I first noticed Little Bee when it was first released a year ago because how could I ignore a cover like that?  As soon as I saw this cover, I knew I would like it.  And then the buzz was really good but yet I never managed to read it right away.  SHAME on me for waiting a year to read it because this was MY kind of book.  I loved everything about it.

But the thing is, I really can’t tell you anything about it.  Right on the back cover:

It is a truly special story and we don’t want to spoil it.  Nevertheless, you need to know something, so we will just say this:  It is extremely funny, but the African beach scene is horrific.  The story starts there, but the book doesn’t.  And it’s what happens afterward that is most important.  Once you have read it, you’ll want to tell everyone about it. When you do, please don’t tell them what happens either. The magic is in how it unfolds.

I didn’t know ANYTHING about this book before opening it and I was so GLAD that I didn’t.  So I’m not going to spoil it for you either.

The only thing that I will say is that the book is about war, marriage, the refugee system in Britain and the connections that are made between people.  It’s a tough subject matter with truly heartbreaking scenes but interspersed with hilarious moments.  I was truly caught up within a huge range of emotions from laughing out loud to gasping in horror.

(And for those of you who have read the book will understand when I say that my boys are huge into batman and literally were wearing their batman costumes around the house while I was reading this one.  So it truly made for a complete immersion experience.)

And if you’re wondering even more what batman has to do with the book, then you’ll just have to read it!

I seriously just want to point you over to Rebecca’s review because she says exactly what I would want to say about the book but so much better than what I can at the moment:

Little Bee is beautiful, awful, hopeful, devastating, and utterly unforgettable. Cleave juxtaposes gorgeous, almost poetic prose with a truly horrific story that is made bearable by moments of great humor and warmth, many of which are provided by Sarah’s son Charlie, a four-year-old who is convinced he is Batman.

Read Little Bee for the language and the variety of voices that are so incredible you’ll want to wrap yourself up with them and stay for days. Read it for Cleave’s ability to tell a story that is framed by politics but that is ultimately about people. Read it because it does all the things fiction is supposed to do and then some. From the striking cover to the very last word, Little Bee is intense, satisfying, and not to be missed. This is a story you will carry with you for the rest of your reading days.

I couldn’t agree more!

Loved it, loved it, loved it.  I hope you love it too.  And if you don’t . . . well, maybe I’d rather not know about it. 

I was fortunate to go hear Chris Cleave at The Kings English Bookshop this past month.  Hands down one of the best authors I’ve heard speak. And a genuinely nice guy. And you know how some authors should never narrate or even read their own books out loud?  Cleave was superb during his reading.  I’ve included a lot of video for you to watch if interested.  Lots of fun stuff.  I had not read the book when I went and there were no spoilers.  When he reads it’s only in the first chapter.  His voice is a bit quiet so you’ll want to turn your volume up pretty high.

On how we used to view and treat asylum seekers:

On how Britain now treats its asylum seekers compared to decades ago:

On why he writes fiction. I loved the story of his little boy in this one:

On writing Little Bee, part 1:

On writing Little Bee, part 2:

Chris reads the first chapter of Little Bee which is told from Little Bee’s viewpoint. Loved seeing how he, as the author, envisions the book to be read. Worth watching the whole thing:

Chris reading from the second chapter of Little Bee which is told from Sara’s viewpoint:

Such a good book!!

Have you read it?

Links of interest: Chris Cleave website, more book blogger reviews.
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Simon and Schuster February 16, 2010 (originally published February 10,2009)
Paperback, 304 pages. ISBN 1416589643
Source copy: Purchased
Little Bee is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Copyright 2010. Maw Books Blog

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

• James Dashner
• Jessica Day George
• Frank Cole
• G.G. Vandagriff
• Bree Despain
• Jillayne Clements
• Wendy Paul
• Nichole Giles
• Cindy Beck
• Terri Ferran
• Ronda Gibbs Hinrichson
• Heather Justesen
• Linda Chadwich
• Berin Stephens
• Dan Willis
• Cory Paulson
• Lisa Mangum
• Mettie Ivie Harrison
• Emily Wing Smith
• Sharlee Glenn
• AlvinaKwong
• Kristyn Crow
• Carol Lynch Williams
• Ann Cannon
• Ann Dee Ellis
• Kevin Hall
• Larry Myler
• Mike O’Reilly
• Zane Taylor
• Jack Nelson
• Rebecca Lerwill
• Kim Williams Justesen
• Bobbie Pyron
• Aubry Mace
• Sydney Salter
• Nathan Hale
• Bron Bahlmann
• Alan Bellows
• Paul Genesse
• Larry Correia

I also ran into Suey from It’s All About Books, Heather from Fire and Ice Photos and Brodi Ashton. Going to these type of events is so much fun.  I didn’t take any pictures this time around but I did take video.  I REALLY apologize for the sound in this video.  I wish for the authors sake that it had turned out better because many of them are an absolute riot.  Obviously, there were tons of people there and let me tell you . . . when Utah authors get together, it’s a party!

