Category: What’s Up in YA

Hey YA Readers!

Enjoy these delicious ebook deals we’ve found for you this week. Prices are current as of Friday, November 1.

A spin in Alice in Wonderland in LL McKinney’s A Blade So Black should be on your to-read. Grab it for $3.

Want a fresh take on the story of Dorothy and Oz? You’ll want to pick up Danielle Paige’s Dorothy Must Die, the first in a series, for $3.

Technology thrill ride calling out to you? Kristen Simmons The Deceivers should be on your TBR. $3.

Julie Kagawa’s The Immortal Rules, the first book in a fantasy series, is $2.

Itching for a love story? Sarah Mlynowski’s I See London, I See France is $2.

A really moving and powerful romance is at the heart of Sara Farizan’s If You Could Be Mine. $2.

A little magical realism calling out to you? Miranda Asebedo’s The Deepest Roots is $2.

I’ve not read a setting like the one in A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena — it’s a contemporary novel set in Saudi Arabia. $3.

If you want something magical and fantastical, grab Spectacle by Jodie Lynn Zdork for $3.

Julie Eshbaugh’s Ivory and Bone is loosely based on Pride and Prejudice with a fantasy adventure twist. $2.

His Own Where by June Jordan is a wildly underrated YA novel that anyone who loves this category should read. It’s written entirely in AAVE, and it’s absolutely powerful. This edition has a forward by Sapphire. $4.

Faith Erin Hicks’s Comics Will Break Your Heart is $3.

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer can be yours for $2.

Want a story about pirates? $3 gets you Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller.

Last, but not least, Neal Shusterman’s Bruiser is $2.

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Thanks for hanging out, and we’ll see you on Monday with a curious (but fun!) YA title trend in 2020.

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

Hey YA Readers!

I don’t know about you, but I find the “best of” list creep annoying. Do we need to know the BEST books of 2019 in October? I don’t — and I don’t know if I really understand the point beyond getting to claim being the first. Publishers Weekly released their “best of” last week and as a reminder, that’s not the end of the year.

We’ve got two full months left.

I think December “best of” lists, even end-of-November, is far more acceptable. And the big reason?

There are still so many books to come in November and December.

Certainly, editors read those books while making their lists. But those lists overshadow the books still to come.

So to do a little making up for that, let’s highlight a few upcoming YA book releases in November and December. This newsletter will be a bit longer than normal, as I want to pack in a wide range of titles.

I’ve read only one of these (so far!) since I don’t tend to read ahead more than a month or so. That means I’m using Amazon descriptions. I’ve stuck to quieter books, since it’s probably the case you’re well aware there’s a new Maggie Stiefvater (Call Down The Hawk) book, as well as the sequel to Children of Blood and Bone (Children of Virtue and Vengeance) hitting shelves in November and December. Oh, and the last book in Holly Black’s new series, The Queen of Nothing. Maybe you also know about Neal Shusterman’s The Toll.

Go ahead and save those “best of” lists in your to-read lists for later in the year. For now, get excited about these books coming soon!

A * means it’s a new entry into a series.

All-American Muslim Girl by Nadine Jolie Courtney (Nov 12)

Allie Abraham has it all going for her–she’s a straight-A student, with good friends and a close-knit family, and she’s dating cute, popular, and sweet Wells Henderson. One problem: Wells’s father is Jack Henderson, America’s most famous conservative shock jock…and Allie hasn’t told Wells that her family is Muslim. It’s not like Allie’s religion is a secret, exactly. It’s just that her parents don’t practice and raised her to keep her Islamic heritage to herself. But as Allie witnesses ever-growing Islamophobia in her small town and across the nation, she begins to embrace her faith–studying it, practicing it, and facing hatred and misunderstanding for it. Who is Allie, if she sheds the façade of the “perfect” all-American girl? What does it mean to be a “Good Muslim?”And can a Muslim girl in America ever truly fit in?

This one was fabulous! 

