U2 ALL NEXT WEEK! Plus American Idol Stuff

March is going to be so good!

U2 releases No Line On the Horizon next week! And Bono and Edge will play sidekick to David Letterman all week long! Can late night get any better? I think not.

I, of course, will not be watching U2 live--it's past my bedtime. But I will be thinking of you, Bono, and recording you of course. Leave eighteen tickets for me at the box office when you come to Florida.

In other TV news, scrap yesterday's post! Allison Iraheta and Adam Lambert blew me away. Allison reminds me of Kelly Clarkson; I love those rough voices. Adam Lambert--come on! He looks like Elvis! Oh, those smouldering eyes, and I loved when his forelocks fell, covering his face. (That happened to Elvis all the time. You know how bald guys have that one long strand they wind around on top for cover? Elvis had long hair--it was the only way to fashion his trendy pompadour.) Adam nailed "Satisfaction"; he's definitely a frontrunner.

And I have a wildcard; guess who it is?

Norman Gentle!

Who are you voting for?

American Idol--Resistance is Futile

Let me state for the record that until last year, I never watched American Idol. Most of what I knew about it came from The Soup. ("Some people weren't liking it.") But last year, my sister forced me to watch excerpts of AI featuring David Cook.

I have been assimilated.

My DVR is set to record all new AI installments. I'm down with my new finalists; I've seen Tatiana. Maybe it's too early to say, or maybe it's because I'm an AI newbie, but so far I haven't seen anything that compares to last seasons finalists. I loved David Cook's smoky rendition of "Billie Jean," and with his raspy voice and Jimmy Fallon hair, he captured me every time he took the stage.

This duet with David Archuleta is haunting. I love it. Before you go, send yourself a reminder: American Idol's on tonight.

Resistance is futile.

Violet Raines Wurde Fast vom Blitz Getroffen!

Wunderbar!

My editor has informed me that Walker BFYR has sold Violet Raines to Carlsen, a publisher in Germany.

Violet Raines Wurde Fast vom Blitz Getroffen--If you said, "Wow! That looks like German for Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightning!", you are right!

We're looking forward to seeing if there will be any design changes. Won't that be cool!

In the meantime, Schönen Tag noch! (That's the closest I could get to Have a good day!)

Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers

Courtney Summers’s debut novel, cracked up to be, is everything it’s cracked up to be! The first three sentences, graphic but darkly humorous, hooked me immediately and set the tone for the rest of the story. I loved Parker Fadley’s sarcastic quips and witty observations. She’s a smart girl with a sharp edge, and I liked her.

Summers’s prowess as an author is so subtle, I didn’t realize how far I’d been pulled in until wham! Near the end, she blindsided me with something I didn’t know was coming, yet made perfect sense. It was the stroke of a master.

There are so many quotable lines in this novel. Here are the lines that open Chapter Four: “I’m a fantastic crier. Everyone’s on suicide watch.” You can see how sardonic Parker is about her own condition; it’s as if she’s an observer as well as the actor. And though Parker indicates the crying was a deliberate act, I couldn’t help but wonder if this quipping was indeed the part of a slightly unreliable narrator—that maybe Parker is a little more scared than she’ll even let herself know.

Summers lands the book on a solid ending. I recommend this book for YA readers, especially fans of Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why.

And I can’t close without urging you to view the trailer for cracked up to be (online at http://courtneysummers.ca/novels). It’s awesome!