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Grimm, Top 10
Ten Authors of Realistic Fiction
31.12.10 | Permalink | Comment?

Ten +

There has been a suggestion there have been many suggestions in the Young Adult world that there’s too much paranormal (here at the Teen Blog we call it supernatural) going on, too many characters with superhuman motivations, strengths and failings, or too many thunderbolt-type interventions and whatnot. It’s all not very likely. If you’re sick of all that, or didn’t really like it in the first place, here are some writers who keep it real, and, amazingly, manage to produce some fine work with not a sparkle in sight.

Read some realism this summer!

Laurie Halse Anderson: widely well regarded, and a multi-award winner. She’s also written a couple of historical stories (Chains and Forge) for younger readers.

Courtney Summers: how horrid can girls be? Quite.

Walter Dean Myers: won the Printz Award for Monster, and author of over 70 books, which is quite staggering really.

Sara Zarr: author of three thought-provoking novels about living with the consequences of the past, childhood friendship, and faith.

John Green: slightly less grit, but still real, and a champion of the geek (google “nerdfighters”).

Melina Marchetta: although she’s written one fantasy novel (Finnikin of the Rock (we’re not saying you should avoid it of course)), she’s best known for books like On the Jellicoe Road, which won the Printz Award last year.

Chris Crutcher: his books cover issues as wide ranging as prejudice, abuse, disability and poverty, with a realistic voice that has won him lots of fans.

E R Frank: is a clinical social worker who specialises in trauma, so it is unsurprising that she puts her characters through a really tough time in her books.

Todd Strasser: author of such varied works as The Wave (made into a movie in 2008), Wish You Were Dead (the first of a new thriller series) and Give a Boy a Gun.

Close to Home: New Zealand authors like to mix it up a bit, and there have been some excellent novels in the last while, for example (just the four for now) End of the Alphabet by Fleur Beale (Ruby Yarrow’s always called at the end of the school roll, but this doesn’t have to translate to a life of always coming last), The 10 pm Question by Kate De Goldi (life is a real worry), Violence 101 by Denis Wright (try this one for an unlikeable but compelling protagonist!), or About Griffen’s Heart by Tina Shaw (Griffen’s heart features both literally (he needs heart surgery) and metaphorically). There are heaps more of course – look for the Koru sticker on the book spine, the New Zealand books display, or your nearest friendly library staff member.

