What the heck is wrong with YA these days?

It’s impossible to talk about new trends in young-adult fiction without considering the wildly popular supernatural fiction – much of it terrible knock-offs of the “Twilight’’ series by Stephenie Meyer. One surprising fact remains: Meyer can write beautiful prose, and she creates characters that young people care passionately about.
But why vampires? Why so many books [...]

Heads Up: PetPetPark

If you haven’t been adventuring through Neopets lately, you might have missed the quiet beta launch of PetPetPark – Neopet’s Virtual World (finally) within the uber gaming network dynamic world of, well, Neopets.  It’s cute, pet-y, seemingly silly (I really hope they come out with that Dragon suit on the splash page), and so far [...]

Makin’ the rounds

Planet Cazmo’s Virtual Concert Series, which started in November 2008, has been a boon to the virtual world for tweens and young teens: It has captivated audiences, secured a significant amount of press for the world, and driven user stats and growth.
Today the music-focused site adds another notch on its belt by securing former American [...]