teen – Page 2 – ACHUKA Children's Books UK

YA Conference in Dublin This Weekend

October 20, 2015 By achuka Leave a Comment

Some of the best-known figures of the literary world will gather this weekend at Smock Alley Theatre, in Dublin, for DeptCon1, a conference that celebrates and interrogates young adult (YA) fiction.
YA fiction is the largest-growing genre in contemporary fiction, accounting for almost 30 per cent of the children’s book market, according to Eason, which is organising DeptCon1. However, despite the variety of novels directed at their age group, it can be difficult to get teenagers to turn off their smartphones and pick up a book.
Elaina Ryan, director of Children’s Books Ireland, says the biggest challenge facing parents, teachers and librarians trying to encourage teenagers to read is “competition for time. When [young readers] are making the transition from primary to secondary school, all of a sudden they have much greater access to sports and clubs, the internet and screen time, and this means there are a lot more activities for them to choose from in their leisure time.

via Read it and weep: how teenagers relate to the books written for them.

Lizzie Skurnick: a passion for Young Adult fiction

September 4, 2015 By achuka Leave a Comment

Skurnick didn’t set out to bring-much loved and long-forgotten children’s books back into print. “I was hoping someone else would do it – it was very naive of me.” While writing Shelf Discovery, she began posting old book covers to her Facebook page, sparking conversations about the books and their authors. Ig Publishing, which reprints “overlooked” fiction and politics books, contacted Skurnick and asked if she wanted to spearhead a Young Adult reprint series. The idea attracted the attention of big-name children’s authors like Lois Duncan and Judy Blume, who wrote some forewords for the new editions.

Duncan’s 1958 novel Debutante Hill was the first title rereleased under Skurnick’s imprint in 2013. The book and the venture it launched were met with considerable interest in publishing circles and unbridled excitement among YA fans now in their 30s and 40s – the press even operates a subscription service for readers who don’t want to miss any titles. From the start, however, Skurnick has insisted that the appeal of these books is stronger than mere nostalgia, and that they still have plenty to say to today’s tweens and teens.

“As kids we were really lucky because we could sit in a store or the library and look through books,” Skurnick says. Early YA publishing was a high-volume, serendipitous business of “slam-bam-thank-you ma’am” editions. Even the capacious internet can’t quite recover all the ephemeral details.

via Lizzie Skurnick: a passion for Young Adult fiction | Books | The Guardian.

Why there are no taboos in Scandinavian children’s books

August 26, 2015 By achuka Leave a Comment

In Scandinavia there are no taboos when it comes to writing, even for children and young people. Books for teens exploring sexuality with explicit language are not censored. It’s so normal for us. There is nothing I can’t cover as a teen writer and I know my publisher would stand by me no matter what.

Here are a couple of examples to explain what I mean. The book Fittekvote by Axel Hellstenius and Morten Skårdal, about young girls in the military, won a literature prize in 2011. It would be called “Cunt Quota” if translated into English.

Another book, Tjuven (“The Thief”) by Rune Belsvik, is aimed at children around eight years old. In it, the main character, Jolver, learns how to masturbate from his friend Bob. The friend tells him how it’s good to touch yourself while looking at naked women in a magazine. I can’t quite see this happening in the UK… yet.

… …

In Scandinavia, and in Norway in particular, it’s possible to make a living as a YA author, even if you aren’t a bestseller. It’s OK to write a debut novel, fail and still get another chance. My debut book was published in 1998 – it was a decent debut, promising, said the critics. The most inspiring sentence was, as I still recall it: “Ingelin Røssland has written her first novel but it will not be the last”. I took it as a sign that I had potential to grow and improve. So I kept on writing and book by book I reached out to more young readers.

In 2006 and 2007 I started to win awards and my books started to be translated, first into German, then French and now, with Minus Me, in English. To be published in English feels like a miracle, but in reality it is hard work. Having a publisher that believed in me really helped, letting me write the books that I felt I needed to write, not what the market wanted. This has been a huge privilege for me and many other Norwegian writers such as Jostein Gaarder, who wrote the bestseller Sophie’s World, Johan Harstad, who wrote the brilliant sci-fi/horror novel 172 Hours on the Moon and Lene Ask, whose beautiful graphic novel Dear Richard was recently published in English.

via Why there are no taboos in Scandinavian children’s books | Children’s books | The Guardian.

ACHUKAreview; Fire Colour One by Jenny Valentine

July 21, 2015 By achuka Leave a Comment

This is SO good! Absolutely up my street. An economically written YA novel with wryly observed characters and an original storyline that is emotionally engaging to a degree that more overblown, in-your-face writing can never reach.
I want Wes Anderson to discover it and make a movie of it.

Read the rest of the review >

http://www.achuka.co.uk/reviews/?p=589

Selfies, sex and body image – the revolution in books for teenage girls

June 21, 2015 By achuka Leave a Comment

fro a big piece by Sarah Hughes in today’s Observer:

[Louise O’Neill’s Only Ever Yors] was shortlisted for both this year’s Waterstones children’s book prize and the Children’s Books Ireland book of the year and won the inaugural Young Adult book prize while the Irish Book Awards named O’Neill newcomer of the year. In the US it sold out on pre-order and was reprinted before its publication in May. Small wonder then that her publisher Quercus, convinced of the book’s crossover appeal, will bring out an adult edition on 2 July, an honour previously bestowed on the bestselling likes of JK Rowling and Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games.

“I’m trying not to get too caught up in it all,” O’Neill says. “I’m really grateful that people understand the work and the message I’m trying to put across because I felt passionately that we needed to talk about the way in which we view women’s bodies. We spend our lives looking at images of 6ft tall, size six Victoria’s Secret models and our self-esteem and self-worth starts to dip.

Of the women I know, only three or four aren’t affected in some way by the idea they should look a certain way
“I’d say that of the women I know only three or four aren’t affected in some way by the idea that they should look a certain way. Many women make a correlation between moral worth and weight and I really wanted to explore that. I didn’t set out to write a young adult novel when I wrote Only Ever Yours but I was in a way writing for myself at 16.”

That willingness to tackle dark and difficult themes – her second novel, the brilliant, harrowing Asking For It, due out 3 September, is set in present day Ireland (O’Neill is from the small town of Clonakilty in Co Cork) and focuses on a rape at a party – has placed O’Neill at the forefront of a young adult publishing revolution. For it’s not just that young adult novels are among the most popular genre in publishing (and read by teenagers and adults of both sexes alike), it’s that increasingly they are tackling important issues with honesty, humour and a steely precision that other supposedly more serious novels frequently lack.

via Selfies, sex and body image – the revolution in books for teenage girls | Books | The Guardian.

New YALC authors announced

April 16, 2015 By achuka Leave a Comment

Booktrust has announced 13 new authors appearing at this year’s Young Adult Literature Convention (YALC). They include Darren Shan, Sally Green, Kevin Brooks, James Dawson, Samantha Shannon and Amy Alward.

The convention will, as last year, run in tandem with the London Film and Comic Con, from 17-19 July at Olympia, London.

via New YALC authors announced | The Bookseller.

Observer Review : Teenage Fiction

April 14, 2015 By achuka Leave a Comment

Geraldine Bfrennan reviewed teeenage fiction in The Observer on Sunday. Books she picked out for review were:

Jessica’s Ghost by Andrew Norriss (David Fickling Books £10.99)
“Its contemplation of the isolation of artists and the true nature of popularity will appeal to a wide age range.”

Night Runner by Tim Bowler (Oxford University Press £6.99).
“The narrative rockets along like one of Zinny’s routes through the mean streets in the small hours, helped by Tim Bowler’s superb descriptive powers.”

What Was Never Said by Emma Craigie (Short Books £7.99)
“Has the momentum of a thriller although there will be no neat resolution for the two sisters fleeing their home in heartbreaking circumstances to escape female genital mutilation.”

True Face by Siobhan Curham (Faber £6.99)
“[Packs] an entire self-help shelf into a slim, approachable, attractively packaged volume that encourages love and acceptance for the real self lurking behind chirpy Facebook updates and sext-spk.”

Geek Girl: All That Glitters by Holly Smale (HarperCollins £12.99).
“A succession of misunderstandings and tragicomic scrapes (including the most spectacular failed party ever) offset the inner Harriet’s turmoil as she reveals her true self in her heartfelt letters to her lost love.”

Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda byBecky Albertalli (Penguin £7.99)
“This tender, witty tale normalises Simon’s experience and shows him as completely lovable, with bags of empathy left over to share with Harriet, or anyone who needs it.”

Full reviews at Fiction for teenagers – reviews | Books | The Guardian.

