Karen S. Wiesner: Oldies But Goodies {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: The Ghost Prison by Joseph Delaney

Oldies But Goodies

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: The Ghost Prison by Joseph Delaney

by Karen S. Wiesner

After I finished my last writing reference, I'd started to hear about a trend going around writing circles. In direct opposition of everything I'd ever taught in my writing series about the crucial need to go deep with characters, writers were being told that it's best not to include more than basic information about main characters, not even providing last names for them--this supposedly allows readers to fill in the blanks with their own details, making the characters whatever they want them to be.

In my mind, this is a big mistake. How can character development be fluid enough to allow something like that without compromising everything vital in a story? Individual character choices directly influence outcomes. If a character isn't well defined, motives and purposes are constantly in question as well as in flux. Ultimately, characters that have no impact on readers make for a quickly forgotten story.

I want a good balance of character and plot development in the stories I'm willing to invest myself in, and I'm not getting it with most of the new stuff coming out. So I've been re-reading the books that have made it onto my keeper shelves in the past. To that end, here's another "oldies but goodies" review.

The Ghost Prison by Joseph Delaney is said to be a tangential installment of his wonderful The Last Apprentice Series (reviewed here: 

https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/search?q=The+Last+Apprentice), and it's clear by the language that it's set in the same world. Billy Calder may well have become an apprentice of the Spook John Gregory in another life, but in this story he's simply a 15-year old orphan boy who seizes the opportunity to gain independence from the Home for Unfortunate Boys by taking a job as a castle prison guard. He's given almost no training. After waking up late for his first shift, he rushes to the prison from the orphanage. His supervisor isn't pleased. Beyond that, night in the prison is anything but boring, given the number of supernatural prisoners that have to be tended to. An illness removes his boss and leaves Billy in charge, forced to take over horrifying duties he doesn't have the experience or skills to handle.

This short tale published just before Halloween in 2013 is intended for 4-7th graders, but don't let that stop you. Why should they have all the fun? This story is one that anyone who loves a good chiller will enjoy just as much as I did. Billy is a plucky Pip-like kid who doesn't give up or give in easily, even when it might be wise to just run for his life and not look back. Scott M. Fischer's black and white sketches all through the book are perfect accompaniments to the fun, suspenseful text. This is a story filled with a well-developed, brilliant personality that allows you to share directly in Billy's conflicts and root for him to triumph.

Next week, I'll review another Oldie But Goodie you might find worth another read, too.

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

Read What You Love, Part 3 by Karen S. Wiesner

            Read What You Love, Part 3

by Karen S. Wiesner

In this three-part article, I talk about what conditions, if any, cultivate or discourage a love of the written word as well as about the importance of reading what you love, regardless of your age, the genre or content appropriateness, your gender, or what's considered your "level". In the last two segments, I'll also review two of my favorite Young Adult book series that any fan of the supernatural should love as I much as I do.

In the first part of this article, I talked about how, in the general sense, people should read what they're interested in. It doesn't matter if someone else dubs it above or below your proper reading level, too mature or immature, if it's in a genre that social convention says adults or kids shouldn't be reading, or if it's something most people think of as gender specific. A love of the written word transcends any boundaries. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Read what you love! In the second article, I provided an in-depth review of Brandon Mull's phenomenal Young Adult Fantasy series Fablehaven and its sequel Dragonwatch.

In this final installment, I'll review Joseph Delaney's Spooksworld, which is, in my opinion, the best Young Adult Fantasy multi-series in existence. Many people may have heard of this series based on the film adaptation that came out in 2015 called The Spook's Apprentice, which was adapted as a play script originally by the author's son. The film featured Ben Barnes playing Tom Ward (he also played Prince Caspian in The Chronicles of Narnia film series), Jeff Bridges as John Gregory, Julianne Moore as Mother Malkin, and Kit Harington (yes, John Snow from HBO's Game of Thrones) as Billy Bradley, among many others. My opinion (which may not mean a lot) is that this movie didn't even come close to capturing the magic found in the books. I find it difficult to watch, honestly, because it was such a poor adaptation of what could have been nothing short of amazing, had the books been followed much closer.

