Category: What’s Up in YA

Hey YA Readers! Let’s catch up on all things YA book talk.

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Penguin Teen.

Seventeen-year-old Keralie may seem harmless, but she’s, one of Quadara’s most skilled thieves and a liar. Varin, is an honest, upstanding citizen of Quadara’s most enlightened region, Eonia. They both find themselves entangled in a conspiracy that leaves all four of Quadara’s queens dead. The two decide to join forces to discover who has killed the queens and save their own lives. When their reluctant partnership blooms into a tenuous romance, they must overcome their own dark secrets in hopes of a future together. But first they have to stay alive and untangle the secrets behind the nation’s four dead queens.

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February may be a short month, but does it feel like the longest month to anyone else? Let’s start to wrap up these year-long 28-days with a look back at some of the YA talk we’ve had on Book Riot.

• You’ll be adding these 2019 bisexual YA books to your TBR so fast.
• Check out the 50 states of YA fiction: one book for each state.
• Over 50 must-read YA nonfiction books.
• Enjoy some YA Jane Austen retellings.
• Check out some of these gorgeous YA book cover makeovers. This list isn’t all YA, but there are great ones on there.
• Diverse YA historical fiction reads.
• 9 dark YA fantasy novels.
• Anne of Green Gables is turning into a ballet, and we’ve got some ideas of other books — including YA titles — that’d make for great ballets.
• We’ve got an interview with Gita Trelease about her new book Enchantée.
• Speaking of interviews, we’ve also got one with Katie McGarry.
• Continue with this interview with Tanaz Bhathena on her new novel The Beauty of the Moment.
• Dig into the winners of the first annual Summer Scares horror honor, including a slate of great YA titles (disclosure: I chaired that committee, and these three titles rock).
• Love the enemies-to-lovers trope in your romance reads? Here are some YA titles that fit the bill.
• These YA books pair well with your favorite snack.
• Don’t miss the trailer for The Sun Is Also A Star.
• Have you read any of these underrated YA books?
• An excellent piece on the interfaith message of Katie Henry’s book Heretics Anonymous. Eric and I talked a little bit about this book — specifically its cover — on the latest Hey YA episode.

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Recent Book Mail

Take a peek at the recent titles that have hit my inbox. Listed from top to bottom:

 

If You’re Out There by Katy Loutzenhiser

Chicken Girl by Heather Smith

This Book Is Not Yet Rated by Peter Bognanni

The Art of Breaking Things by Laura Sibson

Fly Girls by Keith O’Brien

The Art of Losing by Lizzy Mason

We Are The Perfect Girl by Ariel Kaplan

Immoral Code by Lillian Clark

These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling

Cold Day in the Sun by Sara Biren

No One Here Is Lonely by Sarah Everett

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez (paperback)

Girl Mogul: Dream It, Do It, Change The World by Tiffany Pham

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Thanks for hanging out, and we’ll see you later this week with a fabulous interview.

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

Happy weekend, YA fans!

Let’s highlight a handful of outstanding YA ebook deals. All are current as of Friday morning, February 22, and all are $5 or under.

• Looking to kick off a fantasy series? Jennifer A. Neilson’s The False Prince is $5. You can also score the first book in one of her other series, The Traitor’s Game, for $2.
• Annie Sullivan’s A Touch of Gold is $1. This is a riff on King Midas.

Let’s call this the “fantasy YA books are deals” roundup. Makiia Lucier’s Isle of Blood and Stone is $2.

• Want the start of a fairy tale inspired fantasy series? Soman Chainani’s The School of Good and Evil is $2.
• Start a political thriller with Jennifer Lynn Barnes’s The Naturals for $2.
• Spend $5 and get the first book in Robin LaFevers’s “His Fair Assassins” series, Grave Mercy.
• For contemporary fans, Laurie Devore’s How To Break A Boy is $3.
• Want something fun? Try Prince in Disguise by Stephanie Kate Strohm for $3.
• Katie Cotugno’s first book How To Love is $2.

Going to keep sharing this book while it’s such a steal. Pick up Calling My Name by Liara Tamani. $2.

• Don’t miss out on the $2 gem Tell Me Again How A Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan.
• I like unlikable female characters (whatever that means) and Frankie by Shivaun Plozza offers up a good one. $3.
• And for readers itching for something really different in the YA world, try Sarah Nicole Lemon’s Done Dirt Cheap for $4.50.

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

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

Hey YA Readers: Grab your TBR list and ready your writing implements!

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Soho Teen.

