Category: What’s Up in YA

Hey YA Readers! Let’s catch up on a ton of exciting YA news.

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

They say your destiny is carved in stone. But some destinies are meant to be broken. The only curse Jesse believes in is his grandmother’s will: to inherit his family farm he must win over his childhood best friend, the girl he froze out freshman year. A fortuneteller tells Scarlett she’s psychic, but what is real are Scarlett’s dark secrets at home. She may be able to escape if she can rely on the boy who broke her heart. Each midnight meeting pushes Jesse and Scarlett to confront their secrets, but as love blooms, the curse rears its ugly head…

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The world of YA news has exploded in great stuff since the start of the year.

• Empire of Sand has been optioned for film development.
• Did you know that we’re getting YA novels in the world of Carmen Sandiego?
• The Miseducation of Cameron Post is being set for HBO. This is awesome and will get the movie into more eyes.
• Dear Haiti, Love Alaine has such an amazing cover and sounds like a great read.
• A new partnership between Swoon Reads and A&E Studios means we’ll see even more YA adaptations. I’m here for many of these books being made into visual mediums!.
• Renee Ahdieh’s vampire book series has a cover! You can also read a preview. (Vampires are back, y’all!).
• Cosmo highlighted a number of great-sounding 2019 YA books.
• Did you know Michael B. Jordan is going to be directing a YA adaptation?
• Take a peek at this preview of Canadian middle grade and YA books hitting shelves this spring.
• Kiernan Shipka is the new Netflix YA star. She’ll be in the new John Green/Maureen Johnson/Lauren Myracle adaptation Let It Snow. 
• New Marvel YA books are coming, including one by former Book Rioter and budding YA star Preeti Chhibber.
• I’m always game for YA books about women’s rage.

Tour news!

Last summer, I asked some of the “What’s Up in YA?” readers what they’d like to see here, and one of the answers was mention of YA authors who’ll be on tour. Here’s a peek at a few authors hitting the road soon across the US.

• Laurie Halse Anderson will be touring for SHOUT! (I’ll be there in Chicago and hope to see some of you, too).
• Go meet Angie Thomas at any number of her tour stops for On The Come Up. 
• Mimi Yu, AC Gaughen, and Brigid Kemmerer have a few stops on their tour still.
• Renée Watson and Ellen Hagan will be on tour. Right now, there are just a couple events listed, but more are coming.
• Christopher Paolini is on tour.
• Robin LaFevers is on tour for Courting Darkness.
• East coasters might be able to catch this season’s Epic Reads tour, including Ben Philippe, Maureen Johnson, and more.
• There are a few stops left on Roshani Chokshi’s book tour for The Gilded Wolves.
• Leigh Bardugo is hitting the road soon for King of Scars.

Recent Book Mail

Here’s what has hit my mailbox recently. Listed top to bottom. Interesting to see not one, but two books, referencing birds in the title.

This Is Not A Love Scene by SC Megale

Flight of a Starling by Lisa Heathfield

Castle of Lies by Kiersi Burkhart

The Manic Pixie Dream Boy Project by Lenore Appelhans

The Truth And Lies of Ella Black by Emily Barr

Love and Other Curses by Michael Thomas Ford

Dreaming Darkly by Caitlin Kittredge

The First True Thing by Claire Needell

The Meaning of Birds by Jaye Robin Brown

The 826Chi Compendium (For some reason, I can’t link to the newest volume, but this is to the previous).

Summer Scares!

I’ve mentioned before that there’s a new, exciting reading program that’s cosponsored by The Horror Writers Association, Book Riot, Library Journal, and United for Libraries. Winning titles were selected this week, and they’ll be announced February 14 (your bloody-and-not-so-bloody Valentine’s Day treat).

If you’d like to know more about the program (and those of you in libraries especially will want to since there’s going to be so much great, free stuff for you!) and/or add some more horror to your TBR, you’ll do well checking out the program’s resource page and this interview Becky Spratford did with United for Libraries.

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Thanks for hanging out and 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 bulk up our TBRs.

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

Enchantée by Gita Trelease transports readers to the glittering and magical world of 1870s Paris. After her parents die, Camille must find a way to provide for her sister by transforming scraps of metal into money. But soon she begins to pursue a more dangerous mark: the court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Camille transforms herself into a baroness and is swept up into life at Versailles. She meets a handsome young inventor, and begins to believe that love and liberty may both be possible. But magic has costs, and when revolution erupts, Camille must choose—before Paris burns.

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Debut YA novels get a lot of hype and for good reason. These books are the easiest ones for many readers to miss if they’re not the big, splashy titles of their publication seasons. So the effort to highlight those debuts pays off in getting them some much-deserved attention.

But what happens after the debut year when those authors have their sophomore releases? Let’s highlight nine upcoming sophomore YA novels from authors who had their debuts in 2017 or 2018. Note that at least one of these authors (maybe only one?) published an adult novel in the interim, so sophomore refers to their sophomore YA release specifically.

Destroy All Monsters by Sam J. Miller (July 2)

This genre-bender, like Miller’s debut YA novel, highlights trauma and mental illness. Following a pair of best friends, one struggles with memory loss while the other battles with mental demons following an accident they were part of.

