#fyasummershowdown 2015

[fyaorlandonorth]

FYAON had the BEST team full of AWESOME-SAUCE people!

[kcfya]

I’ll Give You a Playlist

Based on I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

Here Comes the Sun - Beatles

Great overall theme song for the book, as it has “sun” in the title and it’s about moving on after a hardship. I think this line in particular applies to Jude’s transition throughout the book “The smiles returning to the faces/ Little darling/ It seems like years since it's been here”.

   2. It Don’t Have to Change - John Legend

For Jude and Noah, about family love persevering through life changes. “Oh do you remember/ when the family was everything?/ oh do you remember?/ It was so long ago and so much has changed/ I wanna go back/ wanna go back to those simple days/ I wanna go back/ but now we’ve grown and gone our separate ways/ Times is hard/ And things are a changin'/ I pray to God/ That we can remain the same/ All I'm trying to say is our love don't have to change”

  3. Hey Jude - the Beatles

Too obvious? : )

  4.  The Feeling- Alabama Shakes

For Noah who is struggling to come to terms with his feelings and accepting his actions towards Jude. Jude’s gradual acceptance of the past also applies to this song.  “See, I’ve been having a real hard time/ but it feels so nice to know I’m gonna be alright”

  5. Superstition- Stevie Wonder

A reference to Jude’s devotion to Grandma Sweetwine’s “bible”.

  6.  Brave - Sara Barelles

Jude and Noah are both struggling to find and be true to themselves after their mother’s death. This song is about being okay with who you are and facing the critics.  “You can be an outcast/ or be the backlash of somebody’s lack of love/ or you can start speaking up”

 7. We Are Family- Sister Sledge

This book is full of family. Jude and Noah dealing with their sibling rivalry. Noah and his Dad discovering their relationship. All three of them discovering what it means to be a family again without their Mom in the picture.

8. The Middle- Jimmy Eat World

Both Jude and Noah feel out of place during the course of the book. This song fits in perfectly with their struggle with self acceptance.  “It just takes some time/ little girl, you’re in the middle of the ride/ everything, everything will be just fine/ everything everything will be alright.”

9. Vincent (Starry Starry Night)- Don McLean

This is the perfect love song to describe the love affair between Guillermo Garcia and Jude and Noah’s mother. “But now I understand why you tried to say to me, and how you suffered for your sanity” also described how both Jude and Noah feel after their mother dies.

10. Who Loves the Sun- Velvet Underground

Before their split, and their mother’s death, the twins both swapped pieces of the Earth. But after their mother dies, niether one of them cares who has the sun. “Who loves the sun, Who cares that it makes the plants grow, Who cares what it does, Since you broke my heart.” Both Jude and Noah have their heart broken in so many ways this song is perfect.

[fyadfw]

Melissa and Mandy went to see Paper Towns (and loved it!).

+2 [AG]

[fyaorlandonorth]

The Fair-tastic Adventures of Black Dove and White Raven

Unfortunately none of us have had the pleasure of reading this book yet, so we hope this is somewhat in the vein of what you were expecting!

One day, while Black Dove and White Raven were lying outside, lazily drinking up the sunshine and making up stories about the clouds that breezed by over their heads, they happened to see a large puff of dust coming from beyond the hill. They ran up the hill that overlooked the road into town and saw dozens of trucks stretched out for what seemed like miles, all headed towards the large flat fields on the outskirts of town.

They watched off and on all that afternoon and into the next as strange men and women unloaded giant hulking towers of metal and erected brightly colored tents. At last, as the second day drew into darkness, the lights turned on, and in brightly colored bulbs above the entrance of the field, a large signed proudly proclaimed, ‘Welcome to the Greatest Fair in the World!’

“A fair!” White Raven exclaimed with longing. “Oh, we have to go!”

But their families would not let them, because they were going out of town the next day and would be gone all weekend. White Raven was sad, and cried herself to sleep that night. It was not too long after she fell asleep that she was awoken by a tinkly sound at her window. She crept to the screen and peered out to find Black Dove waving at her frantically.

“Come down!” he called.

“Why?” she whisper-shouted.

“Because we’re going to the fair! Come on!”

White Raven didn’t need to be told twice. She pulled on her clothes, discarded in a heap after her crying fit, and shimmied down the large maple tree. Hand in hand, the two flew like their namesakes over the hills, roads, and houses in between them and the shiny, bright lights of the Fair.

When they reached the entrance, Black Dove pulled out some crumpled bills and clinking coins from his pocket: all that was left of his allowance from his piggy bank. He paid for their ride tickets and laughed as White Raven dragged him through the crowds towards the bumper cars. They rode the Scrambler, trying desperately not to crush each other, until, finally, they collapsed in a tangled bird heap, breathless from their giggles. Black Dove got faintly seasick as they pretended to be pirates aboard the Sea Dragon, a ship that swung back and forth so far it seemed as if they could flip over and land in another world. They paid fifty cents each to see the Smallest Woman in the World, and marveled at her tiny fingers.

