Happy 3 Year Blogiversary, Monkey Poop!

It’s been about 3 years since I first started blogging. Last year I did a whole week of monkey-related posts, so I thought, “Why not do a whole week of poop related posts this year?” But my laziness intervened (thankfully) so instead I went through Google Analytics to figure out which were my top ten posts over the last year. I almost went through and deleted the ones that I didn’t feel deserved to be on this list, but then realized that probably wasn’t a good idea because then it would actually be a list of my favorite blog posts, which would take forever to compile since I’d be second guessing all of my choices.

Here is the list of my Ten Most Popular Posts for Year Three of Monkey Poop:

10) Biased Review of a Fabulous Essay: From Words to Brain by Livia Blackburne 9) The Great Balancing Act: Part-time Writer, Full-Time Mom 8) Ambiguous Endings: Brilliant or Lazy? 7) Kid’s Medical Book Review: ABC Doctor: Staying Healthy from A to Z by Liz Murphy 6) My epiphany: It’s about the writing, stupid 5) “No offense, but…”: The book review every writer is afraid they will get 4) Book review: The Secret in the Old Attic (Nancy Drew #21) 3) Book Review: The Giver by Lois Lowry 2) TV Show Review: Outsourced on NBC

and the Number One Most Popular Blog Post was (drum roll please!):

1) 10 Reasons Why Books are Better than TV

That’s all folks! I hope to have another wonderful year filled with Monkey Poop! Wait, no, I didn’t mean literally, I meant…oh never mind.

Image Credit: Salim Virji on Flickr

#blogiversary #toptenposts

Book Review: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

Will Grayson, Will Grayson is an amazing book. Simply amazing. But the sad thing is, I was actually a bit reticent to pick it up because the summaries of the book I’ve read sounded..well..kind of boring and a little vague. “It’s about being a teenager in high school” (aren’t they all?), “It’s got heart” (eye-roll), “it’s about friendship” (gag). And most of all the descriptions about it being about a musical really turned me away because, well, I really don’t like musicals. And high school musicals? Hmm….

But in the end (or rather from the very beginning) I was completely blown away by this book–by its authenticity, by its courage, and yes, by its heart. The characters felt like real teenagers and the characters were all meaty and interesting. I should summarize a little bit–basically the book is about a straight boy named Will  Grayson who has a gay best friend (a huge guy named Tiny–and yes, hilarity ensues) who happens to meet another boy named Will Grayson, a depressed teenager who is struggling to come to terms with his sexuality. At first Tiny seems like a comic relief for the book, but over time he grows into one of the most important characters of the book (in yes, what is a little bit of an over-the-top cheesy ending).

The true genius lies in the way the authors show kids just plain being mean to each other and themselves (intentionally and unintentionally) and doing it in a way that makes us want to keep reading. As a writer struggling to give some of my YA characters authenticity, I couldn’t help but be in awe of this book.

#bookreview #willgrayson #YA #davidlevithan #johngreen

The BosKidLit Author Events Master List of Links

I try to update my Boston Area children’s author events calendar every week. This sounds easy, but actually it’s time consuming and often a little bit tricky.

Here is the master list of websites that I pore through every week [edit 3/31/15: now monthly]. I thought someone else might find it useful. Please let me know of more websites I should bookmark.

Bookstores:

Barnes & Noble – Store and Event Locator Blue Bunny Books and Toys Special Events Blue Bunny Books & Toys Facebook Page Book Ends Winchester website Book Ends Winchester Facebook Page Brookline Booksmith Buttonwood Books & Toys The Concord Bookshop The Children’s Book Shop (Brookline) Facebook page The Elephant’s Trunk Facebook page Harvard Book Store The Harvard Coop Bookstore Newtonville Books New England Mobile Book Fair Pandemonium Books & Games Papercuts Porter Square Books Trident Booksellers & Cafe Wellesley Booksmith

Libraries* (alpha by town):

The Robbins Library (Arlington) Belmont Public Library Boston Public Library The Public Library of Brookline Home Page Cambridge Public Library (and Teen Room Facebook Page) Hingham Public Library Cary Memorial Library (Lexington) Somerville Public Library Wellesley Free Library

Other:

Boston.com Parent Buzz Blog Boston.com Literary Arts Events Wondermore (formerly The Foundation for Children’s Books) ICA Boston Lesley University events New England Aquarium lecture series The Writers’ Loft

* As you can see, I don’t have an exhaustive list of library websites, so do contact me if you hear of a library that regularly hosts children’s author events.

[last updated 10/8/15]

#booksignings #portersquarebooks #harvardbookstore #authorevents #boskidlit #authortalks