Spooksworld began as a dark fantasy novel saga written by Joseph Delaney. Three separate series comprise this "arc" that includes Thomas "Tom" Ward as a central character in each. In this fictional world, the seventh son of a seventh son (and sometimes the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter) is a unique being equipped above all other humans to sense the supernatural and become a defender against "the Dark", which can include all manner of beasties like ghost, witches, boggarts, and demons. Such a fighting master is referred to as a "Spook".

Before I dive into this unique world, I'll point out that Joseph Delaney is a British author and all of the Spooksworld books were originally published in the UK by The Bodley Head division of Random House Publishing (which is now Penguin Random House). That said, it'll make more sense to explain that the three separate Spooksworld series have different names (for pities' sake, sometimes more than one for each!) in the UK and the US, and that includes the titles in the differing series names also being changed. So I'll start with a basic listing of the original series name and title differences between the UK and the US. You can find out more at the author's website: https://josephdelaneyauthor.com/.

In the United States, the original series that began with Tom Ward being apprenticed to the County Spook John Gregory is called The Last Apprentice Series, with the following titles available:

Revenge of the Witch (Book 1)

Curse of the Bane (Book 2)

Night of the Soul Stealer (Book 3)

Attack of the Fiend (Book 4)

Wrath of the Bloodeye (Book 5)

Clash of the Demons (Book 6)

Rise of the Huntress (Book 7)

Rage of the Fallen (Book 8)

Grimalkin the Witch Assassin (Book 9)

Lure of the Dead (Book 10)

Slither (Book 11)

I Am Alice (Book 12)

Fury of the Seventh Son (Book 13)

In the UK it's called The Spook's Series and the individual titles are shortened considerably to:

Apprentice (Book 1)

Curse (Book 2)

Secret (Book 3)

Battle (Book 4)

Mistake (Book 5)

Sacrifice (Book 6)

Nightmare (Book 7)

Destiny (Book 8)

I Am Grimalkin (Book 9)

Blood (Book 10)

Slither’s Tale (Book 11)

Alice (Book 12)

Revenge (Book 13)

Just to make this as confusing as possible, this same series has also been referred to as The Tom/Thomas Ward Chronicles or The Wardstone Chronicles. In French, strangely, it's called L'apprenti L'Épouvanteur, which means "The Scarecrow's Apprentice". Either that's poorly translated or "Spook's" is simply not a word that can be grasped in the French language. Go figure.

In any case, there are also several interconnected offerings to this original series that are occasionally included with further (seemingly conflicting) book numbers in the series. These include: A stand-alone story called Seventh Apprentice, which is an introduction to the series that has an earlier apprentice, Will Johnson, left to fend for himself while his master is away. Bestiary (also called The Guide to Creatures of the Dark), which is a practical record of dealing with the Dark and features John Gregory's personal account of "the denizens " he's encountered, combined with his lessons learned and mistakes made. Short stories are also combined with different stories with varying titles in the UK and US in collections, namely Grimalkin's Tale, Witches, The Spook's Tale and Other Horrors, and A Coven of Witches. Finally, a fun little scary story set in the same world is called The Ghost Prison.

Tom Ward is just a boy when John Gregory comes to claim him as an apprentice. Tom's mother promised her seventh son of a seventh son to the local Spook, who's more than a little cranky and irascible. Though Tom isn't sure about being apprenticed to a hard man like this, he dutifully leaves with the Spook, resigned to being apprenticed by him. Soon, he discovers that most of the man's previous apprentices failed, fled, or were killed in the process of learning the ropes of fighting the Dark. Not surprisingly, Spooks are feared and shunned everywhere…you know, up until ordinary people have need of their unique abilities.

Everything Tom faces as the plot progresses from one book to the next makes for chilling conflict and soul reflection. The uncertain but morally grounded boy grows into a young man changed not only by those he meets, the creatures he fights, and the mystical skills he possesses but by his own convictions about his place in the world.

