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What's Up in YA

This Week’s YA Book News and New YA Book Releases

Hey YA Fans!

Welcome to another week of slower-than-usual YA book news. The positive side? Lots of YA book releases this week to get excited about.

I hope you’re hanging in there however you can. You’ve read a billion emails saying the same thing, and I hope you take it to heart. Stay well, stay safe, and remember you don’t owe anything to anyone right now.

YA Book News

YA New Books

A * beside a title means I’ve read it and highly recommend it!

*Dancing at the Pity Party by Tyler Feder (an outstanding graphic memoir about grief)

Deeplight by Frances Hardinge

*Don’t Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno (paperback)

Earth To Charlie by Justin Olson (paperback)

Elysium Girls by Kate Pentecost

A Girl In Three Parts by Suzanne Daniel

Girls Save The World In This One by Ash Parsons

In Good Hands by Stephanie MacKendrick

The Lightness of Hands by Jeff Garvin

Love and Other Carnivorous Plants by Florence Gonsalves (paperback)

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko

Redemption Prep by Samuel Miller

The Sword and The Dagger by Robert Cochran (paperback)

This Boy by Lauren Myracle

This Is My Brain On Love by IW Gregorio

Witchlight by Jessi Zabarsky

YA on Book Riot This Week

Catch up with the latest YA talk on Book Riot!


Thanks for hanging out, y’all, and we’ll see you again on Saturday with a boatload of amazing YA ebook deals.

— Kelly Jensen, @heykellyjensen on Instagram and editor of Body Talk(Don’t) Call Me Crazy, and Here We Are.

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What's Up in YA

YA Quizzes: Your New Boredom Busters

Hey Pals!

Let’s do something a little different today. Rather than share a book list, how about a roundup of some of the fun YA themed book quizzes that you can find around the internet?

Since Facebook’s quizzes are questionable at best and dangerous at worst, you’re always better off taking these fun personality tests on other platforms. Here are a whole bunch from not only Book Riot, but various publishers and YA fanatics to kill a bit of boredom you might have during the day.

Note that I haven’t taken all of these, so chances are some of these throw in plenty of adult or middle grade books and label them as YA. Have fun anyway!


Take it easy, y’all, and continue to be safe.

Talk to you later this week!

— Kelly Jensen, @heykellyjensen on Instagram and editor of Body Talk(Don’t) Call Me Crazy, and Here We Are.

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What's Up in YA

This Week’s New YA Books and YA Book News

Hey YA Readers!

If you’re not feeling okay right now, just know that you are not alone. It’s been incredible to me to see performative happiness going on, even now. You don’t need to feel any way or pretend to feel anyway. Just feel.

As you might suspect, YA news is light this week. But there are a ton of awesome new books to get excited about, and I encourage you to pick up some of these titles for whenever your urge to read kicks back in, if you’ve lost it — it took me about two weeks to find a groove. It’s not the same as it was, but it’s a groove nonetheless.

YA Book News

 

This Week’s New Books

Books with a * beside them are ones I’ve read and recommend. It’s a great week for books, y’all.

The Best Laid Plans by Cameron Lund (pizza book cover!)

The Burning by Laura Bates

The Dark Matter of Mona Starr by Laura Lee Gulledge (graphic novel)

Empire of Dreams by Rae Carson (series)

Girl Crushed by Katie Heaney

Golden Arm by Carl Deuker

*Goodbye From Nowhere by Sara Zarr (I loved this!)

*A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti (paperback)

It Sounded Better In My Head by Nina Kenwood

Jack Kerouac Is Dead to Me by Gae Polisner

Little Universes by Heather Demetrios

The Loop by Ben Oliver

The Lucky Ones by Liz Lawson

Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know by Samira Ahmed

Meet Me at Midnight by Jessica Pennington

*The Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds (paperback)

The Perfect Escape by Suzanne Park

*The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (paperback)

Rules for Being a Girl by Candace Bushnell and Katie Cotugno

Ruthless Gods by Emily A. Duncan (series)

So This Is Love by Elizabeth Lim

Sword in the Stars by Cori McCarthy and Amy Rose Capetta (series)

They Went Left by Monica Hesse

Two Dark Reigns by Kendare Blake (paperback)

*We Didn’t Ask For This by Adi Alsaid (This was fabulous, especially if you love teen activism!)

