I Am Number 4 But Who Will Save You?

Just saw Beastly...ummm...somebody give me the script and a week and I can revise the whole thing and make it like 27 times better.  I mean the whole story of Beauty and the Beast is such a classic but this screenplay didn't really bring out all the magical, fairy-tale potential it could have had.  First off...the "beast" not beastly enough.  Second, what dad (as scum bag as he may be) will just hand off his daughter to some stranger for her safety?  Well, maybe a complete psycho dad would, but nothing really showed her dad was that crazy.  And so she's off to rich hideaway with her dad's consent and her "social media" page.  Ok...enough.  It was worth the Redbox dollar, though.  But what injustice to the novel Beastly by Alex Flinn.  Please, screenwriters and movie producers...stop messing up books!  The writer knows best so why mess up a story that works?  Now, I can see a druggie dad willing to trade his daughter to save his own messed up life as a last ditch effort to see another hit up his vein.  That's in the book.

I suppose I really don't have much to write tonight.  This is sort of a venting blog.  Which brings me to another movie with our "beast."  But first the book...I Am Number Four.  I'll admit my son wanted to buy it, but I would not let him for writing sake.  I read a few paragraphs and that was all I had to read to see somebody with a pretty good plot idea just sat down and wrote it and didn't put much thought into the craft of writing.  Just plain, boring, generic stuff in there.  This sci-fi?  This is publishable with a pretty sizeable media promotion, movie deal, and all?  Disheartening.  But on the bright side, the movie did a much better job!  I'd rather see the movie any day than endure a few paragraphs of the book.

You know what I need?  I need a very well written novel right now and nothing is coming my way and nothing is really grabbing my attention.  Of the 20 or so books on my desk (the ones I brought home this summer to read), only about 2 or 3 of them will be "wow."  And those 2 or 3 have not been promoted by many book reviewers or YA blogs.  Why?  'Cus there's no magical spell or demonic angels or devouring shadows that want a mortal soul.  Just go to Target.  There is a whole aisle of "dark" YA. 

Enough!  Give Matt de la Pena a chance! 

First chapter of I Will Save You...amazing writing.  Real writing.

So, here is a portion of a letter he wrote to all potential readers and posted on his own blog...


Dear Potential Reader:

This past Sunday I was playing ball in Brooklyn. A bunch of guys like me, older now, still trying to get to the rim or drain jumpers from the corner. At one point the ball rolled out of bounds and two dudes disagreed about who touched it last. Others joined in. Fingers were pointed. Things were said about people’s mothers. I stood back and watched the argument build and thought about the absurdity of our lives. All of us dressed up, dressed down, trying to be somebody, hoping they say good things when we’re not in the room. Like me, standing at half court all stressed out, wondering: Will anybody like my new book, I WILL SAVE YOU? It’s sad. Maybe people don’t like sad books. I like sad books, but I like sad everything – though technically I’m not a sad person.

                         YOU CAN READ THE ENTIRE LETTER ON HIS BLOG..Here.

 But I will skip to the end  of his letter.


Or maybe the connection is a more personal one. Maybe when you read one of my books you’re coming into my home, drunk on my wine, and sticking a small piece of me in your pocket (so much of these stories are pulled from my past). And maybe when you move me all around – from the table by your bed, to your office desk, to your padded computer bag – you’re giving me a small peek into your world. And maybe after you turn the last page you’ll even lend me to a friend, and I’ll get even farther in my travels. And ultimately you may even come to an epiphany similar to mine, and you’ll sneak up onto my front lawn, months from now, years even, and set that borrowed piece of me back on my welcome mat in the form of a letter, or an email, or a Facebook message, telling me what you think. That’s easily my favorite thing in the world...I would be honored if you gave I WILL SAVE YOU a read. It really is kind of a sad book. But it’s hopeful, too. And it’s my heart.

