Title: Captivate

Author: Carrie Jones

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult

Publisher: Bloomsbury (USA & UK)
Publication Date: January 2010 (USA) / April 2010 (UK)
Hardcover: 336 pages

Zara and her friends knew they hadn’t solved the pixie problem for good. Far from it. The king’s needs grow deeper every day he’s stuck in captivity, while his control over his people gets weaker. It’s made him vulnerable. And now there’s a new king in town.

A turf war is imminent, since the new pixie king, Astley, is moving in quickly. Nick nearly killed him in the woods on day one, but Zara came to his rescue. Astley swears that he and Zara are destined to be together, that he’s one of the good guys. Nick isn’t buying it, though Zara isn’t as sure — despite herself, she wants to trust the new king. But it’s a lot more than her relationship with Nick that is at stake. It’s her life — and his.

Stand alone or series: Book 2 in the ongoing “Need” series

How did I get this book: ARC from the publisher

Why did I read this book: I truly, honestly enjoyed Need, book 1 in the series, despite some questionable character motivations and plot inconsistencies. In spite of these problems, I found myself eagerly reaching for Captivate, hungry for more from Ms. Jones.

Review:

**PLEASE NOTE: This review contains spoilers for Book 1, Need. If you have not read Need or do not wish to be spoiled, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**

Well, I can safely say that Captivate outdoes Need – in a very good way. After successfully entrapping all the pixies, including her biological father, deep in the surrounding woods, Zara and her friends have a brief respite from constant danger. But every day, Zara knows they are living peacefully on borrowed time – as her father, the Pixie King, weakens further, the Pixies grow more violent and desperate. And then more pixies begin to show up, including another Pixie King, named Astley. Zara’s boyfriend, the werewolf Nick manages to injure the newcomer pixie, leaving him for dead and bound in iron – but Zara, pacifist and humanitarian to the core, stumbles across him in the woods and decides to free him before he is taken away by a mysterious, fierce woman-creature that calls herself a Valkyrie. Zara feels an inexplicable connection to Astley, and though she might not trust him, she starts to listen when he says that not all pixies are twisted and evil, and that he comes to preserve balance before another, darker, sadistic Pixie King attempts to take over. Torn in indecision, soon Zara finds herself in the middle of a war; and she must make a choice if she is to save all those she holds dear.

While Need had some sizable holes, Captivate goes a long way in resolving a lot of these general plot and nonsensical issues. Some of the criticisms and questions I was left with finishing book 1 (i.e. why didn’t weres Nick and Devyn smell out the pixies at school?) were addressed here, rounding out and adding a level of cohesion to the overarching story and world. Even cooler, however, is that Captivate takes a dramatic turn and develops a clear direction for the series. A whole lot happens in this second novel, and it feels much more planned and fleshed out than its predecessor. I loved that a war is brewing (actually, there are two wars brewing, with the Valkyries dragging slain warriors off to Valhalla to fight with Odin in Ragnarök – to be examined in book 3, hopefully), and that the simple solution of imprisonment presented in Need has dire consequences in Captivate. There’s also one very shocking turn of events in this book that I did not see coming – frankly, few authors in any genre have the gall to go where Ms. Jones does, especially not so early in a series – and all I can say is: ME LIKEY.

As the plotting has improved in Captivate, so too have the characters. If you read the review Ana and I wrote for Need, you might have picked up on my annoyance with Zara and her TSTL tendencies. In this second book, I finally felt like I was able to connect with Zara as a character – she manages to stand up for herself in a way that resonated with me – I loved this pivotal scene with her friends:

[Gram] whirls on me and Issie. “I can’t believe you two did that. You cannot trust pixies.”

“So you can’t trust me?” I ask.

“You’re not a pixie. You’re human.” She snaps her medical kit shut.

“Right. So that’s why my skin is blue.” My stomach threatens to knock a hole through my skin and leave my body in protest.

“Zara…” Nick’s voice is a warning.