We Hunt The Flame by Hafsah Faizal (series, paperback)

A Werewolf in Riverdale by Caleb Roehrig (paperback Archie novel!)

What I Like About You by Marisa Kanter

Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan (paperback series)

Wild Blue Wonder by Carlie Sorosiak (paperback)

On Book Riot This Week

 

May McSweeney’s take on Frog and Toad make you smile like it did me.


Hang in there, pals.

We’ll see you next week!

— Kelly Jensen, @heykellyjensen on Instagram and editor of Body Talk(Don’t) Call Me Crazy, and Here We Are.

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What's Up in YA

Disability and Body Representation in YA

Hey YA Readers!

Let’s talk a bit about bodies and disability in YA. I’ve adapted this from a post much earlier this year (remember when we thought January was long? Now it feels like an eternity ago).

In 2016, authors Corinne Duyvis and Kayla Whaley wrote this about the state of disability representation on book covers for young readers:

“Given the consistency with which this erasure happens, it’s safe to say these aren’t oversights or missteps. They are likely intentional choices made with a non-disabled audience in mind, and as a result, disabled readers may browse hundreds of books in any given bookstore’s YA section and not see a single visibly disabled character on the cover.

Disabled readers deserve to see themselves represented. They deserve to be visible on the covers of the books they star in. They deserve to be treated with the same respect as their non-disabled counterparts.

It’s time we see more and better disability representation on our covers.”

Their piece examined the places where disability representation was front and center on book covers, as well as the gaping holes when it comes to representation.

Representation on book covers has shifted significantly since 2016. It’s far from perfect, of course, and there never will be a “perfect” when it comes to representation. Readers and those working within the publishing industry can only continue to speak up and out and demand more. That’s how the work has been done, particularly in relation to teens of color showing up on YA book covers.

Over the last few years, there’s been more movement toward seeing disabled teens on YA book covers. Certainly, there are limitations to how disabled teens can be represented on a book cover, as Duyvis and Whaley describe in their exploration. But there are also tremendous possibilities.

Though it’s far from perfect, though there is so much more work to be done, 2020 is looking better when it comes to disabled teens on YA book covers.

Find below a look at some of the rad YA book covers featuring disabled teens hitting shelves this year. Where designer and artist information is readily available, it’s been included.

It’s worth noting that, despite the strides made to bring more representation to YA book covers, the books below don’t represent the diversity of writers in this category. That said, it’s utterly refreshing to see the characters depicted as more than solely white.

THE ORACLE CODE BY MARIEKE NIJKAMP, ILLUSTRATED BY MANUEL PREITANO (Available now)

Cover illustration by Manuel Preitano

What could be more important to see than a teen using a wheelchair who also happens to be a tech whiz…and a superhero? Nijkamp is a disabled writer, and this book puts the disability narrative front and center in a vital way. This graphic novel showcases Barbara’s use of mobility devices not just on the cover, but throughout the story, too.

GLITCH KINGDOM BY SHEENA BOEKWEG (Available now)

Cover designed by Katie Klimowicz and cover art by Rich Davies

There is so much to love about this book cover: there’s a fat protagonist, and we get a glimpse of that. But more, we have a teen using a wheelchair on the cover—and it’s a teen of color. She’s not made to be a stereotype in any capacity, and more, because this is a book about teens who get stuck inside of a video game, we know immediately that teen is a gamer and, most likely, nerdy.

FINDING BALANCE BY KATI GARDNER (September 29, FLUX)

Cover design by Sarah Taplin

Gardner’s book features an amputee front and center, and not only that, the bright, hopeful colors do an amazing job striking a balance between the reality of the character depicted with strength. The story follows two teens who survived childhood cancer, including Mari who became an amputee from it. This is an #OwnVoices novel, and Gardner has written about the importance of this cover for her book and for representation more broadly.

 

SIX ANGRY GIRLS BY ADRIENNE KISNER (August 18)

Cover art by Noel Klamus

While a broken bone doesn’t necessarily qualify as a disability—at least under the Americans with Disabilities Act—very rarely are they depicted on book covers, and more, they can and do cause (usually) temporary physical challenges. Kisner’s book cover is especially worth including because the girl with the broken bone is a black girl.

