Mundie Moms

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Happy Birthday, Mundie Moms! (and giveaway)

I am thrilled to have been asked to celebrate the momentous occasion of the Mundie Mom Birthday: you guys have been looking better in black than the widows of your enemies for a year now, and that can only mean a party!

And so as any good guest at a party, I will now do a trick: which is to say, a guest blog on the Second in the Trilogy.

The dread second. We've all been there. People always regard the second in a trilogy with some suspicion. And well they might.

I saw The Matrix Regurgitated. (That was the title, right?) I saw Pirates of the Caribbean 2. Reader, I saw Star Wars 2: Attack of the Clones. Never was a movie better named: the second book or movie often does feel like being attacked by the clone of the first book or movie, the one you loved, created all over again but without its soul. (Not that I'm saying I loved the Phantom Menace... I've watched a lot of bad movies, obviously, but I'm not nuts.)

I've read a lot of second books like that. There is a reason people cringe away from the second in a series.

WOW, Sarah, some might say at this point. You are such a FUN guest to have at a party. And you are not really making us look forward to the second book in your trilogy.

But I do have a point. Obviously writing a second book made me think a lot about the second book. Indeed, I have an Infallible Rule for trilogies. Book 1, set up. Book 2, make out. Book 3, defeat evil. I feel that if you think back on all the trilogies you're aware of, they will follow this rule.

Now by 'making out' I do not mean, well... a ton of make-out scenes. (Though I may mean that TOO.) I mean that the characters and the relationships between them (romantic and otherwise) are now established, and now is the time for tension to rise and bonds to sever. Now the reader knows what to expect, it's time to prove them wrong.

I will use an example which I am certain you guys are aware of: Cassandra Clare's City of Ashes is my favourite in the series. Because of the Thing That Happens With Simon. (You know what I mean.) That was the dramatic change, that was what made me go 'ooooh.' That was the point where the book was brave, and kicked it up a notch, and left the reader dizzy.

That's what second books have to do. They have to bring us that horizon, and do it right.

That's why I like second books. Because you can get a clone. But you can also get a transformation, shedding new light on all that has been and showing an adventure to come. That's what a second book should do.

Of course, that is not easy. But when pulled off, it is awesome. And I felt this was the place and the time to discuss awesome things.

As part of the birthday bash, I am giving away a sterling silver Irish knife charm. (A quillon dagger, in fact. My hero's favourite kind of knife. Yes, the jewellery shop judged me pretty harshly...) So, comment to win it: what second books or movies have you loved? What second books or movies are you waiting for?

For myself, Carrie Ryan's The Dead-Tossed Waves is UP THERE. Also, can I have Star Trek 2 yet? Oh Star Trek 2, I know you're sci-fi, but please, please, for the love of Zachary Quinto, don't be a clone...

Waiting On Wednesday-Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine
Published by Harper Teen
To Be Released on March 2, 2010

They say that when you die your whole life flashes before your eyes, but that's not how it happened for me.Sam Kingston is dead. Except she isn't.

On a rainy February night, eighteen-year-old Sam is killed in a horrific car crash. But then the impossible happens: she wakes up in her own bed, on the morning of the day that she died.

Forced to live over and over the last day of her life the drive to school, skipping class, the fateful party she desperately struggles to alter the outcome, but every morning she wakes up on the day of the crash.

This is a story of a girl who dies young, but in the process learns how to live. And who falls in love... a little too late.


We are really looking forward to reading, what many of our fellow book reviews have called an amazing book. Our affiliate and fellow book reviewer, Carla has posted a wonderful review of Before I Fall here -- and be sure you don't miss her interview with Lauren, also found on her site.

If you're dying for more information about Before I Fall, visit her website here-
You can find out Lauren's tour dates at her blog here.

Book Review - Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson


Published by Pointe
Publishing Date: May 1, 2008
4 out of 5 stars

Synopsis: Scarlett Martin has grown up in a most unusual way. Her family owns the Hopewell, a small hotel in the heart of New York City. Her nineteen-year-old brother, Spencer, is an out of work actor facing a family deadline to get his career in order. Eighteen-year-old Lola has the delicate looks of a model, the practical nature of a nurse, and a wealthy society boyfriend. Eleven-year-old Marlene is the family terror with a tragic past.

When the Martins turn fifteen, they are each expected to take over the care of a suite in the once elegant, now shabby Art Deco hotel. For Scarlett’s fifteenth birthday, she gets both a room called the Empire Suite, and a permanent guest named Mrs. Amberson. Scarlett doesn’t quite know what to make of this C-list starlet, world traveler, and aspiring autobiographer who wants to take over her life. And when she meets Eric, an astonishingly gorgeous actor who has just moved to the city, her summer takes a second unexpected turn.

With Mrs. Amberson calling the shots, Spencer’s career to save, Lola’s love life to navigate around, and Marlene’s prying eyes everywhere, things won’t be easy. Before the summer is over, Scarlett will have to survive a whirlwind of thievery, Broadway glamour, romantic missteps, and theatrical deception.

The show, as they say, must always go on . . . .


I have to confess that I've been wanting to read Maureen Johnson's Suite Scarlett for a while but instead YA fantasy reads bubbled to the top of my To Be Read pile. I shouldn't have waited. I should've read this much earlier.

The first thing I fell in love with was the setting. Maureen's New York is a character all it's own. As you read, you feel the streets of New York come alive on a summer break when 15-year-old Scarlett had to settle for helping her family run it's aging, boutique hotel instead of looking for a paying job.

Then, I noticed how incredibly realistic Maureen's cast of characters were as they wove themselves in and out of the plot. They're so well written that you feel like you've met them somewhere before. My favorite was the eccentric Mrs. Abramson who moves into the very suite Scarlett is assigned as part of her 15th birthday celebration. Mrs. Abramson is a sheer delight to read. But, what I loved the most was watching Scarlett balance her guest, her siblings demands on her time and the developing relationship between her and Eric, a young actor who recently moved from the country to New York. This balance took me back to my own busy summers that were frantic but also filled with adventure. You remember those, don't you? This book captures that energy in both it's characters, plot and setting.

I loved Maureen's writing style - witty, artistic and never predictable. If you're in the mood for a well written YA story with romance, drama and filled with well written characters, please, pick up Suite Scarlett. As for me, I'm moving on to the sequel, Scarlett Fever, which was released a few weeks ago.

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