Teens@Random

The Buzz

Archives for Jul 2008

• Random Hour #11: Do You Believe in Magic(al Pants)?

  Jul 30, 2008

  In honor of all this The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 excitement going on lately, I thought it would be fun to devote this week’s Random Hour to talking about Lena, Tibby, Bee, Carmen, and their magical pants.

  When I first read the series, I was entranced with the idea of those pants—not only because they somehow perfectly fit four girls with entirely different body types (which I’ve always thought was pretty cool), but also because the pants seemed to have some sort of magical effect on whoever wore them. I completely relate to this—I have a “lucky” necklace I wear whenever I feel like I could use a little extra luck. I know the idea of a necklace giving someone added luck is a little hokey, but wearing that necklace really does make me feel better.

  Do you have an object like this? A lucky necklace, like me? Or maybe a special headband or favorite shirt that helps give you strength? Or are you totally on the other side of the fence—do you believe that the idea of clothing or accessories having "luck" is a whole load of hooey?

  by je55 | 19 comments |
  Filed under: Random Hour

• Random Hour #10: Best Summer Books

  Jul 23, 2008

  For me, the summer isn’t just about the beach, ice cream, and sunny vacations. It’s also perfect for reading those books I’ve had my eye on, but felt somewhat guilty about because it wasn’t “literary” enough. You know the ones—mostly entertainment, and not overly demanding. But honestly, I’m just not in the state of mind to read the classics right now, and I don’t think I’m alone—who wants to trudge through a 1,000+ page copy of Dickens’ David Copperfield in the middle of the summer? It’s not exactly what you’d call a “light read.”

  Even though I can't help but be in a somewhat academic mood thanks to my two summer classes, I'm still trying to find some not-so-academic summer books to read. So far, I’ve reread a bunch of my old favorites (including Stargirl, Stranger With My Face, and Ella Enchanted), and it’s possible that I’m enjoying myself way too much.

  What are your favorite summer books? I’d love to get some recommendations! Or are you not a big “summer book” person at all—do your tastes in books stay fairly constant throughout the year?

  by je55 | 36 comments |
  Filed under: Random Hour

• Special Message From Author Ann Brashares!

  Jul 22, 2008

  It's been quite a week and it's only Tuesday! Random Buzzers have already had the chance to win movie posters for the upcoming "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" and now we've got even more exclusives for you!

  Before Ann Brashares officially hits the boards to chat it up, she wanted to share with you a very special message as she gears up for an exciting event and wants YOUR advice:

  
  ---

  Dear Buzzers,
  
  Thanks for having me on your boards.  It's nice to be here.
  
  For the most part, being a writer is not the most glamorous job in the world.  I spend a lot of time alone.  I don't have much of a schedule and there doesn't seem much point in getting dressed up for a day with my computer.  But once in a while some glamour is injected into my quiet life, and this week it is in the form of a movie premiere.  The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 is having its premiere in New York City on Monday and I get to go. I'm pretty excited and a little bit nervous, and I have no idea what I'm going to wear.
  
  So please don't hesitate to ask me questions about the movies or about my books (I'm far more knowledgeable about those) or just offer me a little wardrobe advice.
  
  I look forward to it!
  
  xo,
  
  Ann
  
  P.S.This week I'm thinking a lot about the upcoming movie sequel to The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.  It comes out on August 6th
  
  ---

  How neat is that? Help us welcome Ann to the boards here then ask her your questions or dish out some advice on what to wear to the big premiere on the boards!

  by HeadBuzzer | 14 comments |
  Filed under: Ann Brashares The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2

• "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" Poster Winners & More!

  Jul 21, 2008

  As we said last week, we are preparing for a very special guest author to come on board this week and wanted you to help her get settled and get to know who and what Random Buzzers is all about! So many of you have and are continuing to ask her questions on the boards - your welcoming words to her have been tremendous!

  As we said, we would be giving away The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 movie posters to 5 Random members who began writing in questions and letters. Our very lucky winners are:

  • naturexgrl
  • eagleraych
  • suzizzle
  • lostinconfusion
  • littletosser

  Congratulations to you all! Everyone has already begun to ask excellent questions as well as share stories and experiences with the Sisterhood series and we'd love to hear even more!

