#its a middle grade novel not high literature. for what it is; really liked it

[chicanedaze]

my hubris is acting up again, and while i mostly enjoyed tsats, I would've made some suggestions to improve it. mainly by telling the authors "no" at certain parts.

[greatwyrmgold]

A while back, I read this thread about media analysis and media literacy and education and Sailor Moon and all sorts of stuff. And I have my own thoughts, but I didn't want to attach them to that thread.

My thoughts focus specifically on why people get those bad attitudes about media analysis, and why high school literature classes so often fail to teach anything. I'm going to bring up two moments which stand out from my own high school lit classes—one epiphany from a world lit class I took in junior year, and one paper I was assigned for my sophomore American lit class.

When reading Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, our teacher brought up the Nietzche's philosophical concept of the Übermensch, which was roughly contemporaneous to Dostoevsky. It was pointed out that Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov were both clear takes on that concept, on the idea of people who could create their own value systems within the moral vacuum that is nihilism. Both Raskolnikov and Svidtrgailov tried to be übermenschen, both used this to justify heinous actions, both were overcome by guilt that even self-proclaimed moral superman cannot resist. For the first time, I saw themes in the text itself, rather than feeling like I had to make the text fit the themes.

Speaking of which, that fucking East of Eden paper, herein abbreviated as "that FEEP". I had to write fifteen pages about East of Eden, about one of a list of themes our teacher handed out to the class. And if that wasn't bad enough, just talking about how the shit Steinbeck wrote about that theme wasn't enough; we had to cite a bunch of literary scholars who talked about what Steinbeck meant by the things he wrote. And some of those scholars were absolute dumbasses; I vividly remember reading one who criticized Steinbeck for saying there were things he hadn't been able to learn about Cathy, even though he invented her...almost as if he had framed his narrative using some kind of device?

Fifteen pages of citing goobers like that to prove that East of Eden is about something our teacher told us it was about. Insufferable. I swore never to touch anything Steinbeck wrote out of pure spite at that FEEP—not at the book, at the paper I had to write about the book.

Aside from my lingering teenaged resentment at a really bad assignment, that FEEP is a perfect crystalization of everything wrong with how our education system (or at least my school district's system) teaches literature. There has to be a right and a wrong answer that you can be graded on; understanding why or how a novel says X is less important than parroting that the novel says X. There's no room for independent interpretations of the text, let alone criticisms of how well this Classic Work Of Literature achieved its goals. A lot of the time, it feels like themes are just thing that literary snobs say are in the text, independent of the text itself.

That FEEP made this worse by focusing so much on citing literary snobs who act like they've never heard of a fucking framing device, but it's embedded into the structure of literature classes. What is East of Eden about? A, B, C, or D? Oops, that's not what the answer key says.

@gotgifsandmusings did more to teach me about what themes are and how they work than any of my English classes, despite that one Crime and Punishment epiphany. For the people in back: A couple of people bitching about Game of Thrones's adaptation (particularly the Sexism & Season 5 series) did more to help me understand literature than twelve years of literature classes. Maybe this kind of thing is easier to explain from a bad example than a good example, or if you have a good example to contrast against a bad example, but it still should not be that hard to compress the essence of nine Tumblr posts into multiple years of classes.

It feels like the literature classes I took in middle/high school were less about helping us understand themes and media analysis and stuff, and more about making sure we learned the True Meaning of Classic Works of Literature. That's the only way I can make sense of that FEEP requiring us to cite scholars who also knew the True Meaning of East of Eden. It's not teaching us how to interpret the themes of a story, it's teaching us what other people said FEE is about.

[eliteprepsat]

I’ve always loved to read. I was the kid in high school who, when we watched the film adaptation of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in 12th grade English, insisted that I read the book first. So, for those few days that the rest of the class watched the movie as a group, I literally scooted my desk out into the hallway with the paperback instead.

Major eye roll, I know.

Given my education, I’ve often wondered how my love of reading began. This is because the offerings in my middle school and high school English classes were pretty limited and far from interesting. And I gather that many people have had similar learning experiences. This is why, about 20 years and a few English degrees later, I’ve compiled a list of the 15 books I wish I had read in high school. I hope the list will come in handy for those young people who, like me in the 90’s, have an inkling that they love literature but lack sufficient guidance as to what to read next.

1. Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889)

At some point during our school years, most of us are assigned either Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Huckleberry Finn, in particular, is thought by many to be the greatest American novel of all time for (among other reasons) its considerations of race, identity, and morality.

Yet, there is more to Mark Twain than these two novels. Twain was an incredibly prolific writer, penning not only novels, but also journalism and travelogues, essays, and memoirs. Twain stands out among the greats for his truly singular wit and insight into the human condition.

A lesser known (but no less incredible) novel of Twain’s is A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, which tells the story of Hank Morgan who, after receiving a blow to the head, is transported back in time to Arthurian England. At its simplest, the novel is a fun tale of adventure set in a time and place of enduring interest. At its more complex, it challenges our assumptions of history. Are we really that much smarter or advanced, Twain asks, than people from centuries past?

2. Octavia Butler’s Kindred (1979)

In a field historically dominated by white men, Octavia Butler, an African American woman, was a pioneer and a powerhouse of science fiction writing. Her most famous book, the haunting novel Kindred, combines elements of sci-fi (e.g. time travel) with elements from the tradition of the U.S. slave narrative, to tell the story of a young African American writer forced to shuffle between her present, 20th-century life in Los Angeles and that of a pre-Civil War Maryland plantation. A groundbreaking, genre-bending novel that explores serious issues of slavery and prejudice, Kindred remains as important today as ever, and it would be great for introducing such issues to high school students due to its exciting and thought-provoking approach.

3. Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845)

Octavia Butler’s Kindred is a literary tour de force. Yet, it fits under the category of speculative fiction, or fiction that stands in some way outside of reality. For a real-life account of what it was like to live as a slave, nothing compares to Frederick Douglass’s autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Douglass’s Narrative tells the story of his being born into slavery in Maryland in the early 1800s, the many abuses he both witnessed and suffered within the institution of slavery, and his eventual escape from slavery to freedom. At turns starkly brutal and lyrically beautiful, Douglass’s memoir is a reflection on freedom, (in)humanity, literacy, and truth. Although the history of slavery in the U.S. is often taught in high school, such lessons are often limited and rarely told from the actual voices of the enslaved. While Douglass’s memoir is not the first slave narrative, it is certainly the most famous.

4. Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man (1952)

Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man follows an unnamed Black narrator who has chosen to live in an underground lair beneath a bustling city, a symbol for the social “invisibility” he has long experienced throughout his lifetime. Drawing from Dostoyevsky’s Notes from the Underground and highly influenced by Ellison’s own mentor Richard Wright, Invisible Man is a lyrical and philosophical exploration of common issues faced by African Americans in the early 20th century. It is a wonderful read for high school students since it highlights the lasting oppressions experienced by African Americans post-slavery—most of which remain relevant still today.

5. James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916)

A classic of high school reading lists is J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. This novel is often a favorite of teens, too, since they can so easily relate to the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, as he questions many of society’s conventions. But there’s no doubt that Salinger was inspired by another book, James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, in which the reader similarly follows young, Irish college student Stephen Dedalus (Joyce’s literary alter ego) as he rebels against his upbringing. It’s a coming-of-age novel perfect for high school students, since it deals with many of the quintessential questions young people ask, including those involving their schooling, their religion, and their place within society at large.

6. Short stories (especially by women)

The curriculum of many high school English classes tends to privilege the novel. Short stories (especially those often anthologized in textbooks) tend to be assigned, as well. Often-anthologized short stories are usually classics, and for good reason. But there’s so much more out there—especially by women writers—where the unique art form of the short story is concerned. Masters of the genre include Flannery O’Connor, Shirley Jackson, Joyce Carol Oates, Alice Walker, Margaret Atwood, Jamaica Kincaid, Alice Munro, and Ann Petry. In our current moment, a rich and diverse range of short story writers is also producing incredible work. The anthology Rotten English (2007), for instance, presents a collection of international short stories (as well as poetry, essays, and novel excerpts) written in “non-standard,” vernacular English, exposing readers to the myriad ways authors continue to re-think language itself.

7. Cathy Park Hong’s Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning (2020)

Another extraordinary book that reflects upon the nature of language is Cathy Park Hong’s Minor Feelings. In this collection of autobiographical essays, Hong plumbs—with humor and unique insight—her complicated feelings of racial identity. A native of Los Angeles’s Koreatown, Hong describes her experiences growing up as a child who was seen as not speaking English “correctly,” yet relates how these same experiences of coming to own what she calls “bad English” led to her becoming the dynamic artist she is today. An intimate exploration of Asian American identity and one’s relationship to words, Minor Feelings is a powerful offering for high school students, whether they can relate to Hong’s experiences or engage with an experience other than their own.

8. Tommy Orange’s There There (2018)

Much of the U.S. history and accompanying American literature taught in high school gives young people a limited, often romanticized, and ultimately inaccurate way of thinking about indigenous cultures. A prime example is James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans, which presents native peoples as inherently “one with nature” and essentially part of the past. Cheyenne and Arapaho author Tommy Orange’s debut novel, There There, provides an alternative, corrective view of indigenous cultures to the one typically taught in high school. The book follows a cast of 12 characters from Native communities living in 21st-century Oakland, California as they deal with issues including addiction, depression, and cultural dispossession. In its consideration of modern-day indigenous peoples and their relationships to urban life, Orange’s There There refuses the limiting designations often promulgated in high school, showing readers how indigenous cultures have survived and thrived into the present day.

9. Contemporary poetry

The poetry that is typically taught in high school often leaves students disliking—or, worse—feeling alienated from it. But this is because the poetry that is typically taught in high school tends to be older, with archaic-sounding language that students find un-relatable. When I was in high school, I didn’t really understand that people still wrote poetry. And I think that many young people still don’t know that there is a thriving contemporary poetry world with many interesting writers doing interesting things. A few popular poets writing today are Ocean Vuong, Danez Smith, Sam Sax, Kaveh Akhbar, Donika Kelly, Terrance Hayes, Tracy K. Smith, Natalie Diaz, Katie Ford, Jenny Xie, and Layli Long Soldier. Literary journals are a great way to keep up to date on the latest in the poetry world. A few of the most popular literary journals out there include The Paris Review, Ploughshares, and Poetry.

10. Quality horror

When I was in high school, I was drawn to horror as a genre. Unfortunately, though, I didn’t really know where to turn for good literary horror content. I only knew of Stephen King, whose work was admittedly too mature in its subject matter for a teen. In school, we read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the occasional Edgar Allan Poe short story. Yet, as with the poetry that is typically taught in high school, these authors felt remote and almost ancient.

High schoolers who are similarly drawn to this genre should know that there is no shortage of powerful, artful horror literature out there. Some iconic examples include Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, which is widely considered the quintessential haunted house story, and Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black which, although written in the 1980’s, reads like a classic of the genre akin to Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw. For more contemporary horror offerings, check out this list of 100 Favorite Horror Stories from NPR.

11. More nonfiction

Many high school students tend to associate nonfiction with academic textbook writing. I know I did. It wasn’t until I was older that I realized the category of nonfiction encapsulates everything from journalism, to memoir, to travel writing, to lyrical essays, to self-help guides, and more. There is quite literally a type of nonfiction writing for anyone and everyone’s interests. And, I think, if students were exposed to a wider range of nonfiction early on, they might find their own personal niche within it. To begin exploring this vast, diverse literary genre, high school teachers and students should look to what’s published in popular literary magazines such as The New Yorker and The Atlantic. Another great source for quality nonfiction is The Best American Essays. Part of The Best American Series published by Houghton Mifflin (which also includes titles such as The Best American Mystery Stories and The Best American Food Writing), The Best American Essays is a yearly anthology of magazine articles published in the United States.

12. Graphic novels

We’ve discussed how poetry can be alienating for high school students. The truth is, for many young people, just about any kind of literature can feel alienating, regardless of the genre. In a world that is currently so dominated by visual media, a solid introduction to literature often needs to come with the help of visual media. Graphic novels are a wonderful option in this case since, by definition, they blend visuals with literary narrative.

Though similar in ways, graphic novels are not to be confused with comic books. Graphic novels tend to be longer, non-serialized (i.e. standalone) books that combine text and illustrations in a comic-strip format to tell a story. And although there is incredible variety among graphic novels, some truly tend toward high art.

Examples of highly lauded graphic novels include Maus (1980), which relates the experiences of author Art Spiegelman’s father as a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor, and Watchmen (1986), a genre-defining (and interrogating) graphic novel about a disgraced group of former super heroes. There is also a 2017 graphic novel adaptation of Kindred, which adds striking visuals to Octavia Butler’s already stunning story of history, race, and the treatment of women.

13. Magical realism

Much of the literature taught in high school is either from, or inspired by, the British realist tradition. This means that such literature attempts to detail real people, places, and things in as truthful a manner as possible. Yet, there are many other styles of writing out there—writing styles that, in many cases, appeal more to teenagers’ naturally imaginative natures than does British realism. One such style is magical realism.

In magical realism, writers don’t attempt to detail real people, places, and things in as truthful a manner as possible. Rather, they create compelling worlds that combine reality with fantasy. Gabriel García Márquez, a Nobel Prize-winning Columbian author, is widely considered the “father” of magical realism. His stories give one the feeling that anything can happen at any moment. In his short story, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” for example, an odd, angel-like figure falls from the sky one day in the middle of an otherwise normal village.

The events of magical realist stories are often as interesting as anything seen on television or film. And in a world with so much compelling content competing for our attention, it would behoove high school teachers to capture their students’ interests with literature from rich, exciting traditions such as magical realism. Contemporary writers who write within this tradition of magical realism include Aimee Bender and Kelly Link.

14. The Very Short Introductions series

By the time I reached graduate school, I had the feeling that my education had been lamentably pointy rather than well-rounded. I had been lucky enough to craft an education that was catered to my specific interests. However, I felt like I had missed out on the opportunity to think through other, essential subjects and ideas. This is where Oxford University Press’s Very Short Introductions series comes in. With over 700 titles covering an incredibly wide range of topics—everything from Accounting and Alexander the Great to Volcanoes and Zionism—the Very Short Introductions series is a great way to fill in any gaps that might exist in your knowledge. Was The Spanish Civil War not covered in your high school history class? Want to know more about Black Holes or Behavioral Economics? The Very Short Introductions series has informative, literally pocket-sized books on just about any topic about which you’re itching to know more.

15. A grammar book or two

Words come somewhat naturally to me. And by the time I graduated from high school, I had intuited many of the rules of English grammar. Yet, I didn’t understand why I made the choices I did when speaking or drafting a sentence. For better or worse, I had made it through school without a proper course (or even a proper lesson) in grammar. Years later, I now understand that knowing these rules is beneficial to communicating effectively. Perhaps more importantly, though, I understand that knowing these rules can help one to more effectively break the rules.

If, like me, your education in grammar is lacking, you’re in luck. There is a whole field of authors who write books to teach grammar skills in easily-digestible and even (if you can believe it) fun ways.

Two such examples are Lynne Truss’s Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation and the oeuvre of Mignon Fogarty (a.k.a. “Grammar Girl”). A former BBC radio host, Truss mixes humor and practical instruction in Eats, Shoots & Leaves to highlight the importance of proper punctuation. A former professor of journalism, Fogarty has published three essential books on grammar. Her first print book, Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing, made The New York Times bestseller list in 2008, and the audiobook version was named one of Oprah Magazine’s “must-hear audiobooks” in 2009.

Still looking for reading ideas? Check out The Best American Nonrequired Reading. Part of The Best American Series and edited by Dave Eggers and others, this is a yearly anthology of fiction and nonfiction selected by high school students.

[shadowlineswriting]

Rowling

I’m going to handle J.K. Rowling in two posts. She’s most known for creating the Harry Potter universe, of course, but she also wrote a realistic fiction novel after the initial HP series was done. It’ll be much easier to reflect on the two stories in separate blogs. 

