Link Roundup

Here is what caught my interest this week in the blogosphere:

 

• This visually captivating blog post starts off  with a collage of the "darkness" of YA covers . Then it moves into more sobering ground; how ethnically diverse/dark is YA based on covers alone? Turns out, not very.

• Awful Library Books. The few and the dedicated do us all a favor by sorting through library stock to weed out gems like these. For a YA angle, scroll to the post from 7/21/2011 with the heading 80s Teen Fiction. One sketched cover shows what I think is supposed to be a teenager but looks more like a 40-yr-old jazzercize clown...

• Lit Agent Rachelle Gardner did a series this week about pitching your novel, inlcuding a verbal pitch, which I thought was interesting (I took NOTES, y'all). Sometimes we lack focus when talking about our projects, so imagine pitching your work to a room full of agents. SCARY. Here's more on crafting an elevator pitch (a pitch short enough for an elevator ride).

• Somewhat related, the blog Love YA hosted a contest (now closed) for a twitter-length pitch to an agent. I didn't participate but I read through every single pitch in the comments. For a voyeuristic look at what everyone else is writing or to get an idea of what works and what doesn't in a 140 character summary, check it out.

• This last one is not writing or reading related, but if you're a sucker for kitties (like me), then you have no choice but to click: The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee

Borders Bookstores Closing - a sad day for all fans of books

I suppose it was inevitable considering all their troubles, but it's still sad to see the reality posted in the news: Borders bookstores to liquidate as early as Friday. The article I linked has more of a local angle, since Borders started as a smaller-scale independent in Ann Arbor, Mich. I'm originally from Michigan, and I think this touches me not just because the books aspect, but as another Michigan company going out of business in their struggling economy. There's been so much loss of industry in Michigan; a lot of my friends and some family have moved out of state for jobs over the past 10 years because of it.

I'm sure I'll contribute to the sales in Border's final weeks. I'll pick up some of the books on my list I know I want to own rather than to buy digital. I already began my shift away from Borders this year by purchasing more books through my independent store and through Barnes & Noble for my Nook reader. Still, I liked that Borders was easily accessible and they always had those coupons...

Will Borders closing affect your ability to buy books? Or, had you already moved on from chain retailers to buy via Amazon or other means?

Book Review: Going Bovine by Libba Bray

Title: Going Bovine
Author: Libba Bray
Category: YA contemporary
Published: 2009

I admit, I had a hard time with the start of Going Bovine, mainly because the main character Cameron is apathetic to an extreme. He's a depressed teenager who bristles at any interaction from family or friends. He doesn't seem to even care about his friends. But as I read on, I realized how appropriate the description is of a depressed teenager, and how it captures a certain perspective of adolescence. I give Libba Bray credit for exploring this type of character. 

Cameron has mad cow disease, but even before the diagnosis, his trippy hallucinations are woven into the narrative so subtely, I think they began even earlier than I first suspected while reading. As the story progresses, the line between reality and a dream-world is intentionally blurred. It gets straight-up wacky, crossing over into satire at times when Cameron visits a cult where everyone has instant-access to smoothies and snacks and every game in bowling nets a perfect score. Add to that a talking yard gnome and visits with a punk angel; you have to suspend disbelief to go along this ride with Cameron. 

Themes are expertly woven into the story; Don Quixote, Disneyworld, old roadrunner cartoons, capturing life's moments within snowglobes. The author threads these themes so well it gives more depth to what could be dismissed as a really silly book. It felt overly long to me, I admit I skipped ahead at one point. I am glad it ended the way it did; even though I expected a different outcome. I appreciated Cameron's journey, and at the end, rooted for him to find meaning in life