My youthful adventure.

No matter how old I become, I do not think I will ever be able to pry myself away from the 'Young Adult' section of Barnes and Noble. There is a freshness about these novels that are lacking in other genres. Maybe it's all in the 'young' part. I don't mean those cheesy teen series, I mean the novels that explore young love, adventure, and heartbreak so in depth, the reader begins to feel every feeling the author is describing.

As I entered Barnes and Noble a few weeks ago I wasn't looking for anything heavy- since the book I just finished was Helter Skelter, the true story of the Manson murders written by the man who prosecuted them - clearly in need of some fluff as recovery. I made my way over to the 'Young Adult' section for something light and fun, but what I found was fun but definitely not light. Now we all know the saying, "don't judge a book by its cover", but to be completely honest... I never follow that rule. I judge by both the cover and the cover artwork. The name of this book caught my eye and so did the cover. Becoming Chloe, written over a photograph of bare feet hanging out the back of a red truck on an open road. I picked it up and saw that it was written by the same auther (Catherine Ryan Hyde) as the best-seller turned major motion picture Pay It Forward. So right then I was sold.

I finished the book in two days. Becoming Chloe does not fit the mold for one's average young adult novel. It is both heart-breaking and heart-warming, emotional, humorous, adventurous, and most of all it addresses many of the issues at hand in today's world.

Becoming Chloe is the story of Jordan, a 17-year old boy who has been kicked out of his home after his father learned of his homosexuality (a sub-plot in the novel) and takes shelter in the basement of an abandoned New York City apartment. Now, to me a 21 year old college student, seventeen seems so young, but Jordan's voice is not that of the typical seventeen year old. His voice is wise and compassionate, for he has been through more than most could imagine at seventeen. His independent life is quickly changed when he meets Chloe, an 18 year old girl with a serious emotional disorder. Jordan discovers her being raped in the alley way of his home, rescues her, and takes her into his care. After this they become inseparable. Jordan starts to realize that Chloe cannot be left alone. She has emotional fits, is severely depressed, and does not have the mind of a mature eighteen year old girl. Despite the fact that she is broken, she doesn't seem so outside of her fits, she seems innocent - as if she doesn't know much. Something has happened to her in her past that has made her this way.

One night Jordan discovers Chloe attempting to kill herself. He stops her and rushes her to a nearby clinic where she is examined by a psychiatrist who tells Jordan that Chloe's emotional disorders are serious. In a heartbreaking scene Chloe tells Jordan that she doesn't see any good in the world, therefore there is really no reason for her to be living in it. This is where Jordan finds the idea to take Chloe on a road-trip across the country in a last attempt to show her that the world can be a beautiful place.

I will stop here so not to spoil the ending but I definitely recommend this novel to anyone who loves a good adventure. Though the novel can get heavy and heartbreaking at times, tackling issues such as homophobia, mental illness, violence, homelessness, and abuse, the novel also tells a story of love, friendship, compassion, and adventure. Readers will fall in love with Jordan and his selflessness and Hyde writes in a way that takes the reader right on the road with Jordan and Chloe.


Click Here to purchase Becoming Chloe

"Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."

The Godfather was released in 1972 and since then it has continued to be a true classic American film. Little do many of us know that it was actually based on the book, The Godfather by Mario Puzo. This months issue of Vanity Fair features an article examining the controversy surrounding the novel and the obstacles movie makers endured to create the film.

Click here to read Vanity Fair's article:
The Godfather Wars

Q & A: Doris B. Hudak

Doris B. Hudak was 75 years old when she left by herself for a trip around the world. She tells the story of her miraculous journey in her book entitled, The Journey of a Dream: One Woman's Travel Tale. Now five years later, at the age of 80, she is currently working on her second book. This time her story takes us to northern Spain in 2006 where she went on the 117-kilometer pilgrimage, Compostella De Santiag (a pilgrimage honoring St.James), which she accomplished in 8 days. Last week, Doris took a time out from her busy schedule to answer some questions about her writing experience.



1. What inspired you to write your story documenting your experience around the world?
After hearing my story very often people would exclaim, “you should write a book about your adventures” and I would say to myself “Yea yea yea”. Then at a lunch-in with former neighbors one of my friends handed me a book entitled, Without Reservations: The Travels of an Independent Woman by Alice Steinbach, my friend said it reminded her of me. Later that evening another woman looked into my eyes very seriously and said, “Write that book”. Alice Steinbech's book was exciting for me because we had visited some of the same countries and I found it interesting to compare our experiences. It prompted me to think, “Maybe there is a book in me.”

2. Did you do anything to prepare yourself to write the book?
Two tools that were most helpful were developed years before I had planned to write a book. A journal was one and other was photo albums. They were invaluable to document feelings and facts. The third thing I did was to enroll in a writing course titled, “Writing From the Female Experience” at our local community college. When the instructor learned I was entertaining the idea of writing a book he said, “don’t hand in the assignments that the rest of the class is responsible for just give me a couple pages of your book each week”. This was wonderful because it forced me to prepare something each week and it turned out to be just the discipline I needed.

3. What message do you hope to send to those who read ‘The Journey of a Dream?
The primary reason for writing the book was to have my children and grandchildren know who I am. I wanted them to learn how patience, determination, and dogged focus figured in accomplishing my dream. For all the others I wanted to describe the beauty and wonder of the places I visited and then to tell them I found the secret of a happy life, and it is this:
A)You must have a dream no matter how outrageous it may seem
(Afterall, who would believe that after 5 years of planning and
saving a 70 year old woman would travel the world by herself?)
B)then you make a plan to have your dream become a reality
C) and then you live out your dream
D)but that’s not the end, then you must have another dream,
you have to have a reason to get out of bed each day.

