This post has been written by Jenny Barker, Editor-in-Chief of Spinning Gold, a student-led children's and YA literature journal at Goldsmiths, University of London. Illustration by Zoe Xu @zoelovesgiraffe With three pathways – Theoretical Approaches, Creative Writing, and Children’s Illustration - the MA Children’s Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London caters to a plethora of … Continue reading #IntlYALitMonth Spotlight: Spinning Gold
#IntlYALitMonth Review: Queen of The Tiles
Review by Kris Feller Queen of the Tiles opens as our protagonist, Najwa Bakri, is dropped off by her family at the annual Word Warrior Weekend, a Scrabble competition which she describes as "part elite tournament, part sleepover, all awkward teen hormones and chaste, chaperoned social events in between." At the previous year’s tournament, Najwa’s … Continue reading #IntlYALitMonth Review: Queen of The Tiles
#IntlYALitMonth Review Essay: The Queen Series
The following extended review essay was written by Ritwika Roy. At first glance, the three books in Devika Rangachari’s Queen Series – Queen of Ice (2014), Queen of Earth (2020) and Queen of Fire (2021) – might seem like a relative of the hit Korean drama Queen of Tears. In Queen of Tears, Hong Haein, … Continue reading #IntlYALitMonth Review Essay: The Queen Series
#IntlYALitMonth Review: Never Tell Anyone Your Name
Review by Emily Corbett Federico Ivanier’s Never Tell Anyone Your Name (2020), translated by Claire Storey (2023), is unlike anything I have read before for two reasons. First, it is the first YA novel to be translated from Uruguayan to English. Second, Ivanier’s plot is both utterly bizarre and enthralling. The novel takes place in … Continue reading #IntlYALitMonth Review: Never Tell Anyone Your Name
#IntlYALitMonth Review: Blood Scion
Review by Emma Tueller Stone “Once, there was a little girl who prayed for heroes… But that little girl is long gone… I am a monster. I am one of them” (Falaye, p. 362). If anyone finds out who or what Sloane is, she will die. She is a Scion, the descendent of powerful Orisha … Continue reading #IntlYALitMonth Review: Blood Scion
#WorldKidLit Wednesday: Wankijũ, Child of Mine
Coming of age stories are a often visited theme in young adult and even middle grades literature. It is not a common theme in picture books, however. Forthcoming from Catalyst Press, Wankijũ, Child of Mine is a picture book bildungsroman of a Kenyan girlhood. Like other titles from Catalyst Press, it gives pride of place … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Wankijũ, Child of Mine
#IntlYALitMonth Review: Bitter
Review by Kelly-Anne McDonald "All these feelings were knotted inside her - how helpless she felt, how hopeless Lucille felt, how even talking about change felt like a joke, a cruel hope." Bitter is set in the imagined city of Lucille, which is rife with corruption and police brutality. Ordinary citizens have been oppressed for … Continue reading #IntlYALitMonth Review: Bitter
#IntlYALitMonth Review: Do You Dream of Terra-Two?
Review by Alex Henderson It takes twenty-three years to travel from Earth to the exoplanet Terra-Two. By the time the Beta crew of the Off-World Colonization Programme arrive, they will be in their forties. But when they leave, they are just teenagers—six of the best and brightest young people in the UK, put through rigorous … Continue reading #IntlYALitMonth Review: Do You Dream of Terra-Two?
#IntlYALitMonth Review: Blue Squared
Review by Melitta von Pflug Please be advised that this review includes references to eating disorders and suicide. Silence keeps the structure of us from falling apart. That was how things worked in the unnamed protagonist’s family in this verse novel from Hong Kong by Luna Orchid, Blue Squared. For readers with experience growing up in an Asian household, … Continue reading #IntlYALitMonth Review: Blue Squared
Welcome to GLLI’s 2024 #IntlYALitMonth
Dear readers, It is an honor to have been asked to curate the 2024 International Young Adult Literature Month for the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative. As a researcher and university lecturer in the field of YA literature at Goldsmiths, University of London, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to showcase some of the … Continue reading Welcome to GLLI’s 2024 #IntlYALitMonth
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 