Will Grayson, Will Grayson

I came across an ad in Facebook for an audio of David Levithan and John Green talking about Will Grayson, Will Grayson on Symphony Space. It may be the most interesting and relevant ad Facebook has ever shown me.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson

I finally got a copy of Will Grayson, Will Grayson and stayed up until about 3:30 this morning reading it. This should tell you how much I loved this book. It was hilarious with amazing voice and characterizations.

But it won't be for everyone. As I was reading it, I was thinking how I'm going to have to tell my assistants that whenever they check it out to someone that they're going to have to give them some kind of warning. The students must be completely okay with cussing and homosexuality and reading about boys involved in physical homosexual relationships. There's no actual sex described in the book (I think all the main characters are virgins, except possibly Jane), but they definitely discuss sex. I loaned my ARC of this to a student who is a huge Boy Meets Boy fan, so I know there are some readers for whom this is an acceptable and even fantastic book. But it's not for everyone. Just as well that the cover is kind of bleh and nondescript.

David Levithan Love

I haven't gotten my library copies of Will Grayson, Will Grayson yet, but fortunately I got an ARC at TLA last week. I cannot wait to read it! EW has an interview with John Green and David Levithan here. I've read pretty much all of this before in other places, but what I didn't know is that David Levithan and Rachel Cohn have another book coming out in October! It's called Dash and Lily's Book of Dares. Since I've LOVED both of their other books and requested that all their future books be written together, this is just fabulous. But how did I not know of this until now??? Apparently, they were trying to throw me off with this.

Will Grayson

So I already want to read Will Grayson, Will Grayson. Who doesn't? But after reading this article in Publisher's Weekly "("Double Identity"), I'm really dying here. I love how David Levithan wanted John Green to write this book even before Looking for Alaska was actually published. And a best friend named Tiny Cooper who is writing a musical about his life called "Tiny Dancer"? I'm laughing just at the description! I need this book.

ALAN

I attended the ALAN workshop at NCTE this week. I took notes on all the speakers and was going to recap each speech, but since there were more than 30, I decided I'm too lazy.   Here are a few of my personal highlights:

1. Teri Lesesne had so many great things to say, but one that struck a cord with one of my current issues is that we have to defend YA as having equal quality as "the classics." I am dealing with this fairly often because I have one teacher who requires their students to only read "adult" books for SSR. I think this is a poor distinction since "adult" doesn't make it "good," and many YA books are much better "quality" than most of the adult books they're choosing. Plus, I am definitely of the opinion that we should just be encouraging students to read what will give them enjoyment. I think there's a good debate to be had about introducing them to books they might not pick up on their own or choose for themselves that they'd like or get a lot from, but that isn't really the point of SSR (in my personal opinion). The other thing I keep coming back to is that many "classics" would likely be published as YA if they were published today, so why not consider that today's YA could have as much literary merit as those "classics?"
2. M.T. Anderson gave a speech about how all children's lit is necessarily political to some extent, whether it's intentional or not. There are encoded messages about how one has to act to be successful in this world, and that's political, even if it's not overt. I liked his points about how to act as if books are politically neutral diminishes the power of literature. Also, often authors, librarians, teachers, etc. will claim that reading "bad" things in literature won't cause kids to go out and do bad things, but on the other hand, they'll laud how transformative the "good" literature can be.
3. Read John Green's entire speech. It was excellent! He saved me from having to highlight by posting it all online. (Can I repeat what I've said before about how awesome JG is about writing speeches directed at his audience? He's talking to a bunch of English teachers, and he makes his speech related to that. The former speech teacher in me loves this.) One of his points was that, yes, he does intentionally put "English stuff" like figurative language in his writing. I appreciate that he says this because I remember as a student thinking that authors probably didn't intend all this crap we're assigning to it in English class, but then I read a Toni Morrison interview where she was talking about one paragraph she wrote. For about two pages, she described how and why she wrote that paragraph the way she did. There's no way I would EVER have gotten even half of what she was saying from my own reading, but it was (1) very illuminating and verified that authors do put this much intentionality into their work, and (2) I appreciate the work so much more when I can see beyond the initial surface. I know a lot of students think analyzing literature "ruins" the experience for them, and I'm not going to refute that if it's true for them, but I'll say that for me, analyzing literature can make me enjoy it a lot more. Hemingway, for example, I don't think I'll ever like, but analyzing it can make me at least appreciate it.