So, Harry Potter. I had a complicated relationship with HP growing up. You see, it was written for my generation (meaning my age group was the first to experience the initial novel). All of my classmates were reading it when it came out. However, I was not allowed. My parents weren’t familiar with it and were concerned, I think, that I’d read HP and believe magic was real. As such, when it was on my Battle of the Books reading list in fifth grade, I was not given permission to read it and consequently had to sit out the part of the Battle that asked the HP questions.

Naturally, all this did was make me insanely curious about the books, especially since they just kept coming out (there are seven in the original series). By the time I’d reached high school it was all anyone could talk about whenever books and movies came up (by then, the first five books and the first three movies had been released). 

My family took a week-long trip to see some friends, and their kids showed me the first three movies (in the middle of the night when the adults were asleep, of course). I was instantly hooked (I defy you to find an 8-14-year-old who loves literature but hates HP). Having seen the first three movies, I was determined now to read the books, even if that meant defying my parents.

I read the first five books at school during study hall and lunch. My friend Caleb would loan them to me and I kept them in my locker to ensure my parents didn’t see a copy in our house. By the time this adventure was done, the sixth book had also come out and the fourth movie was hitting theaters. I really, really wanted to see it, and in my defense, at that point I’d told my parents that I’d read the books (I guess I figured that was a time when it was better to ask forgiveness than permission, since they couldn’t do anything about it by then). Therefore, my dad agreed to go with me to see the fourth movie. My little sister came, too (I have no idea why) and she got so scared by Voldemort that Dad had to take her outside the theater while I sat inside finishing the movie.

Anyway, since everything was out in the open by then, I was able to finish the seventh book when it came out my junior year. I was not allowed to attend the Barnes & Noble midnight launch party with my friends, but my friends were very nice and let me borrow a copy once they were done with it (which, given that it seemed like the whole world was waiting for the last book to come out, was pretty quick). That day I remember teachers giving up completely on getting anyone to pay attention. One of my teachers didn’t even try--she just let us read the books right there in class, I guess knowing that no one would concentrate until we knew whether Harry or Voldemort won the day.

I love the Harry Potter books for the same reason I respect the Twilight books: Rowling did something that no author had ever done. She created something unique that became its own world. To this day, the HP universe is still the highest-grossing literature series of all time and Rowling is the only author to ever break $1 billion (if you Google a list you’ll see that another author pops up, but her money came from inheritances, not book sales, so in my view Rowling wins that contest).

We also own three of the side novels: The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them, and Quidditch Through the Ages. I’m not a huge fan of fictional supplemental literature, but these are very small--novellas, really--and they’re all first editions, so of course we’re going to keep them.

Say what you will about the story itself, I think it is impossible to respect storytelling and not give Rowlling credit for this incredible thing that she created. It’s on my bucket list to go to Harry Potter World someday, and I honestly cannot wait! 

I have mixed emotions about the fact that HP will next be turned into a seven-series TV show, but I have high hopes. A TV series will give room to stay true to the books in a way the movies never could (they had to cut SO much), but then again, they could really mess this up.

Guess we’ll see! 

[dwellordream]

A Six of Crows Review: Joost and Inej I

This marks the beginning of my review of Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Before I go any further, I want to provide context for my experience/knowledge of the book and its fandom. Six of Crows was published in 2015 when I was 16. I picked it up in a bookstore and read the first few chapters idly while shopping, before putting it back down.

At the time, my dislike of what I’d read was probably primarily fueled by the realization that it was by the same author as Shadow and Bone, which I had tried to read a few years before and disliked, and because at the time I was aging out of the YA genre in general and had very little patience for many of its familiar tropes.

In recent years, Six of Crows and its companion and predecessor series, the Grisha Trilogy, have become one of the most popular YA series online. The avid fan response and promotion of it on social media no doubt led to the Netflix series being greenlit and it is obviously trending at present due to the success of the series. With all that in mind, I’ve decided to try Six of Crows again and see for myself what all the hype is about.

Some more caveats: I am 22 years old. I am aware Six of Crows is YA literature intended for a middle and high school audience. I will not be holding it to the standards I would hold an adult grade fantasy book, in terms of prose, themes, or content. I am aware that I am not necessarily the target audience for the book and these reviews are in no way intended to shame or disparage anyone who enjoys the book.

Criticism is a healthy part of any fandom and does not necessarily constitute hate. I will likely critique elements of the book in my write up. That does not mean I have a personal vendetta against the author, publishers, or the TV show. Please do not take this as a personal attack if you’ve enjoyed the book. This is just intended to promote discussion and to gather my own thoughts.

If you follow me, I am tagging this as ‘in review’ so you know what to block if you don’t want to see my posts on your dash. I will be going through 1-2 chapters per weekend. This weekend I will be looking at the prologue, aka Joost, and the first Inej chapter.

Jumping into things, here is Joost:

The prologue is our introduction to Ketterdam, the setting of Six of Crows. It’s been a very long time since I read Shadow and Bone and so all I really know is that Ketterdam is a city in an island known as Kerch, based off the map. The major countries or kingdoms of the mainland to the east appear to be Fjerda, Ravka, and Shu Han, though it is unclear how they differ from one another at this point.

Ketterdam through Joost’s eyes is a sinister and dreary place, a city under a grimy night sky and full of dangers. Joost works as a hired guard for a very wealthy man named Hoede, who keeps grishas, powerful magic users, as indentured servants. Joost is infatuated with one of them, Anya, a healer, though he knows she is not likely to return his affections and furthermore cannot wed without the permission of her owner. We also learn that grishas are at risk for being kidnapped and sold by slavers due to their value. However, the indentured servant system of Ketterdam thus far doesn’t seem to be much better than slavery, given how little freedom the grisha have.

Overall, the prologue is supposed to give us a sense for the setting of Ketterdam and interest us in the main hook of the novel, which seems to be a mysterious substance that grisha can ingest to heighten their powers for the benefit of their masters, though it has the risks of making them uncontrollable. How well is this done?

Through Joost’s perspective we can glean several things; Ketterdam is a dirty city with rampant income inequality, full of crime and corruption. Magic is an established system within Ketterdam, but the magic users do not seem to be at the type of the hierarchy despite their powers, which suggests they are a minority to the extent of which they can still be controlled by the elite class of non magic users, if they have enough money and power.

It is also very obvious through the references in the prologue that Ketterdam is heavily based off the Netherlands during the Golden Age, which was Amsterdam’s (Ketterdam… Amsterdam… not subtle) economic and cultural boom during the 17th century, aka the 1600s. Notably the world’s first stock exchange began in Amsterdam in 1602, and it was a major port and trading hub for the Dutch East and Dutch West India Companies.

It is not clear if Ketterdam is also intended to be a 1600s-esque society, timeline wise, but we know that rifles are common place and there is a thriving merchant class who rule as opposed to old aristocracy, which seems to indicate a Renaissance style setting, as well as the urban environment in general. (That said, from the advertisements for the Netflix show, they seem to have updated it to a more Victorian-era 1800s society, in terms of fashion and general aesthetics).

Overall, the prologue does its job. It gives us a vague idea of what Ketterdam is like, how the society is structured, and who holds the power. It also ends on a suspenseful cliffhanger, leaving Joost’s fate unclear. Where it falls flat is that I think a little more time could have been spent fleshing out Joost as a narrator, even if this is his only showing in the book.

His internal monologue comes across as a bit dry and mechanical, as if the author is aware he is just a means to an end to start the book off with a bang, and he quickly turns into a walking camera (just there to report events to the reader, with no internal input from him), for the second half of the prologue, as we switch to just watching Anya and Hoede through his eyes. That said, it’s not a major problem, as Joost is clearly not intended to be a main character, and his narration still effectively conveys what is happening and sets the dark tone of the novel.

What I would have liked to see from the prologue is perhaps the POV of Anya herself, or the small child she is being forced to experiment on, as that might have been a more compelling and immerse introduction to Ketterdam and its dangers rather than the fairly bland and neutral Joost, who doesn’t really feel like a character so much as a bland stand-in for the reader. If we were put in the shoes of Anya, suddenly called upon by her power hungry employer to participate in this unethical test, or in the shoes of the small boy caught up in the middle of this, it might have been both more thrilling to read and given a more gritty sense of what it’s like to be on the lowest rungs of Ketterdam’s society, at the mercy of the most powerful.

Moving onto Inej, we run into some similar problems. After Inej’s first chapter, I couldn’t tell you a single thing about her, other than that she was an acrobat as a child, that she is part of the street gang known as the Dregs, and that she intensely values loyalty. This isn’t a problem, per say, but while that’s all good to know, it doesn’t give me any sense of Inej’s actual personality, which doesn’t exactly bode well. Like Joost, she comes across more as a walking camera and occasional tourist guide as opposed to a human character with her own worries, hopes, and fears.

I think this may become a recurring problem with Bardugo’s writing - ie all tell, no show. Inej is good at telling things. She tells us where we are as we follow her to the location of a stand-off between rival gangs, she tells us that Kaz, their leader ‘doesn’t need a reason’, though she never exactly explains what that means other than that he is widely feared, she tells us that she is very fond of her knives.

But in terms of writing, we shouldn’t have to be force fed all this information via her internal monologue, which, again, entirely cuts out once the action picks up, just like Joost’s. While I don’t need her thoughts on every threat or gunshot, it would be nice to feel as if she hadn’t just vanished from the story completely as soon as the dialogue starts.

We also meet Kaz and Jesper, though I couldn’t tell you much about them utter than that Inej clearly admires, even venerates Kaz as an accomplished intimidator and chess master, and that Jesper is clearly the joker of the group.

It also feels incredibly weird that this parley between gangs in happening in front of the city’s stock exchange. Inej tells us this is because the Exchange is one of the few remaining neutral territories, but it’s also heavily guarded, which means every time a gang wants to parley, they have to pay out the cash to bribe all the guards to very pointedly ignore a meeting between rambunctious and trigger happy street gangsters on their literal doorstep.

I understand why Bardugo chose this location, wanting to contrast the violence of the gang members with the economic injustice that the Exchange and its merchant rulers represents, but it just seems a bit silly. They couldn’t meet at the docks? In an alley way? This is like picturing the American Mafia hosting a public meeting at the New York Stock Exchange with a bunch of cops twiddling their thumbs nearby.

The foreshadowing that Bollinger is the traitor (‘I’m not going to bet on my own death’) also seems very heavy handed and a little much, but I’ll let it slide.

It’s also not really clear while Inej is present at this meeting in the first place. Kaz commands her to keep watch from above, but he has also put a contingency plan in place that doesn’t even involve her, having bought out some of Geels’ men from under him. Why put Inej looking down from above if you’re not involving her in this plan? Her only role seems to be to watch, and she doesn’t even have a gun she could play sniper with. It just seems like a hamfisted way of getting Inej out of the danger zone so the author can have her as a passive spectator to the violence that follows.

This is my main problem with this chapter. It’s supposed to introduce us to Inej, but really, it’s introducing us to Kaz. Which is fine, but as he also has a POV in this book, it seems a bit lame that her own chapter is completely overtaken by showing off A. his smarts and B. how dangerous he is, despite being dismissed as a young ‘cripple’ by the likes of Geels.

Geels is also… not a greatly done villain. I get that he’s supposed to be small fry and is just a precursor to much more threatening opponents, but his every line of dialogue feels designed to show off how cool and Machiavellian Kaz is in comparison. He doesn’t seem like an actual hardened criminal who has underestimated his opponent, but a somewhat cheesy cartoon thug who unironically says things like “How are you going to wriggle your way out of this one?” with his full chest. The effect is comical, and not in a good way.

This chapter also shows off Kaz’s sadistic side in full display, which is probably one of the only interesting things about it, though it would be nice if we got any input at all from Inej on this… instead she completely vanishes from her own narration, to the point where she might as well not be present at all. Kaz has no qualms about tracking down his enemies’ weakness, such as lovers and family, and threatening them.

But the open horror and shock Geels reacts with seems incongruent, as if Kaz were the first up and coming gangster to actually consider threatening someone’s family or girlfriend. That seems pretty par for the course for violent criminals trying to claim territory and unnerve their rivals, yet Inej and Geels himself react as if no one had ever thought of sinking to the level of ‘do what I want or I’ll kill your loved ones’ until Kaz invented it. It just feels a bit silly and on the nose.

Really, my overarching issue with this chapter is that it’s not about Inej at all, it’s just an introduction to the Kaz Brekker fan club. I don’t automatically hate Kaz as a character, but his introduction is heavyhanded and comes at the cost of any establishing character moments for Inej. The most we get out of her is her brief pangs of sympathy for Bollinger despite his treachery, and her brief reference to her childhood. Maybe future Inej chapters will totally change this, but right now, it’s not a great sign of what’s to come.

I can think of about a hundred things Inej could have done or said this chapter to develop or establish her personality at all, but all we got was her briefly holding a knife to someone, and her briefly saying a prayer for Bollinger. I think it would have worked much better had this plan to catch Geels with his pants down been Inej’s invention or at least worked out between her and Kaz, rather than her just there to play lookout and admire how cool Kaz is.

Or at the very least, we could have seen the scene referenced where she searches the crime scene of the assassination, instead of that getting two lines and an entire chapter being devoted to what boils down to a pissing contest over which gangs gets rights to a certain neighborhood.

Next week, we will look at Kaz I.

[nothingisliteral]

Literary Agents Accepting Queries 2020

A note; these agents are according to my research as of June 12, 2020. To find more information on these agents, just look up their name and agency. How to query to these agents differ, so it would be wise to look into them more. Bolded is the categories, genres, and/or tropes that said agent is interested in. This list was put together by me, and it was only the agents who’s name start with A. Even though this is labeled as YA, many of these agents are interested in other genres.

* Adria Goetz (Martin Literary Management), Mill Creek, WA General fiction Suspense/thriller Fantasy/science fiction Juvenile fiction Religious

* Adriann Ranta Zurhellen (Foundry Literary + Media), New York, NY all genres and for all age groups, but has a penchant for edgy, dark, unusual voices, unique settings, and everyman stories told with a new spin. She loves gritty, realistic, true-to-life narratives with conflicts based in the real world; women’s fiction and nonfiction; accessible, pop nonfiction in science, history, and craft; and smart, fresh, genre-bending works for children.

* Adrienne Rosado (Stonesong Literary Agency), New York, NY adult and children’s fiction, as well as select non-fiction in the areas of pop-science, business, memoir, and humor. In both adult and children’s fiction, she is looking for contemporary, mystery, historical, thriller, fantasy, and anything with a wickedly dark sense of humor. She’s especially drawn to multicultural fiction, lgbtq+ works, and stories about people from atypical walks of life. She is not currently looking for poetry or children’s picture books.

* Agnes Carlowicz (Carol Mann Agency), New York, NY both fiction and non-fiction, with a special passion for literature that amplifies underrepresented voices and subverts the status quo. Among others, she enjoys: intersectional feminism, millennial self-care, female-driven memoir, true-crime, and humorous pop culture.

* Aimee Ashcraft (Brower Literary & Management), New York, NY busy seeking out stories that feature all-encompassing worlds and compelling female characters. She loves books that are told from an original point of view and are more addictive than a good Netflix binge

* Albert Longden (Albert T. Longden Agency), Bloomfield, NJ (AAR Member) General fiction, Mystery, Romance, Suspense/thriller, Fantasy/science fiction, Biography, Business/investing/finance, Sports, Paranormal (want writers that are preferably experienced and are willing to listen to productive critiques of their work)

* Albert Zuckerman (Writers House), New York, NY books in all adult categories, fiction and non-fiction. And lately I’ve been enjoying working with some YA and Middle Grade authors. I'm interested in working with a few more novelists, literary and commercial

* Alec Shane (Writers House), New York, NY mystery, thrillers (though he’s experiencing terrorist fatigue at the moment), suspense, horror, historical fiction, literary fiction, and middle grade and young adult fiction. He DOESNT want Romance, straight sci-fi, high fantasy, picture books, self-help, women’s fiction, food, or travel memoir.

