Hey, YA Readers!
Kelly J. is still out, which means you’re getting a bit of a different flavor of YA goodness today. We decided to switch it up even more by making this a team effort: I’m hitting y’all with a couple of new releases, while my colleague Danika Ellis serves some great recs.
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Below, we’ve got a messy online vs. IRL aroace situation, a magical Lipan Apache mystery, and two books to honor Autism Acceptance Month.
Bookish Goods
Black Anime-Style Girl Magnetic Bookmark by ArtistryAlgorithms
This bookmark with anime-style art is low-key but also super cute. $6
New Releases
Dear Wendy by Ann Zhao
I’m loving the recent college-life YA books I’ve been seeing lately, and here, two aromantic and asexual students find themselves in a messy online situation. Sophie Chi is a first-year student at Wellesley College, and, though she’s very comfortable in her aromantic and asexual identities, she knows she’ll never fall in love. Despite this, she starts an Instagram account (“Dear Wendy”) where she — follow me — gives relationship advice. Yeah. Then, there’s Jo Ephron, another first-year student at the same school, who has created the “Dear Wanda” account, which sorta kinda rivals Dear Wendy. As Sophie and Jo bond over their shared aroace identities and get closer, neither of them knows they’re secretly online rivals, which is just the best setup for some delicious messiness.
Sheine Lende* by Darcie Little Badger, illustrated by Rovina Cai
This is part of the Elatsoe series (which I loved) but actually takes place before the first book. Here, torn away from their traditional home by a devastating flood, Shane and her mother work with their pack of ghost dogs to track down missing people. When Shane’s mother and a boy from the neighborhood both go missing after interacting with a fairy ring, Shane gathers up a crew to find them. Her brother, friends, and an untrustworthy grandparent all hit the road to find the two missing people, but soon realize that it may not just be a matter of where they are, but when they are.
I loved how the first book incorporated Lipan Apache traditions with other lore, and I’m excited to see that at play in this new book.
Looking for more new releases? Check out our New Books newsletter!
Riot Recommendations
April is Autism Acceptance Month! Here are a couple of YA books by and about autistic people to pick up this month — or any time. You find more at this great website: Autism Books by Autistic Authors.
Something More by Jackie Khalilieh
Jessie is 15 years old, just starting high school, and has recently been diagnosed with autism. She has a plan for the year, including hiding her diagnosis, being a part of the school play, and getting her first kiss. What she wasn’t expecting, though, was falling for two guys at the same time.
Jessie, like the author, is also Palestinian Canadian. If you’d like to read more Palestinian authors from across the diaspora, this is a great choice.
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White
Silas is an autistic trans guy living in 1883 London, which is already a difficult position to be in. To make it worse, he has violet eyes, which means he can communicate with spirits — and it also makes him a valuable marriage prospect. That sounds like a nightmare to Silas, who wants to become a surgeon, but when his attempts to escape his arranged marriage are unsuccessful, he’s placed in Braxton’s Finishing School and Sanitorium. The ableism, transphobia, and misogyny are horrific enough — but then a spirit contacts him, and he realizes girls are being killed at Braxton’s. He’ll have to take down this institution…or be its next victim. This is an extremely gory, unsettling YA horror novel, and I mean that in the best way!
That’s it for today, and thanks for reading! Kelly will be back this week with more YA tea.