Welcome Laurie Stolarz's new book, Bleed - which is visiting my blog today as part of its Girlfriends Cyber Circuit tour.
Bleed
Ten teens, one unforgettable day
Over the course of a single day, the lives of ten teenagers will intersect in powerful and unexpected ways.
Among them are Nicole, whose decision to betray her best friend will shock everyone, most of all herself; Kelly, who meets the convicted felon she’s been writing to for years; and Maria, whose definition of a true friend is someone who will cut her. Derik discovers his usual good looks and charm won’t help him get the girl he really wants, while Joy, a fifteen year old waitress, hoping for true intimacy, narrowly escapes a very dark fate.
Seamlessly woven together, this collection of interconnected short stories paints an authentic portrait of today’s teen experience that is at once funny, moving, and often very haunting.
What the Critics are Saying:
“Stolarz expertly weaves a combination of stories the reader will remember for a long while.” – Anne Keller, RandomReads
“The reader is swept along in this masterful plotting of characters as their lives intertwine in most unexpected ways. Laurie Faria Stolarz has captured perfectly the angst and folly of the teenage world.” – Teenreads.com
“…a funny, yet poignant book of interconnecting short stories in which the lives of 10 teenagers are seamlessly woven together….The author demonstrates the ability to identify with today’s teen experience…” – School Library Journal
Hyperion Books, September 2006
Hardcover $15.95
ISBN 078683854X
Ages 14+
Also Available by Laurie Stolarz:
The Blue is for Nightmares Collection
Llewellyn Publications
0738709883
$29.95
Ages 12+
Nightmares. Dark Secrets. Premonitions of Death.
Welcome to Stacey’s World!
With over 250,000 books sold, the Blue is for Nightmares Collection is now available as a boxed set, including a copy of Stacey’s spell book, filled with some of Stacey’s favorite home remedies.
It begins with the dreams. White lilies, the death flower. Being chased through the woods, knowing she cannot outrun her pursuer forever. Visits from the spirit of a girl who was murdered. Threats and taunts from an unseen assailant.
But that’s only the start. When the dreams begin to spill over into Stacey’s waking life, that’s when the nightmare really begins.
About the Author:
Laurie Faria Stolarz grew up in Salem, MA, attended Merrimack College, and received an MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College in Boston. She is currently working on Project 17, the companion novel to Bleed, also for young adults. To learn more about Laurie, please visit her website: www.lauriestolarz.com.
This work by Sarah Salway is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
4 comments:
I was interested to read about "Bleed". Weird, as I'd just come in from my writing class and all the drive back, I'd been thinking about teenagers, thinking how different is their lot from MY day... And yet, I thought, in class we'd looked at Margaret Attwood's wonderful " Cat Eyes" much of it about female bullying. It really struck a chord with many of the group, memories appeared to surge(!) and some brilliant writing emerged. It seemed to prove that human nature, the way we deal with experiences, follows patterns from generation to generation...the situations may vary dceade to decade but basically the people remain the same...that wonderful mix of strength, weakness, sadness, delight..
You're right - there's something about teenagers that brings out our most vivid writing. Or I hope so - the next novel's all about a teenager! I love that MA book - would love to know your writing exercise if you felt able to share.
I reckon It's one of her best.
We looked at the part set round Hallowe'en, moving on to November. The section starts with:" Black cats and paper pumpkins gather on the school windows..." The narrator is already an outsider ( bullying fodder?) because while the others wear " costumes", she wears "..a sheet, because that's what there is." We discussed MA's wonderful writing, ( the tension, characters, sensory details, her spare use of language...even in her longer sentences! Does THAT make sense...?) We unravelled the narrator's fears, discussed the taste, the sound etc of fear, the " needs" of the bullies, their reasons. As a workshop ex, some created a bully's monologue.Some described how the narrator felt beneath the ground ( trapped, and hearing her tormentors leave the scene...) and some described their own versions of fear ( or that of a character they may have been developing of late...)I find the devising of exercises the most fascinating part of " enabling" my classes;Im also learning much myself.
Oh me too, Jan. This sounds like a brilliant exercise.
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