Character Interview: Lola from Tell Us We're Home by Marina Budhos

Hi all! Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Lola, a character in the book Tell Us We're Home by Marina Budhos! 

Here's a bit about the book:
Jaya, Maria, and Lola are just like the other eighth-grade girls in the wealthy suburb of Meadowbrook, New Jersey. They want to go to the spring dance, they love spending time with their best friends after school, sharing frappÉs and complaining about the other kids. But there’s one big difference: all three are daughters of maids and nannies. And they go to school with the very same kids whose families their mothers work for. That difference grows even bigger—and more painful—when Jaya’s mother is accused of theft and Jaya’s small, fragile world collapses.
When tensions about immigrants start to erupt, fracturing this perfect, serene suburb, all three girls are tested, as outsiders—and as friends. Each of them must learn to find a place for themselves in a town that barely notices they exist.
Marina Budhos gives us a heartbreaking and eye-opening story of friendship, belonging, and finding the way home.

Read my review.

Hi Lola! I'm so glad that you could join me today! Let's start out with some fun questions, just so we can get to know you a little better.

Chocolate or vanilla?

Chocolate!
Cats or dogs?

Dogs!  I don’t trust cats.
Pepsi or Coke?

Pepsi, to be different.
Cake or ice cream?

Ice cream.  It lasts longer.

Pirates or Ninjas?

Ninjas.

 

Okay, now here are some more serious questions:

1. You're from Slovakia, what do you miss about it most?

 All of my cousins and family.  I had a lot of boy cousins and I would boss them around or we’d hang around our town, all day, all night.  I miss not having to explain myself because my family has been there forever.  And I miss our house, which was very nice, because my Dad was working at a big job then and doing pretty well.

 

2. What was the hardest part of moving to America?

 My family having to start all over again, like we were right at the bottom.  I thought learning English would be hard—and it was, at first.  I’d learned it at school in Slovakia and could speak it pretty well when I came, but I remember when we took a taxi from the airport and I couldn’t understand a word the driver said.  And it cost so much!  My parents were freaked. 

 

But really, what was hardest was how tough everything was.  We lived in the Bronx at first in this really small apartment where my parents slept on a couch.  And we had three locks on the door and it was really noisy all the time.  I couldn’t hear myself think.  I couldn’t sleep.  This is America? I thought.  Doesn’t seem so great to me.

 

3. What are some of the biggest differences between the kids in America and the kids in Slovakia?

 American kids take everything for granted.  It’s like they’re the center of the world!  It drives me crazy.  And their parents do so much for them.  We feel the opposite.  We have to do for our parents.  We have to support them and take care of them in old age.

 

 

4. I hear that history is one of your passions, tell us something interesting or unusual that you've learned while studying it.

 As you know, I’m obsessed with revolutions.  I loved reading about how, in the American Revolution, the women refused to buy English products.  Of course there was tea.  But they wouldn’t buy any fabric from England either and made their own stuff.  I thought that was so cool.  I mean, my sister, I can’t imagine her giving up any bit of clothing, for anyone!  But these ladies, they did that, and it helped the revolution.  Really cool.

 

5. You're really good friends with two other girls in your neighborhood, Maria and Jaya, could you tell us how you met?

 Jaya I met outside school one day, when I was mouthing off to Anthony, and Jay sort of stuck around and watched.  I don’t know, I felt something about her that day, like she was someone I could be comfortable with.  I didn’t even know her mother was also a housekeeper.  She just had this air about her so I invited her to come with me to my mom’s job.

 

Maria we both met the day we saw her getting really sick in a park.  She doubled over and was really in bad shape.  Turns out her mom was a housekeeper too and we took her over to the job and took care of her.  Seemed like fate!

 

6. Describe your best friends, Maria and Jaya, in one word apiece.

 Maria: Loyal

Jaya: Deep

 

 

7. Is there anything else you'd like to add?

 I guess that for me, sure, being an immigrant can be kind of hard, especially coming to a new town like we did, and my mom having all kinds of health problems and my dad just a slug on a couch. 

 

But you want to know the hardest thing? Learning to be a good friend.  Man, it was really hard when Maria and Jaya and me were fighting.  I was so sore.  And I had to swallow my pride a lot.  I had to admit I was wrong.  That’s really hard to do.  But I’m so glad I did.  Because they’re what makes this place easier.  Without them, I couldn’t live.  (I know, I’m dramatic, but what can I say)

 

Thank you for answering my questions Lola! And thanks to The Teen {Book} Scene for setting up this tour!

