Teen/YA
What’s Lefse?
By Janie Cheaney |
The Invention of Lefse: a Christmas Story, by Larry Woiwode. Crossway, 2011, 63 pages. Age/interest level: 8 and up. “Lefse? What’s lefse?” is the epigraph ...
Read More Winter Audiobooks (and More) for Kids
By emily |
Ah, winter...Christmas parties, New Years resolutions, dashing through the snow to Grandma's house with a minivan full of sugar-crazed kids. What better time for a ...
Read More War Horse
By Janie Cheaney |
War Horse, by Michael Morpurgo. Scholastic, 2011 (originally published 1982), 192 pages. Age/interest level: 8 and up. Michael Morpurgo was already established in the UK ...
Read More POW! The Comic-Book Surge
By Janie Cheaney |
The December 21 opening of The Adventures of Tintin: the Secret of the Unicorn, should focus attention not only on the boy from Belgium ...
Read More Recommendations for Teens
By Janie Cheaney |
As reported by the L.A. Times only a week ago, “Young adult continues to be the literary world’s fastest-growing genre.” There are a lot of ...
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He’s Coming!
By Janie Cheaney |
In the fundamentalist church where I grew up, we never did advent. I never even understood what the word meant until well into my twenties, ...
Read More Salem’s curse
By Janie Cheaney |
Wicked Girls, by Stephanie Hemphill. HarperCollins, 2010, 389 pages. Young Adult Father of Lies, by Ann Turner. HarperTeen, 2011, 326 pages. Young Adult There are ...
Read More Hall of Heroes
By Janie Cheaney |
Reformation Heroes, by Diana Kleyn with Joel R. Beeke. Reformation Heritage Books, 2009, 250 pages. Age/interest level: 11-up. October 31, 2017 (only six years from ...
Read More The Pilgrim’s Progress: Introduction
By Janie Cheaney |
John Bunyan was a dissenting pastor of the mid-17th century: “dissenting” meaning that some of his biblical interpretations differed from those of the established (state-supported) ...
Read More Columbus and the Founding of our Nation
By emily |
COLUMBUS The first time I browsed through Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire's biography, Columbus, I purchased it for my kids on the spot based largely ...
Read More Autism: Fiction and Fact
By Janie Cheaney |
Marcelo in the Real World, by Francisco X Stork. Scholastic, 2009, 312 pages. Age/interest level: 14-up. Dancing With Max, by Emily Colson. Zondervan, 2010, 200 ...
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The Use and Abuse of Youth Literature
By Janie Cheaney |
Much of our coverage of “Banned Books Week” has centered on the territory known as YA, or Young Adult, which has for the last ten ...
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The Lord Saves
By emily |
The Lord Saves: A Reflection on "YA Saves" Francis Schaeffer's Insight Francis Schaeffer once wrote that in his generation, serious art required someone standing on ...
Read More Interview With Meghan Cox Gurdon
By Janie Cheaney |
Early last June, the YA publishing world was rocked by a column in the Wall Street Journal by Meg Cox Gurdon, who reviews children’s books ...
Read More Lord of Light
By Janie Cheaney |
They had guessed before that this was an island: clambering among the pink rocks, with the sea on either side, and the crystal heights of ...
Read More The Meaning of Life
By Janie Cheaney |
Where Things Come Back, by John Corey Whaley. Atheneum, 2011, 240 pages. Age-interest level: 16-up. UPDATE: Where Things Come Back has won a gold medal ...
Read More Homelanders Series by Andrew Klavan
By Janie Cheaney |
Homelanders, by Andrew Klavan. Published by Thomas Nelson in four parts: The Last Thing I Remember (2009), The Long Way Home (2010), The Truth of ...
Read More That Hideous Strength 3: Climax
By Janie Cheaney |
Previous posts: Introduction, Part One: Setup, Part Two: Development. Climax? Isn’t it a little early for that? Most of us have the idea that the ...
Read More Close to Famous by Joan Bauer
By Janie Cheaney |
Close to Famous, by Joan Bauer. Viking, 2011, 250 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, 10-12 Recommended for: ages 11-13 Bottom Line: In this feel-good middle ...
Read More Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer
By Janie Cheaney |
Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer. Speak, 2005. 208 pages Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-15 Recommended for: ages 12-16 Bottom Line: Good-hearted Jenna ...
Read More That Hideous Strength 2: Development
By Janie Cheaney |
Previous Posts: Introduction Part One: Setup Almost all the main characters have been introduced and the potential conflicts are in place. Now development: that phase ...
