Manchee & Bones - Little M's new blog

Mac, or Little M as many of you know her, has started up her own book blog. She's named it 'Manchee & Bones' after some of her favourite dog characters in books (Manchee from Patrick Ness' The Knife of Never Letting Go and Bones from Sam Angus' Soldier Dog).

I'm not completely sure but I think a complimentary tweet from Rooftoppers' author, Katherine Rundell, prompted the motivation for Mac's new move.

Go and have a look at 'Manchee & Bones'. You'll currently find a Rooftoppers review and a list of books Mac would like to read for GCSE English Literature. If you look closely, where 'We Sat Down's' book reviews often feature our pink and red heart bookmark, 'Manchee & Bones' fittingly features a blue and orange pawprints bookmark. Head on over.

RHCP goes to the movies!

Popcorn, sweets, viruses, chat, books, a 6am wake up call and a bit of thieving. Sounds like a perfect Saturday!

Oh look! A gorgeous poster. And it tells you a lot about the most recent Random House Children's bloggers' brunch. Here are some of our memorable bits:

Yes, M snaffled this poster from the event - but she asked Jasmine first!

Like any big cinema, there was popcorn in little boxes, pick 'n' mix sweets, an audience and a big screen with adverts. No actual movie stars were present but author Matt Haig did a good job of standing in (see below for M's narrated and interpreted account!). Advertisement-wise, we'll mention the things that struck us most.

We'll start with the movies (note: RHCP has not become a movie production company; some of their books are being turned into movies). We want to see The Book Thief (but Little M wants to read it first); same goes for Andy Mulligan's Trash which is coming out in film. Little M liked the film trailer for Joseph Delaney's Seventh Son but M hasn't a clue who Jeremy Irvine is.

Forthcoming books-wise, top of Little M's list is Theresa Breslin's Ghost Soldier (publishing 31 July 2014). One of many books that'll be published around the World War I Centenary, this one's about the search for a father missing-in-action and uncovering a building full of soldiers suffering from shellshock and nervous disorders.

Bird by Crystal Chan is being pitched by RHCP as being in the same guise as John Boyne's younger fiction or David Almond's Skellig. They're crossing fingers that it'll be their Wonder for 2014. We both already knew about this book and the appeal for both of us is strong and the first few chapters are good. I'll say no more.

The Tin Snail by Cameron McAllister (8 April 2014). Set in 1939 rural France, it's about a thirteen year old boy who goes about inventing a car that'll be designed for and affordable to everyday people. RHCP is describing it as quirky and comparable to Sandi Toksvig's Hitler's Canary.

Crime/Thriller-wise, there's Web of Darkness by Bali Rai (June 2014) and Running Girl by Simon Mason (just out). Hilariously, one features a character called Benedict and the other features a character with an exceptionally high IQ. Everything Baker Street is the way to the thinking teen's heart, it would seem......

The Boy in the Tower by Polly Ho-Yen (July 2014) was described as Day of the Triffids meets Wonder. A bit sci-fiey but with a focus that's more on love, loneliness and inner strength. M's intrigued.

Then, of course, there's Matt Haig's Echo Boy. Basically, echoes are machines that are made to serve humans. Little M thinks it sounds good and it reminds her of Spielberg's film, Artificial Intelligence. M's a fan of Haig's The Humans and she has a hunch that she will enjoy this (and remember, Somni-451 is one of her all-time favourite book characters).

To be or not to be? Was that the question?
And is this the answer?

Matt Haig chatted with us all, Q&A style. He was very funny, in his typical self-deprecating way, and I'll follow his blog-writing suit and summarise in list style:

- Little M asked him a question in front of loads of people (good reason to sit in the front row - you don't realise what's behind you!). She asked him if he wrote a book about an event that happened in his life, what would it be? He said he thinks it would be about his life in his twenties because this was an exciting yet dark place in his internal space (a time when he was depressed). Or perhaps he would write a story about an author's book tour, a type of picaresque.

