Posts tagged with teen-literature

Oct 30 2014

Scored, by Lauren McLaughlin

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My favorite kind of scary stories involve real, everyday things gone horribly wrong, so when I realized the subject matter of Lauren McLaughlin's Scored I was totally stoked. Brace yourself, dear readers: this is a horror novel about student test scores...

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Oct 29 2014

The Turning: What Curiosity Kills, by Helen Ellis

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This might be a stretch, but I'm including a novel about shape-shifting cats in my Halloween read-a-thon. I realize were-kittens aren't quite as threatening as zombies or whatever, but they fall somewhere along the monster spectrum, right? (On, like, the cuter end...

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Oct 28 2014

The memories are still too fresh.

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While I'm picking random horror-themed books off my To-Be-Read shelf this week, zillions of other people are doing Halloween-related book lists, too. My favorite is Jezebel's "SPOOKY SCARY HALLOWEEN YA BOOK CLUB", which has been revisiting the big horror titles of my early 90s youth...

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Oct 27 2014

Famous Last Words, by Katie Alender

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According to her author bio, Katie Alender went to film school, and her love of movies permeates every page of Famous Last Words. I expect there's already a film-adaptation deal in the works, but if not, Hollywood is missing out, because Famous Last Words has everything: ghosts, romance, murders... even a makeover scene. Seriously, it's practically a shopping list for a great teen movie...

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Oct 27 2014

Weekly Book Giveaway: Famous Last Words, by Katie Alender

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This week's Book Giveaway is Katie Alender's YA murder mystery Famous Last Words. My original plan had been to focus entirely on horror novels this week, in honor of Halloween, but A) I actually want to read this sucker, and B) there might be a ghost in it...? Anyway, a full review will follow later today...

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Oct 21 2014

Currently experiencing second-hand embarrassment

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And speaking of upcoming movies, Paramount has picked up the rights to first-time author Anna Todd's One Direction fanfic-turned-novel After, which has apparently been a massive success on WattPad. I haven't read this story (because, well, I'm not in the market for One Direction fanfiction), but...

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Oct 20 2014

Alice in Zombieland, Through the Zombie Glass, and The Queen of Zombie Hearts, by Gena Showalter

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I am a huge Alice in Wonderland nerd, but I've had some bad experiences with Alice-inspired rewrites. (I'm looking at you, Frank Beddor's The Looking Glass Wars. You were abysmal.) After years of buying—and regretting—these novels, I swore off them for good... until I saw a “specially priced” copy of Gena Showalter's Alice in Zombieland at my local Target, and that red-and-white 20% off sticker was enough to overcome my embargo....

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Oct 20 2014

Weekly Book Giveaway: Alice in Zombieland, Through the Zombie Glass, and The Queen of Zombie Hearts, by Gena Showalter

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This week we're giving away all three books in Gena Showalter's White Rabbit Chronicles: Alice in Zombieland, Through the Zombie Glass, and The Queen of Zombie Hearts. This series is a perfect October comfort read, and would go particularly well with any Halloween candy you might have already purchased... y'know, in case all the stores run out. Our full review will follow later today....

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Oct 13 2014

The Bodies We Wear, by Jeyn Roberts

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Jeyn Roberts's The Bodies We Wear is the kind of book I normally avoid. I'm not a big fan of gothic melodramas, so I was surprised to discover that this novel spoke to the same part of me that enjoys the Underworld films. The Bodies We Wear might lack vampires and shiny pleather catsuits, but, like Underworld, it takes its goofy gothic premise 100% seriously, and I find that endearing...

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Oct 13 2014

Weekly Book Giveaway: The Bodies We Wear, by Jeyn Roberts

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This week's Book Giveaway pick is The Bodies We Wear, by Jeyn Roberts. The cover is graced with the tagline "Revenge Will Be Hers" and the plot seems to hinge upon a teen girl's attempt to get even with the people who forced her into drug addiction as a child, so I'm expecting hardcore DRAMA. Our review will be posted later today...

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Sep 29 2014

Mojo, by Tim Tharp

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Last week, I complained at length about a novelist whose characters spoke only in sparkling witticisms. I clearly need to be more careful what I wish for, because the first book I read this week features characters who show all the intellectual prowess of a cheese sandwich...

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Sep 29 2014

Weekly Book Giveaway: Mojo, by Tim Tharp

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This week's Book Giveaway is Tim Tharp's Mojo, which was originally cursed with incredibly boring cover art. I was pleased to discover that the publishers chose something more eye-catching for the paperback version (and that they finally pointed out that Tharp also wrote The Spectacular Now, which was recently made into a movie), but damage was undoubtedly done...

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Sep 25 2014

Look Out Look Out Look Out...

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This NPR music article makes a very funny (if not totally convincing) argument linking the music of 1960s girl groups like the Shangri-Las to modern YA fiction...

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Sep 24 2014

Unmade: The Lynburn Legacy, by Sarah Rees Brennan

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Sarah Rees Brennan's Unspoken was one of the most promising teen romances I've read in the past decade, with an absolutely phenomenal premise. The sequel, alas, took several steps down in quality, and I'm sad to report that the final book in the trilogy is dumber still...

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Sep 22 2014

The Whispering Skull, by Jonathan Stroud

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The Whispering Skull, the second book in Jonathan Stroud's Lockwood & Co. series, is just as complex, entertaining, and ghost-stuffed as its predecessor. It has the same faults, too, but they remain happily minor...