Crying Laughing by Lance Rubin (Nov 19)

Winnie Friedman has been waiting for the world to catch on to what she already knows: she’s hilarious.

It might be a long wait, though. After bombing a stand-up set at her own bat mitzvah, Winnie has kept her jokes to herself. Well, to herself and her dad, a former comedian and her inspiration.

Then, on the second day of tenth grade, the funniest guy in school actually laughs at a comment she makes in the lunch line and asks her to join the improv troupe. Maybe he’s even . . . flirting?

Just when Winnie’s ready to say yes to comedy again, her father reveals that he’s been diagnosed with ALS. That is . . . not funny. Her dad’s still making jokes, though, which feels like a good thing. And Winnie’s prepared to be his straight man if that’s what he wants. But is it what he needs?

Caught up in a spiral of epically bad dates, bad news, and bad performances, Winnie’s struggling to see the humor in it all. But finding a way to laugh is exactly what will see her through.

Dangerous Alliance by Jennieke Cohen (Dec 3)

Lady Victoria Aston has everything she could want: an older sister happily wed, the future of her family estate secure, and ample opportunity to while her time away in the fields around her home.

But now Vicky must marry—or find herself and her family destitute. Armed only with the wisdom she has gained from her beloved novels by Jane Austen, she enters society’s treacherous season.

Sadly, Miss Austen has little to say about Vicky’s exact circumstances: whether the roguish Mr. Carmichael is indeed a scoundrel, if her former best friend, Tom Sherborne, is out for her dowry or for her heart, or even how to fend off the attentions of the foppish Mr. Silby, he of the unfortunate fashion sensibility.

Most unfortunately of all, Vicky’s books are silent on the topic of the mysterious accidents cropping up around her…ones that could prevent her from surviving until her wedding day.

*Daughter of Chaos by Sarah Rees Brennan (Dec 26)

Half-witch, half-mortal sixteen-year-old Sabrina Spellman has made her choice: She’s embraced her dark side and her witchy roots. Now her power is growing daily… but will it come at too high a price?

 

*Girls of Storm and Shadow by Natasha Ngan (Nov 5)

In this mesmerizing sequel to the New York Times bestselling Girls of Paper and Fire, Lei and Wren have escaped their oppressive lives in the Hidden Palace, but soon learn that freedom comes with a terrible cost.

 

Gravity by Sarah Deming (Nov 12)

Gravity “Doomsday” Delgado is good at breaking things. Maybe she learned it from her broken home.

But since she started boxing with a legendary coach at a gym in Brooklyn, Gravity is finding her talent for breaking things has an upside. Lately, she’s been breaking records, breaking her competitors, and breaking down the walls inside her. Boxing is taking her places, and if she just stays focused, she knows she’ll have a shot at the Olympics.

Life outside the ring is heating up, too. Suddenly she’s flirting (and more) with a cute boxer at her gym–much to her coach’s disapproval. Meanwhile, things at home with Gravity’s mom are reaching a tipping point, and Gravity has to look out for her little brother, Ty. With Olympic dreams, Gravity will have to decide what is worth fighting for.

Reverie by Ryan La Sala (Dec 3)

All Kane Montgomery knows for certain is that the police found him half-dead in the river. He can’t remember anything since the accident robbed him of his memories a few weeks ago. And the world feels different… reality itself seems different.

So when three of his classmates claim to be his friends and the only people who can truly tell him what’s going on, he doesn’t know what to believe or who he can trust. But as he and the others are dragged into unimaginable worlds that materialize out of nowhere―the gym warps into a subterranean temple, a historical home nearby blooms into a Victorian romance rife with scandal and sorcery―Kane realizes that nothing in his life is in accident, and only he can stop their town from unraveling.

Sisters of Shadow and Light by Sara B. Larson (Nov 5)

The night my sister was born, the stars died and were reborn in her eyes….

Zuhra and Inara have grown up in the Citadel of the Paladins, an abandoned fortress where legendary, magical warriors once lived before disappearing from the world―including their Paladin father the night Inara was born.

