Sara Zarr

A collection of 23 posts

Interviews

Writers of Ambition: a roundtable interview

This may be a first: I don't know that I've ever interviewed several of my favorite writers at once. But Ambition has made me ambitious. In Ambition, the Chrysostom Society’s latest collaborative book of wisdom and testimony, nine members of the Society — Diane Glancy, Emilie

On Books & Writing

Is it okay for artists to be ambitious?

There was a time when women were frowned on for their ambitions... if those ambitions were for anything other than becoming a wife and a mother. Thank God, we are leaving those days behind. I am grateful for those who dedicate themselves to marriage and to motherhood — two of the

Looking Elsewhere

Mad Max, Slow West, Sam Phillips, and lawsuit antics

Looking Closer Intern Joe Allen here. And it's time to catch you up on Overstreet's recommended links for this week. (If you're following Jeffrey on Facebook or Twitter, you may have already seen some of these.) CINEMA: On Overstreet's short list of

On Songs & Albums

Sara Zarr's Christmas Playlist

2014 marked the tenth anniversary of my friendship with YA novelist Sara Zarr. In the decade since we happened to sit down at the same table for a fiction workshop led by author Erin McGraw, Sara has written five of the best-reviewed new YA novels. (She became a National Book

Interviews

A Novelist, A Horror Filmmaker, and Two Critics: Conversations Worth Hearing

Scott Derrickson, Alissa Wilkinson, Sara Zarr, Steven Greydanus... listen to all of these inspiring Christians talking to each other about art and criticism!

Tania Runyan

Looking Closer's Last-Minute Christmas Gift Recommendations

Many of you are scrambling to pick up gifts for friends and family, and I feel compelled to bring some possibilities to your attention... gifts that would enrich the lives of those who care about excellence, beauty, truth, and the arts.

The Lucy Variations

Looking Elsewhere: September 5, 2013

A Hi 5 to the Face to... Legendary rock-and-roll recording artist Sam Phillips: For sending this fantastic, one-of-a-kind, handmade LP cover of her wildly inventive, high-spirited new album Push Any Button. You can order your own copy here, including these very limited edition covers made by Sam's own

This Creative Life

Sara Zarr's This Creative Life

This morning, as the caffeine was just beginning to take effect, Anne and I appeared as guests on This Creative Life, a podcast hosted by young adult novelist Sara Zarr. Here's how she sums up the show: We talked about day jobs, burnout, how they survived several years

On Movies & Media

Looking Elsewhere: November 21, 2012

Look! These links caught my attention today, for one reason or another. Check back later. I may add more look-worthy links as the day goes on.

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games: Did You Ask For Seconds, or Send It Back to the Kitchen?

Time for a post-game show on The Hunger Games. What did you think of the movie? Can you think of other novels for teen readers or young adults that better deserve this kind of treatment and attention?

On Books & Writing

How to please the young readers in your life: How to Save a Life

How to Save a Life, the new novel by my favorite YA novelist, Sara Zarr, is now in stores. I highly recommend it as a gift for any young adult you know who is willing to sit down, open a book, and pay attention. (I understand that we're

U2

Fingertips: Anonymous; Robert Downey Jr. and Mel Gibson; The Fantastic Mr. Star Fox; Woody Allen and Ethan Coen; Tom Waits; U2; Sara Zarr

Are you excited about Anonymous, the movie that's going to shock the world by revealing the shocking truth? No, me either. Check this out, from a New York Times take-down of the film: ... By bringing this unsubstantiated version of history to the screen, a lot of facts — theatrical

On Books & Writing

Is Today's Young Adult Literature "Too Dark"?

If you were to ask me that question, I would refer you to my favorite Young Adult novelist: Sara Zarr. And she would say something like this... ...her contribution today to the Good Letters blog.

Overstreet's Books

Post-"Raven's Ladder" Browser: Catching up. Dawn Treader! Catching up on summer movies. Joe Henry. More.

Having turned in Raven's Ladder, I'm excited, exhausted, and eager to enjoy what little bit of summer remains. I've spent these beautiful months laboring over a hot laptop to finish the third book in The Auralia Thread, and I hope to read some great

On Books & Writing

Sara Zarr's in the new issue of Image.

Sara Zarr and I are very, very different people, writing very different kinds of books. Nevertheless, we became friends a few years ago at Image journal's summertime arts conference, The Glen Workshop, which takes place in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We met in the fiction workshop taught by

On Books & Writing

Sweethearts: Sara Zarr's New Novel Wins Raves (Of Course)

Just as Sara Zarr's first novel starts out on a journey to the silver screen, here comes here second novel: Sweethearts. And it's not just for kids. Here are two reviews. Congratulations, Sara! You're unstoppable!

On Books & Writing

Congratulations (again) to Sara Zarr!

  I remember sitting in the writer's workshop where a witty young woman named Sara passed around a chapter of her project. And we were all impressed. And then, she had a few words of critique for the chapter that I contributed to the discussion... from a project called

On Books & Writing

A Conversation with National Book Award Finalist Sara Zarr

Can we handle the truth? In Sara Zarr's first novel, Story of a Girl, one young woman's life is almost spoiled by the truth... at least when it comes to the details of her biggest mistake. When young Deanna's misguided adventure with an older

"Christian" is a Bad Adjective

"Christian Fiction" and the Faith of J.K. Rowling and Sara Zarr

I know that many of my fellow Christians are so convinced that J.K. Rowling is a servant of Satan that they won't be persuaded by anything as insignificant as... oh... the author's own words about her faith. But I'm encouraged that the conversation

On Books & Writing

Congratulations Sara Zarr!

My friend Sara Zarr has been such a great encouragement to me with Auralia's Colors. She's like my sister in writing endeavors... a Glen Workshopper, got her first book deal the same year I did, learning about the world of publishing right along with me (if

On Movies & Media

Conversations with Critics About Favorite Films of 2006

It was the year of the endangered baby. Tsotsi, L'Enfant, The Nativity Story, Pan's Labyrinth,Children of Men... all of these films were focused on either infants or unborn children who are carried through terrible danger. But that was a subset of films characterized by a

On Books & Writing

Sara Zarr Interviewed at School Library Journal

You meet the most interesting people at the Glen Workshop (which, by the way, is open for registration again). Sara Zarr had just scored a book contract when I first met her, and now the book is here -- Story of a Girl. And Sara's just been interviewed

On Books & Writing

Sara Zarr: Your Spotlight is Ready

Sometimes, you buy an album because you liked the catchy song on the radio. Sometimes, though, you pick it up because you saw the band playing at a local club and you had that sudden adrenalin rush of amazement, and you said to yourself, "I am onto something great