Posts Tagged ‘fiction’

“I enjoy the succinct nature of novels in verse. The format does, however, require careful and evocative word choices. The author must say a lot with a little, or the reader is left with too many gaps to fill and too little direction to make sense from. Jill MacLean successfully meets the challenges of the […]

“…Nix’s story is one of transformation. Nix is an introvert. He finds relationships difficult, and is more at home expressing himself through the things he makes. A connection he does form his to his neighbour’s neglected (and possibly abused) dog, whom he arranges to start walking every day. With Twig, Nix can do what he […]

Novels written in verse are difficult to execute well. On one hand they have a tendency toward melodrama; on the other they showcase poetry’s inherent ability to communicate flashes of thought, emotion, and experience. For YA novels in which the protagonists are often dealing with difficult situations, balance comes from allowing the characters to emerge […]

This colourful picture book lives its message: one of the best antidotes for sadness is laughter. The illustrations by author/illustrator Rebecca Bender delight the reader even before the humorous and effective twist at the end of the story. A successful element in the interaction of text and image is that Bender bolds the important words—mainly […]

We asked Sylvia to share some advice for other writers who are targeting the YA market. Here are her top ten tips: Please feel free to share or pin these images!

After being dumped by her boyfriend, an emotionally shaken 17-year-old high school senior makes friends with an angry young man and discovers that the secure family she always considered rock-solid is riddled with lies and secrets. This is a story about familial ties-ties of blood, ties of love, ties that bind. It’s also about family […]

I love books that remind me exactly what it felt like to be a teenager.  And books where guys and girls have relationships that aren’t about the luuuurve.  And books that have so much real-life drama that they don’t need magic and vampires and the end of the world (although I love those too).   […]

This is an amazing book that pulls you slowly into Jess’s mind.  It wasn’t until fairly far into the book that I was struck by Jess’s character.  It’s difficult to describe without giving away too much because the joy for me was when I realized what the author was doing and began to squirm a […]

“Laura Secord in Acts of Courage: Laura Secord and the War of 1812, is brought to life as a determined ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, adventurous, curious, robust, generous and courageous, taking risks to help the ones she loves—mainly family and country. Connie Brummel Crook has created an exceptional account of what would or could have […]

This is a beautiful book.  I don’t mean the story, but the package.  Congrats to the design department at Pajama Press: I was so busy admiring the fonts and running my fingers over the jacket that I almost forgot to read the book.  But I’m glad I did. True Blue is not beautiful.  It’s gritty and […]