I’m pleased to say my next anthology Body Talkwhich hits shelves August 18 also features visually disabled teens on it, corresponding with the raw, powerful, and empowering essays from a wide range of writers about the various experiences of living in and having a body.

I got to reveal the cover on site today, and I’m excited to also share it here:

You can read more about it on site today. The cover is designed by  Laura Palese and the art by Kelly Bastow.

 

Four or five covers does not a sea change make, but let’s hope that this begins a wave of continued efforts to better depict the wide array of ways people look, move, and interact with the world on YA book covers. Like we’ve seen with the growth in YA books about disabled characters, we can continue to push for better visual representation.


Thanks for hanging out, y’all, and we’ll see you again later this week!

— Kelly Jensen, @heykellyjensen on Instagram and editor of Body Talk, (Don’t) Call Me Crazy, and Here We Are.

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What's Up in YA

Score This Weekend’s Ebook Deals (Plus a Little Treat!)

Hey YA Pals!

I hope you’re all hanging in there, staying as healthy physically and mentally as possible. I know you’re getting barraged with tips and tricks for finding peace, and of course, you’re going to hear read some books! Dig into that TBR!

In addition to that, may I offer a mindfulness meditation that’s accessible to everyone with a camera phone or digital camera–and even absolutely doable for those without either? You may or may not know I’m a 500-hr certified yoga teacher (think master’s degree level) in addition to being a Book Rioter, and I’ve found variations on this meditation so helpful in my non-pandemic life and suspect it’ll be the same in this one.

If the idea of meditation or mindfulness make you roll your eyes: fair! They’ve been made to be Really Virtuous Things when frankly, they’re not. They’re as easy as you make them, and it comes down to simply just noticing the world you’re in, right where you’re at, right when you’re there. Reading a book and being fully immersed? That’s a kind of meditation in and of itself.

So this one: grab that camera phone or camera. Go for a safe and physically-distanced walk. Snap photos of anything yellow. For those without cameras, just look for yellow.

That’s all. Capture yellow, wherever you see it. Don’t worry about whether the photo is good or not – this isn’t about that. It’s about just noticing the yellow in the world around you. If you’re stuck on direction when you go for your walk, may I suggest only taking right-hand turns?

If you do this in the next week, tag me on Instagram (@heykellyjensen) so I can see what you found. It’s a treasure hunt for yellow. That’s all!

Here’s one I took this week for inspiration:

Image of yellow flowers

And now onto the books!

All of these deals are good as of Friday, April 3. I’ve pulled together a huge list with a variety of YA genres and styles represented.

A Lite Too Bright by Samuel Miller is about a teen on a cross-country train trip to process grief and his grandfather’s last week of life. Sounds awesome. $2.

Creepy girls with powers = Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand is $2.

Food lovers, as well as people who love delicious prose will love With The Fire On High by Elizabeth Acevedo. $3.

Maybe you want to begin a supernatural fantasy series? Julie Kagawa’s The Iron King is a great one to begin with. $4.

I adore Shane Burcaw’s humor and his first memoir Laughing At My Nightmare is $3.

Monica Hesse’s The War Outside is $2.

Grab Solo by Kwame Alexander book and discover some reading magic. $2.

April is National Poetry Month and there are a couple of poetry collections you should snag: Light Filters In by Caroline Kaufman ($2) and Voices In The Air by Naomi Shihab Nye ($2).

If you’re leaning into pandemic reading, Not A Drop To Drink by Mindy McGinnis is $2.

Lifestyles of Gods and Monsters by Emily Roberson looks like a great read. $3.

Remember when Patrick Flores-Scott joined Eric and me on Hey YA? Grab his American Road Trip for $3.

There might not be sports to watch, but you can read a sports book. Carl Deuker’s High Heat is $3.

Solstice by Lorence Alison is a “tropical horror comedy.” Sign me up, as well as everyone who loved the mess of what was/was not the Fyre Festival. $3.

Not The Girls You’re Looking For by Aminah Mae Safi has been on my TBR for a long time and for $3, I should pick it up.

