Something to Blog About by Shana NorrisAbout the book
Something to Blog About by Shana Norris - February 2008 - Amulet Books
ISBN-13/EAN: 9780810994744 - Price: $15.95 - 256 Pages

Boys, bullies, and blogs come together in a book that brings the popular online diary format to print.

For fans of Lauren Myracle's ttyl, ttfn, and l8r, g8r, this fun, fast-paced book introduces an unforgettable and relatable heroine and features chapter openers designed to look like the pages of an online blog. An innovative debut, Something to Blog About is filled with the memorable missteps and heartfelt emotions of growing up.

Libby Fawcett decides to start a secret blog so that she can have an outlet to vent her feelings and frustrations. When Seth Jacobs (her crush since eighth grade) witnesses her tragic (and comic) run-in with a Bunsen burner in chemistry class, or when she finds out that her mother is dating the father of her arch-nemesis, Angel Rivera, she's able to keep a level head and make it through school each day with each blog posting. But when her entries get posted all over for the whole world to see, will Libby be able to walk the halls--or face Seth--ever again?

"How it gets resolved with a happy ending is the stuff of a witty sitcom. The blog format interspersed with chapters will interest Internet-savvy readers." - KLIATT

 

Upcoming appearances
American Library Association Annual Conference
Anaheim, CA
June 28-30, 2008

Now available in stores!
Buy from independent bookstores such as The Book Depot or Powell's or search Booksense to find an independent store near you.
Or buy online from: Amulet Books, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, or WHSmith (UK).

Interviews
Interview by Heidi R. Kling
Author2Author interview by Emily Marshall
YA Authors Cafe interview by Marlene Perez
Vision interview by Lazette Gifford
Interview by Jessica Burkhart

Reviews
Armchair Interviews review
MadChatter's review
Oops...Wrong Cookie review
TeensReadToo.com review
YA Book Reviews
Em's Bookshelf

Buzzworthy
- Something to Blog About was listed as one of M-Teen Magazine's "Fun Books to Read for 2008" in their January 08 issue!
- Something to Blog About has been chosen as a Book Sense Summer 2008 Children's Pick!

Click here to see me read a scene from Something to Blog About!

 

About the idea

Something to Blog About was inspired by my own experiences with online journaling in high school and college. I first discovered online journals in 1996. My family had recently moved from North Carolina to Florida at the time and I was having trouble fitting in and making friends, so I spent a lot of time online. I eventually discovered lots of teen girls just like me who had created these journals online that anyone could read.

I created my own online journal too--this was back in the day before all these nice programs like Blogger and Livejournal that let you easily add new entries. No, we had to do all HTML coding for our journals by hand and link up entries ourselves. Bloggers these days have it so easy!--and I've kept an online journal/blog of some form ever since. It was great; I had a place where I could let out all of my teenage angst and confess my secret love of Hanson, and sometimes other people would even email me to say that they felt the same way.

But in college, some of my classmates found my online journal. I didn't mind if faceless people on the other side of the world read my writing, but I was mortified that people I had to see almost every day had read it. So I ended that journal and then became much more careful about what I wrote publicly. Luckily, things didn't end badly for me--my classmates moved on and forgot about my blog and eventually I was able to turn that little incident into Libby's story.

I really do enjoy blogging and I think it's a great way to connect with people who share your interests, but I think everyone should think twice about what they post. You never know when something will come back to bite you!

Fun Stuff

Soundtrack

Below is a list of the songs I listened to while working on Something to Blog About. They helped me get into the feel of the story and remind me of the characters or scenes. I am not affiliated in any way with these artists or their record labels.