- Before being published, he worked in Oddbins and delivered crates of champagne for other authors (who were published!).

- The Outsiders by SE Hinton is probably his favourite book.

- He doesn't plan when he writes novels (except for The Radleys).


- Writing young adult fiction can combine the best of two worlds: the world of imagination (from children's fiction) and the world of ideas (from adult fiction).

- Young adult fiction can have an edge, or danger, without being all sex-and-drugs controversial.On writing about the human condition, "I'm basically a philosopher..(...)..but you need a good story to hang an idea on". His dad was an architect.

- There needs to be a strong, real reason to write in the first person. He thinks it helps to humanise speculative worlds, like the one in Echo Boy. Otherwise, these can be "a refrigerator world that you can't access".

- He gets bored easily.

- He thinks people may only be wise and stoic by age 40. He is 38. M thinks he's right.

- He is a Margaret Atwood fan.

- His new book, Echo Boy, is proper science-fiction even though he is not a big reader of the genre.

- He is not sure if Echo Boy is a love story or not.

- Echo Boy is his ninth book.

- The question he never gets asked but wants to answer (deep, deep down) is: "What makes you so brilliant?"


Matt Haig is funny. And now back to us.

We also caught up with a few of our book blogging friends like Georgia (Books and Writers Jnr), Michelle (Fluttering Butterflies), Jesse (Books 4 Teens), and Viv (Serendipity Reviews). And M was very excited to meet some of her twitter friends in real life: Anna (A Case For Books) and Sarah Jane (And Then I Read a Book). Also great to put a face to Clare Hall-Craggs and talk war stories and family reading!

Thank you Random House for inviting us and for serving popcorn. And thank goodness it didn't snow!

Next stop of the day: Bloomsbury for Faber and Faber!

We Sat Down For A Chat.....with Fluttering Butterflies

Michelle runs a very chatty, interesting and thoughtful book blog called Fluttering Butterflies. She's one of my favourite bloggers whom I've actually met (!!!) and she's a mum. It's great to have her here today.

M: How did you come up with the blog name Fluttering Butterflies?

Michelle: Hello, and thank you so much for having me here, it's an honour! I really wish that there was some special meaning behind my blog name. If I were to do it all again, I might have made a conscious effort to choose something literary inspired to name my blog, but I didn't. I was browsing through other lifestyle/personal blogs back before my blog became a book blog and I came across a website in which a woman had been doing gardening. She mentioned something about butterflies fluttering about her flowers and I loved the imagery of her words. I wanted something memorable and pretty for my blog's name, and I have been Fluttering Butterflies ever since!

M: You were an American teenager. What were some of your favourites teen reads then?

Michelle: Many years ago, yes! I was an American teenager. I moved to the UK nearly 13 years ago when I was only 18. I have always, always been a reader and as a teenager, I had lots of favourites. I think the two books that were the most influential to me during my teen years had to have been The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and The Outsiders by SE Hinton. I read and re-read both books constantly and both books are guaranteed to make me bawl like a baby.

I remember loving Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, Night by Elie Wiesel and books by Caroline B. Cooney. I was also a huge of the Anne of Green Gables series and Anne's House of Dreams was the first book that I bought for myself. But I mostly read adult books as a teen and I really loved The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, books by Isabel Allende and the complete works of Jane Austen. I went through a big Shakespeare phase and read Romeo and Juliet more times than I can count. But I did also read other Shakespeare's plays and his sonnets, which were lovely. My dad was a big fan of James Clavell and reading his copy of Sho-Gun was a life-changing experience for me.

M: You enjoy reading with your two young sons. What books have you enjoyed reading together?

Michell from Fluttering Butterflies: Happy looks like.....

Michelle: I absolutely adore reading books with my two sons. E is 7 and The Littlest is almost 5 (!!!). I've been reading to both of them since they were still in my belly and I will continue to read to them for as long as they let me! When they were both little, I was pretty limited in what I could read to them, but luckily there are some gorgeous picture books about. Family favourites were always picture books by Julia Donaldson and Oliver Jeffers. Then there was the Bob the Builder/Thomas the Tank Engine phase which I'm glad has passed. Whenever possible, I tried to steer us towards Dr Seuss and funny poetry like Shel Silverstein's, who are both authors that I grew up with.


