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Showing posts with label Stick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stick. Show all posts
Oct 31, 2011
Oct 20, 2011
Stick: Interview with Andrew Smith (+Giveaway)
I'll say it just one more time in case you don't already know, I am a fan of Andrew Smith. Can someone get that printed on a shirt? His books are some of the most "real" reads you will ever get in YA. Raw, edgy, authentic.....downright bad ass. So today, I am pleased ecstatic to have Andrew on the blog today!
Is you haven't read my review of STICK, take a jump over HERE and come right back. If you haven't read The Marbury Lens, mosey on over HERE for a review and HERE for a TML interview. Okay, here we go!
Writing is your full-time job. What else does the profession mean to you?
I could write a book to answer that question. Let's see... Writing as a profession also means having this most amazing opportunity to connect with people whose lives include books and reading: Teachers, librarians, booksellers, students, and others in the publishing industry. Writing as a profession also allows me access into the arena as an advocate for something I feel so strongly about: Literacy, the bias against boys when it comes to reading, writing, and creative pursuits; and the attack on creative intellect being waged by the standardization mills of public education. People listen to me just a little bit more because of the whole "professional author" thing, I guess. But the profession of writing also means an awful lot of sadness, too. You will just have to trust me on that.
Stick is a boy who __________.
Stick is a boy who is in every single classroom in the nation. He probably lives next door to you. He hangs out with your sons and daughters. Nobody knows anything about him.
How long has the story of Stick been with you?
Honestly, the story was in my mind for some time. During Teen Read Week in 2009, I started looking at books and poetry that kids were reading and I became fascinated by certain tracts of words that I'd seen -- like they were written with an intentional meter and timing to them. I was probably wrong, but that's when I started thinking about the opening chapter of this book.
I also believe that all my stories have always been inside my head. It's just a matter of timing that they dictate to me when they will come out.
I read that you wrote STICK during NaNoWriMo back in 2009. Admirable! Are you diving in this year?
Well, yes... I did write Stick during NaNoWriMo 2009, but only because it just kind of happened that way. I did not upload my work onto the NaNo site. I could never do that. But I did keep in touch with others who were participating, and I did also get to the 50,000 word mark before the month was over. I ended up finishing Stick about 2 weeks into December, though. It is quite a bit longer than 50,000 words. All told, it took me about 6 weeks to write.
And I truly hope to NOT be writing in November of this year. I have been working on a string of novels, uninterrupted, since I wrote The Marbury Lens. I just this week finished a new - as yet unheard of - novel that came in at 105,000 words. I am tired.
You have told me before that you learned your older brother was gay when you were a kid. Is that why STICK is set in the mid 1970s? To keep the story more authentic?
Yes, well... there are a lot of things about Stick that were true to my childhood.
Books written for young adults that contain gay characters seem to have a target on them. I'll pretend I don't know and ask what your opinion is on the matter.
Sometimes people make a big deal out of the concept of "targets." So I am not really certain if there are books which have been targeted because they portray gay characters, or for some other reason. I only know that in my experience as a writer, I have written now several books with gay and bisexual characters and not one professional in the publishing industry has ever pointed any criticism or concern my way. The reality is that GLBTQ people -- young and old -- are everywhere, in schools, churches, grocery stores, and living next door to us. If the sexual orientation of anyone (whether they are REAL PEOPLE or fictional characters) becomes the sole defining aspect of their personality, then they are shallow and uninteresting... I wouldn't want to spend much time with anyone like that, much less put them in a book.
Can you tell us what Stick and Bosten are up to now that it's 2011?
Hmmm... I will admit that I wrote an additional section of the novel STICK in which Stark McClellan is a student at UCLA and he tells about what happened to him, Bosten, Dahlia, Emily, and Kim. I decided not to put that chapter into the book because I felt that readers got a good enough sense about where those characters' lives were heading.
I have to ask, how is The Marbury Lens #2: Passenger coming along? Your fans, including me, are chomping at the bit!
Well, the novel is completed. I will say that much. It also turns a bunch of stuff completely upside down. So I will say that readers and fans of Marbury should brace themselves for the unexpected... But what else would you expect, anyway?
Who do I need to beg to in order for you to make your way to Texas?
The people at Macmillan have always been so considerate in sending me around the country. I am sure that Texas is going to have a turn someday. But if I get invited to participate at TLA next spring, I will make it happen, one way or another. How's that sound?
