Blogs for Aspiring Teen Writers
Andie Cunningham
My soon-to-be fifteen-year-old niece wants to be a writer. Since her birthday is just around the corner, I wondered if creating a list of young adult author blogs might be helpful to her. I feel spoiled by what I learn on blogs these days, and I liked the idea of offering her a little window into the world of writing through the web.
Blogs offer a quick view into the author's thinking. Longer than the one-liners of Twitter, blogs showcase the author's reflections from day to day. Brief and to the point, the blogs I read are often focused on literacy, and each one has its own unique impact on my reading and writing practice.
My Blog Reading Habits
I started reading blogs a couple of years ago. Franki Sibberson and Mary Lee Hahn's blog (http://readingyear.blogspot.com/) spoiled me with their consistent previewing of terrific new reads from children's literature. Embedded within their blogspot is another wonderful resource: their blogroll of favorite teacher and author resources. I can spend hours searching through the rich offerings listed on the right side of the blog.
While my lack of web confidence keeps me hesitant in searching for new blogs, I feel confident about clicking through to the blogs they list. When I head over to favorites like Shannon Hale's blog (www.squeetus.com) or Mitali Perkin's writing (http://www.mitaliblog.com/), I find myself immersed in new books and ideas for hours.
But my reasons for searching these blogs is different than what I imagine my niece wants. When I think of Amelia, I am reminded of her quiet, smiling, realistic approach to life. She is a serious girl, academically compelled and creatively curious. Amelia carries the tensions in her life with integrity and kindness, and she always offers me a real hug when I visit her home in the Rockies (more than a thousand miles from where I live in Oregon). What? A high school student still warmly welcoming an aunt seen only once or twice a year? Yep, that's Amelia, the young woman I love to chat with about books over email or the phone. The challenge was finding good web resources to help her develop as a writer. Could I find young adult authors who write about their writing process faithfully, so she might enjoy the habit of visiting their blogs again and again? I started my search. Days later, I have added a number of new blogs to my bookmarks, and I can't wait to see which ones Amelia enjoys.
Author Blogs
I began by seeking out my own favorite authors. Chris Crutcher's website provides fabulous insight into what he is up to these days. Yet reading his site helped me determine an important difference between websites and blogs: websites are updated less frequently and often have multiple pages. Websites often stay the same over longer periods of time, while on blogs, one can expect new postings almost every day. Chris Crutcher's site is a website, one that I will include on my list so she can keep tabs on a master writer, but I know it won't be updated as frequently as a blog.
Shannon Hale writes a blog I have followed for a long time, so analyzing what works in her blog helped me identify more of what I wanted for Amelia. Shannon's blog writing is sassy. She includes a number of entries on the writing process, and how to publish that likely will be helpful for a writer.
Using Shannon Hale blog's as a stellar model, I search on and find blogs by a number of other young adult authors like Laurie Halse Anderson, Mitali Perkins, Kate DiCamillo, Linda Sue Park, and Jacqueline Woodson. I also include the blog of Hipwritermama, a site where the blogger reviews books and interviews authors. It is obvious to me when I read each of these blogs that the authors know their audience: folks who want to know more about the personal process of writing. The blogs are written in voices that tell me that the blog readers are viewed as important equals.
Teacher and Librarian Blogs
In my search, I also unearthed blogs with superb book lists, created by teachers who explain why they choose the books they do and what sense they make of what they read. Many educators know that reading and writing are directly connected, but I am not sure that Amelia does. I know I want to offer her great resources for writing, but I wouldn't mind exposing her to new books as well. And, selfishly, I want to read these books too!
I found a few new-to-me blogs that librarians write - these often include interviews with young adult authors. Of course, no list of literary- honoring blogs would be complete without a nod toward Kidlitosphere, the blogmonster of all blogs. This is the society of bloggers in children's and young adult literature.
Most 15-year-olds know more about the web than I do, but I am hopeful that this list of blogs I've compiled for Amelia will open some doors for her as a writer and reader. As I searched, I found a much wider collection of sites written by young adult writers than I did adult authors, which both surprised me and made me realize my searching is not over. I found myself excited about all the resources I can offer my niece, and explore and grow from as well.
Authors and Teachers on Writing: A Beginning List for Amelia
Shannon Hale (http://www.squeetus.com/stage/main.html)
Author of Book of a Thousand Days among others, her sassy blog is even better than her books (and I adore her books). She chats through writing and keeps it updated. From her home page, hit Mincemeat on the top right and go from there to reach the blog.
Laurie Halse Anderson (www.writerlady.com)
Her site is new to me, and I love it. She wrote Chains and Speak , among other great books, and just published a new one about anorexia, Wintergirls .
Chris Crutcher (www.chriscrutcher.com)
He has been a favorite author of mine for many years. His latest, Deadline , is one I recommend to adults, who tell me what I already knew: he is an amazing writer and storyteller! This is a website rather than a blog, but I thought you might appreciate his unique lens into censoring.
Kate DiCamillo (www.katedicamillo.com)
A queen in her own "write"! Most likely doesn't need an introduction, and her website reveals more secrets about who she is and how she writes.
Linda Sue Park (www.lindasuepark.com)
She is an incredible writer for middle-school students, and this website brings a whole new voice into the conversation - different experiences, different focal points, different cultures . . .
Jacqueline Woodson (www.jacquelinewoodson.com)
Jacqueline Woodson's writing never fails to both teach and lead me. A recent book of hers, After Tupac and D Foster , helped me understand the love of Tupac in a whole new way!
Mitali Perkins (http://www.mitaliblog.com)
Mitali is a young adult author who writes from her East Indian cultural perspective. She also includes a giant list of fellow YA authors who are twittering, and shares their Twitter addresses.
YABOOKNERD (http://yabooknerd.blogspot.com)
This is a blog "dedicated to YA books, movies, pop culture and library services from the young adult librarian at Otis Library." This blog is loaded with interviews from authors.
Kidlitosphere Central (http://www.kidlitosphere.org/KidLitosphere_Central/Welcome.html)
Kidlitsosphere Central is a blogspot I hit regularly for my own growth. It is a community of reviewers, literacy leaders, authors and more. This page links you to dozens of young adult and children's literature authors, and is a terrific gateway for future explorations. As a teacher of teachers in literacy, I pay special attention to the CYBILS, awards given to amazing new books by this incredible group of lit lovers. I also pay attention to the CYBILS because I get lots of ideas of what to read next from the nominated books!
Hipwritermama (http://hipwritermama.blogspot.com)
This is a blog that surprised me. The writer reviews books, but she also blogs about interviews with writers and links to those interviews. For instance, on March 19th, she linked readers to a writing tip with an literary agent as well as a radio interview with a young adult author. I watched the Youtube piece with Mitali Perkins and loved it.
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Jennifer Allen