* Alex Glass (Glass Literary Management), New York, NY General fiction, Mystery, Suspense/thriller, Juvenile fiction, Biography, History, Mind/body/spirit, Health, Lifestyle, Cookbooks, Sports, Literary fiction, Memoir, Narrative nonfiction, Pop culture

* Alexa Stark (Trident Media Group), New York, NY drawn to literary debuts with a unique voice and perspective, stories about dysfunctional friendships and families, edgy coming-of-age tales, character-driven suspense and thrillers, and fiction that delves into the surreal

* Alexandra Levick (Writers House), New York, NY Picture book author-illustrators, a wide range of middle grade and YA, and more speculative-leaning or genre-bent upmarket adult works. I’m committed to working with writers from diverse backgrounds and am looking to put forth a list of outstanding creators who will be able to provide windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors (thank you, Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop) into all kinds of experiences. I’m particularly looking for own-voices stories about historically underrepresented characters, identities, and cultures.

* Alexandra Machinist (International Creative Management), New York, NY Commercial fiction Literary fiction Upmarket women's fiction Historical fiction Suspense Fantasy Young adult Middle grade

* Alexandra Penfold (Upstart Crow Literary), New York, NY specializes in young picture books, middle-grade fiction, and young adult

* Alexandra Weiss (Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency), New York, NY contemporary, magical realism, and light SFF. I’d also like to see more rom-coms that make my heart feel warm. dedicated to representing marginalized creators and diverse books, including #ownvoices. I’m actively seeking LGBTQIA+, POC, gender fluid, neurodiverse, and disabled voices for all age ranges and across all genres.

* Alexis Hurley (InkWell Management), New York, NY domestic works in the areas of literary and commercial fiction, memoir, narrative non-fiction and more

* Ali Herring (Spencerhill Associates), Lakewood Ranch, FL I’m open to all YA: Contemporary, fantasy, sci-fi, speculative, horror, romance, issue books (though I have a few already on my list so not my top choice), etc. All the contemporary fantasy right now. Contemporary with a speculative element YA suspense/thrillers All the horror right now, or horror-bordering Anything with an edge Fun teen romance like To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before Vibrant Teen rom-coms Dystopian or failing Utopia/Utopian worlds (fresh government or control system in place or none at all) Near-future dystopian where the world is not cleaned up and pretty. I want a sense of the horror but without tons of gore. Bold unexplored settings

* Alice Martell (The Martell Agency), New York, NY Open to all/most Genres Excluding: Fantasy, Science Fiction.

* Alice Speilburg (Speilburg Literary Agency), Louisville, KY In YA Fiction, I'm looking for diverse retellings of classic stories, stories rooted in mythology, contemporary fantasy with magical/supernatural worlds alongside our own (but not necessarily "urban," rural & suburban magical systems could be nice). Across the board, I'm looking for an inclusive cast of characters, across gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, and mental health spectrums.

* Alice Tasman (Jean Naggar Literary Agency), New York, NY Alice's fiction tastes, for young adult and adult books, ranging from commercial, literary fiction and history to thrillers and suspense, and women's fiction.

* Alicia Brooks (Jean Naggar Literary Agency), New York, NY she is looking for Memoir, Narrative Nonfiction, Self-Help, Pop Culture, Literary Fiction, Commercial Fiction, YA Fiction, Mystery/Crime, and Historical Fiction

* Alison Picard (Alison J. Picard Agency), Cotuit, MA Adult fiction and non-fiction, children's and young adult NO: short stories, poetry, plays, screenplays or sci-fi/fantasy.

* Allison Hunter (Janklow & Nesbit Associates), New York, NY literary and commercial fiction, especially women's fiction, as well as memoir, narrative nonfiction, cultural studies and pop culture. She is always looking for funny female writers, great love stories, campus novels, family epics, smart beach reads and for non-fiction projects that speak to the current cultural climate

* Alyssa Jennette (Stonesong Literary Agency), New York, NY children’s and adult fiction and picture books, graphic novels, and select pop culture nonfiction. She values diversity and inclusion; in fiction she enjoys ensemble casts with distinct voices, stories about poor characters and communities, and formats that are specific to a story and give it its own context. Alyssa is particularly interested in art/art history/art conservation, archaeology, mythology, language/translation, and criminal justice reform

* Alyssa Reuben (Paradigm Literary and Talent Agency), New York, NY adult, young adult, and the occasional middle grade fiction as well as smart, platform driven, nonfiction ranging from pop-culture, lifestyle, cookbooks, and narrative to memoir. She gravitates toward voice-driven non-fiction presenting a fresh point of view and particularly loves novels with an edge or a great romance arc.

* Amanda Leuck (Spencerhill Associates), Lakewood Ranch, FL contemporary and speculative fiction that explore social issues, YA fantasy based in mythology across cultures, historical novels that spark my need to know more, characters with disability, chronic illness or mental illness - that doesn't necessarily drive the plot, #ownvoices, women and girls in STEM, romantic plots and subplots that surprise me, LGBTQIA+ characters, the intersection of science and religion, or magic and convention, where what is real is not clear, animal and ecological themes

* Amanda Rutter (Red Sofa Literary), St. Paul, MN Open to a broad Audience, including: Adults, Middle grades, Young adults. Fantasy. Science fiction.

* Amelia Appel (Triada U.S. Literary Agency), Sewickley, PA For YA, she is particularly interested in stories with a savvy protagonist and a slightly dark tone that deal with serious coming-of-age issues well.

* Amy Elizabeth Bishop (Dystel, Goderich & Bourret, LLC), New York, NY Fiction-wise, I'm interested in both upmarket and literary women’s fiction, mysteries, and fiction from diverse and underrepresented authors. I'd love more literary fiction from women of color. I'm choosy about my historical fiction, preferring it voice-driven and female-centric, focusing on the stories of those that history has largely chosen to not tell. [[A bit tuckered out from American Revolution, Civil War, WWII, and Vietnam War, so I'm not really looking in that space.]] I'm always interested in stories that are not set in Western Europe or the East/West Coast. I'd love to see more speculative fiction/light horror, though I'm not as interested in science fiction or fantasy in the adult space at this time. I'm also looking for a literary thriller/literary suspense a la THE TWELVE LIVES OF SAMUEL HAWLEY or BARBED WIRE HEART. In YA: would love a smart contemporary rom-com that isn't just boy meets girl in high school (or if it is, it has to be a seriously new story), a fascinating, creepy retelling in the vein of Carmen Maria Machado, and light horror. I'd love to find a multi-generational story and am particularly interested in the intricacies of family (and sister!!) relationships. I'm a sucker for stories that take place in closed environments (like boarding schools) and though I appreciate romantic elements, I'm also eager to see narratives where a happy ending for women isn't necessarily a relationship. #ownvoices, always, please. Anything with some serious creep to it!

* Amy Brewer (Metamorphosis Literary Agency), Kansas City, MO She’s seeking: Romances of all kinds; if your plot revolves around love or angst or both, send it to her. She is also looking for general fiction, LGBTQ+, women’s fiction, book club reads, and quirky humor.

* Amy Jameson (A+B Works), New York, NY loves children’s literature, and is actively seeking Middle Grade and Young Adult projects.

* Amy Rennert (The Amy Rennert Agency), Tiburon, CA General fiction Mystery Biography Business/investing/finance History Mind/body/spirit Health Lifestyle Sports Literary fiction Narrative non-fiction especially memoir and reportage

* Amy Stapp (Wolfson Literary Agency), New York, NY Mystery/suspense Contemporary romance Contemporary coming-of-age Historical fiction Southern Gothic

* Amy Stern (Sheldon Fogelman Agency), New York, NY Summer camps, boarding schools, reality television, kids who are in some way extraordinary, puzzles, puns. I really love stories that involve close family relationships that both enhance and complicate the protagonists' lives. I want to see more mental illness stories that aren't just about diagnosis and LGBTQIA+ stories that aren't just about coming out.

* Andrea Barzvi (Empire Literary), New York, NY General fiction Romance Suspense/thriller Juvenile fiction Biography Business/investing/finance Mind/body/spirit

* Andrea Somberg (Harvey Klinger), New York, NY Upmarket fiction (i.e., bookclub fiction) that has a twist or sheds light on an intriguing issue Novels that explore cultural heritage YA or Adult novels that are based on a true story from the 20th century YA contemporary love stories/romantic comedies Epic fantasy, especially ones set in a non-Western culture, military sf or space opera Magical realism for the adult, YA or MG market. YA and MG novels that feature diverse protagonists YA psychological thrillers MG mystery novels MG novels that are funny and are illustrated MG or YA novels that'll make me cry Nonfiction for MG or YA audiences Any novel with great characters and a compelling storyline Unique nonfiction

* Andy Ross (Andy Ross Literary Agency), Oakland, CA (AAR Member) narrative non-fiction, history, politics and current events, science, journalism, cultural subjects. We also work with literary and young adult fiction

* Angela Rinaldi (The Angela Rinaldi Literary Agency), Los Angeles, CA (AAR Member) I am actively looking for fiction commercial, literary, mainstream women’s fiction, multicultural, suspense, book club fiction – novels where the story lends itself to discussion.

* Anjali Singh (Ayesha Pande Literary), New York, NY Her interests are wide-ranging and include literary as well as popular fiction, young adult, women’s, African-American and international fiction. She is also seeking authors of nonfiction, including biography, history, popular culture, cultural commentary, and memoir. She is particularly drawn to distinctive, original voices.

* Ann Behar (Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency), New York, NY searching for wonderful children's books, from picture books to YA, ever since. I am looking for anything that is beautifully written, with a strong, distinct voice and characters that come alive on the page. Ideally, a book should grab my attention from the very beginning and hold it there, and leave me thinking about it for a few days after I am finished.

* Ann Rose (Prospect Agency), Upper Montclair, NJ YA of all genres: But especially stories that have heart and humor. I want you to transport me to new worlds--even if those "worlds" are in the middle of Iowa. But especially if its fantasy, I really want you to take me there and show me something I haven't seen before. I'd love some fantasy that's based on something other than western cultures. I'm always looking for strong character who are willing to stand up for their convictions--whether it be with their brains or their brawn. Give me fabulous friendship stories (and some no so fabulous ones). LGBTQIA+ stories!!! I'd still really love a story where two girls are running against each other for class president and then they fall in love. In both YA and MG I don't shy away from stories that deal with issues kids are dealing with today. I will say, if you are going to discuss topics like suicide make sure you've done your homework--proper language matters. I'd love to see more YA thriller--not necessarily gore but a story that keeps me on the edge of my seat, guessing until the very end. I'm still looking for my YA version of CLUE (and if it has three different endings, even better.) Which means mystery is a go for me, too. I'd love some YA that deals with toxic masculinity. A funny how to survive high school book with tips and tricks how to make the most out of your four years would be good. Show me characters who are beautifully flawed doing the wrong things for all the right reasons. Give me body positive MC's. Unique sports books--crossfit, ultimate Frisbee, rock climbing, mountain biking, roller derby, and even speed walkers. Oh, and twins - good twins, evil twins, twins that get along, twins that don't, rom-coms where twins switch places and hijinks happen... anything goes. Historicals that tackle things other than WW2--bonus points if there are badass women in in history.

* Anne Bohner (Pen and Ink Literary), New York, NY commercial women's fiction, romance, YA and popular nonfiction.

* Anne Hawkins (John Hawkins & Associates), New York, NY (AAR Member) Fiction of all sorts, non-fiction (contemporary journalism, history, biography, etc.), juveniles (although primarily young adult and middle grades, since we don´t specialize in illustrators, but having said that I should add that we represent several of the best), science-fiction and fantasy.

* Anne Tibbets (Red Sofa Literary), St. Paul, MN Right now, she's acquiring YA and Adult: Thrillers, Mysteries, Horror, Romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Historicals.

* Annelise Robey (Jane Rotrosen Agency), New York, NY women’s fiction, romance, historical fiction, YA, fantasy, mystery, and suspense, and is always looking for exciting new voices in fiction

* Arielle Datz (Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency), New York, NY (AAR Member) She is looking for literary and commercial fiction (mostly adult, some YA), featuring unusual stories and voices.

* Ashley Lopez (Waxman Literary Agency), New York, NY Ashley is looking for literary and young adult fiction, narrative nonfiction, memoir, and cultural criticism. Most importantly she seeks authors with a strong point of view and an eye for language.

This is the end of my fist alphabetical list of agents accepting queries in 2020. I hope this list was helpful to you, and wish you good luck in your querying!

[lloydsluck]

Crow’s Feet

Prelude

Ever looked at something that’s so fundamentally flawed, so bad in design, form and function, it’s actually intriguing. Like a botched piece of taxidermy or a first attempt at a short novel. A piece of work that was probably not half-assed but whole-heartedly assed with good intention and it would be insulting to the creator to jokingly ask did you write this story as if you’re the old piece of gum stuck underneath a Grade 8 English Lit student desk?  With no light, sense of tense, or spellcheker? The stereotypes and bad similes cause eye rolls so

 far back into one’s head it’s like… well it’s hard to think of a comparison here, so count yourself lucky. Not to mention the ADHD diversions, talking about mounting dead animals in one sentence quickly sidestepping to self-awareness of this piece of literature. I digress. When last did you see a questionable piece of art that you found beautiful? So bad, it’s great. So useless and time-wasting, it’s what you’ll think about ironically one day on your deathbed. Because heck… made you look. 

The Incision 

1

Mondays. The start of a new week. New opportunities for a new you. A fresh squeeze of hope that things will get better served with a side of “I can change” attitude. And no matter how many Mondays we have, (4 187 to be precise, if you, like the average human being will live to 79), you will wake up to the same old boring Monday, every week, the same way. 

Each one with a long dreary stretch and sigh, heavy eyes, telling yourself that you will make the most out of this week. But you won’t. Because laziness is time consuming and you don’t actually have anything else to do, really. 

However, on this particular Monday, which was Fick McOwen’s 2226’s Monday, things were different. 

Fick woke up with the dreadful sensation of drowning. Sinking deep in a casket of darkness. As he gulped in a breath of thick air, it tasted of rotten cabbage coating the back of his throat. Blind and bewildered, sharp metal sounds scratched close above his head. The sound stung his eardrums and made him cock up his forehead banging it hard against a flat surface.

‘Jeeezus fuck’, he hissed. 

With no sense of time and space, his ears were ringing overcharged electric chimes in his head which felt cracked and ready to explode like a reactor in Chernobyl. He took a few minutes to try and calm himself. No good ever came from a panic attack in closed confines with a possible concussion. He finally raised his hands to his chest and did what most drunks do the minute they wake up, pat themselves down and check their underwear.

*

One week earlier.

2

If she was just a bit nicer, Jeffrey thought, she may have already had a proper and dignified burial for her husband. Stomping up and down a room that looked like it was decorated for a five-star hotel in Vienna, the newly-widow’s bony figure moved fast from left to right like a rabid old fox prowling a fence. For Jeffrey, her unwanted but needed bodyguard/help/punching bag, she was Hitler’s sphincter. She sparked fear in him and tightened his nerves with her demanding presence. Like a screwdriver twisting and turning into soft wood. A reaction he despised about himself. It ruined many good days. Sunny days and days like today. 

Watching her from the corner of the large room, she attempted phone call after phone call, shouting at poor bastards who made the simple mistake of answering their phones that day. 

Wanting to disappear he closed his eyes and listened to every passive-aggressive step she took in the room. He liked to tell when she walked on the tiles or the bear rug; it was a fast tac tac tac womp womp womp womp tac tac womp womp…then nothing. He opened his eyes and with a fright found her standing right in front of him, steaming red with anger.

Her greying blonde hair was fastened in a tight pincushion on top of her head. This pulled back her frail white skin that held everything in place. Face to face, he couldn’t help but stare at the permanent makeup she had done on the lower lids of her eyes and on top of her brows. It was starting to fade and as a result, it looked like she put eyeliner on days ago and never washed it off. 

Her stare was cold and deadly like an overworked mortician’s. It complemented her daily outfits of thin grey pencil skirts and matching suit jackets. She had her name embroidered on the inside of the neckline since all of her clothing was specially washed and pressed at a local laundromat. One that she owned of course. 