Past Perfect Life by Elizabeth Eulberg is $3.

For fans of love stories and crosswords, pick up Arvin Ahmadi’s Down and Across. $3.

Samira Ahmed’s powerful Internment is $2.

A favorite YA author around these parts is Bryan Bliss and his We’ll Fly Away is $1.

Cherie Dimaline’s  The Marrow Thieves is $5, and for readers who haven’t picked up this gem of Canadian YA lit, here’s your sign to do so.

Dumplin‘ is $1! Read it then watch it on the ‘Flix.

I absolutely loved the Pan’s Labyrinth novelization by Guillermo del Toro and Cornelia Funke and hope you’ll grab it for $1. Doesn’t matter if you’ve seen the movie or have: it’s a treasure in and of itself for fans of dark, lush, fairy-tale fantasy.

Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli is $2. Read it, watch the adaptation, and fall in love.

Feed by MT Anderson is one of the creepiest books out there with one of the best opening lines in YA. It’s also $1 right now.

Also your time to read Code Name Verity if you haven’t and love historical fiction. $3.

An oldie but a goodie: The Skin I’m In by Sharon G. Flake is $3.


You’re not going to be lacking in great reading with any of the above titles, y’all!

We’ll see you again on Monday.

— Kelly Jensen,@heykellyjensen on Instagram and editor of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy and Here We Are.

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What's Up in YA

YA Book News and YA Book Releases This Week

Hey YA Pals:

Another week has come and gone, and it’s another week that we’ll be light on news. But the news that is here isn’t especially light — it’s some big stuff.

I hope you’re staying healthy and well and that you’re finding comfort and ease where you can. Remember if you’re not reading right now, you’re not any less a reader. You’re a human processing incredible trauma and change. That’s okay.

YA Book News

New YA Books This Week

A * means it’s a book I’ve read and recommend!

Almost, Maine by John Cariani (a novel take on the play)

The Boneless Mercies by April Genevieve Tucholke (paperback)

Hello Now by Jenny Valentine

Imagine Me by Tahereh Mafi (next in series!)

Look by Zan Romanoff

The Me I Meant To Be by Sophie Jordan (paperback)

Music From Another World by Robin Talley

Night of the Dragon by Julie Kagawa (series)

Seven Endless Forests by April Genevieve Tucholke

*We Are Totally Normal by Rahul Kanakia

*We Are The Wildcats by Siobhan Vivian (don’t miss the Hey YA: Extra Credit episode where we talk about how great Shug by Jenny Han is!)

The Year After You by Nina de Pass

YA Talk at Book Riot This Week

 

This isn’t YA related at all, but I love, love, love this series by artist Lim Heng See, wherein he hides illustrations of cats among natural landscapes. Some of these took me a while to find.


Thanks for hanging out, y’all, and prepare to pick up a ton of ebooks on the cheap Saturday when we’ll be back in your inbox.

Stay well.

— Kelly Jensen, @heykellyjensen on Instagram and editor of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy and Here We Are.

 

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What's Up in YA

Stream These YA Adaptations While You’re Stuck Inside

Hey YA Fans!

I hope you’re all healthy and weathering this new reality of ours. I know that one of my personal challenges has been staving off anxiety enough to sit down and enjoy a book. In those times when I can’t, I’ve found tuning into streaming shows and movies to be just what I need.

Today’s newsletter will highlight some of the best YA adaptations currently streaming on Netflix. I know not everyone has ‘Flix, but I chose to focus here because they lend themselves to social interaction while in quarantine with Netflix Party.

Kick back and enjoy your YA, visual style. Note that since we’re entering a new month soon, some of these might end up disappearing later in the week. I’ve done my best to make sure they’ll be around for a good while.

This list is going to be pretty white, since adaptations themselves trend that way. Descriptions of the adaptation are from IMDB, and in cases where the name of the adaptation differs from the name of the YA book, I’ve noted that.

The 100 (series)

Set ninety-seven years after a nuclear war has destroyed civilization, when a spaceship housing humanity’s lone survivors sends one hundred juvenile delinquents back to Earth, in hopes of possibly re-populating the planet.

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before and P.S. I Still Love You

A teenage girl’s secret love letters are exposed and wreak havoc on her love life.

