September 2012 On Sale: September 1, 2012 Featuring: Tink Aaron-Martin; Freddie Blue 256 pages ISBN: 0545310288 EAN: 9780545310284 Kindle: B0091LYPQE Hardcover $16.99  Add to Wish List Young Adult Contemporary Buy at Amazon.com A fun YA The Encyclopedia Of Me by Karen Rivers A is for “Tink Aaron-Martin,” “Aardvark,” and “Amazing” in this wonderful alphabetical novel! Tink Aaron-Martin has been grounded AGAIN after an adventure with her best friend Freddie Blue Anderson. To make the time pass, she decides to write an encyclopedia of her life from “Aa” (a kind of lava–okay, she cribbed that from the real encyclopedia) to “Zoo” (she’s never been to one, but her brothers belong there). As the alphabet unfolds, so does the story of Tink’s summer: more adventures with Freddie Blue (and more experiences in being grounded); how her family was featured in a magazine about “Living with Autism,” thanks to her older brother Seb–and what happened after Seb fell apart; her growing friendship, and maybe more, with Kai, a skateboarder who made her swoon (sort of). And her own sense that maybe she belongs not under “H” for “Hideous,” or “I” for “Invisible,” but “O” for “Okay.” Written entirely in Tink’s hilarious encyclopedia entries,…

Magical systems in a fantasy novel take as much thought as the settings and characters do. A magical structure will affect the characters just like the world’s history, religion, or government will. It will likely have an even greater effect on the plot of a novel. And the myriad ways a character’s talents can manifest is fascinating. A character might be able to shape shift (Patricia Briggs‘ Mercy Thompson), speak to or raise the dead (Laurell K. Hamilton‘s Anita Blake), cast spells (J.K. Rowling‘s Hermione Granger), create elaborate illusions (Erin Morgenstern‘s Celia Bowen), manipulate matter (Lois McMaster Bujold‘s Dag Redwing Hickory), or read people’s minds (Charlaine Harris‘ Sookie Stackhouse). They might have telekinetic (J.R.R. Tolkien‘s Gandalf) or pyrokinetic abilities (the original firestarter, Stephen King‘s Charlie McGee). Or they may be able to travel through time (Diana Gabaldon‘s Claire Randall) or control space travel (Ann Aguirre‘s Sirantha Jax). I realize some of my examples aren’t magic, but rather a special ability, and some of the novels are science fiction, not fantasy, but the concept is the same: SF/F authors spend a lot of time carefully considering their main characters’ special powers and how those powers work within the fictional world they’ve…