A drunken mistake. A life-changing accident. The bonds of sisterhood are tested by addiction and a crushing betrayal in Lizzy Mason’s debut. When 17-year-old Harley Langston sees her boyfriend kissing her sister Audrey at a house party, she’s furious. But when her boyfriend drunkenly tries to drive Audrey home, he crashes leaving Audrey in a coma. Adrift in a sea of guilt, grief, and anger, Harley is surprised to reconnect with Raf, an old friend just out of rehab. As Audrey recovers, Harley can see a path forward with Raf’s help—one guided by honesty and forgiveness.

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We kicked off Black History Month by looking at some fabulous YA titles hitting shelves by male-identifying black authors. Let’s now highlight some of the YA by black female-identifying authors hitting shelves this year. I’ve used pronouns as found on author websites to make these identifications.

There are a pile of sequels hitting shelves this year, and I’ve not included them below. But that doesn’t mean you should sleep on titles like Children of Virtue and Vice by Tomi Adeyemi, A Dream So Dark by LL McKinney, or The Everlasting Rose by Dhonielle Clayton. This list is also not meant to be comprehensive.

Some of the books below don’t yet have preorder availability, so in those cases, I’ve linked to Goodreads for more detailed descriptions.

Girls Like Us by Randi Pink (October 29)

We’re getting a few books about teen pregnancy and about the challenges of abortion access (thanks, current political climate!). This one follows four girls in 1972 dealing with unwanted pregnancy and what they can — and cannot — do about their situations.

 

I Wanna Be Where You Are by Kristina Forest (June 4)

If you like road trip books, this one will be a winner. It follows a girl whose mom forbids her from trying out for the dance conservatory, but she chooses to hop in the car and attend a tryout anyway…when her neighbor and his dog insist they join along, or he’ll tell Chloe’s mom what she’s up to.

 

If It Makes You Happy by Claire Kann (June 4)

A story about a girl who has graduated from high school, the summer she spends working her grandma’s diner that she hopes to inherit, a fatphobic small town, and a need to make money in order to fulfill her dream. Also, a moment to just !! about that cover.

 

Let Me Hear A Rhyme by Tiffany D. Jackson (May 21)

When Steph is killed, his music career could be buried with him. But his friends come to the rescue, creating a persona for the sound and they have everyone in their Brooklyn neighborhood hooked on his rap style. But when the music catches some bigger attention, the trio of friends have to figure out whether to tell the truth or continue to play the part of The Architect.

On The Come Up by Angie Thomas (available now)

If you haven’t picked up Thomas’s new New York Times Bestselling novel, do it now. It’s about a young teen rap artist navigating her father’s legacy and cutting her own teeth in the industry.

 

 

The Revolution of Birdie Randolph by Brandy Colbert (August 20)

Birdie has always been the perfect daughter, but when she begins dating a boy who has a troubled past and her aunt, who also has a troubled past, shows up at her family’s home, Birdie begins to push her boundaries bit by bit. How will she react, then, when a long-held family secret comes to light, destroying everything she thought she knew about her life?

The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus (September 17)

There’s not a cover for this one yet, but get it on your radar. The story follows two very different girls — one in Trinidad and one in Minneapolis — who are brought together and find themselves falling in love with one another.

The Weight of Stars by K. Ancrum (March 19)

If you want a slow-burn romance, featuring space travel, longing, grief, and adventure, you’ll want to pick this one up. This is a queer romance between a girl from a trailer park and a girl whose mother is an astronaut who volunteered to travel one-way to the edge of the solar system.

When The Stars Lead To You by Ronni Davis (November 19)

If you love stories of first love — and first loss — this is a book to get on your radar. After a magical summer of romance with Ashton ends with loss, Devon slowly pulls herself back together. But when Ashton shows up again in her life, will she ever be able to heal? Will she allow herself to fall in love again?

With The Fire On High by Elizabeth Acevedo (May 7)

Emoni Santiago is in charge of her daughter, as well as her abuela, and though she’s only a senior in high school, she’s forced to be an adult. Her comfort? It comes in the kitchen, where she finds herself falling in love with cooking. But can she make a future of it?

 

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Hope you found some excellent new reads here! We’ll see you again next week with some news, some links, and a really fabulous interview.

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

Let’s dig into anthologies today, YA fans!

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Spectacle by Jodie Lynn Zdrok.

