Hey YA Readers!
I’m writing you from the haze of side effects from the latest COVID booster, so know if there are mental leaps in logic or typos, that’s thanks to modern medicine (I did not realize how many times I could type the word “yellowing” instead of “yelling” and not even notice!). Enjoy this little adventure of YA talk!
Before we get to everything, just wanted to say that since autumn is here, many of us will be gravitating towards the Cozy. And, whatever cozy means for you, be it romance, creepy reads, modern classics, or whatever, TBR can help you find the perfect books for your fall reading, with options curated to your specific reading tastes.
Bookish Goods
Fantasy Reader Enamel Pin by TheGeekandArtsySchool
This enamel pin is so gorgeous. I’m not a huge fantasy reader, but I am tempted because it’s so pretty and so, well, fantastical! $15.
New Releases
In what might be the first time in a very, very, VERY long time, I don’t have any new paperback books out today by authors of color. This is an all-white list, though it is not representative of all the books that hit shelves this week. You can see the full hardcover releases here and the paperbacks here.
To get to the paperback title, once you click the link, you might need to toggle your view.
As If On Cue by Marisa Kanter
Natalie and Reid are life-long enemies, and the tension between them only grows as their school’s budget cuts get sharper. Natalie is fighting to direct the first-ever school play written by students, but in order for the play to get funded, the school’s award-winning band will lose it. That would be Reid’s band, of course.
But there’s a compromise here. Even if it doesn’t feel like a compromise at all, Natalie and Reid can work together to produce a school musical, ensuring both the theater and band get some kind of funding–and if the show goes really well, perhaps it will prove to the district that both groups deserve a better budget.
But can Natalie and Reid work together? Or is this show going to be a disaster?
Why Is Everybody Yelling? by Marisabina Russo
Marisabina Russo grew up in the 1950s, and she’s not only been raised Catholic, but she’s attending a Catholic school she loves. So when she discovers that she has Jewish heritage and several members of her family are Holocaust survivors, everything she thought she knew about herself and her history is no longer certain.
This graphic memoir is about family and growing up, and it’s a look at what it means to understand one’s past while having the opportunity to define one’s future.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
YA Book News
It’s another quiet week in YA book news. That’s probably because there is a load of YA book news, but it’s about the books being banned across the country.
- There has been so much content lately on big YA film franchises in light of the upcoming A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes release next month. So here’s a piece on how Veronica Roth felt about the adaptation of Divergent.
- This year’s Lodestone Award for best YA science fiction goes to…
- We’re getting a Marvel novel from Tiffany D. Jackson about Storm.
- YA author Leah Johnson has opened her bookstore, Loudmouth Books.
As always, thanks for hanging out. We’ll see you Saturday for your YA book deals.
Until then, happy reading!
–Kelly Jensen, currently reading Howl by Shaun David Hutchinson