FFBC: Welcome to the club, Autofocus by Lauren Gibaldi

Autofocus
by Lauren Gibaldi
Publisher: Harper Teen
Release Date: June 14th 2016

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Realistic Fiction, Adoption, Coming of Age, Family

Synopsis:

Family.

It’s always been a loaded word for Maude. And when she is given a senior photography assignment—to create a portfolio that shows the meaning of family—she doesn’t quite know where to begin. But she knows one thing: without the story of her birth mother, who died when Maude was born, her project will be incomplete.

So Maude decides to visit her best friend, Treena, at college in Tallahassee, Florida, where Maude’s birth mother once lived. But when Maude arrives, she quickly discovers that Treena has changed. With a new boyfriend and a packed social calendar, Treena doesn’t seem to have time for Maude—or helping Maude in her search.

Enter Bennett, a cute guy who lives in Treena’s dorm. He understands Maude’s need to find her mother. And as Bennett helps Maude in her search, she starts to find that her mother’s past doesn’t have to define her own future.

Lauren Gibaldi has crafted a beautiful and timely coming-of-age story that poses the question: Is who we are determined at birth, or can we change as we grow?

Hello Lauren! We are super excited to have you in our FFBC tours.

Could you tell our Book Addicts a little bit about Autofocus?

Sure! AUTOFOCUS follows Maude as she searches for information on her deceased birth mother. She’s never known her, and doesn’t have much information, so she goes to Tallahassee, Florida, to try to track down old friends. While there, she stays with her best friend, Treena, who’s changed a bit since graduating high school, and meets Bennett, a boy who helps her on her quest. 

Can you tell us a bit more about Maude and her personality? And what about Bennett?

Maude is artistic. She’s a photographer and loves seeing things through the lens. She always wants to find the perfect shot, and the perfect view of a person. She’s a bit single-minded, but aren’t we all at one point? And she’s very determined to figure out more about her mother, and how her mother’s life may relate to her own. Bennett is a boy who’s friends with Maude’s best friend Treena. He’s into Star Wars and Doctor Who and wants to be an animator for Pixar. He’s kind of dorky, super understanding, and really just wants to find good in everyone. 

So, as a personal opinion, do you think that we are determined at birth? Why?

Yes and no. I think some things—physical things, of course and some personality traits. I see this every day raising my own daughter. But I think other people around you, that aren’t family, also shape you. I think you become the person you want to be, and only some of it is from birth. (It’s why I like writing YA—it’s that stage where you’re figuring out who you are, and what you want to do with that.) 

How did you come up with the story? Did you find inspiration in any other story/movie/show and how has this affected your writing?

I thought of the place first, actually. I love Tallahassee, and starting thinking about why someone would visit. I wanted the person to be on a quest, be trying to find something, or in this case, someone. And then I thought of a girl trying to find herself and everything kind of fell into place. 

Tell us your favorite quote from Autofocus.

I actually just made a graphic to go with it! “I'm a blur. I'm not clear and crisp like some people; instead I'm messy on the edges and not quite formed. I'm many pieces all put into one, and one day I'll figure them all out.” I think that sums up the book nicely. 

Is there a specific scene that you had the most fun to write?

Two. There’s a scene at Lichgate that was super fun to write. It’s a real place, so it was fun, for me, to revisit it in writing. And it’s a sweet scene. The Pineview scene (which includes a possibly haunted building) was the hardest to write because I’m not good at writing anything scary, apparently. Ha!

If you had to pick one song to be the Theme Song for Autofocus – Which one would you pick? 

I don’t know! I really like “Photograph” by Ed Sheeran, but not for Maude and Bennett, but for Maude and Treena. Strip the romance love out of it, and instead think of it as that strong best friendship love that grows and changes and becomes complicated but always lovely. I think that’s them. 

Imagine that we get to see your book on the big screen (how awesome would that be?). Who would you pick to play your characters?

I’m SO not good at this question. For my last book, bloggers always had better responses to this than me, so I’m going to go with…who do YOU think? 

Is there any recommendations you could give your readers to be in the “perfect mood” to read Autofocus (specific music, snacks…)?

Hmm. I can’t read with music on, so I’d say no music. I think you need a nice cup of tea (for relaxation, of course), or some ice cream (because ice cream means friendship in my opinion). The girls in enjoy both in the book. 

