Update: Chopsticks

You guys!  Do you know what I just found out?  And by "found out" I mean "was tipped off too?"  And man, it makes this book about 600 times cooler than I thought it was!  However, it will involve a lot of spoilers, so just be forewarned.

Unterzakhn by Leela Corman

Fanya and Esther are twins, Jewish, and growing up in the early 1900s.  Their mother believes that they will take over her dress shop, but both girls are pulled by very different interests in very different direction.  Fanya begins assisting a woman who performs illegal abortions and helps birth babies, and Esther begins assisting at a brothel.  As the girls grow older, they fall further in to these chosen professions, and their decisions pull them apart.

I read this in one sitting because I didn't want to stop.  I needed to know what happened.  It was a story about family and a story about how the choices we make affect us, and it was a story about how little the perceptions of society have changed.

Spoilers

News

Great article from Tor.com about a particular pose women are seen in again and again, from book covers to movie posters.

Open Content: School Libraries a "Natural Fit" to Lead Adoption.  From SLJ.

At last!  It's what we've all been waiting for!  The Harry Potter encyclopedia is allegedly in progress!  From The Guardian.

The story behind The Hunger Games logo.  From NY Daily News 

A letter from 1972 from Maurice Sendak's editor to a librarian who burned a copy of In The Night Kitchen.  From Letters of Note.

What Does "Young Adult" Mean?  From The Atlantic Wire.

A little while back, Jim C. Hines had a fabulous post on his blog where he tried posing like women on the cover of fantasy books.  He has now done the same thing for men.

Waiting on Wednesday: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Barduga

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine to spotlight an upcoming release that we're excited about. This week I'm waiting on Shadow and Bone by Leigh Barduga.

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee. 

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.
Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha…and the secrets of her heart. (Summary by Goodreads) 


I love a little bit of political intrigue tossed into my fantasy. This sounds like it has a lot of potential for being an incredible read. Can't wait.


Shadow and Bone comes out June 5th.

Spirit's Princess by Esther Friesner

In third century Japan, Himiko is the only daughter of the chief of her tribe.  Himiko is destine for greatness and has a strong connection with the spirit world.  Her father, however, wants his daughter married and having children.  Himiko struggles with being the perfect daughter and following her heart.

This book went on forever and then some.  It took me a long time to get though because I kept getting bored.  I think there could have been some serious editing done and the story wouldn't have lost anything essential.

Himiko goes back and forth between her two personalities like six times.  First she's all outspoken, then she falls out of the tree and becomes a good girl.  Then she overcomes that and finds some of herself again, only to get lost and return to being an obedient child.  Then she gets some of her own back but then she gets in to a fight with her beloved brother Aki and stops talking or doing anything.  So much back and forth.  And the thing was, we didn't get a lot of new information out of each one.  The important stuff was that Himiko had a bad leg, and at one point got lost and found another clan of people, and that she's destine to be a shaman.  That's it.  I did not need years and years to go by and have each of her back and forth personality changes documented.  I didn't need so many fights with her father, so many moments with her brother.

Nothing much happened.  The major conflict of the book was that Himiko was destined to be a shaman, something her father had strictly forbidden.  Himiko trains secretly, and when will she confront him and all will be revealed?  What will happen?  That doesn't happen until almost the end of the book, and then Himiko runs away and when she tries to go home she finds her clan has been conquered.  Then the book ends.

I feel like nothing ever came together.  I understand that this is a series, but did the entire first book have to be back story and setup for the next one?  That's what it felt like.  I don't have any interest in finding out what happens next.  I'm afraid it will just be more of the same.

The most enjoyable part for me was the note at the end of the book that told about the stories of the real Himiko that the book was based on.  I thought that was very interesting.

Spirit's Princess comes out April 24, 2012.

Zero by Tom Leveen

Zero is an artist, or at least she thought she was until her dream college revoked her scholarship.  Without the money to attend, and since she isn't speaking to her best and only friend, Zero is now stuck with an empty summer, full of her parent's fighting.  To escape, Zero seeks out the punk rock clubs and becomes friends with a group of guys in the band Gothic Rainbow, in particular the drummer, Mike.  Slowly Zero begins to find the courage and confidence to seek out her dream of art.

It was clear right away that Zero didn't think much of herself.  I mean, she's letting everyone call her Zero.  It's not hard to see how she got a low opinion of herself, however.  Art is her one love, but she didn't have a teacher in high school that could help her strengthen her skills.  The rejection from college hit her hard, and now she thinks she sucks at the one thing that made her happy.  Zero is a bit of an outcast, her one close friend being Jenn, who she's now cut herself off from.  Her home situation isn't great.  Her father is an alcoholic who's drinking a good portion of the family's income (which is why Zero can't afford college).

News

Renee Hobbs seeks change in law to allow teachers to copy DVDs for classroom use.  From The Digital Shift.

There's now a children's choice award for best STEM picture book from School Library journal.

At long last, Pottermore is finally, finally open to everyone.

I just think this is awesome.  From PW.

The Huffington Post theorizes what books in 2012 will take the place of The Hunger Games.

And speaking of The Hunger Games, Gary Ross will not return to direct Catching Fire.  The new director will have his work cut out for him. Or perhaps one these female directors?  From The Hollywood Reporter, The Los Angeles Times and The Mary Sue.

I am unimpressed with The Atlantic's "The Greatest Girl Characters of Young Adult Literature."  First of all, half of what's on the list isn't YA, and second, the writer of this article clearly hasn't been doing a lot of recent reading of YA, aside from The Hunger Games.

An interview with Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith.  From Designmom.com

Guys read Judy Blume too.  From Jezebel. 

This makes me sad: "Lois Lane, Girl Reporter: The Awesome Comic that Never Was and Probably Never Will Be."  Stupid big comic book industry.  From The Mary Sue.

Noelle's Hunger Games comics are adorable.

And finally, haven't you wondered what it would be like if Mean Girls collided with The Hunger Games?  Your question is now answered.