Now that they're both that little bit older, we've set up a Family Book Club to great success. I haven't been great about updating our progress on the blog like I originally planned, but we've been reading a whole host of books by Roald Dahl - The Twits, Fantastic Mr Fox, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach - as well as How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell and most recently, Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kastner.

The most popular book? Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling. E said I was reading it too slowly and would take the book into his own room to read chapters ahead. He refused to wait for me to read him the second book and decided to read Chamber of Secrets on his own. Same for the 3rd and 4th book and he's currently reading Order of the P
Phoenix by himself. He's 7. I'm so proud of him.

M: Are there any books that you are planning to recommend to your children?

Michelle: Despite E's growing confidence in reading books on his own, I am still determined to keep up with our nightly bedtime routine. And I'm so excited that he seems to have taken up my bookish ways. I've put a small stack of books that I've received for review from publishers aside to read with the boys soon (including Itch by Simon Mayo, The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver and North of Nowhere by Liz Kessler) but I still have a whopping great pile of books that I want to read with them, which includes Holes by Louis Sachar, Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett, The Princess Bride by William Goldman and Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I am filled with excitement at the idea of sharing these wonderful books with my beautiful boys!

Already my chats with E about Harry Potter have quickly become one of my favourite parts of the day. He loves to retell bits of the story to me and he asks the most thoughtful questions that I would have never considered before. I love hearing his opinions on a series of books that I've loved so much and his passion for reading and learning and questioning things absolutely inspires me.

 

M: One of your blog features this year is British UKYA (Young Adult). Can you tell us a little bit about this?

Michelle: Sure! A few years ago now, I signed up for the British Books Challenge that Becky from The Bookette set up (this challenge has been ongoing and the host for it has changed over the years from Kirsty at The Overflowing Library last year to Sarah at Feeling Fictional this year). In doing so, I became more aware of how many (and in this case, how few) books by British authors I was reading. I wanted to do more to support British authors and reading and reviewing their books seemed to be the best way I knew how. Over time, I wanted to do more. So I held my first British month during November of 2011. It was actually overwhelming how much support I received during that month, so I held another smaller event the following year.

In December of 2012, as I was sitting down pondering what changes I could made on my blog in the New Year, I began thinking of ways in which I could hold a British month EVERY month on the blog. It seemed crazy, but why not? I started by creating a list on Goodreads of all the books by British authors that I'd heard of which were being published in 2013. Then I got some friends to add to it. And then as publicists began emailing me of all the wonderful new books coming out this year, I thought 'hey! they'd know more, wouldn't they?' And I began thinking about the possibility of guest posts or interviewing some of these wonderful authors. I contacted a few authors and publicists and everyone was very willing and enthusiastic.

My UKYA in 2013 feature now has a snazzy new button that my husband, N, helped me to create and the plan is to post a list of books that are published every month by British authors. I've made it my personal challenge this year to read and review as many new UKYA books as I can and I have had the great pleasure of already having agreed guest posts and interviews by British authors such as Sangu Mandanna, CJ Flood, Holly Smale and CJ Skuse amongst many more to come!
M: Finally, the big philosophical question of our time, do you like ketchup?

Michelle: It's only been in the last few years that I've been able to eat any sauce with my food, actually! I was quite the fussy eater when it came to ketchup growing up, but I've since seen the error of my ways and can't eat a plate of chips without anymore :)

Thank you so much for having me here! It's been such fun!


M: Thank you, Michelle! I loved Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden too and I'm planning on re-reading those soon. Lots of great books on your lists: Little M's read Holes in both primary and secondary school. Lots of books on your planned reading lists that are on mine too.

You can find Michelle on her book blog Fluttering Butterflies and on Twitter: @cloverness

Has anyone else read any of these books. And do you read the same books as anyone else in your family like we do?

