Stop Press! US Mars Bars Shortage...

Younger Daughter alerted me to the news this morning: fans of the cancelled (Gah!) Veronica Mars have started a campaign to flood the offices of CW with -- well, no real suspense at this point, given the subject line... A random seller on Amazon, who had never watched the show, got enthusiastic about the idea and volunteered free shipping to help out. So devoted are said fans that almost all the Mars bars in the States have been bought out and they're now looking to Canada for more. The seller has even started a blog with updates on the campaign. (And apparently will be watching the show this weekend.)

The full story can apparently be found on Television Without Pity, but I relied on YD's excellent reporting skills for the story myself. (The topic goes about 10 pages back in the forum, so I was glad of them... Brief summary is that fans are hoping to get Them to agree to another 7 or so eps to tie off all threads at least, as the notice of cancellation was received too late to make the season finale into a series finale.)

Before I go...

... into the Challenge Below.

Wishing our leader a very happy birthday. Happy Birthday MotherReader!

I was explaining to my mother what I was doing this weekend and had some difficulty getting the proper feeling of the experience across to her.

Mother: Well, if you've like, read for 5 hours, are you allowed go out then and get food or something?

Me: Well, sure, you do as much as you can and want to.

Mother: Oh, then it's not a contest!

Me: Well, yes, it is, but...

Sensible questions all.

And naturally, it's an unbelievably glorious day out there, with temps up to the mid-20s and blue, blue skies.

Starting at 2:30! (My time, which will be 9:30 am EST.)

The Green Glass Sea, Ellen Klages

Book number one of the challenge, and I needed to take a few minutes to write something about it before moving onto the next.

My Lord.

Will that do as a review?

Everyone's heard the buzz about this one, right? Well, my added buzzing may not make much difference, but if anyone remains to be swayed, and my bit might help...

Tiny bit about the book, just in case it's needed: story of an 11-year-old girl who goes to Los Alamos in 1943 to live with her father, a scientist working on the Manhattan Project. That much I'd heard, but I didn't realise that the story isn't entirely Dewey's (and wait till you hear what Dewey is a nickname for! brilliant), but also belongs to Suze Gordon, whose parents are both working on the project as well. Both are great characters, and I loved the way Dewey hadn't fit in anywhere before coming to Los Alamos and Suze doesn't fit in at all there. And it's beautifully written - spare and simple, so when it became tragic (which I hadn't expected), a tiny part of my mind wasn't crying, but wondering how Klages could have written so much pain with such - I don't know - restrained language? I'd say it blew me away, but that is an unfortunate choice of words.

I have no idea how much of that part of World War II history kids are getting in school, and how much younger ones will pick up of the enormous, devastating questioning going on: portrayed from children's perspective - heard through walls at night, heard before they're told to run away... Just as it would have been, for many of those families. And I loved the feel of New Mexico, which was beautifully done. And was thrilled to see Richard Feynman make a cameo - love him.

What a start... (Oh, and fantastic cover too!)

Queen of Cool, Cecil Castellucci

Well, it was going to be tough to go right after The Green Glass Sea, though I chose the most different book I could think of to follow it to minimize the effect.

I liked Boy Proof, though not as much as everyone else did, and liked Queen of Cool less, so am falling farther out of step. It's not the book's fault that it felt a bit too much like a film - and a film I'd probably quite have enjoyed watching, as it's clever and very funny in parts. Nor that it seems like a bit of a shadow*of E. Lockhart's The Boyfriend List and The Boy Book, both of which I loved.

* I started to say a pale imitation, but that carries connotations I don't mean at all.

Cool kid, in with the dripping-with-ennui cool gang, who starts to question whether it's really where she wants to be. High school is hell. (Though with an extra, thrown-in dose of maybe it's not unremittingly fun to be grown up and doing what you hate, either. Which is a bit of a change.) It's good, but I just couldn't seem to manage to fit in with the cool reading gang and love it.

Verdigris Deep, Frances Hardinge

Phew. Rather glad I have a bit of time left for more reading before I try to sleep, as that one would not make good lullaby reading.

So, Fly by Night was complex political story, with imaginary world of 18th century coffeehouse feel, and much humour, as most everyone probably knows. And Verdigris Deep might be expected to be somewhat along the same lines, right? Wrong. This is present-day England (at least it appears to be the 'real' England), where three friends take some coins from an old wishing well for their bus-fare home. Not long after, strange things begin happening, to all three, but we see first through Ryan, who's already aware of the difference perspective can make. This is the first thing he sees, while looking in the mirror to put in his contact-lenses:

'The Ryan face that he could see in the streak of clear glass had both eyes closed. The lashes were dark and spiky with moisture, and beneath them tears flowed freely down the face. The eyelids, both upper and lower, were trembling as if they were struggling to open or fighting to stay closed. Then both eyes started to open, and murky water flooded between the lids and bubbled down the cheeks.'

I'm far too tired to be able to sort through what might be a spoiler and what would just give people an idea of this book, so I'll say that it reminded me of Charles Butler mixed with Catherine Fisher in her Alan Garner mood, with a touch of Older Daughter's surreal imagery thrown in. And a lot about what's really going on when people make wishes. Just when it's going into real horror, the tone changes and it's very funny ('"And I'm keeping this ready.'" Chelle brandished a scouring pad. "I mean, while I'm being all weird I might meet somebody I know or something..." Ryan wondered how Chelle's definition of "being weird" could include gabbling loudly, but not include walking around with a kitchen sponge sticking out of her mouth.') - only to change again, just as soon as you've relaxed a bit... And there's emotional horror in there too, both from the Spirit of the Well who's gone slightly -- insane -- and from some of the families, where no happy resolution is waiting to pop up in the next 50 pages.

But if I could, which I can't, I'd cut all the above wordage and just quote the last line.