Seeing Tom mature and become powerful, embracing his role of responsibility to the County he serves, his master, his family, and the world at large was a fascinating byplay of shades of gray. On the surface, as this saga progresses, a hero could easily be a villain while just as easily a former monster may end up becoming an ally. Light and dark coexist, and no one is really what they seem here. My favorite characters can't really be short-listed because there are so many intriguing ones, but those that stand out to me would include Tom first and foremost; his master; his parents and family; Alice Deane, the young witch Tom is warned early on not to trust; the former apprentices of John Gregory who serve in other parts of the world, Bill Arkwright and Judd Brinscall; Grimalkin, the Malkin witch assassin who has many faces, and her apprentice Thorne; and finally Meg, John Gregory's former lover, who lives in his winter house.

When I discovered the first book in the series, I bought all the subsequent ones in one fell swoop, including the miscellaneous bonus offerings. I read them compulsively over the course of about a week, barely sleeping because I was so enthralled, wanting to know what would happen to Tom and his master John Gregory. While there is a point where the books slow down and things are all moving in one direction (toward the defeat of the arch villain, the Fiend, which I didn't find quite as interesting as previous enemies), I've still read the series multiple times. After completing it the first time and feeling sad that there weren't more books about Tom Ward, I went searching for follow-up and discovered that there was indeed a spinoff series to be had.

With the conclusion of the original series in 2013, the author started a spinoff trilogy in 2014 with The Starblade Chronicles (the UK versions go by "Spook's" with the same individual titles) that follows the continued adventures of Tom Ward. The apprentice is now the master Spook, responsible for fighting the evil threatening the County and the surrounding world. The three books include A New Darkness (Book 1), The Dark Army (Book 2), and The Dark Assassin (Book 3).

Tom is now 17 but he never finished his apprenticeship as a Spook. Nevertheless, the County needs his unique skills more than ever and there is no one else willing or able to do what he can. To further complicate his life, a young girl named Jenny, a seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, comes, asking to be his apprentice. Never before has a girl been a Spook, and Tom isn't sure how to feel about it. Yet Jenny has vital information and knowledge that he needs to defeat a new evil threatening humanity. Like it or not, he has to take a chance on her.

Returning to Tom's life after the events of the original series was a thrill for me. I wasn't disappointed, but I was very surprised by a lot of the changes in store that weren't ideal and weren't necessarily what I would have hoped for in a spinoff. However, I enjoyed these books very much, read them just as voraciously as the original series, but I will say I was blindsided by the events in the conclusion. As a tremendous fan of the series, I wasn't entirely happy with the outcome and resolution either. Luckily for me, it wasn't actually the end of Tom's story, though fans of the series did have to wait nearly three years before the author brought back our most beloved Spook.

In 2020, Tom Ward, Alice, and other series favorites returned in a new spinoff series, Brother Wulf, which includes four offerings: Brother Wulf (Book 1), Wulf's Bane (Book 2), The Last Spook (Book 3), and Wulf's War (Book 4, coming 8/17/23).

A young novice monk, Brother Beowulf, is being manipulated and sent by the church to spy on Spook Johnson, who takes Wulf along on his monster battles. After Spook Johnson is captured by one of the very creatures he was supposed to be eliminating, Wulf has no choice but to seek out Tom Ward's help. In this spinoff series, Wulf is the main character, while Tom is the secondary, though still a major protagonist. As with the young Tom Ward in the original series, I was charmed by Wulf, who isn't tainted by the evil that plagues the world around him. He remains pure and determined to do good in a world with so many contradictory players. But Wulf is more than he seems, just as this author's characters always prove to be in the end, and that makes him another hero to root for.

Those new to these books may not realize that Joseph Delaney was battling illness while he was writing the last few books in this series. I'd read all three of the first offerings in it. (Incidentally, I had to purchase Book 3 from Blackwell's booksellers in the UK https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/home because it wasn't available in the US, nor do I believe it is even now.) I went to the author's website to find out when the conclusion to the series would be released, and it was there that I was devastated to learn Joseph Delaney lost his battle. The third story ended on a cliffhanger with no satisfactory resolution. It took a long time to resign myself to the fact that I would never learn the conclusion of such a wonderful saga. But then, while I was researching for this review, I discovered that a fourth book would be released posthumously August 2023, on the anniversary of the author's death. Wulf's War was apparently the last book Delaney wrote. I hope this final book provides an ideal conclusion to the series, though I will be more understanding, given how hard it must have been for the author to write this one.

I've also read Delaney's Aberrations series, another dark fantasy sequence, that currently has two installments. I actually talked to the author several years ago (before the Brother Wulf series was published), asking him if more books would follow in that series. I believe he was writing more, but he said that the publisher hadn't yet committed to releasing the next. I'm strongly hoping this series will also be finished at some point in the future, but I don't expect that will be the case. I'll be devastated, since Crafty and his friends may never defeat the evil mist that brought the aberration monsters to their world. Naturally, I'll blame the publisher. I've written a note to those responsible for the upkeep of his website, requesting information about potential future offerings in the series. We'll see if I get a response.

As I said early in this article series, I discovered Spooksworld as a 30-something year old adult and would have missed it (and been the worse for it) and so many others if I cared a whit about maturity, appropriateness, genre, and level classifications when it comes to selecting my reading material.

Life is too short to read only what's expected of you. Instead, make the most of the remaining years you have exploring an entire universe of wonderful reading material available to you.

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

Read What You Love, Part 2 by Karen S. Wiesner

Read What You Love, Part 2

by Karen S. Wiesner

In this three-part article, I talk about what conditions, if any, cultivate or discourage a love of the written word as well as about the importance of reading what you love, regardless of your age, the genre or content appropriateness, your gender, or what's considered your "level". In the last two segments, I'll also review two of my favorite Young Adult book series that any fan of the supernatural should love as I much as I do.

In the first part of this article, I talked about how, in the general sense, people should read what they're interested in. It doesn't matter if someone else dubs it above or below your proper reading level, too mature or immature, if it's in a genre that social convention says adults or kids shouldn't be reading, or if it's something most people think of as gender specific. A love of the written word transcends any boundaries. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Read what you love!

In this next part, I'll review a phenomenal Young Adult series I discovered as a 30-something year old adult and would have missed (and been the worse for it) if I cared anything about maturity, appropriateness, genre, and level classifications. Fablehaven is a Young Adult Fantasy series with five books in the first set with another five in the spinoff Dragonwatch.

In the very first installment that shares the same name as the series, the main characters of the series, young adults Kendra and Seth Sorenson, are spending the summer with grandparents they've barely met up to this point in their lives. Never could they have imagined that Stan and Ruth are the current caretakers of Fablehaven, a centuries' old hidden refuge for all sorts of mythical creatures they're protecting from extinction. This sanctuary survives as one of the last strongholds of magic in the real world. In the restricted woods around the property, ancient laws dictate order among a wide selection of supernatural creatures that run the gamut between good and evil and sometimes a little of both at once. The kids meet witches, fairies, satyrs, trolls, imps, mermaids, and--hoo-ya!--dragons. And that's not even close to all that crop up as the first saga is spun. Each volume introduces new additions to the creatures that inhabit this fascinating secret world along with compelling characters in various organizations on the outside pursuing the incredible wealth and power controlling the magical preserves and the arcane magic hidden in each that could be theirs.

