YA Book Stack
YA Book Stack is an in-conversation podcast with Australian authors who discuss the application of their text in the middle years English classroom and the ways their text is reflective of the experiences of young adult readers and the world they engage with. Through a focus on the text in the classroom, YA Book Stack aims to encourage educators to embrace the flexibility of the middle years and explore a broader range of texts in their curriculum.
YA Book Stack
Emma Clancy on This Dream Will Devour Us
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This episode includes a discussion of This Dream Will Devour Us by Emma Clancey, a young adult fantasy thriller that blends the author's passions for magic and medicine. It also references other reading and text recommendations such as:
- The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
- Deltora Quest by Emily Rodda
- Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan
- Books by Leigh Bardugo
- Books by Laini Taylor
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
- How to Be Normal by Ange Crawford
- Anomaly by Emma Lord
Also discussed are:
- The commodification of magic, and how this metaphor opens up rich discussion about pharmaceuticals, access, privilege, and the ethics of who gets to control resources;
- The allure and danger of wealth, celebrity and influencer culture, and how young people can critically examine power structures without losing sight of their own values;
- The balance between queer joy and queer trauma in contemporary YA, and the importance of offering affirming, escapist narratives alongside stories that tackle hardship;
- How genre blending can hook reluctant readers while still allowing for sophisticated exploration of class, authority and power;
- The role of limitations in world-building, and how clear rules within a magic system strengthen tension and narrative satisfaction;
- Comparative possibilities with The Great Gatsby, particularly around glamour, illusion, class aspiration and the corruption of the “dream” across different historical contexts;
- And, as always, the value of championing contemporary Australian genre fiction in classrooms to engage students with stories that feel both grounded and relevant to their lives.