Targeting that Eager Tween Audience My novel, Forget-Her-Nots, is considered YA, but it’s for ages 12 & up, which puts it into the younger YA category. And I can’t tell you how many people -- especially parents, booksellers, and librarians -- have told me they’re grateful for that! There seems to be a gulf between MG novels for ages 9 to 12 and most YA novels, which are for ages 14 and up.  Many YA readers these days are in their twenties even. So what about those 12 to 14 year olds (and many 11 year olds) who are voracious readers? Many… Continue reading

• Publication Season/Year: Spring 2010
• Publisher: Delacorte Press
• Release Date: April 13, 2010
• ISBN (hardcover): 978-0-385-73814-9
• ISBN (paperback): TBD                         

Maxwell Unger has always loved the night.  He used to do brave things like go tramping through the forest with his gran after dark. He loved the stories she told him about the world before the Destruction -- about nature, and books, and the silver owls. His favorite story, though, was about the Owl Keeper. According to Max's gran, in times of darkness the Owl Keeper would appear to unite owls and sages against the powers of the dark. Gran is gone now, and so are her… Continue reading

This week, we’re celebrating Beth Ann Bauman’s debut! Beth Ann Bauman is the author of a short story collection for adults, Beautiful Girls, and a recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship. Beth teaches fiction writing at NYU, The West Side YMCA’s Writer’s Voice, and online at UCLA. Growing up, she spent summers on the Jersey shore, and she now lives in New York City. Here’s a little bit about ROSIE AND SKATE (Wendy Lamb Books, Random House). It's off-season at the Jersey shore, when the boardwalk belongs to the locals. Rosie is 15 and her sister Skate is… Continue reading

It's not easy to write about 'issues' in a way that's not didactic or preachy, but there are those authors whose passion and prose create a story that does more than just introduce us to people and places -- we develop new ideas, make new meaning in our lives, and are inspired in unexpected and lasting ways. Below, readers and writers share their experiences with children's literature that 'has issues':

"Of course, in SHINE, I was focused on the issue of post-9/11 discrimination against anyone who was perceived to be Arab, Muslim, or Middle Eastern, but that was an issue I… Continue reading

• Publication Season/Year: Fall 2009
• Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books, Random House
• Release Date: August 11,  2009
• ISBN (hardcover): 978-0-385-73735-7
• ISBN (paperback): TBD                         

ROSIE AND SKATE is about two sisters, ages 15 and 16, in a New Jersey shore town.  When their dad, a “nice drunk,” lands himself in jail, they cope in different ways.  Skate and her boyfriend Perry are inseparable, until he goes off to Rutgers leaving her behind.  Rosie is drawn to a boy in her support group.  Within the embrace of their warmhearted community, the girls find hope for the future… Continue reading

• Publication Season/Year: Spring 2010
• Publisher: HarperTeen
• Release Date: June 22, 2010
• ISBN (hardcover): 978-0061766664
• ISBN (paperback): TBD

It’s tough, living in the shadow of a dead girl… In the five years since her bad-girl sister Xanda’s death, Miranda Mathison has wondered about the secret her sister took to the grave, and what really happened the night she died. Now, just as Miranda is on the cusp of her dreams—a best friend to unlock her sister’s world, a ticket to art school, and a boyfriend to fly her away from it all—Miranda has a secret all her own. Then two lines on a pregnancy test confirm her worst… Continue reading

This past week I was up in the Yosemite area, which is so beautiful, and for a change I actually had a fair bit of down time. When I was packing for the trip, I realized I'd managed to clear all but one of the YA books in my TBR pile (which is not the same as my TBR list!) So I packed the one YA I had left as well as several adult novels that had been waiting for quite some time to be read. Usually when people ask me if I read both adult and YA, I say that… Continue reading

I’m curious what distinguishes a YA novel from a novel for adults. Is it the age of the main character? The protagonist in most YA novels is anywhere from 14-18 years old. But adult fiction protagonists, such as in Life of Pi, can be teens, also. In the case of The Book Thief, there are two main protagonists—one is ageless and the other is a child. So this rule is not hard and fast. The point of view? Many YA books are told in the first person. First person narratives can create a more intimate connection between the reader and the main… Continue reading