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WORK TITLE: How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE:
CITY: Sydney
STATE: NW
COUNTRY: Australia
NATIONALITY: Australian
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: n 2016046810
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/n2016046810
HEADING: Eglington, Tara
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PERSONAL
Born in Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia.
EDUCATION:Southern Cross University, graduated, 2009.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Sunshine Coast Brides, contributor, 2009-; Harper Collins Publishers, national accounts assistant, 2011-14. Currently works as an executive assistant at a glass company.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Tara Eglington is a writer of books for young adults. She graduated from Southern Cross University, where her studies focused on journalism and writing. After college, she worked as a national accounts assistant for Harper Collins Publishers. In 2009 she became a contributor to the magazine Sunshine Coast Brides. Eglington now works as an executive assistant at a glass company. She is the author of three books: How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You, How to Convince a Boy to Kiss You, and My Best Friend Is a Goddess.
How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You
In How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You Eglington introduces us to sixteen-year-old Aurora Skye, whose mission is to help teens navigate the dating world. With the new school year, Aurora plans to bring together her classmates Cassie and Jelena with two boys she has dubbed “Potential Princes.” On the home front, Aurora must contend with life with her divorced father and the reentry of her long-absent mother on the scene while also navigating a possible romance with her neighbor Hayden Paris. She wants to find her own prince, but she will not settle for a kiss from a frog. A critic in Publishers Weekly found that Aurora’s “indefatigable enthusiasm . . . keeps every plot twist frothy and fun” and that the book would appeal to readers interested in a “romantic comedy with a dash of Shakespeare.” Maggie Reagan, writing in Booklist, called this debut novel “pure fluff” with a “final twist” that will not “surprise” but added that romance-minded readers would not mind. Pam Carlson commented, in Voice of Youth Advocates, that the teen romance elements of the tale were predictable but that “Aurora becomes more substantive when she admits her feelings about her mother’s desertion.”
At YA Books Central, Elisha Jachetti remarked that the “stock characters” gave the story a “parodic feel.” She nonetheless found the book to be “pure entertainment.” “Most fun,” she added, “was that the book seemed to be a throwback to cult classic, Clueless.” At Loony Teen Writer, the reviewer found Aurora to be engaging and “so sweet,” further noting that she is “well, kind of deluded, but I loved her.” Writing at Tales Between the Pages, a critic summarized How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You as a “comedy of errors that’s both cute and infuriating.” When Aurora “started addressing some serious feelings from her past” and “being authentic,” the reviewer became “completely engrossed.”
How to Convince a Boy to Kiss You and My Best Friend Is a Goddess
How to Convince a Boy to Kiss You finds Aurora in a relationship with Hayden—but one that does not quite go to plan. Meanwhile, Cassie and Jelena are having their own difficulties with the Potential Princes Scott and Alex, one of whom turns out to be less than princely. A critic at Fictional Thoughts called the series “adorable” and Eglington’s second book in the series a “lovely read about a teen girl with authentic problems.” The blogger at Thoughts by J noted that the book “really begins to show the depth within the characters” and recommended it as a “light read that also touches upon life lessons.”
In My Best Friend Is a Goddess tells the story of Adriana and Emily, who have been best friends for eight years. When Adriana’s mother dies, her father takes her away to Borneo, where he has accepted a new job. After almost two years away, Adriana returns. While she is the same person she always was, her appearance has gone from gawky to gorgeous. What will happen when both girls fall for the same boy? The reviewer at Happy Indulgence found that the many themes, among them “grief, self-loathing, jealousy and bullying,” were addressed “with just the right amount of depth.” She concluded that this is “an important story.” Megan Daley, at Children’s Books Daily, largely praised the book, observing that the “path to forgiveness, acceptance, and back to friendship is traversed slowly and authentically.” Eglington, wrote Daley, “is evolving as an author, and her books continue to surprise and challenge.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, September 15, 2016, Maggie Reagan, review of How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You, p. 61.
Publishers Weekly, September 5, 2016, review of How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You, p. 77.
Voice of Youth Advocates, December, 2016, Pam Carlson, review of How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You, p. 59.
ONLINE
Children’s Books Daily, http://childrensbooksdaily.com/ (November 27, 2016), Meg Daley, review of My Best Friend Is a Goddess.
Fictional Thoughts, http://www.fictionalthoughts.com/ (May 30, 2017), review of How to Convince a Boy to Kiss You.
Happy Indulgence, http://www.happyindulgencebooks.com/ (December 4, 2016), review of My Best Friend Is a Goddess.
Loony Teen Writer, https://theloonyteenwriter.wordpress.com (May 12, 2014), review of How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You.
