Narrator Ron Butler takes us into the mind of 16-year-old Nate Bird. Nate’s still hung up on Florence, his best friend and former girlfriend. When his childhood friend Oliver James moves back to the neighborhood, Nate’s feelings become even more confused. Ollie, who is deaf, communicates with Nate through a combination of speech/lip reading, sign language, and typing on their phones, and Butler uses an effective halting delivery to convey when they’re reading that text. Butler gives slight accents to Ollie and his mother, Mrs. Hernández, and uses subtle variations in tone to differentiate among Nate’s diverse group of friends. His sympathetic narration carries listeners along as Nate tries to figure out what, and who, he’s willing to take a chance on. J.M.D. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Movies have their Oscars and music has its Grammys, but the biggest day for queer lit across all categories is the announcement of the Lammy nominees, i.e., finalists for the Lambda Awards for Literature. This year’s YA Lammy finalists, announced today, are some truly beautiful works of art spanning the queer experience, from stories of […]
We’re closing out another year of fabulous YA lit, full of breakout debuts, devastating contemporary, series starters that left us breathless, mega huggable romcoms, intoxicating fantasy visions, and more more more! Here are fifty of the YA books we can’t/won’t/don’t stop talking about in 2018.
We asked 17 of our favorite YA authors to help us navigate this year’s crop of brilliant YA books. Here are just a few of their personal must-reads…
For those living in a post-holiday winter wonderland, daily life can be a drag: Cold weather. Reduced daylight hours. Impending blizzards. Reading at the beach or the park is out, but the good news is you can curl up with a hot water bottle, some hot chocolate, and a book, and chase those winter blues […]
Like so many other readers, I’m a sucker for romance. Give it to me with drama and angst or sweetness and banter! Start them off as the best of friends or the worst of enemies! Slow-burn or insta-lust, brand new or a second chance, I’m here for it all and psyched to rec some of […]