Category: Uncategorized

Modern First Library Guest Post: Cynthia Leitich Smith

Guest Post by Austin Author Cynthia Leitich Smith This is the second week in a series of author guest posts about diversity in children's literature and the BookPeople Modern First Library initiative. Author Chris Barton shared his thoughts last week here and here. For more about BookPeople’s Modern First Library initiative, and for more recommendations of wonderful new and … Continue reading Modern First Library Guest Post: Cynthia Leitich Smith →

The Nightmare Factory: SPEAKS THE NIGHTBIRD Pt. 2

~post by Steve(n) A frigid, damp breeze blows in from the swamp, dappling your shivering body with sharp pins of unforgiving moisture as an unseasonable fog unfolds over the village. One by one, marsh lights blink into existence over the haunted mire, illuminating the decomposing, alligator-torn remains of escape attempts forever fettered by their unlucky … Continue reading The Nightmare Factory: SPEAKS THE NIGHTBIRD Pt. 2 →

THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS: Prepare Your Brain to Get Drop Kicked

The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey ~post by Sarah H. With all the post-apocalyptic fiction coming out these days, it’s hard to know which of them should make it on to your reading list this summer. The Girl With All The Gifts has so much more to offer than being just a … Continue reading THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS: Prepare Your Brain to Get Drop Kicked →

POKING A DEAD FROG: More Than A Writing Manual

Poking a Dead Frog: Conversations with Today's Top Comedy Writers by Mike Sacks ~post by Steve(n) It is a paradoxical testament to the excellence and effectiveness of Mike Sachs's captivating new writing guide Poking a Dead Frog: Conversations with Today's Top Comedy Writers that it is all but impossible to read it uninterrupted for any … Continue reading POKING A DEAD FROG: More Than A Writing Manual →

Loved, valued, unique? Yes. Center of the universe? No.

Guest post by Austin author Chris Barton ___________________________________ I want my sons to feel loved. I want them to feel that they, individually, are valued and unique. But I don’t want them -- or anyone else in their demographic -- to get the idea that they’re at the center of the universe just because they … Continue reading Loved, valued, unique? Yes. Center of the universe? No. →

CONVERSATIONS: Original and Intelligent

Conversations by César Aira translated by Katherine Silver ~ post by Ben It’s a wonderful feeling to discover a new author. Whether in a sparkling new debut, or that recommendation which you’ve put off reading, there is a particular freshness when opening the title of someone you’ve never read before. Newly released translations can act … Continue reading CONVERSATIONS: Original and Intelligent →

THE KLAATU DISKOS SERIES: Imaginative and Seamless

~review by Sara H. The Klaatu Diskos Series by Pete Hautman The Obsidian Blade (2012) The Cydonian Pyramid (2013) The Klaatu Terminus (2014) Tucker Fey’s parents have suddenly gone missing after a strange phenomenon is witnessed above their house - a perfectly circular shaped distortion of light. After weeks of his parent’s increasingly strange behavior, … Continue reading THE KLAATU DISKOS SERIES: Imaginative and Seamless →