Elissa and Stephanie Dish About New Fall YA Titles

Elissa: Hey, Stephanie

Stephanie: Hey, Elissa

Elissa: I'm so glad we went to Teen Author Reading Night on Wednesday!

Stephanie: Me too! And I was really glad to see the huge turnout.

Elissa: It was a very back-to-school thing to do, even though we don't go back to school anymore.

Stephanie: Oh, I miss back to school. I might have to go buy some new pencils later. Just because.

Elissa: I miss the back-to-school outfit!

Stephanie: There were some great back-to-school outfits at the reading. Plus, you know, a lot of fantastic YA authors reading. I loved the way E. Lockhart kept cracking herself up.

Elissa: Yes! I have loved E. Lockhart ever since reading her very exceptional The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. It was neat to hear her reading from The Treasure Map of Boys for the first time, even if she couldn’t say ‘boobs’ without laughing.

Stephanie: BOOBS! Her new book seems pretty funny. I remember those horrible shopping trips with my mom. When she'd come into the changing room with me and it was all horribly embarrassing.

Elissa: Oh and the fights! There was a lot of fighting in those dressing rooms between me and my mom

Stephanie: Definitely. You know who else was really funny? Bennett Madison.

Elissa: He was funny!

Stephanie: Terribly droll, even if I took issue at his comment about no one being naturally blond.

Elissa: It's true you should have stood up and shouted that hair color really is destiny.

Stephanie: IT IS. I’M HAVING MORE FUN THAN YOU. And then I could have laughed maniacally.

Elissa: As a brunette who streaks her hair with pink, I might have to disagree. I also loved how he talked about how he used to work at The Gap, and how the only interesting thing that would ever happen there was when people would steal.

Stephanie: Oh, I worked retail too. I remember…

Elissa: His book, The Blonde of the Joke, sounds great! I loved the passage he read, about the mall, because as a teenager from New Jersey, I spent quite a lot of time at the mall.

Stephanie: I really liked the relationship between the two girls, when in the passage he read the skateboard rolled up to her feet -- OBVIOUSLY she should have had dibs on the injured guy.

Elissa: OBVIOUSLY! Yes, it was very realistic. You know what WASN’T realistic? Scott Westerfeld's neat-o illustrations from Leviathan!

Stephanie: YES!

Elissa: Leviathan really looks to be the book of his heart, to use a romance parlance.

Stephanie: Absolutely. I really loved Leviathan. The illustrations of the alternate history add a lot to the tale. And now I want a pet thylacine

Elissa: Who doesn’t? (Except maybe my cats.)

Stephanie: Totally. It’s too bad that Scott's wife, Justine Larbalestier, wasn't able to be there, because I really enjoyed her October release, Liar, too.

Elissa: Yes! Well next month is shaping up to be a great event too, with Libba Bray and Natalie Standiford. We’ll have to make sure to get on down to the Jefferson Branch of the New York Public Library on Oct. 7th to check them out.

Stephanie: We'll have to get there earlier next time -- maybe we'll get a seat!