Hooray - by popular demand, there is now a Kindle version of Wasted!
Its here: WASTED on Kindle
Enjoy! I can't, because I don't have a Kindle :(
The other e-formats will be available soon.
Thursday 30 September 2010
Friday 24 September 2010
I NEED TO SPEAK LOUDLY
I write for teenagers. I do that because I like them and respect them. I want to tell their stories, which are my stories too, because I was a teenager and I remember it.
That's why I am so so very angry about the people in America who are trying to ban the amazing SPEAK, by Laurie Halse Anderson, from schools. They say it's pornographic. It isn't. It's the story of a girl, screwed up, driven mad and silenced by the apalling memory of having been raped. Which she blames herself for. It's called Speak because she can't. She chews her lips, makes them bleed through her tension. And she is saved in the end by the wisdom of a teacher who helps her tell her story through art.
Yeah, right. Pornography.
I'm just appalled.
I'd like you to watch a video. I'll put it at the end of this post. Laurie Halse Anderson reads a poem that she wrote about the book and the reactions she has had to it, not the reactions from ignorant people who misunderstand it, but reactions from young people who have dealt with rape or other terrible things they can't talk about, things I didn't suffer but which I wish no one suffered.
Let the book speak. Let them speak.
Here it is. It's called LISTEN.
That's why I am so so very angry about the people in America who are trying to ban the amazing SPEAK, by Laurie Halse Anderson, from schools. They say it's pornographic. It isn't. It's the story of a girl, screwed up, driven mad and silenced by the apalling memory of having been raped. Which she blames herself for. It's called Speak because she can't. She chews her lips, makes them bleed through her tension. And she is saved in the end by the wisdom of a teacher who helps her tell her story through art.
Yeah, right. Pornography.
I'm just appalled.
I'd like you to watch a video. I'll put it at the end of this post. Laurie Halse Anderson reads a poem that she wrote about the book and the reactions she has had to it, not the reactions from ignorant people who misunderstand it, but reactions from young people who have dealt with rape or other terrible things they can't talk about, things I didn't suffer but which I wish no one suffered.
Let the book speak. Let them speak.
Here it is. It's called LISTEN.
Monday 20 September 2010
BOOKS FOR KEEPS
Very thrilled to find a 5 star review of Wasted in Books for Keeps - they don't give out 5 stars too often.
BUT, I find it really strange that people keep saying that the reader is asked "to take an active role in determining their fate" Now, I know you are asked to do this at the end, but that's not what the reviewer means, as you'll see from the context. I find this intriguing because actually the reader has NO control over their fate up till then.
What do you think? Did you feel in control? Because you shouldn't have!!
Here's a bit I will treasure: "In Wasted, Morgan creates sympathetic, intelligent characters you really care about and when the book ends, you can hardly bear to leave their stories behind."
Thank you, Lois Keith! If I ever meet you, please introduce yourself!
BUT, I find it really strange that people keep saying that the reader is asked "to take an active role in determining their fate" Now, I know you are asked to do this at the end, but that's not what the reviewer means, as you'll see from the context. I find this intriguing because actually the reader has NO control over their fate up till then.
What do you think? Did you feel in control? Because you shouldn't have!!
Here's a bit I will treasure: "In Wasted, Morgan creates sympathetic, intelligent characters you really care about and when the book ends, you can hardly bear to leave their stories behind."
Thank you, Lois Keith! If I ever meet you, please introduce yourself!
Thursday 2 September 2010
THE NORTH EAST BOOK AWARD
Some lovely news for WASTED today - its third shortlisting! And it's a particularly lovely one: The North East Book Award. Books from all over the UK but voted for by teenagers in the north east of England. It's a daunting shortlist but I don't mind because I know the party will be fab! (I know this because I was there with Fleshmarket seven years ago and it's where my favourite quote from a teenager comes from: "People who say teenagers don't read haven't seen us!")
The full shortlist is:
I'm really pleased to see Keren David there. I met her for the first time last week and really liked her. I think it's her first shortlisting, or at least it's her first book. Hooray! And Anne Cassidy is a friend too, so it will be lovely to see her again, and to meet the others.
The result is announced at a ceremony and party in Newcastle at the end of January. But I honestly am just delighted to be on the shortlist. That's the clever bit - the rest comes down to chance. But I hope no one actually tosses a coin to make their decision.
The full shortlist is:
The Dead House by Anne Cassidy
When I Was Joe by Keren David
Auslander by Paul Dowswell
Rowan the Strange by Julie Hearn
Savannah Grey by Cliff McNish
Wasted by Nicola Morgan
I'm really pleased to see Keren David there. I met her for the first time last week and really liked her. I think it's her first shortlisting, or at least it's her first book. Hooray! And Anne Cassidy is a friend too, so it will be lovely to see her again, and to meet the others.
The result is announced at a ceremony and party in Newcastle at the end of January. But I honestly am just delighted to be on the shortlist. That's the clever bit - the rest comes down to chance. But I hope no one actually tosses a coin to make their decision.
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