Monday night, at the lovely little bookstore in Fairway just minutes down the road from my grandma’s house, I spent the evening with Laini Taylor, who was in town to promote her new book, Days of Blood and Starlight. I adore Laini Taylor. I adored her before I knew she had pink hair (which I… Continue reading Laini Taylor at Rainy Day Books
Category: reading life
Why I Love YA
It’s not a secret that I wasn’t always a huge fan of YA. I read very little actual young adult literature when I was a teenager myself. Mostly because I didn’t have any good teachers or librarians putting YA books in my hands And I read a lot of nonfiction; I was a debater. I… Continue reading Why I Love YA
Where Have All the Cowboys Gone: Young Adult Fiction and Manhood
When I got back from the gym yesterday, Twitter was all aflutter with commentary on an article about masculinity in young adult literature written by a teacher who worries she has no good YA to give her son that will help guide him to his “manhood.” There was so much discussion, I actually couldn’t find… Continue reading Where Have All the Cowboys Gone: Young Adult Fiction and Manhood
Letters with Secrets: Personal Effects by E. M. Kokie
Personal Effects took me a while read, not because I wasn’t interested, but because I was basically sobbing the whole way through it. I was crying in a good way, but perhaps not a socially acceptable one. This book gets you in your heart with its very simple and real story. Ever since his brother,… Continue reading Letters with Secrets: Personal Effects by E. M. Kokie
You Should Read Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
I had the pleasure of seeing one of my favorite authors speak at YALSA’s Young Adult Literature Symposium this past weekend. Scott Westerfeld, who is most famous for his popular Uglies series, has also written a fantastic series for young adults that blurs genres. It is at once steampunk, science fiction, historical, and speculative fiction.… Continue reading You Should Read Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld