Book Review: Sammy Keyes and the Killer Cruise by Wendelin Van Draanen

Title: Sammy Keyes and the Killer Cruise Author: Wendelin Van Draanen Genre: MG/YA Mystery Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Release Date: September 10, 2013 This review contains spoilers for those who have not read Sammy Keyes and the Showdown in Sin City. Today, I bring you my thoughts on the second-to-last installment of a favorite series from my childhood, Sammy Keyes....

Read More

Book Review: The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: The Dream Thieves Author: Maggie Stiefvater Genre: Fantasy Publisher: Scholastic Press Release Date: September 17, 2013 Thanks to Christina for letting me read over her shoulder!  Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams,...

Read More

Book Review: Sailor Moon Short Stories 1

Title: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Short Stories 1 Author: Naoko Takeuchi Genre: Magical girl shoujo Publisher: Kodansha Comics USA Release Date: September 10, 2013 In this first of two collections of short stories, we find our favorite Sailor Guardians and their friends encountering new mysteries, enemies, allies, and once more saving the day. After the daughter of...

Read More

Book Review: The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson

Title: The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson Publisher: Greenwillow Books Genre: Fantasy Publication Date: September 18, 2012 She does not know what awaits her at the enemy's gate.Elisa is a hero. She led her people to victory over a terrifying, sorcerous army. Her place as the country's ruler should be secure. But it isn't. Her enemies come at her like ghosts in a dream,...

Read More

Book Discussion: Is YA a Genre or Demographic?

About a week and a half ago, I posted about age in YA & NA. While researching for that post, I found a delightful(ly hilarious) and informative post that addressed 25 (actually 28, now) Things You Should Know About Young Adult Fiction. The first point—young adult is a demographic, not a genre—got me thinking about what would eventually become this post:. Huh? I thought. This is interesting. Interesting, because I had never really considered...

Read More

Unexpected Delay m(,_,)m

I'm so sorry, guys, but I'm going to have to postpone this week's book discussion post due to some reasons. However, you can tune in next Monday for a fascinating post called "Young Adult: Genre or Demographic?" This short break will give me more time to research the post for one, which is great, and to write its follow-up, which will be wonderful. It should be noted that the next couple weeks will be light on the posts, down to just two a week (Mondays...

Read More

This Week's Obsessions Part 2

Welcome to This Week's Obsessions, where I tell you about the things I've been obsessing over this past week. These obsessions are not necessarily book-related, but you may find some of these things as cool as I did! Then, we can obsess about this stuff together! Doesn't that sound like fun? - | - | - | - 1. Doug Baltz's Best Travel Photos Board on Pinterest I have...

Read More

WCIT: Pacing in Sailor Moon, vol. 12

Welcome to What Can I Take (WCIT) Thursdays, a feature dedicated to looking at our favorite books for tips we writers can take to improve our own writing (or at least get some hints to address those trouble spots).  - | - | - | - This WCIT will focus more on what not to do with pacing, as I think those are just as important as what to do, and, as you know from my Tuesday review of volume 12 of the Sailor Moon manga, my biggest problem...

Read More

What's in an age?: Young Adult vs. New Adult

In honor of my 22nd birthday, I decided to look at a topic that has been of considerable interest to me pretty much all of my life, but especially since I took this Children's Literature class in college: age in YA. When you ask the question, what is YA?, most definitions list an age range for the book's protagonist. Here's a quick sample from an article that asks several publishers what their definitions for middle grade and young adult are: “I...

Read More

Book Review: Sailor Moon vol. 12

Title: Sailor Moon, vol. 12 Author: Naoko Takeuchi Genre: Magical girl Publisher: Kodansha Comics USA ~ 'In the name of the moon, I will punish you!' ~ You were probably wondering why that news about the 20th Anniversary Sailor Moon anime I mentioned yesterday was relevant. Well, here's why! This week's book is the final volume of the newly re-translated Sailor Moon...

Read More

Many Apologies + Some Exciting News

Hey, guys. Due to the obscene amount of time I've been putting in at my part-time job lately, I haven't been able to quite finish my review for this week (it's on Sailor Moon!) Thus, this review will be pushed to Tuesday. I apologize for any inconvenience or disappointment this may have caused. To cheer you up, I will direct you to some exciting, not book-related, but relevant nonetheless, news: the new Sailor Moon anime has been confirmed to begin...

Read More

This Week's Obsessions: Part 1

So, in previous renditions of my blog, I had a Friday feature called, you guessed it, This Week's Obsessions, TWOs for short, in which I, you guessed it, obsessed in public over the things I'd been obsessing over in private all week. These obsessions are not necessarily book-related, but I decided to keep this feature, because it's really fun to write, and you get to see a...

Read More

WCIT: Voice in The 5th Wave

Welcome to What Can I Take (WCIT) Thursdays, a feature dedicated to looking at our favorite books for tips we writers can take to improve our own writing (or at least get some hints to address those trouble spots).  - | - | - | - We begin with Rick Yancey's The 5th Wave, of which, as I mentioned in my review of the book on Monday, my favorite part was the writing. Absolutely gorgeous, poetic, and a true delight to read. But, in addition...

Read More

Book Review: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Title: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey Publisher: Putnam Juvenile Genre: Sci-Fi Publication Date: May 7, 2013 After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.Now, it's the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs...

Read More

Welcome to You Know!

Hello, and welcome to You Know What I Mean, Right? (You Know, for short), a new kind of book blog! I'm Lo, your host on what I hope will prove to be a long, crazy, and fun journey all about YA (and the occasional diversion). You can find out more information than you ever wanted to know about me or my blog on the About Me and About Blog pages listed above, but I'll give you a short introduction to both anyway. I am recent college grad, who loves...

Read More