Author Archives: Victoria Waddle

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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.

“Want to Go Private?”

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Victoria Waddle

    Want to Go Private? By Sarah Darer Littman I want all of you to read this. Really. Abby is worried about beginning high school because she thinks that life will be even worse than middle school now that there … Continue reading →

Posted in Controversial Issue/Debate, Family Problems, Fiction, Hi-Low/Quick Read, Mature Readers, Young Adult Literature | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

What will Hook You?

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Victoria Waddle

After the Moment by Garret Freymann-Weyr.  Uglies by Scott Westerfield I was looking for a love story with some reality to it. I wanted to read a YA love story that didn’t end with the perfect couple, after a few … Continue reading →

Posted in "Banned Book", Adventure Stories, Controversial Issue/Debate, Family Problems, Fiction, Human Rights Issues, Mature Readers, Over 375 pages, Romance, Young Adult Literature | 1 Comment

“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Victoria Waddle

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot     Teachers who are thinking outside the box will let you read this for your biography/memoir assignment, and what a great opportunity! The story of Henrietta Lacks is more than a biography … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography/Memoir, Controversial Issue/Debate, Faith-Based/Religious Element, Human Rights Issues, Multicultural, Non-fiction | 2 Comments

Great article on new YA novels

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Victoria Waddle

Hooray For YA: Teen Novels For Readers Of All Ages–by Julianna Baggott for NPR If you go to this link, you can read the article, listen to it, or both!

Posted in Adventure Stories, Fiction, Sci-Fi/Futuristic, Young Adult Literature | Leave a comment

Hunger Games–The Guys in the Movie

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Victoria Waddle

Sneak a peek at The Hunger Games‘ Peeta and Gale. Check out this post on EW’s blog. Of course the movie is never as good as the book, but these guys could make it a close second . . .

Posted in Fiction, Romance, Sci-Fi/Futuristic, Young Adult Literature | Tagged , | Leave a comment

“Millennials & K-12 Schools”

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Victoria Waddle

Millennials & K-12 Schools: Educational Strategies for a New Generation by Neil Howe and William Strauss Note: I’m posting this review because I think this is a good book for educators. It’s not so much for students. (I’ll be back … Continue reading →

Posted in Non-fiction | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

“Trash”

Posted on July 8, 2011 by Victoria Waddle

    Trash by Andy Mulligan Trash takes place in an unnamed third-world country in South America. (The main characters want to go to Sao Paulo, Brazil, so they must be somewhere close enough to have heard of the city.) Raphael, … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure Stories, Fiction, Horror/Mystery/Suspense, Human Rights Issues, Multicultural, Young Adult Literature | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

“Swamplandia!”

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Victoria Waddle

Swamplandia! by Karen Russell  First the confession: I think if Karen Russell wrote a manual on how to put a bicycle together, I’d pretend not to understand the assembly process, so that I could read it over and over. Her … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure Stories, Family Problems, Fiction, Horror/Mystery/Suspense, Supernatural, Young Adult Literature | Tagged , | 1 Comment

“Heat” (on Ms. W’s summer reading list)

Posted on June 18, 2011 by Victoria Waddle

   Heat by Mike Lupica Michael was born to play baseball. At twelve, he can pitch a fastball at 80 mph. His Bronx Little League All-Star team, the Clippers, is a contender for league champions and hopes to make it … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Problems, Fiction, Hi-Low/Quick Read, Multicultural, Sports, Young Adult Literature | Tagged | Leave a comment

“An Abundance of Katherines” (on Ms. W’s summer reading list)

Posted on June 15, 2011 by Victoria Waddle

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green   Another really fun and funny book from one of my all-time favorite YA authors. If you haven’t read any John Green yet, you must! And although I thoroughly enjoyed An Abundance of Katherines … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure Stories, Fiction, Romance, Young Adult Literature | Tagged | 3 Comments