Waiting on Wednesday: The Opposite of Hallelujah by Anna Jarzad.

"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 The Opposite of Hallelujah by Anna Jarzad.

Caro Mitchell considers herself an only child—and she likes it that way. After all, her much older sister, Hannah, left home eight years ago, and Caro barely remembers her. So when Caro’s parents drop the bombshell news that Hannah is returning to live with them, Caro feels as if an interloper is crashing her family. To her, Hannah’s a total stranger, someone who haunts their home with her meek and withdrawn presence, and who refuses to talk about her life and why she went away. Caro can’t understand why her parents cut her sister so much slack, and why they’re not pushing for answers.

Unable to understand Hannah, Caro resorts to telling lies about her mysterious reappearance. But when those lies alienate Caro’s new boyfriend and put her on the outs with her friends and her parents, she seeks solace from an unexpected source. And when she unearths a clue about Hannah’s past—one that could save Hannah from the dark secret that possesses her—Caro begins to see her sister in a whole new light.


The Opposite of Hallelujah comes out October 9, 2012.

News

Think you know Harry Potter?  Try this Lit Slit quiz and find out.  I only got one wrong, which makes me a Hogwarts professor.  I am awesome.  From Mental_Floss.

YA authors narrate David Levithan's Every Day.  From EW.

Shannon Hale on how boys should be encouraged to read books about girls.  From The Salt Lake Tribune.

Partick Ness on censorship in the Internet age.  From The Guardian.

The legacy of the Baby-Sister's Club!  From The Atlantic Wire.

Whoa.  The Hunger Games has beat Harry Potter as the top seller on Amazon.  From The New York Times.

How do we feel about the casting of Finnick?  I have no idea who this Sam Claflin is.  From E.

Kind of want this shirt.  From Mental_Floss.

I understand that there are issues with Fifty Shades of Grey, but can we not burn books please?  From the LA Times.

I wish there was more of an actual pattern for this, because I MUST HAVE THIS WONDER WOMAN SWEATER!  From Fashionably Geek.

And finally, John Green tells us why it's awesome that school is starting.  Preach it, John Green.

   

Batgirl: The Darkest Reflection by Gail Simone

In this reboot (am I not suppose to call it a reboot?) Barbara has made a miraculous recovery.  After being shot by the Joker in the spine, Barbara was paralyzed for two years.  But then she was able to walk again.  Now recovered, she's ready to be Batgirl once more.  Or so she thinks.  Up against a new villain named Mirror, Batgirl realizes she may not be as prepared as she needs to be.

So I was finally able to get my hands on The New 52 Batgirl.  I was on the library waiting list for months.  So I begin my process of reading the female-focused comics of The New 52.  I know I'm behind the times.  What can I say?  I have a lot to read.

I was pretty sure that new Batgirl was going to be at the very least decent because it's written by Gail Simone, who, as we all know, is awesome.  She was also the only solo female writer on the entire New 52 line.  Yeah.  DC and Marvel still have a tendency to sort of suck in that respect.  They also like to stick their heads in the sand and pretend that women aren't reading their comics, because if women aren't reading their comics, then they don't have to care about them or cater to their needs.

Back to the story itself.  So you have to be willing to take in stride Barbara's new story.  No Oracle, no Birds of Pray, she's back to being Batgirl, but has this traumatic background she has to deal with as she gets back into the crime fighting game.  It isn't easy for her to get back.  She freezes the first time Mirror points a gun at her.  As usual, Gail Simone told great stories with a good mix of humor and action.  There's enough back-story to understand what's going on, but not too much that it drags down the action.

I certainly liked the illustrations much better than when I read Birds of Prey.  There were no tits and ass shots, which I appreciated.  Actually, there was very little gratuitous boob flashing or impossible poses, which was delightful.  Yes, a villain who shows up toward the end is wearing a white cat suit with a lot of cleavage.  But it wasn't too bad and that was really it.  Thank you, multiple people who did the art, for not resorting to hypersexulization but allowing the images and words work together to tell a story.

The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan

Misskaella, wronged by her family and those around her took her revenge on the island by tempting the men with sea wives: women she can draw from seals.  Now the only people on Rollrock Island are men, their sea wives, and their sons.  And the wives never stop wishing for the sea.

I found this story incredibly disturbing.  It was still an engaging story, but I was very disturbed.  The legend of selkies I always found upsetting: men stealing the seal skin of a women and hiding it so the women cannot return to the sea and then taking her for a wife.  It's really pretty awful.

