Ten Things: Natasha Friend

Natasha Friend came to Otis Library this week. We had a great time chatting with her. I met her while at a Sarah Dessen signing at R.J. Julia's Bookstore. She was behind me in line with her newborn girl. I immediately asked her to come to my library and we finally found at date that worked. She was the teen author for our stop on the Connecticut Author Trail. It was a rainy night, but those who came out had a GREAT time!

Chatting about her ideas

The Book Table

Books and Goodies

The Goodies

Reading from Bounce

Here's ten things I learned about her:

1. A lot of people compare her latest book For Keeps to Gilmore Girls (not just me- read my review)

2. For Keeps is actually based on her moving during high school and a rumor started about the reasons for the move
3. She has a pretty good idea who started that rumor.
4. Judy Blume is her HERO and role model. Her story of meeting Judy Blume is hilarious.
5. She passed around Forever to her fellow classmates with the "good" pages marked.
6. She didn't have a TV growing up, which fostered her love of reading.
7. She was the girl who took stacks of books out of the library
8. Her book LUSH was number 6 on the books most challenged in 2010
9. She loved the book The Help - but waited to read it because of all the hype. She was sure she wouldn't like it as much, but she was wrong.
10. She has a new book coming out next year called My Life in Black and White - it's about a beautiful girl who was in a very serious car accident. Her face has massive scarring. She has to figure out who she is now that she's no longer beautiful.

Review: For Keeps

Josie never knew her father, but in the grocery store, her single mother nearly has a heart attack when she sees her old high school sweetheart's parents.

Kate found out she was pregnant with Josie when she was 16. Paul moved away not knowing the whole story. Paul's always been the elephant in the room.

Now his parents have moved back to town.

Josie's half sacred and half hoping she might run into her grandparents. When her grandfather becomes a regular customer at the cafe she works at, she has a small opportunity for contact. Her best friend urges her to get to know him.

Josie's not she wants to open that door.

Just when she's freaking out about her family life, her mother meets a man. He quickly becomes part of their lives. Josie just wishes everything would go back to normal - including her relationship with her mother!

My Thoughts: This reminded me a lot of Gilmore Girls (which I'm REALLY missing!) I loved the relationship between Josie and Kate. I loved Kate's freak out moments. I liked Josie's limited interaction with her new family. I really liked Liz (Josie's best friend) and her two gay Dads were priceless. A fun contemporary novel for fans of Sarah Dessen and Susane Colasanti!

Cover Thoughts: I'm not crazy about either cover. The hardcover looks like it could be a ghost story. The paperback cover looks like a light hearted romance. Neither of them match the story. (This is the paperback cover, which is better)

Source: My Library