Some of you might think I’m stretching the definition of historical fiction with the first book up today. But if we consider historical fiction as works in which historical backdrop plays a strong role in the story, I think this qualifies. In any case, I am excited to introduce My One Square Inch of Alaska, a traditional [...]
Today we have two brief books, each a “fractured fairy tale” version of Snow White. First up, Catherynne Valente’s Six-Gun Snow White shares connections with a couple of recent posts on this site. As the first half of the title should make clear, it shares with Six-Gun Tarot a Western setting, but also partakes of the same intense genre-blending [...]
I am sharing two very different books today, which I can only tenuously connect thanks to the Alex Awards. (Thus the completely unimaginative title of this post!) Let’s begin on a light-hearted note. First, a review of Raiders!, which won a place on the Booklist Editors Choice: Adult Books for Young Adults, 2012. Our reviewer [...]
A starred review today, from our graphic novel guest blogger, Francisca Goldsmith: Sequential art has been the go-to format for creators and adaptors, bowdlerizers and clever clogs who rework, or try to rework, classics. Disney-sponsored Scrooge McDuck, Posy Simmonds’ Gemma Bovery, published-for-classroom Manga Shakespeare, and Will Eisner’s repurposing of Moby Dick give only the beginning [...]
from regular graphic novel guest blogger, Francisca Goldsmith: Mark Siegel’s experience in the graphic novel idiom is long, deep and informed by international strains and precepts. He brings all this to bear in a narrative that plumbs the mysteries first brought to literary ears by Homer: how very like the Sirens’ song is man’s belief [...]
Monsters are eternally intriguing, and Matt Kaplan offers a unique take on the historical possibilities of where our fears may have originated. From dragons to golems to zombies, the interdisciplinary nature of this work will thrill young science and history readers. Kaplan is a regular contributor to National Geographic, New Scientist, Nature, and The Economist. [...]
British author Morgan McCarthy’s debut novel centers on two children, a brother and sister living in an ancient Welsh country mansion, isolated, neglected by their mother and wondering at the mystery of what happened to their father. As they grow up, they confront generations of family secrets. Chapter one is available on Barnes & Noble. * [...]
Ivan Doig’s new novel graces AB4T as the starred review of the week. Recently, I wrote about the number of western novels with teen appeal, and mentioned Doig’s The Whistling Season, a 2007 Alex Award winner. The Bartender’s Tale returns to the rural setting of that novel — Two Medicine Country, Montana — where once [...]
This week’s starred review is a powerful debut novel about the war in Iraq. Check out Kevin Powers’ website for lists of the honors and praise The Yellow Birds has already received, even though it releases tomorrow. The author himself joined the army in 1997 at age 17, and he writes with firsthand knowledge about young [...]
This week’s starred review, Anna Keesey‘s debut, incorporates the traditional elements of the classic western or frontier novel. This is a genre that has been well-represented in adult books with teen appeal — I’m thinking of Alex Award-winning novels such as Ivan Doig’s The Whistling Season and Thomas Maltman’s The Night Birds. Last year’s The Little [...]
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