I loved Kenneth Oppel’s previous books in this series, Airborn and Skybreaker. And I enjoyed this one–but not as much. Don’t get me wrong, it was great to catch up with Matt and Kate. But I just couldn’t quite suspend my disbelief at the notion of the successful launch of a space elevator cable using …
Tag: young adult books
What I’ve Just Read: The Big Chunk of Ice
Subtitled “The Last Known Adventure of The Mad Scientists’ Club,” this is the posthumously published novel by Bertrand R. Brinley that continues the escapades of the better-prank-playing-through-science-and-engineering youngsters told in the short story collections The Mad Scientists’ Club and The New Adventures of the Mad Scientists’ Club. I enjoyed it, but probably only because I’d …
Spirit Singer available for Kindle
My YA fantasy novel Spirit Singer (Awe-Struck), winner of the Regina Book Award for best book by a Regina author at the 2002 Saskatchewan Book Awards, and also winner of a 2002 Dream Realm Award (young adult category) for excellence in e-publishedscience fiction, fantasy and horror and winner of the 2002 EPPIE Award for best …
My Jimi Hendrix bio an ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Readers
I just discovered that my children’s biography of Jimi Hendrix for Enslow‘s American Rebels series, Jimi Hendrix: Kiss the Sky, is on the 2008 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers selection list, announced by the Young Adult Library Services Association at the American Library Association’s ALA Midwinter Meeting back in mid-January. The Quick Picks …
Madeleine L’Engle, R.I.P.
Publisher’s Weekly reports that Madeleine L’Engle has died, and posts a short obituary:Author Madeleine L’Engle died last night in Connecticut, at the age of 89. Best known for her 1963 Newbery Award winner A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels, L’Engle was the author of more than 60 books for adults and young readers, most …
An appreciation of Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein was undoubtedly my favorite author at one time of my life (I devoured the Heinlein “juveniles,” liked some of his mid-career adult stuff, was left cold by Stranger in a Strange Land, and kept reading his later stuff mostly hoping that it would somehow enthrall me as the earlier stuff did, which …
Prydain: The Website
Yesterday I posted about the death of Lloyd Alexander, author of the Chronicles of Prydain, one of my favorite all-time young adult fantasy series. Today I discovered this gorgeous website about Prydain. (Via Kids Lit.)
Lloyd Alexander dies
Lloyd Alexander has died. From SF Scope: Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 30 January 1924, he was a children’s fantasy author for half a century (though he did also write several adult novels). He won the 1970 Newbery Award, and was a National Book Award Finalist, for The High King. His books include three well-known …
Fantasy interruptus
I spent the last week or so writing three “audition” chapters for a book packager looking for an author for a new kids’ fantasy series. They provided a detailed outline, I provided the words. It was a lot of fun, actually, and I really got into it…so much so that, now that my three chapters …
Replacing the u-word with the z-word
YA fantasy author Justine Larbalestier does not like unicorns. Just today she posted: What is it with you people? I tell you what an abomination in the sight of the Lord unicorns are and how much I love love love zombies and what do you do? You send me an endless stream of unicorn-related stuff. …
Final ballot for Nebula Awards announced
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) have announced the final ballot for this year’s Nebula Awards, made up of the top vote-getters from the preliminary ballot, which is a list of all the stories that received at least 10 recommendations from active members of SFWA by the end of 2006. The final …
The Chronicles of Narnia vs. His Dark Materials
Philip Pullman explictly says his fantasy trilogy (I seem to remember reading somewhere that he doesn’t like it to be called “fantasy,” but fantasy it is, however he feels about it) is an atheistic answer to Lewis’s allegorical and Christian Narnia series. I enjoyed His Dark Materials for the most part, but I think Catherine …
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