  Would you like an AUTOGRAPHED copy of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants: Forever in Blue featuring the movie art? There will be new Sisterhood activities for you to participate in all week long so make sure to check in each day to see all the new and fun activities we'll be having for you! The more you participate, the better your chances of winning the autographed copy of the book will be!

  If you're itching for even more Sisterhood love, check out the cool new movie trailer for the movie! Share it with your friends and family through the Spread the Word section to earn buzz bucks!

  More giveaways are always around the corner so stay tuned :)

  by HeadBuzzer | 10 comments |
  Filed under: autographed copy of Forever in Blue Forever in Blue The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2

• Enter for a chance to win a “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2” poster!

  Jul 18, 2008

  We have some exciting news to bring to you! Ann Brashares, author of the Sisterhood series will be making her way here onto the Random Buzzers community and chatting with YOU! How much fun will that be?!

  As you may already know, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 will be hitting theaters on August 8th and we've got some cool movie posters that we'd like to giveaway to you just for participating in the chat with Ann! Want to know how you can win the movie poster that is also featured on the new re-issue of Forever In Blue for FREE?

  Simply go HERE and start asking your questions and writing your letters to Anne before Monday then let us know through our activity and you will be entered into a random drawing to be 1 of 5 lucky members to win a movie poster!

  Please help us welcome Ann and let her know what us Buzzers are all about!

  by HeadBuzzer | 12 comments |
  Filed under: Ann Brashares The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2

• Random Hour #10: The Ultimate Book

  Jul 16, 2008

  The other day, I was going through some notes from my old film classes (belated spring cleaning, you could say) and came upon a familiar concept: “X meets Y.” Traditionally, film producers use an “X meets Y” format to pitch an idea for a movie (for example, “The Princess Diaries” meets “Spiderman” would give you a pretty interesting and vivid idea of what the movie is about). But I started thinking—wouldn’t it be fun to do the same for books? Harry Potter meets Likely Story? Twilight meets Stargirl? Imagine the possibilities…

  Obviously, it’s doubtful that J.K. Rowling and David Van Etten will team up and write a book together, but it’s still fun to think about. Personally, I’d love to read a book that was a combination of Madapple and Sweet Valley High. I know the combination is a little jarring, but I’d love to see how the Wakefield sisters cope in such a drastically different world. I could see this either as a funny fish-out-of-water scenario or as a deeper, more serious and more complex journey as the Wakefield sisters interact with Aslaug and grow as human beings.

  What about you—what two books would you like to see combined to create your “ultimate book”?

  by je55 | 19 comments |
  Filed under: Random Hour

• Random Hour #9: Why Do You Write?

  Jul 9, 2008

  Something funny happens when I write: I feel happy.  Reality slips away and I have a place to channel all the jumbled thoughts that are usually bouncing around in my mind, and turn them into one cohesive piece.  Writing lets me find deeper meaning in the world around me.  And plus, it’s fun.

  There are probably a thousand reasons why we write, but my favorite answer comes from Nobel Prize Laureate Orhan Pamuk:

  I write because I have to write. I write because I am in love with the world. I write because my tongue is too wet and sloppy a tool for the elegance of language and because I feel more comfortable speaking through two splayed hands, through the pianoing dance of my fingertips. I write because the world is created through language and story and because I have a role to play in weaving the future. I write because I believe in the human beings around me with a passion so intense and so vivid and so bright that I can't help but want to reach them, and I want to reach not just them, but every future generation, and to tell them to keep trying and dreaming and striving, because it is worth it, and because the only way we can know each other is through these stories. I write to discover myself. I write because there is no other way. I write because I would go crazy otherwise. I write because I am crazy. I write because I need to make sense of the hideous intricacy of the universe. I write because I am happy. I write because I am in pain. I write because of the sheer joy of it. I write because sometimes it is the only thing that keeps me here. I write because, right now, I am breathing, and I can feel the beating of my heart within the rise and fall of my ribcage and I write because moths drink the tears of sleeping birds.

