mary e. pearson

in California!

The Miles Between received an awesome *starred* review from Kirkus.



They say things like:

"Pearson mesmerizes with a heavily cryptic back story that explodes with full emotional force."

"a terrifyingly beautiful truant day"

" page-turning suspense"

Thank you, Kirkus!

Still smiling and dancing . . .

I found this out about a month ago, but couldn't say anything until they announced it on their website, but now I just saw the news is up so I can spill! 

The Adoration of Jenna Fox has won the  Distinguished Work of Fiction Award  from the Children's Literature Council of Southern California.  Hooray!!

And fellow Henry Holt author, Hope Anita Smith, won the Myra Cohn Livingston Award for Poetry!  Hooray again!!

Check out the other award winners -  Cheers to all!

Book Signing - Tomorrow!  I have my first book event of the year--a discussion and signing of The Adoration of Jenna Fox at the Carlsbad City Library, 1775 Dove Lane in southern Carlsbad, at 2 pm in the Gowland Meeting Room.  The book club that read my book invited me to come but the public is welcome and Borders will be selling books.   If you happen to be in that neck of the woods, stop by and say hi!

Movie Update - I've had a lot of people asking me about movie updates so here's the latest. I heard from my film agent that the script for AJF is nearly done.  The screenwriter, producer, and director are just putting on some final touches.  I can't wait to see it.  When I hear more I will let you know!

Locus List - And I saw this on melissa_writing 's blog yesterday: Locus Recommend Reading 2008   so like Melissa, I will chirp a little squeeeeee!

I've been wrestling with intermittent internet service all day--our power went out last night so I think that might have something to do with it--anyway, on the phone with the cable company all morning so getting a late start here on everything.  Technology is great and all but sometimes don't you wonder just how much time it really saves?

Hope your day is going a smoother than mine!

2008 was a year of many miles and milestones for me. I think I traveled more in '08 than in any other year of my life. My awesome publisher sent me to many places to meet with readers, bookstore owners, teachers, librarians, and more. In the process I got to meet, for the first time, so many people including a whole lot of LJer's like, beckylevineliteraticatseaheidicdaisymkbaccelliajillsbooksjmprincejensbookpagesusanwritescoppervalecoebooththunderchikinand professornana

I also got to see some LJ friends I already knew like, cynthialord d_michiko_f mountainmist lisayeelsparkreader marperez notjazz traciezimmer davidlubar zeisgeist tanyaleestone lizzb bgliterary and halseanderson

And there were a couple of near misses with cfaughnanand christine444--maybe in 2009!

I am sure I missed a few LJ'ers in my list and of course there were a zillion other people I met too. It was a wonderful year of making new friends and seeing a lot of old ones.

As 2008 came to a close, there were several people who were so kind as to include The Adoration of Jenna Fox on their 2008 favorites list. I've been sick the past few days--2009 brought me a not so lovely cold--so I know I have missed several lists, but many thanks to these who remembered and listed AJF among their faves:

Kirkus Best Young Adult Books of 2008
School Library Journal's Best Books of 2008
Cynsational Books of 2008
Bildungsroman Best Books of 2008
Not Your Mother's FAVES of 2008
A Patchwork of Books Favorites of 2008
Nassau Boces Best Books of 2008
BookAdvice.net Favorite Reads of 2008
Tamora Pierce Favorite Books 2008

And my thanks to the lists I may have missed too. I am truly very grateful to those who read JENNA FOX and shared their thoughts with me or others. Thank you.

This is the time of year for setting goals and making resolutions. As soon as my head clears (and my nose stops running like a river) I plan to make a few of my own. I rarely get sick, so I am thinking I am getting it out of the way first thing in 2009 and I can get down to the business of reading and writing for the rest of the year.

Happy 2009 everyone!

December!  Can you believe it?

