Happy Mother's Day!

At the moment, I'm currently reading a wonderful book: The Bubble Wrap Boy by Phil Earle.  I'm really loving it.  It's much more light-hearted and funny than Phil Earle's previous books but there's just as much heart and emotion in this story as his others and I'm sure it won't be long at all until I've zipped right through it and I start raving about it to you all.  (It's being published on 1 May by Penguin!)

But I just wanted to talk to you a little bit today about one of the characters from The Bubble Wrap Boy.  Yes, I am only a third of the way through the book at the time of writing this and anything can happen with the storyline ... but already, Charlie's mum is one of my favourite characters ever. I love her. I do.  And I think the reason that I feel so strongly about her is that she could totally be me. Or I could be her.  And I thought that today, Mother's Day, would be the best day to celebrate her character. Let me start at the beginning.

The Bubble Wrap Boy is the story of Charlie Han, this (clumsy, small) boy who is completely and ridiculously over-protected and slightly suffocated by his mother. Who worries that Charlie will hurt himself or put himself in danger.  I don't know what Charlie's mum's secret is (that is hinted at in the product description!) because I haven't read that far. Right now, I'm just loving reading about the lengths she'll go to in order to protect her son.  And I love that Phil Earle presents her character to us in this really amusing way and how Charlie is (obviously) embarrassed about it all but mostly accepts it and then quietly rebels and Charlie's dad is all 'she's your mum, what can you do?' I laughed like a LOON at the mental image I had of poor Charlie (a teenager) riding along on a *tricycle* making his Chinese takeaway deliveries lit up in neon clothing. While in full daylight. Oh, I did laugh.  But also? I could relate.

See, I've got two children. E and the Littlest.  And it's hard for me to accept that these boys are growing up and they're doing it quickly.  E will be 9 this year (surely not possible) and standing next to me, he's up to my shoulders already.  It won't be long until he's in double digits and taller than me and heading off to secondary school. And I will sob my little heart out. Because I look at him and his brother both and I don't just see him (or the Littlest) as they are right now but I can see them as newborn babies and as toddlers and little boys on their first days of school AND who they are now.  All in a montage sometimes.  And it can be so hard to take that step back and let them make mistakes or fall over or just do stuff independently. I so badly want to let loose my inner-Charlie's-mum and coddle them both so that they never cry or get hurt or anything. But I know I can't. Not forever, anyway.

It was different with E.  E's always been a little bit over-cautious. I've had to tell him sometimes over the years to take chances and do scary things.  But not so with the Littlest. He's always been a child who threw himself into things and didn't worry too much about the danger or how much I'd worry.  He just doesn't to be the sort to think 'what's the worst that could happen?' very seriously. And why should he? We went to an indoor skydiving thing the other week and my heart was in my throat for every second the Littlest was in the tunnel because there was no fear at all from him. He's 6 and I just have to take deep breaths and let him get on with things and reign in all my impulses to (over) protect him.  Because for so many things he doesn't want or need it. 

So I get where Mrs. Han is coming from.  She wants to keep her child safe like any good parent does.  She just goes about it a little differently but probably with good reason.  I've had to work hard not to be a bubble wrap mother and I'll continue to work at it...

I can't make any promises about embarrassing my children though.  That's every parent's job, really.

I hope you all really enjoy this Mother's Day.  And if, like me, you can't share the actual day with your mother, then I hope you at least spend it with someone who understands what that means.  

WWYD? Scene of the crime by Helen Grant

I'm very happy today to welcome back to the blog the lovely Helen Grant!  Today, Helen is here asking some very difficult questions about involving the situations that the characters, Veerle and Kris, find themselves in in her latest book, Silent Saturday.  Really, what would you do in the same place?!

Helen Grant was born in London but has lived in Spain, Germany and Belgium. Her first novel,The Vanishing of Katharina Linden, was inspired by her time in Germany and is set in the town where she lived. It was shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal and won an ALA Alex Award in the USA. Helen's latest book is called Silent Saturday and is the first in a trilogy of YA thrillers set in Flanders. Helen now lives in Scotland with her husband, two children and two cats. 