On that same night, a massive, magical hedge grew and imprisoned them within the citadel. Inara inherited their father’s Paladin power; her eyes glow blue and she is able to make plants grow at unbelievable rates, but she has been trapped in her own mind because of a “roar” that drowns everything else out―leaving Zuhra virtually alone with their emotionally broken human mother.

For fifteen years they have lived, trapped in the citadel, with little contact from the outside world…until the day a stranger passes through the hedge, and everything changes.

Song of the Crimson Flower by Julie Dao (Nov 5)

Will love break the spell? After cruelly rejecting Bao, the poor physician’s apprentice who loves her, Lan, a wealthy nobleman’s daughter, regrets her actions. So when she finds Bao’s prized flute floating in his boat near her house, she takes it into her care, not knowing that his soul has been trapped inside it by an evil witch, who cursed Bao, telling him that only love will set him free. Though Bao now despises her, Lan vows to make amends and help break the spell.

Together, the two travel across the continent, finding themselves in the presence of greatness in the forms of the Great Forest’s Empress Jade and Commander Wei. They journey with Wei, getting tangled in the webs of war, blood magic, and romance along the way. Will Lan and Bao begin to break the spell that’s been placed upon them? Or will they be doomed to live out their lives with black magic running through their veins?

In this fantastical tale of darkness and love, some magical bonds are stronger than blood.

A Thousand Fires by Shannon Price (Nov 5)

10 Years. 3 Gangs. 1 Girl’s Epic Quest…

Valerie Simons knows the Wars are dangerous―her little brother was killed by the Boars two years ago. But nothing will sway Valerie from joining the elite and beautiful Herons with her boyfriend Matthew to avenge her brother. But when Jax, the volatile and beyond charismatic leader of the Stags, promises her revenge, Valerie is torn between old love and new loyalty.

Where The World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean (Dec 8)

Every time a lad went fowling on the stacs, he came home less of a boy and more of a man. If he went home at all, that is.

Every summer Quill and his friends are put ashore on a remote sea stac to hunt birds. But this summer, no one arrives to take them home. Surely nothing but the end of the world can explain why they’ve been abandoned―cold, starving and clinging to life, in the grip of a murderous ocean. How will they survive such a forsaken place of stone and sea?

This is an extraordinary story of fortitude, endurance, tragedy and survival, set against an unforgettable backdrop of savage beauty.

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Thanks for hanging out, and we’ll see you again on Saturday with a roundup of excellent YA book deals. It’s a new month, so we’ll see a whole host of new and exciting finds.

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

Hey YA Readers!

I’m really excited about a piece I wrote that’ll hit site in a couple of weeks, and one of the topics within it is about a wave of 2020 YA books that weave voting and political canvassing into them. Politics have, of course, always been part of YA books in some capacity, especially in the last few years, but this microtrend is fascinating.

Teens are politically engaged, so it’s not surprising to see this. But what’s making these books stand out is that they’re happening on the micro level — local politics, local elections, and participating in the voting rite of passage.

Let’s take a look at a few of the upcoming political themed YA books hitting shelves soon. Since I haven’t read any of these yet (and believe me, they’re all on my TBR!), I’m pulling from Goodreads descriptions. A couple titles don’t yet have Amazon links, so I’ve noted that and linked to Goodreads for you to add to your own to-read.

Running by Natalia Sylvester (May 5)

When fifteen-year-old Cuban American Mariana Ruiz’s father runs for president, Mari starts to see him with new eyes. A novel about waking up and standing up, and what happens when you stop seeing your dad as your hero—while the whole country is watching.

In this thoughtful, authentic, humorous, and gorgeously written novel about privacy, waking up, and speaking up, Senator Anthony Ruiz is running for president. Throughout his successful political career he has always had his daughter’s vote, but a presidential campaign brings a whole new level of scrutiny to sheltered fifteen-year-old Mariana and the rest of her Cuban American family, from a 60 Minutes–style tour of their house to tabloids doctoring photos and inventing scandals. As tensions rise within the Ruiz family, Mari begins to learn about the details of her father’s political positions, and she realizes that her father is not the man she thought he was.

