This Saturday we'd like to share four pieces of news for you....
Becca Fitzpatrick Signs Fourth Hush, Hush Novel!!
Becca Fitzpatrick released a statement saying, "I can't bring myself to say goodbye to these characters yet, and truly believe that their best adventures are yet to come."
The first book in the saga, entitled Hush, Hush was released in October, 2009 (read GCR Damaris' review here). The second book, Crescendo was released in October, 2010 (read GCR Damaris' review here). And the third book in the series, Silence is set to be released this Tuesday, October 4th, 2011.
Fitpatrick's 4th book has yet to be titled, and will likely be released in October, 2012. Will you be reading it?
Are Gay Characters Neglected in YA Novels?
In response, Brown and Smith have written a letter to all of their colleagues in the publishing world asking them to speak up about this unspoken rule of keeping gay characters out of Y.A. novels. To read the letter, click here.
I, for one, am glad that these authors are speaking up so passionately on this issue. There is an entire group of kids who need characters that they can relate to and authors shouldn't have to deal with not being able to sell their work because of their characters' sexuality.
Do you feel like gay characters are being left out of your favorite Y.A. novels? Or do you find them just as represented as heterosexual characters?
The Kindle Fire is a 7 inch table device (so it's smaller than the Ipad) that has no camera, no gps and only 3G wireless capabilities. But what it lacks in technology, it more than makes up for in
A) Price - Only $199!!
B) Color - The crisp picture quality will make reading your books or watching your movies amazing!
C) Apps - Anything that was created for an android device (like Angry Birds, for example) will play on your Kindle Fire
D) If you join Amazon Prime (for only $79 a year), you have instant streaming access to over 11,000 movies/tv shows. PLUS, you always get free shipping on Amazon.com
Are You Planning on Buying the new Kindle Fire? Why or why not? Let me know!!
October is National Book Month!!
So apparently October is not only National Book Month, but it is also National Cookie Month - who knew?? And talk about combining two of my all time favorite things :)
Great American Cookies is holding their 2nd Annual National Book Drive starting today!
First off, if you go into any Great American Cookie store today from 10am-2pm, you will receive a free chocolate chip cookie - yum!
But, even better: if you go into the store and donate a new or gently read book any day in October, you will receive one free cookie of your choice!! So support a good cause and go eat a cookie!!
Happy National Book Month!!!!
I'm sorry, but.I have to disagree about the character's sexuality being the cause of Brown & Smith's difficulty in getting their story published. Recently, it seems that nearly every YA book I pick up feels obligated to include a gay/lesbian character and I frankly am tired of feeling like authors have this need to push their political agendas on me. I highly doubt the reason the book wasn't picked up because of a gay issue but rather because the story was lacking in some way. Maybe the agent who claimed the reason to be the sexuality of the book chose to use that as a scape goat rather than telling the authors that their story flat out stunk. And proof that gay characters get published all the time: The House of Night series by P.C.Cast and more recently Beauty Queens by Libba Bray which includes a lesbian couple and a gay transgender couple. There are several other books containing gay/lesbian characters, both secondary and the protagonist, already out there and new books being published too. The issue with a book not getting published is less likely to be because of it's controversial content and the fact that it's content was no good.
ReplyDeleteI read a book recently with a gay character, The Shattering by Karen Healey. I understand what you mean about there not being a lot of gay/lesbian characters in book. The Shattering is the first one of 2011 I've read so far.
ReplyDeleteKandee
I've read online stories with Gay characters, though they're written by mostly teenagers, and not published authors.
ReplyDeleteYes, I do feel Gay characters are being neglected from YA novels. I haven't read a book with Gay characters, except from the awesome author Amelia Atwater-Rhodes.
I hope these authors can make a difference with their involvement!