Sarah Johnson is the first-time YA author of Crossings (Cedar Fort, 2017). From the promotional copy:
Eliinka has been able to hide her deepest secret…until now. Her only choice is to make a perilous crossing to a foreign land where she’ll discover the truth about a powerful legend and the hope for peace after centuries of conflict. Continue Reading New Voices: Sarah Johnson on Crossings »
By Cyndy Etler
I’m not a fangirl. I don’t know celebrity names. I don’t ask the hairdresser to make me look Kardashian. Also I don’t diet, buy $30 lip gloss, or wear Lululemon to the organic grocery store.
I read; I write. That’s what I do; that’s what I think about. Reading and writing.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Cyndy Etler on Joining the Sorority »
By A.R. Capetta
A.R. Capetta writing
While the goal of this blog series is to celebrate LGBTQ YA, there’s so much more room for growth.
It might seem like LGBTQ YA books are hitting new heights, when in reality they’re only beginning to find their audience.
In the words of Alex London,
By A.R.Capetta
One of the standout differences in the LGBTQ offerings in 2016, as opposed to previous years, is a boost in genre fiction.
While I love reading LGBTQ books of all kinds, in my truest and nerdiest heart, I’m a lifelong reader and devoted writer of genre fiction.
Stories with marginalized main characters tend to take a particular route through the publishing world–starting with “issue” books,
By A.R. Capetta
Rainbow Boxes is a charitable initiative to connect LGBTQIA fiction with readers across the United States.
When Cori McCarthy and I did our research for Rainbow Boxes (AKA the most fun research–it mainly consisted of reading every LGBTQ YA book we could find),
Rainbow Boxes co-founders Cori & A.R.
By A.R. Capetta
In 2015, it seemed like there was a slowly growing list of excellent YA books with central LGBTQ main characters–but there were clearly still barriers making it difficult for readers, especially teen readers, to find them.
Fellow YA author Cori McCarthy* and I created Rainbow Boxes to help bridge that gap,
Continue Reading Guest Post: A.R. Capetta on Something Good Happened in 2016: Celebrating LGBTQ YA »
Sample chapter from Candlewick Press
The second of a four-installment dialogue with Ambelin and Cynthia.
Our focus is on the creative life and process,
speculative fiction, diversity, privilege, indigenous literature, and books for young readers.
Yesterday,
Compiled by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Check out the book trailer for Teen Frankenstein by Chandler Baker (Feiwel & Friends, 2016). From the promotional copy:
High school meets classic horror in Teen Frankenstein, Chandler Baker’s modern re-imagining of Mary Shelley’s gothic novel.
It was a dark and stormy night when Tor Frankenstein accidentally hits someone with her car.
Continue Reading Book Trailer: Teen Frankenstein by Chandler Baker »
Today I’m honored to feature Monique Gray Smith, “a mixed heritage woman of Cree, Lakota, and Scottish descent” and the author one of my favorite new titles–my official go-to gift book for 2016.
What put you on the path to writing for young readers?
I never set out to write for young readers and to be honest,
Author Lois Duncan died in June while Cynsations was on summer hiatus.
Lois Duncan Obituary: Bestselling author of fiction for young adults, including the thriller I Know What You Did Last Summer by Julia Eccleshare from The Guardian. Peek: “She was born Lois Duncan Steinmetz in Philadelphia,
