Category Archives: Young Adult Literature

Sometimes We Tell the Truth

Posted on October 6, 2025 by Victoria Waddle

Sometimes is, in fact, a modern telling of Chaucer’s tales with teens as the pilgrims. Except that these pilgrims are not making a commitment to the Almighty. They are going to Washington D.C . on a six-hour bus trip with their Civics class teacher. Continue reading →

Posted in bullying, Family Problems, Fiction, Grief, Literary Read Alike, Mature Readers, Over 375 pages, Young Adult Literature | Tagged book review, book reviews, books, Canterbury Tales, family problems, fiction, friendship, Teen Issues, YA fiction, YA literature | Leave a comment

National Book Award Longlist in Young People’s Literature

Posted on September 13, 2025 by Victoria Waddle

2024 Longlist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature: Olivia A. Cole, Ariel Crashes a TrainLabyrinth Road / Penguin Random House Violet Duncan, Buffalo DreamerNancy Paulsen Books / Penguin Random House Margarita Engle, Wild DreamersAtheneum Books for Young Readers / Simon … Continue reading →

Posted in Young Adult Literature | Tagged awards, National Book Award Longlist for Young People’s Literature, YA fiction, YA literature | Leave a comment

Keep Sweet is here! My YA Novel 😊

Posted on June 22, 2025 by Victoria Waddle

My novel Keep Sweet officially launched yesterday. I also have an essay in an anthology on sibling loss and grief, The Loss of a Lifetime, which launched on Tuesday. We had a very emotional reading by the authors on Wednesday. It was recorded. You … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Problems, Fiction, Grief, Human Rights Issues, Mature Readers, Uncategorized, Young Adult Literature | Tagged book reviews, family problems, friendship, parent-teen relationships, siblings, Teen Issues, YA fiction, YA literature | 2 Comments

I Have a Novel! Keep Sweet!

Posted on March 26, 2025 by Victoria Waddle

Fourteen-year old Elizabeth Warren lives in the “Community” with her father, four mothers, and sixteen siblings. Their prophet heads the cult, controlling all aspects of the community members’ lives. When he announces that Elizabeth must marry her older cousin, she joins forces with her twin brother, her older sister, and two good friends to alter her fate. Continue reading →

Posted in bullying, Family Problems, Fiction, Human Rights Issues, Mature Readers, Young Adult Literature | Tagged book reviews, cults, family problems, friendship, misogyny, parent-teen relationships, patriarchy, Teen Issues, YA fiction, YA literature | Leave a comment

A Suffragist’s Guide to the Antarctic by Yi Shun Lai

Posted on October 3, 2024 by Victoria Waddle

A Suffragist’s Guide to the Antarctic is a fictional work that takes inspiration from the adventures of Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew on the Endurance. Its protagonist is Clara Ketterling-Dunbar, an eighteen-year-old American suffragist. Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure Stories, bullying, Fiction, Historical Fiction/Historical Element, Human Rights Issues, Young Adult Literature | Tagged adventure stories, Antarctic, antarctica, book reviews, endurance, ernest-shackleton, history, shackleton, shipwreck, Suffragist’s Guide to the Antarctic, YA fiction, YA literature, Yi Shun Lai | Leave a comment

She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen

Posted on August 16, 2024 by Victoria Waddle

Sapphic Romance: Enemies to Lovers She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen came to my attention through an article in the Sojourners newsletter. Sojourners is a left-of-center interdenominational Christian organization that works towards social and racial justice. I’m reading books … Continue reading →

Posted in Faith-Based/Religious Element, Fiction, Romance, Young Adult Literature | Tagged basketball, book reviews, cheerleading, friendship, LGBGTQ, parent-teen relationships, romance, Teen Issues, YA fiction, YA literature | Leave a comment

Why is ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’ banned?

Posted on August 12, 2024 by Victoria Waddle

I thought you’d be interested in my most recent Substack post concerning Utah’s statewide ban of A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. Below, I’m excerpting the part of that post discussing this topic. I also always … Continue reading →

Posted in "Banned Book", banned books, censorship, Fable/Fairy Tale/Fantasy, Family Problems, Fiction, Mature Readers, Young Adult Literature | Tagged book reviews, family problems, friendship, romance, YA fiction, YA literature | 4 Comments

Whatever is Mentionable is Manageable

Posted on June 2, 2024 by Victoria Waddle

I wanted to share the link from my Substack this week because it comments on YA literature and censorship. If you’ve been here with me, you know I’m worried about book censorship in general. And that a good percentage of book … Continue reading →

Posted in banned books, censorship, Fiction, Young Adult Literature | Tagged Adult books for teens, book banning, book challenges, book reviews, family problems, librarians, libraries, school libraries, Teen Issues, YA fiction, YA literature | Leave a comment

From Ash to Ashes

Posted on May 30, 2024 by Victoria Waddle

From Ash to Ashes by Krishna Tuli Arora is the story of an immigrant Sikh family in Long Island, New York during the 1990s. It moves through multiple POVs, but is centered on the life of protagonist Mira. I picked … Continue reading →

Posted in Faith-Based/Religious Element, Family Problems, Fiction, Grief, Multicultural, Young Adult Literature | Tagged arranged marriage, book reviews, family problems, parent-teen relationships, Sikhs, suicide, Teen Issues, YA fiction, YA literature | Leave a comment

Book Bans Roundup

Posted on March 9, 2024 by Victoria Waddle

Links to articles I’ve written about libraries and librarians Over on Substack, I post weekly on topics of interest to readers and writers. Often, those posts are about my experience in the library. Pretty much every week, I also include … Continue reading →

Posted in banned books, censorship, Human Rights Issues, Young Adult Literature | Tagged book bans, book challenges, censorship, gay teens, LGBTQ | Leave a comment