Which PLAIN Jane Are You? Brain Jayne

You're the brain of your BFF operation, but don?t feel cornered into being just a smarty pants ? you?ve got way more to offer the world (and your crush!).

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Go visit Miss Cecil for more on Plain Janes.

You know you want me to tell you what to read this summer. I have been reading all summer (so far!) and I can tell you what you need to know.

Besides Harry Potter, this is what I've read:

l8r g8r by Lauren Myracle. It's the third in the series that started with ttyl and ttfn -- and it's my favorite of the three. All told in instant messages, the winsome threesome's adventures are more outrageous than ever before. There are multiple hilarious pranks, some hot romance, and college decisions -- plus a mini-war with the evil Jana and her Boo Boo Bear. Loved it. I wouldn't write with Lauren if I didn't admire her madly, and here she is in peak form.

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin. Zevin wrote Elsewhere, which is an amazing amazing book, and while this one isn't as surreal as that, it's incredible how she's able to take a simple premise (a girl hits her head and gets amnesia) and follow it through all its emotional consequences, really exploring the sensations. Does she want to be the same person again, have the same friends, do the same things? Does she like the girl she used to be? Why doesn't she talk to her mother?

The Bermudez Triangle, by Maureen Johnson. The hype is that this book was taken off the shelves in Oklahoma because inappropriate for teenage readers -- but it is squeaky clean. There aren't even racy jokes! It's just a true and very funny portrait of what happens to relationships when two members of a threesome friendship fall in love with each other. It's also about how horrific it is to work at chain restaurants. Funny and honest, by one of my favorite writers (and my sometime writing companion).

The Plain Janes, by Cecil Castelluci. Graphic novel about art bandit teenagers. First of many. So cool. I want to be a plain jane so bad.

Prom by Laurie Halse Anderson. I am late to the party on this one, but I loved it. It just feels incredibly true and real about what life is like in high school, completely unvarnished, and what Prom can mean to the people who organize it and dream of it.

I am also reading the Private series, books 3 & 4 by Kate Brian. But I am not writing those up till I get to the end. Possible murder! Hot private school secrets! Beach reading at its best.

xo
E

P.S. I also read numerous cookbooks (and made a lot of home-made ice cream), a book about the history of the muppets, Old School by Tobias Wolfe, Twelve Sharp by Janet Evanovitch, and am in the middle of Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen. The stuff above is the YA stuff, obviously.

The title drama is OVER. I can't say what won yet, but we have a title!
Me, Sarah Mlynowski and Lauren Myracle.
Some of you are going to be so mad.
Some of you are going to be so psyched.
And there is going to be a book! May 2008. Called Something.

Maybe How to be Bad.
Maybe Hello Sunshine.
Maybe Drive Like a Girl.

Me, as a Simpsons character!

I did this craziness here.
I have been reading Will and Abe's Guide to the Universe, by Matt Groening. Anyone who lives with small children will love it. (And I am not even a big Simpsons fan).

For you Dramarama readers,

this is the number Sadye and Demi and all the Wildewood students do their "meat market" dance auditions to:

It's All That Jazz followed by Hot Honey Rag, Bebe Neuwirth (LOVE) and Ann Reinking. From the revival of Chicago. A performance from the 51st annual Tony awards.

Find out your Harry Potter personality at LiquidGeneration!

Ugh. My least favorite character. But he has the best name :)

I think I got this result 'cause I said my best event at the triwizard tournament was the DANCE afterward.

A very fun quiz.

A search term that leads people fairly often to this blog is: Boyfriend List Discussion Questions -- or something like that. Reading Group Questions, maybe.
So I want to tell you all: There are Discussion Questions in the paperback! It is a Reader's Circle edition, which means there's an interview with me in it, too.

Other people are looking for Questions to Ask Your Boyfriend. That's a whole different thing, which I address here.

Last: Our poll ends on Friday, July 20, 2007! Click here to vote and help me, Lauren Myracle and Sarah Mlynowski title our 2008 book. And spread the word.

(and just 'cause that link has been giving me trouble, here's the thing to paste into your browser)
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=zzkGMW5jfAX8IzC65DQfwg_3d_3d

xo
E

Today, I am interviewed at Chicklish -- talking about Dramarama and The Boy Book. I love their tag line: "Reader, I snogged him...."

Okay, now it's all working: this week you can come ask me questions on the Book Divas discussion board.

For those of you who know, love and support Lyle & Demi (Dramarama)
and Titus's family (Fly on the Wall),
check out novelist-librarian Sara Ryan's list of GLBT teen books. I usually point people to Alex Sanchez's list, which is awesome, but this one has a lot of new titles on it and some I didn't know had GLBT content that look great.

Ryan wrote Empress of the World & Rules for Hearts. Sanchez wrote Rainbow Boys, Rainbow High, and others.

Happy reading! and open minds!

xo
E