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Monday, March 4, 2013

First Friday-Five Favorite Things: Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters, Meredith Zeitlin


by Meredith Zeitlin



This past Friday, March 1, Marcy and I posted our answers to Meredith's debut novel, Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters. Today, you get to read Meredith's favorite's. If you look closely enough you'll notice that some of the answers Marcy and I posted on Friday are the same as Meredith's answers.

Here are the five (SPOILERS WITHIN)!

What is your favorite line or paragraph from the novel as it relates to the main character's development and/or growth?

The first time Kelsey really considers someone else's situation before her own is when she learns a friend she's in a fight with is being played by her boyfriend. Kelsey isn't malicious in her self-centeredness - it's just sort of how she is. But at this moment in the story she realizes her problems might not be the most pressing: "Can I really not say anything to Cassidy? She needs to know the truth, and from a friend; finding out through the rumor mill might serve her right for dashing my hopes and dreams, but it would be humiliating and awful for her."

What is your favorite chapter ending or cliffhanger?

The end of the chapter where Kelsey catches one of her best friend's kissing her crush. The first time I read this aloud to a group, everyone gasped. It was such a cool moment!
"It's Cassidy. My Cassidy. And she's kissing... Jordan Rothman. My stomach drops to my knees."

Meredith - Who is your favorite secondary character and why?

Probably JoJo. I love how much self-confidence she has, and her ability to be herself and never worry if her choices are "cool" or not. I wish I was more like her at 14... or, you know - now.

What is your favorite line or paragraph of description?

The scene where Kelsey gets her costume for the school play: "I look like Pavarotti - if he were grilling at a barbecue. In seventeenth-century Russia."

What is your favorite line of dialogue?

My editor insisted I take this line out, saying that no mother in the world would actually say this to her daughters. I told her that my mother (who I dedicated the book to, lest anyone doubt that my mom is an amazing and beloved woman) has been saying this to me and my sister for as long as I can remember, and the line was staying IN. It's the editing battle I'm proudest of winning. "I always said you girls take after me, even if you look just like your father. He ruined both of you with that nose."


Congratulations Meredith on your debut novel Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters! 

Thank you again, Meredith!

You can find Meredith at:

2 comments:

  1. What a fun interview...thanks for sharing it!

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  2. Thanks, Audrey. I'm glad you liked it. Check out the book when you have a chance. It had me laughing out loud.

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