Not a week has gone by over the last two summer months without a copy (or several copies) of Mary E. Pearson’s amazing book, THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX, flying right off the Loft shelves and out the door.  Are you one of the many people who loved this unsettling, futuristic story of amnesia, family, Bio-gel, and the soul?  Then check out the Loft’s list of Jenna Fox readalikes!  Here you’ll find sci-fi tales involving genetic engineering, memoirs of a teen amnesiac, stories about grisly accidents and their aftermaths, and books that take on the question of beauty.

Still haven’t read Pearson’s book?  There’s still a month before the onslaught of schoolwork begins and The Loft has a pile of Jenna Fox copies (he he) available.  Come on in and check one out today!

Imagine it: you come to the Loft for a book discussion only to be told that not only will you be talking about the book, but that the book’s author wants to join in and answer YOUR questions! This is exactly what happened a few weeks ago when we discussed The Big Splash by Jack D. Ferraiolo.

Though there was no shortage of questions, Ferraiolo was kind enough to say that if we thought of anymore, we could send them his way. These are the questions generated by the discussion after we hung up with him.

Q. How much of the book changed after your editor said that the ending didn’t seem to follow the rest of the book?

A. My agent, Stephen Barbara, suggested a lot of the
changes (before he even sent it out to editors).  He was the one who
mentioned that the ending didn’t seem to fit the character trajectory, and that the voice seemed to shift in the second half of the book.  So a lot of the second half of the book changed.

Q. How much time passes between the end of The Big Splash and the sequel, (oh yeah, did we forget to mention he’s working on a sequel due out next fall!!!!)?

A. So far, the next book takes place a couple of weeks after the events of
the first…so that what takes place in the first book is still fresh, but
we’re a little further down the road, and we can start to see some of the
bigger ramifications of what transpired…..

Q. How much involvement did you have with the awesome cover?

A. Because of my background, (Ferraiolo won an Emmy for PBS show WordGirl), Chad Beckerman, Amulet’s art director, kept me pretty involved in the process.  He and the artist, Nathan Fox, are extremely talented. Chad took my notes into consideration, but my voice was but one of many.  Ultimately, it was Chad and Nathan who pulled off the awesomeness that is my cover…

So there you have it. We read the book,  loved it, and somehow in this crazy world, the author found out, and the rest – like last week’s lunch special – is history.

You’re in your parents bedroom. You’re looking for something, could be anything – a beach pass, your dad’s Swiss Army Knife, maybe a sweater your mom asked you to grab. Imagine it now. Imagine their bedroom. Now you’re shuffling through their things. And that’s when you find it. The Unwind Order. Your blood runs cold, a flash shocks your eyes, your heart thrashes. This must be a joke. But, no, this isn’t a joke because there are your parents’ signatures right there slashed across the page: ‘We hereby grant permission for the federal government to unwind our son.’ You drop the page to the floor, shaking. You’re going to be unwound. Frantically you touch your arms, your teeth, your eyelids, your tongue, your hair, and your knees. You’re feeling, feeling the parts of the body you’re going to lose when they unwind you. This is the end. Goodnight, sweet prince.

In Neal Shusterman’s seriously creepy book of darkness, Unwind, this is what happens to teenagers who are considered too much trouble by their parents. They’re erased, all their body parts recycled, disappeared. Unwound.  They’re not dead, but they exist silent and helpless in a thousand different bodies where their organs, their hair, their fingernails and bones are donated and absorbed. Sure, many of them run – if they make it to 18 years old the government will quit the chase, they’ll be safe – but no one’s ever made it, they always get you. Unwind is the story of three teens who try to escape despite the odds, who run from the Unwind Order, their parents, and the police in a desperate attempt to save their skins – literally. It’s a suspenseful read with great chase scenes, action, and tense, paranoid drama (especially when they reach a secret, underground facility for runaway Unwinds). If anything, read this book for the horrifying scene in which one of the central characters gets unwound – the process is vividly depicted and…disarming, he-he.

Looking for other great horror stories? Check out our booklist – THE LIVING DEAD.