Secret Santa came to town

Seasons greetings one and all, wherever you are!

 

Look what I got from my book blogging Secret Santa!

There's a copy of Black Heart Blue by Louisa Reid which has been nominated for the Carnegie 2013, so it's great to receive a copy of that. Earth Girl by Janet Edwards is a dystopian (which Little M has been trying to snuffle away) and Wentworth Hall by Abby Grahame looks like a period drama.

Thank you Secret Santa :)

And thank you also to Lynsey for organising the UK Young Adult Book Bloggers Secret Santa giftswaping scheme this December. I love finding and giving gifts and the added secret surprise element was irresistible.

Remembrance Day - Alex Baugh from The Children’s War

Alex Baugh runs The Children's War blog which holds an extensive collection of books about children and teenagers and Word War II. We're delighted that Alex has joined us (all the way from New York) for a special Remembrance Day guest post.

 

******

 

“Any nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure”

- Abraham Lincoln

 

In 1918, on the 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour, the Armistice ending World War I, the war to end all wars, was signed between the Allies and Germany. The date became a nation holiday called Armistice Day, set aside so that nations to remember and honor those who lost their lives on the battlefields and in the trenches.

Sadly, World War I wasn’t the war to end all wars and twenty-one years later, the world was at it again. Six years later, World War II finally ended. In the United States, Armistice Day was changed to Veterans Day, a day to honor all veterans of the armed services, the fallen as well as those who are still living, and those who are still serving. In the British Commonwealth nations, Armistice Day was changed to Remembrance Day, a day honor those who fell in battle in all wars.

Here are some of my favorite books for helping young people understand the meaning and importance of Veterans’ Day and Remembrance Day:

 

The Unknown Soldier by Linda Granfield

The Poppy Lady: Moina Belle Michael and Her Tribute to Veterans by Barbara Elizabeth Walsh, illustrated by Layne Johnson

Veterans Day by Marlene Targ Brill, illustrated by Qi Z Wang

Remembrance Day by Molly Aloian

Remembrance Day by Jane Bingham

 

And here are some of my favorite stories about the men, women and even animal soldiers:

World War I Stories:

 

 

War Game: Village Green to No-Man’s Land by Michael Foreman

Truce: the Day the Soldiers Stopped Fighting by Jim Murphy

Christmas in the Trenches by John McCutcheon

And the Soldiers Sang by J. Patrick Lewis

The Christmas Truce by Carol Ann Duffy

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

Soldier’s Game by James Kilgore

Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

 

World II Stories:

 

 

A Medal for Leroy by Michael Morpurgo

The Diary of a World War II Pilot by Dennis Hamley

The Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins, a World War II Soldier by Walter Dean Myers

Coming in to Land by Dennis Hamley

Code Talker: A Novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two by Joseph Bruchas

Robert Moran, Private by Ken Catran

Mare’s War by Tanita Davis

Prisoner of Dieppe: World War II by Hugh Brewster

Behind Enemy Lines: World War II by Carol Matas

Fly Boy by Eric Walters

 

- by Alex Baugh, The Children's War

 

Little M sat down for a chat.....with blogger Georgia

This is an interview with a blogger like me, same age but she has been going a lot longer than me. We met when we went to the Hot Key Books publishing day. So now here is Georgia's answers to the questions I asked her. She has a blog called Books and Writers Jrn. http://booksandwritersjnr.wordpress.com/.

Little M: When did you start blogging?

Georgia: I started in about May 2011, a few years after my dad.


Little M: What made you want to start blogging?

Georgia: My dad starting blogging before me and gave me all of the teen books to do for him, but he ended up getting so many that i decided, I'll make my own blog!


Little M: What are your favourite books?

Georgia: My favourite books... there are too many to choose from! Definitely The Hunger Games (obviously!) and I also really like the 13 Treasures series by Michelle Harrison, the Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth, oh, and the Soul Beach trilogy by Kate Harrison too, and INSIGNIA by S.J Kincaid. Ahh! A lot there!


