Megan McCafferty Love

another book recommendation: BUMPED, by megan mccafferty.

blamebyron:

i adored the jessica darling series (read it immediately. run, do not walk, to the nearest book vendor, be it a shop or the internet, and purchase the series. you will not be disappointed and you will fall in love), but this is very different. it’s a sort of alternate world where most of the population is rendered infertile at the age of 18, so teenagers become very important in carrying children. teenage pregnancy is positively encouraged, sometimes with a financial incentive. i really enjoyed the book, but it is narrated by a set of twins and i could not stand one of them, which made it slightly less enjoyable. i don’t want to say too much, but i really recommend it. it raises interesting questions, but isn’t really heavy or dark, so it’s an easy read.

(Source: blame-byron)

Bumped by Megan McCafferty - Review & Interview

renkellym:

Bumped by Megan McCafferty
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins)
Release date: April 2011
Pages:

Summary: Melody has her life pretty much laid out in front of her—she’s been bred to be perfect in almost every way. Soon she will bump with someone her rep has selected for her (whether she likes him or not), and she will finally be pregnant—something that has become a status symbol for teen girls. Melody’s perfect life is interrupted when Harmony, a missionary from a super-religious community who also happens to be Melody’s twin, shows up to try to change her sister’s mind about getting pregnant for payment. But Harmony has a secret, and soon she and Melody begin a journey full of surprises and mistaken identities.

My thoughts: The best thing about Bumped is the world that Megan McCafferty creates. Everything is so detailed that it feels like it could actually exist! The woman even made up songs for the world Bumped takes place in. That’s amazing! The rich, fullness of the world isn’t the most interesting part, though—the society is. In Bumped, only teens can conceive children, so all the high school girls are big on landing expensive contracts to carry a child for parents who can’t. Because of this, pregnancy has become something of a fad—all the songs are about it, all the advertisements say that being preggers is the coolest thing ever, and sex (“bumping”) is taken much more lightly than it is in our society. I found it fascinating to read about this, because it seems like as the generations pass, we’re becoming more and more okay with sex and pregnancy at younger ages. Social commentary for the win!

Melody and Harmony were excellent characters; I loved reading the dual narration, and the way they evolved was fantastic—the choices they made were not always the best ones, but they were extremely realistic and further developed the girls’ characters. Melody and Harmony reflected the opinions of opposite ends of the spectrum, and it was fun to see them butt heads.

Bumped blends aspects of today’s society (a leniency toward teen pregnancy) with a fantastic futuristic setting to create a wholly memorable story. Readers will be quickly enamored with Megan McCafferty’s writing—it is honest and perfectly portrays the teen voice. Melody and Harmony each embark on a quest for their true feelings, and the exciting hijinks that ensue are good for a laugh, yet have deeper undertones. Bumped seems sugary on top, but further down is rich, textured, and well thought out. I’ll definitely be giving this one a re-read.

4.5/5 stars
Source: received advance copy at ALA





BUMPED is very different from your Jessica Darling series. What made you decide to make the switch from realism to fantasy? Were there any differences in your writing process?
The premise came first: Because of a virus, only teenagers can have babies. Everyone I described it to came back with, “So it’s sci-fi?” And I was like, “I don’t think so.” Then they’d say, “Oh. It’s a dystopian novel then.” And I was like, “Um…maybe?” I understand the motivation for readers (and my publisher for that matter) to categorize it as one thing or another, but I really wasn’t thinking about genre. I was thinking about the story and the best way I knew how to tell it. In that sense, the writing process wasn’t any different from the Jessica Darling novels.

In BUMPED, sex has become a topic that isn’t as taboo as it is today. Do you think BUMPED’s nonchalance is better or worse than how we approach sex today?
We need to take a more nuanced approach to teen sexuality. I’m a proponent of comprehensive sex education, but even the best programs can be heavy on the clinical details (like the stereotypical condom-on-the-banana) and light on the emotional complexities of sex. We need to start treating teenagers like whole people and not just the sum of their private parts.

BUMPED is told in alternating viewpoints—whose side of the story did you enjoy writing the most, Harmony’s or Melody’s?
I enjoyed them both equally. I tried not to show any favoritism for one narrator over the other.

One of the things I found hilarious about BUMPED was all the songs you made up to go with the story! So, Megan, what’s your fave Fed Double X song?
“Bumpin’” is a jam. I definitely had a good time with Fed Double X. The funniest thing is, their songs aren’t any more or less ridiculous than what’s already out there.

