African American Read-In: Bleeding Violet

Hosted by Doret, Edi and I.

Yay it's time for the African American Read-In! You voted on Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves so we're discussing it all day over here and on Twitter, use the hashtag #BleedingViolet. If you don't mind, I'll post Twitter comments on this post too :) Drop on over anytime throughout the day. I (hopefully) installed a new commenting system so that should make things easier... (please let me know if IntenseDebate installed). Anyway, let's discuss! To start us off we have three questions. Feel free to reply to the questions, ask your own, link to your reviews, etc. I want to read a few reviews and maybe discuss points brought up in them. Around noon or so central time, I'll probably post some more questions and at 6 PM CT, it will be completely open forum. Anything mentioned in the book is fair game to be discussed. Be as silly, serious or bizarre as you would like. Make Hanna proud.

1. The mother-daughter relationship of Hanna and Rosalee. Did you like it, dislike it? Did a particular scene bother you especially? Did a particular scene make your heart melt in the most unexpected way? Personally, right away I figured things would be OK when Rosalee made Hanna wear raingear on her way to school but then I started to worry..

2. Who would win in a verbal exchange-Hanna's or Wyatt's mom? Oooo tough one. I'ma go with Rosalee though. She's got ice in her veins!

3. Swan. Did Swan creep you out? Is there some hidden meaning behind this wooden Swan carving? Personally I'm not one to find deeper meanings in things, but I love it when other people do. To me, Swan just makes Hanna feel closer to Poppa....

4. Did you like or dislike Hanna? Did you feel you could trust her or were you waiting for the moment when this would be revealed as a psychotic episode?

Take it away!

Edi said: Yeah, that swan was a bit random! In any other book it seemed odd, but what wasn't odd in this book? Odd was the new normal!
Did you know swans mate for life? I think with all the people who kept leaving Hanna, the Swan was something that would always be there for her. Wyatt and her mom left her and came back, but Swan would always be there.

Next set of questions

1. Did Hanna act like a high school student to you?

2. Do you want to see more main characters like Hanna, independent, carefree about sex? Would you read more books with female main characters confident in/about their sexuality?

Waiting on Wednesday: What Can't Wait (+ Read-In & winner)

The winner of my Devil's Kiss series (who has already been emailed) by Sarwat Chadda giveaway is STEPH from Steph Su Reads! Congratulations :D

It's interesting to me that most people said the lie was love at McDonalds....

The African American Read-In discussion of Bleeding Violet will be held here, at my blog! The winning forum was Twitter but not everyone has Twitter (including one fo the organizers) so it shouldn't have even been an option, I apologize. However, I will use the hashtag #Bleeding Violet from time to time while on Twitter on Feb. 20th (this Sunday!) and if you don't want to comment with your thoughts, you can Tweet me and I will post your comments. I hope that works for everyone. And the international readers can read the questions and participate any time, I'll probably post the first three questions at midnight.


What Can't Wait by Ashley Hope Perez

Release Date: March 28, 2011

"“Another day finished, gracias a Dios."

Seventeen-year-old Marisa's mother has been saying this for as long as Marisa can remember. Her parents came to Houston from Mexico. They work hard, and they expect Marisa to help her familia. And they expect her to marry a boy from the neighborhood, to settle down, and to have grandbabies. If she wants a job, ...more"“Another day finished, gracias a Dios."

Seventeen-year-old Marisa's mother has been saying this for as long as Marisa can remember. Her parents came to Houston from Mexico. They work hard, and they expect Marisa to help her familia. And they expect her to marry a boy from the neighborhood, to settle down, and to have grandbabies. If she wants a job, she could always be an assistant manager at the local grocery store.

At school, it's another story. Marisa's calc teacher expects her to ace the AP test and to get into an engineering program in Austin—a city that seems unimaginably far away. When her home life becomes unbearable, Marisa seeks comfort elsewhere—and suddenly neither her best friend nor boyfriend can get through to her. Caught between the expectations of two different worlds, Marisa isn't sure what she wants—other than a life where she doesn't end each day thanking God it's over.

