(get the recipe for mina)

laura. north carolina. half my library is YA, the other half is historical fiction, biographies of women and queer figures in history, and books about reckless rich kids getting drunk in forests. probably has mean things to say about your favorite YA mega-author.

[on-the-other-hand]

[myjetpack]

for the @guardian review

p.s. you can now pre-order my new book of science cartoons: links here

[hauntedplaces]

[fozzie]

[a-bold-move]

[darkmagyk]

I feel the need to point out that the moral of the book has NOTHING to do with war and is in fact: making yourself an old lady will not protect you from falling in love with a Hot Wizard, or the Hot Wizard from falling in love with you. 

[mycroftrh]

One of the things I love about Diana Wynne Jones’s books is that, while they may have a theme along the lines of “this sort of behavior tends to lead to problems”, they would never have a “moral” as simple and, frankly, preachy as “beauty is a selfish pursuit”.  Because every character - including, vitally, the “hero” - will end the story still (or newly) very much a dick, bastard, and/or asshole.  Character development and growth, for DWJ, isn’t about getting rid of your flaws.  It’s about learning to manage them, about learning to use them as strengths, and about finding people who love you not in spite of them but because of them.

None of her central characters are Good People.  Some of them start out appearing to be, to be sure.  But, eventually, those characters all turn out one (or more) of three ways.

1) They turn out to be a villain, or otherwise untrustworthy character, putting on a front.  This happens frequently enough that a supporting character being Too Good is one of DWJ’s few tells.

2) It turns out that what you thought of as a positive character trait is actually their central flaw.  For instance, if a character never causes trouble, ever, that doesn’t mean he’s good; it means he’s passive.  The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for a good man to do nothing - but then, isn’t that man not, in fact, good?  Someone who’s loyal, who’s obedient - that has a lot of potential to be someone who does terrible things while “just following orders”.

3) Their positive character growth is them developing dickishness, bastardness, and/or assholery.  For instance, the character from 2 never caused trouble, and that was his big flaw - so, then, his development is to learn to cause trouble.  It’s learning to yell and fight and stand up for himself and others.  The obedient character needs to learn to disobey, because not all orders should be followed.  And if someone tells you to do something you don’t want to, it’s entirely valid to say “no, fuck you.”

Howl’s Moving Castle, the book, would never try to convince you to stop being concerned with your beauty.  Howl continues to be vain as all hell to the end of the book, to the end of the sequel, to the end of the sequel’s sequel.  He’s just as likely to throw a gooey tantrum about his hair at the end of the trilogy as at the start.  The difference is now he has Sophie, who’ll bitch him out but good if he does, and now he’s become a little more aware of how what he does affects others, so (if you’re lucky) he may clean it up after a suitable period of moping.

Because the key point there is not about something so small as beauty.  Yes, HWC might coincidentally convey that beauty is a selfish pursuit - but it would never, ever tell you that because it is a selfish pursuit, it is wrong.  Sophie’s main development over the book is learning to be selfish.  Her central flaw at the beginning was always being selfless, always doing everything for others, always putting everyone else above herself, always letting others exploit her as they pleased.  And the book chronicled her journey to learning that that’s not just bad for her, it’s bad for everyone around her too.  But also that even if it was just bad for her… that’s enough.

TL;DR: If any adaptation of a DWJ book has a message as straightforward and obvious as “war is bad, and beauty is a selfish pursuit,” no offense to Miyazaki, but that’s an adaptation that’s entirely missed the point.

[nevver]

What we’re reading, Personal Message

[manuscripts-dontburn]

a bunch of books penned by black authors

[unfinisheduet]

80 Young Adult Books by Black Authors

Supporting black authors is something that I definitely need to start doing more, so I’ve compiled a list of 80 YA books by black authors. I’m putting the ones that I’ve read at the top in bold, and the rest will be books that I have looked up and have put on my list to read. I can’t do much to change what’s going on in our world right now, but I can do my part to support the black community in any way that I can. These are in no particular order and please feel free to add more!