If you'd like to know more about Helen or her books, including her latest, Silent Saturday, please do visit the following websites:

Helen Grant ... Helen on Twitter

WWYD? Scene of the Crime

by Helen Grant

If you saw a murder taking place, what would you do?
Would you intervene, even if the perpetrator was much bigger than you? Would you call the police? Or would you sneak away, trying to pretend it had never happened?

This is the question that faces Veerle De Keyser, the heroine of my latest book, Silent Saturday.

The answer should be pretty obvious – shouldn’t it? If you think you can stop the murder without being hurt yourself, you’d do that. Otherwise you’d have your mobile phone out and be dialling the police before you could say Axe Murderer.

Unfortunately, for Veerle the choice isn’t quite as simple as that. She and her more-than-friend Kris Verstraeten belong to a secretive organisation called the Koekoeken (“Cuckoos”) who explore deserted buildings in and around Brussels. Sometimes these buildings are derelict, but sometimes the Koekoeken visit the luxurious homes of rich expats who are away on holiday. They don’t steal or vandalise anything, but what they are doing is, of course, illegal. The owners of the houses are all rich and well-connected people, who would be howling for the severest punishment if they found out.

One night, Kris and Veerle visit an opulent villa in a Brussels suburb and see what appears to be a dead body. Veerle’s instinctive reaction is to reach for her mobile phone to call the police, but then she has to think about what will happen if she does.

She and Kris are on the property illegally. If she calls the police, they will see her mobile phone number come up, and it can be traced back to her. Then she will have to explain why she was at the house in the middle of the night, when the owners were away. The house is on a quiet and exclusive street and has a large garden with high hedges around most of it. It’s not the sort of property you might pass on your way to somewhere else, and casually glance through the window. There really is no innocent reason why a pair of teenagers would be there, especially after dark.

She and Kris could try to intervene in what appears to be going on, but they see enough to know that this would almost certainly be very dangerous. So the choice is really down to calling the police or walking away.

They could leave as quickly as possible, find a public call box and call the police from that. However, this is also a very risky plan. Even assuming that there is a call box close by, the area they are in is a very smart residential area bisected by Tervurenlaan, a wide open area with a tram line running down it flanked by roads on either side. After dark, this is not an area that would be crowded with pedestrians. If the police respond quickly to the call, Kris and Veerle may be the only people out on the street. As they don’t have a car, they can’t get away quickly.

Even assuming they escape detection at that point, if what they have seen turns into a murder investigation, there is a definite risk that they will be identified.

Considering that the area is so expensive and a high burglary risk, there may well be CCTV cameras – Kris and Veerle might be identifiable from the film.

Plus, if the police talk to the drivers of the 44 tram who had passed through that night, they won’t have picked up many passengers in the section between Quatre Bras and Villalobar. There is a good chance someone will remember Veerle.

Assuming that Kris and Veerle are identified, they are going to have a serious problem explaining how they came to see the body in the first place: what were they doing at the empty house after dark? Worse, if a murder has taken place, they may find themselves on the list of suspects. After all, they will be the last people to have seen the “victim” and they have made an anonymous call to the police, which there is no reason for an innocent witness to do.

So, intervening isn’t an option. Calling the police is going to bring down a storm of titanic proportions on your head, if not now, then inevitably later. Of course, you might think back to what you have just seen and ask yourself whether that was in fact a body you saw - whether the person was really dead.  Perhaps there was some other explanation.

Perhaps they were having a nap, there on the floor. Yes, that was it, you could say to yourself, uneasily. They must have been having a nap.

No need to call anyone.

Well, what would you do?

WWYD? Music from 1996

What Would You Do? is a semi-regular feature in which a question will be posed based on a character or story line in a book I've recently read.  I'd love if you would take part and share in comments just what YOU would do in a similar situation! 

