With the 2012 London Olympics in full swing Peter Rozovsky, of the "Detectives Beyond Borders" weblog, asks for Olympics-related crime fiction suggestions. He links back to an earlier post regarding Shame Maloney's Nice Try, set during Melbourne's failed bid for the 1996 Olympics.
Justine Larbalestier stands up for the subject-matter portrayed in modern Young Adult novels stating that "Teenagers are as varied as adults", which is perfectly true. And to those who complain about the books her advice is simple: "I am sorry that we YA writers are not portraying the kind of world you think is suitable for your teenagers. But I have a solution. Why not write your own books?"
A week or so back I posted about the 2012 Man Booker Prize longlist noting that the nationality spread was a little thin. As it does each year "The Guardian" newspaper in the UK runs a discussion to find a "Not the Booker Prize" winner from reader nominations. This year's longlist includes The Chemistry of Tears by Peter Carey, The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan, The Street Sweeper by Elliot Perlman and Bereft by Chris Womersley.
With all the State Premiers' Literary Awards releasing their shortlists lately the standout exception is Queensland, which, as you'll probably recall, ditched their literary awards this year. But have no fear a new Queensland-based prize has risen from the ashes.
National Public Radio in the US ran a survey to decide on the 100 Best-Ever Teen Novels, and the results are now in. Included on the list are: The Book Thief by Markus Zusack (10), Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld (28), Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix (40), I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusack (82), and Leviathan Series by Scott Westerfeld (92).
Justine Larbalestier stands up for the subject-matter portrayed in modern Young Adult novels stating that "Teenagers are as varied as adults", which is perfectly true. And to those who complain about the books her advice is simple: "I am sorry that we YA writers are not portraying the kind of world you think is suitable for your teenagers. But I have a solution. Why not write your own books?"
A week or so back I posted about the 2012 Man Booker Prize longlist noting that the nationality spread was a little thin. As it does each year "The Guardian" newspaper in the UK runs a discussion to find a "Not the Booker Prize" winner from reader nominations. This year's longlist includes The Chemistry of Tears by Peter Carey, The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan, The Street Sweeper by Elliot Perlman and Bereft by Chris Womersley.
With all the State Premiers' Literary Awards releasing their shortlists lately the standout exception is Queensland, which, as you'll probably recall, ditched their literary awards this year. But have no fear a new Queensland-based prize has risen from the ashes.
National Public Radio in the US ran a survey to decide on the 100 Best-Ever Teen Novels, and the results are now in. Included on the list are: The Book Thief by Markus Zusack (10), Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld (28), Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix (40), I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusack (82), and Leviathan Series by Scott Westerfeld (92).
