Tomorrow When the War Began - Brand new trailer SQUEEEE!!!!! And a tragic discovery...

Here's the newest trailer. And it is so awesome I don't even know what to say (!)

Check out how hot the Aussie accent is ;)



In other news...

Last night I was hunting around the house for my copy of Tomorrow. The Husband (Pete) took it with him to South Africa. In case he needed some extra excitement on his trip, you know. And I may or may not have been forcibly gently recommending he re-read it before the movie hits.

I scavenged for a bit. Couldn't find it. Asked Pete (who had been oh-so-passively watching me search for it)

Pete (eventually): 'I left it in South Africa'
Hahahaha. What a joker.
Me: No. Seriously, where is it?
I try to crack his poker face.
His eyes are so solemn.
He blinks and stares and blinks and stares.
Me: Damn. You did not.

Tragic story short.
It is gone. He *thinks* it was left on a plane, somewhere, maybe... 'but,' he added optimistically, 'I read the first two chapters. It was really good.'
a) I hope the person who found it can read
b) I hope they can read English
c) They better flipping love it because...

I cruised around my book sites, to order another copy. It's been reprinted 16 times (!) and I want a cool cover, you know. Because I'm shallow like that.

I jump on Ebay and, did I mention he took my first edition hardcover? Well, there it sits for *drumroll* $695.

Whoah. Seriously?

I think I'll have to just pick up a regular-like one. Sigh.

Tell me you love the trailer.
Tell me your thoughts are with me.

xx

YA Movie News

Follow this link for the latest in movie news including status updates, links to sites/trailers and release dates for:

Kevin (Lincoln Lewis) and Fi on set @
Tomorrow When the War Began

• Tomorrow When the War Began - John Marsden
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J K Rowling
• Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer
• The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
• If I Stay - Gayle Forman
• Shiver - Maggie Stiefvater
• The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones - Cassandra Clare
• Vampire Academy - Richelle Mead

And these movies are currently in development:

• Wake by Lisa McMann - Miley Cyrus has scored the leading role.
• Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (Warner Bros)
• Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr (Universal Pictures)
• Fallen by Lauren Kate (Disney)
• Wings by Aprilynne Pike - again, Miley has the leading role (Disney)
• The Book Theif by Marcus Zusac (20th Century Fox)

Which of these movies are you most pumped about?

My top four most anticipated:
#1 Tomorrow When the War began (SQUEEE!!!)
#2 The Hunger Games
#3 If I Stay
#4 The Book Thief

And, while not a huge fan of the books, I think Wings and Wicked Lovely will make stunning movies.

I just had to  make this poster large size because of it's general awesomeness.
Sorry if it overwhelms you, haha :)

Handcuffs - Bethany Griffin

Coming down from the most sexually charged moment of your life to face humiliation, unfulfilled lust, and the boredom of indefinite grounding is tough. Sixteen year old Parker Prescott alternates her punishment time between sneaking out to see her would-be lover and playing internet pranks. One of these activities will lead to an unflattering mug shot, but both will land her in handcuffs. (from authors site)


Oooh - how good is that hook?


Here's the back blurb: 

Parker Prescott is an Ice Princess. Cold, aloof, a snob. At least, that's what everyone says on Marion Hennessey's blog. And everyone reads Marion Hennessey's blog.

Parker Prescott is a middle child. She's the good one, the dependable one, the one her parents trust. Well . . . she used to be.

Parker Prescott's parents want her to break up with her boyfriend. But she already did, two weeks ago.

And then she realized it was a mistake. He came over. He had the handcuffs in his pocket. Everything went downhill from there. Sort of.

Parker Prescott's world is changing and she no longer knows who she is. Does anyone?

Parker has such a perfect teenage voice that I felt like I was visiting my own past teen self. 


The tension in this book! I was completely sucked in - especially with the escalating high school warfare and Parker and her boyfriend/ex-boyfriend (supreme hotness) who's relationship is complicated and sexy in the best of ways.


Griffin writes with a subtlety that captures those teen feelings of identity and belonging and high school hardships and... lust :) 


I especially loved the intricate ways Parker related to her mum and her older sister (I also adored her little brother. ADHD little bro's FTW!) And, confession, I am a middle child. So, Parker and I are likethis.


I expected to like this book - I didn't quite expect it to have as much depth as it did. Especially in various charcters sub-plots, like her sister and her neighbours. Whoah - impressed me :)


Basically - I really really liked this book.


