YAD--My New Addiction

I assume it’s an artifact of the Harry Potter phenomenon (and I must admit, she lost me at the fourth one. I just couldn’t work up the enthusiasm needed to plow through the rest of the series), and I wasn’t even aware until recently that there is now an entire literary genre called “Young Adult Dystrophy”. Fantastic. Any stroll through the “Teen Fiction” section of your local Barnes and Noble, with a stop at the specially labeled “TF Fantasy” shelf, will give you the flavor of the field. 

The ultimate YAD, of course, is the Hunger Games trilogy, a heroic effort on the author’s part to get some critical thinking into the heads of youth who otherwise seem to have lost a certain helpful penchant for cynical disbelief. 

Anyway, I’ve been plowing my way through quite a number of YAD novels the past few months. Having a great time. Many of them are quite imaginative, some are well written, and all are generally easy to read. Just to get you started, I’ll recommend one to you here. “Adaptation” by Malinda Lo involves U.S. Government conspiracy, plagues of avian illness, lesbian sex, Area 51 and aliens. The latter eventually take their lesbians and go home, but I understand Ms. Lo is working on a sequel. I’m in. I suggest you should be as well!

Oh. Note that the Doctor is In for the first time in a couple of years. There is new material up around the weblog horn, so see cancer diary at http://endoftheworldpartdeux.blogspotcom/, sustainability thoughts at professional site http://www.aehsfoundation.org/ and                   http://sustainablebiospheredotnet.blogspot.com/
, some natural history over at http://docviper.livejournal.com/ , and a short book review at http://theresaturtleinmysoup.blogspot.com/ . Most of all, party hearty, everybody. 21 December 2012 is right around the corner!