But how do you find your voice when everyone’s watching? When it means disagreeing with your father—publicly? What do you do when your dad stops being your hero? Will Mari get a chance to confront her father? If she does, will she have the courage to seize it?

The State of Us by Shaun David Hutchinson (July 1, Goodreads)

The story of Dean and Dre—the 16-year-old sons of the Republican and Democratic candidates for President of the United States—who fall in love on the sidelines of their parents’ presidential campaigns.

 

The Voting Booth by Brandy Colbert (July 7, Goodreads)

Marva Sheridan was born ready for this day. She’s always been driven to make a difference in the world, and what better way than to vote in her first election?

Duke Crenshaw is so done with this election. He just wants to get voting over with so he can prepare for his band’s first paying gig tonight. Only problem? Duke can’t vote.

When Marva sees Duke turned away from their polling place, she takes it upon herself to make sure his vote is counted. She hasn’t spent months doorbelling and registering voters just to see someone denied their right.

And that’s how their whirlwind day begins, rushing from precinct to precinct, cutting school, waiting in endless lines, turned away time and again, trying to do one simple thing: vote. They may have started out as strangers, but as Duke and Marva team up to beat a rigged system (and find Marva’s missing cat), it’s clear that there’s more to their connection than a shared mission for democracy.

Romantic and triumphant, The Voting Booth is proof that you can’t sit around waiting for the world to change . . . but some things are meant are meant to be.

Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed (February 4)

YES
Jamie Goldberg is cool with volunteering for his local state senate candidate—as long as he’s behind the scenes. When it comes to speaking to strangers (or, let’s face it, speaking at allto almost anyone), Jamie’s a choke artist. There’s no way he’d ever knock on doors to ask people for their votes…until he meets Maya.

NO
Maya Rehman’s having the worst Ramadan ever. Her best friend is too busy to hang out, her summer trip is canceled, and now her parents are separating. Why her mother thinks the solution to her problems is political canvassing—with some awkward dude she hardly knows—is beyond her.

MAYBE SO
Going door to door isn’t exactly glamorous, but maybe it’s not the worst thing in the world. After all, the polls are getting closer—and so are Maya and Jamie. Mastering local activism is one thing. Navigating the cross-cultural romance of the century is another thing entirely.

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Thanks for hanging out, and 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.

Hey YA Fans!

Let’s catch up on the latest in YA book news. It might better be known this week as YA adaptation news, since so much of the news is about potential — and in-production — YA books being adapted for the screen.

• For fans of Rainbow Rowell’s “Simon Snow” books, there’s a third one in the works.
• Love Kiera Cass’s books? She’s got a new duology coming.
• Gabi, A Girl In Pieces is one of my favorite YA books, so this news about an HBO drama is awesome.
• Let It Snow, based on the book of interconnected short stories by Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Lauren Myracle, will hit Netflix very, very soon.
• K-Pop star Jessica Jung has a YA book deal.
• A Wattpad YA book that’s extremely popular on the platform has been optioned for film.
• The Unstoppable Wasp YA novel coming next year has a few more details made public.
• More casting news for the Unpregnant adaptation. This book is so good, and I hope all of the news about the film brings more people to the novel.
• Dash and Lily, cowritten by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn, is going to get the television adaptation treatment. I wonder if Levithan might be the most adapted YA writer?
• There’s now a director attached to the adaptation of Jandy Nelson’s The Sky Is Everywhere.
• A Catholic boarding school themed novel out next summer already has adaptation news, too.
• Casting news for the adaptation of Lauren Oliver’s Panic.
• If you’re enjoying John Green’s Looking for Alaska on Hulu, you’ll like the recaps by librarian and YA enthusiast Sophie Brookover on Vulture.
• Karen McManus will have two books out next year — the sequel to One of Us Is Lying and this just-announced book. Looks like one for fans of E. Lockhart’s We Were Liars. (The thriller trend in YA is holding strong).
• Werewolves! A story of an undocumented immigrant! Menstruation! This book sounds amazing.