Little M: Which genres to do you like?

Georgia: I am really obsessed with dystopian and end-of-the-world themed books, but I also like funny ones, and real life situation books like 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher. I really enjoy books with unique formats... so yeah, quite a mix of things!


Little M: Who is your favourite author?

Georgia: Wow... what a hard choice! Oh no... not too sure how to answer this... I think I will go with S.J Kincaid because her book I just find amazing and I feel like I am in it when I read it... and probably Jay Asher too. Jay Asher is new just like S.J but I loved his story so much... I would recommend both of these books by the way, the authors are so talented!

**********

A Hot Key Lunch and Other Book News

So much has happened lately that we've made a bit of a change to today's Sunday post. It still includes the books we received but also a whole bunch of news from us and the book world. We hope you think it's as exciting as we do.  

Lydia Syson, author of a World Between Us

Hot Key Books Lunch - we're charmed indeed

On 30 June, we attended the first ever Hot Key Bloggers Lunch. Everything about this new young people’s publishing imprint oozes charm: their personalities, their converted print press offices, their distinctive inhouse designed launch covers, their fantastically collectible proof copy covers (Little M turned down a finished copy in preference for a 008 proof!), their extensive and intriguing book library, their Hot Key Ring which provides clever content guidance, and a launch list that looks like it’ll leave a lot of readers spoilt for choice.  Of course, I haven’t read much from the list yet, but I’m looking forward to doing that.

Particular highlights of the afternoon included meeting Sally Gardner, Little M linking up with another young book blogger and for me, finally meeting Lydia Syson whose book, A World Between Us is part of the Hot Key launch list.

Little M also said, “I found Lydia Syson very interesting. The story about her grandparents got me intrigued and I want to know more about them. I can’t wait to read her book which is about someone who falls in love with someone during the Spanish Civil War. Angel Dust (a book by Sarah Mussi) also looks very good. I like the idea of an angel who has been told to go down to earth and take a gangster to the afterlife – but she falls in love.”

Thank you, Hot Key for inviting us, and we wish you every success for the future.

Sally Gardner, author of Maggot Moon

New things coming up for We Sat Down

In August, Vintage is launching a new Children’s Classics series and we’ve got a month full of fun happening on the blog with that.  Yes, it includes something we’ve never done before…

In October, We Sat Down will be Spreading the Book Love on 7 October at the Ilkley Literature Festival Wordfest. This is a programmed part of the Festival and is an afternoon of literature workshops and creative fun especially for young people aged 12-18. Amongst other things, we’ll be talking to people about our top reads this year. We’ll be telling you more about this closer to the time.

Competitions

We’ve hosted our first book giveaway this week.  It’s for A Stallion Called Midnight by Victoria Eveleigh (Orion).  Entries close on Friday 6 July.

We have a few more giveaways coming up soon for Uncommon Criminals (by Ally Carter, Orchard Books) and some Codename Quicksilver sets (by Allan Jones, Orion Children’s Books).

And, did you know it’s 15 years since Harry Potter was published? To celebrate, Bloomsbury launched a new competition last week. They're looking for the UK and Ireland's biggest Harry Potter fan.

Books we’ve received this week 

From Hot Key Books event

Other books

We won:

The Great Escape by Megan Rix (from Girls Heart Books blog; published by Puffin) – a story about some pets who were left behind during World War II.

For review:

A World Between Us – Lydia Syson (Hot Key): we’ve wanted this since we first heard about it; an epic political romance set during the Spanish Civil War that explores all sorts of idealism; inspired by stories from the author’s grandparents’ lives.

Maggot Moon – Sally Gardner (Hot Key): set 10 years before the first moon landing, Gardner draws on current moon landing conspiracy theories to weave a dystopian tale about a dyslexic teen who has a vision to make a sacrifice for a greater good. It’s described as narratively unusual.

Jepp, Who Defied the Stars – Katherine Marsh (Hot Key): sounds very intriguing (which is a good start).  It’s based on the true story of dwarf who was kept by an astronomer.

