I knew from the very first sentence of Crazy Horse’s Girlfriend, by Erika T. Wurth, that I was reading a young adult novel like no other–that the voice was going to be entirely original, the setting one of those “invisible”…
Category: personal growth
On Buy Nothing Day, a Review of Blue Gold
The Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States is traditionally known as Black Friday because of shoppers taking advantage of the long weekend to get a start on their holiday purchases. In recent years, it is also Buy Nothing Day.…
Coming of Age with “Gabi: A Girl in Pieces”
As I’ve made my way through the dozens of books nominated for the Cybils Award in YA Fiction—I’m now up to 55—a few books have come to stand out. I’ve already reviewed some and will be focusing on others in…
Boy in Love, Sideways
Last weekend I had dinner with a group of authors from Rochester who were in town for the Albany Children’s Book Festival, and the topic of YA romance came up. Someone asked if we knew of a romance from a…
The Boy on the Page: a celebration of life and love
I started shivering as I read The Boy on the Page by Peter Carnavas (Kane Miller), shivering with delight. A young boy shows up on a blank page in a book and wonders, “Why am I here?” Soon he starts…
Destigmatizing Mental Illness: A Review of Don’t Touch
Cadence Finn has undergone many changes in her life—notably, her father leaving and starting a new school. She also has a lot to prove, because, in her father’s absence, she is pursuing her interest in theater in defiance of his…
A Cat’s View of Palestine: Deborah Ellis does it again
You know, if somebody just told me the premise of this book (“American girl dies suddenly and finds herself reincarnated, with all her memories intact, as a cat living in Palestine”) I would have thought, That is too cheesy for…
Claiming the Life You Deserve: Girls Like Us
Biddy and Quincy have just turned 18 and graduated from their high school’s Special Education program. Their counselor has arranged for them to live together, with Biddy helping Elizabeth, an older woman with a neurological disorder, and Quincy working as…
Two: exploring the politics of exclusion and us v. them
When you think of counting books, what do you think of? For the most part, a pretty basic book, right? Something that teaches kids about numbers, or a number, and tries to make it fun, but doesn’t, at the same…
Review: Tomboy by Liz Prince
Liz Prince‘s graphic memoir Tomboy (Zest Books, September 2014) chronicles her 31-year journey to define who she is in a world bent on doing it for her, and her evolution from rejecting all that is “girl” to someone who embraces who…