Hey YA Readers!
I am back and can’t wait to dive back into all things YA. While my plans to do a lot of reading were, err, not the most successful, I will say I listened to an incredible YA nonfiction title on audio I’ll talk more about in Monday’s newsletter.
Bookish Goods
Personalized Embroidered Corner Bookmarks by CraftyDreamsbyAsh
As we roll closer to gift giving season, why not surprise a book lover – or treat yourself to! – a personalized embroidered corner bookmark? These are so lovely and would make a recipient feel so special. The craftsmanship on these is incredible! $35.
New Releases
Welcome to paperback releases out this week. This is but a sample of what’s hitting shelves; you can grab the full list of paperback books out this week over here!
Note that you may need to toggle to the paperback edition from the link.
A Line in the Dark by Malinda Lo
I love that Malinda’s mystery/thriller is getting a repackage following the huge success of Last Night at the Telegraph Club, though admittedly, the original cover for this book is fantastic. Alas, I suspect this might bring in some new readers who love books that look like this one.
Jess Wong is okay being a girl on the sidelines, always watching and observing. The most important thing to her is being best friends with Angie…even if Angie doesn’t quite pick up all of Jess’s cues. So when Angie begins falling for a girl at a local boarding school named Margot, Jess’s observational skills are heightened.
Angie keeps bringing Jess into her budding friendship with Margot, but Jess continues to resist. Something is wrong with Margot and her circle, but Angie keeps getting closer. When things take the turn Jess saw coming, it is Jess who will have to step in and crack open the secrets and darkness among the three of them.
Go to this one and stay for a twisty story of friendship…and maybe something more.
Things We Couldn’t Say by Jay Coles
This one has been on my radar since it was announced and I’m so glad I could be reminded to pick it up sooner, rather than later, in its paperback edition.
A look at the complexities of love – the romantic kind, the familial kind, and the friendship kind – is at the center of the story of Gio, a bisexual teen navigating his father’s drinking habit and friends who seem to keep wanting him involved in their drama. Complicating his life more is his mother, who left him, his brother, and his father, when Gio was 9.
Gio’s mother is back now, and he’s not sure what to do. Does he forgive her? Does he ask questions?
….and then, there’s this boy Gio is starting to catch feelings for, too.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
YA Book News
- I love this story in Publishers Weekly about YA authors who made their debuts after the age of 50.
- Kiersten White highlights 7 great scary books for YA readers in the New York Times.
- Iron Widow has been optioned for adaptation.
- A roundup of Canadian YA for your fall TBR.
- Take a look behind the soundtrack to Angie Thomas’s On The Come Up film adaptation.
- There will be a second season of The Summer I Turned Pretty.
Thanks for hanging out, and we’ll see you with some (EXCELLENT) deals on Saturday and new books + book talk on Monday.
Until then, happy reading!
— Kelly Jensen, currently reading The Wolves Are Watching by Natalie Lund.