RENEGADES | November Book of the Month

November 2, 2017November 1, 2017 The YA RoomLeave a comment

WOW. We honestly can’t believe how fast the year has gone. How is it already November? Weren’t we just having our Inaugural Picnic, like, two months ago?

Happy November, everyone! For those that are doing NaNoWriMo this month, or our Australian friends who are suffering through exams, we hope those things are going okay! But for us, November is the month that we have our last official Book Meet of the year. As usual, our Book of the Month was chosen by all you lovely people on Twitter who voted in our poll, and Renegades by Marissa Meyer was selected as the winner!

Renegades by Marissa Meyer

Secret Identities. Extraordinary Powers. She wants vengeance. He wants justice.

The Renegades are a syndicate of prodigies—humans with extraordinary abilities—who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society and established peace and order where chaos reigned. As champions of justice, they remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone…except the villains they once overthrew.

Nova has a reason to hate the Renegades, and she is on a mission for vengeance. As she gets closer to her target, she meets Adrian, a Renegade boy who believes in justice—and in Nova. But Nova’s allegiance is to a villain who has the power to end them both.

We’re so excited to be reading Renegades with you this month, and we’re even more excited for our final Book Meet on Sunday 26 November. Renegades is officially released on November 7, so make sure you grab a copy to join in the fun!

Grab your free ticket to our Book Meet here.

If you’re not going to be in Melbourne for our Book Meet, never fear! As usual, we’ll be hosting a Twitter chat. Join us @TheYARoom_MELB on Monday 20 November from 7.30pm AEDT to discuss Renegades with us in a non-spoilery chat! We always love hosting these discussions, and we hope to see you tweeting along with us.

We have a lot more exciting things to announce in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned!

Sarah & Alex ❤️

THEY BOTH DIE AT THE END | September Book of the Month

September 17, 2017 The YA RoomLeave a comment

Our September Book Meet is almost upon us! We’re so thrilled that They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera was chosen as our Book of the Month this month, and we can’t wait to chat with y’all next Sunday at Dymocks, Melbourne.

If you haven’t grabbed a free ticket yet, there’s still a few available! Get yours here.

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

On September 5, a little after midnight, Death-Cast calls Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news: They’re going to die today. Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they’re both looking to make a new friend on their End Day.

The good news: There’s an app for that. It’s called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure and to live a lifetime in a single day.

As always, we’ll also be having a Twitter chat the day after our Book Meet to discuss They Both Die at the End! You can find us on Twitter @TheYARoom_MELB.

Looking forward to seeing you either at our Book Meet or joining in the discussion on Twitter! And if you haven’t picked up a copy of this amazing book yet, please do! We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Sarah & Alex ❤️

GAP YEAR IN GHOST TOWN | August Book of the Month

August 13, 2017 The YA RoomLeave a comment

Hey friends! August is now well and truly underway, and we’re so excited for our upcoming Book Meet. This month, we’re lucky enough to be joined by the author of Gap Year in Ghost Town, Michael Pryor! As usual, we’ll be meeting in the upstairs section of the cafe in Dymocks from 2.30 – 4pm – it’s bound to be a great afternoon.

If you haven’t already got your free tickets to this event, click here to do so! Our Book Meet is only a week away!

Gap Year in Ghost Town by Michael Pryor

Let’s get this straight – ghosts are everywhere. I can see them. You can’t. And, see them or not, they’re dangerous. This is why my family has hunted ghosts for hundreds of years to protect people like you.

The Marin family are outcasts of the ghost hunting world. They run a two-man operation in inner city Melbourne. Anton has the Ghost-sight, but his father does not.

Rani Cross is supremely skilled in hand-to-hand combat, with enhanced speed and strength thanks to her magical initiation into the Company of the Righteous.

When it comes to ghost-hunting methodology, Anton and Rani don’t see eye to eye – Anton likes to ‘ease their passage’ to the next world, while Rani’s all about the slashing.

But Melbourne is under threat; with a massive spike in violent ghost manifestations, Anton and Rani must find a way to work together to keep supernatural forces at bay.

And what with all the blindingly terrifying brushes with death, Anton must decide if he really wants in on the whole ghost hunting biz anyway.

If you can’t attend our Book Meet, don’t forget to participate in our Twitter chat – #YARoomChat!

Even if you haven’t read Gap Year in Ghost Town you’re still more than welcome to join in. We’ll be talking all about our favourite ghost stories and books set in Melbourne. An hour of bookish fun!

We’re also super excited to be attending Michael Pryor’s launch of Gap Year in Ghost Town this Thursday night!

We love attending book launches – they’re always so much fun! Don’t forget to RSVP if you’re thinking of coming.

In other news, we’ll be helping to launch Ellie Marney’s latest novel, No Limits, this Friday night!

