I recently had the chance to read and reviewed the first two novels in Alexander Gordon Smith‘s Escape From Furnace series. If you haven’t read them yet and are looking for a fast-paced series, then I’d definitely recommend them to you, even though technically they’re directed to teen boys more than anyone else. No matter [...]
About Melissa
Website: http://www.yabookshelf.com
Melissa has written 444 articles so far, you can find them below.
Dystopian YA Fiction
Solitary
Buy Solitary Special $10.49 (Regular price: $15.99) Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux Format: Hardcover Reviewer: Melissa on January 18, 2011 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars In the stunning conclusion to Lockdown , Alex Sawyer, Zee, Toby, and Gary jump from the passage way they exploded into a raging river. Unfortunately, their means of escape and [...]
YA Mailbox
What’s In My Mailbox?: The January 17, 2011 Edition
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been asking for your advice on what to read first from the list of new books that made it into my mailbox. I’m happy to report that a lot of you gave me your votes either on my blog, on Twitter, or on the YA Book Shelf Facebook [...]
YA Novelist Interviews
Interview With Lorraine Zago Rosenthal, Author Of Other Words For Love
Have you heard of the 2011 debut novel, Other Words for Love by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal? In this novel, Ari receives an unexpected inheritance that brings her opportunities that she never imagined possible, like the chance to transfer to an elite Manhattan prep school, wealthy new friends like Leigh, and introductions to both the glamorous [...]
Teen Book Trailers
Book Trailer Talks: Fave Animated Book Trailers
Book trailers can be a great means of getting the message out about a new book, and they’re also a chance for a book marketing and publicity team to develop a creative way for readers to experience the novel. Whether you’re a book blogger, an agent, a book marketer, an author, a publicist, or just [...]
YA Gothic Lit
The Uninvited
Buy The Uninvited Special $14.15 (Regular price: $16.99) Publisher: Candlewick Press Format: Hardcover Reviewer: Melissa on January 13, 2011 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars Mimi Shapiro feels that her life in the Big Apple is crashing down all around her. So when her father presents her with the opportunity to spend her summer at [...]
YA Novels in the News
Are Canadians Really A Nation Of Readers?
I’ve been a big reader for about as long as I can remember. I started with nursery rhymes, fairytales, and various picture books. When I was a little older, I moved onto Beverley Cleary’s books, in particular Ramona and Her Father, The Babysitter’s Club series, Kit Pearson, Cynthia Voigt, R.L. Stine, and Christopher Pike, among [...]
Free YA Giveaways
Reading Resolutions Giveaway Winner of The Jumbee
Back in October, Pamela Keyes‘ novel, The Jumbee, which I just loved. There were a number of things about his novel that really worked for me, but the connections to and reverence for Shakespearean language were my favorite part. (I have always been a person who loved reading his iambic pentameter; I was the girl [...]
Free YA Giveaways
Prom & Prejudice Giveaway!
I just read and reviewed Elizabeth Eulberg‘s YA novel, Prom & Prejudice. While I love the original novel that Eulberg’s story is based on, the classic Pride And Prejudice, I normally would have passed on this new book because I don’t usually read novels that modernize an oft-told tale, but I ended up liking it [...]
Realistic Teen Fiction
Prom & Prejudice
Buy Prom & Prejudice Special $11.99 (Regular price: $17.99) Publisher: Point Format: Hardcover Reviewer: Melissa on January 11, 2011 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single girl of high standing at Longbourn Academy must be in want of a prom date.” So begins the tale of Lizzie [...]