“She’s just sad,” Is says. “That’s why she’s being all snippy. Or else it’s the pain meds.”

“They are mood altering,” Devyn agrees.

“I am not snippy. I’m mad because nobody is listening to me.” My hands ball into fists. “What? Just because you don’t want to believe it, Nick, doesn’t mean it isn’t true. I remember how you acted when you found out who my father is. I remember you running away, okay? I know how you totally hate pixies and if I’m a pixie that obviously means that you -”

His arms reach out to me, but his hands are fists. “Zara -”

“Just. Don’t. Say. Anything.” I stare at all of them, take a step back. “Nobody say anything. This is not your problem. This is my problem. Mine. I’m the freak here. Me.”

I loved that all of the characters in this book are challenged and grow – for better or for worse. Nick and Zara’s relationship is disgustingly sappy (they are THAT couple – you know the ones, you remember them, the PDA-aholics from high school), but it’s believable sap. Even when they call each other “baby” and “sweetheart,” it rings as genuine as they are two characters in the throes of young, first love. I loved that Nick is bossy and domineering and an alpha-jerk at times, because it’s in his nature as a lone were and as a dude with an enormous ego and hero complex. Even better, I love that Zara recognizes this, calls him out on it, and yet loves him for it anyway. There’s a lot of the ridiculous in this book, but the characters are self-aware of this ridiculousness (which makes it if not completely ok, at least more permissible).

To be completely honest, more than Zara, Nick, Isi or Devyn, I found myself absolutely loving the two new additions to the cast – a classmate named Cassidy, and the new Pixie King Astley. Astley especially. Yeah, he marks the beginning of another dreaded Love Triangle (gaah!), but I really liked him. Heck, stupid name aside (and Astley is a shockingly bad name) I prefer him to Nick! I loved the dimension of doubt and moral ambiguity that Astley brought to this book – it’s so easy to assume that ALL pixies are evil, but he humanizes them, which is disturbing for Zara (and especially for Nick). Rather than a blanket statement that pixies = evil, Ms. Jones uses this new King to question their most basic assumption. Like humans, or any other creature, Pixies have the capability to be good, bad, or occupy that murky gray area in between. And that’s really cool.

While there’s a lot to love about Captivate, I should mention that it still suffers from some not-overlookable problems. This second book departs from the phobias that characterized Need so beautifully, instead relying on a schloky “How to Survive A Pixie Attack” gimmick to introduce chapters (ex: “10. Think pixies are like Tinkerbell? You think wrong,” or “9. Pixies do not hang out with Peter Pan”). These Pixie hints felt cheesy and silly to me, and incongruous with the overall tone of the book. There’s also a lot of storming out angry emo huffiness (annoying), and the books first act plods along a tad slowly (though it heats up brilliantly by the second half). The only other big niggle for me was how much of a challenge it was to suspend disbelief in some instances – in particular, in any scene involving Zara fighting pixies. Zara as a human girl is a fast runner but not exactly coordinated, nor is she a “fighter” (her pacifist mindset pretty much prevents this). Thus, seeing her take down a few superhumanly strong, extremely vicious pixies with her physical prowess was a little hard to swallow. Also, pixies (apparently only when confronting Zara) have a tendency to monologue like bad b-movie villains. It is again, silly. If Zara is such a threat, why wouldn’t ANY pixie simply kiss her? Or kill her? Especially given her tendency to go outdoors alone and get herself into life-threatening situations?

Despite having its share of annoying scenes, however, Captivate is in fact captivating. Better than Need, and with a dramatic cliffhanger of an ending, I cannot wait for the next book in the series.

Notable Quotes/Parts: From the official excerpt:

I have the emotional maturity of a two-year-old. I know this! I know, but it doesn’t make me stop trying to escape my grandmother and friends and their pity eyes and Nick’s eyes… the eyes I suddenly can’t read.
So, I run as best I can through the sloshy snow and mud. My feet take me far enough into the woods so that I don’t hear cars any more. I don’t hear anything. No wind blows through the high up branches of the spruce and pine trees. Their thin, pale brown trunks don’t creak with the weight of snow and ice. No birds sing. No squirrels chitter and squeak and make all those noises that squirrels make.

