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Celebrate YA Pride with a new read ❤️🌈
Struck by Lightning by Chris Colfer
I Am J by Cris Beam
Ask the Passengers by A.S. King
Keeping You a Secret by Julie Anne Peters
Rapture Practice by Aaron Hartzler
Luna by Julie Anne Peters
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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Chris chose an A+ book to recommend in his NOVLbox for stff - Rapture Practice by Aaron Hartzler. It’s a memoir of growing up gay in a deeply religious Christian home in, I think, Kansas. It’s the story of his childhood, and is genius - unpredictable, non-didactic, so well written. One of my fave books of the last few years and I wish he’d write the sequel to it.
Anyways, I follow Aaron Hartzler on twitter and he just tweeted thanks to Chris. Do recommend.
What’s inside the February NOVLbox?
Hey NOVLers, it’s that time again—unboxing time! Today, we’re taking a peek into the February NOVLbox Chris Colfer curated in celebration of his newest novel. Stranger Than Fanfiction is a story about four fans that jokingly invite a famous actor from their favorite hit television show on a cross-country road trip and plot twist: he says yes! Pretty wild, right? Let’s take a peek at what items Chris put into the box...
Stranger Than Fanfiction. A funny, heartbreaking, unforgettable novel about friendship and fame.
Travel Notepad. “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page” —Saint Augustine
Luggage Tap. “Let’s go on a roadtrip”
Struck by Lightning. At once laugh-out-loud funny, deliciously dark, and remarkably smart, this story unearths the dirt that lies just below the surface of high school.
The Land of Stories. Alex and Conner find themselves in a foreign land full of wonder and magic where they come face-to-face with the fairy tale characters they grew up reading about.
Rapture Practice. A book recommendation from Chris. In this funny and heartfelt coming-of-age memoir, Aaron Hartzler recalls his teenage journey to find the person he is without losing the family that loves him.
NOVL tote bag. To carry all of the above.
Thanks for curating this awesome road-trip inspiring box, Chris!
Like what you see? The next one won’t be the same, but we promise it will be just as awesome. Don’t miss out and enter for a chance to win the March NOVLbox curated by Claudia Gray, author of the Evernight series, the Firebird Series, and the upcoming series starter, Defy the Stars.
Because there’s no coming-out scene, I’ve heard from a few adults that say this book isn’t about “growing up gay.” I disagree. Are gay books only those books in which someone specifically comes out? Where a character kisses a member of the same sex? A pervasive misconception about sexual orientation doggedly clings to the conversation about being LGBT in our culture: that one’s sexual orientation is defined by specific sexual acts. But being gay isn’t only about sex. Being gay is an intrinsic part of who I am. It’s all over this book–in every scene–for the simple reason that I’m in every scene.
Rapture Practice: A True Story About Growing Up Gay in an Evangelical Family by Aaron Hartzler
I fell back in love with books this week.
Ok, so I have always loved books. It’s not a thing that stopped.
But, I read “More Happy Than Not” by @adamsilvera, “Rapture Practice” by Aaron Hartzler, “Exit, Pursued by a Bear” by @ekjohnston and am currently reading “Me Before You” by Jojo Moyes.
Love. I love these books. They are heartbreaking and beautiful and just so well written. And, DIFFERENT.
I feel for awhile I was just reading stuff that was run of the mill that I forgot that some books can show you life as it really is, but with better dialogue.
I’ve cried and faced my own demons and have laughed and just lived through these books. YA, is kind of bomb right now. “Me Before You” isn’t YA, so at least I’m still mostly an adult. But, YA is kicking ass, don’t you think?
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
“[T]hat’s what coming-of-age is all about: learning to hold several conflicting emotions at once without having a complete meltdown. It’s about understanding that things really do get better—not because other people change but because I do.”
--Rapture Practice, Aaron Hartzler (397)
Hartzler joins us tomorrow for the Pee Dee Fiction and Poetry Festival at Francis Marion University.
So, I’m reading Rapture Practice By Aaron Hartzler, and I connect to it on such a level that I’m going through this whole spectrum of emotions. Even though I am not gay, and my family wasn’t exactly Christian, I feel like he’s writing my teenaged years growing up in a strict church.
I questioned things A LOT growing up, and often had people tell me that my heart and actions were rebellious because of this. I felt like I couldn’t be myself, which wasn’t a bad kid… It was someone who wanted to know everything and why. I still get this from judgemental Christians who don’t know me. I don’t take things as face value and will always want to find the answers for things myself.
I’m not saying all Christians are judgemental assholes, but it seems like a lot of the ones I’ve encountered have been. The church I grew up in messed me up more than it ever seemed to do any good.
I have tattoos, facial piercings and dress how I want to. I don’t conform to what religion or “Christians” tell me is right or wrong. I have a group of friends who don’t go to church, they cuss and also don’t conform to religious “norms”. But damnit, if they aren’t the most down to earth and loving people you’ll ever meet.
I have found “God” more in self-exploration, travel, life experience and others who hold up the same ideals as me than I ever did in Church. And you know what? There is nothing wrong with that. Its taken me almost a decade to get over the shit that church has done to me. I don’t blame them, not anymore at least, because they were doing what they thought was best in their minds and hearts. I may not agree with how they often dealt with me. I can’t let something so trivial and stupid hold me back from growing and being a better person.
