Author Guest Post: Varian Johnson on Saving Maddie Playlist + A Giveaway

Today we have the wonderful author Varian Johnson (whose most recent book is Saving Maddie) visiting us at Reading in Color on the 2nd stop of his Saving Maddie blog tour. Welcome Varian!

Today is an important day for two reasons

1) Today is the release day of Saving Maddie! Read my review here, everyone should go buy the book, there's something in it for everyone :)




2) More importantly today is Varian's birthday. Happy birthday Varian! We wish you continued success as an author (and engineer) and thank you for gifting us with your stories.















I will now let Varian speak

Saving Maddie Playlist

Summary:

Joshua Wynn is a preacher’s son and a “good boy” who always does the right thing—until Maddie Smith comes back to town. Maddie is the daughter of the former associate pastor of Joshua’s church, and his childhood crush. Now Maddie is all grown up, gorgeous—and troubled. She wears provocative clothes to church, curses, drinks, and fools around with older men. Joshua’s ears burn just listening to the things she did to get kicked out of boarding school, and her own home.

As time goes on, Joshua goes against his parents and his own better instincts to keep Maddie from completely capsizing. Along the way, he begins to question his own rigid understanding of God and whether, as his mother says, a girl like Maddie is beyond redemption. Maddie leads Joshua further astray than any girl ever has . . . but is there a way to reconcile his love for her and his love for his life in the church?

My thoughts on the Saving Maddie Playlist:

Some people laugh when I say this, but I consider Saving Maddie my first true love story.

My other novels include elements of romance, but I’m not talking about romance. I’m talking about real love, built on friendship and trust. I’d even call it a story based on sacrificial love—a love so deep that you’re willing to give up the very thing that you want to alleviate someone else’s pain.

Of course, these are teenagers were talking about—you can’t talk about love without bringing up sex. And maybe that’s okay—attraction and desire go hand in hand with love.

Basically, Joshua both loves Maddie and is in love with Maddie. He wants to save her, and he wants her. And he doesn’t know how to reconcile this. (But Joshua’s not alone in this—Madeline feels the same way.)

As this book is all about love (and lust), many of the songs on my playlist are love songs—though I wouldn’t consider them happy love songs. Like Joshua and Maddie’s relationship, my playlist is a mix of seduction and despair, love and loss. Here are a few of my favorites:

Hello, Like Before by Bill Withers

The first version of Saving Maddie wasn’t about Maddie nor Joshua—it featured characters named Peter and Cassie. Unlike Joshua and Maddie, they were strangers thrown together due to circumstance.

When I restarted the novel, this time with Joshua, the good preacher’s son, and the wayward Madeline, I knew I wanted them to be friends—old friends…best friends—which made me think of this song, which is about childhood friends seeing each other after a long absence. Wither’s voice is powerful, but the song feels more like a folksy, laid-back soul song than traditional R&B.

Call Me (Come Back Home) by Al Green

This song, like the entire album, drips with southern soul. In the song, Green implores a woman to come back home—like Joshua does with Maddie. Also, Al Green famously battled between the religious and the secular—at one point he gave up singing R&B music entirely and became an ordained minister.

Let Me In Your Life by Bill Withers

“I only want to love you / please don’t push me away / Let me in your life.”

Plain and simple, this song is all-Joshua. Like with “Hello, Like Before”, the song captures Wither’s folksy, laid-back vocal style, which jives with Joshua’s demeanor.

What Would Happen by Meredith Brooks

Right before Maddie leaves Conway for the first time, she and Joshua almost share a kiss—they’re interrupted before it could actually happen. Fast forward five years, and the echo of that failed kiss still hangs between them. Like in this song, I think both Joshua and Madeline wonder what would have happened if they had kissed five years ago…and what would happen if they kiss now.

Scared Money by Kelis

This song is from Kelis’s second album, Wanderland, which was never officially released in the US. The idea of scared money is that you have to be fearless in order have success, or as Kelis says, “scared money don’t make none.” Like Madeline does throughout the novel, Kelis’s words skip between the playful and the seductive throughout the song. With its driving, synthetic beat, this song makes me think of Madeline at her naughtiest—with purple lips, a tequila-flavor tongue, and a take-no-prisoners attitude.

