Category Archives: Fiction

The Ontario Teen Book Fest is in March!

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Victoria Waddle

March 21, 2015 9 AM-5 PM Colony High.

Posted in Adventure Stories, Biography/Memoir, Controversial Issue/Debate, Faith-Based/Religious Element, Family Problems, Fiction, Multicultural, Non-fiction, Young Adult Literature | Tagged autobiography, biography, book reviews, family problems, gay teens, Ontario Teen Book Fest, realistic romance, romance, YA fiction, YA literature | Leave a comment

“Shadow and Bone”

Posted on December 31, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo Alina is an unlikely heroine. A lonely orphan whose only friend is fellow orphan Mal, she is raised without love or concern for her welfare. Both are recruited into the Ravka army as … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure Stories, Fable/Fairy Tale/Fantasy, Fiction, Romance, Supernatural, Young Adult Literature | Tagged adventure, book reviews, Fantasy fiction, good v. evil, Leigh Bardugo, magic, mythology, Russian mythology, Shadow and Bone, supernatural, Teen Issues, YA fiction | 1 Comment

“The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer”

Posted on December 31, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin Awaking from a coma, Mara remembers nothing of the accident that landed her in the hospital and killed her best friend, her boyfriend and her boyfriend’s sister. They had all entered … Continue reading →

Posted in Fable/Fairy Tale/Fantasy, Family Problems, Fiction, Horror/Mystery/Suspense, Over 375 pages, Romance, Supernatural, Young Adult Literature | Tagged book reviews, Fantasy fiction, Mara Dyer, Michelle Hodkin, parent-teen relationships, supernatural, Teen Issues, YA fiction | Leave a comment

“Kendra”

Posted on December 16, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

Kendra by Coe Booth Kendra is tired of her Nana’s constrictive rules about the way she dresses and whether she can talk to boys. Her Nana is tired of having to take care of Kendra and hopes to avoid … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Problems, Fiction, Hi-Low/Quick Read, Mature Readers, Multicultural, Read 180, Romance, Young Adult Literature | Tagged African Americans, book reviews, child-parent relationships, Coe Booth, family problems, hi-low reading, Kendra, New York City, parent-teen relationships, Read 180, romance, teen fathers, teen mothers, teen pregnancy, the Bronx, urban teens | Leave a comment

Adult Books for Teens: “Colorless Tsukuri Tazaki”

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami Sometimes I love a book so much, it’s hard to know what to say about it without the effusion seeming insincere. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki is one of those books. … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Mature Readers, Multicultural, Over 375 pages | Tagged betrayal, college, Colorless Tsukuri Tazaki, engineers, friendship, Haruki Murakami, high school, Japan, Japanese culture, meaning of life, mental depression, metaphysics, pilgrimage, secrets, suicide, train stations | Leave a comment

“Freaks Like Us”

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

Freaks Like Us by Susan Vaught Sunshine is the one person who understands Jason, who helps him when the voices in his head make it hard to know what is real and what is an illusion. The two of … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Problems, Fiction, Hi-Low/Quick Read, Horror/Mystery/Suspense, Read 180, Young Adult Literature | Tagged ADHD, book reviews, Freaks Like Us, friendship, missing persons in fiction, mystery, romance, schizophrenia, selectively mute, Special Education, Susan Vaught, suspense, YA fiction, YA literature | Leave a comment

Adult books for teens: “The Burn Palace”

Posted on December 4, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

The Burn Palace by Stephen Dobyns A nurse in the obstetrics ward of the Morgan Memorial Hospital comes back to her post after a quick tryst with Dr. Balfour. In sleepy Brewster, Rhode Island there hasn’t been much … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Problems, Fiction, Horror/Mystery/Suspense, Mature Readers, Over 375 pages, Supernatural | Tagged Adult books for teens, book reviews, dark comedy, horror, mystery, Rhode Island, Rosemary’s baby, snakes, Stephen Dobyns, suspense, The Burn Palace, thriller | Leave a comment

Adult Books for Teens: “Out There”

Posted on November 30, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

Note: I wrote this for the Inlandia Institute blog (which is published on the Press-Enterprise website) and as an article for the Press-Enterprise book section this Sunday. I’m reposting here because I think teens will enjoy Out There. While this … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure Stories, Fiction | Tagged Adult books for teens, adventure, book reviews, danger, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Iraq War, Magic Realism, Mexico, Mexico City, motorcycles, New Mexico, Out There, post traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, road trip, Sarah Stark, soldiers, war | Leave a comment

Throwback Thursday: “Gonzalez and Daughter Trucking Company”

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

Gonzalez and Daughter Trucking Company by Maria Amparo Escandon Libertad Gonzalez has spent her life on the road with her trucker dad, crisscrossing the United States. Somehow, she ends up in the Mexicali Penal Institute for Women. While life … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure Stories, Family Problems, Fiction, Multicultural | Tagged book reviews, Gonzalez and Daughter Trucking Company, Maria Amparo Escandon, Mexicali Penal Institute for Women, Mexican American youth, Mexican Americans, Mexican prisons, prisons, storytellers, storytelling | Leave a comment

“Daughter of Smoke and Bone”

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor Karou has been filling her sketch book with strange creatures for so long that her few friends have treated those creatures as a part of her life. The strange wishmonger … Continue reading →

Posted in Fable/Fairy Tale/Fantasy, Family Problems, Fiction, Over 375 pages, Romance, Supernatural, Young Adult Literature | Tagged angels, artists, book reviews, chimaera, chimera, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, devils, Greek mythology readalike, mythology, paranormal romance, Prague (Czech Republic), romance, strange creatures, supernatural, YA fiction, YA literature | 1 Comment