Stacy | September 21, 2010
I’ve been reading Ursula Le Guin’s collection of essays, The Language of the Night, and found her 1974 essay “Why Are Americans Afraid of Dragons?” just as relevant today as it ever was back then. In our post-Harry Potter world, perhaps we’re a little less afraid of fantasy as a culture, but her point remains [...]
Stacy | July 30, 2010
I have a friend who is the leader of a church group for girls 12-18, and she asks: I want to set up a little library for our YW. [Young Women] These are multi-cultural girls, low income, some from illegal families. I would love to get your suggestions as to good books to put in [...]
Stacy | May 29, 2009
I got this ARC a couple of weeks ago, but I’ve been holding onto it because I knew from going to Carol’s reading that it would make me bawl. I had to be ready for that, and busy as I’ve been, I haven’t been ready for it. Once again tonight, as many nights, I couldn’t [...]
Stacy | March 21, 2009
I’m getting ready to head out the door to the Provo Library for the seminar I’m teaching on writing science fiction and fantasy for children and young adults, but wanted to post this first: One of my favorite writers, who I’ve had the pleasure of meeting at the last couple of Kindling Words retreats, will [...]
Stacy | March 9, 2009
I keep meaning to review a few things I’ve been watching/reading lately. I have actually been allowing myself to reread a few favorites, which I haven’t in the past few years because I want to spend that time reading new stuff (and not-so-new) in my towering TBR pile. But this month I made an exception [...]
Stacy | January 21, 2009
I’m not done with the science fiction list yet–I’m afraid I’ve been sidetracked by actual work, which is a good thing!–but Quimby over at Feminist Mormon Housewives has a particular question which I thought we could help out with. She asks: I have this kind of wonky idea that I’d like to introduce my children [...]
Stacy | January 12, 2009
In answer to my question regarding middle grade science fiction on the Child_Lit listserv, Farah Mendlesohn replied with the address of her blog and her book list, dedicated to mostly children’s science fiction. Hooray! This will be a great resource, as will the book she wrote, which is coming out sometime this year. Now, the [...]
Stacy | January 10, 2009
Okay, now that we’ve got the middle grade fantasy list, what about science fiction specifically for middle graders? I’m going to be really lenient in our definitions of science fiction, so we can include dystopian books for kids like City of Ember which are more based on science, but in which the science is kind [...]
Stacy | January 9, 2009
Next week I’ll move on to science fiction, which, if we don’t count stuff published in the 1950s and 60s (I love Bova and Heinlein, but SF is by its very nature forward-looking, not back, and the kids of today need SF that takes them even farther than the SF world they’re already living in), [...]
Stacy | January 6, 2009
No one can read every book out there, especially people who are extremely busy. One can try, though–hence my trying to make a list of great middle grade fantasy. I haven’t read every book on that list, but they all come recommended from someone if I haven’t read them and loved them myself, so now [...]
