Hey YA Readers!
This is my fall break between classes in my counseling program*, and what I love about these little week-long breaks is my belief that I will read dozens of books during them. The truth is, I read the same amount I read when in class — sure, I get back a few hours on the weekend, but those hours are used for all of the other things that got put off, too. I may be able to listen to my audiobooks a little longer, but at some point, I think I’ll learn my eyes are bigger than the calendar and clock and, well, my own energy.
Which is all to say that this is your reminder that no matter how much you do — or don’t — read at any time, you’re still a reader and book lover.
*At some point, I’ll dig into bibliotheraphy, which has been a modality and practice talked about far more than I anticipated and that I think has some really cool research behind it.
Enough from me! Let’s dive into this week’s new books and take a look at YA books fitting for Diwali, the Festival of Lights.
Bookish Goods
Read Banned Books Print by SpaceInkShop
This linograph style print not only has a good message, but it is really nice to look at, too. $15.
New Releases
Let’s look at two hardcover books hitting shelves this week. You can find the rest of this week’s new releases in the fall roundup of new hardcovers.
This week, two books about World War II that explore two very different wartime experiences from two different marginalized groups.
Beneath the Wide Silk Sky by Emily Inouye Huey
Sam Sakamoto lives in rural Washington and following the recent death of her mother, knows she has to put aside her dreams of becoming a photographer to focus on the family farm. Sam has to help ensure they can make payments on it and keep their livelihood safe.
What Sam doesn’t anticipate is the coming war. It’s December 1941 and Pearl Harbor has just been attacked. White Americans are turning their hatred toward Japanese Americans and, as much hope and promise as there seems to be between Sam and her neighbor Hiro — he wants to help her stoke her creative flames with photography — the real threat of Japanese incarceration camps may put those things even further out of reach.
Nothing Sung and Nothing Spoken by Nita Tyndall
This queer historical romance, set during the Swing Youth movement in World War II Berlin, follows Charlotte, a teen who would go anywhere Angelika would. That’s how she finds herself in an underground club the summer before the start of the war, dancing to jazz and swing music, both of which were not allowed (not to say anything of the queer club, of course).
Charlie knows she should keep this club and all of this dancing a secret, but she tells her friend Geri. Now, they’re going to the club over and over…despite the rise of the Nazi party and their dangerous rules.
Now, those swing dancers are ready to break even more rules. But how far will they go?
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
This week is Diwali, or the Festival of Lights, a celebration that honors the triumph of good over evil. People from India, Singapore, and other South Asian countries celebrate, and though it is a holiday associated with Hindu, Sikh, and Jain faiths, it has become a much broader cultural celebrations. It begins on the 24th this year and runs five days, during which a number of diverse traditions happen. Some of the most common include gathering with family, the lighting of candles, and the sharing of sweets and other special food.
For those who don’t celebrate or may be less familiar with the festivities, perhaps you may be more familiar with some of the elaborate (and GORGEOUS!) rangoli — these intricate pieces of art are created on the floor and involve rice, flowers, and sand.
Finding YA books where Diwali is part of the story is a challenge. There are a number of great children’s picture books, but for YA? Few, if any. That said, the themes of family and togetherness are huge in books by authors from these cultural backgrounds. Let’s take a look at three books to read in honor of Diwali (and, obviously, far beyond it, too!).
Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier
A classic of YA lit, this book is a standalone in a duology that follows Dimple Lala, a teen who has spent her life resisting her parents’ traditions. And now as she’s preparing to turn 17, things get more complicated as she reels from a breakup, a friend who seems to be MIA, and her parents’ insistence she marry a “suitable boy.”
…So when that “suitable boy” happens to be spinning at a club Dimple goes to, she’s thrown for a loop about where and how to find herself, where and how to follow tradition, and when it is okay to forge her own path.
Tina’s Mouth by Keshni Kashyap, illustrated by Mari Araki
Tina, who is in 10th grade, just got into a fight with her best friend Alex. Their friendship is in tatters, and Tina doesn’t really know how to move on. It’s made even harder since Alex is so easily slipped into the popular girl role. Then there’s Neil, the boy Tina has a fierce crush on, but with whom she doesn’t think she has a chance. Over the course of the story, which is set up as a project for Tina’s class on existentialism, Tina figures out who she is, what she likes to do, and who her true friends are. The art in this one is spare, allowing the story to really shine, and it is a book steeped in Indian culture.
You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali Perkins
A complex and lovely intergenerational story about culture, about citizenship, about family, and all tied together through powerful romances. Each of the five characters are distinct, but what I loved is seeing where and how each of the five women make one another whole — and how their different interests and passions run through their family.
As always, thanks for hanging out. We’ll see you later this week for your YA paperback releases and your YA book news.
Until then, happy reading (or not reading!).
— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Twitter.