 

Internment by Samira Ahmed (March 19)

In a near-future USA, Muslim-Americans are forced into internment camps. This story follows as Layla works with those inside the camp and her allies outside to break free and change this too-plausible scenario from continuing to happen. It’s a story of resistance and change.

 

Love From A to Z by SK Ali (May 7)

If you’ve been itching for a romance between a Muslim American girl and a boy struggling with multiple sclerosis, then this is going to be a treat. It’s a book about prejudice and xenophobia, as well as a book with an angry female main character who attempts to change herself following a confrontation with her racist teacher — a change that takes her to Qatar and through what it means to be herself. Also, romance!

Missing, Presumed Dead by Emma Berquist (May 7)

Lexi knows when someone will die by simply a touch. Maybe it sounds cool but she hates it. She’s isolated and alone, until she foresees the violent death of a girl outside a club…and suddenly, that girl’s ghost is right there, begging Lexi to help avenge her death.

 

On The Come Up by Angie Thomas (February 5)

Do you need to know much about this one, other than it’s an outstanding book about a girl determined to become a rap legend and that it might be as good, if not even better, than Thomas’s debut you might be familiar with? The main character is well-written and utterly memorable.

 

This Time Will Be Different by Misa Sugiura (June 4)

CJ’s never been as ambitious or engaged as the rest of her family, but when she discovers she has a knack for flower arranging, thanks to helping out in her aunt’s shop, she thinks she may have found it. But when CJ’s mom decides to sell the shop to a family who deeply harmed her grandparents and thousands of others during the Japanese Interment in the USA, CJ might discover another knack — that of fighting for justice and her family’s name.

 

This Train Is Being Held by Ismée Amiel Williams (April 9)

This is a meet cute set on a subway train between a private school student and a Dominican American boy struggling with pressures from his father and his own inner desires which differ.

 

 

Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus (Available now!)

If you love dark mysteries about small towns, murders, and so many juicy secrets, you’ll do well picking up McManus’s sophomore effort.

 

 

 

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

Emoni Santiago has not only her grandmother to care for, but her daughter, too. She’s a senior in high school ding what she needs to do in order to survive. Her relaxation comes in the kitchen, where she is a cook like none other. But she doesn’t have time to take classes at her school or study abroad. Instead, she’s got to make herself known in other ways, right where she is.

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I don’t know about you, but I think 2019 is looking like a fiery year for YA.

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 fans: Let’s talk YA podcasts!

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo and the Grishaverse.

No one knows what Nikolai endured in his country’s bloody civil war – and he intends to keep it that way. As the young king strives to rebuild his country and forge new alliances, the dark magic growing within him threatens to destroy all he has built. Nikolai must journey to the places where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him. But some secrets aren’t meant to stay buried—and some wounds aren’t meant to heal. Enter the Grishaverse with this new novel from #1 New York Times-bestselling author Leigh Bardugo. Face your demons…or feed them.

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Before diving in, indulge me in a moment of self-promotion. My latest anthology for YA readers, (Don’t) Call Me Crazy: 33 Voices Start The Conversation About Mental Health, is a Kindle deal for under $2. If you’ve been considering picking it up, now might be a great chance (this price is current as of Wednesday evening).

Now, podcast talk!

You likely already know that Book Riot has its very own YA-focused podcast. But if you don’t or want the refresher, Eric Smith and I cohost the all-YA podcast every other week. New shows drop on Wednesday mornings, and we cover everything from new book news to adaptation news and book lists that will make your TBR crumble. You can listen here.

Want to add more YA love to your ear buds? Let’s check out a few other YA-focused podcasts worth a listen.

Hazel & Katniss & Harry & Starr

Cohosted by a former Book Rioter, this weekly podcast brings together two YA lovers, Brenna Clarke Gray and Joe Lipsett, who talk about YA books and their subsequent adaptations. Tune into episodes about Scott Pilgrim, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, Dumplin’, and, of course, tons of upcoming book recommendations. Bonus: both hosts are Canadian, so there are special features on Canadian YA specifically.

88 Cups of Tea

If you love behind-the-scenes interviews with authors, editors, agents, and other folks within the publishing world, then you’ll want to check out Yin Chang’s fantastic 88 Cups of Tea podcast. It’s also a great podcast for those of you who are writers or want to inspire young writers.

Go Your Own YA

Carey and Marie cohost this delightful podcast about YA books, and what really stands out to me about this one is that they highlight older, backlist titles, as well as “smaller” releases. Sure, there’s talk of big releases, but the focus is on those quieter and still strong titles that could be easily overlooked.

Bookmarked

Going a bit in the opposite direction of the above podcast is Bookmarked, which highlights some of the most popular and newest YA books. This monthly show will keep you up to date and thinking about what’s hot in the world of YA.

First Draft with Sarah Enni

Enni’s debut novel comes out next month, but you might know her first from this fantastic, thoughtful podcast that asks authors to get real about their reading and writing lives. Your favorites have likely been interviewed, so poke around to start listening wherever you find that author you can’t get enough of.

Want more podcasts that take on more than YA? You might like these excellent podcasts for readers, some of the great bookish podcasts that Book Rioters discovered in 2018, or these podcasts for poetry lovers. 

This shirt is the truth. $16, S-XL.

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

— 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 in YA haps.

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Simon & Schuster Publishing.

