For the last few months, I've been working on a new project that could be a great boon to middle and high school students interested in becoming novelists someday. With author Robert Scanlon, I've created a new podcast called The Split: A Young Adult Book Review Podcast for Readers and Writers. We take the concept of the old book reviews show and give it a new spin. While we read some of the most popular YA books of our time, we discuss them from both a reader and a writer perspective.
What does that mean? It means we'll talk about if we liked the book, but we'll also examine what can be learned from the book as a writer. Writers new and old can pick up some fantastic tips from our analysis, and they can learn some great books to read.
Here are a few of the books we've read and links to our episodes:
A quick summary of the book: Humanity never expected aliens quite like this. After four unexpected waves of attacks exterminate most of humanity, Cassie is one of few humans left on earth. When the malicious visitors take on human form, Cassie must rely on a mysterious hunter to save her brother and preserve whatever scraps remain of civilization.
A quick summary of the book: Who doesn’t know what this book is about at this point? Two teens with cancer who fall in love. Hazel Grace Lancaster meets Augustus Waters in a support group, they bond over Hazel’s favorite book. High-jinks and health problems ensue in one of the most popular books of our generation.
A quick summary of the book: Rose Hathaway and her best friend Lissa lead a relatively normal life. Aside from the fact that Rose is a Dhampir bodyguard and Lissa is a Moroi Vampire Princess. Oh, and the fact that they’re on the run from St. Vladimir’s Academy, a boarding school for vampires. When St. Vlad’s drags them back to school, Rose and Lissa encounter a deadly mystery, forbidden romance, and a secret hundreds of years in the making. If the deadly Strigoy don’t kill them, the Academy’s ruthless social scene surely will.
For more book reviews every week, subscribe to our show at iTunes!
Use the above prompts or article as inspiration to write a story or other short piece.