4. What advice would you give to someone who would like to write a book about their life experience?
Based on my own experience, I would say you must be passionate about what you want to write, also you must READ READ READ other authors who wrote about the same or similar experiences. Don’t be afraid to rework the manuscript multiple times if needed. My first writing professor said “There is no such thing as good writing only good rewriting”.

5. Are you currently working on another book?
Yes I am!

6. How does the writing process of your current book differ from that of “The Journey of a Dream”?
For one, this manuscript was written without benefit of my professor’s encouragement. I did it on my own. The tools I used were a tape recorder instead of a journal because I knew I would be too tired to write at night. The second book records my backpacking across northern Spain to follow the trail of a pilgrimage honoring St. James. Its Spanish name is, Compostella De Santiago.I read many books and articles about the pilgrimage before and after my trek. But the most helpful one I found is “Painless Writing” by Jeffrey Strausser.

7. Do you hope to write another book after this second one?
Only if I have a brand new exciting experience to write about!


Click here to purchase Doris B. Hudak's The Journey of a Dream.

From the book to the big screen.

Nicholas Sparks has become one of the most well-known and admired love story authors of today. Three of his novels have been transformed into box office hits and this year's release of "Nights in Rodanthe" marked his fourth.

Nicholas Sparks released his novel, Message in a Bottle in 1998 and it was not long before his novel came to life on the big screen in 1999. The film starred Kevin Costner and Robin Wright Penn. The film was a success however, it wasn't until the release of "A Walk to Remember" in 2002 that Nicholas Sparks would receive the praise he deserved. Although in my opinion "A Walk to Remember" was not very true to the novel Sparks released in 1999 the film became a hit among teens and young adults. "A Walk to Remember" starred Mandy Moore and Shane West.

In 2004 the movie version of Nicholas Sparks' The Notebook was released and it is Sparks' most successful novel on film to date. The film starred Rachel McAdam's and Ryan Gosling and has earned a place among the most memorable love stories ever made into a film.

In September of this year Sparks' novel, "Nights in Rodanthe" was made into a major motion picture. The film stars Diane Lane and Richard Gere.

The novel, Nights in Rodanthe opens similar to The Notebook. It begins in the present time and the actual love story is a flash back. Sixty year old Adrienne Willis' daughter Amanda is unable to move on from the sudden death of her husband. Adrienne begins to tell her daughter of an affair she had 15 years earlier when her husband left her and their children for a younger woman. At age 45, Adrienne's husband leaves her with her teenage children and sick father. To get away for a short rest, Adrienne decides to watch over her best friend Jean's Inn while she is away. The Inn is located on the coast of North Carolina, Rodanthe.

While she is at the inn she has one guest. His name is Dr. Paul Flanner, a surgeon with a history and no time for his family. He comes to Rodanthe with hope to escape his shattered past. What happens next? You guessed it, like any good Sparks novel the two fall in love and in one weekend set in motion feelings that will resonate throughout the rest of their lives.

Nights in Rodanthe is sure to bring a tear to your eye. Although some points in the novel it tended to drag on, it was light and easy to read. As I expected, Sparks is still able to allow his reader to experience the love almost as if they are a character in the story. It is a great way to escape from the real world for a short time. I would recommend this novel for any one who is looking for a short and sweet love story to carry in your beach bag this summer!



Don't feel like reading the novel? Here is the movie trailer for Nights in Rodanthe:

First thoughts...

Being a college student it is always hard to keep up with new and upcoming writers. It is also hard to follow the writers we love because our heads are buried in our text books. I created this blog to provide you with some school requirement-free reading guidance (Just in case you didn't have time this month to browse the back covers of the "Just Released" section in Barnes and Noble).

For my first review I decided to choose a writer who I have come to greatly admire . Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones was one of the most beautifully written stories I have ever read. She painted a picture of the tragic tale of Susie Salmon so comprehensibly it was almost as if the scenes were being drawn in front of me as I read. For those of you who have never read 'The Lovely Bones', I highly recommend it.

Alice Sebold's The Almost Moon, her newest novel, is very different from The Lovely Bones. Those who are expecting a novel similar to it may be disappointed. The Almost Moon is a glum tale about a depressed forty-nine year old woman named Helen. I am not going to lie, Helen is very difficult to like. She is self-centered, she pities herself, and she is foolish. It doesn't become clear to her how low she really is until one day, in a moment of rage and despair she smothers her eighty-eight year old mother who has been suffering from dementia. Don't be alarmed, this fact will not ruin the story in fact Alice Sebold lets you know this in the summary on the back cover. The following chapters are of the next twenty-hours after Helen has killed her mother. Helen begins to look back on her life including her relationship with her mother, her childhood, her husband, and her children as she tries to figure out how she was capable to commit such a heinous act. Despite her loving husband and two wonderful daughters Helen was never able to erase the negativity and self-hatred that her parents had ingrained in her. Helen is not exactly a psychopath but it becomes difficult to understand why she does the things she does and why she thinks the way she does.

This all may sound dull and depressing but it was truly a wonderful novel. The novel explores the psychological effect parents can have on their children, whether it be positive or in Helen's case deeply negative. Although Helen has murdered her mother, as the novel goes on it becomes easier to empathize for her. At times the novel does in fact become discomforting and the humor can get dark, but for those who are fans of Alice Sebold, it is definitely worth the read. In The Almost Moon Alice Sebold was able to create memorable moments and write in a way that evokes vivid imagery, just as she did in The Lovely Bones.

Critical Praise:

"Sebold can still write beautiful, haunting scenes.” — Washington Post Book World

“Compulsively readable.” — People

“It is indisputably a good thing when writing is so vivid it causes physical reactions. . . . [Sebold’s] willingness to pry into the darker aspects of human consciousness is what's important.” — Los Angeles Times Book Review