 

Love the Abhorsen books by Garth Nix? Don your fandom with this Abhorsen’s bells shirt. $29 and up.

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Thanks for hanging out, and we’ll see you again on Monday with a look at the rise of politics in YA novels.

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

Hey YA Lovers!

Let’s wear our heart on our sleeves and denim jackets and tote bags with these rad YA enamel pins.

(You’ve seen that cover trend this year, right? It’s a great one!).

Enamel pins are my favorite. They’re generally $10 or under, and they’re so adaptable. It’s likely I’ve shared a few of these before, either here in this newsletter or on Book Riot, but they’re so good, I can’t resist.

Marie Lu’s The Young Elites, but in enamel pin form. $10.50.

Wear the motto of His Fair Assassin for $12.

 

This King of Scars pin is so striking, and that quote just excellent. $10.

 

 

For all of the Caraval fans out there, a pair of perfect pins. $22 for both.

 

 

Sport this sweet little pin from To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before while you wait for the second book to hit Netflix. $10.

 

You can own a whole set of pins inspired by Illuminae for just $35.

 

“Safe as life,” Gansey replied, for all of the Raven Cycle fans. $11.50.

Last, but definitely not least, a pin in honor of The Children of Blood and Bone. $10.

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Thanks for hanging out, and we’ll see you on Thursday with some YA book news!

Hey YA Readers!

Your weekend needs some new, cheap ebooks. Here’s a roundup of some of the best YA ebook deals going now. Prices are current as of Friday morning.

Grab Nic Stone’s vital Dear Martin for $2.

• Emily Lloyd-Jones’s The Bone Houses, which looks excellently creepy, is $3.
• If you’re looking for something perfect for the spooky season, grab Kiersten White’s The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein for $2.
• Roshani Chokski’s first book The Star-Touched Queen is $3. Perfect if you love lush fantasy and romance.
• Want a take on the serial killer story? Barry Lyga’s I Hunt Killers would be a great pick. $2.
• Neal Shusterman’s Bruiser is $3.
• Brigadoon, but for YA readers? You can have it in Doon by Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon for $2.
• “Black Swan meets Paranormal Activity” is the pitch for The Dark Beneath Ice by Amelinda Bérubé. $2.
• Amish horror? Indeed. Pick up Laura Bickle’s The Hallowed Ones for $3.

Nova Ren Suma’s deliciously creepy The Walls Around Us is $2.

• Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller’s Otherworld is comped to Ready Player One. Snag it for $2.
• Teens competing to go to Jupiter? That sounds awesome. Alexandra Monir’s The Final Six is $2.
• Bree Barton’s Heart of Thorns is $2.
• If you need a vampire fix, Vampire Academy‘s first book is $3.
• Cynthia Leitich Smith’s Hearts Unbroken, which is a fabulous #OwnVoices novel, is about bigotry, cultural heritage, and acts of resistance. $3.

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

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

Hey YA Readers!

Let’s catch up with the latest book talk over on Book Riot the last few weeks.

• Here are the 2020 YA books to movies to read before you see.
• Take this fun Harry Potter Enneagram quiz.
• Speaking of Enneagram, here’s how the Baby-Sitters Club members shake out.
• These YA books about basketball are a slam dunk.
• Find your kindred spirit in these YA books about book lovers.
• It’s a Clue-style quiz, but based on your favorite YA books.
• There’s a Nancy Drew game for every kind of mood.
• Do you agree/disagree/have no dog in the fight over this (non-definitive) list of best YA authors?
• Curious about the work of Meg Cabot but don’t know where to begin? We’ve got a reading guide for you.
• A collection of cowritten YA books. Want more? We’ve got more!
• Did you see the cast photo release for the adaptation of Shadow and Bone?
• Over 90 (!) YA books hitting shelves this fall.
• Then go ahead and add these YA comics and graphic novels to your fall TBR, too.
• Just because Hispanic Heritage Month is over doesn’t mean great books by Latinx writers don’t deserve your attention. Here are some excellent YA books by Latinx authors.
• New bisexual and lesbian YA books for your TBR.
• Want some writing advice? These YA authors can help you out!
• Let these YA books get you in the fall mood.
• Last, but not least, add some YA books by authors of color to your reading life.