BUMPED’s world is so well developed. How did you come up with all the technology and slang?
Thank you so much for saying that! I was nervous about the world-building. I don’t read sci-fi or futuristic fiction, but my husband does. Very early on he said, “Look, Meg, don’t try to predict the what life will be like in 2036. Whatever you come up with will be wrong. So you might as well have fun with it.” I guess I took his advice as far as it could go.

Who do you identify most with, Harmony or Melody? Or is there a bit of you in both of them?
As an author, you have to identify with your characters on some level to make them believable. Growing up as an all-around over-achiever who believed my accomplishments would help me get ahead in life, I definitely had more in common with Melody. But in approaching Harmony’s character, I thought about a very close friend, a minister’s daughter who spent her adolescence and early adulthood straining against her super-religious upbringing. Remembering that friendship helped me relate to Harmony as a fully realized individual, not just a stock character. I was thrilled when an early reader who grew up in an evangelical household told me that some of Harmony’s thoughts about faith could have come from her own teenage diaries.

Your sixteen year old self has just been transported into the world of BUMPED. What does she do? Will she survive?
I’d like to think that I’d become reproductive freedom fighter, challenging the system to provide condoms to teenagers who want to have unprocreative sex. That’s because I haven’t been raised since birth to believe that my greatest asset is my uterus.

Last question! BUMPED is supposed to have a sequel! Is there anything you can share about it?
A lot can change between a first draft and a finished book. But I think it’s safe to say that the sequel picks up 32 weeks after BUMPED ends. And there won’t be a third book, for those of you who might be suffering from trilogy fatigue. Two narrators, two books. Then I’m on to whatever comes next!

Megan McCafferty can be found online at her website, twitter, or facebook page.



This review and interview is part of the Cornucopia of Dystopia event! Click the button above to see the rest of the event schedule.

(Source: renkellym)

Bumped by Megan McCafferty

absconditas:

Bumped by Megan McCafferty
Publisher: HarperTeen (Balzer + Bray)
Release: April 26, 2011
Rating: 4/5

Synopsis: When a virus makes everyone over the age of eighteen infertile, would-be parents are forced to pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society. Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and had never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody’s doorstep. Until now, the twins have followed completely opposite paths. Melody has scored an enviable conception contract with a couple called the Jaydens. While they are searching for the perfect partner for Melody to bump with, she is fighting her attraction to her best friend Zen, who is way too short for the job. Harmony has spent her whole life in religious Goodside, preparing to be a wife and mother. She believes her calling is to bring Melody back to Goodside and convince her that “pregging” for profit is a sin. But Harmony has secrets of her own that she is running from. When Melody is finally matched with the world-famous, genetically flawless Jondoe, both girls’ lives are changed forever. A case of mistaken identity takes them on a journey neither could have ever imagined, one that makes Melody and Harmony realize they have so much more than just DNA in common. 

My Thoughts: I was actually really surprised at how much I loved this. McCafferty wrote the Jessica Darling series, so I’d be lying if I said I’d be a little curious as to how she would pull off a YA dystopian. But she did it. With flying colors. 

The world building was so seamless and so quietly done that I was immersed in this new world without me even realising.  The next thing I knew about three or four hours had passed and I was near the end of the book. The world she has created was so fully realised that it was so easy to slip myself into. The slang was a little weird, and I found myself pretty confused by some of the terms (Seriously? What the heck is an ‘everythingbut’?!), but just ignored them/made up my own meaning for them. I do wish there had been a glossary or something included in the back of the book to tell you what some of the slang means. While it wasn’t a major hindrance, I wish a couple things were altered: 

• A better explanation of the infertility virus and how it came to be 
• A lessening of some of the more cringe worthy words, think high school Health Class
• The major cliffhanger at the end, sure it’ll make me buy the next book but
  that’s just too far away to think about! 

Bumped deals in issues that are pretty heavy – questions about who owns the rights to their own bodies, how teenagers’ bodies are taken advantage of when it becomes the only way of surviving as a race, capitalizing on sex and pregnancy.  At the end of the book, the characters are kind of rethinking their world and their places in it and how they treat their bodies, but the decisions they reach about these issues largely take place behind the scenes and are described with genuine feeling and sincerity. The main example being our star, Melody. The slow, steady development, and raising awareness between her and Zen was a major example.

I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next!

Source: eGalley received for review from the publisher.