Those of you who read Patrick Carman’s interactive novel, Skeleton Creek, will be interested in this. Patrick has just released a bunch of weblinks where fans can go and keep up to date with the production process of his upcoming projects. It seems that Patrick is continuing his style of interactive novels, and the links below have some really cool features. Check it:

Beth Fantaskey, author of Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Darkside, is giving away prize packs containing her book. Here are the details, taken directly from her blog:

In celebration of summer – and Jessica’s Guide’s selection as one of Good Morning America’s “Hot Summer Reads” – I’m launching a new giveaway with two top prizes.

Once again, I was going to have you actually DO something to win – and once again, I changed my mind, thinking, “Summer is supposed to be LAZY.  We should all just be reading by the pool!”

So to enter, just add a comment below or e-mail me at bethfantaskey@yahoo.com.  If you enter using a comment, please leave me some way to contact you if you win!

Two people will win:

* A signed book

* One of a limited number of new T-shirts with the Jessica’s Guide cover art featured on the front.  (Only 20 shirts in existence!)

* A few random sample pages from my next book, Jekel Loves Hyde.

* A surprise, as yet to be determined… but I promise it will be fun!

The contest is open to international residents.  Deadline is Midnight, EST, July 22.  I’ll draw two names the next day.

ALSO – Lots of readers are asking if I can come to their towns to sign books.  I’d appreciate it if you’d let me know where you’re from, when you enter, so I can start figuring out where interest is greatest.   THANK YOU!!!!

Click here to link to Beth’s blog.

“Your Noise reveals you, Todd Hewitt.”
A voice –
In the darkness –
Everything is shadows and blur and it feels like the world’s spinning and my blood is too hot and my brain is clogged and I can’t think and it’s dark –
I blink again.
Wait –
No, wait –
Just now, just now we were in the square –
Just now she was in my arms –
She was dying in my arms –
“Where is she?” I spit into the dark, tasting my blood, my voice croaking, my Noise rising like a sudden hurricane, high and red and furious. “WHERE IS SHE?”

This is how the second novel in the Chaos Walking Trilogy, The Ask and the Answer, begins. My heart was thumping as I read every single word. Every single freaking word, and it did not stop thumping until the end, some 519 pages later. Even then, I had to take a walk around the block just to calm myself down.

For those that have read the first book, The Knife of Never Letting Go, you’ll be well aware that readers were left dangling in the midst of one hell of a cliffhanger ending. Fortunately, this installment picks up right where that one left off, only now our two protagonists are no longer together. Todd has no idea where Viola is, or even if she’s alive. But the Mayor (actually, that’s Mr President to you now, thank you very much) promises Todd she’s alive and that he’ll get to see her soon. Todd has nothing else to go off and has to believe what he’s being told. He just has to. The thought of Viola not being alive any more is just too much to contemplate. He tried to save her; he tried with everything he had. What if it wasn’t enough?

I know what you’re thinking. If Viola isn’t with Todd, how are we supposed to know what happened to her? Fear not, special readers, as Patrick Ness is the God of all Gods right now and he definitely factored that in. Viola fans will be super pleased to hear that she has her own point of view in this installment, which means – obviously – that she’s alive. But she doesn’t know where Todd is, either, doesn’t know if Todd is even still alive. The President has her being held ‘captive’ and wont tell her a thing. The President is no fool, and he knows better than anyone that keeping Viola and Todd apart is imperative if he wants to see out his plans successfully.

Can you imagine what would happen if they were ever reunited, what they could achieve as a team? Would it be their connection be as strong as it was before? Would they still need each other so desperately? Maybe you’ll find out, but then again, maybe you wont…

Todd grows a whole freaking lot in this novel. He displays the maturity and strength of character of someone much older than just thirteen. In fact, at times, I found it hard to believe (in an astoundingly impressed way) that someone of his age would know so much, would have the emotional capacity to feel the way he does. It’s almost impossible not to fall in love with Todd – even if he is only thirteen years old.

I adored reading Viola’s point of view, as well. Readers are afforded the privilege of stepping inside her mind and witnessing first hand how she thinks – and honestly, I can see now why Todd likes her so much. She’s a fierce, strong girl with a remarkable capacity for compassion. She’s a fantastic heroine, and a great role model for young girls everywhere.

