led to me covering publishing in features for Publishers Weekly and then later some reviewing, and so on. So while I was working toward becoming a published author, I also got to talk to lots of people in the big six and outside it (and still do), about their business and how it works–something I find fascinating, and one of the reasons I was excited when Kelly invited this guest post. 

Up front I’ll also say I don’t know much about non-traditional publishing. Big or small, part of a giant publishing conglomerate or an independent house, the traditional publishing model is what I’m talking about here. I’d define that broadly as a publisher with a means of distribution, buying a certain set of rights for publication and paying an advance, including a fair royalty rate, and the rest of the things entailed by that as part of a business enterprise.

So…the new imprint Strange Chemistry. Who are they and how did my debut YA novel Blackwood end up as one of their launch titles, and what has that been like?

(One last caveat: I speak only for myself, not my publisher, obviously. Though I *blow kisses to them*. )

Strange Chemistry is the YA imprint being started by Angry Robot Books, a science fiction and fantasy publisher owned by the Osprey Group that burst onto the SFF scene and took it by storm with beautiful design, a fresh perspective on how they did things, and some truly marvelous books (Lauren Beukes’Zoo City, Adam Christopher’s Empire State, and Chuck Wendig’s Blackbirds are all excellent starting points, to single out a few Angry Robot titles). The publisher is based in England, but their books release simultaneously in the U.S., the UK and Australia, in paperback (usually) and as e-books (with DRM-free versions always available), along with audio for select titles. Their U.S. distribution is through Random House. (Who are the best sales team! I might have a biased opinion based on how wonderful they’ve been, and I now definitely have a greater appreciation for how crucial sales reps are. *blows more kisses*)

In 2011, Angry Robot announced they were launching Strange Chemistry, to be headed by Amanda Rutter. My agent–the divine Jennifer Laughran–and I immediately emailed each other; this could be a good place to submit the Roanoke Island-set gothic fantasy/nerd romance/thriller I’d been working on. Blackwood is about two smart 17-year-olds–Miranda Blackwood and Phillips Rawling–who are drawn into the investigation of a mass disappearance on modern-day Roanoke Island and uncover their own connections to the original history of the Lost Colony as they work to save the missing people and themselves.

Once Amanda started reading submissions, in the book went and we heard from her not that long after–she wanted it and she was really excited about it, though the Editorial Board (dreaded by all writers) still lay ahead. But the ed board said YES. Hallelujah, heavenly choirs, the usual. As a debut author at a small publisher, you can’t expect a “shut up, you’re buying this round”deal. BUT that’s also true as a debut author–or a midlist one, for that matter–at many larger publishers. Giant deals are far fewer than it seems. Really. What giant deals also result in is immense pressure for everyone involved to deliver big sales numbers, something which is very hard to make happen even with a huge marketing budget. But, regardless, those marketing dollars can be very loud, and sometimes drown out other voices–one reason Kelly’s excellent post on finding out about non-bestsellers and books from smaller houses was so great.

This is something I really and truly believe, having witnessed many triumphs and tragedies among author friends: the most important thing is that the editor is behind your work, and the best scenario is that the whole team is. One thing I knew going in was that Strange Chemistry was building an imprint. That’s not done haphazardly. And having since gotten to listen to my editor, Amanda, describing the launch list in meetings at BEA, I can say that she advocates for every single book on her list strongly, passionately. I am definitely not saying this isn’t the case at other publishers, just that it may be a little easier to accomplish when a list is smaller. (You can read more about the vision for the imprint and its expansion plans in this SFX interview with Amanda.)

Because this is a brand new imprint and I’m lucky enough to have Blackwood be one of the first two titles coming out this September (alongside Kim Curran’s excellent Shift), we have all been working very intensely since the sale–first rounds of edits, then copy edits, ARCs going out, and etcetera. Only, in this case, on a timeline with wayyy less slack in it–new imprint and all.