Happy 2011.
Comedy, DVDs, Top 10, Vic Ferrari
Top Ten: Comedy DVDs
29.09.10 | Permalink | 1 Comment
There is a Comedy DVD display in the YA area of the Central Library at the moment, this list is an online companion piece.
1. Cool Runnings - Not only hilarious, it’s emotional too. Someone at Teen Blog HQ admits to getting choked up at the end of this one, others just enjoy Doug E. Doug’s antics.
2. Mean Girls - Lindsay Lohan is mean, and funny!
3. Superbad - Unpopular kids try to find girlfriends, general ineptitude interferes and provides lulz.
4. High School Musical - You have probably all seen this, and as such any description of plot etc. is surplus to requirements.
5. The Mask - Jim Carrey puts on a magical green mask and turns into what pretty much amounts to a living cartoon. Visual gags aplenty.
6. 17 Again - The dreamy Zac Efron plays a man who magically gets turned from a forty-something loser into, well, the dreamy Zac Efron. All sorts of rofl-tastic capers ensue.
7. Legally Blonde - Reese Witherspoon plays the stereotypical blonde valley girl in a fish out of water scenario where she goes and studies law at an ivy league school. Hijinks follow.
8. School Of Rock - Jack Black teaches kids how to be in a rock band by shouting, waving his arms around and acting manic.
9. Dude, Where’s My Car - Ashton Kutcher wakes up after a big night out and realises his car is missing. Then he is confused for pretty much an entire day.
10. Adventureland - A quirky rom-com set in and around a theme-park.
Grimm, Top 10
Top 10: Relationships with Parentals
16.09.10 | Permalink | Comment?
Lots of YA fiction does its best to avoid the topic of parents. There are lots of convenient boarding schools (or exclusive academies, as we like to call them here), or parents with jobs that mean they have to travel a lot, or parents who are just rather absent (which would make for a good story, except that’s often not the point). But then there’s the brave book that jumps in and explores parents, who can be problematic creatures sometimes. Lots of potential for conflict (a key ingredient in story telling). Here are ten books in which relationships between teenagers and parents are explored in, we hope, thoughtful and challenging ways.
1. Solace of the Road, Siobhan Dowd (also try A Swift Pure Cry) – In Solace of the Road, Holly is newly fostered by a seemingly perfectly lovely couple, and her life should be on track, but she’s haunted by the idea of her mother and, with the help of a wig, she becomes Solace and travels across the UK, heading for Ireland. The road trip turns out to be one of self-discovery and the upheaval of buried memories.
2. Once Was Lost, Sara Zarr – Samara’s mother’s lost it a bit and has gone away to sort out her rather public drinking issues, and her father, the local minister, is kind of hopeless (and way too busy), so Samara is left to herself a bit to keep herself and her household going. The story is about faith and family, and it also follows the mystery of a disappeared girl.
3. Twisted, Laurie Halse Anderson – this is one of my most favouritist YA books. Possibly more interesting than anything else in the book is Tyler’s relationship with his (controlling) parents, most specifically his father.
4. Dirty Little Secrets, C J Omolulu – this story plays out over a one day period. Lucy’s mother dies suddenly, leaving Lucy to cope with her loss, and also her dirty little secret – a compulsive, shameful hoarding habit that leaves their house a real health and safety hazard and earns Lucy the nickname “Garbage Girl”. Cleaning up happens literally and figuratively.
5. Blue Plate Special, Michelle D Kwasney – proof that your mother wasn’t always a middle aged embarrassment. Three generations of 15 year olds tell their stories of being raised by single mothers, from 1977 through 1993 to 2009.
6. Borderline, Allan Stratton – Sami Sabiri is the only Muslim in a private school, then his father is implicated in a terrorist plot. One reviewer said this book would be great for fans of the TV show 24 (which I wasn’t one of, so I couldn’t comment, but that sounds good).
7. Counter Clockwise, Jason Cockcroft – Nathan’s mother was killed when she was hit by a bus, and his father will do anything to prevent this from being truth, even travelling back in time in an attempt to change history. Chaos ensues.
8. Choppy Socky Blues, Ed Briant – Jason’s father is a former stunt man who runs a dojo who Jason wants to have nothing to do with, on account of his having abandoned his family. But when Jason meets Tinga, who is going for her blue belt, he feels compelled to get back into the karate world of his father.
9. For Keeps, Natasha Friend – Josie is 16 and her mother is 33, and they’re close, but when Josie’s father’s family moves back into town things get a bit complicated and Josie learns some truths about her parents and her arrival, in amongst both herself and her mother finding love.
