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TTT: Authors Who Deserve More Recognition


This week's TTT topic is Authors Who Deserve More Recognition.

In thinking about this I came up with five names immediately and decided that they were the only ones I wanted to list. Adding others would be just me trying to get the number up to 10, which is unfair when these are the ones I truly and deeply feel deserve more recognition.

Megan Whalen Turner
The following for her books is growing, and that is a wonderful thing to see, but it is not yet nearly as large as it should be. She is a phenomenal story teller, the best currently writing books of any genre/age category in my opinion. It is just not right that her books are not more well known and that none of them since The Thief have won a major award.

N.D. Wilson
Wilson's books are truly extraordinary. He has one stand alone novel, one trilogy, and half of a series currently out in the world of MG fiction. He also writes adult theology/philosophy books that are wonderful. His current MG series, the Ashtown Burials, is a tale of myth and adventure that is as exciting as they come. He is gifted with the rare talent of being able to construct exciting plots, develop his characters well, and write brilliant prose.

R.J. Anderson
I love Anderson's books. All of them. I can not figure out why her Faery series is not being published in the US past the first two books, because they are SO GOOD. I order them from England so I can read them. They are that wonderful. (I don't do this for any other author. If it's not in print in the US I just shrug and move on. Not with her books though.) I am happy to see that Ultraviolet an Quicksilver have gotten such lovely attention here in the US, but it is still far far less than they deserve. Read her books more, people.

Jenn Reese
I adore Reese's Above World trilogy. It is inventive, exciting, adventurous and full of great characters you can love and relate too. Her world is fully realized and all the people in it fascinating. Furthermore these books have been a huge hit with every child whose hands I've put them in from ages 8-13. These books should be mentioned, book-talked, and listed by everyone.

Rebecca Barnhouse
Barnhouse has a way of weaving mythology into historical fiction that is nothing short of brilliant. Her novels reflect their time period perfectly while making it completely acces
sible to the modern reader. She creates characters you can love and, as an added benefit, her books are great for exposing kids to Norse myth and the epic poem of Beowulf.

In writing up this post I have realized that all of these authors have something in common. They write books that straddle that MG/YA line in many respects. Books that 5th graders can read and enjoy. Books that teens can read an enjoy. Books that adults can read and enjoy. Books that are actually perfect for that 7th-9th grade range. For some reason those books NEVER get the respect they deserve nor the attention. These writers are writing extraordinary books though and EVERYONE should be reading them.
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Comments

Anonymous said…
Swift has got such a pretty cover! :-) Great list.
July 16, 2013 at 9:30 AM
EAChase said…
In respect for your choice to list Megan Whalen Turner first, I've added the other authors you mentioned to my to-read list. My list would be: Megan Whalen Turner and Van Reid.
July 16, 2013 at 1:51 PM
Brandy said…
I know! I love the UK covers of for Anderson's Faery books. I think the US covers of the first two were problematic in selling them and that's why we don't have the others.
July 16, 2013 at 6:36 PM
Brandy said…
Haha. ND Wilson and RJ Anderson are both MWT fans too. I found out about Turner's books through Wilson. I found out about Anderson's books because she is a member of Sounis.
July 16, 2013 at 6:38 PM
Anonymous said…
Wow, I'm embarrassed to admit that I'm not familiar with any of these authors! That's going to change ASAP -- gotta go look these up. I love good, well-written MG books, and these sound terrific. Thanks for the recommendations!

Lisa
July 16, 2013 at 7:34 PM
Brandy said…
Yay! And you should definitely read Megan Whalen Turner before anything else. Her books are AMAZING.
July 17, 2013 at 12:24 PM
Betsy said…
Just reading this now, my friend--and I say, "Hear, Hear"!!
August 21, 2013 at 6:06 AM
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