Copyright 2010. Maw Books Blog

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

Calamity Jack, the follow-up graphic novel to Rapunzel’s Revenge (my review), written by duo married team Shannon and Dean Hale and illustrated by the ever hard working Nathan Hale (no relation) was just released January 5th.  And of course they had to party.  And of course, I had to go.  Especially if it was going to be anything like the launch party for Rapunzel’s Revenge.

Shannon and Dean Hale talked about what it was like to write the graphic novel, Nathan had a presentation about how is life was sucked away from him as he illustrated the book (a fun project – but wow – what a lot of work!).

I captured a few videos for you because I always feel so sorry for the rest of the world to not be at these awesome events.  In this first, Shannon and Dean Hale talk about the beginnings of Calamity Jack:

And I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again but Utah is home to a lot of AMAZING authors.  Shannon answers the question: What the heck is up with Utah and writers?   The voice speaking off-screen is that of Jessica Day George.  One such author.

And then the best video for last. This is why I secretly wished I lived next door to the Hales.  Would it be too stalkish for me to move? Are they fun or what?!  This is how they explain the often asked question:  What is it like to collaborate together?

And of course, Shannon and Dean signed books and chatted up a storm.

I’m digging into my copy of Calamity Jack and will have a review for you tomorrow!

Links of interest: Maw Books review of Rapunzel’s Revenge, Rapunzel’s Revenge launch party,  interview with Shannon. Shannon Hale’s website, Dean Hale’s website, and Nathan Hale’s blog.
Calamity Jack is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.
Today’s post is part of the Kidz Book Buzz Blog Tour. Check out these awesome bloggers who are also participating:
Whispers of Dawn, Reading is my Superpower, firesidemusings.blogspot.com, Through the Looking Glass Book Review , Booking Mama, Cafe of Dreams, Becky’s Book Reviews, The Hungry Readers, The Friendly Book Book, My Own Little Corner of the World, Book Blather, GreenBeanTeenQueen, Book Crumbs , Abby (the) Librarian, Dolce Bellezza, Homeschoolbuzz.com, The Book Cellar, Carrie’s YA Bookshelf, Bookshelf Monstrosity, Everyday Reading, Frenetic Reader, and KidzBookBuzz.com.

Copyright 2010. Maw Books Blog

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

15-year-old Sam has always been defined as the pastor’s daughter.  But not all is well behind closed doors.  Citing the pressures of being a pastor’s wife, Sam’s mother is an alcoholic who after one too many DUI’s is now in treatment.  But it’s not a fact that Sam wants her friends (who often don’t invite her along to less questionable activities – you know – the whole being the pasture’s daughter thing) to know about nor is it something that Sam and her father openly talk about with each other.

It is during this crisis in her family, that her community faces a crisis of its own.  A young girl in the church has mysteriously gone missing and no one is free from suspicion including her own father and the girl’s older brother, whom Sam has always crushed on.  This family and community crisis shakes Sam to her inner-core where she also experiences her own personal crisis – one that questions her faith, hope, and belief in something that is bigger than she is.

Although the events of this beautiful novel are huge – alcoholic parent, missing girl – it is also so quiet.  Sam is a character that feels so real.  Does she really live in those pages?  It can’t be possible.  She’s out there somewhere.  Living.  Breathing.  The questions that she asks herself are ones that any teen struggling to learn to identify who they are in the world will relate too.  Scratch that.  Not just teens.  Heck, even I found myself relating to Sam in my life right now and supposedly I’m supposed to have it all together right now.

Sam asks herself this question:

Do I believe?

I believe just enough that Jody is alive that I think we should keep looking.

I believe just enough in my mom to try to make a garden for her to work on when she gets home.

I believe just enough in my dad that he’ll have an explanation even if that explanation is that he’s only human.

I believe just enough in myself to know that even if I start in a new school I’ll be okay.

I believe just enough in forgiveness that eventually we’ll be a family again.

I believe just enough in God that I’m praying right now that Nick means what he says.

As a side note, I loved that Sam wanted to create the perfect garden for her mother to take care of.  As a gardener myself, I understand how gardening can heal.  How the creation of something can bring one hope.  When I garden, I’m basically telling myself that I’ll be around to reap the benefits of my work.  I have faith and hope in the plants and my ability to bring forth something that will bloom into something beautiful for me to enjoy later.  Gardening is an activity that while is enjoyable in the moment is one that is always looking to the future.  Sam wants to create a xeriscape garden:  a garden which can thrive on very little care.  Which I can’t help but think is how Sam thinks of herself, her mother, and her family.

