Fall 2010 Children's Books

The Fall 2010 Children’s Books issue of Publishers Weekly is finally here!!! Relying on the brief descriptions given for each title, here are the upcoming (or recently released) mid-grade and teen novels which most piqued my curiosity:

Benjamin Franklinstein Lives! by Matthew McElligott and Larry Tuxbury, illus. by McElligott. Victor discovers that Benjamin Franklin was put into suspended animation and hidden away in his basement for 200 years.

The Blending Time by Michael Kinch. In 2054, three teens are chosen to help repopulate Africa after a solar flare leaves its people sterile.

Bloodthirsty by Flynn Meaney. When the other girls at school become obsessed with a vampire book, shy Finbar pretends to be undead to get some attention.

The Boy Who Howled by Timothy Power. A boy who has been living with a wolf pack tries to fit in when he is sent to live with humans.

The Candymakers by Wendy Mass. Four kids competing in a candy-making competition must discover who is trying to sabotage the candy factory.

The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman. In a rare items library, Elizabeth discovers a secret room filled with items from Brothers Grimm tales.

Hero by Mike Lupica. Billy learns that his father was a superhero—and he has inherited his powers.

The Limit by Kristen Landon. If a family exceeds the debt limit imposed by the government, the oldest child is taken away to a workhouse.

The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney. After she is date-raped at school, Alex turns to an underground student society to seek justice.

My Fake Boyfriend Is Better Than Yours by Kristina Springer. Two seventh-grade frenemies battle it out using their made-up boyfriends.

Past Midnight by Mara Purnhagen. A girl whose parents have a ghost-debunking TV show discovers that two angry ghosts have followed her to her new school.

Rules for Secret Keeping by Lauren Barnholdt centers on a girl who runs a successful secret-passing business.

Stork by Wendy Delsol. The heroine of this novel of romance and the supernatural has the ability to decide who gets pregnant.

Three Quarters Dead by Richard Peck. Kerry begins receiving text messages from three schoolmates who died in a car accident.

The Unidentified by Rae Mariz is a dystopian novel about a girl attending a school in a mall where students are used for market research.

Virgin Territory by James Lecesne. After his mother dies, a boy meets the leader of a group of kids whose families seek out sightings of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

You Are Not Here by Samantha Schutz. When her secret love is killed, Annaleah struggles with a grief that no one will acknowledge.

You Wish by Mandy Hubbard. On her birthday, Kayla wishes that all her previous birthday wishes would come true, but may regret it when they do.

Rock this Way

This past weekend, JoanMarie and I did a lot of cool things which I'm not allowed to publicly tell you about...yet. But I will tell you about the most awkward moment. On Saturday, we stayed at my aunt and uncle's house and watched a home video from 1990. Now, JM's never seen a video of me from the High School Daze. This one was set on Christmas Eve and contained me in my acid-washed jeans, skinny body, gap-toothed, full-on mullet glory.

JoanMarie's response to that visual embarrassment? "You're so cute."

Yep, she's a keeper!

On that video, one of the presents I opened was Aerosmith's Permanent Vacation CD. And that was weird because, two days later, we went to the California Mid-State Fair and saw...AEROSMITH!!!

If you've never been to a state fair, half of the fun is the food. And even though bacon and chocolate are two of JM's favorite foods, the combo seemed a bit too much to even try.


Aerosmith was one of the bands which caused guitar rock to dig its claws into me during the summer of 1988. The anticipation of seeing them live for the first time was almost unbearable.


Steven Tyler, the lead singer, has to be the best frontman of all time. His vocal screams are still perfect and his stage presence is mesmerizing. And the dude is 62!


Remember the slappin' da bass scene in I Love You, Man?



That was pretty much me all night. But I was shreddin' da guitar!


JoanMarie's response? "You're so cute."

Rock on!

It's a . . .

IT'S A BOY!!!

Here's our first family photo.

(Jay Edward Asher, Isaiah Nathan Asher, JoanMarie Asher)

The 3-D ultrasound imaging they do is amazing. We got to watch him kick and squirm and grab his toes. It was so adorable!


When he's sleeping, his mommy thinks he looks just like his daddy.


But like his mommy, he already likes to sing. Here he is singing a Diana Ross song: I'm coming out. I want the world to know...


I swear, at one point, he looked right at us and smiled!


So who guessed boy and was randomly selected by JoanMarie to win a whole bunch of goodies?