Tales Between the Pages, http://www.talesbetweenthepages.com (October 25, 2016), review of How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You.
Thoughts by J, http://www.thoughtsbyj.com/ (May 30, 2017), review of How to Convince a Boy to Kiss You.
YA Books Central, http://www.yabookscentral.com (January 28, 2017), Elisha Jachetti, review of How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You.
YA Interrobang, http://www.yainterrobang.com (November 28, 2016), review of How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You.*
TARA EGLINGTON grew up in Byron Bay, Australia. After a time working in the wedding industry, she worked at HarperCollins Australia in the sales department. She is currently an executive assistant at a glass company.
Tara Eglington grew up in Byron Bay, NSW. Like Aurora, Tara was brought up by a real-life NAD (New Age Dad) although thankfully, he never dated her interpretive dance teacher. Surrounded by crystals, chakras and sound-based healing, Tara’s only option for teen rebellion was to complete a non-arts degree and move to Sydney for a ‘normal’ career. She ended up following a creative pursuit anyway and wrote freelance stories for the Bridal industry, risking life and limb at Wedding Expos as she battled bridezillas for free champagne tastings, all in the name of delivering a good story.
AUTHOR INTERVIEW WITH TARA EGLINGTON + GIVEAWAY (ANZ)!
AUTHOR INTERVIEWS, GIVEAWAYS
Hi guys, today on the blog we have the wonderful Aussie author – drum roll please! – Tara Eglington. If you’ve read my reviews for How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You and How to Convince a Boy to Kiss You, then you would know that I really liked the Aurora Skye series. The series is not just humourous, but has many relevant messages for its readers. I wish I had a copy of these books back in high school. Reading about drama is always better than living it!
Tara has kindly taken the time out to answer a few questions and is offering up a copy of both her Aurora Skye books to three lucky winners! If you’re looking for a cute summer read at the beach, definitely enter this giveaway.
Interview with Tara Eglington
1. Where did you get the inspiration for the Aurora Skye series? Are the books based on real life events?
Looking back, the inspiration for the series came from many different things – however when I read through my teenage diaries the genesis of the first book is DEFINITELY there – quite a few of Auroras Rules of Attraction were my own scribbled down findings aged 16 or 17! Like Aurora, I thought I knew everything about love and dating and was always giving out advice to my besties – despite never having had a boyfriend myself. I had hugely high standards about waiting for my ‘prince’ and strict criteria that he was supposed to meet. I recently found the list of ideal qualities and its eight pages front and back, which gave me a good giggle!!! The series really sums up the gorgeous faith and idealism that you have about love during your early teen years – and which I still try to hold onto now that I’m older and a little more practical.
In terms of being based on real life events, there is admittedly quite a few crossovers – I DID fall out of a car and into a puddle, just like Aurora. However my incident didn’t come about via a Stop Kiss manoeuvre, it was due to my pulling down the passenger side flip-down mirror and finding a saucer sized spider on it. Being severely spider-phobic, I literally threw open my door whilst the car was pulling into our driveway and launched myself out the door and into the puddle just below, cutting my palm open on the driveway rocks. The whole situation was so embarrassing and ridiculous that I just had to adapt it into an Aurora sequence. Other based-on-real-life moments from the series include Aurora’s general clumsiness (I seem plagued by spills and falls in my day to day life), the interpretive dance teacher (yes, teachers that crazy really do exist!), Operation Stop Kiss, and a boy as gorgeous, talented, smart and cheeky as Hayden Paris (I’ll never reveal who)!
Basically, I was a teenager obsessed with love and romance (to the point where I once used a statistics class to sneakily conduct surveys of what my classmates found attractive in the opposite sex) and its not highly surprising that I wound up creating a character who wanted to be a matchmaker!
Thoughts: Gaaah, who’s this boy as “gorgeous, talented, smart and cheeky as Hayden Paris”?! I hope Tara’s snatched him up! 😉
2. Do you remember where you were exactly when the idea for the series popped into your head?
I do actually! The series began simply as an image in my head as I was daydreaming one afternoon – I saw a girl with this golden blonde hair sitting on her front steps waiting and waiting for someone, looking more and more disappointed. I remember thinking ‘Who is she waiting for?’ and my next thought was ‘her mother.’ This story started forming as I asked ‘Why is she waiting for her mother? Why hasn’t her mum shown up?’ and alongside this, I saw a neighbour – a boy her age – wandering out and teasing her from the property fence. She thinks he’s just giving her a hard time as per usual, but really, he’s trying to make her laugh and to distract her from the fact that her mum is not showing up. Interestingly enough, this particular scene never became part of the novel (there is a version of something similar in How to Keep, when Aurora’s waiting for her mother post-performance of Much Ado About Nothing) but the image of Aurora, and what she looked like, along with Hayden’s particular personality that popped into my mind at that time, was strong enough to generate an entire novel (and a sequel!). Once I began writing the story, Aurora’s voice simply leapt off the page, and she created all sorts of crazy, funny, dramatic scenes for herself.
