YA Wednesday: Those Marvelous Flying Machines

Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan, a high-flying, around-the-world adventure novel set in 1914, is due out in just a couple of months. It's one of the books I'm most looking forward to this fall (especially after learning about these German dirigibles).

Westerfeld talks about his early ideas for Leviathan in this Extras video:

As if we weren't excited enough already, Westerfeld is offering free downloads of Uglies.

YA Memoir that Breaks the Mold
Salon interviewed Hannah Friedman this week about her new book Everything Sucks: Losing My Mind and Finding Myself in a High School Quest for Cool. The book sounds fantastic, and to make it sound more fantastic (i.e., not your usual YA) the reviewer takes a few jabs at the whole YA genre:

Not only is Friedman's writing striking for its blunt, unromantic realism; her prose also displays a self-aware wit that is all too rare in the genre. Also:

Her refusal to moralize or provide an easy resolution sets "Everything Sucks" apart from YA literature's preponderance of breezy, formulaic narratives.

I expected YA bloggers to be all over these sweeping generalizations, but haven't even seen a link.

Quick links...
As briefly reported in yesterday's Omni Daily News, Stephenie Meyer will join the likes of Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and Princess Di to star in her own Female Force comic. Female Force: Stephenie Meyer will debut in October. (Cynopsis: Kids!)

The Daily Beast reviews Lizzie Skurnick's Shelf Discovery, calling the essays "a mix of nostalgia, analysis, memoir, and feminist revision that can make even the guiltiest read feel like it held a vital role in our coming of age."

A non-YA book about a predominantly YA topic: The Book Bench interviews Miriam Forman-Brunell, author of Babysitter: An American History.

Simon Pulse is publishing The Secret to Teen Power, the teen version of the international best seller and its "laws of attraction." (via Book Ninja)

We're in the middle of The Book Smugglers' Young Adult Appreciation Month, which I just found out about this week. (Thanks, Presenting Lenore!) They have a bunch of great reviews and guest posts for your perusal.

Happy reading.--Heidi

Comments

[Becky G on August 06, 2009 at 09:05 PM]

Read Hannah Friedman's Everything Sucks on Monday and then again on Thursday. All of it. Twice. This book rocked my world- wonderfully written, wonderfully funny, wonderfully honest, just allaround wonderful. Definitely worth a look.

[Liz on August 07, 2009 at 08:20 AM]

Everything Sucks was SO AMAZING! I can't believe Hannah is only 22. She is a kick-ass writer with a hilarious point of view and a pretty crazy life. Monkey as an older sister anyone? I cannot wait for Hannah's next book. I think I"m in author-love!!!!

[cables on September 16, 2009 at 09:29 PM]

This is awesome book!
I am interested in this kinda of stuffs.
Great work!
Stay connected.

[jeux d action on September 24, 2009 at 03:05 AM]

i read all the book a couple years ago and recently reread uglies. actually, i never read extras. i started it but it was so boring and i couldn't stay focused, but i'll read it this time. his new series sounds terrible! I hope Everything Sucks is really an amazing as per Liz says...