Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is another book that I read for my young adult novel writing class. It tells the story of Greg, a socially awkward and generally awkward kid who tries to coast through high school unnoticed and unseen alongside his one friend, Earl. Greg and Earl make bad movies and … More Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
So, I don’t remember exactly how I came upon The Orphaned Anything’s. I’m pretty sure that it’s only available to buy on amazon so I guess I must have ordered it at some point. Stephen Christian, the author, used to sing in a favorite band of mine, Anberlin, so that probably had something to … More The Orphaned Anything’s: Memoir of a Lesser Known by Stephen Christian
I saw Neil Hilborn perform in Nashville a couple of months ago. He’s one of my favorite contemporary poets so the night would have been magical no matter what, but he actually ended up doing a meet and greet after the show. Some backstory. Neil Hilborn’s first book Our Numbered Days is one of … More The Future by Neil Hilborn
The fourth poem in Melissa Lozada-Oliva’s book, Peluda is called “Lip / Stain / Must/ Ache.” By the third line, I was crying. “I bought [red lip stain] because of that story / in This is How You Lose Her…” Lozada-Oliva says. I read This is How You Lose Her, a gorgeous novel by Junot Diaz, … More Peluda by Melissa Lozada-Oliva
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a bildungsroman, telling the story of Junior, a Native American teenager. During a conversation after school, one of Junior’s teachers inspires him to leave the high school on the reservation and begin going to high school in town. The novel follows Junior as he builds his … More The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
🙃 🤗 😂 ttyl tells the story of three high school best friends— Angela (SnowAngel), Zoe (zoegirl), and Maddie (mad maddie)— as they navigate adolescence together. The entire book is written in instant messages between the girls as they talk about boys and school and the choices they make that shape their personal identities. I’ve seen the book ttyl in … More ttyl by Lauren Myracle
Dead to Me is a young adult noir novel. Yes, a young adult noir mystery novel. How cool is that? It tells the story of Alice, a sixteen-year-old who finds her older sister Annie, who had run away years before, in the hospital. Alice is roped into the star-studded crime ring of 1940s Hollywood, … More Dead to Me by Mary McCoy
I’m a science fiction writer and after finding out I hadn’t read a lot of classic sci-fi books, (I just read 1984 last year—I know, I’m ashamed) one of my best friends made me a list of the most important ones that he thought I had to read. This past summer, I read Ender’s Game … More First Meetings in Ender’s Universe by Orson Scott Card
This is Where It Ends tells the fictional account of a school shooting. It’s written from four different points of view: Autumn, the shooter’s sister, Sylvia, Autumn’s girlfriend, Claire, the shooter’s ex-girlfriend, and Tomas, Sylvia’s brother. The idea of multiple narrators is intriguing, but I did not think that the narrators’ … More This is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp
“To be a writer,” Stephen King says, “you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” I’ve called King my literary father, my muse, the love of my life. Basically, I’m going to listen to whatever he tells me to do and so I’m going to read. Also, though, … More Wordswordswords
Gabriela Gonzales 