Hey YA Readers!
I hope your October is going well. I cannot believe we’re halfway through–it feels both like it has been the quickest month and simultaneously the slowest. Neither is a complaint or a compliment.
I’ve just built up my stack of horror reads to consume in anticipation of making some early decisions as part of the Summer Scares program this year. The world of YA horror has improved so much even in just the six years that we’ve been doing this program–it was good before, don’t get me wrong, but there are so, so, so many options now in so many different types of horror. I can’t wait.
Before we get to everything, just wanted to say that since autumn is here, many of us will be gravitating towards the Cozy. And, 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
Paperback Lover Sticker by mysecretcopy
Thursdays are paperback release highlights days here on What’s Up in YA? so I was stoked to discover this fun sticker to share today. Brag about your love of all things paperback. $4.
New Releases
Let’s dig into two paperbacks that landed on shelves this week in two very different genres. If you’d like to see the entire list of new paperback YA releases this week, we’ve got you covered. As always, you might need to toggle your view after you click the link to see the paperback edition.
Road of the Lost by Nafiza Azad
If you’re into magical stories in line with Holly Black’s style, look no further for your next read.
Croi is what is known as a brownie, made up and invisible to humans. She lives in the Wilde Forest, and even though she has magic powers, they are weak. When her guardian gives her a book of magick from the Otherworld of Higher Fae, Croi realizes she’s been put under a spell that begs her to come to the Otherworld.
As she leaves on her adventure, though, it’s not just the movement that will change Croi. She will discover she’s no brownie at all, but may be something else entirely. How can she learn the truth, especially as it seems she continues to fall under spells?
What Souls Are Made Of by Tasha Suri
This remix of the classic Wuthering Heights is set in Yorkshire in 1786. Heathcliff is the abandoned son of a sailor from India, and Catherine is the youngest daughter of an estate owner who is preparing her for a life in high society. They connect with one another as they escape to the moors, working to build not only their budding romance but their connection to their cultural heritage. If you like broody, reclaimed classics with Gothic undertones, you’ll be into this one.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
YA Book News
- Check out the winner of this year’s Harvey Award for comics in the young adult category (it’s a book I dug!).
- The Monster High franchise will be coming to the world of YA books.
- How Disney+ reimagined the latest adaptation of R. L. Stine’s Goosebumps for a young adult viewership.
- Two Argentinian YA novels are being adapted for Netflix.
- The director of The Hunger Games says that the last film should never have been split in two. Agreed–this was how so many of the adapted franchises of this era were handled, and it was about greed, not storytelling. That greed didn’t pay off.
- In honor of the 10th anniversary of the Kirkus Award, you can hear from several of this year’s honored authors, including YA writer Ariel Aberg-Riger.
As always, thanks for hanging out. We’ll see you on Saturday for your YA book deals.
Until then, happy reading!
–Kelly Jensen, currently reading An Ordinary Violence by Adriana Chartrand.