Hey YA Readers!
Has October felt a million years long to you, too? Every week, I think it is Halloween week, and every week, I have been sorely mistaken. But we HAVE gotten here, and I know I am looking forward to taking my little one out and about. We’ve been microdosing the holiday with little events all month long, and she loves her costume, so the big day is going to be a real treat (heh).
Before we get to everything, as autumn is here, many of us will be gravitating towards the Cozy. 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
Bronze Snoopy Bookmark by SnoopyandHisFriends
Did you know that Snoopy is having a real moment right now? Whether you’re newly leaning into the classic hound or are a long time fan, here is a dang cool homage to Snoopy and Woodstock. $10.
New Releases
This week, I’m co-hosting All The Books, so if you want to hear me talk about the two books below, tune in. If you’re like, just the words in the newsletter, please, then look no further. Today, I’ve got a story of time travel (kinda) and a story of an agender teen finding their way.
If you want the full list of new releases hitting shelves this week, grab it over here.
The Space Between Here and Now by Sarah Suk
This story is a little bit Groundhog Day, a little bit of a mental health story, and a fascinating story about a complicated family.
Aimee Roh is 17, and she’s been diagnosed with Sensory Time Warp Syndrome. When she smells something that brings up a memory–she is instantly sucked out of the present and dropped back into the memory. Sometimes, these experiences only happen for a few seconds, but lately, they’ve been lasting for minutes or longer.
Aimee’s dad thinks that she will grow out of the disorder. Because he’s a single father–Aimee’s mother left long ago–he’s worried about her, but his own fears over her disappearances have kept him from taking her to see a specialist. Even when she disappears for nine hours into a memory of her estranged mother, Aimee’s dad still won’t get her checked out.
She won’t take it alone anymore, and Aimee starts to wonder if her mother’s disappearance from their lives is at all related to the disorder. It can be genetic, so maybe her mom struggled with STWS, too. But the only way she can ever find out is to track down her grandparents and ask. But Aimee lives in Vancouver, and her grandparents live in Korea. She does what any reasonable 17-year-old would—she books a flight and informs her father that the trip is happening. He is hardly happy, but she’s ready to get the answers he won’t give her.
The Evolving Truth of Ever-Stronger Will by Maya MacGregor
Will is agender, and at 17, they are so ready for their freedom from everything that has held them back growing up. This includes leaving their small town, no longer needing to care for their mother, who struggles with addiction, and having to hide who they really are. But Will’s mother dies before they turn 18, and while Will is glad for the unexpected freedom to come early, they are not entirely prepared. Worse, Will’s mother cursed them with her dying breath, saying it was Will’s fault she was dying.
Now worried about that curse and worried about making it before truly being granted adulthood independence, Will needs to find their foster mother Raz ASAP—they don’t want to be caught by Child Protective Services, and they definitely do not want to be found by the local drug dealers who played a role in their mother’s death.
But how can Will figure out a future if they need to travel into their past to find it?
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
When I began to write this newsletter, two things were on my mind for what to highlight this week. First, I thought I’d go the route of talking about some great scary/horror nonfiction, but those are extremely limited in YA. There’s a lot of great stuff written with an adult audience in mind that works for teens, but the kind of creepy nonfiction for teens specifically is sparse. More, the few titles I could come up with were either older titles, are ones I’ve featured on similar lists, and/or hung in that spot between middle grade and young adult.
My second thought was to highlight more horror comics. I made a huge roundup of YA horror comics in 2021 during committee time for Summer Scares work. That roundup has been so helpful so many times for me, and we have had a number of great new comics come up since.
So, I’m compromising a bit. I’m calling this a trick-or-treat of horror reads that are either new comics published in the last few months or nonfiction, some of which might be many years old. I’ve pulled two of each, and I think the range of horror reads here does a great job of showcasing just how broad this mood is (because horror is a MOOD and not a genre–it is cross-genre).
Bad Medicine by Christopher Twin
Published last week, this debut graphic novel is about a group of Cree teens who gather together to share some scary stories.
If you’ve ever been curious about Native folklore and, specifically, some of the horror stories told by the Cree people, you’re in for a treat here. Not only will you hear these stories told around a campfire, but because this is a graphic novel, the illustrations only enhance their power.
The Borden Murders: Lizzie Borden and the Trial of the Century by Sarah Miller
I have read so many books about Lizzie Borden, and this one remains one of my favorites. It was also one of the first I read, so it framed my thinking about one of the most infamous American murder stories.
Miller’s book begins by exploring how little is actually known about Lizzie Borden nor the murders of her family members, and it continues through its pages by setting up the scene, discussing what is known, and talking about how a number of missteps and missing pieces of the puzzle have created a flurry of conspiracy theories and questions surrounding Borden’s involvement in (or non-involvement in) the crime.
The book attempts to be even-handed, though savvy readers will understand that Miller’s portrait of Borden is quite sympathetic. Since little information exists about Borden’s demeanor—and little consistency exists even about her appearance—Miller wants readers to feel as though Borden’s entire experience was one that would make today’s general public rightfully angry. This angle was one that helped the book be more than a courtroom drama. We get to “know” Borden through Miller’s depiction.
Readers who love true crime and who are fascinated with the legends of history, like Lizzie Borden, will absolutely devour Miller’s book. It’s well-written, compelling, and leaves a nice open door at the end for consideration of what it is that makes a person guilty—or innocent.
A small nugget that stayed with me and I think was a great takeaway from this read: Borden was NOT a girl when this all happened. She was in her 30s. Many readers may know this, but knowing how she’s rendered in pop culture, it may also come as a surprise she was a fully mature adult woman.
The Hills of Estrella Roja by Ashley Robin Franklin
This graphic novel published at the end of August, so it’s also *very* new.
Kat Fields is a college freshman with a podcast that explores paranormal happenings in Texas. When she gets an email urging her to go investigate mystery lights in Estrella Roja, that’s what she decides she’ll do on her spring break.
Marisol “Mari” Castillo is heading to Estrella Roja, too, but she’s going for her abuela’s funeral. Mari doesn’t know anyone in town, and her family has no other ties to it. So, a chance meeting with Kat at a local diner convinces her to help Kat with her show.
Together, they find each other unraveling secrets not only about the town’s mysteries but about one another.
Spooked! How a Radio Broadcast and the War of the Worlds Sparked the 1938 Invasion of America by Gail Jarrow
This is going to lean more middle grade, but the packaging and story have appeal for YA readers, no doubt.
It was the night before Halloween when America was rattled by an invasion. Or at least, they thought that was happening. In actuality, they heard a radio drama based on H. G. Wells’s War of the Worlds, performed by Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre players. The show thrilled some listeners, and it angered others. But ultimately, this is a story of information, misinformation, and how a single radio program had a tremendous impact on the cultural understanding and trust in the media 80+ years later.
Jarrow is such a compelling writer, and…what could be scarier than thinking about how bad information is now and how it has a long legacy of being bad?
(I live in a town with a connection to Welles, so I am especially partial to stories about him and his work).
As always, thanks for hanging out. We’ll see you on Thursday with your YA paperback releases and news.
Until then, happy reading!
–Kelly Jensen, wondering how you recover post-Britney memoir.