Reveal Yo Self: Friday Never Leaving by Vikki Wakefield

If you've been on YAA for any length of time, you may have seen us mention Vikki Wakefield. All I Ever Wanted, her debut novel, was one of the first reviews we posted. (Third, to be exact.) In our second podcast, we talked about how in a literary landscape riddled with Lyla Garritys, Mim from All I Ever Wanted is the closest to Tyra Collette. Friday Brown, Vikki's second novel, was the first book we gave away -- not because we had an extra copy from the publisher, but because it was THAT good and we were willing to put our money where our mouths were and have it shipped from Australia. She was on both of our Favorite Books of 2012 lists.

We were so excited when it was announced that Friday Brown was going to be published in the US as Friday Never Leaving on September 10. We saw the UK cover a few weeks ago. And now, we have a US cover. Vikki revealed the cover on her Twitter account.

We love it. It's so eerie and perfect. For those of you who have read the book already, what do you think? For those of you who haven't, get your preorders in! Here are all the editions together. Which one is your favorite?

Editions from left to right: US, AUS, UK

Friday Brown (AUS) available now at Fishpond • Text Publishing (free worldwide shipping)

Friday Brown (UK) available on July 4 at Fishpond • Book Depository

Friday Never Leaving available on September 10 at Amazon • Kindle • Book Depository

Bookmark Binge: March 18, 2013

Can't get enough of...

Six Impossible Things?

Reynje of Wordchasing takes us on a tour of Dan Cereill's Melbourne. Look at all the gorgeous pictures, which Rey takes herself! This is the first post in her YA Guide to Melbourne series.

Inkcrush is such a treasure trove of Aussie YA. Nomes has a recommendation list that I refer to constantly. She also has a fantastic interview with Fiona Wood. Originally given in 2010, Fiona talks about her second book (which was called Pulchritude then) and a possible US release of Six Impossible Things. Three years later, both are happening and I couldn't be more thrilled. Fiona also shares her YA recommendations. Speaking of her second book though...

Look at all these links lying around...

Wildlife, one of my Most Anticipated Books of 2013, finally has a cover! And a blurb from Melina Marchetta!!

The cover was posted by Fiona on her Twitter. Melina's blurb says, "A beautifully crafted novel with achingly real characters that I couldn't get out of my head."

There wasn't much information on Wildlife when we posted our Most Anticipated list, but we finally have a blurb via Publisher's Weekly:

It’s the story of two teen girls – one still reeling from the death of her boyfriend, and the other, the reluctant model for a new ad campaign who is trying to figure out who she is and who she wants to be; they meet during a semester in the wilderness and learn about friendship, loyalty and love.

I know I'm excited. Wildlife will be released in Australia on June 1, 2013 according to her publisher's website, and in the US in the summer of 2014.

In other cover news, Vikki Wakefield's Friday Brown (reviewed by Noelle) has a UK cover. Vikki shared it on her Twitter. It will be published by Hot Key Books on July 4, 2013. What do you think of the new cover?

How does it compare to the original (on the right), designed by the incomparable WH Chong?  According to Vikki, a US cover already exists.

Friday Brown will be released in the States as Friday Never Leaving by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers on September 10, 2013.

Continuing with the Aussie invasion -- is it an invasion if it's welcomed with open arms? -- Simmone Howell's Girl Defective, another of our Most Anticipated Books, was sold to American publisher Atheneum and will also be released in the US.

I'm in love with this cover so I'll be curious to see how Atheneum changes it. Did you notice the slight tweak Pan Macmillan Australia made to the final cover (on left)?

Alpha Reader recently interviewed Simmone about Girl Defective, and I can't find out what the animal heads mean.


Upcoming Reads and Reviews:

Maggie:

Noelle:

Review: Friday Brown by Vikki Wakefield

Friday Brown by Vikki Wakefield
Review by Noelle: September 17, 2012
Noelle received a copy for review from the publishers.
Published August 22, 2012 by Text Publishing
Goodreads • Buy at Text • Fishpond


What makes a person who they are? Is it some magical combination of experiences, memories and family? What happens when those things are stripped away, are proven false or leave you behind?  Who are you then?  And do you actually have any say in the matter?

Friday Brown has spent her entire life traveling from town to town with her mother Vivienne.  Never in one spot long enough to know anyone.  Never needing anyone else but her mother to know her.  But then Vivienne dies.  Left alone with a grandfather that's a stranger, Friday is lost.  Vivienne not only physically created Friday, she mentally shaped her as well.  Vivienne's stories built her up but now the truth is breaking down.  Friday doesn't know who she is without Vivienne... but it's time to find out.

Reverting to her nomadic instincts, Friday runs away to the streets and finds herself a part of a new kind of family--broken people fitting their jagged edges together trying to become whole.   But is Friday finding herself or merely letting the next charismatic mother figure mold her into someone else?  Sometimes it's just easier to allow yourself to be swept away with the current than exhaust yourself struggling to swim against it.  And no one knows they are caught in a riptide until it's too late.

Friday Brown has a more subdued style than All I Ever Wanted but the story is just as intense. Wakefield's prose is as beautiful as ever with an exquisite tension thrumming throughout.  When the setting switches to an abandoned, isolated town in the Outback, the stress fractures formed by the effort of keeping the family together begin to strain, crumbling apart to chilling results.  Friday's journey and portrayal are painfully honest and once again, Wakefield's characters are so vividly drawn their strength reverberates off the page.  From devotion to desperation to horror, every emotion rings true.

If I had to describe Vikki Wakefield's novels using one word it would be "fearless".  If I could choose two words they'd be "required reading".  Rating: 4.5/5 stars.


GIVEAWAY!
You'd have to pry our personal copies of All I Ever Wanted and Friday Brown out of our dead cold hands, but if sharing is caring, sharing Vikki Wakefield is true love.  Don't ever say we don't love you, readers!  That's right, enter below to win a copy of your choice of All I Ever Wanted or Friday Brown. YA Anonymous will order you a copy from Text and send it straight to your doorstep.  International readers welcome to enter.



a Rafflecopter giveaway

All I Ever Wanted... In A Book

By: Maggie

To piggyback on Noelle's fantastic review of All I Ever Wanted, there's a passage in the book that really struck a chord with me. Mim's mom accidentally gives away Mim's beloved travel books, thinking they're old and used and unwanted. For Mim, though, these books that she's read over and over again are proof that a bigger, better world exists. Mim's neighbor and recipient of the books ends up giving them back to her, saying she knew the books were given away by mistake. When Mim asks how she could've known that, her neighbor replies,

"Because these books have been loved. You don't just give away books like these." She picks a book up and opens it in the middle. "See? Fingernail makes. Under every line." She holds a page up to the light and it's worn thin as rice-paper and scored with horizontal lines.

As a reader, I loved this passage. As an anal retentive, I was horrified. Lines in the book?? Creases in the binding?! Never have I ever! Some of my favorite books growing up were the American Girls Collection, particularly the Samantha Parkington series. This was back in the day when the dolls were mail order only and the only characters were Kirsten, Molly, and Samantha. Felicity and Addy came later. I must have read the Samantha books over 100 times each. And here is what my books, which I kept through move after move, look like today.

Perfect. Like new. See, this to me means the books were cherished. Loved. I would never have marked them up. At the same time, when I do see someone brazenly marking up a book, I'm totally awestruck, like, What a BADASS!

Welcome to Young Adult Anonymous, where you can let your crazy out. So what kind of reader are you?

Review: All I Ever Wanted by Vikki Wakefield

All I Ever Wanted by Vikki Wakefield

Reviewed by Noelle: December 5, 2011
Published June 27, 2011 by Text
Goodreads • Buy Kindle edition • Buy at Fishpond


Oh, man. I really, really liked this.

Mim dreams of a different life, a life far, far away (in every respect) from her current one and it’s not difficult to understand why she wants to escape. She lives in a rough neighborhood where bright futures are the rarity, not the foregone conclusion. The family business includes drug dealing and loan sharking and her neighbors range from strange to genuinely terrifying. Mim hardly dares to say her dreams out loud, but she fiercely clings to the idea of a better life. By drafting a set of strict rules for herself, Mim is determined to change her fate. She has managed to steer clear of any outright involvement in criminal activity, but that all changes when both of her brothers are arrested and her mom needs her to pick up a package. Over the following week, Mim’s rules are systematically broken and her life is forever changed.

It’s amazing how much Vikki Wakefield accomplishes in so few pages (202!). Her prose is stunningly beautiful and atmospheric. There's nothing extraneous in her writing, every word is chosen with such precision and care. Wakefield really has a knack for nuanced, genuine characters. Although the plot is suspenseful, gritty and entertaining, where the book really delivers is the character interaction. The emotional relationships are bitterly honest. And Mim? Mim is just plain special. She is tough, yet a dreamer. Resigned, yet hopeful. She's prickly, funny, flawed and fierce. I loved her journey as all of her preconceptions about everyone from her mother to her crush to herself blow up in her face and challenge her to adapt and grow. Her blind need to escape has kept her separate from the world around her, but what happens when she opens her eyes and really sees "her people"? I was completely absorbed throughout all of her mistakes and triumphs.

Verdict: 5/5 stars.  All I Ever Wanted is one of my favorite books of the year.