Recommend A…(9)

…Book by a Male Author

Guys, I can’t tell you how ecstatic I was when Shanyn from Chick Loves Lit announced that she was starting this awesome meme. Shanyn’s AWESOME Recommend A… meme is finally giving me the chance to cater to my inner nerd for specificity and randomness!! AND I LOVE IT. So props to Shanyn, who is fab for starting this up. I’m looking forward to giving some attention to books that might have missed everyone’s radar for one reason or another. Woo hoo!

Trying to find some books for this week’s prompt wasn’t hard, guys, but it did spotlight something that I’m sure lots of us noticed: I don’t read very many books written by male authors AT ALL. I’m not sure if that says something about me or YA/MG literature, but it’s a shame either way. These two books REPRESENT, though. They’re fantastic.

Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby. Guys. THIS is a solid historical middle grade fantasy. I’m talking LEGIT. It’s the story of a young girl who is the daughter of a Viking king. He’s under attack, so he sends his children–led by the youngest girl, Solveig–to a faraway, secluded stronghold in the mountains. BUT. Turns out the king’s family isn’t safe there, either. There’s a traitor in their midst, and shizz hits the fan. ICEFALL is AMAZING, friends. One of my favorite recent middle grades.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. I don’t know how much more I can say about this book and how much it literally SLAYED me to tiny pieces. It’s the heartbreaking story of a young boy who’s mother is dying from cancer. As a means to help himself cope, he begins to see a monster who is a big Yew tree. He’s a badass, and the way he helps Conor (CONOR! He’s an outstanding, sad young boy) understand life and death, and come to grips with his mother’s sickness and all of the emotions he’s feeling is just perfect. No lie. A MONSTER CALLS is perfect. Sad, but brilliant.