Category Archives: Fiction

Censoring Empathy: Let’s Challenge Erasure

Book censorship is far more threatening than it was ten years ago because it erases anyone who doesn’t look or think like the censor. Continue reading

Posted in "Banned Book", Controversial Issue/Debate, Fiction, Human Rights Issues, Young Adult Literature | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Small Town Monsters: Book Review

Joan of Arc at the stake couldn’t have sounded like she was in more pain. Continue reading

Posted in Family Problems, Fiction, Grief, Horror/Mystery/Suspense, Young Adult Literature | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Serious Summer Reading

Want beach reads but summer is your only chance to read intellectually stimulating books? The solution: A ‘Serious Summer Reading’ list. Continue reading

Posted in Fiction, Grief, Human Rights Issues, Mature Readers, Non-fiction, Supernatural, Young Adult Literature | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Girl Made of Stars

A realistic portrayal of how people react to learning about the rape of a classmate. Continue reading

Posted in bullying, Family Problems, Fiction, Mature Readers, Young Adult Literature | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

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

Acts of Contrition: Short Stories on Pre-Sale Now

I Have a Book! My book of short fiction Acts of Contrition: Short Stories is now available on pre-sale from Los Nietos Press. The official publication date is March 15, 2021. Yeah, the Ides of March! Thankfully, I’m not superstitious. … Continue reading

Posted in Faith-Based/Religious Element, Family Problems, Fiction, Human Rights Issues, Short Stories | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

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

Posted in Family Problems, Fiction, Human Rights Issues, Romance, Young Adult Literature | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

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

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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

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Time to Support the Local Literary Scene

Note: I have this up on my VictoriaWaddle.com blog, but am adding here because several of the books recommended below would be great for teen reads and in high school libraries. As shut down orders were put in place to … Continue reading

Posted in Biography/Memoir, Fiction, Hi-Low/Quick Read, Human Rights Issues, Mature Readers, Multicultural, Non-fiction, Short Stories | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments