Book Review: Forever...

NOTE: I read this a recommendation from Bree Ervin. And this is a quick review because I'm busy/lazy.

*SOME SPOILERS LIKE THE FACT THE LOVE INTERESTS HAVE SEX*

So this is a review of the book Forever... by Judy Blume. It's about a girl named Katherine who falls in love with this boy Michael and they take the steps to having sex (and then HAVE IT!)

While this book was frank and, at times, graphic, I really enjoyed it. There were parts of pure hilarity and parts of pure realism.

I really liked the scene where Katherine gives Michael a h**dj*b (I censor how I want). And he has named his penis "Ralph". I read this at school and I could not stop blushing.

And then the scene where they "did it" was kind of pure and raw. My face was pretty much this:

Majestic Surprised Patrick

But yes, I really liked this book. I think most people in high school considering sex (especially girls) should read this. I managed to learn what could happen when you go on the pill. That could be useful someday.

I have to say though, I was sad when Michael became a d!ck when he found out Katherine just wasn't into him anymore. I thought he was different but then no he was kind of immature. But Theo (minus the 'stache) sounded pretty attractive so I wish Kath and Theo luck.

And, in regards to the co-characters, I liked the fact that Sybil wasn't slut-shamed. She just happened to get pregnant (and didn't know who the father was.) Some people just like to have sex, but if they do it without protection then there are consequences. I like that being shown in the book.

I give this book 1190 Ralphs out of 1195.

Sincerely,

Owyn

Sex in YA Books

NOTE: This is an opinion piece, dedicated to the lovely Bree Ervin. This has a lot of gifs, because I find them fun.

So

SEX

... in YA books.

I'm just going to be honest: I'm writing this is in my school's judgmental library and my cheeks are burning because anyone can just walk up behind me.

My stance on sex in books, personally, is to have it if you want to put it in there (no pun intended) but make it more implied because I do NOT want to read about you getting your freak on.

You can talk about it all you want and how aggressively you want it, but as long as I am not reading the act then I am happy.

A really good example of this, I feel, was Simone Elkeles in her Perfect Chemistry series, because it wasn't graphic in the "act of the sex" but more about the emotions that lead to them have it. I think that's a great way  to have that in books.

Or, if the people have it unprotected, then there are consequences. Like pregnancy. (I don't read that many teen pregnancy books so if you have any good ones, leave them in the comments!)

But there are also ways I do not appreciate people putting sex in their books.

Like Fifty Shades of Grey. A woman sitting next to me had it on her Kindle and I was like, well, might as well see what everyone is talking about and then BAM SEXY TIMES AND PAIN.

Or there's this ARC I read called Burning about a gypsy girl and a normal boy falling in love and they have sex. Not graphically, put then the Gypsy girl cleans the sheets and comments on the blood left and I'm still not okay from that.

Not that I'm a prude, it's just I don't really want sex to be graphic in YA books. If I did, then I'd be watching porn right now. (And I don't want to do that)

Especially for younger kids, because I started reading YA when I was around 11-12. And I read the Lauren Myracle book ttyl. While it didn't have sex in it (the last one, l8r, g8r did), there was a scene where the character Maddie drunkenly took her top and bra off and table danced.

But just imagine a little, vanilla, what's-sex-oh-the-stork-brings-babies tween reading this and getting a dose of DRUNKEN SEXUAL HOOLIGAN-ISM.

I told my parents (not knowing what happened and was just confused) and they hid the books from me until I was 13 and had learned about Sex Ed.

But, that being said, I definitely don't want books with sex or talks of sex in them banned. Because maybe if people talked about this kind of shit there wouldn't 16 and Pregnant, Teen Mom or 32 and a Grandma (Jk). I mean, now I know if I do it and don't want a baby, then I will use protection.

What's your opinion on sex in YA books? Do you think there should be warnings? Or should we ban them? Or should sex be required in ALL THE BOOKS?

Bye you guys, love you all
Owyn

B T Dubs: New Schedule

So with my TV show blogs I decided to alternate them because I already watch a ton of TV shows and I need to keep an eye out for my grades so NEW SCHEDULE (subject to change).

Book blog: Every Wednesday/Thursday

HIMYM: Every other Saturday

Simpsons: Every other Sunday.

(So since i posted the HIMYM one last Saturday, this Sunday I'll post the Simpsons one)

Yay for education getting in the way of my blogging

Bye again!

Owyn

Book Review: Let it Snow

NOTE: This is a book written about snow and I live in Colorado where it is snowing so I found this fitting.

Since this is written in 3 parts, I'm breaking it up into those parts (I should be writing an essay right now so I'm thinking in essay-speak) and saying 1-2 reasons why I liked them and their utterly ship-able ships.

