Monthly Archives: October 2012

Top ten kick-ass heroines – from YA YEAH YEAH (Abby @ #5)

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1. Kat (The Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson series by Stephanie Burgis) – These are technically in no order, but Kat is possibly my favourite ever heroine. Loyal to her family, she’s a wonderful friend and a ferocious enemy, as well as being brilliant at magic. Considering she’s still only about thirteen in the last book, that’s pretty stunning.

2. Verity/Maddie (Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein) – As always, am saying as little as possible about CNV due to being petrified of spoiling it, but anyone who’s been reading my blog this year could guess this would be here. Two incredible young women with a wonderful friendship.

3. Brianna (Gone series by Michael Grant) – I could have picked a couple of people from this series, but it’s Brianna who’s always been my favourite. At an age when dealing with growing up is hard enough, she’s also trying to control super speed, fight the bad guys, and deal with people she wasn’t expecting to be interested in her having feelings for her. A stunning portrayal.

4. Larissa (Department 19 series by Will Hill) – Larissa, eternally seventeen after being turned into a vampire two years prior to the start of the series, is a kick-ass heroine with real bite. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)

5. Abby (Night of the Purple Moon by Scott Cramer) – As the leader of the kids on the island in this harrowing dystopian book, Abby does an amazing job of keeping her community together after the deaths of all the adults.

6. Margo Roth Spiegelman (Paper Towns by John Green) – I’m keeping it to one per author, so Margo edges out Green’s nearly-as-awesome Alaska. Right from the moment she crawls into Q’s window, dressed in black and wearing black face paint, she’s a fabulous character.

7. Gloria (Flappers series by Jillian Larkin) – Hard to choose one from the central trio here, but Gloria’s forbidden interracial romance with Jerome is so well-handled that I’ll give her the nod.

8. Lottie Biggs (Lottie Biggs series by Hayley Long) – Lottie is a stunning creation who is just a joy to read about. Her courageous battle with mental health issues in the first book, Lottie Biggs Is (Not) Mad, is especially well-handled.

9. Meg (The Anti-Prom by Abby McDonald) – As with Flappers, this is a book with three brilliant lead female characters. Meg, who’s quiet and often overlooked but really grows during the one night the book takes place in, is my favourite.

10. Princess Eilonwy (The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander) – Most of the children’s fantasy novels from the 60s, 70s and 80s that I can remember had some strong male characters but relatively few really good female leads. Eilonwy bucks that trend, being far more than ‘just’ a love interest to Taran in this wonderful sequence.

Go to Ya Yeah Yeah

 

First customer review on Amazon Germany

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5 – star… and quite impressive if the Bing Translator did its job. A huge DANKE to this German reader.

In Night of the Purple Moon geht es darum, dass ein Komet nah an der Erde vorbei fliegt. Die Vorfreude ist groß, denn es wird ein spektakuläres Himmelsbild mit einem “Purple Moon” erwartet. Doch als das junge Mädchen Abby am nächsten Morgen aufwacht, sind alle Erwachsenen tot, sie und ihre Geschwister entdecken bald, dass auch ältere Jugendliche betroffen sind, sobald sie in die Pupertät eintreten, fangen die vom Kometen mitgebrachte Krankheitserreger an zu wirken. Auch Abby und ihr Bruder sind nahe an der Pupertät, genauso, wie viele andere junge Leute aus der Nachbarschaft, mit denen sie sich zusammenschließen. Doch ein paar Erwachsene in hoch gesicherten Forschungslaboren haben begonnen, einen Impfstoff zu entwickeln, die Frage ist nun: Wer wird bis zur Fertigstellung noch leben?

Die Geschichte ist sehr spannend geschrieben, es ist ein richtiger Wettlauf gegen die Zeit. Das relativ kurze Buch hat man deshalb auch recht schnell gelesen und es hinterlässt einen bleibenden Eindruck. Besonders gefallen hat es mir, wie sich Jugendliche und Kinder zusammenschließen, um zu überleben. Im Kontrast dazu, wird aber auch immer wieder angedeutet, dass es nicht überall so harmonisch ist, sondern dass in anderen Gegenden Babys verhungern und die Schwächeren beklaut und misshandelt werden. Die Katastrophe bringt also gute und schlechte Seiten bei den Kindern und Jugendlichen hervor. Die Hauptpersonen überzeugen ebenfalls und man durchlebt Höhen und Tiefen mit ihnen. Beim Buch steht, dass es Teil einer Trilogie ist, es kann aber auch als einzelnes abgeschlossenes Werk gelesen werden.

 

 

Life is better with Books. Verdict: Recommended

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I think this book would go really well in a Civics or American History class. Students could use a disaster like the one in the book as a springboard to discuss how to rebuild society. There would definitely need to be changes made in government if people didn’t live past the age of 18. (That’s not a spoiler by the way.) It could provide some interest in studying several different types of governments.

See more of the verdict

 

‘Sweet and Sassy Reviewz’ Event – win signed paperback

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Natasha, the brains behind Sweet and Sassy Reviewz blog, is hosting an event and I have the privilege of leading it off. For a chance to win a signed paperback of Night of the Purple Moon, just go to http://facebook.com/authorscottcramer and leave a wall post. The winner will be chosen randomly and then contacted through Facebook.

Now for my interview with Natasha:

When did you start writing?

And when did you become an author?

I started writing poetry in college. Then I wrote short fiction pieces. Then I made a modest income as a magazine feature writer. Following that, I discovered screenwriting. I wrote several screenplays and optioned one of them. The option has since expired. Writing scripts, I learned a lot about story structure and dialog. I wrote two young adult novels that have not been published. Night of the Purple Moon is my first published novel.

 When was your first book released?

The Kindle version of Night of the Purple Moon was released in March 2012. The paperback was released one month later.

 Do you have more books that you have written?

Yes. Two young adult novels, mentioned above, are sitting in my drawer. For now they will remained confined to the darkness. Maybe one day I will revisit them. Right now I have more than enough to do. I am working on Book 2 of the ‘The Toucan Trilogy’. The title is ‘Colony East’

 

When you were younger did you like to write?

Yes, when I was really young, like six or seven. Then something happened. I can’t put my finger on it. Maybe it was the ‘D’ in 8th grade English class. Maybe it was partly because I had boring English teachers (Mr. H, you could snuff out the inspiration in Andy Warhol). Well, one of my teachers was pretty cool (Ms. L). Everyone in class laid on the floor in a circle. I don’t remember what we did after that, but it was an excellent teaching strategy. In any event, I believe I am still learning how to write and I will probably always feel this way.

Is there a certain thing you do before writing your books?

I wake up. Seriously. My favorite time to write is 4:30 a.m. The cat wakes me up. I stumble out and have coffee. Then I stumble to my PC and sit down and begin.

How long did it take you to write a book?

It took me a year and a half to write Night of the Purple Moon. I wrote many drafts. I am not the world’s slowest writer, but I am not that fastest, either.

 How many books have you read?

I have read a lot of books. I lost count. What’s unusual is that I sometimes read the same book over and over again. I guess I love to look at the way some writers put down sentences. I have read ‘What is the What’ by Dave Eggers at least ten times. I also am re-reading (for umpteenth time) The Wild Shore by Kim Stanley Robinson. I don’t read it from beginning to end, but rather hop all over the place.

Do you write everyday?

In a year, I probably write 355 days.

Do you have another author or person or even place who gives you inspiration?

Short and sweet from The Midwest Book Review – Highly recommended

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A plague may wipe out life as we know it. “Night of the Purple Moon” is a novel following Abby Leigh as the moon turns purple and wipes out anyone who has hit puberty. As youths struggle to get by and find out the cause from the disaster, Abby finds that keeping her family going may be just enough on her plate. “Night of the Purple Moon” is a fine read for youths, highly recommended.

http://www.midwestbookreview.com/cbw/oct_12.htm#Fiction

Reading Lark reviews NOPM

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One last word on the rating I chose for this book: my choice was based on the description, “quite good,” rather than the numerical score. Of all our ratings, I simply felt this was the best description of how I felt about my reading experience. If you are at all interested in the premise of this book, please don’t let the number attached to this review stop you from giving this book a try. For readers interested in astronomy, island life, and fictional worlds where children have to fend for themselves, this might be just the read you are looking for.