Bookanista Review: CHOPSTICKS

Here is the official blurb from the publisher:

CHOPSTICKS

After her mother died, Glory retreated into herself and her music. Her single father raised her as a piano prodigy, with a rigid schedule and the goal of playing sold-out shows across the globe. Now, as a teenager, Glory has disappeared. As we flash back to the events leading up to her disappearance, we see a girl on the precipice of disaster. Brilliant and lonely, Glory is drawn to an artistic new boy, Frank, who moves in next door. The farther she falls, the deeper she spirals into madness. Before long, Glory is unable to play anything but the song “Chopsticks.” 

But nothing is what it seems, and Glory’s reality is not reality at all. In this stunningly moving novel told in photographs, pictures, and words, it’s up to the reader to decide what is real, what is imagined, and what has been madness all along…

****

CHOPSTICKS is a love story told through visual cues. The reader is given an intimate, almost voyeuristic view into the world of piano prodigy Glory and her neighbor Frank. Glory is almost a prisoner to her music as her father pushes her harder and harder and they embark on a world tour. One day she disappears and the book tells the story of the events leading up to her disappearance. The story is relayed through photos, letters, images, IM’s between characters, emails, plus other images like ticket stubs and announcements. We see Glory and Frank fall in love through their correspondence and then we see Glory’s slow descent into seeming madness as she begins to play “Chopsticks” at her concerts.

The reader is put into the role of sleuth, trying to uncover what the images mean and which clues matter. One of the great aspects of the book are the links that send you online to find additional content (ie. videos on Youtube). There’s also an accompanying app (which I didn’t play with and am not reviewing here) that unlocks additional content. It is our job to figure out what happened to Glory, and the reader becomes an active participant.

All the while I was reading, I kept having these flashbacks to another series (not YA) that I was obsessed with in the nineties. There are strong parallels between the format and the stories, so I didn’t get the sense CHOPSTICKS was as wholly original in concept as some claim it is. In the Griffin and Sabine series, Griffin is a postcard designer and Sabine is a stamp illustrator. Their love story is told through artistic postcards and letters. Real envelopes are pasted to the pages of the trilogy and you pull the love letters out for a read, giving you a unique tactile experience. I was fascinated by these books and spent hours unfolding the notes to reread them because – like CHOPSTICKS – you are never sure if the love story is real or a figment of Griffin’s (or Glory’s) imagination.

I think CHOPSTICKS is the 21st century evolution of Griffin and Sabine – emails, IMs, and Youtube links, in place of postcards and letters. I love the internet – hai, I’m on it umpteen hours a day –  but maybe I’m a bit old-fashioned because I missed the sensation of opening those envelopes and unfolding those letters. I may be reading a larger context into the novel while comparing these works, but I saw how our society has evolved in this age of technology – and not always in a good way. I was left with an urge to write someone a letter and send it the old-fashioned way.

Overall, the book was intriguing albeit leaving behind a hint of yearning for answers. If you are the kind of reader who likes definitive resolution to a mystery, this book will drive you crazy. However, if you want a reading experience that takes you beyond the page, this is definitely a book for you.

Full disclosure: I received this ARC from the publisher.

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One Year After the Book Deal

First, I want to say that I know how lucky I am, and I try to never take it for granted. I’ve had more success in the last year than I know how to cope with on most days. I’ve sold four books, some with foreign and audio rights. I’m going to graduate with my MFA in July in Paris, and I get to visit Germany while I’m in Europe. I have amazing editors and an agent who are all very supportive, even when my Type A personality rears its ugly head in the form of charts, spreadsheets, and too many emails. I couldn’t ask for better friends and family. From my local critique group to the writers and bloggers I’ve come to love online, I’ve found myself rich in friendships and support. And I have two books coming out this year. Some weeks I’m hit with so much exciting news that I’m riding on a good news high. I actually glow. I know because NASA has proof of sighting me from space.

Of course, that only lasts until I sit down at my computer to write. I had a mini-meltdown about a week ago. I’m super at looking like I have everything handled, and not so good at sharing how I’m freaking out on the inside. When I had my mini-meltdown – the kind where my friends could tell from my emails that I was most likely (a) crying when I wrote them and (b) eating ice cream straight from the pint with a spoonful-of-peanut-butter chaser – several people wrote me to say how it made them feel good to see me losing it. And they meant that in the nicest way, which is exactly how I took it.

My fake superwoman act kind of made my friends feel bad because we’re all prone to comparing ourselves to others. (I want to be as funny as Tahereh Mafi and Maureen Johnson. I also want to be classy and handle myself like Veronica Roth. And I want to move people like Laurie Halse Anderson. See? We all do it.) By only sharing the great happenings, I gave off this air of having it together. Juggling two book deals with school and a full time career? No problem! Piece of cake. *finger snap* At least, that’s what it looked like when I hid my struggles.