The Ask and the Answer is completely unputdownable. I read the entire 519 pages in one sitting, not even stopping to go to the loo. This is one series I know I’ll read over and over again in the years to come.

Rating::

I’ve been trying to write my review of this novel for a few days now. Trying, and failing. So, I’ve decided to take an approach that I don’t normally follow. Instead of launching into a detailed description of plot and character, I’m going to post the blurb as shown on the back of the novel (so you at least get a little insight into what it’s all about), and then I want to discuss a few key literary devices that I thought worked well. This isn’t something I normally do, but I don’t think I can say what I want any other way. So here goes…

A lonely gay teen bides his time with trips to strangers’ funerals and Ouija board sessions, desperately searching for someone to love–and a reason to live following a suicide attempt.

Walking an empty stretch of New Jersey highway on an autumn night, he meets a strange and beautiful boy who looks like he stepped out of a dream. But the vision becomes into a nightmare when the boy turns out to be the local urban legend, the ghost of a star athlete killed in 1957–a ghost with a deadly secret and a dangerous obsession.

Vintage: A Ghost Story is an intense thriller that looks at the dark side of gay urban fantasy, where the dead can never rest and trapped spirits never find peace.

Although this novel is narrated in first person, the narrator has no name. Actually, that might not be entirely true, but if he does have a name, readers never find out what it is. The first time I read Vintage through, I felt that by not giving him a name, the author robbed the narrator of authority. Because he was nameless (and also gay), I felt like the author was trying to tell me that his identity didn’t matter, that being gay meant that he wasn’t worthy of a title like a name. I found myself getting all ticked off about the kinds of impressions that would leave on potential queer teens. However, I was so intrigued by this concept of a nameless narrator that as soon as I finished reading Vintage, I went back to the beginning and started again. I very quickly changed my mind over how I felt about this character. I realised that by not giving him a name, the author was actually empowering the character and inviting you, the reader, to assume his identity and really place yourself in the story. This, then, made the story more powerful and a whole lot more engaging than the first time I read it. This gave me the opportunity to step into his shoes, to not be myself for a few hours and really immerse myself in his world. I now saw that this gave the narrator loads of authority, unlike my previous assumptions.

I also enjoyed the fact that, while not necessarily ‘out’, and although the narrator had certainly encountered adversity because of his sexuality in the past, he seemed more than comfortable as a queer teen. He was not struggling to comes to terms with his sexuality, which was very refreshing. I thought that Vintage highlighted a really clear distinction between comfortably keeping one’s sexuality to himself, and fearfully doing so. Coming out should be the choice of the individual, and just because you’re comfortable with your sexuality doesn’t automatically mean that you have to come out. I really enjoyed this aspect of this novel.

Vintage is a quirky queer teen read that I’m almost certain would be enjoyed by readers both gay and straight. There’s something about a good old ghost story that has a real universal appeal. Watch out for the supernatural sexual encounter!
Rating::

Fans of teen vampire fiction are going to love this contest. Thanks to Little Brown UK we have four of the House of Night novels to giveaway to one lucky winner. Unfortunately, we’re not in posession of the entire series, but the titles we are offering are:

To win one of these awesome prize packs you need to do one or more of the following:

• Comment on this post with your email address.
• Post about the contest on your blog
• Leave a link on your sidebar telling people about the contest
• Add yareads.com to your blogroll (if you don’t have a blog, you can link to us on your myspace,facebook, other forums, etc…)
• Post about the competition on Twitter

Leave a comment on this post outlining exactly how many of the above options you participated in with the link/s for proof. If you’re not comfortable displaying your email in public, you can send us your email address at yareadscontest(at)gmail(dot)com.

Each option will get you a new entry.

Competition closes Friday July 31.

This just in, straight from Richelle’s blog:

Turns out I have a bit of news for those of you who live in Oregon. I will be doing a signing at Escape Fiction, a bookstore in Salem (3240 Triangle Dr SE), on July 18 from 12-2. That’s a Saturday, and I’ll be with the other Seattle-area authors if you’d like to meet them: Mark Henry, Caitlin Kittredge, Cherie Priest, and Kat Richardson. So, if that’s in your vicinity, I hope you’ll come on down to chat and get books signed.

