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Response from Robin Wasserman (author of ‘Skinned’)

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So as I mentioned before in this post I sent a message to Robin Wasserman regarding a line in her book ‘Skinned’ (later re-titled as ‘Frozen’). I wanted to know if Wasserman believed a line spoken by one of her characters regarding people being upset about racism, the Holocaust in particular: “Statute of limitations on grudges expires after a hundred years.”

I was fairly confident Wasserman was not a racist, based on her online presence. But the idea that people might believe there was a limit on how long someone could be upset about racist acts nagged at me, so finally I had to message her to set my mind at ease.

And set my mind at ease she did!

I asked about posting her response, and she asked that I just paraphrase so here goes:

Basically she said that she did not believe we should ever stop being upset by what the Nazi Party did, and that forgetting it or believing it was too far in the past to be upset about could lead to a repeat of those terrible events. She expressed a desire to clear up any doubt about that, especially with the current climate of racial tension.
(I wish I could post her own words here for you, because the way she said it was so powerful, but I’d rather respect her wishes.)

She was very kind and I’m so glad I messaged her about it. I even learned that, not only is she the type of person to try to call out racism publicly (check her twitter if you don’t believe me), she’s also Jewish herself, which I had not seen mentioned online. I’m glad I know, because it makes me read her books (and especially a character like Lia’s dad) with a new perspective.

She also actually confirmed my belief that Lia’s dad is totally racist.

To paraphrase her again: Lia isn’t the type to notice much about people other than herself, so these statements are put in for the reader to know.

I’m so glad I messaged her and I actually found several more books by her I want to read as soon as I can get my hands on them! You should check out her books too.

WWW Wednesday: March 1, 2017

Lee2 Comments

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at Should be Reading and revived on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three W’s!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading:  Skinned by Robin Wasserman (also published as ‘Frozen’)

I’m only about halfway through, and for the most part I’m enjoying myself.

The least part (the not enjoyable part) is that I just want Lia to move on and stop trying to have her old life with her lame friends and her prejudiced family. As far as I can tell, Lia cares about Lia more than anyone else, so why is it so hard for her to just move on? Why am I at the halfway point and still watching her try to fit in with a bunch of morons? Why has she not realized her relationship with Walker was crappy even before she was dead?

I did have a message from Robin Wasserman herself who confirmed both that Lia isn’t that aware of things outside what’s happening to her, and used the phrase “hasn’t quite yet [caught on]” so I have hope that soon Lia is going to realize the people from her old life don’t deserve to stay in her new one and she’ll MOVE ON so I can see some awesome Mechs-People.

Also I miss Quinn, I hope she comes back.

Recently Finished:  Psych Major Syndrome by Alicia Thompson

I tried to like this book, I swear I did. But after two days of desperately trying to find something to like about any of these characters, I gave up.

I even reviewed it, which I normally wouldn’t do for something I couldn’t get more than 28 pages into, but the people deserve to know (or possibly I just wanted to complain).

You can read the review for yourself here.

I also found some problems regarding racism in some Goodreads reviews and at that point I just figured I couldn’t be asked to continue reading.

Reading Next:  Crashed by Robin Wasserman (also published as ‘Shattered’)

I will most likely get to this one Friday or Saturday and I’m pretty eager, even though the summary makes me think there’s going to be more Walker, who I really don’t enjoy… But maybe by the time this rolls around I’ll have grown to like him. (That laughter you hear in the distance is me totally not believing what I just said.)

What Are You Reading Wednesdays: March 1, 2017

LeeLeave a comment

What Are You Reading Wednesdays #WAYRW is a weekly feature on It’s A Reading Thing. Everyone is welcome to participate.

