Tag Archives: young adult

Take themes of bureaucracy and greed, add non-stop word-wit and shellfish-references, throw in the waning of magic and a very old dragon and you have The Last Dragonslayer: teen fantasy Jasper Fforde-style

The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde is a story about magic, dragons and red tape. After reading it I concluded that my ideal pet would be a quarkbeast (no fur, funny-looking, loyal and affectionate, not exactly huggable but still better … Continue reading

Posted in 13 years and up, Contemporary YA, Fantasy, Young Adult | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones is a YA fantasy book. I knew it was a winner as soon as I saw that it has chapter titles like “In which Howl expresses his feelings with Green Slime”. It follows … Continue reading

Posted in 13 years and up, 20th Century YA, British, Fantasy, Young Adult | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder

These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder is the last of the Little House books that Wilder completed and also my favourite. At the end of Little Town on the Prairie Laura received her teaching certificate. Now Laura has … Continue reading

Posted in 10 years and up, 20th Century YA, Young Adult | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder continues the Little House books. The Long Winter is over, the prairie is filling up and Laura is old enough to get summer work sewing in the growing town. When winter … Continue reading

Posted in 10 years and up, 20th Century Children's, 20th Century YA, Children's Classics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Light a Single Candle by Beverley Butler

Light A Single Candle by Beverley Butler is a great book written in the early 60s that I discovered in high school. Cathy Wheeler becomes completely blind in her early teens when surgery to treat glaucoma goes seriously wrong. As … Continue reading

Posted in 11 years and up, 20th Century YA, American, Coming of Age/Rites of Passage, Light Fiction, Novel, YA Realism, Young Adult | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks

The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks is my favourite vampire book, spoofing the idea of the handsome, strong, good vampire. Nina and the others in the RVSG struggle with nose bleeds, unconsciousness during daylight hours, being forced to … Continue reading

Posted in 13 years and up, Australian, Contemporary YA, Fantasy, Young Adult | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Wonder by R.J. Palacio is the story of ten-year-old August who likes Star Wars and Halloween and who just wants to be ordinary as he starts attending a regular school for the first time. But August isn’t ordinary and an … Continue reading

Posted in 10 years and up, Coming of Age/Rites of Passage, Contemporary Children's, Family Drama, Novel, Young Adult | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment