Extra Credit: Pitch of an adolescent novel

Extra Credit

The idea I had for this novel would be for the two main characters to fight social constructs as a rebellion rather than the government. This would appeal to the young adult dystopian novel in that it features a rebellion. However, this dystopian novel would offer a refreshing twist as today’s reality involves fighting a millennial “entitled” status and the problematic social constructs of our previous generations as well as a corrupt government, which the novel would attempt to encompass. This special scientific cosmetic line (play on words with genetic makeup) would address the idea of racial problem solving but also problem causing with the concept of “color blindness.” It would also implicitly show the uses feminism ideals have for boys since they would not use the products and would therefore be left out of the movement. Despite the feminine background of the plot, it would ideally appeal to males as much as females in that it calls to attention the ways feminism works in their favor too. Also, to fit the theme of racial identity, the characters would be described by their appearance and personality, leaving the specific race out of the storyline and up to the imagination of the reader. There would be homoerotic undertones between the two main characters as well, highlighting the importance of inclusion of LGBTQ+ representation in adolescent literature without making it the main focus of the novel.

Characters: (As I said in the pitch, their physical descriptions are left entirely up to the reader)
Tania – Student government president. Activist, but also feminine in that she loves makeup and cosmetology.

Shai – Tania's best friend. Competitive but supportive to represent the ideal relationships between women (and people for that matter).

Gerard – Tania's childhood friend. Somewhat of a flawed character in that he does not deal with Tania's intelligent superiority well.

Daymond – The supervisor of student government. He has good intentions, but ultimately becomes the one Shai and Tania need to sneak around in order to make and reverse the makeup.

Marked by P.C and Kristin Cast pitched as Nyx's Daughter by Heidi

Zoey Redbird was just your average teenage girl. She gossiped with her friend, Kayla, fought with her boyfriend, and attended football games. That all ended when she was marked by a tracker in her school’s hallway. Unless she moved to the House of Night, she would die. At first, Zoey was scared. She did not want to be a freaky vampire. She just wanted to be normal until she realized her connection with the goddess, Nyx, and her new status as a vampire would give her a better life. At the House of Night Zoey meets her new mentor Neferet who may not be what she seems and her group of new BFF. They are all shocked by Zoey’s colored in mark of the fledgling vampire. The mark puts her on the radar of the Dark Daughters and Sons that the hateful and corrupt 6^th year Aphrodite runs. It isn’t long before Zoey’s superior status as a vampire and affinity for the elements drives her to take over the Dark Daughters but not before Aphrodite has a chance to ruin a ritual causing dead vampire spirits to run rampant and almost murder the Dark Daughters and Sons. Zoey with the help of her friends contains the spirits and is finally placed in her rightful spot as High Priestess in training leader of the Dark Daughters and Sons.

Reviews

“A fast paced tale featuring a strong female lead. I couldn’t put the book down once I opened it”

 -MaryJanice Davidson, author of Undead series

"A unique and intruiging take on vampires."

-The New Yorker

"The cast. The school. The language. Five stars for this wonderful tale"

-SLJ

"Deliciously Sensual. I was hooked from the very first sentence."

-Gena Showalter, author of Oh My Goth 

Characters

Zoey Redbird is a new fledging at the house of night. She uses the confidence and power given to her by the goddess, Nyx, to make things just and fair in the House of Night.

Aphrodite is the popular and cruel leader of the Dark Daughters but she has a vulnerable side that she hides at all costs. With the pressure from her parents and the misguidance of Neferet Aphrodite loses everything.

Stevie Rae is a sweet, bubbly girl with an Okie accent. She is the best friend of Zoey and will do anything to help her friends.

 Neferet is the powerful high priestess at the House of Night. She is motherly and supportive of Zoey but her darkside breaks through her façade every once in a while.

