YA News

The CW’s The Vampire Diaries finally debuted last week. While I liked it, they’ve taken liberties with the story. Elena is now not only brunette instead of blond but also a much softer version than in the initial books of L.J. Smith’s series. She’s also got a troubled younger teen brother instead of a much-younger sister, and Matt and Vicky are now brother and sister instead of classmates. And only one of Elena’s two best friends, Bonnie, appears in the TV series, and she doesn’t look anything like I pictured her. Meredith is nowhere to be found. But, having said all that, I’m willing to overlook early episodes in a series and give it time. After all, early episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer were a little clunky too, and it went on to become one of my favorite shows.

And speaking of premieres, we’re launching into a new season of fall shows. New drama Melrose Place and fellow remake 90210 debuted Sept. 8. New teen comedy Glee premiered Sept. 9. Sept. 10 brought back a new season of Supernatural (Yes!), right after The Vampire Diaries. Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill returned on Sept. 14. A couple of upcoming premiere dates:

Smallville – Sept. 25

Friday Night Lights – Oct. 28

YA Reviews

I think one of the biggest compliments an author’s book can receive if she’s writing a series is if someone finishes a book in the series and then immediately wants to start the next. That’s how I felt after reading the last page of The Hunger Games earlier this year, and once again when I finished reading the second in the series, Catching Fire, just a few days ago. I can’t believe I have to wait another year to find out what happens! Oh, the agony. I’ve seen a couple of other less-than-stellar reviews for this book, and I honestly don’t know what book those reviewers were reading because I loved Catching Fire.

It starts out several months after the conclusion of the Hunger Games depicted in the first book, and we see the aftermath of the first Hunger Games ever to have two victors and how the all-powerful Capitol is reacting to that and the actions of our heroine, Katniss Everdeen. She’s glad to be alive, but she’s suffering from nightmares caused by the Games, guilt, fear for those she loves, and the knowledge that what she did in the Games might very well have been the spark that ignites the districts into rebellion against the Capitol that forces them to send their children off to die in the Games each year. But of all the retribution the Capitol could have taken against her, she’s not prepared for what they dish out. Once again, she and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark, who proclaimed his love for her for the entire nation to hear during the Hunger Games, are thrust into even more danger.

Visit Suzanne Collins’ Website

Harlequin Teen launched in July with Rachel Vincent’s My Soul to Take, and I’m happy to report that I really enjoyed this debut title and hope that Harlequin Teen has many more releases to come. In My Soul to Take, Kaylee Cavanaugh has the ability to sense when someone near her is going to die. The only problem is that she can’t do anything to stop it because when she senses the imminent death, she also has to fight the nearly uncontrollable urge to scream. She can’t open her mouth to warn anyone because the only thing that will come out is an inhumanly piercing scream.

Strangely, it’s when she’s on the verge of screaming that she attracts the attention of Nash Hudson, the best-looking guy in school. But with his almost unbelievable attraction to her also comes an odd ability to calm her when she’s on the verge of screaming. How does he do that? And why does he seem to know more about the source of her screaming than she does? Kaylee has a lot of questions, and she’s determined to get answers – from Nash, from the aunt and uncle with whom she lives, and from her absentee father.

This is the first in Vincent’s Soul Screamers series, and I’m looking forward to reading the next, My Soul to Save, due out in January 2010. There is also a prequel novella, My Soul to Lose, available for free download on Vincent’s site.

Visit Rachel Vincent’s Website.

I finished reading the third in the Vampire Diaries series, The Fury, and my attitude toward Elena has changed from what I wrote in this column after reading the first two books. I like her a lot more now. So if you’re like me and iffy about the first book, keep reading. I’m still not going to say it’s my favorite series ever, but Elena shows growth that keeps me turning pages. Next up: Dark Reunion.

Visit LJ Smith’s Website.

So, have any of you read these titles? Watched the shows mentioned? What good teen fiction have you read lately?

For more information about author Trish Milburn visit her website.

