[Jia's Note: The English translation was done by Cathy Hirano.]

Dear Ms. Uehashi,
With the increasing popularity of manga and anime in the West, it only makes sense that Japanese novels would follow. I first heard about your ten-volume Moribito (Guardian) series via various blogs discussing the anime adaptation of the first book, Guardian of [...]

Dear Ms. Pfeffer,
Your previous novel, Life As We Knew It, completely blew me away. Your vision of earth overcome by a disrupted climate affected me in a way that hasn’t happened in a very long time. And since I can’t get enough of apocalyptic settings, no matter the genre, I was beside myself when [...]

Dear Ms. Osterlund,
When I received this book from Jane, I was excited. It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book solely about a princess and I admit I had a soft spot for them when I was younger. And not only did Aurelia feature a crown princess, it also had the spymaster’s son [...]

I saw a YA sale to MIRA the other day at Publisher’s Marketplace. I emailed Harlequin and was told that Harlequin appears to be entering the YA market and are “seeking YA submissions, notably in the areas of paranormal, fantasy/sci-fi, relationship/romance and social issues.” Currently, the YA program is only taking agented submissions.

Dear Mrs. Beaufrand,
Ah, the Italian Renaissance. A time of great thinking, great art, major political struggles and few freedoms for women. This book harkens back to my early historical fiction reading and my love of the works of great artists of the day. You would not believe the number of coffee table books I [...]

From Far Away by Kyoko Hikawa. Publisher: Viz. Retail: $9.99 each. 14/14 volumes released in English. Rated T for Teen (some fighting, no sex).
Dear Readers,

I’m starting to feel a little like Harriet Klausner, with all the positive manga reviews I’ve been doing. But everyone knows there’s a lot of mediocre manga out [...]

Dear Ms. Walker,
While I’ve read and enjoyed novels about supermodels in the past, I was a bit leery when I received your book. On one hand, I’m fascinated by the fashion industry. On the other hand, I hate the message it sends to teenaged girls about body image and here we have [...]

Dear Ms. Yoo,
I love reading young adult novels featuring strong narrative voices. I think it’s one of the key strengths of the genre, and often the place where many fail. It’s difficult finding a voice that sounds authentic and unforced, but I’m pleased to say this novel does not disappoint.
Patti Yoon is entering [...]

Dear Ms. Bray,
Jane is right. The hardest reviews to write are those for the books you love. How can I capture the strengths of an 800-plus page book in only a few hundred words? The task is daunting and I’d be lying if I said I’m not overwhelmed by the thought. There’s so much good [...]

moar funny pictures
A little brouhaha went down over the past week within the Young Adult author community. When this was first sent to me, my immediate reaction was “thank goodness it’s not us this time.” Then I went to read. Another friend of mine commented that the internet makes it so [...]

Today’s review is by NatCh who helps run MobileRead. MobileRead is one of the best sources about ebooks, ebook hardware and software on the internet. The site has over 3,000 public domain books in ebook format hand coded by its members and freely available.
***
Ender’s Game
By: Orson Scott Card
A review by MobileRead’s NatCh
Note: [...]

Dear Ms. Giles,
While I’ve read many young adult novels since I rediscovered the genre a few years ago, I will be honest and say that I haven’t read many contemporaries told from the perspective of a teenage boy. I’m not sure why that is. It’s not like I purposely ignore young adult novels [...]

Dear Ms. Winston,
After finishing The Kayla Chronicles and Girl Overboard, I came to the conclusion that I need to read more young adult novels featuring non-Caucasian protagonists. It’s not something I’d given much thought to previously, but I now realize my reading habits have been lacking.
Kayla Dean considers herself a junior feminist and a [...]

Dear Ms. Turner,
Since in reality, our reviews are at least as much for readers as they are for authors, let me begin this letter with a warning to readers who haven’t embarked on your YA fantasy series beginning with The Thief. The book I am about to review here is The Queen of Attolia, [...]

Dear Ms. Chen Headley,
It’s no secret that I’m bored with Gossip Girl-style young adult novels. Teen girls being nasty to one another and stabbing each other in the stab? Surely, there’s more to contemporary young adult novels than this. So when I received a copy of your book, I was thrilled. [...]

Dear Ms. Ganter,
My blogging partner Jan reviewed this series earlier and I was so impressed by the review and by the artwork she included that I posted to her review. She graciously offered to loan me the volumes of “Sorcerers and Secretaries.” I’ll be honest and say that I’d never tried any manga and in [...]

Dear Ms. Banks,
I might be biased. You see, I spent much of my childhood in various gifted and talented programs and I even attended a magnet high school specializing in math and science. So I just might be a little predisposed towards your novel about a math genius enrolled in a school for [...]

Dear Ms. Culver,
I’m a big fan of fairy tale retellings. It doesn’t matter how often it gets done. I will never grow tired of them. So when I realized Manderley Prep was a Cinderella retelling, my interest was piqued. But even my love of fairy tales was not enough to make [...]

One of my favorite comfort re-reads is Robin McKinley’s Beauty. I don’t know if this re-telling of Beauty and the Beast is supposed to be Young Adult or not, (I am 31.)… all I know is that there’s something special about the journey I take with Beauty when I sit down and read Robin [...]

Dear Ms. Ibbotson,
I’ve long been a fan of your adult novels. They have a way of showing even the most mundane things in a magical light, and that always makes me realize there’s a bit of fairy tale in everyone’s life. Your books set in Vienna are some of my favorites, because the [...]

Dear Ms. Shinn,
You’ve written some of my favorite romances (Yes, I know that they are published in the SF/Fantasy and YA genres, but I consider many of your books romances). General Winston’s Daughter, your latest YA fantasy novel, may not be my most cherished among your works but it’s still an unusually good book, [...]

ReaderGirlz is a site devoted to Young Adult (YA) books and to celebrate Teen Reader week which starts October 14, the site is hosting an author a day for 31 days. The list of authors that will come and participate in reader chats is like a who’s who of Young Adult authors, beginning with [...]

Dear Ms. Howson:
When you sent me your book to read, you said that it was a Young Adult Futuristic Romance. I didn’t need a blurb or anything else since I don’t know if I had ever read a YA Futuristic Romance and was quite intrigued. I really liked your voice, the story, the [...]

Stephenie Meyer, author of Eclipse, might not yet be JK Rowling but she sold 150,000 copies of her third book on Tuesday. The original print run was 1,000,000, but after first day sales, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers have gone back for a second printing.
I am thinking, though, that the momentum [...]

Dear Ms. Meyer:
My blogging partner, Jayne, commented to me a week or so ago that I had better love this book else I would die at the point of the exclamation mark considering the liberal use of them by your fans. I am prepared to be skewered because Eclipse was even a bigger disappointment [...]

Stephenie Meyer’s third book, EclipseEclipse is rolling out in hardcover today with a 1 million book print run. It is Little, Brown’s largest first copy print run for a Young Adult book.
Via Shelf Awareness.

Dear Ms. Turner,
Your young adult fantasy novel, The Thief, was named a 1997 Newbery Honor Book, an ALA Notable Book, and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. After hearing good things about the series that begins with this book from two different friends, I was eager to begin reading it.
Gen, the hero [...]

Dear Ms. Marr:
This story probably has one of the best opening scenes I’ve read. Keenan, the Summer King, has wooed countless of girls throughout the centuries, hoping that each is the one who will return Summer to the faeries. The Winter Queen, Keenan’s mother, has been slowly overtaking fairyland and the cold power [...]

Alan Johnson, Britain’s education secretary, has launched a campaign to create a bookshelf for boys in every secondary school in England. The list has over 160 books from which to choose and each school is allotted 20. The list was compiled by the School Library Association and are primarily adventure books that the [...]

Dear Ms Kenner,
I grandly announce that I’m tired of vampires and don’t intend to read many more books featuring them just at the time when you so kindly sent me some books and arcs, one of which was about a vampire. Oh dear what do I do now? Read it of course! And get sucked [...]