Nothing.

No noise.

Nothing.

That is not normal. I sniff in through my nose and smell. It’s just wet wood and old pine needles. Olfactophobia is the fear of odors. Odor fears get more specific, though. Bromidrosiphobia is the fear of personal odor. You know, body odor. Luckily, I don’t have that. There is no name that I know of for the fear of a lack of odor. There is no name that I know of for the fear of lack of sound. The fear of sound itself is Acousticophobia.

Why are there no names for the fear of the absence of things? Why is there no name for the absence of humanity? Because that is my fear, right here, right now. I am worried that I am losing my humanity.

I’ve seen what happens then. Jay Dahlberg was tortured and bled and bitten when I found him in an upstairs bedroom at my father’s pixie mansion home. Jay doesn’t remember any of it. I do. I remember his body shaking as I tried to help him down the long flight of marble stairs. I remember the smell of his fear permeating everything.

Pixies did that.

I can’t be one of them.

I can’t.

You can read the full excerpt online HERE.

Additional Thoughts: There’s a pretty sweet giveaway opportunity going on at author Carrie Jones’ website! Up for grabs are:

A Dell Mini computer
A Netflix gift card
5 hot teen books from Bloomsbury/Walker

Make sure to enter by May 31, 2010 by filling out the online form. Five winners will be picked, so get over there for a chance at the goodies! Also, if you’re in California, Washington or Tennessee, Carrie Jones will be in town on her book tour! We’ll keep you posted with details as they are available. Finally, check out the book trailer for Captivate:

Not a huge fan of the John Mayer-pixie-dust-disney-special combo, but that’s just me! I do, however, love the covers for both books. Pretty gold eyeshadow…

Verdict: Highly enjoyable sequel, I really enjoyed Captivate. I hope Ms. Jones can keep it up and deliver a knockout with the next book in the series!

Rating: 7 – Very Good

Reading Next: Archangel’s Kiss by Nalini Singh

Title: Need

Author: Carrie Jones

Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA / Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Publishing date: December 2008 / February 2010
Paperback: 320 pages

Stand alone or series: Book 1 of ongoing series

Why did we read the book: We have had our eyes on this book for a while now…

How did we get the book: Review Copies from the respective US & UK publishers

Summary: (from amazon.com)
Zara collects phobias the way other high school girls collect lipsticks. Little wonder, since life’s been pretty rough so far. Her father left, her stepfather just died, and her mother’s pretty much checked out. Now Zara’s living with her grandmother in sleepy, cold Maine so that she stays ’safe.’ Zara doesn’t think she’s in danger; she thinks her mother can’t deal.

Wrong. Turns out that guy she sees everywhere, the one leaving trails of gold glitter, isn’t a figment of her imagination. He’s a pixie – and not the cute, lovable kind with wings. He’s the kind who has dreadful, uncontrollable needs. And he’s trailing Zara.

Review:

First Impressions:

Ana: I will be completely honest and say that I approached Need with caution since “official” reviews (like Publishers Weekly’s) and the promotional material we received from the publisher clearly pointed it to being similar to Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. I was a bit concerned that I was embarking on another journey to a paranormal world with a bland heroine, a strong and brooding hero, a love triangle and a not so interesting plotline. I was proved wrong. In fact, I think the comparisons to Twilight, do this novel a disservice as nearly nothing in Need can be compared to Twilight (except if being in the same genre counts). From the very beginning I fell in love with the heroine and her narrative voice. I did have a few mishaps throughout (which Thea and I will refer to later) but despite those, I ended up firmly on the “I love it” team. Firmly. You hear me, Thea?