I’ve been looking for a site that would list when upcoming movies based on YA novels are set to be released, but all I’ve been able to locate are a couple of sites that cover all upcoming movies based on books. But you can dig around the following two sites to find not only movies based on some favorite YA novels but perhaps other books you’ve read as well.

Bookreporter.com and  Chasingthefrog.com

While not based on a book, YA readers may enjoy Alexis Bledel’s new movie, Post Grad, which hits theaters this Friday (Aug. 21). Bledel stars as a recent college graduate who has to move back home with her eccentric family while she searches for her first post-college job, not to mention the right guy. Zach Gilford (Matt Saracen on Friday Night Lights) co-stars.

The Aug. 21 Fall Movie Preview issue of Entertainment Weekly has a cover story on “Secrets from the Set of New Moon.” Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner are on the cover, and the story covers six pages inside.

Also in this issue of EW: a two-page-spread ad for The Vampire Diaries, which premieres Sept. 10 on The CW; a tribute to John Hughes, the man behind ‘80s teen films like The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, who died of a heart attack Aug. 6; and an article on teen horror flick Jennifer’s Body with Megan Fox.

YA Reviews

First off, I wanted to congratulate Rosemary Clement-Moore, who won the RITA award in the Best Young Adult category at Romance Writers of America’s national conference in July for her book Hell Week. And congrats also goes to Tera Lynn Childs, whose Oh. My. Gods. won the Best First Book RITA.

With The Vampire Diaries set to debut on The CW in three weeks, I decided I should read the source material – L.J. Smith’s series of the same name – before the premiere. I’ve read the first two volumes, The Awakening and The Struggle. I have the next two volumes, The Fury and Dark Reunion, ready to read soon.

Elena Gilbert is a popular high school student used to getting whatever (and whomever) she wants, and what she wants now is Stefan Salvatore, the new kid in school. But Stefan, a vampire, does his best to stay away from this girl who reminds him of a long-lost love. You know they’re going to end up together, but that’s not the end of the story. It’s just the beginning of revelations about Stefan’s past, how Elena fits into his world and the evil that comes to town in the form of Stefan’s brother, Damon, who has chosen the darker side of being a vampire.

I’ll admit I had a hard time liking Elena at first. I honestly can’t identify with anyone who gets whatever she wants without much effort, someone who is selfish. But Elena does have tragedy in her past, and you see glimpses of genuine caring on her part. And when you start out with a character like this, it’s interesting to see how she grows and changes over time. Some have compared these books to the Twilight series, which came out several years after Smith’s, but I see only the most basic similarities. They are different stories with different takes on the human girl-loves-vampire premise, and the writers have much different styles. While I prefer Bella as a heroine, others may feel otherwise. As any stroll through the YA section of a bookstore will tell you, there’s lots of room for different authors to give their varying interpretations of the vampire genre. And that’s a very good thing for keeping the YA paranormal genre alive…er, undead?

Earlier this year, I read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and loved it. I’ve been eagerly awaiting the sequel, Catching Fire, ever since. Not much longer to wait since its set to hit shelves Sept. 1! I will celebrate turning in my latest book that day by rushing out and buying it.

The Hunger Games is the first in the trilogy about 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a sort of post-apocalyptic world where people live in 12 poor districts around a rich Capitol that rules with an iron fist. Each year, one boy and one girl from each district are chosen by lottery to go to the Capitol and participate in the televised Hunger Games. It’s a fight-to-the-death competition that means wealth and a life of ease for the winner and his/her family, but death for the other 23 participants. Joining Katniss from District 12, the poorest of the districts, is Peeta Mellark, a boy she knows and who once gave her bread when her family was starving. Initially, they agree to work together even though they know they’ll eventually have to face off against each other. Complicating things is Peeta’s admission that he loves her – on air. Katniss believes it’s a ploy but plays along to get audience support and thus gifts to help her during the game. The public falls in love with this star-crossed couple, and the end result is a rule change that allows them both to win. But was the love between her and Peeta real or feigned? Hopefully, we’ll find out in Catching Fire.

A couple of days ago, I started reading Harlequin Teen’s debut release, My Soul To Take by Rachel Vincent. I hope to have a review of it, along with the second Harlequin Teen release, Intertwined by Gena Showalter, in my September column. I’m several chapters into My Soul To Take and really enjoying it. I only stop reading at night when I literally fall asleep.

