We Certainly Agree

The Horn Book Magazine, essential reading for anyone working with children's and young adult literature, calls Laura Whitcomb's novel A CERTAIN SLANT OF LIGHT "original, opinionated, sexy, and romantic." The reviewer praises Whitcomb for being "unfailingly insightful," concluding with more commendations:

Having sailed through establishing her original premise, Whitcomb successfully navigates a complex plot that after many dramatic turns is resolved both cleverly (in the case of providing Billy and Jenny with a continuing relationship after they each return to their bodies) and happily. "Just walk up to your hell and give it a push," James tells Helen, and together they find their own heaven.

Times Book Review on Mark Caldwell's "400-Year Bender"

Joseph Berger, a senior reporter for The Times, calls Mark Caldwell's NEW YORK NIGHT "deeply researched" and "lyrical." He goes on to say,

Caldwell's analysis is quite canny at times, as is his understanding that nighttime draws us out of our safe homes precisely because of its "frisson of terror," and because it provides a veil through which we can encounter worlds happily avoided during daylight.

Berger especially appreciates the book's "telling symmetry," the way in which center of night life has shifted from Times Square to lower Manhattan, where the New York night began.

A New Play from Dennis Lehane

The Invisible City Theater Company will premiere Dennis Lehane's CORONADO, directed by David Epstein, on November 30th. The play will only run until December 17th, so don't miss it!

More Praise for A CERTAIN SLANT OF LIGHT

The School Library Journal has some very nice things to say in its recent review of Laura Whitcomb's A CERTAIN SLANT OF LIGHT:

Whitcomb writes with a grace that befits Helen’s more modulated world while depicting contemporary society with sharp insight. In the subgenre of dead-narrator tales, this book shows the engaging possibilities of immortality–complete with a twist at the end that wholly satisfies.

The book is in bookstores now, so go get a copy for your favorite young adult!

The Times Ventures into the New York Night

In his recent New York Times review, William Grimes calls Mark Caldwell's NEW YORK NIGHT "brilliant" and a "descriptive tour de force," likening it to "a mad after-hours party that guests later pronounce a smashing success, based on the number of empty Champagne bottles left on the floor."