Thank you, Andrew! I'll be sure to beg Macmillan....
Add to Goodreads
You can find Andrew on his blog and Twitter
The folks at Macmillan are kind enough to offer up one brand new finished copy of STICK to one lucky reader! #everyonesaythankyou
Fill out the doo-hickey to be officially entered.
**IF YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO VIEW FORM, PLEASE CLICK TITLE OF THIS POST AND IT WILL APPEAR #magic
Is you haven't read my review of STICK, take a jump over HERE and come right back. If you haven't read The Marbury Lens, mosey on over HERE for a review and HERE for a TML interview. Okay, here we go!
Writing is your full-time job. What else does the profession mean to you?
I could write a book to answer that question. Let's see... Writing as a profession also means having this most amazing opportunity to connect with people whose lives include books and reading: Teachers, librarians, booksellers, students, and others in the publishing industry. Writing as a profession also allows me access into the arena as an advocate for something I feel so strongly about: Literacy, the bias against boys when it comes to reading, writing, and creative pursuits; and the attack on creative intellect being waged by the standardization mills of public education. People listen to me just a little bit more because of the whole "professional author" thing, I guess. But the profession of writing also means an awful lot of sadness, too. You will just have to trust me on that.
Stick is a boy who __________.
Stick is a boy who is in every single classroom in the nation. He probably lives next door to you. He hangs out with your sons and daughters. Nobody knows anything about him.
How long has the story of Stick been with you?
Honestly, the story was in my mind for some time. During Teen Read Week in 2009, I started looking at books and poetry that kids were reading and I became fascinated by certain tracts of words that I'd seen -- like they were written with an intentional meter and timing to them. I was probably wrong, but that's when I started thinking about the opening chapter of this book.
I also believe that all my stories have always been inside my head. It's just a matter of timing that they dictate to me when they will come out.
I read that you wrote STICK during NaNoWriMo back in 2009. Admirable! Are you diving in this year?
Well, yes... I did write Stick during NaNoWriMo 2009, but only because it just kind of happened that way. I did not upload my work onto the NaNo site. I could never do that. But I did keep in touch with others who were participating, and I did also get to the 50,000 word mark before the month was over. I ended up finishing Stick about 2 weeks into December, though. It is quite a bit longer than 50,000 words. All told, it took me about 6 weeks to write.
And I truly hope to NOT be writing in November of this year. I have been working on a string of novels, uninterrupted, since I wrote The Marbury Lens. I just this week finished a new - as yet unheard of - novel that came in at 105,000 words. I am tired.
You have told me before that you learned your older brother was gay when you were a kid. Is that why STICK is set in the mid 1970s? To keep the story more authentic?
Yes, well... there are a lot of things about Stick that were true to my childhood.
Books written for young adults that contain gay characters seem to have a target on them. I'll pretend I don't know and ask what your opinion is on the matter.
Sometimes people make a big deal out of the concept of "targets." So I am not really certain if there are books which have been targeted because they portray gay characters, or for some other reason. I only know that in my experience as a writer, I have written now several books with gay and bisexual characters and not one professional in the publishing industry has ever pointed any criticism or concern my way. The reality is that GLBTQ people -- young and old -- are everywhere, in schools, churches, grocery stores, and living next door to us. If the sexual orientation of anyone (whether they are REAL PEOPLE or fictional characters) becomes the sole defining aspect of their personality, then they are shallow and uninteresting... I wouldn't want to spend much time with anyone like that, much less put them in a book.
Can you tell us what Stick and Bosten are up to now that it's 2011?
Hmmm... I will admit that I wrote an additional section of the novel STICK in which Stark McClellan is a student at UCLA and he tells about what happened to him, Bosten, Dahlia, Emily, and Kim. I decided not to put that chapter into the book because I felt that readers got a good enough sense about where those characters' lives were heading.
I have to ask, how is The Marbury Lens #2: Passenger coming along? Your fans, including me, are chomping at the bit!
Well, the novel is completed. I will say that much. It also turns a bunch of stuff completely upside down. So I will say that readers and fans of Marbury should brace themselves for the unexpected... But what else would you expect, anyway?
Who do I need to beg to in order for you to make your way to Texas?
The people at Macmillan have always been so considerate in sending me around the country. I am sure that Texas is going to have a turn someday. But if I get invited to participate at TLA next spring, I will make it happen, one way or another. How's that sound?