I recommend this to: people who love contemporary YA with well-drawn characters, hot steamy moments and page-flipping high school tension.


Random stuff: 

• You never find out the name of Parker's boyfriend/ex-boyfriend. OooOooh - I liked that...
• The ending! Argh! I don't know what to say, but it kinda broke my heart but also felt good. Cryptic, I know. 
• Get comfy before you read this. Because you won't want to put it down. 
• I kept imagining if my parents walked in on me and my boyfriend while we were... and I was in handcuffs. My poor lovely dad would die... My mum? I would be sooo dead. Me? Thank God I only had to live through it vicariously :)
• And, yay! I won this book from Bethany Griffin, who has a fab blog and she signed it (to me!). My 13 year old niece says Bethany has the best writing. "Oooh - I wish I had that writing," she was gushing :) 

Lucy Christopher's Stolen and Aussie Book Awards

Stolen just won the Branford Boase Award on July 14. Whoo hoo!


This UK award for first-time authors has an impressive track record. Previous winners include names you just might have heard of such as Marcus Sedgwick, Mal Peet, Meg Rosoff, Siobhan Dowd and Frances Hardinge. (info taken from Fiction Focus)


Here's the seven books it was short-listed with - I'll be checking a few of them out too.


It's also on the short-list with the Children's Book Council of Australia for best book of the year for older readers (Aussie YA).


My library has all the books short-listed, but they dont get released to patrons until the winner is announced on Friday the 20th of August - the librarians keep them for display during book week and also for themselves to read. 


But I, oooh yeah, collaborated with my fave librarian and got her to smuggle a copy out for me. 


It pays to buddy up with librarians who rock :) 


I'm nearly finished it already (interrupted my reading to post about it winning the Branford. It's really really good :)


I've read Liar and like Stolen a bit better for the winner. Seriously cannot wait for A Small free Kiss in the Dark where survivors of a sudden war hide out in the ruins of an amusement park 


Book of the Year - Older Readers Short List 2010 CBCA



CHRISTOPHER, Lucy       Stolen       



CLARKE, Judith        The Winds of Heaven       




LARBALESTIER, Justine       Liar       

METZENTHEN, David       Jarvis 24       




MILLARD, Glenda       A Small Free Kiss in the Dark       



TANGEY, Penny       Loving Richard Feynman      





And... just today the Short List was announced for  2010 Prime Minister's Literary Awards and for the first time, they have a Young Adult category

Young Adult Fiction shortlist (Prime Ministers Award)

• Stolen, Lucy Christopher
• The Winds of Heaven, Judith Clarke
• Confessions of a Liar, Thief and Failed Sex God, Bill Condon
• The Museum of Mary Child, Cassandra Golds
• Swerve, Phillip Gwynne
• Jarvis 24, David Metzenthen
• Beatle meets Destiny, Gabrielle Williams

And there's Stolen again! (plus some other crossovers from the CBCA short-list.) I've read Swerve, which was a fantastic male POV.

I can't wait to see who the winners will be :) The winner of the Prime Ministers Award will receive $100, 000.


sorry for the wonky formatting. It's all flipped out...(?)

Covers: Audrey, Wait - Robin Benway

Cover Comparison Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Bailey @ Abyss.

This week - nine mad crazy covers for Robin Benway's Audrey, Wait!

US

What's not to like about this cover? 

It's dynamic and funky and fun and loud and a little bit chaotic.

If you stare at it for too long, the arms/hands look a a little awkward...

US Paperback

I have this one. It's kinda cool. The model suits Audrey and the colours work well. I like the sideways text and the diagonal text (which is textured on my cover). I don't think it's as fun as some of the others, but I'm still proud of it :)

UK

This one is hypnotic. And cute. Love the font. And the angle on which it sits. Love the stars. Love the record theme. I think this would jump out at me at the bookshop :) You just want to pick it up, dont you?

The Netherlands

You go, girl! :)

Okay, this one's a little busy, but I think it works, in a slightly dated kinda way. 

I like the hair splayed against the grey background and white swirls. 

I don't think this girl is Audrey though? But kudos to the model for rockin' it out hard.

(that outfit? the jeans look a little stone-wash-esque. Innnnteresting....)

Korea

Well, this is just cute. Not sure it would fly in the upper YA Australian market - but I bet Koreans dig it. 

I actually like it - when I first found it I was pumped :) 

It's different and obviously designed just for Audrey. 

