David Maybury | Blog

Some bad news folks. One of the greatest writers of magic in the world, Diana Wynne Jones, is very ill.

DWJ has stopped chemotherapy treatments and doctors have predicted months rather than years. From what I’ve read/heard the treatments are making her very sick and Diana has decided to stop them and face what comes.

Diana is THE reason I write the type of stories I do. Chrestomaci’s nine lives was my beginning and it has been a whirlwind, lifelong affair since. Thoughts are with her family and friends who are seeing her. You can send wishes/thoughts and match boxes by email which are printed and delivered reguarly.

The blog has hit a milestone. This post marks the 1000th entry on the site!

1000 posts about books (and other things) with 3,262 comments from YOU (thank you!)

May was the sixth month that the site reached 20,000 unique visitors and elsewhere the number of twitter folk reading reached 1000.  (It’s been a busy week, huh?!?)

Thanks to all of you who read/comment and make it interesting. At the risk of starting to sound like a bad Oscar speech – thanks to CBI (Mags, Tom, Jenny, Jane, Sarah, Oisín, Liz, Patricia and the many passionate folk who are involved in Irish kids books) for pushing me.

Other fun one thousands:

Franklin Ace 1000

€1000

House of 1000 Corpses

Sid Fleischman – Newbury Medal winning author and founding SCBWI member – passed away earlier this month.

Humor is the oxygen of children’s literature. There’s a lot of competition for children’s time, but even kids who hate to read want to read a funny book.

More over in the Washington Post.

Dublin became a quieter place last week – with the loss of Deirdre Hamilton.

Born in Dublin in 1920, she was the youngest of five children of William Abraham Sinclair and his wife Frances (née Beckett). When she was a child the family moved to Kassel in Germany. She enjoyed her years there, but with the rise of Hitler it was no longer a safe place for a family headed by a Jewish father. In 1933 the Sinclairs returned to Ireland. – Irish Times

Deirdre was inspiring – passionate and vibrant – and someone who didn’t know the meaning of growing old. She was a close friend and will be missed by us all. x

iBbY Ireland are hosting a night with Eoin Colfer and PJ Lynch tomorrow at 6pm (Wednesday, 10 March) to honour the buckos as nominees for the Hans Christian Andersen Awards 2010.

Both Eoin and PJ will give a short presentation on their work as well as taking questions, chatting to folks and to introduce the iBbY Honour Book Nominees for 2010 Mary Finn, Treasa Ní Bhrua, Áine Ní Ghlinn and Andrew Whitson.

Proceeds from the night go to iBbY Haiti’s Children in Crisis fund. (Find out more here)

JK Rowling is in the centre of anther plagiarism row – originally started back in 2004. The Guardian and Times UK report this morning that Adrian Jacob’s estate are taking Bloombury to task for plagiarism.

The complaint claims that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire copied substantial parts of Jacobs’ 1987 book The Adventures of Willy the Wizard – No 1 Livid Land. And that many other ideas from Willy the Wizard were copied into the Harry Potter series.

Bloomsbury have already said that the allegations are unfounded, unsubstantiated and untrue. And that an intital approach was made to the company in 2004 but was unable to identify any text in the series that copied from Willy the Wizard.

There’s no accounting for taste; my twelve-year-old self knew it – after spending nearly twelve months reading everything Alexandre Dumas ever penned.

This was irresistable:

A leading academic has cast doubt on how much of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo [Dumas] actually penned. A new film will also suggest they were largely written by an unsung assistant.

The Telegraph UK has more.

Some not-so-happy news from the book world.

Mercier Press (the folks who are publishing my book) have released a brief statement to say they have been forced to cancel and postpone several of their upcoming children’s and literary titles due to a reduction in Arts Council funding.

Regrettably, several literary and children’s projects have been cancelled or postponed at Mercier due to a 40% cut from The Arts Council. – Mercier Press

Unfortuanetly that includes me – with a postponement into late 2011, and possibly beyond.

Irish Publishing News has an interview with Clodagh Feehan, Mercier Press MD, and more about the effects from the Arts Council budgets.

Atom (the Little, Brown imprint) is going mainstream – expanding its Young Adult reach and publishing more books. The new list won’t be limited to the vampires and werewolves. (Is this the beginning of the end for paranormal romances?)