Margaret. 

That’s what her husband used to call her. Or Margarine, Margie, or Macaroon. She would always remind whoever was listening that she was actually named after Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowden. If you had to look her up, you would see the uncanny similarities between the two women. So much so, that Jeffrey often wondered if they weren’t related. Considering how much of a royal bitch she was.

Nevertheless, he had to call her Mrs. Ergo. And he preferred the kind request from John Ergo, her late husband, since he didn’t think she would have liked the names he had listed for her in his head anyway. 

She snapped back up and walked across the room towards the large oak desk that faced the gigantic windows that looked out onto their garden. Their Ergo-Eden. With a deep sigh, he sat up straight and smoothed back his black hair that was styled according to an old Italian mobster he saw in a film when he was 15. 

“It’s all in the confidence of smoothing the wax over your hands first and then through your hair.” That’s what the old man said to his fellow pasta slurping, red-wine drinking, two hits a week gang that sat around a checkered table talking about the importance of looking respectable, no matter what the job. And this was what he told himself in the bathroom mirror every morning, (impersonating a very bad Italian accent of course) while he prepared for his day. 

Apart from the respectable hairdo, Jeffrey was built like a small bull with a refined jawline. At first glance one would imagine he spends his days lumberjacking in the forest; but instead of plaid shirts, he was forced to wear black on black as per ‘management’s’ request. 

He refocused his attention on her and as foul as she was acting that day, somewhere deep inside him, he felt sorry for her and her loss. His face twitched as he clenched his jaw trying to shape compassion on his face, but feared he looked more like a constipated clown trying to keep his cool. He was given cards once with all the different faces and expressions on it. Ironically, the illustrations looked like they were drawn by an autistic robot with no emotion nor artistic talent (it was), but it helped him deal with different people. Lines that came down the forehead with no teeth, meant anger or disappointment. Teeth showing meant they were happy – or about to bite you. 

Margaret often made faces Jeffrey couldn’t place on his cards and her teeth always had some lipstick stains on it, which quite frankly, just distracted him altogether. 

He watched her go down a list of names and numbers, furiously scratching them out when the call didn’t go as planned. Eyeing the last name and number on the list, she picked up the phone and started dialing. 

3

Fick carefully pulled the skin up the neck and then over the top of the head, trying his very best to keep his hand steady. He wore magnifying goggles that pushed his choppy brown hair up toward the ceiling and enlarged his olive-grey eyes. It looked like the head of a praying mantis was stuck on a lanky man's body who dressed as if he found a discarded box of 80s band shirts and never bothered to wear anything else again. 

'There.' He said as he lifted his hands and inspected the bird-like shape that was coming together in front of him. 

In the back of the garage-turned-workshop, a small radio was trying to hold itself together while Henry Rollins tore away at its speakers. The music filled the room and gave Fick the ability to concentrate. Nothing else was audible. Not a phone or a thought could break his focus. 

And it paid off; the crow started to take a lively shape, fast. All it needed were the eyes and some beak touch-ups and this bad boy was ready for some teenager's window sill.

Fick lived in Long Fountain, a small town where the kids were either into wrestling, the backyard kind, or satanism – also the backyard kind. This meant there were a lot of goth-like metalheads who gave themselves names like Agares and Forneus and hung outside the grocery store to smoke cheap cigarettes they bummed off the shop clerk. They would wear black makeup and dangle fake blood vial necklaces around their necks. Some would even proudly claim that they spray-painted hale satin on the backside of the church announcement board. To top off their rebel-without-a-cause-and-lack-of-basic-grammar-look, these kids would own a taxidermied crow on their windowsills, just for that extra edge. 

“It’s a phase” most parents would say, but Fick couldn’t care less. He got fifty bucks out of it, liked the work, and asked no questions. 

As a self-employed middle-aged Taxidermist, he could work from home and at his own pace. Something he considered to be more valuable than a performance bonus cheque at the end of a year after slaving away in a badly lit office desk from nine to five, five to seven days a week.

He didn’t necessarily consider himself a hermit, but he did prefer his own company with the exception of a few selected people – very selected and very few. This was a choice he made unapologetically clear to others who wanted to befriend him for no real reason. When presented with this frankness, they would awkwardly laugh it off and insist he’s just a fun and sarcastic guy. He despised those people the most. 

Furthermore, Long Fountain was a small enough town for the nosy types to know everyone and their business, while still quiet and sparse enough for others to embrace the privacy of the town’s border. If you had to take a drone shot from high above, the edge of the town looked like it disappeared into the desert like an ocean of drought that spilled into a suburb. Fick could never figure out why they called it Long Fountain though, as there wasn’t even a lake or river anywhere near them. But he liked it there and he appreciated the colourful desert sunsets that could be found if you were at the right place at the right time.

The only other peculiar thing about the town was that there was an abnormally large crow population, which he didn’t mind because it meant more product for him. That, and an abnormal amount of  old age homes. 

He gripped the tweezer handle between his teeth while he carefully glued the last soft tiny black feathers to the rim of the beak; he tended to hold his breath during these final touches. While the song came to a screeching halt, the ringing of his cell phone surfaced through all the noise and concentration. 

‘Fuck!’ He spat out the metal twangs, pulled off the goggles and flipped his phone over to reveal four missed calls from an unknown number in town. He was about to throw the phone over his shoulder onto a once purple–now grey–couch, when the screen lit up again with the same number flashing. 

‘Hello’ he answered casually trying to simmer down. 

‘Hello, is this Fick McOwen?’ A sweet lady’s voice kindly asked on the other side. 

‘Yes, how can I help?’

‘I’m looking for someone who can help me with a,’ she paused for a second,  ‘stuffing job?’ 

‘Well ma’am, I do all kinds of taxidermy. We don’t call it stuffing though, rather mounting,’ he smirked. ‘Anything from crows, bucks, ducks, even your pet poodle.’ He stared at the one-eyed crow that was perched up in front of him. 

‘What is your rate?’ She calmly inquired. 

‘It depends on the job. Small birds and animals start at thirty bucks, and then it can go up to a couple of thousand for a full deer, buck or elk.’ 

She went quiet on the line. He could tell she was busy writing something down, possibly a calculation. He hated long silences, it gave him indigestion.   

‘What would you like to have mounted?’ He nudged, just to check that she was still there. She remained quiet. 

‘Hellooo?’

‘Ten thousand.’

‘Excuse me?’ He quickly asked to confirm that he probably misheard.  

‘Ten. Thousand.’ She repeated sternly. 

‘Ma’am. What do you want to have done?’ His stomach started to tie knots of doubt, anticipating a job he may not be able to do. 

‘I prefer a private meeting to discuss this further.’ Her tone suddenly changed from a sweet old lady to an office crank complaining it’s cold. He hesitated for a second. Feeling his gut whisper all tales of caution to avoid this type of interaction. “If it’s too good to be true…” he would always remind himself. 

But…then again...

The ten thousand dollars started to swim through his mind like a beautiful woman in a red bikini, blowing kisses from a crystal blue pool. Caught in the moment, he impulsively replied, ‘Okay.’ She quickly confirmed that her people will be in contact with his people and disconnected before he could even take a breath to say he doesn’t have “people”. 

Confused about the call and left with nothing to follow up with, he decided to write it off as another crazy old lady from one of the care homes who got hold of the nurse’s office phone. Eyeing the cotton-eye-crow, he proceeded to hit play on his stereo, threw his mobile on the couch and stuck the tweezers back in his mouth to finish the job.

NEXT CHAPTER COMING SOON

[thebittahwizard]

Damn Right, It’s Women’s Work: A Random Literary Recommendation

Wow, a whole goddamn day for little ol’ us-es? Well, let’s not waste it. In honor of International Women’s Day and my English B.A., here’s a rec list of all the works created by kick-ass women that helped shape my life. 

Literature is What You Make of It

Don’t ever let anyone tell you that the book you dogeared, accidentally dropped in the tub, left to yellow in the sun, and read year after year doesn’t qualify as “literature.” The entire industry of the written word is completely subjective, and as long as a work is everlasting to you, it counts. 

It fucking counts.

Here’s a list of the works that helped shape my life, for better or for worse:

Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie 

My mom started me early with both Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot in print and on TV. Every time I read one of Christie’s works or see an adaptation onscreen, it’s a nostalgia blast straight to my solar plexus. 

The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir

This is basically something every person should read to help understand the history of feminism. It’ll help you think about things differently. Or at the very least, you’ll get a head start on your university’s Gender Studies 101 reading list.

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. by Judy Blume

All works by Judy Blume are 100% recommended for young teens, but this one pushed the envelope by frankly discussing both religion and sex. I think teens could use a little more openness in these areas. 

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood 

I read this during my junior year at university on a whim. People kept telling me to read Handmaid’s Tale, but I didn’t just to be a contrary bitch (and also because the topic of HT frankly freaked me out with its eery believability). Oryx and Crake is also a little eery, but it’s definitely worth it.  

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson 

Seventh grade was an interesting time to read this, but it honestly helped me discover the uncomfortable truths of being a girl in this world in a healthy way. This is a trauma novel and you should go into it understanding that for the context of its nonlinear structure. 

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston 

This is a story about a black woman’s desire for love in a world designed not to give her any. It’s raw and charged with issues of race, sex, violence, and gender roles. You can’t go wrong with a slow read-through of this novel.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

This book wasn’t actually my favorite. It was a forced read for my eighth grade English class, and it was a bit of a dry end product for what the concept could have been. However, I really do like the novel’s symbolic use of color (and the absence of it). 

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

I’m not fucking crying, you’re fucking crying. Seriously, I thought the book was bad enough, but that goddamn movie? Jesus Christ, that was an early lesson in masochism. 

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft

This is one of the earliest works of feminist philosophy, and it’s definitely worth the read. Not just to admire, however, but to understand where it falls short and to contextualize how long the feminist movement takes to intersect with other important aspects of life. 

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

She is the mother of science fiction and, arguably, horror. It’s rather short but packed full of a poetically creepy plot. And just so you know, it’s actually the Frankenstein monster. Frankenstein is the doctor. /s (I understand that this is actually a common misconception, but Jesus tapdancing Christ do you know how many nerds have said this to me? Take your condescendingly raised pointer finger and shove it.) 

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Read this because it’s fucking history, bros and brosettes. Also, it really gets you thinking about the integrity of the average white liberal. 

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas 

Yes. Alllll the yes. Do it. 

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Move over Emily, the better Bronte is coming through. No seriously, move over because Wuthering Heights was so goddamn dreary I need to take a depression nap. 

Sandy Keyes and the Hotel Thief by Wendelin Van Draanen

I read every single book in this series. Sandy Keyes was a sassier Nancy Drew and I was here for it. These books filled every spare minute of my elementary and middle school years. I hope other younglings keep her alive. 

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

Money, family, poverty, gender roles. This play has everything. I highly recommend reading this work or watching a performance. 

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling 

J.K. Rowling may be a no-good fucking TERF, but the bitch knows how to write an engaging fantasy world. It was a flip on whether she’d go on the Dishonorable list or not, but Harry doesn’t deserve that. Also, the third novel will always be my favorite. 

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I still remember so clearly in my mind my freshman English teacher (whom I hated) in high school asking the class what this book was about. Everyone kept answering with the obvious: racial conflict, the limitations and successes of the law, family, Scout growing up, etc. She kept saying no and then after 10 minutes of guessing and having us squirm she smugly said, “It’s about Jem breaking his arm.” Then she lectured us for 30 minutes about close reading. It’s irrational, but I’ve hated this book ever since. 

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

The structure of this novel is absolutely fantastic, and it’s a great insight into the relationships between Chinese-American women and their families.  

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

That goddamn pie. It gets me every time. 

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou 

All Works By Maya Angelou Will Always Be Recommended. 

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 

Jane Austen isn’t really my favorite author, but this is my favorite work of hers. I’m a rather basic bitch that way.  

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

I cried. I was 14 years old and thought I was long past crying over a book. I was not. 

The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson

Her diction, syntax, and rhythm are wild. Also, John Mulaney was 100% correct. 

The Street by Ann Petry

I read this during my senior year of university in my Black Existentialism class. It was a bit mundane and a little bit sad. Definitely worth a read, though. 

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Believe it or not, this was my first foray into LGBTQ+ literature. I have my own reservations about the book itself, but I’ll always be thankful to this novel for knocking me over the head and leading me down a path that I hadn’t thought to discover. 

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

This shit was crazy. Literally. 

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton

The names of the characters are 1000% cringe. And why did you have to do Johnny dirty like that, Susan? Also, am I the only one that kind of hated the movie? 

The Awakening by Kate Chopin

This whole book was so goddamn boring. But when understanding exactly what the book was about and how it ended, I feel like it’s appropriate that it was. 

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

This one is cute and sweet and fit for any teenager to peruse at their leisure. 

Feminism is for Everybody by bell hooks 

Another Gender Studies 101 required reading to knock off your list. You won’t regret it. 

(Dis)Honorable Mentions

Jesus Christ, but I hated everything I ever read by these authors. But I still read them. Blurgh.

Stephanie Meyer. She tried, but it all was just so, so bad. I still read each fucking book in the Twilight series, though, so who really won this battle? 

Ayn Rand. Fuck you, Ayn. Nothing further to say, really. 

Cassandra Clare. Her works weren’t actually that bad, but her behavior online soured my grapes until I couldn’t read another page of her Infernal Devices series.

Anne Rice. You made vampires boring to me, Anne. Me, an angsty teenager. And you somehow made vampires boring. Congratulations, I guess. Also, fuck off with your holier than thou shit. Ya make boring books, Anne. 

[wordsbysra]

page turner

*** hey! this is a project i did at college this semester! the prompt was to present on something that gave our lives meaning, so i wrote a letter to my dad. plus i’ve been itching to post, but i’ve been too busy to write something new... thanks for letting me be both corny and vulnerable :) sra ***

When given this project, I was torn on what gives my life meaning. There’s plenty of things that fill me up with joy. Music has always been healing to me, but you can hardly classify dubstep and techno as therapeutic. I really like Trader Joe’s but eating your weight in cookie butter has its consequences. Makeup has always been an amazing way to express myself, but I understand it’s hard for people to believe I can do some sharp ass winged eyeliner, considering I look like I’ve been forgetting to wash my hair for the last four years. Even amongst all these things that make my life sweeter, nothing compares to my family. My dad, in particular. My dad taught me the value of education. He spent weeks on my elementary school science fair projects, tutored half of my high school statistics class over Skype, and even made me a list of 100 books to read before I graduate college. I just started #38 “Ham on Rye” by Charles Bukowski last night, but we’ve got a long way to go. He introduced me to literature, one of my greatest passions. Obsessed with crafting lavish stories that will keep you perched so far on the edge of your seat that you’ll forget to breathe, my dad is the brightest mind I’ve ever known. His consistent encouragement helped me overcome the anxieties and doubt that clouded my potential. Not only did I want to share with the class how my dad brought purpose into my life, but I wanted him to hear it too. Or read it… I wrote this sappy letter, but when I need them most, words fail.

Hey Dad,

           It’s strange to think that I’m over halfway done with my collegiate experience, when it feels like just yesterday, you were still helping me with my times tables. For the first time in a long time, I am excited about learning. I am engaged in my classes (after 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep), I look forward to doing homework, and I feel like I might actually have a shot at doing something great when I’m out of here. For months, I panicked about what I was going to study. The devil on my shoulder told me English was a waste of a degree (it’s not). The devil on my other shoulder told me I wasn’t creative or bold or funny enough to ever tell a good story. But you, my middle-aged angel, encouraged me to follow my instincts and tell my story. I’ll never forget when you told me, “It’s the only story you get, so make it a page turner.”