Cover art is undeniably important and I couldn’t be happier with Steven Wood’s gorgeous artwork as mine–and which I was consulted on the concept for. While some people might prefer to debut in hardback, I’m actually happy to have my first book come out in trade paperback. I know I’m personally more likely to try a new author in paperback–I feel it’s a smart strategy, and the reason why (it seems at least) there have been more YA paperback originals in recent years. As I already mentioned, the Osprey and Random House sales teams have been amazing, going out and, well, selling the book to the places where people buy or look for books. At the same time, the publisher has been doing a great job of building an identity for the imprint and starting to communicate directly with readers via twitter, the blog, Facebook, their mailing list, etcetera, as well as working to make ARCs available to more reviewers through NetGalley. They’ve set up and/or helped set up events and other launch activities, and talked me down from the occasional panic attack every new author has from time to time. There is also a real sense of camaraderie among us first Strange Chemistry authors.

My next book–unrelated to Blackwood–will be out next year. It’s a near future urban fantasy called The Woken Gods, a title we all spent a considerable amount of time to arrive at and a direction I’m beyond happy the publisher was on board with. I’m grateful that I never felt a smidge of pressure to force a Blackwood sequel, when it was always meant as a standalone. (If I ever do another related book, it’ll likely involve different characters, and a different mystery, but I suppose never say never.)

So, in short (okay, in loooong), my experience with this small publisher has been all I could’ve hoped for. The book’s out soon (September 4! eek!), and fingers crossed, some of you will read it and like it. I hope this post will also encourage some of you to keep an eye on Strange Chemistry, and look at the other wonderful books they have coming. I’m grateful to be a part of this imprint as it starts up, and no matter where my career may wander in the future, that won’t change. Having a mix of big and small publishers in the world is good for all of us; it’s good for books.

I’m happy to answer any questions I can in the comments, and thanks so much to Kelly for the invitation to soapbox and letting me ramble (on and on…).

Amy Spalding & Entangled Publishing
My experience with Entangled started early this year. My agent told me she’d sent both of my manuscripts to Entangled, and provided me with a link to a story in USA Today about them. When I saw the link, I didn’t know what to think. All the books pictured were adult romances, with glistening abs and pecs on the covers. That was about as far from my contemporary YA novels as you could get. I freaked out a little and emailed a bunch of other author/publishing types to see what they thought.
 
Their answers were unanimous, and a little surprising. Everyone said I’d be lucky to be with Entangled, that they really had new and exciting ideas about publishing, their teen line wasn’t about glistening dudes (well, not entirely…) and they’d just hired an amazing editor, Stacy Cantor Abrams, who apparently I’d be lucky to work with.
 
Suddenly I couldn’t believe my luck because that was exactly who my manuscripts were sitting with. Now I figured I was set for rejection because I’d never seen so many people proclaim love for an editor before. So what were my chances?
 
But a few weeks later, I got an offer. For both books. And my phone call with Stacy was just phenomenal; she clearly got what I’m all about, and I knew she’d provide me with amazing editorial guidance.
 
My main concern with Entangled was that I wasn’t sure if they could actually get books into brick and mortar bookstores. And despite Amazon’s hold on the publishing industry (sigh) I knew bookstore presence could really make or break my career. The great news was that Entangled had recently partnered with Publishers Group West, and had great distribution possibilities. The even better news was that for particularly the Entangled Teen line, this was going to be a priority. Teens are buying books at bookstores, so it’s vital to be there.
 
After this assurance and my call with Stacy, I was happy to relay back to my agent that I wanted to accept the offer. Since then I have been continuously impressed with Entangled. I listen sympathetically as other friends wait weeks and even months beyond when they were promised editorial notes. Mine came in exactly as promised.
 

For me, Entangled is a great place to be. I don’t write big, high-concept books. I’m interested in girls and their families and their friendships and, of course, the boys with great hair that intrigue them. As of now, at least, there is no vampire or mermaid book within me. So being at a small publisher that has a lot of time and attention for me even at the start of my career has been an incredibly positive experience. I work in indie film, so being at an indie publisher has been an appropriate fit for me.

