If you’re in Dallas, Portland, Sacramento, Raleigh/Durham, Minneapolis/St Paul, Pittsburgh, Atlanta or Orlando .. you can get into a sneak preview of the new HP movie.

Check out http://www.myspace.com/blackcurtain for more details on it.

Simone’s family is perfect.  Her father is a political cartoonist, her mother is an ACLU attorney, her brother is a high school freshman with great hair, and she’s a math whiz.  Sure, she has dark hair, olive skin, and almond-shaped eyes while the rest of the family is blonde all over.  But they’re still a family.  And that’s what matters, right?

Simone’s known since early in her life that she’s adopted.  She doesn’t know anything about her biological family, though, and what’s more, she’s never been curious about it.  In spite of her lack of curiosity, Simone’s about to learn a lot more about her origins than she ever expected.

The central story in Dana Reinhardt’s debut novel A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life deals with Simone’s discovery of her birth mother’s heritage, and the struggle she goes through to reconcile her Hasidic Jew history with her Atheist upbringing.  Rivka, Simone’s birth mother, emerges as a force in Simone’s life that changes her perspective on everything in some way or another.  Side stories include Simone’s best friend dealing with her recently changed body and subsequent, eventually unpleasant, sexual awakening, as well as a potential romance for Simone with a fellow staff member on the school paper.

Brief Chapter has a lot of great things going on.  I’m reluctant to single one out as its best, so I’ll just list some.  First, Simone’s voice is wonderful.  Simone has a wry sense of humor, and is a deep thinker but not at all pretentious.  Second is the delightful normalness of Simone’s family.  They are not without flaws, but they aren’t ravaged by tragedy or creepily perfect.  Third is the way the book handles the normal and important subject matter of young adult life - self-discovery, rapid change, understanding love and sex, crises of faith - while tying these themes into a larger story about the definition of family.

I would recommend Brief Chapter to just about any reader high-school aged or up.  It has broad appeal, and is especially good for readers interested in adoption and interfaith issues.

Book: A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life (Affiliate Link)
Author: Dana Reinhardt 
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
Original Publication Date: 2006
Pages: 240
Age Range: Young Adult
Source of Book: Amazon.com
Other Blog Reviews: Tea Cozy, bookshelves of doom, interactivereader, Bildungsroman, Young Adult (& Kids) Books Central, propernoun.net
Extras: My Interview with Dana Reinhardt, Interview at Interactive Reader, Interview at Bildungsroman

The Summer Blog Blast Tour concludes with Justina Chen Headley at Finding Wonderland.

Colleen Mondor, grand organizer of the tour, reflects on its success at Chasing Ray.

Today's Interviews Tim Tharp at Chasing Ray Justina Chen Headley at Big A, little a Ysabeau Wilce at Shaken & Stirred Dana Reinhardt at Bildungsroman Julie Ann Peters at Finding Wonderland Cecil Castellucci at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy Bennett Madison at Bookshelves of Doom Holly Black at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast Justine Larbalestier at Hip Writer Mama Kirsten Miller at A Fuse #8 Production (Part Two)

Tomorrow’s Interviews Justina Chen Headley finishes out the week at Finding Wonderland

Revelations in the Key of K

Today’s Interviews
Eddie Campbell at Chasing Ray
Sara Zarr at Writing and Ruminating
Brent Hartinger at Interactive Reader
Justine Larbalestier at Big A, little a
Cecil Castellucci at Shaken & Stirred
Ysabeau Wilce at Bildungsroman
Jordan Sonnenblick at Jen Robinson’s Book Page
Chris Crutcher at Finding Wonderland
Kazu Kibuishi at lectitans
Mitali Perkins at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Laura Ruby at The YA YA YAs

Tomorrow’s Interviews
Tim Tharp at Chasing Ray
Justina Chen Headley at Big A, little a
Ysabeau Wilce at Shaken & Stirred
Dana Reinhardt at Bildungsroman
Julie Ann Peters at Finding Wonderland
Cecil Castellucci at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy
Bennett Madison at Bookshelves of Doom
Holly Black at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Justine Larbalestier at Hip Writer Mama
Kirsten Miller at A Fuse #8 Production

The Summer Blog Blast Tour continues here at

 with Kazu Kibuishi.  

Kazu is the creator of the online comics "Copper" and "Clive & Cabbage," the graphic novel Daisy Kutter: the Last Train, and the editor of the Flight anthology series.

I'll have a review of Daisy Kutter later this week.

And now, the interview!

Both in the back of the Daisy Kutter trade paperback and on your website you include glimpses into your comic-creation process.  What goals do you have in providing this look behind the scenes?  What kind of response to this unique perspective have you received from fans?

I didn't have any specific goals in mind but I did get a lot of people asking about the process, so I decided I should include some of that stuff in the book.  If it does help others get better or faster at drawing comics or inspire them to get started, then great!   It can only help the rest of us in the comics industry. 

In Daisy Kutter, you seamlessly integrate an Old West setting with futuristic technology.  Why did you choose to put these two elements together?

I just love drawing robots and creatures.  When I decided to work on Daisy Kutter, I knew it would be a western, but the idea of not being able to draw robots and creatures saddened me, so I just incorporated them into her world.

The Daisy Kutter TPB has the number 1 on its spine.  Do you have plans for more stories featuring Daisy?

Yes.  I even have at least two stories in mind.  I'm just not sure when I'll be able to tackle them.  She's a wonderful character, though.  I love writing and drawing her adventures.

On your blog you mention that Flight was born at the Alternative Press Expo.  Would you give us more insight into how that happened?

The first year I attended the show, my friends and I didn't have very much to sell at our table.  We decided that we should put something together for the next year.  It was supposed to be a small, black and white book, but as soon as the wheels started turning, the project just got bigger and bigger.  The next year we showed up, but without an actual book. We set up a booth at the show with the intention of pitching the project to various publishers.  Luckily,  Erik Larsen from Image Comics saw us there and said he would publish it immediately.

Daisy Kutter was picked as one of 2005's ALA Best Books for Young Adults and Flight Vol. 3 was a finalist for the Cybils awards.  What were your intended audiences for these books?

It's hard to say who the intended audience was for Daisy Kutter.  I think I was trying to do something different than what I was known for, which was mostly very kid-friendly material.  However, no matter how cool or edgy I try to be, my comics usually tend to be considered kids' material anyway.  As for Flight 3, I leave the book in the hands of the artists, so the intended audience covers a broad range of people.  I only have control of choosing the artists and putting the material together when it's done.  I do, however, encourage the artists to make the material appropriate for all ages.

Your new graphic novel, Amulet, is set in a fantasy setting.  How is the world-building for this story different than what you have had to do for your other work?

Since Daisy Kutter was all about someone reconciling their differences with their past, I didn't give much thought to the world in which Daisy lived.  All of the focus was on the emotional journey of the character and the world only worked to service the themes and mood of the story.  While this is true to a certain extent for Amulet, once the fantasy stuff started kicking in, I realized I needed to take the world-building much more seriously.  In fact, I began to realize most fantasy literature was comprised almost entirely of world-building, especially when writing about children.  Young characters tend to have very little in the way of emotional conflict, since they're so new to the world, so I needed the fantasy world to provide most of the conflict for me to work with.  Alledia, the world in which the kids travel to, became a living, breathing character in the book.

There has been much discussion among librarians, educators, and children's literature experts about how graphic novels can be an integral part of reaching reluctant readers.  How do you think webcomics can play a part in this process?  What are some webcomics you would recommend for younger readers?

Hmm, I actually think webcomics wouldn't be all that effective in getting reluctant readers to begin reading.  Chances are, if the kid is online looking for a webcomic, they're already reading plenty of information.  However, if one were to print the webcomics in book form, then I can see how they could help.  The web is a wonderful place to get comics started, and offers the artists a chance to gain confidence and a readership to keep them going.  That said, I do recommend Ben Hatke's "Zita the Spacegirl" and Kean Soo's Jellaby, both of which are among the best comics for younger readers being produced today.

-------

Thanks for joining me, Kazu!

Eager for more?  You can read Kazu's other Summer Blog Blast Tour at Finding Wonderland.

Today's Interviews
Mitali Perkins at Hip Writer Mama
Svetlana Chmakova at Finding Wonderland
Dana Reinhardt at Interactive Reader
Laura Ruby at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy
Holly Black at Shaken & Stirred
Hilary McKay at Bookshelves of Doom
Kirsten Miller at Miss Erin
Julie Ann Peters at A Fuse #8 Production (Part Two)
Carolyn Mackler at The YA YA YAs
Jordan Sonnenblick at Writing and Ruminating

Tomorrow's Interviews
Eddie Campbell at Chasing Ray
Sara Zarr at Writing and Ruminating
Brent Hartinger at Interactive Reader
Justine Larbalestier at Big A, little a
Cecil Castellucci at Shaken & Stirred
Ysabeau Wilce at Bildungsroman
Jordan Sonnenblick at Jen Robinson's Book Page
Chris Crutcher at Finding Wonderland
Kazu Kibuishi at lectitans
Mitali Perkins at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Laura Ruby at The YA YA YAs

[NOTE: This entry is backdated because I was away from the computer on June 19.]

Today’s Interviews
Laura Ruby at Miss Erin
Bennett Madison at Shaken & Stirred
Shaun Tan at A Fuse #8 Production (Part Two) (Part Three)
Chris Crutcher at Bookshelves of Doom
Holly Black at The YA YA YAs
Kazu Kibuishi at Finding Wonderland
Christopher Golden at Bildungsroman
David Brin at Chasing Ray
Kirsten Miller at Jen Robinson’s Book Page
Sara Zarr at Big A, little a
Sonya Hartnett at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Tomorrow’s Interviews
Mitali Perkins at Hip Writer Mama
Svetlana Chmakova at Finding Wonderland
Dana Reinhardt at Interactive Reader
Laura Ruby at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy
Holly Black at Shaken & Stirred
Hilary McKay at Bookshelves of Doom
Kirsten Miller at Miss Erin
Julie Ann Peters at A Fuse #8 Production
Carolyn Mackler at The YA YA YAs
Jordan Sonnenblick at Writing and Ruminating

Today’s Interviews:
Tom & Dorothy Hoobler at Chasing Ray
Mitali Perkins at Big A, Little a
Sara Zarr at Interactive Reader
Justina Chen Headley at Hip Writer Mama
Justine Larbalestier at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy
Dana Reinhardt at lectitans
Brent Hartinger at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Laura Ruby at Writing and Ruminating
Jordan Sonnenblick by Bildungsroman
Ysabeau Wilce at Finding Wonderland

Tomorrow’s Interviews:
Laura Ruby at Miss Erin
Bennett Madison at Shaken & Stirred
Shaun Tan at A Fuse #8 Production
Chris Crutcher at Bookshelves of Doom
Holly Black at The YA YA YAs
Kazu Kibuishi at Finding Wonderland
Christopher Golden at Bildungsroman
David Brin at Chasing Ray
Kirsten Miller at Jen Robinson’s Book Page
Sara Zarr at Big A, little a
Sonya Hartnett at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast