Awhile back, I had a teensy little rant about a SF/F crossover author who had read her first Holly Black novel and seemed ready to paint the rest of the genre by the one book she had read. I still maintain that essentially asking “is it all this bad” after reading one novel isn’t the best way to find out… But I digress.
The smart people at SF Signal’s Mind Meld have followed up on the author’s post by asking the question again: is YA SF/F too explicit?
You can bet I was reading along interestedly. Some good points were made by some great authors, and I was glad to see input from Kaza Kingsley, the author of the Erec Rex series (and a really nice lady — she was great about the Cybils) and then I read on down to… Gwenda Bond! The Bond Girl brings up the significant point that whenever someone starts bleating about ‘explicit’ in children’s literature? It’s about sex. It’s amazing how having Puritan forebearers really colors things, and it’s not even just people of a religious background who get squeamish on this point. Fascinating. A deeply interesting discussion. Go thither and put in your two cents.
Sorry, Leila, but I’m going to have to go for this without you: SFX is offering a chance for UK residents to win their own LIFE-SIZED Dalek. (Man, is this flat big enough for that much destructive potential??) Via SF Signal.
(Pssst! Canadian-born Author Preview: C.K.’s novel is available for pre-order!!! Woot!)
Coming Soon to a Blogosphere Near You:
Canadians, referred to in schoolbooks as “Our Neighbors to the North,” have been publishing fabulous literature for young adults since… well, since that Anne-with-an-‘e’ girl became famous in 1908. The likes of Tim Wynne-Jones, Wendy Orr, Martha Brooks and Kenneth Oppel are just a drop in the bucket of the tide and flood that is the YA and children’s writing tradition in Canada.
Two weeks from today, we’ll host another One Shot World Tour stop in O, Canada (The True North, Strong and Free!). (And yes. We had a Canadian youth pastor when I was a kid, so I ACTUALLY HAD TO SING O, CANADA. At least twice a year. LOUDLY. Or he’d make us do it again. Thank you, Ron Hyrchuk.) Stay tuned for the fabulousness on March 26, to be rounded up at Chasing Ray.