Teen Tuesday
A blast from the past (2014) with Ghosts Songs fromAndrew Demcak
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Showing posts with label Ghost Songs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ghost Songs. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
GHOST SONGS FEATURED NOVEL AT TEEN TUESDAY/BLAST FROM THE PAST
Teen Tuesday
A blast from the past (2014) with Ghosts Songs fromAndrew Demcak
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Saturday, August 27, 2016
SKYE ALLEN: Why Is My Queer YA Story Not a Romance Nor a Coming Out Story?
Why Is My Queer YA Story Not a Romance Nor a Coming Out Story? By Skye Allen
There’s a trope about coming out in LGBTQ+ young adult fiction. And there’s another trope about falling in love. Pick up a queer story with a teen protagonist, and I would understand if you expected certain things. Kissing. Maybe sex, depending on your idea of what makes something a YA book versus a book for adults. A story that centers on the big gay reveal to Mom/Dad/Coach.
I get where that came from. The whole concept of queer young adult stories told in a positive light, that genre being a thing at all, that is still fresh and wonderful. Queer literature in general is relatively young as a category, and it’s no surprise that the first few generations of stories had a lot to do with falling in love and coming out. After all, that’s what makes us different. It’s who we are and who we love. And the dangers that can strike when we tell the world the good news. That makes for pretty huge drama, and no matter how enlightened your family or your hometown, the day you come out is always going to be a pretty huge day.
But some of the best queer YA books, lately, have not been love stories. They haven’t even been coming out stories. The audience is ready for that now; they have been for some time. There’s no closet factor in these non-romances, no miserable gay teens who can’t show themselves in all their splendor for fear of violence or being misunderstood by the people they have to live with. It’s just…kids. Kids who already came out before the book started. Some of them have sweethearts. Some are single. Some are fixated on that special diving champion or choir girl, or just on losing their virginity, but some are fixated on their mother’s immigration status or the app they’re creating or any one of a million different real-life things.
In other words, they’re real kids.
In Will Grayson Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan, the central relationship is between two friends, a gay boy and a straight boy. There’s a mention of sex, but not between those two. The story explores the range of complex emotion in a teenage best-friendship. That’s what it’s about. And I love it for that. Andrew Demcak’s beautiful Ghost Songs is similar: the main character is gay, but that’s a given. His story is about bullying, and a deep friendship, and an alcoholic parent, and just plain growing up as a sensitive kid. It’s not a romance. It doesn’t need to be.
I knew when I started writing The Songbird Thief that there was no love story. Or -- there was, but not a romantic one. It’s the story of Lee, a fifteen-year-old girl from rural Marin County who runs away to San Francisco to be near her grownup friend, Sonja. Lee has a crush on Sonja, but it’s not reciprocal. Sonja is like a mother to Lee. Girls Lee’s age come along who could be love interests, and there’s a flirtatious moment or two, but Lee is busy looking for a job and trying to find her real father. Lee’s life is complicated by magic, and her singing voice makes people do things like unconsciously walk into traffic. She’s distracted. She’s a girl who happens to be gay, whose story has nothing to do with kissing.
She’s a real kid. And I’m happy there’s a place on the bookshelf for her.
Read more from Skye Allen at her blog - click here.
Read more from Skye Allen at her blog - click here.
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
THE BEST REVIEW OF *A LITTLE BIT LANGSTON* BY ANDREW DEMCAK
A great review at Amazon of my Teen GLBTQ Sci-Fi Coming-Out novel, A Little Bit Langston:
Holding my breath for the sequel, December 29, 2015
By
This review is from: A Little Bit Langston (Kindle Edition)
A Little Bit Langston starts off in your head. No, YOUR head, the head of an LA teenager who has a learning disability and a demanding, self-absorbed mother and a bubbling volcano of feelings for his best friend. Or at least the book starts in the head of someone you love. James, the main character, is so engaging, so immediately present on the page, that I was willing to follow him right down the rabbit hole, no questions asked.
And it is quite a warren down there. I don’t want to spoil too much, but let’s just say if you’re a fan of alien technology, secret government agencies, and gifted young people who can probably kill you with their brains, you won’t be disappointed. Not to mention if you’re a fan of Langston Hughes, the Langston of the title. The author doesn’t use any excerpts of Hughes’ actual work; instead he paraphrases, or in some instances inserts original lines that are clearly intended to remind the reader of famous Hughes poems. But the spirit of the poet is there--in the multifaceted identities of the main characters, in the brave actions of young men who get beaten for being gay, in the expansively hopeful feeling of the story as a whole.
The plot fits into the classic “chosen one” style of tale. James appears at first to have trouble reading at school, but a bizarre talent quickly emerges when he begins to channel the writing of long-dead poet Montgomery Langston (Langston Hughes). At the same time, his electricity-related superpower shows itself. After a period of being persecuted at school, and some harrowing real-world complications involving his best friend/love interest, Paul, James finds himself at a special academy for gifted teens like himself. Which is when the alien + conspiracy questions really kick into gear. I’m glad the author set us up for a sequel, because the busy, scheme-filled underworld he created is way too big for just one book.