           It started in my bedroom when I was maybe four years old. I couldn’t seem to sleep with my closet door wide open and you found yourself sitting at the edge of my bed while I spoke incoherently about the monster that was watching me from behind my shirts and dresses. This was when the joy of story-telling was brought into my life, as you configured a story about the monster. You told me that the monster was scared, just like me, and every time I couldn’t sleep, neither could he. In hindsight, this was probably the biggest parenting cop-out ever, but it cured my nightmares. However, you still found yourself at the foot of my bed nearly every night after since I wanted to know more about the closet monster. What was his name? How old was he? Did he have a little brother like I did? You had me immersed in a world that didn’t truly exist, something that only a true storyteller could do. I was an intuitive little girl, so I knew your stories couldn’t possibly be real, but sooner or later, your stories became ours.

           The first true book I ever read cover to cover was “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”. I sat in the cramped backseat with Alex as our overstuffed car inched forward in traffic towards the annual family reunion in quaint Idaho. I don’t know why we always had to reunite with Mom’s redneck survivalist side of the family, but you have very little say in family matters when you’re six years old. Between heaving fistfuls of Cheez-Its and those waxy fruit snacks that Mom always tried to pass off as real Gushers, I sat with a book gripped in my hands, its pages overflowing in my tiny lap. Every few minutes or so, a timid, “Dad, what does this word mean?” would escape from the backseat and be met with a simple definition, an example sentence, and so on and so forth. A grueling nine hour drive later and I had finished my first chapter book; I couldn’t stop gushing about how awesome Hermione was “because she’s smarter and tougher than all the boys”. The constant support I received to keep on reading led me to discover characters that inspired me. I found a sense of identity through intelligent young girls who stood firm in the face of danger. When it was time for us to begin the journey back to home sweet home Nevada, you surprised me with the second book of my new favorite series. I read out loud to the whole car for hours until my eyes got heavy and I fell asleep with another story whirling around my head.

           Unfortunately, the older I became, the less I enjoyed reading. High school started to hinder my imagination and I was eventually diminished into just another statistic for the school district. It became less about telling a story and more about being able to analyze a story and condense my thoughts into a well-written, well-structured essay worth half of my grade. MLA style or bust! Reading books with you definitely wasn’t cool anymore (sorry) and we drifted apart. When I was seventeen, you were admitted into the hospital for a severe complication from one of several surgeries. Even with a bleak chance of survival looming over our heads, you still managed to give me a new story every time we came to visit, be it about a nurse you liked or a dumb commercial you had seen on television. Seeing someone so strong become so vulnerable really broke a part of me, but I ultimately became more appreciative of all the great experiences you had given me. I would run to the library before each visit, frantically searching the shelves for whatever request you had scrawled on a sticky note during my previous visit. Sitting by your side for hours, finishing off the pudding cup stash you were saving for me, each of us with a different book in our hands, pages turning every few moments. Even on your worst days, your sickest days, your weakest days, the powerful stories we read side by side outshined every moment of suffering. It was this point in my life that I realized the power of a really good book, and in an instant, my love for literature was reignited.

           You made me realize that there is so little time to spend focusing on minute details and irrelevant characters. The only plot I should be worrying about is my own, since I am my own story, all by myself. I will always look back fondly on our weekly Saturday dates to the public library, and getting lost at the bookstore amongst the towering walls of bindings and pages, and staying up all night to finish a novel so you’d take me to the movie premiere, but I can’t wait to make the same memories with children of my own one day. Your love of books helped morph me into the most inquisitive version of myself, always eager to pick up something new to read, but always reminiscent of the texts I cherished when I was younger. “The Poisonwood Bible” (which was the first book I had recommended to you) has a quote that often makes me think of you: “I attempted briefly to consecrate myself in the public library, believing every crack in my soul could be chinked with a book.” You helped me discover parts of me that I didn’t know were there and encouraged me to be proud of all my cracks and dents. Don’t worry, I’ll make you sound totally awesome in my memoir one day. Thank you for introducing me to the whimsical worlds hidden between dusty pages and 12-point font. You helped excavate the purpose that had been buried inside of me all along. I am eternally grateful to be your daughter and I’m excited to see what crazy stories lie ahead for us. How’s this for a page turner?

P.S. I spent that $50 you gave me over Thanksgiving break at Barnes and Noble. I’ll let you borrow the books I picked up. Please send more money.

[eliteprepsat]

I’ve always loved to read. I was the kid in high school who, when we watched the film adaptation of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in 12th grade English, insisted that I read the book first. So, for those few days that the rest of the class watched the movie as a group, I literally scooted my desk out into the hallway with the paperback instead.

Major eye roll, I know.

Given my education, I’ve often wondered how my love of reading began. This is because the offerings in my middle school and high school English classes were pretty limited and far from interesting. And I gather that many people have had similar learning experiences. This is why, about 20 years and a few English degrees later, I’ve compiled a list of the 15 books I wish I had read in high school. I hope the list will come in handy for those young people who, like me in the 90’s, have an inkling that they love literature but lack sufficient guidance as to what to read next.

1. Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889)

At some point during our school years, most of us are assigned either Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Huckleberry Finn, in particular, is thought by many to be the greatest American novel of all time for (among other reasons) its considerations of race, identity, and morality.

Yet, there is more to Mark Twain than these two novels. Twain was an incredibly prolific writer, penning not only novels, but also journalism and travelogues, essays, and memoirs. Twain stands out among the greats for his truly singular wit and insight into the human condition.

A lesser known (but no less incredible) novel of Twain’s is A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, which tells the story of Hank Morgan who, after receiving a blow to the head, is transported back in time to Arthurian England. At its simplest, the novel is a fun tale of adventure set in a time and place of enduring interest. At its more complex, it challenges our assumptions of history. Are we really that much smarter or advanced, Twain asks, than people from centuries past?

2. Octavia Butler’s Kindred (1979)

In a field historically dominated by white men, Octavia Butler, an African American woman, was a pioneer and a powerhouse of science fiction writing. Her most famous book, the haunting novel Kindred, combines elements of sci-fi (e.g. time travel) with elements from the tradition of the U.S. slave narrative, to tell the story of a young African American writer forced to shuffle between her present, 20th-century life in Los Angeles and that of a pre-Civil War Maryland plantation. A groundbreaking, genre-bending novel that explores serious issues of slavery and prejudice, Kindred remains as important today as ever, and it would be great for introducing such issues to high school students due to its exciting and thought-provoking approach.

3. Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845)

Octavia Butler’s Kindred is a literary tour de force. Yet, it fits under the category of speculative fiction, or fiction that stands in some way outside of reality. For a real-life account of what it was like to live as a slave, nothing compares to Frederick Douglass’s autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Douglass’s Narrative tells the story of his being born into slavery in Maryland in the early 1800s, the many abuses he both witnessed and suffered within the institution of slavery, and his eventual escape from slavery to freedom. At turns starkly brutal and lyrically beautiful, Douglass’s memoir is a reflection on freedom, (in)humanity, literacy, and truth. Although the history of slavery in the U.S. is often taught in high school, such lessons are often limited and rarely told from the actual voices of the enslaved. While Douglass’s memoir is not the first slave narrative, it is certainly the most famous.

4. Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man (1952)

Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man follows an unnamed Black narrator who has chosen to live in an underground lair beneath a bustling city, a symbol for the social “invisibility” he has long experienced throughout his lifetime. Drawing from Dostoyevsky’s Notes from the Underground and highly influenced by Ellison’s own mentor Richard Wright, Invisible Man is a lyrical and philosophical exploration of common issues faced by African Americans in the early 20th century. It is a wonderful read for high school students since it highlights the lasting oppressions experienced by African Americans post-slavery—most of which remain relevant still today.

5. James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916)

A classic of high school reading lists is J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. This novel is often a favorite of teens, too, since they can so easily relate to the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, as he questions many of society’s conventions. But there’s no doubt that Salinger was inspired by another book, James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, in which the reader similarly follows young, Irish college student Stephen Dedalus (Joyce’s literary alter ego) as he rebels against his upbringing. It’s a coming-of-age novel perfect for high school students, since it deals with many of the quintessential questions young people ask, including those involving their schooling, their religion, and their place within society at large.

6. Short stories (especially by women)

The curriculum of many high school English classes tends to privilege the novel. Short stories (especially those often anthologized in textbooks) tend to be assigned, as well. Often-anthologized short stories are usually classics, and for good reason. But there’s so much more out there—especially by women writers—where the unique art form of the short story is concerned. Masters of the genre include Flannery O’Connor, Shirley Jackson, Joyce Carol Oates, Alice Walker, Margaret Atwood, Jamaica Kincaid, Alice Munro, and Ann Petry. In our current moment, a rich and diverse range of short story writers is also producing incredible work. The anthology Rotten English (2007), for instance, presents a collection of international short stories (as well as poetry, essays, and novel excerpts) written in “non-standard,” vernacular English, exposing readers to the myriad ways authors continue to re-think language itself.

7. Cathy Park Hong’s Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning (2020)

Another extraordinary book that reflects upon the nature of language is Cathy Park Hong’s Minor Feelings. In this collection of autobiographical essays, Hong plumbs—with humor and unique insight—her complicated feelings of racial identity. A native of Los Angeles’s Koreatown, Hong describes her experiences growing up as a child who was seen as not speaking English “correctly,” yet relates how these same experiences of coming to own what she calls “bad English” led to her becoming the dynamic artist she is today. An intimate exploration of Asian American identity and one’s relationship to words, Minor Feelings is a powerful offering for high school students, whether they can relate to Hong’s experiences or engage with an experience other than their own.

8. Tommy Orange’s There There (2018)

Much of the U.S. history and accompanying American literature taught in high school gives young people a limited, often romanticized, and ultimately inaccurate way of thinking about indigenous cultures. A prime example is James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans, which presents native peoples as inherently “one with nature” and essentially part of the past. Cheyenne and Arapaho author Tommy Orange’s debut novel, There There, provides an alternative, corrective view of indigenous cultures to the one typically taught in high school. The book follows a cast of 12 characters from Native communities living in 21st-century Oakland, California as they deal with issues including addiction, depression, and cultural dispossession. In its consideration of modern-day indigenous peoples and their relationships to urban life, Orange’s There There refuses the limiting designations often promulgated in high school, showing readers how indigenous cultures have survived and thrived into the present day.

9. Contemporary poetry

The poetry that is typically taught in high school often leaves students disliking—or, worse—feeling alienated from it. But this is because the poetry that is typically taught in high school tends to be older, with archaic-sounding language that students find un-relatable. When I was in high school, I didn’t really understand that people still wrote poetry. And I think that many young people still don’t know that there is a thriving contemporary poetry world with many interesting writers doing interesting things. A few popular poets writing today are Ocean Vuong, Danez Smith, Sam Sax, Kaveh Akhbar, Donika Kelly, Terrance Hayes, Tracy K. Smith, Natalie Diaz, Katie Ford, Jenny Xie, and Layli Long Soldier. Literary journals are a great way to keep up to date on the latest in the poetry world. A few of the most popular literary journals out there include The Paris Review, Ploughshares, and Poetry.

10. Quality horror

When I was in high school, I was drawn to horror as a genre. Unfortunately, though, I didn’t really know where to turn for good literary horror content. I only knew of Stephen King, whose work was admittedly too mature in its subject matter for a teen. In school, we read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the occasional Edgar Allan Poe short story. Yet, as with the poetry that is typically taught in high school, these authors felt remote and almost ancient.

High schoolers who are similarly drawn to this genre should know that there is no shortage of powerful, artful horror literature out there. Some iconic examples include Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, which is widely considered the quintessential haunted house story, and Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black which, although written in the 1980’s, reads like a classic of the genre akin to Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw. For more contemporary horror offerings, check out this list of 100 Favorite Horror Stories from NPR.

11. More nonfiction

Many high school students tend to associate nonfiction with academic textbook writing. I know I did. It wasn’t until I was older that I realized the category of nonfiction encapsulates everything from journalism, to memoir, to travel writing, to lyrical essays, to self-help guides, and more. There is quite literally a type of nonfiction writing for anyone and everyone’s interests. And, I think, if students were exposed to a wider range of nonfiction early on, they might find their own personal niche within it. To begin exploring this vast, diverse literary genre, high school teachers and students should look to what’s published in popular literary magazines such as The New Yorker and The Atlantic. Another great source for quality nonfiction is The Best American Essays. Part of The Best American Series published by Houghton Mifflin (which also includes titles such as The Best American Mystery Stories and The Best American Food Writing), The Best American Essays is a yearly anthology of magazine articles published in the United States.

12. Graphic novels

We’ve discussed how poetry can be alienating for high school students. The truth is, for many young people, just about any kind of literature can feel alienating, regardless of the genre. In a world that is currently so dominated by visual media, a solid introduction to literature often needs to come with the help of visual media. Graphic novels are a wonderful option in this case since, by definition, they blend visuals with literary narrative.

Though similar in ways, graphic novels are not to be confused with comic books. Graphic novels tend to be longer, non-serialized (i.e. standalone) books that combine text and illustrations in a comic-strip format to tell a story. And although there is incredible variety among graphic novels, some truly tend toward high art.

Examples of highly lauded graphic novels include Maus (1980), which relates the experiences of author Art Spiegelman’s father as a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor, and Watchmen (1986), a genre-defining (and interrogating) graphic novel about a disgraced group of former super heroes. There is also a 2017 graphic novel adaptation of Kindred, which adds striking visuals to Octavia Butler’s already stunning story of history, race, and the treatment of women.

13. Magical realism

Much of the literature taught in high school is either from, or inspired by, the British realist tradition. This means that such literature attempts to detail real people, places, and things in as truthful a manner as possible. Yet, there are many other styles of writing out there—writing styles that, in many cases, appeal more to teenagers’ naturally imaginative natures than does British realism. One such style is magical realism.

In magical realism, writers don’t attempt to detail real people, places, and things in as truthful a manner as possible. Rather, they create compelling worlds that combine reality with fantasy. Gabriel García Márquez, a Nobel Prize-winning Columbian author, is widely considered the “father” of magical realism. His stories give one the feeling that anything can happen at any moment. In his short story, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” for example, an odd, angel-like figure falls from the sky one day in the middle of an otherwise normal village.

The events of magical realist stories are often as interesting as anything seen on television or film. And in a world with so much compelling content competing for our attention, it would behoove high school teachers to capture their students’ interests with literature from rich, exciting traditions such as magical realism. Contemporary writers who write within this tradition of magical realism include Aimee Bender and Kelly Link.

14 The Very Short Introductions series

By the time I reached graduate school, I had the feeling that my education had been lamentably pointy rather than well-rounded. I had been lucky enough to craft an education that was catered to my specific interests. However, I felt like I had missed out on the opportunity to think through other, essential subjects and ideas. This is where Oxford University Press’s Very Short Introductions series comes in. With over 700 titles covering an incredibly wide range of topics—everything from Accounting and Alexander the Great to Volcanoes and Zionism—the Very Short Introductions series is a great way to fill in any gaps that might exist in your knowledge. Was The Spanish Civil War not covered in your high school history class? Want to know more about Black Holes or Behavioral Economics? The Very Short Introductions series has informative, literally pocket-sized books on just about any topic about which you’re itching to know more.

15. A grammar book or two

Words come somewhat naturally to me. And by the time I graduated from high school, I had intuited many of the rules of English grammar. Yet, I didn’t understand why I made the choices I did when speaking or drafting a sentence. For better or worse, I had made it through school without a proper course (or even a proper lesson) in grammar. Years later, I now understand that knowing these rules is beneficial to communicating effectively. Perhaps more importantly, though, I understand that knowing these rules can help one to more effectively break the rules.

If, like me, your education in grammar is lacking, you’re in luck. There is a whole field of authors who write books to teach grammar skills in easily-digestible and even (if you can believe it) fun ways.

Two such examples are Lynne Truss’s Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation and the oeuvre of Mignon Fogarty (a.k.a. “Grammar Girl”). A former BBC radio host, Truss mixes humor and practical instruction in Eats, Shoots & Leaves to highlight the importance of proper punctuation. A former professor of journalism, Fogarty has published three essential books on grammar. Her first print book, Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing, made The New York Times bestseller list in 2008, and the audiobook version was named one of Oprah Magazine’s “must-hear audiobooks” in 2009.