What’s next for you?

I have a third book coming out with HarperTeen / HarperCollins coming out in 2017, titled THIS TINY PERFECT WORLD. It deals with an acting camp, and I’m so excited to share it with everyone!

Thank you so much for everything, Lauren!

Follow the Autofocus by Lauren Gibaldi Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Public librarian and author of THE NIGHT WE SAID YES, MATT'S STORY (a Night We Said Yes novella), and AUTOFOCUS (out 6/14/16), all with HarperTeen / HarperCollins. Fan of dinosaurs and cheesy jokes. And you.

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FFBC: Welcome to the club, Absolute Brightness by James Lecesne

Absolute Brightness
by James Lecesne
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Release Date: May 31st 2016

Genre: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, GLBT, Teen, Mystery, Contemporary, Coming of Age

Synopsis:

From Academy Award-winning writer, actor, and activist in the LGBTQ community comes a groundbreaking story about love, prejudice, and being yourself.

Phoebe’s life in Neptune, New Jersey, is somewhat unremarkable. She helps her mom out with her hair salon, she goes to school, and she envies her perfect older sister. But everything changes when Leonard arrives.

Leonard is an orphan, a cousin who Phoebe never knew she had. When he comes to live with Phoebe’s family, he upsets the delicate balance of their lives. He’s gay and confident about who he is. He inspires the people around him. He sees people not as they are, but as they hope to be.

One day, Leonard goes missing. Phoebe, her family, and her community fight to understand what happened, and to make sense of why someone might want to extinguish the beautiful absolute brightness that was Leonard Pelkey.

This novel by the cofounder of The Trevor Project inspired the critically-acclaimed Off-Broadway show The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey.

Hello James! We are super excited to have you in our FFBC tours.

Favorite Book?

TO KILL A MOICKINGBIRD – I know it’s almost a cliché by now to have YA authors cite Mockingbird as an inspiration, but for me as a gay man growing up in a society that didn’t accept LGBT people, that book was evidence to me that justice was worth fighting for even in a largely unjust world. And the dignity of every human life mattered more than social norms. It got me through my youth and guided me as an adult and inspired me as a writer. 

Favorite TV show?

Currently? PLEASE LIKE ME, a charming, funny and quirky half-hour comedy from Australia. I wish I had written it. 

Favorite movie?

OF ALL TIME? Harold & Maude. It was made in the late 1970’s but it still says everything we need to hear about living in the world as an authentic individual. 

Your Favorite Song?

Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes

Favorite Food?

The Avocado – the perfect food

Name 3 fictional places you would move to in a heartbeat.

Grover’s Corner, New Hampshire from OUR TOWN

Maycomb, Alabama from TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

Middlemarch from the novel MIDDLEMARCH

Favorite Quote?

"You are what your deep, driving desire is. As your desire is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny." - Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. 

If you could meet one author, dead or alive, who would it be?

Oscar Wilde – To me he is a hero and a genius, but I bet he’d just be fun to hang out with. And I like to think he and I would have a lot to discuss. 

How did you come up with the story? Did you find inspiration in any other story/movie/show and how has this affected your writing?

I had been working for many years as a writer/performer, creating my own solo shows and traveling around the country. At a certain point I challenged myself to create a really long monologue, to tell a story from the first-person point of view. As I was looking around, I was seeing too many stories about LGBT young people who were either being victimized or hurting themselves because of who they were. I didn’t want to sugarcoat the problem, but rather tell a story about the real dangers and the real beauty that comes when we dare to be our true selves. I turned to some books that were important to me as a young adult, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, A MEMEBR OF THE WEDDING, GREAT EXPECTATIONS and CATCHER IN THE RYE and tried to honor them by writing the best book I could possibly write. 

Tell us your favorite quote from ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS.

“Once Leonard Pelkey disappeared, he was everywhere.” This is an encapsulation of what the book is about – how the inherent goodness of every person somehow escapes us and yet this invisible goodness is, I believe, the very thing holds the world together. 

Is there a specific scene that you had the most fun to write?

There’s a scene towards the beginning of the book in which Phoebe finds Leonard crying in his room, shortly after his arrival in Neptune. I don’t know if it was the most fun to write, but it certainly surprised me, and there’s fun in being surprised by your own writing. Up until then I’d been thinking of Leonard as a pretty happy-go-lucky kid. Despite his misfortunes, he always managed to show the world a bright face and he put a positive spin on everything. But the scene in his room revealed to me the hidden depths of Leonard’s character and showed me how difficult it was for him to always be chipper and up. It took his tears to make him real for me. 

If you had to pick one song to be the Theme Song for ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS – Which one would you pick? 

ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS was adapted into a solo show, which I performed Off Broadway in 2016, and I got to work with singer/songwriter Duncan Sheik. He actually wrote a song called PHOTOGRAPAH, which became the theme song for the show. Could it get any better than that?

Imagine that we get to see your book on the big screen (how awesome would that be?). Who would you pick to play your characters?

Mark Ruffalo as Detective Chuck.

Marisa Tomei as Ellen

Jacob Tremblay (ROOM) as Leonard

Elle Fanning as Phoebe

What would you recommend to read to those readers eager for more stories like yours after finishing ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS?

THE GREAT AMERICAN WHATEVER by Tim Federle

ONE MAN GUY by Michael Barakiva

BROWN GIRL DREAMING by Jacqueline Woodson

IF I WAS YOUR GIRL by Meredith Russo

TWO BOYS KISSING by David Levithan

What’s next for you? 

I’m writing a YA novel, which is due to be published in 2017, published by Feiwell & Friends about a gender-neutral 16-year-old who travels to Florida with their mother to take care of their ailing grandmother. And accidently becomes a mermaid. 

Something to say to our Book Addicts?

Be who you are. There is no substitute for being your true self. And only you know who that is – and the fun is finding out. You will never know the impact your authenticity has on other people. One of the reasons I wrote the novel, ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS was to remind readers that each of us has a particular brightness that cannot be hidden or disguised; that brightness changes the world we live in – if only we will let it shine. 

Thank you so much for everything, James!

Follow the Absolute Brightness by James Lecesne Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

For over 25 years I've been telling stories. Whether I'm writing, acting, producing or trying to create social change, it's usually the story that got me involved. But in the process of getting things done and trying to make the world a better place, I've also been telling the story of my life. This website is my best effort to provide the general gist. But my hope is that you find something here that will inspire you to live your life more fully and continue to tell your story.

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Each participant blog is hosting an individual giveaway just like this one. So if you want to win a copy of James Lecesne's YA novel, don't miss any of the tour stops!

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FFBC: Welcome to the club, Ana of California by Andi Teran

Ana of California
by Andi Teran
Publisher: Penguin Books
Release Date: June 30th 2015

Genre: Adult, Young Adult crossover, Fiction, Retellings, Coming of Age, Contemporary

Synopsis:

Appropriate for YA audiences.

A modern take on the classic coming-of-age novel, inspired by Anne of Green Gables

In the grand tradition of Anne of Green Gables, Bridget Jones’s Diary, and The Three Weissmanns of Westport, Andi Teran’s captivating debut novel offers a contemporary twist on a beloved classic. Fifteen-year-old orphan Ana Cortez has just blown her last chance with a foster family. It’s a group home next—unless she agrees to leave East Los Angeles for a farm trainee program in Northern California.

When she first arrives, Ana can’t tell a tomato plant from a blackberry bush, and Emmett Garber is skeptical that this slight city girl can be any help on his farm. His sister Abbie, however, thinks Ana might be just what they need. Ana comes to love Garber Farm, and even Emmett has to admit that her hard work is an asset. But when she inadvertently stirs up trouble in town, Ana is afraid she might have ruined her last chance at finding a place to belong.

Hello Andi! Welcome to the FFBC! We are super excited to have you in our FFBC tours! 

Ana of California is the story of Ana Cortez, a 15-year-old orphan from East Los Angeles who has languished in the foster care system for most of her life. She’s screwed up another chance with a foster family so is sent to work at a farm trainee program in Northern California. The story was inspired by L.M. Montgomery’s classic novel, Anne of Green Gables—one of my absolute favorite books. I hope newcomers and fans of the original enjoy my take on it, and I hope the die-hard fans enjoy the similarities and differences between both. It all takes place on the Lost Coast of California in a small town full of oddball characters. 

