I wasn't immediately sold on the name Blue, but, really, Maggie can make just about anything work. The way she has of supplying all of the necessary information without force feeding it directly to the reader always, always puts me a bit in awe. In just two chapters the story has a strong presence and the characters are people I want to know more about. Thanks to Entertainment Weekly for having the exclusive and to Maggie for the glimpse.

'Ravenboys' by Maggie Stiefvater - Chapter tease

Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Publication Date: 10/18/2011
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 404
Source: Purchased

It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die.

At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.

Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

Thisby Island is unique in many ways, but is most well-known for the Scorpio Races: an event that happens every November and is a race between man, horse, and sea that is every bit as brutal and unpredictable as the people and their mounts that participate. Puck Connolly had sworn off any interaction with the races until she's left without an option. Sean Kendrick is the sea personified and wouldn't have it any other way than to enter, but this year it means more than any other. The island has its way with people, and this November it's a fight to the end.

I want to honestly say that I'm hard-pressed on where to begin with this. It's taken me a week to finish The Scorpio Races when normally I would have finished it in a few hours. 100% of that delay was me wanting to drag it out word by page by perspective so that it would never end. Perhaps a little background is necessary in why I feel so strongly about it. The first promise I ever remember making is to my mom, in the way that children do, that when she won the lottery she would buy me a horse. I read Black Beauty over and over until the copy was worn out, but I wouldn't let anyone throw it away. My favorite place is anywhere that I can be in the water, but specifically on the ocean. There is absolutely nothing like it: the sounds, smells, texture of the sand and the surf washing over your feet, the way the sun sets and rises and glimmers. I love water. Thus the fact that every time I read a sentence in this book I felt like it had been written specifically for me.

I knew Maggie was a ridiculously talented writer after reading Shiver, but this book is in a different league. From the very fist sentence I was hooked as Sean Kendrick watched the capail usice run across the beach, already critical of what was happening in the quiet, knowing way that he has. Despite not knowing anything about what was happening it set up perfectly my wanting to find out everything that I could, and all of that was laid out as the story progressed. One of the best things about the book - and is something that effects the way everything happens - is that the island, aside from being just a setting, is very much a character in the story. Thisby has moods that influence the weather, its history has affected the traditions of the people, and its relative size means that the population has to socialise much closely together than they might have elsewhere.

Here's where I would normally tell you more about the characters, but, really, I want that to be something you experience for yourselves while reading. As a whole, though, all of the characters in the book were so well crafted and each one was absolutely necessary - there's no fluff here. Puck is strong, earnest, blunt, but quite perceptive. She doesn't give up, and she doesn't believe she should have to. Her two brothers, Gabe and Finn have such strong personalities even when they're not present that you might think they have more 'screen time' then they actually do. (This is not a bad thing. I loved Finn in particular.) But I have to say that Sean Kendrick steals the show for me. From this book alone he's catapulted into my top 5 favorite characters and it's almost hard to describe why. Sean is a man of few words, but not in what you might consider a typical broody, leaning against the wall with smoldering eyes sort of way. He's honest, doesn't need much to live on, but he feels so intensely that it's difficult for him to interpret what it could mean.

The interactions with Puck and Sean in this book had me in tears and smiling huge because they never had to yell it out or say it in big speeches or acts. It was gradual and so, so believable. Maggie's beautiful descriptive writing created two characters and made them real.

The Scorpio Races is a book that I will recommend to anyone simply because it has so much to offer. If you love characters? This book is for you. Mythical creatures? Water? Horses? Still for you. From the first sentence to the last this book is, page by page, full of emotions and adventure for you to experience. Just read it slowly, because it will end faster than you'd like.

"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly event courtesy of Breaking the Spine

that showcases much anticipated upcoming releases.

(from goodreads 11/18/2011):

It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die.
At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.
Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn't given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition - the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

Although I have no other idea of what this is going to be about, I've been entranced with this book since I first saw the cover. I can't get the idea out of my head that it looks like a fresco - and since I spent a lot of my life studying Mediterranean art it's all I can think of! If this is set in the Roman period I think I'll just melt into my chair with happiness. That timeframe has so much potential, and with the lyricism of Maggie's words it's strife with possibility. This is a book that I very much cannot wait to get my hands on and experience.

Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Publication Date: 08/01/2009
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 392
Source: Purchased

the cold. 
Grace has spent years watching the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—watches back. He feels deeply familiar to her, but she doesn't know why.

the heat.
Sam has lived two lives. As a wolf, he keeps the silent company of the girl he loves. And then, for a short time each year, he is human, never daring to talk to Grace...until now.

the shiver.
For Grace and Sam, love has always been kept at a distance. But once it's spoken, it cannot be denied. Sam must fight to stay human—and Grace must fight to keep him—even if it means taking on the scars of the past, the fragility of the present, and the impossibility of the future.

Before I talk about the book I think it's important to say that I've never been good with werewolves in books. The idea just never really appealed to me or worked and so while people have read and loved various books I've always stayed away due to my disinterest. I always kept an eye out for a book that would be my introduction to the sub-genre and when I heard more about Maggie Stiefvater's series I thought that this could be the one, especially since I heard wonderful things about the writing.

I loved this book. One of the main reasons being that it wasn't a book about werewolves and was instead a book about humans that occasionally would turn into wolves. You might think that I'm splitting hairs here, but when I conjure an image of a werewolf it's usually a tall, burly man with crazy facial hair being chased by someone with a gun and silver bullets against a full moon or some similar hokey stereotype. The ability for me to be able to logically separate the two made all the difference. For me the book was ultimately about being human and what that meant for different people, and what you would risk for your own sense of self.

The relationship between Grace and Sam was bittersweet and with every page I had such an innate sense of the two of them that it was hard not to end the book in tears. Maggie has a beautiful way with words and although it's evident throughout the book I most noticed it between the two of them with the sadness and hope evoked in her turn of phrase. One of my favorite examples of this is when Sam almost turns and stops calling Grace by her name and instead she becomes 'the girl' in connection with the different perceptions of a wolfish mind. (The temperature at the top of every chapter also was a fantastic touch, although it confused me at first.) The two of them were always on equal footing and the relationship was paced in such a way that left me satisfied and never overwhelmed.  It didn't register to me until after I finished the book that I would be perfectly happy with this as a standalone, as I had always been aware of it as a series. If I didn't already own Linger I might stop here and be content.

I'm hesitant to mention this, but I feel strongly that people be aware that this series is not Twilight-light or Twilight with wolves or any other such nonsense you see about. It's very much its own story that stands strongly on its own two feet without needing to sit atop anyone else's shoulders. For those out there that are unsure about this series for the same reasons I was: don't let it stop you because it's not at all what you're expecting and is dealt with in such a way that is thoughtful and very, well, human.

This is a huge hyperbole, but, I'm sure I'm the last person in the world to have seen this. Although that may be the case I wanted to share it anyone, regardless, as I find it it to be startlingly beautiful. Stop-motion is one of my favorite types of animation because ultimately it takes a labor of love to create all of the individual pieces and shots and frames to sew it all together to create the picture in your mind. Paired with hauntingly lovely music (self-composed and performed), well, I have to say that I am stunned.

stop-motion trailer for shiver by maggie stiefvater