13. The Revealers by Doug Wilhelm
14. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Both of these books tackle pretty serious topics. The Revealers was clever; a book I didn't like much at the beginning, but it developed into an interesting story. It includes technology though, and I wonder what middle grade readers think of it, since it was published in 2003, before the huge popularity of Facebook, etc.
Where do you hear about great books? I find out about many of them at my local library, where one of the librarians writes short recommendations and clips them onto the covers of the books. I also find books through my writing group, blog mentions and newspaper/media reviews.
Technology can be scary because it dates a book so easily. Frankly, I think contemporary books are getting harder and harder to write. Another reason I'm glad I love historical -- except two of my three WIPs aren't historical and most of my published stuff's not either...
ReplyDeleteI'm respectful of all the love out there for WINTERGIRLS, but this book didn't do it for me. I think I just don't understand this kind of character well enough.I prefer LHA's historical novels. :)
When I subscribed to THE HORN BOOK, I got most of my book suggestions there. Now, the "Whatcha Reading" thread on Verla's gives me all I can handle.
Contemporary IS difficult. In my WIP, my characters are in a remote location, supposedly without much modern technology, but even that's hard!
ReplyDeleteThanks for great suggestion, Marcia! I'm always looking for more good books.
Most of the books I read are by recommendations from blogs. Our librarian and I like to pass tips. She's always interested in what I'm checking out.
ReplyDelete