Being the older of the two, Kendra (12-13) is more sensible and mature (if a bit too perfect), almost always working to do the altruistic thing and/or to right the wrongs--frequently those caused by her own brother. In contrast, Seth (11) is immature, reckless, impulsive, a bit greedy, and far too curious for his own good. In large part, the problems that take place in both of the connected series are due to Seth's consistent failure to think things through to the inevitable conclusion instead of the one he optimistically envisions. However, lest you think these are clichéd or what-you-see-on-the-surface-is-what-you-get characters, let me assure you, they're not. Seth is fun and fun-loving, and you can't help but love and root for him, even as you're rolling your eyes, going "Seth, Seth, have you learned nothing from the last time you tried something stupid like this?!" His boundless enthusiasm pulls you along despite yourself. Kendra is also a multifaceted character with strengths and weaknesses, though she begins and often is very typical of what you'd expect. She serves as a good role model to anyone else who's had their vision of what life and reality are turned completely upside down. The siblings discover their own sort of magic power within the course of the series that can help or hinder their efforts to keep the magical refuges unharmed and intact.

The grandparents Stan and Ruth running Fablehaven are well-drawn and complex, as you'd expect, as are those associated with the sanctuary--Lena, the housekeeper, Dale, the groundskeeper, and his brother Warren; and Hugo the golem; the mystical world at large; and secret organizations, each in their capacities of helping or harming. There are many other intriguing characters that readers will enjoy having join the cast. The parents of Kendra and Seth are nearly non-existent. In Book 1, I accepted that they were going on a 17-day cruise and so basically dropped off the kids and had no reason to really worry anything could go wrong. But their continued absence and/or lack of involvement through the other four books in the series were the only aspect I found a little bit unsettling and unrealistic.

Starting in the second book in the series, Rise of the Evening Star (an archaic society seeking to grab control of the magic preserves around the globe), five artifacts of immense power become the focus of this story and Books 3-5 (titled respectively The Grip of the Shadow Plague, Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary, and Keys to the Demon Prison) as those protecting the sanctuary and the other four like it all over the globe try to keep these talismans from falling into the hands of those who wish to subvert and unleash what could destroy the world--magic and human alike--as they know it.

Though Book 5 ends on an optimistic, if a little unresolved (purposely, I believe) note, it's not the end. Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary introduced Wyrmroost, a hidden dragon sanctuary, that becomes the focus of the spinoff series, Dragonwatch. In the first book of the same name as the series, four months have passed since the events of Keys of the Demon Prison. Kendra and Seth are a little older, a little wiser, and both are equipped with powers that will prove vital to fighting an all-new threat. Their cousins Knox and Tess are also visiting Fablehaven for the summer, which is bound to cause endless issues and conflicts.

In Dragonwatch, a fearless dragon named Celebrant, King of Dragons, wants to reign without borders by returning the world to the Age of Dragons, when dragons, not humans, ruled. Celebrant was actually one of the many heroes of the previous series instrumental in its satisfactory, if not ideal, conclusion. Dragonwatch was an ancient order of wizards, sorceresses, and dragon slayers that subdued the dragons in the past, but nearly all of the former guardians are gone. 

Once again, in the course of the five books (Dragonwatch, Wrath of the Dragon King, Master of the Phantom Isle, Champion of the Titan Games, and Return of the Dragon Slayers), we're treated to a host of compelling creatures including the dragons (both good, evil, and those who could go either way), of course, but also unicorns, giants, fairies, demons, and the king of the undead. Kendra and Seth are unfathomably made co-caretakers of the Wyrmroost dragon prison (along with a wizard). The two main characters we rooted for all through the first series retain the traits we either loved or decried then in this new series. Incidentally, Kendra and Seth's all but missing parents in Fablehaven do put in an appearance this time, eventually, as I wanted them to in the previous series.

In Dragonwatch, the humans, wizards, the characters we've come to love in Fablehaven as well as new ones (Knox and Tess, in particular), and even some previous enemies become allies in this "enemy of my enemy is my friend" plotline. Those assembled in the course of the series form another intriguing cast. Kendra and Seth are separated for most of the stories, as they work to prevent the seven dragon sanctuaries around the globe from falling. But only together can they become the comingled dragon slayer that can end the threat of draconic domination.

As the Fablehaven volumes did, each book starts where the previous one left off, so there's solid conflict from start to finish, and you're immediately plunged into tense scenarios at the beginning while also unable to keep yourself from grabbing the next when one ends.