Paris, 1887. Sixteen-year-old Nathalie Baudin writes the daily morgue column for Le Petit Journal. A task she finds both fascinating and routine. That is, until she has a vision of a young woman being murdered—from the perspective of the murderer. Nathalie’s search for answers sends her down a winding road involving her mentally ill aunt, a brilliant but deluded scientist, and eventually into the Parisian Catacombs. As the killer haunts Paris, it becomes clear that Nathalie may be the only one who can discover the killer’s identity—and she’ll have to do it before she becomes a target herself.

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Inspired by a recent cover reveal for an amazing-sounding anthology (it’s below!), I thought it’d be worthwhile to spotlight a handful of great YA short story anthologies. These are inclusive, wide-ranging collections featuring an array of voices.

What I love about anthologies — and why I like editing them myself — is discovering new writers right along side some of my long time favorites. All of the collections below marry the new with the seasoned.

I’ve been asked before, too, whether or not anthologies really appeal to teenagers, and to that I always say: remember the beauty of an anthology is there’s never pressure to read the whole thing nor read it cover to cover. You can read stories here and there. You can skip ones you don’t connect with. And you can read them over the course of months without feeling you’ll miss anything. Anthologies are meant to offer variety, meaning that it’s likely for every reader, some stories will be knockouts and others will fall flat. This is how they’re designed. It’s what makes them such cool books.

These are recent titles, as well as forthcoming titles, and titles from the back list. Get ready to get your read on.

All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages edited by Saundra Mitchell

Looking for short historical fiction but from the perspective of queer teens? Then this is the perfect anthology. Contributors include authors like Malinda Lo, Shaun David Hutchinson, Kody Keplinger, Sara Farizan, and more.

 

Black Enough: Stories of Being Young and Black in America edited by Ibi Zoboi

Kekla Magoon, Jason Reynolds, Brandy Colbert, Nic Stone, and a host of other incredible authors write stories about what it’s like to be black in America. The stories span so many topics and settings, with rich, powerful voices.

 

Color Outside The Lines edited by Sangu Mandanna (November 12, 2019)

If you’re into romance and stories about relationships, this collection will be of total interest. Each of the stories are about interracial relationships and the ups, downs, and in betweens of them. Authors include Samira Ahmed, Eric Smith, Adam Silvera, and more.

 

Fresh Ink edited by Lamar Giles

This anthology, done in partnership with the We Need Diverse Books organization, amplifies thirteen voices telling diverse stories. Not only is the array of contributors amazing, but there’s a never-before-seen one act play by Walter Dean Myers as well.

 

 

It’s A Whole Spiel edited by Katherine Locke and Laura Silverman (September 17, 2019)

This anthology is the first all-Jewish centered YA anthology and it’s long past due. The cover looks fabulous, and the contributor list sounds equally as fabulous. Authors include Nova Ren Suma, Adi Alsaid, Alex London, and more.

 

Open Mic: Riffs on Life Between Cultures in Ten Voices edited by Mitali Perkins

An oldie but a goodie! This anthology focuses on teens growing up between cultures and features stories from authors like G. Neri, Gene Luen Yang, Francisco X Stork, and more.

 

 

Take The Mic: Fictional Stories of Everyday Resistance edited by Bethany C. Marrow (October 1, 2019)

This anthology sounds not only awesome but also wildly necessary. It’s a collection of short stories about everyday resistance, including what it’s like to stand up to online trolls, what it’s like to be disabled and cute and own it, and so much more. Authors include Jason Reynolds, Samira Ahmed, Keah Brown, and more.

Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens edited by Marieke Nijkamp

This #ownvoices anthology gives disabled teens the spotlight and allows them to be the center of their own stories. Authors include Heidi Heilig, Dhonielle Clayton, Kody Keplinger, and more.

 

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Thanks for hanging out & we’ll see you again later this week!

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

Hey YA Readers: Let’s catch up on the latest YA news.

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Tor Teen.

Raider. Protector. Bloodwitch. Aeduan. Every story has two sides. Fans of Susan Dennard’s New York Times bestselling Witchlands series have fallen in love with the Bloodwitch Aeduan. Now, finally, comes his story.

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Lots of awesome-sounding book cover and descriptions have hit the internet, as has some other great YA news.

