Review by Belle Nickols Sonia Nimr writes of the phoenix, or thunderbird, as a mythological creature deeply connected to the history of the Palestinian people. Nimr, born in the West Bank in 1955, developed an interest in writing children’s literature whilst in Israeli prison in the 1970s, following her involvement with the Palestinian liberation movement. … Continue reading #IntlYALitMonth Review: Thunderbird
#IntlYALitMonth Review: The Days of Bluegrass Love
Review by Abby Muth “I found myself yearning for a book that gave a visceral, first-person account of a love sparking between two boys. Until that point, the queer books I’d read—if I could even find any—had mostly been tragic: death and heartbreak were never far away. Now I wanted to write the kind of … Continue reading #IntlYALitMonth Review: The Days of Bluegrass Love
#IntlYALitMonth Spotlight: Spinning Gold
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: City of the Beasts
Review by Harry Oulton City of the Beasts is the first part of an eco-trilogy by Chilean-American writer Isabel Allende, which was translated into English from Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden. The novel transports Alex, a spoilt American teenager, to the Amazon rainforest with his eccentric grandmother in search of a mysterious creature known only … Continue reading #IntlYALitMonth Review: City of the Beasts
#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
#IntlYALitMonth Review: The Ventriloquist’s Daughter
Review by Alice Penfold “I had a feeling that something terrible was going to happen…” Liur is dominated by the fear of “something terrible” happening to her or her father. After her mother dies suddenly, her father disappears to America; although he originally goes there to study, he soon abandons this plan and goes travelling, … Continue reading #IntlYALitMonth Review: The Ventriloquist’s Daughter
#IntlYALitMonth Review: Sugar Town Queens
Review by Jennifer Gouck Fifteen-year-old Amandla’s mother, Annalisa, has had a vision: if Amandla wears a blue bedsheet hastily fashioned into a dress to school today, its magic will bring her father, who has been missing since before she was born, home forever. Annalisa has lots of visions. She also has a broken memory that … Continue reading #IntlYALitMonth Review: Sugar Town Queens
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 