Do you need a Tahereh Mafi vinyl sticker in your life? You can grab one for $5.

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Thanks for hanging out, and we’ll see you on Saturday with some great ebook deals!

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

Hey YA Readers!

Let’s not slice this the wrong way. I’ve come across a YA book cover mystery that I cannot understand. I’ve reached out to fellow Book Rioters but it turns out, this is a big piece of surprise.

On YA book covers, we’re not surprised to see any of the following:

Coffee/Tea/Other Caffeinated Beverages

Coffeehouse Angel by Suzanne Selfors, The Latte Rebellion by Sarah Jamila Stevenson, and When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon are, of course, just three out of many books with caffeinated drinks on YA covers.

Ice Cream

Ice cream is a YA book cover staple. For your sampling purposes, Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch, Stay Sweet by Siobhan Vivian, and The Summer of Firsts and Lasts by Terra Elan McVoy.

Baked Goods

There are so many YA books featuring backed goods on their covers and every year, we see this pop up more. The selection here includes donuts on Donut Days by Lara Zielin, The Art of French Kissing by Brianna Schaum and macarons, and a sugar cookie on Sara Zarr’s Sweethearts.

Fruit

We’ve got fruit on YA book covers, include on Orchards by Holly Thomas, With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo, and Small Damages by Beth Kephart.

Fruit Sub Category: Apples

Thank Twilight for the fact we have a subcategory of fruit on YA book covers with apples.

This selection includes Bad Apple by Laura Ruby, Tear You Apart by Sarah Cross, and Winter by Marissa Meyer.

(I could easily subcategory peaches here, too!)

More YA Food Covers

This is, of course, far from comprehensive when it comes to food on YA book covers, but a few more worth chewing on (heh) are the animal crackers on All That I Can Fix by Crystal Chan, the pho on Hungry Hearts, and the toast on Heretics Anonymous by Katie Henry.

October is National Pizza Month, and I was all excited to do a roundup of awesome YA book covers featuring pizza.

Except….

There is not a single YA book published with a traditional publisher featuring pizza on the cover.

For what is a staple food — something near universally loved and able to be adapted for so many dietary requirements — it’s sure strange to see none of it on a YA book cover.

Stranger still is that the two YA books with “Pizza” in the title also do not have pizza on the cover.

Is there pizza grease on the cover of Greg Taylor’s Killer Pizza? Sure. Is it a pizza box? Also sure. But no actual pizza is on the cover. Same goes for Kathryn Williams’s Pizza, Love, and Other Stuff That Made Me Famous.

Where’s the pizza? Where’s the sauce? The argument-inducing pineapple-topped pizza (which, for the record, can be delicious!).

This is a YA mystery I cannot solve, though it’s one that leaves me wondering.

Until next time, YA readers — grab yourself a slice of your favorite pie and question everything you thought you knew about YA book covers.

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

Hey YA Readers!

Let’s talk about all things spooky. Or, more specifically, let’s talk about why it is teen readers seem to love scary books.

I’m always fascinated by the passion teen readers have for all things scary. I was one of those teens, and I worked with those teens in libraries — and I’ve heard from them time and time again in my author life, too. Why is that? What is it that makes horror so appealing to teen readers?

To get an answer, I reached out to a handful of incredible YA authors who are writing horror to see if they had any insight. Of course they did!

The authors who responded are but a small fraction of the diverse range of voices writing horror in YA, which continues to offer incredible titles year after year. All of the authors below have penned multiple horror titles themselves.

So: why do teens love horror?