Teen opinion: My top five YA book and music combos

March 23, 2015 By achuka Leave a Comment

Teen opinion: My top five YA book and music combos, by Guardian Children’s Books blogger ShadowKissedHannah

Follow the link to the fullpiece for YouTube videos of all the music:

1. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer trilogy by Michelle Hodkin – No One’s Here To Sleep by Naughty Boy Ft Bastille

When I first heard this song, the first thing I noticed was the haunting, almost sad tone to the lyrics and notes played, but even then this song is quietly powerful and captured me from the first beat. I feel this song links to the UOMD trilogy by Michelle Hodkin as both the trilogy and the song are underlined with desperation and a dumbfounding weight of emotion; the feeling of not being able to escape a fate bigger and badder than you could have ever imagined and realizing that it doesn’t matter how hard you try to hide your feelings or issues, that they’ll always find you in the end.

2. Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead – The Wire by Haim

If you haven’t read the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead yet (shame on you! Joking, but this series is one of my top few favorite series EVER and you all should go and read them right now!), you may want to dodge this recommendation as spoilers! I do not want to be the cause of such a crime as spoiling someone of a book! SPOILERS FROM HERE. DO NOT READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. I feel like this song can be heavily linked to the last book in the Vampire Academy series, Last Sacrifice, as I feel like this would be the song Rose would make Adrian listen to instead of her awful excuse of why she cheated on him with Dimitri. I may love Rose and Dimitri together with all my heart, but what she did was wrong and her explanation was not good at all. This song manages to convey all of Rose’s reasoning and emotions about the “I SLEPT WITH DIMITRI WHEN WE WERE STILL TOGETHER BUT I WANT YOU TO BE HAPPY FOR ME” section of the book, but it also puts across Roses resilience about how Adrian will find love again and be happy: “I just know I know I know I know that you’re going to be okay anyway”.

3. The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare – Run This Town by Jay Z, Rihanna and Kanye West

I love to make fan-videos on youtube and I found the most perfect video using clips from the sadly failing City of Bones film with RTT in the background. Let me just say my fangirl heart soared as the two go perfectly together and ever since that moment I’ve always, and I mean always, related that song to the series. The strong and determined beat of the song and the lyrics (“Feeling it coming in the air, hear their screams from everywhere, I’m addicted to the thrill, of this dangerous love affair. Can’t be scared when it goes down, got a problem tell me now. Only thing what’s on my mind, who’s gonna run this town tonight?”) are both almost a direct translation from the books into song form, and it is obviously one of the most bad-ass songs I’ve ever listened too and never fails to get me pumped up, as if I was going into battle and could do back flips and stuff like that. Obviously I can do all those things now *coughs loudly* but that doesn’t mean I still don’t need awesome songs to help me!

4. Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas – Mercy by Hurts

Throne of Glass is one of the best YA fantasy sagas out there at the moment, and is packed with ALL of the feels. Mercy is such an emotive song, and links to Celaena’s character through the lyrics (lead me in chains, fill me with rage) and the conquering beat of the song sounds almost like a battle mantra. This song was yet again found through a fan video (a pretty amazing Teen Wolf one which you should ALL watch) and right from the moment I heard it I knew this song was for only the beautiful and bad-ass- meaning perfect for Celaena!

5. Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter – Problem by Natalia Kills

For such an amazing trilogy, Gena Showalter’s White Rabbit Chronicles have hardly any hype surrounding them, which seems terribly unfair as this series is everything you could really want in a paranormal YA, and had me salivating for more as soon as I shut the last page. Ali Bell is a heroine born from grief and a burning vendetta, and learns that to be a bad-ass all you need to do is believe in the power you have inside of you, and never let anybody persuade you otherwise. Of course there is an extremely attractive male specimen who our Ali comes into contact with *sniggers*, and I feel the relationship between said specimen (his name is Cole) and Ali can be described with the lyrics of Natalia Kills’ song Problem. Ali is our good girl who is swayed to the darker side of life through a really bad thing which happens at the start of the book which I won’t explain as, well, spoilers, and Cole’s tempting purple eyes. Ali and Cole are a couple who are very, very hot together, but many others aren’t too sure of their relationship. They’re very problematic and sometimes down right rude to each other, but there’s definitely chemistry, and definitely some other emotions entwined in there.

via Teen opinion: My top five YA book and music combos | Children’s books | The Guardian.