Title: Freaksville
Author: Kitty Keswick
Genre: Middle Grade/Young Adult
Publisher: Leap Books
Source: Review Copy Provided by Publisher
Parental Warning: romantic entanglements (kissing, touching)
Challenge: Debut Author, Young Adult

Summary:
Kasey is what many in her life consider the typical high schooler — attached at the hip to her BFF, slightly rebellious against her parents and lusting after the cute English exchange student that seemingly appears out of nowhere one day at school.  Only, fact of the matter is, she’s not really all that typical.  You see, she’s got the gift of sight.  Handed down through the female generations of her family Kasey is able to envision things that others can’t.   In the case of her current circumstances she’s faced with using this power to help solve a mystery involving several townsfolk, a rival family of the paranormal persuasion, and ghosts of unexpected lineage.

To solve the case she enlists the help of her not only faithful friend Gillie but also the aforementioned cute English guy Josh.  Not even remotely inclined toward the dramatic arts Kasey finds herself taking on a role in the school play that places her into a partnership with the aforementioned crush Josh.  Luckily for her all of the strange scenarios of her life align just right to makes them partners on stage and in real life.

Armed with BFF Gillie, her gift of sight and a hunky supernatural boyfriend Kacey fights against family and foe as they work to find answers to questions long forgotten.

Opinion:
Freaksville was an odd read for me.  It’s one of those rare MG/YA books where I actually felt it’s age.  Usually when I read a book I can enjoy it despite not being the direct target audience but in this case it actually felt really young.  I say this not because it’s a bad thing.  It is, at it’s roots, a book for a particular audience, one that I’m admittedly not a part of. I say it because it naturally influenced my perceptions.

So I’ll start by saying this wasn’t a bad book, it just wasn’t the book for me.  There was far too much to keep track of — ghosts, werewolves, witches, and a variety of other mystical happenings and other-worldly creatures.  Had there been more focus on one supernatural character and ability as compared to the multitudes I may have been more inclined to get into the story.

I’ll further add that the romantic entanglement between Kacey and Josh is probably the thing that rubbed me the wrong way the most.  Not because I didn’t want to see them together or because I thought they weren’t a good match but as written it seemed like I was reading more of an adult romance novel.  Up until the points where description of romantic elements occur much of the language and dialogue Kacey and her friends use are age appropriate; kind of a young girls diary-speak.  The language surrounding romantic elements (kissing, touching, etc) took an an odd shift in tone towards the adult that had me a bit off kilter.

The blog format didn’t do much for me. I’m not sure how many girls Kasey’s age would share such details of her life in such a public format.  Especially since they are both under her own name and the details shared significantly differentiate her from her peers (ie: her magical gifts).  This blog format also opened up an inconsistency –  I got the impression one of the reasons Kacey had to wear gloves in school was to hide her ability yet she’s confessed to it all for the world to see online?   I don’t think creating this story in that blog post format helped further the plot or explore the characters.  It was just kinda there and odd and, for me, didn’t enhance the experience.

I’m kinda sad that this book didn’t work for me because on paper it sounded like a really interesting concept. There were parts of the story, that if focussed on more closely would have brought more depth. I think I might have enjoyed it more if there were less gifted and mystical creatures involved and there was clarity on just one or two of them.

I do believe that younger girls will enjoy this story — for them it’s got the supernatural twists, the cute boyfriend, hip best friend vibe and cool twists and turns.  However, once it’s all said and done, Freaksville was just a bit too young for this older reader.

[This review is part of a blog tour arranged by Traveling to Teens]

It’s my distinct pleasure to welcome author Kitty Keswick to Galleysmith to talk about her new novel Freaksville.

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Writing Freaksville Without Freaking Out…

I don’t write in a linear fashion, and I don’t always have an outline or plot everything out. I start with the characters first. They come alive to me. I see them as if I were watching a TV show. I wrote Freaksville’s key scenes out of order and then went through and, like taking a needle and thread, stitched them together. I had note cards, sticky notes, napkins—you name it—riddled with ideas. I’d be in the shower and dialogue would pop into my head. I had to rush out and scribble it down so I wouldn’t lose it. I once wrote out a scene with soap on my tub surround, so it would stay with me long enough to write it down for real. Once Kasey voice was solid, the story flowed.

The story was told in first person, and it seemed like a confession of Kasey’s inner world. The blog idea came a smidge later, but it worked so well, and the comments at the end of each chapter gave hints and clues into the story, making it more three dimensional. Kasey and Gillie were so real to me, I could see them, hear them, feel them. They had such a strong bond of friendship, and that friendship was the backbone for the story. I’m lucky to have some long-lasting friendships, and a few of them inspired Kasey and Gillie’s relationship. They are more than friends; they are sisters and support each other through good times and some pretty hairy situations. Every girl needs a BFF.

Characters: Creating Friendships That Leap Off the Pages…

Kasey, my heroine, and her BFF Gillie have a language of their own. It comes from being friends so long. They’ve lived next door to each other since birth (their moms were best friends too), so they share a lot of inside lingo. And the girl’s friendship was a huge part of who they were.

To keep track of Kasey and Gillie’s language, I kept a glossary for myself, which ended up in the back of Freaksville. Their energy was so hyper and exuberant. I really had fun getting to know them more. (Like I said, my characters are very real to me, I see them. Not in the okay-hurry-up-with-the-little-white-jackets-and-cushy-padded-cell see them, but you get the point.)