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Sep 15 2014

Skink—No Surrender, by Carl Hiaasen

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Much has been made of the fact that Skink—No Surrender is Carl Hiaasen's first book for teenagers, but there isn't much of a difference between this and his books for either adult or child readers. If you're already a fan of Hiaasen's writing, get ready for another installment of Florida-specific weirdness. If you're a teen reader who is unfamiliar with Hiaasen... well, this might be a tougher sell...

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Sep 15 2014

Weekly Book Giveaway: Skink—No Surrender, by Carl Hiaasen

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This week's Book Giveaway pick is Carl Hiaasen's Skink—No Surrender. People are making a big deal out of the fact that this Hiaasen's first novel aimed at teen readers, so I'm interested to discover what separates it from his previous books for adults and children. (Swearing, but just a little? Non-explicit sex? Semi-detailed descriptions of alligators eating people?) Sadly, one thing is already clear: there's no sign of the vivid, pop-art cover style...

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Sep 5 2014

Lois Lane gets the YA treatment

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According to the website DC Women Kicking Ass, Lois Lane will be starring in a YA novel by author Gwenda Bond and published by Capstone/Switch, to be released next May...

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Aug 20 2014

Girl to the Core, by Stacey Goldblatt

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Stacey Goldblatt's Girl to the Core has the makings of a sweet, inspirational coming-of-age novel... cursed with a story-crippling flaw. Goldblatt's heroine is Molly O'Keefe, the only girl in a large, boisterous Irish-American family. Molly's a pushover, so when her boyfriend Trevor cheats on her she knows she'll need a distraction to keep herself from taking him back. Unexpectedly, she finds one in the Girl Corps, a Girl Scouts-like group...

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Aug 18 2014

The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy, by Kate Hattemer

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Kate Hattemer's The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy is the kind of challenging, dialogue-driven teen drama I would have absolutely devoured as a kid. Sadly, I read it as an adult, which left me with a somewhat different reaction...

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Aug 18 2014

Weekly Book Giveaway: The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy, by Kate Hattemer

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This week we're giving away a copy of The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy, by Kate Hattemer. The PR note I received with the novel claims that it's perfect for fans of Glee. I don't know about Ms. Hattemer (whose writing deserves better), but to paraphrase P.G. Wodehouse: if someone said such a thing about me, I would have risen and struck them on the mazzard, regardless of their age or sex...

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Aug 4 2014

Starters, by Lissa Price

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In the six years since The Hunger Games hit it big, it feels like I've read a million different versions of the “hellish future” story, featuring everything from zombies to World War III to natural disasters. I usually divide these books into two camps: the profoundly stupid violence-for-violence's-sake stories, and the novels that would have been published even if...

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Aug 4 2014

Weekly Book Giveaway: Starters, by Lissa Price

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This week's Book Giveaway is Starters, by Lissa Price. It's tough for me to tell if I actually want to read this book, or if I'm just attracted to the icy vibe of the cover art. I'd like to think I'm not that easily manipulated by a shiny silver image, but we've been stuck in the throes of 90+ degree temperatures for DAYS here, and it's quite possible my brain has melted...

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Jul 29 2014

You bring the sunscreen, they provide the books.

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The website TeenReads is currently offering a great book giveaway package: their eighth annual "Beach Bag of Books" contest. I don't know if you get an actual beach bag, but the chosen titles look like a genuinely fun assortment...

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Jul 21 2014

The Fire Wish, by Amber Lough

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My hopes were high when I picked up Amber Lough's debut novel The Fire Wish. I'm officially over books about mermaids, witches, and/or dystopian contests, and it seemed to me that a YA take on the material covered in Arabian Nights might be just the ticket to get me excited about the huge pile of teen books looming on my to-be-read shelf again. Things didn't work out quite like I'd hoped, but sincere props to Ms. Lough for originality...

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Jul 21 2014

Weekly Book Giveaway: The Fire Wish, by Amber Lough

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This week's Book Giveaway pick is Amber Lough's debut novel The Fire Wish. I have no idea if the story's any good, but I'm pleased to see an Arabian Nights-inspired teen fantasy novel (and a little surprised I haven't been sent more of them, frankly). You'd think the gorgeous clothes alone would have been enough to attract more YA authors' interest...

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Jul 9 2014

Mortal Danger, by Ann Aguirre

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I have trouble imagining the pitch for Ann Aguirre's new novel Mortal Danger. ”It's like a supernatural Revenge, but in high school, and the heroine is suicidal... but there's a really hot guy in it! And a makeover scene! But also tons of people die.” The end result melds together better than I expected, but there's no denying that some of those elements work better than others...

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Jul 3 2014

RIP, Walter Dean Myers

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Critically acclaimed YA author Walter Dean Myers died this week at the age of 76. Myers (whose motto was apparently "Reading is not optional") served as the 2012/2013 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, and campaigned tirelessly against the extreme racial imbalance featured in children' literature...

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Jul 1 2014

Enterprising!

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According to the Huffington Post, the Amsterdam bench featured in John Green's The Fault in Our Stars has gone missing, but before any European-bound mega-fans demand a refund for their plane tickets, city spokesman Stephan van der Hoek has promised the city will correct the situation...

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Jun 25 2014

Bad Luck Girl, by Sarah Zettel

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I was thrilled to receive my review copy of Sarah Zettel's Bad Luck Girl, the final book in her American Fairy Trilogy. Zettel had already produced two exceptionally creative, intelligent installments for this series (Dust Girl and Golden Girl), so I was crossing my fingers for a truly spectacular finish...

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