3. Who are your writing muses?
In terms of muses, it’s pretty wide. I find so many things inspiring –music, art, poetry, conversations – it might not necessarily be certain authors or creators – sometimes it’s simply the mood of a song or a look of a painting will set my brain spinning with ideas that I just have to express. Sometimes a line of poetry will seem to shout out a title or a concept for a whole new story that might explore a different facet of the concept expressed in the poem itself. I find film hugely influential – being predominantly visual, the mode of storytelling is quite different to that of a novel. I find that really great writers have the ability to create scenes like a screenwriter does – so vivid and visual in its storytelling, it’s as if you can see everything happening in right front of you. I’ve had certain completely visual scenes from films trigger whole new ideas for novels.
4. Can you explain the premise of the series in one sentence?
One girl on a mission to save her first kiss for the boy who’s truly worthy of it – and that means a prince, not a toad!
5. What are your favourite books? What authors did you grow up reading?
My favourite books when I was growing up were those by L.M Montgomery, who wrote the Anne of Green Gables books, her stories are just so beautiful, funny, romantic and full of heart. I adore humorous YA – so the novels of Susan Juby (The Alice I Think series), Jaclyn Moriarty (Feeling Sorry for Celia is one of my top teen novels and recommendations) and Catherine Jinks (the Pagan series) were all huge influences. I also grew up reading a lot of books on the science of attraction and compatibility, as well as psychology and sociology, all of which contributed to Aurora’s Theories of Attraction (such as the Red Lipstick theory). Shakespeare is another obsession, which is why Much Ado About Nothing became the school production in How to Keep – I love showing people just how engaging, funny and relevant the Bard’s work still is.
In terms of recent reading, I so enjoyed ‘These Broken Stars’ by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner – it’s a romance/adventure/mystery set in space and its absolutely fantastic fun!
6. How do you prepare yourself for an average writing day?
To be honest, it often starts with a great deal of procrastination – putting washing out, making coffee, doing ‘research’ (surfing the net!) – however I tend to see this as a positive thing, as more of a ‘preparation for writing’ – as its often while I am doing really boring tasks like vacuuming, that I brainstorm scenes – I’ll hear characters talking, or I’ll be wrestling with character motivation and how the action of the sequence I’m working on will lead on to the next chapter. Going for a walk or a run is another way that I get myself into ‘writer mode.’ So by the time I’ve gone through my routine and sat down at my computer, I’m much more comfortable and feeling motivated to write. That’s not to say that the terror of the blank page doesn’t hold me hostage – I think most writers, much as they love what they do, are secretly terrified most of the time that they sit down to work. I try to keep the fear at bay by reading over the previous day’s writing, and then forcing myself to put down sentences, no matter how awful they seem. It usually takes me about an hour to stop writing ‘crap’ before I feel like I’m in the mode and writing smoothly. By the time I’m three hours in, the words are flying onto the page and I’m desperately trying to type as fast as the thoughts appear in my mind. My favourite scenes to write are those featuring Aurora and her friends, as its basically like I’m hanging out with a bunch of my girlfriends – I can literally hear the girls talking and laughing in my head. I seem to know instinctively just what Cass or Jelena or Aurora will say in any given moment – their highly individual reactions have become automatic because I know their personalities inside out now!
7. What other books can your fans expect from you in the future? More Aurora Skye?
At this stage, I would say that you could expect a few stand alone books, in the same funny, romantic genre as the Aurora Skye series. It’s likely the new stories will be set at Aurora’s school, but feature new characters that I hope my readers will love as much as Aurora and co. I’m hoping to announce a new project very soon, the details of which will be announced on https://www.facebook.com/#!/findaprince
That said, I would never outrule a return to Aurora’s world – I would love to do a spin off or a book from the point of view of a few of the characters – my readers have loved any ‘through Hayden’s eyes’ sequences that I have written for the Aurora Skye Facebook page.
8. Would you delve into a different genre? Is there a genre you really want to try writing in?
I would actually love to write something within the action-adventure genre – not losing the romance or humour that my readers expect from my books. Some of my favourite films are the Indiana Jones series and I think it would be great fun to feature some exotic locales, historical elements and heart-pumping scary scenes in my future work, matched with an awesome teen narrator. I love writing for Young Adults, so I can’t see myself moving to Adult Fiction for a while yet.
Thoughts: Let me be the first to say, man I cannot WAIT, to read it!
