Ready to Become a Fan of...Leila Sales

Ready to Become a Fan of... focuses on those authors new and old whose works I have every intention of eventually reading, but haven't been able to devote the time to just yet. By discussing authors and their works that I'm sure I'll love, given the chance, hopefully I can be more easily compelled to take the next step in not simply acquiring one of their books, but actually take the time to read it.

This month I'm putting on record that I am ready to become a fan of Leila Sales.

About the author:
Leila Sales is the author of three YA contemporary novels, most recently This Song Will Save Your Life. According to her Goodreads profile, Leila Sales grew up outside of Boston, Massachusetts. She graduated from the University of Chicago in 2006. Now she lives in Brooklyn, New York, and works in the mostly glamorous world of children's book publishing. Leila spends most of her time thinking about sleeping, kittens, dance parties, and stories that she wants to write.

Work I'm most looking forward to reading:
Past Perfect

All Chelsea wants to do this summer is hang out with her best friend, hone her talents as an ice cream connoisseur, and finally get over Ezra, the boy who broke her heart. But when Chelsea shows up for her summer job at Essex Historical Colonial Village (yes, really), it turns out Ezra’s working there too. Which makes moving on and forgetting Ezra a lot more complicated…even when Chelsea starts falling for someone new.

Maybe Chelsea should have known better than to think that a historical reenactment village could help her escape her past. But with Ezra all too present, and her new crush seeming all too off limits, all Chelsea knows is that she’s got a lot to figure out about love. Because those who don’t learn from the past are doomed to repeat it…. (Goodreads)

Why this author & this work:
I might be exposing even more of my nerdy qualities here, but I used to be quite obsessed with the idea of historical reenactment villages. There are a number of other historical reenactment villages I’ve been to over the years, as well as many places without the actors necessarily, but whose purpose still is giving modern-day people a glimpse of how life would have been during an earlier era.

Of the places I’ve been with a bend towards the historical, my favorites have been the colonial section of Philadelphia, the colonial section of Boston, and the colonial section of Williamsburg. Williamsburg in particular had a strong impact upon me. Felicity was my favorite American Girl doll, and after reading her stories it was almost a surreal experience to be able to see what her life would have been like.

On the not-so-historically-accurate side, I also loved going to a Renaissance Faire a few years ago.

Basically, I enjoy learning about history, but I love it even more if I can actually apply what I’ve learned and witness things first-hand. For me, historical places (with reenactments or not), are a perfect way to do so. And they’re just fascinating.

So I anticipate a little bit of wish-fulfillment going on when I read Past Perfect. Beyond that, though, this does sound like a cute, light-hearted read. Here’s hoping I’m right on this one.

For those of you who've already read some of Sales’ works, I'd appreciate hearing what you think about them. For those who also haven't read her works yet, let me know what's been holding you back!

Ready to Become a Fan of... is an original feature of Late Nights with Good Books.