Please welcome Kristin O'Donnell Tubb

The class of 2k8 is pleased to introduce another extraordinary MG author this month. Won't you help us welcome Kristin O'Donnell Tubb, author of Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different?

I grew up in East Tennessee, near Cades Cove, where Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different is set. Autumn’s story came to me when I was on a guided tour of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. There we were, standing in what was once someone’s home, and I thought: what if my home became a national park? How does something like that even happen? When I did a little research, I discovered the fascinating history of the people of Cades Cove.

No one does things like Autumn Winifred Oliver. Autumn Winifred Oliver prides herself on doing things her way. But she meets her match when she, her mama, and her pin-curled older sis, Katie, move in with her cantankerous Gramps. The Oliver gals were supposed to join Pop in Knoxville for some big-city living (they’d even sold their house!), but Gramps’s recent sick spell convinced Mama to stay put in Cades Cove, a place of swishy meadows and shady hollers that lies on the crest of the Great Smoky Mountains.

And it’s not like there’s nothing going on in the Cove. Folks are all aflutter about turning their land into a national park, and Autumn’s not sure what to think. Loggers like Pop need jobs, but if things keep going at the current rate, the forests will soon be chopped to bits. And Gramps seems to think there’s some serious tourist money to be made. Looks like something different is definitely in order…

"Kristin O'Donnell Tubb has written a wonderful debut novel, full of history, excitement and sensitivity....Tubb takes no easy shortcuts - but she finds a satisfying and very real resolution." Alice Cary for BookPage

“Tubb skillfully weaves Autumn’s internal coming of age struggles with the very real struggles faced by the people living in the hollows and hills of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, before the park existed….What makes Tubb’s story so unique and rich is her knowledge of the people, the geography, the history, and their culture. Tubb masterfully brings these folks to life….Under the exquisite language and personalities lies a true story—one that should spark classroom debate. I hope teachers everywhere add Tubb’s book to their reading lists.” BookPleasures.com

“Peppered…with Appalachian superstitions and homey, colorful phrases.” Kirkus Reviews

Kristin, we're so happy to celebrate your debut this week! And we can't wait until tomorrow when you share your "call" story with us.

Introducing the Electrifying Ellen Booraem

This month we're thrilled to have three debut authors. Our first celebration is for Ellen Booraem and her MG fantasy, The Unnameables.

“The Unnameables” is a whimsical fantasy set on an island where everyone is named for what he or she does. The hero is a 13-year-old foundling boy named Medford Runyuin, whose meaningless name underscores his status as an outsider in a rigid, orderly society. Medford has a dangerous secret that just keeps getting worse as he gets older. A smelly, chaotic goatman shows up to expose the secret, kicking off a chain of events that changes Medford’s life—and his island—forever.

Ellen quit a job she loved—arts and special sections editor for the county newspaper—to take her third stab at writing a novel. This time, it worked! Before taking the plunge, she had been writing and editing for rural weeklies for nearly twenty years. Before that, she wrote and edited employee newsletters for corporations and college publications.

Ellen and her partner, artist Rob Shillady, moved to coastal Maine from southern New England in 1984. In the early 90s, they bought land in their tiny town (population: 800) and built a house with their own hands (mostly Rob’s, since one of his day jobs had been carpentry). They live there now with a dog named Calamity Jane and a cat named McGonagall, after the Harry Potter professor who can turn herself into a cat.

Ellen is a founding director of the Brooklin Youth Corps, a summertime work and self-esteem program for teens. She is a mentor and writing coach at the local school, and freelances for the newspaper where she used to work.

Here’s what Kirkus Reviews had to say about The Unnameables:

(Starred Review) On Island, “thou art thy name.” At age 14, residents receive their names and their vocations from the Council. A cook becomes Cook, a tanner becomes Tanner and everyone follows the rules set forth in Capability C. Craft’s Frugall Compendium of Home Arts and Farme Chores (1680). Thirteen-year-old foundling Medford Runyuin hopes to be designated Carver, like his foster father. He also hopes no one will discover the Unnameable objects he’s created and hidden under his bed: They could cause his exile to Mainland forever. The Council puts off naming him, however, and he must continue to work hard for acceptance. When someone nameless and possibly Unnameable enters his life, all his plans—and the islanders’ way of life—could be in for drastic changes…but after 300 years, is that necessarily a bad thing? Booraem’s debut is an ever-surprising, genre-defying page-turner. Realistic characters deal with philosophical problems in vivid, flowing prose that is evocative and often funny. A sort of combination of witch-trial-era Salem and The Giver, this book offers a treat with nearly every page turn.