9. Who are your top 5 most kick-ass heroines?
Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables – if you thought Aurora Skye was feisty when it came to Hayden Paris – wait till you see Anne break a slate over Gilbert Blythe’s head after he calls her ‘carrots’ (because of her red hair). She’s over the top idealistic and bursting with imagination – which leads to the most ridiculous situations such as her re-enactment of the Tennyson poem ‘Lady of Shallot’ – which results in her nearly drowning and clinging desperately to a barge pole, just in time for Gilbert Blythe to come rowing down the river to witness it. Anne and Gilbert were definite influences upon Aurora and Hayden, so please give Anne of Green Gables a read if it’s not already a favourite.
Cher from Clueless (not technically a heroine from a book, but she has to make this list as Clueless was one of my most fave films ever as a teenager and her character IS based upon Jane Austen’s Emma) – she’s just as dedicated to her match-making as Aurora, loves to make the world a more beautiful place (not just via conducting makeovers!) and is just all round awesome! She’s not afraid to be true to herself and wait for the right guy, which I think is a big challenge for any teen girl navigating popularity and high school politics.
Alice MacLeod from the Alice I Think series – Alice is the completely brilliant creation of author Susan Juby, and her takes on small town Smithers, (a town in British Columbia) her insane family and her councillor Death Lord Bob (her first councillor had a breakdown!) are priceless. I read this as a teen and it remains one of my most re-read books of this genre. Alice’s attempts at being a ‘normal teen’ are anything but normal – but she’s totally adorable with all of her precociousness, cynicism and insecurity. The series is a must read.
Kira Beaumont from Thunderfish
I grew up reading author Simon Higgins (he actually lives in the same region that I hail from) and saw him speak at the Byron Bay writers festival a few times. He creates really intelligent, brave, and resourceful YA heroines. Kira Beaumont in Thunderfish is heir to a shipping fortune, and a female vigilante – manning an ex-combat submarine. Talk about tough! Very exciting story and there’s also a romance that plays out in this book and its sequel Under No Flag. I can also recommend the Jane Draper series by the same author (Doctor Id, Cybercage and the Stalking Zone) which features another formidable heroine.
Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games
I don’t think there’s anything to explain about this one – I think if I was forcibly thrown into an arena to kill other people I’d just crumple into a ball and cry – whereas Katniss simply takes it all in her stride.
10. Your favourite quote?
‘Love is my religion’ from John Keats – like Aurora, I was once tempted to get this tattoed on my wrist – but I think I’ll settle for an engraved bangle!
Thanks Tara!
About the Author
Tara Eglington grew up in Byron Bay, NSW. Like Aurora, she was brought up by a real-life NAD, though thankfully, he never dated her interpretive dance teacher.
Tara was inspired to write ‘How to Keep a Boy From Kissing You’ after she stumbled upon an old teenage diary and realised just how many ‘rules’ of attraction she had noted down at age 17. Like Aurora, she had gone the distance with her field research, once using her Year 11 Statistics Class to conduct a sneaky survey of what her 40 classmates found attractive in the opposite sex, before creating colour coded graphs of their preferences.
She spent many years ducking her own way out of unwanted kisses and now has her ‘evasive manoeuvre’ down pat. ‘How to Convince a Boy to Kiss You’ is her second novel.
Giveaway! (AU & NZ only)
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How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You
Publishers Weekly.
263.36 (Sept. 5, 2016): p77.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You
Tara Eglington. St. Martin's/Dunne, $18.99
(320p) ISBN 978-1-250-04953-7
In this debut novel, 16-year-old Aurora Skye relies on a sense of humor to stand tall in the face an overbearing mother, stay sympathetic to her
NAD (New Age dad), and (eventually) open her heart to Hayden Paris, the handsome neighbor who's always popping up at inopportune
moments. Threaded throughout Aurora's story is the detail that she's never kissed anyone: she is determined to kiss the prince of her dreams,
Disney-style, and won't settle for anything less. This quest serves up significant physical comedy where her suitors are concerned and plenty of
misunderstandings between Hayden and Aurora that only bring them closer. Aurora's indefatigable enthusiasm permeates Eglington's writing, and
keeps every plot twist frothy and fun, whether it involves family, boys, or the production of Much Ado About Nothing Hayden and Aurora star in
(whose plot parallels their own journey from mutual antagonism to romantic attraction). Eglington celebrates female friendship and loyalty, too,
and Aurora's sunny outlook will satisfy readers looking for a romantic comedy with a dash of Shakespeare. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You." Publishers Weekly, 5 Sept. 2016, p. 77. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA463513633&it=r&asid=f94fafc03f307690be64244514ce3bc6. Accessed 15 May
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A463513633
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5/14/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1494823470247 2/3
How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You
Maggie Reagan
Booklist.
