Last month, I tackled five songs that defined my teenhood. Many years have passed since I was a teenager and many things about me have evolved, including my taste in music. But somewhere in the depths of my psyche, teenage me is still hanging around, all pissed off and terrified and in awe of all […]
5 Songs That Defined My Teenhood
Because I spend most of my time writing about writing and bitching about TV shows, you wouldn’t know from this blog that I’m a massive music fan. Though I don’t follow music as closely as I used to and probably listen to more podcasts than albums these days, music has played, and continues to play, […]
YA & The Great Pop Culture Reference Debate
I love the YA community on the interwebs. Truly, I do. Twitter, Goodreads, and the blogosphere are great places to read the thoughts and opinions of many smart, fascinating, righteous folks (writers, librarians, book bloggers, teachers, etc.) who deserve your attention. They are diligently trying to make the world better which is, really, what we […]
Demographics, Passion Projects & Nicktoons: Why I Don’t Write YA “For Teens” and That’s a Good Thing
Earlier this month, Nielsen’s #KidsBookSummit caused quite an uproar on Twitter. Among other faux pas, the summit included a panel of adult YA readers who claimed they wanted to see less dystopian, more realism, and a possible name change to the genre (YAH, or young-at-heart, was suggested). Obviously I wasn’t there, I just read the […]
Unmooring Mandy from the Misogynistic Wasteland of the Late-90s
A week ago, as I was scrolling through VOD options for a movie, I stumbled upon a blip of pop culture I’d all but forgotten about—the 2004 teen comedy about Christian and non-Christian teenagers, Saved! Though neither groundbreaking nor as whip-smart as Mean Girls, Saved! is nonetheless entertaining and offers a positive message of tolerance […]
Erin Callahan 