A brand-new series set in the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that introduces a new Slayer as she grapples with the responsibility of managing incredible powers she’s just beginning to understand.

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The news out of the young adult literature world has been pretty quiet, given the holidays and the general slowing down of publishing in December and early January. But there are still a few interesting and worthwhile pieces to share to get your Monday started.

• Leigh Bardugo’s “Shadow and Bone” series is heading to Netflix!
• Check out Girls of the Crescent. These teen book lovers started a project to get more Muslim Girls’ Stories into schools.
• The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is getting a prequel novel from a YA great.
• Tomi Adeyemi teases about her book’s adaptation.
• The adaptation of Turtles All The Way Down moves forward, as there’s now a director attached.
• The Hazel Wood has a sequel coming in the fall and here’s the title.
• I published a book about mental health and had a reckoning about my own history of mental illness. (Full disclosure: I wrote this, but I highlighted some great YA books about mental health!).
• Jandy Nelson interviews Nina LaCour about teen suicide and her book Hold Still 10 years later. Bonus: awesome new cover!
• Look at the amazing cover for the new SK Ali book (& read what it’s about, too, obviously).
• Nic Stone on how 2018 proved black kids read and that white kids will read stories about black kids. We all knew it, and she articulates this all so, so well.
• An upcoming YA book gets a movie deal.
• A new Lumberjanes comic is coming!
• The outstanding YA book I Am Still Alive by Kate Alice Marshall, which came out last year, is getting a movie and I cannot wait.
• More YA nonfiction will be hitting shelves and this time, it’ll be radical, necessary histories for teen readers.
• This is a very long article that can be summed up as Chaos Walking will be delayed in release in theaters.
• The book 29 Dates was picked up for adaptation by Disney.
• Let It Snow will be coming to Netflix.
• Why we all hate Mallory Pike from The Baby-Sitters Club.

 

Recent Book Mail

Here’s a peek at some of what’s hit my inbox the last few weeks:

From top to bottom

A Thousand Sisters by Elizabeth Wein

What Momma Left Me by Renee Watson

A Land of Permanent Goodbyes by Atia Abawi

Testimony From The Perfect Girl by Kaui Hart Hemmings

Again, But Better by Christine Riccio

 

 

Wear your YA love on your sleeve … or chest … with this “I heart YA” tee. Snag it for $25 on Etsy.

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Thanks for hanging out & we’ll see you again later this week for something that’ll add some goodness to your ears.

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

Hey YA Readers!

It’s the weekend, and what better time to pick up some of those great YA books you’ve been meaning to read? Here’s a quick round-up of a handful of affordable YA ebooks you might want to snag while the prices are right. (You’ve got gift cards burning a hole in your pocket anyway, don’t you?).

Prices are current as of Friday, January 11.

Tiffany D. Jackson’s outstanding thriller Allegedly is $2.

• If you’ve been itching to try a YA book in translation, what about this book-themed fantasy The Book Jumper? $3.
• Robin McKinley’s classic retelling of Beauty and the Beast, Beauty, is the very specific price of $1.20.
• The classic queer coming-of-age book Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden is $2.
• Elizabeth May’s The Falconer, the first in a trilogy, is the exciting price of sixty cents.
• Want a thriller? Caleb Roehrig’s Last Seen Leaving might fit the bill and it’s a whopping $3.

Vegas + gambling + teen girl infamy + an amazing book cover = Lamar Giles’s Overturned. $2.

• Here’s your chance to see what all of the fuss is about. Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses, the first in a series, is a whole $2.
• Pick up the entire The Testing trilogy by Joelle Charbonneau for $3. You read that correctly.
• Snag Laini Taylor’s lush, lyrical fantasy The Daughter of Smoke and Bone for $3.
• Queen of contemporary Emory Lord’s The Names They Gave Us is $3.
• You can pick up William Ritter’s Jackaby for $2.
• For $3.50, you can grab one of my favorite reads, Noteworthy by Riley Redgate.

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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! Let’s look at something royal coming in the new year.

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

After the shocking revelations and betrayals in The Cruel Prince, Jude continues to navigate the Faerie world as a mortal. Unable to trust her family and dangerously drawn to the cruel prince of Elfhame, Cardan, Jude will do anything to hold on to the power she’s fought for.

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It’s coincidence that today’s sponsor is Holly Black’s royally-titled YA series.

One of my weaknesses when it comes to writing about YA is that I don’t read a significant amount of fantasy. But I know many of you, as well as those of you who work with young readers, are huge fantasy fans.

As I was brainstorming newsletter topics, I realized that highlighting an array of YA fantasy books featuring aspects of royalty in the title would be fun. And thus, a royally-themed fantasy collection of new YA books.

Kings, queens, princes, courts, and more. Get your royal fantasy on in 2019 with this selection of titles. Note that because I’ve put so many limitations on this list (titles with royalty + fantasy books), this is far whiter than I’d like it to be. Next year, we’ll see royally-titled fantasy reads from Marie Lu, Zoraida Cordova, and more.

Descriptions are from Goodreads since my writing about them not having read them wouldn’t be especially helpful.

The Evil Queen by Gena Showalter (June 25, no cover yet!)

Welcome to the Forest of Good and Evil. A dream come true, and a living nightmare.

