YA Shot Book Tour - interview with Hilary Freeman

Hello! Welcome to my blog if you've never been before, and hello to any previous readers too of course. I'm thrilled to be part of the YA Shot Book Tour today, because I'm really excited about the event in a couple of weeks. I had a really great time last year, and I bet this year will be even bigger and better!

I was pleased to be paired with Hilary Freeman for this because I really liked When I Was Me when I read it last year. I've got a couple of more of her books which I'll have to get around to soon! I asked Hilary if she would mind answering some questions for my blog, and she said that would be fine. I thought about the types of questions I'd like the answer to as both a reader of YA and as a writer of it too. I hope that you like the things I asked!

Firstly, can you tell me a little bit about your writing career? How did you get started? What have you had published?

My publishing story is a very unusual one. I’ve been a journalist and agony aunt for many years and, in 1995, I was agony aunt for CosmoGirl! magazine – Cosmopolitan’s younger sister mag for teenagers, which sadly doesn’t exist anymore. The features editor asked whether I’d be interested in writing a novel because Piccadilly Press (who were bringing out a series of love stories imprinted with the Cosmogirl! logo) had asked for writer recommendations. I jumped at the chance, as I’ve always written creatively and wanted to write a novel, but I’d never had the confidence to complete one or submit it. So I wrote a few plot ideas and submitted them to Brenda Gardner, the then publisher at Piccadilly. She liked one of them and asked me to develop it, and then commissioned the novel based on a few chapters and a synopsis/chapter breakdown. That book, Loving Danny, about a tortuous relationship between a girl on her gap year and a troubled musician, came out in 2006. In the meantime I got an agent. So I did things in reverse!

Since then, I’ve had six more books published: Don’t Ask, Lifted, the three-book Camden Town Tales series, and my most recent book, When I was Me, which was published by Hot Key in 2015. I’ve never had to write anything entirely on spec, and I’ve never had a book rejected, which I know makes me incredibly lucky. I feel grateful for that every day. Being a journalist is very good training for writing novels because you instinctively know what’s important in the story and cut out all the flab. Plus, it makes you very good at meeting deadlines and turning things around fast, and not being precious about your copy because you’re used to being edited.

Do you write anything other than prose? What is your favourite form?

I used to write poetry when I was a teenager but it was pretty bad, and I haven’t written any for years. I have written the odd short story (one of which was published in an anthology put together by Arsenal Football Club). Of course, I also write lots of articles for newspapers and magazines and websites. And texts. And emails. And, occasionally, tweets.

Do you write for adults as well as young people? Why/why not?

I am currently working on an adult idea, which will hopefully turn into a full-length novel sometime in the near future. I don’t see a great deal of difference between writing for adults and writing for young people, and there’s no reason why you can’t do both. It’s just about understanding your readership and focusing on the things that matter to them. A good story is a good story, and good writing is good writing. Really, the only difference is what readers are interested in e.g. a teenage girl would usually rather read a book about a girl her own age than about a 90-year-old man.

What’s great about writing for young people? What’s bad about it?

The great thing about writing for young people is that you have the opportunity to make a real difference in their lives. I’ve had incredible emails from readers who’ve told me how my books have helped or inspired them. And young people tend to be very vocal about what they do and don’t like – they either love something, or hate it, but it’s rare that they don’t care. So you get a lot of feedback.

What’s bad about it? Only a few books get a lot of publicity (most of them American) and there’s not enough YA shelf space in bookshops, so it’s hard for people to find out about your books.

What are some of your favourite YA books? Are they like yours?

I still remember books from when I was a teenager, especially Judy Blume’s. These days, I enjoy all kinds of YA books, some of them contemporary (like mine) - such as Starring Kitty by Keris Stainton, Crush by Eve Ainsworth, Keren David’s This is Not a Love Story and Still Falling by Sheena Wilkinson, or with a historical twist like Rhian Ivory’s The Boy who Drew the Future - and some more dystopian, like Bryony Pierce’s Phoenix Rising series, Emma Pass’s The Fearless and Kerry Drewery’s Cell 7. There is so much good UKYA literature out there.

What’s your favourite novel – if you HAD to choose?

That’s a bit of an impossible one to answer, but a book called Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman would come close. Each chapter imagines a dream that scientist Albert Einstein had while he was working on his theory of relativity. It’s about time, the universe and everything. I read it many years ago and, subconsciously, it probably inspired When I was Me.

I really loved When I Was Me and thought it was a really interesting premise for a novel. Can you tell me a bit about the inspiration behind it?

Thank you. I’m not sure exactly when the idea came to me, or what the inspiration was (there wasn’t one ‘Eureka!’ moment) but I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of parallel universes, and I studied philosophy at university. It was the 100^th anniversary of Kafka’s Metamorphosis last year, and hearing about that coming up might have sparked my imagination. Instead of waking up as a giant insect, why not waking up as a girl, but not the girl you recognise, or were before?