Sara Zarr lives locally to me and it’s been my pleasure to be able to chat with her on numerous occasions.  I love that blogging has bridged that gap between author and reader for me.   The beautiful thing that I loved about Once Was Lost was that the author completely disappeared in the narration.  I did worry that knowing the author behind the book would taint my reading of it.  There’s nothing worse than hearing the author’s voice instead of  the characters.  But I completely forgot about Sara except that I had to keep reminding myself that  this amazing story came out her head.  How do people do that?  Honestly, I shouldn’t have been surprised because Story of a Girl and Sweethearts, are very popular books for teens, but I was in awe of the talent and the story that she’s able to tell.

Once Was Lost has a little bit of it all.  A mystery to pull you along, a family in crisis, a young teen discovering her identity and even a bit of romance.  But mostly it’s a novel about faith and how to hold on to that faith when the world we know comes crumbling down around us.

I was able to attend Sara Zarr’s launch party at The Kings English Bookshop in Salt Lake City on release day for Once Was Lost.  Tons of fun as always as so many other local authors came out to attend the big day.

I captured some video to share with you! In this video Sara talks about how the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart (which happened in our SLC community) inspired the writing of Once Was Lost:

Sara talks more about the writing process for Once Was Lost including how the safe return of Elizabeth Smart and Sara’s own therapy changed the outlook of the book:

And last, Sara reads from Once Was Lost (no spoilers – she reads from beginning of book):

Sara is doing a fun video tour of current book tour, I was thrilled to catch a one second image of myself in her last video!

Links of interest:  Sara Zarr website, more book blogger reviews, Maw Books reviews of Story of a Girl, Sweethearts, interview with Sara and  breakfast smoothie recipe.
Genre:  Young Adult Fiction
Publisher:  Little, Brown Young Readers.  October 1, 2009
Hardcover, 224 pages.  ISBN 0316036048
Copy source: Review copy but have since purchased.
Once Was Lost is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Copyright 2010. Maw Books Blog

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

I ended up sticking around the children’s area most of the time.  I wish I could have been everywhere at once!  First off, I have a vlog where I show off my signed books, talk about the authors and pretty much smile because I’m still so happy.  I do overlap with my written summations below as well.

Jacqueline Woodson was one of the authors that I was really looking forward to meeting!  I’m late to the game and only started reading Woodson’s books this past year and each one that I read just gets better than the first!  I was estatic when a couple of months ago, I received an email and the sender said Jacqueline Woodson.  No way that it was the Jacqueline Woodson.  She said thank you for reviewing her books and that I had a beautiful family.  After listening to Woodson on a panel (more details about that in a later post), I was able to catch up with her while she was walking to her book signing.  I told her that she probably didn’t remember me but she sent me a nice email once.  When I explained, she immediatly said, “Yes, the one with the beautiful family!”  And then later while she was in a booth we were able to snap a photo and chat a bit more.  She offered to take me all around Brooklyn when I come up for Book Expo America.  While I don’t think I have time to take her up on the offer (but how cool if I had an extra day!!), isn’t that sweet to say so in the first place?  She’s just as great as I thought she would be.  Books I’ve reviewed by Woodson are  Peace, Locomotion, Locomotion,  Show Way, Feathers,  If You Come Softly and Behind You.  Jacqueline Woodson’s website.

Ah . . . Kathryn Fitzmaurice was a total and VERY pleasant surprise for me.  I had no idea that she was there until I happened upon her booth while she was signing.  When she discovered who I was she jumped up and gave me a huge hug!  It was SO nice to talk to Kathryn and I felt as though we were both gushing over each other. Incredibly nice!  I reviewed Kathryn’s debut novel The Year the Swallows Came Early and have an author interview as well.  The best part?  Kathryn sent me another signed copy of her book (because I”m not giving up mine!) to give away!  So watch for it with a guest post from Kathryn.  Kathryn Fitzmaurice’s website.

We check out David Shannon’s books so often from the library that I often ask myself how come we actually own so few of them?  I was brave and bought two books, David Gets in Trouble and No, David, that were not board books.  Very scary in my house.  David was fantastic and I’m thrilled to have met him.  If you have kids or know any kid, you’ve got to get David’s books.  David Shannon’s website.

I attended a middle grade fiction panel that included Newbery author Susan Patron.  I had her newest book Lucky Breaks already checked out from the library at home, so it only made perfect sense that I get a copy of my own.  Susan was fantastic and agreed to an author interview as well, so that’s exciting!  The Higher Power of Lucky was one of the very first books that I reviewed when I started my blog.

