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Editorial Content for The Geek's Guide to Unrequited Love

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Cat S., Teen Board Member

“Fiction is there when real life fails you. But it’s not a substitute” (228), Sarvenaz Tash writes in her hilarious novel, THE GEEK’S GUIDE TO UNREQUITED LOVE. Graham Posner certainly experiences this philosophy when he, a second-generation nerd, tries to confess his love to his best friend (and fellow nerd) Roxana, at the New York Comic Con.

“This book...takes the reader through ComicCon in a very realistic way, full of jokes and humor while waiting in long lines, but at the same time gets a very important message across.”

Teaser

Graham met his best friend, Roxana, when he moved into her neighborhood eight years ago, and she asked him which Hogwarts house he'd be sorted into. Graham has been in love with her ever since. But now they're 16, still neighbors, still best friends. And Graham and Roxy share more than ever --- moving on from their Harry Potter obsession to a serious love of comic books. When Graham learns that the creator of their favorite comic, The Chronicles of Althena, is making a rare appearance at this year's New York Comic Con, he knows he must score tickets. And the event inspires Graham to come up with the perfect plan to tell Roxy how he really feels about her. 

Promo

Graham met his best friend, Roxana, when he moved into her neighborhood eight years ago, and she asked him which Hogwarts house he'd be sorted into. Graham has been in love with her ever since. But now they're 16, still neighbors, still best friends. And Graham and Roxy share more than ever --- moving on from their Harry Potter obsession to a serious love of comic books. When Graham learns that the creator of their favorite comic, The Chronicles of Althena, is making a rare appearance at this year's New York Comic Con, he knows he must score tickets. And the event inspires Graham to come up with the perfect plan to tell Roxy how he really feels about her. 

About the Book

Graham met his best friend, Roxana, when he moved into her neighborhood eight years ago, and she asked him which Hogwarts house he'd be sorted into. Graham has been in love with her ever since.
 
But now they're 16, still neighbors, still best friends. And Graham and Roxy share more than ever --- moving on from their Harry Potter obsession to a serious love of comic books.
 
When Graham learns that the creator of their favorite comic, The Chronicles of Althena, is making a rare appearance at this year's New York Comic Con, he knows he must score tickets. And the event inspires Graham to come up with the perfect plan to tell Roxy how he really feels about her. He's got three days to woo his best friend at the coolest, kookiest con full of superheroes and supervillains. But no one at a comic book convention is who they appear to be...even Roxy. And Graham is starting to realize fictional love stories are way less complicated than real-life ones. 

Editorial Content for Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Chrissy Bentlyewski

BEING JAZZ: My Life As a (Transgender) Teen, by 15-year-old Jazz Jennings, stresses the importance of being your authentic self, no matter what society decides is “normal.” Jazz tells the story of her transition starting at a very young age, including all of the challenges she had to overcome to become the confident advocate for the transgender community that she is today. Her strong voice shines through in this memoir and it is clear why she is an inspiration to so many people around the globe. Read More

Teaser

At the age of five, Jazz Jennings transitioned to life as a girl with the support of her parents. A year later, her parents allowed her to share her incredible journey in her first Barbara Walters interview. In this memoir, Jazz reflects on these very public experiences and how they have helped shape the mainstream attitude toward the transgender community. But it hasn’t all been easy. Jazz has faced many challenges, yet she perseveres as she educates others about her life as a transgender teen. Making the journey from girl to woman is never easy --- especially when you began your life in a boy’s body.

Promo

At the age of five, Jazz Jennings transitioned to life as a girl with the support of her parents. A year later, her parents allowed her to share her incredible journey in her first Barbara Walters interview. In this memoir, Jazz reflects on these very public experiences and how they have helped shape the mainstream attitude toward the transgender community. But it hasn’t all been easy. Jazz has faced many challenges, yet she perseveres as she educates others about her life as a transgender teen. Making the journey from girl to woman is never easy --- especially when you began your life in a boy’s body.

About the Book

Teen activist and trailblazer Jazz Jennings --- named one of “The 25 Most Influential Teens” of the year by Time --- shares her very public transgender journey, as she inspires people to accept the differences in others while they embrace their own truths.
 
