Angieville

So guess what? Today is my blogiversary! That's right, the very first post here at Angieville went up on Halloween of 2005. I'm even posting this at about the same time in the evening as that one was. I can't believe it, really. Things have changed a lot, including focus, layout, posting frequency, and (best of all) all of you who stop in to say hi and share your thoughts. I love this blog. I honestly get sad imagining my life without it and I hope I can keep it going for as long as we're all game. But this does seem to call for a celebration, does it not? So, in honor of the occasion, I'm giving away an anniversary mega-pack to one lucky commenter. The pack will include one brand new, signed paperback copy of Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson , one brand new paperback copy of Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols , one brand new hardback copy of Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins with accompanying limited edition T-shirt and mockingjay pin, one brand new paperback ...

Somewhere in between the release of  Girl at Sea   and  Suite Scarlett , I'm embarrassed to admit that I think I may actually have forgotten, for just a second, how funny  Maureen Johnson  is. I mean the hunching your shoulders, tongue caught between your teeth, giggling kind of funny. I read  her blog  regularly, so I shouldn't be a bit surprised. But  Suite Scarlett  was even funnier than her previous books. It was like concentrated Essence of Johnson: charmingly and unrepentantly hilarious. They really should bottle it somehow. I also have to say how much I like the cover. This is just how I pictured Scarlett, right down to the platinum curls, red lipstick, and Lola's little black dress.  Scarlett Martin's life is slightly different from most 15-year-old New Yorkers' lives. She lives in the Hopewell--an old Art Deco hotel her family has run for generations. On the morning the book opens, Scarlett celebrates her birthday and learns that they've had to let go t...