Hello YA Readers!
Kelly is off on a well-deserved break, so this is Danika filling in for today’s newsletter! I’ve got a couple YA paperback releases to share along with some YA-related book news — surprise, surprise, it’s mostly censorship-related.
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Bookish Goods
Bee and Honeycomb Charm Bookmark Paperclip by NylaBooks
After you read The Honeys, you’ll never be able to look at bees or honeycombs the same way again. But in the meantime, enjoy this cute bee bookmark! $9
New Releases
They’re (paper)back! Let’s look at two excellent YA paperback releases that hit shelves this week. You can also check out the full list of today’s paperback YA releases.
The Honeys by Ryan La Sala
I read this one when it first came out, and if you’re in the mood for a summer horror book, this is it. I beg you, I implore you, just read the first two pages. This was the most intense start to a book I’ve ever read, and I was convinced it must be a dream sequence, but no. This is about a genderfluid teenager trying to figure out what led to his sister’s death by going to the summer camp she was obsessed with. There, the strict gender roles are just as unsettling as the body horror.
Monsters Born and Made by Tanvi Berwah
In this oceanic world, Koral and her family are indentured by Landers to capture the monstrous maristags to be used in their Glory Race. When the last maristag escapes, Koral has to find another way to afford her little sister’s medication, so she decides to cheat her way into the deadly Glory Race. But there are a lot of people who will do anything to stop a low-caste girl from winning the gold, and she might just spark a rebellion. This one promises to be a great match for fans of The Hunger Games and These Violent Delights.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter and the New Release Index.
YA Book News
- Houston “Independent” School District plans to replace all their school libraries with detention centers. They’ll also be eliminating librarian positions.
- Texas booksellers are suing over a law that would require booksellers to assign an appropriateness rating to books to prevent school libraries from having “sexually explicit” material. They are arguing that the law is unconstitutional and also impossible for them to do because of the volume of books they carry.
- Waiting on The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 2? Read these books in the meantime.
That’s it for me! I usually write Book Riot’s LGBTQ books newsletter, Our Queerest Shelves. You can also find me at my sapphic book blog the Lesbrary and (sigh) Twitter. Plus, you can hear me on All the Books or you can read my Book Riot posts.
Happy reading!
Danika