Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Books books books

So as you may remember, I'm currently studying for my MA in Creative Writing at Sheffield Hallam. My particular interest is Young Adult literature and as part of the work that I've just handed in, I was suppoosed to reflect upon literature like my own. I know lots of YA books set in the US but fewer set in the UK, and I felt like I needed to know my contemporaries. But who ARE they? So I did what any sensible person would do and asked some librarians. I have three that I will turn to, and they all came up trumps.

£100 later and here we are:


Some of these are US based and are about music, like my novel, so I got them anyway. I've started Ostrich Boys, but I got distracted by Anne of Green Gables. 

Have you read any of these? What should I read next? 

3 comments:

  1. I want to read This Is Not A Love Story, will be interested to hear your opinion. And The Art Of Being Normal has been on my watch-list for ages but it's not available at my library. Have you read Sarra Manning's Guitar Girl? It's pretty old now but it's UK YA about music. I actually haven't read it so can't comment, but I really like Adorkable, which she also wrote.

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  2. I've read James Dawson's Hollow Pike and I really enjoyed it - it's such fun, and I definitely want to read Say Her Name and/or Cruel Summer as well.

    I actually just read another of his last week, Under My Skin; I didn't enjoy that one quite as much but in fairness I probably would have done had I been its target audience (I'm not as keen on YA as you are, and I tend to veer more towards YA that has more 'crossover' appeal than Under My Skin) *and* it has a very good message about the way women are stereotyped.

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  3. I've read James Dawson's Hollow Pike and I really enjoyed it - it's such fun, and I definitely want to read Say Her Name and/or Cruel Summer as well.

    I actually just read another of his last week, Under My Skin; I didn't enjoy that one quite as much but in fairness I probably would have done had I been its target audience (I'm not as keen on YA as you are, and I tend to veer more towards YA that has more 'crossover' appeal than Under My Skin) *and* it has a very good message about the way women are stereotyped.

    ReplyDelete