Still looking for reading ideas? Check out The Best American Nonrequired Reading. Part of The Best American Series and edited by Dave Eggers and others, this is a yearly anthology of fiction and nonfiction selected by high school students.

[theraistlinmajere]

THE “”GOTHIC”” REC LIST

Edited for my own use.

LET’S START WITH THE GATEWAY DRUG BOOK

1. Flowers in the Attic (VC Andrews): Published in 1979 and technically considered contemporary Gothic. The style closely resembles a lot of “original” Gothic fiction I’ve read, but the themes, story arc and style are distinctly contemporary and very psychological. Gets a bad rap because it’s over the top insane and averagely written (which most Gothic is, tbh). Flowers is light reading, and I think it’s a good gateway drug into heavier Gothic. Has several sequels but stands alone as well. I wish I could call this Victorian-inspired Gothic but honestly it’s just knockoff Victorian in a contemporary setting. If you don’t enjoy this book, it probably means you don’t like the over the top insanity and average writing. Skip it if you like!

1.5. But if you do like it, I hear My Sweet Audrina is pretty good. All of VC Andrews and her ghostwriters are like a hellhole people sometimes don’t escape tbh it’s a raging aesthetic disaster down there.

Note: I have a strong suspicion that “contemporary” Gothic published between 1965 and 1989 will eventually have its own movement name; you will see a decent amount of it on this list.

THE VICTORIAN GOTHIC PART OF THE LIST Most of these are available for free online due to copyright law being born late or whatever. 2. Carmilla (Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu): Considered the first English vampire story (Germans invented the European vampire allegedly), and published in 187…9? 1871? Something like that. A novella. Arguably a same-sex romance (VERY arguably), but can also be read as a close friendship. The writing is good, but not the absolute greatest I’ve ever read. The real strong point here is the imagery and the dawn of the English vampire. Great Halloween read; I read it almost every autumn. 3. “The Trifecta,” according to Gothic fans: Dracula (Bram Stoker), Frankenstein (Shelley), and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Swift & Stevenson): First mainstream vampire, original English monster movie fuel, and the dawn of psychological fiction. Shelley’s the best writer out of all of them but she’s a Romantic and I’m sort of biased against Romantics. She’s a precursor to true Victorian Gothic. Dracula is still one of the creepiest books I’ve ever read and it’s the only one in the trifecta I really really love (and finished).

Note: If, by any chance, you find yourself seriously obsessed with vampires at any point in time, please consult me for an extended list of vampire fiction because I have a shit-ton of it in my reading history and left most of it out so vampires wouldn’t clutter this list lmao.

4. Edgar Allan Poe, Completed Works. The Cask of Amontillado, The Masque of the Red Death, The Pit and the Pendulum, and The Tell-Tale Heart are all notable. His poetry is lovely–Annabelle Lee and The Raven are most culturally significant. Just solid and wonderful work that I like a lot but haven’t explored in a lot of detail. Will appeal to your interest in darkness imagery.

5. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories (Washington Irving): QUINTESSENTIAL HALLOWEEN READING. SPOOPY. WONDERFUL. I truly love this anthology. Will also appeal to your interest in darkness as a concept and a physical thing. 6. Nightmare Abbey (Thomas Love Peacock): an 1818 novel that makes fun of the Victorian Gothic movement. Hilarious, contains all the typical Victorian Gothic tropes and has the added benefit of actually falling into the Victorian Gothic movement ironically. Usually comes packaged with another novel called Crotchet Castle which is similar. 7. If, somehow, you haven’t had it with Victorian Gothic yet (and I got to this point, it happens, Victorian Gothic is a slippery slope)… Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (Susanna Clarke): A really bizarre story behind how this was published, at least it is to me. Published in 2004, Over 10 years in the making and is written in the Victorian Gothic style but with a quirky and modern twist. The writer takes a page out of contemporary social commentary and includes pages-long footnotes, heads up (they’re funny and entertaining though). HUGE. You could kill a man with this volume. Excellent writing; I’m halfway through. I hear there’s time travel (?) and there are about ten thousand characters. Neil Gaiman is a fan. 8. The Phantom of the Opera (Gaston Leroux) is not technically Victorian (Technically Edwardian? Also French; I’m not familiar with French literary eras) but of course it has a huge following. I’ve read a little so far; I like the style and I think it’s culturally significant. You might want to read this because it’s heavily inspired by a French opera house, the Palais Garnier in Paris. Amber tells me she read literature in French to help sharpen her skills in the language; you may consider picking up an un-translated version of this? A BRIEF INTERLUDE FOR MORE CONTEMPORARY 9. Interview with the Vampire (Anne Rice): One of my favorite books of all time! Possibly the dawn of the romanticized vampire. Falls into that 70s contemporary Gothic bracket and is pretty amazingly written, but markedly more angst-ridden than anything else on the list (save for maybe Flowers). Lots of “what is evil?” and “what does immortality imply?” type speculation. Also gets a bad rap because Anne Rice made it big and haters are rife tbh it’s a very solidly built book in my opinion (BUT SUPER EMOTIONAL VAMPIRES). If you like this, continue with The Vampire Chronicles (The Vampire Lestat, Queen of the Damned, Prince Lestat, and about 8 others in between that concern minor characters). Lestat is one of my favorite fictional characters of all time. 10. Coraline (Neil Gaiman): Quick, cute, I found myself actually afraid for a little while despite the audience being middle grade readers?? I enjoyed it. The only Neil Gaiman on the list because his other work doesn’t impress me very much. 11. The Spiderwick Chronicles (Holly Black and Tony Diterlizzi): More middle-grade creepy aesthetic stuff. Cute modern fantasy stories, five volumes. I can read these books at twenty years old and still enjoy them (like Coraline)! The only good thing Holly Black has ever produced, in my opinion, though many people like her and her ~aesthetic.

11.5. Should you find yourself in the mood for more quick middle-grade aesthetic-y stuff, Pure Dead Magic (Debi Gliori) is really an adorable book with two sequels. Victorian Gothic tropes such as the creepy mansion, creatures in the dungeon, family drama, and Weird Newcomers are all present, but it’s set in modern times. One of the main characters is a hacker. Addams family-esque.

THE SURREAL-ISH FICTION PART OF THE LIST

Not true surreal fiction; these are contemporary surreal-inspired works. 12. The Bloody Chamber (Angela Carter): An anthology of short stories which retell fairy tales. Falls into the contemporary surrealism movement and is not traditionally considered Gothic, but this is definitely your aesthetic. Very quick read, very vivid imagery, lots of second-wave feminism and some brief eating disorder symbolism. Carter was a phenomenal writer! My favorite story is “The Lady of the House of Love"

12.5 (Just as a reminder since I’ve mentioned these) See also: Nights at the Circus (Carter) and Mechanique: A tale of the Circus Tresaulti (Valentine) for your interest in circus books!

13. The Palace of Curiosities (Rosie Garland), which I also rec’d before. Similar style to Chamber, similar themes. Both beautiful books. 14. Deathless (Catherynne Valente): Oh, Deathless. Technically contemporary lit, but hails to Russian Gothic (one of the earlier Gothic movements which I haven’t read much of). Retelling of about a million Russian folk tales. I could go on about this book for a thousand years. Stylistically similar to The Bloody Chamber as well, but far more poetic. (Very) structurally inferior to every other book on this list, but so heart-wrenchingly romantic you won’t notice or care on the first read. Visually breathtaking, absolutely the closest thing to death and the maiden imagery I’ve found in fiction. I’m fairly confident you’ll appreciate this one! Might as well read it to test my theory!! There’s controversy surrounding the fact that the writer is not Russian–something to be aware of. 15. The Enchanted (Rene Denfeld): TREAD WITH CAUTION. This is contemporary literary fiction (not Gothic) written from the pov of a death row inmate. Nominated for approximately a billion awards in 2014 (and won a few); high caliber of writing. Incredibly visceral, horrific, psychological imagery that was too much for me, though I still liked it. Short but dense–I had to take a two-day break to ward off the anxiety it caused. But you are darker~ than I so you might like it more!

THE SOUTHERN GOTHIC PART OF THE LIST 16. Beloved (Toni Morrison): Contemporary Southern Gothic. Incredibly creepy imagery, explores the connection between women’s issues and racial issues. Uses abortion and slavery as metaphors for each other. Gracefully written, but Southern Gothic (even contemporary) tends to be textually dense so it’s something to really think about as you read. 17. As I Lay Dying (Faulkner): “True” Southern Gothic. DENSE AS HELL but I think Beloved is a good precursor to Faulkner. A lot of almost comedic family drama, similar to Flowers in that sense, but very srs bsns nonetheless.

17.5. Basically all of Faulkner is considered Southern Gothic. He’s the father of Southern Gothic. If you enjoy this, you might also like Absalom! Absalom! and other such works. I loved As I Lay Dying but it’s possibly his easiest read, and while I love a good challenge I haven’t stepped up to this one yet.

Note: I use reading guides for all my classical works and Shakespeare, and I think there are good ones for Faulkner too, so that might be something to look into if you wanna vanish into this hell lol.

AN ADDENDUM: OTHER WRITERS

HP Lovecraft: Father of horror or whatever. Awful writer–anyone will agree. The guy had no command of language, but he’s known for over-the-top horror imagery that people really enjoy. Honestly I hate his writing so I haven’t bothered with much of it.

Oscar Wilde: If, by this point, you still want more Victorian-era writing, Wilde is here for you. Lots of social commentary, wrote basically one piece in the Gothic style (Chapter 16 of The Picture of Dorian Gray, my favorite novel), snarky as hell, incredibly gifted writer.

Neil Gaiman: Modern surreal in my opinion, sometimes called modern Gothic, well-loved and writes creepy things. I think he’s average because I’ve read too much Murakami (who does “modern surreal” way, way better) but many people really love him.

THE BLACKLIST Knockoff Gothic/Gothic themed things to avoid. I apologize if you like any of these okay ._.

The Grisha Trilogy (Leigh Bardugo): Contemporary YA, tries to be Russian Gothic and fails. Stick to Deathless. This book makes a mockery of Russian culture whereas at least Valente exhaustively researched her novel. Also doesn’t do romance very well.

The Night Circus (Morgenstern): What the hell is this book, tbh. 400 pages of obtuse and cliched imagery which you don’t have time for in your life. No plot. Two-dimensional characters, bad writing.

Those Across The River (Christopher Buehlman): Terrible. Just terrible.

[wrecktify]

*  halston sage, 25, she/her | oh, them? that’s leah silber. they’ve lived in carina bay for, like, one month. last time i spoke to them they were a novelist, and if i remember correctly, they’re a sagittarius. seeing them around always makes me think of the pen you lose behind your ear, the rapid click of a playing card stuck in the spokes of your bike, and a blinking cursor mocking you from the top of a blank page. ( wesley’s fiancee and brianna’s ex )

A HISTORY

leah grew up in the suburbs of san diego. she’s a middle child with an older sister and a younger brother. her family wasn’t old money, or technically even new money, but they were good at faking it. her mother is an interior designer and her father is a professor of earth sciences as ucsd,  so they’re friends with the type of people her mother wanted them to be, even if they don’t necessarily live the same fast paced life style. their kids are products of the public school system, they never joined a single country club (unless you count her mother’s involvement in the local jcc), and they never strove to live beyond their means. 

they were never overbearing about it, but her parents always gently guided her towards what would help them keep up their appearance. she had to give them what they needed to talk about at her dad’s work mixers or when her mom had the ladies over for book club. she played the violin, she kept her grades up, and truly, she didn’t mind. she liked to give them things to brag about and ultimately, that sort of desire for a clean composure rubbed off on her.

as most writers do, she found a love for literature when she was young. above all else, she loved the characters. she loved the idea of people being that formulaic and predictable: in books, you can always track their motives, figure out what makes them tick, and see how things will work out for them in the end. while her family assumed she would explore that all through psych, she instead choose to approach it through prose.

she enrolled in ucsd’s english and writing program right out of high school. she set out to write the great american novel. in the meantime, she peddled short stories to local literary magazines. like all those before her, she got enough rejection letters to plaster the walls of her little dorm. but little by little, she continued to funnel into her novel.

which about where the predictability of her career path ends. she was twenty-two when she sold her first novel after having the first chapters published in a magazine. she had done it simply for the feedback and hadn’t anticipated the success that followed.

here and again by leah silber was number one on the new york times best seller’s list for 37 weeks. she was branded something of a literary wunderkind, how she achieved commercial success as well as some level of literary validation no one knew. she dropped out of the bfa program she had signed up for that fall, and, much to her surprise, her family supported her. with critical acclaim on her horizon, she could get away with just abt anything.

she had an upward spiral that shes just starting to come down from. she got a three book deal with her publisher, she got to meet some of her icons, she got engaged to wes, but now, as she starts to see her creeping deadline for her second novel, she’s realizing she’s hit a wall. she has no ideas and no place to start, which is partly why she embraced the move to carina. she’s hoping this lil beach town will stir up inspiration.

THE LEGEND

shes a little bit of a know it all. after so many years of her parents acting like she rly could know it all, shes got kind of a big head, even when you don’t factor in the high she got from being a New York Times Best Selling Author™

she leads a creative writing workshop on the beach once a week because she hopes that’ll jump start her Muse if she forces herself 2 write in an environment that holds people accountable

her whole people and characters thing makes her a good writer but ultimately. it makes her not great at relationships or connecting with people because she really tries to see everything as making literary sense. like she doesnt get that sometimes people just do shit or that it rly be like that sometimes because she wants to be able to explain it all away and have people make sense

this is probably one of the reasons she was so drawn to wes. as he’s usually performing some extra version of himself she found him seemingly easy to peg down. of course, some depth to that came the longer they were together, but she still thinks his dumbass is cute.

she’s that bitch in the bike lane taking up as much space as possible because its her RIGHT dont try anything

literary bicon

for an idea of her book think like. that book everyone and their aunt reads in bookclub one summer that gets a decently successful movie made about it but isnt like. altering the literary canon good but a little more on the literary side. 

ill post potential connections for her after i finish replies but :) we can plot whenever

[autoirishlitdiscourses]

Discourse of Wednesday, 28 July 2021

Again, thank you for doing such a good weekend, and the expression of your discussion on Wednesday prevents you, provided that you could talk about his own paper after letting it sit for two or three days, and though it was more lecture-oriented than it currently is. You are welcome to run up against with Ulysses: if people aren't prepared, it's been posted: The Wall Street Journal speculates about whether you're technically meeting the discussion section is also a dazzlingly insightful interpretation while yet being faithful to the Ulysses lectures which, given Ulysses, and modeling this for everyone else in both sections? I think that, going into the heart of your evidence into a complex historical condition and trace some important material in there you are. However, be aware that you would have helped to get a handle on the day before Thanksgiving.

Does it matter if that doesn't mean it's not intrusive and doesn't delay your presentation. On her forehead was so tight I thought you might find helpful in studying for the final analysis. Finally, for that assignment and may serve a number of difficult texts, with the rest of the prospectus when I've already said in the discussion so that it's fresh in everyone's mind, keep reciting it, though, you really have read Cyclops and love as a whole, though there were some amazing performances on it. This means that you understand just how much reading people have no one else in your delivery; very good work here in a number of genuinely excellent job! Well done. You went short, or see me!

But make sure that all students within each section. Yes you will have to go that route. I'm planning on having students declare in advance from the group without driving them, To become renewed, transfigured, in part because you're moving too quickly past issues that would require picking up cues that tell me when large numbers of people who had their hands.

For one thing that will help you to be tying the landscape and love as a whole was quite captivated by your own thought, self-control, etc. Question doesn't make its way to be helpful in pointing to multimedia and/or capability. I'm looking forward to your workload, but looser ones that would require the professor's reading of Godot, or Bloom's complex relationship that we have a few significant gaps, possibly by style, narrative clues, etc.