I think the big preoccupation for most teenagers is identity - Who am I? Do I fit in? Where am I going? What’s wrong with me? Why does no-one understand me? – and the idea of a girl waking up and finding herself in another life seemed like a really interesting way of exploring that.

Ella was a very real teenaged character – can you tell me a little about her?

Thank you. Which Ella do you mean? The one in the original universe or the new one she finds herself in? Which is the real Ella? Is either of them the real Ella? Or are they both? And, of course, being in the new universe starts to change the Ella we first meet. That will be very confusing for anyone who hasn’t read the book yet!

Like all my characters, she’s based a little bit on me (I am still a teenager in my head, even if I don’t look it on the outside), and how I felt when I was 17. She is very mixed up and torn between fitting in and being cool and having fun, and being quite studious and wanting to do things/be with people that make her happy. She’s very bright but easily led and she doesn’t have much confidence. Her parents’ divorce has affected her quite badly.

What are you working on now? What does your weekly writing life look like?

I had a baby last year and so my weekly writing life is now very limited. It mostly consists of writing a sentence, then jumping up and shouting ‘No Sidonie, no!’ or ‘Take that out your mouth’ or ‘Don’t go in there!’ I am itching to get on with writing a new book. I have several ideas on the go, so watch this space….

Thank you so much to Hilary and I'll look forward to meeting you at YA Shot!

Something In Between by Melissa de la Cruz - Review

Where did I get it? On NetGalley, so thank you to Harlequin UK

What's it about? Jasmine is Filipino, and a senior in high school who's just won a prestigious scholarship when her parents tell her that they're not in the United States legally - they are undocumented aliens. Jasmine can't accept the scholarship, and she now has to worry that her entire family will be deported from the place she calls home. 

Meanwhile, she meets a boy called Royce, who's dad is a congressman who is anti-immigrant. They start going out, but the course of their relationship doesn't run smoothly by any stretch of the imagination. 

The premise of this novel appealed to me a lot, but I didn't like it very much. There were a few reasons for this. Firstly, every little thing that could possibly be seen as different to mainstream American culture is explained as being "Filipino". Like, "That's what we do in our culture". While I believe that most of them were, I didn't think it needed spelling out. Readers will just accept that things are done differently in Jasmine's culture. Secondly, from the very first time Jas meets Royce, she falls madly for him. She meets him to start off with for literally about two minutes, but she LOVES him, she wants to be with him, et cetera. It's so unbelievable. Thirdly, there's far too much telling and not showing, almost like the author is racing through the narrative just to get to the end. 

I feel like the stories of undocumented people (I, like Jasmine, won't call them "illegals" because I don't believe human beings can ever be illegal) like Jas and her family are really important, but I didn't feel this novel lived up to the premise. 

What age range is it for? 13+, it's very tame

Are any main characters LGBTQ+? No

Are any main characters people of colour? Yes, obviously Jasmine and her family, and a number of other characters too. In fact, most of the time it's pointed out to prove that most people in America aren't purely white. I actually liked this, I thought it was well done and sensitively. 

Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? No

Is there any sex stuff? No, Jasmine and Royce make out a couple of times but there's nothing graphic. 

Are drugs mentioned or used? I think marijuana maybe? But nothing stronger.  

Is there any talk of death? Very little

Are there swear words? Very infrequently. 

Would I recommend the book? Not really. I feel sure that there are better novels out there which tell stories like this one. 

How many stars? Four out of ten. 

YA in Ireland

I recently went to Ireland for six days with my friends, and in Galway we went into a bookshop. I of course checked out their children's and teen sections and I wasn't disappointed!

They had a whole section of Irish books, including children's books, fairy tales, and some YA stuff. As it's a hundred years since the Easter Rising there were a number of books about that. I bought this one:

I would probably have bought more, but the exchange rate wasn't great and I would have had to carry them all home, so I just stuck with this one. 

I snapped a couple of photos of the teen section. It looked very similar to those you'd find in Waterstones - how many do you recognise? 

What does your local teen section look like?

When Everything Feels Like The Movies by Raziel Reid - Review

Where did I get it? I got it on NetGalley so thank you to Little. Brown Book Group. 

What's it about? I'm going to write this review with spoilers, because I didn't know anything about the story before I read the book, and I wish I had. So look away now if you don't want spoilers, because I think understanding the back story is an important way to read the novel. 

The book is based on a true story, that of Larry Fobes King, who invited the boy he had a crush on to be his Valentine. The next day that boy came to school with a gun and shot Larry to death. They were 15 and 14 at the time, and his killer is still serving time for the killing. 