Thea: I had my eye on Need for a very long time – I think since back last year, when I saw Angie of Angieville’s review of the book. The cover is very pretty, and I like the idea of killer pixies. Yeah, they glitter just like vampires of today, but it’s pixies. That’s pretty interesting stuff. And, for the most part, I found Need to be a solidly enjoyable novel. I actually disagree with Ana – I do think there are a lot of similarities between Need and Twilight, at least in terms of writing style. I actually liked the Twilight books (until Breaking Dawn ruined everything), in a guilty pleasure, I know this isn’t good for me but it’s so damn readable way. Both Stephenie Meyer and Carrie Jones have an ability to keep a reader glued to a book by some strange word-welding/storytelling voodoo. I call it voodoo because despite the fact that Zara commits myriad Too-Stupid-To-Live (“TSTL”) offenses, despite the mediocre writing, despite the ‘don’t-scrutinize-too-hard-or-the-story-falls-apart’ plot holes…I somehow, inexplicably found myself truly enjoying this book. I cannot explain it. It simply is.

On the plot:

Ana: Since the death of her beloved step-father, Zara has been depressed and not feeling like herself. In an attempt to get her out of her shell, her mother sends her to live with her step-grandmother in Maine. She starts school straight away and almost immediately strikes a friendship with quirky-girl Issy and finds a love interest in resident bad boy (although, not really), Nick. If being grief-stricken around the town her father grew up was not enough, a strange man keeps falling her around (and apparently all the way from Charleston) trying to lure her into the woods; and then kids start to disappear. It is clear that there is an element of paranormal happening but just exactly what is not disclosed to Zara or the reader till later on.

First things first: I quite liked the way the story evolved and the mood the author set from the opening lines. The prose was absolutely effective in conveying the grief and the cold that Zara was feeling. Then little by little, Zara starts to realise that not only the town she inhabits is different, the world she lives in is not what she thought it was. I felt the suspense of the story and even though I could certainly guess quite a few things (just what Nick was for example with all the growling and the “alpha” behaviour) but others, I was pleasantly surprised with. The beginning and the ending were fabulous in my opinion. So fabulous, I closed the book and I thought: how awesome.

Then, I started to think about the details. And this is when things went a little bit awry, because there are is a certain amount of details that do not add up (in order to not spoil important plot points, I will go back to this point later on). However, it says a lot that overall, despite any misgivings, I actually think the book is damn good and well worth a read and that is because of not only the atmospheric writing, the unpretentious romance, the presence of Killer Pixies but mostly, because of how cool and awesome, the main protagonist Zara, was.

Thea: I thoroughly enjoyed Need. I found the novelty of killer pixies to be ingenious. I too loved the snowy, otherworldly atmosphere that Ms. Jones gives to her small Maine town (and I also loved the heavy Stephen King name drops throughout). I enjoyed the central conflict to the story (a Pixie King is stalking Zara, young males are disappearing from the town, and Zara and her friends are dedicated to stopping the threat). I thought the use of phobias to introduce chapters was an ingenious touch too, adding to the magic of the book. And yet…how can I properly convey my experience with this book in a spoiler-free way. Hmm. The best comparison I can think of is:

Need is a lot like 28 Days Later.

Not because Need is overrun with humans infected with some deadly, instantly transmuted virus or anything like that (although, wait a second, Pixie-ism is pretty easily transmuted and quickly infectious…). Rather, both have a similarity in manner of plot. It’s easy to get caught up in both of these stories and rush through them, enjoying yourself the whole while. But there’s always that niggling knowledge during and after – the intellectual knowledge that the story just doesn’t add up. Such is Need.

I found myself noticing these holes while I was reading, but in spite of my disbelief, I was still able to finish the book and enjoy it. And that’s sayin’ something. (Although the more I scrutinize the plot, the most unstable the whole thing seems – but that’s fodder for later in the spoiler version of the post)

On the characters:

Ana: Despite committing at least two counts of serious Too Stupid To Live moments and having one or two moments that caused me perhaps want to strangle her, I really did like Zara as a protagonist and a narrator and the reason behind is that Carrie Jones infused her with a thing called A PERSONALITY. She is very keen on helping others (she even opens a chapter of Amnesty International), something she learnt from her step-father and which does not come without a struggle. At one point, she is asked what would she do if someone attacked her friends, she says she thinks she would not react violently but this is something that might change – because nothing is set in stone. I like that she stands up for herself, she fights for what she believes in. And she has this one quirky trait that I loved: she likes to learn about phobias and recites them to herself in times of stress.