Lara Jean and Peter have just taken their relationship from pretend to officially official when another recipient of one of her old love letters enters the picture.

Anne With An E (series)

The adventures of a young orphan girl living in the late 19th century. Follow Anne as she learns to navigate her new life on Prince Edward Island, in this new take on L.M. Montgomery’s classic novels.

(I know this is debatable on whether or not it’s a YA series, but the books are beloved by YA readers, so I’m including it!).

Coin Heist

United by dire circumstances, four unlikely allies from a Philadelphia prep school – the hacker, the slacker, the athlete, and the perfect student – band together to attempt the impossible: steal from the U.S. Mint.

Dumplin

Willowdean (‘Dumplin’), the plus-size teenage daughter of a former beauty queen, signs up for her mom’s Miss Teen Bluebonnet pageant as a protest that escalates when other contestants follow her footsteps, revolutionizing the pageant and their small Texas town.

Gossip Girl (series)

Privileged teens living on the Upper East Side of New York can hide no secret from the ruthless blogger who is always watching.

Let It Snow

In a small town on Christmas Eve, a snowstorm brings together a group of young people.

Naomi & Ely’s No Kiss List

Naomi and Ely have loved each other their whole lives, even though Ely isn’t exactly into girls. The institution of a “No Kiss List” has prevented the two from rifts in the past, but bonds are tested when they both fall for the same guy.

Radio Rebel (In YA, it’s titled Shrinking Violet by Danielle Joseph)

Tara, a painfully shy high-schooler, has a secret: she is also a confident DJ known as Radio Rebel, who lends her voice to others.

Saving Zoë

The high school freshman kid sister of the murdered Zoë finds her diary, which sheds new light on the murder missed by the police. She investigates.

The Spectacular Now

A hard-partying high school senior’s philosophy on life changes when he meets the not-so-typical “nice girl.”

Trinkets (series)

An unexpected friendship forms when three teenage girls meet in Shoplifters Anonymous.

Vampire Diaries (series)

The lives, loves, dangers and disasters in the town, Mystic Falls, Virginia. Creatures of unspeakable horror lurk beneath this town as a teenage girl is suddenly torn between two vampire brothers.


Thanks for hanging out. We’ll see you again later this week!

— Kelly Jensen, @heykellyjensen on Instagram and editor of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy and Here We Are.

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What's Up in YA

YA Book News and New Releases

Hey YA Fans!

It should come as no real surprise, but there’s not a lot of YA news to share this week. Everything has gone pretty quiet, and the news below reflects that.

On the upside, there are still tons of great books hitting shelves this week, and we’ve been talking YA over on Book Riot still.

I hope you and yours are all hanging in there. It’s a scary time, but we will get through this. If you want to stay abreast of how COVID-19 is impacting the book world, we’ve been updating frequently on site.

YA Book News

  • This year’s slate of free audiobooks from Audiobook Sync have been announced. If you aren’t familiar with the program, each week starting April 30 through the end of July, they offer up two free audiobooks. One is a recent YA book and the other a classic. It’s rad, and you’ll get to try so many books on audio for free.
  • Have you seen the Everywhere Book Festival? Get it on your calendar.
  • If your IRL book club isn’t meeting, try these tips for developing a virtual book club.

New YA Book Releases

Order a few things this week and set yourself up with great reading from your couch or bed. A * means I’ve read and highly recommend the book.

Between Burning Worlds by Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell (series)

Brown Girl Ghosted by Mintie Das

The Edge of Anything by Nora Shalaway Carpenter

How Not To Ask A Boy to Prom by S. J. Goslee (paperback)

Thorn by Intisar Khanani

*Tigers, Not Daughters by Samantha Mabry (so. freaking. good.)

We Were Promised Spotlights by Lindsay Sproul

YA on Book Riot


Thanks for hanging out this week, amid life as we knew it changing so quickly. Keep yourself and your loved ones healthy.

We’ll see you next week!

— Kelly Jensen, @heykellyjensen on Instagram and editor of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy and Here We Are.

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What's Up in YA

YA Rom-Coms To Devour Right Now

Hey YA Fans!

Let’s highlight some love and some laughs today, since we’re all probably itching for something to read that’ll keep us entertained and delighted.  This is a look at some of the YA Rom Coms that hit shelves so far this year, as well as some that will be publishing in the next few months. A great opportunity to catch up on a few titles you may have missed this year so far, as well as preorder some gems to sprinkle the fun through the rest of what is showing itself to be a really long year.

As much as I wish I could devour all of these books right now, I am but one person with heaving bookshelves. I’m borrowing book descriptions from Amazon for this reason, but I assure you these hand-picked titles are ones I’m super freaking excited for. The ones I have read and recommend I’ve included a * beside!

Because I believe in the need for lightness right now, this list and newsletter is a little longer than normal. Indulge yourself, and know this roundup is far from complete. Perhaps I’ll do a second roundup in the future.

10 Things I Hate About Pinky by Sandhya Menon (June 30)

Pinky Kumar wears the social justice warrior badge with pride. From raccoon hospitals to persecuted rock stars, no cause is too esoteric for her to champion. But a teeny tiny part of her also really enjoys making her conservative, buttoned-up corporate lawyer parents cringe.

Samir Jha might have a few…quirks remaining from the time he had to take care of his sick mother, like the endless lists he makes in his planner and the way he schedules every minute of every day, but those are good things. They make life predictable and steady.

Pinky loves lazy summers at her parents’ Cape Cod lake house, but after listening to them harangue her about the poor decisions she’s made (a.k.a. boyfriends she’s had), she hatches a plan. Get her sorta-friend-sorta-enemy—who is a total Harvard-bound Mama’s boy—to pose as her perfect boyfriend for the summer.

When Samir’s internship falls through, leaving him with an unplanned summer, he gets a text from Pinky asking if he’ll be her fake boyfriend in exchange for a new internship. He jumps at the opportunity; Pinky’s a weirdo, but he can survive a summer with her if there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

As they bicker their way through lighthouses and butterfly habitats, sparks fly, and they both realize this will be a summer they’ll never forget.

The Best Laid Plans by Cameron Lund (April 7)

It seemed like a good plan at first.

When the only other virgin in her group of friends loses it at Keely’s own eighteenth birthday party, she’s inspired to take things into her own hands. She wants to have that experience too (well, not exactly like that–but with someone she trusts and actually likes), so she’s going to need to find the guy, and fast. Problem is, she’s known all the boys in her small high school forever, and it’s kinda hard to be into a guy when you watched him eat crayons in kindergarten.

So she can’t believe her luck when she meets a ridiculously hot new guy named Dean. Not only does he look like he’s fallen out of a classic movie poster, but he drives a motorcycle, flirts with ease, and might actually be into her.

But Dean’s already in college, and Keely is convinced he’ll drop her if he finds out how inexperienced she is. That’s when she talks herself into a new plan: her lifelong best friend, Andrew, would never hurt or betray her, and he’s clearly been with enough girls that he can show her the ropes before she goes all the way with Dean. Of course, the plan only works if Andrew and Keely stay friends–just friends–so things are about to get complicated.

Date Me, Bryson Keller by Kevin van Whye (May 19)

Everyone knows about the dare: Each week, Bryson Keller must date someone new–the first person to ask him out on Monday morning. Few think Bryson can do it. He may be the king of Fairvale Academy, but he’s never really dated before.

Until a boy asks him out, and everything changes.

Kai Sheridan didn’t expect Bryson to say yes. So when Bryson agrees to secretly go out with him, Kai is thrown for a loop. But as the days go by, he discovers there’s more to Bryson beneath the surface, and dating him begins to feel less like an act and more like the real thing. Kai knows how the story of a gay boy liking someone straight ends. With his heart on the line, he’s awkwardly trying to navigate senior year at school, at home, and in the closet, all while grappling with the fact that this “relationship” will last only five days. After all, Bryson Keller is popular, good-looking, and straight . . . right?

The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar (May 12)

Nishat doesn’t want to lose her family, but she also doesn’t want to hide who she is, and it only gets harder once a childhood friend walks back into her life. Flávia is beautiful and charismatic, and Nishat falls for her instantly. But when a school competition invites students to create their own businesses, both Flávia and Nishat decide to showcase their talent as henna artists. In a fight to prove who is the best, their lives become more tangled―but Nishat can’t quite get rid of her crush, especially since Flávia seems to like her back.

