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The Inside Reader: K.L. Going
Aug. 19th, 2010 07:29 pmShow me the books he loves and I shall know the man far better than through mortal friends - Silas Weir MitchellI love to mix these Inside Reader lists among fully LGBT authors and more gay shaded ones. K.L. Going maybe is more of the second category, with her story about a teenager who goes living with his gay uncle. It gives deepness to the genre, and allow more reader to start considering it not a "secluded" genre, but mainstream literature.
K.L. Going's Inside Reader List
This is definitely a challenging assignment. The books that I call my favorites represent many different stages of my life and range from books I loved as a child to books that shaped my teen heart, to books that still inspire me today. There are so many to choose from! I found that when choosing, the sentimental value of a book was a more important factor than the literary value. That probably says a lot about me. It also reminds me of a truth I always try to remember in my career as an author -- books are what readers make them!
1) Two Against the North by Farley Mowat - This book was one of my father's favorites when he was a child, and I remember reading it aloud with him when I was young. Much of the book takes place in a single cabin where the two boys are stranded during the arctic winter, and I can still visualize that setting exactly the way I imagined it as a child. I still have the 1960s edition that was my father's and it is very dear to me. Reading level: Ages 9-12
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Starfire (February 1, 1985)
ISBN-10: 0553275259
ISBN-13: 978-0553275254
Amazon: Lost in the Barrens
Two brothers must face the wilderness with no food and no hope of rescue when their canoe is destroyed by the rapids.
2) The Hobbit by JRR Tolkein -- Okay, I realize this one is probably a cliche these days, but the heart loves what the heart loves. Really, I'd choose the whole series because nothing else has inspired my imagination in quite the same way, but if I had to choose just one of the books The Hobbit would be my choice since it was my first introduction to Tolkein's world. I read it aloud with my parents as a child and I've read it on my own many times since. I can't wait to read it to my son when he's old enough. Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 333 pages
Publisher: Graphia; Young Adult edition (September 2001)
ISBN-10: 061815082X
ISBN-13: 978-0618150823
Amazon: The Hobbit or There and Back Again
From J.R.R. Tolkien"s own description for the original edition: "If you care for journeys there and back, out of the comfortable Western world, over the edge of the Wild, and home again, and can take an interest in a humble hero (blessed with a little wisdom and a little courage and considerable good luck), here is a record of such a journey and such a traveler. . . . In following the path of this humble adventurer, you will learn by the way (as he did)—if you do not already know all about these things—much about trolls, goblins, dwarves, and elves, and get some glimpses into the history and politics of a neglected but important period."
( books from 3 to 10 )
About K.L. Going: K. L. Going lives in Glen Spey, NY. Since graduating college she has worked as an adult literacy tutor, a ticket agent for an airline, a front desk clerk at a resort hotel, as an assistant to two agents at a Manhattan Literary agency, and a manager of an independent bookstore.
Currently, she is writing from home full time.
She has lived in Maine, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Louisiana and New York City.
She also has a very unsettling obsession with Ketchup.
King of the Screwups by K.L. Going Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 312 pages
Publisher: Graphia (May 3, 2010)
ISBN-10: 0547331665
ISBN-13: 978-0547331669
Amazon: King of the Screwups
Liam Geller is Mr. Popularity. Everybody loves him. He excels at sports; he knows exactly what clothes to wear; he always ends up with the most beautiful girls in school. But he's got an uncanny ability to screw up in the very ways that tick off his father the most.
When Liam finally kicked out of the house, his father's brother takes him in. What could a teenage chick magnet possibly have in common with his gay, glam rocker, DJ uncle who lives in a trailer in upstate New York? A lot more than you'd think. And when Liam attempts to make himself over as a nerd in a desperate attempt to impress his father, it's his "aunt" Pete and the guys in his band who convince Liam there's much more to him than his father will ever see.
