Let's Get Speaking Comparatively [RTW]

Road Trip Wednesday is a blog carnival hosted by the fab YA Highway. This week's question: what would you say are your comp titles?

Everyone is special. Before we even learn what six times nine equals, we learn that universal truth. You're special. Adorable little Billy is special. I'm special! (No, really.) Everyone is special - including all writers. But could it be that everything we've been taught is a LIE?

Hey, it happened to Keanu Reeves.

I mean, okay, six times nine is definitely fifty-four. (I swear it didn't take just me half a minute to come up with that answer.) But the special thing... In the arena of writing, could it be that all literature is just a play off past works, recycling the same elements that have been recycled for centuries, only acknowledging similarities in certain beneficial circumstances?

Well, duh. And that's where the fun starts! We're talking comps: the comparison of a book to other already-published stacks o' words, often used by publishers for marketing purposes. In the little writer world, it's fun to look at your book and compare it to others - maybe works you want to emulate because they're so dang awesome. Oh yeah - turns out not being special isn't that bad! LET'S DO IT.

I'll go first, yo. For those who don't know or were indifferent until now, Autochromatic is the story of a sassy artist girl named Riley who starts getting texts from her dead boyfriend's phone number. The texts turn out to be addresses, and they lead Riley on a ~*very explosive*~ road trip involving dark pasts, secrets, breakdowns, and cherry smoothies! Wh00t.

Plz note that, relative to the genius found in the following books, I'd estimate that I suck, uh, like a vaccuum. (Alternatively, I kick ass at similes!) So these selections should be taken with a grain of salt, 'cause these writers are geh-henius and I'm shaky on basic multiplication. Yeah. It's all good, baby. COMP NUMBER ONE:

1. Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers. Largely because when I read this fab thing a while back, I skedaddled straight home and changed the first chapter of a little book of mine to present tense. And it was a tense love affair from then on - hawt, passionate tense love. You know the type. (Gracias for the introduction, Courtney!) Also, the dark story of a damaged girl with a secret that she can barely admit to herself? Holla. Secrets rock!

2. Two-Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt. What can I say? Road trip novels 4EVA! I had the amazing chance to hang out with Lauren in NYC this past summer, and once I got home I knew I had to read TWS. It was fantastic, and the humor, slowly-building ex-boyfriend mystery, and crazy romantical twists made me think a lot of AC. Plus, vintage cars. Gotta have a vintage car or two.

3. The Bell Jar by Slyvia Plath. So this '60s novel comes out of left field - it's not even technically YA, man! But after reading and adoring it, I was amazed by how relevant it felt, as if it was the precursor to every Troubled-Girl-Comes-of-Age novel ever. And on top of that, how related the story's questions felt to those of AC - like what the heck a girl is supposed to do with her life, how she's supposed to fight for her freedom, and when she'll finally be able to figure things out once and for all.

In truth, Plath's writing is incredible, and I can only hope to one day come close to her level of awesome. But it's a goal I'm excited to pursue! (With, um... a quick detour around the oven. Y'know.)

So there you have 'em - comps! When it comes down to it, comparisons like these can help us feel less weird in our writer craziness, less alone in our art-making. Which is, truly, a nice feeling. Now for your stories! Which YA books compare to your own, or, which ones would you like to emulate?