White Raven drank fresh lemonade and ate kettle corn and elephant ears (though, to be honest, she was a bit worried about that snack, until Black Dove explained that it was just powdered sugar and fried dough) until her stomach felt like it could burst, and yet she still found more room to split a giant blue cotton candy with her friend.

They ended the night with a round-trip on the Ferris Wheel, and White Raven couldn’t think of a night more magical. Their entire town lay out in front of them illuminated in soft whites and yellows amidst the darkness, and they rested their heads together as they sleepily took it all in.

Somehow, among the clangs and shouts of the crowd, White Raven and Black Dove fell asleep in their car, and spun for hours until it was almost dawn and a carnie gently shook them awake. They wound their sticky fingers together once more as they raced back to their homes to sneak into their beds before their families knew they gone. Black Dove gave White Raven a boost into her tree and waved a quick goodbye as he ran off.

White Raven had just pulled the covers over herself when her mother knocked on the door and called out cheerily, “Time to get up! We’re leaving for the beach in half an hour!”

And even though she was going to be very sleepy for the rest of the day, White Raven jumped out of bed with a secret smile on her face, knowing she would never forget her wonderful night at the fair.

+10

[kcfya]

Hard work and dedication

[fyaorlandonorth]

LOVE LETTERS TO THE DEAD

A Letter to a Character in Harry Potter, and A Letter to a Character in Divergent:

Dear Fred,

I have to confess, I don’t read many books where beloved characters die. Sure, death happens in them, but the dead include the villains; Red Shirts; or characters I liked, but didn’t really know that well.

I felt I knew you.

I loved your sense of humor, your bravery, your joie de vivre. You and George were quite the pair, laughing (literally) in the face of adversity. You brought joy to those around you and you never gave up. We lost you too soon.

I don’t read books where beloved characters die because it hurts too much. Years on and I’m still reeling from the loss. You, Dobby, Colin, Hedwig - so many losses have kept me from re-reading this beloved tale. I’m still not over it. I selfishly wish you could have stayed around as a ghost, but I know you’re far too brave to fear what came next. 

Mischief Managed.

Dear Tris,

I was driving past the Orlando Eye yesterday and had a vivid flashback to the Capture the Flag game you played in your early days as a Dauntless initiate. The day you climbed that Ferris Wheel with Four at your heels was the day I became your biggest fan.  Its now been two years since I read about your tragic death and I am still so angry about the waste of such a beautiful young life.  You were selfless.  You were bold. You had one of the hottest MLD boyfriends to ever grace the written page!  How did it all go so wrong? You inspired me to be brave.  Not jump on moving trains and zipline from skyscrapers brave, but more like the kind of brave it takes to be comfortable in my own barely tattooed skin.  The kind of brave where I can read a book with a picture of a girl wearing an unnecessary prom dress on the cover in public without cringing.  The kind of brave where I can proudly check out at the bookstore with a stack of 7 novels written for an audience half my age without pretending that they are gifts.  The kind of brave it takes to post pictures of myself online posing in weird ways at weird places while wearing weird clothes to earn points in a wicked virtual scavenger hunt. Tris, the one good thing about your death is that you left this world before you could see the total destruction of your story through a series of lame movies.  If that bullet didn’t kill you, the snooze fest that was the Divergent movie surely would have.  I hope that in whatever afterworld exists for the people of far-future Chicago, you are finally able to find peace.  Thank you for teaching us all to be true to ourselves and to never trust the government. XOXO, FYAON

+5

[kcfya]

Mad skillz

+50

BEST BONUS: +25 CGG

[kcfya]

No place like home…

[kcfya]

Drawing skillz on point.

+30

BEST BONUS: +6 MW

[fyadfw]

Maddie and Rachel did a kick-ass papercut cover of Jackson Pearce’s Sisters Red!!!

+20 [AG]

BEST BONUS: +4 AG

[fyadfw]

Gather round, kids.

It’s FYADFW leader Mandy’s high school diary time. Let’s all light a ton of candles, sit in a circle of truth, and someone start playing the guitar I owned but never learned to play. 

Let the mortification begin! Here we have part of the first entry. “Life is very complex.”

Sometimes I wrote really bad poetry...

Then there was that time I got all dramatic because I lost my new flute and didn’t know how to tell my parents...

“I am so sick of all of this shit with my friends.” Yeah, not sure what I’m even referencing here.