And it’s not much better on this blog. I’ve been posting less and less frequently, partly because some things seem shrouded in secrecy once you get a book deal (you simply can’t talk about some things), but mostly because I once used this blog as a place to share my struggles, and now I feel like there’s a perception that if you have a book deal, you no longer have struggles. Or at least, your struggles are ones that others would volunteer for, so please, please stop your whining, stupid author. The first I can’t do much about, but the second, I’m getting over because of what happened after my mini-meltdown.

See, I’ve been struggling to write the sequel to TOUCHED. My first two books (TOUCHED and IF I LIE) I wrote in this vacuum where all was sunshine and love of words. It was a magical place where the pressure to sell out an advance, critics, Goodreads ratings, and deadlines didn’t exist. The only expectations placed on me were my own. Now, I have others to think about, and I’m such a people pleaser. Man, I hate to disappoint anyone and, when I had to ask for a deadline extension, I cried. I was hugely disappointed in myself that I couldn’t MAKE myself deliver on time. And despite me crying, my agent was lovely and reminded me that my life has undergone some major changes this year, and that truly I didn’t let anyone down.

I thought about that after I got off the phone with her and then processed it over the next few days. Last Valentine’s Day – it seems so apropos to post this almost a year to the day after I sold – I sold my first book. A month later I sold a trilogy. I have balanced edits, line edits, copy edits, first pass page review, school, book marketing, a full time career in marketing, writing the sequel, family obligations, a crit group, and more. On top of that, my father passed away seven months ago. And I’ve only been in San Francisco a couple of years, so there’s that adjustment. If you back up to 2010, it’s like someone shoved me in a snow globe and every few months, they’ve taken complete run-through-a-meadow joy in giving it a good jolt. Upheaval, even good upheaval, is still upheaval. There’s no shame in that. See how I’m admitting that finally?

Taking all of those stressors into account, I’ve acclimated well. I think. I work hard. I regularly put in 15-18 hour days on a computer. In retrospect, beating the hell out of myself for not working hard enough is laughable and shows how I lost perspective. You can only demand so much of yourself.

Sometimes I need to pause and take stock. Look at where I’ve been and then readjust my expectations of myself. And I need to share my struggles, both to help myself and to let others in. When I had my crying jag, I discovered at least six other YA writers who are struggling to write their sequels with all the pressures that didn’t exist when they wrote their first books. It turns out that I am not alone.  I’m ridiculously normal, as a matter of fact. And knowing that I was struggling helped those other writers see they were normal, too. It’s so nice to find out that you’re not alone in the boat sans paddles.

Really we’re all doing the best we can. Nobody ever tells you what comes after your dream comes true. Stories always seem to end with “And they lived happily ever after…” But there’s a lot of effort, sweat, and tears that goes into that ever after. And, this is so huge for me, it’s time for me to come up with a new dream, a new goal to strive for. This seems so presumptuous, right? I never thought the first dream would come true, so how dare I reach for a second one? But you know what? I’m going to do it anyway.

So yeah, that’s what’s been going on with me.

Class of 2k12: Facial Expressions

I have a post up over on the Class of 2k12 blog. It’s all about how to show what your characters are feeling through facial expressions. It includes some images that have helped me tremendously. Be sure to check it out!

http://classof2k12.com/?p=1244

Bookanista Review: MAY B.

Full disclosure: Caroline Starr Rose is a fellow Class of 2k12er.

Here is the official blurb from the publisher:

MAY B.

I’ve known it since last night:
It’s been too long to expect them to return.
Something’s happened.

May is helping out on a neighbor’s Kansas prairie homestead—just until Christmas, says Pa. She wants to contribute, but it’s hard to be separated from her family by 15 long, unfamiliar miles. Then the unthinkable happens: May is abandoned. Trapped in a tiny snow-covered sod house, isolated from family and neighbors, May must prepare for the oncoming winter. While fighting to survive, May’s memories of her struggles with reading at school come back to haunt her. But she’s determined to find her way home again. Caroline Starr Rose’s fast-paced novel, written in beautiful and riveting verse, gives readers a strong new heroine to love.

****

This book in verses is kind of quiet and unassuming. Like a lot of my favorite books or songs, you have to be paying attention to every word. When you are, you’ll feel like you got punched in the gut because while Caroline Starr Rose is a minimalist writer, she is one who chooses each word with tremendous care.

Take for instance the second poem. May B. has just been told that she is to be sent away to work a stranger’s farm. She wonders why her brother is not sent instead and concludes: “boys are necessary.” Man, this just about ripped my guts out. Those three words say loads about how this young girl has been taught to value herself and how girls were viewed in this rough pioneer time. My heart broke for May B. in those three words.

But May B. is a fighter. She has dreams and desires. She’s told they are impossible, but she still believes in possibilities. While I’m not normally a big fan of historicals (somehow I missed out on falling in love with the Little House on the Prairie novels), this pioneer story gripped me to the end. May B’s struggle to survive on her own and the way the setting insinuates itself throughout the story are so well done.

Librarians should definitely get this book on their shelves. Both boys and girls will love it, and it’s perfect for struggling readers!

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