Evil isn’t born, it’s made. One thought and action at a time. Take a good look at what you’ve made.

Far, far away, in the realm of Enchantia, creatures of legend still exist, magic is the norm and fairy tales are real. Except, fairy tales aren’t based on myths and legends of the past—they are prophecies of the future.

Raised in the mortal realm, Everly Morrow has no idea she’s a real life fairy tale princess—until she manifests an ability to commune with mirrors.

Look. See… What will one peek hurt?

Soon, a horrifying truth is revealed. She is fated to be Snow White’s greatest enemy, the Evil Queen.

With powers beyond her imagination or control—and determined to change Fate itself—Everly returns to the land of her birth. There, she meets Roth Charmaine, the supposed Prince Charming. Their attraction is undeniable, but their relationship is doomed.

As bits and pieces of the prophecy unfold, Everly faces one betrayal after another, and giving in to her dark side proves more tempting every day. Can she resist, or will she become the queen—and villain—she was born to be?

Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte (February 26)

Get in quick, get out quicker.

These are the words Keralie Corrington lives by as the preeminent dipper in the Concord, the central area uniting the four quadrants of Quadara. She steals under the guidance of her mentor Mackiel, who runs a black market selling their bounty to buyers desperate for what they can’t get in their own quarter. For in the nation of Quadara, each quarter is strictly divided from the other. Four queens rule together, one from each region:

Toria: the intellectual quarter that values education and ambition
Ludia: the pleasure quarter that values celebration, passion, and entertainment
Archia: the agricultural quarter that values simplicity and nature
Eonia: the futurist quarter that values technology, stoicism and harmonious community

When Keralie intercepts a comm disk coming from the House of Concord, what seems like a standard job goes horribly wrong. Upon watching the comm disks, Keralie sees all four queens murdered in four brutal ways. Hoping that discovering the intended recipient will reveal the culprit – information that is bound to be valuable bartering material with the palace – Keralie teams up with Varin Bollt, the Eonist messenger she stole from, to complete Varin’s original job and see where it takes them.

The Girl King by Mimi Yu (January 8)

All hail the Girl King. 

Sisters Lu and Min have always understood their places as princesses of the Empire. Lu knows she is destined to become the dynasty’s first female ruler, while Min is resigned to a life in her shadow. Then their father declares their male cousin Set the heir instead—a betrayal that sends the sisters down two very different paths.

Determined to reclaim her birthright, Lu goes on the run. She needs an ally—and an army—if she is to succeed. Her quest leads her to Nokhai, the last surviving wolf shapeshifter. Nok wants to keep his identity secret, but finds himself forced into an uneasy alliance with the girl whose family killed everyone he ever loved…

Alone in the volatile court, Min’s hidden power awakens—a forbidden, deadly magic that could secure Set’s reign…or allow Min to claim the throne herself. But there can only be one Emperor, and the sisters’ greatest enemy could turn out to be each other.

King of Fools by Amanda Foody (April 30)

On the quest to find her missing mother, prim and proper Enne Salta became reluctant allies with Levi Glaisyer, the city’s most famous con man. Saving his life in the Shadow Game forced Enne to assume the identity of Seance, a mysterious underworld figure. Now, with the Chancellor of the Republic dead and bounties on both their heads, she and Levi must play a dangerous game of crime and politics…with the very fate of New Reynes at stake.

Thirsting for his freedom and the chance to build an empire, Levi enters an unlikely partnership with Vianca Augustine’s estranged son. Meanwhile, Enne remains trapped by the mafia donna’s binding oath, playing the roles of both darling lady and cunning street lord, unsure which side of herself reflects the truth.

As Enne and Levi walk a path of unimaginable wealth and opportunity, new relationships and deadly secrets could quickly lead them into ruin. And when unforeseen players enter the game, they must each make an impossible choice: To sacrifice everything they’ve earned in order to survive…

Or die as legends.

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo (January 29)

Nikolai Lantsov has always had a gift for the impossible. No one knows what he endured in his country’s bloody civil war—and he intends to keep it that way. Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, the young king must find a way to refill Ravka’s coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army.

Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha Squaller, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him. He will risk everything to save his country and himself. But some secrets aren’t meant to stay buried—and some wounds aren’t meant to heal.

Tiger Queen by Annie Sullivan (September 10)

In the mythical desert kingdom of Achra, an old law forces sixteen-year-old Princess Kateri to fight in the arena against twelve suitors to prove her right to rule. For Kateri, losing is not an option because in order to fulfil her promise to her late mother, she must win to keep her crown and lead her people. The situation outside the palace is uneasy. The harsh desert is unforgiving, water is scarce, and Kateri’s people are thirsty. To make matters worse, the gang of thieving Desert Boys, the same group that killed Kateri’s mother and her new baby, frequently raids the city wells and steals water, forcing the king to ration what little water is left. The punishment for stealing water is the choice between two doors. Behind one door lies freedom and behind the other is a tiger.

The people of Achra are growing restless and distrustful of the monarchy, and when Kateri’s final opponent is announced, she knows she cannot win. In her desperation, Kateri turns to the desert and the one person she never thought she’d side with. Her future now, too, is behind two doors—only she’s not sure which holds the key to keeping her kingdom and which will release the tiger.

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Thanks for hanging out & we’ll see you next week with a round-up of recent YA news.

