Kate's Book Blog

Eric Luper's historical YA novel BUG BOY comes out on Tuesday, and I can't resist a little book celebration for one of my critique pals. If you know eluper , then you know he's one of the nicest, funniest guys you'll ever meet.  If you've read his first YA novel, BIG SLICK, you know he can spin a timely, fast-paced gambling story like nobody's business.  Now there's BUG BOY - a gambling story from days gone by that shows his talent for writing historical fiction as juicy and fast-paced as anything set in modern times.

This is a book that's going to make teen boys fall in love with historical fiction without ever knowing what hit them. Set in 1934 Saratoga, BUG BOY is about an apprentice jockey who finds himself living the high life when his big opportunity comes knocking. But secrets from his past, pressure from a race course thug, and the attention of a beautiful young woman from the other side of the fence make his life more complicated than he could have imagined.   One teacher note: BUG BOY is probably best for older middle school and high school students, since the realistic portrayal of rough track life includes some language and sexual situations. Actually, I'm betting that a bunch of adult readers are going to discover and love this book, too - it has incredible crossover appeal, especially for horse racing and history fans. If you need it right this very second (and you probably do) click here to buy it from an indie bookstore near you!

Fascinating, gritty, and full of tension, BUG BOY is a sure win. Congrats, Eric!

Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres, so I celebrate any time a great new historical novel shows up in the world.  Tomorrow is cause for celebration indeed because it's the release day for Winnie's War (Walker Books for Young Readers) by Jenny Moss.  In the interest of full disclosure, I'll tell you that Jenny and I share a publisher and are online friends, but I'd be crowing about this book even if I'd never heard of her before.

I had the good fortune to read an ARC of Winnie's War a few months ago and was absolutely swept away by this story of a small-town Texas girl standing up to try and protect her family from the 1918 Spanish Influenza epidemic. This is the very best kind of historical fiction - full of rich characters, vividly detailed history, the suspense of a threatening pandemic, and even a touch of romance in the form of a sweet little first-kiss scene that made me smile for weeks after I read it.  Teachers of grades 4-8, in particular, will want to snatch this one up for their classrooms and school libraries.

They say that whatever you do on the first day of the New Year tells how you'll spend your time that year.  I'm so hoping this is true for books, too, because the first book I read in 2009 was one of my favorites in a long, long time.

I'll apologize in advance for teasing - it's not out until late January - but I simply can't wait that long to talk about HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET by Jamie Ford.  I'd read a mention of it months ago on PubRants, the blog kept by Jamie's agent Kristin Nelson.  I was excited to read this one because I knew it was set in Seattle during the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, and that's a time period that has always interested me. I expected an interesting trip through history, but what I got was so, so much more than that.

Henry Lee is still mourning the death of his wife when he learns that the belongings of Japanese Americans hidden in the basement of Seattle's Panama Hotel for decades have been discovered. Henry is drawn to the basement, and what he's searching for there opens a door he thought he had closed forever. The story switches back and forth between 1986 and the 1940s, when a 12-year-old Henry attending an American school (he's "scholarshipping" as his father likes to say) meets another international student working in the school kitchen. Keiko is Japanese American, the enemy according to Henry's father, but the two become best friends before her family is imprisoned in one of the relocation camps.


This book does a phenomenal job exploring the history and attitudes of this time period, and Ford's portrayal of Seattle's ethnic neighborhoods is amazing. But really, the thing that pulled me into this novel the most was the richness of the relationships -- Henry and Keiko, Henry and his father, Henry's mother and his father, and Henry and his own son. HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET looks at the best and worst of human relationships, the way we regard others, the way we find ourselves reenacting our relationships with our parents with our own children, the choices we make along the way. Mostly, though, this book reminds us that there is always room -- and time -- for forgiveness and redemption.

I finished this book in tears, moved by the people who came to life so vividly in the story and sad that it had to end at all. HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET is a perfect, perfect choice for book clubs or for anyone craving a compelling story about human nature at its worst and at its best. An amazing, amazing book. It will be one of your favorites, too, I can almost promise.