• Audiobook Sync, a program that runs from April to July, offers up 2 free audiobooks every week. The list of titles was just released, so get all of these on your calendar. So many great YA books here! (Suddenly, the title of the newsletter makes sense!)
• Here’s a preview of Veronica Roth’s upcoming YA short story collection. I can’t think of many YA authors who’ve released their own short story collections (note to self: potential newsletter topic!).
• Ferryman is an upcoming YA novel getting the adaptation treatment.
• The trailer for The Sun Is Also A Star is here!
• In news for another Yoon, here’s the cover for David Yoon’s upcoming YA novel and a little of what it’s about.
• This anthology of Jewish fiction for YA readers look fantastic.
• I don’t necessarily think Anne of Green Gables is YA (I think it’s middle grade, right on that border), but this news is fun and worth sharing: the US will get to see a ballet adaptation of the story.
• So many gorgeous covers and descriptions for Harper Collins’s Fall 2019 YA books.
• Do you have the new Maggie Stiefvater book on your radar for this fall?
• While we’re on the topic of Fall 2019, check out the previews for many of the titles coming your way.
• The Grimm Legacy might see its way to the screen.
• I wish instead of publishing more of these mini books, that we’d get mass market paperbacks for teen readers.
• Add some YA books to your TBR that explore black history.

 

Recent Book Mail…

From top to bottom, here’s a peek at some of the titles that have hit my inbox lately.

Night Music by Jenn Marie Thorne

StepSister by Jennifer Donnelly

The Wise and the Wicked by Rebecca Podos

Missing, Presumed Dead by Emma Berquist

The Missing Season by Gillian French

With The Fire On High by Elizabeth Acevedo

Let Me Hear A Rhyme by Tiffany D. Jackson

Brave Face by Shaun David Hutchinson

 

A Blast From The Past…

Just for fun, here are a few posts from Book Riot of years past. Discover your next favorite back list read here.

• 10 YA books set in the 90s.
• 10 YA thrillers for fans of One Of Us Is Lying.
• 100 short YA novels under 250 pages.
• 100 must-read books for feminists and feminists-in-training.
• LGBTQ sci-fi and fantasy by #ownvoices authors.
• Excellent under the radar YA fantasy reads.
• Why tough YA books are so important.  
• Enjoy some unique time travel fantasy reads. 
• Physics! YA books that love physics! 
• From 2014 — before it was cool to do this — an apology to Bella Swan. 

 

 

Check out these gorgeous YA tarot cards. Even more are in the shop.

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

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

Hey YA Readers! We’ve got a treat today.

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Tor Teen.

Welcome to Vale Hall, the school for aspiring con artists. When Brynn Hilder is recruited to Vale, it seems like the elite academy is her chance to start over, away from her rundown neighborhood. She soon learns that Vale didn’t choose her for her scholastic talent, but for her experience conning rich kids out of their allowances. At first, Brynn jumps at the chance to help the school rid the city of corrupt officials. That’s before she meets her mark—a senator’s son—and before she discovers the school’s headmaster has secrets he’ll stop at nothing to protect.

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The moment I finished reading Watch Us Rise by Renée Watson and Ellen Hagan, I knew I needed to talk with this tremendous duo about their collaboration. The book, out tomorrow (February 12), takes everything that I loved about Jennifer Mathieu’s Moxie and amps it up even more. It’s an intersectional feminist YA anthem in the form of a book, featuring intersections of race, gender, sexuality, body size, class, and more, all woven brilliantly around poetry and performance.

The story is set in a high school that, by all means, should be progressive. And in many ways, it is. But the main characters recognize where the holes are and step forward to enlighten the rest of their community. We as readers cheer, of course, but not everyone in their world does, despite the fact that they should.

Though it doesn’t take on every instance of social justice or feminism — that would be downright impossible — what this book does is showcase the possibility and the breadth of why feminism matters and why it is something for which everyone should advocate. Watson and Hagan get bonus points for highlighting Native women and their erasure, too, as this might be the first time in a book by non-Native writers where I’ve seen such careful attention paid to that, without co-opting those challenges as their own.

Smart, well-written, and will resonate hard, especially with young readers growing up in the Parkland generation. This book is a love song and boost of encouragement to get out there, make change, and embrace being the messy, imperfect humans that make up the movement.

But rather than continue praising this book, I’m excited and honored to turn it over to Renée and Ellen, who offer up insights into the creation of the book and more (bonus: there’s something awesome and exclusive for you to enjoy at the end of this interview). They’re interviewing each other, so this is extra fun as a reader.

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Ellen Hagan: Renée – Watch Us Rise is coming out on February 12th, and I am getting so excited for it to be in the hands of readers – especially young people. I’m looking forward to the conversations, actions, poems that I hope it inspires. When I think about what this book means in the time that we’re living – with the MeToo movement, the Women’s March and so many women rising up – in publishing, media, Hollywood and Congress – I get emotional thinking about the power we have if we work collectively. I think about the women who have inspired and propelled us forward and about the kind of woman I want to be to my daughters. It makes me feel fired up and thrilled to be doing this work with you. As the publication date gets closer, how are you feeling!?

