Books, books, books. I cannot get enough of
them.
Last week was typical. Outwardly, I appeared normal. After
having reviewed the requisite five books given me by childrenslit.com, I got
the dishes washed, dinners cooked, clothes ironed, toilets scrubbed, miles
walked, zumba danced, even TV watched (which, apparently, did not squash my creativity
as I wrote a new picture book and revisited four others).
But inside I seethed with the angst of a teenage girl having
been bitten by a vampire. That doesn’t happen to just anyone.
Throat by R. A.
Nelson introduces Emma. Just when she thinks normalcy is right around the
corner—seizure-free for six months and she’ll get her driver’s license—she
comes throat-to-teeth with Wirtz, the very worst kind of vampire. Luckily for
her, his “dinner” was interrupted by the very thing she feared—a grand mal. So
what will happen to Emma, now that she has super powers? What will happen to
her family if Wirtz has his way? Most importantly, what will happen to her love
life? Throat is just the kind of
story a teenage girl can sink her teeth into.
And when Throat no
longer had me by the . . . well, throat, Teach
Me, also by R. A. Nelson, held sway. A story of a teenage girl falling
head-over-heels with her teacher—blech! but oh-so-imaginable!—things get really
interesting when he dumps her. One bad idea turns into one even worse. How can
Carolina, Nine—just a number to those who know her—escape from the nightmare of
her own making? Riveting. Edgy. A story that could be any one of ours if we’d
just taken that one forbidden step.
And then Little Texas lurks, hoping to fill the spiritual space within me. A
teenage evangelist persuades me of his unusual powers in Days of Little Texas. And R. A. Nelson
convinces me, yet again, of his ability to tell a powerful story. The
sixteen-year-old known as Little Texas can’t help but wonder if he’s meant to
remain a minister. Wishing for normalcy, in a “family” like his, he’s anything
but. Haunted by a beautiful girl he has “healed,” can he take her at face
value? Is she who she seems? Dealing with saints and sinners alike take its
toll on our hero.
There is no doubt about it—Nelson’s books stand out. The
number of awards they’ve earned prove it. Teach Me even made NPR’s top 100 best Young Adult books ever . . .
and “ever” includes some pretty impressive titles. Reading is like breathing to me, so, of course, I’ll soon be reading his remaining book, Breathe My Name.
I may sound like a one-woman
fan club, but there’s a reason beyond the mind-boggling appeal of his works. R.A. Nelson is local. His settings take place in or around Huntsville, AL. I’m
familiar with names like Rombokas, places like Madison Square and the Marshall
Space Flight Center. (Are vampires lurking at the Space Center as we speak?) Being able to identify with the setting can be just as important as living within the main character's skin.
Best of all is that Nelson, a member of SCBWI Southern
Breeze, will be part of a panel at the upcoming schmooze I’ve
arranged.
After spending some time fighting demons, vampires, and one’s
own conscience, it’s time I come back to earth. Meals to deliver, bingo to
call, schmoozes to advertise, reviews to write.
Oh, heck. Those things can wait. Breathe My Name is doing just that.
