I read and loved Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies trilogy well before I started this blog, so I haven’t reviewed it here. And anyway, you’ve probably already read it. Briefly: compelling, great world building, insightful cultural commentary, A+. But I only recently read Extras, the fourth book of the former-trilogy. I was a little nervous about it–I… Continue reading Review: Uglies and Extras
Tag: ya lit
Review: Leviathan
I know Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan trilogy is pretty popular, and I’d heard a lot of good things about it. But I simply didn’t think I was interested in it–a steampunk alt-history of WWI? Ugh, but I don’t really like steampunk or war stories. But I kept hearing such good things about it, and I remembered… Continue reading Review: Leviathan
Review: The Fault in Our Stars
Okay. There’s probably no point in me reviewing The Fault in Our Stars by John Green since by now it’s been a NYT bestseller for a couple weeks in a row (not to mention that it was also a bestseller in pre-sales) and you’ve probably already read it. But nevertheless, I read it and I… Continue reading Review: The Fault in Our Stars
Review: The Future of Us
All right! It’s been a minute since I actually reviewed a book around here! The reason why is: I BEEN BUSY. But whatever! This book has been sitting on my shelf since I got an ARC in July and I finally read it! The Future of Us takes place in 1996. Emma Nelson has just… Continue reading Review: The Future of Us
Race in YA Fantasy
This morning I went to a talk by one of my professors on the subject of Race and Fantasy Literature for Youth. Her talk was fascinating, and she provided us with a suggested reading list. These books provide a variety of perspectives on race in fantasy. Some authors use fantasy to talk metaphorically about race… Continue reading Race in YA Fantasy
Review: Modelland
You guys. You GUYS. Modelland is 563 pages long. And I read them all. (Or skimmed some of them. Maybe. A little.) As we all expected, it is awful. It’s more… creatively awful than I might have expected. Modelland takes place in some kind of bizarre fashion-themed dystopia. Girls growing up in this world can… Continue reading Review: Modelland
Don’t Even Worry About It, I’m Reading Tyra Banks’s Modelland So You Don’t Have To
Yesterday was a great day! I got an email saying that the public library was holding a copy of Tyra Banks’s new YA novel Modelland for me! Today was an even better day! I got an ARC of Modelland from the Center for Children’s Books! (Never mind that it’s not really advance anymore since the… Continue reading Don’t Even Worry About It, I’m Reading Tyra Banks’s Modelland So You Don’t Have To
The Power of Maureen Johnson’s Twitter
As I may have mentioned before, I am a fan of Maureen Johnson. She’s smart, funny, and just plain weird. But I was not always a fan! The first time I heard of her was many years ago, on a musical theatre message board I frequent. If you did not know, Maureen Johnson is the… Continue reading The Power of Maureen Johnson’s Twitter
Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver
I’m in my library school’s YA book club, where a bunch of overwhelmingly female library students (and a few actual librarians) get together and overanalyze YA books. YA book club is where I go to realize that all of my opinions about Katniss Everdeen are minority opinions. Anyway, this month we read Delirium by Lauren… Continue reading Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Kids These Days: Technology in YA
This summer I listened to the audiobook of So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld. I really enjoyed it, but was also surprised by how dated it has already become since its publication in 2005. The datedness is accelerated because of the book’s concept, about a teenager who works for different marketing companies as a “cool-hunter.” And,… Continue reading Kids These Days: Technology in YA