I recently read a wonderful book, The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler.  It has a great premise - two teenagers for the 90s try installing AOL on their home computer and are transported 15 years into the future and log onto their Facebook accounts.  Looking at the strange (and changing!) status updates, relationship status, photos and friends lists, the two characters make some rather startling conclusions about what they really want for their futures and what will make them happy. 

It was a really fun read and I think the thing I loved the most about the book is that rush of nostalgia that I felt when reading about Josh and Emma's lives in the 90s.  In 1996, I was 14, just a bit younger than the two main characters and a lot of their experiences felt very similar to mine.  I remember installing an AOL CD onto my computer and tying up the phone lines and it was just really nice to be reminded of my teen years in such a fun way. 

The thing that got to me the most though were the references to music throughout.  Emma in particular mentions the Dave Matthews Band a lot.  And while I wasn't that into them when I was 14 in 1996, I remember hearing a lot about them.  Other bands mentioned were Hootie and the Blowfish and Green Day and they both bring back very strong memories. 

So I thought it might be fun today to see which songs and bands I would have chosen for my 1996 music time capsule.  There are songs that I remember very well that I haven't included because they aren't good memories (Unbreak My Heart by Toni Braxton, Because You Loved Me by Celine Dion) Feel free to think of that what you will and also feel free to include your own music memories or songs in comments...

Only Wanna Be With You by Hootie and the Blowfish 

It was only while reading The Future of Us that made me realise how much I really did like Hootie and the Blowfish during the 90s! There's one song in particular, Let Her Cry, which I know has some significant meaning to me, I just can't remember how or why!  I just think that Hootie was just always there, singing the background music to my teen years.

Just A Girl by No Doubt 

 Holy crap, what a great blast from the past this song is.  No Doubt were definitely one of the major voices of my teenage years.  And Gwen Stefani was one of my fashion icons as well.

Wonderwall by Oasis

I'm kind of cheating on this one.  I saw this song on one of the 'best of 1996' lists that I was looking at to jog my memory and had to include it.  I think there are only two songs by Oasis that I'd ever heard before moving to the UK and those two songs were Wonderwall and Champagne Supernova.   And while I'd heard both songs many times, it wasn't 1996 that I have memories of either song.  It was two years later in 1998 when I was turning 16 and singing along with some strangers in a bus on our way to doing some manual labour in the desert...

Who Will Save Your Soul by Jewel

While I do prefer Jewel's later music, it was Who Will Save Your Soul that attracted me to her songs.  I really liked the folksy feel of it.  Even now, many years on from 1996 and I still prefer a female voice singing a folksy song similar to this.  I have very strong memories of being in my room, wailing along to this song. 

Ironic by Alanis Morissette

Aww. Alanis is such a huge part of the 90s for me.  I remember going to a dance at the end of 8th grade and I was in a circle of friends and we were dancing in a group and this song came on and all of us got that much more excited and started singing along too.  Still makes me smile.

Diggin' On You by TLC 

TLC were one of those bands that I was crazy about in the 90s.  Waterfall, No Scrubs and Unpretty being particular favourites.  I remember watching the Diggin' On You video when it was released and seeing along to it when I was listened to the weekly music charts :)

One Sweet Day by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men

I didn't have to include this song, but I did.  Because I was the biggest Boyz II Men fan ever.  And this cheesy, cheesy song was one of my favourites. No judgement!

What songs spring to mind for you when you think of 1996?

WWYD? Celebrities in your apartment building

What Would You Do? is a semi-regular feature in which a question will be posed based on a character or story line in a book I've recently read.  I'd love if you would take part and share in comments just what YOU would do in a similar situation! 

The Million Dollar Mates series of books by Cathy Hopkins are some books that I've been reading and loving lately!  I've really taken to the main character as she struggles to balance her everyday life as a normal teenager with normal friends with that of the celebrities that live in the apartment building that her dad helps to run.

It's a really fun series, especially focused on several boys that Jess is crushing on, but it also touches on some serious topics in a light-hearted way - of image and self-worth and social awareness.