I love a YA story where the superpowers appear at adolescence, where they overwhelm the character and then through the arc of the story he masters them. That’s what growing up feels like: channeling electricity with no control, destroying all the lightbulbs in the house, knowing for a fact that no one can understand your side of the story. Even though James’ demanding mother claims she always knew he was special, we see James changing into his true self on the page, as his feelings for Paul blossom and he discovers who he really is. In this case that’s pretty literal; James gets a big surprise when he finds out who his father is. Good YA science fiction stuff.
The love story isn’t center stage here, and that’s a big strength of the book. There’s plenty already going on in this story, and not all YA stories or coming-out stories have to be love stories. Another significant strength is Demcak’s skillful, barely-there handling of race and ethnicity. Way too much science fiction is, historically, way too white. That’s started to shift in recent years, but slowly. In A Little Bit Langston, the love interest, Paul, is Filipino, while James is white. Hardly anything is ever said about that difference between them, but Paul never has that insert-diversity-here feeling as a character. He’s three-dimensional, with a complex family and history of his own, and his journey toward loving James feels very earned. When we meet Lumen, another student at the special school, James expresses curiosity about her Korean heritage, but when the two turn out to be half-siblings, no one misses a beat, because these characters live so easily in a multicultural world.
Don’t miss out on A Little Bit Langston. I will be holding my breath until the sequel comes out.
And it is quite a warren down there. I don’t want to spoil too much, but let’s just say if you’re a fan of alien technology, secret government agencies, and gifted young people who can probably kill you with their brains, you won’t be disappointed. Not to mention if you’re a fan of Langston Hughes, the Langston of the title. The author doesn’t use any excerpts of Hughes’ actual work; instead he paraphrases, or in some instances inserts original lines that are clearly intended to remind the reader of famous Hughes poems. But the spirit of the poet is there--in the multifaceted identities of the main characters, in the brave actions of young men who get beaten for being gay, in the expansively hopeful feeling of the story as a whole.
The plot fits into the classic “chosen one” style of tale. James appears at first to have trouble reading at school, but a bizarre talent quickly emerges when he begins to channel the writing of long-dead poet Montgomery Langston (Langston Hughes). At the same time, his electricity-related superpower shows itself. After a period of being persecuted at school, and some harrowing real-world complications involving his best friend/love interest, Paul, James finds himself at a special academy for gifted teens like himself. Which is when the alien + conspiracy questions really kick into gear. I’m glad the author set us up for a sequel, because the busy, scheme-filled underworld he created is way too big for just one book.
I love a YA story where the superpowers appear at adolescence, where they overwhelm the character and then through the arc of the story he masters them. That’s what growing up feels like: channeling electricity with no control, destroying all the lightbulbs in the house, knowing for a fact that no one can understand your side of the story. Even though James’ demanding mother claims she always knew he was special, we see James changing into his true self on the page, as his feelings for Paul blossom and he discovers who he really is. In this case that’s pretty literal; James gets a big surprise when he finds out who his father is. Good YA science fiction stuff.
The love story isn’t center stage here, and that’s a big strength of the book. There’s plenty already going on in this story, and not all YA stories or coming-out stories have to be love stories. Another significant strength is Demcak’s skillful, barely-there handling of race and ethnicity. Way too much science fiction is, historically, way too white. That’s started to shift in recent years, but slowly. In A Little Bit Langston, the love interest, Paul, is Filipino, while James is white. Hardly anything is ever said about that difference between them, but Paul never has that insert-diversity-here feeling as a character. He’s three-dimensional, with a complex family and history of his own, and his journey toward loving James feels very earned. When we meet Lumen, another student at the special school, James expresses curiosity about her Korean heritage, but when the two turn out to be half-siblings, no one misses a beat, because these characters live so easily in a multicultural world.
Don’t miss out on A Little Bit Langston. I will be holding my breath until the sequel comes out.
Monday, June 22, 2015
GOODREADS BOOK GIVEAWAY GHOST SONGS BY ANDREW DEMCAK
Saturday, May 02, 2015
LISA BROWN SKETCHES ANDREW DEMCAK AT BOOKSMITH'S SF READING 04/29/2015
Lisa Brown (Daniel Handler's wife) did this marvelous sketch of me from my Booksmith's SF reading 04/29/2015. It was for one of Michelle Tea's RADAR Production Banned Books events. I was asked to read from a favorite banned Young Adult (YA) book. I read a tawdry scene from Flowers In The Attic by VC Andrews. Everyone had a good time.
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
ANDREW DEMCAK READS WITH LEMONY SNICKETT AT BOOKSMITH'S 04/21/2015 7:30PM
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
GREAT NEW REVIEW OF GHOST SONGS BY ANDREW DEMCAK ON GOODREADS
A great new review of my YA novel Ghost Songs on Goodreads.
From GRW in the UK:
"This is a great coming of age story, mixed in with the sort of ghost story that the Victorians used to do so well.
The characters are very well drawn, especially the lead, who it is near impossible not to like and route for. The same goes for his best friend, his mother (for all her faults), and even the teachers at his school, which is odd for this sort of book.
