YA Lit
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Rumpus Exclusive: “Kristy’s Invisible Hand and Das Baby-Sitters Club Kapital”
The babysitters inspired me, and Kristy’s entrepreneurial vision seemed plain yet elegant; easy-to-follow, too.
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The Art of Memory
It is optimistic in terms of fiction and young adult fiction to propose a world in which there is healing, and in which healing exists, because complete or perfect healing doesn’t exist in the real world. But there is the…
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20 Years of Latino Children’s Literature
The American Library Association’s Pura Belpré Awards just had its 20th anniversary this past weekend, celebrating two decades of outstanding Latino writers and illustrators who create books for Latino children and teens. The Monitor reported on the event, which featured dozens…
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The Baby-Sitters of Stoneybrook
J. Courtney Sullivan revisits The Baby-Sitters Club for Lenny Letter to discover its long-lasting popularity, as well as the Stoneybrook girls’ adaptation into the 21st century.
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Children’s Literature through the Centuries
At NPR Education, Byrd Pinkerton looks at the emergence of children’s literacy and literature, starting with 17th century learning primers through to the late 20th century’s complex young adult literature, all of which have helped define the idea of “childhood” through…
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The Faces of The Face on the Milk Carton
The YA novel The Face on The Milk Carton has marked a thrilling yet disturbing rite of passage for many young readers over the past 25 years, iconic right down to its simple, haunting cover—which many of those readers could…
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Why Some Voices Are “Stronger” than Others in YA Lit
At the School Library Journal, Kelly Jensen examines gender norms and double standards in YA fiction, questioning which female protagonists we refer to as “strong”—and why do not refer to male voices as such: When women take risks in their writing,…
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Our Parents Get Their Own Genre
Baby Boomer-centric literature is the next big thing, declares The Telegraph. Just as YA literature deals with one of life’s major milestones, so does boomer literature as older adults come to terms with aging, retirement, and the final chapter of their…
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Does Age Matter?
With the publication of several new young adult novels by teen authors, Julia Eccleshare wonders if age impacts a novelist’s ability to connect with younger readers. In addition, Eccleshare returns to the origins of the young adult genre, and investigates the influence…
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Unboxing a Rainbow of Books
Rainbow Boxes is a project by Cori McCarthy and Amy Rose Capetta, two YA writers who want to send a collection of LGBTQIA-themed books to one library and one LGBTQ homeless shelter or GSA in all 50 states: The hope…
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Competitive Writing
If you win, then you talk to the other winners, congratulating and praising them. If you lose, then you read through your submission, noting mistakes that weren’t there five minutes before, wondering where you went wrong,” she adds. “You tell…