10. Infinity: Chronicles of Nick, Sherrilyn Kenyon – Nick’s mother is an exotic dancer, a truth that causes Nick endless grief and adds to his social outcast-ness. He’s fiercely protective of her, though, which winds him up in lots of trouble, both with her and others, and this is all before he’s drawn into a supernatural battle against zombies (this time rather than cheerleading they’re football-playing). The first of a series.
Grimm, Top 10
A Top 100 YA Fiction List: From Persnickety Snark
17.08.10 | Permalink | Comment?
Persnickety Snark, an Australian YA review blogger, recently conducted a thorough poll of her readers and fellow bloggers and such, asking them what their favourite YA books were. She’s carefully collated the results, and counted down the results in a Top 100 for 2010. Number 1 is, interestingly, The Hunger Games, with the first in the Harry Potter series coming in second. I’ll summaries the top 10 for you here, so you could have a browse through the results and read stuff you like the look of (if you haven’t already).
1. The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J K Rowling
3. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
4. Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson
5. Northern Lights, Philip Pullman
6. The Truth About Forever, Sarah Dessen
7. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
8. The Outsiders, S E Hinton
9. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer
10. This Lullaby, Sarah Dessen
It looks a pretty good list (especially if you love Sarah Dessen).
Grimm, Top 10
Top 10 Surfing
26.07.10 | Permalink | Comment?
As expected, there’s a bit of surfing happening in YA fiction, thanks largely to Australian writers. If you’re into surfing you might like one or two of these. There’s also a lot of self-discovery, and a hint of danger, if you’d prefer.
1. Single Fin, Aaron Topp – A New Zealand contribution. “Fin lives to party and to surf the next wave but when his best friend and mentor, Mike, dies he is left alone. Fin goes to live with Mike’s uncle, a farmer down the coast, and begins to adjust to life on the farm. But when Jack, Mike’s younger cousin, is expelled from boarding school things change. Jack comes to live on the farm and he and Fin don’t get along. When Jack discovers surfing Fin is pressured into fighting demons he thought he had shut away for good.” (Catalogue)
2. Starfish Sisters, J C Burke – Four girls are at an elite surfing camp. At first they are jealously competitive, then they learn that friendship might bring out the best in all of them and make them better surfers. Australian title number one. There’s also a sequel: Ocean Pearl in which the Starfish Sisters must get back together (or can they?).
3. Surf Mules, Greg Neri – Logan’s friend Fin dies in a freak, giant-surf accident, and his father’s having money troubles, so Logan hits the road with his dodgy friend Z-Boy. Road trips, surfing, illegal dealings, and, ultimately, tragedy.
4. Surf School, Laurine Croasdale – Tilly and her friends are all into surfing, and Tilly’s father runs a surf school. When he’s injured in a hit and run accident, Tilly must – with the help of her friends – (hopefully) keep the school running.
5. Last Wave, Paul Hayden – Matt “Owl” has just finished high school and plans to enjoy the summer surfing with his mates, which sounds idyllic, which usually means in fiction land things are going to take a turn for the worse, and “Owl will learn what it really means to lose something you love” (catalogue).
6. Raw Blue, Kirsty Eagar – another Australian effort: something bad happened to Carly two years ago, and she’s dropped out of university to surf and work at a café. Then she meets Ryan, and is propelled to face what happened, and sink or swim.
7. Amaryllis, Craig Crist-Evans – Jimmy loves surfing with his brother Frank, but then Frank is called up to fight in the Vietnam war. The story of both brothers, Frank’s told through his letters to Jimmy. Amaryllis is the name of a shipwreck off the coast of Florida, where the brothers live.
8. In the Break, Jack Lopez – another road trip/ surfing combo. Juan heads for Mexico with his friend Jamie and his (Juan’s) sister Amber after Jamie has a violent confrontation with his father. Along the way (on said road trip) they experience romance, tragedy… and the perfect wave.
9. Surf Ache, Gerry Bobsien – Ella and her family move from Melbourne to Newcastle, and Ella struggles to adjust until she’s bitten by the surfing bug that’s all over Newcastle. Ella must, I think, also choose between dancing – which she loved in Melbourne – and surfing, and between her long-distance boyfriend and Snowy.
10. Still Waving, Laurene Kelly – Julie is trying to get over a family tragedy, spending time surfing in her new town, but when the summer holidays arrive she must face the prospect of returning to the family farm and facing what happened.
Want to talk surfing like a pro? There are heaps of surf slang sites on the internet, for example, Riptionary.com.