Your friend,
Matt de la Peña

And here is an EXCERPT from I Will Save You:

I keep picturing it over and over in the pitch black of solitary confinement. With my arms and legs strapped down and my head taped in place so I can't move or barely even breathe.

I see me pushing Devon off the cliff.

Him in the air reaching, ricocheting off the ice plant cliff, hitting the sand, people circling his crooked body.

The grunion coming from the ocean.

Olivia crying in her hands.

And every time I picture it a worse feeling goes in my stomach, like my whole body is unbalanced, or when you drop straight down in your roller-coaster cart and everybody has their hands up, screaming.

Except for me there's no end of the ride where I can get off and just sit on an empty bench with my soda watching people. This kind of roller coaster keeps going.

'Cause what if I was wrong about Devon?

What if the whole time he wasn't trying to hurt her, he just loved her? Same as me. What if that's the reason he was always wandering around alone in the middle of the night like he was depressed?

And what if Olivia actually loved him back, and I got in the way of people's fate?

That doesn't make sense, though. 'Cause he kept telling me she thought she was better and he would use his gun on her.

And Olivia liked me.

She even said it at Torrey Pines Beach while we sat together on her special rock and watched the sunset colors spread over the ocean.

Matt de la Pena

About Matt de la Pena

It’s raining in Brooklyn today, and I’m at a coffee shop, writing.

Man, I always seem to be writing these days. I’m here at a coffee shop, or I’m at the Writers Space, or I’m solo in my room late at night, in the dark, writing inside undecorated white walls, writing under a Brooklyn-style skylight that's more tar than starry sky.

Guess I've traveled a million miles from how I was as a kid. Used to be just me and basketball. Pick up games and talking head with the fellas. But these days hoop is a little smaller in the rearview mirror. The jumper isn't quite so trustworthy. The first step doesn't hurt as many feelings. Instead of hip hop and R&B, it's Sufjan Stevens, M Ward, Iron & Wine. Elliott Smith. These days come a little more literary, a little more solitary.

But early this morning I went back in my head for a sec. Went back to the face of the first girl who told me she loved me. Jen. This was way back in San Diego. We were both 15 and fresh-faced, sitting on my buddy's couch–his parents' couch. We were so awkward, so overwhelmed by having just kissed for the first time. Man, I hadn't seen her face in years. But there she was. In my mind. Every beautiful detail. Her eyes so big and brown and pure, dark hair so straight and long. And the look on her face . . . man, this girl actually dug me!

We were like that for a good 15 minutes. Silent. Unaware of how to act in our brand-new romantic skin. She circled a finger around my right kneecap, cleared her throat and brought her face up to mine. “Guess what,” she said.

“What?”

She took the basketball out of my hands and set it in her lap. She spun it around and pointed at the “I” in “Spalding.” She looked up at me and smiled, then pointed at the “L.” She shifted the ball around to the word “Official,” pointed at the “O.” She searched and pointed, searched and pointed, until she had completely spelled out the phrase “I love you.”

I felt something move in my chest and asked her if she wanted to be my girl. She blushed, nodded. We grabbed a hold of each other and kissed again, this time a little less awkward.

This morning, when I woke up remembering this, it hit me how deeply rooted the game has been in my life. Here I was holding my basketball while I kissed my first girlfriend. She used it to spell out that she loved me.

No matter how far I move away from the game, into this new life as an author, no matter what strange direction my literary interests lead me in next, or where I go, or who I meet, I will always carry the game of basketball in my chest. This game was my best friend growing up. It was my confidant. My passion. My ticket to college, to education, to books and words, the rhythms of poetry.

Soon the day will come when I can no longer dunk, when I can no longer scoot around the skinny kid at the Y with the big head. Eventually my skills will deteriorate to the point that a basketball court stops feeling like a haven and starts feeling more like a prison cell. But I will never forget you, Basketball. You were with me every step of the way. You gave me the confidence to try and be somebody (an author!). You gave me this incredible life.

