Marianne Mentions:

Here is a sneak peek and some of Rachel Bridgen’s glorious illustrations for Marianne’s new picture book Serious Sas and Messy Magda. Serious Sas is the kind of picture book that all ages can enjoy! Click on the image to get the enlarge view!

Sas and Magda are like chalk and cheese …

Marianne has shared the full cover of her new picture book with us. Serious Sas and Messy Magda is now available for you to order. It will be shipped in December/January.

Though the publisher is in the UK it will be shipped locally to keep any postage costs down. You can also buy through Book Depository and Fishpond and Amazon UK and Amazon.

If you’re in Queensland, you can order it locally through Dymocks Carindale: Phone:(07) 3843 1143, ask for Olwyn.

The Elementals is on one level an intriguing coming-of-age novel about a young woman, Ariel Silverman, facing the challenges of her first years away at college in Berkeley, California, while her mother battles cancer at home in Los Angeles.

But the book takes on deeper, stranger meanings when we realize that Ariel is haunted by the disappearance of her best friend, Jeni, who vanished without a trace a few years before, closing Ariel’s heart and changing her forever.  Ariel wonders if she will ever be fully alive, until she meets three mysterious, beautiful and seductive young people living in a strange old house in the Berkeley hills.  Through them Ariel will unravel the mystery of her best friend’s disappearance and face a chilling choice.

The writing style that is used to pull us into the story is equivalent to the melancholy feeling of Ariel’s moods. It was like living in her head.

Ariel is experiencing a lot of very strong emotions all at once. This causes the depression and sense of longing that the voice of the story is built on. She has just lost a friend, her mother is battling cancer and she has just moved away to college, which turns out not to be the experience she thought it would be.

On one of her nightly searches she is drawn to a house that comes to haunt her. She believes that the interest the 3 roommates show in her is comforting and the only place she feels welcome. 

The story is a glimpse into the mind of a dream state, and not knowing what is exactly real or a drugged filled haze of insecurity. The emotions are real, the experiences are real but we see them through the mind of a girl who is not in control.

Driven by desire, both sexual and emotional, The Elementals has a very melancholy feel to it, sprinkled with flashbacks from a life she once had to the cult-like addiction of her new life. Ariel  has to transform in many different ways when searching not only for her lost friend, but from the self she lost.

This book does contain some adult content. Sex, drugs alcohol. 

Belinda’s new column for 2014!

There has been a huge rush for film makers to create fresh content rather than reinventing the wheel. Please, god, no more Herbie Movies!!! One of the richest sources for new and inspiring premises for movies is the young adult book market. What’s not to love? The books can range from contemporary love stories to post apocalyptic tales of survival… not to mention some serious supernatural stuff.

Things had been slow for years then in the late 90’s suddenly everything kicked up a notch with the Harry Potter books being made into films, Spiderwick, Lemony Snickets, and Twilight had the Hollywood treatment. More recently it has been The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and in the near future Divergent by Veronica Roth.

Among other films to be adapted to screen are, John Green’s The Fault in our Stars, John Dashner’s The Maze Runner, and The Perks of being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. This is seriously just off the top of my head and after a simple google search.

So then the big argument starts. Which to consume first… the book or the movie?

I look forward to doing comparisons between books and their film adaptation during 2014, you’re welcome to read and watch along with me during the year and give your opinion on either book or movie or both.

Remember to give me suggestions of other book to film adaptation you think we’d all enjoy making comparisons on.

Here’s the first 4 months attack plan:

January: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

February: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia

March: Divergent by Veronica Roth

April: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K Rowling

Lisa shares the Top 5 December Book Releases she’s excited about!

Ashes to Ashes, by Melissa Walker

“A timeless and romantic ghost story that will haunt readers long after the last page is turned.

When Callie’s life is cut short by a tragic accident in her hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, her spirit travels to another dimension called the Prism. Here she meets a striking and mysterious ghost named Thatcher, who guides her as she learns how to bring peace to those she left behind. But Callie soon uncovers a dark secret about the spirit world: Some of the souls in it are angry, and they desperately want revenge. These souls are willing to do whatever it takes to stay on Earth, threatening the existence of everyone she ever cared about.”

Rise, by Anna Carey

“When Eve lost her soul mate, Caleb, she felt like her world ended. Now, trapped in the palace, as a reluctant bride and unhappy princess, Eve’s entire life is a lie.

The only thing that keeps her going is Caleb’s memory—and the revolution he started. Eve plots to destroy the New America, beginning with the capital, the City of Sand. Will she be able to bring about a new, free world when she’s called upon to perform the ultimate act of rebellion—killing her father, the King?”

The Third Lie’s the Charm

“Katie Lowry knows she could’ve stopped Alistair from doing something stupid if only she’d picked up the phone. Now she has to live with the guilt. She’s sick of the lies, sick of the secret societies that rule life at Pemberly Brown Academy. But there’s only one way to take them down: from the inside…”

Mind Games, by Kiersten White

“Fia and Annie are as close as two sisters can be. They look out for each other. Protect each other. And most importantly, they keep each other’s secrets, even the most dangerous ones: Annie is blind, but can see visions of the future; Fia was born with flawless intuition—her first impulse is always exactly right. When the sisters are offered a place at an elite boarding school, Fia realizes that something is wrong . . . but she doesn’t grasp just how wrong. The Keane Institute is no ordinary school, and Fia is soon used for everything from picking stocks to planting bombs. If she tries to refuse, they threaten her with Annie’s life. Now Fia’s falling in love with a boy who has dark secrets of his own. And with his help, she’s ready to fight back.”

Let the Sky Fall, by Shannon Messenger

“Seventeen-year-old Vane Weston has no idea how he survived the category five tornado that killed his parents. And he has no idea if the beautiful, dark-haired girl who’s swept through his dreams every night since the storm is real. But he hopes she is.

Seventeen-year-old Audra is a sylph, an air elemental. She walks on the wind, can translate its alluring songs, and can even coax it into a weapon with a simple string of commands. She’s also a guardian—Vane’s guardian—and has sworn an oath to protect Vane at all costs. Even if it means sacrificing her own life.

When a hasty mistake reveals their location to the enemy who murdered both of their families, Audra’s forced to help Vane remember who he is. He has a power to claim—the secret language of the West Wind, which only he can understand. But unlocking his heritage will also unlock the memory Audra needs him to forget. And their greatest danger is not the warriors coming to destroy them—but the forbidden romance that’s grown between them.”