Amelinda Bérubé, author of Here There Are Monsters

Daniel Kraus, author of Bent Heavens (February 2020)

The two most powerful, primeval emotions, especially for teens, are lust and fear. Teens seek out more of both and want to experiment. My tiny role in that ritual is to provide inroads into fear that are intelligent and complex, and are going to make readers grapple with their feelings in more sophisticated way.

There’s room for all levels of horror. I tend to work at the extreme end. I want a teen to pick up a book of mine and feel like it’s a dangerous object. I want them to read it and know the author isn’t trying to “protect” them. Look, it’s a book — if it burns, they’ll drop it. Otherwise, they’re going to find me pushing, and they might have to push back, and in the process they’re going to learn something about themselves. You get the right reader, this pushing match can make them stronger. It can change lives. I’m not fucking around.

Micol Ostow, author of The Devil and Winnie Flynn

If horror as a genre is about an externalized, socially-approved manifestation of our innermost fears, then how could it not particularly appeal to teens? Young adult fiction is so resonant precisely because of the passionate, unique emotional moment of being a teenager, and specifically dealing with the horrors of societal expectations and pressures, the mortal flaws of our most formative authority figures, and even the betrayal of our own bodies in unexplainable, uncontrollable ways.

The terrifying truth is: if horror is discomfiting, it is no more discomfiting than life itself, and perhaps at no point in time more so than during young adulthood. For me, at least, the visceral but wholly metaphorical traumas depicted in horror have always been infinitely more compelling than my own teenaged nightmares.

Rebecca Schaeffer, author of Not Even Bones

I think horror has a number of different facets that appeal to readers. Horror as a genre, especially in YA, is incredibly character driven. There’s nothing quite like edge of your seat life-threatening terror to force characters to face their own inner demons. The best horror uses the ‘monster’ as a dark reflection of the main character’s personal flaws and failures, and overcoming it helps them also come to critical realizations about themselves. There’s something very powerful about having a physical manifestation of a character’s flaws that they have to fight, as is typical in the horror genre.

The other reason I think it appeals to readers how viscerally engaging fast-paced books are. You see a similar atmosphere in thrillers, a feeling that you have to keep going, you need to find out what happens next. They’re both genres that keep you on the edge of your seat the whole read, paced so that you can’t put them down for fear something terrible is waiting just around the corner for the character. This kind of style creates highly addictive reads.

In horror, the combination of the fast pacing, terrifying monsters, and vivid character arcs combine to make an extremely appealing genre.

Amy Lukavics, author of Nightingale

I can only speak to my own experiences, but as a teen I found horror weirdly comforting in the fact that it focused on darker aspects of humanity that were otherwise ignored (but not forgotten.) I appreciated the heavy themes and dark, morbid descriptions, which I didn’t view as gratuitous, but rather brave in their willingness to speak the grisly truth, societal norms be damned. Horror can provide a safe haven to sort through the tangle of questions and concerns we have about each other and ourselves, and additionally, it always felt nice to get lost in stories of pretend suffering in order to forget about my own. My favorite YA horror novel would probably have to be Bleeding Earth by Kaitlin Ward, followed by Through the Woods by Emily Carroll, This Is Not a Test by Courtney Summers, and In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters. And while it hasn’t released yet, I am so excited for and intrigued by the upcoming Jennifer Strange by Cat Scully.

Kate Alice Marshall, author of Rules for Vanishing

Horror is a genre that thrives in liminal spaces—the in-between places. Doorways, dusk, roads, the edges where wilderness and civilization intersect. Ghosts, zombies, and vampires all occupy the in-between space between life and death. It’s in these gaps that uncertainty and change thrive—and what stage of life is more full of uncertainty and change than adolescence? Teens occupy the ultimate liminal space. The youngest teens are leaving childhood behind; the oldest teens are entering adulthood, ready or not. Teens are leaving one world and entering another, but there’s no clear boundary between them. And horror is all about taking muddled boundaries, confusion, and transformation, and delving into the darkest possibilities it holds.