We're pleased to have you meet Regina Scott

May has been a jam packed month, but we're giddy about having one more debut author. Well, she's sorta a debut author. Regina Scott is actually a best-selling, adult regency author making her YA debut.

Regina always wanted to be an author. She started writing stories for her friends in the third grade. In the eighth grade, she got in trouble for writing a parody of school life, set in a mythical medieval kingdom (hey, she always loved those long dresses too), and lampooning the hottest guy in school. The parody was an instant bestseller, at least at Eisenhower Middle School.

She had to wait a little longer for her next bestseller. After numerous short stories and articles in magazines and trade journals, she got serious about her novel writing and published 17 historical romances for adults, several of which won awards from booksellers and readers. And then her clever agent showed her it would be a lot more fun to write for young adults instead.
Regina and her husband are the parents of two teenage sons. They reside in the Tri-Cities of southeast Washington State and are members of the Church of the Nazarene. Regina is also a decent fencer and owns a historical, fantasy, and science fiction costume collection that takes up over a third of her large closet (remember what we said about long dresses?).

LA PETITE FOUR tells the story of Lady Emily Southwell and her three dearest friends who intend to take Society by storm by hosting the most elegant, elaborate, exclusive ball 1815 London has ever seen. But dashing Lord Robert Townsend insists that Emily honor the engagement their parents spoke of years ago. Has he no sensibilities? No refinement of spirit? No idea he has laid down a challenge Emily has no choice but to accept?

Yet as Emily and her friends come up with ever wilder ways to put Lord Robert in his place, they stumble across secrets better left untold. With the aid of mysterious James Cropper, who seems to be following Lord Robert (or, gasp! Lady Emily?), the girls must determine whether Lord Robert has more up his sleeve than a nicely muscled arm. Otherwise their dreams of a smashing Season just might come crashing down.

Advanced praise for LA PETITE FOUR:

Sophie at "Couture's Fashionable Reads" was kind enough to award La Petite Four a 7 out of 10 in the book's first review. "With clever plot twists, spying, and debonair courtiers, this book will keep you reading to the end!"

Come back tomorrow for an interview with Regina in which she explains the how and the where of her writing process. And take it from us...not many people approach things the way she does.

Introducing the one and only Debbie Reed Fischer!

The Class of 2k8 is thrilled to announce the release of Braless in Wonderland by debut young adult author, Debbie Reed Fischer!

Braless in Wonderland is a humorous, fast-paced teen story about a girl who falls into the world of modeling.

And Debbie Reed Fischer was the perfect person to write this stay-up-all-night-to-finish-it book. She's definitely no stranger to the modeling business, having worked for many years as a model booker in Miami, where she experienced the daily dramas of the weird and the beautiful.

Other job adventures from her past include hosting a cable TV show for teens, picking melons on a kibbutz, teaching middle and high school English, and singing in a USO troupe. Talk about multi-talented!!

Debbie grew up in a sleepy Florida town much like Cape Comet (where her protagonist, Allee Rosen, grew up) and has also lived in England, Greece, and Israel.

In high school, she spent a lot of time in math class writing stories, songs, and long notes to her friends. Now you know why we don't let her figure out the tip in restaurants!

A graduate of the University of Miami's screenwriting program, Debbie currently lives in Boynton Beach, Florida, with her husband and two kids, where she feeds them a steady diet of take-out. Her second teen novel, Swimming with the Sharks, will be released in September. Debbie is our class Energizer Bunny!



And here's a head shot (just to throw a little modeling lingo your way!) of our very own Debbie Reed Fischer, author of Braless in Wonderland.



About Braless in Wonderland...

Allee Rosen is a lot of things: high school senior, overachiever, feminist, brainiac. The one thing she’s not is super model material. She leaves that to pretty people like her little sister (a.k.a. “The Fluff”). That’s why it’s a complete shock when Allee, not her sister, is the one spotted by modeling scouts at the mall and signed by a major modeling agency in Miami.
It’s classic GEEK-to-CHIC – but it’s not like it’s going to change her, right? She’s just doing it for the money that will pay her way through college. Very soon, however, Allee is swept up in the whirlwind of go-sees, designer labels and photo shoots. Will her elusive “It Girl” status lead Allee to drop her dreams and forget who she really is?

