Can AI really replace novelists?
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Author, Speaker, Song-and-Dance Man
YA fiction
by Angeline Boulley
Angeline Boulley’s debut novel, Firekeeper’s Daughter, was one of the best books I’ve read in recent years, so I came to read Warrior Girl Unearthed with high expectations. When the story was a little slow getting started, I thought, Ah, well. It’s common for a sophomore effort not to measure up to …
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Middle-grade fiction
by Stacey Lee
This lively tween tale dips deftly into Chinese mythology while remaining completely modern. Twelve-year-old Winston Chu has a loving mom, an older and younger sister, and a tight circle of friends who support him, but the loss of his father in a war-related accident still shadows his life. His mom is struggling …
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Middle grade fiction
By Lori R. Snyder
Set in Venice, California, this wildly imaginative tale draws on classic orphan tropes while carving its own fantastical path. 12-year-old orphan Maddy Adriana has always known that magic is real. All her life in group homes, she has always seen things no one else sees. And then there’s the matter …
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YA fiction
By Gaby Triana
You might not associate gothic horror with sunny Florida, but that only means you haven’t yet read Gaby Triana’s Moon Child. In a tale of steadily growing dread that draws on both the haunted-house vibes of The Shining and the witchy teen coven of The Craft, this book blends teen angst with …
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Middle grade fiction
by Jenn Reese
A moving, realistic fantasy tale with hidden depths. After an incident shatters their family, Sam and her older sister Caitlin are sent to live in rural Oregon with Aunt Vicky, whom they’ve never met before. Sam, however, wants nothing more than to return home to her life in LA.
Trying to make …
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YA fiction
By Martha Brockenbrough
With Into the Bloodred Woods, Martha Brockenbrough has crafted a dark and delightful tale that is as much about the power of story itself as it is about the stories of its characters. It opens in fairytale fashion, with a father promising the king that one of his daughters can spin straw …
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