Grit Gillian French HarperTeen May 16, 2017 I love a small town story. I grew up in various small towns around the Midwest so I can really appreciate when an author can capture the sense of claustrophobia that sometimes comes with that life. Gillian French’s Grit explores those themes but never quite gets there for…
Makers of Tampon Run Tell It like It Is: A Girl Code Review
There’s a good chance that you’ve heard of the endless runner web and phone game Tampon Run. If you haven’t seen it, go play the cute and strangely addictive game where you throw tampons at bullies and try to combat the menstruation taboo. The game became an internet sensation when it debuted in 2014 for…
Dice Vice Takes Acid Trip through Irish Mythology with Inis
Art is one of the most crucial factors for me in game design. Obviously, the way a game plays is important, too. But If I’m going to be spending a few hours staring at a game, the art better be something I like.
Dogears: Inverting Tropes in Storytelling
Becoming Unbecoming Una Arsenal Pulp Press December 1, 2015 Una simultaneously explores the terror of living through her own sexual abuses and the entirely-too-geographically-close Yorkshire Ripper’s serial killings in 1977 Northern England. There is an amazing amount of thoughtful material about abuser’s tactics, survivor’s coping mechanisms, the commonplace attitudes that breed violence against women, and…
Dogears: My Best Friend’s Exorcism and Diabolic Angels
My Best Friend’s Exorcism Grady Hendrix Quirk Books May 16, 2016 The power of Diet Coke compels you! My Best Friend’s Exorcism is a nostalgic, sweet, and disgusting story about friendship, high school, and demons. There are a few tiny gaps in the narrative and plot, but I enjoyed this book more than I expected….
WWAC’s Reading Resolutions for 2017
Want to read more sci-fi? What does it mean to “read diversely” and do you need to do more of it? Are you notorious for not finishing your to-read pile? It’s a new year which means a new year because that’s how it works, right? Some of the WWAC contributors have shared their reading resolutions…
Comics and YA: How Shelving Creates Access
I think that I’ve got a pretty great job. On any given day I could be helping a teen find a read-a-like for her favorite fantasy series, telling another teen that no they can’t eat buffalo wings at the public computers, doing a Harry Potter-inspired craft program, or reminding someone that not everything you read…
Books that Moved Us in 2016
2016 was kind of an odd year for books. There was a new Harry Potter (of sorts), more celebrity memoirs than we will ever need, and some Star Wars novelizations. A number of books were published to great acclaim—The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien and The Sellout by Paul Beatty, to name…
Of Fire and Stars: The Lesbian Princess YA Fantasy We Need This Year
Of Fire and Stars Audrey Coulthurst Balzer & Bray November 22 2016 “Wait, a YA fantasy where the Princess falls for the dashing and charming OTHER PRINCESS?” “Sign me up!”
Zombicide: Feel Real Despair!
It’s October, and while many of us here at WWAC are thinking about witches, I’ve got zombies on the brain. Generally, I like zombies, and with Halloween coming up, it’s the perfect time to ponder the nature of humanity and confront our discomfort with the dead by thinking about zombies.
A European Werewolf in India: The Devourers
The Devourers Indra Das Del Rey July 12 2016 A mysterious man walks up to a quiet college professor one night at an outdoor festival in Kolkata. He is androgynous and charming, smoking a cigarette. The professor is intrigued and a little scared. Then the stranger says, “I’m a werewolf.”
National Book Awards Youth Longlist Announced
The National Book Awards announced their longlist of titles for the Youth award section this morning and I am excited! Not only are the books listed high on my to-be-read pile, but more importantly the list is a step in the right direction for the #weneeddiversebooks and #ownvoices movements and for readers everywhere. Last year’s…