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

Hey YA readers! I’m thrilled to bring you this guest piece today from a debut author.

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by the Class of 2k19 books: 20 authors, 20 MG and YA novels debuting in 2019.

The Class of 2k19 books’ stellar spring YA recommendations:

IMMORAL CODE: “Fast-paced, audacious, and laugh-out-loud funny.” – Caleb Roehrig

THE QUIET YOU CARRY: “Her message: Quiet no more.” – Nikki Grimes

JUST FOR CLICKS: “Breezy and fresh meditation on privacy and relationships.” – Kirkus

THE FEVER KING: “A plague as scary as Stephen King.” – Sarah Rees Brennan

MATCH ME IF YOU CAN: “Enchanting and fun.” – Rebecca Phillips

WHEN THE TRUTH UNRAVELS: “For every teen girl trying her best, fearing she isn’t enough.”- Rachel Solomon

IF YOU’RE OUT THERE: “Funny, engrossing, and one-of-a-kind.” – Becky Albertalli

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I love a good fish out of water book, and Ben Philippe’s debut novel The Field Guide To The North American Teenager checked all of my boxes. This humorous book follows Norris, a black French Canadian teenager who is forced to move to Austin, Texas, for his mother’s job. Norris feels out of place in many ways, but uses this experience to document what he sees about the “typical” American high schooler.

Norris is an unlikable character, fully flawed, and at times, he’s downright off-putting and a bully. Yet…he’s utterly sympathetic, too. It’s hard not to see why he chooses the role of observer, rather than participant, when he’s already in his position as an outsider.

I’m thrilled to have Ben Philippe here today to talk a bit about Field Guide, his main character Norris, and what it means to write an #OwnVoices story.

Ben Philippe is a New York-based writer and screenwriter. He has a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University and an MFA in Fiction and Screenwriting from the Michener Center for Writers in Austin, Texas. He teaches screenwriting at Barnard. This is his debut novel. You can visit him at benphilippe.com or on Twitter @gohomeben.

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When I was 15, my uncle drove me to my very first “real world” summer job interview. After wishing me good luck in the parking lot of the imposing two-floor grocery store, he looked me up and down, taking in my Sears tie, Sears cornflower-blue dress shirt, and Sears braided belt — and handed me a pair of glasses from inside his jacket pocket. My 20/20 vision didn’t matter; they were fake glasses. “A black guy interviews better with glasses,” he explained. it was an avuncular moment for him — bestowing wisdom he had learned the hard way to a kid that vaguely looked like him, now making his way into the world.

I wore the glasses and got the low-stakes job, spending the summer cropping images of various foods for the family grocery’s bi-weekly store flyer. During that summer, I learned to navigate the minute differences between being a black guy with glasses and being a black guy with glasses quickly tucked into his back pocket. The transformation would happen instantly. I was goddamn Sailor Moon, frankly. Little old ladies looking around the store and needing assistance? Glasses. The immigrant stock room guys, complaining about their treatment and smaller-than-they-ought-to-be paychecks?

Most of this was in my head, mind you — I’m aware I don’t look particularly different with glasses. But, little by little, I learned the intricacies of deepening/heightening my voice, smile, and enunciation. If nothing else, these performances affected my confidence when I went to hand my mockups to my employer – a woman who disliked the fact that her own son was now getting into hip-hop “music” and liked to pantomime the quotation marks when consulting me about whether or not she ought to ban it from her house.

Code-switching is fiction, and I spent that summer training myself to become a fiction writer without even realizing it. You weave your ethnicity in when it’s convenient and keep it at a distance when it’s too much of an X-factor. Haitian flavors and meals are painted in vivid technicolor. You unleash black rice and soup joumou recipes on dates and when hosting dinner parties, performing your ethnicity. No glasses; this is the real you.

But the image of your mother wailing in the living room learning she lost half her former colleagues in an earthquake that downgraded the country from “third world” to “shithole” in the minds of many? Well, that part you just sidestep. “I’m Canadian,” you say when people ask about that event. “We got to Montreal when I was five: I barely remember that country.”

Glasses.

When writing took over for me in college — and a takeover is very much what we’re talking about here; I was briefly an Econ major before my first writing workshop — I didn’t quite know whether or not to wear my performative glasses when writing. “Be truthful,” my first Fiction teacher said. “That’s all there is to it. Get at something true.”

Sci-fi or contemporary, alternative history or memoir, Zee Craft of writing prizes authenticity above all else. And in many ways, both the bespectacled and the bare-faced versions of myself were authentic. The code-switching was simply in the internal mapping out that took place before each new encounter. The slight shame at the option you were picking not to display. And writing was no different.

The concept of #ownvoices was an intimidating hashtag floating above my hand when I started to write The Field Guide to the North American Teenager, to be completely honest. It was a set of expectations and identities I had spent years alternating between as convenient. Something to be decoded along the map of ‘race’ and the expectations therein.

Which Ben was the world asking for: the bare-faced or the bespectacled? Which Ben would the world like more? Should I weave in my politics or keep them out? Should I fictionalize a ghetto for protagonist Norris Kaplan to navigate, even though I myself had been raised in aggressively middle-class French Canadian suburbs? He would certainly not be the first YA black protagonist, but there was a tradition there. Should he play football? Should he breakdance?