113.2 (Sept. 15, 2016): p61.
COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You. By Tara Eglington. Oct. 2016.320p. St. Martin's/Thomas Dunne, $18.99 19781250049537). Gr. 7-10.
Aurora Skye has always had an affinity for princesses--she does, after all, share a name with a certain Sleeping Beauty. That's why she's launched
her Find a Prince Program (FPP), going on plenty of dates but putting the kibosh on a goodnight kiss if the guy doesn't seem worthy. But her
plans go awry when she auditions for her school's production of Much Ado about Nothing to please her absentee mom, and somehow lands the
role of Beatrice. Worse, her insufferable (even if he is hot) next-door neighbor Hayden Paris is cast as Benedick. Spunky, superbeautiful Aurora
knows her prince is out there, but how can she save her first kiss for him when she has to lock lips with Hayden? Australian Eglington's debut is
pure fluff, following Aurora through a series of mostly shallow teen tribulations in her quest for a happy ending. The final twist is less a surprise
and more an inevitability, but, as with Beatrice and Benedick, most romance-hungry readers won't care that they can see it coming.--Maggie
Reagan
Reagan, Maggie
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Reagan, Maggie. "How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You." Booklist, 15 Sept. 2016, p. 61. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA464980982&it=r&asid=1f264b03d4c4532944c3d5553b10b544. Accessed 15 May
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A464980982
---
5/14/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1494823470247 3/3
Eglington, Tara. How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You
Pam Carlson
Voice of Youth Advocates.
39.5 (Dec. 2016): p59.
COPYRIGHT 2016 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
3Q * 2P * M * J * S
Eglington, Tara. How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You. Thomas Dunne/Macmillan, 2016. 320p. $18.99. 978-1-250-04953-7.
Aurora Skye is obsessed with saving her first kiss for her prince. She is frantic when she is cast as a co-lead in Much Ado About Nothing. There
is no way she will be kissing Hayden, the bane of her existence. They were once childhood friends, but now she sees him as an enemy. How will
she avoid the scripted kiss? All but one of her friends are laser-focused on affairs of the heart. Her parents are no help; NAD (New Age Dad) is
dating one of her teachers, clueless to the fact that she and Aurora despise each other. Mom makes only rare appearances. Near the end of the
story, Aurora reveals that she blames herself for her mother's leaving, and readers learn that Hayden is a casualty of her misguided guilt. Once she
realizes this, she can admit that she is in love with Hayden, who then gives Aurora the "Cinderella moment" for which she has been longing.
Readers will realize almost immediately that Hayden is Aurora's prince. This predictability may cause them to turn to the end and skip the inbetween
drama. Aurora becomes more substantive when she admits her feelings about her mother's desertion, but it is almost too little, too late.
Her beautiful friends are just a step above shallow, although their loyalty to each other is commendable. The boys are obnoxious, egotistical, or
too good to be true. Not many teens will identify with this self-absorbed group whose primary worry seems to be not finding true love by the end
of high school.--Pam Carlson.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Carlson, Pam. "Eglington, Tara. How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You." Voice of Youth Advocates, Dec. 2016, p. 59. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA474767921&it=r&asid=a93fd21af10d603c1e43fc36cfc73a45. Accessed 15 May
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A474767921
Much Ado about Love: A Q&A with Tara Eglington on HOW TO KEEP A BOY FROM KISSING YOU 0
BY TARA HACKLEY ON NOVEMBER 28, 2016 AUTHOR FEATURES, CONTEMPORARY, FEATURES
how-to-keep-a-boy-from-kissing-you-tara-eglingtonHaving just hit American shelves, Tara Eglington’s novel How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You is sure to delight fans of “Clueless” and Much Ado about Nothing.
Meet Aurora, the leading lady in How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You. She’s founder of the Find a Prince Program, a future (self-help) author, and a girl with determined to save her first kiss for the right guy. But this – and the relationships of her best friends – are thrown off course when she’s cast opposite Hayden Paris in the school’s rendition of Much Ado about Nothing. Now not only does she have to worry about getting her friends set up with their Princes, Aurora’s worried she’ll lose her first kiss to Hayden, a guy she just knows is not her Prince.
How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You is available now.
Fans of “Clueless,” Emma, and Much Ado about Nothing will probably love How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You. What was your inspiration in Aurora’s story and her Find A Prince Program?