Issues of body image, feminism and personal growth are woven throughout the story as readers enjoy a funny, honest insider’s peek at what really goes on behind the cameras.

“The book gets inside of the mind a new model, especially her insecurities and her misconceptions about what models are like,” Fischer commented in an interview in the March issue of Portrait magazine. “It’s also about holding on to the core of who you are, but being willing to grow and change.” In the world of fashion, nothing is ever what it seems, and much like Alice in Wonderland, this novel is a surreal adventure full of self-discovery and transformation, with plenty of glamour and fun along the way.




We're not the only people who love Braless in Wonderland. Here's what others are saying...

"Detailed and realistic . . . Fischer has worked for many years as a booker in Miami, and she really knows the business." --KLIATT

"Such a page-turning book, you might sweep through it as quickly as you can say ‘go-see.’ This book is like watching a fast-paced teen drama . . . you can't help but root for Allee Rosen, in all of her unglamorous glory.” --Today’s Teen of the Palm Beach Post

"Braless in Wonderland thrusts the reader into the world of modeling . . . pick up this book!" *****--TeensReadToo.com

"A good book for growing up and seeing people for who they really are . . . worth the read.” --Romantic Times Book Reviews magazine

"Braless in Wonderland is an unexpected delight . . . I found myself drawn into the character’s adventure . . . an accurate and enticing peek into the real world of modeling, which includes not only the glitz and the glamour, but the downsides and pressures. There is a fun array of characters and scenarios, and I was left feeling that unlike many books, this one didn’t fail to live up to its own plotlines potential."
--Portrait magazine

Populated with a fun vibe, an inside look at the world of Miami modeling agencies, and some great secondary characters, Braless in Wonderland is well worth picking up for some by-the-pool summer reading. I look forward to reading more from Ms. Reed Fischer.
-EnchantingReviews.com

Join us tomorrow for how Debbie Reed Fischer became a model booker and got to use cool terms like "clean-clean" and "backdrop" and "cyc studio." See, Deb, we really do listen to you!

Put your hands together for ... M.P. Barker

Please welcome M.P. Barker, debut young adult author of A Difficult Boy.


M.P. is a very interesting and unique member of the Class of 2k8. And we wish you all got a chance to hang around her the way we do. But since you don't, we're doing this interview to help you get to know her. 

Best of all, M.P. is letting us give away her biggest secret.

Here goes ...

M.P. Barker is a TIME TRAVELER!

M.P. Barker: Actually, I'm an archivist and historian. Which, I guess, is sort of the same thing.

2k8: But you worked in nineteenth-century rural New England, right?

M.P. Barker: I was a costumed historical interpreter at Old Sturbridge Village. I milked cows, mucked out barns and found inspiration for my historical novel, A Difficult Boy.

2k8: That mucking out of barns sounds ewwww. But the rest sounds very cool. Are you still time traveling?

M.P. Barker: Well, I work now as an archivist at the Connecticut Valley Historical Museum. This gives me the opportunity to read other people's diaries and letters and snoop through their photo albums.

2k8: Love it! Old-time gossip! What else do you do?

M.P. Barker: I'm also a freelance historical consultant. I've written exhibit text, scripts for historical dramatizations, nominations to the National Register of Historic Places, fundraising materials, and planning studies.

Thanks, M.P. And, now, onto A Difficult Boy. First off, here's the wonderful cover.

cover art credit: Marc Tauss

And here's the flap copy:

It's 1839. Nine-year-old Ethan doesn't want to be an indentured servant. But his family has no other way to pay off their debt, so Ethan must work for Mr. Lyman, a wealthy shopkeeper in their Massachusetts town. At first, Ethan tries to make friends with the Lymans’ other indentured servant, Daniel, a moody Irish teenager. But Daniel, as everyone says, is a difficult boy, and wants nothing to do with him. Then Ethan is shocked to see Mr. Lyman beat Daniel. Soon, Ethan, too, is suffering Mr. Lyman’s blows. Self-preservation finally drives the two boys together, and they begin to form a friendship, but when the boys discover a dark secret about the patron, their lives may be changed forever.



2k8: How in the world did you ever come up with this fantastic idea for a book?

