Review: What We Become

     Continuing last week's effort to catch up on some reviews of my work, I came upon one from Eric, a sixth grader who posted about What We Become at Book Trends.  He said "I recommend this 5 star novel to anyone who likes a good story and a little violence. The suspense will keep readers at the edge of their seats!"
     

Review: Those That Wake

     It's nice to browse around every now and then and turn up new reviews of my work or revisit some particularly strong ones.  For instance, J.P. Wickwire at the Daily Monocle said "Those That Wake is an exciting foray into genuinely frightening teen literature. And with the YA market being overrun with dystopian romances, books like this one stand out with their sheer originality."  While I'm generally in favor of excerpting one quote per review, I can't help but add that Ms. Wickwire also notes "Karp’s writing is striking, never sacrificing style for content (or vice versa).With deft use of subtle repetition, and offbeat descriptions, Karp constructs a story that stands on the head of a pin; a story that would not work if written in a different style."
     As you wander on through the labyrinth of your own imagination, it's good to know that you're actually reaching people out there sometimes. 
     

Nonfiction Goes Graphic

     School Library Journal posted a story about "Nonfiction Goes Graphic," the panel at SLJ's Day of Dialog I moderated a few weeks ago, complete with many illuminating quotes from the panelists. You can have a look at it right here.

Together

     On a regular basis, I wax poetic about old Chris Evans and his interpretation of Captain America.  What is sometimes a thankless task of bringing the moral outlook of a bygone generation into the face of harder-edged modern day heroics still feels necessary, not only in terms of the character but also to carry a torch forward for generations experiencing these archetypes of Good for the first time.  And so . . .   
     In Avengers: Age of Ultron, we find Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark at loggerheads with Evans's Steve Rogers once again, over Tony's penchant for making large scale (and dangerous) decisions (that often go disastrously wrong) on his own.  Tony defends his actions by talking about certain threats the Avengers will have to face.  "How were you planning to fight that?" he asks.  "Together," says Steve.  "We'll lose," counters Tony.  Steve's response: "Then we'll do that together, too."
     There are some things more important than winning.  Lose track of who you are and what you've set out to do, as an individual or as a group, then winning the battle may not matter at all.