YA News

It’s Harry Potter week! Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opened. I’m chomping at the bit to see it, I was at the Romance Writers of America conference last week and my schedule was packed tight, tight, tight. Now that I’m home it’s certainly on my list of must sees.

In other books-to-movies news, I Love You, Beth Cooper, based on the book by Larry Doyle, is in theaters. It’s the story of a nerdy high school valedictorian who, during his graduation speech, tells the hottest and most popular girl in school (aka Beth Cooper) that he loves her. For more on the movie, click here:

For more about Doyle and the book,click here:

I particularly like the part of the site that has photos and info about many of the real Beth Coopers out there – students, teachers, architects, real estate agents, etc. If your name is Beth Cooper, you can even submit your information for inclusion.

One of my all-time favorite teen movies is 10 Things I Hate About You with Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles. So I have to admit I was hesitant when I heard ABC Family was launching a TV show based on the same characters and concept. After all, how could they possibly even approach the awesomeness of the original? But I set my TiVo for the pilot episode nonetheless. I’m pleased to say that I enjoyed it enough to set the TiVo for a Season Pass. I have a feeling it will still never surpass the movie version with me, but they seem to have captured the essence of the characters. I like Kat’s disdain for the popular and her individuality and how you get the sense that Patrick is going to turn things upside down for her. And how cute is Nicholas Braun’s portrayal of Cameron? He and his tripping-over-his-tongue crush on Bianca are adorable. I’ll reserve further judgement until I see more episodes. Did anyone else watch it? What did you think?

YA Reviews

As I mentioned above, I was at the RWA Conference last week. That means the RITA and Golden Heart Awards Ceremony was Saturday night. And this week I’m reviewing the final Young Adult RITA finalist, Oh. My. Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs. What a cute book and concept. There’s a familiarity in the tale of a teenage girl who is forced to leave her home and friends behind when her mother decides to remarry and move to her new hubby’s hometown. But most teens in this situation move to a different town or possibly a different state – not a different country! But that’s exactly what Phoebe Castro has to do – leave her friends and track team in Southern California behind and take up residence on a can’t-get-there-from-here Greek island. And if that’s not bad enough, she thinks maybe her mom and her mom’s husband-to-be just might be nuts. After all, they’re telling her that the Greek gods and goddesses are real and that her new classmates are their descendants. And they have superpowers! So not only does she have to face being the new girl in school, she’s also an outcast because she doesn’t have powers. Poor Phoebe has to make new friends, keep the astounding gods-and-goddesses news from her old friends, and figure out if the totally hot boy in her new school likes her or is really just a jerk. Rest assured, there are lots of ups and downs and surprises along the way.

I’m looking forward to the recently released sequel, Goddess Boot Camp.

Visit the author’s web site here.

Most of us who love romance discovered this love at an early age with fairytales like Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. I tend to like books that are based on or retellings of classic fairytales, so I also read Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George this month. But even before I knew it was based on The Twelve Dancing Princesses, it was the cover that made me pick it up. The gorgeous cover was face out while I was perusing the YA section of a bookstore in Hot Springs, Arkansas, while I waited out a bad thunderstorm. This is the story of Princess Rose, the eldest of the twelve princesses forced by a curse to dance every night for the sinister King Under Stone in his palace deep within the earth. Even though their dancing shoes are worn out every morning and whispers of witchcraft begin to circle, they are physically incapable of telling their father, King Gregor, what is going on. All seems hopeless until Rose meets Galen, a young soldier who has returned from a long war and who begins working for his uncle, King Gregor’s gardener. Though their stations should keep them apart, the two are attracted to each other, and Galen becomes determined to help the princesses overcome whatever it is that is forcing them to look tired and haunted all the time. And even though all others who have tried to find out their secret have failed, Rose begins to believe that maybe, just maybe, Galen is the one to succeed.

Visit the author’s web site here.

News from the YA world

A new trailer and lots of images (including some cool movie posters) of New Moon (second in the Twilight saga) have hit the Internet.