Teachers Guide

Teacher's Guide

NOTE TO TEACHERS

Please click on the link to download the PDF.
Download a PDF of the Teacher's Guide

Ok...so, don't you feel like reading it now?

Excellent novel by Matt de la Pena!

Now I am off to watch one of my favorite TV series...Breaking Bad (season 4).

Phantom Universe...in Our Universe

Last post I made was over Illegal by Bettina Restrepo, YA fiction touching on the controversial issue of illegal immigration.  This week it's Phantom Universe...another controversial issue...human trafficking.  Although both are works are fiction, they leave readers with a better understanding of the costs involved.

Here is Laura Kreitzer, author of Phantom Universe...

Hello Literary-Folk!

My name is Laura Kreitzer, and I’m the author of the Timeless Series and the Summer Chronicles. This week I would like to alert everyone on a colossal crisis that’s gone unnoticed in the world: human trafficking. That’s why I’ve asked hundreds of blogs to be involved with spreading the word on this issue that’s become close to my heart.

As an author, and someone whose life is put in the spotlight, I keep most people at a distance. Only a handful of my friends know the whole me and the events from my past. But this week I’d like to share with you a part of myself that the outside world doesn’t see (and a part of me I don’t like to share). I was emotionally abused for five years by someone I thought loved me, my mind beaten into submission. Though the turmoil I went through doesn’t penetrate as deep as someone forced into slavery on the worldwide market for human trafficking, I can sadly relate in some ways: imprisoned, my life dictated down to what I wore, ate, where I went, whom I spoke to, where I worked, when I slept, bending to his every whim. He did not sway, even when I cried through some of the more traumatic things he had me do. I was a slave in my own home. In my desperation for freedom, I held out a gun and asked him to just end my suffering. I was desperate.

I can’t even imagine how many women (and men) in the world are in a similar situation. What’s even worse, I had it mild compared to the children that are sold for labor or sex. Surprisingly, the good ol’ U.S.A. is reported to be the host to two million slaves. Did you know this? Because I certainly did not; not until I was preparing to write my newest novel: Phantom Universe. The main character, Summer Waverly, was stolen as a child and sold as a slave to the captain of a modern-day pirate ship. From a loved child who only knew “time-out” as punishment, to being whipped into silence was something I knew nothing about. So I researched deeply into human trafficking and the psychological effects of torture of various types that one would endure in these circumstances. I felt shaken at my findings and knew I had to tell Summer’s story. (Read a sneak peek here.)

A storm began to brew in my mind; transforming, morphing, twisting, and expanding into this massive, black cloud. I had to bring this tragic atrocity to the forefront. My own emotional experiences, mixed with the research I did on human trafficking, made me feel an intense connection with Summer, and to all women who’ve been through this kind of brutality. The cloud ruptured and rained all over my computer one day. It took one month to write Phantom Universe, the first in the Summer Chronicles. I was so consumed by the story that I wrote nearly nonstop, only breaking for necessary tasks like eating, showering, and occasionally—very occasionally—sleeping.

Though the book I’ve written would be classified as Science Fiction, or as I’d like to call it, Dystopian, the emotions and psychological aspects are not Science Fiction—they're real. Reviewers have said many amazing things about Summer, this character who is so real in my mind and who I cried along with as the words poured from my soul onto my screen.

“I admired Summer's strength and ability to adapt,” says CiCi’s Theories. “I felt tied to her emotions,” Jennifer Murgia, author or Angel Star admits. And Tahlia Newland, author of Lethal Inheritance, remarks, “Summer is strong and smart in mind [. . .]”

Through her overwhelmingly horrendous past, Summer goes on more than just a physical journey in Phantom Universe, she goes on a psychological one as well; growing beyond her mute state to persevere and survive in a new world beyond the whip she’s so frightened of.

Now that the release date is here, I’m excited and terrified to share this story with everyone. I’m emotionally tied in every way to the words I’ve written, because they’re more than words. More than just a story on a page. Beyond the fictional aspects, there’s a real issue that needs to be addressed: human trafficking must be stopped. We shouldn’t sit idly by while this continues to plague us. Our world’s children—our nation’s children—are being affected. It’s time we take action!