Read More *The Dragon’s Tooth by N. D. Wilson
By Janie Cheaney |
*The Dragon’s Tooth (Ashtown Burials, Book One), by N. D. Wilson. Random House, 2011, 482 pages. Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-15 Recommended for: ages ...
Read More That Hideous Strength 1: the Setup
By Janie Cheaney |
Beginning our first-ever Readalong: here's the Introduction. The action takes place at three fictional locations: Edgetow, a university town similar to Cambridge, but smaller; St. ...
Read More That Hideous Strength: An Introduction
By Janie Cheaney |
In the summer of 1945, George Orwell wrote a review for the Manchester Evening News, beginning, "On the whole, novels are better when there are ...
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On Eagle’s Wings
By Janie Cheaney |
Book 2 of the epic adventures of the three children who are heirs to a kingdom, sought by the Fangs of Dang, and as normal ...
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Shakespeare R Us
By Janie Cheaney |
Dallas, 1970: Storm clouds gather over the Texas prairie, where the students of a small junior college are presenting A Midsummer Night's Dream in an ...
Read More Breakpoint’s Youth Reads with Sherry Early
By emily |
Last week, Janie had the privilege of sharing radio waves with Chris Fabry on his national radio show. You can find out more about the ...
Read More God-Haunted
By Janie Cheaney |
The death of God has been announced since the beginning of time (see Ps. 14:1), but God doesn't seem to stay dead--not even with Darwinism and nihilism ...
Read More Is Historical Fiction Dead?
By Janie Cheaney |
Short answer: no, but it's showing signs of dementia. Historical fiction has one of the longest roots of any literary form. You might say that ...
Read More Free Audiobook: BBC’s Romeo and Juliet
By emily |
A few weeks ago, I wrote about Overdrive software in relation to online library rentals of audiobooks. Today Sync Audiobooks, a website that offers free ...
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The Betrayal of Maggie Blair by Elizabeth Laird
By Janie Cheaney |
The Betrayal of Maggie Blair, by Elizabeth Laird. Houghton Mifflin, 2011, 420 pages. Reading Level: Young Adult, Ages 12-15 Recommended for: Ages 14 and up ...
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*Entwined by Heather Dixon
By Janie Cheaney |
*Entwined, by Heather Dixon. Greenwillow, 2011, 472 pages. Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-15 Recommended for: Ages 12-15 Bottom Line: Entwined is a fairy-tale romance ...
Read More Enchanted: Three new fairy tales
By Janie Cheaney |
Heartless, by Anne Elisabeth Stengl. Bethany House, 2010. Age/interest level: 14-up (first in a series) Princess Una is a romantic sort, indulged by her father and ...
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Rebel by R. J. Anderson
By Janie Cheaney |
Rebel by R. J. Anderson. Enclave Publishing, Reprint edition, 2015. 308 pages. Reading Level: Young Adult, 12-15. Recommended for: Ages 12-15 Bottom Line: Rebel, a story ...
Read More Turn On the Light
By Janie Cheaney |
At least twice a year, it seems, there's a controversy blowing up in the Young-Adult book trade. The latest brouhaha began with an article in ...
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Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg
By Janie Cheaney |
Prom and Prejudice, by Elizabeth Eulberg. Point (Scholastic), 2011, 227 pages. Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-15 Recommended for: Ages 12-14 and up Bottom Line: ...
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Enthusiasm by Polly Schulman
By Janie Cheaney |
Enthusiasm, by Polly Schulman. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2006, 198 pages. Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-15 Recommended for: Ages 12-14 Bottom Line: Enthusiasm, a ...
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*The Year We Were Famous by Carole Estby Dagg
By Janie Cheaney |
*The Year We Were Famous by Carole Estby Dagg. Clarion, 2011, 241 pages with author note. Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-15 Recommended for: Ages ...
Read More The Graduate
By Janie Cheaney |
In anticipation of our interview with Dr. Veith next week (see Emily's anticipatory post), I intended to write some thoughts on life after homeschooling to ...
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Divergent by Veronica Roth
By Janie Cheaney |
Divergent, by Veronica Roth. Katherine Tegan Books (HarperCollins), 2011, 487 pages. Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-15 Recommended for: Ages 15-18 and up Bottom Line: ...
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Beautiful by Cindy Martinusen-Coloma
By Janie Cheaney |
Beautiful: Truth's Found When Beauty's Lost, by Cindy Martinusen-Coloma. Thomas Nelson, 2009, 272 pages. Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-15 Recommended for: Ages 12-14 and ...
Read More Good Christian Girls
By Janie Cheaney |
I remember when Jeanette Oke and "deliverance" stories were about the only options teenage girls had if they wanted to read some Christian fiction. The ...