I loved teenage characters; always have. To me, it’s a joyfully intense stage of life in which you start navigating the world in the first person, pointed forward by hormones, false bravado, obsessions, and insecurities. But could I afford to write a teen as snarky and unlikeable as all my favorite teen protagonists? Would they be treated differently from Holden Caulfield, Ignatius J. Reilly, or Piggy from Lord of the Flies? Shouldn’t my teen be aspirational? Those are the ones we remember, after all. Those who suffer and leave the world to reflect on their sufferings afterward. Should my black teen die at the end?

…When it’s all said and done, it’s a heck of a thing how easily your own voice fits once you allow yourself slip into it, free of those real-world concerns for 350 pages.

I’ve played coy about whether or not I’m Norris Kaplan. My story was very specifically Haitian, Canadian, and American, and so is Norris Kaplan’s–but they are wholly different tales. Norris’ brazenness is something I never had, for one. He is a protagonist that compulsively speaks his mind, constantly pushing at the world and preemptively labeling it under the presumption that everyone else will inevitably label him first. As foreign, as black, as lame (the greatest high school offensive).

But at the end of the day, Norris Kaplan never once carried fake glasses and wouldn’t bother wearing them. And that’s why I love that snarky little sh*t-stirrer so very much and am grateful for the freedom of writing a protagonist that is unbothered by all the questions I spent my teen years looping in my head.

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

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

 

Hey YA readers! Let’s kick off a new reading year.

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by The Similars by Rebecca Hanover.

This fall, six new students are joining the junior class at the elite Darkwood Academy. But they aren’t your regular over-achieving teens. They’re clones. And they’re joining the class alongside their originals. The Similars are all anyone can talk about: Who are these clones? What are the odds that all of them would be Darkwood students? And who is the madman who broke the law against cloning to create them? Emmaline Chance couldn’t care less. Her best friend, Oliver, died over the summer and it’s all she can do to get through each day without him. Then she comes face-to-heartbreaking-face with Levi—Oliver’s exact DNA replica and one of the Similars.

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Open up your TBR, be it digital or analog, and get ready to add some exciting new books to it. I’ve invited a number of beloved YA authors to share their picks for the books they’re most excited to read in the new year.

Oh, and the second book on this list? It was recommended by not one, but two authors.

The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee (August)

Stacey Lee disarms the cliche of the “strong female protagonist” in such a way that we still get the strong-minded feminism and pretty period dresses in her historical fiction, but powerfully rooted and grounded in intersectional diversity. And the beautiful cover on this just blew. me. away.

— Tanita S Davis, author of Peas and Carrots

A Dress for the Wicked by Autumn Krause (August)

This books sounds like The Selection meets Project Runway and as a former costume designer, I can’t wait to read all about the jaw dropping dresses! Kraus’ world— a reimagined Europe— sounds lush and intriguing.

— Erin A. Craig, author of House of Salt and Sorrows

Autumn is a literary force! Stylish, elegant, sleek and dark, her prose is indelible. I had the pleasure of working with her and I can’t wait for the world to meet her debut novel!

— Micol Ostow, author of Riverdale: The Day Before

Courting Darkness by Robin LaFevers (February)

More medieval French assassin nuns? Yes, please! Robin LaFevers’ His Fair Assassin series (starting with GRAVE MERCY) is one of my favorites. She writes amazing, feminist historical fantasy: well-paced, impeccably researched, and swooningly romantic.

— Jessica Spotswood, author of The Last Summer of the Garret Girls

 

The Meaning of Birds by Jaye Robin Brown (April)

Ever since I saw that gorgeous cover, I’ve been eager to read Jaye Robin Brown’s next book. I loved Georgia Peaches & Other Forbidden Fruit, so I can’t wait to get my hands on this one. It also looks like it’s going to give me a lot of feelings, so my tears and I are eager to dig in.

— Amy Spalding, author of The Summer of Jordi Perez (and the Best Burger in Los Angeles)

 

Slay by Brittney Morris (No date or cover yet, but you can add it on Goodreads)

Pitched as READY PLAYER ONE meets THE HATE U GIVE, SLAY not only features a whip smart black girl gamer who has created an epic virtual world that initialky exists outside the white gaze, it uses that world and its effects on reality to highlight racial imbalances of power and what people of color can do to protect their safe spaces. I read it early and I can’t WAIT for everyone else to get their hands on it.

— Nic Stone, author of Odd One Out

 

Something Like Gravity by Amber Smith (June)

Amber writes with such beauty and such a big heart, and I can’t wait to read this love story featuring a transgender character. I’ve had the privilege of hearing her read a couple snippets and they were incredible.

— Amy Reed, author of The Boy and Girl Who Broke The World

 

Tell Me Everything by Sarah Enni (February)

Sarah Enni’s debut, about the intersection of technology and art set in high school, promises to check all my geek-out boxes. Add in secrets and relationships at risk and I’m totally in. Enni hosts an insightful podcast about writing and writers, the First Draft Podcast. Between that and her love of YA, I’m hopeful her first book will be a pièce de résistance!

— Kayla Cagan, author of Art Boss

 

Tell Me How You Really Feel by Aminah Mae Safi (June)

Because Safi set out to write the Rory + Paris book that every Gilmore Girls fan (not so) secretly wanted. I can’t wait to read this fun, intelligent lesbian enemies-to-lovers story!