How can you not like Jon Scieszka?  Two of our favorite books in our house are The Stinky Cheese Man and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs.  So much so that they are up high on the shelf and the kids actually aren’t allowed to read them on their own.  So bummed I didn’t bring my own copies to get signed so I decided to get Math Curse and Science Verse to add to our collection.  When I got home and showed my husband, he was really bummed that I didn’t get The Stinky Cheese Man autographed instead.  I didn’t want to buy a duplicate copy, I explained.  Apparently, I made the wrong decision.

Another author/illustrator that I was SO excited to meet (I waited outside his booth until he showed up because I didn’t want to miss him) was Kadir Nelson. Look at this photo.  He looks even twice as gorgeous in person, which roughly means, he’s really good looking!  And SO modest and quiet spoken!  I was not expecting that.  Nelson is simply AMAZING.  Like Woodson, I have a lot of his back titles to go through.  The two that I have reviewed which he illustrated are Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story From the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine and Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford.  I had him sign Henry’s Freedom Box and We Are the Ship: The Story of the Negro League Baseball (book website) which he wrote and illustrated and received many accolades for.  I hope to review it soon!  Kadir Nelson website.

Another surprise was Judy Blundell, National Book Award author of What I Saw and  How I Lied.  I’ve had this book in my reading pile forever.  She was incredibly nice and I’m bumping that baby up to the top of the pile.  One of the questions I asked her was what it was like when she became a National Book Award winner.  She said when she got the call that she was nominated that she literally didn’t speak for a few minutes.  The people on the other end of the phone line thought she had passed out or something.  Excited to have met her.   Judy Blundell website.

How about all the authors I missed?!  I should have taken another photo of me and Laurie Halse Anderson to at least prove that I saw her again, but didn’t.  I attended her panel and afterwards she saw me and crossed the lobby to give me a hug hello.  The nicest woman ever.  So sad to realize Mary Pearson, author of The Adoration of Jenna Fox was there and I missed her.  One of my biggest disapointments was coming home and then realizing via Twitter that Jennie Nash, author of The Last Beach Bungalow and The Only True Genius in the Family, had signed.  I’ve reviewed both of her books and she’s done a guest post and an interview with me.  I would have loved to meet her.  SO SAD!

I missed Ingrid Law even though I brought two copies of Savvy from home for her to sign.  I missed her panel and couldn’t find her later. I did attend Kate DiCamillo’s panel, which was fantastic, but her line for signing was HUGE!  I also brought books from home as well but just lugged them on back unsigned.  Of Kate’s books I’ve reviewed Great Joy, The Tale of Desperaux, Tiger Rising, Because of Winn Dixie, and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.

I also attended a panel with Patrick Carmen and even asked a question.  His line for signing Skeleton Creek was pretty long (that’s him on the left) and I felt pretty weird approaching him without a book to sign (I didn’t want to rebuy  it when I already had it at home).  And of course, Eric Carle was mobbed.  No chance in meeting him without being in line hours before he showed.  Other authors that I would have LOVED to have met but didn’t were Jane Smiley, S.E. Hinton, Luis Alberto Urrea, Janet Fitch and Lisa See among others.  Watch for one final and last post where I recap the panels that I went to!

All in all, it was a wonderful time!  Authors are the best!!

Copyright 2010. Maw Books Blog

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

Today, I show off all the signed books in my house.  Do you have a lot of signed books?  Does having a signed book make you value it more?  I’ll tell you that I think it does.  I love meeting the authors and having them personalized.  And even if I don’t meet the author, I love having them arrive in the mail already signed.

More on getting a lot of those books signed and meeting the authors are detailed in the posts below:

• More on Meeting Laurie Halse Anderson and a Signed Wintergirls Giveaway!
• An Open Letter to Laurie Halse Anderson
• On Meeting Jodi Picoult and an AMAZING Giveaway!
• An Evening Spent with David Ebershoff, Author of The 19th Wife
• The Tale of Shannon Hale and a . . . Zucchini (????) (Rapunzel’s Revenge release party)
• Authors Here, Authors There, Authors Everywhere! (Sara Zarr, Shannon Hale, Brandon Mull, Brandon Sanderson, James Dashner, Jessica Day George, Ann Dee Ellis, Mette Ivie Harrison)
  
• My Evening Spent with Stephenie Meyer

Seriously, those giveaways right now are amazing!  Don’t forget to enter!

