(This week, I’m trying to overcome recent angst directed at one reviewer’s comments on YA fiction by reflecting on positive author-reviewer experiences.)

A sweet review from a YA reader makes me just as happy as a tree full of bright birdhouses (see pic above). I think the next time someone (ahem!) underestimates the saavy of teen readers, I’m going to send her or him over to Maggie’s Bookshelf. 

Full disclosure: Maggie liked What Can’t Wait. But what’s more important is that she articulates why with such grace and insight. For example, Maggie’s  thoughtful review  calls What Can’t Wait “an issue book that gives me exactly what I want out of an issue book while never really feeling like an issue book.” Maggie offers tons of thoughts on why it worked for her. 

Oh, and did I mention that Maggie is 16? I already told her that I’d like to pop her into a time machine and send her back to my AP Lit class in Houston so my former self can teach her for a couple of semesters.

But mainly: Maggie, I need you on the front lines when The Knife and the Butterfly comes out in spring of 2012.