I think that horror and its relatives hold a special thrill for teens because the themes of uncertainty, rules, and transgression speak so strongly to the teen experience. And because there’s a whole adult world waiting for them, full of very real danger, uncertainty and fear—but within the pages of a book, the fear is knowable. It can be conquered—or it can conquer you—but at the end of the story, you get to close the book and move on. It gives you a chance to engage with the uncertainty of the world waiting for you without the danger of getting lost in it.

Jimmy Cajoleas, author of Minor Prophets

First off, horror novels are really, really, really fun to read. I mean, who doesn’t love being scared, at least a little bit? Some of the happiest moments of my childhood were lying in my bedroom late into the night, reading Stephen King or Lois Duncan, daring myself to turn the next page.

But if I can take it a step further. The great horror film director Stuart Gordon once said, “When you look at most horror movies, they’re about an impossible dream.” I think horror novels are the same. They’re about the dreams of the storyteller, the mysteries of the heart laid bare in all of their terror and wonder. In this way, horror for me has always been a way to look inward, to confront the parts of ourselves and the world that we fear the most. That’s why I find horror to be so comforting. More than anything, even the bleakest of horror novels carry a kind of hope with them, a recognition that we live in a mysterious, unknowable world full of secrets, surrounded by people who are just as mysterious and unknowable. The world really isn’t as it seems. And that means anything is possible, anything at all.

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I don’t know about you, but just reading this makes me want to pick up every YA horror book right now. May I recommend some YA witch stories or YA ghost books?

Thank you to the authors above for such fabulous insight.

Thanks for hanging out, and we’ll see you next week!

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

Hey YA Fans!

Let’s catch up on the fast-and-furiously coming YA book news. There has been some big stuff in such a short period of time since the last news round-up.

• This is exciting! Author/artist Mariko Tamaki is heading up a new imprint that will focus on LGBTQIA+ graphic novels for young readers (including teens). Check out some of the first books to hit.
• Rena Barron — who wrote a newsletter here last month — had her debut novel acquired for potential film by Michael B. Jordan.
• Julie Murphy writing a novelization of the Faith comic is the best news. Fat heroines by fat authors = win win win win win.
• Peep the cast of the upcoming Shadow and Bone adaptation.
• Wil Wheton is performing a new edition of John Green’s Looking for Alaska.
• More casting news for the Tiny Pretty Things Netflix adaptation.
• Speaking of casting news, here’s some for the adaptation of Unpregnant.
• There’s a producer attached to the adaptation of Aurora Rising. 
• I did not know that Snapchat had their own video platform (like Facebook does) but it does, and the adaptation of the YA book The Dead Girl’s Detective Agency was renewed for a fourth season.
• Speaking of Snapchat adaptations, here’s a neat piece going behind the scenes with Lance Rubin, who is seeing one of his novels adapted for the platform.
• A Little Women adaptation for today’s teens?
• There’s a spring 2021YA book by a 19-year-old author coming that’s already been optioned for film.
• Some news about the pilot of the adaptation for One Of Us Is Lying. 
• A song from Dear Evan Hansen — a show which was made into a YA book this year — will be made into a gift book angled for teen readers.
• There won’t be a second season of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists.
• Archie comics — which have had novelizations made from them (via Riverdale) — will be coming out with YA graphic novels now.
• This whole “comic –> book –> comic” thing is fascinating me, as it’s a trend in YA. We’ll see it happen with Batman and Wonder Woman, which were made into novels recently and will be made into YA comics now.
• Tom Ryan’s Keep This To Yourself might hit a television near you. (Remember when he chatted Norma Klein with me this summer on Hey YA?)
• Nancy Drew on the CW hits this week. Nancy is played by the daughter of YA author Lisa McMann.
• Remember The House of Night series? It’s being adapted.

 

For Caraval fans, you’ll want these great enamel pins. $11 and up.

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Thanks for hanging out, and we’ll see you later this week, where we’ll talk with several YA authors who write horror about why it is teen readers love to be scared.

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