The age-old, oft-discussed, oft-annoying discussion: what is the difference between MG and YA?

A conversation came up on Twitter today that moved over to Facebook that covered a lot of ground and I think it would be great to open up the discussion here. It all started because my friend Brandon and I got into yet another discussion about the difference between YA and middle grade, a subject … Read more

Links for the cover issue

Via the Brown Bookshelf, John Green discusses the cover issue for Justine Larbalestier’s book in a thorough way, taking into account all the changes our industry is going through. *** Also, I’ve added several books to my POC booklist thanks to all the people who have been suggesting books. There are a number of fantasy … Read more

Questions I have about our industry in general

I added these to my last post, because some readers pointed out that it sounded like I was defending Bloomsbury’s choice of cover, which wasn’t my intent at all. In fact, I was trying to point out that despite pressures from sales and marketing, the fact remains that it is very important to be aware … Read more

Cover art considerations

Justine Larbalestier’s new book, Liar, has been getting a lot of attention lately. When she first revealed the cover, I thought it was nice — striking image, interesting thing happening with the hair. But having never read the book, I didn’t realize that the main character describes herself as black, with short hair, and looking … Read more

Book lists: Multicultural SF/F for MG and YA

ETA: If you’re just googling into this list now, please see my booklists over on Pinterest, which I keep much more up-to-date than this page from several years ago. I break them down by age group and genre. I also publish diverse science fiction and fantasy for young readers at Tu Books now. See the … Read more

A little more info, but not much

If you’re my friend on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter, you will know that I’ve revealed the big secret I’ve been keeping: That I’m starting a small press with a friend. I don’t feel ready to give many details about it yet because I’m still working on the website and a variety of details … Read more

Portraying people of color in children’s/YA fantasy–are we anywhere near “there” yet?

3/21/2012, ETA: Because this post has been linked a lot over the course of the last several months, I just wanted to point out that this was posted when I was in the process of starting the small press that became Tu Books, an imprint of Lee & Low Books, where we publish middle grade … Read more

New class planned for early June, more local events

I don’t have a date pinned down yet, but I’m planning to do another community seminar in early June: Worldbuilding in Fantasy and Science Fiction for Children and Young Adults. Writing fantasy and SF for children and YA is different than writing it for adults because of that added children’s/YA component: it’s a whole different … Read more

The TBR pile

My desk is still groaning under the workload that I’m catching up on (finishing up another manuscript right now, about to send out the editorial letter, then on to more!), so I haven’t had much time to do much else. Hence the reason I haven’t posted in almost a week–not much to report. I’ll have … Read more