Back in February, I wrote a rather long, rather ranty, rather snobby post about Syfy’s The Magicians, which is based on some of my all-time favorite books. Much to my surprise, that post has received more comments than any other post I’ve written, due, in part, to the strange fact that it can be found […]
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 […]
Sprout vs. the Fantastical Childhood Multiverse
Back in September, NPR did a piece about the premiere of Nina’s World, the first original show for children’s TV network Sprout. Before we go too far, I need to say that I’ve never watched even a single episode of the show. All I know about it is what Mandalit Del Barco told me on […]
Merry Merry, All
’Tis the season and I’m going to keep this post short because I’d like to take the time I normally spend slaving over my blog and spend it with my family instead of with my laptop. If you’re luckily enough to have a family (biological or otherwise), I suggest you get off your phone or […]
Why Nightcrawler Stuck in My Craw
Because I have an infant and rarely see movies in the theater anymore, I didn’t see Nightcrawler until a few months after it was released on Netflix. In case you haven’t seen it, the film follows the highly-motivated, thirty-something Louis Bloom as he tries to make a career for himself as a videographer who sells […]
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 […]