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Love Will Keep Us Together by Anne Dayton
By Janie Cheaney |
Love Will Keep Us Together, by Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt. Hatchett: 2010, 287 pages. (Miracle Girls series #4) Reading Level: Young adult, ages 12-15 ...
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Becoming Me by Melody Carlson
By Janie Cheaney |
Becoming Me, by Melody Carlson. Multnomah, 2010. (Diary of a Teenage Girl series #1.) Reading Level: Young Adults, Ages 12-15 Recommended for: Ages 12-14 and up ...
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Motorcycles, Sushi, and One Strange Book by Nancy Rue
By Janie Cheaney |
Motorcycles, Sushi, and One Strange Book, by Nancy Rue. Zondervan, 2010, 211 pages. (Real Life series #1) Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ...
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The Airborn trilogy by Kenneth Oppel
By Janie Cheaney |
Airborn, by Kenneth Oppel. HarperCollins, 2004, 355 pp. Skybreaker (2007); Starclimber (2009). Reading Level: Middle grade, ages 10-12 Recommended for: Ages 10-12 and up One-line ...
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The Leviathan Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld
By Janie Cheaney |
Leviathan, by Scott Westerfield, illustrations by Keith Thompson. Simon Pulse, 2009, 434 pages plus historical note. Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-15 Recommended for: Ages ...
Read More Steampunk!
By Janie Cheaney |
Example of Clanker technology from the 1914-ish world of "Leviathan." According to Wikipedia, the term was probably coined by science-fiction writer K. W. Jeter as ...
Read More Looking For Love: The Paranormal Teen Romance
By Janie Cheaney |
Several years ago I started noticing references to a new YA novel that was enjoying sensational sales, especially among adolescent girls. As months passed, excitement ...
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Peak by Roland Smith
By Janie Cheaney |
Peak by Roland Smith. Harcourt: 2007, 246 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: Ages 10-12 and up One-line summary: Fourteen-year-old Peak Marcello's ...
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Escaping the Tiger by Laura Manivong
By Janie Cheaney |
Escaping the Tiger by Laura Manivong. HarperCollins, 2010. 210 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 12-14 Recommended for: Ages 15-18 Bottom line: The experience of ...
Read More Young Adult or Adult “Youngs”?
By Janie Cheaney |
Once upon a time there was no such thing as YA in the publishing world. That may be because there was no such thing as ...
Read More “Jane! Jane!”
By Janie Cheaney |
Few literary cries have echoed down the ages as persistently as that one: the ultimate impassioned plea from the ultimate gothic romance, which stands as ...
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‘True Grit’ and True Grace
By emily |
“Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for ...
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*The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope
By Janie Cheaney |
The Perilous Gard, by Elizabeth Marie Pope. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2001, 288. Age/interest level 12-up. Reading Level: Teens/Young Adults Recommended for: Ages 15-18 Bottom line: ...
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The Bartimaeus series by Jonathan Stroud
By Janie Cheaney |
The Bartimaeus Trilogy, by Jonathan Stroud: The Amulet of Samarkand (Hyperion/Miramax, 2003), The Golem's Eye (2004), Ptolemy's Gate (2005). Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-14 ...
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The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud
By Janie Cheaney |
The Ring of Solomon, by Jonathan Stroud. Hyperion/Disney, 2010, 398 pages. Reading level: Middle grades, 10-12 Recommended for: Ages 12-14 One-line Summary: The witty narrator ...
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Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan
By Janie Cheaney |
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, by Rick Riordan: The Lightning Thief (Hyperion/Miramax,2005), The Sea of Monsters (2006), The Titan's Curse (2007), The Battle of the ...
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The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
By Janie Cheaney |
The Book Thief, a literary novel for teens and adults, explores Nazi Germany and the Holocaust through the eyes of a child, in prose that ...
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Annexed by Sharon Dogar
By Janie Cheaney |
Annexed is the fictionalized story of Peter van Pels, Anne Frank's fellow inmate, who offers a moving account of the Holocaust for teens, but no ...
Read More Dystopia, Part Three
By Janie Cheaney |
Part One. Part Two. What's the problem with a glut of grim, futurist fiction on the YA bookshelves? Maybe nothing. Youth is resilient, and most ...
Read More Dystopia, Part Two
By Janie Cheaney |
(Find Part One here) Besides being uniformly grim, there are other traits the current crop of dystopian novels share: A post-apocalyptic future--the story opens after ...
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Dystopia: Dead Ahead
By Janie Cheaney |
Part One How's this for a scenario: In the future, the USA has been divided into thirteen districts, and the most prosperous oppresses all the ...
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