I was a HUGE fan of all three when I was growing up, but the primary inspiration behind How to Keep was actually my teenage diaries. I kept a diary from age 12 to age 22, and just like Aurora, I thought I was an expert on all things love related, despite never having a boyfriend in high school! I would read up on the science of love and attraction, write all about it in my diaries, and would then give out ‘professional’ advice to my friends! Like Aurora, I was also determined to save my first kiss for someone special, and so I had quite a few funny ‘operation stop-kiss’ moments along the way. There may also have been a real life inspiration for the love-hate dynamic between Aurora and Hayden 😉
How to Keep a Boy From Kissing You balances the humor of teen life, like being oblivious to someone who has feelings for you, with the sometimes harsh realities of growing up, like realizing that your parents are only human. It was great to see two very distinct parents in your novel, especially since parents tend to get the boot in (American) YA. Though Aurora’s parental situation was kind of humorous (ie. a NAD), there are a lot of teenagers out there going through similar situations. What do you think the importance is of having parents in YA? What about parents who are just as flawed as the protagonist?
I love featuring parents in YA, especially flawed ones, because I think that a big part of growing up and maturing is realizing that your parents aren’t gods – they’re human, and they make mistakes just like you do. I grew up in a very similar situation to Aurora in that my Mum had left when I was quite young, and my Dad (who is a ‘New Age Dad!’) was the one to raise me. I know when I was growing up, there weren’t many ‘missing mums’ in literature, so when I did find a story that featured a character who’s Mum had left, it meant a great deal to me. I felt less alone. A huge part of my teenage and young adult years was working through tough emotions to order to be at peace with my family situation. So with How to Keep being my first novel (and the natural instinct of a young writer to ‘write what you know’) – Aurora’s dynamic with her mother, and how this impacted upon her other relationships (Hayden etc.) naturally became a major part of the story. It also features very strongly in the sequel to How to Keep (releasing in 2017 with St. Martins).
I loved the variety in personalities between Aurora and her group of friends. How did you decide who Aurora’s friends were and how did you go about crafting their dynamic?
Aurora and her friends became very real to me actually – to the point where when writing scenes, I would feel like I was be standing there, listening to the girls while they laughed and chatted. I came to know what a ‘Jelena’ thing to say was, and what wasn’t. The dialogue between the girls then became quite organic. In terms of the make-up of the group and its members, I think within a friendship group you naturally get a wide range of personalities – louder, more forceful girls (Jelena), to the more dramatic (Sara) to the tried-and-true loyal besties like Cassie. So I consciously chose to create very different personalities – and I think much of the humor in the book came from the different viewpoints of the girls.
I loved writing Jelena the most– I get a lot of comments that she’s too harsh, but I find her hilarious – she’s so over the top, and she speaks before she thinks. You see a lot more of her in the sequel when she runs for school captain, a plot line I had great fun with.
I did a little bit of research and it seems like the majority of Australian schools have uniforms. Was there a reason the kids at Jefferson didn’t wear uniforms?
I get a lot of comments about this one actually, particularly in Australia! I actually attended an arts-focused high school (a ‘Steiner’ school) where we were allowed free dress, so with Jefferson being very theatre-orientated, I pictured the same type of scenario in terms of it being a uniform-free environment.
Were there any scenes that you played up the drama/comedy in to draw parallels to “Clueless” or Much Ado about Nothing?
In terms of Much Ado, definitely! I had a copy of the play right next to my desk when writing, and of course, as the characters rehearsed certain scenes, it would fire up my imagination in terms of what Aurora might say or do, or how Hayden might react to a certain line by Shakespeare. I studied drama at school, and some of my favorite moments to look back on from high school were the crazy antics that would happen around productions – so I wanted to highlight the funny and silly moments that would naturally take place during rehearsal of romantic scenes, or on opening night, for example. The scripted ‘Much Ado’ kiss of course, became a major part of the plot.
Aurora’s determination to find the right guy to share her first kiss with was incredibly sweet. What would you say to teenage girls who are holding steadfast to their beliefs, even though others may think their beliefs are silly or inconsequential?
I think everyone has an inner sense of what feels ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ for them. In Aurora’s case (and in mine) she’s a romantic idealist. For her, that first kiss is something very precious, and saving it for her Potential Prince, is what feels right, even if other people, (or even a few of her friends, like Jelena or Sarah) think it’s silly. It can take a lot of courage to stand firm in your beliefs, and to trust in your own instincts. But the reward is doing so is incredible – it’s a real sense of being at peace with yourself. Remember, only YOU can know what’s best for you.
Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
I’m SO excited to be sharing my novel with US readers! If they enjoy the book, I’d love to hear from them on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook!