— Sarah Enni, author of Tell Me Everything

 

The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf (February)

Set during the 1969 race riots in Kuala Lampur, THE WEIGHT OF OUR SKY takes us to a place and time in history that most American readers are wholly unaware of. I love books that open doors into other cultures, nations, and histories. As Americans we are too often isolationist not merely in our personal and global politics but even in our choices of narratives that we gravitate towards. Hanna’s writing shines and her beautiful book is invitation to open our eyes and broaden our worldview.

— Samira Ahmed, author of Internment (March)

 

Unedited and Edited, both by Barry Lyga (They are 2 versions of the same book — no date or cover yet, but you can add Edited and Unedited on Goodreads)

I’ve known about this project for years, and I know its level of ambition, and nothing gets me more excited than someone really swinging for the fences.

— Daniel Kraus, author of The Shape of Water

 

We Set The Dark On Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia (February)

Mejia is one of the most exciting new young authors I’ve had the pleasure to read in short form. Her voice is bright, beautiful and sparking, her insight sharp with glittery clarity, and I cannot wait to see what she does with the full length of a novel to explore.

— Saundra Mitchell, editor/author of All Out

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Thanks for hanging out & thanks to this wonderful group of authors who’ve shared some of their most-anticipated reads. We’ll see you again on Monday.

— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Instagram and editor of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy: 33 Voices Start The Conversation About Mental Health

 

Hey YA Readers: Let’s talk YA adaptations.

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Book Riot’s 10 Best Nonfiction Books of 2018 Giveaway.

We’re giving away ten of our favorite works of nonfiction of the year! Click here to enter.

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This will be the last “What’s Up in YA?” newsletter until January 4. Since my plans over the next week and change is to read some great books, why not put that on your to-do, too?

Have you been reading Book Riot this week? If not, you’ll want to pop over there for the special week-long YA Adaptation Showdown event.

Seven YA fans from across the YA community have come together to talk about what it is that makes a YA adaptation great, discussing things like the changes between the original text and the movie, the acting, the overall mood of the films, and more.

Read about how the brackets were selected in the introduction post for the event, as well as read about the judges and their involvement in the YA World.

As this newsletter hits your inbox, a final verdict will hit on site. You can catch the entire archives of the YA Adaptation Showdown here, and prepare for the viewers’ choice pick that hits tomorrow (Friday, December 21). But to get you pumped about the big announcements — will the judges and viewers agree on the best? — here’s a peek at the first round bracket winners, linked to the wonderful essays and the thoughtful video to launch the event.

Francina Simone discusses the highlights and not-so-highlights between Twilight and Beautiful Creatures and makes a great case for why she chose Twilight. 

“I am here today to tell you of two stories: that of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and that of Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. I will look at the books that came first and then look at their subsequent movie adaptations. I will tell you which one I like best and which movie adaptation I think deserves to move to the next round as the outright clear winner of this round 1. 

(It is Persepolis, I am talking about Persepolis. But I am ahead of myself.)”

Ana Grilo from The Book Smugglers digs into the problems she saw with The Book Thief and why it is Persepolis is such a solid adaptation.

“So, if the scripts are solid, if the music and casting are fantastic, and if there are only very, very small things that are done better in one film than another, where do you draw the line? Is this just a matter of preference? Perhaps, but I do think that there’s a single thing that gives Fault the advantage in the end.”

YA author Mark Oshiro talks about all of the elements that make both Everything, Everything and The Fault in Our Stars strong contenders for best adaptation. . . and why he selected TFIOS.

“More importantly, To All the Boys and Love, Simon show happy endings for marginalized readers. And that’s maybe the most important aspect—they’re so hopeful, these movies. They’re romcoms in the truest sense of the word (although Simon does worry about coming out.) Where Lara’s biggest fear is her letters getting out, Simon’s is his identity being discovered. These are real-world, relatable problems, yes, but they’re also so quintessentially teenage, which is amazing. Too often contemporary stories about marginalized teens feel like they have to be about the struggles of having that particular marginalization. But these movies? They’re about falling in love. They’re an escape from a daily life that seems determined to punish people and teens like us every chance it gets.”

Author and YA blogger Nita Tyndall gets personal in their decision and why it is To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before moves on in the competition.

 

Don’t miss YA authors Dana L. Davis and Maurene Goo make their decisions in round two, followed by YA author Nina LaCour crowning the Best YA adaptation this week. Catch those pieces here! 

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More Adaptation Talk

• Your ultimate guide to YA book to movie adaptations.
• The 2019 YA book to movie adaptations you’ll want to know about.
• Stream these under-the-radar YA adaptations.
• Loved Dumplin’? You’ll want to read these books.
• What to read after you’ve read and watched The Hate U Give. 

Cheap Reads!

Grab these books while they’re on sale and have yourself a merry reading season to wrap up 2018 and begin 2019. I’ve included a big range so you can pick and choose or, well, just treat yourself!

Prices are current as of Tuesday, December 18.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein is a mere $2.

If you’re here for some witchy fun based on a beloved Halloween movie, you might like Hocus Pocus and The All-New Sequel. $2.

