Review: The Mosquito and the Bumble Bee by Scot Sax

Apologies to Nick Lowe (and, of course, Elvis Costello), but as I walk through this wicked world searching for light in the darkness of insanity, I do, in fact, ask myself if all hope is lost. So much anger, so much arguing, so much partisanship in all corners of the globe. It all makes me […]

Review: Children of Eden by Joey Graceffa

What to read next in YA dystopian fiction? Our intrepid fangirl Sarah Kloth reviews some of her favorites.  joeygraceffa.com Those who grew up with Margaret Peterson Haddix’s Shadow Children series are sure to LOVE Joey Graceffa’s Children of Eden. Graceffa’s debut YA novel is a story of a dystopian future where we have ruined the […]

Interview: Greg Prato Author of MTV Ruled the World: The Early Years of Music Video

Long before The Osbournes and Punk’d and Jersey Shore, MTV was, well, MTV—Music Television, emphasis on the music. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the channel’s launch, Greg Prato explores its early heyday with a collection of interviews with the executives and bands who were part of the cultural revolution that was MTV. […]

Excerpt: Brat Pack America: A Love Letter to ‘80s Teen Movies by Kevin Smokler

About the Book: From the fictional towns of Hill Valley, CA, and Shermer, IL, to the beautiful landscapes of Astoria and Brownsville, OR, from the iconic suburbs of the San Fernando Valley to the seemingly scary inner cities of Chicago, ’80s teen movies had one thing in common: locations mattered. Perhaps moreso than in any […]

Excerpt: Searching for John Hughes by Jason Diamond

About the Book: Harper Collins For all fans of John Hughes and his hit films such as National Lampoon’s Vacation, Sixteen Candles, and Home Alone, comes Jason Diamond’s hilarious memoir of growing up obsessed with the iconic filmmaker’s movies—a preoccupation that eventually convinces Diamond he should write Hughes’ biography and travel to New York City on a quest […]

Interview: Jason Rekulak The Impossible Fortress

A fun, tender flashback to the Eighties  Simon and Schuster Shelf Unbound: Your novel The Impossible Fortress begins with 14-year-old Billy Marvin and his two best buddies concocting a plan to steal the May 1987 issue of Playboy with Vanna White on the cover. You were 14 or 15 in 1987 and I’ve read that […]

Interview: Cara Hoffman Author of Running

A trio of outsiders struggle to survive in 1980s Athens, Greece Simon and Schuster Shelf Unbound: Like your main characters, you were a runner in Athens in the late 1980s. Describe what a runner is, how you ended up as one, and what your experience was like.  Cara Hoffman: A runner is someone who works […]

Interview: Andrew Bourelle Author of Heavy Metal

A coming of age story set in the Eighties, Heavy Metal is the winner of the 2016 Autumn House Fiction Prize Autumn House Press Shelf Unbound: The first line of your novel is: “I place the gun barrel between my lips, touch the roof of my mouth with the sight, test the hardness of the […]

Excerpt: A Kinder Way of Dying: Sarah’s Story by Denise Richardson

About the Book: http://www.akinderwayofdying.com Despite having Down Syndrome and Autism, Sarah Richardson was a skillful communicator using only gestures and signs. When diagnosed with a rare and fast growing cancer, Sarah’s inability to speak on her own behalf became my job. Using her quirky sense of humor, stubbornness and determination, Sarah become an inspiration to […]

Excerpt: The Other La Bohème by Yorker Keith

About the Book: The Other La Bohème is literary fiction that depicts the lives and loves of four friends who pursue opera singers’ careers in present-day New York City. Jennifer (soprano), Stephanie (mezzo-soprano), Henry (tenor), and John (baritone) met in music school in Manhattan, where they performed Puccini’s famous opera La Bohème at their graduation […]