Besides listening to my characters speak, I always write a smidge of backstory to flesh out my characters. This history of what happened before the story helps me know them inside and out—how they will react to conflict, what their motivations are, what makes them tick. I also did character cards to work out their likes and dislikes and give them quirks—like Kasey’s list-making and Gillie carrying around a mongo-sized bag so she was always prepared for anything. They balanced each other well. They’re also strong females, which I believe all girls can and should be. I believe in Girl Power!

That meant I needed to have strong, honorable male heroes to balance them. Josh and Gunter fit the bill. The guys didn’t know each other before going to school, but they both sensed they were Lycans and that created a powerful bond. They became pack. And to werewolves, just like to their wolf counterparts, pack is important. So the best pal relationship was important for them too. Because Freaksville is a character-driven novel, these bonds of friendship between the guys, as well as Kasey and Gillie, and the interactions between all four of the characters added dimension to the plot and, at the same time, provided ideas for conflict.

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As outlined by Ms. Keswick and publisher Leap Books, Freaksville is the story of a group of teenagers, trapped in a haunted theater on the night of a full moon, who find out that ghosts are the least of their worries.

Every woman in the Maxwell family has the gift of sight. A talent sixteen-year-old Kasey would gladly give up. All she wants is a normal life. Shopping and talking about boys with her best friend and long-time sidekick, Gillie Godshall, consume her days. Until Kasey has a vision about Josh Johnstone, the foreign exchange student from England. The vision leads her into new realms, a lead in a play, a haunted theater … and into the arms of Josh. Yet both Kasey and Josh have secrets lurking in dark corners. Can Kasey’s new romance survive FREAKSVILLE?

About the Author:

Kitty Keswick has been an Anglophile since age four when she saw Robin Hood and fell head over heels in love. As she grew up on her grandfather’s California vineyard, Kitty’s imagination was her best friend. At a very tender age, she started writing her stories and reading them to the grapes.  Kitty spends her days with werewolves, Valkyries, vamps, and other creatures that go bump in the night.

Check out Freaksville’s book trailer and to learn more about Kitty Keswick visit her website at http://www.kittykeswick.com.

It’s Sunday of the every other variety! You know what that means? Road trip!!

My poor little Winnebago is currently weeping under the weight of feet of snow so it’s a bit slower going today as I rev up ‘er engine and get on the road. But now that I’m starting to inch my way out onto the open road things are getting much more festive and road trippy.  Join us will ya?

New York

Books in the City reviews New World Monkeys by Nancy Mauro

Pennsylvania

Beth Fish Reads interviews Jillian Cantor

Washington

Books and Movies showcases author Molly Blaisdell

New South Wales

Page Turners reviews The Household Guide to Dying by Debra Adelaide

I think we’ve had a wonderful trip over the past couple of weeks, don’t you?

If you are interested in participating in the Literary Road Trip please be sure to head over to the main page (a link is in the top navigation) and sign up. I’d love to have you! Until next time, safe travels.

Welcome the The Sunday Salon, Let It Snow Version 1.0!

Any of you who may follow me on Twitter heard my plight this weekend as I endured not only the accumulation of 30 inches of snow in the DC area but also the accumulation of 30 hours without power.  How is that for a really heinous 1:1 ratio!?!  Seriously….I’d have been happy to deal with an extra foot of snow if it meant 12 less hours without power.  At any rate, this is pretty much how it all went down:

• Snow starts, I have power.
• Snow rages over night, I have power.
• Snow continues into next day, I lose power.
• Power comes on for 5 minutes then back out regardless, power company informs me neighborhood is powered up and we’re all set.
• 1st call to emergency maintenance people at complex about power outage in building while surrounding neighborhood is comfy and cozy.
• Snow stops, I’m still without power.
• 2nd call to emergency maintenance people when 1st call goes unanswered for hours on end.
• Houses 100 yards away (seen from my balcony) twinkle and taunt with the gloriousness of heat and internet connectivity.
• Prowl the halls and get small bits and pieces of who has what power in the building (a lady with her fire alarm beeping and one light, a guy with his microwave, someone with full fledged all appliances power!)
• Bitter and rabid call of anger and frustration to regional property manager of complex about non-response from maintenance (dude, it’s freezing cold and I only have so much patience for the shenanigans of waiting).
• First call back. Maintenance man telling me that the power company is “working on it”.
• Another hour without power.
• Second call back. Property manager telling me that the power company is “working on it”.
• I momentarily revel in the fact that my regional property management rantings bear results.
• I freeze my ass off overnight to wake up without power still.
• Spend a couple hours down in lobby (which has some plugs working and glorious internet) until every part of the building loses power entirely.
• HARK!  1pm rolls around and power is restored!

Anyway it goes without saying that my weekend of reviewing, blog post writing, and general bloggishness did not happen.  I did get a couple of books read which was nice and I did discover that my book light has a dual purpose as a really kick ass flashlight, but my plan to write about Nerds Heart YA, the Book Blogger Convention and other great things related to blogging has been seriously derailed.  My motivation is nothing and sadly I can’t concentrate enough to coherently put thoughts together.  All I am is left feeling even further behind than I was when I started this weekend with the optimism of getting caught up.

**sigh**

How was your weekend?

A new month is upon us challengers!

As we get closer and closer towards the finish line I’m so pleased to see all of you enjoying your reading of this series.  Congratulations on being so successful.

Here’s our friend Mr. Linky. When you post a review, discussion, or anything at all having to do with the HPRC make sure you hop on over here and submit it so all the challengers can visit and partake of your awesomeness.