Friday, April 27th Chat Session with Jenny Han
10:00-10:55 (11:00-11:55am EST)

**THIS SESSION CHAT HAS ENDED**

Tall, freckled, gawky seventh-grader Annemarie Wilcox (whose family calls her Shug) has a beautiful, popular older sister; a gorgeous, alcoholic mother who doesn’t fit in their small Georgia town; and a father who’s always away on business. She also has a huge crush on Mark, the neighborhood boy who has always been her best friend. As the school year starts, Shug must deal with Mark’s rejection, her parents’ bitter fights, and a falling out with her closest girlfriend. Han’s well-crafted first novel captures the aching hurt of exclusion in middle school, and the acute pain of vicious teasing. Shug’s direct, honest narration reveals a wholly believable, endearing, hot-tempered young woman who faces painful truths and survives. Shug and Celia are named for characters in Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, and Han references that novel with fine effect. It’s her skill in evoking colors, tastes, scents, and touch that really stands out, as Shug steps away from childhood and into adolescence, with all her senses ablaze

Shugnow available at all major book sellers.

About the Author
My name is Jenny Han. Han like Han Solo, Han Dynasty, or Hawn, Goldie.

I was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. I have a mom, a dad, a dog named Jack, and a baby sister I used to call Triple-Chin. (She no longer has a triple-chin, but when she did, it was just precious.) I went to college at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and then I moved to New York City for graduate school. I just this year finished up my MFA in Writing for Children. Right now, I live in Brooklyn, and I’m a full-time writer and a “paid companion” to the most amazing 14-year old girl ever. Love her to bits.

My favorite dessert is cold chocolate cake with white icing, preferably Betty Crocker because it is very moist. My favorite book is a tie between To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and the lesser known but equally magnificent I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. (Please, please read it. It will make you cry it’s so good, and then you will want to be my best friend because I told you about it.) If I could be a super-hero, I would be Buffy the Vampire Slayer. If I could be boyfriend-girlfriend with any character from literature, I would pick Mr. Darcy or a young Atticus Finch, when he was in law school, maybe.

I love TV, and I’m not ashamed. My favorite TV shows of the moment: Freaks & Geeks, Veronica Mars, Gilmore Girls, Entourage. I could go on and on, because there are the new favorites, and then there are the old faithfuls, those shows that can never be replaced in your heart– Buffy, Felicity, Twin Peaks, Wonder Years, My So-Called Life 4ever. Favorite music: Otis Redding, Led Zeppelin, Lauryn Hill, Nina Simone, Biggie, Van Morrison.

I enjoy falling leaves, baking cupcakes, dark and stormy nights, ballroom dancing, and staying in fancy hotels. I have never actually stayed in a truly fancy hotel, but I imagine I will one day, and I am sure I will enjoy it. Can’t you just picture me in a thick white robe, eating a hot fudge sundae on Egyptian cotton sheets?

My dream jobs: soap opera writer, hotel reviewer, ice cream tester, celebrity shrink, Santa’s helper. And oh, yeah! Book-writing most of all. (Well, behind Santa’s helper, anyway.)

Dislikes: White jeans, heavy perfumey perfume, canned peas, dog breath, Everybody Loves Raymond, the smell of roses

Likes: Cupcakes, thunderstorms, Christmas trees, the beach, sundresses, clean sheets, knee socks, school supplies, corn on the cob