*SPOILERS BECAUSE I SAID SO*

The Jubilee Express by Maureen Johnson

I really liked this part. Here are the reasons why:

THE INSTANT SHIPPING OF STUART AND JUBILEE. I like to ship fictional characters and I really wanted them to get together because Noah (Jubilee's boyfriend) is a total hobknocker and is obviously not perfect. And Stuart is so kind and amazing and Jubilee will cure his heartbreak and GAH

It had a great readability to it. The dialogue was catchy and it was written in a very funny and awesome way. Kudos!

The Cheertastic Christmas Miracle by John Green

I definitely liked this part too because:

Tobin was kind of adorable and oblivious. Like seriously, JUST KISS THE DUKE!!

And then they kissed so HAPPINESS:

Patron Saint of Pigs by Lauren Myracle

So at first, I didn't like this one because it felt preachy and I find it really annoying when girls (i.e. Addie) try to change their boyfriends (i.e. Jeb) and then get drunk on them and cheat on them (i.e. Addie).

But then it had a really good message that you shouldn't be selfish and everyone got really happy at the end, I even liked them together again because they made each other really happy AND EEP

So yeah I need to go calm down.

Bye you guys

Owyn

Colorado Teen Lit Conference!

NOTE: Awesome conference is awesome. And this blog post is long. Just read it :)

Here is basically everything that happened to me at the Colorado Teen Lit Conference:

(I also live-tweeted this, so check out either my Handle @AGirlNamedOwyn in the side links or #CTLC2013)

So I got there at 7:20 AM, with registration being at 7:30. I was tired, but I knew it would be worth it.

I got my name tag (They spelled my name right! Huge accomplishment!) and managed to find the lovely person, Marge, who got me a position on the Teen Connections Panel and a reviewing article in her literary magazine.

Marge told me to find her after I got settled and, after putting all my stuff with my friend Jake’s group (he was going with a library Teen Advisory Board and this was just a coincidence),

Jake's the one smiling

I found Marge after I got settled.

Basically, she told me I had to interview a person who won the opportunity to interview Jay Asher and 

Lauren Oliver (the main speakers at the conference).

INTERVIEW-CEPTION

So, after Lauren Oliver’s lovely keynote in which she made me LOL multiple times, I got to go to a room in the CU Denver and meet a lovely girl named Mahalee (Ma-hay-lee), a boy named Quentin who was our Tech Genius and two awesome people from the Denver Public Library.

Mahalee

Jay Asher wasn’t there yet, so we just interviewed Lauren Oliver. (She got to sit next to me, A BEST-SELLING AUTHOR SAT NEXT TO ME AND LET ME TALK TO HER)

LAUREN OLIVER

 Mahalee had some great questions and you can hear them all in the link above. (Actually not yet but they should be up in a bit.)

Then we got to go to our first sessions, late. I went to one called “Writing Myths for Teens” and it was very interesting. Like how we can write things that defy the stereotype. Like teens can drink in moderation and every body is beautiful. And it was really informative and awesome. I definitely learned a lot.

I went back to the room to interview Jay Asher. Again, Mahalee had some great questions but she let me ask one, and it was amazing.

And I got to take a selfie with Jay Asher. Which warrants ALL THE FEELS.

Then, when he left (again, interview in link above), I got to interview Mahalee.

Here it is:

Me: Hi so I’m interviewing someone who interview uh (we laugh) Jay Asher and Lauren Oliver at the Colorado Teen Lit Conference. Tell everybody who you are.

Mahalee: I’m Mahalee Partner, I’m 14 in 8^th grade, and I go to (I don’t want to name her school).

Me: How did you get into the Colorado Teen Lit Conference?

Mahalee: Well, I just went online… I’m a total book addict… And I saw there was a contest to meet them and they’re two of my favorite authors so I entered, not expecting to win, because I’ve never really won anything before. And then they called me up like, “You won” and I was like, “That’s really shocking, didn’t plan it.”

Me: Where did you get your questions from? (Because her questions were really awesome and concise.)

Mahalee: I came up with most of the questions and then I had my sister help me.

Me: How did you get into reading their books?

Mahalee: Well I’ve always been a book reader because my family moves around a lot and in the third grade we made a move, it was the biggest impact up to then. I became quiet and this shy little girl that sat in the background. I never really had anything to do until my mom said, “Hey we’re going to the library, want to come?” Ever since then I’ve been into reading.

Then, after that interview, we both went to a session that talked about libraries getting into social medias and blogging.

While I do believe libraries should be “hip” I don’t think they should have Tumblrs. That is too Cray.

After Session 2, there was lunch. And I got to listen to Jay Asher tell us how he wrote an Easter story and wrote a letter to himself anonymously because he wrote a positive review for Vanilla Ice. And we all offered support by “awwing” appropriately.

Then we got to Session 3, and this was my favorite. BreeErvin talked about Sex in YA books. And I thought she handled it in a mature but hilarious way. And I definitely have some books to read.

