I picked up Spread me by Sarah Gailey and The Tapestry of Fate at the library today. Oh, and I found out Mona Awad is going to be doing a signing near me in September. So, I grabbed a ticket for that.

I am getting to the end of Children of Strife and liking it much more than #3 in the series (not that I disliked Children of Memory but I didn't love it quite as much as the first two) - it's giving me two of the things I like best, explorations of identity and fictional theology (and science fictional theology is a pretty rare treat!) and a good bit of mantis shrimp detail (Children of Memory was, IMO, lacking in fun evolution info) so I'm happy.

And my hold for Father Material just became available so that's up next. I am excited and only a little worried that Hall take it in a direction I don't like...

ltc just finished reading Catching Fire, and she is shouting “what!?!” Over and over again. It’s kind of adorable.

One of us, one of us!!!

Amy, definitely. Once she was done freaking out she walked out to the living room to get Mockingjay and started it immediately.

I spent most of my afternoon looking at the YA books on my kindle and deciding which ones to family share with ltc. I probably made the process harder than it needs to be. She reads well above her age level and can handle scary things and some violence pretty easily. However, she really doesn’t care for much romance in her books and I’d like to avoid anything overtly sexual or with sa in it. I have not read every book on my kindle shelf and the ones I have read I might not be remembering as clearly as I think I do.

Are you asking for recommendations?

Not really dcp. I already have too many books. Just maybe some info on how other parents have made these decisions.

Any worries I had for Father Material were unfounded, it's really good

Also, I ran into some, I dunno, DRM thing that wouldn't let me download the copy I got from the library and my internet at home is unreliable but apparently I pre-ordered it via Bookshop, which did put it in my library for me but didn't notify me, as far as I can tell. So I was able to return my library copy early and hopefully make someone in the queue happy

Just maybe some info on how other parents have made these decisions.

I may be a bit of an outlier, but I pretty much let my kids read anything they want. I'm more cautious with movies,* but I generally think books are the safest place to explore things you're curious about or encounter potentially upsetting content. You're limited to what your own brain can imagine or understand (though graphic novels are more of a gray area here), and it's super easy to skim/skip stuff you're not ready for, or put the book down if it's too much.

*Rose, age 14, wants to watch Pulp Fiction and my answer so far is no, mostly because of the rape scene -- but she also picked up Lolita on her own and I'm fine with her reading that.

That said, there's a difference between something my kids pick up on their own and something I actively provide for them. Jane (who is about the same age as ltc) is a strong and voracious reader and has read a number of YA books, but when I'm picking out books to recommend or bring home for her, I'm usually still getting middle-grade books, not YA. I do feel like YA as a genre has aged up quite a bit in the last 10-15 years, and it's harder to find YA titles that are really aimed at younger teens now, which is a problem.

Kate! Hello!! So wild that your kids are that old now!! I know I read a lot of inappropriate shit as a teenager. I still remember at some point in middle school (maybe 6th grade?) I did like an extra credit book report on watership down (because I had randomly read it) and the teacher was quizzing me about what it was *really* about and I was like “…rabbits??”