M.P. Barker: I was cataloguing some documents in the archives and came across a 275-year-old bill that an indentured servant’s master had sent to the boy’s mother, charging her for the cost of finding and bringing back her runaway son. That got me thinking: Why did the boy run away? What would happen if his mother couldn’t pay the bill? What kind of crummy cheapskate was that master?

photo credit: Connecticut Valley Historical Museum, from their archives

2k8: And how did the bill become your novel?

M.P. Barker: Well, the document was still on my mind when I went to my weekly writing group. So I began doing a few character sketches. Since I didn’t know as much about the 1770s as I ought to, I transferred the time to the 1830s, which I did know about from working at Sturbridge Village. Once the characters started growing, they began to take on their own lives, as characters have a way of doing, and I sort of lost control. My first draft was 700 pages! Luckily for readers, the published version is now just shy of 300 pages with two discontented indentured servants (one of them Irish), one cruel master with a closet full of skeletons, one son of said cruel master with a deep, dark secret of his own, one dairymaid with a serious crush on the master’s son, and one mysterious peddler who wanders in and out inadvertently stirring up trouble.

2k8: Those characters sound fascinating!

M.P. Barker: Thanks! Turning that material into historical fiction was an adventure and a challenge. I wanted to create characters that readers could identify with, while allowing them to see that those characters aren’t merely modern people wearing funny clothes and living without indoor plumbing. Daniel’s and Ethan’s thoughts and beliefs are very different from ours, yet they grapple with familiar problems: prejudice, abuse, poverty, grief, and loneliness. And they cherish the same things that matter to kids and adults today: loyalty, kindness, trust and most of all, friendship.

2k8: Congratulations, M.P. You are a published author now! And, hey, don't forget you're featured on our blog this entire week. So, make sure you time-travel your little self back here for Tuesday's interview.

Introducing ... Zu Vincent!

 

Yes, folks, it's another exciting launch week at the Class of 2k8! We proudly raise our glasses of cyber bubbly to debut author Zu Vincent and her young adult novel, The Lucky Place.

Without further ado, here's the beautiful cover:

And we want to tell you about The Lucky Place:

“Here’s what I think. I think having two daddies is like riding the elephant. You don’t know until you get up there what an elephant smells like, or how high you will be on the elephant’s back. But then you realize. And the basket tips one way and then the other, like you might fall, every time the elephant steps.”

Her drunken father lost her at the races when she was three. Her down and out mother believes in luck. Her wild brother wants to be a dancing star. And her new father’s secret could destroy them all. But when the chips are down in an ordinary life, the view from a young girl’s heart can still look extraordinary.

Now, let's meet Zu!

Zu Vincent holds an MFA from Vermont College where she began writing a story about fathers and daughters that became The Lucky Place. She was awarded Harcourt’s post-grad semester at Vermont College in 2006. Her photos and features have appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines including Harper’s, Yoga Journal and Flyfishing, and she’s written non-fiction books for Scholastic, Harcourt, Signet and Plume. In addition her essays and short stories have appeared in several literary journals and anthologies including Through The Wardrobe, edited by Herbie Brennan.


So, Zu, tell us how The Lucky Place began…

Isabelle Allende calls writing “an exercise in nostalgia,” a long, slow dance in an ever-widening circle of memory. I like that. I think we forge the details of this dance from love and longing, remembered place and the rub of character against character. In this way all novels are true, even if they aren’t factual. For example, the title for The Lucky Place came from a childhood memory about a white horse. When my mom would see this white horse in the field near our home, she’d lick her thumb and stamp it on her palm for luck. I remember being sure this would work, that our family would stay charmed forever.

But nobody’s family stays charmed forever. And in The Lucky Place, I created Cassie and Jamie, threw them into a messy family relationship and watched what happens when this early magical belief meets reality.

Advance praise for The Lucky Place:

“A quietly powerful and important story. Zu’s vignettes weave a novel that, from moment to moment, takes your breath—then gently hands it back to you again. Lovely.” 

—Jacqueline Woodson, author of Hush

“The Lucky Place is a pitch-perfect little symphony.” 

—Tim Wynne-Jones, author of The Maestro

“A magical book—joyful and heartbreaking—singing with life. Zu leads us gently into the heart and soul of a girl we come to love. I didn’t want it to end.” 

— Susan Wooldridge, author of Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life with Words

Come back and visit as we spend the week getting to know more about our classmate, Zu Vincent, and The Lucky Place!

You can also visit Zu at her website: http://www.zuvincent.com