I thought though that for today, it might be fun to imagine that we are all in Jess's position.  Living in this swanky apartment building in London that's absolutely infested with top Hollywood actors and actresses, singers, dancers and just famous people.  Which celebrities would you like to live within throwing distance from?

Here are some of the people that I thought of, but please do leave in comments the names of the people you would like to live next door to!

Ian Somerhalder - I think I'd choose to have Ian next door just for a bit of eye-candy. Do I want to live near Ian Somerhalder or Damon Salvatore though?  I'm really not sure.

Taylor Swift - I really love Taylor Swift. Love her music, love watching her in interviews and so on.  I think she'd be an interesting person to have around.

Meg Cabot - Meg Cabot is an absolute genius.  She's clever and funny and slightly mad.  I'd love to live in the same apartment building as her.  I think if we met, we'd both find that we'd be the best of friends :)

Neil Gaiman - I'll admit, I wouldn't have a clue what to say to Neil Gaiman if he lived in the same building as me.  I'd be starstruck. But perhaps with my insider connections, I'd be able to sneak into his library...

Go on then, who would you pick, if you could?  Which celebrity neighbours would you love to have?

WWYD? World void of the Internet

What Would You Do? is a semi-regular feature in which a question will be posed based on a character or story line in a book I've recently read.  I'd love if you would take part and share in comments just what YOU would do in a similar situation! 

I was reading a really interesting book recently, Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky, in which society has been taken over by technology.  In order to protect the people, and especially the children, from harm, digital schools have been formed and technology has advanced in such a way that everyone is permanently connected to devices that allow for digital connections amongst people instead of actual face to face socialising. 

This really grabbed my attention right from the beginning because it is so easy to see what small steps we could take now and end up in the world that Katie Kacvinsky writes about.  N and I meet up I'd say once a month with some close friends.  And every single time we do meet up, without fail, one or all of us will stop what we're doing, whether it's in the middle of a conversation, or dinner or whatever and we'll check our phones.  I'm sure that this isn't limited to just my circle of friends! We'll check our messages, we'll check twitter, maybe upload a photo to Facebook.  Why do we do this?  Why not enjoy the time we are spending together and focus on that? 

So in today's WWYD? question, I'd like us all to think about what we'd do if we didn't have this permanent and easily accessible connection to people digitally?  What would you do if the internet wasn't there? What if we all didn't have smart phones with 3G access? or Facebook and Twitter apps?  Imagine a world without any of that, what would you do with yourself?

For me, this world without an Internet connection would be a very hard thing to deal with.  N recently pointed out that I spend a great deal of time in the evenings glued to my phone.  And that it isn't very nice.  So I've had to adjust that aspect of my behaviour and become more present when I'm with my family.  I think a world without blogging would free up a great deal of time.  Time that I could spend reading. Or spending time with family and friends.  I sometimes think it'd be lovely to spend more time outdoors, but I always think to myself that somehow I don't 'have time' to do it. 

I think without the distractions of Twitter or Tumblr and without the huge time-constraints that blogging places on my life, I'd have a great deal of time to do more creative things.  I've always wanted to learn another foreign language, or how to knit.  I'd love to spend more time creating crafty things.  It's an interesting idea and one that I'm keen to act on. 

If you lived in a world without the Internet, what would you do with yourself?

WWYD? Starting over

What Would You Do? is a semi-regular feature in which a question will be posed based on a character or story line in a book I've recently read.  I'd love if you would take part and share in comments just what YOU would do in a similar situation! 

Recently, I read Another Life by Keren David.  It's the third book in a series about a boy, Ty, who witnesses a crime and is placed into witness protection.  Throughout the series Ty really struggles to come to terms with what happens and his own involvement in it.  In this third book, Ty begins to fantasise about starting over.  He wants a clean slate.  He feels as if he removes himself from the lives of his friends and family that they might be safe. 

This really struck a chord in me as recently, a friend of mine told me something similar.  This friend of mine is going through something rough and while he has plenty of supportive friends and family and is well loved by many, he still feels alone in what he is going through. And  because of the issues he is dealing with he told me that the best thing he could think of to do is to disappear somewhere unknown. 