I am trying to catch up on an avalanche of mail and news and a desk dumped with "stuff" that I let go over the course of conferences and holidays and feeling like it is a hopeless cause.  I keep hoping the desk  pile will get up and walk away when I am not looking but it hasn't yet.  But I am the eternal optimist.

So taking a little break to share some good news that came last week.  School Library Journal came out with their Best Books of 2008  list and I was thrilled to see The Adoration of Jenna Fox on it.  I was also happy to see fellow LJer's tanyaleestone  and e_lockhart  on it.  Yay!

Now back to the desk pile . . .

Yep, still there.

I was gone for two weeks--seems like a month! First stop: Paris. I love everything about that city. I won't bore you with all the usual tourist pictures (and I have plenty of them) but a few of the more unusual ones.

I took this at Marie Antoinette's farm at Versailles. Something very metaphorical about this tree, don't you think?

Barely teetering there on the ground but still stubborn enough to thrive. I have more pictures that I will post over the next few weeks as the opportunity arises--including a few bloopers. Oh! And some interesting "art" at Versailles too. Still shaking my head on that one.

While in Paris, I had the opportunity to meet with my French agent and publisher. We chatted at an outdoor cafe near my hotel, and I learned a little more about publishing in France. Luckily, both agent and editor speak English way better than I speak French. The French version of JENNA will be out next October. Hm, I wonder if I could go back for a signing . . . I can dream, can't I?

Still on the foreign front, when I got home I got the good news that The Adoration of Jenna Fox had three more foreign rights sales: Chinese, Korean, and Polish rights. I couldn't even begin to pronounce the name of the Polish publisher, but I am thrilled that JENNA will be published in still more languages.

And still more foreign stuff . . .
I came home to find the Australian cover in my mailbox.

Is this beautiful, or what? I love the bright blue eye and just all the mystery and intrigue that the whole cover suggests.

One more picture from the farm at Versailles:

I know, this could be anywhere America, but it is halfway around the world and this donkey speaks in French, so he is special. And very cute. I don't know what he is saying--probably something like "Americans!" But after all the grandeur of the palace at Versailles--the farm and its animals, trees, and ponds were exceptionally beautiful and relaxing.

A couple quick updates:

The So Cal Independent Bookseller Award finalists have been announced!

An LJ friend sent me this: I've been haikued.

Love it. I think this is my all time shortest review.

Here is a challenge for you all:
Haiku one of your favorite books but don't tell me the title. Let's see if we can figure it out.

Here's mine:

Disreputable
girl turns tables on guys
by being clever

That's me.

I am the guest blogger over at Teen Book Review today and I decided to write about the topic that makes writers squirm. Crazy woman. Masochist.

In other news, I got word that The Adoration of Jenna Fox is on Barnes & Noble's Long List . Very cool!

And in still more news, major congratulations to Laurie Halse Anderson on winning the 2008 ALAN Award. Hop on over and add your cheers: halseanderson

And I just finished Impossible by Nancy Werlin. Wow. She's done it again. When it comes out in September, get it. Read it. Thank me later.

The Movie Deal was announced a few days ago apparently–the author is always the last to know–and I haven’t had a chance to make an announcement of my own, which is ironic because FOR MONTHS I have been holding this in and wanting to SPILL!

IT WAS AGONY! Yes, this was one of those "distractions" I mentioned!

But it was all hush hush and so I learned to keep my mouth shut, but as my absolutely brilliant agent said, the barn door is open now, so I can finally shout . . .

YES! The Adoration of Jenna Fox is going to be a movie!

Here is the news that has already been announced on CynopsisKids:

"20th Century Fox films options the feature film rights for The Adoration of Jenna Fox, author Mary Pearson's new young adult novel, in a mid to high six figures deal. Published by Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, The Adoration of Jenna Fox is schedule for release on April 29, 2008. Brad Silberling is set to direct the live-action movie, with Julia Pistor producing, and a writer deal set to be announced soon. The book is set in the near future and revolves around Jenna, a teenage girl who, like most teens, is trying to figure out who she is and how she fits in, but it this is a huge task for Jenna because she has just woken from a year-long coma and she remembers nothing about who she is, or was."