My first book with Entangled, The Reece Malcolm List, will be released February 12, 2013. It is about family, musical theatre, and boys with good hair. Ink Is Thicker than Water will be available late 2013. You can visit my web site at www.theamyspalding.com and follow me on Twitter at @TheAmes. If you want to check out the behind-the-scenes of the cover design (which Amy had a ton of input on!), then check out the stops along the cover reveal blog tour.

What I’m Reading Now

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Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
I’m one of those people who reads a lot of reviews before I read a book. The reviews of this one have been very, very mixed. I think the author’s story to publication is fascinating – she originally wrote the story online at fictionpress.com before being picked up by Bloomsbury. The story is about a teenage assassin, punished as a slave in the mines but freed in order to compete to be the king’s personal assassin. I am a sucker for a good old-fashioned fantasy epic, and I hope this will fit the bill. After reading the first few chapters, I can tell that my teenage self would have thought this was the perfect book; I’m not so sure about my adult self.
Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is one of my favorite middle grade reads and one of the most beautiful books I’ve held. This story is set in the same world, but it focuses on a boy called Rendi, who has run away from home and gets taken in by an innkeeper as a chore boy. Unlike Mountain, this story has almost zero adventure: it all takes place in the same town, most of it in the same building. Like Mountain, though, it incorporates smaller stories told by the characters within, and these stories go on to have greater meaning near the end. I read the review copy, but I plan to get my hands on a finished copy so I can see the artwork, which blew me away in Mountain.
Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
This book is proof that Kelly is the best co-blogger a person could ask for, since she’s the reason I’m able to read it. I like the direction Meyer has gone with this sequel: it focuses on Scarlet, but it also follows Cinder’s story. Scarlet is a French girl who must rescue her grandmother, kidnapped by a gang of humans with wolf-like qualities. One of the wolves, a deserter of the gang, decides to help. Cinder and Scarlet haven’t met up yet, but I’ve a feeling it will happen soon. I’m curious to see how Meyer (presumably) plans to juggle four girls’ stories in the last installment. The pace of Scarlet is slower than Cinder, but so far it’s just as enjoyable.
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
You know how sometimes the jacket copy of a book appears to only reveal the very first, small section of the story – just enough to get you interested – but in fact that section takes up the first 70 pages of the book? That happened here. I read those first 70 pages knowing Aria would be exiled, and it was painful to read about her optimism: “Oh, they’re going to take me to see my mother!” No, no they are not. That little annoyance aside, I am really digging this dystopian tale about a society that lives in environmentally-sealed pods and the girl who gets into trouble with the wrong people and finds herself exiled into the wilderness, full of savages and aether storms. (Sorry I just ruined the first 70 pages for you.)
Review copies received from the publisher (and Kelly!). Under the Never Sky borrowed from the library.

Perfect Escape by Jennifer Brown

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Jennifer Brown’s third book, Perfect Escape, follows Kendra and her brother Grayson as they take off across America on a road trip to see one of the biggest faults in California. Grayson’s a geology addict, so Kendra sees this as their perfect destination.

Except, the story isn’t that simple.

Kendra’s older brother suffers from OCD, and he’s always been the center of attention in her family because of it. She’s lived in his shadow her whole life and has always felt this immense pressure to be Miss Perfect to impress her parents (and really, to impress herself and keep herself as distanced from Grayson’s illness as possible). After his return from a recent stint in therapy, Kendra isn’t all that convinced he’s better. But worse: Kendra’s done something horrible herself that threatens to change the dynamics of her family forever, and she did it because she needed to be perfect. When word gets out she might have to face consequences for her actions — when she might have to fess up and face her parents — she grabs her brother, her car, and decides right then and there she needs to get out of town. They are going to the big California fault, but that’s not her true destination. Kendra wants to reconnect with her former best friend, who happened to also be Grayson’s former girlfriend and the one person who loved him regardless.

