Foxheart (Greenwillow Books, 2016) by Claire Legrand starts out with an unlikable main character that I grew to like a lot.
“For the first twelve years of her life, Girl had no name.” Left at the Convent at age three, she wouldn’t even talk for two years. Her gray hair made her unusual too and everyone was suspicious of the unusual. At age five when she wouldn’t tell the sisters her name, her punishment was to be given no name. Of course, the other orphans made up names for her. Girl took advantage of this and acted like a pig when the girls called her one. Called herself Pigwitch Girl while stealing from a woman from town.
Though obnoxious on the outside, Girl yearns for her parents. When she’s ten, a stray yellow dog becomes her sole friend and she names him Fox. She dreams about becoming the best thief in the Star Lands. But one night her whole life changes, and Girl has to run for her life.
I really enjoyed the story and the different characters we are introduced to and I loved the cover that hints to all kinds of things in the story. The book is a 2016 Junior Library Guild selection.
Author Claire Legrand has a number of other books that you can check out here. Three books are slated for 2018 and 2019.
Author: Susan Uhlig
A Face Like Glass
A Face Like Glass (Amulet Books, 2017) by Frances Hardinge is set in a believable, yet very unique underground city of Caverna.
Neverfell doesn’t remember anything before she was five when she ended up living and working with Cheesemaster Grandible as his cheese making apprentice. Her master makes her wear a mask whenever she meets anyone, which doesn’t happen very often as she’s never let outside his tunnels. At twelvish, Neverfell assumes the mask is because she’s so ugly. But when Neverfell goes out into the city itself, others think her face is terrifying, but for a reason she could never imagine. Will Neverfell be able to solve the mystery of where she came from?
If you like middle grade fantasy, you should read this book.
The cover on the left is the cover of the book I read. The cover on the right is the UK version, which I like better. The book originally came out in 2012.
Author Frances Hardinge has written a number of other books. You can read about them in her library. Her bio made me laugh. She likes wearing black hats as you can see here.
You want to write a sentence as clean as a bone. That is the goal.
You want to write a
What Goes Up
What Goes Up (Bloomsbury, 2017) by Katie Kennedy is a scifi novel written in two viewpoints. I loved it!
Both Eddie and Rosa are applying to NASA’s Interworlds Agency tryouts. Only two out of 200 just done with their junior year students will make the cut. Two days of testing. And confirmation that there are aliens. The math and physics exams aren’t too unusual, but the idiosyncratic exams are something else. Rosa should make the cut–look at her background. But Eddie–he’s trouble.
The book has humor, danger, romance, friendship, sorrow, and more. Don’t miss it.
You can read Katie’s bio here. She also has another book out–Learning to Swear in America–another scifi. I need to get it.
Serving Up Tempting Titles
The right title feels so perfect. Delicious even. But if you don’t have a perfect title, maybe you’re struggling to have any title. (Yes, I know titles are often changed before publication, but you have to call your manuscript something before you can submit!) What do you do if you’re stuck?
Here are some ideas. If one idea alone doesn’t work, try a combination.
Think about the theme of your book or magazine piece. Can you narrow it down to a few words? Does rewording it work for a title? Is there one word that is especially strong in your theme? Maybe the main character’s name and that word (or a synonym for that word) would work as a title for fiction.
Summarize the plot in one sentence and see if you can pull a piece out of that for the title. Or what is some interesting action that happens in the story? Sometimes a single verb makes a good title. Or use the character’s name and an action verb.
Look at short quotes, sayings or clichés. Could one become a title with a slight twist? Once for an article about a science writing contest, I used “It’s Not Just Rocket Science.” Or could a partial saying work? A recent book I read was called What Goes Up (by Katie Kennedy). The end of that adage might be an interesting title as well.
Is there something special about the setting? Could that be part of your title? I think of the song Rocky Mountain High. It’d be a different piece replacing High with Low. My friend’s book combines setting, main character, and action–Mrs. McBee Leaves Room 3 by Gretchen Brandenburg McLellan is a picture book.
What about your main character? Does she have a nickname? It might be his own personal one for himself. Or your quick summary of that character. I once titled a story “Ice Princess” since the main character was hiding a weakness by trying to appear perfect. Does your character have a motto? Could that be the title? What’s the character’s main problem? Once a publisher sent a book to me for rewriting. It was called What’s that Smell? which sounded too much like nonfiction. I changed the title to The Smell of Trouble which hinted at the problem in the story and both the editor and I were happy.
Could your title ask a question? Once I called a short story “Who Do You Tell?” Or quote a line or piece of dialogue in your book or story. I’ve used this often. Some examples are “No Way!” and “Just a Minute.”
I like titles that are puns or have more than one meaning. A student titled a story “In the Dog House”–not only was the main character in trouble, but the story included a dog. Perfect.
Think about descriptions in your book. If you have an analogy or metaphor that might make an interesting title.
What have you been calling your book privately? Could you play with that?
What about your antagonist? Would his name or title or label make a good title?
Perhaps try rhyme or alliteration with some of the title ideas you do have. Does that freshen it up? Give it a twist? Or try assonance.
Make a list of as many ideas as you can come up with. If you don’t find one that you like, try taking half of one and putting it with half of another. If you’re still frustrated, I suggest sleeping on it. I often find my subconscious plays with ideas while I’m asleep.
Have other ideas for title brainstorming? Feel free to share in the comments.