Category Archives: Fiction

“My Side”

Posted on September 26, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

My Side by Norah McClintock Addie is trying to pull her life back together after being lured into the woods and then having a sack thrown over her head by a knife-wielding, masked person. When she is locked in … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Problems, Fiction, Hi-Low/Quick Read, Horror/Mystery/Suspense, Read 180, Young Adult Literature | Tagged book reviews, bullying, cyberbulling, hi-low reading, horror, Norah McClintock, Orca Sounding series, Read 180, reluctant readers, YA fiction, YA literature | Leave a comment

Throwback Thursday: “Blood and Chocolate”

Posted on September 25, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause Vivian Gandillon is a werewolf. That is, she’s a sixteen-year-old human girl. And she’s a wolf. And not just any wolf, but the daughter of the pack’s alpha pair. She, too, is destined … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Problems, Fiction, Horror/Mystery/Suspense, Supernatural, Young Adult Literature | Tagged alpha females, Annette Curtis Klause, Blood and Chocolate, book reviews, high school students, male-female relationships, romance, supernatural, werewolves, YA fiction, YA literature | Leave a comment

“Please Ignore Vera Dietz”

Posted on September 23, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A. S. King I’m sorry I ignored Vera Dietz for so long, but I finally had the chance to read her story. And loved it. Smart, witty, tragic, redeeming. By turns, of course. Charlie Kahn … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Problems, Fiction, Horror/Mystery/Suspense | Tagged book reviews, bullying, death, death and dying, friendship, grief, romance, YA fiction, YA literature | Leave a comment

Truth, lies, and fiction: Mac Barnett in TED Talk

Posted on September 20, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

He’s right–fiction is the intersection between truth and lies. Readers, writers and artists have always known this, but Mac Barnett has a great way of making us fall in love with that knowledge. Enjoy!

Posted in Adventure Stories, Fable/Fairy Tale/Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novel | Tagged children's books, fiction, imagination, lies, Mac Barnett, TED Talk, time travel, truth, whales | Leave a comment

“More Than This”

Posted on July 10, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

More Than This by Patrick Ness In a chilling prologue, a boy is drowning at sea. He tries over and over to save himself, but the water is too cold, the waves too rough, the craggy rocks too close. He … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure Stories, Family Problems, Fiction, Horror/Mystery/Suspense, Over 375 pages, Romance, Sci-Fi/Futuristic, Young Adult Literature | Tagged adventure stories, book reviews, death, England, GLBT, GLBTQ, LGBTQ, life after death, Matrix readalike, More Than This, Patrick Ness, sci-fi, science fiction, YA fiction, YA literature | Leave a comment

“Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass”

Posted on July 7, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina You’d think that this was just a titillating title for a silly girl-drama book. But you’d be wrong. Yaqui Delgado wants to Kick Your Ass is a really good … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Problems, Fiction, Multicultural, Read 180, Romance, Young Adult Literature | Tagged book reviews, bullies, bullying, Cuban Americans, family problems, friendship, gangs, high school girls, Latinas, Meg Medina, Mexican Americans, YA fiction, YA literature, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass | 3 Comments

“Ask the Passengers”

Posted on July 2, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

Ask the Passengers by A. S. King Astrid Jones isn’t sure that her love is acceptable to anyone. She has a lot of it to give, but to whom? While she’s deciding—and deciding takes many months—she spends her odd free … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Problems, Fiction, Romance, Young Adult Literature | Tagged A. S. King, airplane passengers, book reviews, drug abuse, family problems, GLBT, GLBTQ, gossip, lesbians, reputations, romance, small towns, small towns in fiction, YA fiction, YA literature | Leave a comment

Summer Classic Reread: “The Turn of the Screw”

Posted on June 30, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

Summer Classic Reread: The Turn of the Screw by Henry James Why I wanted to reread it: I loved it long ago. I know that many teachers recommend it for students because it is a horror story, and they hope … Continue reading →

Posted in Classic Fiction, Fiction, Horror/Mystery/Suspense, Supernatural | Tagged Adult books for teens, book reviews, classic fiction, Henry James, horror, literary fiction, novellas, scary stories, The Turn of the Screw | Leave a comment

Horror: “The Curse of the Wendigo”

Posted on June 12, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey Book 2 in the Monstrumologist series Because I am always looking for new series that I can recommend to teens, I don’t always get to read past the first book. But it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Horror/Mystery/Suspense, Supernatural, Young Adult Literature | Tagged book reviews, Curse of the Wendigo, horror, Monstrumologist trilogy, Rick Yancey, YA fiction, YA literature | Leave a comment

Guy books: “Grasshopper Jungle”

Posted on June 5, 2014 by Victoria Waddle

Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith Austin Szerba loves history and so has decided to record the events at the end of the world, events that he has participated in along with his best friend Robby and his girlfriend Shann. While … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Problems, Fiction, Mature Readers, Sci-Fi/Futuristic, Young Adult Literature | Tagged Andrew Smith, book reviews, Grasshopper Jungle, guy books, sci-fi, science fiction, Teen Issues, YA fiction, YA literature | Leave a comment