Congratulations
Jennifer Petro-Roy!!!

Since you left your email along with your guess, you've made this next part easy for me. I'll be sending you an email to get your shipping address, and in the near future you'll be receiving:

• a signed copy of Thirteen Reasons Why (let me know who you'd like it personalized to)
• a signed copy of JoanMarie's CD In This World (ditto the above info)
• The Hardy Boys #1: The Tower Treasure
• an It's A Boy bubblegum cigar
• a blue footprint lollipop
• pretzel M&M's
• a blue My Sticker Book
• an Uglydoll named Ket
• a blue diapered mini-baby
• tropical punch Pop Rocks
• a blue razz berry Blow Pop

Thank you all for being so excited for us. It was one of those beautiful days we'll never forget!

Ivysaiah Wants You to Win!

JoanMarie and I have been referring to our upcoming baby as Ivysaiah until we find out the sex. Why Ivysaiah? Because it blends together the two names we've settled on: Ivy if she's a girl, Isaiah if he's a boy.

We'll find out the sex...fingers crossed!...this Wednesday. So which do you think it'll be? A boy or a girl?

Leave your name and answer in the comments section, and I'll let JoanMarie randomly pick a number to figure out which person (from the list of correct answers) will win the prize. And no, you can't answer twice. You already have a 50/50 chance of getting it right!

What are you hoping to win? I'll send you a signed copy of Thirteen Reasons Why, a signed copy of JoanMarie's CD In This World, and some cheap and silly pink or blue goodies...some of them edible. (I didn't want to buy that pink and blue stuff ahead of time just to take a picture for you because then I'd have to return half of it.)

I'll announce the name of our baby and the winner this Thursday, so get your answers in by Wednesday evening.

In the past several months, a lot of people have been telling us their superstitions about how to determine the sex. Below, I'll share some of that info to help you make your selection.

• JoanMarie had lot of morning sickness, associated with the extra female hormones caused by a baby girl.
• Since the male determines the gender, and my parents had two boys, there's a really good chance it'll be a baby boy.
• JoanMarie has been expressing a lot more of her "girly" characteristics, so it's a girl.
• JoanMarie usually sleeps on her left, which means it's a boy.
• A woman at church can tell just by looking at the shape of a mommy's tummy, and apparently we're having a girl.
• Based on our birth dates, BabyGenderTool.com says we're having a boy.
• JoanMarie's been craving sweet over spicy, which means we're having a girl.

And yes, JoanMarie and I are going to be thrilled either way!

Little Surfer

If our baby grows up to be a surfer, this photo documents his/her first day riding waves.


Since JoanMarie didn't come back to shore nauseous, I'd say he/she had a great time!

Thwip, Thwap, Thwop, or Thwup?

Let's say you need to describe the sound helicopter blades make while sweeping through the air. Would you say:

Thwip-thwip-thwip-thwip

or

Thwap-thwap-thwap-thwap

or

Thwop-thwop-thwop-thwop

or

Thwup-thwup-thwup-thwup?

I've been rotating through all four versions throughout the day, saying them aloud, feeling embarrassed, and making myself dizzy trying to figure this out. And I do need to settle on something.

To give you a little more detail, the helicopter would be about the same size as the one below, and also carrying something.



And if you have a totally different and better way to spell the chopper noise, let's hear it!

Happy 4th of July (plus a note to all you werecougars out there)

JoanMarie and I began the Independence Day festivities on July 2nd, joining some good friends at a local baseball game, which was followed by a much-better-than-expected fireworks display.


Nope, you can't celebrate America any better than being outdoors with friends, watching baseball and fireworks. Unless, of course, you add some hot dogs and nachos into the mix! (Nachos are totally American if you eat them at a baseball game.)

We'll be spending the actual 4th at the beach with some more friends, followed by more fireworks. And I'm sure I'll squeeze in another hot dog or two!


Now let me speak to all of you adult ladies for a second. On July 3rd, JoanMarie and I went to see Eclipse. We enjoyed it. And yes, Taylor Lautner's abs made me a bit jealous (though not jealous enough to keep me away from those hot dogs). But listen, Mr. Lautner was 17 in that movie. That makes him a minor, and that makes some of your descriptions of his body slightly creepy!

J. Bieber

"Your head looks funny."

Those were the extremely honest words JoanMarie used to let me know it was time for a haircut. So I thought I'd try something a little more daring this time.


Whatcha think?

Grateful, Grateful, Grateful, Grateful, Grateful, Grateful, Please

I've become a much more spiritual person the past couple of years. The biggest impact this has had on my life is that I no longer worry about ridiculous things anymore. And almost everything's ridiculous when it comes to worrying! Either you do something about it, or you realize that there's nothing you can do about it.

The result? I'm much calmer and I enjoy life more. I also think my hair has stopped thinning! It's not coming back, but it's also not going away. (Or maybe I'm just not worrying about it anymore...)

While I'm very content and happy with my life right now, there are still plenty of things I want. When my Momma-In-Law stayed with us recently, I learned a new way to think about those wants when she showed me the Gratitude Beads her pastor made for her.


Basically, when you find yourself wanting something, you start by turning your mind toward gratitude. You touch the tan beads, one by one, and think about six things in your life that you're thankful for. Finally, you touch the textured bead and ask for what you want.

Cool thing is, by the time you reach the textured bead, you realize how much you've already been given.

Does that make a difference as far as whether or not your wish or prayer will come true? Probably not. But it will make a difference in how you view the world.

3 Amazing Originals

There's not much I can say about these 3 book trailers that you won't see for yourself. Acting, directing, editing...get thee to Hollywood!

Hollywoodland

This past weekend, JoanMarie and I went down to Hollywood to watch A Chorus Line. Neither of us had ever seen the show, but we were mainly going to hang out with JoanMarie's friend from college and her family. Turns out, Haley is the sister-in-law of the lead actor in the show. So when it was over, we were given a VIP tour backstage.

If you've seen A Chorus Line, you've seen how quickly they change into those sparkly costumes at the end. Those costumes are expensive, so even though I wanted to try on one of the hats, I was also afraid to even touch one of the hats.


Live theater is something I always forget how much I love until someone gives me an excuse to check it out again. And then I kick myself for not seeing it more often. But it was fun to leave the backstage area with the lead actor and actress and see the people who do remember how cool live theater is waiting for photos and autographs.

Then we all went out for dinner at a Moroccan restaurant where everything is eaten without utensils. It took some time to feel comfortable digging my fingers into a piece of chicken or breaded thing that someone else had touched. But I was hungry, so I got over it.


The next day, JoanMarie and I checked out the sites in Hollywood. I recognized about 1 out of every 5 names on the Walk of Fame, compared to 1 out of every 20 for JoanMarie...and I adore that about her!


At Grauman's Chinese Theater, we checked out the footprints and handprints of the stars. I, of course, was excited to see that the stars of the Harry Potter films had left their marks.


JoanMarie got to put her hand in the exact same spot Johnny Depp had once put his hand!


We took an open-air van ride to see spots where movies were shot, some homes where "Old Hollywood" stars once lived, and some "New Hollywood" stars currently live.


I'll admit, it felt a tad stalkerish to drive by homes currently occupied by celebrities. Even though they're making millions of dollars, they still deserve their privacy, in my opinion. The best part of the tour was just driving through the neighborhoods and seeing some really beautiful houses and picking up some Hollywood history.

I was most excited to see the house where they filmed the original Halloween.


We also passed by a house once owned by Bela Lugosi, now owned (but not occupied) by Johnny Depp.

JoanMarie: "Did you hear who owns...?

Jay: "Yes, babe, I heard."

On either side of the gate are freaky looking gargoyles. Of course, a house once owned by Dracula should only be photographed in black-n-white.


Finally, we took a stroll through Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. Immediately, I was recognized by Joan Rivers. Apparently, she's a huge fan of my book, so I gave her an interview. It was hard to tell what she thought of my answers because her expression never changed...which proved to me that she was the real Joan Rivers.


Even though Forrest Gump made millions from his Apple stock, he's very stingy with his chocolates. He wouldn't even share the coconut ones!


There were several interactive elements to this wax museum, which made it a lot of fun.


I was lucky enough to have seen Bob Hope perform live years ago, and I've always been a fan of both his and George Burns. Moments after taking this shot, Mr. Hope threw down a perfect one-liner and I spit my water everywhere.


When I repeated the same joke to Jim Carey, he thought I was frickin' hilarious. So I told him, yes, I made it up on the spot.


Even though she's pregnant, it was neck and neck between JoanMarie and Lance Armstrong until the very end.


The camera didn't catch my skating awesomeness, but Tony Hawk isn't bad, either.