And it's the exact loud cluttered colours I used to so love and flaunt as a teen.

And I love Audrey's little leg swoon moment <3

Norway

Love.

It's hard to compare this to the others -which are so tailor made to suit Audrey. But look at this individually and it's speaking to me. 

Not sure what the model is doing or trying to artfully express...(?)

 But who cares? 

It just looks funky. I want this cover - but I don't know if I want it on my Audrey wait.

Italy

Hmm. Yeah. I don't know...? 

German (titled: Heartbreaker Chartbreaker = LOL, in the nicest of ways)

The swirls are candy-esque (yum!), but I think I like the US hard cover better

French

Love the colours. It's missing the energy of some of the other covers, but it's still pretty cool. 

Love the use of white space and the purple. I like the photo turned illustration look. 

But Audrey doesn't play the guitar... details, details...

Which one is your favourite?

EDIT: additional covers

Brazil

Israel

Finland

Winners, Random posts I liked this week and some links :)

Spines of Jaclyn's books.

Here's a little bit I snuck off Jaclyn Moriarty's Website :)

except from Jaclyn's first novel
written when she was seven :)

"I wrote my first novel when I was seven. It was an Enid Blyron rip-off about talking toys. In the end, the toys got into a fist fight and everything went to hell. “You know, this is really quite good!” said my Auntie Elizabeth. But I could tell by the way she glimmered at my mother, over the top of my head, that she did not think so at all.

Despite this setback, I continued to write."

How cute is she? :)

Anyway, on to the WINNERS via random.org:

the lovely lovely Alexa of Not Enough Bookshelves

and the ever-so-cool Sandy Shin

and thanks everyone else for entering...

Some links I can't resist sharing:

Jacket Why's (follow this blog - love it!) features four YA covers that are all about hair

Funniest Post I read this week. You should seriously follow this blog, the lovely, lovely Amna aka GirlInBetween is truly hilarious :) Recommended!

Cara @ Chasing Words lists her top ten YA boys - she writes about them so well, that I'm liking the ones I haven't even met in the book yet!

And @ 21 Pages, Linna is hosting an International Epic ARC Give-away -                 (CLOCKWORK ANGEL, PARANORMALCY, DELIRIUM, LINGER, FIRELIGHT, THE IVY and LINGER!). I've been following for a while now, and she does really great reviews and cute posts - so, you know, recommended!


Check out Larissa's Livejournal or her brand new blog and enter to win one of five packs of five books from Winterflings (including the first Gallagher girls by Ally Carter) - it's a huge competition, although (sorry) only open to Aussies. Also, you could give her some blogger love by following her - she has some awesome links and really well articulated reviews.

In Australia, 2012 will officially be the National Year of Reading where the government, writers, schools, publishers, booksellers, employers, child care providers, health professionals and a whole host of other organisations come together with Australian libraries for an epic year of activities to flood Australia with a passion for reading. Awesome, yeah? Visit the website for more info :)


I think that's all :) 

Wintergirls - US v Australian v sneak peek UK Cover

US

Australian

Sneak Peek UK
Will be available Jan 2010

The awesomest things about both the US and the Aussie covers are.... THEY ARE BOTH DESIGNED BY TEENAGERS!

US:  The photo in the US version was taken by a teenager - a guy :) I own the US version. Because I was too impatient to wait for the Australian release, so I ordered my copy internationally, although, it has since been released in Australia. It's got this lovely texture, a mix of matt and gloss and raised font, so that it feels a little bit smooth and jagged and icy.                                                                                                              

Australian: An Australian girl painted the picture on the cover. Cool, yeah? How awesome would you feel to have painted the picture on LHA's book while still being a teen?

The thing the Australian edition exclusively has is the endorsement by Melina Marchetta, 'Beautiful, heartbreaking and hopeful.' And it is :) And who wouldn't read any book that Melina Marchetta personally recommends?

The UK cover is pretty cool, too. It feels teenager-y and the quotes are so goosebump-y - the evocative words in such bright graffiti happy writing. the girls whisper feels a little haunting... it definitely has my attention.

Also, don't you just love the title?

Which cover do you prefer?

Edit: German cover has been revealed

Stunning and I'm thinking it's my favourite...

And, if you haven't already read Wintergirls, you should read this review by Angie @ Addicted to Books. Wintergirls really is a stunning and powerful book by an author in a league of her own.