I've read Fablehaven a number of times, Dragonwatch only once (so far). The creatures pull me in each and every time while the characters keep me on my toes, following them from one (mis)adventures to the next. The suspense is incredible, with each book impossibly better than the previous. I couldn't set any of the stories aside to read something else altogether. I was too enthralled with both series. I read them back to back, barely sleeping until I'd finished them from start to finish. These are keepers worth every penny I spent on them. I expect to read them indefinitely for the rest of my life. Incidentally, while there has been talk of a Fablehaven movie, which would be amazing beyond belief, so far nothing has come of it. Fingers crossed for the future!

In the final installment of this article next week, I'll review Joseph Delaney's Spooksworld, what is, in my opinion, the most fantastic Young Adult fantasy multi-series in existence.

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

Read What You Love, Part 1 by Karen S. Wiesner

Read What You Love, Part 1

by Karen S. Wiesner

In this three-part article, I talk about what conditions, if any, cultivate or discourage a love of the written word as well as about the importance of reading what you love, regardless of your age, the genre or content appropriateness, your gender, or what's considered your "level". In the last two segments, I'll also review two of my favorite Young Adult book series that any fan of the supernatural should love as I much as I do.

I don't know when I started reading as a child, though I suspect it wasn't as soon as I would like to brag it was, if anyone in my family could actually recall such a thing. For as long as I can remember, every catalog, magazine, even the TV Guide, as well as literally anything that had words on it (shampoo bottles, cereal boxes, telephone directories, maps…), I devoured. We didn't have many books lying around our house. I suspect those we owned had been left there by the previous home owner. We had a very old dictionary that lost its hard cover binding long before I dug it out of a junk pile--and read it front to back. Hey, maybe that aided the reading comprehension I seemed to have grasped very early in life.

I also unearthed one of what had to be the very first Nancy Drew novels published (a cloth hardcover!) that had, once upon a time, fallen down the well, been retrieved, and dried, making the gray cloth shrink, and the pages stick together until I carefully freed each one so I could read it.

I reread that book and the dictionary until I started grade school and discovered an entire world open to me through the school library. I was in utter awe. From the time I got to school each day, I went to the library whenever I could between classes. From Kindergarten and on, the elementary school librarian let me help her in the library, checking books in and out, reshelving those returned, getting brand new selections ready. She even let me have early access to each of those. I knew where everything went in that little library in no time at all based on the decimal number classification.

All my years in that school, I loved it when the librarian read books to us. I was utterly lost in the fictional world of those stories as me and my classmates sat on the reading rug. I barely noticed how uncomfortable it was to sit on the floor, I was so enraptured. I didn't want her to stop until she read the very last word of each book.

The librarian saw my love of books in how often I was there and the sheer number of books I checked out on a weekly basis. I got over my extreme shyness, at least to a certain level, because I saw a kindred soul in that kind lady. She never questioned whether I understood what I was reading. Instead, she asked me how I liked it, and we talked about those books all the time. From my introduction to the library, I always checked out books that interested me, regardless of genre and the suggested age level, which I can't imagine I even noticed back then. Even that young, I suspect I wouldn't have cared to be told reading material was beyond my age group or comprehension level, let alone appropriate for me to read. In fact, ever harboring a bit of the rebel, I would have taken it as a challenge.

I swear I read every single book in that teeny-tiny library before I graduated to the middle and high school that were in a single building. That new library was triple the size, another whole new world for me to explore. I was quick to set myself up for working there when I joined Library Club and became an aid to the librarian. I might not have read all of those books in the years I was there, but I sure made a dent in them.

As I got older, I fully realized there were actually age-related guidelines and categories for books. Additionally, comprehension determined what levels of books a person could or should read. I think those standardized tests we took, where I excelled almost to the extreme at language and reading comprehension (and performed dismally in math, lol), made me aware that (and appreciative of) my ability to understand nearly any book I picked up. I was also starting to comprehend that cultivating a love of the written word had more to do with personality and preference, not always (or at least not necessarily) with environment or conditioning. After all, I don't think I ever saw my parents reading, and the only time I remember them reading to me and my siblings was when I was watching for the school bus to pick us up in the morning. While I stood at the window, my mom would read out loud from the library books I checked out in towering stacks for those precious minutes on weekdays.

