FIRST PLACE WINNER RECEIVES:
-Your story published on my website
-My written feedback on your story
-Signed copy of BETWEEN
-An I-POD Shuffle AND
-$50 Gift Card to Amazon.com OR ITunes (your choice).

EACH RUNNER-UP RECEIVES:
-Your story published on my website
-My written feedback on your story
-Signed copy of BETWEEN
-$25 Amazon giftcard

TO ENTER:

Write a spinoff story that involves AT LEAST ONE of the characters in BETWEEN. You can pick any character(s) you’d like, and put them in any situation you can come up with. Use your imaginations! That is the ONLY rule with regard to content.

-Your story must be no longer than 1,500 words (about 5 pages typed, double spaced)
-Entries must be submitted by April 1, 2012.
-Winners will be posted on May 1, 2012.
-Open to all residents of the US and Canada between the ages of 13-19.
-Email your entries to me at jwarmanwrites@gmail.com

GOOD LUCK!

I can’t read/critique everything everyone sends me, so I’ve come up with the admittedly shitty rule that I say ‘no’ to everyone who asks. This bothers me.

So – I’ve decided to have a writing contest. I will read every single entry I receive, as long as it meets the specified guidelines, and I will choose my top 3 favorite pieces. I will publish them on my website, and the winners will also receive…

THIS IS WHERE YOU COME IN, RIGHT NOW. Help me out, readers! What cool prize ideas do you have? Submit them in the comments, and I’ll post my decisions on Monday, Feb. 6, along with the contest guidelines.

TO RECAP:

-SUBMIT YOUR PRIZE IDEAS IN THE COMMENTS.

-PRIZES AND CONTEST GUIDELINES ANNOUNCED 2/6/2012

-CONTEST WILL RUN UNTIL 4/1/2012; WINNERS ANNOUNCED 5/1/2012.

IT’S A CONTEST WITHIN A CONTEST. YES.

More coming soon… in the meantime, I hope you all enjoy this:

            The airport was a madhouse.  It was December 27, so this was no real surprise, but Caroline Michaels had somehow convinced herself that it wouldn’t be so bad this year.  She was wrong.  It took an hour and fifteen minutes just to get her boarding pass.  When she finally reached her gate, they were already boarding the plane. 

            Her seat assignment was all the way in the back.  For a few brief, hopeful moments, she thought the seat beside her might be unoccupied.  But at the last second, a frazzled-looking young woman hurried down the aisle, her gaze trained at the empty spot directly beside Caroline.  And it got worse: the woman was carrying a baby.  It wasn’t that Caroline didn’t like children; it was just that she didn’t like being crammed into a tiny aircraft with a hundred strangers at 30,000 feet, especially when the tiny person directly beside her could very easily scream for the entire trip, or puke on her, or both. 

            Caroline didn’t normally enjoy talking to people on airplanes. But she felt sorry for this woman, who was obviously overwhelmed to be traveling alone.  Besides, it was a short flight.  What was the harm in chatting for an hour or so? 

            “Were you visiting family in the city?” She asked, closing her magazine. 

            The woman nodded.  Her baby was sleeping for the moment.  “Sort of.  We spent Christmas at my in-laws’ in Connecticut.  My husband had to take a later flight.”

“What town?  I’m from Connecticut, too.”  She hesitated.  “I’m Caroline, by the way.”

            “I’m Hallie.”  They shook hands around the baby, who didn’t stir. 

            “I’m sure you’ve never heard of it,” Hallie continued.  “It’s a little town called Noank.”

            Caroline’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding, right?  I’m from Noank.”

            Hallie laughed.  “Get out.”

            “I’m serious.  Born and raised.  You said your husband’s parents live there?”

            “Yes.”  She paused.  “Maybe you know them?  Claire and Steven Wilson?”

            Caroline almost choked on her gum.  “Richie’s parents?  You’re married to Richie Wilson?”           

            Hallie grinned, her cheeks flushing.  “Yep, sure am.  Did you go to high school with him?”

            “Well, yeah.  We were friends, too.  Wow… Richie Wilson.  What’s he doing with himself nowadays?”

            Caroline listened as Hallie told her all about Richie’s adult life: He was a high school English teacher.  He and Hallie had been married for almost five years.  They’d met in college.  Caroline didn’t even realize that Richie had gone to college; he’d just sort of disappeared right after graduation.  Of course, he had his reasons for not keeping in touch – they all did.  But Caroline didn’t think now was the most appropriate time to dredge up the nightmare that had caused their group to scatter so many years ago, each of them trying to find some way to forget what had happened to the Valchar family.  Instead, she made polite, superficial conversation with Hallie for the rest of the flight.  She even wrote down her phone number and email address for Hallie to pass along to Richie, despite her certainty that he would never try to get in touch. 

            The baby finally woke up when the plane landed.  She immediately started to cry. 

