Mundie Moms

Monday, September 27, 2010

Teen Read Awards - Best Hottie


Chapters-!ndigo hosted the Teen Read Awards over the weekend and guess who won Best Hottie?? Well, Mundie Moms knew he would all along and that's why we voted for him. I mean, it HAD to be Jace, right? Of course, it did. Now we did hear that Cassie submitted a very funny acceptance speech video and we are trying to see if we can locate a copy of it. So stay tuned.

In the mean time, feel free to reflect on the hotness of Jace in City of Glass. That ought to kick-start all of our Mondays.


Artwork by ~Xx-BellsAmz-xX

You can watch Cassie's acceptance speech here:

Banned Books Week Guest Author Post By Saundra Mitchell

I grew up in government housing. Because it was in Indiana, it was nicer government housing than you'd find in Chicago or New York or Baltimore. We had a townhouse, and a tiny back yard.

My mother could grow tomatoes and strawberries during the summer months so we had some fresh fruits and vegetables- we each had a concrete slab porch where we could sit at night, if we carried a chair outside.

We also had police helicopters every Friday night. They flew over, searchlights flashing- they weren't looking for anyone. They were a show of force, to try to scare the drug dealers off the streets.

Four doors down from us, we had a husband and wife duo who liked to get drunk starting Thursday. The first night was a party, the second night was always a fight. By Saturday night, they spilled into the street- she would punch him, he would punch her, and the police usually arrived by the time somebody was bloodied. Usually.

Two doors down on the other side were the Quiet Ones. They kept to themselves, never caused any trouble, except every so often their son would go screaming from the house, naked. Always naked. No one knew what to make of it; eventually CPS took him away and the Quiet Ones moved out.

We heard gunshots all through the year, but especially on New Year's. "He shot himself cleaning his gun" was code for "he committed suicide." The police didn't come when someone stole your TV- we lost three thrift-store televisions in three years.

We had no air conditioning, we had few groceries. We all stood on line for government surplus- it wasn't just cheese. The Firefighters Charity paid for Christmas at least once; my 11 year old brother found a murder victim's body in the field across from his middle school.

A child molester worked his way through his neighborhood. We all knew who he touched; there were a lot of us. He was never caught.

I can see how this kind of life would be horrifying to a parent who is well-off, whose children have the luxury of worrying only about grades, and cell phone upgrades, and SATs.

I can see why parents would want to protect their children from stories about neighborhoods like mine. I can see why a loving mother would say, "I don't want you to understand just what the woman across the street is trading for cigarettes."

It's horrifying. And we were ashamed. We knew it wasn't a good place to live- but where would we go? What could we possibly do about it? Well, we went to the library. And what we did was read. They had air conditioning, they had quiet- quiet is in such short supply in neighborhoods like these.

And when I read BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA, I was relieved. My neighborhood was NOT the only place in the world where people died for no reason. When I read THE OUTSIDERS, I was relieved! My neighborhood was not the only one where people fought for entertainment, and parents hurt their children, or each other, or abandoned them completely.

When I read IT, when I read THE SILVER KISS, when I read one of a hundred, a thousand books in the cool quiet of the public library, I was relieved. Because I wasn't alone. I was not singular- I hadn't done something *wrong* to live in a neighborhood like mine. I wasn't responsible for the terrible things that took place around me.

Reading books that reflected my neighborhood took away my shame, and replaced it with possibility. Other people had seen terrible things, and lived in terrible places, but they got to leave. They learned to fly planes and write books and build buildings and every remarkable, possible thing. I wasn't limited by the place I lived. I was limited only by myself.

I never would have realized that if some parent, some parent trying to protect THEIR child had decided that NO child should read BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA. Or THE OUTSIDERS. Or IT, or THE SILVER KISS, or any one of the hundreds, thousands of books I read to reassure myself that I wasn't alone in the world.

But every single one of these books have been challenged. And you know, I'm all for one parent saying "This book is not right for *my* child." But I beg you to remember that the book that's wrong for your child is the one that's saving another child's life. I beg you- leave that book in the library, because someone from my neighborhood *needs* to read it.

~~

Saundra Mitchell is the author of SHADOWED SUMMER and the forthcoming THE VESPERTINE and THE SPRINGSWEET. She's been a phone psychic, a car salesperson, a denture-deliverer and a layout waxer. She's dodged trains, endured basic training, and hitchhiked from Montana to California. She teaches herself languages, raises children, and makes paper for fun. She's also an executive producer and head writer for Fresh Films. She always chooses truth; dare is too easy.

