Children & YA

September 12, 2011 Tracy Barrett has a way with classical myth. Her last young-adult novel, the brilliant King of Ithaka, is an astonishingly original and surefooted reworking of Homer’s Odyssey, in which she somehow discovered new paths on what must be the Western canon’s most heavily trodden ground. Her newest book, Dark of the Moon, takes another famous Greek legend—the story of Theseus and the Minotaur—and makes it fresh and fascinating, even as it honors the foundations of the original tale.

August 8, 2011 When Emerson Cole discovers that she may have the ability to travel through time, she’s not particularly thrilled. As a high-school senior with exactly one friend, she’s actually far less interested in time travel than in avoiding the label of total freak. In Hourglass, Myra McEntire takes a twisting, turning journey through the physics of time, but the most important journey is Emerson’s discovery of her own surprising reserves of courage, love, and loyalty. Timeless qualities indeed. On August 8 at 6:30 p.m, McEntire will read at Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Brentwood as a part of the Ash2Nash Tour of YA authors.

August 2, 2011 In The Near Witch, the debut young-adult novel from Nashville author Victoria Schwab, an unfamiliar boy shows up in the insular village of Near, which has not been visited by strangers in decades. Soon, children are going missing from their homes, night after night. Only a young girl, Lexi, who narrates the story, is convinced that the strange boy is not to blame. Darkly atmospheric, this story by a twenty-three-year-old debut author is an accomplished take on the classic fairy-tale form. Victoria Schwab will read from The Near Witch as part of the “Ash To Nash Tour” of YA writers. They will be in Kingsport on August 6, Knoxville on August 7, and Brentwood on August 8. For details, visit the tour’s website here.