I have this feeling that I might get some comments from people wanting to know why not Portland. Well, this is kind of a thing the whole group threw together, and Escape Fiction was the store that invited us. Also, I was just in Portland in May–so I gave you guys some love! It’s funny, whenever I post new signing dates and locations, I often get people wanting to know why I can’t come to X place. What’s particularly interesting is that I’ll get people who are new blog readers asking me to visit places I was actually at within the last couple months.

So, for those who aren’t familiar with where I’ve been and think I’m missing certain cities, I thought I’d give you a list of the places I visited in the last year: New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Portland, Phoenix, Orlando, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, and of course, Seattle. So, I’ve made some rounds, and while my publisher sends me back to some repeat cities, we also try to get to new places, which is why my tour schedule looks the way it does

Click here to link to Richelle’s blog.

Fans of Patrick Ness’s Chaos Walking Trilogy (The Knife of Never Letting Go and The Ask and the Answer) will be exciting about this! Patrick has published a short story, focusing on a certain little girl who crash landed on Earth.

According to Patrick, “It’s a brand new, exclusive, FREE short story from the world of Chaos Walking written for my Writer In Residency at Booktrust. And it might, just possibly contain hints of things to come in books three, but I couldn’t possibly comment otherwise…”

Click here for the story.

Barry Lyga, author of The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Gothgirl, is in possession of an ARC of his upcoming book Goth Girl Rising and he’s giving it away. Taken straight from Lyga’s blog, here’s what you need to do:

UPDATE: The same quotes can be used multiple times! I’m not judging the “best” quote or anything like that. So if someone has already used “your” quote, feel free to use it again, as long as it’s your favorite.
So, a Goth Girl Rising ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) has come into my possession. I’ve had it for about a month because while I want to give it away to a reader, I haven’t been sure of the fairest way to do so.

I didn’t want to do something entirely random because, well, that’s just no fun. Not for you guys and certainly not for me.

But I also didn’t want to make people jump through too many hoops because then it would be difficult for people who really would like the book to have a shot at it.

Then, last night, it occurred to me: The perfect way to give this thing away.

Tell me your favorite Kyra quote from The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl.

That’s all you have to do! Put it in the comments here or on Facebook or just toss it into Twitter with #ggr-arc in there somewhere. I will choose one entrant pretty much at random to receive the ARC.

Now, if you need time to refresh your memory, this contest will go until July 31, so you have plenty of time to flip through the book or go grab a copy from the library.

In the meantime, while we’re waiting for July 31, I will randomly select from people who enter and send them some signed books, too. So the earlier you enter, the better chance you’ve got of getting something.

That’s it! Have fun!

Click here to link to Lyga’s blog.

P.S – How AWESOME is this cover?

For those that are interested, the book our forum members chose to read as their bookclub selection for July is Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow. If you’re interested in this book, why don’t you head on over to the forum on July 1 and join the discussion. Strange Angels will remain the bookclub selection until the 1st of August.

Never seen or heard of this book? Here is a product description from amazon.com:

Dru Anderson has what her grandmother called “the touch.” (Comes in handy when you’re traveling from town to town with your dad, hunting ghosts, suckers, wulfen, and the occasional zombie.) Then her dad turns up dead—but still walking—and Dru knows she’s next. Even worse, she’s got two guys hungry for her affections, and they’re not about to let the fiercely independent Dru go it alone. Will Dru discover just how special she really is before coming face-to-fang with whatever—or whoever— is hunting her?

Stay tuned for our review coming your way soon!

Has anyone seen this cover?

I can’t tell you how much I want to get my hands on a copy of this novel. How brilliant is this picture? The artist in question should be taking a bow, if you ask me. I can’t remember the last time I went so nuts over the cover of a novel. I’d buy it just for the cover alone, which actually supports my theory that people DO judge books by their cover. Period.

Becca Fitzpatrick has the whole package thing working for her, though, and Hush Hush actually sounds like a decent read. Check the synopsis from amazon:

For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. She’s never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch came along.

With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment.

But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora’s not sure who to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends. She can’t decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.

For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen – and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life.

How COOL is the name Patch? I think I’m in love already!

