Annotating Origin Blog Tour

Have you guys heard all the buzz about Jessica Khoury's debut Origin? It's part of Penguin's Breathless Reads 2012 and USA Today reviewed it on Sunday saying it was better than The Hunger Games so be sure to add this one to your TBR piles!

As part of her book release, Jessica Khoury is annotating and sharing her thoughts on passages in Origin and I am thrilled to be hosting Jessica here at GreenBeanTeenQueen. Here's today's passage and Jessica's thoughts.

Origin excerpt:
Alai is the two-hundred pound jaguar that Uncle Paolo gave me for my ninth birthday, when Alai was just a cub. He hates everyone in Little Cam except me, Uncle Antonio, and the cook, Jacques, who brings Alai cookies every morning. Alai is mad about cookies.
The alarms blare in two short bursts. Behind me, the monkeys start screaming in response. They like to think they run the menagerie, but I won’t have any of it.
“Come on, Alai!” I say, heading for the door. The menagerie is a long, low cement building with dirt floors and wide picture windows in every cage. Most of the animals are there for experimentation – which means we have several immortal residents – but Alai is not allowed to be used for any tests. He is completely mine. (Origin, page 17)

 

Thoughts from Jessica:
Okay, no lie, after writing Origin, I came close to buying an ocelot. You can actually have them as pets in some states! But the truth is, wild animals will always be wild animals. You can never truly tame them. There are stories of people who have chimps or big cats or wolves as pets, and for years the animals will be as loyal—or at least tolerant—as can be. Then they’ll unexpectedly turn on you. You can never truly trust a wild animal, even if they were born in captivity. They have the same instincts as their free-ranging ancestors, and no amount of love, treats, or training can take those away. So it’s better for us and for the animals if we recognize and respect that. However, that doesn’t stop me from wishing I had a pet jaguar like Alai! But I think I’ll stick with domestic animals for now. I have two dogs and three parakeets, and they keep me quite busy!

 

GreenBeanTeenQueen:

I agree-an ocelot would be pretty cool to have, but I'll leave the exotic pets to fiction and stick with my dogs! Congrats on the debut Jessica!!

 

Be sure to follow the rest of the tour:

Monday 8.27 - The Book Smugglers - http://thebooksmugglers.com/
Tuesday 8.28 - Pure Imagination - http://www.pureimaginationblog.com/
Wednesday 8.29 - Steph Su Reads - http://stephsureads.blogspot.com
Thursday 8.30 - Mundie Moms - http://mundiemoms.blogspot.com/
Friday 8.31 - Forever YA - http://www.foreveryoungadult.com

Monday 9.3 - Novel Thoughts - http://www.novelthoughtsblog.com
Tuesday 9.4 - Page Turners - http://www.pageturnersblog.com
Wednesday 9.5 - Frenetic Readers - http://freneticreader.blogspot.com/
Thursday 9.6 - Bookshelf Banter - http://www.bookshelfbanter.com
Friday 9.7 - The Story Siren - http://www.thestorysiren.com

Monday 9.10 - Green Bean Teen Queen - http://www.greenbeanteenqueen.com
Tuesday 9.11 - The Book Muncher - http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com
Wednesday 9.12 - The Book Cellar - http://thebookcellarx.blogspot.com
Thursday 9.13 - Book Chic - http://bookchicclub.blogspot.com
Friday 9.14 - The Compulsive Reader - http://thecompulsivereader.blogspot.com/

And connect with Jessica and share your congrats on her debut novel, Origin.
http://www.jessicakhoury.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jkbibliophile
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorjessicakhoury