Author Archives: Victoria Waddle
Great Storytelling: The Perfectly Constructed YA Novel
Meg Medina’s Burn, Baby, Burn is an example of great storytelling. This didn’t surprise me as I’d loved Medina’s Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass. I’d recommend Burn to any teen looking for a good read. I’d also recommend … Continue reading
Teen Voices and The Poet X: Keep a Journal
Note: This is a YA book review as well as a comment on teen writing, so I added it here from my personal blog A recent experience with a teen writer had me going back to The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo. … Continue reading
AudioSync: Are You Getting Your Free YA Books?
Free YA Audiobooks from AudioFile After tomorrow, the AudioFile Audiobooks for Teens Program will be half way through. There have been some YA great titles, so if you haven’t signed up for the program yet, do so now! The titles … Continue reading
School’s Out? Time for Audiobooks
In the past, I have posted about the great AudioFile Sync Audiobooks for Teens program. While it’s advertised as a summer program, it begins April 30 and goes for thirteen weeks. Typically, a great YA book (fiction or nonfiction) is … Continue reading
Parameters of the YA Novel: Is Bridge of Clay Still YA?
Bridge of Clay and YA Novels What are the parameters of the YA novel? Is Markus Zusak’s Bridge of Clay still YA? I asked myself this as I read this gorgeous novel. If you’re writing a novel that focuses on … Continue reading
One Important Secret: Balance. Character, Emotion, and Story in Far from the Tree
Since I am on a YA fiction jag, I want to have a quick look at why National Book Award winning Far from the Tree by Robin Benway is so good. Happily, all the things that make this novel work … Continue reading
Hope in the Mail
Wendelin Van Draanen, author of Hope in the Mail: Reflections on Writing and Life, wrote one of my favorite YA novels, The Running Dream. (I wrote a review of The Running Dream here. Check it out–and check out the book!) … Continue reading