1. Earlier this week, I gave a newspaper interview about my second Lake Champlain historical novel for young readers, Champlain and the Silent One.  I had forgotten that it was running in today's newspaper and just about spit out my coffee when I saw a frighteningly large photograph of myself on the Family Page of the Press Republican. It's accompanied by a very nice article by Robin Caudell, a writer whose reviews I always enjoy.  The article is online here (It's okay to click if you'd like to read it...the online image isn't quite as big and scary.)
2. It snowed more than expected yesterday, so it looks like we have enough for cross country skiing this weekend!
3. This book is wonderful. 

I didn't plan on reading it this week.  I bought it as a gift but set it aside while I was wrapping and found myself "pre-reading" it...you know...the way you taste the fudge to make sure it's okay?   Now I have to go out and buy a bunch more.  It is the absolutely perfect gift for anyone who appreciates the power of the written word to bring people together.  Read it!

I've been wanting to read this book for a long time. Last week, amid my Christmas book-buying frenzy, I picked up Nancy Werlin's Impossible as a gift to myself, and what a gift it was.

Lucy, the 17-year-old main character, is fighting a centuries-old family curse based on the impossible tasks in the folk song "Scarborough Fair."  She has nine months to solve the riddles of the ballad, to save herself and her unborn child.   Unlike her mother and her mother's mother before her, Lucy has the support of a loving foster family and a devoted childhood friend, but still, she knows she's fighting a battle that her ancestors have all lost.

It's been a long time since I've rooted quite so hard for characters in a novel, but Lucy won my heart.  I loved her, and I love the story Nancy Werlin wove around her.  Impossible has it all -- an impossible task (three, actually), a fantastically alluring villain, a brave heroine, a tension-filled plot, and one of the sweetest romances you'll ever encounter.  As I write this review, the wind is whipping through the trees outside, transporting me back to that chapter where Lucy and Zach were -- wait a minute...that would be a spoiler, and that's no good.  I better just stop there. Trust me...you'll want to read every word of this gem yourself.


Kate's Holiday Book Review Note:  I hope you're shopping with independent bookstores for the holidays!  After all of my holiday season book reviews, I'll be posting a short note on how each title might fit into your gift list.

Impossible by Nancy Werlin

Suggested ages:  12+ (and this is one that older readers of YA will love!)

Buy it for readers who loved:  Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle Trilogy, the Twilight series, Elizabeth Bunce's A Curse Dark as Gold. The mix of romance, suspense, folklore,and magic will make Impossible a sure bet with a wide range of readers.

NEED by Carrie Jones is one of those books that sneaks up on you.  It starts off firmly grounded in the real world, with teens so real you can almost smell them sweating after cross-country practice, a setting so vivid you can feel the winter wind blow, and the very real teen drama that defines every high school in America.  But this isn’t just any town; it’s a town with a high concentration of pixies – magical beings with terrible, evil needs.  By the time you realize the danger the main character, Zara, is in, you’ve already accepted this book as real, which makes the scary parts even scarier.

After the death of Zara’s father, her mother sends her to live in snowy Maine, where she’s thrown off balance by icy roads and people who aren’t what they appear to be. But even worse than the blustery snow is the mysterious man who shows up.  He’s been following her everywhere, he leaves a trail of gold dust behind him, and Zara’s convinced he’s connected to the disappearance of some missing boys in town.  When Zara discovers that the mystery man is a pixie, she’s forced to fight her fears and question some of her own ideas about nonviolence.



I love Zara. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Carrie Jones created her in response to some of the issues I have with TWILIGHT’s Bella.  While I read TWILIGHT, loved the exciting plot, and completely understand the appeal to teen girls, I always wonder how they view Bella, who isn’t as strong a heroine as I like to see in books for girls.  Zara, by contrast, is a girl with ideals and gumption.  She has her own sizzling love interest in NEED, but it’s on her terms.  She’s a heroine I can feel good about introducing to my 7th grade girls. NEED is a great book for paranormal romance fans – and a fantastic “next book” for kids looking for something to read after TWILIGHT. 


