If you’re wanting to know, you might like to reserve I Will Always Love You, an addition to the Gossip Girl series started (but not finished) by Cecily von Ziegesar.
I Will Always Love You documents what Serena et al get up to when they return from their respective colleges for their summer breaks (four in total). There’s bound to be hookups, fights and, well, gossip, but hopefully not that song by Whitney Houston.
What do the next few months look like in YA literature? We’ll let you know when they arrive, but you can reserve some of them right now if they grab your fancy.
Witch & Wizard, James Patterson (December). A futuristic dystopian story about Wisty and her brother Whit, who are imprisoned seemingly without reason and then discover they have strange abilities and powers.
Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld (October). A steampunk effort from Scott Westerfeld, where World War I is fought with strange machines and futuristic biotechnology.
Once Was Lost, Sara Zarr (October). Sara Zarr’s previous novels, Story of a Girl and Sweethearts, are thoughtful, realistic insights into life. In Once Was Lost, she examines tragedy and the effect it has on hope.
Going Bovine, Libba Bray (September/October). This couldn’t really be more different from the Gemma Doyle books. Sixteen year old Cameron is in hospital with Mad Cow disease. Visited by Dulcie, a punky angel, he’s given hope when she tells him it’s possible to find a cure. So he sets out on a road trip to find it, with a little help from a gamer dwarf and a gnome. I’m not making this up. You can even watch Libba Bray being interviewed about it, dressed up as a cow.
Some others that we will be ordering soon:
Splendor, a Luxe novel, Anna Godbersen (November). Luxe fans: this is the fourth and final book. Dangerous secrets, difficult decisions and unexpected happinesses (but for how long?) all feature in a dramatic showdown.
Crocodile Tears (Alex Rider), Anthony Horowitz (November). Alex gets caught up in an epic plot that could destroy an entire East African country. Heavy.
The Looking Glass Wars, Archenemy, Frank Beddor (October/November). The conclusion to the Looking Glass Wars trilogy. Everyone in Wonderland is creatively depleted, including Queen Alyss who must join forces with the evil Redd to keep things from turning worse than pear shaped (as the caterpillar oracles predict). But is this a good idea?
The success of the Gossip Girl series has led to a number of similarly-themed series. They tend to have several things in common: the main characters are girls, who are rich, or share the same social circles as the über-rich, and they go to an exclusive private school; the books are usually set in (or near) New York; and most of the characters favour style over substance (afterall, it’s difficult to be friendly towards someone in a denim skirt). Sometimes they’re undead, or even just dead.
So here’s a list (in no particular order):
1. The Gossip Girl - The series so popular it’s now a television series! It’s set on the Upper East Side of Manhatten, which is New York’s Oriental Parade, only vastly more wealthy and stylish. No beach, however. The books are about a group of friends/enemies, their designer clothes and parties. The Gossip Girl herself anonymously writes about them. The school is called the Constance Billard School for Girls. There’s a gazillion books in the series.
2. The It Girl - The ‘It Girl’ in the title went to the Constance Billard School for Girls but was so poorly behaved she was sent to the very exclusive Waverly Prep boarding school. She will do anything – anything! - get to be one of the Waverly elite. This series is one of the two Gossip Girl spin-offs (all were created by Cecily von Ziegesar, but most are written by other people).
3. Gossip Girl: The Carlyles - The Carlyle triplets move from Nantucket to NYC after the death of their grandmother. They go to Constance Billard (and St. Jude’s School for Boys, for one of them is a boy) and quickly prove to be even more vicous – and fabulous - than Serena, Blair, etc. (Official website for Gossip Girl.)
4. The Ashleys, by Melissa De la Cruz - At Miss Gamble’s Preparatory School for Girls the three reigning princesses of popularity are all named Ashley; hence ‘The Ashleys’. New-comer Lauren is determined to enter their group. This series is set in San Francisco, and not New York, which is a shame but there you have it. (Official website.)
5. The Clique, by Lisi Harrison - The Clique are a group of girls who are the top of the popularity food chain at their private school. The books are notable (according to the Library School Journal) for the characters’ cruelty. Awesome! It’s set in Westchester County, New York, where the X-Men hang out (incidentally). Who would win in a fight? The first book was made into a direct-to-DVD film, newly arrived at the library. (Official website.)
6. Inside Girl, by J Minter – Fourteen-year-old Flan Flood’s family are all incredibly beautiful socialites, but she decided to break with tradition and goes to a typical public school. It’s a spin-off from another series by J. Minter, The Insiders, which is more in keeping with the other series in this list. Set in and around lower Manhattan. (Official website.)