Ana is courageous, Emmett is cantankerous (in a lovable way!), and Abbie is welcoming. 

The story came to me rather organically. I reread Anne of Green Gables and was surprised by how ripe it was for modernizing. The character of Anne Shirley is so beloved that it seemed impossible (and blasphemous) to reimagine her, but I couldn’t stop thinking about who or what she might be in modern times. Anne’s spunky originality, wild imagination, and strong sense of self appealed to me as a child because I recognized something familiar in her. I wanted to create a character inspired by those attributes but also someone wholly different and new. 

Most of my initial inspiration came from the spirit of Anne in Montgomery’s book, but the rest was born out of my own Mexican American upbringing. Writing my own version of Anne—Ana—was also my reaction to the absence of Latina characters in modern literature. When I sat down to write, I began with Ana, who is essentially chapter one of the book, and I was surprised by how she leapt onto the page. Abbie and Emmett were ready to be heard too, so I kept writing and just allowed everyone to speak. Reflections of my own history and family inspired certain scenes and situations as well. 

Honestly, I don’t have a favorite quote, but I do have a favorite series of lines. Without giving anything away, it’s the very end of chapter eight when Ana tells Abbie that the day was sunny even though it was raining. That moment meant so much to me when I was writing—it came out of nowhere—and it was the perfect way to end the chapter while also letting the characters evolve a bit from that specific interaction. My favorite characters in literature always seem to be the ones who find light where it’s darkest or are able to remain optimistic when everything seems hopeless. This moment was my version of that. 

Yes! I loved writing the hair-straightening scene between Ana and Rye. That whole chapter was a direct reimagining of the hair-dyeing scene in Anne of Green Gables. It’s such an iconic moment in the original that I couldn’t leave out of my story, so I updated it with the modern day equivalent. What was most fun to write was the dialogue between Ana and Rye. They’re both still getting to know each other at this point in the book, and then something unfortunate happens that threatens their budding friendship. I think we’ve all been in situations with a new friend where we don’t know what to do or say when something goes ridiculously wrong. I enjoyed exploring this situation with my characters while also trying to keep everything light and humorous. 

I did extensive research on organic farming, the foster care system, and the plight of migrant workers. What I discovered with each of these subjects was much more disturbing than strange. As you can imagine, the life of a foster child is never an easy one. Many teenagers in this situation face major difficulties when they turn 18 and have to be on their own in the world. Many don’t have the skills or support to make a living, so they end up on the streets or in even worse situations. The same can be said for migrant workers who are often undervalued, exploited, or trapped into harsh conditions. Small farmers find themselves trapped too, primarily by large corporations that are taking over the land. Part of the reason why I wanted to write this book was to shed light on these subjects. 

I’m currently working on a new novel that is set near my hometown on the Texas- Mexico border. I’m not ready to divulge too much about it yet, but so far it’s been a joy to write. I’m also working on some film and TV projects that I hope will one day come to life. I can’t not write, which often means that there are some random poems thrown in for good measure too, specifically haiku on Twitter. 

Haruki Murakami, Donna Tartt, Joan Didion, Patti Smith, Nick Hornby, Francesca Lia Block, Amanda Filipacchi, and John Green. 

At the moment, I’m fan-glrling over the BBC series The Honourable Woman, which has some of the best writing for women I’ve seen on TV. I’m fan-girling over a book I just read too, but you can read more about that in the next question... 

I just finished and thoroughly enjoyed Kim Gordon’s rock and roll memoir, Girl in a Band. Even though it wasn’t published this year, I recently read We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler and still can’t stop thinking about it (total fan-girl worthy). All I can say is READ IT, all-caps, but don’t read the description on the back. 

I can’t pick one. Thus, I’d choose Dorothy Parker, Nora Ephron, Charlotte Brontë, Louisa May Alcott, and L.M. Montgomery to join me for a martini lunch. We’d form our own vicious circle. 

Thank you so much for everything, Andi! 

You’re welcome!

Follow the Ana of California by Andi Teran Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Andi Teran is a writer and performer originally from the deserts of West Texas. She has written about fashion, film, and culture for Vanity Fair, MTV, New York, and Monocle, as well as written and performed for various New York stages. She lives in Los Angeles. Ana of California is her first novel.

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