I Want You by Marvin Gaye

This song is actually a bit…explicit, but still, I love the passion Marvin Gaye sings with. “I want you / the right way / I want you / but I want you to want me to.” Like Al Green, Marvin Gaye also struggled to balance the religious and the secular. Unfortunately, Gaye died before fully being able to tame his demons.

Prayer Dance by Rachelle Ferrell

This song actually reminds me of an alternate ending of the novel, where we see Madeline dancing in the Sanctuary. I cut this part long before it got to my editor after realizing the true ending of the novel had occurred 40 pages previous to that point. However, maybe we’ll see Maddie dance in the companion novel….

You Do What You Have to Do by Sarah McLachlan

This might possibly be the saddest song in existence. I basically put this song on repeat after I “broke up” with best friend during college. She wasn’t a girlfriend in the traditional sense, but in the emotional sense, we were a couple. More than a couple. And due to hundreds upon hundreds of reasons, it didn’t work out, and we eventually decided to stop seeing and talking to each other for a while.

Relationships like the one that Joshua and Madeline share remind me so much of that old friendship from my youth, which is why I always turn to this song when things get rough for my characters. The song is simple yet haunting, with just McLachlan’s voice accompanied by her piano, an upright bass, and percussion. I love so many lines from this song, especially the refrain, “But I have the sense to recognize / that I don’t know how to let you go.” I tried to capture this emotional struggle throughout the novel as Madeline constantly pushes Joshua away, yet he doesn’t quite know how to let her go.

Other Songs on the playlist:

Come Live With Me Angel by Marvin Gaye

Make Ya Feel Beautiful by Ruben Studdard

Elsewhere by Sarah McLachlan

In the Land of Make Believe by Dusty Springfield

Rainy Days by Shuggie Otis

Can We Pretend by Bill Withers

My favorite songs on the playlist (and they are all good) are Hello, Like Before by Bill Withers, and Make Ya Feel Beautiful by Ruben Studdard. I also really liked Scared Money by Kelis and I'm glad Varian brought the song to my attention. all the songs completely fit the book and I love the combination of spiritual and 'secular' music. I have some iPod updating to do!

Follow the rest of the tour

Wednesday, March 10th – Gwenda at Shaken & Stirred

Thursday, March 11th – Melissa at Book Nut

Friday, March 12th – Edi at Crazy Quilts

Thank you so much for stopping by Varian and have a great birthday!



A Giveaway

The publisher has kindly supplied me with 3 ARC copies of Saving Maddie to give away. So if you want to win one, just leave a comment here with your email address. You don't have to be a follower to enter but you will get an extra entry if you are an old follower or become a new one.

To enter: Leave a comment answering either
1) Why do you want to read Saving Maddie? (I'm just curious)
OR
2) What's your favorite spiritual song? (You can say Jesus Walks by Kanye West) Even if you aren't spirtual there has to be an inspirational song of some sort that you like, it doesn't have to be religious in nature.

ETA: OR you can say something about the actual guest post. Just a thought.

Extra entries:

+2 New follower

+3 old follower

Ends: March 17, 2010

Open: Internationally (there will be at least one 1 U.S. winner and 1 international winner, the 3rd winner could be either).

Male Monday: Saving Maddie

Saving Maddie by Varian Johnson
Random House

Release date: March 9th, 2010 (tomorrow!)

Rating: 5/5

IQ "And that was when I knew Dad was wrong. Because when Mom and Dad and everyone else saw Madeline, all they saw was the girl with the bad attitude and sexy body who didn't care about her faith or her family or even herself. The girl who threatened to sway me from the path of the righteous. But when I saw Madeline, I saw a girl who prayed before every meal. A girl whose eyes shone with sadness every time her father was mentioned. A girl who desperately needed someone to tell her she was good. I saw a girl who was asking-no begging-for someone to help her." Joshua pg. 145

Whew long quote there but it illustrates quite well the way we tend to view people and it also gives people a peek into the complicated journey of Saving Maddie. Saving Maddie is about Joshua who is a PK (preacher's kid) and a really good guy, abstinence, no drinking or drugs or smoking, he regularly attends religious retreats and he leads his church's youth group. He used to have a best friend named Maddie Smith, but she moved away years ago. Maddie has changed big time from the way Joshua remembers her; she's got an attitude, she's gorgeous and she's no longer a good PK. Maddie is not accepted by the church community especially when she shows up to church in a very provocative dress, Joshua's parents think Maddie needs to be saved and Joshua wants to be the one to save her. But as he spends more time with Maddie, Joshua begins questioning his own status as a good guy and whether or not Maddie can really be saved.

