My son wrote, illustrated, dedicated, and hand bound a book to Tomie Depaola last night.
HAND BOUND.
Yep, thats right, he hand sewed that shit.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Review: Autobiography of Us by Aria Beth Sloss
Christine Choe over at Henry Holt and Company was kind enough to send me an ARC of Autobiography of Us, a debut novel by Aria Beth Sloss. Sloss catches the reader from the first line, "She died before her time" and holds their attention with her smooth prose and warmly developed main character, Rebecca. Sloss, through Rebecca's re-telling of her childhood, includes the reader in her story, "You know how girls are at that age. We found each other like two animals recognizing a similar species: noses raised, sniffing, alert" allowing them to feel like a partner in crime.
In upper class 1960's Pasadena both Rebecca and Alexandra are successful young women in their own rights. They excel in the womanly arts; sewing, cooking, dancing and etiquette. But underneath the carefully constructed exterior both young ladies are struggling to become socially acceptable on their own terms. One falls in love with flashy red lipstick, short shorts and the theatre while the other sneaks in and out of the medical building, refusing to admit her true love is medical science and not the sweet redheaded boy down the street.
"She nodded. 'You're like me - you'd take a rat over a jellyfish any day. They're all rats or jellyfish. The trick is finding one who's just rat enough.'"
"We ended up in a part of the city I'd never seen before, somewhere not far from the Golden Gate Bridge. The air when we climbed out of Lana's car was damp and heavy with salt; the breeze was surprisingly strong. I was glad to see the bridge through the fog, it's shape distinct even in the dark. But then I have always loved the sight of bridges - they seem to me to be one of the great miracles of human ingenuity, testament to the kind of vision I attribute to nothing less that true genius. I remember reading once that the architect for the Brooklyn Bridge became paralyzed just before construction began, that he was forced to observe the goings-on from his home in Brooklyn Heights: It seemed exactly right. You would have to be trapped in order to pull something off as magnificent as that, to believe so deeply, with such absolute conviction, in the possibility of such freedom."
One fateful night in the dark changes everything for Rebecca and Alex, and by the end of our story (for Sloss indeed makes it feel like our story too) everything you know of the two of them is turned upside down.
You can get a copy here. And you should.
In upper class 1960's Pasadena both Rebecca and Alexandra are successful young women in their own rights. They excel in the womanly arts; sewing, cooking, dancing and etiquette. But underneath the carefully constructed exterior both young ladies are struggling to become socially acceptable on their own terms. One falls in love with flashy red lipstick, short shorts and the theatre while the other sneaks in and out of the medical building, refusing to admit her true love is medical science and not the sweet redheaded boy down the street.
"She nodded. 'You're like me - you'd take a rat over a jellyfish any day. They're all rats or jellyfish. The trick is finding one who's just rat enough.'"
"We ended up in a part of the city I'd never seen before, somewhere not far from the Golden Gate Bridge. The air when we climbed out of Lana's car was damp and heavy with salt; the breeze was surprisingly strong. I was glad to see the bridge through the fog, it's shape distinct even in the dark. But then I have always loved the sight of bridges - they seem to me to be one of the great miracles of human ingenuity, testament to the kind of vision I attribute to nothing less that true genius. I remember reading once that the architect for the Brooklyn Bridge became paralyzed just before construction began, that he was forced to observe the goings-on from his home in Brooklyn Heights: It seemed exactly right. You would have to be trapped in order to pull something off as magnificent as that, to believe so deeply, with such absolute conviction, in the possibility of such freedom."
One fateful night in the dark changes everything for Rebecca and Alex, and by the end of our story (for Sloss indeed makes it feel like our story too) everything you know of the two of them is turned upside down.
You can get a copy here. And you should.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
I wonder how many 6 toed house beasts trampled over his manuscripts?
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Emergency Exit
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Review- The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott
The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcottby Kelly O'Connor McNees
Amy Einhorn Books
339 pages
When Trish over at TLC Book Tours put the word out that she was looking for people to host a book tour for The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott, I couldn't respond fast enough. I think Twitter even yelled at me I was trying to DM her so quickly. I am glad that I beat Twitter at his own game, because I got on the book tour. And I got the book. Oh yes. Take THAT Twitter.
It took me a few weeks before I could start it. But when I did, I devoured it. Three days it took me to read it. I was reading during my lunch break one day, walking around the outside of the building, and I walked straight into one of the fabulous plastic chairs outside the warehouse break area! That was awesome.
You all know how I feel about quotes, so here goes it- (please note, these are from an ARC and are liable to have changed by final printing)
"Conventionality is not morality.' Charlotte Bronte wrote that, and it is as true for me as it was for her. To do things just because others do is cowardly."
"She thought of all the sorts of faces that existed in the world- fat, thin or long, round, dark, white or freckled - and guessed that heartbreak looked the same on every one of them. One could spot it from a mile away."
The premise of the book is this- how is it that Louisa May Alcott, never married, could write such a love affair as Jo and Laurie's? Literary critics are constantly arguing about whether she did or did not ever fall in love with her own Laurie. So, Kelly O'Connor McNees created a Laurie for her. And thank goodness she did.
You can read more about it here. And you should.
xoxo,
J.Danger
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
On the dark side of the moon....
Hello? Hello? Is anybody out there?
I guess the proper question is, am I out here? Where the hell have I been?!
It doesn't matter! But I have a review coming up! It is a delightful novel titled THE LOST SUMMER OF LOUISA MAY ALCOTT by Kelly O'Connor McNess (wonder where HER family comes from?! RIGHT?!). I will have a bunch of fun stuff up here for you on the 9th.
A lot of you have been emailing me to ask about the littlest one and his health. We appreciate it! He is just as cute as can be and moving along at his own little pace!
Sorry to leave you all hanging for so long....I know that you have nothing to occupy yourselves with when I don't blog. It must be rough.
xoxo.
J.Danger
I guess the proper question is, am I out here? Where the hell have I been?!
It doesn't matter! But I have a review coming up! It is a delightful novel titled THE LOST SUMMER OF LOUISA MAY ALCOTT by Kelly O'Connor McNess (wonder where HER family comes from?! RIGHT?!). I will have a bunch of fun stuff up here for you on the 9th.
A lot of you have been emailing me to ask about the littlest one and his health. We appreciate it! He is just as cute as can be and moving along at his own little pace!
Sorry to leave you all hanging for so long....I know that you have nothing to occupy yourselves with when I don't blog. It must be rough.
xoxo.
J.Danger
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