Renée Watson: Well, I’m always nervous when a new book is coming out. But I am excited as well. I’m especially looking forward to having conversations with young girls about the various communities they belong to, the intersections of their identities. This is a time for speaking up and I am ready to listen to what young people have to say. I hope the book ignites something in young people. I hope they write poems and make art and put on record who they are, how they feel. One of the greatest gifts given to me as a teen was poetry. It was such an immediate way for me to express what I was experiencing. I love that more and more we are seeing YA novels that include poetry or are written in verse and are ultimately about girls reclaiming their voices. One book that I think does this so well is Elizabeth Acevedo’s The Poet X. I’m also looking forward to reading Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson.

RW: What were some of the books you read as a teen that really shaped you? Can you talk about some of the feminist poets who inspired you?

EH: In high school I went to this incredible summer program called Governor’s School for the Arts (GSA). Kelly Norman Ellis was the most influential teacher for me. I was already reading Alice Walker, Toni Morrison and Sandra Cisneros, but when I got to GSA, we started reading even more poets and I was introduced to June Jordan’s Poetry for the People: A Revolutionary Blueprint, and there was a chapter called: Rescuing the Canon: Reinventing and Making it Relevant Again (sooo good), and then came Ntozake Shange and Joy Harjo and Marilyn Chin and all of a sudden I started to connect my own feelings about what we were reading in school and what I wanted so desperately to be reading outside of school. I think of Sula by Toni Morrison and how she was creating complex women. I think of Rice by Nikky Finney, which taught me all about writing who you are and where you come from – exploring identity and history. I was also influenced in high school by Crystal Wilkinson and Dorothy Allison and Lee Smith who were writing about the South in a way that really spoke to me – being from Kentucky I was hungry to figure out my place in the world and how to write and create from that space and those writers were doing it.  And then Listen Up: Voices from the Next Feminist Generation, which was on my bedside table for months. I kept returning to the stories in that anthology – stories by Rebecca Walker and Curtis Sittenfeld and how these women from so many different backgrounds were talking about and raging against systems of oppression against them, and they were doing it with stories and words. I was blown away by that. I really identified as a feminist from an early age – 14, 15, and that book was one of the main reasons. It was intersectional feminism and that was transformative for me.

EH: I’m curious to hear what you’re reading currently? As you know I have two young daughters (8 & 5). I’d love to get new ideas for what to read next. And also, I would love to know what you’re working on.

RW: I love that your girls are avid readers. I think they will enjoy the picture book A Song for Gwendolyn Brooks by Alice Faye Duncan and the Jada Jones series by Kelly Starling Lyons. When they’re a little older, I can’t wait for them to read books by Tracey Baptiste, Olugbemisola Rhuday, Nikki Grimes, Jacqueline Woodson and Meg Medina.

After writing Watch Us Rise with you, I finished a middle grade titled Some Places More Than Others. It’s a daddy-daughter story about a girl from Oregon who visits Harlem with her father. The trip uncovers family secrets and a little Harlem history. What I’m most excited about is that this is a story where the main character is a fat girl named Amara but the plot has nothing to do with her weight. Her weight is never described in the story but you see her full body on the cover. I have been thinking a lot about the representation of big bodies. I wanted to push myself to write about a girl who is big but the plot isn’t about that. In Watch Us Rise, Jasmine writes a poem about not having dolls that looked like her. She says, “not even in make believe did girls look like me.” I hope these characters validate fat girls and just as important, I hope people who are not fat take these characters in and walk away with more understanding and compassion. I hope twenty years from now it is more common to have characters in YA and MG that are big with plotlines that go beyond stories about their weight. I hope we continue to see stories about girls who use their voices to resist and that readers not only take in these poems and stories but that they feel compelled to tell their own.

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Exclusive!

Listen to Ellen and Renée perform “Girlhood,” one of the poems from the book. This video is incredible, moving, and such a perfect encapsulation of the book. Click here or on the image below to watch and listen.

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Thank you Ellen, Renée, and to all of you readers. Take the revolution with you, and we’ll see you again later this week!

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

Hey YA Readers!

Let’s fill up your Kindle with some inexpensive reads on this (fill in the blank with your weather) Saturday. If you are looking for books by authors of color and/or titles that are perfect for Black History Month, you’ll find a treasure trove here.