Earlier this month (February) Phantom Universe hit Barnes and Noble’s top 100 Best Selling list and I donated 10% of my sales from Phantom Universe, until the end of February, to the DNA Foundation.

“DNA hopes to help abolish modern day slavery, deter perpetrators, and free the many innocent and exploited victims. We are committed to forcing sex slavery out of the shadows and into the spotlight.

Freedom is a basic human right and slavery is one of the greatest threats to that freedom. No one has the right to enslave another person.”

—From DNA Foundation’s Website

I ask that you spread the word to everyone you know. Look around on the DNA Foundation website and find a way to get involved in ending human trafficking. Take action today. Everyone has a voice—you have a voice. Will you have the courage to use it?



I hope you have taken Laura's message to heart.  God Bless You and Have a Nice Week!

Illegal...Not to Read This!

A hotbed of controversy today?  Illegal Immigration. 

This is critical issue for all of us, especially for us living down here on the Tex-Mex border. For this reason, the novel, Illegal, is a worthwhile read... But beyond this there is also the fact that very little YA fiction is written about the Latina/o experience.

So this week I am featuring the YA novel, Illegal by Bettina Restrepo...Just released this March, 2011!


Summary from the author's website:

Nora is on a desperate journey far away from home. When her father leaves their beloved Mexico in search of work, Nora stays behind. She fights to make sense of her loss while living in poverty—in wait of her father’s return and a better day. When the letters and money stop coming, Nora decides that she and her mother must look for him in Texas. After a frightening experience crossing the border, the two are all alone in a strange place. Nora must find the strength to survive while aching for small comforts: friends, a new school, and her quinceañera. This gripping, deeply hopeful debut novel captures the challenges of one girl’s unique, yet universal immigrant experience.



Now here is an interview with Bettina!

ME:  How does Illegal fit into the framework of contemporary Latina/Latino literature marketed towards a YA leadership?


BETTINA:  I use the Spanish language without direct translation (with a glossary is in the back). In some ways, I know it stops certain readers in their tracks. I want them to think about the context. I intentionally make the reader feel awkward to put them in Nora’s place of what she understands and what she doesn’t. I also feel the language works organically with the setting. Spanglish is commonplace, especially in Texas.

As to where it fits within the Latino market – I have no idea. I wanted to convey one family’s story. I’ve already had a few internationally readers, and they have expressed that the emotions Nora experiences in Illegal could have been their own. It’s deeply satisfying to know that the story is speaking across cultures.


Ethically, I think it’s important to expose the differences that exist in society – but a character is a character, no matter where they come from, their ideals, or the color of their skins.


ME: How does Illegal break away from the conventions of mainstream YA, yet maintain a writing style and storyline accessible and appealing to a general young adult audience?

BETTINA: One, it’s written very sparsely, so it can be accessible at many levels. But, given the topic, its complexity, and some violent scenes, it falls straight into YA. I’m especially giddy when I hear from teachers and librarians about how they plan to use the book in the classroom. I also have a teacher’s guide coming soon on my website written by a very smart English teacher, Greg Coleman.

I don’t write any differently for YA than I would for adult. Teens are saavy. If they feel for a character – they will keep reading.


ME: In what ways does Illegal reflect or connect to various aspects of your life experiences?

BETTINA: Illegal represents many questions I have in life. I have no contact with my father (of my own choosing) – but I used the relationship between Nora and her father to express the longing in my own life for an ideal father.

I also wonder about the voice of God. Does He talk to us directly, or is that inner voice of courage our own?

I worked in the Hispanic community that is the setting of this book. I watched members of this community live their lives, how they spent their money, and observed them surviving day to day. Their stories echoed in my head and there was no way to get them out until I wrote this story.