As my friend was telling me these things, there was such a look of freedom on his face.  There was hope and the feeling of being unburdened.  I can't say that I've felt like that in a very long time, but I've definitely felt that.  Moving to England was the hope that I was looking forward to.  I can't imagine myself starting over in that same way again ... so for me, if for whatever reason I needed a do-over, a new start would mean going back to MY start.  Moving back to America.  I think it would be very scary and hard to imagine, so it would only ever happen in a worst case scenario.  I'm just not brave enough for another huge move in my life. 

But what would you do?  In a desperate situation, where would you go or do in order to start over?

WWYD? Writing down Life Goals

What Would You Do? is a semi-regular feature in which a question will be posed based on a character or story line in a book I've recently read.  I'd love if you would take part and share in comments just what YOU would do in a similar situation! 

I really like Susane Colasanti.  I like her happy-making, gentle, romantic stories.  I'm always excited to read a new story by her.  And while So Much Closer isn't one of my favourites by her, I still enjoyed reading it.  The premise of the book (teen girl uproots her entire life to move to another city to follow her crush, a boy she doesn't know very well) sounds very similar to one of my favourite television programmes (Felicity!).  So I wasn't entirely sure when I started So Much Closer if that similarity would help or hinder my enjoyment of the book.

Even so, this post is not about those things.  This post is about something the main character does which I found to be quite interesting.  I've seen it done other places and I've always wanted to try it.  This thing Brooke does is that she writes down her wishes and goals and puts those wishes into a box to keep track of.  I like that idea.  To first put into actual words your heart's desire, to write them down so that they're out there and that they are real is something I'm drawn to.

For a lot of my life, I've been too afraid to even acknowledge that I have wishes and goals.  Isn't that sad?  Those little wishes, like 'I really want X for my birthday' when I was little or the 'I wish (my biggest current crush) would notice me' wishes in high school - none, or at least few, were voiced.  It's only later, looking back on things can I admit to myself that I really wanted this or that.  I was too afraid to go after what I wanted for a very long time and sometimes even now, it feels a little bit wrong to want things.

But here, now, if I were to write down something to add to my Life Wishlist Box (I'm sure Brooke calls it something better than this, but I don't have the book to hand), this is what might be included.


1.  I would love to finish my Psychology degree in the next two years with a 2.1 or 1st.  (*phew* This is hard.)

2. In the new year, I'd like to open my own Etsy shop. (Honestly, this is difficult for me!)

3. Next month, in November, I would like to complete NaNoWriMo and finally write that story that I've been stewing over for the past two years or so. (I'm shaking a little writing this)

4. I would ultimately like a career as a child and adolescent psychotherapist who councils and supports young people. (Can you believe I'm close to tears here)

5. In the meantime, while I'm waiting for my dream job (above) I would like to volunteer locally.  I'd like to make a difference in my local community by mentoring young people, or volunteering at the Samaritans, or with teens/adults suffering with mental health or bereavment, divorce, addiction etc.  (This is getting easier)

6. I'd like to start taking a martial arts class like I've been talking about doing for more than a decade. (I want to be kick-ass)

7. I'd like to take the boys to Alaska to show them where I spent my early childhood.  I'd like them to know that they are both part-Tlingit and I'd like them to know what that means.  I'd also like to see my mother again and to I don't know ... (this is the hardest wish to write down. And I can't even finish it.)

I'm not talking about the travelling I want to do (Alaska aside).  I'm talking about the goals and wishes personal to you, the ones buried inside your heart.  What are your life goals?

WWYD? A summer do-over

What Would You Do? is a semi-regular feature in which a question will be posed based on a character or story line in a book I've recently read.  I'd love if you would take part and share in comments just what YOU would do in a similar situation! 

I hope that I've made it pretty clear so far, that I absolutely adored The Twice-Lived Summer of Bluebell Jones by Susie Day already!  (See my review here and Susie Day's guest post about writing the book twice) I really do adore it.  It's quite the slim book, but it really pulled on my heartstrings as I was reading it. 