It's true that some people are just drawn to reading and books while others aren't--sometimes at all--for a variety of reasons, which can include skills, abilities, preferences, and personality quirks (or lack thereof). I don't think environment and conditioning are solid criteria for deciding emphatically that someone will turn out to be an avid reader or not. But that doesn't mean you can't slant the odds in your favor, as I actively did when I was old enough to start having my own children.

I suppose since my happiest memories as a child mostly all involved books, I began to read to my son even before he was born. Early on, he discovered his love of books. He started reading on his own when he was only four. Nevertheless, I still read to him all the time, by mutual consent. I don't remember when I started reading things like The Hobbit, Terry Brooks' Shannara Chronicles, and Harry Potter to him, but I know he was still in his early single digits. I could tell he understood most of what I read to him by 1) the discussions we had during and afterward about what we read and 2) how excited he was to get back to the story, just as I was, each time.

Later in life, another thing that struck me was when someone my husband knew asked what kinds of books I wrote. Because that was what I was writing at the time, my husband said science fiction. This person commented about how that genre was for little kids, wasn't it? I confess I was initially offended and embarrassed when I heard this, though of course I concluded eventually that this person wasn't a reader per se and didn't really know much about reading or writing. Commonsense says that most kids' books are written by adults, right? My science fiction was an adult novel series, but I imagine those younger would also enjoy it just as much. Besides, even if science fiction as a category could be relegated to only youth reading it, I couldn't help wondering how anyone would think that age, let alone genre, should dictate someone's reading likes and dislikes. I knew plenty of grown men who still enjoyed comic books and manga as well as grown women who continued to indulge in those "true confession" magazines that tantalized and scandalized them as teenage girls.

I do want to be clear here that I don't think there's anything wrong with parents "censoring" stories that are far too sexual or violent for their children. There's a lot of shocking material that's readily available these days to kids that wasn't anywhere near as accessible in my time. Also, in my day nearly everyone cared about being a role model to kids (not something that seems prevalent in today's world). While freely admitting that I never had any boundaries set on me and probably read a lot of things that weren't appropriate for my age, I turned out pretty good, despite this. My point here, for the most part, is that in the general sense, people should read what they're interested in. It doesn't matter if someone else dubs it too mature or immature, or if it's in a genre that social convention says adults or kids shouldn't be reading. Additionally, I don't think gender should play a factor either. Why can't males read romance novels while females read action/adventure and horror? Read what you love!

I myself am no respecter of age or level dictating what I do and should read. When I was young, I read books that others, even educators, would have (wrongly) assumed were far beyond my comprehension and, yeah, as I said earlier, some that was wildly inappropriate reading material for my age. Now, as an adult, the tables have turned. I read (and sometimes write) books that many would consider far below my level and too immature for someone my age. Oh, the wondrous things many readers are missing, all because of ill-perceived restrictions on age, level, gender, and/or genre!

I was never too young or sheltered to read Go Ask Alice (by Anonymous), Black Like Me (a must-read for every human that I'd read long before my high school teacher assigned it), anything by S.E. Hinton, Janet Dailey, Bruce and Carole Hart, Paul Zindel, and Judy Blume. I even read the occasional Western, which was simply not something girls read in my time.

I will never be too old or mature to love the brilliant works of Dr. Seuss, Astrid Lindgren, Peggy Parrish (and her belovedly ditzy, literalist character Amelia Bedelia), Betty MacDonald, the crazy-fun Robert Munch, Scott O'Dell, Brandon Mull, and Joseph Delaney.

A love of the written word transcends any boundaries. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

In the next two parts of this article, I'll post in-depth reviews of two phenomenal Young Adult series I discovered as a 30-something year old adult and would have missed (and been the worse for it) if I cared anything about maturity, appropriateness, genre, and level classifications.

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/