Phobophobia
Fear of phobias

Everybody has fears, right?
I’m into that.
I collect fears like other people collect stamps, which makes me sound like more of a freak than I actually am. But I’m into it. The fears thing. Phobias.
There are all the typical, common phobias. Lots of people are afraid of heights and elevators and spiders. Those are boring. I’m a fan of good phobias. Stuff like nelophobia, the fear of glass. Or arachibutyrophobia, the fear that you will have peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth.
I do not have the fear of peanut butter, of course, but how cool is it that it’s named?

This means that Zara exists outside the sphere of her family, her friends and her love interest.

But going back to the TSTL moments. Yes, she did have quite a few. But you will notice I am not moved to mock or hold it against her. Because I understood the motivations and the reasoning behind them and above all I liked the way she reacted to the eventual repercussions (“OMG I am such an idiot”) .

As for the other characters: there are a mixture of stereotypes (the annoying bad girl at school for example) or the cool grandmother. I quite liked Nick, the love interest. But even though Zara insisted in thinking of him as bad boy I saw zero evidence (in fact all the grandmothers in town TOLD her how much of a good boy he was) of that. As a were, his job was to protect and that came naturally to him and not without some vulnerability as well – he is gruff and big and he never kissed anyone before Zara, endearing him to me almost instantly.

And then there is the Pixie King and the Need. But saying more is to seriously spoil the plot.

Thea: I have a thing against TSTL heroines. By definition, they are stupid, and incredibly annoying. However, in spite of Zara’s MANY (I counted at least 4 TSTL grievances) moments of incredible stupidity, I still, inexplicably, liked her as a character. I think this is because of the reasons Ana lists – because Zara has a personality, she knows that she’s making really bonehead decisions, and she chides herself for them. She doesn’t learn from them, which is incredibly irritating but believable (hey, that’s human nature!). I loved her quirk of reciting phobias; I loved her dedication to Amnesty International; I loved her pacifistic take on life and how naive and believably teenager-ish she is.

What irritated me more than anything with regard to Zara’s character, however, was how sloooooooow she was to put two and two together when all the evidence is clearly in front of her. To be fair, this is a plot device that many authors use (Richelle Mead most notably does this in her Vampire Academy and Georgina books – and I usually let it slide) – the “everyone knows what’s going on except the heroine and this will be protracted as long as humanly possible” technique. Zara is supposed to be an intelligent young woman, and yet she cannot piece together two very elementary clues to solve a puzzle? Come on. It’s belittling to the character, and even worse, it’s annoying to the reader. (Sorry for the mini-rant, it’s just a huge pet peeve of mine)

As for the other characters, there are some stereotypical appearances as Ana has mentioned (hip grannie, hot bitchy blonde popular girl), but I think the secondary cast works to Need’s favor. I loved Zara’s friends, especially Isi and Devyn. Even more importantly, they exist beyond the realm of “being Zara’s friends,” (a common pitfall in the YA genre that Ms. Jones nicely avoids). Nick is a little predictable, but sweet too, and the romance between him and Zara is undeniably fun.

The only deficiency in characters (besides Zara’s TSTL moments) lay in some character motivations, and a lack of explanation especially where Pixies are concerned. But, those are spoilery, and for later.

Final Thoughts, Observations and Ratings:

Ana: You will probably have noticed by now that Need is a novel I enjoyed immensely but it was “in spite of” and not “because of”. I do think this series has a lot of potential (plot-wise and character-wise) and I plan on reading Captivate as soon as possible.