But what's more, I keep thinking of this book and its characters when I'm in situations where I'd normally feel a little anxious.  I've never had an amazing bunch of confidence but I've always wanted to. 

The story of The Twice-Lived Summer of Bluebell Jones is about a girl who makes a wish on her birthday for a little help.  Blue really wants someone to help her though this summer she's facing and when she blows out the candles of her birthday cake a future version of herself appears who calls herself 'Red.'

Isn't that a wonderful premise for a story?  I've thought about it a few times lately before I go out or if I'm wondering if I could pull off a certain look or whatever - what would my super-confident future self advise me?  I love that.  I love that I have that idea present in my head. 

But that isn't what this post is about.  I was thinking that since the schools have started up again and the end of summer is looming over us, what sort of advice would you give to your past self?  If you could do your summer over again to make it perfect and just right, what would you have changed?

It's a tough one for me, because I had an amazing summer.  We went on the Harry Potter studio tour, a weekend away to the Isle of Wight. We went to the Olympics and the Paralympics, we went on a family holiday to Denmark.  Time between all of that was spent playing board games and laughing with my two crazy and hilarious boys.  So there's isn't a lot that I would change for the things we've done... but there's always things I'd like to change about how I feel. 

That said, I did come up with a list, and here it is:

-Don't let myself take my iPhone onto that scary ride at Tivoli Gardens - that feeling of dread as it flew out of my pocket and crashed onto pavement nearby does not need to be relived

-Remind myself to bring more than 3 books on a week long holiday - I have no idea what past-version-of-myself was thinking


-Convince myself to start the 30 Day Shred earlier so I could feel amazing sooner rather than later

-Maybe with some extra confidence I may have PUT ON my bathing suit at least once this summer instead of feeling too self-conscious about it

-Don't be so bloody shy about arranging to meet up with friends

-Same goes for meeting authors at the UKYA meet-up, I'm sure those authors you were too shy to introduce yourself to would have loved chatting

Enough about me, what would you do? If you had the change to relive this past summer, what would you change?

WWYD? Time travel

What Would You Do? is a semi-regular feature in which a question will be posed based on a character or story line in a book I've recently read.  I'd love if you would take part and share in comments just what YOU would do in a similar situation! 

I recently read Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone and I absolutely loved it.  It's being billed as 'The Time Traveller's Wife for teens' and that description fits incredibly well.  It's an addictive, emotional, romantic read with that fun element of time travel which brings up a lot of questions to ponder.

But that isn't what I'm here to talk about today.  The main love interest in the story, Bennett, and his sister do this thing.  (In fact, this thing is technically the catalyst of the whole story because it causes Bennett's sister to be lost in time which forces Bennett to stay in a time and a place that he doesn't belong for a longer period of time than he'd normally. And in that time he meets and falls in love with Anna.  Oh *happy sigh* But anyway!)

This thing they do is that they go back in time (within Bennett's lifetime anyway) and they see bands in concert.  All those amazing bands that were performing the year Bennett was born or in his toddler years, he's able to go back and visit live.

I didn't think much about it while reading the book, so focused and intent was I on the swoony romance of the story, but now that I do have a bit more time ... isn't that a pretty awesome ability to have? If I were more musically minded, I think I'd have a field day on the number of musical acts I'd have like to have seen.  But sadly, I'm a musical idiot.



Who would I pick?  I liked Green Day quite a lot as a teenager. Perhaps I'd see Nirvana to see what the fuss was all about?  Or maybe The Smashing Pumpkins? Michael Jackson? I don't know! I was born 23 July, 1982. Perhaps along with choosing your own artists, you can give me suggestions for who I should choose? :)

The all important question though, is if you could travel back in time (limited only by the date of your own birth!) to see a band or musical artist in concert, what would you do?!

WWYD? Cheating

What Would You Do? is a semi-regular feature in which a question will be posed based on a character or story line in a book I've recently read.  I'd love if you would take part and share in comments just what YOU would do in a similar situation! 