Kate's Holiday Book Review Note:  I hope you're shopping with independent bookstores for the holidays!  After all of my holiday season book reviews, I'll be posting a short note on how each title might fit into your gift list.

Need by Carrie Jones

Note:  This title has a December 23 release date from Bloomsbury.  If that's cutting it too close, you might want to pre-order it as a holiday gift and just leave a little note with a picture of the cover under the tree. It's that good.  Or just pick up a gift certificate for your favorite indie and wrap it up with a copy of this review!

Suggested ages:  12+

Buy it for kids who loved:  Twilight, Wicked Lovely, Lament, other paranormal romance novels.  They'll love this one, too!

When the National Book Award finalists for young people's literature were announced a few weeks ago, there were only two titles on the list that I hadn't already read and loved -- and one of them walked away with the medal.  While the turkey was cooking  yesterday, I dug into Judy Blundell's What I Saw and How I Lied, and I found myself nodding, understanding why the NBA Committee loved it so much.

That deliciously dangerous-feeling cover image lives up to its promise when 15-year-old Evelyn Spooner, on a trip to Palm Beach with her mother and step-father, meets Peter, a handsome young soldier who served with her step-father in World War II.  He is eight years older.  He is beautiful.  Absolutely beautiful and absolutely charming.  Evelyn is a typical young teen, poised on the edge of the diving board, so ready to be more glamorous that she can taste it, and she falls for Peter in a big way.  Anyone who has experienced first love knows the feeling that Blundell captures so beautifully in this novel -- that rush of momentum like a train barreling down a track, no matter what stands in the way.  What I Saw and How I Lied is written in first person, but even as readers begin to sense trouble, Evie is blissfully oblivious to the train wreck taking shape around her until it transforms the story from a post-war romance to a gut-wrenching mystery and courtroom drama.

Even though this novel is set in the 1940s and plunged me into that world completely, its main character seemed to transcend time, and I really think today's young readers will to relate to Evie Spooner in a big way.  What I Saw and How I Lied feels like the best kind of classic -- one that will speak to young readers, especially girls, no matter when they're facing the challenges of growing up.



Kate's Holiday Book Review Note:  I hope you're shopping with independent bookstores for the holidays!  After all of my holiday season book reviews, I'll be posting a short note on how each title might fit into your gift list.

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

Suggested ages:  12+

Buy it for kids who loved:  Twilight.   Honestly, if you know a kid who only wants to read about vampires, this might be the perfect book to expand her horizons a bit.  It's masterfully written but still has that intense sense of romance and danger that draws so many kids to Stephenie Meyer's series.  Peter is every bit as beautiful as Edward, too...only without the fangs.

I often feel sorry for people who don't read good books;
they are missing a chance to lead an extra life.
                                                ~ Scott Corbett ~

When I think about why my favorite books are my favorites, Scott Corbett’s sentiments ring true. So many of them involve real-life places I’ve never been or fantasy worlds that I long to visit.  And some introduce me to worlds that I haven’t known well but suddenly find myself wanting to explore.  Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass (Little, Brown, October 1, 2008) is one of those books.

The book is set at the Moon Shadow Campground in the days surrounding a total solar eclipse, and three narrators tell the story of how their paths converge there, just as the moon’s shadow crosses the sun. There’s Ally, a self-confident, home-schooled kid who has grown up at the Moon Shadow, spending her time searching for alien signals and arranging rocks in the campground labyrinth.  There’s Bree, firmly entrenched in the life of an urban middle school social butterfly until her parents drop the bomb that she’s moving to the middle of nowhere so they can work on a research project.  And there’s Jack, who flunked science class and is sentenced to a summer project at the Moon Shadow with his teacher.  Often, when I read a novel with multiple narrators I end up liking one better than the others and wishing the whole book were written in that voice, but that wasn’t the case here; every voice was distinct and every character so well-developed that I loved them as individuals and felt like I cared about each of their stories.