Atom are actively looking for books to expand the list beyond the supernatural – though they haven’t bought anything yet.

We are certainly looking to grow—we are definitely open to different types of authors and publishing. Our only focus is that we are still looking very much towards YA, those older readers. It’s great because there is a lot of enthusiasm behind it. It’s all about the writing—I would hate to have to say I can’t take a wonderful book because we’ve reached our quota. – Sam Smith, Atom.

Interestingly – the Bookseller reports that: “Smith acknowledged concerns about saturation of the YA supernatural market, saying Atom’s editors had to be “very careful about what we acquire”

Apologies for the terrible pun riddled title (blatantly stolen)

JD Salinger – author of that ‘unusually brilliant first novel’ has died, aged 91.

Salinger, best known for Catcher in the Rye and its protagonist Holden Caufield, has avoided media attention and shied away from publicity. The mystery around its author and the dejected and morose Caufield have made Catcher a right of passage for generations of teenagers.

I was half in love with her by the time we sat down. That’s the thing about girls. Every time they do something pretty, even if they’re not much to look at, or even if they’re sort of stupid, you fall half in love with them, and then you never know where the hell you are. Girls. Jesus Christ. They can drive you crazy. They really can.

Guardian Obituary is here.

UPDATE: I’ll be on Sean Moncrieff’s Newstalk show later today (2.30) talking about Salinger and Catcher’s influence.

iBbY have been running their Children in Crisis Fund scheme since 2007 – in the wake of the Tsunami Appeal. Last year they started a project in Haiti after storms collapsed a school, killing many children.

Now, in the wake of Tuesays earthquake, iBbY Haiti could use your help more than ever.

Full details of the work that iBby have been conducting in Haiti are available here.

Click for more details on how you can donate to the fund.

Just read the news of Susan Einzigs passing at achockablog and the Guardian.

Painter and illustrator Susan Einzig, best known for her cover illustration of Tom’s Midnight Garden, has died aged 87.

Stephenie Meyer died yesterday – or at least she did on the internet… The rumours of Meyers death are, of course, greatly exaggerated but the gossip mills were only put to rest after a statement from her agent:

I just received a call from Stephenie and she wanted me to let everyone know that, contrary to some rumors that have recently started circulating, she is alive and well.

Apparently celebrities get killed off in gossip all the time… How about we start a rumour about one of our own? Derek Landy maybe??

MTV have the scoop.

It’s official folks – comics are good for you. So say the folks in the Telegraph, School Library Monthly and researching boffins from the University of Illinois anyway. Time for a thought out and well timed quote I think:

Consider how the pictures and words work together to tell a story, you can make the case that comics are just as complex as any other kind of literature.

And, as if you needed more proof that comics are indeed good for you, the Miami International Book Fair has increased its comics programming – including David Small, Laurie Sandell, Tim Hamilton, Brian Fies, Neil Kleid, Marisa Acocella Marchetto, James Sturm, Carol Tyler, Dan Goldman and Alex Simmons.

Now for something completely different…

Waterstones got a bit of a pounding last week by Stuart Jeffries. The piece pulled no punches – starting with its headline: How Waterstone’s killed publishing and went on in that vein for just about 6 pages…

So the argument goes: in going big, Waterstone’s lost its soul. – Stuart Jeffries.

The Bookseller drafted in Scott Pack (The Friday Project) to write a response – and the result is… close to brilliant. Pack has no qualm slapping some home truths to the ‘fusty old Edwardian bonnet’ that Jeffries wears.

And then it was Waterstone’s turn…

Our sponsorship of the children’s laureate has helped Michael Rosen, Jacqueline Wilson and Anthony Browne champion kids’ books to the nation, and our children’s book prize turns new writers into bestselling authors every year…

…our stores have sold over 400,000 different titles in the last year. Books were the reason the company started, and remain the core of our business…

…it is for booksellers, publishers, writers and readers to shape the industry.

A bit of a storm in a teacup really – but great to see some discussion on bookselling and industry standards – as Scott Pack put it:

It is all a question of balance and Waterstone’s tends to get that right. If they don’t then their customers will vote with their feet and their wallets, in which case Waterstone’s will respond accordingly.