Pitch

Nyx's Daughter is an adolescent geared novel. The main character is a young fledgling vampire named Zoey Redbird.  This novel is set in the House of Night: a high school for vampires. Like any high school the House of Night has cliques, romance, and friendship that will intrigue the adolescent reader and allow them to relate better to the life of fledgling vampires. Really the fledglings are just like them except they can’t go tanning. The novel uses humor and typical teenage language to make it an easy and fun read but there is more to the novel than its ability to entertain. Nyx's Daughter is a novel that subverts the idea that femininity means fragility. In the House of Night and the vampire world women hold the powerful positions and mostly women make the important decisions. Men in the novel are known as necessary to life but not the all-powerful beings that they are often portrayed as. They take a back seat in rituals and are mostly there to support the women. The novel also does not shy away from female sexuality. Zoey feels attraction to multiple men at her school and is free to explore all of those relationships because she has the independence to. Her feminine energy and acknowledgment of her desire and the affect she has on men is not downplayed because she is already a powerful character but is showcased because it is another facet of her personality, situation, and power. In addition, the book has a diverse set of characters. Not only does Zoey’s group of friends include LGBTQ characters and characters of color but so does the rest of the book. They are not put in to fill a quota or to make a statement. They are just part of an accurate representation of how diverse the world and high school is. The novel builds on novels like Pipi Longstocking, Ramona Quimby, and the Book Thief with their strong and curious female characters but is more diverse and progressive in its display of powerful female characters.

Extra Credit Assignment - Liren Xue

Apologies in advance if the emojis don't show up on Windows. Here is a key showing all of the ones I used.

In order, they represent 👩🏽‍🔬, 🤷🏽, 🙆🏻, and 👵

Title

The novel is titled 🙆🏻 🤷🏽‍Love and here is the picture I put together. It features emojis since the story is told largely through emojis, but the title includes the word "Love" in normal text since, by the end of the novel, the main characters transition from exclusively communicating in emoji to also using words.

Back Cover

🙆🏻 🤷🏽Love‍‍ is a bold, modern love story presented using emojis. 🤷🏽‍ is a senior in at Lakeview High School on her way to an Ivy League school. She has grown up obeying her single mother’s every command and is going to be the valedictorian of her graduating class. According to her mom’s wishes, 🤷🏽‍ will become a doctor, end of discussion. She is shy and studious, but secretly brimming with unfulfilled passion. 🙆🏻‍ is boy unsure about what he will do after he graduates. He’s not even sure if he’ll graduate at all. His parents are both dead and he has no one else in his life other than his loving but increasingly senile grandmother. All he knows and loves is dancing. And, yet, after running headfirst into each other after one fateful fourth period, these two, wildly different as they are, fall madly in love.

What will happen in this modern day Romeo and Juliet? Can 🙆🏻‍ find a place for himself in 🤷🏽‍’s preplanned life? Can 🤷🏽‍ help get 🙆🏻‍ back on track and into college? Does he even need to go? What will happen when these two totally different worlds collide? Find out in this uniquely stylized novel.

“A masterful glance into a Generation Z relationship” – The Woo-hoo Yorker

“As an expert on teenage romances, I think this novel will change the face of the genre” – Juan Spleen

“Xue’s second novel is streets ahead of his first. The characters are deep and relatable, the style is unique, and the plot is perfectly twisted. A true masterpiece” – Tamora Pierce Hawthorne

Pitch

🙆🏻 🤷🏽Love‍‍ offers a unique glimpse into Generation Z relationships. The story is presented as a series of screenshots of text messages. In a way, it is like a graphic novel. At the beginning, the main characters only communicate to each other using emojis. This will be relatable to adolescents today since it follows the trend of a decreasingly literary world. Teens will be able to understand the nuances implied by each emoji in a way that their parents won’t and the novel will give them something to call their own.

The high school love drama also provides a relatable, appealing context so readers will want to follow along with the story even if they don’t fully understand the emojis. 🙆🏻 🤷🏽Love‍‍ is a much-needed book in today’s adolescent market because it provides its target audience a source of validation for the way they communicate. By providing a story told mostly in emojis, 🙆🏻 🤷🏽Love‍‍ helps to normalize Generation Z’s style of communication and pushes back against the commonly-held adult belief that it is inherently inferior. The novel will empower adolescent readers by pushing back against the belief that adults are always right. However, the novel will also be didactic, since, as the relationship between 🤷🏽‍ and 🙆🏻‍ becomes more and more intimate, they begin to realize that they also need to use words to express emotions that emojis can’t truly capture. This will help guide teenagers through the transition into adulthood because the transition from emojis to actual text will mirror the aging process—as one gets older, he or she gets a clearer, more detailed version of the world, and generalizations stop being as useful.

The novel builds a tradition laid out by one of the earliest novels, Samuel Richardson’s Pamela. Richardson’s novel is presented as a series of letters, and he uses the contents of each letter to tell a story that educates his audience on the rewards conferred upon a fifteen-year old girl for being pious and chaste. 🙆🏻 🤷🏽Love‍‍ offers a more modern interpretation of this idea since texting is a modern-day analogue to letter-writing, and the story will also include didactic messages. Essentially, it will emulate Richardson’s style of teaching through example. 

Main Character Blurbs

🤷🏽‍ – 🤷🏽‍ is a studious, reserved teen headed to college. She is ambitious, but has a hard time standing up for herself. She loves puppies and her favorite food is pineapples.

🙆🏻‍ – 🙆🏻‍ is a wild, restless soul. His life doesn’t have any direction at the moment, but in his heart he feels a burning passion for dancing.

👵 – 👵 is 🙆🏻‍’s guardian. She took him in after his parents’ deaths and loves him more than anything in the world. She is sweet and caring though occasionally overbearing.

👩🏽‍🔬‍ – 👩🏽‍🔬‍ is 🤷🏽‍’s mother. She is strict and busy all the time with her job as a chemist. She thinks she knows what’s best for 🤷🏽‍ and won’t take “no” for an answer. 

Extra Credit: Desert Solitude

Why publish Desert Solitude? Well, the adolescent audience has long suffered through too many books about just a boy and his dog on an adventure and post-apocalyptic stories with bad-ass but now stereotypical female protagonist. So I combined the two.  I chose to make a story up about a girl and her dog going to find a lost library in a post-apocalyptic world. Something I have always been frustrated with in YA novel is the characterization of females. A lot of the young women conform to stereotypical male roles in order to rebel. Meaning that they are brash and outspoken. Introversion is usually a character flaw that is overcome rather than embraced. I chose to have a young woman who is alone apart from her dog. It is set in a world where there are presumably other people, but she does not encounter them. Because the main character does not encounter other people, there is no romance and introversion is her default state. I think it is important to represent as many different women as we can to young women including women who do not always have a witty comeback, do not like talking, and prefer to read books over leading a rebellion. While the character is not literally leading a rebellion, this is a form of female rebellion because she is living in a world free of societal pressures and gender norms and is free to be herself. There is also no romance present in this plot because there are no other people. The only characters are Mary, the female protagonist, Gretchen, the dog, Saucy, the cat, and a toaster named Craig. That’s it.

Mary

Pictured here is Bella Ramsey, known for portraying Lyanna Mormont on Game of Thrones. Mary is introverted but confident with a deep love for animals, books, and cheese.

Gretchen

While described as Mary as being a majestic creature, Gretchen has a penchant for naps and treats. She is Mary's best friend and guide.

Saucy

Saucy is the guardian of the library and is very regal. She gives a lot of sass but grows to love Mary and Gretchen.

Craig

Craig is a toaster that Mary found and named. Craig is just sort of there.

Stray dog Sonata Blurb and images

Luke Brix

4/17/17

Extra credit: Stray Dog Sonata Pitch

Back: Skin Walkers roam what is left of the United States after Yellowstone erupted and devastated the country many years ago. Artemis and Marcus Reyes are two brothers lost in the ash-cloud covered wastelands. They’ve been surviving nomadically for a while, but little does Marcus know that Artemis has been a Skin Walker for nearly the whole time.

Now on their journey they will come across a new challenge. A Lone Skin Walker who only refers to himself as Omega offers them the chance to head to a place called the citadel, a city built around one of the last working water treatment plants in the land. Along the way, the meet Meliza and Shyreen, two sisters planning to make the same journey to the citadel. As a group of 5 they manage the wastelands well, but as such a large group, they become targeted by a madman and his cult of sycophants.

“Dystopia in the post-apocalyptic sense. Here the land is not led and any scrap of order and power has to be made by the characters, a cult compound, and the failing remains of the US government. it’s a dark read, especially when thinking about the world, but made appealing by the characters who inhabit it.” –Suzanne Collins author of the Hunger Games.