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Featured Review: How To Keep A Boy From Kissing You (Tara Eglington)
Saturday, 28 January 2017 Beth Edwards, Assistant Blog Manager News & Updates Latest Staff Reviews 379 Hits 0 Comment
Featured Review: How To Keep A Boy From Kissing You (Tara Eglington)
About This Book:
Executor of the Find a Prince Program™ and future author, sixteen-year-old Aurora Skye is dedicated to helping others navigate the minefield that is teenage dating. Counsellor-in-residence at home, where her post-divorce ad-agency father has transformed into a NAD (New Age Dad) intent on stripping his life bare of ‘the illusionary’ (i.e. the removal of home furnishings to the point where all after-hours work must be done in lotus position on a hemp cushion) Aurora literally lives and breathes Self-Help.
When the beginning of the school year heralds the arrival of two Potential Princes™ who seem perfect for her best friends Cassie (lighthouse beacon for emotionally fragile boys suffering from traumatic breakups) and Jelena (eye-catching, elegant and intent on implementing systems of serfdom at their school) it seems as if Aurora’s fast on her way to becoming the next Dr Phil.
As Aurora discovers, however, Self-Help is far from simple. Aurora’s mother arrives home from her extended ‘holiday’ (four years solo in Spain following the infamous ‘Answering Machine Incident’) throwing the NAD into further existential crisis. With Valentine’s Day drawing closer and the new Potential Princes not stepping up to the mark, Aurora is literally forced to take to the stage to throw two couples together. However, being cast opposite Hayden Paris (boy next door and bane-of-Aurora’s life) in the school production of Much Ado about Nothing brings challenges of its own. Not only does Hayden doubt that Cupid is understaffed and thus in dire need of Aurora’s help, but playing Beatrice to his Benedict throws her carefully preserved first kiss for a Prince into jeopardy. As Aurora races to save love’s first kiss and put a stop to the NAD’s increasingly intimate relationship with her Interpretive dance teacher (guilty of putting Aurora on detention for a ‘black aura’) she is left wondering who can a self help guru turn to for help? Can she practice what she preaches? And can long-assumed frogs become Potential Princes?
*Review Contributed By Elisha Jachetti*
How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You
HOW TO KEEP A BOY FROM KISSING YOU by Tara Eglington is amusing right from the beginning. The title, for example, is the opposite of what I would expect, which makes me immediately intrigued. Growing up, I read and saw so many articles for teenage girls on “How to Get the Guy” that any alternative goals or motives seemed impossible. Even now, there is a constant bombardment of information for women on how to be more desirable. This book, just with the title, sends an instantaneous message that girls can not only be selective with the boys they choose to smooch, but they do not have to smooch anyone at all.
From the moment Aurora catches her next-door neighbor, Hayden, spying on her, it is easy to guess at what’s to come. Because of this and the fact that it takes so long for the inevitable to finally happen, the plot can be a bit exhausting. I found myself wanting to skim over chapters to get to the big reveal, especially since the basic storyline is one that has been told many times over. Likewise, some of the dialogue, mostly in the first half of the book, felt inauthentic in that people do not talk that way. However, coupled with some outrageous stock characters, this did give the book a parodic feel.
With that being said, I still enjoyed reading the story. There were many moments that I laughed out loud, my favorite being the repetitive bra burning bit. Providing additional comedy was the clever use of Much Ado About Nothing as a foil device, which also helped build the tension between Aurora and Hayden. Even though Eglington introduced many characters, she made each of them distinctive and relevant, expertly weaving b- and c- subplots. Most fun though, intentional or not, was that the book seemed to be a throwback to cult classic, Clueless (1995), which certainly ruled my childhood and many others. Thus, HOW TO KEEP A BOY FROM KISSING YOU is pure entertainment and a perfect read for those needing a good chuckle.
HOW TO KEEP A BOY FROM KISSING YOU BY TARA EGLINGTON: A CUTE, FLUFFY READ!
MAY 12, 2014 BY EMILY @ LOONY LITERATE
Title: how to keep a boy from kissing youHow to Keep a Boy From Kissing You
Author: Tara Eglington
Genre: YA contemporary
Length: 384 pages
Published by: HarperTeen Australia
Source: I bought it!
Blurb:
Sweet sixteen and never been kissed – and that’s the way Aurora Skye wants it to be. She’s too busy finding Potential Princes ™ for her two best friends, counseling her sensitive New Age dad and dealing with the unexpected return of her long-absent mum. But always in the background there’s Hayden Paris, the boy next door, the bane of Aurora’s life. Smart, funny, and always around to see her at her worst, he ‘gets’ her like no-one else … and that’s what makes him so infuriating. When Aurora and Hayden are coerced into the lead roles in the school production of Much Ado About Nothing, things can only get worse. How is Aurora going to save her first kiss for the secret admirer who wooed her with poetry and a spectacular bunch of flowers on Valentine’s Day if she doesn’t know who he is and she’s obligated to lock lips with Hayden in the play’s final dramatic clinch?