Sorry for the radio silence yesterday folks – I’ve managed to get myself quarantined (read house/bed bound) with a chest infection and a swine-flu scare. Plenty of news from last week and yesterday – I’ll have it all up in a jiffy.

So. How are you?

Irish Times and Morning Ireland both have reports of a new study into the health and well-being among children in Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales.

And Ireland has come out trumps with the youff* telling us that their childhoods are healthier and happier than in neighbouring countries.

In Ireland children are more likely to exercise vigorously, live with both parents and be satisfied with life in general. (Young people in Ireland do not drink alcohol as regularly as their counterparts and are less likely to be on a diet or to report feeling low.)

Click for Saoirse NicGabhainn, NUI Galway, getting a grilling on Morning Ireland – including the brilliant question put forward, ‘and do you believe them?’

*Mandatory use of youff representative image, Tom.

On the back of his great talk at Offset 2009 PJ Lynch is back.

This time PJ will be talking at The National Print Museum in Dublin, exploring the definitions of art and illustration in his lecture Illustration: The Cinderella Artform.

This is one ye really shouldn’t miss – so consider yerself booked on Thursday, 3 December. Admission is free and there will plenty of talk, fun and who knows… maybe even some learning.

I’m not sure how these snippets came to be on my desk but here they are:

Apparently Dunnes Stores have brought in a new book supplier. Webbs World (based in the UK) has, until now, dealt mostly in supplying children’s titles to garden centres, Heatons and the World of Wonder shops around Ireland. (I kid you not, garden centres!)

The folks at Webbs World are looking to expand their list – but any smart, enterprising and savvy heads out there would be getting in touch quick. (The man you would be looking to talk to is Roger Stanley, Senior Book Buyer)

Elsewhere – Puffin UK have managed to scoop up the rights to David Almond’s new book. The True Tale of the Monster Billy Dean (out in 2011) will be a crossover children’s and adult book (influenced by Edward Scissorhands and A Clockwork Orange).

I’m not too sure if having a new home will affect Almond’s writing or not (surely not) but I’m impatiently looking forward to getting my hands on a copy when it hits the shelves! (Has anyone else read Clay? Or Heaven Eyes? Or Skellig? Or Kit’s Wilderness? Or… you get the idea)

***STOP PRESSES*** Some news updates from this mornin’

Storyteller Taffy Thomas has been named the UK’s first laureate for storytelling. Taffy’s tenure will kick off in January 2010 (National Storytelling Week) for 2 years no less!Alison Flood in the Guardian has more.

Sebastian Barry, Deirdre Madden, David Parks and Joseph O’Neill are all named on the 2009 International Impac Dublin Literary Award longlist. One of the judges this year is Anne Fine (of Carnegie, Whitbread, Guardian Children’s Prize and Smartie award fame) Click for more.

CBBC’s Blue Peter Book Awards 2010 have announced their shortlist – Frank Cottrell Boyce, Harriet Goodwin , Ali Sparkes, Daren King, Emily Gravett and Guy Bass are all featured. Fun!

A quick read through the weekends papers – with as much as I could find about children’s lit, writing and bits…

Starting at home – the Irish Times have an anonymous review (I can’t find a byline) of Blood Upon the Rose: Easter 1916, The Rebellion that Set Ireland Free (snappy title!). And with the launch earlier in the week of Campaign for the Arts, Gerry Godley gives us the Five ways culture can save us…

Even four or five years ago, we were lucky to have one shop that did graphic novels, whereas now, 20 of our largest stores have spinner stands, and O’Connell Street now has a shrine, a whole area dedicated to graphic novels, and it’s just growing and growing. It has become cool. If you were sitting on a bus reading Batman 10 years ago you’d have been sniggered at, whereas now if you’re reading it, it’s pretty cool . . . There’s no shame in it. Ten years ago you’d be called a saddo, but now you see men in business suits, everyone delving in. – David O’Callaghan, of Easons fame, in the Irish Times

In the Irish Independent – John Spain rests with the undead and has a chat to Dacre Stoker (Bram’s great gran-nephew) about Dracula: The Un-Dead. And if you were lucky enough to pick up a hardcopy of Saturday’s Independent you could be the owner of the first Disney Literature Classics – a series of 20 starting last week.

