I despise clutter. I’m the opposite of a pack-rat. (Would that make me a trash-mouse?) Apparently, I have one exception to this rule: books. I’ve managed to amass several bookcases worth of books I just can’t seem to part with. Sometimes I wonder if I could do something more interesting with these books than to let them just languish in my basement. There is!
Since it's October, I felt the overwhelming need (perhaps compelled?) to combine the awesomeness of Teen Read Week and Halloween. It just had to be done. And since my own book, The Travelers, is about witches, that seemed like an appropriate place to start. Therefore, here are some spellbinding YA books where the main characters are teen witches or thought to be.
It’s Teen Read Week from October 9-15! (Never heard of it before? Me either! I just learned about it and I think it’s AWESOME!) So awesome, I thought it deserved a little bloggy time. Therefore, in honor of Teen Read Week, I thought it might be fun to highlight some authors you may not have realized were mere teenagers when they wrote their now super famous books.
Halloween is just around the corner. In honor of it, I thought it might be fun to list the top 5 “scary” or “monster-themed” books that influenced me as a teenager or young adult.
From the first few scenes of Tim Burton’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, it’s pretty clear that the film won’t be a 100% faithful adaptation of the book. Therefore, if you’re someone who read and enjoyed the book, which I am, you must decide quickly – do you constantly compare the film to the source material or do you try to enjoy it as a separate piece of work. I’d suggest the latter.
We recently had a little puppy photo shoot at my house where my 11-year-old daughter took pictures of our dog, Cupcake (take a quick guess who named her), with a copy of The Travelers. In honor of that, my daughter and I came up with a list of our favorite books starring four-footed furry friends. Check out our picks for best books about animals.
My first book, The Travelers, just came out on October 2, 2016. The journey to this point took a long time and, along the way, I learned several important lessons. While I’m still on this path of publishing, I wanted to impart the wisdom I’ve gained on this crazy trip so far to help any other aspiring authors trying to find their way through the land of publishing. (Alright, I will dispense with the traveling puns now.) Best Advice I Was Given – What’s the harm in trying? Here’s the truth, it terrified me to let anyone read my book, let alone send it to publishers.
So, what is The Travelers about, you might ask. Is it a book about people who travel through a forest? (Uh, no.) Is it a book about people who travel around the world observing nature? (Nope, sorry.) Does it have anything to do with traveling anywhere? (Well….) Actually, the title is a little misleading. Most of the book takes place in one location, which is based on my hometown of Northern Virginia. (OK, yes, that’s not really a town. It’s more like a collection of small towns, suburbs and counties just outside Washington, DC. Just go with it people.)
K.L. Kranes 