Category Archives: Family Problems
A Rescue Plan Containing Multitudes
“Gomer knew what coming out was. He had taken the sex-ed classes, and there were gay people in his town, but they tended to come for weekends and the summer, because they had jobs in the city. They were rich … Continue reading
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
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
Posted in Family Problems, Fiction, Grief, Over 375 pages, Young Adult Literature
Tagged Bridge of Clay, brothers, death, grief, Markus Zusak, siblings, YA fiction, YA literature
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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
The Field Guide to the North American Teenager
Being a Teen=Lack of Control Over Life Smack in the middle of his junior year of high school, Norris Kaplan has to move from Montreal, Canada to Austin, Texas when his mom secures a professorship at the University of … Continue reading
Posted in Family Problems, Fiction, Humor, Multicultural, Romance, Sports, Young Adult Literature
Tagged Austin, Black youth, book reviews, Canada, coming of age, friendship, Haitian immigrants, Montreal, parent-teen relationships, romance, school problems, Teen Issues, Texas, YA fiction, YA literature
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Ontario Teen Book Fest // Submission Deadline
Inlandia Submissions Deadline for Teen Issue is Days Away! March 15! Submit Now! If you are a teen living in the Inland Empire, don’t miss your chance for publication in the online journal Inlandia: A Literary Journey. The deadline is … Continue reading
Memoir: Educated
Tara Westover, the author of Educated, grew up in the country, in view of Buck’s Peak, in Idaho. Previous books I’ve read about the ‘heartland’ and its ‘real American’ inhabitants—whatever that is supposed to mean to those that use the … Continue reading