If that isn’t enough YA vampire storytelling for you, the CW network is bringing L.J. Smith’s Vampire Diaries to the small screen this fall. Looks like it’s scheduled for Thursdays at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central, which means Smallville will be giving up its pre-Supernatural spot moving to a new slot on Friday nights. Check out more of the details about The Vampire Diaries here:

http://www.cwtv.com/shows/the-vampire-diaries

The release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is less than a month away. Anticipation among Hogwarts fans is increasing by the day.

YA Reviews

Next up in the rotation of reviews of RITA finalists for this year is Tina Ferraro’s How to Hook a Hottie, a cute contemporary tale with high school student Kate DelVecchio as its star. Imagine a girl whose grand plans include being a successful business tycoon by age 20, who watches The Apprentice for fun, who is a Future Business Leaders of America guru, and who hasn’t met a business book she hasn’t liked. That’s Kate.

Kate is always looking for a business opportunity to help her make enough money by the end of her senior year to earn her freedom from her parents’ plans for her. She’s got a job driving a young girl back and forth to her skating lessons, but when her classmates suddenly think she’s a master at matchmaking she’s not going to miss the opportunity to capitalize on that misconception. But don’t think she sees only dollar signs; Kate has a heart and wants to see the couples she points toward each other happy. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Along the way, she begins to wonder why she can help others find love when she can’t even tell the boy who makes her heart go boom-boom how she feels about him.

Author Web site: http://www.tinaferraro.com/TinaIndex.html

Next month, I’ll review the final RITA finalist for 2009, Tera Lynn Childs’ Oh. My. Gods.

~~~

I also just finished reading the first book in The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. City of Bones introduces us to Clarissa “Clary” Fray, an artistic girl who lives in New York and whose best friend is a boy named Simon Lewis, who is constantly searching for the perfect band name for the garage band he’s in with his guy friends and who is secretly in love with Clary. Clary’s world is turned totally upside down when she begins seeing people and things Simon can’t. Seems she has The Sight, the ability to see past the glamour created by the Nephilim called Shadowhunters – warriors who are part angel, part man, who are charged with sending demons back to their own dark dimensions.

Not long after discovering her unsettling ability, her mother goes missing, she finds out that a family friend isn’t the person she’s thought him to be all her life, and she’s attacked by creatures she could have never dreamed really existed. When she can’t go back home, she takes up residence with the three young Nephilim who originally caught her attention: Jace Wayland, the cocky golden boy; Alec Lightwood, his quieter and sometimes intense friend; and Alec’s beautiful sister, Isabelle Lightwood.

Clary and her new companions join forces, sometimes reluctantly, to find her mother and the Mortal Cup, an ancient vessel that allows mortal men (mundanes) to be made into new Shadowhunters. It seems both have ties to a man named Valentine Morgenstern, and Clary doesn’t like the sound of what he might do to her mother and with the cup.

I’m looking forward to reading City of Ashes and City of Glass, both of which are already on store shelves.

Author Web site: http://www.mortalinstruments.com/

~~~

Trish Milburn writes YA romance for Razorbill under the name Tricia Mills (Heartbreak River, April 2009) and romance for Harlequin American under her own name (Her Very Own Family, May 2009).

With author Trish Milburn’s (aka Tricia Mills) monthly RNTV column of YA news (every third Thursday of the month), I’m beginning to get a sense of the scope of the literature that is available to young people.  This was reinforced at last weekends Book Expo America (BEA). Everywhere I turned publishers were highlighting their YA authors and books.

Rachel Vincent Book Signing

More and more young people are being exposed to and experiencing a world that has, for lack of a better phrase, come out of the closet and Judy Blume books are not enough for them.  Today young people are living with the 24 hour news and immediate and unfettered in your face information. Communication is instant. They live in single parent homes, two dad homes, two mom homes, foster homes and sometimes in no home at all. They deal with poverty, sex, pregnancy, abortion, drugs, alcohol, gangs, illness and death; and they’re not afraid to talk about it.  The books for today’s young adults not only address these issues and speak to their emotions but they also treat them like their lives, thoughts, issues and problems matter.  The books reflect their lives – and that’s powerful!