In case you don’t know, Richelle Mead is the author of the ever popular Vampire Academy series. The fourth book in the series, Blood Promise, is scheduled for release in August 2009. Fans will be happy to know that she’s embarking on a book tour throughout America and Australia. Here are her tour dates and locations:

August 25—Seattle, WA
August 26—Los Angeles, CA (Upland)
August 27—San Francisco, CA
August 28—Denver/Boulder, CO
August 29—Houston and Austin, TX
August 31—Detroit, MI (Birmingham)
September 1—Chicago, IL (Naperville)
September 2—Lexington, KY
September 3—Alpharetta, GA
September 4-7—Atlanta, GA (DragonCon)
September 8—Baltimore, MD (Ellicott City)
September 9—Washington, DC (Fairfax, VA)
September 10—Boston, MA (Burlington)
September 12-19—Australia (Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney) Schedule TBA

Holly Black, author of the Spiderwick Chronicles and Tithe: A Modern Faery Tale , is appearing at Amherst as part of the Juniper Festival. She’ll be reading from her upcoming book The White Cat at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The reading starts at 7.30pm in the Benzanson Recital Hall and is open to all members of the public.

The White Cat is scheduled for release in 2010 through Simon & Schuster. Stay tuned for more White Cat news as it comes to press!

Fans of the popular Scott Westerfeld book, Uglies, may have heard that the book is being made into a movie. Westerfeld updated his blog recently with some exciting news for his fans regarding movie progress:

Uglies is currently optioned to be a movie, or possibly a series of movies if the first one does well. To “option” a book is Hollywood-speak for buying the exclusive right to make a movie based on it. But the buyers don’t have to make a movie. Most options never go anywhere, in fact. But it certainly means that these producers are interested.

(What happens if this group doesn’t make the film(s)? In a couple of years I have the right option the book to someone else. In other words, options have time limits.)

Where are we now? Well, there’s no script, director, or actors lined up yet. So be patient and stop asking me about casting! If there are open auditions, you’ll see it here first.

So this phone call was mostly us getting to know each other and talking about what makes Uglies special to us. Most of the conversation was me talking, which was interesting. Sometimes Hollywood folks seem compelled to tell me all about my books. But these folks listened. And when I told them about , they were my previous post, dying to shoot over and read your comments. So keep them coming!

Here are some of the things I told them:

Most of you guys want unknown actors for Tally and Shay, but maybe someone famous for Dr. Cable. The producers get that, and they also understand how important casting is, given that you could break the whole theme of the film by putting the World’s Most Beautiful Actress in the starring role.

I also told them how important setting is to you guys. How the world-building, tech hoverboards, etc., have to be real. This movie should look good, and more importantly, it should look right. Excellently, it turns out that one of the producers has read Bogus to Bubbly. She also sends it along to the screenwriters they’ve been approaching. That is a Good Thing.

I told them you guys want a faithful adaptation, and they said definitely, because, as one of them put it, “The book is a movie already.” In other words, the story doesn’t have to get completely reshaped to fit the screen. (I doubt there will be any of this putting-all-three-books-into-one-movie crap.)

So what are the chances of the movie happening soon? Well, movies cost tens of millions of dollars, and nothing that requires that much money plus human creativity is ever easy to predict. But the producers did say that there’s lots of support for this project at their studio, where certain execs have been known to speak in bubble-talk. This seems like a very good sign to me.

Anyway, that’s everything I know. Watch this space for further developments. So you can stop asking me about casting calls. Seriously.

(Oh, and if you’re one of the producers reading this, don’t worry, I won’t blog every darn thing you say to me. It’s just that a lot of fans have been asking about this for a long time, and I figured it was time to give them a major update. Normally I am a master of discretion, and will only twitter what you say to me.)

To read his blog, click here

Hi yaReaders,

I am happy to report that the yaReads crew have decided to extend Gay Pride month into July. We received so many great books and we want to get them all reviewed and up for your reading pleasure, so we’re going to continue with the reviews for gay teens.

To the authors who sent us your book, if you haven’t seen your review appear yet, fear not. It is definitely on its way!

Happy reading.

Today is the one-year anniversary of the first day of my last period.

I’m not exactly celebrating.

When I lied to my mom about getting my period, it was the easiest escape route at the time. I didn’t think much of it because I was sure that sooner or later, it would turn out to be true. So every twenty-eight days I take tampons out of the box under the sink and flush them down the toilet to make her think that I’m cycling as I should.