  Sounds pretty spot-on to me!  Of course, this isn’t the definitive reason why writers right; everyone has his or her own personal reasons.  So I want to know: why do you write? What’s your reason? Whether it’s fiction, poetry, songs, screenplays, or something else—why do you do it?
  

  by je55 | 24 comments |
  Filed under: Random Hour

• Chat with Author Wendelin Van Draanen!

  Jul 7, 2008

  Wendelin Van Draanen, author of Flipped and Confessions of a Serial Kisser will be joining the Buzz Boards starting TODAY!

  Evangeline Logan often thinks about how her perfect kiss will played out. Actually, "often thinks" doesn't really cut it. Evangeline "constantly thinks" about the perfect kiss is more like it. If you've ever thought about how perfect and romantic it would be to have that one special kiss with someone worth sharing it with then you'll love the zany quest that Evangeline goes through to reach this. Go HERE to read an excerpt from the book and see for yourself how Evangeline's quest for the perfect kiss takes some funny turns.

  Before you head on over to the Buzz Boards to welcome and chat with Wendelin Van Draanen, she wanted to share a special message with you:

  -----------------------------------------

  Hey Random Buzzers!
  
  It’s amazing where life will take you, isn’t it? The girl who got runner-up for “shyest” in her high school class writing a book about serial kissing? Mind-boggling. And don’t say, Yeah, it’s always the shy ones, ‘cause that’s just not so! I have never been a serial kisser!
  
  I also am not known for PINK books! I write books about kick-tush girls (like Sammy Keyes, and Holly from Runaway).
  
  So why did I write a book about a serial kisser, and how in the world did I uh…research it?
  
  Actually, you might have had something to do with why I wrote the book. If you’re one of the gazillions of people who wrote begging me for a sequel to Flipped, then you are directly responsible for my having a PINK book with LIPS. No, Confessions of a Serial Kisser is not a sequel to Flipped, but all that mail got me thinking about writing another romantic comedy, one with the key ingredient that those who wrote me about Flipped were clamoring for: KISSING.
  
  And research? It was the easiest ever—anyone could have done it. Yes, I did pull a little from some of my own awkward experiences (and no, I’m not kissing and telling which ones), but all you have to do is ask any girl about her worst or most embarrassing kiss, and smack-o! There you go. Everyone’s got a story, and no one was shy about sharing.
  
  But you’ll find as you read my hot pink book that the story goes much deeper than it might first appear. It’s the depth of a book that motivates me to write it, not the surface gloss. And in the end you’ll see that in her own way Evangeline is a kick-tush girl—one that learns a lot about herself and what the perfect kiss is really all about.
  
  Looking forward to discussing it with you!
  Wendelin Van Draanen

  by HeadBuzzer | 14 comments |
  Filed under: Confessions of a Serial Kisser Wendelin Van Draanen

• Random Hour #7: Your Favorite Books

  Jul 2, 2008

  Growing up, I was obsessed with books in the vein of the Harry Potter series and His Dark Materials trilogy (and still am, if you haven’t noticed!). I amassed a pretty impressive collection of YA fantasy literature, but sadly, none of those books were quite as enjoyable as I had hoped they’d be. I couldn’t put my finger on it—was the story not as thrilling? Didn’t I feel close enough to the characters? Was the magic a little…lackluster? These books told stories of brave, smart characters going on incredible journeys, but for some reason, I just wasn’t all that interested.

  Eventually, I just settled for re-reading and re-re-reading my favorite books. I was convinced that I could never find any story that would interest me quite as much as Harry Potter’s or Lyra Belacqua’s stories did. And maybe that was true. It certainly brought up an interesting question—what was it, exactly, that made me love one book and deem it to be “my favorite,” while dismissing a similar book?

  There are, of course, a massive amount of variables that can affect how you much you like or dislike a book: besides the characters and the plot, there’s the author’s style/voice, the story’s structure, the themes/meaning, and so on. Which ones are most important for you—or in other words, why are your favorite books your favorite?

  by je55 | 28 comments |
  Filed under: Random Hour