YA, MG, Seriously discussion
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Hi Everyone, This seems like a really nice (and talented) group! I have been a MG/YA fan since I was...well, middle grade, of course. Then I stopped for a few painful years in high school and college, because it seemed childish (the horrors of transitioning from Roald Dahl books to Pilgrim at Tinker Creek still haunt me).
I just finished writing my first MG novel which is in ebook and paperback. The audiobook version is currently being narrated by JoBe Cerny, whose name I would never have recognized at first, but I now find hysterically random. He's very talented though, so I'm appreciative excited!
I am eager to exchange opinions on current books...for example, several of the last books I picked up had such wonderful and exciting premises....only to peter out.
The first book in the Mysterious Benedict Society for example --- It was so well written, so exciting! I couldn't wait to see what happened...until about halfway through, when I abandoned it on my shelf with the other poor souls I couldn't bring myself to finish.
I'm genuinely looking for a great piece of fiction (but not in a 76 book long series...) to read to my son, almost 9, so that I can enjoy it as well. If it were up to him a) We wouldn't read at all b) If we had to read, it would be instructional booklets about how to modify nerd guns. (Where did this child come from....)
Anyway, that was rather long introduction, I apologize, but I do look forward to being part of this group!
Alison
Hi! Thank you for the invitation to the group! My name is Nikki. I'm a former middle grade teacher now a stay at home mom. I'm an avid reader and have been my entire life...and I mean any minute of the day that I have a chance I am reading. I read a lot of different genres including YA and when I'm not reading about books I tend to be talking about books.
Anne Marie wrote: "Hello all!I'm Anne Marie. I teach grade 7 and 8 English and am the Middle School Literacy Coach at my school - United World College South East Asia, in Singapore. I love reading what my kids are ..." Hi Anne Marie- my students love Chris Crutcher and as a result, there were multiple copies of some of his books in the library:)
Mod
This seems like a really nice (and talented) group! I have been a MG/YA fan since I was...well, middle grade, of course. Then I stopped for a few painful years in high school and col..."
Welcome! The horror of transitioning from Dahl to Dillard was a pretty funny line! Off the top of my head, I think of reading The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaimon to your son. Probably you have already done so!
Mod
Hi, Nikki, reading just enlarges our lives so much...and it allows us to have so many other lives, to be so many more people. I think it's kind of mystical.
Mod
I'm Anne Marie. I teach grade 7 and 8 English and am the Middle School Literacy Coach at my school - United World College South East Asia, in Singapore. I love readin..."
Hi, Anne Marie, so is your student population from all over? all around the world and multi-lingual?
Hello everyone, I am a retired public school librarian. I spent my first 6 years with K-4 students and my last 11 with grades 10-12. This is my 2nd year of retirement (I watch my 2 granddaughters 3 days a week) and I still LOVE reading YA! I blog my reviews on Goodreads and a few other blogs and curate on Scoop.it--Young Adult Novels.
Sharman wrote: "Alison wrote: "Hi Everyone, This seems like a really nice (and talented) group! I have been a MG/YA fan since I was...well, middle grade, of course. Then I stopped for a few painful years in high..."
Oooh I have not! I am googling! Thanks so much for the suggestion!!
Alison asked: I'm genuinely looking for a great piece of fiction (but not in a 76 book long series...) to read to my son, almost 9, so that I can enjoy it as well. If it were up to him a) We wouldn't read at all b) If we had to read, it would be instructional booklets about how to modify nerd guns. (Where did this child come from....)Do you know Catherynne M. Valente's The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making?
Or M Is for Magic by Neil Gaiman?
Or the memoir/ graphic novels March: Book One by John Robert Lewis about the author, now a
Mod
Hi, BJ! So is it...BJ? Or something else?
Sharman wrote: "bjneary wrote: "Hello everyone, I am a retired public school librarian. I spent my first 6 years with K-4 students and my last 11 with grades 10-12. This is my 2nd year of retirement (I watch my ..." My name is bj:), thanks for asking Sharman.
