Ruth Graham, writing in Slate, says, “You should feel embarrassed when what you’re reading was written for children.” How sad. If anyone should feel embarrassed, it’s Graham. She apparently writes this commentary without realizing how narrow-minded, outdated, and ignorant it makes her appear. Then again, what can we expect from
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wmtc: what i’m reading: the book thief, an anti-war novel
I’m sure many of you have read The Book Thief, Markus Zusak’s youth novel about a German girl and her (non-biological) family during World War II. If you haven’t yet read it, I recommend it. I had little interest in reading this book. I picked it up for professional reasons:
Continue readingwmtc: youth books, children’s book edition #10, and the best part of my job
I thought readers’ advisory was the best part of my job, but that was before I began running our library’s teen book club. Once a month, I spend an evening with a group of teens who choose to spend their evening at the library, talking about books. We hang out,
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: eleanor & park, another truly great youth book for readers of all ages
If you enjoy youth novels of the realistic (non-fantasy) variety, Eleanor & Park, by Rainbow Rowell, is just about as good as it gets. Who else might enjoy Eleanor & Park? Readers who like beautifully drawn, believable, yet quirky and unique characters. Readers who are teens. Readers who have ever
Continue readingwmtc: not a funny story: ned vizzini, youth fiction, and suicide
It’s so hard to talk when you want to kill yourself. That’s the first line of Ned Vizzini’s excellent 2006 youth novel, It’s Kind of a Funny Story. By the time I read the book this year, the author was already dead. Vizzini committed suicide last December; he was only
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: four youth books and some kind-of spoilers
Flight is a thought-provoking short novel by one of my favourite youth writers, Sherman Alexie. The main character in Flight, a Native American boy who goes by the derisive nickname Zits, is a troubled soul with a long history of abuse, neglect, and abandonment. He seems to be on the brink
Continue readingwmtc: james frey: author, liar, sweatshop boss
Today I break one of my own rules, and write about a book I didn’t enjoy. Not only that, but I trash the author, too. But perhaps author is the wrong word. Maybe I should call him the factory boss. I know something about how difficult it is to write
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Revolutionary thought of the day: …something is significantly wrong with a creature that sacrifices its children’s lives to settle its differences. Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay
Continue readingwmtc: two not-so-youth novels: another great one by john green, and part two of the hunger games
Looking for Alaska, John Green (2005) Some months back I blogged about The Fault in our Stars, by John Green. I absolutely loved this book. I went in search of everything else the author has written, and with another title down, I have not been disappointed. Green’s 2005 debut novel
Continue readingwmtc: my favourite customers and two-way readers’ advisory
The children’s library where I work services a huge age-range of young people and their caregivers, from birth up to around age 12. I enjoy the full range – helping parents understand the importance of reading to their children, helping kids find fun books to read, finding material for school
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: the maze runner, a youth novel
There’s a subgenre of youth books in which young people are cast into an alien and dangerous world, where they must struggle to understand their purpose, struggle to survive. If you remember your own adolescence, the metaphor should be obvious. These books are often characterized as nihilistic or depressing, but
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: the fault in our stars, a truly great novel for youth and not-youth
I am in the middle of reading The Fault In Our Stars by John Green, a book almost too painful to read but impossible to put down. It’s achingly funny, profoundly insightful, and utterly heartbreaking, all at the same time. The Fault In Our Stars is supposedly a youth novel,
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: two youth novels
There is so much truly excellent youth fiction out these days, and it’s not all vampires and zombies. Here are two wonderful teen novels in two totally different veins. There Is No Dog, Meg Rossoff, 2011 Like many excellent novels, Meg Rosoff’s There Is No Dog defies easy classification. It’s
Continue readingwmtc: rtod
Revolutionary thought of the day: I can’t stop looking at Rue, smaller than ever, a baby animal curled up in a nest of netting. I can’t bring myself to leave her like this. Past harm, but seeming utterly defenseless. To hate the boy from District 1, who also appears so
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: youth fiction: the hunger games
This is the first in a series of reviews of youth (formerly called YA, or young-adult) novels, which I will be reading in no particular order and with no particular method. I love youth literature, and it’s simply a pleasure to read what I want once again, with no schoolwork
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