Grab the book you are currently reading and answer three questions:

  1. What’s the name of your current read?
  2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share a couple of sentences.
  3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

  1. Skinned by Robin Wasserman (has been republished as ‘Frozen’)
  2. The doctor’s voice was cold. “There’s nothing to put back. There’s no body to go back to. The body of Lia Kahn is dead. Be grateful you didn’t die with it.”
  3. I’m only about halfway in. I wouldn’t mind living in that world, as long as I didn’t have to associate with Lia’s friends and family… I’d love to chill with Quinn. And I’d probably be one of the people who volunteered for the download.

Message to Robin Wasserman (author of ‘Skinned’)

LeeLeave a comment

I am reading your novel ‘Skinned’ and got to the passage where Lia’s dad tells her “Arbeit macht frei” and then when she learns that it is a Nazi saying from the Holocaust days says “Statute of limitations on grudges expires after a hundred years.”

I was just curious whether you personally believe that after enough time has passed people no longer have a right to be angry at the actions of the Nazi Party?

This is not intended as a leading question or anything like that, I just couldn’t shake my curiosity and I appreciate the time you’ve taken to read this.

I eagerly await your response,
Lee

I sent this to Robin Wasserman on Goodreads because while reading Skinned I noticed the main character’s father seemed somewhat racist (talked about here).

I couldn’t shake the nagging curiosity over whether this statute of limitations was something the author truly believed in. I don’t expect a response, but I had to at least ask.

I know from Wasserman’s twitter she doesn’t seem to be racist, in fact she often uses her twitter to call out racism. My question is specifically about whether she believes there is a “statute of limitation on grudges” in terms of racism. I wasn’t able to find a time when she specifically addressed that line. If anyone has seen something of that kind, I would appreciate a link.

What Are You Reading Wednesdays: February 22, 2017

LeeLeave a comment

What Are You Reading Wednesdays #WAYRW is a weekly feature on It’s A Reading Thing. Everyone is welcome to participate.

Grab the book you are currently reading and answer three questions:

  1. What’s the name of your current read?
  2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share a couple of sentences.
  3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

  1. Psych Major Syndrome by Alicia Thompson
  2. Andrew was right. We probably wouldn’t have any problems if I didn’t go out of my way to create them.
  3. No. I do not want to live in Leigh’s little world… Any of her little worlds. Also I do not want to live anywhere Andrew lives. I almost didn’t do WAYRW this week because I was still on page 19 of the book, but now I’m glad I did because I can point out that I was COMPLETELY RIGHT TO HATE THE BOYFRIEND ALREADY!

WWW Wednesday: February 22, 2017

LeeLeave a comment

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at Should be Reading and revived on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three W’s!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading:  Psych Major Syndrome by Alicia Thompson

I’m only on page 19 at this point because I took a break earlier to avoid having to actually read the boyfriend’s introductory scene after the 3 or so pages of inner monologue about him that made me 100% hate him from almost the first moment…

I’m also concerned this might not be my type of book. Specifically my type of main character… I just keep catching myself thinking she thinks she’s too special, but I can’t tell if I’m just a grumpy person who dislikes people too easily, or if it’s legit. If anyone has read this, please chime in!

Also does anyone know how Alicia Thompson pronounces her name? Is it the right Spanish way or the white English way or another way less common to me here in Texas? (I need to know for personal reasons.)

Recently Finished:  The Tale of Elske by Cynthia Voigt (Tales of the Kingdom, book 4)

I never actually managed to read the whole Tales of the Kingdom series in order in one sitting before (ignore that I took a giant break during Oriel) because I never had them all at once or I didn’t realize it was even a series before or whatever stupid reason. I love them so much and it was wonderful reading them in order finally. In fact, so far, I love them more every time I reread them!

I also wrote the first actual review of a book I like! For some reason I find it much harder to write a review for a book I enjoy. Perhaps because I’m not constantly picking them apart, but mostly because I suck at writing and reviewing.

And seriously, I recommend this entire series to everyone! (As previously mentioned, it’s a loosely-connected, non-magical fantasy series.)

Reading Next:  I LITERALLY CAN’T DECIDE IS ANYONE WILLING TO HELP ME???????