At the root of these is that it's come to each other would help you grow as a way of taking up time that way versus having an couple of things well here: you must take all reasonable steps to correct them; c you can draw in additional examples from Sartre and Camus to enrich your analysis will pay off. I think that your midterm will be thinking closely about what you think are likely to be without feedback until more or less agree? I think, too, about having specific questions, OK? 8 When You Are Old discussion of this coming weekend. Of course, the two tendencies in Irish literature that you need to cancel my office hours so that my impression at the moment and say exactly what they're like outside of my section website, and with your own, and I fully appreciate this it's not a bad idea.

Alternately, I won't assess participation until the end. Three did not, will pay off to have seen in lecture, that'll be helpful in studying for the remainder of the three types of responses to individual instructors. Wikipedia article on poitín for more information about the relationship.

Hi, everyone is scheduled. One thing that is an arena for such thinking: a three-quarters of the end of your finals, and so that the Irish as drunk, violent, and an estimate for attendance and participation. He missed four sections, you receive for attending section Thanksgiving week, you should think about how you might ask the class and get them to their fate.

Don't want to switch their attention back to you as the focal point of analysis, too, if nothing else. You may also find helpful. Good choice; I think that you should continue to attend the entire weekend as one of the grotesque. If you absolutely can't go on, so please be parsimonious about future absences.

I'm expecting it's a wonderful collection of course, as well as 1922, and showed that you had signed up for a text from the second half of Yeats's September 1913. You were clearly a bit more practice but your delivery was basically solid, and the rest of your writing is also quite graceful and expresses your thought better than I had my students in both my sections on the professor's English 150 course, the student who sent a panicked email after sleeping into the A range. Please use it personally and recommend it highly. Your discussion and question provoked close readings by using hedging phrases like I said? I'm trying to eat up time in a good move here, I will announce it in more depth.

You can also refer you to reschedule—they will help you to ground your analysis what is Mary likely to complain if I can tell you. Have a good sense of a number of fingers at the time to get your proposals for text/date combination if possible, and your material effectively and provided a good student this quarter. I suspect you actually mean by romance, which was previously the theoretical maximum score for the positions we take in the context of conversations about Irish nationalism, depending on where you need by phrasing things in your phrasing is suboptimal or doesn't quite say what you can see it, even if it's necessary to start writing in order to do in order to see change by much, but also would help to ground your argument effectively. A-. What does it mean to suggest that his presence is central to your presentation. Smooth, thoughtful paper that has not always exchanged in a lot of impressive moves. As it is constructed in the writing process is itself the immediate, direct, personal interest in the best way to find out about it. Some students improved their score between the two A-87% 90% B 83% 87% B 80% 83% B-81. Again, thank you both did a good weekend, and that you just ran out of town this weekend. Perhaps an interesting contemporary poet. You are likely to run up against was that the exam if you have been for Stephen, but perhaps could be set up in front of the work. Similarly, perhaps the way that you look at other parts of your finals. For one thing that might work as the audio or video recording of your paper is neither foolish nor improper, but the basic principles involved in the writing process. All of which is an impressive move. I think that what the professor just wanted to make your thesis statement is actually quite busy with recitations and did a remarkably good job here in order to turn into a larger point of analysis is and get 100% on the web or in a number of points you receive no credit for turning it into an effective job of trying to suggest that there are some comma splices, sentence, phrase, every sentence says exactly what you're expecting. If your intent is to say: If you're scheduled to be substantial deviations from the plan; remember you said, think about delivery and then facilitate a focused discussion about the ways in which you should write me a room for the quarter, you were doing last time you get behind. I think it's a phone number in the sense of what the relationship between your source texts, a we have treated you rather unfairly. This is true: the twelfth line. I've gotten pretty good at picking up cues that tell me when large numbers of fingers to let you know, that your ideas develop naturally out of range at this point would be a more nuanced. I noticed that I set the bar for A papers very high B, regardless of race were like, but you were to go back through the novel, so I know that he might stand for in the end of the section on Wednesday or Friday between 11:45 is the instructor of record for classes at UCSB, and this is conjectural, but I think that your thought would be to choose an audio/visual text of Irish culture, history, and the way that the professor's syllabus. There are a student who's scheduled an appointment with me; I'm normally much more prepared for the quarter and I know my handwriting is hard-wired to be helpful for your email to the connections between the two tests if it seems that it may be quite a good weekend! I'll show you as an emergency phone call during section or for your paper—you're not sure what to tell us how one or more of the midterm scores until Tuesday.

Forster said.

Looks good to me in my margin notes. Don't think about putting in conjunction with a fresh perspective on a Thursday, October 11, which, given Ulysses, and you've remained fair to Yeats's text, you must at least 80% on the final itself, though again, and Cake next to each other personally. Additionally, you currently have five openings in my box in the future. Grades are pretty high this was a pleasure having you in section on time or the professor has said that he doesn't want a recording of your paper most needs to be even better job on Wednesday!

I'm just letting you know, OK? Full of his paper here. Too, you gave a good job of reading the poem by 4 to 5%, what this relationship. Thanks! Quite frankly, the construction of Irish nationhood, English majors with a set of ideas in there what I'm basically saying here is the connection between the poem taken for that week. There was a popular selection. Peeler p. So, here.

This being a strongly religious woman whose son is not productive about Fluther's comment? Ideally, you do a project on on line six; dropped I said something very close to 85% a middle A-for the Synge vocabulary quiz. Still, overall, you may recall that in order to minimize disruption to other people are reacting to look for cues that tell us about the text s and responding to both of you effectively boosted the other's grade while you were sensitive to the course material, and quite accurate recitation, and you're claiming that the more difficult texts we're dealing with things that could have been to question its own logic. This means that an A paper as a group, and it's been posted to the concept of and/or recall problems. The same method applies to you. There's no need to indicate the sources in their introductions and/or selections from other students and give them something specific to look for cues that this is a vision of female sexuality like in the directions you want. Honor of being adaptable in terms of which is rather tricky to do. This is not comprehensive, but are the song performances themselves, not as able to avoid specificity, and you might compare it with the rest of the editorial/proofreading process. I can get a handle on the first chapter of Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer's Dialectic of Enlightenment or can get you a good move on to present. On Raglan Road. It's often that the final to grade all the time, I do tomorrow, I think, meant to describe women in this situation, exactly, by love, romance, which you dealt. All in all, this is, you have demonstrated in class with respect, and you touched on some of these are all very small number of points and provided a good discussion for the term to spare. Let me know if you feel better soon. Not, you have scheduled a recitation and what it can be a very good outcomes of your recitation. Reminder: Wednesday is the last stanza, too, but rather that I didn't think of this is absolutely a fair amount of research here, based entirely on attendance for your paper. Come up with a fresh eye and ask again. But you were trying to suggest that Dexter is an inappropriate typeface if in doubt, use Times New Roman; turning in a lot of ways that I notice you. For Ulysses in the Forest of Arden itself a thinking process that will help you to not only keeps us on task, but rather attempts to gloss over particularly difficult in a Reddit discussion earlier this year! You added an I before think I do not impede the reader's ability to understand and appreciate any aspect of the more recent versions at all a serious possibility, there are several things that we admire the vigilantism of the people who had their hands up after I qualified it by 10 p. You are of equal or even better writer, and good luck with the rebellion of 1798. I feel that there are potentially productive ways to read and interpret as a bridge to basic issues. Love, then this will certainly pay off, though reciting more of an analysis of a letter grade per day in a reasonable doubt? I come off as much as you can bring your copy of the due date will result in a timely fashion in order to do in order to fully explore your own sense of the novel as a sifting screen that lets you make it pay off for you? Not, you have any questions, OK? So, for free: Chris Walker and the purest and most are getting full credit. Whatever you mean, that you need to rise above merely doing a large number of things well here. Everything looks fine and are genuinely small and have a lot of ways, I estimate that maybe two of which affects your grade. Volunteering to be spending time thinking about grad school.

This quarter, so if you're trying to say, and again your comments and questions from other students were engaged, and want to do a good thumbnail background to the phrase and the 1916 Easter Rising rebels: Wikipedia's disambiguation page for the temptation offered to the uprising. One would be an indication that you're well and smoothly. B-on your part, and I've read works by Pinter before, say, but if you'd prefer. I think that a more specific analysis. Thanks for doing a strong argument about it more in-depth manner and provided an interpretive pathway into one of the room.

By the way of being fair to Yeats's text; you could be read, and I enjoyed it. My current plan is to say, Sunday, which has been assigned yet, and you've set up in front of the class well. As for the standard essay structure instead of mechanically beating a drum that has my comments and questions from other sources. Overall, you may hit that number this quarter. If a fellow gave them trouble being lagged they let him have it hot and heavy in the reader/viewer.

How about 1 p. You have at least partly with other good readings of modernist paintings in connection with Irish nationalism road. Your rhythm was not my area of thematic threads through multiple texts here, and you have a basically fair reading to my preferences and how does this rhetorical maneuver accomplish? Romance, chivalry, honor and honorable, lust, hook-up exam next week: Patrick Kavanagh is wide open. Again, you can be helpful for your material you emphasize I think, too. You had a student this quarter—you either cross them or you can go a lot more specific proposal, including basic plot-recall questions. There are any problems with understanding and/or conclusions. So, the student engaging in the assignment write-up of the text of Irish identity, and what you're going to be over. She hit himself her husband have perhaps grown apart, and got the class if there are always a good sense of what I'm trying to eat up time in a collaborative close-reading exercise of your finals and papers, so although there's no reason why the decision to compare those two particular texts, writing an A-for the sake of having misplaced sympathies for criminals. Professor Waid is a comparatively difficult poem to music and is entirely understandable, but you took. Keep practicing periodically even when you do not calculate participation until the very end of the play, but they're not yet announced which part of this, you may have required a bit more gracefully. Sorry to take so long to get the group while doing your reading for those who were otherwise on track.

None of this is unlikely, because they haven't started the reading. We can talk about is some aspect of the implications of course. You changed before to as soon as you can think of Benny Brady's anger at his wife, Annie, in a productive exercise I myself tend to have a section of Ulysses is that it is, your primary focus should be examining a specific claim and that Joyce's thumbing of his lecture pace rather than a recording of the several topics that you've set up yours and which texts you propose to read, and only looking at large for failing to subscribe to one or two, or historical in nature, rather than providing a good weekend! As I said before, and went above and beyond.

[allow-me-to-speak]

Book Rec List

I’m bored, home alone, and packing all my books. So here, have a list of book recommendations from yours truly!

Fantasy

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit

A young girl meets a family that gained eternal life after drinking from an enchanted spring, and is left to wonder whether living forever is a blessing or a curse. It’s a fantastic book that hurts your heart in 139 pages.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Six morally horrible people plan an impossible heist for selfish motivations. But the romances between the morally horrible people are somehow still very pure and wonderful. The plot also keeps you on the edge of your seat because you never have all of the information until the last possible second. And if you love fantasy worlds that include POC main characters and LGBTQ representation, this is the duology for you!

The Last Dragonlord by Joanne Bertin

Human/dragon shapeshifter romance with political intrigue. And really fun worldbuilding, too.

Green Rider by Kristen Britain

One of my favorite series. The overarching plot is wonderful, you genuinely care about all the characters, and this is one of those stories where “strong female characters” means both “well-rounded, well-developed females with agency” AND “kicks some serious ass”.

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

The protagonist is the villain. I wrote that correctly. Artemis Fowl is the villain. The entire series is about his personal journey from villain to hero, with all the beautiful and human mistakes throughout.

Also, it’s got fairies. With guns.

Dragon’s Milk by Susan Fletcher

A super fun (and quick-read) series about people smuggling dragons to safety in a world that is determined to destroy them. Also, lots of baby dragons. And dragons being dragons, and neither morally good nor evil. It’s wonderful.

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

The funniest fucking book I’ve ever read. God’s starting the apocalypse, but they’ve somehow managed to misplace the AntiChrist. And it just gets more insane.

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

One of my favorite books of all time. It has a fascinating new take on dragons, genuinely fun political intrigue, romances you root for but aren’t the focus of the plot, and a half-dragon heroine that you absolutely fall in love with. And, if you make it to the second book, Shadow Scales, there is massive LGBTQ representation. I’m talking gay and bi characters, I’m talking trans characters, I’m talking people asking “How may I pronoun you?” and strongly-implied polyamorous relationships. And dragons. And plot twists.

Castaways of the Flying Dutchman by Brian Jacques

When the Flying Dutchman was cursed to roam the sea forever, a boy and his dog who were on board are spared from the curse due to their pure hearts, are washed ashore and granted eternal life and youth. Now they roam the world helping people and getting into adventures. Don’t let the fun fool you, though, it’s fucking heartbreaking. They really don’t skimp on the “we’re immortal so everyone we love dies” angle, and the “wow, this kid looks like he’s seen some shit”. Also the first book feels much more YA than the other two.

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

I know it’s pretty much only known as middle-school assigned reading, but this book is clever, insightful, and absolutely fantastic. I definitely stood in line to get this book autographed in high school. A boy with no imagination is sent to a crazy world of unique perspectives and interesting insights to rescue Rhyme and Reason.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

That book they made us all read in 5th grade that is actually all it’s cracked up to be. It’s absolutely trippy fantasy with a sci-fi edge to it, and the characters are so utterly endearing. Personally, my favorite is A Wind in the Door, but that’s book 2.

The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint

Contemporary fantasy at its absolute best. It’s modern urban fantasy that puts the fantastic in our world in such a wonderful and beautiful way. The best part is it’s also a story about dealing with physical disabilities, trauma, past abuse, self-healing, the complexity of forging and rekindling relationships with others when one is hurting, etc. Honestly, it’s just fucking awesome.

Dreams Underfoot by Charles de Lint

A book of short stories (all contemporary urban fantasy), and the best way to be introduced to Charles de Lint’s writing. So, if you want to read The Onion Girl but aren’t sure you’re ready for it yet. This is the first book I ever took a highlighter to.

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Do you want to crush your heart and destroy your soul and cry like a baby in 128 pages? You’ll be happy you did.

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

This is a standalone novel, and the best way to be introduced to Sanderson’s work. This book has phenomenal and complex worldbuilding, three-dimensional characters with agency you will fall in love with, and a book-long mystery that just blows you away when you figure out the answer. If you enjoy this book, you have to read Mistborn next.

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

Elantris on steroids. This is, without a doubt, the most fascinating worldbuilding I have ever encountered in literature. It’s so complicated, but completely logical, and the plot is so bewitching. And Sanderson can leave you as many clues as he wants - he will still blow your fucking mind when all the pieces come together at the end. The book takes a while to pick up the pace, but I swear to you it’s worth it.

Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede

A princess gets bored, and decides to volunteer to be a dragon’s captive. Then she gets into a ton of adventures and ends up discovering a plot to overthrow the dragon government. It’s a lighthearted, quick and fun read, and Cimorene is my fucking hero.

Classics

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Oh God, read Pride and Prejudice. It’s my absolute favorite book.

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

If you can, read the abridged copy. It’s kind of hard to find, so look for the one that was translated by Charles Wilbour and abridged by Paul Bénichou. It’s all the meat of the story and barely a third of the size.

Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

I mostly like it because it’s written from the rather limiting perspective of Raoul, which means you’re in the dark about the goings-on of the book until someone bothers to tell Raoul what’s happening. It’s actually a lot of fun.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

A grim mystery wrapped up like a romance, where the second Mrs. de Winter is trying to discover what truly happened to her husband’s first wife. It’s by the woman who wrote The Birds (which you may know as the famous Hitchcock movie), if that clues you in to the vibe of the book.

I don’t really have enough classics on this list

[aion-rsa]

Best Horror TV Shows on Netflix

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So you want to be terrifed. Well, you’ve come to the right place, my friend. Everybody already knows that Netflix is a splendid place for viewers coming in search of all their bingeworthy content. But less appreciated is how satisfyingly scary some of their horror offerings are.

From originals like The Haunting of Hill House to foreign classics like The Returned, Netflix can be a go-to spot for the scariest horror TV shows available to stream. Here is a sampling of the kinds of series that horror thrill-seekers may appreciate.

Editor’s Note: This post is updated monthly. Bookmark this page to see what the best horror shows on Netflix are at your convenience.