Prices are current as of Friday pm.

• Grab the queer romantic Tell Me Again How A Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan for $2.
• The classic Monster by legendary YA author Walter Dean Myers is $2.
• Want to begin a mystery series? You might like A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro. It’s $2.
• If beginning a fantasy is more your flavor, the first book in Victoria Schwab’s “Monsters of Verity” series, This Savage Song, is $2.
• Snag the first in a series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes for thriller lovers, The Naturals, for $2.
• If you listen to Hey YA (and you should!), you know Eric is obsessed with A Conspiracy of Stars by Olivia A. Cole. It’s $2.
• Everything I’ve read about Nice Try, Jane Sinner screams that it’s a book I’d love. I might need to pick it up for $2.
• Do you know who Claudette Colvin is? If not — and even if you do but want to know more — Phillip Hoose’s Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice is outstanding and only $3.
• Steve Sheinkin’s Port Chicago 50 is worth well more than the $3 price tag.
• A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 by Claire Hartfield just won a Coretta Scott King Award and you can snag it for $3.
• Pick up an anthology about love triangles. Natalie C. Parker’s Three Sides of a Heart is $2.
• One of the most underrated YA books in recent memory is Liana Tamari’s Calling My Name, a story told in vignettes of a young black girl growing up in Houston. Pick it up and make it more well known for $2.
• The fictionalized biography of Malcolm X, X, as told by his daughter and Kekla Magoon, is $2.
• Although it’s a little higher on the price point than I aim for, Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson is worth the $5 and more (psst: she’ll be part of an interview in an upcoming newsletter!).

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See you on Monday!

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

Hey YA Readers: Time for a news catch-up!

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Tor Teen.

Joanna Hathaway’s breathtaking YA debut is action-packed and full of court intrigue. Aurelia is a princess, privileged but shielded from politics. Halfway around the world, Athan, the son of a ruthless general, is a fighter pilot longing for life away from the front lines. When Athan’s mother is killed, his father is convinced it’s the work of his rival—Aurelia’s mother. Determined to avenge his wife’s murder, he devises a plot to overthrow the Queen, a plot which sends Athan undercover. Athan’s mission becomes complicated when he finds himself falling for the very girl he’s been tasked with spying upon.

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The newsletter title is, indeed, a little snarky. But perhaps we can all agree that YA talk and YA news should come from those who actually love and respect the category, right?

That said, let’s take a peek at the wealth of YA news that’s hit the internet in the last few weeks. There’s some big, exciting stuff!

• Angie Thomas’s On The Come Up is getting the adaptation treatment. This is awesome because the book is awesome.
• Here are the winners and honorees for this year’s youth media awards for young adult literature, as awarded by librarians.
• So many great queer YA books to have on your TBR this year.
• Here’s the first look at the adaptation of Nicole Yoon’s The Sun Is Also A Star. 
• We’re getting a Princess Diaries 3.
• A refreshing trend, wherein we see so many awesome fat girls on YA book covers this year.
• There’s a new installment of Foreshadow out! Dig into three great short YA stories.
• Jay Kristoff has a new series coming. It’s for adults, but with YA appeal. And it’s about vampires. I told you vampires were back.
• Surely, you’ve seen some really terrible hot takes on the Blood Heir book and it being pulled by the author. Here’s a not-hot take and instead, the real story.
• Did you see Out of Print/The Book Riot Store now has Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows shirts and totes? Scroll down the main page and you’ll see ’em!
• This upcoming YA book looks pretty good.
• Megan Whalen Turner’s The Return of the Thief was pushed back to 2020.
• Amandla Stenberg talks about the real life pain of The Hate U Give.
• New Star Wars YA books!
• Get some Canadian YA books onto your spring TBR.
• The queer webcomic Mooncakes will be hitting shelves in October.
• Christopher Myers — son of Walter Dean Myers — is launching an imprint and the children’s/YA titles on it are impressive.
• Wattpad is getting into publishing. I’m surprised it took this long!
• A YA television adaptation that’s a take on Anna Karenina but with an Asian American lead? Sweet.
• This list of films at Sundance featuring queer stories includes a YA title I didn’t know was being adapted.
• Are you ready for a Tyra Banks theme park? It’s named after her (not completed!) YA trilogy.

I will now only be responding to the name "Bad Queen," so catch me on my come up and thank you in advance 👊🏾🎤 https://t.co/9etQlT9RE1 pic.twitter.com/6PScOlEzAX

— Epic Reads (@EpicReads) January 22, 2019

What’s your rap name?