On The Come Up by Angie Thomas

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Calling My Name by Liara Tamani

Dear Martin by Nic Stone

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson

Odd One Out by Nic Stone

Jackpot by Nic Stone

Dear Justyce by Nic Stone - coming out 9/29/20

Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi

Oh My Gods by Alexandra Sheppard

Black Enough: Stories of Being Young and Black in America edited by Ibi Zoboi

Love Me or Miss Me: Hot Girl, Bad Boy by Dream Jordan

Spin by Lamar Giles

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

Watch Us Rise by Renee Watson and Ellen Hagan

Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds

The Belles Series by Dhonielle Clayton

The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

Let Me Hear a Rhyme by Tiffany D. Jackson

The Voice in My Head by Dana L. Davis

I Wanna Be Where You Are by Kristina Forest

The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta

The Evolution of Birdie Randolph by Brandy Colbert

Dear Haiti, Love Alaine by Maika and Maritza Moulite

Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron

A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney

A Dream So Dark by L.L. McKinney

Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett

The Forgotten Girl by India Hill Brown

Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles

Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson

Solo by Kwame Alexander

A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow

By Any Means Necessary by Candid Montgomery

War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi

Light It Up by Kekla Magoon

Who Put This Song On? by Morgan Parker

Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson

Finding Yvonne by Brandy Colbert

Learning to Breathe by Janice Lynn Mather

I am Alfonso Jones by Tony Medina

The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore

Ghost by Jason Reynolds

X: A Novel by Ilyasah Shabazz

The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds

How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland

Not So Pure and Simple by Lamar Giles

The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe

Monster by Walter Dean Myers

Pride by Ibi Zoboi

Opposite Of Always by Justin A. Reynolds

Buried Beneath The Baobab Tree by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani

The Effigies Series by Sarah Raughley

Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves by Glory Edim

Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid

I Almost Forgot About You by Terry McMillan

Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi

A Phoenix First Must Burn: Sixteen Stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope edited by Patrice Caldwell

This Is My America by Kim Johnson

Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam

If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson

Nightmare of the Clans by Pamela E. Cash

Black Boy, White School by Brian F. Walker

Behind You by Jacqueline Woodson

Hush by Jacqueline Woodson

Tiffany Sly Lives Here Now by Dana L. Davis

Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson

[dateamonster]

honestly imagine being mary shelley. its the fucking early 1800s. we’re barely out of the era when people thought women reading novels would lead to like debauchery and premarital sex. the weather is just fucking bonkers in yonkers. everybodys clothes looked like they oughta weigh two hundred pounds. everyones goth but goth isnt a thing yet so they dont even know it. your kids are dying. your husbands dead. your friends are all probably doing coke. your doctor is also both doing and maybe prescribing coke. no electricity. people are out there just staring into the void and having clandestine affairs in graveyards or some shit just because theres nothing else to do. and whats that? youve just written frankenstein. girl what the fuck even–

[dateamonster]

today is mary shelley’s birthday. honor her legacy by looking at the completely bonkers shit happening all around you and just saying well might as well fuck around and invent an entirely new literary genre

[mothbiteclub]

I have finally moved, and for the first time in my life have the space to create a cute little study corner with my bookshelves and I’m IN LOVE.

[permanent0midnight]

Shelfconfidence BPC | August | Day 23: Alphabetical or by colour

because I know it’s only temporary, I have a weird system: standalones are kinda sorted by colour, series are wherever they fit

[letsgomojo]

The Secret History

[lizbett570]

[jawnkeets]

I am all in a sea of wonders. I doubt; I fear; I think strange things which I dare not confess to my own soul.

[glazedeye-s]

memories warm you up from the inside... but they also tear you apart — haruki murakami, kafka on the shore.

[lunarquills]

“Gold shimmered no matter what, but few people could make darkness glitter the way he did.” ― Stephanie Garber, Legendary

[chromolume]

all stories have an inherently biased perspective because theyre all written by writers. this precludes an understanding of aspects of life experienced by people who arent writers such as ballin, fitting in at parties, having abs

[furikomaru-deactivated20190920]

but wait didn’t ernest hemingway have abs and fit in at parties?

[chromolume]

yeah thats why he barely used any words

[clairesclitpiercing]

#old man and the sea short bc he had a rager to get to

[ceekari]

Do you think people in the afterlife get notifications when someone mentions them in a post?

[wispsofsilk]

ig: orionvanessa