What Can't Wait—the gripping debut novel from Ashley Hope Pérez—tells the story of one girl's survival in a world in which family needs trump individual success, and self-reliance the only key that can unlock the door to the future.

-I've had this book for awhile but I try to hold off on reading books that aren't being released right away because I tend to review books right after I read them and I don't write reviews very much in advance so...I'll stop now because it's not important. I consider Forever Young Adult to be some of the funniest and toughest book reviewers around so when they wrote this raving review, I knew I needed to read it asap and find out what all the hype was about. Plus I have a lovely interview with the author coming up in a few weeks :) And really what doesn't sound good about this book? Someone who actually-*gasps*-likes calculus and happens to be Latina and working class with the good ole theme of American self-reliance.

Are you waiting on What Can't Wait too? What's your pick for the week?

Vote one More Time! AA Read-In/Sit-In

Time to get reading! For your convenience I included the Goodreads summary of the chosen book, Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves. Wow I just love that cover and the back is gorgeous too. Love, love, love!



Love can be a dangerous thing....

Hanna simply wants to be loved. With a head plagued by hallucinations, a medicine cabinet full of pills, and a closet stuffed with frilly, violet dresses, Hanna's tired of being the outcast, the weird girl, the freak. So she runs away to Portero, Texas in search of a new home.

But Portero is a stranger town than Hanna expects. As she tries to make a place for herself, she discovers dark secrets that would terrify any normal soul. Good thing for Hanna, she's far from normal. As this crazy girl meets an even crazier town, only two things are certain: Anything can happen and no one is safe

Now that you've bought the book (just came out in paperback!) or gotten it from the library, vote on the format you would like us to use for the discussion. It will be held on Feb. 20th (which is a Sunday) at 7 PM CT and shouldn't run longer than 2 hours. But it all depends on the discussion forum, so please vote. We would just do a LiveChat but we want our international readers to be able to participate.

Where should we discuss Bleeding Violet?

• LiveChat
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Blog post

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AA Read-In Book Choice, Cool Links & New Crayons

The winning book is...

Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves! My review. 61 people voted. That means 61 people are not allowed to say they don't any YA fantasy books with people of color main characters (does BV count as paranormal too?) because Bleeding Violet fits the bill. It also means that at least 61 people are committed to trying some diverse books and that makes me very, very happy =D

We are still trying to figure out how we are going to host the chat but the when will most likely be February 20th since that's President Day weekend. Does that work for everyone? More details to come

New Crayons-hosted by Color Online

Teenie by Christopher Grant

High school freshman Martine (Teenie for short) is a good student, with a bright future ahead of her. She's desperate to be accepted into a prestigious study abroad program in Spain so that she can see what life is like beyond the streets of Brooklyn. She wouldn't mind escaping from her strict (though lovable) parents for awhile either. But when the captain of the basketball team starts to pay attention to her after she's pined away for him for months and Cherise, her best friend, meets a guy online, Teenie's mind is on anything but her schoolwork. Teenie's longtime crush isn't what he seemed to be, nor is her best friend's online love. Can Teenie get her act together in time to save her friendship with Cherise, save her grade point average so that she can study in Spain, and save herself from a potentially dangerous relationship?

-I think I've made it pretty clear as to why I want to read Teenie. WoW and my interview with the author. Review coming on Tuesday, it was a most-excellent read just like I thought :) Bought!

The Great Wall of Lucy Wu by Wendy Wan-Long Shang

Lucy Wu, aspiring basketball star and interior designer, is on the verge of having the best year of her life. She's ready to rule the school as a sixth grader and take over the bedroom she has always shared with her sister. In an instant, though, her plans are shattered when she finds out that Yi Po, her beloved grandmother's sister, is coming to visit for several months -- and is staying in Lucy's room. Lucy's vision of a perfect year begins to crumble, and in its place come an unwelcome roommate, foiled birthday plans, and Chinese school with the awful Talent Chang.

Her plans are ruined -- or are they? Like the Chinese saying goes: Events that appear to be good or bad luck often turn out to be quite the opposite, and Lucy finds that while she may not get the "perfect" year she had in mind, she can create something even better.