This is where we get to the Teen Connections Panel. I was a bit nervous sitting in front of a bunch of people asking some very amazing authors questions, but I am very stubbornly confident. So I tried to look chill.

But inside I was fangirling.

By the seating chart, I got to sit right next to Lauren Oliver with Jay Asher sitting on her right.

And they remembered me.

It was amazing.

Lauren started digging through her purse and grabs her phone. She proceeds to show me a picture of her fiancee who did the cutest thing with his goatee hair (tweet her about it).

Then she digs through her purse again, saying, “I am so excited.”

So I said, “Why are you excited?”

“Because…” She pulls out a book-sized pad of Post-It notes. I laugh. “I got these Post-It notes!” She was pretty damn excited.

“Those are huge!” I exclaimed.

“I know!”

“The importance of the note is directly proportional to the size of the Post-It so you know your notes are very important.”

“I’m especially excited because they’re supposed to stick to everything.” And then she pointed to the logo that stated this.

“Oh really?”

“Well let’s see.” And then, of course, she puts the stick note on the right side of my head above my ear.

I laugh. She goes to take it away saying, “I should probably take this out, it will hurt your hair.”

And I was like, “NO this is symbolic of our awesome interaction.” And then she laughed and let me be with my crazy.

“If you want, I can sign it.”

“Yay! Thank you.” And I heard her rummage around and then felt her write on this giant, bright green sticky note that was just sticking to my head and practically blocking half my vision.

People in the front row told me she had written, “You are awesome ^” Then her signature.

Fangirling. So. Hard

And then the Teens got to the questions.

Because I’m such an egotist, I only remember mine:

To Jay Asher:

When you were 15 or 16, would you have wanted to see your future 15 years from then?

And he said: (paraphrasing)

That he definitely wanted to and that’s what he wanted to explore in The Future of Us. And while writing the story, that opinion kind of changed. But, yeah, when you’re given that opportunity you have to.

To them both:

You both mention that receiving criticism is very important. Do you have any advice on taking it?

Lauren: (paraphrased) Don’t read reviews, just trust a small group of people whose opinions and feedback matter to you.

Jay: (paraphrased) Sometimes you just gotta know when to take it and when to ignore it.

Both:

How do you overcome writer’s block?

Lauren: (paraphrased) Writer’s block doesn’t exist… Just sit down and write, even if it’s bad.

Jay: (paraphrased) Try to write whenever you can and “Don’t get discouraged”.

(P.S. I sat through that whole Panel with that sticky note signed by Lauren Oliver on my head. It was magical.)

And then she hugged me and I shook Jay Asher's hand and I am SO EXCITED.

Go to it. Even if you don’t live here. Make effort. It’s worth it.

Sincerely,

Someone who took a selfie with Jay Asher (AKA Owyn)

L.A. Series Review: Between the Lines

NOTE: This is the series by Tammara Webber

So some time ago I ordered the Between the Lines series from Amazon and I decided to read them.

Links to Summaries because I am too lazy to summarize all 3 books:

Between the Lines
Where You Are
Good For You
(And apparently a fourth book that isn't out yet)

I have mixed feelings. So let me explain.

*EXPLANATIONS MEAN SPOILERS SORRY NOT SORRY*

Between the Lines
Review: This book was just "eh" for me. I mean, I really liked Emma but she for some reason liked Reid when GRAHAM IS PERFECT. But the alternating POVs was fun to read, and I thought Webber did a great job with it.
On to the next book.
Rating: 4 Ponies out of 6

Where You Are
Review: This one was my favorite because Emma and Graham got together and the whole giant really confusing love square was really dramatic and fun to read. The love square: Graham loves Emma who loves him back but Brooke loves Graham and Reid loves Emma. Brooke is an awesome b!tchy antagonist and Reid is just an idiot until when he let Emma go to Graham when their evil plan failed.
Rating: 8 Scripts out of 9

Before I review the final book I need to say something that really just bothered me about the series.

Everyone managed to have an illegitimate kid.

Seriously, everyone had sex and ended up getting pregnant.

Let me give you a master list.

Graham: Had a daughter who loved to swear (I love this kid because of this)
Brooke: Had a kid with Reid.
Reid: Had a kid with Brooke.
I bet there were more but I read this over Winter break 4 months ago.

And then the third book.

Good for You
Review: So I don't like Reid. I think he's a (*insert bad word of your choice*) but he was one of the two POVs. The other was this really religious girl Dori who was holier-than-thou and a true humanitarian
Who...
Guess what?
Slept with this random senior when she was a freshman and then got pregnant and had an abortion.
HAVE THESE PEOPLE EVER HEARD OF PROTECTION?
But yes this was my least favorite book because I was just like "WHY?" the entire time.
Rating: -40 paint rollers out of 10

I need to calm down.

Bye! Last LA Post. Say a final farewell!

Owyn