Angel Dust – Sarah Mussi (Hot Key): the author describes this story as a metaphor for first love where you’re prepared to strip away your whole belief system.

Billie Templar’s War – Ellie Irving (Bodley Head): an eleven year old girl wants the Queen to send her dad home from the war because she doesn’t want him to get killed; wonderful cover.

Silence – Simon Packham (Piccadilly Press): his best friend’s died in a car accident and now Chris can’t speak.  He’s become mute.

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making – Catherynne M Valente (Corsair): a fantasy; 12 year old September is lonely and is given the adventure of a lifetime where she has to save Fairyland; has received favourable reviews from Neil Gaiman and Cory Doctorow so I think it’s worth a look.

Codename Quicksilver Books 1 & 2: In the Zone and The Tyrant Kin (Orion): spies, spies, spies for the younger reader.

Interview - The one where Little M calls adults normal!

Example of age banding on a YA book cover

We've been running a blog series on the boundaries in Young Adult (YA) and teen fiction featuring various views from new and edgy authors as well bloggers. We've been discussing what makes a YA novel Young Adult rather than Adult. 

To wrap the series up, the discussion comes back home.  I've asked Little M (who is 12) what she thinks about YA content:

M: What do you think the difference is between younger children’s books and YA/teen books?

Little M: It depends on the type of book. Like Michael Morpurgo compared to the Twilight series - they have completely different types of speech, different happenings, different concepts. Twilight is more about romance and Morpurgo is usually about helping animals in the war. The younger books are more childish and the YAs are more grown-up.

M: Do you think all YA books are appropriate for all teenagers?

Little M: I don’t know.  I don’t really know all the book types.  All the teenage books I’ve seen are appropriate.

M: What do you think about swearing in books?

Little M: I think sometimes you need it if it’s in a situation where it’s needed but not in every single sentence that they say.

M: What do you think about violence in books?

Little M: It depends what type. Some books are based on violence like The Hunger Games. But others like Divergent don’t need as much violence. I’m trying to think of a book that has violence but doesn’t need it….

M: Well, if you did read one that had it in, what would you think about that?

Little M: I’d think that the author maybe needed to put something more exciting in the book -  but it didn’t work.

M: Do you think that age ratings on book covers would be useful?

Little M: Yeah, I think they would be useful if you could actually see them.  They’re like tiny on the back. It gives a bit of guidance to people who might not know what the author’s writing style is like. Say you’re 12 and you want to start reading teenager type of books and you don’t know where to start then you can see age ratings for books and if you look at that book you can go, “Oh I like it” and then read it.

M: But would an age rating of 11 or 10 put you off?

Little M: It depends on the blurb as well and the first few pages.  If the blurb sounds pretty dull or too childish for your likings then maybe you don’t read it.

Example of a Hot Key Ring from Hot Key Books

M: I like this idea from Hot Key Books but what do you think of the Hot Key Ring for content guidance rather than an age rating (see image above)?

Little M: It looks really good but you would still need the age guidance. Because, say you had 30% Science and 15% Romance and 15% Magic, it doesn’t tell you if it’s an adult book or a child’s book. It could be like a massive adult crime scene compared to a Maximum Ride type of book. The kid’s one will be easier to read in writing style and it won’t have as much in the violence or swear words.

M: Do you think there is anything that shouldn’t be in a teen book?

Little M: It depends what type of teen book. If it’s like a 13-14, then a bit less violence, romance and that’s about it.  But then maybe in a 15 up, just normal – like adult.

M: So then what’s the difference between YA and Adult?

Little M: By the time I’m 15 I probably won’t be reading as many Young Adult books but reading more Adult books.

M: Have you got some favourite books that you would recommend for 12 year olds?

Little M:

The Maximum Ride series - James Patterson.