            “Well… it was nice meeting you.”  Hallie flashed one last smile.  “I’m sure Richie will be in touch.”

            Right, Caroline thought.  “Nice to meet you, too,” she said.  And she shifted her attention to the baby, giving her a little wave.  “It was nice meeting you – oh, you never told me her name.”

            Hallie hesitated.  It was only a slight pause, but Caroline felt it. 

            “This is Elizabeth.”

I love it – my HUGE thanks to Egmont UK for all their hard work putting it together (and so much more)!

I finished reading Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why almost two weeks ago, yet I haven’t sat down to write my review until tonight.  I’ll admit that I had pretty high expectations for this book.  It’s an international bestseller.  My paperback cover features glowing endorsements from Sherman Alexie and the Chicago Tribune.  Ellen Hopkins called it “a book that you can’t get out of your mind.”  I’ll admit that much – after I read Thirteen Reasons Why, I couldn’t get it out of my mind, and I still can’t. 

Hopefully, once this review is written, I’ll be able to forget this book. 

After finishing it, I wondered: Am I missing something huge?  Because there were so, so so many things that didn’t work for me.  Put them all together, add some personal perspective, and my emotions ranged from sorta unimpressed to wildly underwhelmed to to flat-out angry.  

In brief: The book tells the story of Clay Jensen, a high school student still reeling from the suicide of his friend/crush, Hannah Baker.  He receives some tapes in the mail that turn out to be recordings of Hannah herself, recounting the thirteen reasons “why” she took her own life. 

Thirteen reasons that anybody not suffering from mental illness/mood disorder would understand are trivial – with the exception of maybe two. 

Many of those thirteen reasons point blame at other people.

Oh goodness, where to even start.  This book was simply all kinds of wrong for me.  I could go on and on as to why, but what it comes right down to is this:

Hannah Baker’s tapes point a finger at so many of her peers, blaming them for their bad behavior – when it wasn’t that bad at all (as I said, with the exception of two incidents).  I think that what we’re supposed to take away, as readers, is that it didn’t matter how trivial these slights might have been; it was about perspective, specifically Hannah’s.  Because Hannah was lost and confused and alone, and she needed help.  And her actions were smug, condescending, self-righteous, and stupid.

Her choice to take her own life, to play little games with others, baiting them to see if they would reach out to her and offer help, giving them little clues here and there that something was really wrong – so selfish. So stupid.

Guess who loses in the end?  Hannah. 

The narrator, Clay, believes that his life is “forever changed” by Hannah’s tapes.  And maybe it will be for awhile.  But here is the reality: He’ll get over it eventually.  He’ll go on with his life.  And maybe in ten years or so, at his high school reunion, somebody will say, “Hey, remember Hannah Baker?  That girl who killed herself?”

Not “that girl who effectively martyred herself.”  Not “that girl who changed our lives forever.”   

Suicide is a selfish, cold, short-sighted act.  Whatever drama it holds might be captivating to those it affects at the time, but that drama eventually fades and turns into something different, something far less romantic or glamorous or interesting. 

Here’s a true story: There was a 14-year old girl who had grown up in the same small town her entire life.  For as long as she could remember, she’d had a crush on a boy two years older than her.  They were in the gifted class together throughout elementary school.  When this girl started the ninth grade, she sat at the same lunch table with this boy.  Every day, she was thrilled by this fact.  Just to be that close to him was incredible.   

In the middle of this girl’s freshman year, this (lovely, kind, intelligent, talented) boy went home after school one day and took his own life in a brutal, ugly way.  The entire school went into shock.  It was chaos.  The memorial service was like a nightmare.  Afterward, the town rallied around its youth.  A teen hotline for troubled kids was set up by a few caring parents.  Teachers, guidance counselors, students – everybody walked on eggshells around each other, trying to care more deeply about one another, trying to be more sensitive to whatever private issues any one of them might be battling alone.

Those students from that school are adults now.  Every once in awhile, during a nostalgic moment, one of them will bring up that boy’s name.  Everybody will say how sad it was.  They’ll talk about the days that followed, and how surreal it all seemed. 

Then somebody will change the subject, and the sad story of the boy we knew will fade into the background.  Because we are all still alive, and we have living to do.

I have no doubt that people who were closer to this boy – his parents, his best friends – have very different thoughts and memories, even after all these years.  I cannot imagine the feelings that linger within each of them, wondering if something might have been done to change things. 

I also feel certain that Jay Asher came nowhere near tapping into this pain.  And maybe I’m missing something – maybe that wasn’t his objective.  But I’m not sure what he was trying to do at all, really – I guess, more than anything, I’m confused.  Disappointed.  And, like I said, underwhelmed.   

I was trying to explain my frustration with this book to a friend of mine, and she said, “well, if you could ask the main character (she meant Hannah) a question, what would it be?”

Here’s what I would ask her:  Are you happy now?  Do you feel better?  Was it all worth it in the end? 

Of course, she can never answer.

Christina Irelan

Krista McKeeth

Mary DeBorde

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest!

I have this huge pile of books for review sitting on the floor in my office right now.  Let me first say: I have never written a book review before today, and I’ve been approaching the task with a combination of excitement and trepidation.  On Monday, I plucked a book from the top of the pile and decided to start reading, regardless of what I’d chosen. 

The book was Melissa Walker’s “Small Town Sinners.” 

I got a cup of coffee.  I curled up on my sofa around 1:00 in the afternoon, planning to read for an hour or so.  Because, you know, I’m a busy woman.  

I read for four hours straight.  Aside from using my index finger to turn the pages, I didn’t move.  I ignored the following:

-six telephone calls 

-the arrival of the day’s mail (usually one of the most exciting parts of my day)

-my cat’s prolonged licking of my right shoulder, which would have been annoying as hell had I not been so immersed in the book

- the intense need to pee, as I’d consumed maybe seven cups of coffee so far that day

-loud, profanity-laced banter coming from the roofers who were working on the house next door

In short, I was riveted.  I read the entire book in one sitting.  It was fabulous.

I’ve spent the last two days trying to come up with the right approach for this review.  I’ve asked myself questions like, “Who is this book written for?  What is the purpose of this book?  Why is it so appealing to me?”  And while I can come up with answers to all of those questions, I think that, instead, I’m going to tell you what this book is, and what it isn’t, and why the juxtaposition of those elements are so important. 

“Small Town Sinners” tells the story of Lacey Anne Byer, a 16-year old girl who has been raised in an evangelical Christian household.  When the book begins, Lacey has spent her entire life adhering as closely as possible to her religion.  She believes deeply.  She’s a good girl.  She doesn’t swear.  She has never kissed a boy.  She wears a promise ring.  She respects and looks up to her parents.    

Things are about to change for Lacey. 

If you haven’t read the book, you might assume that you know where it’s going already.  I know I did.  And while the plot itself didn’t surprise me much, it was the way the story was told – and the message that it communicated – that really surprised me, made me think long and hard, and impressed me so, so much. 

This book deals with hot-button issues related to religion and morality: sex, homosexuality, bullying, abortion, teen pregnancy.  With one exception, all of the characters are evangelical Christians.  I am not an evangelical Christian.  I’m also not a teenager.  When it comes to issues of religion and morality, I have strong beliefs that I don’t think are going to change anytime soon. 

But that doesn’t matter.  The book was still powerful.  It still resonated with me.  Sure, the characters are from a conservative background.  Sure, on the surface it deals with issues that all teens grapple with.   But that’s not what the book is, not really.  And what Melissa Walker does so expertly is, she trusts her readers to understand that fact.  She has enough confidence in their perception and intelligence to know that astute readers will be able to see beyond the labels attached to these characters. 

These characters are just like everyone else.  Sure, their beliefs might be extreme to some people.  But that doesn’t matter.  Trust me. 

Here’s what this book is not:

-it is not preachy

-it is not condescending

-it is not self-righteous in its message

-it is not just for teenagers or Christians

I’ve been struggling for a couple of days now, trying to find words to explain why this book is so superb.  The only thing I’ve been able to come up with is this:

When I was in college, I took a World Religion class with an amazing, very popular professor named Dr. Mlecko.  We spent the semester studying religions, and he gave each and every one of them a detailed explanation and analysis.  It was an amazing class, and we all looked up to Dr. Mlecko.  But week after week, we’d ask him:  “What religion are you?  What do you believe?”  We wanted to know, of course, because we admired him so much.  But he would never tell us.  To this day, I don’t know what he believes.   And that is what made the class so powerful.   Because he was a conduit for the information, but he let us come to our own conclusions.  For many people in the class, I think this was the first time they’d experienced such an unbiased presentation of all the different manifestations of faith.   

Melissa Walker does something very similar.  When I started reading the book, I immediately flipped to the back of the jacket to read her bio, because I assumed it would explain her religious background.  It didn’t.  And the more I read, the less I wondered what Melissa believed.  Because that’s not what she’s trying to communicate, not at all.  She’s not proselytizing, not even close.  She’s also not condemning anything. 

She’s telling her readers to think for themselves.  She’s giving them permission to trust their own instincts, and maybe to question what they’ve been taught, but she’s not doing so from an authoritative perspective.  She is giving them permission to think for themselves, without a covert agenda.  The older I get – the more I read and watch and hear – the more I realize how rare her approach is, and how important, and how valuable.  My thoughts right now aren’t doing “Small Town Sinners” justice, because I’ve only had a few days to think about it.  I’m sure I’ll be thinking about it for many days to come.

The contest runs until August 31 and is open to residents of US and Canada only; winners will be chosen Sept. 1.  To enter, simply email your name and mailing address to:  jwarmanwrites@gmail.com.  Good luck!