Excellent Reads

THE DARK WOODS is a bewitching collection of young adult short stories, ranging from science fiction and fantasy to paranormal, all featuring a lesbian heroine. This collection is part of Project Unicorn , a fiction project that seeks to address the near nonexistence of lesbian main characters in young adult fiction by giving them their own stories. Stories by Sarah Diemer Witch Girls (Dark Fantasy): The wild witch girls lurk at the edge of the woods, waiting to snatch away any girl who’s less than good. Gran’s warnings are the same every day: be good, or the witch girls will take you. But what if you want to be taken? Witch Girls is my favorite of Sarah’s contributions. The warning about the witch girls only made me want to be one of them. Surfacing (Fantasy): When Alice’s brother John takes a mermaid out of the sea and drags her into the woods to die, Alice must find the courage to stand up to the worst bully she’s ever known in order to save a life. This was a sad but wonderful st...

Dangerous promises and beguiling threats swirl together in a dozen stories of enchantments dark and light by New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr. Uncanny and unexpected creatures appear from behind bushes, rise from beneath the seas, or manifest from seasonal storms to pursue the objects of their attention—with amorous or sinister intent—relentlessly. From the gentle tones of a storyteller’s cadences to the terror of a blood sacrifice, tales of favorite characters from Marr’s Wicked Lovely novels mix with accounts of new characters for readers to fall in love with...or to fear. Lush, seductive, and chilling, Melissa Marr’s stories revel in the unseen magic that infuses the world as we know it. I am a huge fan of everything Melissa Marr has done. I think, regardless of premise, I will read it and love it. She is a fantastic story-teller, and her use of folklore is amazing. Faery Tales & Nightmares is an anthology, so for this review, I will spend a bit of time on each sto...

You are not alone Discover how Lauren Kate transformed the feeling of that one mean girl getting under her skin into her first novel, how Lauren Oliver learned to celebrate ambiguity in her classmates and in herself, and how R.L. Stine turned being the “funny guy” into the best defense against the bullies in his class. Today’s top authors for teens come together to share their stories about bullying—as silent observers on the sidelines of high school, as victims, and as perpetrators—in a collection at turns moving and self-effacing, but always deeply personal. Bullying is something that, as most of you probably know, starts before kindergarten and doesn’t necessarily stop. Bullies can be small children or grow adults. They can be male or female. And their reason for bullying… unfortunately, they don’t really need one. It seems to be a sport for some. I’m overweight. I always have been. I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t trying to lose weight. I never starved myself. The fact is… I ...