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Hey YA Readers,
There aren’t words that can summarize this last week except this: center, amplify, and celebrate Black voices, as well as the voices of other marginalized groups.
Next week’s Monday newsletter will be a guide to upcoming Black YA books to preorder, as so many incredible, vital titles are currently backordered. This is a good step. Now to read them and promote them. And you can start by getting your hands on upcoming titles early.
Until then, here’s a look at this week’s YA news and new books (and there are EXCELLENT Black YA titles in this week’s new releases).
YA Book News
- Nubia, a comic about Wonder Woman’s sister, is being penned by LL McKinney and should be on your TBR.
- The Brown Bookshelf is hosting a summer long Generations reading event and if you want to include more Black YA (or middle grade or picture books or adult books) into your reading, take part in this.
- A YA trilogy from UK author Juno Dawson has been acquired for adaptation.
- This year’s Lambda Literary Awards winners, including in YA.
- Kristin Cashore is going back to the world of Graceling.
- The companion to Love, Simon called Love, Victor has a release date and adorable trailer.
- Star Wars The High Republic publishing event is being reschedule for 2021, so prepare yourself for more Star Wars YA a year from now.
- Midnight Sun’s audiobook has some exciting casting news.
- News about Maggie Stiefvater’s The Raven Cycle adaptation.
New YA Books This Week
A * means I’ve read it and highly recommend the title. List is as accurate and up-to-date as possible, knowing some might have been pushed back due to covid-19.
*Again, Again by E Lockhart
Beyond the Break by Heather Buchta
Beyond The Gender Binary by Alok Vaid-Menon and illustrated Ashley Lukashevsky (paperback, nonfiction)
The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad (paperback)
I Felt a Funeral, In My Brain by Will Walton (paperback)
If We Were Us by KL Walther
Imaginary Borders by Xiuhtezcatl Martinez and illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky (paperback, nonfiction)
Jo & Laurie by Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz
Kissing Lessons by Sophie Jordan
Little Creeping Things by Chelsea Ichaso
*The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan (paperback)
The Meaning of Birds by Jaye Robin Brown (paperback)
My Calamity Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows (series)
My Summer of Love and Misfortune by Lindsay Wong
Orphaned by Eliot Schrefer (series)
Queen of Ruin by Tracy Banghart (paperback, series)
*Rotten by Michael Northrop (paperback)
Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown (first in a series)
Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim (paperback, series)
*The State of Us by Shaun David Hutchinson
Where We Go From Here by Lucas Rocha, translated by Larissa Helena
Wilder Girls by Rory Power (paperback)
*You Should See Me In A Crown by Leah Johnson
This Week at Book Riot
- 13 hard-hitting YA novels.
- This list isn’t entirely YA but there’s a ton of YA on it: queer books with happy endings.
- Why the same fairytales get retold over and over — this was a fascinating read!
- Perfectly sweet YA rom coms with the perfect baked goods moments in them.
- Excellent recent standalone YA fantasy books.
- Find your next perfect YA read based on your Enneagram type. This post encouraged me to finally discover my type.
- Why Nimona is important to one reader.
Thanks for hanging out, and we’ll see you again Monday. Stay safe, and keep on fighting for justice.
— Kelly Jensen, @heykellyjensen on Instagram and editor of Body Talk, (Don’t) Call Me Crazy, and Here We Are.