Not all is rosy in the comic world – the New York Times (and others) report that Disney are already having rights issues with Marvel characters. Dick Cook is no longer chairman of Walt Disney Studios and the company are looking at buying Vimanika Comics, an Indian based company publishing in English and Hindi. And if that wasn’t enough Marvel fan-boyism… the Independent UK and Guardian both review Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 to boot. (See! Dave O’Callaghan wasn’t lying – even the Independent is reviewing comics/games these days…)

Amanda Craig in the Times UK has a read of Hilary McKay’s Wishing for Tomorrow and Bryan Appleyard has a look at Ian Rankin’s first graphic offering Dark Entries (featuring John Constantine). Lucy Mangan in the Guardian remembers Ladybird Books, Publishers Weekly has a massive review round-up and the Guardian Film Blog review Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

Geraldine McCaughrean made a brave but doomed stab at a sequel to Peter Pan; this is another questionable enterprise. It’s clever, sweet, lively and well-written — but not, like its original, sublime. – Amanda Craig on Hilary McKay’s Wishing for Tomorrow.

The New York Times has a great story on South African kids protesting for libraries (and librarians!) – Banned Book Week gets a manifesto – The Author Vetting row in the UK is, hopefully, coming to an end – the Booktrust Teenage Prize shortlist is out – and Booktrust had another prize ceremony this week too.

Barbie is finally going to get her own mainstream feature film – Adam Roberts ponders why there has never been a sci-fi Booker Prize winner – Sexism in fantasy anthologies? No, not us… – Rich Pelley talks with The Simpsons’ Comic Book Guy – and the Independent UK are offering one lucky divil the chance to be at the launch of And Another Thing!!

Globe-trotting has it down-falls. (Seems to be my favourite opening line) Apart from missing friend’s triumphs – I’m missing disappointments. This week was no exception. Unfortunately Mercier Press have let their commissioning editor go – Eoin Purcell. Irish Publishing has had a tumultuous year and another cutback is unfortunate.

Eoin is a friend – through his work for children’s publishing, with Mercier Press and his encouragement on/offline. He has given talks, written blogs and ranted over breakfast/lunch and dinner about books and publishing to anyone who will listen. And anyone who has heard him knows he has endless ideas/opinions about the trade.

And now he is for hire.

By now the London Book Fair has well and truly come to a close – and for those of us that couldn’t make it there have been some interesting bits online about what was being said. First up, it seems the London Fair is getting all the attention this year – as they forecast fewer people going to Frankfurt in six months’ time.

Ebooks, publishing, technology and what comes next has been getting some attention – especially with the success and relaunches of Sony and Amazon’s readers, as well as the rise of the iPhone reader. Kindly filmed and uploaded to youtube -

And as if that wasn’t enough – Penguin announced themselves as the first international publisher to distribute eBook titles in English through China. And there was lots more debate about eBooks and what it all meant – some here, here and here.

In terms of children’s lit – Pub Rants has the best info so far, after meeting with UK editors. What are UK publishers looking for? Editors want an original story well told. Outside of that:

• Historical Young Adult
• Literary, classic voice
• Stories that can crossover to the adult market
• New teen voice (along the lines of How I Live Now)
• Character driven girl stories – about more than just boy
• Fantasy

And there was more… Lots more. For a taste have a look at Kate Nash, Amanda Lees and the Red Room blogs.

I’m a little late with the paper reviews – yesterday was spent recuperating from a chocolate hangover the likes of which have never been seen. Hope ye all had an eggsellent weekend too.

Niall MacMonagle appeared in the Irish Times last weekend with a round up of teen fiction including Life Interrupted, Colony, Guantanamo Boy, Falling, Shadow Bringer and The Hunger Games.

Young readers often prefer crash-bang excitement but those quieter reading moments that heighten the emotional, psychological and spiritual prove vital on the teenage reading path.

Over at the Irish Independent – Declan Burke appears championing the crime writers battling it out in the Irish Book Awards.

The Observer gave way for an Easter book round-up – starting with Kate Kellaway looking at new books for readers 2 years and up. Stephanie Merritt took on readers 8-12 and Lisa O’Kelly read some great new titles for 12-16 year olds, including Julia Donaldson’s Running on the Cracks.

Nicolette Jones in the Times UK reviews the The Barefoot Book of Earth Tales while Amanda Craig reviews Helen Grant’s The Vanishing of Katharina Linden and Jane Eagland’s Wildthorn.