A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb, is another novel about a paranormal romance. But the relationship makes more sense and is more mature than many of the relationships in this genre. But perhaps this is because the relationship is between two adults who have been around for many years, in ghost form. The novel focuses on Helen, a ghost who is 27 and has been dead for 130 years, who first meets James when she is haunting a teacher and notices that a teenage boy is staring at her. The teenage boy turns out to be James, a ghost who is really 29 and has been dead for 83 years, who is possessing the body which has been left vacant by its spirit. In order to be with James, Helen posses the body of teenage girl whose spirit has wandered off. Helen and James fall in love and together they work through the difficulties they face being two teenagers with two types of very extreme family backgrounds. They also deal with the  traumatic events surrounding their deaths when James is accepted into heaven, Helen struggles with her personal hell, not sure if God will ever be able to accept her. This is a well-written, thought provoking novel, while also being very entertaining and unique. It manages to cover the oppression that teenagers can face from their parents, the question of what happens to us after we are dead, and the nature of true love. (Loft Zoë)

Yesterday Sarah Dessen turned 39! The North Carolina native and author of the hit books, Lock and Key and Just Listen, will release her ninth book, Along for the Ride, on June 16th, 2009. Along for the Ride tells the story of a girl named Auden who impulsively leaves home for a long visit to stay with her father and stepmom in a small coastal town the summer before college begins.  While there she meets a small circle of friends who work at her stepmom’s boutique and even meets a boy – Eli, a BMX competitor – in the local bike-shop.  Eli and Auden – both insomniacs – explore the  town during the small hours of the night and, as their relationship grows, help each other cope with traumas from their pasts while they prepare for their futures.  In the process they become deep friends and quite possibly fall in love.

Celebrate Sarah Dessen’s birthday with us – place a hold on Along for the Ride or check out one of her other popular books at the Loft today!

Sarah Dessen trivia:
*She was born in Evanston, IL, but was raised in North Carolina where she currently makes her home.

*An Australian blogger who calls herself the “Sarah Dessen Diarist” has been hosting a month-long celebration of all things Sarah Dessen on her website.  Each day there has been a different post about Dessen, including guest posts written by notable authors and fellow Dessen fans like Laurie Halse Anderson, Luisa Plaja, and Sarah Ockler.  Check it out.

First it was a novel, then it was a graphic novel, then it was a Wii video game, then it was a film, and now Coraline, the eerie story by The Graveyard Book author, Neil Gaiman, has been adapted into a musical. This tale of a young girl’s perilous journey into another world  where she must save the souls of those trapped in the lookingglass has been set to music and staged by a top-notch team of theatre artists at the MCC Theatre in New York City. The music and lyrics were written by Stephen Merritt, whose deep, strange tenor voice fronts The Magnetic Fields, a synth-based indie outfit from Boston that’s been making music for almost 20 years. (I highly recommend their 1995 album, Get Lost, full of beautiful, lonesome songs driven by electronic beats, infectious melodies, and Merritt’s ironic, sad, Morrissey-like lyrics – “Moons in June…I’ve given up on that stuff”). According to the production’s website, the music “will be performed on a piano ‘orchestra’ – complete with a traditional piano, a toy piano, and a prepared piano (a piano that has had its sound altered by attaching objects – such as tinfoil, rubber bands and playing cards – to the strings).” This mix of Stephen Merrit gloom and detachment and the disorienting dance of keys across altered piano strings sounds ideal for this story.  Spin Magazine writes “In the hands of The Magnetic Fields mastermind Stephen Merritt, the story retains every bit of its fantastical, delightfully macabre tone.” But you can judge for yourself: the theatre provides three demo samples of Merrit’s music for Coraline here.  You can also watch some of the cast and production team, including Merrit, talk about the show, the importance of fairy tales, and why the story is perfect for a theatrical go on MCC Theatre’s YouTube Channel. The production is currently running.

***Don’t forget to register for The Loft’s Neil Gaiman booktalk discussion group this summer! If you’ve read any Neil Gaiman book (The Graveyard Book, Stardust,Coraline, Anansi Boys) then come to this great “all-things-Neil-Gaiman” summer event. We’ll discuss his stories, talk about why we love his work, and view the Coraline film! Tuesday, August 11, 2009 at 4 p.m. Register here.