Copyright 2010. Maw Books Blog

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

The night was off to a great start and as I was able to introduce myself to Laurie before things got started. And then I turn around and there’s Sara Zarr, author of Sweethearts and Story of a Girl, chatting in the corner! So while talking to her who comes up? Why, it’s James Dashner, author of The 13th Reality series! And as if that’s not enough, Jenn (marketing manager at Kings English) waves across the room and calls out “Emily!” Emily as in Emily Wing Smith, author of The Way He Lived, whom we’ve been emailing about an interview together.  Why, oh why, didn’t I take my photo with Emily? She turns right around and introduces me to Anne Bowen. And I swear there were a ton of other authors there that I didn’t know who they were.

First, a special message from Laurie just for the readers of Maw Books!

There’s nothing like an amazing author coming to town to get all the Utah writers together in one room. And it was so much fun to be in that room and for once felt comfortable there.  I carpooled up with my friend Cari of Book Scoops and while there we discovered that the gals over at My Favorite Author are based in Salt Lake too.  That was fun!

I can’t believe how fun the night was and Laurie was kind enough to speak to her fans, local authors and bloggers.  I recorded as much of the conversation as I could. Laurie has some wonderful things to say.  She speaks about body image, eating disorders, writing Wintergirls and Speak, writing, literacy, on changing the canon of literature taught in schools, and teen book bloggers.  Enjoy!

Would you like to win a copy of Wintergirls?  Not just any copy, but a signed copy?!

Thank you to The King’s English Bookshop for sponsoring this amazing giveaway!

The Kings English Bookshop has been Salt Lake’s literary resource for independent minds since 1977. We have the most comprehensive children’s book selection in the state of Utah as well as mysteries, new fiction, poetry, literary nonfiction, nature, and western writers. Located in a beautiful residential neighborhood of Salt Lake City, the store provides services to people anywhere in the world. If you are in town, drop by; there are chairs scattered throughout eight book-packed rooms.

There are tons of ways to enter.  One entry will get you in, the rest is up to you.

• To enter: Leave a comment on this post with your thoughts about body image and eating disorders or responding in some way to the video.
• One additional entry for each of the following:
  • Leave a comment on my open letter to Laurie Halse Anderson, my Wintergirls, Speak and Chains book review and The Ides of March Madness post telling me which book you think will win the charity book reading tournament.
• For TWO additional entries:
  • Blog about this giveaway in a post (not sidebar).
  • Subscribe to my blog’s feed to receive updates either through your favorite RSS reader or by email.
  • Follow me on Twitter AND tweet about the giveaway. 
    
• For FIVE additional entries each:
  • Visit the King’s English website or blog and come back and tell me one discovery.  A new book to check out, a favorite title from a bookseller, a favorite author who calls Utah home, upcoming events that you think I should cover, who founded The King’s English, your favorite author who’s paid the Kings English a visit, etc.  You get the idea.  Go and discover!
• For TEN additional entries:
  • Visit the IndieBound website and tell me why we should shop local.  Also consider showing your support of Indie Bookstores by becoming an affiliate.

Contest will close at midnight on Friday, April 10th, the same as the Jodi Picuolt giveaway.  Open internationally.  Thank you again to The King’s English Bookshop for hosting Laurie Halse Anderson and for sponsoring this giveaway!

Copyright 2010. Maw Books Blog

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

Oh, Laurie Halse Anderson, how I love you.  Isn’t that a bit scary?  But I do.  My admiration and respect for you just went through the roof.  Last night was one of the funnest book-ish nights I’ve had.  A highlight for sure.  When I introduced myself as saying, “You might not recognize my name but I’m Natasha Maw,” you did immediately know who I was, broke out into a huge smile, didn’t hesitate to pull me into a tight, warm embrace as though we’ve been friends for years. You thanked me for writing such wonderful things about your books.  I could feel how genuine your statement was.  I thanked you for hugging me.  Seriously, I’d only been in your company for a couple of moments but I knew right then that you were indeed somebody very special.  Having moments like those makes this whole blogging thing worth it.

The more I watched you, the more I knew that not all authors have your talent for making whoever you were talking to feel like they were the only one in the room at that moment. I watched as you ran off for a piece of paper so you could write a note to a teenagers friend who had strep and had cried because she couldn’t come. I watched as you talked on a cell phone to a mother’s daughter because you knew it was important to that mother. I watched as that teenager almost cried as she told you that she had been abused and that Speak had made her speak out. I was touched as you got up to embrace her and tell her your own story. I saw several people who were starting to tear up after speaking with you as they turned away to leave.

You never stopped smiling and then after most of the crowd had filtered out and the hard core fans and local authors (including Sara Zarr, James Dashner, Emily Wing Smith, Ann Bowen, and others)  remained you spoke to us in such an intimate setting that I couldn’t stop thanking my lucky stars that I was there.  I loved as you talked about Wintergirls, Speak, your writing and the importance of literacy.

Thank you for your energy, your dedication, your passion, and your words. Truly an author who will always have a special place in my heart and my bookshelf.

