The other day I came across an article from the Telegraph in England naming the 50 best books with a cult following. But first, the authors tried to define a cult book: What is a cult book? We tried and failed to arrive at a definition: books often found in the pockets of murderers; books that you take... Continue Reading →
Last week's laundry list of newbies is hanging in there again on this week's New York Times best sellers lists. Back for week two are Rick Riordan's The Red Pyramid; Aprilynne Pike's Spells; and Masterpiece by Elise Broach. CHAPTER BOOKS This Week Weeks on List 1 THE RED PYRAMID, by Rick Riordan. (Disney-Hyperion, $17.99.) Ancient... Continue Reading →
Everyone seems to know who she is except Mina. Now you can be in the know, too. Sometimes called Countess Dracula, the Blood Countess or the Infamous Lady, the legend of Elizabeth Bathory is mentioned several times in both Sucks to be Me and Still Sucks to be Me as the crazy lady who murdered... Continue Reading →
A couple months ago, we brought you essay prompt/discussion ideas about the lack of present and/or competent parents in YA literature. The prompts included the following: * Is this just a coincidence, or is the physical absence of a strong parental figure key to these supernatural stories? * In each case, the parent’s absense gives the... Continue Reading →
There are a number of newcomers to this week's New York Times best sellers lists, including a new No. 1. Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson series) is back with his new Egyptian series, which kicked of May 4 with The Red Pyramid. Also new is Spells by Aprilynne Pike and The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. This... Continue Reading →
Earlier this month, we let you know we'd be covering the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of To Kill a Mockingbird by Alabama native Harper Lee. One of the biggest celebrations is happening now in Alabama. In April, the Alabama Humanities Foundation kicked off a series of events called "TKAM 2010: To Kill a Mockingbird -- Awakening... Continue Reading →
It all starts with one man of many names: Vlad the Impaler, Vlad Ţepeş, Vlad Dracul III, Prince of Wallachia. He was immortalized (forgive the pun) in the Western world by Bram Stoker in 1897, when Dracula made its debut. Biography Vlad was born in Transylvania in 1431, a son of the ruling family. At... Continue Reading →
As we continue our launch day celebration for Sucks to Be Me by Kimberly Pauley, we bring you another review -- this time by Stephanie! Even if you move across the country, problems will inevitably follow you and trouble will find you. Mina learns this first-hand when she and her family relocate (against her will) from... Continue Reading →
While we're pretty sure most English teachers don't dress up as a bat like Mina's in Sucks to Be Me, many schools include Bram Stoker's Dracula as part of the curriculum. One of the reasons they do this (besides that it's about vampires -- hel-lo) is because it's an epistolary novel, a form of novel that... Continue Reading →
Happy Mother's Day! And may I say, wow, I didn't see this week's No. 1 book coming. Actually, I'd never heard of The Carrie Diaries till it dropped right into the top spot ... oops. (Never saw "Sex and the City" either. Yes, I live in a dark, dark cave. There, I said it.) There are a couple other... Continue Reading →
Novel Novice 