As a middle school teacher, I always get extra excited about titles that connect to the curriculum and still maintain the rich characters, plot twists, humor, and tension that keep kids reading on their own.  Every Soul a Star is loaded with astronomy, presented in a way that’s accessible and compelling. It made me want to spend more time looking up at the night sky, and I found myself googling the time and location of the next total solar eclipse because this book convinced me this is something I need to see.  Every Soul a Star is a perfect choice for middle school teams connecting English and Science classes, but it’s also a terrific character-driven journey to the stars that kids will enjoy on their own.

 I just discovered that GoodReads now offers the option of cross posting book reviews to a blog, which is terrific, since I always mean to post more book reviews but have trouble finding the time.

I devoured an ARC of John Green's Paper Towns recently, and it was everything I  hoped it would be.  Here's my micro-review (because school started this week, after all). 

(Note for those wondering why all my reviews on GoodReads get five stars...  I review books that I love or that I'm pretty sure someone else will love.  I'm a teacher as well as a writer, so I'm in the business of selling good books, and I'd hate for someone NOT to pick up a book just because it wasn't my cup of tea.  My solution is to shout about the books I love from the rooftops and set the others quietly aside so other people who do love them can talk about those.)

Paper Towns by John Green

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's hard to choose a favorite of John Green's books, but for me, this one is right up there with Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines, and I bet it will get the same kind of award buzz. Paper Towns has phenomenal voice and that trademark mix of humor and gut-wrenching teen angst that makes his writing so made-of-awesome. Plus some Walt Whitman connections, just in case you weren't won over already. Loved it!

As authors, we talk a lot about "hand sales" -- when a bookseller personally recommends a book to a customer in the store.  But that's not the
only place hand selling happens. 

I often give quick book talks in my 7th grade English classroom.  I'll pull a pile of new or favorite books from my classroom shelves or the school library and give quick pitches for them at the end of class.  My students keep a list books they want to read, so if they like the idea but are already in the middle of something, it goes on their to-read list.  It's a great way to share new books with kids and make sure they always have a steady supply of recommendations.

In that spirit, here's my Friday Five -- a list of the most-snatched-up books from this week's book talks, in no particular order:

~Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor -- I read this last June, loved it, and couldn't wait to share it.  The kids are loving it, too.
~Alabama Moon by Watt Key -- One of my favorites for kids who ask for "something like Hatchet."
~First Daughter: Extreme American Makeover and First Daughter: White House Rules by Mitali Perkins -- Super high-interest novels about a Pakistani-born girl whose dad runs for President of the United States. These books give a fascinating and incredibly timely look at life on the campaign trail and in the White House.
~Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney -- This one consistently wins over the I-hate-reading crowd.
~The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson -  I loved this book, and it's a title that some of my more advanced readers have a LOT to say about when they come by to talk books after school.

As for me, I'm immersed in the 1918 flu epidemic, with an ARC of Winnie's War, Jenny Moss's 2009 debut from Walker Books.  I'm halfway through and (aside from feeling feverish now and then because I'm so impressionable) LOVE the book.  Teachers who use historical fiction in the classroom will want to snatch this one up when it's released in February.

What about you?  What new titles are you hand-selling this week?

In many ways, Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightning (Walker Books, August 2008) is a coming-of-age story, but here's the thing...  Violet Raines is coming of age on her own terms and in her own sweet time. 

Danette Haworth's debut middle grade novel is perfect for kids like Violet who aren't in a hurry to grow up, girls who are still more interested in mud pies than makeup.  Violet faces her share of issues -- a long time boy friend whose really nice eyes she's suddenly noticing, a new girl who just moved to town from the city, and a best friend who thinks that glamorous lifestyle is pretty interesting.  It throws Violet for a loop, and when her friend's family faces financial troubles, Violet has to decide what's really important through all those crazy changes.

