Category Archives: Vintage YA Fiction

Love At First Sight (First Love From Silhouette #9) By Elaine Harper

Posted on June 20, 2022 by mondomolly

How could nature have produced such virile perfection? Background: I am on the record about how I’ve turned around my opinion on Silhouette’s First Love romances (“AMERICA’S publisher of Contemporary Romance”), at least when it comes to Elaine Harper’s terminally … Continue reading →

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Fat Jack By Barbara Cohen

Posted on April 7, 2022 by mondomolly

“A person never gets over high school, Judy.” I’ve written before about my general impression of YA fiction moving from topical issues based on shock value in the 1970s (Drugs! Cults! Satan!) and into more internal crises of the characters … Continue reading →

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Kathleen (Sunfire Romance #8) By Candice F. Ransom

Posted on March 17, 2022 by mondomolly

There were times she wished she’d never come to America… Background: Scholastic’s Sunfire series is a cautionary tale about judging a YA Romance by its cover. Lurking behind the overheated cover art and melodramatic taglines are some of the best stories and most … Continue reading →

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Christopher Cool TEEN Agent #3: Department of Danger By Jack Lancer

Posted on February 13, 2022 by mondomolly

The Department of Danger! There was something about the words that sent a faint chill down Chris’s spine. Background: It is somewhat comforting that (for at least a few more volumes) I know I can always fall back on Jack … Continue reading →

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Hawaiian Christmas (Super Seniors #2) By Eileen Goudge

Posted on December 22, 2021 by mondomolly

An island reunion of romance, surf and sun! The cover is telling: this book is just as busy and confusing yet generic as the graphic design choices. I had to defer to the folks at Fantastic Fiction over how to … Continue reading →

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I Never Asked You To Understand Me By Barthe DeClements

Posted on December 9, 2021 by mondomolly

Stacy didn’t look like a reject, and I didn’t think I did either. We were just having too hard a time… I have reviewed a number of Barthe DeClements’s books over the past few years, starting with the not-quite-Lost Classic … Continue reading →

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Movie Madness And/Or Mania: My Mother Was Never A Kid [Hangin’ Out With Cici] (1980)

Posted on November 18, 2021 by mondomolly

As this site concludes its tenth (!!!) year, we’re going to do a true Throwback Thursday, revisiting the very first title we reviewed, Francine Pascal’s time-traveling mother-daughter epic (and start of the Victoria Martin trilogy) Hangin’ Out With Cici. A … Continue reading →

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Mina By Marie Kiraly

Posted on October 31, 2021 by mondomolly

This could not be damnation. But if it was, the fire was far too sweet to resist… As usual October means I will be subjecting friends and family to a schedule of seasonally appropriate movies (I shall forever secretly remain … Continue reading →

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Nurses Three: On Call For Trouble (#4) By Jean Kirby

Posted on October 20, 2021 by mondomolly

Why is Linda so angry? What can I do to help? Another week in October, another Whitman girls’ series by Jean Kirby, AKA Jinny McDonnell AKA Virginia Bleecher McDonnell. Background: I’ve noted before the reasons for the enduring popularity of Nursing as profession for YA heroines, so it’s … Continue reading →

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The Forest Fire Mystery (Wilderness Mystery #6) By Troy Nesbit

Posted on September 27, 2021 by mondomolly

“GET OUT! GET OFF THE MOUNTAIN!” Usually, fall means a look at the “girls’ series” published by Whitman in the 1940s through the 1970s: those thick, cellophane-clad hardcovers featuring teen girls sleuthing around Westchester County or California’s Bay Area. And … Continue reading →

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