Grimm, Top 10
Top 10: Girls and Glass Ceilings
10.06.10 | Permalink | Comment?
A while ago we had an enquiry about fiction that explores sexual discrimination. We scratched our heads for a long time. Perhaps people aren’t writing about it any more? we thought. After a bit of digging around, here’s a list of some pretty respectable (mostly historical) stories in which female characters find themselves faced with glass ceilings, have to make difficult choices that go against the social norm, or shake things up a bit. (See also the list of strong female characters here.)
1. A Great and Terrible Beauty, Libba Bray. The Gemma Doyle books are all about girl power (although they might end up hitting you over the head with it a little bit). Gemma, like others listed below, must choose between exercising her not inconsiderable magical (and other) power, or marriage in high society late Victorian England. Magic and feminism have a close relationship here, an interesting topic to explore (possibly for an NCEA reading list, if your teacher agrees the books are up to scratch?).
2. A Northern Light, Jennifer Donnelly. In A Northern Light (note: also called A Gathering Light) there are really two female characters faced with difficult choices: one is Mattie, a sixteen year old farm girl who has a heart of words; the other is Grace Brown, found drowned in the lake (true story) whose letters (that Mattie has) reveal the nature of her difficult decision and how it has led to her death. Mattie, meanwhile, struggles between a desire to write, a desire to be a good daughter and sister, and a desire for Royal Loomis, who has a heart for corn seed.
3. A Voice of Her Own, Barbara Dana. The story of a youthful Emily Dickinson, admired by Mattie in A Northern Light (Mattie suspects she slid down the banisters and hung from the chandeliers when no one was looking). “When something is most important to me and I do not want to lose it, I gather it into a poem. It is said that women must employ the needle and not the pen. But I will be a Poet! That’s who I am!” (from the book description)
4. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott. Jo is a determined tomboy with a passion for writing. The March sisters are brought up to have strong social consciences thanks to Marmee, the girls’ mother, who has sole charge of the household while her husband is away fighting in the civil war. Jo, like others here, must consider very carefully a rather appealing proposal of marriage.
5. The Bride’s Farewell, Meg Rosoff. Pell makes a decision very similar to the one Mattie faces, but quite early on in the piece (like, on the first page), when, on her wedding day, she hits the road with her horse, Jack, and her brother, Bean, who doesn’t talk. Set in mid-19th century England, this story is muddy, cold, frosty and bleak, but quite beautiful.
6. Flygirl, Sherri L Smith. Ida Mae Jones has two strikes against her: she is African American and she’s a she. It is 1941 and America has just joined the Second World War, and Ida Mae is determined to crack the male-dominated world of flying.
7. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, E Lockhart. Frankie’s ire is stirred when the boys of The Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds won’t let her join them (rather, she should be merely a pretty girlfriend). What better revenge, then, than controlling said Bassets, and masterminding their most memorable pranks, such as the Night of a Thousand Dogs, and the abduction of the Guppy? Life’s complicated though, and revenge isn’t always sweet.
8. Dairy Queen, Catherine Gilbert Murdock. Sport. Should a girl be able to play on the school (American) football team? And if she shouldn’t, is that because she might get hurt? (And if she might get hurt, the boys might too, right?) If it’s not because she might get hurt, then is it because she might make the boys look bad because she’s as good as them?
9. Princess Ben, Catherine Gilbert Murdock again. Ben (short for Benevolence) learns a lot on her trip to becoming suitable queen material, not the least being that marrying the man of your dreams isn’t the be all and end all: “… the girl who reads such fiction dreaming her troubles will end ere she departs the altar is well advised to seek at once a rational woman to set her straight,” she writes on page 338. Yes, okay, so she does marry the dreamy man (this isn’t really a spoiler), but it’s all about choice.
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre was originally published under the pseudonym “Currer Bell” in 1847, and is considered a notable feminist piece, with its depiction of Jane’s struggles in a patriarchal society. In popular entertainment it’s more noted for Mr Rochester. I remember it mostly for Mrs Rochester, mad and in the attic.
Grimm, Top 10
Top 10: Mysteries
03.06.10 | Permalink | Comment?
Someone pointed out I hadn’t done a list of mysteries yet. Thanks someone, and here they are: 5 stand alone and 5 series.

