International YA Blogger Celebration: Tarie from The Philippines

Name: Tarie
Country: I live in Quezon City, which is part of Metro Manila, Philippines. Metro Manila is the political and economic capital of the Philippines. Many will also say that it is the literary capital of the Philippines.
Blog: Into the Wardrobe, an international blog on literature for the young and young at heart.

Your Favourite YA title: My favorite YA novel is Good Enough by Paula Yoo, because it perfectly captures the academic pressures of senior year in high school. Paula Yoo is my favorite YA author because not only does she write cool books for children and teens, she also writes for cool TV shows and plays cool violin music!

Favourite New Find: The YA novel Chenxi and the Foreigner by Sally Rippin, a jaw-droppingly accurate portrayal of 1980s China/Asia. This novel blew me away.

Bookstore of Choice: I like two bookstores in the Philippines: Fully Booked and Power Books.

Book Blogging from The Philipines
Author blog you are most likely to be found stalking: I visit jama rattigan's alphabet soup almost every day. Jama is a picture book writer and her blog is about children's and YA books - and food!

Best thing about being from the Philippines:

The absolute best thing about being from the Philippines is having extremely close family ties. I'd say the second best thing is the physical beauty of the Philippine islands.

What is the state of YA literature in the Philipines?

Filipino YA literature isn't yet as developed as Filipino children's literature (particularly picture books), but I think this is an exciting time for Filipino YA literature because it is starting to grow and people are starting to explore it. The beginning of something is always exciting. :o)

How accessible are international YA titles in the Philipines:

Very accessible. If I want to buy an international YA book, all I need to do is go to my local bookstore. If a title isn't available, I just order it through my local bookstore or order through Amazon.

I just wish that more Australian YA was available in the Philippines. :o( I really want to read Australian YA!

Authors that you would recommend:

I recommend Perpilili Vivienne Tiongson, who wrote “I Hate My Mother!": Magnetic levitation, a grain of rice & 3 women, a Filipino YA novel in English that is an authentic look at a turbulent and complicated mother-daughter relationship.

I also recommend G.T. Los Baños, who wrote Playing It Safe, a very enjoyable Filipino YA novel in English about sports, university life, and relationships.

Most popular YA author in your country:

Stephenie Meyer!

Best thing about YA blogging:

The best thing about YA blogging is discovering and reading novels that entertain me as well as change the way I think or feel about life.

YA blogs that you would recommend from the Philipines:

I haven't yet found a Filipino blog that focuses on YA. Even my own blog isn't solely focused on YA! I also blog a lot about picture books and middle grade fiction. But another Filipino blog that I would definitely recommend is Bibliophile Stalker, which is about speculative fiction from all over the world, including YA specualtive fiction.

Thanks muchly Tarie! Wow, we're more than half way through the International YA Bloggers Celebration and tomorrow you get to meet to spritely Jenny from the UK.

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International YA Blogger Celebration posts:
Marjolein from The Netherlands
Rhiannon from Melbourne, Australia
Silvia from Ripollet, Spain
Thao from Vietnam
Jo from London, UK
Lauren and Alex from Canada
Alea from USA
Prodhi from Bangladesh

Steph from Australia

and more to come each day...