Wildthorn follows a pattern familiar to admirers of Sarah Waters, with an unconventional love affair proving the key to Louisa’s escape. It is a bold and thrilling read.

Mary Hoffman in the Guardian reviews Jenny Valentine’s The Ant Colony.

Valentine has moved into new territory. Not geographically – we are still in the sometimes mean streets of Camden Town and Chalk Farm – so much as emotionally.

Back in the Irish Times Donald Clarke investigates the world of movie adaptations – opening with:

Harry Potter fans are not happy. A recent Chicago screening of the upcoming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince generated a typhoon of internet posts from disappointed acolytes. Apparently, they’ve changed the ending. They’ve inserted too much romance. They’ve cut an important series of “memories”.

And sticking with the screen… The papers are agog with reviews, news and interviews of Sky’s adaptation of Skellig. John Patterson talks to Tim Roth in the Guardian. Tom Sutcliffe in the Independent UK reviews the show. And Gareth McLean breaks the news that Sky, armed with a decent budget, are planning to continue making new, interesting adaptations under the eye of commissioning editor of Elaine Pyke.

And there’s more!

Japan are planning to export Manga as a means to increasing their revenue (Guardian)
Staying with Manag – DragonballZ gets a 2 star rating (Times UK)
Graham Linehan tells us what he’d like to see next (Independent UK)
Education is new Teachers versus Television according to some (Independent UK)
The interweb is lamenting the loss of Go4it (Awfully Big Blog Adventure)
Philip French reviews the original Let the Right One In, before the US remake (Guardian)
JK Rowling stepped down as a patron of Multiple Sclerosis Society Scotland (NY Times)
How much do authors owe their readers? (Guardian Book Blog)
And finally – Tor.com has an introduction to all of the Hugo nominated artists.

Help! I’ve been kidnapped. Two hefty looking blokes broke in and blindfolded me, dragged me into a large van crammed with other book types and we’re all being taken to an disclosed location. There are murmurs about seeing a movie, maybe this one. But I don’t know… Hopefully they’ll let me go in time for the Blookie Event tonight.

Good friends Richard & Judy* tell me they’re looking for your votes – namely for their Children’s Book of the Year Award. There are some great books on the list – including Artemis Fowl, The Great Paper Caper, Before I Die and Kaspar. (Not that I’m trying to influence your votes… no not at all)

That general trouble maker Eoin Colfer has his own plea for votes or you can go straight to voting here.

*My good friends Richard and Judy may not be the more telly famous R&J.

Update: I’m no longer being held hostage. AND I got to see the stunning Secret of Kells. Tom Moore should be very proud – he, and several hundred others, have created a 2D visual masterpiece. Brendan Gleeson and Mick Lally lend their powerful voices to the movie (and one of the downfalls I felt was in some of the younger cast in comparrison) as well as a strong soundtrack from Bruno Coulais and Kila.

Over the weekend, when I wasn’t at the Coraline screening or racing to buy the last strawberries in Dublin, I read some newspapers…

Alison Flood in the Guardian has a look at the stiff competition in the Arthur C Clarke SF Award.

While in the Irish Independent, Cathy Kelly (who doesn’t quite write science fiction), has some tips and bugbears for would-be writers. This is my favourite:

If you are stunningly attractive, a photo may help. They won’t publish your book because you’re cute, and people won’t buy it because you’re cute…  …if and when you do publicity, there is a slightly greater chance that newspapers will want to publish an article if they get gorgeous pictures too. Sad but true.

Oxford University Press come out guns blazing in their own defence in the Times UK:

it gives children structured support and engagement. It has always been the intention of Oxford Reading Tree to get children reading as quickly as possible so that they can access the richly diverse world of children’s literature for themselves. – Kate Harri, Managing Director, Educational and Children’s Division, OUP.

Sticking with the Times UK, this time with Nicolette Jones, who reviews Emily Gravett’s Dogs.

Over in the Guardian Julia Eccleshare has not one but two reviews – Joe Berger’s Bridget Fidget and Helen Cooper’s Dog Biscuit.

