Sponsored by Epic Reads and Red Hood by Elana K. Arnold
Elana K. Arnold, author of the Printz Honor book Damsel, returns with a dark, engrossing, blood-drenched tale of female power. Since she was young, Bisou Martel has kept mostly to herself. But then comes the night of homecoming, when she finds herself running through the woods, a fury of claws and teeth behind her. A wolf attacks. Bisou fights back. A new moon rises, and with it, questions. About the blood in Bisou’s past, and on her hands as she stumbles home. About those that wait for girls who leave the path—and whether those girls are truly alone.
Hey YA Lovers!
Time to dig into the latest in YA news, as well as take a peek at the great new books that hit shelves this week.
YA Book News
Lots of news to catch up with this week, particularly when it comes to adaptations in the works.
- The Love, Simon streaming spinoff has a name (Love, Victor) and a new home, moving from Disney+ to Hulu because of “mature content.” This news set off a lot of fair reaction from fans, citing Disney’s problematic history of washing over queer stories. Author Becky Albertalli addressed this change, noting that it doesn’t have to do with the queer storyline but rather, other heavy issues in the spinoff. Disney owns Hulu.
- Buried in this awesome piece about more Asian American visual storytelling projects is news that I am so stoked about: Maurene Goo’s I Believe In A Thing Called Love could be hitting theaters.
- A Loveboat, Taipei adaptation may be coming to a screen near you.
- There’s a new Star Wars project in the works, and it’ll bring some new YA books to your eyes by rockstar authors.
- YALSA’s “Outstanding Books for the College Bound” lists are out, and they are rad. I’d say that regardless of seeing one of mine on there, as these lists are so broad and wide-ranging that, whether or not one is “college bound,” these books help broaden one’s knowledge, education, and thought. I served on this committee for the 2014 lists and know how much reading and work goes into this one.
- Here are the finalists for the Stoker Awards in YA, for fans of all things spooky and creepy.
- And then the finalists for this year’s Norton Award for best sci-fi and fantasy for teens. Only one of these books is actually a YA book. The rest are middle grade, which is fine, except the category name should accurately reflect that (this is a constant challenge for this particular award).
- All This Time, from the same team as Five Feet Apart, is being adapted.
- The team behind Frozen wants to bring YA comic The Prince and the Dressmaker to the big screen.
- YA books reflect the real-life activism of today’s teens.
- A really great profile of Judy Blume and specifically, her fights against censorship.
New YA Book Releases
Grab your TBR because it’s about the grow. A * means I’ve read the book and recommend it!
*Bent Heavens by Daniel Kraus
Deadfall by Stephen Wallenfels (paperback)
Jane Against The World by Karen Blumenthal (nonfiction)
Rebelwings by Andrea Tang
Red Hood by Elana K. Arnold
Red Mantle by Maria Turtschaninoff (series, in translation)
The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller
The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow
Soul of the Sword by Julie Kagawa (series, paperback)
The Truth App by Jack Heath (series)
We Unleash The Merciless Storm by Tehlor Kay Mejia (series)
This Week at Book Riot
Don’t miss the great talk over on Book Riot this week about YA, either.
- Love The Raven Cycle? You might want some candles to light up your life (#dadjoke).
- This isn’t exclusively YA, but if you’re looking for more queer book recommendations, you’ll want to check out these great bookstagram accounts that focus on LGBTQ+ reads.
- YA anthologies hitting shelves this year (including my own Body Talk: 37 Voices Explore Our Radical Anatomy!).
- Curious about the work of Dawn Kurtagich? Here’s a guide to her books.
- The best YA Shakespeare retellings.
- Some rad YA book collaborations, since two minds can do together what one simply can’t.
It’s a good day to read YA, y’all. Why not tell everyone that all the time? Shirt available in tons of colors. $29 and up.
Thanks for hanging out, and I’ll see you again next week!
— Kelly Jensen,@heykellyjensen on Instagram and editor of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy and Here We Are.
**Psst: you can now also preorder my upcoming August release, Body Talk: 37 Voices Explore Our Radical Anatomy!