This is one of those books that you can't judge based on the cover. I really like the cover (although I wish it wasn't headless), but the book is narrated by a guy and that is not conveyed through the cover. I think the pink cover with a girl's purple lips on the front may be a turnoff to guys because they may think it's about a girl. They would be missing out since this is a great story for guys (and girls). Also, I see Maddie and Joshua as African American (according to this interview, some people have criticized Maddie as being too light). Maddie is described as having brown skin and I think that comes across on the cover, I don't recall if she's described one way or the other (dark brown skin vs. light brown skin). In the same interview, Mr. Johnson notes that Joshua is never identified as African American, though he sees him as African American. As do I. I think I thought of Joshua as African American because most of the people he interacted with were black (his friends, the elderly community, his church) and to be honest, the author is black so I thought Joshua would be too (I'm more inclined to imagine a book by an author of color to be about a POC, though this is not always true).

You may start this novel off thinking it will justify how you feel about 'judgemental, preachy Christians' or you may go into thinking that it will show that 'no one is too bad to be saved and the Christian way is the right way.' You would be wrong on both counts. Once again Mr. Johnson has taken a controversial subject (in My Life As A Rhombus it was abortion) and broken it down. All too often people think issues are only black and white, but there are always gray areas. Mr. Johnson deftly describes those gray areas with absolutely no judgement. His characters make their own decisions, they fall down and they dust themselves off and get back up. Their preconceived notions about religion are challenged and in some cases, verified but not in a way that is expected. Also it asks the question that is it worth saving someone else but losing yourself in the process (and I am also of the opinion that not all people need to be saved, so this book also brought up that point as well which I found quite interesting).

The minor characters never completely disappear, they reappear and we learn enough about them to feel that none of them are one-dimensional (I loved reading about the mom's character development). Joshua is such a great guy, especially because he can be really awkward and you just want to go 'aww'. It's also amusing for me (as a girl) to read about the issues guys deal with, because they do illustrate how confusing we girls can be. Maddie is awesome as well (after you read this book, I think every girl will secretly want to be Maddie in some way), she's comfortable in her own skin and presents a confident demeanor to the world but she has her own demons. Saving Maddie is not just about religion, it's also a unique love story. Unlike other books where people fall head over heels in love right away, this romance builds up slowly (if you can even call that). I thought it would be immediate since Maddie and Joshua are childhood friends, but it's quite accurate in portraying that both of them have grown up and moved on. It's quite a sweet read, because before they are attracted to each other romantically, they are friends and they have to rekindle that friendship as well (and of course there are other people in this love equation/square). The ending is also very tasteful and sly ;) The romance asks the question that if you really love someone should you save them? (especially if they are happy as they are and if you change them, they may lose the qualities you love about them).

Saving Maddie is an eye-opening, delightful story that will tear down assumptions readers have made about religion and love and build up the idea of being open minded and looking beneath the surface. I wish the book was required reading in my religion class (yet another YA book that has classroom potential!) because it addresses some important points. Guys don't let the cover turn you off, I think you will relate to Joshua and his struggles (not just with religion but with sex/drugs/alcohol/being a good guy) and I also think girls can relate to him. I hope to read more about Maddie and Joshua. Varian Johnson has proven once again that he is a fantastic author and he has sealed in my mind that he can do no wrong (I still need to read his first novel, Red Polka Dot in a Room Full of Plaid) This book is a must read and everyone will get something out of it (atheists and non Christians don't let the idea of Maddie and Joshua both being PKs turn you away, the Christian references is not overbearing or tedious) High school and up.

Disclosure: Received from publisher. Thanks Jessica/Random House!