The setting felt Irish to me, and selkies are often connected to Irish lore.  There was nothing that explicitly put it in Ireland, or our own world for that matter, but some of the slang used, and the constant reference to the native people having red hair caused me to picture Ireland as the backdrop for this story.

The Great Unexpected by Sharon Creech

Naomi and Lizzie, two orphan girls living in Blackbird Tree, are minding their own business when a boy falls out of a tree at their feet.  Once Finn shows up, things become very strange.  The mysterious Dingle Dangle man comes to town for an unknown purpose, and things begin changing, fast, and Naomi isn't sure if it's for the better.  She begins to see the strange connections between people, even people far across the sea in Ireland.

I love Sharon Creech.  I grew up reading Walk Two Moons and Chasing Redbird.  I was beside myself when I met her at ALA.  But I did not love this.  It was very...disjointed.  It was disjointed on purpose, I know, but it didn't work for me.  Things kind of came together in the end, but not as much as I would have liked.

Naomi falls quickly for Finn.  Lizzie doesn't seem to have much romantic interest in him, but that doesn't stop Naomi from feeling jealous.  One of Naomi's guardians, Nula, tells her the story of a boy named Finn who broke her heart back in Ireland and caused and rift between her and her sister, who she hasn't seen or spoken to in years.

The chapters go back and forth between Naomi, pinning for Finn, fearing dogs, and visiting unfortunate souls with Lizzie, and Mrs. Kavanagh, who has planned some kind of revenge in Blackbird Tree.  It is not clear what, but it seems to involve a murder.

Naomi, Lizzie and Nula eventually travel to Ireland and many surprising connections are made.  Everyone is linked in some kind of way.  It was all very...airy and flighty and deep thinking and pondery.  Was Finn real?  Was he really there?  I have no idea.  I was confused about that in the end.

I think it will appeal to some girls, but it's not nearly as relatable as many of her other books.  Most of Sharon Creech's books I could recommend to any kid.  This book would take a certain kind of kid.

The Great Unexpected comes out September 4, 2012.

Waiting on Wednesday: Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst

"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 Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst.

 In a desert world of sandstorms and sand-wolves, a teen girl must defy the gods to save her tribe in this mystical, atmospheric tale from the author of Drink, Slay, Love.Liyana has trained her entire life to be the vessel of a goddess. The goddess will inhabit Liyana’s body and use magic to bring rain to the desert. But Liyana’s goddess never comes. Abandoned by her angry tribe, Liyana expects to die in the desert. Until a boy walks out of the dust in search of her.

     Korbyn is a god inside his vessel, and a trickster god at that. He tells Liyana that five other gods are missing, and they set off across the desert in search of the other vessels. For the desert tribes cannot survive without the magic of their gods. But the journey is dangerous, even with a god’s help. And not everyone is willing to believe the trickster god’s tale.

     The closer she grows to Korbyn, the less Liyana wants to disappear to make way for her goddess. But she has no choice: She must die for her tribe to live. Unless a trickster god can help her to trick fate—or a human girl can muster some magic of her own. (Summary from GoodReads)

I think this sounds really intriguing, like Sarah Beth Durst created a well-thought out complex world. And it comes out on Arianna's birthday! So good times.

Vessel comes out Sept. 11.

News

24 library-centric sites.  From Mental Floss.

Random House unveils Twitter author chat series.  From PW.

Women are on the rise as top-earning authors.  From Forbes.

The recession has not been good for diversity in children's books.  From the Wisconsin State Journal.

Laura Miller argues that the reason so many more women write YA than men is because YA carries no prestige.  From Salon.

Apparently there are a number of people who still like print books, as Lauren Conrad learned when she filmed a craft video which involved cutting up books.  From The Hollywood Reporter.

A girl looking for a summary of her summer reading book (which she didn't read) gets an answer from the author.  From abc News.

Bags inspired by children's books.  From the Huffington Post.

Jacqueline Wilson on writing a sequel to E Nesbit's Five Children and It.  From The Guardian. 

Mo Willems tells us how to raise a reader.  I love him so.  From Scholastic.

News from Comi-Con.  From SLJ.

Librarians at Comi-Con.  From PW.

Moving right along, Chris Colfer, having written a middle grade book, will now write a YA book.  Also, it will be a movie he will star in.  From PW.

Lesser know books by authors you love.  From The Atlantic Wire.

During a time when many librarians are losing their jobs and libraries are disappearing, it's nice to read things like this: Baltimore schools receive $5 million library upgrade.  From SLJ.