There are so many things to praise about this novel  -- the lively, quirky characters, Violet's fabulous voice,  the Florida-in-summer setting, painted so perfectly I kept swatting imaginary mosquitoes while I read.

I loved this book.  Really loved it, the way I love fireflies and lake swimming and ice cream cones in summer.  Any kid you know who loves that sort of thing is going to love it, too.

When I read, I read not only as a lover of story, but also as a writer and a teacher.  Some books really speak to the writer in me…the one who loves a beautifully turned phrase, a well-placed detail.  Some books speak to the teacher…the one who loves the historical details, believes in “the truth inside the lie,” as Stephen King described fiction, and takes frequent breaks from reading to fantasize about how much fun it will be to share the text with students.  And some books…well…some books speak to the story lover and carry her away on wings of words.

Once in a while, I read a truly unique book that speaks powerfully to all three.  In the past few weeks, I’ve read advance reader copies of two of those amazing books, both by writers named Anderson, coincidentally, and both about the choices faced by slaves during the American Revolution.



CHAINS by Laurie Halse Anderson tells the story of Isabel, a slave trapped in New York City in the early days of the Revolution.  Sold to Loyalists when her former owner dies, she’s offered the chance to spy for the Patriots.  But does their talk of liberty really include her?  What about the British, who promise freedom to slaves who join their fight against the rebels? 

This book is impeccably researched in a way that not only convinced me I was getting “the real deal” as far as the historical details are concerned but also transported me straight back into the 18th century.  Some historical novels that have tackled this issue in the past  have made it overly simple, but CHAINS is different.  The historical context isn’t simplified, the Patriot cause isn’t glorified, and the characters are flawed, complex, and rich.  As a reader and as a teacher, I am in serious book-love, and I already have plans to use this novel in my 7th grade classroom next year.  CHAINS is a well-researched look at choices made by individuals during the Revolution, a coming-of-age story for a girl and a nation, and an absolute page-turner.  It’s everything that historical fiction ought to be.

While I read CHAINS in two days, it took me several weeks to get through M.T. Anderson’s THE ASTONISHING LIFE OF OCTAVIAN NOTHING, TRAITOR TO THE NATION, VOLUME II: THE KINGDOM ON THE WAVES.  Not because it wasn’t good.  It was amazing.  But it was a difficult book to read on a few levels.  M.T. Anderson is right up near the top on the list of the smartest people I’ve ever encountered, and his prose is dense.  The 18th century language of this series occasionally requires a dictionary.  More than that, though, Octavian’s story is difficult to read because it feels so, so raw. 

Like CHAINS, this book looks at the experience of slaves in the American Revolution through the eyes of an individual – in this case, Octavian Nothing, who grew up as the subject of scientific and philosophical experiments by a group of elite Boston men and in this latest volume, joins Lord Dunmore’s Ethiopian Regiment to fight the Rebels.  Octavian’s life and his choices are based on the experiences of many slaves during this time period.  Anderson tells his story with a detachment that is somehow analytical and yet deeply personal and emotional all at once.  It’s an amazing, amazing book.   And I especially love the way it ends – with an author’s note that challenges us to consider not only the past but the present.

If you have any interest at all in American history, read both of these books when they come out this fall.  You'll be transported by the masterful storytelling.  You'll come away with a deeper sense of our history as a nation -- for better or for worse. And you'll be thinking abut Isabel and Octavian for a long, long time.

Judith Mammay's debut novel, Knowing Joseph, opens with a little kid making a scene in a bowling alley parking lot. Brian Bertram walks away from him. "I'm glad I don't know that kid!" he says. 

But the boy kicking and screaming and throwing himself on the ground is Brian's autistic brother, Joseph.   So begins Brian's struggle -- to deal with his brother, to defend him, and ultimately, with the help of a surprising new friend, to understand him.

