Sara Zarr Report post Posted December 27, 2006 The official release date is 1/10/2007, but it appears to be in stores or on its way to stores now.Story of a Girl is contemporary young adult fiction (ages 13 or 14 and up), and it is my debut novel. Feel free to discuss, question, praise, condemn here. I may or may not participate, depending on how my ability to not be defensive is doing on a particular day. If you buy a copy (thank you!) and would like a signed book plate (like a clear Avery label kind of thing you can put on the title page), PM me with your address. Ask for it at your local indie book store or request it at your library. If you happen to see it in a store, feel free to turn it face out and/or place it strategically on a display table. I'll post media updates, too. I was recently interviewed for School Library Journal but I'm not sure when that will run. SLJ gave the book a starred review, and Kirkus has also been kind. If you have contacts at local schools/libraries/bookstores who might be interested in a visit or a signing, direct them to my web site (www.sarazarr.com) for info. Quote Sara Zarr author, person. sarazarr.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kyle Report post Posted December 28, 2006 I'm looking forward to buying my copy soon Sara. Quote "It is scandalous for Christians to have an imagination starved for God." - Mark Filiatreau I write occasionally at Unfamiliar Stars. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Darryl A. Armstrong Report post Posted January 6, 2007 Picked up my copy from work today... Also, faced out all the copies we had (three, I think) in the display in the YA section. Go Sara! Hope it sells well! Quote "It's a dangerous business going out your front door." -- J.R.R. Tolkien "I want to believe in art-induced epiphanies." -- Josie "I would never be dismissive of pop entertainment; it's much too serious a matter for that." -- NBooth "If apologetics could prove God, I would lose all faith in Him." -- Josie "What if--just what if--the very act of storytelling is itself redemptive? What if gathering up the scraps and fragments of a disordered life and binding them between the pages of a book in all of their fragmentary disorder is itself a gambit against that disorder?" -- NBooth Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sara Zarr Report post Posted January 6, 2007 Yay! Thanks!Here are a couple more recent interviews:http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6403268.htmlhttp://d-michiko-f.livejournal.com/268870.html Quote Sara Zarr author, person. sarazarr.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jeff Kolb Report post Posted January 8, 2007 Hi Sara, I saw your book featured the other day when I was in Kepler's, a big independant bookstore in Menlo Park, CA. Congrats! Quote So you ladies and you gentlemen, pull your bloomers on...-Joe Henry Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BethR Report post Posted January 20, 2007 Sad to report that I could not find The Story of a Girl at a B&N in Durham, NC--I wanted to buy it for my niece. Guess it's amazon.com time again.On the plus side, my niece introduced me to the books of Nancy Farmer. Quote There is this difference between the growth of some human beings and that of others: in the one case it is a continuous dying, in the other a continuous resurrection. (George MacDonald, The Princess and Curdie)Isn't narrative structure enough of an ideology for art? (Greg Wright) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peter T Chattaway Report post Posted January 20, 2007 Hope you don't mind, Sara, that I've put a hold on this book at the public library, instead of ordering a copy for myself -- but hey, you're in my public library's system! Quote "Sympathy must precede belligerence. First I must understand the other, as it were, from the inside; then I can critique it from the outside. So many people skip right to the latter." -- Steven D. Greydanus Now blogging at Patheos.com. I can also still be found at Facebook, Twitter and Flickr. See also my film journal. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sara Zarr Report post Posted January 20, 2007 Peter - I love libraries! Beth - Quite possibly all my Raleigh/Durham relatives have cleaned the store out! I recommend anyone who doesn't see it in their favorite store request it - they can get it to you as fast as Amazon. Quote Sara Zarr author, person. sarazarr.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sara Zarr Report post Posted June 13, 2007 It's been a while since I posted, but this seemed like a good time for a self-serving, drive-by post pertaining to me me me:12 June, 2007Film rightsSara Zarr Quote Sara Zarr author, person. sarazarr.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Christian Report post Posted June 13, 2007 CONGRATULATIONS!! =D> Quote "What matters are movies, not awards; experiences, not celebrations; the subjective power of individual critical points of view, not the declamatory compromises of consensus." - Richard Brody, "Godard's Surprise Win Is a Victory for Independent Cinema," The New Yorker Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MattPage Report post Posted June 13, 2007 Cool - congratulationsMatt Quote Bible Films Blog | Jesus Films Podcast | ReJesus | Faith and Film Critics Circle | Open Heaven Church Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crow Report post Posted June 13, 2007 Great to hear! ::cheers:: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BethR Report post Posted June 13, 2007 Great news, Sara. Congratulations! I've become a fan Kyra Sedgwick in The Closer. Wonder if she'll act in as well as produce your book's film version? Quote There is this difference between the growth of some human beings and that of others: in the one case it is a continuous dying, in the other a continuous resurrection. (George MacDonald, The Princess and Curdie)Isn't narrative structure enough of an ideology for art? (Greg Wright) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peter T Chattaway Report post Posted June 13, 2007 Woo-hoo!And funnily enough, Kyra was on Conan last night. (Or was it Letterman? I can't remember. I was tired.) Quote "Sympathy must precede belligerence. First I must understand the other, as it were, from the inside; then I can critique it from the outside. So many people skip right to the latter." -- Steven D. Greydanus Now blogging at Patheos.com. I can also still be found at Facebook, Twitter and Flickr. See also my film journal. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Darryl A. Armstrong Report post Posted June 13, 2007 Wow! That is awesome Sara! Past the initial excitement, what are your thoughts on having your book translated to the big screen? Quote "It's a dangerous business going out your front door." -- J.R.R. Tolkien "I want to believe in art-induced epiphanies." -- Josie "I would never be dismissive of pop entertainment; it's much too serious a matter for that." -- NBooth "If apologetics could prove God, I would lose all faith in Him." -- Josie "What if--just what if--the very act of storytelling is itself redemptive? What if gathering up the scraps and fragments of a disordered life and binding them between the pages of a book in all of their fragmentary disorder is itself a gambit against that disorder?" -- NBooth Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tim Willson Report post Posted June 13, 2007 That is big news, Sara -- thanks for sharing and congratulations! I hope it all comes together as it should. Quote "Could we ever know each other in the slightest without the arts?" « Nous connaîtrions-nous seulement un peu nous-mêmes, sans les arts? » Quoted on Canada's $20 bill; from Gabrielle Roy's novel La montagne secrète. The English translation, The Hidden Mountain, is by Harry L. Binsse. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Overstreet Report post Posted June 14, 2007 (edited) (This exciting announcement wins "Jeff's Gaze of Astonishment".)Sara, that's fan-buttkicking-tastic.We'll raise a glass and celebrate when I see you in August. Edited June 14, 2007 by Jeffrey Overstreet Quote P.S. I COULD BE WRONG. Takin' 'er easy for all you sinners at lookingcloser.org. Also abiding at Facebook and Twitter. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sara Zarr Report post Posted June 14, 2007 Wow! That is awesome Sara! Past the initial excitement, what are your thoughts on having your book translated to the big screen?I think it could be cool. I think it's not the kind of story that would attract "teen movie" makers, which is good. I think if it was done as an indie family drama, it could really be something. It could also be the "little screen," by the way, and go in the TV movie direction. I actually love Lifetime movies, for example, and that would be a totally different movie than an indie family drama, but it could still be good. Honestly, I used to always picture the father character as a "Kevin Bacon type," and I know they have done movies together before and even had their daughter (who is now the age of the protag in my book) in them as well, so the prospect of them doing it as a family project excites me most. But we'll see! I have zero qualms at this point, because I have so much respect for her (Sedgwick's) taste and work. And it might be that nothing pans out into an actual movie, which would be a bummer but not the end of the world.Thanks for all the congrats! Quote Sara Zarr author, person. sarazarr.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mark's mom Report post Posted June 14, 2007 It's been a while since I posted, but this seemed like a good time for a self-serving, drive-by post pertaining to me me me:12 June, 2007Film rightsSara Zarr's [THE] STORY OF A GIRL, about a teenage girl trying to livedown her "school slut" reputation and repair her relationship with herfamily because, at the age of thirteen, her father caught her in theback seat of a Buick with a high school senior boy, optioned to MixedBreed Films, with Kyra Sedgwick and Emily Lansbury producing, by EddieGammara at The Gotham Group.More about that herehttp://www.sarazarr.comAnd now that my second book is finally in copyediting and am not under scary deadlines, I look forward to participating in the boards again!Sara, I cried during the reading of the book, so I'm sure I'll have at least a 2-Hanky rating for the movie. Even tho this is classified as a YA fiction, some old people like me can really get a lot out of your writing and the depth of your storytelling. Frankly, the contents hit home, way too close to home. I look forward to book two. Mark's Mom Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Greg P Report post Posted June 14, 2007 Congrats Sara! Incredible news!!! Quote "The things we enjoy are channels through which the divine glory strikes us, and those who love and delight in any good thing may yet learn to love God." --Gilbert Meilaender Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andy Whitman Report post Posted June 14, 2007 That's great news. Congratulations, Sara. And I'd say it certainly bodes well for the movie version of your book that Kyra Sedgwick is involved. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Buckeye Jones Report post Posted June 14, 2007 Does this mean you now are a legitimate entry in the 5 degrees of Kevin Bacon game?Congrats! Quote I have Flickritis Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peter T Chattaway Report post Posted June 15, 2007 Buckeye Jones wrote:: Does this mean you now are a legitimate entry in the 5 degrees of Kevin Bacon game?I think you have to be an actor (or appear onscreen) for that to count.Sara, make sure you get a cameo! Quote "Sympathy must precede belligerence. First I must understand the other, as it were, from the inside; then I can critique it from the outside. So many people skip right to the latter." -- Steven D. Greydanus Now blogging at Patheos.com. I can also still be found at Facebook, Twitter and Flickr. See also my film journal. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sara Zarr Report post Posted June 18, 2007 Sara, I cried during the reading of the book, so I'm sure I'll have at least a 2-Hanky rating for the movie. Even tho this is classified as a YA fiction, some old people like me can really get a lot out of your writing and the depth of your storytelling. Frankly, the contents hit home, way too close to home. I look forward to book two. Mark's MomHey! Great to see you here. I am going to shoot for 3-hankies with the second book Quote Sara Zarr author, person. sarazarr.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Overstreet Report post Posted October 10, 2007 (edited) LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PLEASE OFFER YOUR CONGRATULATIONS TONATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST SARA ZARR!! Story here. Edited July 25, 2017 by Overstreet Quote P.S. I COULD BE WRONG. Takin' 'er easy for all you sinners at lookingcloser.org. Also abiding at Facebook and Twitter. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