“A story both externally and internally motivated. The character’s psychologies matter just as much as the destroyed landscape they inhabit. This is the YA adventure that will gear kids up to read writers like Cormac McCarthy.” –Steven King

Publisher Pitch: Stray Dog Sonata is a Young adult book aimed at fans of the dystopian audience with a bit of science fantasy woven in. 3 of the characters have the ability to change into wolves, a trait that always seems to be marketable. It will appeal to romantic interests as well; the main relationship is between Artemis and Omega. Such representation is needed in today’s YA market, and the idea of Artemis Hiding his wolf-form from his brother Marcus is meant to stand in relation to people staying in the closet.the main cast is also multi-ethnic, Artemis and Marcus are Hispanic and Meliza and Shyreen are African American. Hopefully this novel can take part ing positive representation of ethic as well as sexual minorities. This book appeals to the Adolescent desire to understand how power works, The main characters when not in compound of tents are often able to do as they please. Roving bands of Gangs and law enforcement are put at the same power level, and the cast will need to overcome both of them to complete their journey.

This Book is an inheritor of the Dystopian and Post-apocalyptic tradition. Cormac McCarthy’s The Road Heavily inspired the creation of this book. In the Realm of YA, it is in a similar Vein to the Hunger Games and The Knife of Never Letting Go. Hopefully this book will be new and interesting enough to appeal and create a new audience of readers that will view novels just as appealing and interesting as TV or Film.

(Artemis Reyes: Planned to enter the military before the eruption. Now watches over his younger brother marcus: one of the few times he wilfully shows emotion
Marcus Reyes: 7 year old who barely remembers life before the eruption. carries his mother's ashes in the bottom of a lantern.
Omega: the Jack Sparrow of the group and likes to pretend he's good at leadership.
Meliza: Lost her leg from a landmine. Adoptive sister of Shyreen. the one most capable of leadership.
Shyreen: 7 year old who clings to Marcus as a "romantic" interest. often lets her wolf side get the better of her.)

Extra Credit Assignment 

Blurb:

“Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.

Workingmen of all countries unite!” 

― Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto

Asaria Harker has only ever known hardship. Whatever family she had, long ago forfeited their rights to her, unable to afford another mouth to feed and entering her into the government program that sees her living in a designated project doing menial labor at whichever factory she is assigned that week. A citizen of a world that has tipped over the brink of economic and environmental disaster, most of humanity is left in circumstances not unlike her own. Working day to day, from the moment they are able, in order to survive, under the leadership of a newly formed global government whose intent is merely to ensure that its citizens might have the opportunity to eat. But not everyone lives this way. Hundreds of millions of miles from Earth’s scorched surface, 99% of its wealth lives on a lush utopic planet more beautiful and abundant than Earth at its finest. Its existence is all but a myth to Asaria until one day she receives a working order unlike any she has ever seen. She is to report off world to the planet Theia where she will be a ladies maid to none other than Femi Keita, the girl in whose mother's factories Harker has worked in all her life. The pay for the job is more money than Asaria has ever seen and she is promised an entire house to herself on the planet at the end of a ten year contract for her services. But her positioning is not coincidental and she discovers that her entire existence is a consequence of lies, betrayal, and unchecked greed. With her eyes newly opened she becomes a spy for the organization that saw her placed on the planet, an organization that desires nothing short of revolution, to reclaim a stolen world and punish those who have lived in opulence while the rest of humanity starved around them. But what will she do when she discovers that the truth of Earth’s current existence is far more complex than she was lead to believe?  With a war looming on the horizon Asaria finds herself involved in the fate of two worlds, with every decision she makes more consequential than the last.

“Puts you on the edge of your seat and leaves you there for 374 pages.”

-The Guardian

"Never has a YA book taken such a hard look at the workings of the world. Controversial, heartbreaking, and inspiring, “The 1%” captivates as much as it terrifies, putting the world on notice of a future that seems more possible the longer you read.”

-NY Times

"I have never seen a love story as complex and powerful as Asaria and Femi.  It is, even in the context of such a fantastic story, utterly realistic... sometimes devastatingly so."

-J.K Rowling

Pitch:

The 1% is first and foremost a novel about injustice, empowerment, and realism. The book strives to circumvent the tropes of dystopian and futuristic novels even as it is exists within those settings. Asaria is always real. She is a young girl involved in a conflict much bigger than herself, but the longer the novel goes on and the more she grows as a character the more power and autonomy she is granted as a player in the conflict. She will make mistakes, be selfish, be weak, because in the end those experiences will make her into the woman she becomes by the novels end. Her romance with Femi will not be the love lorn torture of two girls separated by circumstances. They will both hold strong opinions and have strong personalities that will challenge their relationship. They may or may not end up together in the end, and the audience will be aware of the precariousness of their relationship. The love between them will be hard won and important, even if it may not be enough to keep them together. Their relationship is important in the novel because it is tied to the larger plot and is a big part of their development as characters, but it is still only a part of the novel. No character in the 1% will be fodder, but rather unique. This allows the readers multiple opportunities to connect and relate, because Asaria is not designed to be anything but herself and not everyone relates to any single individual. The novel builds slightly on Susan Collins and her kin but also draws on the works of sociologist and intellectuals (like Marx) in order to present a more fleshed out and realistic world. The characters will reference Locke, Fanon, Durkheim, among others because I think that a real revolutionary would and because it provides an opportunity to teach people something that might not come across otherwise. A little knowledge slipped between the pages of a thrilling adventure. Todays adolescents want something different, and real, and challenging and I intend to give it to them.  

Character Sketches 

Asaria-  Since Earth has fallen into poverty, looks have become unimportant, but on Theia aesthetic is everything. Part of the reason Asaria is chosen to go to Theia is because of her appearance, which although unfair and shallow, is realistic to the way of the world. She has never thought of her own looks and upon realizing the privilege of them, she feels guilty and rejects the idea of beauty and appearance, refusing to wear make-up and dressing very simply in a  personal rebellion that she is often mocked for. 

Dani - Dani becomes Asaria's closest friend and ally. The continual weakening of the ozone layer for centuries left the Caucasian race in a precarious position, as they were unable to withstand the ferocity of the sun. Skin cancer became rampant and many died. This effectively reversed the race norms of the world, placing power in darker skinned hands. Dani is one of the last of her race and on Theia she is almost an exhibit, something that Femi's family uses as dinner conversation. She is also apart of the movement.

Femi- the daughter of the Primarch. Femi is a social celebrity on her planet and  is works hard to maintain her appearance. She comes off very shallow but has hidden depths and a strong will that builds throughout the novel.

The Primarch (Cassian Keita)- A very serious and complex man. Although possessing a penchant for brooding and secrecy, towards all around him he is a very kind man who loves his people and his family. It is important for him to keep up appearances but he is a simple man in truth and is maybe the only fan of Asaria's style as he emulates it himself. 

Extra Credit: Common Denominator

Cover:

Pitch: A novel about teen romance is a familiar story, yet one that grabbles with individual maturation while being thrown into the middle of romance is popular by demand. Given that today many teens are continuously faced with new obstacles, this novel represents the inner turmoil that comes with societal expectations. While by design this novel resembles other stories in its genre, it meets the demand of the adolescents by providing a discourse on the effectiveness of communication and intention, whether it be for the individual or in terms of the romance. Common Denominator is needed in the adolescent market because it demonstrates compromise, and the elements of real world situations are relatable to teenagers in a multitude of ways. This novel builds upon Fifteen by Beverly Clearly, and like its predecessor, Common Denominator is a timeless classic. However, in addition to the development of the romance plot, it succeeds to discuss the maturation of the adolescent.

Back Blurb & Fake Reviews:

Isabelle Rivers, a 17-year-old Williams High School student, has harbored a crush on Finn Davingport for the past two years. Although she has told herself time-and-time again that she is not defined by her relationship status, she cannot help but feel inadequate in herself. Her best friend Stacey has been encouraging her to be confident and to take the lead. Who says girls cannot ask out boys? However, Isabelle is not sure if Finn is even remotely interested.

Finn Davingport, an 18-year-old Williams High School student, has had his head in his books with dreams of becoming a dentist. All the girls chase and fawn over him hoping that he will take notice in them, however, none of them are genuine in their intentions. Until he meets Isabelle, a girl he thinks is "something else." His best friend Nathan has other ideas, reminding him that he has his future to think about, but Finn cannot seem to get Isabelle off his mind.

Will Isablle have the courage to speak to Finn? Will Finn make the first move? Or will they meet in the middle over their mutual feelings? Will they work out, or will reality tear them apart? 

"Elizabeth Vlasyuk has done it again in Common Denominator, a story about facing your feelings while trying to discover who you are. Isabelle and Finn are two souls searching for that common denominator!" - Rainbow Rowell, Goodreads Author of Eleanor & Park

"A story full of inner battle. To love or not to love, and to be or not to be. Two teenagers learning how to communicate their intentions through the mess that is High School." - Jerry Bernard, The Critic Novel

Character details: