Why I still haven't reviewed Mockingjay (no spoilers)

I have a problem: Writer's block.  I have this problem a lot, but not, usually, when I'm writing about books.  It's why I started blogging - even when working on my novel is tortuous, I can always seem to find something to say about books I've read, am reading, or want to read.  But not, apparently, about this book, that one that I've spent months geeking out over, that eensy weensy little conclusion to the Hunger Games trilogy, Mockingjay.  I finished it Tuesday night (three hours after I sat down to read it, exactly how long I told my family it would take) and I haven't written a blog post since.

It's like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows all over again, the kind of book that hijacked my every waking thought for so long pre-release that there's no possible way it can live up to my expectations, and no possible way it can't exceed them.  I still don't know what to think.  I've trawled the web for reviews - my favorites are over at www.foreveryoungadult.com, as usual - comparing, analyzing, and getting nasty headaches.  Because I don't know what to think.  Maybe the homework (ugh) is also to blame, but really, Suzanne Collins - you've given the world a doozy.

Eventually I'll get around to it.  But I still don't know what to think!

Happy Mockingjay Day!

No other explanation is necessary.  Happy reading, and if, like me, you have school tomorrow, don't stay up too late!  (A big thank you is owed to my mother and her mad photoshooting skills!)

My first first day of school in a decade (and another call for guest posts)

As I write this post, I'm sitting in my college library after my first class of my first first day of school in ten years.  Yup.  It seems like both a lot longer and a lot shorter since I was a kindergartener climbing on that big yellow #306 bus!  Kindergarten was my only year in school (since then I have been homeschooled, for new followers), and now that I'm starting honors college at 15, it's hard not to feel both ecstatic and kind of sad.  It's definitely a big step forward for me, but a difficult one to take - especially when it means less time for reading and even less time for blogging!

Which segways nicely into the second part of this post, which is that I am once again in need of guest posts!  The theme is still education, but this time specifically about college.  To you older folks: What advice would you give me now that I'm starting college?  Do I have any homeschooled followers who went to college (Jaclyn Dolamore, would you care to make a reappearance?) who have any tips?  And for all you teens out there, what is your opinion on college?  Do you plan on going?  What are your hopes and fears?  Not to get too personal, here, but I really want to know.  =) I'd also love someone who could talk about the role college plays in YA lit.

I plan on publishing these throughout the semester, whenever I'm really swamped and need a hand.  If you feel like helping me out, email me your idea (or your post, if you're an overachiever) at mdesmondobrien@yahoo.com.  Thanks!  (And happy Day Before Mockingjay, folks!)

YA authors presenting at the Brooklyn Book Festival

Never have I wished I lived in New York more.  Well, this, and maybe the BEA this year, but you get where I'm coming from, right?  For those of you YA book lovers who live in the area (or those of you who need an excuse for an NYC vacation), I have an event for you!  Check out the fifth annual Brooklyn Book Festival, taking place on Saturday, September 12th of this year at the Brooklyn Borough Hall.  I got an email from one of the volunteers, Sarah Burningham, detailing the guest list and panels, and boy oh boy do I wish money grew on trees right about now!  To give you an idea, here's the information I was sent:

Happily Ever After

Lauren Oliver, Before I Fall (HarperCollins, March 2010); Jenny Han, It’s Not Summer Without You,(Simon & Schuster, April 2010); and Sara Shepard, Pretty Little Liars series (HarperTeen) talk about characters who are forced to relive their past, to come to terms with haunting memories and who have committed terrible acts.  What are the costs of keeping dark secrets?  What happens when you have to pay for your actions?  How do you figure out how to move forward?  Moderated by author Kirsten Miller.

Concrete Jungle Where Dream are Made

Laurie Toffler-Corrie, The Life and Opinions of Amy Finawitz (Roaring Brook Press, August 2010); Olugbemisola Rhuday Perkovich, 8th Grade Superzero (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic, January 2010); and 2009 Newbery Award winner Rebecca Stead, When You Reach Me, bring us relatable, inspiring characters embracing challenges with friendships and popularity—while trying to solve a mystery or two—set against very different New York landscapes.

When It All Goes Wrong

Two-time National Book Award finalist Adele Griffin, The Julian Game (August 2010); Tracy White, How I Made it to Eighteen (Roaring Brook Press, June 2010); and Sofia Quintero,Efrain’s Secret (Knopf Books for Young Readers, April 2010) discuss what happens when life gets out of hand, from online stalking to addiction to the lure of living double lives.

Drawn! 

Illustrators bring magic to words with the simple stroke of a pencil. Watch award-winning illustrators create from a few energetic prompts from the audience, and hear them discuss the magic behind their illustrative work. Mike Cavallaro, Foiled (First Second, April 2010), Shane Evans, Black Jack: The Ballad of Jack Johnson (Neal Porter Books, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press, June 2010) and an illustrator to be announced.

About a Boy

Newbery Honor-winning Jacqueline Woodson, Peace, Locomotion (Putnam Books for Young Readers, January 2009); Torrey Maldonado, Secret Saturdays (Putnam Books for Young Readers, April 2010) and an author to be announced offer us a rare look into the minds and hearts of young boys who could really use a second chance.

You’ve Got to be Kidding

Former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Jon Scieszka, Spaceheadz(Simon & Schuster, June 2010); National Book Award finalist E. Lockhart, The Treasure Map of Boys (Random House, July 2009); and an author to be announced take on the absurdity of life in books and writing and talk about their ways of making us laugh, including hamster space aliens and panicky smart alecks.

Making It

Mitali Perkins, Bamboo People (Charlesbridge, July 2010); Francisco X. Stork, The Last Summer of the Death Warriors (Scholastic, March 2010); and Kate Milford, The Boneshaker,bring tales of their characters’ extreme survival to the stage, from a teen soldier in Burma to an orphanage in Mexico.

If you think you're able to make it or are already planning to go, please comment here, because I'd love to hear about it!  Please share with the rest of us unlucky folks who aren't able to make it!