Today Ghenet and I wanted to share some discussion points with you for our Book Club discussion this Friday.  We’ll be discussing Tangled by Carolyn Mackler, a fascinating book on so many different levels.  Feel free to answer or not answer any of these questions in the discussion.  Also, if you want more questions to guide your reading or response, check out Carolyn Mackler’s website where she provides a great download of discussion points for Tangled.

Note: These questions may contain spoilers!

Discussion Questions for Tangled

1. In this book, we have four different points of view (POV), spread over four different time periods and several different settings.  Did you like the four POV structure and the jumping across time and place.  Was it successful?
2. The author doesn’t show us complete character arcs for all of the characters but we know through hints in the text that the characters do all grow and change.  Was this technique satisfying to you?  Were you frustrated by not seeing the full character development for each character?  Or did you enjoy putting the pieces of the puzzle together yourself?
3. Who was your favorite of the four main characters?  Why?
4. When we were brainstorming questions for this discussion, both Ghenet and I expressed surprise that the story didn’t all take place at the Caribbean resort.  This blurb makes it seem as though the Caribbean resort is the central setting, but as we all know from reading, this is actually not the case.  What was your response when you realized the story didn’t all take place in the same setting?  Were you surprised?
5. How does each of the characters redeem him or herself at the end of the novel?  Did you find yourself changing your opinion of certain characters as the story developed?

Don’t forget, this Friday we do the Book Club post.  Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments either here or at Ghenet’s blog.  Or post a link to your own blog if you prefer to do a whole post!  Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this intriguing and beautiful novel.

Welcome Back to YA Cafe, where book lovers can gather and chat about teen literature. I’m your barista, along with Ghenet from All About Them Words.

Each Friday we pick from a menu of topics and share our thoughts on our respective blogs. We’ve also got plans brewing for interviews, events and even some exciting giveaways, so stay tuned! Join the discussion by responding in the comments, on your own blogs or on twitter using the hash tag #yacafe.

Dear Fellow Java-lovers,

YA Cafe will be taking a mini-break for the summer so that we can soak up some sunshine!  That’s right, it’s way too gorgeous out for us to stay indoors all day staring into our computer screens so we want you guys to go out and enjoy the summer.  (Of course, as I write this, it looks like it’s about to thunderstorm outside, but you know what I mean.)

Don’t worry: we will still post for our book club days.

On July 29th, we’ll be discussing TANGLED by Carolyn Mackler and on August 26 we’ll talk about SWEETHEARTS by Sara Zarr!

Just because we’re taking a break for the summer doesn’t mean Ghenet and I aren’t going to be thinking about and working on YA Cafe.  We’ve got some plans brewing and we’ll be back in the fall with more fun stuff like interviews!  Stay tuned.

We also wanted to open up the discussion to all of you reader friends.  We’re dying to know because we want to make YA Cafe super-awesome just for you!  Are there any topics you’d like to see us discuss in YA Cafe?  Any posts that were your favorites?  Please share!

Last, but certainly not least, I just wanted to send out a HUGE thank you to all you readers for your continued support of this project.  As Ghenet said on her post, when we first started YA Cafe, we thought it would only last through February and maybe March.  Now we’ve been going for several months and it’s only because of you guys and all your support, so THANK YOU!

Keep being awesome!

W elcome Back to YA Cafe, where book lovers can gather and chat about teen literature. I’m your barista, along with Ghenet from All About Them Words.

Each Friday we pick from a menu of topics and share our thoughts on our respective blogs. We’ve also got plans brewing for interviews, events and even some exciting giveaways, so stay tuned! Join the discussion by responding in the comments, on your own blogs or on twitter using the hash tag #yacafe.

In light of the holiday weekend, today we’re doing a short post to announce the winner of the Sweethearts giveaway.  Don’t worry, we’ll be back next week with more YA Cafe fun.

The signed copy of Sweethearts by Sara Zarr goes to…

Drum roll please… *clears throat*

*fumbles with envelope*

*opens envelope*

Lydia Kang!!!

*throws confetti*  Congratulations!

Lydia, you should be getting an email shortly, asking for your mailing address so we can send you the book.

To everyone who celebrates the holiday this weekend, have a safe and fun 4th of July.  Eat lots of BBQ and watch cool fireworks.  Most importantly, have fun!

Welcome Back to YA Cafe, where book lovers can gather and chat about teen literature. I’m your barista, along with Ghenet from All About Them Words.

Each Friday we pick from a menu of topics and share our thoughts on our respective blogs. We’ve also got plans brewing for interviews, events and even some exciting giveaways, so stay tuned! Join the discussion by responding in the comments, on your own blogs or on twitter using the hash tag #yacafe.

Today we’re kicking off our new summer book club by discussing The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han, a book that really captures summer at the beach.  With romance and friendship, this book takes me back to the summers in high school that I spent at the beach in Florida with friends and family.  And boys.  But there’s so much more to this book than just romance at a beach house.  In fact, you don’t have to look very far to realize that this book is not just any summer beach read; all you have to do is look at the title.

The Summer I turned Pretty.  On the surface this seems like a fairly innocuous, almost superficial title.  It’s a story about a girl who wasn’t pretty before and now, during this particular summer she has become pretty and everything changes.  Or so we think.  The title makes us believe that this book is about one particular summer, but really it’s about a family and family can’t just be contained in one season.  Family spans a lifetime.

It’s in seeing flashbacks to previous summers that we grow to understand why this particular summer is different, unique.  When we get to the end of the book, we realize that nothing in Belly’s life will ever be the same again.  If we didn’t have the context of those other summers, we wouldn’t quite be able to understand why this one in particular is so important.

One thing that surprised me is that the title seems to imply that because she has turned pretty during this particular summer, things will be better.  As we discover in the story, things don’t necessarily become better or worse, they just get… complicated.  The title lulls us into thinking that this will be just a fun summer beach read, but really the book more complex than that.

Which leads me to the question: What makes a good title? Titles are just about the hardest part of the book to write.  While on one hand you want the title to hint at the overall story, you don’t want it to give away too much.  Some titles are so obscure and random, it’s almost as if the author is having a private joke with himself and the reader is left on the outside.  On the other hand, some titles are so long and contain so much information that it’s impossible for readers to remember the title in the first place (which, of course, is problematic if you’re trying to recommend the book to a friend).

Of course there are exceptions.  Some titles are long and convoluted for humor’s sake.  Other titles might seem random at first, but as you read the books they begin to make sense.  What makes a good title and what makes The Summer I Turned Pretty so effective as a title?

1) It’s memorable. It’s easy to remember this title.  If I needed to go to a bookstore or library and ask for this book, I would be able to do so easily.

2) It gives us a hint of what the book is about. As I mentioned above, this title implies that something about this particular summer is different, special.  We go into the book having a general idea of what to expect.

3) It doesn’t give it all away. While we do go into the story expecting a summer romance, what we discover is that there’s so much more to this book than just that.  There’s friendship, family dynamics and loss.  The title gives us a hint but it doesn’t reveal all.

You tell me now: Is The Summer I Turned Pretty an effective title?  What do you think makes a title effective or not?  And most importantly: how do you come up with titles for your work?

Fellow barista, Ghenet shares her thoughts about THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY on her blog: All About Them Words.  Check it out, then tell us what you think!