Thank you, Andrew! I'll be sure to beg Macmillan....
Add to Goodreads
You can find Andrew on his blog and Twitter
The folks at Macmillan are kind enough to offer up one brand new finished copy of STICK to one lucky reader! #everyonesaythankyou
Fill out the doo-hickey to be officially entered.
**IF YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO VIEW FORM, PLEASE CLICK TITLE OF THIS POST AND IT WILL APPEAR #magic
Oct 10, 2011
Review - Stick by Andrew Smith
Stick by Andrew Smith
October 11th, 2011 by Feiwel & Friends
Synopsis:
Fourteen-year-old Stark McClellan (nicknamed Stick because he’s tall and thin) is bullied for being “deformed” - he was born with only one ear. His older brother Bosten is always there to defend Stick. But the boys can’t defend one another from their abusive parents.
When Stick realizes Bosten is gay, he knows that to survive his father's anger, Bosten must leave home. Stick has to find his brother, or he will never feel whole again. In his search, he will encounter good people, bad people, and people who are simply indifferent to kids from the wrong side of the tracks. But he never loses hope of finding love - and his brother.
Review:
Cruelty and ugliness is something Stark lives with daily. He thinks his deformity, a missing ear, is ugly but that is nothing when you compare it to his parents. Thirteen-year-old Stark and his older brother Bosten have been dealt the Piece of Crap Parent card. Their parents aren't just mean, they are downright cruel. Very early on we know the boys' parents aren't exactly Mike and Carol Brady. There are hints of abuse very early on and by page thirty-seven, we know that their father is militant and controlling that rules with an iron hand, and their mother is a sadistic side-kick.
You would think that child abuse is the central theme to STICK. I would have to argue and say no. STICK is a story about what two brothers will do to protect the other. Keep secrets, tell lies, physically go to blows to stand up for one another...the boys do it all and more. In a sense, they are all they have. They are each others support and only source of unconditional love. Real love. Without one, the other would not exist. When Bosten is outed as gay, not such a great thing in the mid 1970s, he makes his escape before his father gets a hold of him. Stick impatiently waits for his brother to return but after a few days, Stick makes a decision to go out on his own and find him. No easy task considering he thinks his brother made his way to California. He adds stealing a car on his list of things he would do for Bosten.
I went into reading this book with my eyes wide open. I was ready for the bat-shit genius that Smith is so famous for. The Marbury Lens stayed with me for months.... I was prepared for anything and everything Smith was going to through at me. *insert a pleasant sigh* I have to admit, STICK was an easier read for me. In fact, I flew through it in just a couple of hours. Yes, very sensitive and tough issues are addressed - child abuse, sexual abuse, homosexuality, bullying - but they were painted in a such a realistic light with authentic voices that the pages kept turning. I never once questioned a conversation, an action, or the thoughts of the characters. The parents are heartless, the brothers are brave, and there are even a few unsung heroes in the mix. Putting it simple, everything about this book worked. One of my favorites of the year.
Add to Goodreads
You can find Andrew on his blog and Twitter
Apr 8, 2011
Cover Reveal - Stick by Andrew Smith
If you have been a follower of mine for awhile, you will know that I am a big fan of Andrew Smith. I think his writing is edgy, honest, and most importantly...authentic. Andrew writes books with a teen voice that is genuine and complex. I read THE MARBURY LENS last year and was blown away. My review can be found HERE. It's a little unconventional, I am not the writer Andrew is and I couldn't quite put what I wanted to in complete sentences.
Without further ado, I share with you the cover of STICK.
Stark McClellan (“Stick”) hears the world in a different way. He is surrounded by cruelty and ugliness, but holds on to a powerful sense of wonder, faith, and love for his best friend, Emily, and the most important person in Stick’s world -- his older brother, Bosten, who happens to be gay. When the boys’ father throws Bosten out of their home, Stick steals a car and takes off on a three-state odyssey to find and rescue him.
"I wrote on my blog that STICK is really all about how love doesn't weaken in the face of cruelty and ugliness -- it flourishes, no matter what. And I think that's the real idea behind the book. The main character, Stark McClellan, grows up in an environment where he is surrounded by ugliness and cruelty, but he still manages to see beauty and wonder in just about everything. There are lots of "snapshots" about love and relationships in the book -- and, being a kid, Stark really doesn't have the range of experiences to see the difference between the pure and the profane -- but he does learn the truth eventually."
