What is Adele Griffin reading?

The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Adele Griffin, acclaimed author of many books for young readers, including Sons of Liberty and Where I Want to Be, both National Book Award finalists, and the new novel Tighter.

Her entry begins:

I write Young Adult fiction, so I love to read what's new and cool in that genre. I just finished Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr, a riveting combination of a thriller, but it's also an unusual meditation on faith. Sara is a beautiful, balanced writer and I've read all of her work, and always look forward to her next book. I'm about one third of the way through Family by Micol Ostow, a novel in free verse that is a loose narrative of the the Manson killings. It's a risky but brilliant idea--high language, raw story. Very intense and ...[read on]

Among the early praise for Tighter:

"Griffin interweaves subtle commentary about social class, drug abuse and mental illness into this marvelous homage while winding the suspense knob all the way to 11... A contemporary reboot that does the original proud."
--Kirkus (starred review)

"Sure to please fans of gothic romance, Griffin's tale adds new psychological dimensions to James's classic novella [The Turn of the Screw]... Eerily intriguing from first page to last."
--Publishers Weekly

"[Will] gratify those seeking a full-on contemporary gothic (or a dynamite curricular pairing with The Turn of the Screw, to which the title may possibly be a reference), and the rest will simply enjoy a summer of adventure, gentle romance, and near-lethal disturbance."
--The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Full of mystery, spectral encounters, and disorienting lapses in time, this is a ghost story that melds seamlessly with one of a mental breakdown... An engaging thriller with wide appeal."
--School Library Journal

"Adele is a National Book Award finalist and it is easy to see why. Tightly plotted, well paced, and beautifully written, Tighter pulled me in from the very beginning and, days after having finished, it still hasn’t let me go... I highly recommend it to readers looking for a good ghost story, a contemporary read, a classic retelling, or a creepy Gothic tale. This is the first book I have read by Adele Griffin, but it won’t be the last."
--Small Review

Visit Adele Griffin’s website and Facebook page.

Read--Coffee with a Canine: Adele Griffin and Edith.

Writers Read: Adele Griffin.

--Marshal Zeringue