We were lucky enough to get an eARC of this glorious book, and we can assure you that this is a book that needs to be on your TBR. If you’ve read Every Breath – and even if you haven’t – you’re in for a treat! It’s spectacular, snarky, and so, so Australian.

We can’t wait to see you at all of these awesome upcoming events!

Sarah & Alex ❤️

The Hate U Give

March 5, 2017 The YA RoomLeave a comment

It’s finally starting to feel like March! We’re so thrilled to be reading The Hate U Give with you all this month, and we’re already looking forward to meeting up to discuss what we loved about this book, as well as holding our Twitter chat later in the month! If you haven’t got your copy of our Book of the Month yet, we recommend picking one up as soon as possible so you can join in the fun!

Our Twitter chat will be held on Monday 20th March at 7.30pm AEDT where we’ll be discussing the themes and ideas behind The Hate U Give, and then, as usual, our Book Meet will be held on the last Sunday of the month – Sunday 26th March, 2.30 – 4pm at Dymocks Melbourne! Free tickets for the Book Meet will be released soon, and we hope you’ll be able to join us!

Until then, we’d love to see your photos and reviews of The Hate U Give. Make sure you use the hashtag #theyaroom on Instagram and tag us in your reviews! We’d love to share them with everyone else, and you might even be featured on our social media.

We hope you love The Hate U Give as much as we do!

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighbourhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend, Khalil, at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, Khalil’s death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Starr’s best friend at school suggests he may have had it coming. When it becomes clear the police have little interest in investigating the incident, protesters take to the streets and Starr’s neighbourhood becomes a war zone. What everyone wants to know is: What really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does—or does not—say could destroy her community. It could also endanger her life.

Our IDA Month Wrap Up!

February 1, 2017 The YA Room1 Comment

As you all know, ‘Ida’ – written by Alison Evans – was our very first (of many) BOTM! And as many more of you know, on Sunday the 29th of January, we hosted our very first official book-club meeting in Alexandra Gardens with the one and only, ALISON EVANS! You know? The AUTHOR? OF OUR BOOK OF THE MONTH? ALISON EVaNS?

So naturally, Sarah, being the genius that she is, prepared a few questions for Alison, relating to both the book and themselves, to help fill any awkward silences – AND GUESS WHAT? There weren’t any! Alison very easily answered all of our questions, as well as signing our books and taking photos with us! Author G O A L S !

So let us recap it all for those who couldn’t make it! First off, yes, Alison is amazing, charismatic, humble and very funny! And yes! They have amazing BLUE hair! (also goals tbh)Read More »

Authors aren’t so scary ft. Alison Evans

January 27, 2017January 27, 2017 The YA Room2 Comments

First and foremost, we’d like to take the time to thank Alison for answering this informal interview, as well as the ongoing support they’ve given both Sarah and I this month!

For those of you reading, Alison Evans is the genius behind our BOTM ‘Ida’, which hit shelves this month, and was voted by YOU to be selected for our very first book club read! And might we add, what an amazing selection! Alison was kind enough to answer a few questions for us and I’m here to share their answers. LET’S GO!

Favourite season?
Spring.

Favourite genre?
There are too many that I love, though if I had to choose, Spec Fic is my favourite at the moment.

Favourite novel?
Right now, The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M Danforth.

Favourite quote?
“It is words that are to blame. They are the wildest, freest, most irresponsible, most un-teachable of all things. Of course, you can catch them and sort them and place them in alphabetical order in dictionaries. But words do not live in dictionaries; they live in the mind. If you want proof of this, consider how often in moments of emotion when we most need words we find none.” –Virginia Woolf

Favourite movie?
Princess Mononoke

Favourite TV Show?
I’ve only seen the first three seasons but I really love The X-Files.

Favourite Disney film?
Alice in Wonderland

Favourite author/s (if you can choose)?
Jorge Luis Borges for exploring such huge ideas so succinctly and beautifully.

Favourite dessert?
Fruit pies with custard and/or ice cream.

Pizza or Pasta?
Pizza

Gelato or Ice cream?
Ice cream

Movies or TV Shows?
TV shows

Disney Channel or Cartoon Network?
Cartoon Network, though to be fair I haven’t ever watched the Disney Channel.

Paperback or Hardback?
Paperback

Physical Books of E-books?
E-books just for sheer convenience. In my perfect world every physical book purchase would come with an e-book copy. I guess an enby can dream!

Bookmarks or doggie ears?
Doggie ears, I am literally incapable of using bookmarks properly, somehow.

Morning or Night?
Night

Now that we’ve gotten to know Alison a little more, it’s time for some book related questions! (Don’t worry, we’ve kept the spoilers out of it)

What influenced you to be a writer? Was writing always something you wanted to pursue? Did any authors or idols influence your decision?