Sharman wrote: "That's a great name." short for Betty Jane (I was named after my mom's best friend)
I've taught English at three different colleges, was a bookseller for six years and currently work in radio advertising, where my duties include writing and voicing a 60-second-long segment on books seven days a week (the president of the bank that serves as one of the segment's sponsoring businesses voices the Monday segments, actually, which focus on YA and teen literature). We call it the Definition of KOOL Book Minute, so for further recommendations, give it a listen: it can be streamed live every day between 4:25pm and 4:35pm MST at www.superhitscasper.com. My on-air name is Professor Jason -- but in everyday life, I'm just plain old Jason Cooper. I don't read much YA fiction at all, and my standards for it are VERY high. I didn't like the one Harry Potter book I read. I likewise am not a fan of Philip Pullman -- his vitriolic attitude toward religion smothers whatever genius lurks within him. I do, however, admire books by Margo Lanagan, Kate DiCamillo, XJ Kennedy. And I think The Secret Garden and Charlotte's Web are basically the Crown Jewels of young adult fiction.
Hello everyone, my name is Fakhra. I'm a historian and writer by passion, educator by fantasy and client relationship executive by profession. I love reading. Thanks Sharman for adding me to this group. Reading your book Anatomy of a Rose was quite transformative for me in the sense how you appreciate the beauty of geometry and logic in nature.I'm in the very thick of writing my very first book and really amazed at your frequency of writing eloquent and getting published quite often. How do you do it? How does one get through the pain of finishing the first book?
I'm so stressed and it's only my first and only book authorship. Help?
Mod
High standards are good, I think.
Mod
Hi, Fakhra, well, I enjoy the writing process. I am addicted, too. But this can be a rollercoaster, I know, what with doubts about the book and times when the writing feels rough and just isn't working. My advice: focus on what is pleasurable. The joy of creation. The privilege of creation. Don't think too much about publishing until the book is finished and rewritten and rewritten and rewritten. Publishing is tumultuous now. Get that book to where you know it is the best it can be. Then as you start trying to find your publisher, start writing the second book. Have your emotional energy invested in that new project as you try to "sell" the first one. This helps a bit with the heartbreak and frustration of it all....a big element of writing that no one talks about much is...perseverance. You write because you have to write and you just keep writing.
Emma wrote: "Hi everyone! I am an undergraduate student at a medium liberal arts university in North Carolina. I have always loved YA literature, but YA fantasy in particular. This past year I finished National..."Hi Emma! Which "medium liberal arts university" are you attending? I got my Master's Degree from UNCG and worked at Duke for 11 and a half years, and grew up in Durham. Re: NaNoWriMo, were you aware that the book Night Circus was written during one of those months? And FanGirl by Rainbow Rowell. So keep plugging ahead!
Hello all, and thanks to Sharman for the invite! I am in my tenth year as a high school librarian. I received my MLIS from UNC Greensboro and before that was the manager of an independent bookstore at Duke University. I have been a voracious reader all of my life, so getting to be in the book world as a career has been ideal for me. I love reading something interesting and then knowing just the right kid to hand the book to. And then having them come back and tell me how much they enjoyed the book is the icing on the cake! My goal in my library is to make sure I have the best cutting-edge fiction and nonfiction titles which support the curriculum. I am a firm devotee of Ranganathan, library guru, whose principles include the following: "Every book its reader, every reader his or her book."
Mod
Really? Night Circus! How neat.
Mod
That's a nice quote! How wonderful to have a job for which you have to read and keep on top of young adult literature! (That's not really my job as a writer but I am pretending that it is.)
Thanks, Sharman for the advice, really appreciate it :).
Hello everyone. My primary interest in YA is that I have a 16 year old grandson and 13 year old granddaughter. Last summer, I took them to Banff, AB and we listened to Cinder on audiobook. I worried that it may not hold my grandson's interest who'd been voting for Swan Song (he has a little older tastes). But, he was as eager as my granddaughter. Whenever we'd jump into the car, he'd be asking, "Can we listen to Cinder, Grams?" They enjoyed it so much that I downloaded Scarlet and that took care of the trip home.I'm looking forward to discussing books and I'm interested in the idea of starting group reads.
Mod
Thanks Sharman. I'm thrilled that my grandkids love to read.
Mod
YA, MG, Seriously
Books mentioned in this topic
Cinder (other topics)Swan Song (other topics)
Scarlet (other topics)
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (other topics)
M Is for Magic (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Catherynne M. Valente (other topics)Neil Gaiman (other topics)
John Lewis (other topics)
Great name for a blog. Welcome.