There is also an abundance of YA fantasy books available. This tells me that young adults, like old adults, every once and a while, need to escape. To be transported to a world not of their making. To a world that has no resemblance to the one their living in. (Isn’t that true for all of us?) The exciting thing is that young people are reading and authors are writing for this audience.

Melissa Mar Book Signing

What I find truly amazing about today’s YA books (the one’s I’ve been reading) is that they have great cross over appeal in regards to age. I’m way past my young adult years and yet I’m captivated by many of these books. (It goes to show you, write a book well, tell a good story and you’ll always find an audience.) The power of a book, no matter who you are, no matter the gender or age, is waiting to be unleashed. Just turn to the first page and begin.





Quick question – I’m curious, what’s the first book you remember reading as a young adult?

Welcome to the first installment of YA News and Reviews. Thanks to the lovely Marisa and Maria here at Romance Novel TV, once a month I’ll be able to share the latest news from the young adult world as well as reviews of new YA novels and some you might have missed.

News from the YA world

The release date for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been moved back by two days to July 15. Judging by the newest trailers, it’s going to be awesome! The escalating evil, Harry and Ginny getting closer, the teen angst that is Ron and Hermione!  Watch the newest trailer .

For all you Twilight fans, more casting news has come out for New Moon. Never fear, all your favorite vamps are coming back as is Kristen Stewart as Bella. The new castings mainly have to do with the Volturi. I was particularly excited to see Christopher Heyerdahl and Michael Sheen, two fantastic actors. A sampling of the new faces you’ll be seeing when New Moon hits theaters Nov. 20:

Christopher Heyerdahl as Volturi Marcus

Michael Sheen as Volturi Aro

Jamie Campbell Bower as Volturi Caius

Dakota Fanning as Volturi Jane

Charlie Bewley as Volturi Demetri

YA Reviews

I wanted to start off my first few review sections by featuring this year’s RITA finalists in the Young Adult category. For anyone who doesn’t know, the RITA is the top published award given by Romance Writers of America®. This year, there are three finalists in YA:

Hell Week by Rosemary Clement-Moore

How to Hook a Hottie by Tina Ferraro

Oh. My. Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs

Since I’ll have three columns before the awards ceremony in July, I’m going to feature one finalist each month. First up is Hell Week by Rosemary Clement-Moore.

Since I hadn’t previously read any of Clement-Moore’s books, Hell Week is the second book in a series, and I hate reading series out of order, I actually went back and read the first (Prom Dates from Hell) before diving into Hell Week. Let me just say how much I love Clement-Moore’s heroine, Maggie Quinn. She’s like a wonderful mixture of some of my all-time favorite heroines – Buffy the Vampire Slayer (only Maggie is gifted with the Sight and battles demons), Veronica Mars (always digging for the truth), and Chloe Sullivan from Smallville (Maggie is a budding journalist, as Chloe used to be) while still being her own person. Add to that her best friend, Lisa, who will remind Buffy fans of another character, and Justin, who has a bit of Clark Kent’s goodness/hotness going on, and you have a fabulous trio of characters around which to build a fun series.

Prom Dates from Hell is set during Maggie’s senior year of high school and involves clashes with the popular crowd as well as the not so popular; Maggie’s refusal (at least initially) of her psychic gift, much to her Irish grandmother’s dismay; and one unforgettable (in a bad way) prom.

In Hell Week, Maggie has entered her freshman year of college and is pledging a sorority. But it’s not the parties on Greek Row or a desperate desire to fit in that motivated her to go through Rush. Rather, it’s her journalistic desire to write about Greek life from the inside, expose it for the “outdated system of stratification and false superiority” that it is. But Maggie gets more than she bargains for when she pledges Sigma Alpha Xi and begins to wonder if the reason they’re so popular and lucky is because something Evil (emphasis on the capital “E”) is behind it.

I’m enjoying this series so much that I intend to read Highway to Hell, in which Maggie and Lisa take a spring break road trip, very soon.