(Now for those books of yours I haven’t read . . . well, I guess I better get reading!)

Watch for an upcoming post about the Laurie Halse Anderson book signing including a special video message just for the readers of the Maw Books Blog, video of Laurie talking about Wintergirls, Speak, literacy AND  The King’s English Bookshop is sponsoring a giveaway for a signed Wintergirls.  Seriously, don’t miss it.  In the meantime check out my book reviews of Wintergirls, Chains, and Speak.

Copyright 2010. Maw Books Blog

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

I discovered that Jodi Picoult is one of those authors that once you see them in person, you just can’t help but like them.  She has this feel good persona about her, which for some reason I wasn’t expecting, I don’t know why (okay, okay, I admit I haven’t liked everything I’ve read).  But her energy was great.  She began the evening by giving a reading from Handle with Care.  And thank goodness, Jodi hates spoilers about as much as I do, so it was a nice spoil free evening.  I loved hearing her read because I could hear how she imagined each voice and character as she wrote.

Here is a short video that I took (I would have loved to do more but I was running on low batteries!  And I’m really, really sorry for the sideways video!  I obviously wasn’t thinking when I took the video on my camera.  I thought I fixed it because every time I view it on my computer, it’s normal.  But every time it uploads to YouTube it’s sideways.  I’m giving up and going with it.)

After the reading, Jodi Picoult took questions from the audience.  I tried to transcribe her answers but her stories in response to the questions were so detailed and fun that it was impossible to transcribe.  So these are briefly some of the questions and answers, but not even half of what she said.  And if there are any mistakes, they are mine and not Jodi’s words.

Question:  How did you choose this particular topic for Change of Heart?

Jodi Picoult Answer: While on book tour, she was reading a newspaper about a woman who was suing for a wrongful birth (meaning that had they known there child would be severely mentally or physically handicapped they would have terminated the pregnancy).  She had never heard that term before – wrongful birth – and ended up interviewing the woman in addition to many others.  It ends up that not a single one of the mothers would have ended the pregnancy had they had the choice.  They loved their children, but taking care of them were expensive.  In exchange for telling a single white lie while under oath in front of a judge, they would receive the money to take care of them.  Easy, no?  Picoult was drawn to this idea as well as the mixed message that it would give to a child who was there 100% mentally.  Meaning, a mother saying “No, I wouldn’t have had you” and “I’m doing this for your own good.”  Picoult spent a lot of time with families who had OI (brittle bone disease).

Question:  How long does it take you to do the research for your books?

Jodi Picoult Answer: Nine months! Just like a baby!  Her husband gives her a bunch of congratulatory ballons at the end of each nine months.  Each book has a different pattern, but for Change of Heart it was 3 months research and six months writing.

Question:  Do you do all of your research or do you outsource?

Jodi Picoult Answer: She keeps looking for her staff but can’t find them!  Researching the book is the best part of the job and she wouldn’t give it up for anything.  It’s exciting and it gets her excited about writing the book.  Plus, when would she be able to do all the cool stuff like she does?  I can’t remember all that she said, but needless to say, she had done a lot of cool stuff including ghost hunting, living with the Amish, and visiting death row.  She also receives about 200 emails a day and she answers every single one of them.  They are all written by her, she doesn’t outsource it at all.

Question:  What’s your favorite book that you have written?

Jodi Picoult Answer: She says that this answer is subject to change at any time but it’s Second Glance because she had the best research for that book.  She then went into this great story about going down to Rhode Island and going ghost hunting.  She saw a lot of cool things.  Wish I had done video of the answer to this question.

Question:  When you begin writing a book, do you know how the book is going to end?

Jodi Picoult Answer: Yes, she definitely knows how it ends before she begins writing.  She likes to leave the reader bread crumbs along the way so when the twist ending comes, the reader doesn’t feel duped.  She always, always gives clues throughout the book.  While she always knows how she is going to get from A to Z anything from B to Y is fair game.  Her characters always surprise her.

Question:  Most of your books take place in New England.  What do you love about the area?

Jodi Picoult Answer: She’s actually from New York, but if a cat has kittens in the oven doesn’t mean that they are biscuits!  She now lives in New Hampshire and loves it.  One of the last holdouts of American with no strip malls, a green square.  New England is antiquated with lots of history.  Her books are a love letter to New England.

Question:  How do you go from all of this to writing for Wonder Women?