Judith -- Judy, to her friends and jmammaywrites on LJ-- is one of my online critique partners.  I always enjoy her writing, so I picked up JOSEPH expecting to like it. I wasn't disappointed, and I was especially taken with the details that let readers see Joseph as a real person and not just "the kid with autism."  Judy has an autistic grandson, and that was important to her.  Knowing Joseph is a natural book choice for older siblings of autistic kids, since Brian grows to model so many caring, supportive strategies for helping his brother.  It's a great title for schools, too, because it helps readers understand what's behind scenes like the temper tantrum at the bowling alley.  And understanding leads to acceptance.

This book has many of the same themes as Cynthia Lord's Rules, one of my favorites.  Knowing Joseph is probably geared toward a slightly younger audience, though.  I'm guessing the 8-10 crowd will like it best, and it has nice big print and plenty of white space so reluctant readers won't be intimidated.  Kudos to the BTP design team for making sure this book will be accessible to kids with special needs, too.

 If you'd like to win an ARC of Knowing Joseph, just leave a comment below about why you'd like to read it (or with whom you'd like to share it).  I'll choose a name at random Friday night at 6pm EST to win!

I steal my children's ARCs.  Sometimes, when they're in bed at night with their new books clutched in their hands, I pry their fingers loose and sneak the books downstairs to read.

J and E are members of the Harper Kids First Look Program.  Every month, they go to a website and choose the titles they'd like to read from a list of books on offer.  Harper has a drawing and sends them the ARCs to review if they win.  Cool, huh?

Except grownups aren't allowed to participate.  Just kids. Which forces me to stand over their shoulders when they log on each month, saying things like, "Ooohhh...don't you want to read that one?  I really think you'd like that one. Look how exciting  it looks.  You really ought to let them know that you'd like to review that one..."  Sometimes it works out beautifully.

Like last month... when E scored ARCs of two books that I absolutely LOVED.  Both walk the line between genres -- mixing text and illustration in creative ways that bring even more life to already lively stories.



Ottoline and the Yellow Cat, due out in June, is by Chris Riddell of  Edge Chronicles fame.  It's the kind of book you might imagine if Roald Dahl and Brian Selznick had teamed up on a graphic novel.  Ottoline is a  young girl whose parents travel the world and leave her home in the family townhouse in the care of a friendly, hairy creature-person named Mr. Monroe. I loved the characters in this book. Ottoline's a little like Pippi Longstocking -- brave and funny and always up for an adventure.  And Mr. Monroe.... well, he was so cute I want to adopt him and keep him as a lap dog.  Ottoline and Mr. Monroe team up to solve the mystery of a string of neighborhood burglaries -- a plot that is brought to life by the abundant and amazing illustrations.   This one was well worth the grief I got from my daughter when she found out I stole it.



Then I had to wait a while to read The Curse of Addy McMahon by Katie Davis because E wouldn't let it out of her sight until she finished.    Like Ottoline, this book mixes text and illustrations in a way that's sure to grab even the most reluctant readers.  Sixth graders, in particular, are going to love this one because it's the perfect mix of humor and the honest-to-goodness angst that's part of starting middle school. I've already recommended this one as a purchase for our school library. Addy McMahon has a lot to deal with as she makes that transition -- a father who died of cancer, a mother whose icky boyfriend is moving in, and an email disaster that nearly costs her her best friend.  Add it all up, and Addy's convinced that she's cursed. What middle school kid hasn't felt that way? 

Addy is both a talented writer and illustrator -- just like author Katie Davis -- so the book's narrative is told in part through Addy's "autobiograstrip," an autobiography in comic book form.  Full disclosure time... I met Katie Davis at a writers retreat this winter and thought she was fantastically funny and smart and energetic, so I fully expected to like this book.  It didn't disappoint, and it's going to be a terrific title for kids making that leap from elementary school to middle school.  They'll appreciate the warmth and honesty as well as its creative format.