Author Web site: Rosemary- Clement Moore

~~~

I also recently read ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley. I discovered this book because of its eye-catching cover. Tall, skinny, and black with a silhouette of a girl on a see-through window. The story is about Charlotte Usher, one of the overlooked in her high school. She’s determined to change and get the guy she longs for, but she’s the kind of teen who is invisible to classmates, the type who wouldn’t be missed if she died. And then she does (by choking on a gummy bear, of all things), and is thrust into the afterlife where she can still walk around her school but has to go to an entirely new class called Dead Ed.

But instead of adjusting to her new reality, Charlotte refuses to let go of her old one. And it’s not only affecting her, but also the other dead kids – all of whom must figure out some lesson attached to their old lives before they can move on. At points, I’ll admit that I wanted to shake Charlotte, but she does redeem herself (while making friends) and takes an important step toward accepting who she is in death as she couldn’t in life.

This book speaks to anyone who has ever felt invisible, and I’d venture a guess that’s most of us. The sequel, Homecoming, is set to release July 1.

Author Web site: http://www.ghostgirl.com

~~~

Trish Milburn writes YA romance for Razorbill under the name Tricia Mills (Heartbreak River, April 2009) and romance for Harlequin American under her own name (Her Very Own Family, May 2009).

In what little spare time she has, she enjoys reading, traveling, watching TV and movies (lots of them targeting teens), and hiking.

The Vibrant World of Young Adult Novels
By Trish Milburn (aka Tricia Mills)

One of the most exciting things I’ve seen in publishing during the past few years is the explosion of popularity in the young adult market as well as the wonderful variety that section of the bookstore now provides. Gone are the days when YA meant Sweet Valley High books. Today’s YA is as varied in content and tone as the authors’ imaginations.

My favorite YA novels always include romance at some level, whether it’s the main story or a secondary thread woven into the bigger story (or even just hinted at if it’s the beginning of a series). In YA, it’s equally important to deal with other relationships – those with friends, parents, other authority figures, enemies – and with the unique challenges teens face such as peer pressure, falling in love for the first time, crazy hormones and prom!

I think the variety of what readers can find in the YA/Teen section of the bookstore has fueled the genre’s resurgence after a number of years of pretty much being dead in the water. We can thank J.K. Rowling and her fabulous Harry Potter novels for starting the renewed interest and giving YA authors such as myself a chance to enjoy the increased popularity of the genre. The variety of topics and tones as well as the wonderful quality of the writing has brought readers of all ages to YA. I’m 38, and I read as much YA as anything else. There are lots of wonderful stories out there – something for everyone. For instance, you can find:

•    Glitzy, high-society or mean girl books like the Gossip Girl, A-List and The Clique series.
•    Lighter, fun paranormals like Meg Cabot’s Mediator series.
•    Paranormal series with more edge like Rachel Caine’s Morganville Vampires, Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight and its sequels, and Scott              Westerfeld’s Midnighters.
•    Thought-provoking page-turners like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
•    The new, fierce faery stories of Melissa Marr, beginning with Wicked Lovely.
•    Different types of tearjerkers such as Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why and my own Heartbreak River (out this month under the name Tricia Mills).
•    Combinations of historical with paranormal, such as Libba Bray’s series that starts with A Great and Terrible Beauty.
•    Tales of the trials and tribulations of being a modern teenager, such as the novels of Simone Elkeles.
•    And so much more.

I believe YA is also being helped by the fantastic covers the books are receiving. They demand to be picked up by browsing readers. Just look at these eye-catching and lush covers.

I am constantly adding to my list of YA novels I want to read, thanks to cruising the YA section of bookstores and reading some of the many, many YA-based reader blogs out there. It’s exciting to see young readers so excited about reading that they create blogs, vlogs, review sites and YouTube channels devoted to what they’re reading.

So, what about you? Are you a YA reader? What are some good YA novels you’ve read recently? What type of YA appeals to you as a reader?

And if you’re not currently a YA reader, I hope I’ve encouraged you to at least try this exciting and varied genre. As an incentive, I’ll give away one copy of Heartbreak River to one of today’s commentors.