Jodi Picoult: It all began when she wrote The Tenth Circle and her main character was a graphic novelist who didn’t express himself very well, so we read his story through the graphic novel portion of the book.  Afterwards, D.C comics called and asked if she’d like to write some issues of Wonder Woman.  Her initial thought was no, but her kids told her she’d be crazy.  Writing Wonder Woman was the hardest thing that she has every done.  It’s not a one man show.  She has to work with illustrator, editor, etc. and if she wants Wonder Woman to meet up with Batman that she has to call Batman’s people and schedule a “playdate.”  It was really stressful to to be trusted to advance the story and not ruin the characters long history.

Question:  How involved were you with the movie My Sister’s Keeper, if at all?

Jodi Picoult Answer: She was just in LA and saw a screening for the movie which comes out in June.  The actors are amazing!  Even Cameron Diaz is good.  It’s beautifully shot.  If you’ve read the book, you’ll recognize 90% of the movie.  Her friend kept getting mad at her during the screening because she’d keep feeding the lines to her.  But she had no say whatsoever about the movie and they changed the ending!  Horror.  She was so upset and vocal about the change that she got thrown off the set.  She says its a great movie and it is what it is.  Just close your eyes for the last ten minutes and then go home and read the ending of the book.  Definitely go see it.

Question:  What was it like living with the Amish while researching Plain Truth?

Jodi Picoult Answer: She got introduced through a Mennonite via a message board and a family agreed to have her live with them for a week on their dairy farm.  The father ignored her and they were highly suspicious of her motives because Oprah had just done an episode about living simple lifes and a lot of people were moving down to become Amish.  Everything that happened in the book, she did on the farm with the exception of the church service because the Amish hold services every other weekend and she was there on the odd weekend.  She did have the bishops and elders talk her through the scene though.  Deeds speak louder than words.   This was evident when they did Bible study from the English Bible instead of the German while she was there.

Question:  Are they are any issues that you wouldn’t write about?

Jodi Picoult Answer: Not afraid of issues.  And then she said something else very insightful that I didn’t write down.  Sorry.

Question: Where did you get the idea for Keeping Faith? (I couldn’t hear this question and she didn’t repeat it. I think that’s what it was.)

Jodi Picoult Answer: The idea of God as a female figure came while she was playing with her young son, who asked her who God was.  Somebody who watches out and protects us she responded.  Son:  Like a babysitter?  Yes, like a great big babysitter.  Son:  So he’s a man?  Well, that’s what most people believe yes.  Son:  Well all of my babysitters are girls.  Light goes off in Picoult’s head.  She doesn’t belong to any organized religion and thinks that there are a lot of different paths to get to the same place.

Question:  Tell us about your next book?

Jodi Picoult Answer: Her next book, House Rules, is already finished and at the publishers and will come out in 2010.  It’s about a man with high functioning Aspager’s Syndrome who is charged with murder.  The book that she is researching now that will come out in 2011 is about embryo donation and gay rights.

Question:  Before becoming a writer, did you have an interest in becoming a lawyer?

Jodi Picoult Answer: As every English major did at one point or another, she did consider going to law school.  She’s very happy to not be a lawyer but enjoys researching all the loopholes in the legal system.

Phheewww!!!  My hand was cramping!  Did you learn anything interesting?

HUGE GIVEAWAY!!  I bought you a brand new hardcover copy of Handle with Care! Yes, you!  But not just any book but a signed book.  Jodi even signed it with “congratulations” if you are my lucky winner!

But wait.  That’s cool.  But that’s not huge. So how about SIX more signed books?!  Seriously, somebody is going to walk away with not one, not two but SEVEN signed Jodi Picoult books! The additional six are used but they are signed!  Yep, that’s Jodi up there signing away.  I literary pulled them all off my own bookshelf, got them signed and decided to give them all away to you.  I just couldn’t help myself.  So if you are a huge Picoult fan or know somebody who is then this is the giveaway for you!

The books:  Handle with Care (hardcover), Nineteen Minutes (hardcover), Perfect Match, Vanishing Acts, My Sister’s Keeper, Second Glance, and Songs of the Humpback Whale.

Okay, the rules.

• I have to limit this one to U.S residents only.  Sorry, I just can’t send a box this big out of the country right now.  I spent my bucks on the brand new Handle with Care.
• Contest will close at midnight on Friday, April 10th.  That will give you two and a half weeks.  Plenty of time to anticipate winning!
• For one entry, leave a comment on this post telling me which of Jodi Picoult’s books is your favorite and why.  If you haven’t read any books yet, tell me which one you’d like to read the most.  Or tell me what you found most interesting from her reading and Q & A above. Don’t forget this step!
• One additional entry for each of the following.
  • Twitter about and link to this post.  (I’ll give you up to five entries on this one if you twitter about it at least five different days during the two week period)

  Edited to add: I’ll catch the tweet for sure if you include @mawbooks somewhere in the tweet.

