YATag

In the New Speculative YA Novel, Defy, a Brave Teenager Fights to Save His Sister from the Clutches of an Authoritarian State

Narratives about dystopian autocracies have been written for many decades now, but each generation of writers finds new inspiration in the examples from the world they live in. These stories can issue ...

Farzana Doctor's New YA Novel is About Surviving Hardship, the Power of Friendship, and Growing Up

Acclaimed author and psychotherapist Farzana Doctor has explored the human condition in-depth through her adult fiction and non-fiction, and now her latest novel is a richly woven work for young adult ...

"This Incredible Period of Chaos and Change" Alexandra Mae Jones on Why She Loves Writing Young Adult Literature

In Alexandra Mae Jones' debut young adult novel, The Queen of Junk Island (Annick Press), 16-year old Dell is dealing with adult-sized challenges, both internal and external.In shock from the trauma ...

Book Therapy: Sunny Days Inside

 “Is it safe?” “It’s safe now but when won’t it be safe?” “It’s not actually bad here.” “It’s not bad there either.” “What about the money.” “But what about the kids? They’ll ...

EMWF: Rob Shapiro on Seeing it Through and Sticking it Out

While this year's physical edition of the Eden Mills Writer's Festival may be cancelled, fans and creators alike were thrilled to hear that organizers had decided to make the experience virtual, presenting ...

All of this listening

It was hard to write this column. Like everyone else, I’m all for trying to grasp at normalcy where I can, but I don’t have many writing tips to share right now. (Actually, I do have one writing tip: ...

Read an Excerpt from Carrie S. Allen's Michigan vs. the Boys

A steely-nerved young girl and the pervasive, toxic masculinity of hockey culture face each other head-on in Carrie S. Allen's new YA novel, Michigan vs. the Boys (Kids Can Press).Michigan Manning, a ...

Small Victories: How to Keep Writing When the Odds Seem Stacked Against You

Everyone thinks that once you get a book deal it’s all sunshine and rainbows: a beautiful book, great reviews, book launches! … But it’s not. Getting published often introduces you to a host of ...

Publishers and Awards

Though fall isn’t quite as busy a time for children’s literature awards as it is for the adult side of CanLit, the two most prominent prizes, the Governor General’s Literary Awards for text and ...

Kid Lit Can: Spotlight on Middle Grade Fiction - Part 1

Happy 2017! This month and next, I’m spotlighting middle-grade (MG) novels -- stories written for readers who are generally within the 7 to 12-year-old age range. I’ve written one MG novel (Island ...