Book Nerds Across America: Ann hood

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Blog Tour: She Loves You (Yeah Yeah Yeah)

Hi everyone! I am so excited to be hosting a stop on the blog tour for She Loves You (Yeah Yeah Yeah) by Ann Hood. I adored this book for many reasons (read my review here), but mostly because I *love* boy bands and had so much fun reading a book about a girl who loves a boy band.

I have been a boy band lover since I was 9 years old. Wanna hear about some of my favorites?! Yay! Here we go:

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

Favorite band member: Joey McIntyre

Favorite song on most recent album: We Were Here

Favorite memory: Sooo many. Probably my first New Kids on the Block cruise, which I think was 2010? (Fun fact: That's where I met Book Nerd Jacque!)

BACKSTREET BOYS

Favorite band member: Brian Littrell

Favorite song on most recent album: Show 'Em (What You're Made Of)

Favorite memory: Tie between my first BSB concert, which was the Into the Millennium tour back in 2000 and meeting Brian for the first time five years ago.

BOYZ II MEN

Favorite band member: Ooohhh, I don't know if I have a favorite, honestly.

Favorite song on most recent album: Motownphilly isn't on their most recent album, but how can I deny the epicness of that song?!

Favorite memory: When Shawn Stockman threw me a rose TWICE! As in, at two different concerts he threw me a rose!! <3

98 DEGREES

Favorite band member: Again, I don't have a particular favorite.

Favorite song on most recent album: River

Favorite memory: Probably seeing them at Mixtape festival about three years ago...I had a great spot and that was a really fun day.

HANSON

Favorite band member: Taylor Hanson

Favorite song on most recent album: I prefer their old stuff, so maybe "I Will Come to You"

Favorite memory: My best friend and I were obsessed with Hanson in high school. It was just fun sharing that fangirl with her.

IN REAL LIFE

Favorite band member: Sergio Calderon.

Favorite song on most recent album: Eyes Closed

Favorite memory: Watching the show Boy Band religiously ever week and talking about it on Twitter.

Okay, I could go on... N'Sync, 4th Ave, Take That, O-Town, BBMak, etc etc etc...but then we'd all be here all day.

I've LOVE to hear about your favorite boy band and why you love them! Tell me all about it in the comments.

Thank you for visiting my stop on the blog tour!

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Filled with love, hope, and longing, this is a novel for readers of all ages." - Holly Goldberg Sloan

Bestselling author Ann Hood crafts a funny, heartfelt story of a girl growing up in the heart of Beatlemania.

The year is 1966. The Vietnam War rages overseas, the Beatles have catapulted into stardom, and twelve-year-old Rhode Island native Trudy Mixer is not thrilled with life. Her best friend, Michelle, has decided to become a cheerleader, everyone at school is now calling her Gertrude (her hated real name), and the gem of her middle school career, the Beatles fan club, has dwindled down to only three other members--the least popular kids at school. And at home, her workaholic father has become even more distant.

Determined to regain her social status and prove herself to her father, Trudy looks toward the biggest thing happening worldwide: the Beatles. She is set on seeing them in Boston during their final world tour--and meeting her beloved Paul McCartney. So on a hot August day, unknown to their families, Trudy and crew set off on their journey, each of them with soaring hopes for what lies ahead.

In her signature prose, Hood crafts an extraordinary story of growing up, making unexpected connections, and following your dreams even as the world in front of you--and the world at large--is changing too fast.

AUTHOR BIO

Ann Hood is the author of the best-selling novels The Book That Matters Most, The Obituary Writer, Somewhere Off the Coast of Maine, The Red Thread, and The Knitting Circle, as well as the memoir Comfort: A Journey Through Grief, which was a New York Times Editor's Choice and chosen as one of the top ten nonfiction books of 2008 by Entertainment Weekly. She has won two Pushcart Prizes as well as a Best American Spiritual Writing Award, two Best American Food Writing Award, and a Best American Travel Writing award. A regular contributor to the New York Times, Hood's short stories and essays have appeared in many publications, including Ploughshares, Tin House, Traveler, Bon Appetit, O, More, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Paris Review, and others. She is the editor of the anthologies Knitting Yarns: Writers Writing About Knitting, Knitting Pearls: More Writers Writing About Knitting, and Providence Noir. Hood is also the author of books for children, including the middle-grade novel, How I Saved My Father (And Ruined Everything Else), and the ten-book Treasure Chest series for young readers. Her new memoir, Morningstar: Growing Up with Books, will be published in August. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island, and New York City, and is married to the writer Michael Ruhlman.

BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE

June 18 – BookHounds YA

June 19 – In Wonderland

June 20 – It’s Just About Write

June 21 – Dotters Daughters Picks

June 25 – Ms. Yingling Reads

June 26 – Sweet Things

June 27 – Book Nerds Across America

Thursday, June 14, 2018

Book review: She Loves You (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah) by Ann Hood

Book Summary
The year is 1966. The Vietnam War rages overseas, the Beatles have catapulted into stardom, and twelve-year-old Rhode Island native Trudy Mixer is not thrilled with life. Her best friend, Michelle, has decided to become a cheerleader, everyone at school is now calling her Gertrude (her hated real name), and the gem of her middle school career, the Beatles fan club, has dwindled down to only three other members--the least popular kids at school. And at home, her workaholic father has become even more distant.

Determined to regain her social status and prove herself to her father, Trudy looks toward the biggest thing happening worldwide: the Beatles. She is set on seeing their final world tour in Boston at the end of the summer--and meeting her beloved Paul McCartney. So on a hot August day, unknown to their families, Trudy and crew set off on their journey, each of them with soaring hopes for what lies ahead.

Flo's Review
This book, y'all. It has so many of my favorite things. I can relate to it on so many levels. First of all: the Beatles. My best friend and I became obsessed with them in high school and for awhile, I asserted that they were my favorite band. (Now they tie with New Kids on the Block...more on that later.) But I love the Beatles. When I was in high school, I did my big World History class project on the "Paul is Dead" phenomenon. Around that time they released at least a few Beatles Greatest Hits albums, and I had them all.

Needless to say, I adored the subject of this book. Each of the chapters was named after a Beatles song and I loved it so much. Trudy, the main character, shared random fun facts about them, and it was interesting to read about people's reaction to them during the time they were at the biggest. (Was that really the reaction to the Revolver album when it was released?? Interesting!)

So I loved this book because I love the Beatles. But now I have to talk about fangirling over my (other) favorite band. If you know me (or follow me on Twitter), you are probably aware that I am a HUGE New Kids on the Block fan. HUGE. I started loving them when I was nine years old, so though I wasn't exactly Trudy's age (she's 12), I was in that same age range. My sister and I, along with two of her friends, started a New Kids on the Block fan club. We made and sent out newsletters and everything. So Trudy's Beatles Fan Club? Right there with it! I feel you, Trudy Mixer.

My favorite parts of the book happened near the end. I will be vague, but if you're afraid of being spoiled at all, maybe skip this paragraph.
The scene on the subway with everything singing. YES. I've been there. I know that feeling, and it's incredible. And the scene going into the concert when everyone's arms are linked together. That too. And cheering on the George girl! I've been there. In fact, the whole fan club plan -- how it is planned and executed -- I have been there several times. This story on some levels is my story of loving a boy band so so much, and I loved the feeling that I got when reading this book because of it. Exhilarated and nostalgic.
End of kind of spoilery but not really section.

Okay, so the book itself. I actually really enjoyed reading about a young girl growing up in the '60s in America. Are there more MG or even YA books like this? I'd love to read them! I loved that it was a time when you would go to the record store, buy an album, and then come home and just sit there listening to it with your family and/or friends. And Trudy's dad at dinner -- he would ask questions that foreshadowed how things are today like, "What do you think about playing music in elevators?" or "What do you think about disposable diapers?" Those were just fun to read.

This book would have gotten a perfect 5 stars out of 5 stars score from me, except for one thing...I kind of couldn't stand Trudy. I found this little girl to be snobby, entitled, and judgmental, and it made it hard for me to read at times. I loved the story and what was going on, but I really didn't like to hear her thoughts about her classmates or how she seemed to think everyone's world should revolve around her.

But that one dislike couldn't dampen my love of this book! She Loves You (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah) publishes on June 26, 2018 and if you're a nostalgic fangirl like me, I think you might love it, too.

Stay tuned to Book Nerds Across America for more coverage later this month of She Loves You (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah).

Thank you to Penguin for sending me an advance reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.