It’s 1926. Nine years after the first adventure, and we rejoin John, Jack and Charles as the return to the Archipelago with an adventure that is steeped, once again in imagination and literary references, this time running the gambit from the Golden Fleece to Barrie’s Peter Pan to Dante’s Inferno. Because of events in the…
Tag: Young Adult
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1998) – Profit and Lace, and Time’s Orphan
Station log: stardate unknown Alexander Siddig directs this Quark (Armin Shimerman) episode that was written by Ira Steven Behr and Hans Beimler, which first aired on 13 May, 1998. Female rights aren’t a thing in the Ferengi end of space, but Grand Nagus Zek (Wallace Shawn) wants to change that, and begins promoting equal rights….
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark & More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (1981 & 1984) – Alvin Schwartz
Scary stories are always a delight to take part in, wrapped oneself in darkness and trying to laugh the chill that the scares gives us, while enjoying the fright and perceived danger of it, like whistling past a graveyard, seems to be ingrained in our DNA. I never read these young adult collections when they…
Obsidio: The Illuminae Files Vol. 3 (2018) -Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
The third and final book in the Illuminae Files has found its way to my book shelf and I delightedly dug in for the final adventure as the truth about the BeiTech company is brought to light as we return to Kerenza IV, in a final all-out, win-or lose gambit that sees the heroes, villains,…
The Golden Compass (1995) – Philip Pullman
Having just recently rewatched the film version of Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass, I was eager to revisit the novel, which I had read only once about twenty years ago. I remember enjoying the series, but can’t remember anything that happened in the third book of the trilogy, only recalling that I cried a lot….
A Wrinkle in Time (2018) – Ava DuVernay
Disney’s adaptation of Madeline L’Engle’s classic young adult novel is a mixed bag at best. The story’ ideas aren’t realised on the screen very well, but there is some nice talk about quantum physics, physics, and science as spiritualism throughout the film that I really enjoyed. Director DuVernay, best known for her documentary work, in…
A Monster Calls (2011) – Patrick Ness
It’s been a long time since a book has reduced me to tears, but Ness’ powerful, and beautiful young adult books, A Monster Calls has done just that. Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd who passed before she could tell it herself, the story is a singular experience that is heartbreaking in its truth…
Gemina: The Illuminae Files 02 (2016) – Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
The second volume in the Illuminae Files, Gemina, is not only an excellent follow-up instalment in this vibrant and exciting Young Adult series, it is also highly entertaining science fiction and space opera. The first book, told through IM and audio transcripts, descriptions of video surveillance, was brilliant, fun, and probably a game-changer in the…
Maximum Ride (2016) -Jay Martin
James Patterson’s young adult novel series, Maximum Ride, takes flight cimematically this week from Paramount Pictures. I read the first book when it came out in 2005. It was fun, engaging. Patterson is a very entertaining and imaginative writer, and Max seemed perfectly suited for exploration in other media. The downside to this big screen…
The Dining and Social Club for Time Travellers: Book One – Divine Intervention (2016) – Elyse Kishimoto
Word On The Street, here in Toronto is a wonderful book festival that highlights authors, publishing companies, and smaller book stores, and when it took over the Harbour Front for its event last weekend, I was eager to see what they had in store for me this year. Amongst the young adult readers I found a…
Prodigy (2013) – Marie Lu
It’s back to the realm of Legend, as I dive into the second book of the young adult trilogy by Marie Lu. The dystopian world Lu creates, brings me back to a torn United States, divided almost in two by the Republic and the Colonies, it plunges me back into the lives of Day…
Star Wars: Tales From a Galaxy Far, Far Away – Aliens Volume 1 (2016)- Landry Q. Walker
More new canon for Star Wars via this young adult book that collects six tales from creatures that inhabit that galaxy far, far away, and were seen or hinted at in The Force Awakens. Penned by Landry Q. Walker with some nice art by Tyler Scarlet the stories are all exciting, fun, and have…
