Apr 11 2011
I confess that I thought about not doing these anymore but apparently the midday links are very popular so onward! In the eyebrow raising department, the pseudo regulatory arm of agenting in the UK is debating whether to remove the prohibit against agents as publishers. Andrew Wylie began publishing his client’s backlists. Agent Sonia Land [...]
Apr 7 2011
Note: This review is going to be spoilery for White Cat because there’s no good way to discuss Red Glove without revealing the big secret of that book. Skim very selectively if you’re spoiler-phobic! Dear Ms. Black, Last year, you introduced us to the Curse Workers. In the Curse Worker world, magic was outlawed along [...]
Apr 5 2011
Dear Ms. Lo, When your debut novel, Ash, was released to much fanfare and acclaim, I snatched it up and read it with excitement. So I was a little disappointed to learn that I didn’t seem to love it as much as everyone else did. I figured it just wasn’t for me — too much [...]
Mar 31 2011
Dear Ms. DeStefano, It’s safe to say that dystopian and post-apocalyptic books are the new black in YA. We have The Hunger Games to thank for that, in part, and I suspect this is only the beginning of an oncoming wave. Your debut novel, Wither, stands firmly on the dystopian side of the spectrum. It [...]
Mar 30 2011
Dear Mr. Sanchez, I picked up an advanced copy of your book at the San Diego Convention Center after a speaking engagement. I've been meaning to read a GLBT YA and this cover caught my eye. I've heard your name before and I liked the multicultural look of the characters. The blurb on the ARC [...]
Mar 22 2011
Dear Ms. Derting, I greatly enjoyed your debut YA, The Body Finder, about Violet Ambrose, a girl who can sense the presence of corpses. Her story, her supportive relationship with her family, and her blossoming romance with her best friend, Jay, combined to make for an enjoyable read. While your sophomore effort didn’t blow me [...]
Mar 14 2011
Jia: Theia Alderson is a British expat living in the sleepy California town of Serendipity Falls. Because of the circumstances surrounding her mother’s death. Theia lives a sheltered and suffocating life courtesy of her overprotective father. That all changes when a mysterious new boy, Haden Black, comes to town. The strange part? Theia has met [...]
Mar 8 2011
Dear Ms. Harrington, I admit I hadn’t heard at all about either you or your debut novel until I saw it mentioned during the Scholastic preview webcast a few months ago. I made a mental note to request Clarity, but I’m afraid it fell through the cracks. Thankfully, Scholastic sent along a copy anyway and [...]
Feb 24 2011
Dear Ms. Bullen, You’re a new-to-me author who was included in the last batch of books Jane sent to me. I actually thought this novel was your debut until I went to your author site and discovered this was your second novel and it was the second in a series! Not once did I ever [...]
Feb 18 2011
Ella Enchanted (2004) Genre: Fractured Fairy Tale Grade: B I’d been toying with watching this movie for a while, ever since I got in the Cinderella kick, but negative comments about its adaptation from the book always put me off. But then I thought, “Jayne you haven’t read the book so what do you care?” [...]
Feb 11 2011
Dear Ms. Young, Oh the cute YA spy story. How I love it. There are days when the only thing I am remotely interested in picking up is a lighter read that makes me happy. These are the kind of reads where cliches aren’t really a problem and I don’t put as much thought into [...]
Feb 1 2011
Dear Ms. Oliver, I’ve made no secret of the fact that I love post-apocalyptic and dystopian novels. Your sophomore effort falls into the second category. It’s good timing since we’re in the middle of a post-apocalyptic/dystopian wave in the YA genre, courtesy of the Hunger Games. In the future dystopian world of Delirium, love has [...]
Jan 22 2011
Dear Ms. Jaffe, It has been a while since the young-adult world has seen some high profile novels in the vein of mystery/suspense. The 90′s was an epic burnout of the genre, and the book world hasn’t gotten over it entirely. Slowly but surely it seems as if the genre is coming back – if [...]
Jan 12 2011
Dear Ms. Reeves, Your debut YA novel, Bleeding Violet, was one of my favorite books of last year, so when you emailed me with an offer to review an ARC of your second book, Slice of Cherry, I jumped at the chance. Slice of Cherry is written in third person omniscient narration, but the only [...]
Jan 11 2011
A reader emailed me this morning to apprise me of a feud which erupted between Laurell K Hamilton fans and PC Cast fans taking place primarily on the two facebook profiles of the authors. Apparently in Awakened, a YA book by PC Cast, one character makes a dig Anita Blake and Laurell K Hamilton: Im [...]
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