Review: The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal

Title: The False Princess
Author: Eilis O'Neal
Published: January, 2011
Source: Bought as part of the tour by The Teen {Book} Scene
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Princess and heir to the throne of Thorvaldor, Nalia's led a privileged life at court.  But everything changes when it's revealed, just after her sixteenth birthday, that she is a false princess, a stand-in for the real Nalia, who has been hidden away for her protection.  Cast out with little more than the clothes on her back, the girl now called Sinda must leave behind the city of Vivaskari, her best friend, Keirnan, and the only life she's ever known.

Sinda is sent to live with her only surviving relative, an aunt who is a dyer in a distant village. She is a cold, scornful woman with little patience for her newfound niece, and Sinda proves inept at even the simplest tasks.  But when Sinda discovers that magic runs through her veins - long-suppressed, dangerous magic that she must learn to control - she realizes that she can never learn to be a simple village girl.

Returning to Vivaskari for answers, Sinda finds her purpose as a wizard scribe, rediscovers the boy who saw her all along, and uncovers a secret that could change the course of Thorvaldor's history, forever.

A dazzling first novel, The False Princess is an engrossing fantasy full of mystery, action, and romance.

This book was definitely not what I expected, in a good way. I expected it half be about a haughty princess trying to be normal. It wasn't like that at all. Sinda was always a very grounded character, especially for a princess. I've recently realized how much I really, really like fantasy books, and this is a prime example of why: it's full of romance, and magic, and plot twists. It was truly excellent.

As I mentioned before, Sinda was very grounded. She wasn't haughty and didn't think that she was above anyone, even when she thought she was the princess. It was easy to relate to her.The other characters are well developed as well, especially her best friend Kiernan. All of the characters had depth, which I loved. 


The plot of this book moves along at a steady pace. There were a couple slow spots, but the fast pacing of the end made up for it. I wouldn't call the world this was set in completely original by any means, but O'Neal found plenty of ways to make it her own. 


Basically I loved this book and if you're a fan of fantasy this is for you. And if you're not, that's all the more reason to pick it up, because you'll love it. 


Characters: 10/10
Writing: 9/10
Originality: 8/10
Plot: 9/10
Ending: 10/10
Overall: 46/50 A-

Author Interview and Blog Tour: Eilis O'Neal

Thanks so much to The Teen {Book} Scene for allowing me to be a part of this tour!

Here's a bit about Eilis, the author of The False Princess:

I’m a writer of fantasy and the Managing Editor of the literary magazine Nimrod International Journal. I started writing at the age of three (though the story was only four sentences long). My short fantasy has been published in various print and online journals, and you can find links to some of my stories here. I was born, raised in, and currently live in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

1. Hi Eilis, it's great to have you here! To get started, tell us a bit about your debut novel, The False Princess.  
The False Princess is a reversal of the classic story of a girl who grows up in obscurity, only to later find out that she's a princess in hiding. In my story, Sinda grows up thinking that she is named Nalia, and that she's the princess of Thorvaldor. After she turns 16, though, she's told that she's actually just a stand-in, a commoner chosen to take the place of the true princess for her protection. Sinda's kicked out of the palace, unsure of who she really is and what to do with herself now that she's no longer the princess. 

2. I've seen stories of normal girls who didn't know that they were princesses, but never of princesses who didn't know they were normal girls. How did you come up with the idea?

I’ve always been drawn to stories about girls who thought they were commoners only to find out that they were royalty hidden away. And I read a lot, so I’ve had a long time to have those sorts of stories seep into me. One day, I was just hit with the question of what a story would be like if the opposite were true, what a tale about a princess-turned-commoner would look like. The reversal of the classic princess story seemed like it would involve so many problems and strangenesses for the girl in question that I new I had to write it. 

3. You write short stories as well as novels, how does the writing process differ?

 With a novel, I’ll often have a seed of an idea that floats around inside me for a long time. With short stories, I often have a much quicker reaction time. I’ll get an idea and start writing immediately. Also, I sometimes have to play around with the voice of a novel when I first start writing it (The False Princess started out in third person before I realized that just wasn’t going to work), but I generally know the right voice in a short story right away. 


4. Are there any books or authors that have influenced you as a writer? 
Do you have all day? Because the answer is a huge yes. I should start with Tamora Pierce’s  Song of the Lioness quartet. I read it for the first time when I was twelve, and those were the books that made me realize I wanted to write YA fantasy. I admire Robin McKinley’s way of integrating information about a fantasy world into a story without halting everything to tell you How Magic Works or The History of This Neighboring Country. I also love the thought that goes into the magic system in Diane Duane's Young Wizards series—it's very consistent and makes a lot of sense.  

5. Have you read any good YA books lately that you'd like to recommend? 

Again, a huge yes! I just recently read Erin Bow’s Plain Kate and loved it. It’s a quieter novel, not a lot of flash and bang, which is part of the reason I liked it. Bow creates a great world and really interesting magic system, along with a main character you can’t help but root for. Also, just finished Justine Larbalestier's Liar today. I can't say too much about it, because it's full of twists and turns, but it was awesome and very different.

Thank you for answering my questions Eilis!

Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John

Title: Five Flavors of Dumb
Author: Antony John
Release Date: November 11th
Source: ARC Tour through Blog Tour
Synopsis from Goodreads:
THE CHALLENGE: Piper has one month to get a paying gig for Dumb—the hottest new rock band in school.

THE DEAL: If she does it, she'll become manager of the band and get her share of the profits, which she desperately needs since her parents raided her college fund.

THE CATCH: Managing one egomaniacal pretty boy, one talentless piece of eye candy, one crush, one silent rocker, and one angry girl who is ready to beat her up. And doing it all when she's deaf. With growing self-confidence, an unexpected romance, and a new understanding of her family's decision to buy a cochlear implant for her deaf baby sister, Piper just may discover her own inner rock star.

Five Flavors of Dumb is the first book that I've read featuring a deaf main character. It was a completely new experience and I think that I both learned a lot and enjoyed myself. Obviously the main character being deaf is a large part of the story, but it's not the whole story. The story itself wasn't quite what I expected, but it was good.

The concept of this book is very original. A deaf girl managing a rock band? Really? Well, yes. I was curious as to how it would work, but work it does. Piper doesn't see being deaf as a disability. Her lip reading is so good that she can get by without much trouble at all, and who needs to hear music when you can feel it? I loved that she was so strong and didn't let herself get her down.

Something that I had a problem with was the inconsistency of the characters. I had a hard time figuring out exactly who they were supposed to be. She was introduced shy, but then she would be outspoken. I understand the natural evolution of a character throughout the course of a book, but sometimes it seemed a little abrupt. Another thing is that there are a lot of characters who are in a scene at once, which I think made it hard to connect to each individual character.

I loved how big a role music played in the book. It made me want to get on YouTube and listen to songs by Jimi Henrix and Nirvana. I also loved Piper's family and how they played such a large role in the book and her life. It doesn't make sense to me when a characters family plays next to no role in the book because they are obviously a large part of their life, so I appreciated that they played a large role in this book.

Basically I really enjoyed this book, there were just a few things that made it difficult for me to connect to the characters. I would definitely recommend it.

Characters: 7/10
Plot: 8/10
Originality: 10/10
Writing: 9/10
Ending: 10/10
Overall: 44/50 B+
Cover Comments: Love this cover! It's so loud and bright. The girl on the front looks really cool and I love that there's a band performing in the backround!  

Blog Tour: Freefall Deleted Scene and Contest!

Hey all! I have a treat for you today! Mindi Scott, author of the fabulous debut Freefall, decided to share a deleted scene from the book with us! It's definitely a scene that I'm sorry didn't make it in and I'm glad that I get a chance to read it! This all thanks to the amazing Teen Book Scene blog tours, so be sure to check them out! If you want to visit the rest of the stops on the tour they are listed here.

From Mindi:

It took a long time for me to settle on a first chapter for the book that would eventually be called Freefall.  Months and months and months.  But when I finally came up with an opening that I loved, I intended to stick with it forever.

As it turned out, my agent had another idea.  He thought that maybe the very first scene in the manuscript wasn’t the best introduction to the narrator, Seth, and that it felt a little “extra first chaptery.”  I decided that he was right and ended up cutting it.

And now I’m sharing it with you!  Everything below still takes place in the book. The difference is that these events are told in a paragraph of narrative several pages into it instead of being shown as a scene.

I hope you enjoy it!

Please remember that this scene is copyrighted by Mindi Scott and it would be a crime to claim it as yours!

Saturday

September 1st

1:17 p.m.

