Afterglow Stick Review

I'm not posting today, and comments are off, because you should just go read my review, at Afterglow Book Reviews, here.

The King's STICK

I watched The King's Speech this weekend. It's a great film. I also finished reading the ARC of STICK, by Andrew Smith, on Thursday. It's a great book.

I couldn't help but notice some similarities. Okay, yes, sure, there are few plot related commonalities between King George VI struggling with his stammer in 1930s England and 13 year old Stark McClellan struggling with saints, angels and sinners in what I can only assume is the early 70s, all up and down the west coast of the United States.

There are no similar characters. No similar occurrences. Yet I can't help but think that these stories are about the same thing, underneath everything like plot and character and so forth. I guess they call that theme.

For me, both these stories are about the things we do to each other. The human condition. The way we treat our fellow man. Mostly they're about the abuses. The mistreatment of each other, the horrid things we do when we don't know how to deal with something, or someone.

In that way these are both sad, tragic tales, but they're also about something else. The little kindnesses, the caring gestures, the giving that is also human nature and that somehow finds a way to balance all the evil out.

These acts might seem innocuous if they weren't pressed up against the face of so much evil, but when rendered in such a light, they gain an almost holy quality.

Anyway, I don't have time to analyze this any deeper, but what I can tell you is that you really ought to experience both these stories. The King's Speech is available now, on NetFlix, for purchase, and probably on demand on cable, I can only assume.

The bad news is that Stick will not be available until October 11th, later this year, but you can pre-order it from Amazon, here.

In the meantime, if you have time, please scroll down and take a look at Michael G-G's query. He's got an awesome idea going there, and could use our help to tighten up his query.

Stick Cover Reveal

I'm a little frustrated, because the image Andrew sent me was huge, very hi-res, and beautifully detailed. Blogger won't let me post it at the full resolution, so this is the best we can get. I still think it looks amazing. In case you can't read it, this is what the blurb says:

"Andrew Smith is one of the most courageous and compelling authors I've read. Stick moved me deeply." - Sara Zarr, author of Once Was Lost

I would agree with that, completely. I've only read one of Andrew's books, but I already know he's one of the most honest writers out there, and that certainly does take courage.

I told him that I love this cover. I think the gritty, sort of film grain quality of the image matches his deep and brutal method of telling the truth through fiction. I also love how it contrasts with the birds, and the boy's upraised arms.

Here is the "catalog copy" -

Stark McClellan (“Stick”) hears the world in a different way. He is surrounded by cruelty and ugliness, but holds on to a powerful sense of wonder, faith, and love for his best friend, Emily, and the most important person in Stick’s world -- his older brother, Bosten, who happens to be gay. When the boys’ father throws Bosten out of their home, Stick steals a car and takes off on a three-state odyssey to find and rescue him.

I could go on for a while about Andrew and his books, and there are a lot of other exciting things coming up, like a live action trailer for Stick, but if you just visit Andrew's blog, and follow him, you'll be just in the know as I am.

UPDATE: There are four other blogs hosting Andrew's cover reveal today. You should visit them as well:

The Naughty Book Kitties

Lady Reader's Bookstuff

I Read Banned Books

A Simple Love of Reading

F is for Fizzle

Remember when I said I only had two important posts this week? Yeah. One was yesterday's and the other will be tomorrow.

So instead of posting myself, which is kind of foolish during the A to Z challenge anyway, I'm highlighting someone else's post. Actually, it's two people today. My friends Jessica Bell and Nicole Ducleroir have been joining their A to Z posts since the beginning. It's a rather fun little game they have going, in fact. Just go visit their blogs and you'll see what I mean.

When it comes to tomorrow, please do come back. I'll be one of only five bloggers involved in the cover reveal for Andrew Smith's new novel Stick. You can find out more about Andrew, and the plans for the reveal, here.

That's three links for you to look at that are more important than this post. Now get out of here.