Anna Staniszewski

Thanks to my agent and my writing group, I now have a bit more direction with my fairy tale revision. Happily, this means I’ve finally started to emerge from my reading slump. I’m currently in the middle of a couple of books, but here are some of my recent reading highlights:

Neil Armstrong Is My Uncle & Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me by Nan Marino

Besides the wonderful voice, something that stood out to me in this great story were the short but telling descriptions of the characters: “Big Danny, who can laugh at dead teacher jokes” and “Shirley is not a person who faces dandelions alone.” I simply love these unexpected and vivid depictions. Since both of these tidbits come at the beginning of the story, they serve as a great introduction to the characters.

The Memory of Earth by Orson Scott Card

I’ve been listening to this while driving, and it’s been an interesting reading/listening experience. In theory this book could be categorized as young adult; its main character is fourteen, and he’s dealing with issues of identity, faith, and responsibility, all themes that pop up quite often in YA. But it doesn’t read like YA at all, which I think reiterates the fact that YA is defined by much more than the age of the characters.

I would say the primary thing that makes this book adult instead of YA is its pacing; while the prologue hints at a conflict, the first few chapters do little more than establish the world and its characters; it’s not until about the fourth chapter that something actually happens. I can’t imagine that being the case in a YA novel, especially one published recently. Much of Card’s work is read by young adults (I read quite a bit in my younger days) because his ideas and stories are enthralling. But when we start hashing out the differences between YA and adult literature, this stands as a perfect example of a book that could certainly appeal to YA readers but isn’t written specifically for them.

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

I’ve been slowly making my way through this book. Even though I’ve been enjoying it thus far, I haven’t had a chance to sit down and really get immersed in it yet. The world Westerfeld creates is intriguing, and the story so far is engaging and fun. But what I think most stands out to me about this book is its overall design. Its illustrations are perfect for the story, and everything from the trim size to the endpapers is flawless. I love when book design perfectly complements the story!

What have you found in your reading adventures recently? Any highlights you’d like to share?

• Categories: A Closer Look, Books