7. Pretty Little Liars, by Sara Shepard - Three years ago the leader (Alison) of a group of girls disappears. Now someone calling themselves ‘A’ is threatening to expose the secrets of the group, who all fit the Gossip Girl mold. With a bit of mystery thrown in, the series has been called ‘Desperate Housewives for teens.’ (Official website.)
8. Blue Bloods, by Melissa de la Cruz – Set amongst Manhattan’s elite teens, Blue Bloods throws vampirism into the mix. (Official website.)
9. Vampire Academy, by Rachelle Mead – St Vladimir’s is a private academy (in Montana, not NY) for vampires and the half-vampires who protect them. The series is notable for being set in a gritty and dark world which doesn’t hold back. Perhaps not so in keeping with this list, but the academy is about as exclusive as it gets and one of the main characters is a princess. A vampire princess. (Official website.)
10. The Luxe, by Anna Godberson – Most reviewers remark that this series is essentially Gossip Girl - Manhattan, rich glamorous people, and so on – set in 1899. I’m not sure what the ‘Luxe’ in the title refers to, but funnily enough 1899 was the year that Lux soap was launched in the UK. (Official website.)
Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson (278 pages) – Lia’s best friend Cassie has died from anorexia, and now Lia faces the same fate. ‘One girl’s chilling descent into the all-consuming vortex of anorexia.’
First sentence: ‘So she tells me, the words dribbling out with the cranberry muffin crumbs, commas dunked in her coffee.’
Because I am Furniture, by Thalia Chaltas (352 pages) – Anke’s father is abusive, though only to her sister and brother. She gradually learns that she can be heard when she joins the volleyball team. Written in poems.
First sentence: ‘I am always there.‘
Hero Type, by Barry Lyga (295 pages) – Kevin heroically (though accidently) saves someone’s life, and during the unwanted publicity he is photographed being ‘unpatriotic’.
First sentence: ‘ Everywhere you go, it seems like there’s a reminder of what happened, of what I did.‘
Diary of a Chav: Keeping it Real, by Grace Dent (233 pages) – This is the fourth book in the ‘Diary of a Chav’ series.
The Ant Colony, by Jenny Valentine (215 pages) – from the author of Finding Violet Park. The Ant Colony in question is 33 Georgiana Street in London, a house populated by a disparate bunch of people who seem to get on with their lives without disturbing others, but it doesn’t take much to stir the pot.
First sentence: I saw a girl.
The Bone Tiki, by David Hair (303 pages) – Matiu steals a bone tiki from a tangi (which you think would be a bad place to start). Soon he’s running for his life, in reality and in a world where myths and legends are real and terrifying.
First sentence: ‘Dear Mum, I hope you are OK, and liking it in Taupo.’
Inside Girl: All That Glitters, by J. Minter (229 pages). The series that won our Selector vote-off earlier this year. Flan’s been ’slumming it’ at a downtown school. When she’s back in her uptown neighbourhood she finds the experience has changed her, and tensions run high.
First sentence: ‘Repeat after me,’ SBB said.
Take a Chance on Me (Gossip Girl: The Carlyles), by Annabelle Vestry (240 pages) – the third in the series, and it looks like the triplets’ love lives need sorting out, which will be well documented by the gossip girl, no doubt. The book begins with a quote from Hamlet.
First sentence (from the non-GG bit (which was waaay too long for me)): ‘Ow!’ Owen Carlyle grunted as a bagel hit him hard, square in the center of his broad shoulders.
Extreme Kissing, by Luisa Plaja (327 pages) – Bethany and Carlota go on a crazy life-changing adventure in London using their favourite magazine as a guide. Kissing is involved, among other things.
First sentence: Are you stressed to the max?
Fire Song, by Libby Hathorn (141 pages) – Ingrid’s family has imploded, and when her mother asks her to do something she knows is wrong, Ingrid finds herself isolated, trying to help her mother and stick to her principles.
First sentence: From the back verandah, Ingrid Crowe watched her dog Blackie chase a stray bird across the garden.
Changeling, by Steve Feasey (266 pages) – the book finishes with a rather menacing “to be continued”. Trey is about to discover – if the back cover is anything to go by – that his friend Lucien is a vampire and he himself is a werewolf.
First sentence: Trey Laporte opened his eyes, wincing against the assault of the late-morning sunshine on his retinas.
One-Way Ticket, by Iona McNaughton (198 pages) - Meg’s happy in Toronto, but when her grandparents send one way tickets to New Zealand for her and her father she finds herself having to adjust to a new country, new school… and a new woman in her father’s life.
First sentence: It’s the same every year.
Also in: a new copy of Nicola and the Viscount, by Meg Cabot, first published in 2002.
More new books – we seem to get quite a few, which means, sadly, some of the older ones have to go (you may see them in one of our booksales). It is the Circle of Life.