      Scratchy sheets were twisted around my legs, a lumpy pillow was tucked under my head, and some damned annoying mattress spring was poking into my side.  Yeah, I was very definitely at home in the bed where I wake up every day.  The screwed up part is I had no clue how I’d gotten there.

      All I could remember of the night before was this:  Drinking.  Playing with the band.  Drinking.  Falling off the stage.  Mikey glaring.  Daniel swiping my keys.  Jared yelling at me to get my shit together.  Drinking.

      And then… what?

      I’d made it home somehow.  My shoes, socks, jeans, shirt had come off.  I’d crashed in my boxers.

      Yet another night erased from my memory.  No big loss there.  Forgetting sucked when I happened to miss something good, but I could count on one hand the number of times that had been rumored to have happened.

      I yawned, ran my tongue over my teeth.

      Mouth: stale from beer, sour from puke.

      Head:  dizzy, pounding, cloudy.

      It could be worse, right?  Things could always be worse.

      I rolled over.  Wavy hair as red as a stop sign was spread across the other pillow.  The hair belonged to a long-legged girl wearing black panties and a striped T-shirt.  My striped T-shirt.

      Jerking straight up, I hit my head on the metal bedrail. “What the hell?”

      As she turned to stare back at me, the pain in my head increased.  Of all the chicks in this town, in this country, on this planet, it was my miserable luck that this one would be the first to wind up in my bed.

      She smirked.  “Hi, Lover.”

      Things had just gotten worse.

--

About Freefall:

Title: Freefall

Author: Mindi Scott

Synopsis from Goodreads:

How do you come back from the point of no return?

Seth McCoy was the last person to see his best friend Isaac alive, and the first to find him dead. It was just another night, just another party, just another time where Isaac drank too much and passed out on the lawn. Only this time, Isaac didn’t wake up.

Convinced that his own actions led to his friend’s death, Seth is torn between turning his life around . . . or losing himself completely.

Then he meets Rosetta: so beautiful and so different from everything and everyone he's ever known. But Rosetta has secrets of her own, and Seth will soon realize he isn’t the only one who needs saving . . .

My review should be right below this post if you want to check it out!

Now it's contest time! Do you want a signed finished copy of Freefall all to yourself? You know you do! All you have to do is fill out the form below.

Rules:

Contest Ends October 27th 

US Only

You DO NOT have to be a follower to enter!

Review: Freefall by Mindi Scott

Title: Freefall
Author: Mindi Scott
Published: October 5th, 2010
Source: Received for review from S&S(Thank you!)
Synopsis from Goodreads:
How do you come back from the point of no return?

Seth McCoy was the last person to see his best friend Isaac alive, and the first to find him dead. It was just another night, just another party, just another time where Isaac drank too much and passed out on the lawn. Only this time, Isaac didn’t wake up.

Convinced that his own actions led to his friend’s death, Seth is torn between turning his life around . . . or losing himself completely.

Then he meets Rosetta: so beautiful and so different from everything and everyone he's ever known. But Rosetta has secrets of her own, and Seth will soon realize he isn’t the only one who needs saving . . .

Have I ever mentioned how much I love books that are from a guys POV? Because I really, really like them. When it feels like all that I'm reading are variations of the same girl it's a welcome change to see things from a guys perspective. Plus, if it's accurate I might gain a little bit of insight while I'm at it!

I think that Mindi Scott did a fantastic job with Freefall. I thought that Seth seemed like a very real character, and as far as I could tell like a real guy. It was pretty easy to be in his head. I'm not saying that his head was a good place to be, just that I didn't feel like a complete outsider while I was in it.

The plot as a whole wasn't really what I was expecting. I think that I was expecting Seth to be more messed up than he was, not that he wasn't messed up. I was also expecting his dead friend Isaac to be an actual character in the book, if only for a chapter or so, but we only knew him through flashbacks. Though it wasn't what I was expecting I really enjoyed the plot and the direction that it went. I also really liked how it was divided by days and times. 


My only complaint is that even though I thought that it was pretty easy to be in Seth's head, I never completely connected with him. I mostly connected with him but that extra little push to practically become him while I was reading never happened. Which definitely isn't a huge deal.


Basically I really, really liked this book. If you like contemporary books and guys POV's then you'll love this.


Characters: 8/10
Writing: 9/10
Originality: 9/10
Plot: 9/10
Ending: 10/10
Overall: 45/50 A-
Cover Comments: I love, love, love this cover. I'm not really all that sure why, just that I do. Something about the broken glass and black backround just really catches my eye.