-WoW and I have an interview with the author coming this Friday, perfect timing! Received from scholastic, yippee =)

The Latte Rebellion by Sarah Jamila Stevenson

Hoping to raise money for a post-graduation trip to London, Asha Jamison and her best friend Carey decide to sell T-shirts promoting the Latte Rebellion, a club that raises awareness of mixed-race students.

But seemingly overnight, their "cause" goes viral and the T-shirts become a nationwide social movement. As new chapters spring up from coast to coast, Asha realizes that her simple marketing plan has taken on a life of its own—and it's starting to ruin hers. Asha's once-stellar grades begin to slip, threatening her Ivy League dreams, while her friendship with Carey hangs by a thread. And when the peaceful underground movement spins out of control, Asha's school launches a disciplinary hearing. Facing expulsion, Asha must decide how much she's willing to risk for something she truly believes in.

-WoW and my Elated Over Eleven interview with the author. I've started reading this book but I need to drink a latte while I read it! But I don't like coffee. Any latte-coffee less recs?

Super-Awesome Kickstarter Campaigns, please, please consider donating! Or just spreading the word! Heather from the Secret Adventures of Writer-Girl pointed these campaigns out to me, thank you. I know you guys will come through (I will too), you were incredibly generous to Tu Publishing. Let's do it again

The Ground Beneath Their Feet: A Tale of Pakistani Women-The effects of the devastating earthquake in Pakistan on women (two have spinal cord injuries). The video will absolutely break your heart.

Words without Borders: Afghanistan Translations-Translations of books from Pashto and Dari, I hope to one day see more YA translations but for now, I'm just happy to see adult fiction being translated. Needs to be funded by March 11.

The Fifties: a Tale in Black & White-photographs of glamorous Black women from the 1950s? Yes please! Some of us are very stylish (myself being the exception ;)

Donate, spread the word and tell me if you do either of those things. And of course, share what new books you got and if you plan on participating in the Read-In.

African American Read-In (A Sit-In of Sorts)

Doret of theHappyNappyBookseller had the brillant idea that we book bloggers should do something in honor of the African-American Read-In. What is the African American Read In you ask? Well I had no idea either until Doret shared a link with me.

From the NCTE website

"Schools, churches, libraries, bookstores, community and professional organizations, and interested citizens are urged to make literacy a significant part of Black History Month by hosting and coordinating Read-Ins in their communities. Hosting a Read-In can be as simple as bringing together friends to share a book, or as elaborate as arranging public readings and media presentations that feature professional African American writers."

We are a book blogging community and so we should do something. Doret suggested we hold a discussion about a book. Doret, Edi and I have selected 6 YA titles by African American authors about African American teens. We tried to feature male and female authors, weird, sad and happy stories.

We would like YOU to vote on which title you want to READ and then DISCUSS.

The titles:


Yummy by G. Neri

A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliott

When the Black Girl Sings by Bill Wright

Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia

Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves

Tyrell by Coe Booth

So hopefully this poll will work but if it doesn't and I'm MIA, please leave your vote in the comment (title). Voting closes on Friday, Jan. 21


The discussion will take place sometime in late February. Please also let us know what day would work best for you.

The options

February 18
Februay 19
February 25
February 26

Finally, how should we hold this discussion? I have no idea how to set up a LiveChat but that could be kind of fun. Or we could just post some questions and have people respond in the comments (although Blogger's comment system is sort of annoying). The discussion will be hosted here at my blog.

Feel free to comment or email me, Doret or Edi with any questions.

And please, we want to get as much participation as possible. Obviously, you don't have to be Black to participate and who knows, you may discover a new favorite book (or really really good one). All of these books will make for an excellent discussion and we would love to see you enter the conversation. It's one of the best ways I can think of to honor and uphold Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s memory (who I firmly believe is one of the greatest men in the history of the world). After all, wouldn't he have wanted people to read all kinds of books in genres they enjoy, regardless of race? And perhaps, even make sure that they at least TRY reading a few books about African Americans in new genres or old favorites?

Which book should we discuss for the African American Read-In?

• Tyrell by Coe Both
• Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves
• Jumped by Rita Williams Garcia
• Yummy by G. Neri
• A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliott
• When the Black Girl Sings by Bil Wright

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