ME: Can you please share the creative writing process you engaged in while writing Illegal?

BETTINA: I like writing in 1st person. For me, it’s the best way to hear the voice. The first draft came quickly, but I revised and revised for years. I went to critique groups and listened. I almost gave up, but Nora’s voice called to me.


ME:  What are some of your upcoming projects in YA literature?

BETTINA: I am writing a telenovela within a book. It’s funny, and filled with many aspects of my life living in two cultures. I’m revising (again and again).


ME: What is the main thing you hope readers will gain from t their reading experience of Illegal?

BETTINA: I want them to come away from the book with compassion – to understand that when people make the desperate choice to cross a border illegally, they do it out of necessity. I also wanted them to look to the unseen part of society that is just under their nose.


ME: What is your personal stance on the issue of illegal immigration and other related issues such as the creation of border wall along the Tex-Mex border?

I believe our system of immigration is laborious and broken. On one hand, American society begs immigrants to come and work menial jobs. On the other, how can they pay (taxes) into a system that won’t let them benefit?

I laugh at the idea of a border wall between the US and Mexico. It’s completely ridiculous. We need to work on a system that de-incentivizes those who cross illegally, those who employ illegally, and those who take advantage of both.

I am a child of immigrants. My father, a Colombian National, joined the US Army and served his country for 25 years. My mother, an East German, married him and naturalized as a US citizen in 1969. I live in the country with its wonderful benefits because they paved the way for me. I want others who dream as my parents did to have a chance, a legal chance, to create their own American dream.


ME: Thank you so much, Bettina!  I really enjoyed your thoughtful answers!

Madame Tussaud...Author Thoughts

Well, Happy 3rd Week of February!  I must announce we only have two more days of the book giveaway contest for Madame Tussaud as sponsore by the author Michelle Moran.  Hurry and post a comment about any of her books or writing at the contest link at the top of Fictionally Yours or here after this post.

And now...here is Michelle with her guest post over Madame Tussaud!  Yea!

MADAME TUSSAUD: The Woman by Michelle Moran



When most people hear the name Madame Tussaud, the first thing that comes to mind are the eerily lifelike waxworks which crowd her museums throughout the world. But who was the woman behind the name, and what was she like in the flesh?


Madame Tussaud’s story actually began in 18th century Paris. While most people know her from her famous museum in London, it was in France, on the humble Boulevard du Temple, where Marie first got her start as an apprentice in her uncle’s wax museum, the Salon de Cire. At the time, the Boulevard du Temple was crowded with exhibits of every kind. For just a few sous a passerby might attend the opera, watch a puppet show, or visit Henri Charles’ mystifying exhibition The Invisible Girl. The Boulevard was a difficult place to distinguish yourself as an artist, but as Marie’s talent grew for both sculpting and public relations, the Salon de Cire became one of the most popular attractions around. Suddenly, no one could compete with Marie or her uncle for ingenious publicity stunts, and when the royal family supposedly visited their museum, this only solidified what most showmen in Paris already knew — the Salon was an exhibition to watch out for.


But as the Salon’s popularity grew, so did the unusual requests. Noblemen came asking for wax sculptures of their mistresses, women wanted models of their newborn infants, and – most importantly – the king’s sister herself wanted Marie to come to Versailles to be her wax tutor. While this was, in many ways, a dream come true for Marie, it was also a dangerous time to be associated with the royal family. Men like Robespierre, Marat, and Desmoulins were meeting at Marie’s house to discuss the future of the monarchy, and when the Revolution began, Marie found herself in a precarious position. Ultimately, she was given a choice by France’s new leaders: to preserve the famous victims of Madame Guillotine in wax, or be guillotined herself.


Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution is the story of Marie’s life during one of the most tumultuous times in human history. Her survival was nothing less than astonishing, and how she survived makes for what I hope is a compelling read.
 
Sincerely, Michelle Moran
 
 
 
Thank-you so much Michelle!  So glad you could visit Fictionally Yours!