Tag: YA

Gayle Forman in Manila

Author Photo - Gayle Forman[1]

This weekend, I had the privilege of meeting New York Times bestselling author Gayle Forman, who was on her Philippine tour.

Gayle Forman is the author of the critically acclaimed “If I Stay” and its sequel “Where She Went,” and a second duet of novels, “Just One Day” and “Just One Year.”

“If I Stay” features Mia, a seveteen year old with a happy family, the boy of her dreams, and a promising future in music when tragic accident strikes. Mia finds herself caught in the in-between, contemplating the choice between life and death. The story continues in “Where She Went,” told from the point of view of Mia’s boyfriend Adam who grapples with life in the aftermath.

In “Just One Day” good girl Allyson Healey is on the last day of her European tour when she meets Dutch street actor Willem and goes with him on a whirlwind tour of Paris, twenty-four hours that irrevocably change Allyson’s life. The companion novel, “Just One Year” chronicles how their Paris interlude affects Willem in turn.

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Tahereh Mafi + Ransom Riggs in Manila!

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I was scheduled to interview Tahereh Mafi (author of “Shatter Me,” “Unravel Me”) last Saturday prior to her bloggers’ forum at Powerbooks, and was delighted to find Ransom Riggs (author of “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children”), who had flown in with her, had come along to check out her events as well. When I asked if I could interview him with Tahereh, Ransom graciously agreed, so I had a lovely hour chatting with these two YA authors!

Doing a joint interview was a great idea, not just because of the limited time before the start of the bloggers’ forum, but also because Tahereh and Ransom are friends, so they were very candid the whole time! From their books to their writing, down to what they’ve experienced of the Philippines so far, we certainly had a lot to talk about, and it was an amazing experience.

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Lemony Snicket roundup

lemonysnicket

 

I realize I’ve read a lot of Lemony Snicket in the last few months, without really meaning to. I must confess that I was not a fan of A Series of Unfortunate Events (although I loved the movie), so I didn’t feel compelled to read more than the first few books.

This Lemony Snicket phase started when his collaboration with illustrator Maira Kalman caught my eye: Why We Broke Up (not as Lemony Snicket but as Daniel Handler) and the picture book 13 Words. Then I remembered I also had a copy of the picture book, The Composer Is Dead, illustrated by one of my new favorites, Carson Ellis. And then I saw Lemony Snicket’s latest book at the bookstore and figured I might as well review these books all together, so I also got a copy of Who Could That Be At This Hour?

The Raven Boys

I knew I’d definitely be reading more of Maggie Stiefvater’s work after The Scorpio Races, which was simply spectacular. I had read her Shiver trilogy earlier, and while I thought her prose was beautiful, I can’t say I’m a fan of the forsake-all-others teen romance (vampire, er, werewolf or no werewolf), so Maggie Stiefvater’s recent novels have been a welcome change.

From the fantasy of The Scorpio Races, Stiefvater returns to the paranormal realm with The Raven Boys. Nope, there are no werewolves in this one, but it ventures into the occult — my kind of paranormal. I do love a good ghost story!

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Fated and Alyson Noel

Before I left on my Angkor Wat vacation in late July, I got to interview New York Times bestselling YA author Alyson Noel, who was in Manila to promote her latest book, Fated, with a book signing organized by National Book Store and Powerbooks.

It was a rainy night, but we paid no heed to the downpour, as we were having a sumptuous Filipino dinner at Cafe Juanita. Alyson very gamely tried out the spread of local dishes, including crispy pata, kare-kare, torta and many more, while we discussed our mutual love for Judy Blume (squee!), the Hispanic influence on Filipino culture, and of course, her books and her work as a writer.

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