My favorite quotes from the conference:

"And another thing, you bastards, I fucking love the harpsichord." -M.T. Anderson

"If they are reading books you think are crap, get over yourself." -Walter Mayes

"I've always wanted to be twittered by Walter Mayes." -David Levithan

Also, my new author loves are Lauren Myracle and Matt de la Pena.  Loved them.  Can't wait to hear them speak again.

YA Movie News

This is not just to post that another YA book is being made into a movie with a big star. This is to say that Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List is being made into a movie! I love that book (although not quite as much as N&NIP). It's going to star Hayden Panettiere, who is apparently also making I Love You, Beth Cooper. Very cool. Another movie to keep tabs on. I can't wait until they announce the other characters.

Speaking of Meg Cabot

which I was in my last post ---

I think she and Daria and I need to go see Kathy Griffin perform. I mean, KG is like THE celebrity I'd most like to meet, and Daria and Meg both really like her. Not sure how I can persuade them to take me along with them, but maybe I can work something out. And then maybe we can join Rachel Cohn and David Levithan for a "My So Called Life" marathon. Maybe YALSA can sponsor this as a Dream Prize or something (and I'll win, naturally). "Win a Night With Daria Snadowsky and Meg Cabot to see Kathy Griffin Live, Followed by a Night of Watching 'My So Called Life' on DVD With Rachel Cohn and David Levithan." It could work. I'll bring cupcakes.

N&NIP: The Movie

Apparently Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (like, one of my all-time favorite YA books) is going to be made into a movie. Michael Cera is playing Nick and Kat Dennings is playing Norah. Maybe I'm wrong, but I totally do not see Cera as Nick. He's so young and cute, not at all like I imagine Nick. I mean seriously, does he look like someone who would be in a queer core band?



It could be a good movie if they do it well. We'll see. RC seems happy about it and said the script is "excellent." What I really want is a freakin audiobook! Is that too much to ask? Would this not be perfect for two cast members?????

Naomi & Ely's No Kiss List

Can Rachel Cohn and David Levithan write all their future books together, please? Or even if they don't want to write all their future books together, if they could at least write more.

Now I don't know if I can say I loved NAENKL quite as much as I loved Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, but it's pretty close. Their characterization and dialogue are amazing! And I love how unlike other YA lit and YA characters they are. Also I love how they capture so many aspects of personalities and relationships that I can totally recognize from my own life. Like I did in my post about NANIP, let me post a string of unrelated observations and comments:

• I thought this book was just going to alternate between the perspectives of Ely and Naomi like Nick and Norah, so I was pleasantly surprised that it also includes perspectives of many other characters, which works out really well. And I love how good RC and DL are at the characterization and voice of each. I need to do some research to find out how they divided up (if at all?) the writing for this book.


• I loved the parts about Gabriel creating the mix CD for Naomi and how he wanted her to dissect, understand, and appreciate the subtle meanings of each song he chose. And then she didn't get any of it and made him a "bad" response CD, which he took lots of meaning from. I am totally the Naomi-type. I mean, I like music well enough and can try to determine someone's intent if they tell me they had one in making a playlist just for me. But I am not a music connoisseur, I like lots of "popular" music, and I don't know a lot of bands or anything like that. But it seems like almost every guy I know is totally into music and very snobby about it and I can totally imagine them all having this same horrified reaction to whatever music I own and over-analyzing (in my opinion) my character based on the music I like.


• Naomi and Ely's banter, much like that of Nick and Norah, is so quick and witty, it reminds me of Gilmore Girls. I love it, but I was never that quick-tongued as a teen. I don't know anyone who is. I guess Naomi and Ely are actually 19, but even so, they seem a lot older and more independent than I ever was at that age. But I also don't live in NYC.


• I love how both books are about average things that happen to teens that are made to be extraordinary, the way they feel when they happen to you. And also they have strong satisfying endings.


• Naomi's little picture symbols were a little distracting because they slowed me down, although I suppose they did contribute to her characterization.


• Such a great line. It seems like it fits so many times in your life: "I know this is the wrong choice. But it feels like the only choice. So I make it."
  
  Rachel and David, I am ready for the next List!
  
  PS- Holly, I still haven't tried that thing from N&NIP.