But I can’t tell her now that my ovaries aren’t back from vacation. She’ll not only freak out and ground me for lying, but she’ll make me go to the gyno as well. And the very thought of getting up in the stirrups and letting a total stranger go elbow deep and up to my uterus … Jesus Christ!

This is not a book about teen pregnancy. This is not a book that advocates or condemns teen pregnancy. This is a book about Jessica Darling. Jess is many things – a runner, a daughter, an academic, a sister, and a friend – but pregnant is certainly not one of them. No sir. In order to be pregnant one would have to engage in sexual intercourse first, and that would require actually snaking the attention of her high school crush – Paul Parlipiano. But even though they run on the same track team Paul doesn’t even know she exists. So pregnancy, my dear friends, is so far from the reason Jess’s period is MIA it’s not even funny.

The real explanation is far more boring, far less scandalous, far more Jessica. Jess, you see, is a runner. She’s on the track team and she trains a lot. She has trouble sleeping and she’s really skinny. Even after her grueling training sessions, when she can’t sleep in the middle of the night, Jess gets up and goes running, hoping that she’ll tire herself out so she can sleep. She runs and runs and runs and runs. Jess knows this is the reason she hasn’t got her period, and although she knows its bad to go for so long without menstruating, her running seems to be a bigger priority.

Then one night, while out running, Jess injures her ankle. She manages to drag herself home limping and crying and moaning in pain. Exit excessive running here. In fact, exit all running here. At least now her dad can’t bug her about her track meets anymore, not being able to actually participate and all. But what about the middle of the night? How is she going to get to sleep now?

Enter Marcus Flutie. He’s the resident bad boy, the one everyone loves to hate. Turns out that he and Jess have far more in common than she originally thought – not that she was thinking of him, no sir, someone like Jessica Darling would never be thinking of someone like Marcus Flutie – and talking to Marcus in the middle of the night seems to be the only way Jess can get herself to sleep. Jess learns many things about Marcus, but the most important of all is that Marcus is so not the person she thought he was. Jess realises that she’s falling for him, but brushes it aside because she knows that Marcus doesn’t date girls like her. Besides, he’s got a floozy girlfriend anyway. She sees them groping in the hallways all the time. Gross. But Jess is beautifully naïve and often doesn’t see what’s right in front of her. Will Marcus lead good, wholesome Jess down a path of disobedience and destruction, like everyone thinks he will? And honestly, how can she stand him anyway? No one gets it… no one at all.

Jessica’s voice is raw and fresh. Megan McCafferty captures what so many teens are thinking but do not say. Jessica Darling is so real that she could be me, or you, or the girl sitting next to you on the bus. I bought every single word that came out of her mouth. Her way of looking at things brings light and humour to even the saddest and darkest of situations, and makes for one hell of an entertaining read. You’ll laugh, you might cry, but you’ll certainly feel every pang, every stomach churn that good ol’ Jess goes through. As her name suggests, she’s every bit the teenage darling.

One of the best books I’ve read in a long time. I positively cannot wait to get my hands on a copy of the next book in the series, Second Helpings.

P.S I think I’ve come down with a case of Flutie Fever. Watch out, I hear it’s very contagious.

Rating::

High school junior Marlee McAllister lives and breathes softball. She’s the pitcher for the Clarkson Cougars in the North Country of upstate New York. With the season opener approaching, Marlee and her best friend, Jeri D’Amico, go scout their rivals, the East Valley Panthers. The Panthers star pitcher, Christy Loveland, took the All County pitching title the preceding year. It’s a title that Marlee covets. Marlee and Jeri settle in for the game but as the Panthers take the field, Marlee finds herself staring at Susie Torres, the Panther left fielder.

And so starts the beginning of the biggest change in Marlee’s life. When Marlee realises that the feelings she’s experiencing for Susie are nothing like what it feels like to be with Bobby – her boyfriend – she begins to question why they’re even together. All he wants to do is make out and go parking, and that’s the last thing Marlee wants to do with Bobby. When Bobby leaves her for someone else, Marlee is shocked but also a little relieved.