The 10pm Question, by Kate de Goldi (251 pages) – I loved this book, and I recommend you read it too!
You Just Can’t Get Enough : Gossip Girl/The Carlyles, (created) by Cecily von Ziegesar (208 pages) – The real writer of this book is Annabelle Vestry, who also wrote the first Gossip Girl/Carlyles book, and who has her own series about ‘teen stepsisters living the high-life’ coming out later this year.
My Bonny Light Horseman : Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, in Love and War, by L. A. Meyer (436 pages) – This is the sixth book of Mary “Jacky” Faber’s adventures in the frankly exciting world of the late 18th/early 19th century. In My Bonny Horseman Jacky finds herself spying in France, and then following Napoleon Bonaparte’s army into Germany.
Set in Stone : The Chronicles of Stone Book 2, by Vincent Ford (275 pages) – Set during the Ice Age, this book (and the first one in the series, Scorched Bone) tell the story of twins Trei and Souk and their journeys through prehistoric America.
Murderer’s Thumb, by Beth Montgomery (299 pages) – Adam and his mother move to a rural farming community somewhere in Australia. After finding a body and then a diary, Adam must piece together what happened – but not without some trouble from the menacing locals.
Captain Cook’s Apprentice, by Anthony Hill (263 pages) – This is a travelogue of Captain Cook’s three-year voyage to explore the southern continent, as seen through the eyes of cabin boy Isaac Manley (who would one day become a Rear Admiral). A grand adventure for any young lad, and it really happened!
Is there such a thing as top chick lit? Feeling intrepid, and spurred on by recent blog posts, I sought to find out. First, I decided to settle on a definition: parameters are always good to work within.
So, chicklit:
~ Must have a pastel-coloured cover (with bonus points for sparkly bits).
~ Must have a female protagonist – preferably finding herself/making her mark on the world/lamenting her lack of mark on the world/experiencing at least one [female] rite of passage. Also: female protagonist must be notably imperfect, but likeably so… must have a flaw (clumsiness is currently a favourite, also outspokenness… some other thing like imperfect features is also good, but they can’t be incorrigibly imperfect), though not so bad as to be fatal, necessarily.
~ Must be written in a playful, confessional style, preferably utilising a first person narrator.
~ Should be set in a city.
~ Could spawn a series.
~ Not too much seriousness, tragedy or hand-ringing please.
Signing off now except: what are nunga-nungas? We want to know, but don’t want to read the book.
Have you ever wondered what a writer’s room looks like? The Guardian has a running feature on the rooms of many authors, like Jacqueline Wilson (very tidy) and Russell Hoban (very messy).
What does your writing space – assuming you have one – look like?
I wish mine had Alain de Botton’s chair.
Kymberly, librarian and avid reader of young adult literature, tells me The Luxe by Anna Godbersen is a “nineteenth century version of the Gossip Girl“. Intriguing, I thought: gossip can’t be a 20th Century invention then (previously known as the exchange of vital personal information of a third party, I thought). The inside cover tells me the book contains “pretty girls in pretty dresses, partying until dawn” and “irresistible boys with sly smiles and dangerous intentions” and (this is where the Gossip Girl bit really comes in) “white lies, dark secrets and scandalous hookups”. Very intriguing indeed.
So if you like your gossip historical as well as extraordinarily up to date, check it out.
The Sweet Valley High series is to be reprinted and – since it originally came out in the 80s – it will be updated to reflect changes in things like technology and fashion. So instead of the girls writing diaries, phoning one another and wearing pastel leg-warmers, they will write blogs, IM and text, and wear footless tights.
(We still have many of the original SVH books in the library, if you’re keen.)
Demonata 7 is called Death’s Shadow (Darren Shan – available May 2008). So what’s going to happen? “Bec is back to face the Demonata. After centuries of imprisonment, she’s more powerful than ever, but the demons no longer stand alone. Something else has crawled out of the darkness with her. Lord Loss is no longer humanity’s greatest threat!” (thanks to Amazon.co.uk)
Visit the author’s site to keep up with the play. Speaking of which, Darren Shan’s pretty with it – he has a myspace account too. The other Demonata books are here.
The new stuff just keeps pouring in. For a complete change of scenery, the new Gossip Girl book is The Carlyles. The Carlyles are, according to Amazon.com, the “most fabulous sixteen-year-old triplets to ever inhabit the Upper East Side.” The book’s going to be available some time after May this year, but you can reserve it now.
It’s an unlikely combo, I know: Darren Shan and Cecily von Ziegesar. I couldn’t help wondering what would happen if they got together and collaborated on Demonata #8 / The Carlyles #2…
Grimm
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