Thea: What Ana said. I really enjoyed Need and eagerly dove into Captivate after finishing the first book. But I can recognize that the book has it’s fair share of issues. I’m willing to overlook them and encourage all readers to do the same (because it is such a fun book to read), but know that they are there…

Notable Quotes/Parts: From the official excerpt:

“So . . . ,” I say. “You guys were going to tell me about the man outside the cafeteria. Have you ever seen him before?”

Devyn swallows. “I’m not sure. He creeped me out, which is not manly, I know.”

“You are totally manly,” Is announces in a way that makes both Devyn and me blush. She stops twitching. “Devyn looked up some stuff. You are probably going to have a hard time believing this.”

I wait. “Uh-huh . . .”

“You want to tell her?” Issie asks.

Devyn sticks the spoon in the ice cream carton. It stands up straight. He toughs out the words, “We think he’s a pixie.”

You can read the full excerpt online, HERE.

Also, you can check out the (disney-abc-family-esque) book trailer out below:

Rating:

Ana: 6 – Good ( I wavered between a 6 and 7 until the last minute)

Thea: 6 – Good. (It would have been a 7 based on pleasure alone, but I cannot justify that rating, given how many problems there were with the story)

Additional Thoughts:

What you saw above is a clean version of our opinions about Need after we settled down and thought about and discussed the book like two adults. But we decided, for the first time ever, to disclose what really goes on behind the curtains when we read a book. For an unabridged version of our conversation by emails, complete with spoilers, silly smilies, swearing words and a glimpse of the true nature of the smugglers’ dynamics, all you have to do is carry on.

(more…)

Welcome to another Sunday edition of our Smugglers’ Stash & News.

First up, we’ve got some fan-freakin-tastic news.

Bloomsbury Retracts Cover:

On Thursday afternoon, Bloomsbury officially announced that they will no longer be printing the offending cover of Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore.

Bloomsbury is ceasing to supply copies of the US edition of Magic Under Glass. The jacket design has caused offense and we apologize for our mistake. Copies of the book with a new jacket design will be available shortly.

As with Liar, Bloomsbury is retracting the cover and will issue a new one.

Author Jaclyn Dolamore has posted on her blog that the new cover is underway, and it will be featuring a model of color:

You may have seen my vision of Nimira in my book trailer. I hadn’t shared this image with Bloomsbury at the time the cover was originally conceived (the trailer wasn’t created until November, after the book was done) but we’ll now be looking at models who look more closely like her, which I’m very excited about!

To everyone that posted about Bloomsbury’s racist cover practices, to everyone that tweeted about it, to everyone that called or wrote the publisher demanding change, thank you. You have all done it. As a community, we were able to make our voices heard, and together we were able to cause change. We are so incredibly happy and proud to be a part of this awesome, vocal, dedicated group.

But, as Ari of Reading In Color and the folks over at Bookshelves of Doom remind us, this one cover at Bloomsbury is not an isolated incident. Whitewashing of book covers is a practice that pervades the publishing industry. With that in mind, and because this is something important to us, we’ve decided to add a new feature to The Book Smugglers called “Cover Matters.” Starting on Monday, we plan to post at about cover issues at least once a month. We hope to be able to even have guests over for interview – bloggers, authors, maybe even a publisher (hey, it’s worth a try) – to go with the posts.

In Other News:

Lots of news today! First, if you haven’t heard, there is going to be an honest to goodness Book Blogger Convention this year! This will be a one day event, uniting book bloggers from around the world in New York City. The con will take place on Friday, May 28, 2010 at the NYC Seminar and Conference Center in New York City – which is pretty cool for folks that might be in town anyways for Book Expo America (May 25-27). Some of the topics to be covered include: Professionalism/Ethics, Marketing, Author/Blogger Relationships, Building Community, Writing/Building Content. While Ana won’t be able to make it, Thea has already registered for BEA and plans on making it to BBC as well! So, any other book blogger types that are in the area or planning on flying out, let us know! Bonus, the good folks running the convention have an awesome giveaway right now – book bloggers can enter for a chance to have their registration fee waived! Only one will win, but it’s worth entering, especially if you’re watching your budget. Registration for the con is currently open and available for a discounted rate of $90 (until February 14). So, hop to!

