Hello and welcome to Bookcase Bizarro, a monthly book blog where I talk about, review and recommend MG/YA books for you and your kids… yes you, because shouldn’t everyone be reading more MG/YA Lit? (I thought so.)
I got the idea for this blog when my niece was born and her parents tasked me with the greatest job in the world: to recommend books for this kid from now until forever. I mean… wow. What an honour! Where to start? That’s where this blog comes in. As part of my ‘job,’ I’ll be reading a wide variety of books each month, from picture books to middle grade, for my niece and for you. It goes without saying that I will always, ALWAYS indoctrinate… I mean… encourage a love of dragons. (Joking.)
So, what can you expect from this blog?
Middle grade and YA fiction reviews, with an emphasis on upper middle grade—a category that agents and publishers famously claim is ‘unmarketable’ and librarians just as famously clamour for. It’s also what I write, so I’m obsessed with it, natch. We used to have a great picture book panel that has fallen by the wayside and if it’s just me readin’ and reviewin’, I’m going to review what I regularly read—MG and YA—even if I still buy picture books for my niece. You’ll find a lot of picture book reviews in the 2022 posts. We tried our hand at reviewing non-fiction, but I’m really more of a fiction gal. I also love the public library system, so I try to pick books that are available at my local branch. Hopefully, they’ll be available at yours too.
Bookcase Bizarro will never trash an author, but I do believe in giving constructively critical reviews. I have a wide definition of diversity that includes race, class, neurodivergence, LGBTQ+ as well as generally quirky ways of seeing the world. I’m totally cool with disagreements and debates, but will not hesitate to pull the plug if things get personal or nasty. (So far they haven’t since you all are pretty amazing … and are probably just as tired of online rancour as I am.)
Thanks for reading Bookcase Bizarro. I’m glad you’re here. If you like what I do, please consider subscribing.
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