Enter Susie. At a party one night, Susie tells Marlee that she thinks she beautiful. As soon as the words fall on Marlee’s ears, she feels completely unable to hold her feelings in any longer. The girls end up making out and so starts the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

Unsure of how their friends will react, the two girls decide to keep their newfound love a secret. And it’s a good thing they do, because Susie’s best friend (and Marlee’s rival pitcher), Christy Loveland, wants Susie all to herself. Not in the same way that Marlee and Susie want each other, but her jealously becomes a major problem for the new couple all the same. Will the new couple survive the pressure so early on in their relationship?

What I loved about this book the most was Marlee’s immediate, unquestioned acceptance of her newfound sexuality. She didn’t go into denial, and she didn’t embark on a downward spiral of self-hate and loathing. When their friends found out that Susie and Marlee were dating, there were no homophobic reactions and certainly no friendships lost over the issue. This is the first book I’ve found for gay teens that doesn’t include the protagonist’s ‘coming out’ being met with a barrage of objections and hate. Although the two girls did express concern about how their loves ones would react, it wasn’t a huge issue and it was clear that they certainly weren’t going to let that stop them being together.  It was so refreshing (and joyous!) to read a novel for gay teens that shows the protagonist in positive circumstances, rather than the tragic ones that so often get published.

Out of Left Field is a short, punchy feel-good read that gets straight to the point (no pun intended).

If you want information about Barbara’s other books, click here

Rating: :

The Rainbow Boys are back for another compelling read. The second installment in The Rainbow Boys trilogy finds Kyle, Jason and Nelson all struggling to make peace with their own personal issues.

High school is nearly over and Jason can’t wait to start college. Playing basketball at a college level has always been a dream of his; he’s even got a scholarship and all. But then Jason decides that he can’t bear to hide his sexuality anymore and comes out to his team and his classmates. Eventually word gets out that he’s dating Kyle and in a moment of victorious joy after a smashing win on the court, Jason is captured by local television cameras giving his boyfriend a celebratory kiss. Soon after, Jason’s life takes an awful turn and he receives a letter revoking his scholarship. Jason’s folks recently split up and he knows that without that scholarship, there is no way that Jason’s Ma can afford to send him away to college. There go his plans for an awesome college basketball career. And what about Kyle? They were going to college together. How is he supposed to tell Kyle that they’ll be apart next year?

Little does he know that Kyle is harboring a secret of his own. Kyle wants nothing more than to move away and start life afresh with Jason next year. In fact, it’s all he’s wanted since he and Jason started dating. But then Kyle receives an offer of a lifetime: he’s accepted to Princeton University. Kyle applied to Princeton before he started dating Jason, but now things have changed. He loves Jason. He wants to be with Jason forever. More to the point, he doesn’t want to be apart from Jason next year. How is that supposed to happen when they’re both going to different colleges in different states? There are plenty of colleges in the country, but there’s only one Jason. What will Kyle do?

Meanwhile, Nelson is having problems of his own. He’s mad at Kyle, for one. If Kyle accepts his offer from Princeton, all of Nelson’s college plans will be ruined. Kyle and Nelson were supposed to go to Tech together. It’s the only reason Nelson even applied to Tech. What is the point of going to Tech if his best friend isn’t with him?

Like Jason and Kyle, Nelson has finally found love. Jeremy is cute, sweet, and just a little bit older than Nelson. However, Jeremy is HIV positive. At first, Nelson doesn’t seem to care. Much to Kyle’s horror, Nelson isn’t being as careful with Jeremy as he should be. Nelson just wants to be with Jeremy and doesn’t think he should be treated differently because of his illness. But then Jeremy gets sick one day while they’re making out and Nelson gets a first hand account of what dealing with HIV can be like. Is he ready to be with someone so sick? And what kind of person does that make him if he’s not?

Being a teenager is hard enough; being a gay teenager can be hell. But as Jason, Kyle, and Nelson prove, friendship and love can conquer all kinds of hate, all kinds of challenges. Alex Sanchez’s characters are so alive in my mind they could literally walk off the page. Their individual struggles are presented in simple terms, allowing the reader to form their own opinion about the way the events are presented. Sanchez has a real knack for telling it like it is without telling you how you should feel about it. He’s a supremely talented writer and I think all teens should make the effort to read one – or all – of his books.