I could totally picture this book as a movie. One of those guilty please, chick-flick movies you watch over and over again (my favourites are Wildchild and Pitch Perfect, by the way). It’s rare to find this kind of thing in a book, and I really, really enjoyed it.
Things I loved were:
1) Our protagonist, Aurora Skye. She’s so sweet and…well, kind of deluded, but I loved her. She reminded me of Cress from, obviously, Cress.
2) The New Age Dad. He cracked me up.
3) The interpretative dance teacher. In the scenes with her, I actually laughed out loud. OUT LOUD, people.
4) Jeffrey. He’s a side character but everything he had to say was freakin’ hilarious.
5) The adorableness. Hayden is just the cutest love interest ever. I kept picturing Skylar Astin…
WHICH REMINDS ME.
6) Theatre! I’m a bit of a drama nerd myself, and hearing about all their rehearsals was a lot of fun. I haven’t read too many books with a stage production as a main theme. It’s pretty unrealistic that they got a Shakespearean production together in three weeks (we get more than double that to do a ten-minute scene). But I stoically bore this unrealistic-ness.
7) CATS!
(why yes, this WAS an excuse to post gifs of cats. You’re welcome)
Yeah, so, if you haven’t figured out I like cats, you should check out my rating system. I use Wonderkitties, from the time I dressed my cat up like Wonderwoman (he didn’t mind). I have three cats: a tabby, a Birman and a ragdoll. Before I even read this book I had a lovely conversation with Tara Eglington about cats, so…basically I was going to love this book no matter what.
It will appeal to people who love The Princess Diaries, because Aurora was very similar to Mia. And also fans of the chick flicks I listed above.
There are a few things that could have been improved, but I’ll keep it brief because the pros much outweigh the cons.
– Friends could have been developed more. I didn’t really relate to any of them, because they were almost stereotypes.
– Ending was quite predictable. But I forgive this one, because it was adorable.
– It was a bit long for such a light YA contemporary. I mean, man, it’s like 400 pages. Some of it moved a bit slowly – I think it could have been condensed more.
– The setting was a little unclear. The characters don’t wear uniform, and fair enough, there’s a school near me like that. But I thought this was set in America to start with, especially since they go to Jefferson High.
But don’t let those things put you off, by any means! It’s basically a really good chick flick in book format. Plus, cats. Go read it!!!
Oh, and also, Aussie authors rock. Just sayin’.
Can’t wait to read the next book!
Rating: 4/5 Wonderkitties
How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You by Tara Eglington
OCTOBER 25, 2016 • REVIEWS • LEAVE A COMMENT
How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You by Tara EglingtonHow to Keep a Boy from Kissing You by Tara Eglington
Published by St. Martin's Griffin on October 25, 2016
Pages: 320
Goodreads | Buy on Amazon
Sweet sixteen and never been kissed . . .That’s Aurora Skye’s big secret. And the way she wants it to stay. She’s not going to give away her first kis...
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I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
If you read my Book Buzz last week, you’re familiar with Aurora Skye and How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You by Tara Eglington. I finally finished the book (I feel like I’ve been reading it for ages. My reading comes in short spurts lately), and I enjoyed it. It’s not without its flaws (but what book isn’t really), but it could be because I’m a little far removed from being a teenager, even though it feels like yesterday.
How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You is a re-telling of Shakespeare’s play, Much Ado About Nothing. It’s a comedy of errors that’s both cute and infuriating at the same time. One of my problems with the comedy of errors premise is that the main character tends to be clueless, and that is one of my pet peeves. As I read, all I could do was think, “surely Aurora isn’t this oblivious.” Turns out she is that oblivious. But that’s just a personal pet peeve of mine.
I spent the first half of the book completely annoyed and the last half completely engrossed. So what happened? Aurora started addressing some serious feelings from her past and started realizing why she keeps pushing Hayden away. Hayden, btw, is about as good of a book boyfriend as it gets. Swoon worthy, seriously. Anyway, when she starts being authentic and stops trying to be a relationship guru, I instantly connected with her and her feelings.
The only thing that really bothered me enough to call it a critical flaw is that Aurora’s dad never apologizes for treating her like crap and for taking his new girlfriend’s side every single time something happens. His girlfriend all but verbally abuses her and he just acts like it’s okay. Not okay. He apologizes for a trivial thing, but never that. And it bothered me a lot.
But, in the end, I think most readers will like How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You. It really is a sweet book that will resonate with teen girls. I would have loved it when I was in high school. I can guarantee you’d I’d have fantasized about Hayden Paris and fan-casted him in my head.
three-half-stars