When I first seriously got into YA books, I was very taken with Jennifer Donnelly's superb novel, A Northern Light. It remains one of my all time favorite historical novels, both because of its fascinating story and strength of its characters. Imagine my excitement when I heard Donnelly was to publish another book for young adults, called Revolution. Then imagine my excitement when I got an ARC. And then imagine my excitement when I found out that Jennifer Donnelly herself was going to stop in Manhattan on her book tour.
That's right, I met Jennifer Donnelly.
I've been going to so many book signings in smaller, independent bookstores that walking into Borders was almost a shock. But I quickly got over it when the signing began and Jennifer Donnelly walked on stage. She explained her inspiration for Revolution (a fascinating newspaper article about the discovery of the heart Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France during the French Revolution) and also read two excerpts before submitting herself to the audience's questions.
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| Jennifer Donnelly brought the article which evolved into Revolution |
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| Me and Jennifer Donnelly (look, we match!) |
In all, Jennifer Donnelly strikes me as a very intelligent and caring woman with a passion for history and talent for weaving it into a great story. Though I have yet to dig into Revolution, I'm sure I will love it as much as Donnelly's YA masterpiece A Northern Light.
3 munch(es) :
I would love to meet Jennifer Donnelly! I liked A Northern Light, but loved the first two books in her Rose trilogy. I am waiting very impatiently for the third one now!
I would love to meet her too. I didn't know she was at a bookstore that was sort of close to me last month :-( A Northern Light is also one my favorite historical fiction books.
When I was maybe 13 or so I read A Northern Light. I don't remember it's content (it's one of those books that I will pick up again eventually) but I remember I couldn't put it down. I think I wanted to BE the main character, and I loved the story.
I want to read more by Jennifer Donnelly, but before I do I want to go back to A Northern Light and rediscover the adventure :)
Jane
janestoryblog.blogspot.com
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