Young at Heart is a newsletter that’s mostly about books, reading, & writing, written by a lover of young adult and middle grade literature.
Welcome! My name is Nicole Bennett, and it’s nice to meet you here on my Substack. You can visit my website to learn more about me, and my bookstagram account and StoryGraph to see more of what I’m reading.
What You’ll Find Here:
mini-reviews1 of YA and MG books
updates on what my kids (17, 14, 13) are reading
peeks into the school library
resources related to reading, literacy, libraries, etc.
author/book features
my own writing updates & occasional fiction
faves, thoughts on delight and what keeps us young at heart
Why YA & MG?
Well, I read it and I write it; I talk about it with my kids and their friends and my students, and so, I write about it here.
As a writer, young people are my target audience, but I truly believe that we as readers never outgrow children’s literature, and that enjoying it is one way we ourselves stay young at heart.
As an undergrad and a grad student I studied languages and literature, and now, I’m an elementary library media specialist, who generally enjoys nerding out on all things bookish. I’m also a book club and buddy read addict, a seasonal reader, and a Library-Dependent Mood Reader™️.
I hope my content helps you choose books to read— both for yourself and the young people in your life.
About Subscriptions
I want to connect with as many readers as I can through my newsletter, which is why my newsletter content is available for both free and paid subscribers. A paid subscription is available for those who want to support my work and my writing, but I consider it donation-based.
In October 2023, I introduced a paid tier of subscription which includes access to a serialized novel that I wrote. This novel is still available for paid subscribers. I may also make other bonus/gifted content available for paid subscribers (like PDF downloads) at some point, but otherwise, all my other content moving forward will remain free.
If you value my writing, you are always welcome to consider upgrading to a paid subscription.
Publishing Schedule
Life happens (like when I got hacked or when I took an unexpected 6+ week break from all writing), but my goal is to follow this monthly publishing schedule, starting in Fall of 2024:
Weeks 1 & 3: A note about what the fam is reading (currently and maybe in previous years), writing updates, what in life is delighting me, etc.
Weeks 2 & 4: Mini-reviews of recent reads (middle grade and young adult books)
End of the month: That’s Noteworthy! — faves of the month (books, food, library moments, etc.)
Random/anytime: special features, resources, book lists, guest posts (?), whatever else I feel like!
Stay up-to-date
You won’t have to worry about missing anything. Every new edition of the newsletter goes directly to your inbox if you are a free or paid subscriber. I also recommend using the Substack app for reading and connecting via Notes and Chat.
To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.
Disclaimer: All thoughts and opinions written here are my own. I am an affiliate of bookshop.org and often link to books there and will receive a small commission of anything purchased through my links. I will always state when I receive a review copy of a book.
I rate books with a 5-star system (with decimals!), that can be described as follows:
5 ⭐s: I absolutely loved it and it hit some of my favorite tropes/story elements. I loved the experience of reading it, too, and I heartily recommend it!
4.5 ⭐s: I loved it but it may have had one element or trope that’s not my personal fave. I strongly recommend it!
4 ⭐s: I really liked it (though it probably had more than one element that I don’t always love)… I can see this would be a good fit for _________ and will recommend it.
3-3.5 ⭐s: I liked it. I can see it would be a good fit for ____________ even though it wasn’t just right for me.
2 ⭐s: It was okay, but definitely not for me. I still finished it (though maybe reluctantly).
1 ⭐: I regret finishing it because it was really not for me and/or it had specific things I really didn’t like. I may have DNF’d it.