You guys, I didn’t fit in with the other theater kids because “I’m not bisexual.” LOLOL

That time that Kurt Cobain killed himself. Note: I didn’t even like Nirvana, but I knew this was the kind of thing I should write about in my diary.

This is the end of the final entry, which was written sometime during senior year. Spoiler alert: I ended up going stag.

+5 [AG]

BEST BONUS: +2 AT

[fyaorlandonorth]

The Lunar Chronicles Promposal Playlist

We couldn’t choose just one book from this great series!

1. Queen of (K)nots - Math Nathanson

FYAON - A song shoutout for Queen Levana from Prince Kai! She tries to take everyone in with her mind control, and if she succeeds in being queen of Lunar AND Earth, she will take down everyone and everything in her path.

2. He’s a Tramp - Peggy Lee

FYAON - Thorne’s theme song (before he meets Cress). He’s a loveable cad!

3. Hungry Like the Wolf - Duran Duran

FYAON - What’s a playlist without some ‘80s hits? This song is in honor of Wolf, at war with himself against his evil training to be the good guy Scarlet knows he can be.

4. The Whole of the Moon - Mandy Moore

FYAON - Cress lives almost her entire life in a tiny little spaceship, watching others live out what she can only imagine doing. She has a lot of daydreams, and this song has that whimsical element that I associate with her.

5. A Sky Full of Stars - Coldplay

FYAON - Cress asks if Wolf is in love with Scarlet and he says she is his Alpha, which Cress likens to the Alpha constellation, as in she is the brightest star in his sky. Wolf replies, “Exactly like that.” and we all awww’d.

6. Speak Now - Taylor Swift

FYAON - I am not ashamed to admit I love me some Taylor Swift, and I could totally picture Cinder, Cress, Iko, and the fellas running around trying to stop Queen Levana and Prince Kai’s wedding from happening with this playing overhead. Yes, it’s a serious matter, but has anyone ever done SO much to sneak into a wedding? And you know Queen Levana yelled at a bridesmaid at some point during the day.

7. I’m Just a Girl - No Doubt

LEXFYA - Cress is just a girl… living in captivity. But SHE’S HAD IT UP TO HERE. Cress is ready to break out and rebel against what has been expected of her all her life. And she’ll do it to the tune of No Doubt.

8. Mr. Roboto - Styx

LEXFYA - Cinder's customers probably always jokingly say "Domo Arigato" to her after a repair well done, so of course the song would be stuck in her head all the time. The more she thinks about it, though, the more it fits her life to a T.

9. The Future Soon - Jonathan Coulton

LEXFYA - Cinder just loves the lines "Well it's gonna be the future soon and I won't always be this way, when the things that make me weak and strange get engineered away."

10. Fly Me to the Moon - Frank Sinatra

LEXFYA - Of course, most people of Earth would NOT want to go to the moon at all, UNTIL Queen Levana hits them with her glamour and they fall in love with her; they would follow her anywhere.

[fyadfw]

Do y’all know how hard it is to take a selfie with a chalk drawing while lying on your back?

+20 [AG]

[kcfya]

A Love (?) Letter to a Character from Harry Potter

Dear Voldy,

Life has been great since your last horcrux was destroyed.  BTW sorry about Nagini. She seemed like a lovely snake. You really shouldn’t put your horcruxs in your pets. That’s just mean. I’m sure that was a lesson learned the hard way.

Neville looks great, by the way. He’s even started modeling underwear. I don’t know what magic he used on that six pack, but it looks tastier than a chocolate frog on the Hogwarts Express.  Speaking of physical appearance, are you sad you never had enough time to get your nose done? I understand that taking over the wizarding world and many years of fruitless Harry Potter assassination attempts can be very taxing on one’s nasal cavity. Sorry if I’m being too nosey.

So what are your thoughts on the whole Harry and Hermione debacle? Many people are saying they should have ended up together at the end of the books. Seeing as you inhabited Harry’s mind for awhile, I assumed you might provide some insight into the matter.

Anyways, I better go. I hope this owl finds you well.

Smell ya later! (too soon?)

KCFYA

+5

BEST BONUS: +1 AG +2 MW

[kcfya]

My First Time

Monday morning anticipation Will I know the answers today? Must answer quickly

Emojis, Acrostics, Ciphers Obscure YA titles I haven’t read hashtag librarian fail

Dubsmash, Promposal, karaoke Embarrassed? Not I. Rhythm not required YA on fleek.

Cocktail challenge party got me drunk in like a hour and half

Photo hunt challenge Selfies at work Glad it didn’t get me fired

Overall, great time! Next year we’ll bring the heat. Watch out FYAers!

[fyaorlandonorth]

“Stage Henri and Olivia’s first meeting during his mesmerist performance in THE CURE FOR DREAMING” (+5)