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Thanks for hanging out & we’ll see you again soon!

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

 

Hey YA Readers: Let’s highlight some awesome YA books by black male authors to kick off February.

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Audible.

Just for Book Riot readers: sign up for an Audible account, and get two audiobooks free!

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This month, “What’s Up in YA?” will highlight some amazing black YA authors, including an interview, book round-ups (including a look at some books by female-identifying authors hitting shelves in 2019), and more.

In light of a number of awesome books by black male-identifying YA authors hitting shelves this year, let’s talk about a few books by these writers to put on your TBR right now. Some of these are new releases while others are back list reads worth revisiting or picking up for the first time.

Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi

If you’re looking for a fantasy duology, Onyebuchi’s series — both titles available now — will be up your alley. The story is set in a walled city where corrupt mages can draw sins from sinners in the form of a beast. These beasts are lethal. But good mages exist here, too, and they use the power of sin-eaters to keep the beasts at bay. Taj, one of the most talented of these sin-eaters, finds himself smack in the middle of a dark conspiracy attempting to destroy the entire community.

A Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe

What happens when a teen boy from French Canada is plopped deep into the heart of Austin, Texas? He tries to navigate the experience by keeping tabs on how the typical American teenager acts. This funny and awkward read is about a fish out of water and features a flawed and compelling main character.

The Opposite of Always by Justin Reynolds (March 5)

If you’re itching for a book that flirts with genre, this is a winner. Jack and Kate meet at a party and soon they’re best friends, then maybe something more. Except…Kate dies. The story doesn’t end there though, as Jack is taken to the beginning of their relationship and is given the chance to prevent her death. A Groundhog Day style story with romance.

A Place for Wolves by Kosoko Jackson (April 2)

If you’re looking for queer-themed historical thriller, this book should absolutely be on your radar. Pitched as Aristotle and Dante meets Code Name Verity, the story follows two boys whose lives have been shattered by war and how far they’re willing to put them back together — and how much they’re willing to give up to be together. This one is at the top of my TBR and has gotten so much great buzz!

Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles

For readers wanting a Black Lives Matter story, Cole’s wildly underrated debut novel is one to pick up. The story follows Marvin as he unravels what happened to his twin brother Tyler following a party where Tyler’s gone missing.

 

Spin by Lamar Giles

When DJ Parsec is found dead, two of the key suspects are her best friend (they were on the outs) and one of her biggest fans. Neither are the killer, and the story unfolds as the two work together to find out what happened to the up-and-coming star. Compelling, character driven, and a mystery leaves readers guessing until the end.

 

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

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

Hey YA Readers: Let’s check out some amazing upcoming fall YA.

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Epic Reads.

Sera has always felt as if she didn’t quite belong among her people, the Cerulean, who live in the City Above the Sky. She is curious about everything—especially the planet that her City is tethered to and has always longed for the day when the tether will break. But when Sera is chosen as the sacrifice and has to end her own life to break the tether, she feels betrayed. Instead Sera somehow survives, ending up on the planet below. She’s heard tales about the dangerous humans who live here, and she quickly learns that these dangers were not just stories.

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Fall feels like it’s a million months away (and it kind of is!). But there have been a number of amazing-sounding books being highlighted for the fall season, and because it’s always great to know about books well in advance, it seemed fitting to highlight a few.

Find seven awesome books hitting shelves between September and December this year. I’ve included descriptions from Goodreads, simply because I haven’t read ’em myself — though you better believe I will be!

The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh (October 8)

In 1872, New Orleans is a city ruled by the dead. But to seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau, New Orleans provides her a refuge after she’s forced to flee her life as a dressmaker in Paris. Taken in by the sisters of the Ursuline convent along with six other girls, Celine quickly becomes enamored with the vibrant city from the music to the food to the soirées and—especially—to the danger. She soon becomes embroiled in the city’s glitzy underworld, known as Le Cour des Lions, after catching the eye of the group’s leader, the enigmatic Sèbastien Saint Germain. When the body of one of the girls from the convent is found in the lair of Le Cour des Lions, Celine battles her attraction to him and suspicions about Sèbastien’s guilt along with the shame of her own horrible secret.

