Sunday, August 8, 2010

Summer Book Giveaway #3

If you're anything like me, you spent years of your life hiding the cover of the book that you were reading. Let's face it – for a long time, young adult books were seen as something for, well, young adults. But thanks to authors like J.K. Rowling, Stephenie Meyer and Ann Brashares, YA-loving women from all over the world are openly reading the excellent books that are available in the genre.

The contest for this month's book giveaway ties into this. I want to know if anyone has ever poked fun at your YA book reading. What did they say and, more importantly, what did you reply? The winner will get a copy of Alive and Well in Prague, New York by Daphne Grab.

I really enjoyed this book, not only because the narrator, Matisse Osgood, goes to a Quaker school like my narrator, Sarah Conrad. Matisse grows up in Manhattan and is upset, to say the least, when her family moves to Prague, N.Y., because of her father's illness. There's a lot of humor in it, some great characters and some excellent outfits worn by Matisse and her friends. At the end of the day, it's a sweet, smart book about how a young girl learns to cope with dramatic changes in her life and comes out a better person and I'm looking forward to sharing it with one of my readers!

Please post your response in the comments section below by Friday, August 13. I'll post the winner on Monday, August 15.

5 comments:

  1. I have not had this happen. But,when I took Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter with me when I needed to get some blood tests, I took off the cover. The back of the book is a little frightening and not right for a blood letting place!!!
    Thank you for this contest.

    CarolNWong(at)aol.com

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  2. At our Borders' midnight release party of the final Harry Potter book, I ran into the 14-year-old child of my then-editor. She laughed at me and made fun of me for being there. My response? I smiled and asked if I could cut in line with her.

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  3. I spent summer 2007 brushing up on my French in Paris. By "brushing up on my French," I mean that I lazed around Paris-Plages and read YA books in French like "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" (aka "Quatre Filles et un Jean." I could never tell if I was getting funny looks from French people because of my YA book, because I was so obviously American looking, or because I was so obviously French looking and it doesn't make sense for a grown French woman to read YA novels. In any case, I had a blast reading those books. At first I would hide the cover and then I eventually gave up and proudly displayed my book at cafes while having a glass of vin rouge and a pastry. Occasionally people see "Quatre Filles et un Jean" on my bookshelf at my apartment now and comment. I usually reply with something like, "Whatever! It's a great book but unfortunately the movie wasn't as good."

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  4. Thank you all for your responses! I think that this time I'm going to go with Jessica's story about the release party for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I liked her coolness!

    Thank you to Liz and Carol as well!

    Sam

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  5. Hi Sam, I'm late on this but wanted to comment that my father hounded me so mercilessly about reading "below my level"--when I was fourteen!--that I gave away all of my favorite books in a fit of spite and started reading Dostoevsky instead. I hated Dostoevsky. Fortunately I'd given my favorite books to my best friend and she let me have them back. Most of them.

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