Summer Fun Friday! +Comic Con News

Ah, summer. Don't you wish you were jam-packed in a convention center with six dozen Slave Leia's and a legion of Joss Whedon fans? Or is that just me...

San Diego's Comic Con is in full swing -- the comics convention to defy all other like-minded conventions -- and many of us are scouring our twitter feeds for scraps of juicy entertainment news. Comic Con has gotten so big it's hardly restricted to comics or even comic book adaptations. Here's a little round up of what I found of interest so far!

• Firefly Reunion Special! ZOMG! If you're a fan, then you've already had your moment to spazz out. If not, let me give you a run-down: That guy from Castle used to be on a short-lived FOX network show about space cowboys, which encompassed everything the Star Wars prequels should have. You can watch the whole series in a weekend on Netflix streaming or DVD and really, why bother with that crowd at the beach when you could be at home in the A/C watching a space opera? Which is also FUNNY.  

• Maybe you have better things to do than collect alien weaponry and blow up skags (look I'm a nice person by day but you gotta vent somehow), but I am getting all my important stuff done before September when Borderlands 2 comes out. Like the first game, Borderlands is violent, but it's self aware; it's clever, fast-paced and funny. I am always quick to point out how Lilith's Siren perks are super cool. Watch the new Borderlands 2 trailer (please note the trailer is gory in comic book-style animation)

• Geekexchange.com is reporting that a new Battlestar Galactica prequel is still a possibility, titled Blood and Chrome, which may end up as a SyFy movie, or else a webseries. If you've never seen BSG, it's like The West Wing in space. It's really well done and no little green monsters anywhere. The most frightening part of the "others" on BSG is many of them look just like you and me...  and also more like fashion models, but you get the point.

• This last piece might not be specifically Comic Con related, but it was announced that Mockingjay, the third book in the Hunger Games trilogy, will be split into two movies. WHYYYYY. This trend is so annoying. Other people think so, too.

Are you following Comic Con coverage? Is the twitter feed #SDCC12 making your eyes bleed? Please share!

Also: Make sure to stop by next Tuesday July 17 for a feature post by a Young Adult author published with Scholastic Press! She'll be discussing how diaries can influence writing for middle schoolers and teens. 

YA Highway Giveaway!

Just popping in after being on vacation. I've mostly been posting backlogged book reviews. I just saw this giveaway on YA Highway for their 3 year blog anniversary. The blog is a cool site hosted by several Young Adult authors, and they feature the Wednesday theme YA Roadtrip along with a good list of links every Friday on what's going on in publishing plus some fun stuff, too.

Here's a link to the giveaway

How is everyone's summer? Have you had a chance to go anywhere fun, like a beach, theme park or even just a day in the backyard?

Book Review: Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler

Why We Broke Up
Daniel Handler
YA Contemporary
Published: 2011

Author Daniel Handler is the real name of Lemony Snicket, so you might be familiar with his children's novels. This one is Young Adult with an interesting take on the break-up story: the main character Min (short for Minerva) is essentially writing a letter to her ex telling him all the real reasons they broke up. She has a box of stuff related to their brief courtship: movie tickets, trinkets, earrings etc. that relate to aspects of their relationship, that she plans to give Ed along with the letter.

The storytelling method is a bit uncoventional, which is kind of fun, but also may be the sources of the book's faults. The story itself can be challenging at times because from page 1 (actually from the cover) we know that Min and Ed break up. You can tell from her rants -- which are frequently hilarious and spot-on if you've ever suffered a break-up in high school -- that Ed was never a good fit in the first place. Her friends tell her Ed's not a good fit. His friends don't understand it either. So, the fact that everyone was right and it doesn't work out makes it a bit painful at times to get through. At least it's funny, with some great snippets of angst and reflection that feel genuine. Min has some sidekicks who make the journey worthwhile. Her guy friend is clearly everything Ed is not, and I would expect every reader would want to slap Min upside the head until she realizes the guy for her is right there all along.

Recommended if you like unconventional storytelling, well written YA angst, or you're a Lemony Snickett devotee.

Book Review: Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Beauty Queens
Libba Bray
Contemporary YA/satire
Published: 2011

A plane full of beauty queens crashes on a desert island.

Yeah, it already sounds awesome. In the hands of Libba Bray, the gimmick comes to life in one of the funniest and entertaining books I've ever read. The satire is sharp and the feminist edge is fierce. This is the book I want everyone to read: my husband, my friends, bloggers, and I want librarians and teachers to recommend it to students. It's outrageously funny, and it has something to say. The authors that can accomplish this combo are too few already, and I'm glad a YA author -- and a woman -- has managed to get a spot on that list.

So, a plane full of beauty queens crashes on a desert island. What do they do? Horseshoe formation! Right away, Miss Texas organizes the survivors for a role call. All the remaining contestants, er survivors, introduce themselves pageant-style, name and state with their recited platform to follow. Right away factions divide -- searchers vs. beach dwellers, but Miss Texas is determined to keep them unified.She hosts practice sessions for when The Miss Teen Dream Pageant resumes, you know, as soon as they're rescued.

While they wait for help, the girls prove themselves resourceful; most are top acheivers in their class looking for scholarship money through the pageant, but even the more stereotypical beauty queens have something to contribute. They build huts and decorate them, they construct a water irrigation system, create fish-catching nets. They look past vanity and eat grubs for protien when they're starving. When rescue finally (sort-of) comes, they realize they've managed pretty well on their own.

Meanwhile -- and there is a lot of meanwhile in this book -- the head of the Miss Team Dream Pageant is in cahoots with a derranged dictator of a small country (think the version of Kim Jong Il from the Team America movie) and is planning a weapons deal on the very island where the queens crash-landed. The volcano on the other side of the island is hollowed out with a secret government lair within it.

Yeah, I'm for real.

Mixed in with chapters are commercials from the Miss Team Dream sponsors that will have you laughing out loud at the absurdity and the creepy relevance to things that exist in our own culture. Also, the author uses footnotes liberally to further explain the products and invented pop-culture references within the story. If you've ever read Terry Pratchett, king of hilarious footnotes, Terry: you have met your queen!

The beauty queens are a diverse cast who are self aware of their own diversity; the Indian-American wants to eliminate the African-American from the pageant since they both know only one "diverse" contestant can make the top 5. The book even pokes fun at writing conventions when toward the end, we finally learn the names of Miss Montana, Miss Ohio and another Miss who before that were relegated to only their state names. The book even ends on a freeze frame.

This book is so funny, I absolutely loved it. You will laugh, I promise, but hopefully that larger message born out of satire is what will stick.