"There are gay teens in the book. I've always had an issue with people who use terms like "acting gay," because, to me, it's like saying "acting (insert stereotypical group here)." And there's no "act" about the characters in STICK. When I was a kid Stark's age, I learned that my older brother was gay, just like what happens to the kids in the book. That's really one of the big issues in the novel, which is based on personal experiences. I wanted to write a novel about being brothers, being kids, and having to contend with all the rules and limits that try to strain the bonds that connect us as human beings... and the fucked-up things people do to one another because they are incapable of seeing the huge things that really make us all the same. So I wrote this book about a kid who hears the world differently than other people, who is convinced that he's ugly and defective, but who holds on to this most amazing sense of wonder about everything that goes on around him."
I think the cover portrays a young man who is hopeful and optimistic. I love the blue tones and the heavy contrast. I would totally pick up the book off of a shelf. The design was created by Rich Deas, creative director at Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan. Rich is also the genius behind THE MARBURY LENS art work. I love that cover!
Let me say this: The cover of STICK is now the wallpaper on my iPhone. I think Rich incorporated a lot of the elements that are essential to the story: The cover is set on a beach (the specific beach is in Ventura County, California), and I think the expression on the character's face pretty much says it all -- there's a kind of strength and determination shown, as well as a hint of an optimistic smile. I love the colors, too, and the way the image is a kind of hybridization between photography and an almost comic-book kind of presentation. Very hip. The only cover I've ever had enlarged and framed (hanging on my living room wall) is the cover for THE MARBURY LENS. But STICK is going up there, right next to it. Really, I can't say enough about Rich. He's one of the nicest, most dedicated, hard-working and kind guys you'll ever meet.
Thank you, Andrew for letting me be a part of your cover reveal! Can't wait to read!
Without further ado, I share with you the cover of STICK.
Stick by Andrew Smith
October 11th, 2011 by Feiwel & Friends
Stark McClellan (“Stick”) hears the world in a different way. He is surrounded by cruelty and ugliness, but holds on to a powerful sense of wonder, faith, and love for his best friend, Emily, and the most important person in Stick’s world -- his older brother, Bosten, who happens to be gay. When the boys’ father throws Bosten out of their home, Stick steals a car and takes off on a three-state odyssey to find and rescue him.
Andrew was kind enough to offer more information about his new title and it's main character, Stark.
"There are gay teens in the book. I've always had an issue with people who use terms like "acting gay," because, to me, it's like saying "acting (insert stereotypical group here)." And there's no "act" about the characters in STICK. When I was a kid Stark's age, I learned that my older brother was gay, just like what happens to the kids in the book. That's really one of the big issues in the novel, which is based on personal experiences. I wanted to write a novel about being brothers, being kids, and having to contend with all the rules and limits that try to strain the bonds that connect us as human beings... and the fucked-up things people do to one another because they are incapable of seeing the huge things that really make us all the same. So I wrote this book about a kid who hears the world differently than other people, who is convinced that he's ugly and defective, but who holds on to this most amazing sense of wonder about everything that goes on around him."
I think the cover portrays a young man who is hopeful and optimistic. I love the blue tones and the heavy contrast. I would totally pick up the book off of a shelf. The design was created by Rich Deas, creative director at Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan. Rich is also the genius behind THE MARBURY LENS art work. I love that cover!
Here is what Andrew has to say about the cover art of STICK.
Let me say this: The cover of STICK is now the wallpaper on my iPhone. I think Rich incorporated a lot of the elements that are essential to the story: The cover is set on a beach (the specific beach is in Ventura County, California), and I think the expression on the character's face pretty much says it all -- there's a kind of strength and determination shown, as well as a hint of an optimistic smile. I love the colors, too, and the way the image is a kind of hybridization between photography and an almost comic-book kind of presentation. Very hip. The only cover I've ever had enlarged and framed (hanging on my living room wall) is the cover for THE MARBURY LENS. But STICK is going up there, right next to it. Really, I can't say enough about Rich. He's one of the nicest, most dedicated, hard-working and kind guys you'll ever meet.
Thank you, Andrew for letting me be a part of your cover reveal! Can't wait to read!
Add STICK to Goodreads
Find Andrew on his blog and Twitter
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