When more bodies are discovered, each crime more gruesome than the last, Celine and New Orleans become gripped by the terror of a serial killer on the loose—one Celine is sure has set her in his sights . . . and who may even be the young man who has stolen her heart. As the murders continue to go unsolved, Celine takes matters into her own hands and soon uncovers something even more shocking: an age-old feud from the darkest creatures of the underworld reveals a truth about Celine she always suspected simmered just beneath the surface.

At once a sultry romance and a thrilling murder mystery, master storyteller Renée Ahdieh embarks on her most potent fantasy series yet: The Beautiful.

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones (September 24)

Seventeen-year-old Aderyn (“Ryn”) only cares about two things: her family, and her family’s graveyard. And right now, both are in dire straits. Since the death of their parents, Ryn and her siblings have been scraping together a meager existence as gravediggers in the remote village of Colbren, which sits at the foot of a harsh and deadly mountain range that was once home to the fae. The problem with being a gravedigger in Colbren, though, is that the dead don’t always stay dead.

The risen corpses are known as “bone houses,” and legend says that they’re the result of a decades-old curse. When Ellis, an apprentice mapmaker with a mysterious past, arrives in town, the bone houses attack with new ferocity. What is it about Ellis that draws them near? And more importantly, how can they be stopped for good?

Together, Ellis and Ryn embark on a journey that will take them deep into the heart of the mountains, where they will have to face both the curse and the long-hidden truths about themselves. Equal parts classic horror novel and original fairy-tale, The Bone Houses will have you spellbound from the very first page.

Color Outside The Lines: Stories About Love edited by Sangu Mandanna (November 12, no order link yet!)

[A] YA anthology centered around interracial relationships and the complicated, rewarding and sometimes hilarious dynamics between friends, family, and first loves. The collection features Anna-Marie McLemore, Elsie Chapman, Karuna Riazi, Lydia Kang, L.L. McKinney, Lori M. Lee, Lauren Gibaldi, Tara Sim, Eric Smith, Caroline Tung Richmond, Kelly Zekas, Tarun Shanker, Samira Ahmed and Adam Silvera, and more.

Dear Haiti, Love Alaine by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite (September 3)

Quick-witted high school journalist Alaine Beauparlant gets booted from her elite private school after an intricate prank goes cruelly awry. She warily accepts an invitation from her aunt to spend her suspension at the family’s estate in Haiti–where her estranged mom is recuperating from a political fiasco. In her homeland for the first time, Alaine is immediately put to work at her aunt’s start-up helping native children in need. Alaine meets locals, interacts with kids connected to donors, and is shown the ropes by Jason, a fellow intern whose charming ways are making work a bit more challenging. What she doesn’t expect to find are letters, articles, emails, and diary entries that she compiles into a final project that will not only save her academic standing in school, but also help her finally know the mother she’s never really understood.

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett (September 17)

No one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden.

Girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That’s why they’re banished for their sixteenth year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive.

Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life—a society that doesn’t pit friend against friend or woman against woman, but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it’s not just the brutal elements they must fear. It’s not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for their chance to grab one of the girls in order to make their fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other.

With sharp prose and gritty realism, The Grace Year examines the complex and sometimes twisted relationships between girls, the women they eventually become, and the difficult decisions they make in-between.

A Match Made in Mehendi by Nandini Bajpai (September 10)

Fifteen-year-old Simran “Simi” Sangha comes from a long line of Indian vichole-matchmakers-with a rich history for helping parents find good matches for their grown children. When Simi accidentally sets up her cousin and a soon-to-be lawyer, her family is thrilled that she has the “gift.”

But Simi is an artist, and she doesn’t want to have anything to do with relationships, helicopter parents, and family drama. That is, until she realizes this might be just the thing to improve her and her best friend Noah’s social status. Armed with her family’s ancient guide to finding love, Simi starts a matchmaking service-via an app, of course.

But when she helps connect a wallflower of a girl with the star of the boys’ soccer team, she turns the high school hierarchy topsy-turvy, soon making herself public enemy number one.

Oasis by Katya de Becerra (October 15)

Alif had exciting summer plans: working on her father’s archeological dig site in the desert with four close friends … and a very cute research assistant. Then the sandstorm hit.

Their camp wiped away, Alif and the others find themselves lost on the sands, seemingly doomed … until they find the oasis. It has everything they need: food, water, and shade–and mysterious ruins that hide a deadly secret. As reality begins to shift around them, they question what’s real and what’s a mirage.

The answers turn Alif and her friends against each other, and they begin to wonder if they’ve truly been saved. And while it was easy to walk into the oasis, it may be impossible to leave …

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Thanks for hanging out & we’ll see you again next week!

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