Stand alone(ish):
1. The London Eye Mystery, Siobhan Dowd. Ted, Kat and their cousin Salim wait in a queue for the London Eye. Salim is given a free ticket and gets on… but then doesn’t get off.
2. Reality Check, Peter Abrahams. When Cody’s ex girlfriend disappears from her boarding school he sets off to investigate, putting himself in danger in the process.
3. Liar, Justine Larbalestier. Micah has a secret friendship with Zach. When he’s found murdered their relationship is uncovered and Micah seems to be one of the suspects. Beware the title! Micah is what they call an “unreliable narrator”.
4. What I Saw and How I Lied, Judy Blundell. A bit of a blockbuster noir novel. Complicated, intertwining relationships give complexity to the mystery surrounding the death of Peter, hot ex-GI (World War II is just over) who captivates 15 year old Evie, and her mother, obviously to his detriment.
5. The Puzzling World of Winston Breen, Eric Berlin. Different sort of mystery, with no murder or disappearing bodies or whatnot. The mystery is more related to puzzles, mazes and treasure hunts.
Series:
1. Traces, Malcolm Rose. Luke Harding is a teenage forensic investigator. Like CSI.
2. The Janna Mysteries, Felicity Pulman. In 12th century England Janna sets out to find her father and avenge the death of her mother.
3. The Bloodwater Mysteries, Pete Hautman. Set in Bloodwater, Minnesota (there’s bound to be murders to investigate in a place called Bloodwater), featuring two crime solving detectives.
4. Sally Lockhart Mysteries, Philip Pullman. Set in Victorian London, Sally Lockhart begins her investigative career in The Ruby in the Smoke with the mysterious death of her father.
5. Case Closed, Gosho Aoyama. Jimmy Kudo is a 17 year old detective in a 7 year old’s body.
Grimm, Top 10
Top 10: Revisioning and Retelling Arthur
30.04.10 | Permalink | Comment?
When I was a child I loved the Merlin books by Mary Stewart, The Sword in the Stone by T H White… the whole King Arthur, Round Table, Excalibur thing. Arthurian legends are a rich source of material for heaps of fiction, from books that focus on gritty realism to mystical, magical tomes; there’s a selection of Arthur-inspired books just below down here:
1. Here Lies Arthur, Philip Reeve – Myrrdin is a travelling bard who spins tales of Arthur’s greatness, but in reality Arthur is really a not particularly bright bully. Myrrdin takes Gwyna under his wing and introduces her to the court where she takes on his role of storyteller.
2. The Seeing Stone, Kevin Crossley-Holland – It’s 12th Century England, and 13 year old Arthur is given a seeing stone by Merlin that allows him to view images of King Arthur. He notes there are similarities between himself and the legendary king. The first in a trilogy.
3. The Stone Crown, Malcolm Walker – This time it’s 21st Century Scotland, and Emlyn and Maxine uncover some carvings that contain the spirits of Arthur and his knights. Drawn into a world of myth and magic, Emlyn and Maxine must destroy the carvings before Arthur and co are unleashed on an unwitting present day Scotland, but then there are the Keepers of the carvings, the McCrossans who kind of don’t want them destroyed.
4. Sword at Sunset, Rosemary Sutcliff – A classic Arthur novel. Artos the Bear here is a warlord, the leader of Britain’s High King’s army.
5. T A Barron Collection, T A Barron – contains The lost years of Merlin, The seven songs of Merlin, The fires of Merlin, being the first three books in the Lost Years of Merlin epic, which is an imagined telling of the story of Merlin’s youth.
6. The Dark is Rising sequence, Susan Cooper – one of the great children’s fantasy series that I still haven’t read, the Dark is Rising books are based on the Arthurian legends (for example, in The Grey King Will meets King Arthur’s son), and the first book in the sequence is actually Over Sea, Under Stone.
7. The Song of Arthur, Robert Leeson – Taliesin, the bard, is the narrator here, with this retelling attempting to portray the reality of the time when Arthur would have been pounding around England (5th Century AD).
8. Taliesin, Stephen Lawhead – book one of the Pendragon Cycle. Prince Taliesin and Princess Charis fall in love and marry and produce a child, Merlin.
9. Merlin Dreams, Peter Dickinson – ten stories set in a world resembling Merlin’s England, but containing non-hero type characters with twists that make them seem both everyday and memorable.
10. Shalott, Felicity Pulman – if you’re an Anne of Green Gables fan, or you’re into Tennyson then Shalott will bring to mind the Lady of Shalott, who floats down the river to Camelot, dying on the way. In Shalott, Callie accidentally transports herself and four other teenagers (who she doesn’t know) back in time to Arthur’s Camelot where each of them must undertake a personal challenge (and also find their way back home).
Library Serf, Top 10
Top Ten: Activism and Politics
30.03.10 | Permalink | Comment?
Can’t wait until you can vote? Here’s some stuff you can read (or watch) in the mean time.
1. Wide Awake, David Levithan. In the near future, when Abe Stein is elected president of the United States and his election is questioned on account of him being both Jewish and gay, Duncan Weiss, 17, becomes politically active for the first time, attending protest rallies and rallying his friends in support.