If you loved The Rainbow Boys then Rainbow High is a must for you.

Rating::

Melissa Marr has updated her blog with more deleted scenes from her recently released novel, Fragile Eternity.

Click here to read the scenes.

Here at yaReads, we’re thinking of having a ‘Reading Party’. Before we make our final decision, though, we want to know what you guys think and whether you would be interested enough to participate.

Although the details are still in the preliminary planning stage, we were thinking the party would run for 48 hours with the idea being to read as many books as you can in that time. There will be a ‘Reading Party’ section specially set up on the forum where you can engage in discussion with other party goers. You don’t have to stay online (or awake) for the entire 48 hours, but if you wanted to try and do that, we would certainly encourage it.

During the 48 hours, over on the forum we’ll be running competitions specifically geared to those participating in the party. Examples of the kinds of contests we’ll be running include the person to read the most books, the person to stay online the longest, the most posts during the party etc. At this point, these are just suggestions and when we have a clearer idea of how many people want to participate we’ll finalise the competition details. The competitions are just an added bonus; a way to make it more enticing for you all. The real action is in the Reading Party itself.

We’re thinking of holding The Party in July, as most people seem to be on some kind of school holiday in most places around the world. We’re keen to hear your feedback: whether you think you’d like to take place, what kinds of contests you think would be the most fun. So leave a message at the end of this post and tell us your thoughts!

We’re always looking for new ways to challenge and stimulate our readers here at yaReads and we reckon this is a good way to get the job done!

Lucius opened his mouth slightly, and I felt the faintest touch of his fangs touching my skin just above the spot where my blood pulsed strongest.

His fangs…

I didn’t care it if was irrational. I didn’t care if it was impossible. I just wanted to feel them. I needed them, like I’ve never needed anything in my whole life. In my mouth, my own teeth began to ache. That delicious, delirious agony of something struggling so hard to be born.

When Lucius rocks into town, declaring that he’s a vampire and Jessica is his betrothed (and also a vampire), Jessica tells the big tall Romanian guy to take a hike. I mean, come on, vampires? Insert big, loud snorting noise here. Jessica isn’t buying it, not even when her parents encourage her to listen to Lucius’s story, especially the part about the whole betrothed stuff.

But vampires aren’t real. Right? Right. So that means that her parents must have gone crazy, and the guy with the hypnotizing stare and ancient disposition must be some kind of crack pot. And Jess can’t be a vamp. She’s lived in her body her whole life. She’d know about something like that, right? But then Jess’s parents invite him to stay with them for as long as he needs, and Jessica thinks that maybe her parents have gone a little mad too.

Lucius enrols at her school and wins everyone over. Well, everyone with ovaries, anyway. He follows Jess everywhere, holds the door open for her, buys her lunch, defends her honor – gah! It’s just so frustrating and Jess wonders why he just can’t leave her alone?

If you’re like me, you’re probably wondering what the hell Jessica’s problem is. If a really hot, European guy ambled into town and told me that he wanted me to be his princess, my reaction would be the exact opposite of Jess’s. But Jess has her reasons, or reason, rather, and his name is Jake.

Jake isn’t anything like Lucius. He’s American, for one. He doesn’t have any of that European allure that Lucius has, but he’s nice. And he likes Jess. Enter love triangle here.

In terms of character, I found Jess annoying. I found being inside her head incredibly frustrating and I almost wished – no, I definitely wished – that this story had been told through Lucius’s perspective. I hated her naivety. Sure, if someone told me that they were a vampire I wouldn’t believe them either. But when the proof is presented in front of you and you just keep denying and denying and denying on the surface when deep down you really believe, well, that just gets annoying. And I really hated that Jess decided she wanted Lucius when she realized he no longer wanted her. Even though I hated all these things about her, I was compelled to keep reading.

I did, however, love Lucius. Not at first – I needed some convincing – but after a hundred pages or so, I was sold. I loved his rebellious streak; I loved his old manner. I loved how he chose the one girl he knew Jessica would hate him to fraternize with.

The cover is beautiful, although the guy who is obviously supposed to be Lucius reminds me a little of the Count from Sesame Street. What do you think?

I’m pretty sure fans of teen vampire books will want to give this one a go. Make sure you tell us what you think!

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