We love B.B. Alston and his Supernatural Investigation series — his debut novel for middle readers, Amari and the Night Brothers, is the Overall Winner of the B&N Children’s and YA Book Awards — and the second book in the series is due in 2022. B.B. joins us on the show to talk about writing […]
When it comes to novels written for kids featuring characters who are kids, Roald Dahl ranks among the best of the best, sharing the status of all-time great with the likes of Beverly Clearly, Judy Blume, and J.K. Rowling. The British author (1916–1990) wrote enough classics to keep a fifth grader busy for months, specializing […]
Characters, as a rule, should possess agency. They must be capable of changing the course of the plot, of meeting conflict, or else they’re just window-dressing. Normally, this requires that they be mobile, moving from setting to setting as they pursue an agenda, flee danger, or face their enemies. But not always; while it’s a little tricky […]
It may be too hot these days to cook, but foodies who usually turn toward a new cookbook and an evening in the kitchen can find solace in food-oriented novels instead. Here are eight works of fiction that are an escapist trip for both the heart and the stomach.
By now just about everyone knows C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia has a lot of Christian themes; Lewis himself wasn’t exactly shy about his faith and its impact on his writing. Only people who read the books as kids, with no clue as to their background, are shocked to discover a magical lion who is […]
