I think this is an excellent resource if you are a YA writer or thinking about writing YA. There are not many current YA writing books out there and the ones that do exist were too basic and generalized for me. The thing I took away the most from this book was the teen Q&A sections. They were so relevant that I ended up changing a major part of my YA WIP. I would have liked even more of these sections.

Some of the information in the book was basic (for example, instead of spending a lot of time on POV and other beginning writing topics, I would have liked to have known more about YA itself or seen more examples from YA novels). I also didn't care for the way the sections were broken down to writing book from cover to cover, and I did so with this book. Overall I really enjoyed it. (Way more so than The Idiot's Guide to Writing for Young Adults).

K.L Going's book is definitely useful--it sheds some light on the YA audience and industry, and acknowledges the pain and terror of writing. The book provides basic writing advice without getting bogged down with every element known to literature or writing.

Two complaints: First, throughout the book Going continually relies on "the Oxford English Dictionary defines 'theme' as....," or whatever the Important Word is. Constantly. Isn't that, umm, pretty rotten writing? Just thought a book about writing was sort of a bad place to use such cheap tricks.

Second, Going uses an obnoxiously labored metaphor of a school day to illustrate writing a book. It doesn't work, it's juvenile (our audience, perhaps, but not Going's), and adds absolutely nothing to the informative value of the book. It's just a gimick.

That said, not much is lost by these two mistakes. The book is still worth buying.

I disagree with the other reviewer re: lack of YA info.

Yes, there was information on writing and selling a book, which is essential to writing and selling anything, especially as a beginner, but there was also a wealth of information on YA specific writing.

Plus the teen panel Q&A were directly from teens and the homework assignments were designed to give you a way to practice in the field.

In only 250 pages, this book covers:

General information on writing and the writing process

Specific past great YA novels for you to read and why

Teen's voices

Homework assignments meant to improve your YA writing skills

Information on the editing and agent process

So, if you want or are hoping to write in this field, this is the book to have at your side to learn from and to reference. You won't read it once and put it on the shelf, you'll refer to it again and again.