Funny things happen sometimes.  A few weeks ago, I received an email asking if I'd like to review Sara Zarr's new book SWEETHEARTS.  Sure!  I loved STORY OF A GIRL, and well, there's the whole pink cookie on the cover thing.  I loved the book and jumped at the chance to host a stop on Sara's blog tour.  We emailed back and forth a few times but needed to wrap things up before last weekend because Sara and I were both going to be traveling.  When all was said and done, I sent Sara a link to my blog so she'd be able to see today's interview.  She emailed back.  Turns out we were headed out of town for the same writing retreat, so we could have done the interview in person.  I got to spend a little time with Sara at the retreat, and she's just the kind, funny, down-to-earth person I had imagined.  I love it when that happens. 

I teach 7th grade English Language Arts, and I was reading SWEETHEARTS during independent reading time with my kids one day.  One of my students stopped by my desk at the end of the period.  "Are you going to finish that today?  And can I borrow it?"  Becky devoured the book in a couple days and was excited to hear that Sara would be stopping by my blog.  She handed me a list of questions the next day, so this interview is our joint effort!

Welcome, Sara!  First, let’s talk about the new book.  What was the inspiration for this story, the spark that made you want to write about Jenna and Cameron?

I knew this boy in grade school, Mark. Like Cameron, he left a ring and a note in my lunch one day, and I remember sitting in the back of my friend’s mom’s car and discovering it and thinking, wow, there’s this person who likes me and thinks about me. Our relationship wasn’t like Cameron and Jenna’s, but for me it was like I carried around this secret---that someone cared about me and was on my side, and that meant a lot and stayed with me my whole life. Mark got back in touch when we were adults, and I started playing around with the “what if we’d known each other in high school?” question. The story went from there.


Often, authors will say that characters are made up of bits and pieces of people they know or people they’ve been.  Where did Jenna and Cameron come from?

Cameron was definitely inspired by Mark, though the details about his life and his family are a total fabrication. I didn’t know him between the ages of 8 and 30, so I had to imagine him as a teenager. Jennifer, before she became Jenna, draws some on my own life. I stole and used food the way she does, and I was one of the “poor kids” who always wore hand-me-downs and got the subsidized milk, though I was not as much of an outsider as Jennifer. Jenna as a teen is a lot different than I was; I do relate to her fear of being found out for who she really is, but I think everyone feels that deep down to some extent.


SWEETHEARTS seems like a perfect title for this book.  Did you know while you were writing what the title would be, or did you play around with different titles along the way? (And if you did, would you share some of them?)

The title actually came early on and I never had any other ideas. I remember emailing my agent and asking, “What do you think of SWEETHEARTS as a title?” He was lukewarm at first (he may deny it now, but I have the email evidence!). I always thought it was perfect, myself. I’ve never had a title come so easily.


I can’t imagine anyone has looked at SWEETHEARTS without commenting on the cover (and getting hungry!).  Is that what you envisioned for a cover when you wrote the book, or were you surprised?

I was completely surprised. I didn’t have any idea what to expect---I’m terrible with design stuff. When I first saw it, I thought it was so literal…a sweet heart. The more I looked at it---the bite out of the cookie, the crumbs, the starkness of the background and the childlike font of the title---the more I appreciated the genius of designer Alison Impey. It’s actually kind of a masterpiece!


Becky wants to know if there’s going to be another story about Jenna and Cameron (and when Molly finishes, she’s going to want to know, too).  Any plans for a sequel, or do you feel like their journey is over for now?

I have no plans for a sequel, though I’m always delighted when readers ask that question because it means the characters live on in their minds. People have also asked for a sequel to my first book, so maybe I should figure out a way for Deanna, Jenna, Cameron, Jason and Tommy to all meet up in some epic vampire fantasy…


Writers often talk about the pressure of a second book and wanting it to be better than the first.  Since your first novel, STORY OF A GIRL, was a National Book Award Finalist, do you feel like that created extra pressure for you?

Absolutely. Thankfully, SWEETHEARTS was done well ahead of the National Book Award stuff, but even before that I was suffering from a major case of Second Book Psychosis. It really wasn’t based in reality, just a crazy mental battle. Honestly, there was one day that involved me curled in a ball on the kitchen floor, crying and praying and figuring out how to break the news to my agent that everyone would soon discover that I was a total fraud.