2. The Gospel According to Larry, Janet Tashjian. Josh thinks big: he wants to save the world and get the girl. He sets up a website (The Gospel According to Larry) as his clever, witty and (as it turns out) incredibly popular alter ego (Larry), voicing his opinions on consumerism, politics etc, but Larry’s success makes it hard for Josh’s identity to remain hidden.
3. Noughts and Crosses, Malorie Blackman. In an alternate world Noughts and Crosses don’t mix. Persephone is a Cross and her friend Callum is a Nought, and to complicate things Persephone’s father is both racist and a politician. Inspired by Romeo and Juliet.
4. Scat, Carl Hiaasen. An eco-thriller. Nick and Marta’s biology teacher goes missing in suspicious circumstances, so they decide to investigate. Illegal pipelines, rare panthers and swamps co-star.
5. Hoot (Young Adult DVD, based on book by Carl Hiaasen). Eco-thriller number two. New construction threatens endangered burrowing owls, and Logan is having none of it.
6. Soccer Chick Rules, Dawn Fitzgerald. Tess’ football team needs funding in order to continue to exist, so Tess perseveres against many odds to ensure its survival.
7. Going Going, Naomi Shihab Nye. In a small town in Texas Florrie notices the negative impact that chain stores are having on local businesses and organises the residents to take action.
8. The outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place, E.L. Konigsburg. Margaret is moved to action on behalf of her great uncles when the tower block they live in is declared unsafe and marked for demolition.
9. In the name of God, Paula Jolin. Nadia is a committed Muslim living in Syria. When her cousin is arrested, Nadia becomes increasingly fanatical. An Amazon.com review says this: “…there are very few novels for young people that give such a comprehensive sense of a contemporary Muslim Arab teen’s daily life and concerns… In framing Nadia’s questions about faith, Jolin creates an essential starting place for teens to examine their own views about Western culture, the Middle East, the division of church and state, terrorism, and how fear and hate, faith and love affect everything.”
10. I Am the Messenger, Markus Zusak. Ed Kennedy is spurred on to activism by a series of strange messages delivered to him on playing cards.
Grimm, Top 10
Top 10: Collaborative Fiction
05.03.10 | Permalink | Comment?
What’s harder than writing a novel? Writing a novel with someone, quite possibly. What if you want to call your character Harriet but your co-writer’s heart is set on Mildred? What if they think that your favourite bit of purple prose is total rubbish? What if they change their mind half way through and want to kill everyone off in a boating disaster? One way around this problem, as many writers have discovered, is to do the different perspectives thing; each take your own character, and Bob’s your uncle. Others are obviously just very good team players. Here is a collection of writings produced by more than one person. (This post inspired by starting reading Beautiful Creatures, which is number one on the list just for continuity’s sake.)
1. Beautiful creatures, Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. In their inteview with Amazon.com, they say they bat their story back and forth, a bit like a literary ping pong ball. Have to say, that sounds like the fun approach.
2. Will Grayson, Will Grayson, John Green and David Levithan. The separate and yet together approach, with both authors writing about two characters with the same name. This is being published next month, but in anticipation of it being good here it is on my list.
3. Nick and Norah’s infinite playlist, Rachel Cohn and David Levithan (again). Also again, the different perspectives approach.
4. Bass ackwards and belly up : a novel, Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain. Likened to the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Bass ackwards tells its story from the perspectives of four characters.
5. Hot mail, Tessa Duder and William Taylor. Two characters, one male and one female, of quite different backgrounds, email each other in this New Zealand story. The cool thing about it is that Tessa Duder and William Taylor actually wrote it this way, via email, without discussing the plot beforehand.
6. The Spiderwick Chronicles, Holly Black (who wrote Ironside etc), co-authored this children’s series with David DiTerlizzi.
7. Mercedes Lackey, the queen of collaboration. Not so much a book as a person, Mercedes Lackey has worked with Andre Norton, Piers Anthony, C J Cherryh, Marion Zimmer Bradley.
8. House of night series, P C and Kristin Cast. The first in our family sub-section. I can’t imagine writing a series of novels with my mum. Again according to Amazon.com P C Cast writes the first draft of the story, leaving bits for Kristin Cast to fill in and change.
9. A mother’s gift, Britney and Lynne Spears. Yes, that Britney Spears, Lynne Spears being her mum. Amazon.com tells me it’s a rags to riches tale (the review also calls it “treacly”).
10. The Brothers Grimm. Again, not a book, but probably the most famous story-telling-collaborating family. Plus they have a cool name.

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