The Story is About   +  script

Jessica Leader

Books:

• Nice & Mean (2010)

Picture Rocky Road ice cream: bumpy, but chunky, delicious, and full of surprises.

Actually, it wasn’t that bumpy.

I met my Editor, Kate, at the Vermont College of Fine Arts, the finest grad school in the land. She’d read part of my YA manuscript in workshop—at that point, it was called I Am So Not the Eighth-Grade Slut, a non-workable title that I still kind of love—and said that if I had anything middle-grade, she’d love to read it. A few months later, I sent her Nice and Mean, and she was very enthusiastic about it. She wanted to present the first three chapters and a synopsis at an editorial meeting, but she had a couple of changes she was hoping I could incorporate. The suggestions were characteristically insightful and I took a few weeks to work them in.

While I was working on the changes, I realized that the novel would have a much stronger pull if Marina, the mean narrator, started the story. (In the version I sent Kate, Sachi was the first narrator, and while Sachi is our beloved everygirl, her voice is just not as captivating.) When I checked the idea with Kate, she said she’d been thinking the same thing. Synchronicity! So encouraging! I saved and sent and waited and waited.

I’m going to talk about The Call later this week at Laurens Crammed Bookshelf (http://laurenscrammedbookshelf.blogspot.com), so I won’t scoop that story now. Here’s a teaser, though: don’t assume editors have the day off just because it’s a national holiday.

Describe Nice & Mean in three words.

Unlikely allies unite!

What are you hoping that readers will take away from your novel?

If readers closed the book thinking about any of the following, that would be a-ok with me:

• How can you get what you want without alienating the people around you?
• What makes people popular?
• How good is niceness?
• What’s the deal with the Asian nerd stereotype?
• What makes people think, “You know, I really need me some gladiator sandals”?

Home alone on Halloween night, an anonymous narrator recounts the events of a traumatic camping trip in the hopes of moving on.

Thanks for having me on the blog, Kristi! You’re a star!

You can check out the next stop of the tour at GreenBeanTeenQueen! You can become a fan of Nice & Mean on Facebook!

ONE DAY ONLY!!!! WIN THE FOLLOWING PRIZE PACK!!

• A pick from the box o'books (pic below):
  * Summer Camp Secrets by Katy Grant (for all your middle-grade reading pleasure)
  * The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han (hm, I'm sensing a summer theme)
  * Saving Maddie by Varian Johnson (a page-turner by Jess's indispensible friend)
  * A signed copy of Need by Carrie Jones (yes! Signed by the author! Not by Jess; that would be weird)
  * Boys Are Dogs by Leslie Margolis (one of Jess's favorite middle-grade books)
  * The Year I Turned Sixteen by Diane Schwemm (worth all ten pounds)
  * Front Page Face-Off by Jo Whittemore (debut author's madcap middle-grade)
• signed N&M bookmarks
• Swag of Nice Girl Sachi:
* Indian bangle bracelets (not as special as Nani's ring, but still important) * Indian coconut candies (these are so good--you're lucky Jess didn't eat all of them)
• Swag of Mean Marina:
* Dr. Pepper lip gloss (Dr. Pepper: the only drink) * Pilot Rolling Ball pens (PRBs: the only pen) * stick-on rhinestones (Yuck! Marina wishes you wouldn't mention these. The mess with Rachel is their fault!)

PLUS!Don’t forget to head over to Jessica Leader’s blog to enter the Nice and Mean Grand Prize Giveaway—aka, all this swag plus a copy of the book. Learn how to earn points by spreading the word, or win the battle of wits, where you get others to vote for your favorite nice or mean character in books, tv and movies.

Official Contest information:

• to enter, please fill out the form below
• entrants must be 13 years of age or older
• ONE DAY ONLY! How about till June 11, 2010!
• contest open to US residents only!*
• check out my Contest Policy/Privacy Policy