As the competition heats up, Nishat has a decision to make: stay in the closet for her family, or put aside her differences with Flávia and give their relationship a chance.

I’ll Be The One by Lyla Lee (June 16)

Skye Shin has heard it all. Fat girls shouldn’t dance. Wear bright colors. Shouldn’t call attention to themselves. But Skye dreams of joining the glittering world of K-Pop, and to do that, she’s about to break all the rules that society, the media, and even her own mother, have set for girls like her.

She’ll challenge thousands of other performers in an internationally televised competition looking for the next K-pop star, and she’ll do it better than anyone else.

When Skye nails her audition, she’s immediately swept into a whirlwind of countless practices, shocking performances, and the drama that comes with reality TV. What she doesn’t count on are the highly fat-phobic beauty standards of the Korean pop entertainment industry, her sudden media fame and scrutiny, or the sparks that soon fly with her fellow competitor, Henry Cho.

But Skye has her sights on becoming the world’s first plus-sized K-pop star, and that means winning the competition—without losing herself.

More Than Just A Pretty Face by Syed M. Masood (August 4)

Danyal Jilani doesn’t lack confidence. He may not be the smartest guy in the room, but he’s funny, gorgeous, and going to make a great chef one day. His father doesn’t approve of his career choice, but that hardly matters. What does matter is the opinion of Danyal’s longtime crush, the perfect-in-all-ways Kaval, and her family, who consider him a less than ideal arranged marriage prospect.

When Danyal gets selected for Renaissance Man, a school-wide academic championship, it’s the perfect opportunity to show everyone he’s smarter than they think. He recruits the brilliant, totally-uninterested-in-him Bisma to help with the competition, but the more time Danyal spends with her…the more he learns from her…the more he cooks for her…the more he realizes that happiness may be staring him right in his pretty face.

In this young adult debut full of depth and heart, author Syed M. Masood will have readers laughing, sighing, tearing up, and shouting “YES!” at the top of their lungs.

*Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales

Will Tavares is the dream summer fling―he’s fun, affectionate, kind―but just when Ollie thinks he’s found his Happily Ever After, summer vacation ends and Will stops texting Ollie back. Now Ollie is one prince short of his fairytale ending, and to complicate the fairytale further, a family emergency sees Ollie uprooted and enrolled at a new school across the country. Which he minds a little less when he realizes it’s the same school Will goes to…except Ollie finds that the sweet, comfortably queer guy he knew from summer isn’t the same one attending Collinswood High. This Will is a class clown, closeted―and, to be honest, a bit of a jerk.

Ollie has no intention of pining after a guy who clearly isn’t ready for a relationship, especially since this new, bro-y jock version of Will seems to go from hot to cold every other week. But then Will starts “coincidentally” popping up in every area of Ollie’s life, from music class to the lunch table, and Ollie finds his resolve weakening.
The last time he gave Will his heart, Will handed it back to him trampled and battered. Ollie would have to be an idiot to trust him with it again.

Right? Right.

The Perfect Escape by Suzanne Park (April 7)

Nate Jae-Woo Kim wants to be rich. When one of his classmates offers Nate a ridiculous amount of money to commit grade fraud, he knows that taking the windfall would help support his prideful Korean family, but is compromising his integrity worth it?

Luck comes in the form of Kate Anderson, Nate’s colleague at the zombie-themed escape room where he works. She approaches Nate with a plan: a local tech company is hosting a weekend-long survivalist competition with a huge cash prize. It could solve all of Nate’s problems, and she needs the money too.

If the two of them team up, Nate has a real shot of winning the grand prize. But the real challenge? Making through the weekend with his heart intact…

Rent A Boyfriend by Gloria Chao (September 1)

Chloe Wang is nervous to introduce her parents to her boyfriend, because the truth is, she hasn’t met him yet either. She hired him from Rent for Your ’Rents, a company specializing in providing fake boyfriends trained to impress even the most traditional Asian parents.

Drew Chan’s passion is art, but after his parents cut him off for dropping out of college to pursue his dreams, he became a Rent for Your ’Rents employee to keep a roof over his head. Luckily, learning protocols like “Type C parents prefer quiet, kind, zero-PDA gestures” comes naturally to him.

