There’s a slogan in London regarding their mass transit system that has become something of a rallying cry for various causes: Mind the Gap. In London’s Underground this means make sure you pay attention when you’re disembarking. It is this slogan that kept running through my mind when reading Laura Ruby’s masterful young adult novel…
Do you love Emery Lord? If you’ve read her first two books: Open Road Summer and The Start of Me & You then you’ll know the answer is obviously YES. Her books are the exquisite and painful and lovely contemporary stories that are about romance, friendship, healing, and grief. Her work reminds me of early Sarah Dessen –…
I honestly can’t think of anyone in YA who does what Marcus Sedgwick does. Perhaps this is why I am so entranced by everything he’s ever written. Sedgwick won the Printz Award last year (that is the highest honor in young adult literature) for Midwinterblood, which remains one of the most atmospheric and overwhelming YA books…
A few weeks ago there was a longform article in the New York Times about scientific studies being done with the goal of proving that bisexuality exists. I suppose it was interesting enough, reading about the motivations of the researchers, hearing about the history behind studies like this. And yet. And yet at the same time…
“Give me some genuine emotion. Challenge yourself to be honest instead of merely clever.” I read Wise Young Fool for the first time months and months ago. I have read many and many books since now and then. And yet. And yet Wise Young Fool has stuck with me through all that. And yet Wise Young Fool is…
“What kids need and deserve is to feel respected – not just by their classmates, but also by teachers and school leaders who ought to have faith in young people’s ability to read, think, and decide.” – Meg Medina Yesterday, I wrote a short review of Meg Medina’s Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass…
It all starts with a buzz that high school student Piddy shrugs off – “Yaqui Delgado wants to kick your ass!” She doesn’t even know Yaqui so why would she want to fight with Piddy? It’s probably a case of mistaken identity or no big deal. And, anyway, what’s the worst this total stranger could do? This is the…
They’re coming for us. All of us. “You’re going to keep reading that book even though it gave you a nightmare last night?” My boyfriend teased as I rolled over and reached out for The Fifth Wave. I’d just finished briefing him on the intense, very scary nightmare I’d had thanks to The Fifth Wave, the book…
“You are not the future I wanted. I can’t believe the same stupid shit is still happening. I wanted you to be better! Be better!” I wait for it, you know. I wait for that minute, that second, when I will become tired of dystopias. And sometimes it comes to me in a flash. Sometimes…
It started back in November. At the 2012 YALSA YA Lit Symposium (another fine year at the Sympoisum, let me add! I’ve been to all three. I’ve loved, learned, and networked at all three more than any other professional event I’ve ever attended. Oh, and I’ve presented at every one too! I am double plus…
