Hello YA Fans!
This week’s edition of “This Week in YA” is sponsored by Way Down Dark.
Seventeen-year-old Chan’s ancestors left a dying Earth hundreds of years ago, in search of a new home. Generations later, they are still searching . . . Every day aboard the interstellar ship Australia is hell, where no one is safe. The Australia is filled with murderous gangs and twisted cults, vying for supremacy. Fierce and self-sufficient, Chan has learned to avoid the mayhem but then she makes an extraordinary discovery–there may be a way to return to Earth. But doing so will bring her to the attention of the murderers and fanatics, putting her and everyone she loves in danger.
Let’s take a look at the last few weeks in YA news, since there’s been quite a bit worth sharing or thinking about:
- First, the latest Book Mail box is up and available in the Book Riot Store. This is the YA edition, curated by your newsletter writer, and the theme for this box is Strange and Peculiar. There are two hardcover books, as well as three great bookish goodies — two of which are exclusive to this box. Check it out.
- I love stories about people’s jobs that are a bit unexpected. In this case, it’s Jennifer Connelly’s stint as a YA book cover model. And speaking of modeling for book covers, Jamie Canaves at Book Riot rounded up a few now-famous people who modeled on book covers — not all of these are YA, but many are.
- After five years, the independent YA press Jolly Fish is shutting its doors. This piece at Bustle sums up a number of reactions from around the YA community. The books currently published by the press will remain on sale through the end of October, and you can check out what they are and purchase them with the handy round-up from The Bookavid.
- JK Rowling’s “Fantastic Beasts” franchise will be five films long.
- A partnership between Lee & Low Books, First Book, and the National Education Association Foundation will get diverse books into the hands of kids and into schools in low income areas. Partnerships like this, which meet the kids where they are, are the ones I think are most effective. Kudos.
- I can’t remember if I shared this one in the last linked-up newsletter or not, but in any case, it is worth a reshare: Amandla Stenberg will be in The Darkest Minds movie. I welcome Amandla as the new face for YA films, and I love this piece about the 5 YA roles she could play next.
- I’ve seen this same headline used in about eighteen other outlets and I find it a little annoying each time. That said, there have been some badass interviews lately with Ransom Riggs and Tahereh Mafi. This is a particularly good one.
- More YA Star Wars novels. This isn’t surprising, seeing that these books are doing really, really well.
- SE Hinton, why though?
- Some casting news for Down a Dark Hall. I’m pretty excited about this entire project, as it’s one of the adaptations that Stephenie Meyer is producing.
- I’m so glad to see the publication date for The Hate U Give got moved up, especially after reading this excerpt. One of my most anticipated 2017 reads, and I suspect I am not alone in that.
And a few links from Book Riot on YA:
- 100 YA books with little or no romance. Yes, they exist!
- And then sink your teeth into 100 must-read YA historical fantasies.
- 10 YA books worth listening to on audio.
- How about some queer Asian YA books?
- The evolution of LGBTQ+ book covers in YA.
- An interview with Maria Padian about her new book Wrecked, YA books as a category, and about rape culture.
Though there will be no edition of “What’s Up in YA?” on Halloween, I couldn’t end this one without talking about how great YA horror is. If you’re itching for a title or two, may I suggest trying out any of these 65 great YA horror reads by women?
Thanks for hanging out for another round of YA news and talk. We’ll be back in early November with more. Until then, grab yourself some candles, flashlights, blankets, and some spine-tingling reads.
Or, you know, whatever it is you want to spend your last days of October curling up with.
Listen while you cook! While spending hours in the kitchen prepping meals for the holidays, put on a good audiobook and let the story help you along. Cooking for Picasso and The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living are great cooking memoirs or you can listen to Where Am I Now? read by Mara Wilson herself! Let audiobooks be your secret ingredient this holiday season. Visit 
When it comes to taste in YA books, librarian extraordinaire Molly Wetta is just about flawless. While she didn’t always love audiobooks, she’s now a total convert. Don’t miss her list on Book Riot of all-time favorite YA audiobooks. Yep, these books are amazing in print, but 
I’ve already mentioned the joyful news that Nick Offerman is the voice of Tom Sawyer on a 
This is the election-year book you didn’t know you wanted, and I need you all to read it so that we can talk about Democracy In The Future! After finishing it, I felt a little bit better about the garbage fire that is this election season, although I couldn’t tell you exactly why. Perhaps it’s the way that Older is so thoughtful about the issue of democracy itself, and the different ways her characters relate to it. Perhaps it was the high-wire fight sequences (actual wires occasionally involved! Plus much stabbing) balanced with Very Important data-crunching (we’re talking world-saving data crunching here). Perhaps it was the characters themselves, who range from campaign staff to covert agents to punk dissenters to combinations-thereof. Probably it was all of these things, and the brio that marks Older’s writing. If you can’t stop thinking about politics but need a new way to think about them, pick this up ASAP.
I would recommend (and have been recommending) this to you regardless, but it is our very first #RiotRead book club pick! Find out exactly what that means