Hey, YA Readers!
We blinked, and it’s now the middle of March. The spring equinox is this week, and at least where I’m at, we’ve been enjoying an early spring for a while now. Will we get more snow? Probably. But for now, I love pausing to enjoy everything green popping up and the hope springing from the budding crocuses.
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Let’s get into the books, shall we?
Bookish Goods
Pressed Floral Bookmarks by graceslittlebookcase
Little more says spring like updating your current bookmark (or, um, napkin/receipt/piece of string holding your place) to something a little more seasonal. These pressed floral options are gorgeous. I am especially feeling the orange option here. These start at $14.
New Releases
Like I’ve done in the last couple of months, I’m going to go hard on new books hitting shelves in this edition of the newsletter. We’ll begin here with two brand-new novels; then, in the next section, we’ll take a look at new graphic novels and nonfiction that have or will soon be released. Big new book bang for relatively little new book buck!
As always, the full list of new hardcover releases in the world of YA is available here.
Icarus by K. Ancrum
This one is a reimagining of the Icarus myth mixed with Portrait of a Thief and sounds like a fun one.
Icarus Gallagher steals art and replaces it with his father’s knockoffs. Most of the time, Icarus has targeted Mr. Black, a man who played a part in the death of Icarus’s mother. To keep the game up, Icarus has mostly stayed as far away from relationships with other people as possible. Slipping up would spell disaster.
Then the worst happens. Helios, son of Mr. Black, is under house arrest and catches Icarus in the act. But rather than turn Icarus in and ruin his life, Helios asks for a favor: become his friend.
Not only does this break every one of the rules Icarus has set for himself. It also puts him and his work in even more danger.
But his heart might be feeling something different, even if Icarus’s dad is still bent on revenge.
Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
Something kind of bizarre about this book is how little description there is about it. Check the Amazon listing, as well as the publisher’s landing page for the book. We don’t even get the main character’s name (and yes, I’m aware you can go on Goodreads/review sites for more, but there is something about the mystery of it all that is in and of itself intriguing!).
Anyway, this book is about a girl who goes to a boarding school and unravels a mystery following the disappearance of her roommate. It’s dark academia with a paranormal mystery at its heart.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Even More New Books
Let’s dig into SOME of the other new books that hit shelves this month, or that will land there before we reach month’s end. These are all going to be either nonfiction or comics—sometimes both at once. This is not a complete list, but it is one that offers up a nice sample platter at the range of YA we’ve been treated to.
49 Days by Agnes Lee
Korean Buddhist tradition states that once someone has died, they need to travel for 49 days. This is the only way they can cross over.
This graphic novel is the story of one girl on this journey. During those 49 days, she travels, visits friends and family, and offers up a story about grief, love, and the mechanisms that keep us as humans moving forward.
The Baker and the Bard by Fern Haught
For fans of cozy fantasy comics, this one is sure to delight. Juniper and Hadley live in quaint little Larkspur. Juniper is a bakery apprentice, while Hadley performs at a local inn. A stranger who comes into the bakery makes an unusual request, and now Juniper and Hadley are going on a journey to find the mushrooms needed for the recipe.
But this simple journey isn’t the whole story. As they’re on their way to the woods, they learn of a mystery: something comes out of the woods at night to destroy farmer crops. Left behind from the crime scene is a trail of glowing goo.
Hadley tells Juniper it is time, and now the two of them are on a wholly different adventure.
Future Tense: How We Made Artificial Intelligence–And How It Will Change Everything by Martha Brockenbrough
I’ll just say it: I don’t get AI and think that its creation is already leading to a lot of mess for people like me who create anything—indeed, my books were stolen to train AI, and that makes me wonder how for many others, not only is their work stolen, it’s then used to displace them from their jobs forever.
My feelings aside, this book is an excellent look at the development of AI. The book looks at not just its history but the ways it has been utilized across dozens of fields, from healthcare to education to art and more, and where and how young people can thoughtfully navigate it.
The Gulf by Adam de Souza
Oli is close to the end of high school and not ready to make the big decisions about her life. A pamphlet she came across years ago for a remote island commune keeps coming back to her and she realizes that might be what she needs to do in order to find some direction. Oli brings with her two friends, and she’s also followed by Liam, her ex-best friend/sometimes something more, who wants to seek her apology.
This one is called an anti-coming-of-age, and I love that turn of phrase. The story is about the kids who aren’t ready for what’s next and, instead, want to take the opportunity to simply be.
How to Manage Your Eco-Anxiety by Anouchka Grose, illustrated by Lauriane Bohémier
Unfortunately timely and relevant—hello, abnormal early spring mentioned earlier—this is a guide for any teen (or adult!) struggling with eco-anxiety. It offers a look at the problem but also offers 10 actionable steps to help manage environmental anxiety.
Additional new comics and nonfiction for your TBR include Pieces of a Girl by Stephanie Kuehnert, Rainbow! Volume 1 by Sunny and Gloomy, Safe Passage by G. Neri, and Spying on Spies by Marissa Moss!
As always, thanks for hanging out. We’ll see you later this week for your YA paperback release news and YA book news.
Until then, happy reading!
–Kelly Jensen, still reading Just Happy to Be Here by Naomi Kanakia and remembering how much I love Greek and Roman mythology (see Icarus above!).