Tag: Maggie Stiefvater

Posted in Blog Contest

SHIVER by Maggie Stiefvater: Plots & Subplots, Twisting & Weaving

Posted on by beckylevine

Hey, everybody, watch out! There is a contest at the end of this post! And it is a contest for a scary book. And I, Grover, am here to warn you and to tell you not to keep reading. Do not scroll down to the end of this post!

(Okay, I couldn’t resist, with much love and many thanks to Jon Stone, the author of one of my other, all-time favorite books!)

Moving on now.

I just read Maggie Stiefvater’s  Shiver.

Yes, I know it’s been out since last August and that it’s sequel, Linger, is coming out this July. I know it’s been talked up all over the web and by booksellers and librarians and kidlit readers. Hey, I can’t keep up with everything!

I do get there, eventually, however, and I am here to say that Shiver is worth every bit of that talk. It blew me away, for several reasons, not least of which is the wonderful love story based on two absolute non-wimps—active characters that take on the world and actually do something about it.

I’m not going to talk about character, though, today. I’m going to talk about plot. Complicated plot. With lots of important subplots. All woven together into one beautifully connected, intense story.

Watch my juggling act as–without dropping one spoiler–I tell you what Stiefvater does.

  • Writes a love story filled with clear and seriously problematic obstacles and what-will-happen-ifs
  • Complicates that love story with a soupçon of family and personal background, just enough to add believable (and still non-wimpy) vulnerability to the participants
  • Inserts a paranormal element that complicates that love story even more
  • Creates secondary characters with strong subplots that tie strongly and with individuality into that paranormal element
  • Brings each subplot and each secondary character back into story with exquisite timing, just when the reader needs to be reminded about them and at the exact moment/place to amp up the tension
  • Does all of this seamlessly, with the magic wand of writing that makes it look, to the reader’s eye, easy and effortless

And did I mention that NOBODY IS WIMPY?! Think Romeo and Juliet with not one swoon, not one set of hands clasped woefully to a bosom, not one despairing glance. Sam and Grace never stop fighting for themselves, for each other, for their friends. I love these guys.

I love them so much that, even seven months after publication, I must put a copy of this book into somebody’s hands. Somebody who (while inhabiting the same faraway planet as me) has not yet read it, or someone who picked it up at the library or borrowed it from a friend and now wants their own, always-available-for-a-reread copy.

The contest is open! Leave a comment to this post, between now and next Tuesday (March 30th). Son and I will draw the winner’s name, and I’ll announce it here on Wednesday the 31st. Make sure and come back to check if you’ve won! Then everybody will be happy. 

Posted in Author Appreciation Week

Author Appreciation Week: Terry Pratchett

Posted on by beckylevine

If you go to the bookstore and ask for directions to the Terry Pratchett books, you’re likely to be sent to at least two, of not more, sections. Some will be in the science-fiction/fantasy world, some will be on the new-book shelves, and some will definitely be in the YA section. Which means that, when you’re shopping for the two or three of his books that your fourteen-year-old son hasn’t read yet, you know to hunt through the whole store.

And that’s why I appreciate Terry Pratchett. Because while I would guess he doesn’t think too much about who he’s writing for, I know that he’s writing for my son.

Okay, and for me. And my husband. All three of us laugh out loud—really loud—at the same passages. And, yes, we all try and do the thick brogue when we imitate Rob Anybody or another of the wee free men. Obviously, I love Pratchett’s comedy and would read his books time and time again if only for the brilliance of his humor.

What I love most about his books, though, is the characters. You could probably, if you tried, describe or summarize any one of them in a few sentences, and you’d hit them on target. What that summary wouldn’t convey, though (and what I’m not sure I’ll be able to), is the subtleties Pratchett weaves into each. Maybe it’s because he’s written so many books, maybe it’s because his characters remain so absolutely true to themselves in all those books. I’m not sure. All I know is that, time and time again, he’ll write a scene, a description, a piece of dialog that just makes me say, “That is so her.” Or him.

My favorite Pratchett books are the ones with the witches. My son likes those, too, but I think his first choices would be the ones with the Watch—Commander Vimes, Sergeant Colon, & Nobby. My all-time favorite character is Granny Weatherwax. I’m not sure why, but it has something to do with the fact that nobody—no matter how magical, or powerful, or strong—can beat her. Why? Simply because she knows they can’t. Granny is funny in her crankiness, in her determination to do & see things one way (her way), in her rivalries with the other witches. At her core, though, is a seriousness, a recognition that the world is hard, that people can and will do others and themselves harm without even trying, and that if nobody else is going to do battle, well, she will. And even if she loses, as long as she tries…she doesn’t lose.

And the amazing thing about Pratchett is that he gets that across at the same exact time as he is writing some of the best sheer entertainment of this and the last century, without missing a beat. Honestly, it’s not that often that I’m laughing till tears come and simultaneously sitting in awe of the sheet beauty of an author’s prose.

Pratchett makes me do that.

And I appreciate it.

A few more posts from other bloggers for you to check out:

And thank you, again, Sara, from Novel Novice for the Author Appreciation avatar!