Perfect Escape covers a lot of ground — there’s mental illness, challenging family dynamics, the desire to succeed, and the ever-shifting nature of relationships. The story’s primarily Kendra’s though. She’s struggling with figuring out how to be herself in a world where she’s really not allowed herself to figure out exactly who she is. She’s under the belief she needs to be perfect because she has to fill the hole that her brother can’t. More than that, though, she does it to prove something to herself. To prove that she’s never going to be like Grayson with his strange ticks, his obsessions, his disappearing acts, and his inability to be “normal.” She pushes herself to be the best at school, and when she realizes too late she can’t handle all of the pressure as well as she thought she could, she does something bad. And while it doesn’t seem all that bad on the surface, as the road trip progresses and the relationship Kendra and Grayson forge grows tighter, she explains exactly why her behavior was so bad. And it is. It’s much more serious than she’s lead readers to believe.

Kendra, for me, was an unsympathetic character. She’s extremely selfish, and her reactions to situations she puts herself in don’t beg for much from the reader. Rather than face her problems head on, she avoids them by running away. She not only does that, but she lies to cover her tracks on multiple occasions. More than that, though, she is resentful and at times completely hateful toward her brother. It’s understandable, really: she’s lived in the shadow of his disease and his OCD has been center stage in her family’s life. But as much as it’s understandable, it didn’t make me sympathize with her behavior at all. Here’s the thing — Brown is successful at writing a character who is unsympathetic. Much as I didn’t like Kendra, I was curious to know her story and understand why she was that way. I wanted to know what about her brother caused her such anger and why she decided to run away from home, rather than face her problems. Another interesting aspect about Kendra was that as much as I found her unsympathetic, I didn’t find her entirely unlikable. I think this is because what she learns on the trip with her brother shines a light into the real good within her.

When Kendra takes Grayson on the road trip from Missouri to California, she and he do no packing. They just leave. Grayson’s an unwilling companion, but he doesn’t complain too much. Kendra’s convinced him that their parents won’t get too concerned (a lie) and while they’re traveling, she learns a lot about the things that set him off. More than that, though, she learns what bits of him she really loves. Interspersed in their trip is back story that are crucial to understanding the second biggest aspect of the plot. See, Kendra’s best friend Zoe, who used to live near her, was uprooted and moved to California. Taken from Kendra completely. The reason was that Zoe had been together with Grayson and loved him, and her parents did not at all approve of the relationship. But it had been so good for Grayson and it had been so good for Kendra. Now that it’s gone, they’re both emptier, and Kendra hopes she can bring them all back together at the end of the trip. Through these moments and through the in-time road trip, we get a clearer picture of both Kendra and Grayson, and they, too, begin understanding each other better.

The thing is, it’s not that simple, and that is because of both Kendra’s behavior and because of Grayson’s OCD.

There are a number of things in the story that require suspending belief, and it was a mixed back in terms of success. I found some of the road trip experiences to feel right with the characters and story, including the fact Kendra chooses to pick up a hitchhiker (who she’d met the previous night at the motel she and Grayson stayed at). But other things, including the fact Kendra’s parents were so out of the picture and not as invested in tracking her or Grayson down, to be a little harder to work around. While it works to propel the story forward and to shine the light into the sibling relationship, knowing how their parents operated made me feel this was a bit of a stretch. I also had a difficult time with the money situation, though the explanation for how they’ve funded this trip emerges at the end and ties right into what it was Kendra was running away from in the first place.  On the whole, the road trip elements worked, and they made sense in context of the book. 

