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Things Lulu Shapiro’s 5,000 Flash followers don’t know about her:
• That the video of her with another girl was never supposed to go public.
• That Owen definitely wasn’t supposed to break up with her because of it.
• That behind the carefully crafted selfies and scenes Lulu projects onto people’s screens, her life feels like a terrible, uncertain mess.
Look is about what you present vs. who you really are, about real intimacy and manufactured intimacy. It’s a deceptively glamorous, feminist, emotionally complex, utterly compelling, queer coming-of-age novel about falling in love and taking ownership of your own self–your whole self–in the age of social media.
Hey YA Pals:
Another week has come and gone, and it’s another week that we’ll be light on news. But the news that is here isn’t especially light — it’s some big stuff.
I hope you’re staying healthy and well and that you’re finding comfort and ease where you can. Remember if you’re not reading right now, you’re not any less a reader. You’re a human processing incredible trauma and change. That’s okay.
YA Book News
- New! Angie! Thomas! Book! This one is set back in Garden Heights and has an amazing title and cover and synopsis. January 2021 cannot come soon enough — for this and, well, a billion other reasons.
- Kiersten White movie news. You may see Elizabeth Frankenstein hit your television screen.
- Love Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl? It’s going to be manga.
- UK’s YA Book Prize shortlist is out. I love these award lists from across the globe, as they’re a great way to discover even more new books (or be encouraged to pick up those which may have been missed!).
- Hey YA cohost extraordinaire writes about the power of seeing adoptee experiences in science fiction and fantasy YA over on Tor.com.
- Snowflake is Marvel’s new nonbinary character, but this piece talks about it not being the first outside the gender binary (that may have come in a YA book!).
- Teen movies to stream right now.
New YA Books This Week
A * means it’s a book I’ve read and recommend!
Almost, Maine by John Cariani (a novel take on the play)
The Boneless Mercies by April Genevieve Tucholke (paperback)
Hello Now by Jenny Valentine
Imagine Me by Tahereh Mafi (next in series!)
Look by Zan Romanoff
The Me I Meant To Be by Sophie Jordan (paperback)
Music From Another World by Robin Talley
Night of the Dragon by Julie Kagawa (series)
Seven Endless Forests by April Genevieve Tucholke
*We Are Totally Normal by Rahul Kanakia
*We Are The Wildcats by Siobhan Vivian (don’t miss the Hey YA: Extra Credit episode where we talk about how great Shug by Jenny Han is!)
The Year After You by Nina de Pass
YA Talk at Book Riot This Week
- These YA series books are complete and worth a marathon read.
- Love Dear Martin? Here are 12 great books like Nic Stone’s debut.
- Free YA books! Grab ’em on Simon Teen.
- Queer YA-friendly fantasy reads, includes both YA books and adult books with great appeal for YA readers.
- What’s your favorite magical city in YA? Here are 8 great ones.
This isn’t YA related at all, but I love, love, love this series by artist Lim Heng See, wherein he hides illustrations of cats among natural landscapes. Some of these took me a while to find.
Thanks for hanging out, y’all, and prepare to pick up a ton of ebooks on the cheap Saturday when we’ll be back in your inbox.
Stay well.
— Kelly Jensen, @heykellyjensen on Instagram and editor of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy and Here We Are.
**Psst — you can now also preorder my upcoming August release, Body Talk: 37 Voices Explore Our Radical Anatomy!