Hey, YA Readers!
We just put together new patio furniture—I finally got my dream vintage-style steel set—and you better believe I’ll be parked there with a cold hops water reading as much as possible this long weekend. That’s a convenient intro to also note that there will be no newsletter on Monday. I hope you’ll be able to spend some extra time, long weekend or not, with a good read this weekend.
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Let’s dig into this week’s new paperback releases and YA book news.
Bookish Goods
I Hope You Brought Books Doormat by TouchUpShop
If you’re doing a little home decorating and are looking for a bookish doormat—whether for outside your apartment or house or inside—may I suggest this one? It feels more accurate a welcome mat than one that just says welcome. Starting at $30, with different sizes from which to choose.
New Releases
There aren’t as many new paperback releases this week as there have been recently, but that’s not always a bad thing. You sometimes need a moment to catch your breath and catch up with that ever-growing TBR.
Here are two paperbacks out this week. You can catch the entire YA paperback roundup over here. As always, you might need to toggle your view.
Beating Heart Baby by Lio Min
When Santi accidentally leaked Memo’s song and it became an overnight hit, Memo — Santi’s best friend and romantic interest whom he only knows from the internet — disappears. Santi’s heart is broken.
Three years and a new high school later, it’s possible Santi has found Memo, but in a way he never anticipated nor dreamed.
This one’s for fans of enemies-to-lovers stories and features a significant trans character.
The Luis Ortega Survival Club by Sonora Reyes
Ariana Ruiz is an autistic girl with bold fashion choices. But because she’s so quiet, her classmates mostly don’t notice or pay attention to her. So when Luis begins to, Ari is excited because he’s cute and he’s popular.
The attention grows and one night, Luis and Ari have sex at a party. Ari didn’t say yes to this, but she also didn’t say no, and now she’s not sure how to feel about it. Except Ari doesn’t get time to process the experience because now she’s at the center of the rumor mill and being seen as easy.
So when a mysterious note appears in Ari’s locker, telling her she’s not alone in her experience with Luis, she’s intrigued. It leads her to find a group of students who want to take Luis down for his behavior. While this has helped Ari make some real and genuine friends, it also means she’s got to reckon with what happened that night in order to see justice.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
YA Book News
- Forbes has taken a crack at the top 30 greatest young adult novels of all time. It…doesn’t include a single Walter Dean Myers book and its pre-2010s books are quite limited. While it’s got incredible titles on it, what a bold proclamation to make when the list includes several middle grade and adult novels, too.
- Here’s the cover and an excerpt from Jason Reynolds’s forthcoming fall YA book, Twenty-Four Seconds.
- The trailer for the adaptation of My Lady Jane dropped this week.
- Barnes & Noble named their Young Adult Book Award winner for 2024.
- A plea for the adaptation of Monument 14 to still happen, as it’s been sitting undeveloped for several years now.
- The most anticipated YA science fiction, fantasy, and horror reads for May and June.
As always, thanks for hanging out. We’ll see you on Saturday for your YA book deals, then we’ll be back next Thursday.
Until then, happy reading!
–Kelly Jensen