About
Q: What is this place?
A: A blog where we post in-depth analytical reviews of children’s/YA books in the fantasy and science fiction genres. And some other stuff, too.
Q: Why would you do that?
A: Because it’s what we were reading and discussing with one another, anyway. Besides, we have to do something with these expensive liberal arts degrees, and it was either this or grad school.
Q: Who are you? How did you meet? How can you be contacted?
A: Jess (Jessica Plummer) recently graduated from Barnard College after writing not one but two theses about comic books. She loves semicolons, knee socks, and analyzing narrative cycles aimed at teenage girls. Rumors of a secret desire to bring tap dancing back into the mainstream via tween-friendly movie musicals remain unconfirmed.
Rebecca (known offline as Becky Allen) is a farmer’s daughter turned New Yorker, and currently employed at an excellent and informative health publisher, proving that yes, you can eventually find employment with a degree in American Studies. She lives with her older sister and a ball of fuzzy anger that vaguely resembles a cat; she eats a lot of pasta, uses the serial comma, and drinks way too much Coke.
The two of us met through fandom, and now that we’re living in the same general area, we’ve hit levels of codependence that may not be healthy. We’re working on co-writing a kids’ book. You should be shocked by that knowledge.
Contacts us: poisonivory@gmail.com, allreb@gmail.com.
Q: What categories do you use around here?
A: Jess has written up a list of definitions here. We know they don’t always jive with traditional subgenre categorizations…but ours are cooler.
Q: Why cupcakes?
A: We like cupcakes.
Q: Why Active Voice?
A: Because we read actively! And voice our opinions! And it’s a writing term! Get it? Huh?
Q: Miley like a puma?
A: In-jokes are hilarious!