A blog for young readers (and YA lovers) from the Providence Athenaeum.
The Providence Athenaeum is a unique library and cultural center in the heart of Providence, Rhode Island. Growing out of the Providence Library Company (fourth library in the United States), the Athenaeum as we know it was formed in 1836. Our handsome building on the corner of Benefit and College was completed in 1838.
We are one of the few surviving membership libraries in the nation. Student memberships are available - visit or call for more information.
This blog is updated by one of our circulation assistants (and YA enthusiast), RJ. Follow us to find out what's new in our Young Adult corner, or just for a daily dose of literary shenanigans.
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Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
What’s New: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Currently on the New YA Bookshelf is Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone. From the New York Times review:
Any book that opens with “Once upon a time” is inviting high expectations… In this case, the story that follows, by Laini Taylor, a 2009 National Book Award finalist (“Lips Touch: Three Times”), is a breath-catching romantic fantasy about destiny, hope and the search for one’s true self that doesn’t let readers down. Taylor has taken elements of mythology, religion and her own imagination and pasted them into a believably fantastical collage.
Starting with 17-year-old Karou, who is far from a typical teenager, with hair that grows in a bright ultramarine, no rebellious dye required. That’s not the only thing setting her apart from her fellow students at the Art Lyceum of Bohemia in Prague. The monsters Karou draws — one woman who is serpent from the waist down, another with human eyes but a parrot’s beak — are not of her imagination. They are real chimeras, demons, and they are the closest thing she has to family.
Having read it myself, I have to say this one does have something for fantasy fans of all stripes. If you like dark urban fantasy, Daughter offers the beautiful old structures of Prague accessorized with gas masks and monsters. If you like high fantasy, it’s got mythical beasts, ancient civilizations and endless war. If you like awesome female protagonists, there’s Karou - a blue-haired art student who keeps a knife tucked in her boot. If you want to get swept up in a paranormal romance, Daughter has an epic star-crossed love that outshines any sparkly vampire.