When Chloe rents Drew, the mission is simple: convince her parents fake Drew is worthy of their approval so they’ll stop pressuring her to accept a proposal from Hongbo, the wealthiest (and slimiest) young bachelor in their tight-knit Asian American community.

But when Chloe starts to fall for the real Drew—who, unlike his fake persona, is definitely not ’rent-worthy—her carefully curated life begins to unravel. Can she figure out what she wants before she loses everything?

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

Meet Pepper, swim team captain, chronic overachiever, and all-around perfectionist. Her family may be falling apart, but their massive fast-food chain is booming ― mainly thanks to Pepper, who is barely managing to juggle real life while secretly running Big League Burger’s massive Twitter account.

Enter Jack, class clown and constant thorn in Pepper’s side. When he isn’t trying to duck out of his obscenely popular twin’s shadow, he’s busy working in his family’s deli. His relationship with the business that holds his future might be love/hate, but when Big League Burger steals his grandma’s iconic grilled cheese recipe, he’ll do whatever it takes to take them down, one tweet at a time.

All’s fair in love and cheese ― that is, until Pepper and Jack’s spat turns into a viral Twitter war. Little do they know, while they’re publicly duking it out with snarky memes and retweet battles, they’re also falling for each other in real life ― on an anonymous chat app Jack built.

As their relationship deepens and their online shenanigans escalate ― people on the internet are shipping them?? ― their battle gets more and more personal, until even these two rivals can’t ignore they were destined for the most unexpected, awkward, all-the-feels romance that neither of them expected.


Thanks for hanging out, y’all, and we’ll see you later this week. Stay safe and healthy.

— Kelly Jensen, @heykellyjensen on Instagram and editor of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy and Here We Are.

Categories
What's Up in YA

Load Up On These Great YA EBook Deals

Hey Pals!

Here’s a roundup of some of the best deals on YA books going on right now. There’s a mix of a little of every kind of genre, and hopefully, you’ll find your next favorite reads here.

Deals are current as of Friday, March 20. Happy reading!

 

Five Midnights cover imageMonica Hesse’s World War II historical The Girl in the Blue Coat is $3.

Talon, the first in Julie Kagawa’s dragon fantasy series, is $3.

Want something creepy to read? Ann Dávila Cardinal’s Five Midnights will fit the bill. $3.

The first in Tara Sim’s “Timekeeper” series, Timekeeper, is currently $2.

Maybe you want a mystery/thriller? Eileen Cook’s You Owe Me A Murder is $3.

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert, first in the series and a great read for fans of fairy tales, is $3.

If you haven’t yet read Benjamin Alire Saenz’s The Inexplicable Logic of My Life — companion to Aristotle and Dante — you can grab it for $3.

Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake, which has rave reviews and is on my TBR, is $3.

This looks like a fun one: Galaxy Girls by Libby Jackson is 50 stories of women in space. $2.

Similarly, History vs. Women: The Defiant Lives That They Don’t Want You To Know by Anita Sarkeesian and Ebony Adams is on sale for $3.

Girls through history doing things? Yes, please! Jessica Spotswood’s The Radical Element anthology is on sale for $3.

And another great Women’s History Month/Every Single Month read on sale is Melissa de la Cruz’s Because I Was A Girl. $3.

With sports not being an option, maybe you’ll want to read a sports book? Hooper by Geoff Herbach is $3 and perfect for basketball fans.

Margarita Engle’s The Firefly Letters is $3.

Need humor? Brooding YA Hero by Carrie DiRisio will have you in stitches. $3.

Samira Ahmed’s Internment, which is outstanding, is on sale for $2.

Renée Watson and Ellen Hagen’s Watch Us Rise – also outstanding! – is on sale for $2.

If you like quiet YA, Ashley Woodfolk’s The Beauty That Remains is a really great read about friendship and music. $2.

Another thriller for your TBR: Adriana Mather’s Killing November is $2.

 


Thanks for hanging out, and we’ll see you on Monday!

— Kelly Jensen, @heykellyjensen on Instagram and editor of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy and Here We Are.