I always loved reading and then I discovered fan fiction and it blew my teenage mind. Anyone could write stuff, and their stuff was really good! If they could do it, I could do it. Then I started writing AU stuff, and then realised that my AU stuff was so AU it was basically not fan fic anymore, so I started writing my own things. And my first true love, Harry Potter, definitely influenced me the most when I first started. Rowling’s characters are so alive and I love them, I wanted to create worlds and people like that.

If you could change or add anything to your novel, would you? And if so, what would you change/add?

Don’t ask me this or I’ll cry!!! I haven’t looked at the printed book too closely because I now there will be things I want to change.

What’s your favourite part of the writing process?

Writing the very start for the first time because anything can happen, or doing the second draft where I get to tighten everything and get rid of plot holes and make sure characters don’t switch names halfway through for no reason (the reason is because during the first draft I forget names a lot).

What about your least favourite parts?

When most of the editing is done and you’ve read the thing a hundred times in the past week and you KNOW something is missing but you just can’t figure out what.

Did you ever have moments of self-doubt? How did you overcome those emotions?

Literally all the time. I try to remember that everyone feels like this and it’s okay. I guess I just keep pushing through despite the self-doubt. NaNoWriMo is actually very good practice for this! There’s no time to question yourself, you just have to write.

Who was the first person you ever shared your writing with?

My mum! She’s always so encouraging.

Was your novel always going to have the sci-fi time travel aspect? If not, what changed/influenced your decision?

Yep! The parallel universes were the seed of the whole story from the very beginning. I’ve always loved sci fi but so often the characters were the same protagonist again and again, the straight cis white guy who gets the girl and the gender binary stays very much intact.

How has your identity formed the characters you’ve written about?

Like I said above, I wanted more characters like me in Sci-Fi. The words “bisexual” and “genderqueer” are not very often used and so I put them in there, explicitly, so that queer teens could see they weren’t alone.

What’s one piece of advice you’d give to aspiring writers?

Write a lot and keep going! Someone’s going to love it.

Where can we find you on social media?

I am mostly over on twitter as @_budgie, Instagram as alisonwritesthings, occasionally on Facebook as facebook.com/alisonwritesthings and even less occasionally on Tumblr as alisonwritesthings.tumblr.com. I’ve also got a website!

If you loved this interview, and would like to ask Alison any questions we may have forgotten, consider yourself personally invited to our meet up on Sunday the 29th of January! More info here!

unnamed — IDA is available for purchase at all good book retailers including Dymocks and Readings! Grab your very own copy today!

See?

Authors aren’t that scary after all~

IDA Book Talk

January 21, 2017January 20, 2017 The YA Room1 Comment

Hi everyone! For those that haven’t heard already, we’ve just announced our very first Book Talk for our Book Of The Month! We hope you’ve read Ida already, because our discussion will be focussed around this phenomenal novel, and we’re so lucky to be joined by the author Alison Evans at our meeting! If you haven’t had the chance to read Ida yet, make sure you grab a copy because it’ll be great to have a group discussion, and I’m sure Alison would be more than happy to deface (sign) your book for you.

Our Book Talk will take place on Sunday 29th January from 4.30 – 6pm at the Janet Lady Clarke Rotunda in the Alexandra Gardens, Melbourne. It’s just a five minute walk from Flinders Street Station, and across the road from Hamer Hall!

Please make sure you grab a free ticket to our event and spread the word! You can get your ticket here.

We can’t wait to see you all there!

January Book Of The Month – IDA

January 1, 2017January 1, 2017 The YA RoomLeave a comment

After receiving votes from most of you on Twitter, we’re super excited to announce that our Book Of The Month for January is Ida by Alison Evans!

Ida is published by Bonnier and is available at many bookstores in Australia right now, including Dymocks! Make sure you grab a copy so you can join in all the fun and come along to our meet-up at the end of January. It’s also fantastic that Alison is a local Melbourne author, and they’ll be joining us to discuss their latest novel! More details will be revealed soon.

Here’s a synopsis of Ida!

How do people decide on a path, and find the drive to pursue what they want?

Ida struggles more than other young people to work this out. She can shift between parallel universes, allowing her to follow alternative paths.

One day Ida sees a shadowy, see-through doppelganger of herself on the train. She starts to wonder if she’s actually in control of her ability, and whether there are effects far beyond what she’s considered.

How can she know, anyway, whether one universe is ultimately better than another? And what if the continual shifting causes her to lose what is most important to her, just as she’s discovering what that is, and she can never find her way back?

Ida is an intelligent, diverse and entertaining novel that explores love, loss and longing, and speaks to the condition of an array of overwhelming, and often illusory, choices.