Tuesday, October 06, 2009

What is Jennifer Brown reading?

The current featured contributor to Writers Read: Jennifer Brown, author the recently released YA novel, Hate List.

Her entry begins:
I'm currently reading two debut YA novels, both of which just happen to be written by "house sisters" of mine (AKA: authors published by Little, Brown and Co.) -- Ash by Malinda Lo and Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler. Both excellent 2009 debuts. Both with strong characters, unique narrative voices, and compelling storylines. Both totally engrossing. And both ... nothing at all like the other!

Ash is a re-telling of Cinderella (you can never go wrong re-telling Cinderella, if you ask me!). But Lo's Cinderella story has a twist. Ash doesn't find herself falling head over heels with the prince on the white horse, but with a hunter... or make that the King's huntress... a female. What I like about Ash is not only that it's a bold re-telling of a classic story and not only that Lo is brave enough to tackle lesbian romance for a young adult audience, but...[read on]
Jennifer Brown is a two-time winner of the Erma Bombeck Global Humor Award (2005 & 2006), humor columnist for The Kansas City Star (winning the Missouri Writer's Guild 2008 Conference Award for Best Newspaper Column), and Saturday Featured Blogger for Mom2Mom KC.

Among the early praise for Hate List:
"Jennifer Brown's Hate List is a compulsive read. Who and why do we hate? Deep, dark and sometimes uncomfortable, this thought-provoking book is a must read!"
--Gail Giles, author of Right Behind You and What Happened to Cass McBride?

"Riveting debut!"
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Authentic and relevant, this debut is one to top the charts."
--Kirkus
Watch the Hate List video trailer, and learn more about the book and author at Jennifer Brown's website and blog.

Writers Read: Jennifer Brown.

--Marshal Zeringue