Today we highlight a blog that has made quite a splash in the one year it's been in existence.  Adventures in Children's Publishing focuses on all things kid lit, with reviews, interviews and guest posts from amazing authors, agents and editors.  But my favorite part is the amazing Friday round up of the best writing blogs of the week.  This comprehensive round up is organized by topic and includes a short summary of the topic and direct links to the posts.  It's an invaluable tool for finding wonderful posts and information you might've otherwise missed.

The blog is run by Marissa Graf and Martina Boone, two writers, along with Cambria Dillon and Ceclia Ramirez.  They tweet links to their favorite blogs during the week @4KidLit.

If you haven't discovered this great blog, go check it out!  But make sure you do so when you have some time to kill.  You may not come back for a while.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver tells the story of Lena Haloway, a teenager living in a world in which love has been labeled a dangerous disease. As the story begins, she's awaiting her eighteenth birthday, the day she'll undergo a procedure that cures people of succumbing to love. Several weeks beforehand she meets Alex, a mysterious young man from the Wilds, areas outside of the protected city in which Lena lives. As they fall in love, Lena learns the true nature of her oppressive society.

Delirium is a gorgeously written, lovely book. Oliver draws her characters and setting with the finest brush strokes. I was particularly taken by Alex, (but that can't be a surprise to anyone who reads this blog.) He was a likable character, sparking every scene he appeared in. Secondary characters, such as Lena's aunt and best friend, were also vivid and complex. The story builds to a heart-pounding conclusion... or is it? This is the first of a trilogy. I'll be reading the next part of Lena and Alex's story as well.

Check out what the rest of the Bookanistas are reading...

Elana Johnson devours Demonglass 


LiLa Roecker shines a light on Clarity 


Christine Fonseca joins The Liar Society - with giveaway 


Shelli Johannes-Wells swoons over Possum Summer 


Scott Tracey leaps for The Liar Society - with giveaway 


Myra McEntire invites Lisa & Laura Roecker into the fort 


Beth Revis hosts a blog tour stop for Like Mandarin 


Carolina Valdez Miller gushes over Imaginary Girls 


Bethany Wiggins falls for A Change of Heart 


Shana Silver is mad for Bad Taste in Boys 


Carrie Harris drinks in Bloodthirsty 


Sarah Frances Hardy loves The Liar Society 


Stasia Ward Kehoe wonders at Where She Went 


"Two theater-mad, self-invented
fabulositon Ohio teenagers.
One boy, one girl.
One gay, one straight.
One black, one white.
And SUMMER DRAMA CAMP.
It's a season of hormones,
gold lame,
hissy fits,
jazz hands,
song and dance,
true love,
and unitards
that will determine their future
--and test their friendship."

When you've finished the dark world of SHIP BREAKER, that Katy blogged about yesterday, you might be ready for a little change of pace. DRAMARAMA will definitely do the trick. I've recently been struggling with how to incorporate music as a major theme in my current work in progress, and really appreciate the way E. Lockhart masterfully handles a narrative that includes many references to musical theater. I also love the way E. Lockhart totally immerses the reader into the world of auditions, acting and the intense competition to be "good enough." The characters are funny, unique and definitely larger than life. Although this book isn't a recent release, with the popularity of GLEE, I think readers are clammoring for some jazz hands these days. And if you're a musical theater lover like me, you'll enjoy this special treat. All the songs from Dramarama are on an iMix. If you click on the link on E. Lockhart's blog, an iTunes will open straight to the mix. Listen before you read or listen afterwards to get a sense of Sadye and Demi's musical world.

And the random number generator picked....

Mary Lindsey!

Mary, e-mail your address to yamuses@aol.com and I will send you your copy of THE LIAR SOCIETY.  I hope you enjoy it!

After the Printz and Newbery awards were announced earlier this year, I berated myself for having read only one of the honor winners.  And I determined to read the others.  It just took me a while to start.

I began with SHIP BREAKER by Paolo Bacigalupi.  It is the story of Nailer (later partially renamed Lucky Boy), a teen who lives on a Gulf Coast beach in a world destroyed by oil consumption.  Global warming has drowned the coastal cities, created regularly-occuring Class 6 hurricanes and almost completely eradicated the use of petroleum-burning engines.

Which leaves massive ships wallowing and slowly disintegrating along the shorelines.  Slowly, that is, but for the efforts of Nailer and the crew he works with, which disembowels the ships for scrap.  Nailer doesn't go to school.  He can't read.  He knows hard work, desperation and a strict code of honor.  Unless a lucky find changes the code.

Bacigalupi creates an entirely believable future world.  The opening scenes in which Nailer crawls through the narrow spaces of a shipwreck are atmospheric to the point of inducing claustrophobia.  The characters encountered throughout the book are tough and occasionally thuggish, but all are three-dimensional and real.

To say I enjoyed Ship Breaker is a cop-out.  Once I was immersed in Nailer's world, I devoured the story.  Dark with a sliver of hope.  Violent with an undercurrent of tenderness and understanding.  Desperate without complete despair.  Bacigalupi found the balance and weighted it well.

Kate Lowry didn't think dead best friends could send e-mails. But when she gets an e-mail from Grace, she’s not so sure.

Kate is the intrepid protagonist of THE LIAR SOCIETY, a witty, fast-paced, cleverly-plotted YA mystery by sisters Lisa and Laura Roecker.  Kate is more than an outcast at exclusive Pemberly Brown Academy.  Her grief at the loss of her best friend in a tragic campus accident has made her an outcast to herself.

Until she gets an e-mail.  And the memories come flooding back.  And she enlists the help of her geeky next door neighbor.  And gets involved with a hot rebel whose cause might just be Kate.

The snappy dialogue and clever insights make this book a delight to read.  But it was the detailed description and memorable characters that drew me in and held me entranced until the end. 

You can join Lisa and Laura on their blog today for their spectacular online launch party.  There are prizes to be won, but the real enticement is just being a part of this with them.  Believe me, Lisa and Laura make everything fun.

And if you comment here, you get a chance to win a copy of THE LIAR SOCIETY.