Author Archives: Victoria Waddle

About Victoria Waddle

Victoria Waddle is a Pushcart Prize-nominated writer and has been included in Best Short Stories from The Saturday Evening Post Great American Fiction Contest. Her books include a collection of feminist short fiction, Acts of Contrition, and a chapbook on grief, The Mortality of Dogs and Humans. Her YA novel about a polygamist cult, Keep Sweet, launches in June 2025. Formerly the managing editor of the journal Inlandia: A Literary Journey and a teacher librarian, she contributes to the Southern California News Group column Literary Journeys. She discusses both writing and library book censorship on her Substack, “Be a Cactus.” Join her there for thoughts on defiant readers and writers as well as for weekly library censorship news.

Common Core: Nonfiction: “Little Princes”

Posted on May 2, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

Little Princes: One Man’s Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal by Conor Grennan In 2004, Conor Grennan had no wife or children, and had saved some money. So he decided to take a year off work and … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure Stories, Biography/Memoir, Faith-Based/Religious Element, Human Rights Issues, Non-fiction | Tagged Adult books for teens, adventure stories, autobiography, biography, book reviews, child trafficking, Common Core standards, Conor Grennan, Himalayas, Little Princes, memoir, Nepal, nonfiction, orphanages, orphans | Leave a comment

Adult Books for Teens: Common Core: “I am Malala”

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb Don’t miss this one. Malaha Yousafzai is the girl who was shot in the head at point-blank … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography/Memoir, Non-fiction | Tagged Adult books for teens, autobiography, biography, Christina Lamb, education, Malala, Malala Yousafzai, Middle East, Muslims, Pakistan, Pashtun, Taliban, women's rights | 2 Comments

Teen Book Fest Author: “Noggin”

Posted on April 24, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

Noggin by John Corey Whaley When Travis comes back to high school after a five-year absence, one of his classmates calls out “Noggin!” And the principal frowns and the geometry teacher makes the boy apologize. Because it’s rude … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Problems, Fiction, Young Adult Literature | Tagged book reviews, cancer, cryogenics, friendship, gay teens, gay youth, John Corey Whaley, Noggin, Ontario Teen Book Fest, YA fiction, YA literature | 1 Comment

“Unbroken” to become a movie

Posted on April 22, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

Good news for fans of Unbroken–and if you’ve read it, you are a fan. According to an article in the Sunday edition of the Los Angeles Times, Angelina Jolie is directing a movie based on the life of Louis Zamperini, … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical Fiction/Historical Element, Movie Tie-In, Non-fiction, Over 375 pages | Tagged Angelina Jolie, Laura Hillenbrand, Los Angeles Times, Matt Baer, movie tie-in, POWs, prisoners of war, Unbroken, WW II | Leave a comment

Realistic Romance/Guy Books: “The Spectacular Now”

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp “’Beauty’s all around me right here. It’s not in a textbook. It’s not in an equation.’” This is Sutter Keely’s mantra. He lives in the spectacular now. As he says, “’I was never … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Problems, Fiction, Mature Readers, Movie Tie-In, Romance, Young Adult Literature | Tagged alcoholics, family problems, movie tie-in, nerds, romance, Spectacular Now, Tim Tharp, YA fiction, YA literature | Leave a comment

More sequels!

Posted on April 18, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

I know we’ve been working on these for a while–thankfully, they are now here! Unsouled (book 3 of the Unwind series) by Neal Shusterman Champion (book 3 of the Legend series) by Marie Lu Fever (book 2 of the Chemical … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure Stories, Fable/Fairy Tale/Fantasy, Family Problems, Fiction, Horror/Mystery/Suspense, Romance, Sci-Fi/Futuristic, Young Adult Literature | Tagged Amanda Hocking Battle, Awaken trilogy, book reviews, Chemical Garden Trilogy, His Fair Assassin series, Hunted trilogy, Katie Kacvinsky Dark Triumph, Lauren DeStefano Tidal, Legend trilogy, Marie Lu Fever, Michael Vey trilogy, Neal Shusterman Champion, Nightshade series, Richard Paul Evans Prey, sequels, Skinjacker trilogy, trilogies, Unwind trilogy, Watersong series, YA fiction, YA literature | Leave a comment

Realistic Romance: “Fangirl”

Posted on April 17, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell Although Cath and Wren are identical twins who’ve always shared a love of Simon Snow Books (think Harry Potter) as well as a bedroom, when they go away to the University of Nebraska for college, Wren … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Problems, Fiction, Over 375 pages, Romance, Young Adult Literature | Tagged abandonment, bipolar disorder, book reviews, college life in literature, Eleanor and Park, Fangirl, identical twins, mental illness, Rainbow Rowell, realistic romance, romance, twins, University of Nebraska in literature, YA fiction, YA literature | Leave a comment

Students’ book reviews after biography book talks

Posted on April 15, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

I was so excited to see some of the projects that came from our book talks on biography. The images are great and there were some very clever details (loved the barbed wire made from paper clips), but I was … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged biography, book talks | Leave a comment

Hush, Hush fans!

Posted on April 14, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

It took a while, but we finally have the full set at COHS–and CHS students can also check them out through the city library system: Hush, Hush Crescendo Silence Finale Come on it and check them out!

Posted in Fable/Fairy Tale/Fantasy, Fiction, Romance, Young Adult Literature | Tagged Becca Fitzpatrick, Hush Hush saga, paranormal, paranormal romance, YA fiction, YA literature | Leave a comment

Adult Books for Teens: “Mogworld”

Posted on April 11, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

Mogworld by Yahtzee Croshaw For Jim, being dead has been kind of fun. After all, he’s gotten to go toward the light and has been sort of floating through his nonexistence quite nicely. Not that he didn’t have … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Over 375 pages, Sci-Fi/Futuristic, Supernatural | Tagged book reviews, fiction, gamers, gaming, Jam, Mogworld, multiplayer online gaming, online gaming, science fiction, Yahtzee Croshaw, Zero Punctuation, zombies | Leave a comment