Mr. Johnson is starting his blog tour here, it's a very insightful and entertaining interview. Visit Reading in Color tomorrow because I will have a guest post and it's Mr. Johnson's birthday! So something special must be planned :)

PS On a more personal note, I think this book left a substantial impact on me because I'm going through one of those tests of faith where I'm not sure where I stand on the issue of religion. I definitely started Saving Maddie with the intention that it would justify why I should move away from the Church (although I mean the Catholic Church and none of the characters are Catholic) because of 'preachy, judgemental Christians.' Well, I should not have made that assumption since this book has left me with some food for thought and it has helped me refocus and hone in on what I like/don't like about Christianity.

First blog post! My Life As A Rhombus And Why I Started This Blog

Happy birthday America! :) And today is the birth of my blog!! Double hooray!!

So as referred to in the title of this post, this is the first blog post of young, black, a reader. Ok so the title isn't too original (thank you Lorraine Hansberry!). Anyway first I'm going to explain the idea behind the blog and how it's gonna work, then on to my first review!

I created this blog, because I felt there was a huge void of blogs written by African Americans about books, specifically for teens (if you know of any leave their titles in the comment section). In this blog, I intend on reviewing books about African American teens; current ones (2008-2009),older ones (2000s) and the classics (some may not really be written for teens but I'm going to read them anyway). Here's how the reviewing will work: I will copy and paste a description of the book (probably from amazon.com), along with my review. I will do rating out of five stars. In the future I may add more to my rating system but for now I'm keepin it simple. Authors if you want me to read/review your books email me at willbprez@aol.com Also I'm technologically challenged, so it may take me a while to really make this a snazzy (yup I typed it), cool blog. Currently I'm trying to figure out how to show the book covers on my blog. Now on to the review....

My Life As a Rhombus by Varian Johnson

Rating: 5/5

Boys + Love = Trouble Right?
Staying on track at school means a boy-free equation for Rhonda Lee, who spends most evenings doing homework and eating Chinese takeout with her dad. While Rhonda needs a scholarship for college, some kids at her private high school, like beautiful Sarah Gamble, seem to coast along on popularity and their parents' money.
When forced to tutor Sarah in trigonometry, Rhonda recognizes all too well the symptoms-queasiness, puking, exhaustion-that Sarah is trying to mask. On a sudden impulse, Rhonda shares her past with Sarah. Exchanging their secrets adds up to more truths than either girl would have dreamed.

I loved this book! At first, I thought I wouldn't like it that much, mainly because the main character, Rhonda, is a math whiz and I felt I wouldn't be able to relate to her because I despise math. No big deal. Rhonda is a relatable character, although I've never had to go through what she has gone through. This may be seen as a spoiler but it's not really; in the book Rhonda has to come to terms with the fact that she got an abortion. She still feels guilty about it. I'd never read a book about a girl who had undergone abortion told in the first-person and I felt that it really brought a new perspective to the pro-life vs. pro-choice debate. It made me think more about it. I personally think that everyone is pro-life, because no one wants anyone to have to get an abortion (i.e. no one is 'pro-abortion. ew I despise that term). That's just my opinion. Regardless, the most important thing I learned from this book is that; often the people who are all into this pro choice vs. pro life debate , don't even have to end up making this decision so it's all good and well for them to express their views. I don't know what I would do if I was pregnant while in high school, I don't think anyone can really say unless they have been in the situation. My favorite character was probably David because he was so in love with Rhonda and just really sweet and protective. My least favorite character was either Gail (Rhonda's best friend) or Christopher (Rhonda's ex). But Varian Johnson makes even the most annoying characters likable, or at least relatable. You find out some secrets about Christopher and even though Gail is very self-righteous and preachy, she will do anything for her friends. If you're a math whiz or math lover, you will enjoy the formulas and equations sprinkled through out the book. They were entertaining, even though I didn't understand all of them. I really liked the quote in the last chapter: "Life is too short for long division." I would also add, life is too short for trigonometry, and calculus. Read this book!

Forgiveness+friendship+love=My Life as a Rhombus

Please leave comments. Was this review helpful, not helpful, too short, too long, random? I wanna know!

PS I'm still in mourning for Michael Jackson :( Comment w/ your fav video or song by the King of Pop

PPSS or whatever it is. Check out the Taste Lifte Twice review: This is an awesome blog! Kiki and Tashi seem really cool.