In our own Irish Times, Peter Crawley reviews The Giant Blue Hand (Marina Carr’s new play for children playing in The Ark)

Some will be surprised by how dark Carr is willing to go here, but even as the Giant Blue Hand boasts about eating his victims with mustard, ketchup and mayonnaise, each hardship comes cushioned with a savoury gag.

“Time can do terrible things,” says Walker, “but it can also do the wonderful.” That desire to explore the dark folds of fantasy in a production brimming with imagination speaks directly and sincerely to kids. To grown-ups too, for that matter.

And finally – Slashfilm have some sneak peaks from Where the Wild Things Are. Go see! Go see!

The friendly faces behind the Blog Awards have organised a panel discussion this week with some other friendly faces – namely Sarah Rees Brennan, Twenty Major, Ivan O’Brien, Fiona McPhillips and Mags Walsh, alongside some other special guests. Sinéad Keogh and yours truly will be on hand to fire some well-thought-out-and-by-no means-spontaneous questions and there has been the promise of wine, water, the odd chocolate bar and an open-floor Q&A.

Fancy asking Twenty where he gets his grooming products from? Or a chat with Fiona about the Birds and the Bees? Or maybe something a little more important, the urge to nod appreciatively at sharp insights and observations perhaps? Then tag along to The Teachers’ Club, 36 Parnell Sq at 7pm this Wednesday (Feb 18).

Did anyone else know that Tomm Moore has a blog for the Secret of Kells movie? No, me neither… I’ve started reading posts from way back at the beginning of the project – all the way back in 2005.

We’ve been working on this in Cartoon Saloon for almost six years, just dpping into it everynow and then the development was long, meandering and ponderous. We’re finally in full-time preproduction with a crew in place. We started in October and we’ll be aiming to finish it up for Chrimbo 2007. So stay tuned. I just posted some pictures of the main character Brendan that I did last year at this time and a newer one.

And is it worth mentioning that I’m going to see that very movie, The Secret of Kells, at a secret time, in an undisclosed location, next week?

Vincent of Movies.ie fame raved about it (below) and ye can see the trailer on the movies.ie forum:

I loved THE SECRET OF KELLS, the movie has a magical other-worldy feel that reminded me of Hayao Miyazaki’s movies (such as Spirited away) It’s one of the most visually arresting animations I’ve seen, every frame is a work of art. That coupled with a perfect soundtrack and a back-drop of Irish folklore, it’s impossible not to love it.

Now that the snow is receding and the cold outside is less Siberia and more just raining Hibernia it’s safe to go outside and see some of the world. Or more specifically I have a few recommendations that ye might be interested in…

Tonight Conor Kostick is in St Pats College (Drumcondra, Dublin) from 7 talking about Marxism and Children’s Literature. I’ve been promised a chapter on lizards which could be interesting… Details are here.

Elsewhere in the city, the talented Mr Brian Coldrick launched his exhibition ‘Shrunken Head’ – it runs until February 17 and features everyone’s favourite sloth, Slothey T. Hoffman, in many guises. Have a sneak peak here.

And as if all that wasn’t enough - Alex Milway, of Mousehunter fame, visited the Illustration Cupboard last week and recommends we all drop what we’re doing and go see it now.

I implore everyone to go, as some of the original artwork on display is superb. There are beautiful Shirley Hughes pictures, some awesome Chris Wormell prints, and best of all Chris Riddell’s ink drawings for Neil Gaiman’s Graveyard Book. One of which is below. – Alex Milway, on the Illustration Cupboard.

Just woke up to some great news – Sarah Webb’s new, and first, teenage novel, Amy Green Teen Agony Queen is to be made into a film. According to the Irish Independent Sarah has signed a recession busting deal for Boy Trouble to be made. Congrats Sarah!

The Irish Independent has the the full story – and you can read Sarah’s new look blog over here.

Despite the weather and some of the delegates being delayed – this year’s ISSCL conference is still going ahead in Dublin. The conference is titled Nation, Translation, Migration and features talks on Terry Pratchett, Shaun Tan and Siobhan Dowd as well as panelled discussions tomorrow.

If you do nothing else today – have a look at the conference site and, if you’re in the area, maybe visit the keynote address at 7 tonight. (E Block, Room 210, St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra.) The keynote speaker is the Prof. Maria Nikolajeva – discussing The (Un)changing Stereotypes in Swedish Young Adult Fiction.