Perfect Escape is strongly-written, and the pacing is smooth. It’s not exceptionally fast nor is it slow, but right on target. Brown is able to drop readers into a story well. One of the elements I really liked about this story came through Grayson’s fixation: rocks. He spends a lot of time at the quarry near his family’s home in his early years, and when he’s on the road with Kendra, he insists on not only picking up rocks, but telling stories about why those rocks matter. Because of this obsession, Kendra concocts the story about visiting one of the biggest faults in California, and that is what keeps Grayson on board with the trip (rather than bailing out or seeking out their parents immediately). The relationship between Kendra and Grayson plays out in the metaphor of the rocks, and when the story ends, it’s probably one of the more powerful takeaways. It’s not at all over-the-top nor does it try too hard; it’s spot on. I also found the ending of this story to be one of its strengths: it’s not cut-and-dry. Readers are instead invited to imagine what goes down and the consequences awaiting Kendra. They’re not given to us.

Hand this book to readers who like realistic stories about family, about siblings, and those who like a good road trip book. There is also a nice story about friendship in here, too, both the kind between siblings and the kind between people who aren’t related. This isn’t a dark book at all, either, so readers who like contemporary books that don’t delve into dark topics will appreciate this one. It’s not light-hearted, though, but it’s also not too heavy.

Review copy received from the publisher. Perfect Escape is available now.

Don’t Turn Around by Michelle Gagnon

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No, this is not a extended treatise on my love for Ace of Base (you know you love them too). It’s a review of Michelle Gagnon’s first book for teens, Don’t Turn Around, which I found to be a nice little thriller.
Teenage Noa is an orphan, a foster kid who’s been tossed from one family to another with no real successes along the way. Fed up with being in the system, she decided to strike out on her own, living off the grid thanks to her impressive computer hacking skills. It works out pretty well for her until she wakes up one day in a warehouse with an IV in her arm and no idea how she got there.
The book opens with Noa’s escape from the warehouse, which means we get action and excitement from page one. The perspective alternates between Noa and a boy named Peter, whose life circumstances are much different from Noa’s. His parents are both still living and wealthy, although he has a strained relationship with them since the untimely death of his older brother.
Noa and Peter do have something vital in common: they are both excellent hackers. Peter runs a hacking group whose purpose is to inflict electronic punishment (legal or otherwise) on those who deserve it. When his parents are away one night, his home is invaded and his laptop stolen. He’s warned not to investigate it, but of course he does. And then his hacker group is attacked and his parents seem to know something about it.
Peter reaches out to Noa, who he knows only as a faceless individual through the hacker alliance, for her help. Unsurprisingly, Peter’s problems and Noa’s abduction are connected, and they work together to stay out of danger and figure out what’s going on. It mostly involves unsanctioned human medical testing, but Gagnon throws in a very little bit of science fiction which spices things up a little.
The life Noa created for herself was interesting to read about. She makes money in a sort of legitimate way: she freelances for a tech company, and all of her work is virtual, which means she could make up a new identity and open up an account for herself in that new identity’s name. But her lifestyle is also very isolating. She can’t trust anyone, including Peter, which makes their joint mission a bit more difficult.
Despite the sci-fi twist, which is actually very minor, this is a pretty standard thriller. That’s not a bad thing. I like my thrillers fast and exciting and I don’t mind when they’re a little light on character depth as this one is. I didn’t get to know Noa and Peter exceptionally well, but I can still remember what they’re like a few weeks after finishing the book, and I do want to read more about them.
Since Noa is a female hacker and a victim of the foster system, people (including the publisher) have been comparing this to Girl With the Dragon Tattoo a lot. I don’t see a whole lot of resemblance aside from the similarities I just mentioned. There is zero sexual violence here (something I truly appreciated) and it moves at a much faster clip than GWtDT (thankfully). Gagnon is judicious with her words, which isn’t something you could say about Larsson. Noa is tough and hacker-smart, but she’s able to get along with people and is clearly a kid where Lisbeth Salander is not.
This would be a good choice for fans of modern thrillers where technology plays a large role. Unfortunately, the technology in the book may also date it rather quickly.