Beatle Meets Destiny by Gabrielle Williams

Imagine your name is John Lennon, only everyone calls you Beatle.

And then you meet your dream girl and her name is Destiny McCartney. 

But what if you're already with the perfect girl? 

A novel about change, chance and everybody doing the wrong thing. (blurb)








Beatle Meets Destiny has all the makings of an Aussie YA cult classic. 


Set in Melbourne, it's completely charming with it's off-beat feel,  whimsical yet sexy romance and huge belly-aching moments. This book is ridiculously good, refreshing, original and completely addictive.


What's it about? In Gabrielle's words taken from We Love YA
I threw my two main characters together with a kiss at the end of the first chapter, and then added an extra girlfriend, a stalker, a stolen tapestry, a teacher/student romance, some superstitions, astrology, feng shui and a kooky mother and it all kind of kicked along from there. 


And what a sweet, sexy, inspirational kiss it is :)


My attempt @ a mini synopsis/teaser thingy: Beatle meets Destiny and and she's charming and he's hot and they kiss and have it going on... only Beatle already has a girlfriend of three years, who's sweet and stuck by him though some intense stuff. Meanwhile, Destiny gets herself all tangled up with a stalker and some arty drama with her next-door neighbour and Beatle finds his sister making out with his English teacher (who just happens to be Destiny's older brother). There's lots about twins (so funny! Beatle's a twin, but two months older than his sister) and some laughs about astrology and fate and a large cast of friends and family who each have their own pocket of individuality to add.


There's tension about what will happen with the mess Beatle makes for himself, but even as it builds, it's so quirky and whimsical and teenager-y that you're just enjoying the ride and the tension is a niggling feeling lurking behind the mayhem of it all.


The characters are theatrical and kooky and I love them for leaping off the page and into my heart. I want to hang out with them :)


It has a Moriarty-esque feel about it. The seemingly random threads all tying together in a belly-aching, extraordinarily twisted and awesome way. The climax is one of the best I've ever read. So funny it was almost painful, so cringe-y (for poor poor Beatle) that I almost couldn't bear to read it. So brilliant that it left me stunned - how did she co-ordinate it so well?

Also, the dialogue: snappingly awesome and witty and whimsical and just. so. true.

Did I mention that I grinned and laughed a lot? And that I read it in one afternoon and re-read most of it the following day?

If I could, I'd put a copy of this book in everyone's hands and the world would be a brighter place :)

5 stars of whimsical brilliance and a place of honour with my favourite books of all time

Snippets from an interview with Gabrielle Williams:

“I think there are a lot of books out there for young adults which have a grim storyline – bad things happen to kids in books,” said Gabrielle Williams. “But I wanted to write a book about kids that are pretty happy – they’re not self-mutilating, they’re not Emos, they’re not totally depressed, and they don’t hate the world.”


"I really think teenagers are gorgeous and I know they can give you grief. But generally they are lovely and they are experiencing the world – and it’s so exciting and interesting.”

Stuff you should know

• Beatle Meets Destiny is being made into a major feature film (and while the book is set in Melbourne, they're thinking of doing the shoot in Ireland)!
• It's also a 2010 notable for CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia).
• And, on the short-list for the Prime Ministers Award (which comes with a $100 000 tax free prize). It's up against Stolen, but I'm totally rooting for Beatle Meets Destiny to win (and Stolen can win CBCA :) Stolen was powerful and lingering, but Beatle is quirky and cool and totally my thing. 
• Also, selected for the Books Alive Campaign - one of the 50 books you can't put down.
• The best thing about being nom'ed for the biggest Australian awards is every respectable public library in Australia should carry the book (as part of national book week, Aug).

Read the first chapter here. The first half of the chapter you can see the narration style sometimes used throughout and the second half is Beatle meeting Destiny and it's just so grin-worthy you'll crush on them straight away.

*the story is told from Beatle's POV, Destiny's POV, has small anecdotes throughout and sometimes adopts a slight omnipresent-style narration. 


EDIT: Due for US release on the first of October 2010.

Blog Award and Seven Things About Me

So the ever-awesome Caitlin, Bri and Bailey  have all chosen me for a Blog Award! Which is super cool as my blog is only a baby (3 and a half weeks old) and I already feel very welcomed to the blogosphere. Thanks guys :) Edit: Plus again from Erin thank you thank you :)


So now I have to:

1) thank and link back to the person who gave you this award

2) share seven things about yourself

3) pass this along to fifteen bloggers... 

Seven Things About Me:

1. Since I was a little girl I've always wanted to be an artist and write and illustrate children's books, along the way I became a Primary School teacher.  Last year I decided to write a YA novel as I am always reading YA,  and since then I've written two MS's but have a lot to learn.  Here's one of my more recent pics: A boy and his invention - a draft for a children's book I was toying with making (the pic is a bit blurry, but if you click on it you can see it better)

2. I was married two days after I turned twenty and had three kids by the time I was twenty-four. And b/c I can - here they are:

           Sam                                                  

Reuben

Carissa                                  

3. Right now my husband is in Uganda (see pic below) and I am doing the single mum thing for four and half weeks. He is really into all things Social Justice and is doing some aid work and research with orphan soldiers from the LRA army (like in Blood Diamond). He is always reading world-changing poverty/social justice books while I'm reading my YA and other fiction :) Aaand - I just got off the phone from him (finally got through) and he was in a car crash today, where the vehicle rolled a few times and they landed upside down and had to crawl through the window while the radiator was leaking everywhere - all drama and explosion-y. I know (!) 

4. I have never tasted: coffee, tea, mangoes, avocado, vegemite, olives, mayonnaise, sour cream,  porridge (ugh!), sun-dried tomatoes, soft cheeses, white wine, salmon, chai, oh, I could go on forever... name a food and I probably haven't tried it yet :) 

5. One of my first TV crushes was Macgyver. I know, I know :) I still get hacked out about it... And, I had a copy of this poster on my wall.  Heheheheh.

I don't really do crushes any more...except, maybe a slight appreciation for this guy ;)

                             

6. I am really accident-prone. I've broken my nose five times, but I think the crooked nose look kinda suits me :)

7. I go by drummergirl on Absolute Write - but I actually play the guitar :) (my husband plays the drums) but I like to think I drum to my own beat in life. haha - so corny that I'm grinning as I type it. 

And, because it'd take forever, I'm just going to choose 5 fab bloggers to tag :)

1. Creative A @ Headdesk who I've beta-ed for and will totally be famous one day :)

2. Rachael @ Writer's Chasm who is a fellow Dr Who nutter addict enthusiast.

3. Angie @ Daydream Believer - who writes the best reviews and has one of the most compelling first chapters ever :)

4. Girl Friday @ My Girl Friday who is an Aussie living in the ever-cool Melbourne and co-incidently just started watching Friday Night Lights this week (like me)

5. The lovely Jill Wheeler who I admire for her shopping abilities :) (Buying gifts, one for you, one for me style :)