I'm sure it comes as no surprise that I'm a huge fan of Sarra Manning.  So it was with incredible excitement that I picked up her latest adult read, Nine Uses For An Ex-Boyfriend.  I haven't reviewed this one yet, but I did enjoy it after I let the story and the character's decisions sink in a little bit first. 

I've written before that I don't enjoy story lines that involve cheating and I still don't.  I think it's a horrible thing to do to somebody and it would be awful to find out that your partner had cheated on you.  It just brings up horrible feelings of anger and betrayal but also on inadequacy and all of those emotions combined is a story line that I would generally avoid.  But as it is Sarra Manning, I really wanted to give this book a try. 

It's the story of Hope Delafield who finds out at this horrible dinner party that her boyfriend (of 13 years!) is cheating on her with her best friend Susie.  The rest of the story is of Hope dealing with this betrayal and trying to define for herself of how much can she forgive?  Is it okay for her to take her cheating boyfriend back if it's just a drunken kiss? Can she move on with this relationship if it's more than that? If it's love? 

I really felt for Hope being in this impossible situation.  Obviously I wanted Hope to stick up for herself more, to kick this guy out and move on.  But I could also see how hard it was for Hope to walk away from a relationship that has lasted for such a long time.  Walking away means the end of a thirteen year relationship as well as an end to the future that she had planned with him.  It's scary and hard and I don't envy her position and her decision at all. 

I think it can be really easy to sit on the sidelines on this one and say very clearly that personally I wouldn't accept cheating in any of the forms, and I'd hope that I'd have enough willpower and think enough of myself to get out of any relationship that would involve cheating.  But I think that Hope's story is pretty realistic in the way that it shows how much of an effect it does have on different areas of Hope's life.  I finished this book and I found myself questioning my own thoughts on opinions on the topic, and I quite enjoyed that reevaluation! So now I'd like to hear from you...

What would you do?

WWYD? Literary tattoos

When I was younger, I wanted a tattoo. I had half an idea for it (mostly just that I wanted one), and I had a place on my body I had planned to permanently mark myself. But I didn't go through with it. I majorly chickened out.

One of my reasons against it is that I had nobody to go with. Who wants to do a scary, painful thing alone? The second reason? The pain. My threshold for pain is quite small. The third reason? The most important reason of all... I've never made up my mind FOR SURE as to what sort of tattoo I wanted.

Ages ago, I was on the Facebook page of a friend from high school.  She had just posted photos of a new tattoo.  I clicked on the album out of curiosity and found myself looking at her tat on her foot of a lyric from a Britney Spears song.  I blinked and it was still there.  Huh, I thought.  That's ... different.  And then I read the comment that one of her friends had written in response to her photo.  I can't quite recall, but he said something along the lines of tattoos being permanent reminders of a temporary feeling.  For some reason, that one comment made me think long and hard about what sort of tattoo I'd be considering.  Its importance to me, its reason for being.  I wanted a tattoo to mean something.

During the crippling indecision that followed, I'd pretty much given up on that idea of ever having a tattoo.  Until I picked up the following book... 

Max from Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins - I adore the two books by Stephanie Perkins that I've read so far.  For 3/4 of Anna and the French Kiss, I felt like I was reading perfection.  So while I had high expectations for Lola and the Boy Next Door, I wasn't prepared to fall in love with it as I did so completely with Anna.

Somehow, I managed to love Lola even more.  And it was really Lola that I loved so much as opposed to either of her love interests.  I thought Cricket to be utterly cute and sweet and geeky-adorable but at the start of the book, I also loved Max, Lola's older rock star boyfriend.  Mostly because of the awesomeness of his tattoo.  I'm pretty sure that I'd fall in love with ANYBODY who has a literary tattoo - especially if that tattoo is from Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.  Seriously. 

 

So, naturally, the idea of tattoos have been on my mind again.  And I'm after an awesome literary tattoo.  Something children/YA book related.   

What would you do?