Want a creepy, twisty read? Nova Ren Suma’s The Walls Around Us is $2.

A #MeToo story set in college, Maria Padian’s Wrecked is a must-read. $2.

Jessica Spotswood’s fantastic anthology about girls through history, The Radical Element, is $3.

Did you read Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson? This story about black girls who’ve gone missing — based on real events — is $2.

This book cover is just beautiful. The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner is $3.

Zoraida Cordova’s Labyrinth Lost is just under $4. This one is on my winter break TBR!

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Shameless self-promotion time! I’m giving away copies of my two anthologies Here We Are and (Don’t) Call Me Crazy on Instagram. Click over and follow the simple directions to be entered, and yes, it’s worldwide!

— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Instagram and Twitter.

 

Hey YA Readers: Let’s talk about some of the great reads from 2018 that haven’t been on every “best of” list.

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Flatiron Books and Legendary by Stephanie Garber.

After being swept up in the magical world of Caraval, Donatella Dragna has finally escaped her father and saved her sister Scarlett from a disastrous arranged marriage. The girls should be celebrating, but Tella isn’t yet free. She made a desperate bargain with a mysterious criminal, and the time to repay the debt has come.

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Some YA books are loud, while others are far more quiet. Quiet books, too often, get left off the scads of “best of” lists each year, but it doesn’t mean they’re not great or have the perfect reader. These are titles worthy of a little more attention and praise and would make for some excellent end-of-year reading.

I’ve tried to not include books I’ve highlighted in previous newsletters, but it’s likely there’s some overlap. My reading tastes tend toward realistic and contemporary, so this list reflects that. Descriptions are mine, since I’ve read each of them.

Always Forever Maybe by Anica Mrose Rissi

It’s refreshing to read a tightly-written YA novel that feels like Real Teen problems, and this is one of them. It’s a story about a girl named Betts (her nickname) and the quick and fast relationship she falls into with Aiden. Everything seems perfect at first, but then it becomes clear he’s manipulative and possessive; it’s emotional abuse that, eventually, does turn a bit physical.

At the heart of the story, though, is Betts’s relationship with her best friend Jo. What happens when a best friend sees a problem but you won’t listen?

American Road Trip by Patrick Flores-Scott

When Teo’s brother Manny comes home from a tour of duty, he’s not who he was before. Not a bit. But it’s their sister Xochitl who decides it’s time to deal with both Manny’s challenges — and T’s own struggles — by taking them from their rental by SeaTac down to Hatch, New Mexico, where they’ll spend the summer helping Manny find treatment for his PTSD with their uncle who himself struggles post-service.

It’s extremely rare to see a YA road trip book featuring a cast of characters of color. This is one of them and it does good job of looking at SO many aspects of a person’s experience. Race, ethnicity, class, and education all play in smoothly. It also digs into healthcare and the ways that, during the book’s timeframe (2008-2009), the VA wasn’t a place that made mental health care for returning vets a priority or even accessible at all.

So many teens will see themselves in this story.

We had Patrick on Hey YA to talk about the book and about road trip stories in YA earlier this year, too, if you want to learn more. 

Apple In The Middle by Dawn Quigley

A powerful story about a girl who has grown up without much investment in her Native heritage after the death of her mother after a car accident (Apple was born early, her life saved after the accident). She’s since lived in the Minneapolis suburbs with her wealthy white father and stepmother, without much contact with her family in the North Dakota Turtle Mountains, who are Ojibwe. But when her dad and stepmother decide to go on a long summer vacation, Apple gets the chance to spend the summer with her grandparents in North Dakota, along with her big extended family.

The book follows as she learns more about her own cultural heritage and comes to understand her mother better. It’s written with dialect and integrates Michif throughout where appropriate. Especially good for younger YA readers.

Cynthia Leitich Smith praised this book on an episode of Annotated this year and it’s so worth a listen. 

 

Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman

A lovely, powerful, and raw book about grief and loss. Rumi’s sister and best friend Lea dies in a car accident, and Rumi is sent to live with her aunt in Hawaii while her mother grieves alone. Rumi is angry — both because Lea is gone and because she believes her mother abandoned her. There is a lot of anger and resentment throughout, but none of it is unwarranted. Bowman is skillful in highlighting how anger can be easier than sadness and grief, and she does so in a manner that allows Rumi to be angry and unlikable while also being sympathetic to the reader.

Readers itching for more asexual representation in YA will find a lot to enjoy here. Rumi doesn’t make a declaration of her sexuality, but it’s in the investigation and questioning where there is much power.

Unpresidented: A Biography of Donald Trump by Martha Brockenbrough

Perhaps it’s cheating to include a book I have only just begun, but I’m going to. This one came out early this month and because it’s a nonfiction YA title pubbing in a month that’s easy to miss new titles, it’s worth a shout. Brockenbrough’s book is a critical look at Trump, his legacy, and his presidency. It’s a big book, and as has been mentioned a few times on social media, the first book about a sitting president presented in a critical light for young readers. It’s really well designed with tons of citations (the resources list is massive!), timelines, images, and other information graphics to help highlight key parts of the text.

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Thanks for hanging out and we’ll see you again later this week! If you haven’t already, make sure you keep your eyes on Book Riot this week for our exciting week-long YA Adaptation Showdown event.

— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Instagram and Twitter