Blog

Bears are powerful. Most of us know better than to mess with a bear.

In E.K. Johnston's Exit, Pursued by a Bear, young women are powerful too.

I loved Kelly Barnhill's middle grade fantasy The Witch's Boy. When I heard she had a new novel, I was dying to get my hands on it but I was also worried it wouldn't be as good as The Witch's Boy, which amazed me.

Yesterday we had a request for recommended books on feminism for middle grade readers. (Thanks, Camille!) It turned out that we had tons of ideas, but they all came from the YA section. Now that we've had some more time to think about it, we've put together a collection -- broad, but not exhaustive -- of resources for readers who embrace feminism, but aren't quite ready for bell hooks, Simone de Beauvoir, or even Here We Are, a new anthology for teen readers.

2016 was a tough year for a lot of people, and 2017 is shaping up to be a lot more of the same.

So. How does one weather a hard season? With fortitude, knowledge, and understanding -- three things that Rejected Princesses has in spades.

I was pleased when Josh informed me that 10:04 had secured its place in the finals for the adult Porter Square Book of the Year, but also a little surprised.

I am perpetually late to the book party.

Due to a long stretch in my life during which I had no idea how to properly live, I forgot that books were fun and reading could be pleasurable and a thing I enjoyed doing. I blame it on high school.

Where should we start?

Hidden Figures has everything: It's a new look at a familiar topic, it's based on solid and thorough research, and Margot Lee Shetterly pulls it all together into a well-written story that keeps you turning the pages even if you already know how it's going to turn out.

Over the year we hosted hundreds of events and got to meet hundreds of interesting authors. Since we had all of these interesting brains coming through the store, we decided to try and capture a little bit of extra creativity from all of these creative people.

Christopher Boucher teaches writing and literature at Boston College, and is the managing editor of Post Road magazine. He is the author of How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive and Golden Delicious and lives with his wife and two children in Newton, MA.

Val Wang is the author of Beijing Bastard and multimedia storyteller. She most recently created and produced Planet Takeout, an interactive, multi-platform documentary on the role of Chinese takeouts as a vital cultural crossroads in America. She teaches in the English and Media Studies Department of Bentley University.