Is Andrew Smith Sexist? (short answer: no)
I woke up this morning to find Andrew Smith, author of Grasshopper Jungle and The Alex Crow, completely eradicated from social media. A little more digging revealed the cause: he had been accused of being sexist following an interview in Vice, in which upon being asked about the lack of females in his book, he … Continue reading
5 YA novels with BRILLIANT WOMEN
To celebrate International Women’s Day, here are 5 YA novels penned by brilliant female writers with absolutely great female characters! To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before: forget the title, which exudes romance, this book is really about Lara Jean and her three sisters. The moral of the story? Being sisters isn’t always EASY but … Continue reading
Not Being the Best, or my UKYABA Declination Speech
For a long time at school, I was the best. Not because I was particularly intelligent – I am, but not off-par with my peers – but because I was relatively studious. I’m lazy, and I learned early on that if I listened to teachers and lessons the first time round, I wouldn’t have to … Continue reading
His Dark Materials Anniversary Readalong!
A His Dark Materials readalong? Why, how marvellous! I hear you think. Well, quite. This coming March, I will be joining bloggers Michelle, Jo, Laura, Andrew and Stephen to host just such a spectacular event to mark the 20th anniversary of its publication. All five of us will be leading twitter-based discussions about both the … Continue reading
The #wikiYA Challenge
How many of us use Wikipedia? Everyone, I’d hazard – and I’d go further to say everyone, everyday. Wikipedia is one of the best resources to come out of the invention of the internet. It’s literally THE BEST. It’ll pretty much tell you everything about anything. That sudden interest you developed in fluid dynamics? You’d … Continue reading