Dystopias: YA Fad, or Here to Stay?
Dystopic fiction is nothing new. According the Oxford English Dictionary, the word was first used (created of his own free will) by philosopher John Stuart Mill in 1868. Mill used the word in a speech to the British House of Commons, denouncing the Irish Land Act (“What is commonly called Utopian is something too good to be practicable; but what they appear to favour is too bad to be practicable.”). Since then, dystopias have become a staple in fiction, cycling through literary,...
Read MoreBaby Food 101: Baingan Bharta
For me, vegetarianism is easy. Not only do I like vegetables, I like meat-free food. Even before my journey into vegetable love, I regularly skipped meat, eating out and at home. Vegetable love doesn’t come as easily to my husband, but he sticks to his principles all the same. Yet Joe and I had the luxury of deciding to go veg ourselves–Mir does not…[read more @ The...
Read MoreHas The Internet Killed Professional Book Reviews?
Book reviewing is big business–at least, it used to be. Publishers clamored to get their authors reviewed in big name papers (New York Times, anyone? Chicago Tribune?). Authors crowed over a spot in the now defunct Kirkus. Yet new book review blogs pop every day, and several niche review sites, such as Bookslut and Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, have a large core of dedicated readers. Book reviews have been around as long as, well, books. Back when Ancient Egyptians and Phoenicians were...
Read MoreHolidays: 5 Kids’ Books About Valentine’s Day
Missing Valentine’s Day already? Keep the love going with these few sweet picks from the kids’ staff at the Harvard Coop Bookstore. Get a PDF of the whole list here. Love, Splat (Splat the Cat), Rob Scotton From SLJ: In this follow-up to Splat the Cat (HarperCollins, 2008), the fuzzy black feline learns that bigger isn’t better when it comes to Valentine’s Day cards. Splat has a crush on Kitten, a fluffy white cat with pea-green eyes, but he isn’t the only one....
Read MoreYA Market: If Teens Aren’t Tweeting, Why Are We?
Authors should blog. Authors should get on Facebook and set up fan pages. Authors should tweet. And many YA authors do, setting up themed blogs, tweeting their favorite books, putting up book trailers and extra content. But just who is the content reaching? According to a recent study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, teen blogging and tweeting are down. Interestingly, the researchers list teens as 12 – 17 years old and young adults as the 18 – 29 set. Key facts from...
Read MoreHaagen Dazs Offers Indians An Icy Reception
I don’t eat ice cream – not much, anyway. Every now and then, though, I splurge on a cone of the good stuff, lactose intolerance be damned. And, until recently, my cone of choice was Haagen-Dazs. Founded in 1961, Haagen-Dazs is an ice cream institution. There’s an ice cream bar in every mall, and burgundy-gold cartons line the freezer shelves of every store, Walmart and local market alike. With 58 permanent flavors and regional offerings (Azuki in Japan, Green Tea throughout Asia and the...
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