I definitely borrowed this book based solely on the presence of a short story by Rainbow Rowell, but I’ve read books by some of these other authors, too — David Levithan and Gayle Forman (Forman’s story in this was one of my favorites). And I know Holly Black’s name (The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, which I will eventually get around to reading, I promise!). Basically, if you like young adult fiction, you’ve probably read at least one of these authors. And you should probably read this, […]
I read twice as many books this year as last year…
260 books. That’s an average of 5 books a week. I have a full-time job and two kids under the age of 5. I have no idea how I accomplished this… A lot of YA (and I read a bit more this year than I normally do — maybe that’s how I got through so many books) speaks to adults just as well as it does to teenagers. Books like Golden Boy or Lies We Tell Ourselves feel like almost any audience could connect with them. Other YA — The […]
Should I Stay or Should I Go Now?
I’m a sucker for a good YA novel. I’m an even bigger sucker for a good YA novel where there is tragic death or dismemberment or some sort of horrible disease or a dead boyfriend. I cut my teenage teeth on Cynthia Voigt. Izzy, Willy-Nilly had me convinced that if I ever got in the car with someone who had had even one beer, I’d lose my leg, too,or even worse. And I wanted If I Stay to be good. I really, really did. But […]
A YA novel about death and first love
Sometimes, my YA reads are self-selected, and other times, students encourage me to read books that will help me enter conversations with them. Gayle Forman’s If I Stay falls into the latter category. I didn’t know if I would like the book or not, and I certainly did not plan to see the movie without reading the book first. One of my students chose this for her book report last fall and recommended it to me. So I decided it was high time I pick […]