Decoding the Newbery is a monthly column in which Newbery Medal winners are examined and deconstructed by regular contributor and author Catherine Faris King. This month, Catherine reads The Giver, the Newbery winner for 1994. “… He had been…
Dystopia
An A.I. on a powertrip defines the rules of rulership in the future…and it’s pretty badass. Title: The Scorpion Rules Author: Erin Bow Genre: Speculative Fiction, Dystopia, Post-Apocalypse Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books Publication Date: September 2015 Hardcover: 384…
Only Ever Yours is 1984, Mean Girls and Handmaid’s Tale rolled into one, featuring a brave if completely pessimistic magnifying glass to how we treat women right here right now. It takes everything that is misogynistic about our world…
Joel Ross makes a triumphant middle grade debut with The Fog Diver – a swashbuckling, science fiction-fantasy that conjures comparisons to Kenneth Oppel’s Airborn and Jenn Reese’s Above World. In other words: READ THIS BOOK NOW. Title: The Fog…
It’s Friday, which means we are over at Kirkus for our regular weekly column! Today Thea takes a look at YA speculative fiction novel Undertow by Michael Buckley. Undertow is NOT what she was expecting. In a good way.…
Reading Comics: A Look At Bitch Planet by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine De Landro.
Only four issues into this new comics and my love for it knows no bounds. Bitch Planet is a pulpy dystopian series written by Kelly Sue DeConnick (Of the excellent Pretty Deadly and Captain Marvel) and artist Valentine De…
Sweet Tooth Friday: “Endangered Species” (Vol. 4) by Jeff Lemire
“Everywhere you go, pain and misery seem to follow. Well, I’m done following along with it. I won’t be a part of your violence anymore. And I won’t let the children be infected by it either.” Title: Sweet Tooth:…
“What if they aren’t the solution at all, but the problem? What if they caused it? What if he caused it?” Title: Sweet Tooth: Animal Armies Written by Jeff Lemire Genre: Apocalypse, Dystopia, Comics, Graphic Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative…
It’s Friday, which means we are over at Kirkus for our regular weekly column! Thea takes over this week with a review of a highly anticipated book, dystopian YA speculative fiction novel City of Savages by Lee Kelly. A…
A dystopian-style novel with a reality television twist, The Vault of Dreamers is solid, enjoyable YA speculative fiction. Title: The Vault of Dreamers Written by Caragh M. O’Brien Genre: Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction, Young Adult Publisher: Roaring Brook Press…