Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Meet E. Lockhart!




Today I'm proud to introduce you to a Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit writer who somehow knows how to write the kind of magic that lights the imagination of teens. Her new book, FLY ON THE WALL, looks like something I would have devoured in my younger days, with or without the munchies. Here's a description:

Fly on the Wall: How One Girl Saw Everything is about a girl called Gretchen Kaufman Yee who goes to a wacked-out art school in New York City. She's a collector of plastic Chinese food and odd figurines, a passionate comic-book artist, and a crazy Spider-man fanatic. She's also completely freaked out by the opposite sex -- in particular, the Art Rats, a group of guys in her drawing concentration. One day, she wishes she could be "a fly on the wall of the boys' locker room," just to find out what the heck guys really talk about.
And the next thing she knows... she is.
A fly.
On the wall of the locker room.


Damn. I would have died to get my hands on that when I was a teenager! Here's what some reviewers and others are saying:

"The stylish text (rendered nearly multivocal by the periodic font changes) combined with Gretchen's frank fascination with the oddity and then the humanity of the male body and psyche are a rare treat." -- The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

“A super-smart, super-sweet, and super-fantastic read.” -- Sarah Mlynowski, author of Bras & Broomsticks and Milkrun

"Narrator Gretchen Yee will grab readers from the first page with her snappy commentary." -- Publishers Weekly

"This unexpectedly sharp comedy charts its own metamorphosis -- from teen angst ("Life as an Artificial Redhead") to surreal wish-fulfillment fantasy ("Life as a Vermin") and beyond ("Life as a Superhero"). Gretchen Yee, a well-intentioned but self-absorbed teen smarting over her parents' sudden divorce, wishes she could be "a fly on the wall of the boys' locker room" -- and then has to deal with the consequences when her wish inexplicably comes true. Stuck in observer mode (upon pain of squishy death), she learns to consider others' perspectives, enabling her to mend fences with her father, play matchmaker for her love-struck best friend, and connect with her own crush upon her return to human form." -- The Horn Book Magazine

FLY ON THE WALL can be found at your local chain or independent bookstore. To order online, you can visit Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Don't miss the chance to send your favorite teen to E. Lockhart's incredible website, theboyfriendlist.com.

1 comment:

Stephanie said...

It's a really clever idea. :) Sounds cool!