One of many things I like about the fact that my new novel's going to be published as a young-adult book is that I can now read young adult fiction (one of the great pleasures of life, in my opinion) and think of it obliquely as something like work. Case in point: Barry Lyga's The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl.
(I enjoyed it, it's very smart and well-written and clever in the good way [in English English clever seems to be a clearer term of praise, for something like what Americans would just call "smart," but often when I use "clever" it is not a compliment--in this case, though, it is meant positively], and I believe that this guy will have a long and prosperous writing career, but there was one huge stumbling block--I simply cannot really enjoy reading about a teenager who behaves so rudely to his mother! However this will possibly be less of an issue for the actual target audience....)
One great quotation from that new Meg Rosoff novel I blogged about last week--my friend L., who loaned me her copy, quoted it for me in advance, and it lived up to that billing. The main character gets tapped by the school coach for the long-distance running team; his best friend, already a long-distance runner, tells him, "You'll like it. Not at first, of course, it's horrible at first. But you get used to it eventually." Best description of running I've ever seen.
Most earwormish recent gym listening: "Muzzle of Bees" from Wilco's A Ghost Is Born. I love that whole album (thanks, Will), must get the others too.
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