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You can find out more about Saundra and her books by visiting her site here http://www.saundramitchell.com/

Book Review-Torment by Lauren Kate

By Lauren Kate
Published by Delacorte Press (Random House)
To Be Released on September 28th, 2010
Source: Random House
4.5 Stars- This one book I'll be reading over again

How many lives do you need to live before you find someone worth dying for?

Hell on earth. That's what it's like for Luce to be apart from her fallen angle boyfriend, Daniel. It took them eternity to find one another, but now he has told her he must go away. Just long enough to hunt down the Outcasts-immortals who want to kill Luce. Daniel hides Luce at Shoreline, a school on the rocky California coast with unusually gifted students: Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angles and humans.

At Shoreline, Luce learns what the Shadows are, and how she can use them as windows to her previous lives. Yet the more Luce learns, the more she suspects Daniel hasn't told her everything. He's hiding something-something dangerous.

What if Daniel's version of the past isn't actually true? What if Luce is really meant to be with someone else? (from back cover of the ARC)

*NO spoilers*
I love this cover! It's so captivating and it's so perfect for the book. This sequel to Fallen is such an amazing journey for Luce. Lauren Kate swept me right into her amazing world building, and up to the beautiful rocky shores of the pacific coast where Shoreline rests. What came as a surprise for Luce and myself, was the temporary truce Daniel and Cam have, as they both want to protect Luce. Together they decide to send her to Shoreline, but danger seems to follow Luce everywhere. What I love about Luce, is that she doesn't do what Daniel or anyone else wants her to do. She doesn't just stay within the safety of Shoreline's property. Needing to fill the time when Daniel isn't with her, Luce is on a quest to learn about her past. It's this independence that I love and I wanted more from Luce in Fallen.

Feeling like Daniel is keeping things from her, she wants to learn more about her past lives, the families that have been left behind. It's not an easy task, as Luce will come to see the emotional side of losing someone you love. In her quest to find out about herself and her past, Luce not only puts herself in danger, but the new friends she's made and the old friends who have come from Sword and Cross to help her. The more Luce finds out, the more confused she is, about her future and about her and Daniel. I was so wrapped up in Luce's journey and all that's going on that by the time I was done with the book, I wanted to re-read it. The setting is beautiful, the characters were real and people I'd love to meet, and the story line is fantastic.

Luce grows a lot in Torment and finds the inner strength she needs to make a tough decision that left me in both awe of Luce's character and yelling no at the same time. While I got some answers I was hoping for, the cliff hanger at the end of Torment leaves me wanting the next book. There's no shortage of a love triangle. New characters are introduced and some of them left me wondering what their motives are and what decisions Luce is going to make.

Lauren Kate has the perfect blend of self discovery, romance, yearning, and action that I was completely absorbed in the world she's created. Torment will leave Lauren Kate fans wanting more and feeling satisfied with what they get. I think it will leave those who are torn between liking Daniel or Cam, at a crossroads. Honestly, after reading Torment I can't decide which one Luce should pick, OR if she should pick the new character. With a battle fought and a decision made that may have severe consequences, this is one sequel who's ending will leave you wanting more.

Be sure to pick up Torment when it's on sale tomorrow! Don't miss our interview with Lauren and our Torment giveaway, which will be posted later this week.
You can find out more here-http://laurenkatebooks.net/

Mundane Monday #52


"Nobody should get nothing on their birthday." He was peeling the second apple, the skin coming away in long curling strips. "Birthdays should be special. My birthday was always the one day my father said I could do or have anything I wanted."

"Anything?" She laughed. "Like what kind of anything did you want?"

"Well, when I was five, I wanted to take a bath in spaghetti."

"But he didn't let you, right?"

"No, that's the thing. He did. He said it wasn't expensive, and why not if that was what I wanted? He had the servants fill a bath with boiling water and pasta, and when it cooled down..." He shrugged. "I took a bath in it."

Servants? Clary thought. Out loud she said, "How was it?"

"Slippery."

"I'll bet." She tried to picture him as a little boy, giggling, up to his ears in pasta. The image wouldn't form. Surely Jace never giggled, not even at he age of five.

- City of Bones, page 310

Zombies VS Unicorns Event

Didn't make it to the Zombies vs Unicorns Event in NYC? Well we have a full re-cap of the night's events right here. Thank you to my friend and NYC Mundie Moms rep, Kara for braving the battle & going for us.

