Why YA fiction is a dark mirror reflecting our own real lives

Did you know every two days, humans generate as much data as we did from the dawn of history up until 2003? AJ Steiger on how the internet means teenagers are more connected and empowered than ever before… but more vulnerable too – and how our books reflect this duality

Pass me the hand sanitiser! Contagious diseases and me

From swine flu, to SARS, to scarlet fever, to med school and right through to the amazing opportunity of Measles Disney, Robyn Schneider’s life seems to have been punctuated by contagion – and now she’s written a book about it

Joe Abercrombie’s top 10 Viking stories

George RR Martin said that Joe Abercrombie’s Shattered Sea trilogy “grabbed me and refused to let go”. Here the fantasy author picks his favourite Viking tales, from Beowulf to Blood Feud

Gary Northfield’s top 10 fun Roman facts

Did you know that without the Romans we wouldn’t have cats in Britain? Just think - no more YouTube cute kitten videos! But...they also introduced cabbage. Find out more fun facts about the Romans from Julius Zebra author Gary Northfield

Paul Magrs’s top 10 sci-fi sagas for teens

From HG Wells’s War of the Worlds to Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonquest, Paul Magrs picks out the best mind-expanding science fiction series for teenagers to discover and devour

Julia Donaldson: why hearing children should find out about signing

The author of The Gruffalo is a passionate advocate for inclusion in children’s books. Here’s how she wrote What the Jackdaw Saw with the help of deaf teenagers

Teen opinion: I want to read about deaf children in books

Site member Kayleigh, who also happens to be profoundly deaf, on why it meant to much to help Julia Donaldson write What the Jackdaw Saw

My inspiration: Helen Grant on The Lost World

Helen Grant positively itched to read Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic dinosaur adventure story for years, as it sat upon the ‘forbidden’ book shelf – and has never forgotten the thrill when she finally got her hands on it, at the age of 10

Books about Portland: readers’ picks

The Pacific Northwestern city offers a range of reads, from jazz era tales to bleak portrayals of modern American life. Here are some of our readers’ favourites

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas – review

Reader AS: 'It was written so beautifully and was full of plot twists that kept me hooked'

Astrid Lindgren’s second world war diaries published in Sweden

The Pippi Longstocking author’s personal account of the years 1939-45 acclaimed as a ‘shocking history lesson’

Taran Matharu: how childhood racism lead me to create fantasy races

As a child, the author of Summoner: The Novice found solace in the worlds of Darren Shan and JRR Tolkien – which ultimately led to his own explorations of racial tensions through fantasy writing

Cerrie Burnell: every child deserves to have their life represented in books

CBeebies presenter and author Cerrie Burnell failed in her search for disabled characters in books to identify with when she was growing up – and that’s why her own children’s books embrace diversity in all its glory

What are the best children’s books on the second world war?

To mark the 70th anniversary of VE Day, children’s authors including Shirley Hughes, Michael Morpurgo, SF Said, Piers Torday and Katherine Rundell, together with children’s books site members, share their favourite books set in or about the second world war

Recipes for the perfect picture-book blends of writer and illustrator

With the right personal alchemy, a writer and illustrator working together can produce storytelling gold