All tagged Julie Gittus

Verse Week List-O-Rama: For the Verse Averse

Verse Week List-O-Rama: For the Verse Averse

Sarah Moon
Verse Week, Listorama

We know despite our saying over and over again that verse novels are absolutely nothing to fear, some of you may still be nervous about trying out a verse novel.

As a result, I thought I'd point those of you who may want to ease into verse to some traditional novels with poetic or verse elements. Similarly, easing into verse novels with books for the younger set can be a fun way to test out the form without committing to a long, complex verse novel for teens or adults.

Once you've tried a few of these on for size, head over and give our Verse Week 2013 podcast a listen for more first-verse recommendations.

Falling for You by Lisa Schroeder | Simon Pulse (2013)

Lisa Schroeder is well known for her verse novels, but her most recent YA novel, Falling for You, is told in prose format, but contains loads of poems (the narrator is a teenage poet) that are key to the story. I really, really enjoyed this book, but I will warn you that the summary, cover and title aren't particularly related to the actual story. This is really a novel about finding family where you least expect it.

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley | Knopf Books (2012)

Graffiti Moon is one of my favorite all-time books, it just so perfectly captures that type of night that can only happen the summer after high school. Told from multiple points of view, Graffiti Moon includes a perspective entirely in poems. Some of my favorite moments are the poems evoking the Melbourne night--they're absolutely vivid.

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

Three Mini Reviews: A Paranormal YA, Funny Urban Fantasy + A Kick-Ass Aussie Contemporary

Three Mini Reviews: A Paranormal YA, Funny Urban Fantasy + A Kick-Ass Aussie Contemporary

Sarah Moon
Books

I've recently read a few books (or in one case, didn't finish) that I didn't take particularly good notes about, which means I can't write a full-on review. But, I wanted to give some quickie thoughts on these three, which I recommend with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

The Last Echo (The Body Finder #3) by Kimberly Derting

​I read the first two books in Kim Derting's Body Finder series, but then decided to wait until the series was completed to finish it up (I have cut way back on my series reading, because it was actually getting hard to keep things straight). I picked up the third book in this series at a super-fun event the author hosted at Powell's along with one of my favorites, Lisa Schroeder, back in February. (I also won an ARC of the final book in the series, Dead Silence, by identifying whose tweets were whose--apparently, I spend a lot of time on social media.Ahem.)

I've recommended The Body Finder series to ​so many people, particularly Actual Teens, who like mysteries of paranormal stories, because these books really do it right. The aspect of this series that I think is really quite good is the relationship between Violet and her childhood best friend turned boyfriend, Jay. It's warm, it's grown through the series and avoids the yucky gender dynamics of many paranormal YA novels. (You know what I mean.)