Zombies vs Unicorns

Zombies vs Unicorns its a war as old as time- or at least as old as 2007 when Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier started debating which is cooler on their respective blogs. The heated debate continued until they realized the only way to solve this dispute was to write a book! Better yet- get their brilliant author friends to write short stories for them and edit into an anthology.

While I waited on line to get inside the event at Symphony Space I took a very unscientific poll of the line- Unicorn lovers were ahead of Zombie lovers 2 to 1. It was obvious- Unicorns are love and light and embody everything beautiful about the universe- they even sparkle in the right light. (as we know I have a soft spot for all creatures that sparkle and of course good lighting!) How was this even a contest? UNICORNS RULE!!! Or so I thought.

Once inside however the mood changed drastically. The secret Zombie lovers came out of their shells and showed their true colors! Maybe it was the dark theater- it's more comfortable for Zombies to come out in the dark- maybe it was the not soo subtle affection for Zombies that Justine our MC was showing- maybe theaters attract zombies- which would explain alot of my high school dates!-but whatever it was it was obvious we were in zombie territory now and the unicorn lovers were going to have to fight to prove that unicorns are superior!

It didn't start well.... Holly made a loving gesture in offering Justine a sign of peace a pretty unicorn sparkly shirt- Which Justine spat on and threw into the crowd! See Team Zombie is rude!! The first portion of the Unicorns are better debate was brought to us by Alaya Dawn Johnson who compared unicorns to seagulls. I think the intent was well meaning but she described them both with yellow eyes and pink necks and the image- to be honest was really creepy! I think there was a positive follow up planned- but she ran out of time. Now that I have the book in hand it turns out- she is actually Team Zombie!!

Then we heard from the zombie camp- Maureen Johnson. Team Zombie was playing dirty from the start- they brought their own Zombie!! How could that be fair? Team Unicorn didn't bring a unicorn because they knew everyone would just stare at how very beautiful the unicorn was and the debate would be over- but team zombie brought Zombie Joe- to translate for all the other zombies in the audience (what?!?) But their plan backfired- they tried to keep Zombie Joe in line with a stick but he was able to get around it and attack Maureen and several other team zombie members.

Next up was Naomi Novick- who brought along some beautiful visual aids to show how Unicorns were better than zombies. Naomi told us that the sole purpose of the unicorn was to totally crush evil! She brought up an excellent point that zombies are always losing body parts and they never pick them up! They would be terrible guests at a cocktail party leaving random body parts lying around- not to mention- zombies are 100% PURE EVIL!! She closed with a logic statement unicorns crush evil- zombies are pure evil- therefore Unicorns crush Zombies!!

Scott Westerfield then took up the Team Zombie banner. He brought along reference material "A Unicorn is Born" and " World War Z" The description of how Unicorn moms and babies bond was indeed somewhat disturbing. He then read the horror from "World War Z" of the approach of the Zombies- I have to admit- "World War Z" sounded like a much cooler book to read....

Holly Black began closing arguments by throwing lovely unicorn glitter out into the crowd. She admitted that unicorns were often seen farting rainbows and sparkled like a suicidal Edward Cullen in Volterra! But how is that wrong?? Who hates rainbows? - Just zombies! Zombies have no practical value! Unicorn's horns have magic healing powers and they are also a great weapon! Holly reminded the audience "Voldermort tells us that drinking unicorn blood will make you live forever- so not only are unicorns better than zombies but just as good as vampires!"

Libba Bray took up the team Zombie closing argument with a song. A song that well I'm going to repeat here for fear of offend many that can't hear the tounge in cheek way it was sung but lets just say it told the story about how if you think about it Jesus is Team Zombie. Zombies have a right to sing the blues- they are eco friendly "reduce recycle and reuse" their bodies! She argued the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz was a zombie- "he asked the wizard for brains- I'm just sayin" Zombies have also given us great running shoes!

The final tally was taken by poll of audience applause- and although Justine tried to make it a tie- the audience wouldn't stand for it- and Team Zombie won in a loud and shambling landslide!!! Team Zombie did have very compelling arguments but I'll be Team Unicorn forever!!'

Thank you Kara for going and for the wonderful post about the night's events. Thank you to Simon and Schuster for the invite to go!!

Incase you're still undecided about which side you're one, Kara has provided us with something that might help sway you-

Team Unicorn!

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