Questions for a Literary Agent

3 Evil Cousins has planned an upcoming interview with well-known NYC literary agent, Scott Treimel. Scott is the agent for such amazing YA writers as Gail Giles and Arthur Slade, but besides being an advocate for his clients, Scott feels one of his most important roles is as an advocate for teen readers.

Since so many of us are hoping to one day be published authors ourselves, we thought we'd give our readers an opportunity to ask Scott some evil questions. (You can ask either writery-agenty questions or just let him know what information you as a YA reader want passed along to publishers.)

Leave your suggestions as comments on this post!

Yours Truly,
The Evil Cousins

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

Twelve-year-old Artemis Fowl is the heir to a multi-multi-multi-million-dollar criminal empire that has been in his family for centuries. He has a genius IQ and a deadly bodyguard. He also has a mission- to ambush a leprechaun and get the pot of gold, per se, not that he really needs it. He has all the information he needs. His plan is foolproof. Or is it? Artemis gets more than he’s bargained for when his diminutive victim turns out to be Captain Holly Short, of the fairy police organization. Suddenly, instead of a quiet capture and ransom demand, the entire fairy world is informed of the operation, and the LEP (fairy police squad) invades Fowl Manor to get Holly back. Artemis, his bodyguard Butler, and Butler’s younger sister Juliet are pitted against the LEP, including such individuals as the geeky, paranoid centaur Foaly and the dominating, stinky-cigar-smoking Commander Root.

This book has all the elements of good fiction- an exciting plot, unexpected twists, and especially, characters so realistic you feel like they’re sitting next to you on the sofa as you’re reading. I especially enjoyed the way the story is written from multiple points of view. It allows you to see everything at once. Sometimes you know more than the characters do, which makes everything that much more interesting when they finally figure it out. Plus, it makes it harder to be biased towards one character, which I think helps me see the story a little better. Another aspect I liked was the way Artemis has a trick up his sleeve that is not revealed until the end, when you’re absolutely sure there’s no possible way he can win. It makes for an exciting climax.

Overall, an excellent work of sci-fantasy. This book is vivid, exciting, fast-paced, and even a little thought-provoking. I give it the full 5 daggers.


Yours,
Tay

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld

Okay, so we’ve all read vampire novels. You know, Twilight (excellent!!), that kind of thing. But Peeps gives us a new angle on the whole vampire theme. In Peeps, vampirism is a disease, actually a parasite, transmitted through saliva. Cal, an otherwise average kid in his early twenties, has had the misfortune to be infected with the parasite after a wild night with an enigmatic woman named Morgan. But he’s one of the lucky ones. The ordinary symptoms of the parasite are insanity, bloodlust, and intense aversion to light and to the things the infected person once liked. Cal is just a carrier, one of the lucky 1% of “peeps”- parasite positives- whose only symptoms are an extended lifespan, superior reflexes and strength, and intense cravings for meat.

Before Cal knew he had the parasite, though, he infected several girlfriends. So now, he’s a member of a secret organization, the Night Watch, dedicated to eradicating the parasite. But when Cal discovers a secret basement with a peep-cat, even though cats are not supposed to be a host for the parasite, and other mysterious occurrences, the Night Watch is stunned. Something odd is going on, and it’s up to Cal to find out what.

This is a fairly entertaining book. Granted, not one of Scott-la’s best works, but not his worst either. The first two-thirds of the book were awesome, but then I kind of lost interest and the ending was pretty lame. I still have to say, though, worth reading. I especially liked the way the book included information about real-life parasites (although don’t read these if you have a weak stomach!) It’s got that typical Scott-la style that makes you want to keep reading, even when you get to the lame ending.

I rate this book three-and-a-half daggers, and I will be reading the sequel, The Last Days.



Yours,
Tay-la

Introducing Tay Darramont!

In order to bring Cousins readers even more reviews and a broader selection of books, we have scoured the Nyx attic for old family journals. Thanks to Great-Great Auntie Hitch and her interest in geneology, 3 Evil Cousins is pleased to announce the first of 3 additional evil reviewers joining us . . . Tay Darramont.

Keep your eye out for Tay's reviews of Artemis Fowl and Peeps as well as her bio!

Stick Figure: A Diary of my Former Self by Lori Gottlieb

Stick Figure by Lori Gottlieb is the true story of young Lori’s experience of living with anorexia. The novel is made up of journal entries from Lori’s youth that she collected, put in order, and then published in an attempt to let an everyday person gaze into the thought process of an anorexic girl. The book reveals some causes of anorexia in modern society as well as shows the slow progression of Lori being a self-conscious pre-teen girl to becoming a severe case of anorexia.

First of all, this is definitely one of the love/hate books. You either love it or you hate it. There doesn’t seem to be much of an in between. I am, for my own reasons, part of the “I love this book” category. I really enjoyed this book. It really lets you get a fuller understanding of what anorexia is and why it is so hard to cure.

Anorexia is as much a mental disease as it is a physical disease. Most people don’t know that though. This book clearly reveals the mental aspect of it because it is told in journal entries. The author is literally just writing down her thoughts and what happens to her daily. This really lets you step into the character’s shoes and walk around in them.