This all came about because my previously mentioned brilliant agent, Rosemary Stimola, introduced me--and Jenna--to film agent extraordinaire, Jason Dravis, of the Montiero-Rose-Dravis Agency. Boy does Rosemary know her stuff. Jason was completely amazing. He cared about Jenna from Day One and started the long process of finding others who cared about the story too. Nervous? Oh my gosh. But his calmness rubbed off on me. I talked to several wonderful producers but everything “clicked” as soon as I talked to Julia Pistor. She loved details in the story that I loved too, and I knew we were on the same page. From there I met Brad Silberling and it was another “clicking” moment. He “got”the story and the minute we met he started talking about the relationships between the characters. Relationships! Yes!

The whole process from start to finish was truly amazing. Yes, much nail biting too, but Jason and I had an agreement--he would do the negotiations and I would do the nail-biting and we both did our jobs brilliantly : ) We had several studios interested along the way but I thought it was quite serendipitous that Fox should end up buying it. What are the chances? But wait, that’s a line from my next book. I am getting ahead of myself. Back to . . .

I can finally SHOUT OUT!!!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers to our own traciezimmer for winning the Schneider Family Book Award for REACHING FOR SUN. Fabulous news! Hurray!!

Cheers to all the award winners!

And cheers again for A.M. Jenkins and REPOSSESSED. Amanda is a long time friend, but even so, when I read her book and interviewed her for the Cafe back in July, I knew REPOSSESSED was something special. Her humor is sharp and dry, and truly does make you laugh out loud, but in the next breath she can have your heart in your throat. I am thrilled she received the Printz Honor for this book.

I am so excited! I LOVED this book!

of good news lately. When it rains it pours, and oh my gosh is it pouring right now. Literally. It woke me up at four this morning. We really need a good rain in Southern California and this one is a drencher. I think it has been more than a year since it has rained hard like this. Just yesterday I was watering the yard because everything was so dry . . . but I digress.

My good news! I learned yesterday that The Adoration of Jenna Fox sold at auction to a German publisher. Verkauft! So now, besides French and audio editions, there will be a German one too. Hurray!

And the reappearing coffee stain? As of Day 9: gone!(with fingers crossed)

I am thankful for my blessings large and small.

G-R-A-D-U-A-T-I-O-N !!!
This has been the month of “Jessica.” I have been missing in action because SHE has had so much going on! She is (was!) an art major and had final projects, shows and graduation receptions and then a graduation party. Congratulations, honey! And we had just swept up the confetti from her grad party when it was time to celebrate her birthday. Is this the look of happiness or what?



(Now, does anyone have a job for an art major?!)

And while I was away I see a lot of other good news has been pouring in. Picture me jumping up and down and throwing yet more confetti for . . .

Christi,cdaisym and her engagement! Yahoo!

Tanya Lee Stonetanyaleestone and her first wonderful reviews! I know more will come!

David Gillthunderchikin for a fantastic review too! Woohoo!

queen_of_ocd and her amazing A’s! Congratulations!

Lara Zeises, zeisgeist on the arrival of her new pup! We want pictures!

D.L. Garfinkle, dlgarfinkle on the sale of her second YA! She has made a lot of fans happy! I loved Storky!

Debby Garfinkle,dlgarfinkle, Cecil Castelucci rbinder, and David Lubar for being Cynsational Books of 2005 courtesy of the amazing cynthialeitich

Linda Joy Singleton,lindajsingleton at long last moving into her dream house! Wow!

And to Cynthia Lord cynthialord for all the amazingly wonderful things that are happening with RULES, which are so deserved.

I have SO much more to catch up on, but now it seems another little event snuck up on me when I wasn’t looking . . . Christmas! I heard recently about someone campaigning to add an eighth day to the week. Yep, count me in.

But for right now I have a few holiday cards to address . . . .

Cheers all!