Of course their has to be some villains in the shape of a couple of bullies and two others, who I won't mention as it's a bit of a spoiler.
The ghost aspect is down nicely, without the shock and awe that some writers would have gone in for but what is most refreshing about this book is that although Todd is gay, that's not what the book is about. Meaning that for once we get to read a book about a gay teenager that is (just) about a gay teenager. He's even okay with it.
In fact, it's barely even got anything to do with the main plot/s all of which would have worked almost as well if Todd had liked girls.
All in all a great read."
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
HEAR ME READ POETRY AT LITCRAWL/LITQUAKE SF SAT 10/18/14 8:30PM
Librarian Authors In the Stacks
Featuring
Librarian Authors In the Stacks
Librarians write books, too! Come check out librarian authors reading from their new work.
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
ANDREW DEMCAK READS WITH MICHELLE TEA AT SFPL MAIN LIBRARY 5/6/14 6PM
Come hear me read at The San Francisco Main Library on TUESDAY 5/6/14 6pm at Michelle Tea's Radar Reading Series.
Thursday, April 03, 2014
GHOST SONGS BY ANDREW DEMCAK FREE GIVEAWAY @ GOODREADS
Ghost Songs is a Best Seller at AllRomance.com in the Young Adult section. It's all very exciting indeed! Enter this contest for your FREE copy!
Wednesday, April 02, 2014
GHOST SONGS BY ANDREW DEMCAK *BEST SELLER* AT ALLROMANCE.COM
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Ghost Songs is a Best Seller at AllRomance.com in the Young Adult secetion. It's all very exciting indeed!
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
ANDREW DEMCAK AT POETS AND WRITERS
Have you read Andrew's P&W profile? What is he reading now? Does he have favorite authors?
Friday, March 14, 2014
GHOST SONGS BY ANDREW DEMCAK
Did you ever see something you weren't supposed to? Did you ever have asecret you couldn't tell anyone? What if you could talk to the dead and they'd answer you?
GHOST SONGS BY ANDREW DEMCAK
Thursday, March 13, 2014
GHOST SONGS BY ANDREW DEMCAK NOW AVAILABLE!
It's official: My new novel GHOST SONGS is now available on multiple platforms and in multiple formats! Come and get it!
Monday, February 17, 2014
GHOST SONGS REVIEW
An early review of GHOST SONGS: "I freaking LOVED this story. Really and truly. Every so often a really beautiful story like Ghost Songs comes along that is primarily about a gay young man but still does total justice to the other people in his life, especially women.
I once read a blog post that mentioned that fleshed-out female characters can exist in M/M novels but not be a primary focus of the book, and I feel like you just turned that right on its head. I’ve been waiting so long for something like this, I can’t even tell you. I LOVED how you wrote Jennifer and Todd’s relationship, how important it was to both of their development into adults and as fully fledged characters. Neither of them was primarily defined by a romantic interest and instead helped one another grow and come of age. The same can be said of Todd’s relationship with his mother, Eddie, which was both heartbreaking and moving. I was so touched by Eddie’s process of recovery and how she and her son came to understand each other by the end of the book. There was no stereotyping in this book at all, especially not of the female characters, and I appreciated that on such a fundamental level.
Thank you so much for letting me read this wonderful manuscript! I truly couldn’t put it down and was so excited by how believable and human your characters were. Just lovely. Congratulations on having written such a great book, and I sincerely look forward to reading more from you in future! - Nan"
Sunday, February 16, 2014
GHOST SONGS BY ANDREW DEMCAK HARMONY INK PRESS 2014
COMING MARCH 17, 2014 FROM HARMONY INK PRESS - GHOST SONGS BY ANDREW DEMCAK
PRE-ORDER AVAILABLE NOW: The first 20 copies of my new YA novel GHOST SONGS ordered from Dreamspinner Press / Harmony Ink Press are the limited edition signed vellum 1st editions. Pre-Order yours today!http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4809
It’s not easy being Todd Williams, a fourteen-and-a-half-year-old gay musical prodigy. The bullies, Bob and Ari, at his fancy private school make his life a living hell. Todd’s drunken, irresponsible mother, Eddie, constantly embarrasses him and puts his artistic future in jeopardy. And now, his best friend, Jennifer, who plays clarinet with him in the orchestra, isn’t speaking to him. Maybe Leroy, Todd’s friendly poltergeist, knows what’s going on with her. To top it off, he can no longer rely on Jennifer's help in the race to solve a puzzle that could lead to a buried treasure. Todd must learn to stand alone. He’s finding out that growing up is far scarier than he ever imagined.
Monday, November 25, 2013
GHOST SONGS BY ANDREW DEMCAK COMING IN 2014 FROM HARMONY INK PRESS
I'm so excited! My YA novel GHOST SONGS is going to be published by Harmony Ink Press in 2014. I can't wait to get started on the editing!
Just tweeted:
"Ok - Just signed the contract - My YA novel, GHOST SONGS, will be published in 2014 by Harmony Ink Press in Print, eBook, & Audiobook. Yay!
http://harmonyinkpress.com/
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