Top 5 Wednesday: February 22, 2017

LeeLeave a comment

Books to Get You Out of a Reading Slump

Winter is a hard season for a lot of people and many of us are slumpy. Let’s talk about some books that are great for getting you out of a slump!
To participate in Top 5 Wednesday, just head over to their Goodreads Group and join the fun!

So normally, the key for me to get out a slump is to read a book I know I love, but not one that I’ve read so recently that everything is still fresh in my mind. So here I’m going to put some series/authors that can typically be counted on to pull me from a slump, regardless of which of the books from them I pick.

  1. The Tillerman Cycle // Cynthia Voigt
    She has several stand-alones that can be used if I’ve read this series too recently as well.
  2. Uglies series // Scott Westerfeld
  3. Robert Fulghum
    Any of his collected essays, such as It Was On Fire When I Lay Down on It, will do.
  4. Sarah Dessen
    Any and all of her books so far have the power to break a slump!
  5. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
    I had to put this one on this list since it’s actually the one that pulled me out of my most recent slump!

What books do you use when you are stuck in a slump? Comment or make your own T5W post!

What Are You Reading Wednesday: February 15, 2017

LeeLeave a comment

What Are You Reading Wednesdays #WAYRW is a weekly feature on It’s A Reading Thing. Everyone is welcome to participate.

Grab the book you are currently reading and answer three questions:

  1. What’s the name of your current read?
  2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share a couple of sentences.
  3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

  1. The Tale of Elske by Cynthia Voigt (Tales of the Kingdom, book 4)
    Also published as Elske
  2. On this road they saw some other men, fishers and farmers Elske was told; some of the men were accompanied by women whose hair was wrapped around with colored cloths. These men and women stared at Elske, in her fur boots and wolfskin cloak, but when she stared back and them they looked away.
  3. Yes! But no. But yes, but no, but yes. God I love the Kingdom so much, and I love the characters, but everything south of the Kingdom is so brutal and I find it fascinating, but I would totally not survive because I cannot control my mouth!

Top 5 Wednesday: February 15, 2017

Lee2 Comments

Favorite Non-Written Novels

This was a hard topic to name, but this is about all books that are not ‘written’ novels! So graphic novels, comics, manga, audiobooks, etc. Shed some light on books in other forms.
To participate in Top 5 Wednesday, just head over to their Goodreads Group and join the fun!

I can’t actually participate in this one because I’ve actually only ever read one non-written novel in my life (it was one of the Death Note mangas).

Normally I’d just skip a day if I couldn’t contribute anything, but in this case I thought it might be fun to see if I could get some recs off y’all and try to branch out my tastes a bit!

If you have a favorite audio book, graphic novel, manga, etc. please comment with the titles or a link to your T5W post or just send me a message. Thanks in advance!

Top 5 Wednesday: February 8, 2017

LeeLeave a comment

Book Trends You’re Tired Of

What are some things you are tired of seeing that are trends in publishing? Maybe something that pops up on a lot of covers these days, or the popularity of certain tropes in a particular genre? Let it out!
To participate in Top 5 Wednesday, just head over to their Goodreads Group and join the fun!

  1. LOVE TRIANGLES THAT DO NOTHING TO SERVE THE PLOT AND JUST CREATE STUPID FILLER DRAMA CAN DIE IN A FUCKING FIRE
  2. I’ve seen literally 2 popular books with female lead characters that weren’t model thin. That’s super annoying honestly because I only know 1 naturally skinny girl in real life. Like do authors not realize most girls are not 120lbs?
  3. I hate when covers have random models on the cover and none of the imagery relates to the story and the model doesn’t even look like the main character. Why do people keep doing this? Just draw a pretty cover using themes from the novel, everyone likes those  better anyway!
  4. Speaking of tropes that can die, how about “love cures mental illness” because that is just stupid.
  5. Does…..does everybody have to be white?????

What book trends are you sick of?