Were there any parts of writing SWEETHEARTS that were a real struggle for you?

As you can imagine, it was hard to write the scenes in Cameron’s childhood home, with his dad. It made me sick to my stomach, literally. And I’ve read books in which so much worse happens to the characters…I don’t know how those authors do it. It was hard to balance making the situation menacing enough to be scarring, but still get them out before anything worse happened.


You recently sold your next two novels.  What can you tell us about those?

Not much! All I can say right now about the one I’m working on is that it involves a pastor’s daughter. I grew up in church and have always wanted to explore church life more directly in a novel. It’s too soon to talk about much else.


When and where do you most often like to write?

Whenever and wherever. My work habits aren’t anything to brag about--it’s always a struggle to get going. Every day I’m afraid. Every day I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing. So I avoid it. Time and location don’t matter to me much, as long as I do the work.


Do you have a favorite revision strategy?

Get editorial letter. Cry. Rage. Cry. Complain. Freak out. Wonder how I’ve fooled so many for so long. Cry some more. When that stage is over, I like to have a printout of the manuscript and start a new Word document rather than edit on screen and cut and paste. Even if I end up typing the same pages over and over, there’s something about the physical act of typing that helps.


And last but not least... In honor of that delicious cover, what’s your favorite kind of cookie?

A big, soft, homemade chocolate chip cookie with no nuts.

Thanks so much for stopping by, Sara! 

SWEETHEARTS has an official February 1st release date but has already started showing up in bookstores.  Just look for that pink cookie on the cover.

"My heart is singing for joy this morning."
-Anne Sullivan to Sophia Hopkins, March 1887

So begins one of the chapters in Sarah Miller's debut novel Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller, and her quote from Annie Sullivan describes just how I felt when I finished this magical book.

Last spring, I issued an invitation to authors of historical fiction, to send me information about their books for a presentation I'm doing this fall at the New York State Reading Association Conference.  I heard from wonderful writers -- some whose works I knew and some who were new to me.  But one title REALLY caught my eye:  Miss Spitfire by Sarah Miller.  First, it got my attention because the titles of our books are so similar.  When I opened it up to start reading, it got my attention in another way -- a sweep-you-away-in-the-story kind of way.

Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller tells the story of Annie Sullivan, the young woman who battled beliefs of the time and fought with every ounce of energy she had to give Helen Keller the gift of language.  Sarah Miller tells the story in Annie's voice -- and tells it with a passion that speaks to the depth of her research and her pure love for this historical figure.  Miss Spitfire not only tells the story we see in The Miracle Worker -- the story of Annie's time with Helen -- but also plunges into Annie Sullivan's past, and in doing so, provides a deeper understanding of the commitment and determination that led to her success.

The portrayals of Annie's emotional, psychological, and physical struggles with Helen were so vivid that I found myself reading with my brow furrowed in determined solidarity with Annie as she plunked Helen back into her seat at the dining room table for the tenth time.  Truly, Annie had to be a spitfire to survive this monumental challenge when she was little more than a girl herself.

The minor characters in this novel sparkle, too.  One of my favorite scenes brought Helen together for a lesson with the Kellers' servant boy Percy.  I felt like I was about to burst with pride right along with Annie when Helen began to turn from a student into a teacher, helping Percy with some of the letters.  Mr. & Mrs. Keller, too, are painted with a tremendous depth of understanding.  It would have been easy to portray Helen's parents as one-dimensional characters who got in the way of Annie's work, but instead, Sarah Miller helps us to see their complexity and feel some of their anguish at having a beautiful, broken child. 

Early in the book, Annie tells Helen's mother why her lessons are so vital to Helen. 

"Words, Mrs. Keller, words bridge the gap between two minds.  Words are a miracle."

Indeed, they are.  And Miss Spitfire will have you believing in that miracle all over again.


Coming soon on my LJ...an interview with the author of Miss Spitfire, Sarah Miller!