What would you do with your life if you knew you only had a year to live? That’s the question Ben Wolf, the hero of Chris Crutcher’s excellent novel, Deadline, must ask himself when, during a routine physical before the start of senior year, he is diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. His answer? Tell no one, go out for varsity football (despite being rail-thin, short, and the brother of the star QB), and pursue Dallas Suzuki, the tallest, most confident, athletic, and beautiful girl in school. Oh, and tirelessly challenge (and make a fool out of) that thoughtless, authoritarian American Government teacher who’s always getting on his nerves.

This funny, touching, and compassionate book is that rare beast: a gripping, plot-driven read that weaves in controversial turns without once feeling didactic or forced. As Ben sets down the new path he’s set for himself he begins succeeding wildly. He is an unexpected animal on the ballfield with a sharp eye for strategy, and becomes the team’s secret weapon. He ends up in Dallas’s welcoming arms so fast and so early on that his head spins. But with each success he develops new, unexpectedly meaningful relationships – with his brother, with Dallas, with the coach, even with the town drunk. These relationships deepen as the novel progresses and force him to wrestle with his decision to keep his fate a secret. It also makes his impending death that much harder to bear: How can he leave these amazing people he loves behind? How can he not tell them how little time he has? Was it up to him to “protect” his family and friends from his fate? And why can’t he find the courage to tell Dallas even when, after they fall in love, she reveals two dark, shocking secrets of her own?

Crutcher’s book is packed with memorable characters, complex relationships, and philosophical and moral hot potatoes you’ll be turning over for days. He is as unflinching here about the ugly side of human nature as he is certain, ultimately, in the basic goodness of most people. Ben’s voice is irreverent, sarcastic, and fiercely independent, but he’s rattled by how much he doesn’t know. He’s in a race to make life mean something, and, in only a short while (because that’s all he’s got), he learns about the central importance of love, about his own weaknesses, about the power of selflessness, and the possibility of compassion for even the lowest of God’s creatures. His story exhorts us to make the most of our own short time on this planet. This is Crutcher at his very best.

(Jarrett, The Loft)

When we first reported that director Chris Columbus (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Home Alone) has started filming the first in a series of movies based on Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, readers of The Virtual Loft drew lines in the sand proclaiming that Columbus had chosen a “terrible” cast.  One commenter suggested that Anna Sophia Robb should be playing Anabeth while Josh Hutcherson should be Percy.  A few subsequent commenters agreed with these choices while others did not.  So, let’s hear it: If you had casting power for the upcoming movie version of The Lightning Thief who would you cast?  Who would be your ideal Percy?  Annabeth?  Chiron?  How about Ares?  Write your cast list in our comments section!

The Loft’s falcon, usually found perched atop the bookshelves in the Loft (and occasionally spotted lounging in the egg chair), will be posting a list every Friday of some of the books he has spotted leaving the Loft during the week. (BTW – rumors are circulating that the falcon is part of an undercover investigative team operating out of the Loft. More information about this investigative team can be found here) The sheer volume of books that circulates every week makes it possible for the falcon to report only a mere fraction of them. When the Loft is closed, you may see him flying with his falcon friends that perch (and nest) on the south side of the library.

5/10 – 5/15

Shift by Jennifer Bradbury

Get Well Soon by Julie Halpern

Evolution, Me, & Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande

Bleach by Tite Kubo

The Singing by Alison Croggon

Strays by Ronald Koertge

Ultimate Iron Man by Orson Scott Card

Being Nikki by Meg Cabot

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Red Hulk by Jeff Loeb

Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr

Lifeblood by Tom Becker

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson

Game by Walter Dean Myers

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (the movie)

April 23rd is Shakespeare’s birthday and The Loft is celebrating The Bard’s 445th with this great list of books! Here you’ll find modern novel re-tellings of Shakespeare plays, stories inspired by the great scribe’s life (and the lives of his characters), Manga adaptations, as well as gripping non-fiction titles that explore his creative genius, biography, and thematic obsessions.  Dive into the exciting, vibrant world of The Bard to combat the early spring doldrums!  Happy Birthday, Will!