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Post by schlager7 on Mar 17, 2010 8:35:07 GMT -6
ACCLAIMED CHILDREN’S AUTHOR JANE YOLEN TURNS HER HAND TO (FICTIONAL) FENCING Foiled is the most recent book from the pen of children’s author Jane Yolen (called “the Hans Christian Anderson of America”). Says Yolen about the inspiration for this story, “I was a fencer at Smith College, the number two on our team. We were only competitive within the college in those days. Fast-forward years later, and my granddaughter Maddison became a competitive fencer. I started with the fencing story because of her passion.” Foiled stars a fencer named Aliera whose first crush is wreaking havoc on her concentration. Passionate about fencing above anything else in her life, Ali now has to make some tough choices about whether to focus her time on fencing or boys. The two might not be unrelated, however. When her first date hits an all-time low that leads to supernatural revelations, Aliera discovers that she can fall back on the skills that fencing has taught her. Kirkus Reviews calls Foiled “an absolute must-read.” It will be in stores in April. First Second books are available for special promotions and premiums. For details, or to read an advance pdf of this book, contact Gina Gagliano at gina.gagliano@firstsecondbooks.com or 646.307.5388.
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Post by suzanne s on Mar 17, 2010 8:53:30 GMT -6
I want one as a collector's item...the cover illustration looks cool.
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nemo
Blademaster
mobilis in mobili
Posts: 729
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Post by nemo on Mar 17, 2010 12:03:35 GMT -6
Cute.
I'll be very impressed if there is anything in it that actually resembles "fencing" as opposed to "swordfighting."
(I need a smiley for crossed fingers!)
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Post by schlager7 on Mar 17, 2010 12:13:30 GMT -6
I add the following from the author's website.
A graphic novel, first of two, about a New York City high school fencer who finds out she is the Last Defender of Faerie, illustrations by Mike Cavallero–see the book trailer!
A Junior Library Guild book choice
FOILED began when my then eleven-year-old granddaughter Maddison became an avid fencer. But the story was also about my days as a college fencer and the time that I lost my foil on a date in Grand Central Station. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction or sometimes a true story becomes even bigger in the remaking of it.
I planned to send the story to an anthology I’d signed up for. As I read the opening few pages to Maddison, who wanted to hear more, I ran into trouble. The story kept threatening to become bigger than the anthology’s word limit. It wanted to be—gulp!—a novel. I stopped writing, and thought Maddison would never forgive me. Until, that is, I sold the story as a graphic novel.
Now I had long wanted to write a graphic novel. I loved Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, Mike Mignola’s HellBoy, Linda Medley’s Castle Waiting, and Art Spiegelman’s Maus. For ten or so years, I had tried to sell the idea of me doing a graphic novel to the editors I knew. But not one of them thought the graphic novel was something I—or they—could produce successfully.
Finally my agent had me meet with the head of the newly-formed First/Second Books, an imprint dedicated exclusively to the graphic novel. We had so much in common besides just being interested in comics. And he loved the start of FOILED and encouraged me to turn it into a gn. I began work on the book, thinking: This is going to be fun. How hard can it be? The short answer was: very hard. The learning curve was huge.
And Maddison? Well, she turned fifteen when the book came out. She’s a ballet dancer now, not a fencer. Still, she has seen the pictures, read the script. “That’s me!” she tells me proudly. And remembering my days as a college fencer, I think, “And me!”
As for the illustrations by Mike Cavallero, he put his heart and soul into them, and I adore this, my first graphic novel.
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Post by Aldo N on Mar 17, 2010 14:03:26 GMT -6
This is wonderful. You can't buy this kind of publicity for our sport.
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Post by schlager7 on Apr 27, 2010 11:40:13 GMT -6
a teaser from the graphic novel: more excerpts may be found here
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