Cynsations

Out Of Order by A.M. Jenkins

Out Of Order by A.M. Jenkins (HarperTempest, 2003). Colt Trammel is a popular jock with a pretty, if prim, girlfriend and real problem maintaining his baseball eligibility because of grades. When green-haired Corrine transfers in, he’s intrigued, even though it’s clear she’ll never fit in and doesn’t care to. Over time, she becomes his tutor, and the two come to understand each other. Colt’s voice is unapologetically alpha male, the Texas high school setting dead-on, and his connection with Corrine refreshing. A fascinating read. Ages 12-up. Highly recommended.

My Thoughts

I was particularly pleased when Corrine enlightened Colt about the whole melon-squeezing issue on pgs. 189-190 of the paperback. Really, that’s just a service to humanity.

Hm. I wonder if Amanda ever considered “Struck Out” as a title.

Amanda is also the author of Damage, a Top Ten BBYA, and Breaking Boxes, which was a Delacorte Prize winner. She is speaking on “Rewriting and Revising the YA Novel” on March 26 at a meeting of the North Central/Northeast Texas chapter of SCBWI.

Cynsational Links

Award-Winning Author Amanda Jenkins: an interview by Sue Reichard from Suite101.com.

Interview with Debra Garfinkle from the “Secrets Of Success” column on author Ellen Jackson’s Web site. D.L. Garfinkle is the author of Storky: How I Lost My Nickname And Won The Girl (Putnam, 2005), which is a must read!

Interview with author/illustrator Kurt Cyrus on Buddy: The Story of Buddy Holly by Anne Bustard (Simon & Schuster, 2005) from illustrator Don Tate’s blog (also see Don’s Web site). Not entirely by coincidence (Anne, Don, and I are all Austinites), I interviewed Anne on this blog just a few days ago.

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