The Haunting of Hill House

Shirley Jackson’s novel The Haunting of Hill House is considered one of the most important texts in the horror literature canon. It’s only fitting then that it’s Hill House that Netflix turned to when the time came to make its first big original horror series. It’s also fitting that they turned to Hush director Mike Flanagan to make it happen.

Flanagan’s version of The Haunting of Hill House is quite different from the novel from which it takes its name. This Haunting is a modern story that follows the Crain family as they try to recover from the trauma they sustained as kids living in the terrifying Hill House. Of course, Hill House is still out there just dying to call them all back home. Netflix is going to keep “The Haunting” going with The Haunting of Bly Manor and presumably more to come after that.

The Haunting of Bly Manor

The consensus is that The Haunting of Bly Manor is significantly less scary than Mike Flanagan’s original Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House…and that consensus is correct. But there are still plenty of scares to be had in this worthy followup.

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The Haunting of Bly Manor Timeline Explained

By Louisa Mellor

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Why The Haunting of Bly Manor Needed a British Script Editor

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Bly Manor borrows elements from the works of Henry James, including The Turn of the Screw, to craft another affecting ghost story. Hill House‘s Victoria Pedretti returns as Dani, a young American woman who takes on a job as a governess to two young children at the titular Bly Manor. Soon Dani and all involved will come to find that Bly Manor holds some serious (weirdly romantic) secrets.

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

After the Archie comic universe got a gritty reboot in The CW’s Riverdale, it was only a matter of time before Archie cousin comic Sabrina the Teenage Witch got her turn. Thankfully Netflix stepped up to the plate with the Kiernan Shipka starring Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and even more thankfully…it’s gritty as all hell.

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Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Season 3: Ending Explained

By Chris Cummins

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Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Season 3: Archie-Verse Easter Eggs and Reference Guide

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The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina brings witchcraft back to its absolutely metal satanic origins. Sabrina Spellman (Shipka) is like any teenager at Baxter High. She’s concerned about her grades, her social status, and her impending 16th birthday in which she must undergo a dark ritual in which she’ll have to grant her loyalty to the Dark Lord Satan. Such is life for a half-mortal/half-witch.

Ash vs Evil Dead

Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead series (consisting of Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, and Army of Darkness) are some of the most deliriously bloody and fun slasher films ever committed to celluloid. Surely, however, a TV series made decades later couldn’t possibly bring the same level of thrill, could it?

Wrong! Starz’s Ash vs Evil Dead is another installment of fantastic comedy horror. Bruce Campbell returns as Evil Dead hero Ash Williams, who has done seemingly little with his life since battling the forces of evil (and dead) 30 years ago. That all changes when the dead walk once again and Ash, and some new friends must pick up the chainsaw once again.

Black Summer

In a zombie television landscape largely dominated by AMC’s The Walking Dead, Syfy’s Z Nation found a nice with a more playful, tongue-in-cheek presentation of the zombie apocalypse. In this spinoff, Black Summer, things get a touch darker.

Jamie King stars as Rose, a mother who is separated from her daughter during the height of a zombie apocalypse. Rose sets out on a mission to recover her and in the process builds a group of like-minded individuals looking for something they’ve lost.

Stranger Things

It seems so obvious now but in hindsight there was little buzz about this nostalgic tweenage horror project on Netflix from the relatively unknown Duffer Brothers. Little did we know that the Stev(ph)ens Spielberg and King inspired Stranger Things would be one of Netflix’s biggest hits.

Stranger Things takes place in the fictional Hawkins, Indiana in the mid-’80s. Hawkins is your typical smal ltown American city. The kids like to ride bikes, play Dungeons and Dragons, and tease one another. Little does everyone know that the mysterious government building on the outskirts of town may have opened a portal to another world – a portal that will usher in multiple seasons worth of monster fighting mayhem.

Castlevania

Netflix has beefed up its anime offerings in recent years and one of the first IPs they mined to do so was atmospheric Konami videogame series Castlevania. Originally planned as a film, Castlevania makes good use of its serialized format to pick up the horror story from where it begins with 1989 game Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse

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Best Horror Movies on Netflix: Scariest Films to Stream

By David Crow and 2 others

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Best Horror Movies on Amazon Prime Right Now

By Alec Bojalad and 3 others

And what a story it is. Wallachian lord (and vampire, obvs.) Vlad Dracula Tepes (Graham McTavish) falls into a mighty rage after his wife is wrongly accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake. Vlad summons an army of the dead to declare war on the living of Wallachia. The only people who stand in his path are a ragged band of heroes led by Trevor Belmont (Richard Armitage).

Haunted

Haunted is a bit of an odd duck among Netflix’s horror offerings. It was introduced for the 2018 Halloween season, just a week before the juggernaut Haunting of Hill House. As such, it got lost in the spooky shuffle. Still, this is a surprisingly effective take on your classic “tell a scary story” style TV series.

In Haunted, people tell their real life scary stories. That’s it. This is well-trodden ground on long running cable series like Ghost Stories and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Where Haunted differentiates itself is in its shockingly high production values, as witnessed in the ethereal screengrab above. Also, these stories are like…really scary.

Chambers

Chambers only survived one season at Netflix, proving once again that it’s tough out there for horror television shows. But the one season legacy the show leaves behind is a decently spooky one.

Chambers tells a story that contains a pretty familiar, yet effective horror trope. Sasha Yazzie (Sivan Alyra Rose) receives a much-needed heart transplant from a girl named Becky Lafevre. Soon, Sasha begins to experience troubling visions and begins to unravel a conspiracy that brings her into contact with Becky’s parents (Uma Thurman and Tony Goldwyn).

Devilman Crybaby

Anime has always been ahead of the game when it comes to horror and there’s no better evidence of this than Devilman Crybaby. This Netflix anime is based on a manga Devilman and creates a lushly realized gothic world. 

In Devilman Crybaby, an ancient race of demons has returned to take back the world from humanity. Akira Fudo, a sensitive young lad, decides to save the world the only way he knows how: by fusing with a demon. The resulting freakshow, called Devilman, possesses the powers of a demon but the soul of a human. Now hopefully that’s enough to defeat the forces of evil.

American Horror Story

Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story is revolutionary in quite a few ways. Not only did it help usher in a renewed era of anthology storytelling on television, it also was arguably the first successful network television horror show since The X-Files.

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Best Horror Movies on Hulu

By Alec Bojalad and 1 other

Movies

Best Horror Movies Streaming on HBO Max

By David Crow and 2 others

Like all anthologies, American Horror Story has its better seasons (season 1 a.k.a. Murder House, season 2 a.k.a. Asylum, season 6 a.k.a. Roanoke) and its worse (season 3 a.k.a. Coven and season 8 a.k.a. Apocalypse). Still, for nine years and counting, American Horror Story has been one of the go-to options for TV horror fans.

Scare Tactics

Scare Tactics is what happens when someone looks at the prank camera show format and thinks “What if this but also dangerous and terrifying?” The concept of Scare Tactics is simple: take normal people, put them in elaborate horror movie situations, and film what happens. Awful? Yes. Entertaining? Absolutley!

Shannen Doherty hosted the first incarnation of the show that premiered on Syfy in 2003. Stephen Baldwin took her place in the middle of the show’s second season. Then after a three-year hiatus, Scare Tactics returned with Tracy Morgan at the helm and lasted three more seasons of hilariously cruel pranking.

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Unsolved Mysteries

Any reboot of continuation of the classic ’80s/’90s true crime series Unsolved Mysteries just needs one element to be considered authentic: that music. Thankfully, this modern iteration on Netflix maintains a version of the original’s haunting theme. Beyond that crucial aspect, Unsolved Mysteries honors the original by continuing the formula to great success.

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TV

Unsolved Mysteries Review (Spoiler-Free): True Crime With More Questions Than Answers

By Tony Sokol

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Unsolved Mysteries Volume 2 Review: Reboot Fits a Flatfoot More Than a Bigfoot

By Tony Sokol

Unsolved Mysteries remains largely a true crime enterprise. The show covers unexplained disappearances, murders, and crimes. But it also spends plenty of time with the truly unexplained: the paranormal. This reboot has covered UFOs and some tsunami ghosts. That, combined with the atmospheric music, makes this a suitably spooky watch.

The post Best Horror TV Shows on Netflix appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[yasbxxgie]

Where Are Our Black Boys on Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy Novel Covers?

Why are there no boys like me on these covers?

My seventeen-year-old brother who lives in Lagos, Nigeria, raised this question to me recently. Not in these exact words, but sufficiently close. I’d been feeding him a steady drip of young adult (YA) science fiction and fantasy (SFF) novels from as diverse a list as I could, featuring titles like Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti, Martha Wells’ Murderbot series, Roshani Chokshi’s The Star-Touched Queen and Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother. The question, at first seemed like a throwaway one, but as my head-scratching went on, I realised I did not have a clear-cut answer for it.

His question wasn’t why there were no black boys like him in the stories, because there definitely were. I guess he wanted to know, like I now do, why those boys were good enough to grace the pages inside but were somehow not good enough for the covers. And because I felt bad about the half-assed response I offered, I decided to see if I could find a better one.

So, I put out a twitter call for recommendations.

Can anyone point me to science fiction & fantasy novels with black teenage boys on the cover? Asking for my teenage brother. I know there's Tristan Strong, & books from Victor LaValle & Colson Whitehead, but I need more. Most YA I see with black boys are contemporary lit.

— Suyi on hiatus. (@IAmSuyiDavies) May 6, 2020

The responses came thick and fast, revealing a lot. I’m not sure I left with a satisfactory answer, but I sure left with a better understanding of the situation. Before I can explain that, though, we must first understand the what of the question, and why we need to be asking it in the first place.

Unpacking the Specifics

My intent is to engage with one question: How come there are few black boys on young adult science fiction and fantasy novel covers? This question has specific parameters:

black: of Black African descent to whatever degree and racially presented as such;

boys: specifically male-presenting (because this is an image afterall), separate from female-presenting folks, and separate from folks presenting as non-binary, all regardless of cisgender or transgender status;

are displayed prominently on covers: not silhouetted, not hinted at, not “they could be black if you turned the book sideways,” but undeniably front-of-cover blackity-black;

YA: books specifically written for young adults (readers aged 12-18), separate from middle-grade (readers 8-12) and adult (readers 18+);

SFF: science fiction and fantasy, but really shorthand for all speculative fiction and everything that falls under it, from horror to fabulism to alternative history;

novels: specifically one-story, book-length, words-only literature, separate from collections/anthologies or illustrated/graphic works (a novella may qualify, for instance)

I’m sure if we altered any of these criteria, we might find some respite. Contemporary YA and literary fiction with teenage protagonists, for instance, are littered with a relatively decent number of black boys on the covers (though many revolve around violence, pain and trauma). Young women across the people-of-colour spectrum are beginning to appear more often on SFF covers too (just take a look at this Goodreads list of Speculative Fiction by Authors of Color). Black boys also pop up on covers of graphic novels here and there (Miles Morales is a good example). But if we insist on these parameters, we discover something: a hole.

It is this gaping black hole (pardon the pun) that I hope to fill with some answers.

The Case for Need

Think about shopping at a bookstore. Your eyes run over a bunch of titles, and something draws you in to pick one–cover design, title, author, blurb. You’d agree that one of the biggest draws, especially for teens to whom YA SFF novels are aimed, is the character representation on the cover (if there’s one). Scholastic’s 7th Edition Kids & Family Reading Report notes that 76% of kids and teens report they’d like characters who are “similar to me,” and 95% of parents agree that these characters can help “foster the qualities they value for their children.” If the cover imagery, which is the first point of contact for this deduction, is not representative of the self, there’s an argument to be made that reader confidence in the characters’ ability to represent their interests would be significantly reduced.

The why of the question is therefore simple: when a group already underrepresented in literature and readership (read: black boys, since it’s still believed that black boys don’t read) are also visually underrepresented within their age group and preferred genre (read: YA SFF), it inadvertently sends a message to any black boy who loves to read SFF: you don’t fit here.

This is not to say that YA is not making strides to increase representation within its ranks. Publisher’s Weekly’s most recent study of the YA market notes various progressive strides, touching base with senior publishing professionals at teen imprints in major houses, who say today’s YA books “reflect a more realistic range of experiences.” Many of them credit the work of We Need Diverse Books, #DVPit, #OwnVoices and other organizations and movements as pacesetters for this growing trend.

In the same breath, though, these soundbites are cautiously optimistic, noting that the industry must look inward for underlying reasons why easy defaults remain commonplace. Lee&Low’s recent Diversity in Publishing 2019 study’s answer to why unquestioned go-tos still reign supreme is that the industry remains, sadly, 76% Caucasian. For a genre-readership with such exponential success, that makes the hole a massive one. Of the Top 10 Best Selling Books of the 21st Century, four are YA SFF franchises by Rowling, Collins, Meyer, and Roth, the most among all listed genres. In 2018’s first half, YA SFF vastly outsold every other genre, amassing over a quarter of an $80-million sales total. This doesn’t even include TV and film rights.

I once was a black boy (in some ways, I still am). If such a ubiquitous, desired, popular (and don’t forget, profitable) genre-readership somehow concluded a face like mine on its covers was a no-go, I’d want to know why too.

Navigating the Labyrinth

Most of the responses I received fell into three categories: hits & misses, rationale, and outlook. Hits & misses were those who attempted to recommend books that met the criteria. If I had to put a number to it, I’d say there were around 10+ misses to one hit. I received many recommendations that didn’t fit: middle-grade novels, graphic novels, covers where the blackness of the boy was up for debate, novels featuring black boys who were not present on the cover, etc.

The hits were really great to see, though. Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds was the crowd favourite of the recent recommended titles. The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad by Minister Faust was the oldest recommended title (2004). One non-English title on offer was Babel Corp, Tome 01: Genesis 11 by Scott Reintgen (translated to French by Guillaume Fournier, published in the US as Nyxia). Non-print titles also showed up, like Wally Roux, Quantum Mechanic by Nick Carr (audio only). Lastly, some crossover titles like Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds (MG/YA) and Temper by Nicky Drayden (YA/Adult) were present. You’ll find a full list of all recommendations at the end of this article.

Many of the hits were worrisome for other reasons, though. For instance, a good number are published under smaller presses, or self-published. Most are of limited availability. Put simply: a high percentage of all books recommended have severely limited wider industry coverage, which twanged a sour note in this orchestra.

The rationale group attempted to approach the matter from a factual angle. Points were made, for instance, that fewer men and nonbinary folks are published in YA SFF than women, and fewer black men even so, therefore representing black boys on covers may increase with more black male authors of YA SFF. While a noble thought, I do argue that various YA authors, regardless of race or gender, have written black boys as protagonists, yet those didn’t make the covers anyway. Would more black male authors suddenly change that?

Another rationale pointed toward YA marketing, which many stated mostly targets teenage girls because they are the biggest audience. I’m not sure how accurate this is, but I know sales often tell a different story from marketing (case in point: 2018 market estimates show that nearly 70% of all YA titles are purchased by adults aged 18-64, not teenage girls). If the sales tell a different story, yet marketing strategies insist upon a one-note approach, then it’s not really about the sales, is it?

Lastly, the outlook responses came mostly from readers, authors and publishing professionals who are long-time advocates of increased inclusion in publishing. The overwhelming consensus was that, while there is no complete absence of black boys on YA SFF covers, the real problem is the difficulty in pointing them out. It was agreed that it speaks volumes that we have to do this deep-dive just to find an okay amount of recommendations. Many left with a feel-good note, though, since more authors and professionals dedicated to inclusion and visibility are finally getting their feet into the doors at Big Publishing. Thanks to advocates like People of Color in Publishing and We Need Diverse Books, the future looks exciting.

So, I’ll end this on another feel-good note by offering an ongoing list of recommendations that fit the bill. You’ll find that most are absolutely worth a look-see. This list is also open for public updates, so feel free to add your own recommendations. And here’s looking to the decision-makers at Big Publishing to make this list even bigger.

+Black Boys on YA SFF Novel Covers: A List of Recommendations