Before you start reading this book, you should become familiar with some of the signs of anorexia (other than not eating). There are a myriad of ways to detect the beginnings of anorexia before the person completely stops eating. If you know what they are in advance, then you are better able to identify them early on in the book. Also, if you know the signs, then you can notice that some of the causes of anorexia are actually in modern media. The pressure to be thin can drive people to the point of being anorexic.

One of the things about this book that I believe scares people is that sometimes, you notice that you yourself think in the same way that Lori does. You realize that even though you aren’t anorexic, sometimes you skip a meal, or try to lose weight by going on a diet, or keep track of calorie consumption. This doesn’t mean you're anorexic too, but it does make you think. Am I so different from Lori? If I’m not careful, could I develop anorexia too? These thoughts may be haunting, but they are what make the book so powerful.

I highly recommend this book.

5 out of 5 daggers.

Well-fed, but thinly yours,

Gabriel Gethin

Megiddo's Shadow by Arthur Slade

Devastated by the death of his beloved older brother, the young but determined Edward Bathe enlists to try to avenge his brother’s death. Abandoning his bed-ridden father and their farm in Canada, Edward travels to England to prepare for his chance to fight. Once in England, he shows an innate ability to train and ride horses. As a result, he is sent with a cavalry troop to Palestine in order to aid in the fight against the Turks. Once Edward reaches the front, his eagerness for revenge is replaced by fear and the realization that in war, you must kill or be killed. There is no in between.

This historical fiction novel about World War I is exceedingly excellent. Everything that happens in the story feels so real that the reader himself/herself feels like they are right there next to Edward. The author helps you peer into Edward’s mind and see every thought and feel every emotion. When Edward feels love, you feel love. When Edward feels grief, you cry your eyes out with him. When Edward is in the heat of battle, your own heart begins to race even though you aren’t in any real danger (except maybe of getting a paper cut from turning the page lightning fast because you can’t wait to continue reading).

Another aspect of this book that I really admired was the depth and concreteness of the characters, especially Edward. He is a very full character in the sense that he has a “real” past (real in the sense it could have happened to any normal person but it’s not real because Edward’s a fictional character) and he has “real” morals. For example, Edward is a good singer, just like his mother. He and his mother used to sing in the choir at their local Church. This is a totally random piece of information about Edward’s past that tells you so much about him. He is talented, he is religious, and he is close to his mother.

4.5 daggers out of 5 daggers

Tragically yours,
Gabriel Gethin

Breaking Dawn By Stephenie Meyer

This review was originally written to go on Toad Hill, but I, Twyla Lee, sneakily stole it to put it up on 3 Evil Cousins. After this review, we just might have to adopt Briar Kasvi.

Breaking Dawn is the fourth, and last book in the Twilight Saga, books focusing on clumsy, lovable Bella Swan, and her supernatural boyfriend, Edward Cullen. If you haven't read these books yet, run away from this review, dash to the store, and pick up Twilight. As Boodle's awesome review expressed, Twilight is super.

See, for the past year, I was totally obsessed with Twilight, loved the characters, the world, the books, obviously. My friends and I made up Twilight games, pretended we were werewolves (go ahead, call us geeky), and just basked in the glory of these books that were, ultimately made of coolness. Bella, in the first three books, was easy to identify with, klutzy, human, and with the luck to be adored by an amazing supernatural being, whom any girl (including me) would easily fall in love with. They were great, with fierce fights between vampire and werewolf, vampire and human, vampire and vampire. So of course, I looked upon the release of Breaking Dawn with mounting anticipation.

I was deeply disappointed.

The first 100 or so pages consisted of little but lengthy descriptions of the birds and the bees, followed by bloody, violent, graphic pain coming to our much loved heroine, Bella. I cringed to read it, disappointed in the lack of interest or focus on the supernatural, feeling it was inappropriate to include so much about sex in a book that was aimed at not just teens, but tweens as well, like us.

True, the second half of the novel improved a good bit, with the introduction of a wonderfully lovable new character (who, by the way, possessed one of the worst names known to man, toad, or vampire), and the reappearance of the Volturi, exciting villains hailing from Italy. Though the resolution to their visit was not as exciting as I wished, I enjoyed watching Bella discover her vampire power.

So. I was just really, really sad to see a series that I loved with so much devotion close with a novel that I found to not be much better than any sappy love story… just… disappointing is clearly the operative word here. It was interesting the way they introduced the point of view of another character, and, living amongst animals, I found it quite a useful insight into the world of wolves. The second part of the book is pretty good, not as good as the first book, and not good enough to redeem the whole thing, but pretty good all the same. I liked learning about all the different vampires.

Anyway. Though I ADORED the first three books, and would certainly give them a full five stars, I feel I have to do this, as an honest reviewer… It pains me to give a book in the twilight saga anything less than a million stars, as the world of vampires, and all but the last book deserve, but I am going to give Breaking Dawn two stars.

And yes. This book has dulled my imagination, spirit, and overwhelming awesomisticness (modesty too, it seems), enough so that I am not even creative enough to come up with anything cooler than stars.

Note: This book is seriously, unpleasantly gruesome, I described one of the scenes to my sixteen year old sister and showed her the passage, and she was cringing and whining (at me, grr) for the rest of the day. I wish I hadn't read this book—the more I thought about it afterwards, the worse it got.

...so

Briar Kasvi