Jazz Jennings is one of the youngest and most prominent voices in the national discussion about gender identity. At the age of five, Jazz transitioned to life as a girl, with the support of her parents. A year later, her parents allowed her to share her incredible journey in her first Barbara Walters interview, aired at a time when the public was much less knowledgeable or accepting of the transgender community. This groundbreaking interview was followed over the years by other high-profile interviews, a documentary, the launch of her YouTube channel, a picture book and her own reality TV series --- "I Am Jazz" --- making her one of the most recognizable activists for transgender teens, children and adults.
 
In her remarkable memoir, Jazz reflects on these very public experiences and how they have helped shape the mainstream attitude toward the transgender community. But it hasn’t all been easy. Jazz has faced many challenges, bullying, discrimination and rejection, yet she perseveres as she educates others about her life as a transgender teen. Through it all, her family has been beside her on this journey, standing together against those who don't understand the true meaning of tolerance and unconditional love. Now Jazz must learn to navigate the physical, social and emotional upheavals of adolescence --- particularly high school --- complicated by the unique challenges of being a transgender teen. Making the journey from girl to woman is never easy --- especially when you began your life in a boy’s body.

Audiobook available, read by Jazz Jennings

Editorial Content for Cure for the Common Universe

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Rachel D., Teen Board Member

Before I start this review, I'd like to make it clear that I, by no means, am a gamer. Jaxon, the protagonist of Christian McKay Heidicker’s CURE FOR THE COMMON UNIVERSE, absolutely is. We start off the novel with a brief introduction of Jaxon's life; we know Jaxon is the member of a guild through the game "Arcadia" called the Wight Knights, and spends his days playing video games. Read More

Teaser

Prepare to be cured by this quirky and hilarious debut novel about a sixteen-year-old loner who is sent to rehab for video game addiction --- perfect for fans of Ned Vizzini and Jesse Andrews.
Sixteen-year-old Jaxon is being committed to video game rehab...ten minutes after meeting a girl. A living, breathing girl named Serena, who not only laughed at his jokes but actually kinda sorta seemed excited when she agreed to go out with him. Jaxon’s first date. Ever. In rehab, Jaxon can’t blast his way through galaxies to reach her. He can’t slash through armies to kiss her sweet lips. Instead, he has four days to earn one million points by learning real-life skills. 

Promo

Prepare to be cured by this quirky and hilarious debut novel about a sixteen-year-old loner who is sent to rehab for video game addiction --- perfect for fans of Ned Vizzini and Jesse Andrews.
Sixteen-year-old Jaxon is being committed to video game rehab...ten minutes after meeting a girl. A living, breathing girl named Serena, who not only laughed at his jokes but actually kinda sorta seemed excited when she agreed to go out with him. Jaxon’s first date. Ever. In rehab, Jaxon can’t blast his way through galaxies to reach her. He can’t slash through armies to kiss her sweet lips. Instead, he has four days to earn one million points by learning real-life skills. 

About the Book

Prepare to be cured by this quirky and hilarious debut novel about a sixteen-year-old loner who is sent to rehab for video game addiction --- perfect for fans of Ned Vizzini and Jesse Andrews.
 
Sixteen-year-old Jaxon is being committed to video game rehab...ten minutes after meeting a girl. A living, breathing girl named Serena, who not only laughed at his jokes but actually kinda sorta seemed excited when she agreed to go out with him.
 
Jaxon’s first date. Ever.
 
In rehab, Jaxon can’t blast his way through galaxies to reach her. He can’t slash through armies to kiss her sweet lips. Instead, he has four days to earn one million points by learning real-life skills. And he’ll do whatever it takes --- lie, cheat, steal, even learn how to cross-stitch --- in order to make it to his date.
 
If all else fails, Jaxon will have to bare his soul to the other teens in treatment, confront his mother’s absence, and maybe admit that it’s more than video games that stand in the way of a real connection.
 
From a bright new voice in young adult literature comes the story of a young man with a serious case of arrested development --- and carpal tunnel syndrome --- who is about to discover what real life is all about.

Editorial Content for All the Feels

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Alyssa Cami

ALL THE FEELS is author Danika Stone’s first foray into young adult literature and it does not disappoint. Exploring the ups, downs and inner workings of fandom, the reader follows Liv, whose favorite character, Matt Spartan, has just been killed off in her favorite franchise, Starveil (a fictional series of movies that reads as a Star Wars/“Firefly” hybrid).
  Read More

Teaser

College freshman Liv is more than just a fangirl: The Starveil movies are her life...and her last tangible connection to her deceased father. Thus, when her favorite character, Captain Matt Spartan, is killed off at the end of the last movie, Liv Just. Can't. Deal. With the help of her best friend, Xander, actor and steampunk cosplayer extraordinaire, she creates #SpartanSurvived, a call that ignites the fandom. But as her online life succeeds beyond her wildest dreams, Liv is forced to balance that with the pressures of school, her (mostly nonexistent and entirely traumatic) romantic life, and her disapproving mother's new boyfriend.

Promo

College freshman Liv is more than just a fangirl: The Starveil movies are her life...and her last tangible connection to her deceased father. Thus, when her favorite character, Captain Matt Spartan, is killed off at the end of the last movie, Liv Just. Can't. Deal. With the help of her best friend, Xander, actor and steampunk cosplayer extraordinaire, she creates #SpartanSurvived, a call that ignites the fandom. But as her online life succeeds beyond her wildest dreams, Liv is forced to balance that with the pressures of school, her (mostly nonexistent and entirely traumatic) romantic life, and her disapproving mother's new boyfriend.

About the Book

College freshman Liv is more than just a fangirl: The Starveil movies are her life...and her last tangible connection to her deceased father. Thus, when her favorite character, Captain Matt Spartan, is killed off at the end of the last movie, Liv Just. Can't. Deal.

Tired of sitting in her room sobbing, Liv decides to launch an online campaign to bring her beloved hero back to life. With the help of her best friend, Xander, actor and steampunk cosplayer extraordinaire, she creates #SpartanSurvived, a call that ignites the fandom. But as her online life succeeds beyond her wildest dreams, Liv is forced to balance that with the pressures of school, her (mostly nonexistent and entirely traumatic) romantic life, and her disapproving mother's new boyfriend. A trip to DragonCon with Xander might be exactly what she needs to get away from it all... and figure out what (and who!) she really wants, in this geeky romance by Danika Stone.

The Girls by Emma Cline

June 2016

THE GIRLS by Emma Cline is set in Northern California at the end of the '60s. The protagonist is Evie Boyd, a lonely teenager drawn to a group of girls who hang out in her town, frolicking and living life with reckless abandon. She is particularly enamored of Suzanne, an older aloof girl. She follows these women into their world, which is a cult where they are led by a charismatic leader on a ranch on the outskirts of town. Swept up, she longs to be part of them, but is too naive to notice that things are spinning wildly out of control and an act of violence is about to unravel her newfound life.

June 20, 2016

This Bookreporter.com Special Newsletter spotlights a book that we think is a great summer reading selection. Read more about it, and enter our Summer Reading Contest by Tuesday, June 21st at 11:59am ET for a chance to win one of five copies of THE LAKE HOUSE by Kate Morton, which is now available in paperback. Please note that each contest is only open for 24 hours, so you will need to act quickly!

Germaine Greer

The essence of pleasure is spontaneity.

Attribution

Germaine Greer

Jennifer Grant

When it comes to Father's Day, I will remember my dad for both being there to nurture me and also for the times he gave me on my own to cultivate my own interests and to nurture my own spirit.

Attribution

Jennifer Grant
Father’s Day is a great time to talk about the new DC comic Superman --- Chapter One: “The Son of Superman” featuring the original super family especially when you get to talk to its inker, Mick Gray. Gray also worked on another epic father-son team, Batman and Robin. Mick Gray (Superman, Batman and Robin, Promethea) is a staple at San Francisco Bay Area conventions --- and so is his daughter, 15-year-old Genevieve, a talented musician and artist.

Terry Moore

The 12-step chocoholics program: Never be more than 12 steps away from chocolate!

Attribution

Terry Moore