One of JoanMarie's favorite actresses is Whoopi Goldberg. (And no, I have no idea what she's praying for right here.)


(Wait, yes I do.)


It was a long and exhausting weekend, but definitely fun. In fact, if I'd gotten a little more rest earlier in the day, I easily could've won this match.

You're so cute, yes you are!

We're going to have a baby!!!

Sorry, I'm just so excited that I couldn't string you along like I planned. Here's the proof I was going to show you at the end of this post...which is now at the beginning!


That's what the baby looks like as of this Wednesday, just over 12 weeks into the pregnancy (due date: December 13th). It's not the clearest ultrasound, but some scar tissue still remains from JoanMarie's surgery last November. Remember that? Yep, from surgery to pregnancy, my woman's a fighter!

Apparently, so is my baby. To get a better look, the doctor shook JoanMarie's belly (that was weird!), but my baby decided he/she was having none of that and turned to the side so we could only see his/her back.


Baby's got attitude already!

So here's where I originally planned on beginning this post. (But I was just so excited!) A few months ago, JoanMarie and I bought a new house. Why? Because we wanted a little more room. Room for what? Well, you know for what by now.

Here's JoanMarie, doing a very clumsy cartwheel through our living room the night the place became ours.


But my friend Ryan and I, minutes later, began ripping that blue carpet out.


Within the next few days, we began taping and priming.


Then came the paint.


And here's the almost finished product!


Not too much later, after returning from a speaking gig, JoanMarie picked me up from the airport a little late. Why was she late? Because she wasn't done setting up a scavenger hunt. Each clue led me to a new place in our house, where I discovered another clue...and a word.


WE

ARE

GOING

TO

BE

The last clue took me to our bedroom. Beneath the blankets on our bed was a basket with a bottle of sparkling grape juice, some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (mmmmm!), and a pregnancy test with an extra blue line, plus one more word.

PARENTS!

Our friend Brittany recorded the whole thing, and here we are watching my reaction.


You may remember this photo, taken back in the fall of 2006, when I woke up my mom to let my parents know that I sold my first book. Obviously, it was an awesome night! But there was a slight glitch in the delivery of the news when my mom mistakenly thought, just for a moment, that she and my dad were going to be grandparents.


Well, this time, that's exactly what we were saying!


JoanMarie and I are starting to learn songs to play to our baby while he/she is still in the womb. Just today, with me on guitar and JoanMarie on piano, we taught ourselves a lullaby version of Sweet Child O' Mine (sorry, Axl).

And I've already bought two onesies! Here they are, set atop a blanket with the theme of our new baby room.


In case you can't read the one on the right, it says Don't blame me, I just got here.

Isn't my baby funny??? I think he/she is going to have my sense of humor!

Getty Done!

I'm now officially done with speaking gigs until the end of September and will be hibernating throughout the summer. My last school visit took place in Anaheim, CA at Gilbert South High School, which was the perfect visit to close out a busy couple of months.

But I headed down to southern California a day early to visit The Getty Museum for the second time. Architecture and landscaping aren't forms of art that usually impresses me. But this place is unbelievable!


Whether taking a panoramic shot or close-ups, the whole place is beautiful.




This painting of a playful cupid was JoanMarie's favorite when we visited The Getty for the first time.


This time, I found a painting of cupid kicking some major butt!


At the top of that same painting is an angel. I was completely mesmerized by the way it appears to be both leaping and flying (which is what it feels like whenever I fly in my dreams).


But the next day was the main attraction! Gilbert South H.S. used Thirteen Reasons Why for its first One Book One School program, and when I came into the library, the whole place was decorated around my book.


Almost everyone who came to hear me speak had read my book, which always makes it more enjoyable for everyone...including me!


A few librarians from neighboring high schools also came to hear me speak, including writer/illustrator/librarian Tommy Kovac.

Melinda, the president of the G.S.H.S. book club, presented me with a blown-up cover of my book surrounded by hilarious and heartfelt comments from students.


This school visit was especially fun because it was arranged by Jennifer! I mean...it was arranged by Mrs. H.


Mrs. H and I go way back. Her mom and my mom were best buds in high school. And then her mom's brother married my mom's twin. So my cousins were cousins with Mrs. H (at the time, Miss F), so Mrs. H has always felt like a kind of cousin to me.

So from Getty to Gilbert, it was a wonderful couple of days!