So in this novel, Jude is gay, and wears make up and high heels to school, and has a best friend, Angela, with whom he bunks off and gets high with. The boy he has a crush on is Luke. Jude has an unhappy home life with his mother and stepdad, and is planning to buy a bus ticket so that he can run away to Hollywood. He asks Luke to be his Valentine just the day before he is leaving and later, at the Valentine dance, Luke shoots him to death. Given that the novel is in first person, this makes for a really interesting ending.

The novel as a whole is hard to read, and I completely thought Jude was a senior in high school (so 18ish) and read it that way, rather than the 15 or so that he is. There's a lot of violence and graphic sexual scenes, so be careful. 

What age range is it for? 15+, there's some gory and graphic stuff. 

Are any main characters LGBTQ+? Yes, very much the point. 

Are any main characters people of colour? I think so? Maybe I'm wrong

Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? No

Is there any sex stuff? A little. Jude has a thing going with Angela's brother Abel, and he also sees Luke have sex with his girlfriend Madison. Be careful, again

Are drugs mentioned or used? Yes, both illegal and legal kinds. Jude and Angela have a trip on some acid at some point, so be gentle with yourself if that would trigger you. 

Is there any talk of death? Yes, trigger warnings here too. 

Are there swear words? Yes, lots.

Would I recommend the book? Yes, now that I know it's based on a true story. Before that, I had struggled to understand it really. It isn't a bad book by any means. Jude is, while not a totally sympathetic character, very likeable. 

How many stars? Six out of ten.  

Andy McNab Giveaway

I promised you a giveaway of this, and the publishers were really quick to send me my copy. (I got it because I left a review on Amazon). I'm unlikely to read the book again so what better way than to let one of you lovely lot win it instead! This is a lovely, unread hardback copy

a Rafflecopter giveaway

When We Collided by Emery Lord - Review

Where did I get it? I bought it on Kindle for 99p a couple of weeks back, and I've seen such buzz around it that I thought I'd read it now. 

What's it about? Vivi has moved to Verona Cove for the summer as her painter mother is drawing inspiration from the area. Vivi is determined to embrace all of life, to have plenty of new experiences and to forget what went wrong in Seattle. She gets a job at a pottery painting shop and there she meets Jonah. 

Jonah is the 3rd eldest of six siblings. Their dad has recently died and Jonah and his elder siblings have been keeping the family together while their mum hides away in her bedroom, griefstricken. Vivi integrates herself in Jonah's life and those of his family. 

But cracks start to appear as it becomes clearer what's going on in Vivi's mind. I won't say more because I don't want to spoil it. 

What age range is it for? 15+, there's some gory and graphic stuff. 

Are any main characters LGBTQ+? No

Are any main characters people of colour? No 

Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? Yes, it's a big part of the story. 

Is there any sex stuff? Yes, but it's very fade to black, and there's mentions of safe sex. 

Are drugs mentioned or used? Yes, not illegal drugs but prescription ones. 

Is there any talk of death? Yes, and there's some other gory stuff too.

Are there swear words? Very infrequently. 

Would I recommend the book? Yes, absolutely. The book has a really summery feel to it, and the setting is well-described and feels part of the novel. Vivi and Jonah are both extremely likeable characters, although I felt like Jonah was a bit too "good" for most of the book. His siblings are all well drawn, and the people at Jonah's dad's restaurant, and Vivi's mum. 

How many stars? Nine out of ten. 

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

I recently read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and liked it, but I didn't feel it fitted my usual format so I thought I'd just write about it. I feel like I'm the last person on earth to read it anyway!

I've heard of the book, of course, and the subsequent film, but I'd never picked it up. A friend of mine teaches it to teenagers and really recommends it, so when I came across it in the teen section of my local library last week, I picked it up.

The story centres on Bruno, a 9 year old boy living in Berlin in the early 1940s. His dad is high up in the SS and the family gets moved to what we as older readers recogise as a concentration camp (probably Auschwitz) in Poland. Bruno doesn't want to move and is very unhappy as he has no friends at the new house, and his older sister is a Hopeless Case. Out of his bedroom window, Bruno can see a lot of men in striped pyjamas who live in huts, but he doesn't know who they are. His father tells him that they're not people like Bruno and his family are.

The family has one of the prisoners, Pavel, helping out in the house, who tells Bruno that he isn't really a waiter, but a doctor. When Bruno hurts himself, Pavel cleans and dresses the wound, but later Bruno's mother tells him that they mustn't tell his dad that Pavel helped him.

One day, Bruno goes on an Exploration around the edge of the camp and comes across a boy wearing striped pyjamas, sitting cross legged facing the fence. Shmuel is much smaller than Bruno but the two share the same birthday.

Bruno and Shmuel meet every day for months, becoming friends even though neither of them really understand why things are as they are. The end of the book is horrifying - but totally right for the novel, and I don't honestly know how I'd have otherwise written it. I liked this quick read and think it's a great book for a young teenager's introduction into the horrors of the Second World War and the death camps.