YA Authors You Need to Read: Maryrose Wood

This article was posted on the examiner.com on October 27, 2010.

This is another article in a series profiling young adult authors you need to read now. When people think of YA literature many of them think of classic authors like Judy Bloom, Norma Fox Mazer, and Chris Crutcher, but there are a whole slew of YA authors for today’s teens (and adult fans of YA lit) that should not be missed.

Maryrose Wood grew up on Long Island and moved to New York City at the tender age of 17. She planned to study acting but dropped out to be in a Broadway play. The play flopped and she spent a few years acting, directing and appearing at comedy clubs before she turned to writing. She published her first YA novel in 2006 and since then she’s written five more books for teens. She’s no stranger to social media and participated in an AOL Instant Messenger chat with teens at the East Greenbush Community Library many years ago, straying from her talk about writing to give the YA Librarian at the time (current Albany YA Fiction Examiner) some potty training advice. Wood appeared at the local Albany Children’s Book Festival and the Hudson City Book Festival this past spring.

Wood’s first YA book was “Sex Kittens and Horn Dawgs Fall in Love.” It’s a title that raises eyebrows, but once squeamish readers open up the book they discover a delightfully innocent story of young love. Felicia and her best friends Jess and Kat attend a new-age private school in NYC. They don't have traditional classes or homework and are instead supposed to work on special projects and motivate themselves. They call each other Kittens because of a chance encounter with a special kitten tarot card deck that brings them together as friends. Boys are naturally Dawgs. Felicia is in love with one Dawg in particular but he doesn't seem interested in her. So she comes up with a crazy plan--a science experiment about love--in order to attract his attention. Click here for the Goddess Librarian review.

Other Books for teens

• “My Life the Musical”
• “Why I Let My Hair Grow Out”
• “How I Found the Perfect Dress”
• “What I Wore to Save the World”
• “The Poison Diaries”

You can find more information about Wood on her blog/website, her facebook page, and twitter.

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