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You are here: Home / Archives for Features / Commentary

Why I Still Care About Diversity in YA

March 7, 2017 by Sandie Leave a Comment

Why I Still Care About Diversity in YA

I originally wrote this at the beginning of the year when a friend asked a bunch of us to share an issue we were passionate about for a story. It turned out she only needed a paragraph. Here’s what I wrote. We’ve all got issues close to our hearts. One of mine continues to be… 

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Filed Under: Commentary, Features, Top Features

Five Bookish Things I’m Thankful For This Year

November 24, 2016 by Sandie Leave a Comment

Five Bookish Things I’m Thankful For This Year

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I hope you’re all surrounded by friends and family today. It has been a really tough month, hence the lack in posting regularly, but I want to share several bookish things I’m especially thankful for today, 1. TLR’s new regular contributors: Erin, Keely, Cassie, and Claire. Without them, I’d have little copy… 

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Filed Under: Commentary, Top Features Tagged With: holidays

Looking For a New Contributor to Teen Lit Rocks

March 21, 2016 by Sandie Leave a Comment

Looking For a New Contributor to Teen Lit Rocks

I’m sure most of you have noticed that I haven’t been updating as much. The truth is that I have 4-6 books to review professionally each month, in addition to 8-10 movies and other features, so my ability to create original content and update the blog on a regular basis has fallen off quite a lot lately. I definitely… 

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Filed Under: Commentary, Features, Top Features

Two Brilliant Historical Novels to Read

January 26, 2016 by Sandie Leave a Comment

Two Brilliant Historical Novels to Read

Because of the snowstorm, I’ve been catching up on  some of my ARCs, and I ended up reading two historical novels back to back, both of which were so wonderful, I really hope all of you will give them a chance: SALT TO THE SEA by Ruta Sepetys and OUTRUN THE MOON by Stacey Lee. Both… 

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Filed Under: Commentary, Features, Top Features Tagged With: authors, Historical Fiction, YA historical fiction

Book Discussion: Love the Author But Not the Book?

December 3, 2015 by Sandie 2 Comments

via GIPHY  I’m lucky enough to have met and interviewed many authors, and I can tell you without a doubt that authors are fabulous, funny, clever, and kind. Almost all of them are more approachable and easier to really talk to than the countless actors and other celebrities I’ve interviewed as an entertainment journalist. But the downside to… 

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Filed Under: Commentary, Features, Top Features Tagged With: commentary

Zodiac: My Virgo Sign

November 10, 2015 by Sandie Leave a Comment

Zodiac: My Virgo Sign

To promote today’s release of the paperback of ZODIAC by Romina Russell, I’m sharing what I know about my astrological sign, Virgo. I’ve always been aware of being a Virgo, because my immediate family growing up was split in half — three of us (my mother, oldest brother, and me, the baby) were September birthdays,… 

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Filed Under: Commentary, Features, Top Features Tagged With: commentary, features

What NOT To Do When A Friend Hates a Book You Love

October 28, 2015 by Sandie 1 Comment

None of us is immune. We finish a book we LOVE, start evangelizing to our friends about it, wait with baited breath for them to finish, and then… crickets. Or worse, the friend gives it a meh and moves on to the next book. Sometimes it’s an entire author you fangirl but your friend says,… 

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Filed Under: Commentary, Features, Top Features Tagged With: book life, commentary

Commentary: Where are the Big Girls in YA?

March 23, 2015 by Sandie 8 Comments

Commentary: Where are the Big Girls in YA?

  I consider myself a demonstrated advocate of Diversity in YA. I help run the We Need Diverse Books Twitter chats, and I started the YA Diversity Book Club with three friends to make sure that our regular readers are able to get more recommendations for books that feature diverse themes. But today I want… 

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Filed Under: Commentary, Features, Top Features Tagged With: commentary, eleanor & park

Answering Readers’ Questions

March 12, 2015 by Sandie 1 Comment

Answering Readers’ Questions

Sometimes we get interesting emails or comments here at Teen Lit Rocks — mostly asking us questions about page-to-screen YA adaptations, so we’ve decided to answer a few readers’ questions. 1. Are you really a movie critic? Yes. And I’m also a professional book reviewer and entertainment writer. That’s why I’m kind of lazy about… 

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Filed Under: Commentary, Features, Top Features Tagged With: commentary, eleanor & park, gayle forman, If I Stay, Rainbow Rowell

Join 100 Good Deeds for #DeedADay Challenge

December 29, 2014 by Sandie 1 Comment

Join 100 Good Deeds for #DeedADay Challenge

Disclosure: I was sent a complimentary  100 Good Deeds bracelet as a thank you for joining the #DeedADay movement. However, all thoughts and opinions expressed are completely my own. Ah, New Year’s. It’s time to determine how many books we’ll read, pounds we’ll lose, miles we’ll run, and new projects we’ll start (and hopefully finish)… 

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Filed Under: Commentary, Features, Top Features Tagged With: 2015, causes, commentary, good deeds

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Hello fellow book lovers! Teen Lit Rocks is run by Sandie Chen, a professional book reviewer and film critic. Our contributors are all adult women (librarians, educators, mothers) hailing from across the U.S. and Canada who love to read YA. We support diversity in teen literature and can't wait to discuss our recommendations with you.

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