His Dark Materials (all 3 books) - Philip Pullman

War Horse – Michael Morpurgo

Wonder – RJ Palacio

The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

Between Shades of Gray – Ruta Sepetys

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece – Annabel Pitcher

*****

Thank you to everyone who has taken part in this blog series: authors Sita Brahmachari, Savita Kalhan, Bryony Pearce, Miriam Halahmy and blogger Jim Dean (YA Yeah Yeah). And this is where I started it all off.

YA Yeah Yeah talks YA fiction

For the past five weeks, there's been me, M, and four other authors discussing their views on what YA fiction actually is. What are the boundaries, if any? This week, we're delighted to welcome blogger Jim Dean to the discussion. Jim runs the blog YA Yeah Yeah and is also a reviewer for The Bookbag.

M: Your blog’s name and slogan says a lot: YA Yeah Yeah: "You say Young Adult fiction, I say YEAH!"  What do you think characterises YA fiction? How do you see it as different from Middle Grade or Adult fiction?

Jim:

YA deals with teen characters and has coming of age elements. Except when it doesn't.

Clear as mud, huh? It's a really interesting, and difficult, question. I would definitely say that most YA books have main characters aged between 13 and 18, and that most of them feature these characters growing as people throughout the novel. That doesn't mean they always do, and it doesn't mean that any book with these features is YA. For example, I recently read Rosalie Warren's Charity's Child, which features some great character development for the main narrator, a teenage girl whose best friend falls pregnant. However, it didn't strike me as a YA novel, perhaps because there's additional narration from the diary of an adult, the pastor at the girls' church.

MG books are generally shorter, and feature younger main characters, who are more limited in what they can do - parents will usually have more of an influence/restraint on them, for example.

I appear to have skimmed the surface of that question at best, but it's taken me a week to get to that level of clarity, so I'll move on...

M: What is it about YA fiction that makes you say YEAH?

Jim:

Perhaps because teenagers are often thought of as having a rather short attention span, authors seem much more willing to get to the point quickly! You rarely get pages of writing - however beautiful - that don't advance the plot or develop characters, and since teens are some of the most interesting people in the world, it's great to see them change over the course of a novel or series.

M: Do you think that content guidance on YA book covers is useful (e.g. age guidance)?

Jim:

I'm not overly keen, to be honest. Partly it's because the 'parental advisory' sticker seems to get slapped on as a way of trying to raise sales by looking 'edgy' some of the time, and partly it's because what's suitable for one teen at the age of 13 may not be remotely suitable for another teen until a few years down the road. I think reviewers giving some idea of what content may be unsuitable for younger teens is more useful, personally.

M: What are your top book recommendations suitable for readers age 11-14?

Jim:

Anything by Karen McCombie is wonderful, with her new one Life According To... Alice B Lovely standing out as perhaps her best!

Cathy Hopkins and Cathy Cassidy are two other authors who are really consistent when it comes to producing excellent books - my favourites for each are the Mates, Dates... books by Hopkins and Cassidy's current series, The Chocolate Box Girls.

Without wanting to be sexist, boys are more likely to find stuff they're interested in if they turn to Rick Yancey's Monstrumologist series - gory but perfect for this age group, Will Hill's epic Department 19 series, Jon Mayhew's loosely linked Mortlock novels or Darren Shan's many books.

One book which I think both boys and girls will love if they're looking for a cosy read with wonderful characters and a fabulous location is Ellie Irving's For The Record, which sees a young boy try to save his village from demolition by getting the residents to break 50 world records in a week. It's sweet, touching, and one of the most underrated books of the last few years.

M: Are there any other thoughts you’d like to contribute to this topic?

Jim:

Just that it's fabulous to be part of a wonderful community and I think if we'd had this amount of book blogs and so on available when I was a teen (which couldn't really have happened as no-one I knew had the internet!) I don't think I'd ever have stopped reading YA books! I'm sure that they would have helped me find the best of the stuff out there, and am very jealous of teens today who have so many ways to learn about great books.

****

Thanks so much for taking part in this, Jim.  And you always manage to come up with some slightly angles and different book suggestions to everybody else.