  • Follow me on Twitter.
  • Mention and link to this giveaway in any of forums or social networks sites that you frequent (i.e Facebook, etc.)
  • Stumble, Digg or fav this post through any of the social bookmarking site.
• Five additional entries:
  • Blog about this giveaway in a post (not sidebar).
  • If you don’t have a blog, email three Picoult loving friends and tell them the good news and cc me on the email (natasha at mawbooks dot com)
  • If you are not already subscribed to my blog’s feed to receive updates either through your favorite RSS reader or by email, then do so.  The way I figure it, is that if you like Jodi Picoult books enough to want to win them, then you probably like books, right?  Then you’ll probably like to hang around my blog long enough to talk about them.
• Ten additional entries:
  • Already subscribed?  Just mention it and you just got ten more freebie entries!  I want to reward my regulars.

So enter as many or as little times as you want.  It’s all up to you.  One, two, twenty.  However hard you want to work it, is cool with me.   But isn’t this just too cool?!  I’m super excited to be giving away SEVEN SIGNED JODI PICOULT BOOKS!

Copyright 2010. Maw Books Blog

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

I wanted to share with you my impressions about the reading prior to giving my book review because when I attended the reading I had not yet read the book.  So imagine not having read the book and getting a great teaser to incite you to read The 19th Wife.

Not having read anything by David Eberhoff or seeing a photo of him, I was expecting someone that was middle age with graying hair.  Imagine my surprise when David walked in and well, wow, he was young.  And not bad on the eyes!  I was totally taken off guard and was pleasantly surprised to find how genuine and sincere he was.  Looking at the notes I took, they are just short, quick phrases, so I hope that I can flesh this out a little.  If there any faults in my transcription, they are mine and not David’s.

David Ebershoff began by giving a brief introduction to the book.  About seven years ago, while talking with a professor of 19th Century history, he heard the phrase The 19th wife, which he admitted had him hooked as soon as he heard it.  It’s not often that the two words “nineteenth” and “wife” are put together.  It wasn’t until about three years later that he took that phrase and decided to get serious.  He spent one year researching polygamy, the current communities that practice it and the history of the LDS church and then spent another four years writing the book.

David then gave a quick background history about Ann Eliza Young, who was just a toddler when Brigham Young, the prophet of the LDS church spoke to her parents about plural marriage.  They were very devout in their faith.  Her father had two wives, and Ann Eliza felt that their home was happy.  But when she was twelve years old her father had a midlife crisis and married three women in just a month.  Later and now older, she married and three years and two children later divorced her husband.  Soon thereafter she married the prophet Brigham Young and became his 19th wife.  She later divorced him and left the church and went on to become one of the largest forces in anti-polygamy laws.

The second storyline in The 19th Wife is that of Jordan Scott, which is set in  the here and now.  He is the son of a 19th wife in a community in Southern Utah who years earlier was kicked out.  Now living in California he returns when he finds out that his mother has murdered his father. The second storyline is that of a murder mystery.  There are in essence two 19th wives in the book, which I hadn’t known before.  I was interested to see how we would connect these two stories.

David Ebershoff went on to read 4-6 passages from the book.  I enjoyed his reading, he was a great narrator.  I soon began to wonder what exactly was fiction and what was real.  How much liberty did he take with the story?  During the question and answer period he clarified that all of the documents in the book are fiction although they are set up to look real.  I hadn’t read the book yet, but now that I have, I can easily see that they are.  But I can see how people could get easily confused.  I took his comments to mean that he took many liberties with the characters, their thoughts, conversations, and personalities.  The 19th Wife while based upon historical events and persons, is neither a memoir, biography, or history book.  It’s a story.  This made me wonder exactly how did he portray the early Latter-Day Saint pioneers and their leaders.  I was curious to find out.  It’s always risky to write about people that are either beloved among many and also hated among many.  You’ll hear my thoughts on my reaction in my book review tomorrow.

David Ebershoff explained that he used many different narrators because there is no one single perspective on the issue of polygamy.  Ask six different people their opinion and get six different answers.  Polygamy gets everybody all riled up because it asks this question:  What are the limits to your rights?  And who gets to make them?

When asked why a murder mystery, he said that faith is a mystery.  A mystery of God’s will.  Within the genre of mystery, a crime has to be solved.  (not sure what my next scribblings mean – solver, arrow up, arrow down, arrow sideways, society – hmm . . . )

After the Q & A and reading, David Ebershoff was able to chat and sign books.  It was a pleasure to meet him and he was one heck of a nice guy.

So after taking in all of the evening, not yet opening my book, and being familiar with the faith and history of the LDS church, I was really, really curious to see what I thought of the book.  I’ll share that with you tomorrow.  Stay tuned!

David Ebershoff’s website, great Q & A with the author.