Wednesday, March 16, 2011

I Would Have Given ANYTHING To Be Like...

Today I'm helping bloggyland celebrate the release of LIKE MADARIN, by Kirsten Hubbard!

EXCERPT: I want to be beautiful like you, I thought, as if Mandarin were listening.

I want apricot skin and Pocahontas hair and eyes the color of tea. I want to be confident and detached and effortlessly sensual, and if promiscuity is part of the package, I will gladly follow your lead. All I know is I’m so tired of being inside my body.

I would give anything to be like Mandarin.


So in honor of the book (which is waiting on my Kindle), I Would Have Given ANYTHING To Be Like...
(photo: justcoffee.coop)

My Sister, Alina.


She was five years older, forced to take me everywhere (my mom's built in babysitter), and I couldn't have been happier.


I copied everything she did, down to keeping a notebook filled with doodles and drawings of someone she had a big time crush on. I got my own pages and drew huge hearts all over them, and had absolutely no idea what I was doing! I just wanted to be self-confident and COOL, like her. :D

Oh do we laugh about it now!


So, a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS, Kirsten! I Can't WAIT to read it!




SEE YOU ON FRIDAY!

19 comments:

Unknown said...

This book is seriously one of a kind. I loved everything about it, from the characters, to the voice, to the use words. It was magical!

Mine is less sentimental and more juvenile for when I was a teen :)

Stina said...

You two were adorable! Two little Marilyn Monroes in the making (only with a better future).

Blogging today is going to be tons of fun with so many of us celebrating Kirsten's book. :D

Lindsay said...

Aww. I loved this. So sweet that you wanted to be like your sister.

Matthew MacNish said...

That is so cute! What an awesome story.

Thanks Christina!

Unknown said...

This is so sweet. I love reading all these and seeing who everyone's Mandarin is. Can't wait to read the book.

Maddy said...

The exercpt is so intriguing! And I know exactly what you mean...I had 2 shadows following me everywhere growing up - my sister Cindy and Ashley ;o) They do their own thing now, but I have to say...I miss those little shadows!

Erica Mitchell said...

So sweet! I have a brother 9 years older than me and in some ways I wanted to be like him I guess? The age difference didn't allow for much of that because he was a teen by the time I started remembering life (and he was gone a lot). I thought he was awesome, still do ;) I just wanted to be me, as silly as that sounds.

Melissa said...

This made me go AWE! And feel less annoyed that my sister used to copy everything I did... because, for some reason, it didn't really make sense to me until I read this. (even though my mom told me so many times it was cause she looked up to me)

Elana Johnson said...

The perfect post. And what a great picture! I want to be those little girls, being that carefree. Kids don't know how good they have it.

Amy said...

LOVE that picture! My sis is 5 years older too and I wanted to be just like her - kinda still do in a lot of ways =)

Nicole Zoltack said...

Aw, that is so sweet! I loved this post.

Bethany Elizabeth said...

Aw, that's so cute! I wish I had a sister. :)

very married said...

ha - i'm the older sister and this behavior DROVE. ME. CRAZY. but, all in all, a lot of great memories :)

Margo Berendsen said...

I just finished it! It's addictive! I never had a sister (or a brother) and all these wonderful posts about sisters has me determined now to WRITE me a sister. New book, here I come. Can I use your example of copying your sister's crush in a notebook? :)

Theresa Milstein said...

How cute! Picture AND story.

My sister is 6 years younger. She used to drive me crazy, but now we're friends.

K. M. Walton said...

This is definitely on my TBR list!!

And I loved your wanting to be like your older sister. I'm the oldest of four girls and I LOVE my sisters. It was cool to read a "younger sister" perspective.

Lourie said...

Me and my sis are 5 years apart too. And we fought so miserably, but now we are BF's. I hope my son and Little Middle reach that point one day.

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to read my copy.

I love that picture!

Have a great weekend.

ali cross said...

Ah, this is beautiful. I spent hours practicing my handwriting, trying to copy my sister's. She hated that I did it, but I hope now can see that I wasn't trying to steal her identity, I only wanted to be as wonderful as she.