In other slightly belated news, the ALA has announced literary award winners for 2010 last week! Here are the big winners:

John Newbery Medal (for most outstanding contribution to children’s literature): When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Newberry Honor Books: Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin, and The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick

Randolph Caldecott Medal (for most distinguished American picture book for children):
The Lion & the Mouse illustrated and written by Jerry Pinkney.
Caldecott Honor Books: All the World illustrated by Marla Frazee, written by Liz Garton Scanlon; Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, written by Joyce Sidman

Michael L. Printz Award (for excellence in literature written for young adults):
Going Bovine written by Libba Bray
Printz Honor Books: Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman, The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey, Punkzilla by Adam Rapp, and Tales of the Madman Underground: An Historical Romance, 1973 by John Barnes

Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award (recognizing an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults): Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal written by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson.
King Author Honor Book: Mare’s War by tanita s. davis

We are thrilled to see that the Printz went to Libba Bray’s AWESOME Going Bovine, which we reviewed last year. Also, Thea’s ecstatic that Rick Yancey’s truly excellent novel The Monstrumologist was honored as well.

Also, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), the fastest-growing division of the American Library Association (ALA), announced its 2010 Top 10 List of Best Books for Young Adults. And the titles are:

Demon’s Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan (Reviewed HERE and HERE)
The Orange Houses by Paul Griffin
The Great Wide Sea by M.H. Herlong
The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks
Alligator Bayou by Donna Jo Napoli
Stitches: A Memoir by David Small
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork
Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor
Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland by Sally M. Walker

We’re thrilled to see Sarah Rees Brennan, Catherine Jinks and Laini Taylor honored on the list – and we’ve got a few books that we desperately need to read nowNowNOW.

This next item on the list is just really freaking awesome. Neil Gaiman (aka Ana and Thea’s writing GOD) has teamed up with comic book artist Jim Lee, letterer Todd Klein (who did the lettering for Neil Gaiman’s epic Sandman series) and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, and have put together a limited print run of an illustrated poem, “100 Words.” (Click to enlarge)

It’s beautiful, isn’t it? You can purchase a copy online via Neverwear.

Finally, one last bit of news. Last week, Thea finally got off her slacker-butt, and set up a Facebook Fan Page for The Book Smugglers. You can find us by clicking the handy button above (which is also in our left hand sidebar). Our posts automatically update there, and we’ll also pop in to make other bookish announcements. The reason for the page? Well, we received a few comments in our recent survey asking us to syndicate our feed over at Facebook, and…voila! Hope you all enjoy it.

This Week on The Book Smugglers:

On Monday, Alexandra Bullen, debut author of young adult fantasy novel Wish stops by on her blog tour, talking about what inspires her and you will have a chance to win a copy of her copy. Later, we will have our very first post in our new feature “Cover Matters,” in which we will take a look at whitewashing on the covers of books.

Tuesday, Thea reviews one of her most highly anticipated books of the new year, Robert Jackson Bennett’s apocalyptic-style/historical fiction/horror novel, Mr. Shivers. Also, Harry of Temple Library Reviews will be here, giving us a guest review of Circle of Fire by Keri Arthur (the first book in the Damask Circle Trilogy)

On Wednesday, we give you a double shot of Carrie Jones! First, we give a joint review of Need, and then later in the day Thea reviews the second book in the young adult fantasy series, Captivate.

On Thursday, Ana reviews Dia Reeves’ dark young adult debut novel Bleeding Violet. Her post will be followed by our first Guest Dare of 2010: Renee of Renee’s Book Addiction caves to the pressure (ours and her husband’s) and reads the first book in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring.

Finally, on Friday we close out the week with a joint review of – squeee! – Archangel’s Kiss by Nalini Singh.

Phew. It’s a big week. Again. I’ll leave you with this awesome picture that I think encapsulates Ana and myself at times perfectly. Until next week…