Never Be Ashamed of Being an Adult Into Young Adult Novels
Harry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games and now Divergent — young adult fiction is having a moment, and adults are part of it.
So, What Hath Fanfiction Wrought On The YA Industry?
50 Shades of Grey author E.L James' origin as a Twilight fanfiction scribe appears to have opened the publishing industry's eyes to other budding writers to be culled from fan forums and pop-culture niche websites. A 16-year-old UK teen named Emily Baker was just discovered on an online writing community Movellas by…
Fire Up Your Tivos, Nerds: Anne of Green Gables is Returning to TV
Oh, hell yes. A Canadian production company announced this weekend that Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series will be rebooted for TV.
The Most Frequently Challenged Book Features Scandalous Texts and Dubious Emoticons
Lauren Myracle's TTYL series, which follows a group of teenage girls as they communicate solely through texts, IMs, and emails, has regularly appeared on the American Library Association's annual "Top Ten List of Frequently Challenged Books" since the first novel came out in 2004. And it came in first place again this…
A Buffy mastermind goes back to high school
Marti Noxon was a producer of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and now she's coming back to superpowered teenagers with the movie I Am Number Four, coming next month. She talked to us about aliens, super-violence, and dealing with internet haters.
Contest Combines Adorably Precocious Children, Books, and Video
Former creative outspoken nerdy children, curse that you weren't born late enough to participate in the "90 Second Newbery" film festival, which encourages young readers to humorously condense award-winning young adult fiction.
Gossip Girl Gets Real: A YA Novelist Speaks
Much of the past decade's popular young adult literature geared towards teen girls reads like a PG-13 version of Sex and the City. But Nini Simone's characters deal with crack-addicted mothers, runaway siblings, and teen pregnancy.
Magic Under Glass: The White-Washing Of Young Adult Fiction Continues
Last year, Bloomsbury chose a white cover model for a YA novel about a black girl. They fixed it — but now they've done it again.
"Whitewashed" Book Gets A New Cover
Justine Larbalestier's Liar, whose original white cover image didn't match its black protagonist, is getting a new jacket. The publisher is sorry the old cover was "interpreted by some as a calculated decision to mask the character's ethnicity." [Independent]
Young Adult Fiction Is Dark For A Reason
Katie Roiphe has an astute piece in the Wall Street Journal about why so many of today's young adult bestsellers focus on dark themes like suicide, eating disorders, and car crashes — and why we shouldn't be worried about it.
Wintergirls: Possibly Triggering, Definitely Thought-Provoking
Is Wintergirls, Laurie Halse Anderson's young adult novel about anorexia and bulimia, a dangerous trigger for eating-disordered readers, a thoughtful examination of a terrible disease, or both? We read it to find out. [Spoilers follow.]
Jeannette Eyerly,
one of the first authors to bring serious issues like death, abortion, and drugs to the once-bubble-gum world of young adult fiction, has died at the age of 100. In addition to writing popular novels like , , and , Eyerly was also a . She campaigned to reduce the stigma of mental illness, and to…
Breaking Dawn: What To Expect When You're Expecting... A Vampire
First, a confession: some of us hadn't heard of Stephenie Meyer's
Breaking Dawn until a reader asked us to cover it. But tips kept pouring in, and we realized that this young adult novel, the fourth installment of Meyer's Saga and featuring both teenage werewolves and teenage vampires, is actually a huge deal. At a…
