Golden Girl by Micol Ostow
Paige, Spencer, and Madison have it all: the looks, the connections, the money, the boys. As the daughters of three of the most prestigious families on Philadelphia's Main Line (read: old money, and lots of it) and the ruling juniors at Bradford Prep, nothing can stand in their way....except, perhaps, their own dark secrets. When an old frenemy from Paige's hidden past shows up at Bradford and plays nice--too nice--Paige is desperate to smother the threat. How far will she go to silence the truth?

Now, as a gay man, I enjoy scandal, intrigue and drama. In books though, not in real life. Well, ok, maybe scandal and intrigue in real life, but not drama (of the people variety, not the theatre variety). So this book was right up my alley. I think what Ostow did with this book is simply fantastic; it's told all in blog entries, mainly from Spencer's point of view on her blog All That Glitters, but there's the occasional Bradford Blog entry done by one of the four main characters or their boyfriends. I enjoyed reading about these characters and all the scandal and drama that was caused by them. While this does seem to be just another book in the slew of rich-girl-drama novels, Ostow takes things to another level, making these characters more real and interactive. As companions to the books, the Bradford girls have Twitter accounts (this is just Spencer's though- go to the overall site to find all the others), their own blogs so you can see different perspectives, as well as an overall site for the series and lots more.
 

Fade by Lisa McMann
Some nightmares never end. For Janie and Cabel, real life is getting tougher than the dreams. They're just trying to carve out a little (secret) time together, but no such luck. Disturbing things are happening at Fieldridge High, yet nobody's talking. When Janie taps into a classmate's violent nightmares, the case finally breaks open -- but nothing goes as planned. Not even close. Janie's in way over her head, and Cabe's shocking behavior has grave consequences for them both. Worse yet, Janie learns the truth about herself and her ability -- and it's bleak. Seriously, brutally bleak. Not only is her fate as a dream catcher sealed, but what's to come is way darker than she'd feared....

Sometimes it's hard to believe that there is a possibility that the sequel can be better than the original. In this case though, it is true. Wake was a fantastic book, and Fade is even better. McMann's prose is just so spare, simple, and concise, which somehow gives it a haunting feel to it as well as a better connection to the characters. I really enjoyed the plotline of this and there were some twists and turns throughout the book. One thing that struck me was that, while reading Wake last year, I was constantly pulled out of the book because of the third person narrative, but in this one, I forgot it was even there. I became so engrossed in the story that I'd be surprised to see the third person narrative at times. I also LOVED Janie and Cabel's interactions, both conversationally and physically (yes, there's some romantic action happening between them in this book- yay!). I absolutely cannot wait for the third book, Gone, out in spring 2010.
 
QnA with Lisa McMann
1) How did you get the idea for Fade? Especially the idea of catching a sexual predator?
It followed naturally from WAKE. I finished writing WAKE and felt like there was more to these characters, so I kept going. As for the specific plotline, honestly, I don't know. It just came out when I started writing. I have no memory of any specific inspiration or anything. Okay, wait -- it's coming back to me now... there was an incident at a school that was similar, with the teachers and stuff, in the news a few years before I wrote FADE, and I remembered that.

2) Has the plan always been for three books? What's coming up next for you and Janie?
My personal plan was that there'd be two or more books. I think ending up with three books is absolutely perfect. It's much too early for book 3 info...I can't say anything yet. Though the mom plays a bigger role...and somebody dies.

3) What's your favorite jelly bean flavor?
I don't like jelly beans, but I do like jelly bellys -- most flavors are acceptable but I do NOT like licorice flavor. Blurgh! Better yet? Circus Peanuts. Nasty orange hard-marshmallowy goodness.

Lisa seems to think that jelly beans and jelly bellys are different. But she is wrong. Jelly Bellys are a BRAND of jelly bean.

They are SOOOO not the same thing. The bellys are tiny and come in flavors like popcorn and peanut butter. Jelly beans are for Easter and come in flavors like pink, orange and blech.

You are so wrong.

4) What book(s) are you reading now, or about to start?
I've been intending to start CHAINS by Laurie Halse Anderson but I haven't gotten to it yet.

 
Golden Girl and Fade can be found in bookstores now (Fade also includes my name in the acknowledgments- even more reason to buy it!) or can be ordered on Amazon: Golden Girl and Fade